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Photo: Protest signs hang near Great Plains Hall in Arapahoe, Wyo., on Oct. 17. Northern Arapaho tribal member Antonio Roman walks in the background. (Courtesy Chris Clements / Wyoming Public Media)

The Northern Arapaho Tribe recently held its primary election.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Chris Clements has more.

Voters braved a rainstorm near Great Plains Hall in Arapahoe to select which candidates should move to the general election for the tribe’s Business Council.

It’s made up of six officials who handle the day-to-day operations of the tribe.

Michael Yellowplume is a candidate who lives in Arapahoe.

“I wanted to, like, try to find more funding for the youth to, you know, do after school stuff with them, and, yeah, just a lot of things. And then for the senior centers too.”

Aloysius Bell, Sr. says he’d like to see an audit of the tribe’s finances, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some of that money, I don’t think it was well spent or went to the where it’s supposed to go.”

Tensions between the Business Council and the tribe’s General Council have piqued recently.

The General Council is the tribe’s main governing body, made up of all adult tribal members who attend meetings.

Recently, the Business Council put out a statement saying it wouldn’t carry out two General Council resolutions.

That led to protests.

Nicole Wagon is a tribal member who attended one of the protests.

“General Council is our supreme governing body, not the NABC. They work for us. The people have spoken.”

The top twelve candidates for the Business Council who receive the most votes will move forward.

The Northern Arapaho Tribe’s general election is set for November 21.

Cultural leader, anthropologist, and Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl, Ph.D., was awarded a 2023 National Humanities Medal Monday at the White House.

President Worl (Tlingit) has served as president of Sealaska Heritage Institute since 1998.

She has conducted research throughout Alaska and the circumpolar arctic, and taught at the University of Alaska Southeast.

In an interview with National Native News in Anchorage, Alaska, last week, Worl talked about her legacy.

“I want to see the next generation speaking our language, I want to see the next generation as they are now coming out to celebrate our culture. For those of us, we grew up in a period where our Native languages and cultures were suppressed. So, if I know that’s a legacy I can leave behind, beside my children. If I have any success, it’s in my children.”

The award “recognizes an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the human experience, broadened citizen engagement with history and literature or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to cultural resources.”

2022 recipients were also honored including Native poet Joy Harjo and Indigenous higher education administrator Robert Martin.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) recently announced that California is expanding access to culturally-based substance use disorder treatment services.

It marks the first time Medi-Cal will cover traditional medicine and healing practices.

According to the governor’s office, the practices have been shown to improve health outcomes, particularly for individuals with substance use disorders.

It allows two new categories of interventions to be covered by Medi-Cal developed by the state in partnership with tribes.

Starting January 1, 2025, an Indian Health Care Provider can request reimbursement for Traditional Healer and Natural Helper Services provided to residents of qualifying counties.

In the coming months, the state says it will consult with tribes to develop guidance.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved use for California, along with Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon.

 

 

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Two Colorado senators introduced a bill recently that would significantly expand federal public land protections in the Gunnison River Basin.

The legislation was developed in collaboration with one of the state’s tribes.

KUNC’s Lucas Brady Woods reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act would expand protections for more than 730,000 acres.

Part of the legislation would transfer a massive ranch owned by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe from private land into a reservation trust. 

Chairman Manuel Heart says that will give tribal members more access to part of their ancestral land.  

“We as Ute people are the original stewards of these mountains, which we call the Rocky Mountains, especially in the area that this bill is pertaining to.”

Local counties, municipalities, and organizations also collaborated on the bill.

It proposes a number of new special management areas for forest and wildlife conservation and restoration in the Gunnison Basin. 

Wednesday is the first day of early voting in Arizona and both vice presidential candidates will be making their cases to voters.

Alex Gonzalez has more.

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), will attend events in the Phoenix area today, including a meeting with tribal leaders of the Gila River Indian Community before making his way to Tucson.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Nation/D-MN) says the Harris-Walz campaign knows the importance of Arizona’s 11 electoral votes, but also how decisive the Native vote can be.

“In 2020, we watched it come down to Arizona, and I know how powerful the Native vote was in that election. And I anticipate that the Native vote will turn up and turn out yet again.”

Indigenous people account for about 6% of Arizona’s population.

