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Anchor: Antonia Gonzales

The Alaska Superior Court has dismissed a suit challenging the Tanana Chiefs Conference tribal sovereign immunity, a status which protects it from being sued.

A November 21st order issued by Judge Patricia Haines threw out a case filed by Dot Lake Village, which alleged TCC bylaw violations, like illegal board meetings and votes, and sought court intervention to prevent them from happening again.

Dot Lake argued that the sovereign immunity of TCC tribes does not extend to the Interior Alaska Native service organization, but the court found that TCC is an arm of its member tribes, and therefore cannot be sued by them, adding that the court “lacks jurisdiction to insert itself into a dispute that ultimately boils down to a self-governance disagreement within an intertribal consortium.”

In an emailed response to a request for comment, Dot Lake Village president Tracey Charles Smith said, “TCC is not a tribe, but is asserting tribal rights without getting the consent of its member tribes. In so doing, TCC is claiming that it may violate its governing rules without consequence.”

TCC did not respond to an interview request by National Native News and member station KUAC, but in an organization press release announcing the case dismissal, TCC Chief and Chairman Brian Ridley says, “We are ready to move past these issues, as we have worked hard over the past year to heal our organization and continue forward with strength, unity, and respect.”

A new study shows that a wide variety of Arctic animals, including polar bears, are being exposed to a tick-born disease, normally associated with rabbits and hares.

The Alaska Beacon, an online journal, reported on the findings.

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted the study to look for signs of exposure to the bacterium that causes tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever.”

The research is designed to help scientists track diseases as the Arctic warms and they spread north.

Alaska Natives could be the first to feel its impacts if tularemia spreads to the animals they hunt.

Arctic foxes and Arctic ground squirrels showed the highest level of antibodies in the blood to fight tularemia.

Caribou showed the lowest levels.

Polar bears were in the middle.

Geese examined in the project also showed exposure.

Antibodies to the bacterium don’t necessarily mean the animals had tularemia, only that they were exposed to it.

It’s rare for the disease to spread to humans, although some cases have been documented in Alaska.

The Centers for Disease control says some of the symptoms are skin ulcers, sore throats, and, in the most serious cases, pneumonia-like coughs, chest pain, and breathing difficulties.

Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Sioux), writer and actor for the Peacock series “Rutherford Falls”, says while it’s disappointing the show was not picked up for a third season, Indigenous representation in popular media is still strong.

“There tend to be elimination of newer shows, shows that don’t have as many viewers, and I think ‘Rutherford Falls’ is possibly sort of a victim of some larger shifts that are happening in the industry. And that we’re seeing with other shows as well.” 

Schmieding adds many writers and performers with “Rutherford Falls” are already involved with other productions. She’s continuing work with another Native-themed series, “Reservation Dogs,” which has been renewed for a third season.

President Joe Biden will host the White House Tribal
Nations Summit Wednesday and Thursday at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.

The summit provides an opportunity for tribal leaders from the country’s 574 federally recognized tribes to engage with the federal government.

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By Jill Fratis, KNBA News

St. George Island is an Alaska Native community that prides itself on its resourcefulness, but was put to the test after its water system failed.

The island is about 200 miles off the coast of Alaska.

Only 35 people live there and they were not able to drink their tap water for almost a month.

“It’s been pretty murky, It’s brown, even boiling it. I don’t trust it to wash my dishes.”

Anatasia Kashevarof says tribes and Native corporations donated supplies of bottled water, which went fast.

The public safety building did have water that could be used for cleaning.

Kashevarof says families had to haul five gallon buckets to their homes to flush toilets and mop the floors.

This went on for several weeks, as crews tried to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

Finally, they tracked it down to a broken water line.

When the city crew dug into the ground, they were shocked at what they found – a clean break in the pipe that was right on top of a huge rock.

The mayor of St. George, Mark Merculief, began to wonder if an earthquake caused the damage.

One had jolted the island a few days before the water ran out.

Although the cause of the break will likely remain a mystery, he says the community learned a lot from the experience.

“You got to know the ins and out of your systems here, and also to be able to, whether it’s federal or state agencies to be able, to explain situations like that.”

