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A federal appeals court is hearing arguments in Colorado Thursday in a lawsuit over two of the largest national monuments in the Mountain West region.

Rachel Cohen reports.

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in southern Utah include vast red rock canyons and cliffs, as well as Native American cultural sites.

“The kivas, the pictographs, the actual migration routes and trails themselves … I can’t imagine a place that’s more worthy of protection.”

Matthew Campbell is an attorney representing the Hopi, Ute Mountain Ute, and Pueblo of Zuni, which are intervening in the litigation on the side of the federal government.

The case started when former President Trump shrunk both monuments in 2017. Then, a few years later, the Biden Administration restored them.

The state of Utah sued, saying Biden overstepped his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act, in part because the monuments are too big.

Yet, the court hearings in Colorado probably won’t get into this dispute and will instead focus on questions like whether the court is able to overrule the president’s judgment on monuments.

Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland, left, Crow Tribal Chairman Frank White Clay, Navajo President Buu Nygren, Zuni Tribal Governor Arden Kucate, and Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman Tanya Lewis testify at a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on critical water rights legislation, September 25, 2024. (Courtesy President Buu Nygren / Facebook)

Tribal members and advocates traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to ask lawmakers to revive the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

The bill passed the Senate, but has been stalled in the House after expiring months ago.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez has this report.

Wednesday morning, tribal members and allies delivered symbolic health care invoices to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office to point out the multi-generational costs for their families dealing with cancer due to radiation exposure. 

Once inside, advocates pressed for Speaker Johnson to bring the bill up for a vote.

Outside, advocates like Kathleen Tsosi prayed for a new path forward.

“I prayed for Speaker Mike Johnson to change his mind and to have the heart and the compassion as well as the House of Representatives to change their mind and approve the RECA bill.” 

It was a stark contrast to Tuesday’s meeting with Senators who have passed expanded versions of the RECA bill and Representatives who say they have the votes to pass it, if Speaker Johnson would bring it to the floor for a vote.

Dr. Donald Warne cuts the ribbon on the newly-opened facility. (Photo: C.J. Keene / SDPB)

Trust and visibility are keys to effective health care, but not everyone feels the same way walking into the doctor’s office.

That’s why some look to increase representation among health care professionals.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene has more.

The new Great Plains Native Health Hub in Rapid City aims to create a safe space for indigenous patients, but it also wants to be a resource to aspiring health care professionals.

Dr. Donald Warne is the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, a key piece of the new Native Health Hub.

“What we’re excited about is bringing together many of our people who have studied in different parts of the country or have worked in different parts of the country, but have roots here in South Dakota, and bringing our team back here is very exciting. So, what we’re hoping is we’ll link research opportunities to educational opportunities, and by doing that we’ll create programs that are much more holistic and comprehensive.”

Warne says indigenous-first health care makes a tangible difference for Native patients.

“I know that we are from communities that have less resources but know that we can do this. I was very fortunate to grow up in a family that had a lot of medicine men and traditional healers. In truth, I was afraid some of my relatives would be disappointed in me for going to the “dark side” of modern medicine, but in truth I had a lot of support. I think what we’re recognizing when we blend together the best of our traditional cultural values with the best of modern science, we create all kinds of opportunities and synergies to improve outcomes.”

Warne’s colleague, Dr. Courtney Claussen, says while it’s a difficult path, Native students shouldn’t write off health care as an unachievable career field.

“Incredibly strong community ties and community connections are very, very strong pillars of success for those who are seeking higher education, and certainly helped myself.”

The leadership team at the Great Plains Native Health Hub is made up entirely of Indigenous peoples and is connected to the prestigious Johns Hopkins medical program.

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There is a new location for Native health in the Black Hills.

The Great Plains Native Health Hub has opened in Rapid City, S.D. with the support of Johns Hopkins University.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene checks in.

The hub will offer new Native-specific healthcare options as part of the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health.

Oglala Lakota doctor Donald Warne is the co-director of the Center for Indigenous Health.

“Unfortunately, we have some of the worst health disparities in the nation right here in the Dakotas, and when we look at the American Indian population, the average age of death is in the late 40s, as compared to the rest of the population in the late 70s. So, we have a 30-year difference in average age of death – and much of that is preventable. When we think about preventable issues, we’re dealing in the areas of public health and medicine.”

He says a safe, trusting environment for Native healthcare is step one.

“Our leadership team for the Great Plains Hub consists of all Lakota people. I think in research and healthcare and community engagement, the messengers really matter. What we’re excited about is we have new research projects studying Lakota populations, led by an entirely Lakota research team. We can’t think of research in this silo, we have to look at this as an opportunity to provide more opportunities to provide more training for community members that might be interested in healthcare careers.”