And while Native voters have typically leaned Democratic, Republicans are also aiming to engage them. Vice Presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), holds a rally in Tucson today.

And early voters will begin casting their ballots in what’s sizing up to be an extremely tight race.

Voters in precincts on the Navajo and Hopi reservations in northeastern Arizona cast about 60,000 ballots in 2020, compared to about 45,000 in 2016, according to the Associated Press.

Lt. Gov. Flanagan calls it “significant” – and says she’s encouraging all Arizonans to vote early.

“And it’s really powerful – turn up, you vote early and then, you can spend the rest of your time knocking on doors, calling people and having conversations with your friends and relatives about the power of their vote – especially in Arizona.”

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to return to Arizona for the second time in two weeks to speak at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Ariz. Thursday evening.

Former President Donald Trump will also make his way back to the Grand Canyon State on Sunday for a rally in Prescott, Ariz.

This story is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Julie Kitka (Chugach) became the third Alaska Native leader to be inducted into the National Native American Hall of Fame at a recent ceremony in Oklahoma City.

KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports.

Kitka recently stepped down as the longtime president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and will deliver the keynote speech at the AFN convention in Anchorage next week.

Kitka spent more than three decades working for AFN and was known to have the ear of national policy makers.

From Congressional leaders, to military generals, to White House cabinet members and staffers, she developed a wide range of connections to promote Alaska Native causes.

AFN’s first president, Emil Notti, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021.

The late civil rights leader Elizabeth Peratrovich was also honored in 2019.

Five other Native Americans were inducted to the Hall of Fame this year.

 

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The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) is reaching out to tribes to offer firefighting training to tribal members.

Spokane Public Radio’s Steve Jackson reports.

In recent years, major wildfires have raged on Native American reservations in Washington, notably on the Colville on the east side and the Quinalt on the west.

While some tribes have a number of trained firefighters, many others need that kind of expertise.

A new initiative will use $800.000 in state money to offer training at various levels of firefighting experience, from basic levels to that of a fire boss.

Angie Lane of DNR’s wildland fire management division says the funding will help pay for than just the courses themselves.

“You know having a scholarship that pays their way of you will, like their travel, their time away from home, tuition, whatever else might be involved, that’s wrapped up in that scholarship.”

DNR is also partnering with WSU Extension Service to introduce tribal members to fire suppression and prescribed fires as fire management techniques.

In-person courses will begin in the spring, but online courses will be offered this fall.

Interested people can contact the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

The Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service have released their final plan for managing Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah.

It’s the culmination of years of collaboration between the agencies and tribes.

KUER’s David Condos reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

The proposed plan is based on one of the five alternatives the agencies released this spring during the public comment period. It would allow camping, but ban recreational shooting – and it requires permits to access certain areas like Arch Canyon and Moonhouse.

It also slightly reduces the land open to livestock grazing and it leaves more than 1,000 miles of roads open to off highway vehicle (OHV) use, but requires OHVs to stay on designated routes.

Overall, the plan leaves a majority of the monument as undeveloped wilderness areas.

Now, there’s a 30-day protest period where anyone who previously submitted public comment can raise their issues again if they felt they weren’t addressed.

The Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho released a statement Monday regarding an incident at a recent candidate forum.

State Rep. Dan Foreman (R-ID) reportedly told Democratic candidate Trish Carter-Goodheart (Nez Perce) to “go back where you came from.”

In the statement, the Nez Perce Tribe said it is extremely disheartened to hear about the incident, and that the Nez Perce Tribe has called this area home for tens of thousands of years.

The statement goes on to talk about the history of the region.

The tribe says it refuses to tolerate this kind of hateful and divisive politics and asks other elected leaders in the region to stand with the tribe and push back against such offensive behavior.

Rep. Foreman’s comments reportedly happened as Carter-Goodheart talked about racism and discrimination in the state.

The Lewiston Tribune reports Foremen has not responded to requests about the comments, but stated on Facebook that he made no racial slur or statement of any nature, and that the accusations are false.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced federal disaster assistance has been made available for the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona, to help with recovery efforts from the Watch Fire.

The fire devastated the community in July.

The assistance includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the fire.

 

 

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Native vote advocates in Montana are pushing back against efforts to eliminate ballot collection on tribal lands.