The water system was up and running in time for Thanksgiving, but St. George still has to boil its drinking water until the lines are completely flushed out.

By Rhonda McBride, KNBA News

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK), who won a special election to cover the rest of the term for the late Rep. Don Young, went on to become the first Alaska Native woman elected to Congress.

And, now has become the first Alaska U.S. representative to be elected by ranked choice voting.

Last week, when second choice ballots were counted, Rep. Peltola received enough to win the race and credits the new system of voting to her election.

“So because of ranked voting, there are opportunities for people who may not be the party favorite. They may not be the person the establishment says is their turn to lead. I really think it helps mainstream folks, not from an establishment get their foot in the door.”

Rep. Peltola won with 54% of the vote, about 10 percent more than her Republican challenger, former Governor Sarah Palin.

Proponents of ranked choice voting say the system helps to elect more moderate candidates and minorities.

Rep. Peltola says she’ll focus on Alaska priorities and will try to balance that with efforts to work on the behalf of Native Americans.

She says her election gets her a seat at the table, which puts her in a position to help tribes.

Native American comedian and writer Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Sioux) switched gears ahead of her planned visit to the University of Oregon last week.

KLCC’s Brian Bull has more.

Schmieding had planned to do a day full of activities at her alma mater, but tested positive for COVID after landing in Eugene.

“I got it at a Smashing Pumpkins concert at the Hollywood Bowl. So (LAUGHS) we’ll blame the Smashing Pumpkins fans.”

Instead, Schmieding did visits and a “BE INDIGENOUS JOY” campus presentation via Zoom to keep people safe.

She’s a UO alum of the Class of 2005, and has written and acted for two Native-themed series, “Rutherford Falls” and “Reservation Dogs.”

Schmieding assures fans that her COVID case is mild, she’s up on her vaccinations, and she’s resting at her parent’s place.

“I’m not suffering at all. And I’m well-taken care of. My mom and my dad are really showing up for me.”

Schmieding’s relatives, including her brother, grandmother, and a cousin, appeared at the Tuesday event on her behalf.

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The final results of Alaska’s ranked choice voting gives a decisive win to U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK).

She becomes the first Alaska Native to win a full term in Congress.

She previously won the special election for the seat to fill the term of U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-AK), who died in March.

Unofficial results give Rep. Peltola 55% of the vote to former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s 45%. Republican Nick Begich III finished third.

Rep. Peltola was ahead in voting on election night, but the final outcome could not be determined until voters’ second choices were tabulated.

Election officials released those results Wednesday, November 23.

Rep. Peltola ran an unusually civil race. “I think it shows that Alaskans wholeheartedly embrace nonpartisanship and embrace working together and tackling issues that Alaskans face,” Peltola told Alaska Public Media.

Efforts to restore bison in central Wyoming could hold the key to strengthening ecosystems and economies across western states.

Eric Galatas has more.

Eastern Shoshone tribal member Jason Baldes is working to bring buffalo back onto tribal lands to roam freely, starting with a small herd on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming.

He says restoring a wildlife economy will require a shift in vision for land management away from the status quo driven exclusively by dollars.

“But for Native people, a healthy environment is much more valuable. And so as we restore bison to the landscape for their keystone role as an ecosystem engineer, then we’re restoring the land and we’re thinking more about biodiversity and the interconnectedness of all these beings that are here.”

Unlike grazing cattle that decrease plant and animal biodiversity critical for ecosystems, Baldes notes bison increase biodiversity by creating food and habitat for hundreds of species.

Their dust bathing creates micro depressions important for seed dispersal and water accumulation. Their hooves naturally aerate the soil.

Every winter they put on a new coat, which becomes available for many species of birds when they shed in the spring.

For thousands of years, before America’s first residents were stripped of their lands and food supplies, the health and wealth of Native communities in the region was directly connected to bison.

Baldes says despite being separated for 130 years, the animal is still very present in cultural belief systems including their annual sun dance.

“It’s in our sweat-lodge ceremonies, it’s in our house ceremonies. We still have songs about the buffalo. That animal historically was our life’s commissary, it was our store. It was where our foods, our medicines, our tools, our material came from.”

