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Anchor: Antonia Gonzales

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has announced a pilot program to bring green community schoolyards to tribal communities nationwide.

Schools in Idaho, Arizona, Wisconsin, Montana, and New Mexico are taking part, as well as three South Dakota communities.

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

The program is a joint effort between the TPL and Bureau of Indian Education.

It was announced at the recent White House Tribal Nations Summit.

Danielle Denk is TPL’s community schoolyards initiative director. She says these spaces are valuable for many reasons.

“It just really makes a three-dimensional learning environment for students, and a wonderful place for teachers and school staff to go outside and decompress a bit. And for the community these are open more than not to the community after hours, which means they provide all the benefits that a park would provide.”

Denk says TPL will take a backseat in the design process.

“Our role is to bring our process but not to be the lead locally. We really are looking to work with tribal and indigenous designers, organizers, folks who would be in line with this kind of process to be the local lead.”

One South Dakota school involved in the program is the Crazy Horse School in Wanblee.

Superintendent Margo Heinert says experiential education is important.

“Educationally I really support anytime we can do some hands-on learning activities. I think our kids learn a lot better that way. We are working on an elementary playground, but we wanted something more education-oriented for older kids. So, when that phone call was made, I got in on a conference call with them, it just fit our schedule perfectly.”

Other South Dakota Schools involved in the program are the Pine Ridge School and Rock Creek Grant School in Bullhead.

A Bozeman-based nonprofit announced Wednesday that it has transferred dozens of bison to tribal herds in Montana and Washington state.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton has more.

In recent weeks American Prairie transferred 45 bison to the Rocky Boy reservation and to the Kalispel Tribe in Cusick, WA.

The Rocky Boy herd was first established last year with help from both the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and American Prairie.

The Rocky Boy herd received ten bison this year to strengthen the herd.

The tribe plans to use the bison for “food, shelter, clothing, and cultural education.

American Prairie provides bison to tribal herds every year and has sent 350 animals to tribes since 2005.

The organization says all animals were tested for disease and received a clean bill of health.

American Prairie has been working to build a 3.2 million acre reserve for bison and other wildlife  in north-central Montana. Some ranchers and state Republican politicians have pushed back against the nonprofits’ efforts, in part due to their concerns about bison spreading disease to cattle.

This week, the U.S. Interior Department’s Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names is meeting for the first time. By Hannah Bissett, KNBA News

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says the committee will accelerate an important process to reconcile derogatory place names.

This fall, the department announced the removal of the S-Q word, a derogatory term against Indigenous women from about 650 geographic features.

Members of the committee are discussing several topics, identifying derogatory names and developing recommendations.

The meeting continues Thursday and the public can attend virtually.

More information can be found on the National Park Service’s website.

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Anchor: Antonia Gonzales

One year ago, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued a declaration to remove the S-Q word, a slur against Indigenous women, from place names on federal lands.

Nearly 650 new names were finalized this fall — including in Dillingham.

As KDLG’s Izzy Ross reports, three elementary students had pushed to change the name long before the federal government started its process.

Alora Wassily, Trista Wassily, and Harmony Larson have worked to change the creek’s name since 2021. That finally happened in September.

In an interview shortly after the announcement, Alora said they had put a lot of effort into reaching that goal.

“It feels good because we worked on it for so long and it finally got changed and we just feel relieved. We felt accomplished.”

They began advocating for the change when they were in fifth grade, after they heard a local story about seven sisters who had lived along the creek, and how both the creek and a road of the same name were marked with the derogatory word.

“Then we thought about it and then we decided to change it and then we talked to our teacher, Ms. Jensen, when we were in fifth grade. And then we talked with Courtenay Carty and Robyn [Chaney] and then we just started researching about other places and then we started working on a presentation.”

Now they’re in seventh grade.

The students have presented their research many times. They started with the Dillingham Parent Advisory Committee and the school board.