Warne’s colleague, research associate Dr. Courtney Claussen, says the hub will bring doctors from around the region to focus on specific local challenges.

“Being located here within Rapid City is beautiful. There are a ton of incredible team members located across the nation, so having the interconnections – not only from nation to nation but to the communities in South Dakota – we were able to meet with a lot of really great folks from the great plains region working in the healthcare area.”

Another major draw of the hub – addressing brain drain by bringing PhD’s back to western South Dakota.

(Courtesy Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation)

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut has been awarded a grant to help cut climate pollution.

Edwin J. Viera reports.

It is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reductions grant program.

The funding will be spent on installing electric vehicle charging stations at government buildings around the reservation.

Raheim Eleazer, environmental liaison for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, hopes to install at least a dozen charging stations.

He said the funding will help reduce emissions in other ways.

“We’re also hoping to electrify some of the governmental fleet vehicles. We’re hoping to do 13 of those whether it’s hybrid or fully electric vehicles.”

Another project for the grant funding involves helping 34 people living on the reservation convert or support their gas-powered cars through a rebate program.

He pointed out reducing pollution from transportation has substantial health benefits.

Connecticut’s worsening air quality has increased asthma rates for Mashantucket Pequot Tribe members.

While the grant runs for five years, each project has its own timeline.

Eleazer pointed out electric-vehicle charging stations are a big focus for the community.

He thinks the new charging stations will encourage people to buy electric vehicles and added it is only the start, since the comprehensive climate action plan outlines plans for other renewable energy projects.

“The possibility or the interest of producing or generating energy from renewable resources such as solar. I know I have personally been looking into potentially thermal networking for the reservation.”

He emphasized creating a microgrid is also an option with interest being shown by the community in diversifying energy generation, because he argued using one renewable energy source is not sustainable in New England.

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The Oyate Health Clinic in Rapid City is celebrating five years.

As South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger reports, officials are marking the beginning of the clinic when tribes exercised Indian Self-Determination Act laws to provide their own healthcare.

Oyate Health Clinic started out serving 12,000 patients and was operating in a building constructed in the late 19th century.

Now, the clinic is in a new facility and is serving nearly double the number of patients.

Jerilyn Church is the president and CEO of Oyate Health Clinic.

The Minecoujou Lakota says Oyate Health incorporates culture into healthcare.

Church says Oyate’s approach is what sets them apart from other health systems.

“We don’t refer to the people we serve as patients, or clients, or consumers. They are our relatives and we treat them as such. Before we incorporate any new policy, any new service, any change in how we provide healthcare, we get feedback from the community and we ask them and we continually ask them how we’re doing.”

Church says the clinic is looking to expand services.

Healthcare is a treaty right for tribal members.

Ryman LeBeau is the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman, as well as chair of the Great Sioux Tribal Leaders Health Board.

He was at the Sioux San building five years ago when the tribes took control of the former boarding school and tuberculosis sanitorium.

The Two-Kettle Lakota says the clinic is tribal sovereignty in action.

“And providing healthcare for our people. That really changes the narrative here, we’re no longer waiting on Indian Health Service to provide health care. We’re doing it ourselves, and we’re sustainable at it.”

LeBeau says insurance billing has been a big success in funding the clinic.

He says it allows for other services to get brought in.

LeBeau says the goal is for the clinic to receive referrals from nearby reservations.

This week, tribal members are hoping to persuade U.S. lawmakers to revive a program that compensates people who were exposed to nuclear fallout and uranium mining.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez reports.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) is particularly impactful for the Navajo Nation, where uranium mining was critical in the making of the atomic bomb.

Spokesperson Justin Ahasteen recalls the story of one person’s battle to get help treating cancer.

“Lesley Begay had to sell all of his livestock, had to relocate to the city, he had to do everything he could to stay alive. And by the good acts of God was able to receive his double lung transplant. He’s one person out of thousand who’ve been affected.”

Under the RECA program, those who qualified received about a third of the cost of cancer treatment.

Members of several tribes including Navajo Nation, Laguna Pueblo, and Zuni Pueblo raised funds to travel by bus from New Mexico to Washington D.C.

Meanwhile, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley are joining a group of U.S. lawmakers Tuesday for a press conference.

They’re urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote on the legislation.

Lawmakers say it’s been more than five months since there was a bipartisan vote to strengthen the RECA program.

The Oneida Indian Nation in New York is hosting four games featuring world men’s and women’s lacrosse teams.

The 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championship games are being held Tuesday at the tribe’s Mary C. Winder Community Center.

The new 90,000-square-foot center is expected to welcome thousands of people for pool play matchups.

The games will be broadcast nationally.