Many members of the state’s seven tribes live hours from the nearest polling place.

Mark Moran reports.

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled two laws make it prohibitive for people living on reservations to reach a polling place or mail an absentee ballot before Election Day.

The state is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review that ruling.

Executive Director Ronnie Jo Horse says Western Native Voice collects ballots from tribal residents who face transportation and other hurdles that keep them from getting to a physical polling place and adds that service was very important during the pandemic.

“You know, we had a novel virus going around. A lot of people were afraid to leave their houses because Native Americans had a really high mortality rate than any other group in America. ”

The bills ended Election Day voter registration and third-party ballot collection services in Montana. But the state’s high court ruled them unconstitutional and stopped them from taking effect.

The Office of Army Cemeteries has completed its disinterment project over the past month of the remains of students who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.

The Army released its findings Wednesday on the remains of nine children, the Associated Press reports.

They were returned to tribes in South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.

The findings did not include one other tribe, which had remains returned because the tribe asked to be anonymous.

New Zealand may be on the other side of the globe from Alaska, but their Indigenous peoples have a lot in common.

Dr. Iki Heke says both have a long history of “talking and listening” to the land, knowledge that can help the world adapt to climate change.

As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA tells us, this was Heke’s message when he was in Alaska recently for a national Indigenous conference on climate.

Dr. Iki Heke has a face you won’t forget, covered with traditional Maori tattoos.

He’s the picture of a mountaineer, who commands the stage as he stands firmly with an axe in hand, as if to defend his culture’s ancient tradition of talking to the land.

“When I talk to a group like this today, in their blood they remember this.”

Dr. Heke was raised in mountains near Queensland, on the southern part of New Zealand.

Today, he takes students and visitors on hikes to teach them how to talk to the mountains.

“And the mountain asks them questions. Who are you? Where have you been? What are you doing on me?”

Heke takes them almost to the top of the mountain, and then stops 100 feet from the summit.

“I say you don’t need to go to the top. He says the object is not to conquer the mountain but to communicate with it. This fellow is going to be here when you’re gone. You can make it to 80, but this man’s going to carry on. And it’s arrogant for you to think that you conquered a mountain.”

Heke says when he hunts, hikes, or snowboards on mountains; it’s as if he’s in conversation with some old friends.

“And when I say that, it’s because, when I go into that mountain, they’ve usually worked me over. You know, I come out of there ruined. But after a day or so in recovery, I think it was the mountain that caused that. I thank them for it because they’ve given me opportunities to grow.”

Whether they lived near mountains or along the ocean, Heke believes all Indigenous peoples once knew how to talk with the land, because it’s how they survived.

Heke says these conversations taught Indigenous people to always put the land first, but after contact with Western culture, that changed.

“We’ve got a saying at home, Toitū te whenua. Land is forever. People are temporary. We come through and we leave, but you want to make sure you’re going to leave it in a state that all your kids are going to be able to survive, and their kids will survive. We have to move back into a way of knowing our water and our land that can sustain it. We all used to practice this as Indigenous people.”

Dr. Heke teaches courses at universities all over the world, based on what he calls Attua Matua. Attua means Maori environmental knowledge and Mattua means connection to the environment.

Heke says Indigenous people need to walk backwards to the future to regain their ancestral knowledge, and then share it everywhere.

 

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Photo: A sign for Sacajawea’s grave site near Shoshone Business Council chambers in Fort Washakie on Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo: Chris Clements / Wyoming Public Media)

Some Eastern Shoshone tribal members are voicing concerns about the integrity of the tribe’s primary election held on September 17.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Chris Clements reports on a recent public protest.

About fifteen people, including some elders, gathered outside the Shoshone Business Council’s chambers in Fort Washakie, Wyo. to protest perceived election irregularities.

More specifically, addressing the election judges’ efforts to correct absentee ballots that had the incorrect number of candidates to choose from.

Protestors say the judges don’t have the authority to change the date the absentee ballots are due.  Election judges, which are elected positions, are in charge of running elections for the tribe.

Bobbi Shongutsie is running as a write-in candidate in the primary and attended the protest.

“I think that our people finally woke up, and they [SBC] see that we’re awake now and they can’t continue to keep going.”