“We were all really nervous our first time. And after a while we got used to it and we just got normal about it.”

Since then, they have brought their research to the Curyung Tribal Council, the First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference, and the Bristol Bay Native Corporation.

Robyn Chaney helped the students prepare. She’s the Federal Programs Coordinator for Dillingham city schools and has been an adult advisor for the students.

“Them standing behind their information was really powerful. They were part of educating people here, including myself. They received mostly positive feedback and support. And really their confidence grew because their facts are accurate and it was an issue that obviously became really important, not just to us, but on a federal level that Secretary Haaland would take that up.”

When Sec. Haaland announced last year that the word would be removed from geographic features across the country, the students’ work got more attention. And they had to shift their approach, taking their grassroots advocacy and fitting it into a political process.

“Our process went from slow and steady to very, very rapid,” Chaney said. “It shifted from us educating and garnering local support for change to a government-to-government relationship, following a tribal process and doing tribal consultation between our local Curyung Tribe and the federal government.”

The students recommended renaming the creek Al’a Creek, and they received broad support from the community during a listening session last spring. But at the last minute, a Curyung Tribal Council member suggested a different name: Amau Creek.

Chaney says that was difficult.

“It was just a hard pill to swallow because that name hadn’t gone through the public process. It was in their regular meeting, but it wasn’t a name that had been carried forward in the public process that they set forth. It was surprising and upsetting,” Chaney said. “But they still achieved the goal, which was to remove a derogatory place name and replace it with a traditional name, a Yugtun name that has positive connotations for a woman. And that happened.”

The students are the latest in a long legacy of work to re-center Native place names in Bristol Bay. Francisca Demoski is the land manager for the Bristol Bay Native Corporation.

Yup’ik introduction: “Cama’i….Hi my name is Francisca Demoski. I am from Togiak but live here in Anchorage.”

She oversees the land department’s cultural heritage efforts, including the Bristol Bay Native Place Names project. She says it’s one of the ways the corporation celebrates and preserves that heritage.

“Amau Creek translates to ‘great-grandparent’ and is a Yugtun word. And in this case it references a group of sisters, or great-grandmothers, who, according to traditional stories, traveled to the area and settled near the creek. So the community recognized the role of the great-grandmothers in their families and chose the name to honor their ancestors.”

Demoski said the Native corporation supports the federal efforts to change the derogatory names of places across the country, including in Dillingham.

“BBNC is pleased with the outcome and I applaud the young students for taking leadership in making this change happen for their community.”

Demoski helped start the corporation’s project almost 20 years ago, in 2003. It now has over 1,400 place names on the website. Many are from the areas around Togiak, Manokotak, Dillingham and along the

Nushagak River. There are also many Dena’ina and Yup’ik contributions from around Iliamna Lake.

“I am working with the Bristol Bay Native Education Foundation to gather place names along the Alaska Peninsula, including the Naknek area. So that’s where we’re focusing right now, because there’s very limited data in that area.”

Demoski hopes this year’s push to change derogatory names around the country inspires communities to consider Native place names for themselves. She says it’s been done before; she points to the example of Utqiaġvik, which used to be named Barrow.

“And ensuring the survival of our people’s cultural history is of the utmost importance to us, and place names is one way that we ensure that our history is being preserved for a future generation.”

The students’ work isn’t over. They are now focused on the next steps to change the community’s signs and replace them with the new name: Amau Creek.

President Joe Biden plans to designate the nation’s newest national monument in southern Nevada.

As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, the 450,000-acre expanse is sacred to at least a dozen tribes.

The Avi Kwa Ame National Monument would include Spirit Mountain and the surrounding Mohave Desert landscape 80 miles south of Las Vegas.

It’s considered the origin point for the Hualapai, Havasupai, Maricopa, and several other tribes, and is also a sacred site for the Hopi.

The 5,600-foot peak itself was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 for its tribal significance.

