Michael Patrick F. Smith’s ‘The Good Hand’ offers sharp observations on North Dakota’s extraction industry.
Arts & Culture
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
The alternatives to Instagram-ready desert art
Popular installations often frame the desert as austere and inhospitable. But there are artists who look at the land differently.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
‘Wild Indian’ is much more than just an Indigenous film
Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.’s new picture pushes Indigenous cinema into the realm of the thriller genre, but does it go far enough?
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
Finding meaning on Joan Didion’s frontier
With the release of a new collection, the 86-year-old author returns to her old work and a vast, complicated legacy.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
Meet the gun-toting ‘Tenacious Unicorns’ in rural Colorado
How a transgender-owned alpaca ranch in Colorado foretells the future of the rural queer West.
Posted inArticles
See HCN’s best illustrations from 2020
Artists elevated our journalism with surprising aesthetics and creativity.
Posted inArticles
How one student brings soil science down to earth
Bo Collins’ goofy, profanity-laden social media presence makes scientific research seem humorous and relatable.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
From boxes of memorabilia, sifting out a life
In her debut memoir, Danielle Geller researches her elusive mother — and the meaning of family.
Posted inArticles
What it took to investigate a suspicious town in the Mojave Desert
The creator of the 2020 podcast California City reflects on how she exposed deceptive desert land sales — from the outside.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
How an intimate burial can make death human-sized
In burying a stranger, a writer learns that dying can be as small and personal as life.
Posted inArticles
How suspected fake Indigenous art wound up in a Wyoming museum
Questions of authenticity and provenance surround artwork that traveled from East Texas to rural Wyoming.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
In challenging times, love is an act of resistance
Heid E. Erdrich’s new award-winning poetry collection, ‘Little Big Bully,’ seeks resilience through human connection.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Sage advice
The ecological and ethical problems of ‘smudging.’
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
‘Somebody has to keep people on their toes’
High Country News’ unlikely and remarkable origin story.
Posted inArticles
Finding Indigenous futurism through dance
A Santa Fe-based contemporary dance company makes reciprocity and community-building part of its performances.
Posted inAugust 1, 2020: Infectious Ideologies
Unraveling the mystery of a stolen ceremonial shield
How a sacred object from the Pueblo of Acoma turned up at a Paris auction house, and how the tribe fought for its return.
Posted inArticles
A Seattle tattoo artist turns to essential work: transporting the dead
After her shop closed, Jessica Henry found a way to be of service during the pandemic helping others with life’s passing.
Posted inArticles
Where does Pride fit in a time of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter?
For organizers and participants, this is a chance to return to the roots of Pride — a fight for equity.
Posted inArticles
‘Love and Fury’ documents Indigenous artists at the vanguard
Sterlin Harjo’s latest film is a fascinating glimpse inside the minds of various Indigenous artists around the nation.
Posted inArticles
‘Being in the middle of a story is a really hard place’
Rebecca Solnit on disasters, hope and the chance to reshape the future.