Protestors held signs that read “new election judges” and other slogans. The Business Council didn’t respond to requests for comment. An emergency special General Session meeting to address the absentee ballots and other issues is set for Saturday.

The Southern Ute Fair marked its 102nd anniversary in Colorado recently with a blend of old and new traditions, including a heavy metal concert featuring an all-Indigenous lineup.

As Clark Adomaitis reports, this type of music, holds a special place in many tribal communities.

This was the 14th year that the Annual Native Rez-olution Youth concert took place at the Southern Ute Fair.

At this concert, people in black T-shirts and black leather boots moshed around to an all-Indigenous lineup with seven heavy metal and rock bands.

The alcohol and drug-free event has a unique lineup of bands every year.

Loren Anthony, a Navajo actor and motivational speaker, is playing bass with Hellthrone tonight.

“The scene has still shown nothing but love, nothing but community, nothing but unity,  all the things that the world outside of our own sees as dark, depressive, gloomy and filled with all these other things that might be tied to it in a negative way. But this type of event promotes not drinking, where people can come and feel safe and have a place to be. Metal music in general, has always been aggressive, has a lot of aggression and has a lot of true meaning to its words.”

Heavy metal is more than just music. It gives people an outlet to express frustrations and societal challenges faced by many Indigenous communities.

In fact, a specific subgenre of Heavy Metal has developed in Native American Communities — Rez Metal.

Ernest Capono is the guitarist for Hellthrone.

“We come here and we promote love and peace and you know, and it’s weird to hear that from, like, from all these metal bands, but, you know, there’s a lot of people that are don’t feel like they belong. There’s a lot of pain. There’s a lot of things that a lot of lot of struggles that people go through, and when people are struggling, they need to feel like they are heard and they’re and they belong. When you come to something like this, and you see the moshing, and you see all the pain and the anger and loud and all that, it’s we’re allowing the misfits to fit, and we’re allowing the anger to come in, and we’re allowing everybody to leave here with a smile.”

The Rez-olution concert takes place every year in September at the Southern Ute Fair.

@sashashoni83 This was so badass and a great ending to this show! Hell Throne covering none other than Slayer’s Raining Blood at the Southern Ute Fair Youth concert in Ignacio, CO. #livemusic #musictherapy #southernutereservation #southernutefair #metalmom #metalmoms #Slayer #rainingbloodslayer ♬ original sound – Nishoni Johnson

Friday marks the 57th Annual California Native American Day.

This year’s theme is “Recognizing 100 Years of Citizenship and the Fight for the Right to Vote: 1924-2024.”

The holiday takes place on the fourth Friday of September to celebrate the culture and contributions of California Native Americans.

 

 

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Native American students in Eugene, Oreg. rang in the school year with a powwow over the weekend headlined by acclaimed rapper Supaman.

Brian Bull reports.

Christian Parrish Takes the Gun is a member of the Apsaalooke Nation of Montana and has performed under the moniker “Supaman” for over two decades.

He’s won several major awards including an MTV VMA Award in 2017 for “Best Fight Against the System”, as well as The Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award for best video.

During his presentation with DJ Elemental, Supaman encouraged Native youth to demonstrate respect, kindness, and openness to change, while still preserving their culture.

He played traditional flute music with hip-hop elements.

“I hope they just go from here with a better understanding how to navigate life you know, with some simple tools that we try to share during our presentation, as well as leaving with a good heart.”

The powwow was to welcome students to a new school year at Eugene’s 4-J District.

Becky White coordinated the event and is with the district’s NATIVES Program.

“We partnered with Native Youth Wellness here in Eugene to bring him to our community, so here’s for a couple days, doing events around town, and we’re so grateful to have him here at our powwow.”

As a person of Cherokee, Cheyenne, and Arapaho heritage, White appreciates the diversity within the Native community.

She says today’s young people are also pushing for change, to tackle persistent problems including racism and climate change.

“I believe that this generation we have now that is in the K-12 system, and the students that are in college right now, are the most activist group of students we’ve had yet. And I appreciate them so much because they have the ideas, and they have the energy, and they have the drive.”

Supaman is headed next to New York, where he’ll be part of a week-long climate awareness event.

He says the “Supaman” moniker is based on a superhero archetype that everyone can embody.