The Eastern Band of Shoshone were also widely renowned as “buffalo eaters” and Baldes says bringing herds back to western lands managed as wild animals will also help tribes heal.

“We have the highest rates of diabetes and heart disease and other health-related issues because of the removal of buffalo from our diet. So incorporating that back into our diet again is very important. It’s the highest in protein, minerals and vitamins, and the lowest in fat and cholesterol than any other meat.”

Miss Indian New Mexico 2022 says she’s a cultural ambassador, role model, and public servant.

Alysia Coriz (Santo Domingo Pueblo) is representing the 23 tribal nations in New Mexico, but says she’s also serving the state as a whole.

“As well as understanding this title is a pillar of hope for all our communities and it’s also another space for me to utilize this platform and call forth and inspire others to continue to be the solutions to their community’s needs.”

Coriz was crowned this fall.

The Miss Indian New Mexico pageant includes traditional talent, traditional skill, contemporary talent, personal interview, and a test of knowledge about New Mexico.

She ran on a platform of empowerment through community building.

“When we get our community people together to have conversations and connect with one another and continue to build a deeper understanding of the issues and impacts the challenges that we face. This is a time where we’re able to meet and continue to build community together and that’s all how we honor ourselves through kinship, through community and as well as when we find that connection, we feel that we have the support system we are building that system.”

Coriz will serve a year as Miss Indian New Mexico.

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A boarding school healing ceremony was held in Anchorage, AK, this fall.

The ceremony took place as people from across the state gathered for the 2022 First Alaskans Institute’s Elders and Youth Conference.

Storyteller and cultural bearer Bob Sam from Sitka, opened up the healing event by sharing some history of boarding schools in Southeast Alaska, from the early opening of the Sheldon Jackson School to students who were sent to the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.

Sam says it was devastating for students to be stripped of their languages and cultures.

He says some died of a broken heart. He also shared some stories of boarding school survivors talking about the trauma they endured.

Students were often told they were worthless, and many were physically, mentally, and sexually abused.


“I’ve been involved with boarding school issues for a number of years now, primarily I return bodies. I began to listen to the survivors and people who suffered from the trauma of boarding schools and from there I’ve developed a ceremony for healing. Getting comfortable to coming to terms with the issues related to trauma.”

Sam, who works on repatriation efforts, has brought home the remains of many students.

He says that work and his overall research of U.S. Indian boarding schools caused him much trauma.

He spent many years in Japan learning about Japanese culture.

He then returned home to Alaska embracing his Lingít culture. He has since fused both cultures to help him heal from the trauma.

Sam put on his traditional regalia, which he says is part of the healing process, describing each piece from his tunic to an orange apron representing “Every Child Matters,” a robe, and a woven headpiece representing Indigenous boarding school students in Canada.

Sam then told a story about raven and the return of traditional knowledge to the people. He ended the ceremony by having people form two lines. Boarding school survivors then walked down and were given affirmations, handshakes and hugs from each person as Sam sang.

Sam says the healing is for all people, especially for those who survived boarding school and those who died. Work continues to bring students home from Carlisle to tribes across the U.S.

National Native News was given permission to record and share the boarding school healing ceremony.

The Department of Interior is continuing its investigation into U.S. Indian boarding schools.

The agency is traveling across the country gathering testimony.

This fall, a stop was made in South Dakota, as Lee Strubinger reports.

78 year-old Rosalie Quick Bear attended one of the 31 boarding schools located in South Dakota.

The Sicangu Lakota describes being powdered with the pesticide DDT, spending weeks with an untreated broken leg and getting locked in a dark cement cellar for days.

Quick Bear describes her experience like this to her grandkids.

“You see all this horror stuff on TV? Real bad? That’s how we grew up. That why we are like we are.”

Quick Bear says her experience at St. Francis Indian Boarding school still affects her.

“I thought there was no God, just torture and hatred. Sometimes I’m—still to this day—I’m quiet. I’m off away from people. I still can’t really feel that love that we’re supposed to know as human beings.”

Another survivor says every boarding school story is similar.

Cheryl Angel also spoke.

“We were treated inhumanely.”

It’s stories like this the Department of Interior is collecting as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative.