Indigenous leaders and environmental groups say the designation will connect several other biologically diverse protected areas and provide vital habitat and migration corridors for bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, and other species.

The new monument would span an area in the southern tip of Nevada between Arizona and the Colorado River to the California Mohave National Preserve.

President Biden made the announcement at the recent White House Tribal Nations Summit.

The designation hasn’t been made final, but tribes, conservationists, and others applauded the announcement.

The Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to enact broad protections on public lands.

President Biden last year restored the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah after they were slashed by the Trump administration in 2017.

There are currently 130 national monuments throughout the U.S.

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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is reiterating the Justice Department’s commitment to civil rights cases for Native Americans.

He spoke at the White House Tribal Nations Summit last week in Washington, D.C (WATCH | READ).

Garland pointed to the case announced earlier this year involving the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City.

As South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger reports, one group wants the DOJ to do more.

The Justice Department announced its lawsuit against the hotel in October.

That came several months after the owner posted on social media that Native Americans were no longer allowed at their hotel and bar.

Days after, some Native people were allegedly denied service.

Garland says protecting the civil rights of all individuals was a founding purpose of the department.

“It remains an urgent priority. For example, earlier this fall the Department filed a lawsuit against the owners and operators of a hotel and bar in South Dakota for violating the civil rights act of 1964 by discriminating against Native American customers. The justice Department is working to make good on our commitment to improve the well-being of tribal communities.”

The president of group that initially brought the lawsuit says he appreciates the DOJ looking into racist activity in Rapid City.

However, NDN Collective’s Nick Tilsen says the department is not willing to look deeper into systemic racism.

“We asked them to expand the scope of their investigation because we understand the behaviors of the Grand Gateway Hotel are a byproduct of a culture of systematic racism here in the community. Taking down Grand Gateway—or holding them accountable—is not going to be the end all for us.”

Tilsen also says NDN Collective and others are asking the DOJ to pardon country’s longest serving Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier.

The public comment period ends Monday, December 5 on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s draft of its Alaska Native Relations policy.

Crystal Ciisquq Leonetti is the agency’s Alaska Native Affairs Specialist.

“So while the Native American policy applies everywhere, including Alaska, we needed to have these unique considerations.”

The draft policy recognizes the impacts of climate change on Alaska’s landscape.

It also mentions the inclusion of Indigenous traditional knowledge in co-management efforts.

The policy will also require Alaska Native Relations training and education for Fish and Wildlife Service employees.

“That is designed to illuminate the beautiful, diverse cultures of Alaska Native people, the current status of the nutritional and spiritual and cultural connection to living a subsistence way of life… that it is also really important for Alaska Native people to continue that way of life for reasons beyond nutrition.”

The relationship between the agency and Alaska Native people has not always been amicable. Leonetti says improving those relationships is central to developing the policy.

Since 2016, she’s worked alongside a 12 member team of representatives from every region of Alaska.

“We wanted to make sure every word and every sentence was agreed upon by the entire group. And if it wasn’t, we talked about it until we could agree on the language that made sense for everybody.”

Leonetti expects it will be signed and included in the agency’s national manual sometime in 2023.

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Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to fight to protect the Indian Child Welfare Act. By Jill Fratis, KNBA News.

V.P. Harris discussed ICWA in remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Summit, which was held this week in Washington, D.C.

She says she has a longstanding history of fighting for the principles of ICWA, pointing to her work as an attorney and now as vice president.

V.P. Harris says she’s fully aware of the essential protection ICWA provides.

“And back to the time doing that work as an attorney representing children and families in San Francisco, and working on ICWA cases to my time as Attorney General of California, and partnering with tribal leaders and child agencies and law enforcement to enforce ICWA. I will tell you as I stand here as vice president that President Biden and I remain determined to work with you, with Native leaders to safeguard the protections of ICWA.”

Summit attendee Monique Baker, Governance Administrator for the Tribal Government of St. Paul, AK. says she feels comforted the White House is acknowledging the challenges tribal families face.