“I definitely try to use it as, trying to elevate in life, being beyond just the human. Try to believe for better things. You’re able to accomplish great things.”

During a rally in North Carolina over the weekend, former President Donald Trump made a campaign promise to the Lumbee Tribe.

He said if he’s elected president in November, he’ll sign legislation granting the Lumbee Tribe federal recognition, the News & Observer reports.

The tribe has long sought full federal status.

It was recognized by North Carolina in 1885.

Congress passed legislation in the 1950s to recognize the tribe, but denied benefits that other federally recognized tribes receive.

 

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Tuesday is recognized as National Voter Registration Day.

Events are taking place across the country to encourage people to register to vote.

KNBA’s Jill Fratis reports on efforts that go beyond the holiday.

In Alaska, non-partisan efforts to mobilize Alaska Native and American Indian voters are year-round through Get Out The Native Vote.

Michelle Sparck is the director of Strategic Initiatives for Get Out The Native Vote.

In the months leading up to the 2024 November election, Sparck is traveling to as many rural communities in the state to educate Alaska Natives about the importance of voting.

She says work includes voter education and ensuring that as many rural communities receive information about the voting process and elections.

“I work weekends, I work evenings, I work holidays because there’s so many public events or forums or private events that call for a presence and, and talking about elections. And so, you know, obviously there are downtimes, there are slower times, but, we are constantly studying voting patterns, behaviors, statistics of putting them together, compiling data.”

Sparck says getting out the Native vote in the state is important.

“We represent a quarter of Alaska’s vote. That doesn’t mean we all vote and it doesn’t mean we all vote the same way, but we have an outsized presence in, in or potentially outsized presence in civics and elections and that kind of sway in governance if we vote to our potential.”

Another focus of Get Out The Native Vote is making sure to educate Alaska Native youth.

Sparck says they’re relying on new approaches to help young people better understand how voting works.

“They can complain that they feel it was a complicated system, but it’s something that will take time and homework and practice and Get Out The Native Vote has a nice video that where you show people who voted for their favorite Native foods and then you can see the process in real time and what it looks like. And we also have an app that kids can use and vote for their favorite foods and they can see in real time how their little community has voted.”

More information is available online at aknativevote.com.

Tribal leaders, community members, and allies of the Hualapai Tribe in Arizona, are gathering outside a federal court house in Phoenix, Ariz. Tuesday for a day-long rally to support the tribe’s lawsuit, which seeks to protect a sacred site.

The tribe filed the lawsuit against two federal agencies over the approval of a lithium exploration project near lands used for religious and cultural purposes, the Navajo-Hopi Observer reports.

The tribe says the project threatens a sacred spring and surrounding lands.

Supporters see the project as an opportunity to further clean energy technology.

The tribe is asking the court to extend a temporary ban on exploratory drilling.

A hearing is scheduled on Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma has published updated official demographic maps showing the tribe’s citizenship across the country.

According to the tribe, the release marks the first updated maps made public in more than a decade.

There are more than 460,000 Cherokee Nation citizens.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. says they’re proud to have them available not only for official tribal use, but for public access, which may help connect Cherokee citizens in different regions.

The maps show Oklahoma continues to be home to the highest number of Cherokee citizens.

The maps also show the top 12 states where Cherokee citizens live.

Other maps are in the works including ones that pinpoint first-language fluent Cherokee speakers.

 

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Tribes and Indigenous groups from across the country met in Anchorage, Alaska last week for the Alaska National Tribal and Indigenous Climate Conference.

As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride tells us, young leaders were featured at the close of the gathering.

Throughout the conference there were serious conversations about floods, fires, erosion, and the deteriorating health of rivers and oceans.

For the young people who came, there is a sense of urgency due to the rapid amount of change that has coincided with a warming climate.

“My home is T’iis Nideeshghiiz.”

That’s the Navajo name for Newcomb, N.M.

It means cottonwood trees, which Kianna Pete, a Navajo neuroscience student, says are disappearing.

“Our ancestors named the land for a reason. But there is no cotton trees there. So what does that mean for the place name, if they’re no longer reflecting the land?

Throughout the Southwest, rivers on traditional lands are dying.

Lakin Epaloose is an artist and educator who does work for the National Park Service at the Grand Canyon.

