Gov. Kevin Stitt’s demands for more money from Indian casinos have sparked a bitter feud with economically powerful tribes — including his own.
Communities
Posted inArticles
Western states widely support refugee resettlement
The president’s executive order meant to limit resettlement, but the West is opting for more.
Posted inArticles
Winter traditions are feeling the heat of climate change
Warm temperatures cancel local events like skijoring — resulting in economic and cultural impacts.
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
Billionaires are changing communities and the wild in Wyoming
Sociologist Justin Farrell explores the ways wealth shapes Teton County and the Western U.S.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2020: How One Woman Took a Stand Against Tribal Disenrollment and Paid For It
One woman took a stand against tribal disenrollment and paid for it
How a burglary, social media and politics led to a Nooksack Tribal Councilwoman being bullied out of office.
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians celebrates federal recognition
The tribal nation in Montana is the 574th to be recognized by the United States.
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
Our detention system is bankrupting immigrants
As corporations cash in, mixed-status families are thrown into deep poverty.
Posted inArticles
FEMA spent billions fighting California wildfires. Now, it wants victims to pay it back.
The agency is pushing bankrupt PG&E to reimburse the taxpayer money it spent on disaster relief.
Posted inArticles
A novel idea for mental health care in rural Washington
In Dayton, population 2,500, behavioral health care is woven directly into primary care appointments.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2020: How One Woman Took a Stand Against Tribal Disenrollment and Paid For It
Alaska’s highway of ferries is under threat
What is lost when the floating highway that connects the state’s coastal communities disappears?
Posted inArticles
The modern West: a roundup of our best photos of the year
In 2019, photographers captured nuance in the people and places around the region.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
As Spokane grows, is it leaving low-income renters outside?
Proposals to protect tenants and reduce homelessness lack political support.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
Where does ‘the West’ begin?
When it comes to the myths and images of the West, Fort Worth, Texas, has created a cottage industry.
Posted inArticles
Spokane vs. the Border Patrol
How immigration agents stake out a city bus station.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
In rural Colorado, the kids of coal miners learn to install solar panels
Where the mines once provided steady employment, solar energy now offers jobs for the next generation.
Posted inArticles, En español
Una comunidad indígena de México encuentra su hogar en los campos de Colorado
La cultura, las costumbres y las personas están cruzando las fronteras y alimentando dos economías.
Posted inNovember 11, 2019: Storied Landscapes
The West is more than heroes and villains
In ‘This Land,’ Christopher Ketcham roams the West in search of both, and misses a lot in between.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
When disaster strikes, Indigenous communities receive unequal recovery aid
U.S. citizens recovering from natural disasters receive $26 per person, per year from the federal government. Tribal citizens? Just $3.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
The U.S. has spent more money erasing Native languages than saving them
As tribes fight to save their languages from extinction, has the government done enough?
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Salmon swim above the Grand Coulee Dam for first time in 80 years
Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation gather to begin a new cycle for salmon.