Southern California residents wrestle with events unfolding back home in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Communities
Images from the first-known Native American female photographer
Jennie Ross Cobb put her subjects at ease for uniquely candid photos from early 1900s Indian Territory.
My archive: 20 years of Los Angeles’ LGBTQ+ movement
Between 1978 and 1998, Lydia Otero built a collection around queer activism in LA.
Colorado River, stolen by law
Indigenous nations have been an afterthought in U.S. water policy for over a century. That was all part of the plan.
How a Tacoma gas facility started a fight over climate change, sovereignty and human rights
A Washington methane gas project is compounding a crisis of tribal consultation, pension funds and national immigration practices.
A bump in the road for southern Oregon’s illegal private casino
Oregon’s horse racing authority acknowledged the Oregon Department of Justice’s opinion, but the Flying Lark isn’t folding just yet.
Portland community leaders bring the heat to building standards
An activist collective says making buildings carbon-free is just the start.
The place that coal built and fire burned
Extractive industry laid the infrastructure for the suburban sprawl that fueled Colorado’s destructive Marshall Fire.
A just transition for farmworkers
As agricultural laborers continue to bear the brunt of climate change, activists in Washington chart a new path for climate justice.
Rekindling connections in the small flame of a qulliq
An Inupiaq writer welcomes the nourishing glow of a seal oil lamp into her home.
Tribes call out Oregon’s reckless gaming regulation
Using horse-racing laws, a shadowy state agency and a billionaire push for a private casino that threatens tribes’ self-sufficiency.
‘The clinic, it’s going to be the heart of it all’
Members of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the newest federally recognized tribe, will have guaranteed access to health care when their new medical center opens.
Gold country: A precious metal, a mining mega-corp and a captive workforce
In 2019, two gold-mining giants joined forces, with huge consequences for the Northern Nevada community and economy.
A shellfish company gets into the weeds
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community shows how eelgrass and aquaculture can coexist in Puget Sound.
Religious gatekeeping in red-rock country
A resort capitalizes on a nearby Yavapai-Apache religious site despite having no meaningful relationship with the tribe.
Arizona’s utility commission slashed just transition assistance for tribes
The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe will receive significantly less funds to assist in economy after the end of coal.
Indian Country deserves better than Facebook
Social media has helped undo centuries of colonial disconnection, but Native communities need a much better platform.
In California’s Central Valley, the water is contaminated and solutions are slow
The communities dealing with the carcinogenic water worry and aren’t kept well informed.
How to cool one of the fastest-warming cities in the West
In Phoenix, a new heat office hopes to prevent more people from dying of extreme heat.
Utah has a water dilemma
Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.