“There used to be a river that flowed through Zuni for thousands of years, but right now it’s dried up with in the last 50 years.”

Epaloose says his people once gardened with water from that river – and followed it to the Grand Canyon to gather medicinal plants. He says he took a sample of water from an Alaskan glacier to bring home – to remind him that all waters are connected.

Many of the young leaders at the conference like Mocha Reynolds (Lake Superior Ojibwe) called for Indigenous people to return to their traditional role as stewards of the land.

“We need be out there cultivating healthy forests, healthy rivers, healthy oceans, healthy lives. It’s so vital that we leave the colonial ways behind and return to the old ways.”

Young leaders say Indigenous peoples need to tap those traditional systems of caring for the land and spread the knowledge.

A team recently proposed changes to South Dakota’s framework for Indigenous education, making the lessons more accessible for teachers across the state.

Kathleen Shannon has more.

The Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings and Standards (OSEU) – in the works since 2008 – were approved by the state in 2018 for education about the region’s Indigenous cultures and ways of knowing.

Some of the core understandings are built on themes including environment, identity, kinship, traditions, and sovereignty.

According to the document, the framework offers not just an opportunity to learn about Indigenous people, but also from them.

Roberta Bizardie sits on the 2024 Revisioning and Reaffirming Team and says its meant to be imbued throughout an entire school day, rather than restricted to just social studies or history class.

“We want kids to understand when you walk in the door, we’re incorporating them throughout your whole day. And just to really help build up that identity side of who our kids are.”

According to a 2023 state survey, 62% of South Dakota educators reported using the OSEU standards, a 17% increase from 2021, though the response rate dropped.

There are no state requirements to implement the standards, though Bizardie says Todd County – where she’s superintendent – has a policy to ensure they’re used.

Public comment on the proposal ends September 16.

The All Pueblo Council of Governors, which represents 19 Pueblos in New Mexico and one in Texas, has formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for vice president.

The council passed a Resolution on the endorsement during a recent monthly meeting.

According to the pueblo governors, they believe a Harris-Walz administration would recognize tribal sovereignty, address tribal needs, and support self-determination and the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures.

They’ve issued a formal invitation to the candidates to engage with leadership, and meet with Pueblo people ahead of the November election.

 

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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took the stage Tuesday night for their first presidential debate.

During the 90-minute debate, the candidates did not directly mention tribes, but covered a number of issues impacting Indian Country from healthcare to climate change to reproductive rights.

While the candidates talked about where they stand on the issues, Native vote advocates and Native organizations are working on voter and election education, engagement, and outreach.

New findings that look at Native Americans participating in elections are mixed. But North Dakota outreach leaders say they’re coming off a strong summer of civic engagement.

The Native American Rights Fund last month reported national growth trends among tribal populations for voter turnout, including a 14% increase between 2018 and 2020.

But because of longstanding barriers, there’s still a significant gap compared with non-Hispanic white voters.

In responding to those concerns, Erika Red Tomahawk with North Dakota Native Vote says her team connected with people at powwows across reservations in North Dakota.

“There was a lot of meaningful conversations about the importance of voting, with even some individuals expressing that they were going to run for official positions themselves. So, it was clear that there was a strong desire to participate actively within civic processes.”

Red Tomahawk says staff did chat with some individuals who felt a disconnect with the voting process.

She says for groups like hers, those conversations are vital because the goal is to assist tribal voters in understanding that their voice matters.

“Indian Country in North Dakota is huge. You know, we have relatives everywhere and being able for them to vote and share their voice as a collective to have more representation – it’s very important. ”

Her group engaged with more than 200 prospective voters at summer events, who received information on polling locations and voter ID requirements.

She’s optimistic that the energy from the events will result in stronger voter turnout this fall.

This story includes reporting from Mike Moen with Public News Service, which is supported in part by North Dakota Native Vote. 

A Northern California tribe is celebrating its receipt of nearly 500 acres of coastal ranchland north of San Francisco.

As Jacob Resneck reports, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria received the property from a conservation group seeking to return ancestral lands to tribal entities.

The Graton Rancheria received the 466-acre ranch from the Western Rivers Conservancy which bought the Marin County property last year.