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Members of several tribes will travel to Washington DC next week in an attempt to get lawmakers to revive a program aimed at helping them afford healthcare due to toxic poisoning.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez has this preview.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, was a federal program established in the 1990’s, aimed at providing financial support to people who were exposed to nuclear fallout and uranium mining, dating back to World War II.

It’s particularly impactful for the Navajo Nation, where uranium mining was critical in the making of the atomic bomb.

“We look at this as a social justice issue.”

Spokesperson Justin Ahasteen says the latest version of the bill should be brought up for a vote.

“They were paid with sickness and death. And that’s really just appalling and this bill gives them a chance to survive.” 

Members of several tribes including Navajo, Laguna Pueblo, and Zuni have raised funds to travel by bus from New Mexico to Washington DC. 

Stay tuned for more coverage on this story next week from the Mountain West News Bureau

Marie Dexter holds her great-grandson on her lap as drummers and dancers perform. (Photo: Ben Townsend)

A small group gathered in Nome, Alaska this week to honor two decades of Norton Sound Health Corporation’s Tribal Healing department.

Attendees were treated to speeches from the tribal healers, Native food, and a special drum performance.

KNOM’s Ben Townsend has more.

The names of the children are Almeda Heavy Hair, Bishop L. Shield, and John Bull.

They died at the school in the 1890s.

A repatriation delegation brought them home, which was followed by a wake, reinterment services, and a community feed.

Earlier this month, the Office of Army Cemeteries began disinterring the remains at the Carlisle Barracks cemetery of the children, and eight others from other tribes including from South Dakota and Oklahoma.

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Canada’s doctors have formally apologized for the role of the medical profession in past and on-going harms to the country’s Indigenous people.

More from Dan Karpenchuk.

Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, made the apology in a Victoria, B.C. conference hall during a somber ceremony.

“The Canadian Medical Association is deeply sorry for the harms First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples have experienced and continue to experience in the Canadian health system. The conditions they have faced is deplorable and we are deeply ashamed.”

Dr. Reimer says the actions and inactions of the medical profession, throughout history, led to racism, neglect, and abuse, and the profession has not lived up to the ethical standards it is expected to uphold.

Read the apology.

Dr. Paula Cashin, vice chair of the CMA’s board of directors, talked about Indian hospitals, substandard care, forced sterilization, forced relocation of Indigenous patients far from their homes and families, and … 

“Medical experimentation was conducted on Indigenous adults including studying the effects of nutritional interventions and experimental tuberculosis vaccines and treatments. We still do not know the full extent of medical experimentation on Indigenous children or adults.”

Dr. Reimer says her organization is committed to owning up to its past wrongs and correcting them.

Some elders said the apology was a good first step, but acknowledged that rebuilding trust will take a long time because of the damage.

Some Native groups say they want more than an apology; they want concrete actions.

In many states, the political landscape can be combative, disenfranchising, and even hostile.

In South Dakota though, one group is looking to reach voters who may have more power than previously thought.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene checks in with one Native-led, get-out-the-vote effort.

Communities Organizing for Unified Power (COUP) has announced its latest effort to register and mobilize Indigenous voters through the HeSapa Voters Initiative.

Natalie Stites Means is COUP executive director.

“We’re a non-partisan group – we don’t work with either political party – we’re solely interested in more Native Americans registering to vote. We feel like Native Americans are the future of South Dakota, we’re the majority-minority, and it’s been demonstrated our voting rights are definitely inhibited by the conditions we’re facing here.”

Advocates say conditions like long drives to polling locations, few if any satellite polling locations, and a lack of public transit options on reservations contribute to an already well-established wariness of government on reservations.

Stites Means says it’s not all about Washington D.C. though.

“What we’re really interested in is our local, state, city elections. We have seen really small margins put people in office, and we want to help galvanize our community to care about these civic issues and public policy issues that are creating these conditions where we are disenfranchised and disempowered.”

For Stites Means, that means taking a hard look at economic development in reservation country.

“Particularly in South Dakota, half of (Native Americans) live at or below the federal poverty rate. In contrast, the white population at least in 2020 – only 8% of them lived below the federal poverty rate. Voting is a social determinate of health.”

The get-out-the-vote effort will continue through the election.

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Photo: Bryce Kirk, chairman of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council. (Jackie Coffin)

Montana is a key battleground for control of the U.S. Senate this year.

Tribal leaders say the Republican candidate needs to apologize for offensive comments that perpetuate racist stereotypes.

Yellowstone Public Radio’s Jackie Coffin has more.

Native Americans in Montana have reliably voted for democrats for decades, helping U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) win three terms.

Republican newcomer Tim Sheehy is recently polling slightly ahead of Sen. Tester, but is facing scrutiny from tribal leaders after comments he is said to have made at a couple of private fundraisers were leaked to the media.