“Native children being torn away from their families, the trauma they endured, and knowing that something is being done to make sure this will never happen again. It’s truly amazing to hear all this during the summit this year, and look forward to hearing more next year.”

Harris made the comments about IWCA, as challenges to the decades old law intended to keep Native children with Native families, was recently heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Thursday, tribal leaders and top federal officials hosted a number of panels at the summit – including on health care.

Baker says she’s interested in information and discussions about extending health care after childbirth.

Baker says providing postpartum care including depression screenings is a huge step in the right direction for Native families.

“That means so much for all Native women, as mother myself, I wish I had that coverage. I wish I knew more things like that.”

The two-day White House Tribal Nations Summit concluded Thursday with topics ranging from veterans issues to a special message from astronaut Nicole Mann (Wailacki), who’s currently in space on a mission – the first Native American woman to go to space.

Click here to watch Commander Mann’s Summit Remarks from the International Space Station

The Interior Department is putting $75 million toward community relocation efforts for three tribes in Alaska and Washington state, that are struggling with the consequences of a changing climate.

Bryan Newland (Ojibwe) is the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.

“We’ve never really done anything like this before in this country, particularly for tribes.”

He says the Interior Department hopes to capitalize on some of the progress Newtok, AK. has already made and develop a blueprint for the federal government’s future response to climate change.

“We wanna make sure that we are gaining experience on the federal side of things, working with tribes to do climate relocation work.”

Newland says the department weighed a lot of factors in deciding how to allocate the money.

“We evaluated a number of communities that have gone through some of our climate funding programs before and we weighted a number of different factors, like readiness, need, existing plans as well as our ability to glean lessons learned.”

The tribes will also receive funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Eight other tribes across the U.S. will share $40 million to assist in planning for climate change mitigation.

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President Joe Biden on Wednesday told tribal leaders he made a commitment to tribal nations as a U.S. Senator in his 30s, then again when he ran for president, and now as leader of the United States. By Jill Fratis, KNBA News.

President Biden says he’s prioritizing and respecting nation-to-nation relationships.

He made the remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Summit taking place in person in Washington, D.C.

The President says his administration has worked on strengthening relationships with tribes and has made financial investments in Indian Country.

He says tribes not only have a seat at the table, but also have Native American representation in key positions, including Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

“On my watch, we are ushering in a new era and advancing the way the federal government works with tribal nations and it starts by appointing Native Americans to lead the front lines of my administration. You know, starting with Sec. Haaland. We’ve followed dozens of Senate-confirmed Native American officials, over 60 Native American appointees all across my administration including in the federal courts.”

President Biden says he also restored the White House Council on Native American Affairs to improve coordination with federal agencies and tribes.

The administration is making a number of announcements this week relating to its work in Indian Country, from sacred site protection to measures to boost economic development to Native language revitalization efforts.

Tribal leaders from across the country attending the summit are interacting with key White House staff members and federal officials.

A group of about ten tribal leaders, including from Alaska, met privately with President Biden Wednesday.

Richard (Chalyee Éesh) Peterson, president of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, says he was one the leaders to attend the meeting.

“It was pretty great. I actually was one of a few tribal leaders selected to meet the president. So, that was pretty special.”

Peterson says tribal leaders were able to have a brief moment with the president to share top priorities. He mentioned the taking of land into trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for his tribes.

According to the Interior Department, that recent action is the second fee-to-trust acquisition in Alaska since the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in the 1970s. And it’s the first in five years.

The land is located in Juneau.

Among things, it will help with federal services and programs, and fosters economic development.

“It was pretty historical and we were appreciative of that. And we talked about some of the other issues…talked about broadband, ARPA (American Rescue Plan), infrastructure. You know, it was very fast.”

Petersons says he’s grateful to have had a moment with the president. He says under the Biden administration, tribes are seeing more Native American and Alaska Native representation in Washington, which is helping tribes gain traction.