The mile-and-a-half of Pacific coastline was a gift from the conservancy which has worked with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife to engineer returning the land to Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo tribal members for conservation and stewardship.

Graton Rancheria Chairman Greg Sarris called the acquisition a “remarkable opportunity” to take responsibility for the ranch, which is just north of Dillon Beach, a coastal community with a popular private campground.

“It’s a great example of what can happen when tribes work with other organizations so that the land once again becomes under the stewardship of the people who’ve known it from time immemorial.”

Graton Rancheria operates the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest casino and resort in nearby Sonoma County. But the tribe says the ranch includes sacred sites which will be set aside for long-term conservation and protection.

State wildlife officials have identified the area as among the most significant habitat areas in California.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley were among those to attend the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee meeting this week, hosted by Sec. Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) in Washington, D.C.

The two-day meeting with federal agencies brought together tribal representatives from the 12 Bureau of Indian Affairs regions.

Among issues Navajo leaders discussed were water rights, improving infrastructure, and efforts to stop transportation of uranium ore through Navajo land.

The advisory Committee is intended to ensure tribal leaders have direct contact and communication with top officials.

 

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Photo: Citizens of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation participate in the Netlh-‘ii~-ne Steward program along the northern California coast, covering natural-resources management strategies and cultural practices. (Rosa Laucci / Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation)

Native leaders are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to sign a bill that would allow federally recognized tribes to sign agreements with the state to co-manage and co-govern ancestral lands and waters.

Suzanne Potter has more.

AB 1284 unanimously passed both houses of the state legislature this week.

Scott Sullivan is vice chairman of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation.

“This is going to allow us to deepen our relationship on a government-to-government level, it’ll give us better access to our traditional ancestral territories to improve the environment and to reconnect our people to the land.”

Fawn Murphy chairs the Pulikla Tribe of Yurok People and says tribes want to promote biodiversity and reverse erosion and environmental degradation.

“As these devastating climate impacts are coming and things are changing so rapidly, we need to bring it back to what works. California tribal people have been practicing traditional ecological knowledge since time immemorial. ”

The bill is also intended to help California meet its goal of preserving 30% of the state’s land and waters by 2030.

This story is supported by Pew Charitable Trusts

Democratic members of Congress, governors, and mayors appealed to Native Americans at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago last week.

Elected leaders stopped by two Native American Caucus meetings delivering remarks hoping to energize attendees and asking them to rally their communities to vote and back the Democratic Party.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) says the Native American vote is key.

“We cannot deliver the kinds of investments and respect for Indian country if we do not win the presidency, if we do not flip the House, and we do not keep the Senate. And you know what? The Native vote is going to be key in Arizona, Wisconsin, Montana, to make sure we keep that great senator up there. Over and over, this election turns on the Indigenous vote.”

We are not going back! @KamalaHarris #DemocraticConvention2024 pic.twitter.com/Zsgfw4oNO5

— Teresa Leger Fernandez (@TeresaForNM) August 23, 2024

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) in remarks told the Native caucus there have been

many accomplishments in Indian Country, but there’s still much work to do, including electing the Democratic presidential ticket.

“I am clear that when we remind your and our communities what’s at stake and what we’re building for our children and their future. And that the values that you have always demonstrated and held dear ought to be the values for all across America.”

Tucson, Ariz. Mayor Regina Romero says the Native vote has made a difference in the state in past elections, and is important this year.

“We need to make sure, one, that the platform that the Democratic Party has carried is a pro-Native American platform.”

Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona says he’s encouraging people to vote, but the tribe is not officially endorsing candidates.

Gov. Lewis says, in her role as vice president, Kamala Harris visited the Gila River Indian Community, and as a presidential candidate, she included him in a rally, which makes a difference to Native voters.

“I know the Gila River Indian Community and I know as us as Indigenous people and tribal people when those types of leaders when they come to Indian Country and especially as our elders told us that means so much. For them, it’s not about on social media or it’s not about on TV a political ad, it’s about coming on our traditional land face-to-face.”

Democrats say the Harris-Walz ticket has knowledge of Indian Country issues and would bring that to the White House.

Some tribal leaders say they’ve had representatives at both the Republican National Convention and the DNC, and are listening to both parties, while advocating for tribal issues.

 

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