Here’s one about a trip to the Crow reservation for a cattle branding event.

“Great way to bond with all the Indians to be out there, while they’re drunk at 8 a. m. and you’re roping together (laughs).”

Sheehy is said to have made the comments last November.

In August, the Char-Koosta News, a publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation, posted the audio online.

The source of the audio has not identified themselves.

Sheehy’s campaign has not disputed the authenticity of the recording.

Tribal leaders recently held a press conference to discuss the comments.

“You know, we promote love, unity, respect. We’re not drunks. We’re a lot more things than what he said.”

Bryce Kirk (Assiniboine-Sioux) is chairman of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, which represents 12 tribal nations in three states.

“My message to Tim Sheehy is to apologize, is to say, I’m sorry. For once let your pride aside And sit there and say, I’m sorry for the remarks that I made.”

So far the Sheehy campaign has not responded publicly to tribal leaders. Soon after the audio was leaked, a campaign spokesperson told the Associated Press, “What folks are insinuating about him, that’s just not who he is.”

Sylvan Covers Up, a member of the Crow Tribe, says Native people are willing to give Sheehy a chance.

“He’s probably a swell guy. You know, he’s a veteran. I respect him for that.”

But Covers Up says the leaked comments are not good for the candidate.

“And they talk about it at different powwows now. And so it’s making a mark.”

Indigenous people make up about seven percent of Montana’s population, a significant voting block in a race that’s expected to be decided by a very slim margin.

(Photo: Hannah Habermann / Wyoming Public Media)

$100 million in federal funding is headed toward U.S. states to reduce flammable trees and underbrush – particularly in areas close to homes and communities.

And in Wyoming, that chopped timber will be going to tribal members to heat their homes.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Hanna Merzbach reports.

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New policies aimed at addressing Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) will soon be enacted statewide in Alaska, after legislation was recently signed into law.

The bill expands resources and training for police across the state – and is drawing praise from a longtime MMIP advocate.

KNOM’s Ben Townsend has more.

The legislation establishes a new MMIP Review Commission, a nine-member body responsible for reviewing unsolved MMIP cases and submitting reports to the Alaska Legislature.

The commission includes seats for representatives from victim advocacy and Alaska Native tribal organizations.

Deilah Johnson, an advocate and organizer with the Village of Solomon, said the creation of the commission is a much-needed step toward addressing the crisis.

“At the state level, there was just not a lot of discussion or acknowledgment in addressing any of the overwhelming statistics surrounding the issues facing indigenous populations, specifically women and young girls.”

The bill also mandates Indigenous cultural training for new police officers in Alaska.

The training will be especially impactful in rural communities like Nome, where the police department recruits officers that only live in the community while serving their two week rotations.

Johnson believes the cultural training will help officers deepen their understanding of the people they serve.

“They’re on and off without any real sensitive training to the people that they are protecting, understanding, and needing to work into the different culture and lifestyles of the people.”

The bill also requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to file a missing persons report to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

They need to do so within 60 days of a report being filed at the local level.

The DPS will also employ at least two full-time MMIP investigators.

While Johnson acknowledges the bill is a step in the right direction, she hopes that the momentum won’t stop here.

“I really would hope that this is going to continue to generate the awareness surrounding these issues, keep the conversation going, and allow for additional partners to jump in and build additional resources.”

The new law will take effect on January 1, 2025.

Oak Flat protest in Washington, D.C. in 2015. (Photo: Wendy Kenin / Flickr)

Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Apache people and their allies, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Oak Flat in Arizona from mining by Resolution Copper.

This week, the group formally filed its appeal to the high court, after the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rehear the group’s case, Apache Stronghold v. the U.S., in May.

Earlier this year, a panel of 11 judges on the appeals court narrowly ruled against the group.

Oak Flat is sacred to Western Apache and other Native people who say the proposed copper mine violates religious freedom.

Apache people and their allies hosted a day of prayer outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Dr. Wendsler Nosie Senior of Apache Stronghold says Oak Flat is their Mt. Sinai, and he is praying the justices will protect their place of worship.

Resolution Copper says the project will supply copper, create jobs, and boost Arizona’s economy.

Resolution Copper told KJZZ News the case “doesn’t present any question worthy of Supreme Court review.”

The Supreme Court will first have to agree to consider the case.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Tribal Government Relations, the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, and the Eastern Oklahoma VA Medical Center are hosting a Homeless Veterans Stand Down.

The event next week in Okmulgee, Okla., will focus on identifying and assisting homeless veterans across Eastern Oklahoma.

A number of services will be provided including health care, disability benefits, free legal aid, and social security.

According to the VA, many veterans are unaware they could be eligible for benefits.

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