He says having staff that are Native is helping, so that it’s not just left to tribal leaders alone to educate officials on tribal issues.

Vice President Kamala Harris also addressed tribal leaders Wednesday.

She reiterated the nation-to-nation relationship building and the administration’s commitment to tribes.

“President Joe Biden and I believe the bonds between our nations are sacred. And we believe we have a duty to safeguard and strengthen those bonds, a duty to honor Tribal sovereignty, to ensure Tribal self-determination, to uphold our trust and treaty obligations, and to fight to make sure all Native communities have the support and the resources they need to succeed and to thrive.”

The White House Tribal Nations Summit continues Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) Wednesday announced the introduction of a bill that aims to provide more support for homeless Native veterans.

Aaron Bolton has more.

The bill would carve out a portion of housing vouchers for use by Indigenous vets enrolled in the VA and tribal housing authorities.

The housing vouchers are offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and given to vets enrolled in VA case management services.

Native Americans serve in the military at higher rates compared to other racial groups and studies indicate that Native veterans experience the highest rate of homelessness, according to the VA.

The bill would also require that both the VA and HUD consult with tribes to better offer resources to homeless vets and report to Congress on the issue every five years.

The current term of Congress is scheduled to end in the coming weeks.

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Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland says in the last two years, the Biden administration has committed to working with tribes and has made many investments in Indian Country.

Sec. Haaland delivered opening remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Summit Wednesday morning, which is being held in person in Washington, D.C. and streamed live here:

She told tribal leaders, the Interior Department alone, has invested more than $45 billion in Indian Country through the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Sec. Haaland talked about a land transfer for Montana tribes, and announced a new oral history project slated for 2023 for Indian boarding school survivors.

“This has never been undertaken by the United States government and is a resource many of you have requested as part of your own work to document your own history. This project demonstrates the new era I spoke of. Over the next two days, you’ll hear even more of the work that is happening and the opportunities with your partnerships that lie ahead.”

Sec. Haaland announced the creation of a new office of strategic partnerships, which is working to build nine new Bureau of Indian Education school yards across the country. She touched on tribal co-stewardship to address climate change, and co-management of lands and waters.

She says there is work being done to expand broadband through an agreement to help bring electromagnetic spectrum access to tribal lands.

Sec. Haaland says she’ll be meeting with tribal leaders throughout the next two days to discuss issues impacting Indian Country.

Wednesday morning also included tribal leaders and administration officials taking part in a panel on education and Native languages.

Tribal leaders from the 574 federally recognized tribes were invited to take part in the two-day summit.

During the White House Tribal Nations Summit, President Joe Biden proclaimed a Nevada sacred site off limits to development with the formal designation of Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument.

Native groups have been advocating for its protection.

The area is sacred to 12 tribes and is the center of creation stories says Taylor Patterson with the Native Voters Alliance Nevada.

“It’s the place where all of their traditional stories and knowledge comes from. And then for our Southern Paiute Tribes in the area, it’s also a part of the Salt Song trail. And so that tells, really, the life cycle of Paiute people and how they moved through the land and all the important places, plants and animals in the area.”

It is located between the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Nevada/California border, covering nearly 450,000 acres in southwestern Nevada.

Photo: Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe

A federal judge has ordered Enbridge and the Bad River Tribe in Wisconsin to come up with a joint plan to avoid a catastrophic spill from an oil and gas pipeline should erosion worsen on the tribe’s reservation.

Danielle Kaeding reports.

The ruling stems from the tribe’s lawsuit that seeks to shut down the Canadian energy firm’s pipeline on its reservation.

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline will continue to operate, but U.S. District Judge William Conley said risk of a significant rupture exists where it crosses the Bad River.

Conley said the negative effects in the Bad River watershed and Lake Superior could be catastrophic.

The line carries up to 23 million gallons of oil per day from Superior across northern Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario.

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