The initiative hopes to identify marked and unmarked burial sites across the boarding school system and the total amount of spending and federal support for the schools.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says the tour is one step among many.

“That we will take to strengthen and rebuild the bonds within native communities that the federal Indian boarding school policies set out to break.”

Listen to two hours of the healing tour event

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Native women in Arizona are getting help to launch their own businesses with expert advice.

As Alex Gonzalez reports, a unique program helps bring their business ideas to life, and a new cohort just joined the project.

Project DreamCatcher is a unique, free initiative for Native American women entrepreneurs.

In the intensive, one-week program, they’re exposed to MBA-level business classes at ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Last month, 21 women graduated from the program.

Cherolyn Vanwinkle, a graduate and co-founder of AZ Native Mobile Diesel Truck & Trailer Repair, says the program has been instrumental for her, in a predominantly male-run field.

“I feel like this program just really helped me push my fears aside. I mean, I wasn’t fearful before, but it was just more I was sitting back and letting the world take me over. But now, I feel like I’m finally in control.”

Participants have access to graduate-level courses, coaching and advising sessions with business professionals, and networking activities designed to foster confidence in starting or growing a business.

According to project leaders, the last cohort graduated 67 women, who have started 30 businesses in Arizona.

Vanwinkle previously worked in the medical field and says she didn’t know much about what it took to run a mechanic business. But she’s taken her skills and experience and used them in new ways in her new company.

She says one of the most overwhelming parts of the journey was knowing where to begin, but DreamCatcher helps participants devise a plan.

“They had a professor come in and talk to us about how to understand revenues, expenses, gross profits, salary sheets, cash flow and owner’s equity. Those are large words for some of us that didn’t go to business school.”

Vanwinkle says having a support system as a new a business is fundamental. She encourages the next women who enroll in Project DreamCatcher to be open minded, ask questions and use the resources available to them.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses contributed over $39 billion to the economy last year, but make up only one percent of all firms.

Longtime tribal university president Lionel Bordeaux has passed away.

The enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe served as president of Sinte Gleska University for 50 years, said to be the longest serving university president in the United States.

The university is located on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota.

Bordeaux was well-known as a strong advocate in the tribal college movement.

His career also included working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Experience in Washington, D.C., was instrumental in helping Bordeaux pursue passage of legislation to support tribal colleges and universities.

Bordaeux was passionate about culturally-based Native higher education and service to the Native community.

He was a founder of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, which represents the 35 tribal colleges and universities across the country. And he was a founder of the American Indian College Fund, the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium, and the Tribal College Journal.

Bordeaux passed away at age 82.

A celebration of life is planned for December first at the tribal university.

The Phoenix Suns honored the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) Tuesday night during a game in Phoenix, AZ.

They celebrated a 20 year partnership between the organization and the professional basketball team.

NABI hosts the largest all Indigenous basketball tournament in North America, with more than 100 teams taking part in games, each summer.

NABI’s event generates a local economic impact to the Phoenix area, and has awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships to Native college students.

The organization was involved in the Suns’ new uniforms celebrating Native culture and the showcasing of Arizona’s 22 tribal nations at the arena.

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U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with tribal leaders in Albuquerque, NM last week to discuss roadway safety in tribal communities, infrastructure investments, and how the Biden administration can work with Indigenous communities.

Leaders shared their concerns and frustrations about lack of funding, and increased traffic, which is causing faster wear and tear to roads and highways.

Former Governor of Laguna Pueblo Richard Luarkie says the department has provided resources, but stressed it’s no longer enough.

“The consideration for the formal use to determine how much funding tribe receive definitely needs to be revisited, because as you’re hearing from the rest of the leadership here, it’s not enough.”

Charles Riley, who spoke on behalf of Acoma Pueblo, says there are many challenges when it comes to applying for funding.

“Many of our tribes here in the United States do not have the resources or expertise to apply for these grants.”

The concerns for an increase in traffic going through Pueblo communities has contributed to crimes, says All Pueblo Council of Governors chair Mark Mitchell.

He says that while the Pueblo’s economy has benefited from increased transit, it has also caused more problems.

“Our enterprises and small businesses have benefited from the increased transit through our community. However, our communities also have seen rise in safety concerns as well. Dangerous activities like drug and human trafficking have found their way into our communities at an alarming rate.”

Buttigieg says he’s aware of how difficult it is to combat issues with infrastructure.

“I will candidly just say as a mayor who maintained roads and did battles with pothole and other maintenance issues for a living before I came into this role, I do know how you do it with the formula dollars for maintaining the number of lane loud roads that exist out there and take to heart the point that you’re raising that has been raised many times over about the issue of formula funds.”

The secretary committed to working with tribes.

The Center for Rural Affairs is launching new Makerspaces on two Nebraska Indian Community College campuses in Macy and Santee for making, learning, exploring, and sharing.

Eric Galatas has more.

The Makerspaces will include traditional, low-tech tools, and also significant investments in cutting-edge technologies.

Among other tools available to students and tribal members, Kristine Flyinghawk with the Center’s native communities program is especially excited to install a Glowforge.

“It can engrave and cut anything from wood to leather to glass. And then we have the new Cricut Maker 3, which can make up to a 12 foot vinyl sign. We will have a sublimation printer.”

Flyinghawk explains that a sublimation printer can print images on just about anything, from cups to cozies to keychains.

The Center also will install a T-shirt press, a sticker and button maker, a sewing machine, an embroidering machine, and a quilting machine.

Workshops will help people get hands-on experience with each new tool.

The Makerspace also aims to facilitate experimentation, where people can test out new ideas for a side hustle or a full-on business.

Angelina Magerl with the Center says financial support and expert guidance for creating a business plan will also be available to help people realize their goals.

“It gives you that step-by-step process in seeing what realistically – like time-wise, money-wise – what you can do. With a business plan, it kind of lays it all out for you, what needs to be done, and what the outcome is of having accomplished that in your plan.”

Flyinghawk says in addition to workshops the MakerSpace will also offer open hours, where folks can spend time with people from all ages and walks of life, to share skills and learn traditions that have been passed down.

“They can still come and bring their beadwork, or whatever kind of project that they are working on, if they want to work in a shared space with others and have that fellowship and community.”

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For the first time in the history of the state of Minnesota, off reservation land has been returned to tribal hands.

As Barbara Jean Meyers reports, a ceremony to celebrate the land return took place last week.

The returned land, a stretch of beach along Lake Superior’s North Shore outside Grand Marais, MN, was once part of a larger Native settlement known as Chippewa City.

The historic occasion was celebrated with a ceremony at the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino.

John Morrin, a Grand Portage Tribal elder, was one of the keynote speakers.

“I heard many stories from my mother and aunts and uncles about growing up in Chippewa City and walking, and running and playing on the beach that we’ve now gotten back. So it’s a very personal day for me and a very historic day for the state of Minnesota, Cook County, and the Grand Portage homeland.”

The celebration was also very personal for area historian, author, and Grand Portage tribal descendent Staci Drouillard.

Like John Morrin, Chippewa City and was home to many of Drouillard’s ancestors.

“Nishkwakwansing is the Ojibwe name which means the edge of the forest or the place where the trees stand, which I think is a beautiful name for the place.”

Drouillard’s book Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe helped raise awareness in the broader public about the significance of the area.

Bobby Dechampe is the Grand Portage Tribal Council Chairman.

“To end 2022 like this for Indian country is just unbelievable. Nett Lake got 27,000 acres back. Fond du Lac got Wisconsin Point Back. Now Grand Portage got Chippewa City Back!”

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe in southeastern Montana is slated to receive $52 million in federal funding to expand broadband to nearly 2,000 homes on the tribe’s reservation.

Aaron Bolton has more.

Funding  from the infrastructure bill passed by Congress and signed by President Biden earlier this year is expected to connect 1,700 homes on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation to high speed internet.

According to a Broadband Now report, a little over half of reservation residents have access to high-speed internet, but none of the available services are considered affordable for low-income people.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Blackfeet Nation were both awarded nearly $75 millions in grants through the same Internet for All initiative earlier this year.

Roughly $3 billion of federal funding has been set aside to help tribes across the country improve broadband access.

In Alaska’s U.S. House Race, Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK) is still on track to win.

Absentee ballots counted on Friday now give her 49% of the vote.

She needs more than 50% to win, a number she is expected to reach on Wednesday – when second choice ballots are added to the totals under Alaska’s new system of ranked choice voting.

In August, Peltola was elected to serve the remainder of the late Rep. Don Young (R-AK)’s term, which made the Yup’ik from Bethel the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress.

In the race for a full term, the Democrat is ahead of two Republicans, former Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich.

Two New Mexico Pueblos, Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara, recently signed an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to restore habitat in Española, which is located 25 miles north of Santa Fe.

The Española Valley Ecosystem Restoration Project is a $100 million project to restore more than 900 acres of aquatic and riparian habitats along the Rio Grande River and its tributaries.

The tribes will be working with the Army Corps Albuquerque District team.

The agreement is said to be the first of its kind between the Army Corps and the Pueblos and includes a provision to greatly reduce the cost share with tribal partners.

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved decommissioning of Pacific Corps Klamath Dams in Northern California.

It comes after years of demands from tribes and environmental groups.

Christina Aanestad reports.

The largest dam demolition and river restoration plan in the world is closer to becoming reality.

U.S. regulators approved the removal of Pacific Corps’ four aging Klamath Dam structures.

It will reopen hundreds of miles of California river to imperiled salmon after years of advocacy by environmental groups and California Native American Tribes including the Hoopa and Karuk Nations.

Richard Glick is chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

“The dam removals make sense in large part as it relates to fish and wildlife protection. I think also the discussion of the impact on tribes and the ability for tribes to be able to have their practices and traditions improved as it relates to water quality and fisheries and other resources. I think it’s an important issue.”

The Klamath Dam deconstruction will also return the lower half of California’s second-largest river to a free-flowing state for the first time in more than a century.

The Klamath River Renewal Corporation – a non-profit group will lead the dam removal effort.

The states of California and Oregon will take over PacifiCorp’s license for the purpose of demolishing the dams.

Preparations to remove the dams will begin in 2023 with deconstruction by 2024.

The Navajo Nation Council has chosen a new speaker.

As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, it follows the resignation of the former legislative leader just days before the November election.

Delegates elected Otto Tso as speaker during a special session in the tribal capital of Window Rock.

He’ll lead the 24^th Navajo Nation Council in its final days before the next one is seated in January.

Navajo Chief Justice JoAnn Jayne administered the oath of office in council chambers Wednesday, and Tso pledged to continue providing vital services to the tribe and to create a smooth transition into the next council.

He’ll head all departments and programs in the Navajo Nation’s legislative branch.

Tso represents Tuba City, the reservation’s largest community, and has served on multiple committees including as vice-chair of the Law and Order Committee.

It comes after Seth Damon’s resignation as speaker earlier this month.

In October he was photographed slumped over and appearing inebriated in front of a gambling machine in Las Vegas while on a family trip.

He later admitted to being intoxicated, and resigned as speaker as the council considered legislation, sponsored by Tso, to put him on indefinite leave.

Tso will serve until January 10, 2023 when the next council begins and delegates will again elect a speaker.

Longtime South Dakota water protector and pipeline opponent Joye Braun has passed away.

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

Braun, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation, passed away in her home at the age of 53.

Braun was an organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network.

A statement from the organization says Braun was a proud servant for her people.

She was a nonviolent direct-action organizer who trained hundreds of people over the years.

Her work including organizing a protest against the Keystone XL pipeline near Cannonball, North Dakota in 2016.

Friend of Braun and fellow activist Madonna Thunder Hawk says Braun was an authority outside the public eye.

“She kept track behind-the-scenes what the different corporations were doing, what the legislative issues are, and those types of things that had to do with public utilities. Those kinds of legislative updates. She kept up with that. She did the research, and she stayed current, and she kept the rest of us in the know.”

Thunder Hawk reflected on the weight of Braun’s contributions.

“She’s going to be a part of our modern-day American Indian history. She made her place in the protection of our world as Indigenous people of this land. She’s made her mark for the time she was here on this Mother Earth – she made it count.”

Funeral arrangements for Braun have not yet been announced.

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