We must guard against harmful public discourse about Native identity as much as we guard against harmful policy.
Indigenous Affairs
Posted inArticles
Bigotry, ignorance and high school basketball in Montana
Oppression of tribal nations denies our shared potential to harness the power of sport.
Posted inArticles
The woman in search of Indian Country’s missing
When authorities fail families, Lissa Yellowbird-Chase steps in.
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday finally gets the film he deserves
Jeffrey Palmer gives us a glimpse of the Indigenous literary giant in ‘Words from a Bear.’
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
The Karuk Tribe fights a growing wildfire threat and a lack of funding
Surrounded by forests they often can’t manage without breaking the law, California tribes struggle to protect themselves from wildfires.
Posted inArticles
South Dakota pushes bills to prosecute ‘riot-boosting’ ahead of pipeline construction
The bills would allow the state to sue protesters — and their supporters — and use the money for pipeline-related costs.
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Is a new copyright law a ‘colonization of knowledge’?
Indigenous oral histories have often been recorded and sold without permission.
Posted inArticles
When conservation provides a cover for anti-Indigenous sentiments
A nation of laws cannot exist on stolen land.
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Supreme Court takes on a case of treaty rights vs. state taxation
The Yakama Nation and Washington state square off over a right to travel without burden.
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Federal shutdowns cut deep in Indian Country
At the annual State of Indian Nations address, tribal leaders called on feds to do their part.
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
The Two Bulls family leads an Indigenous art renaissance
The Lakota family’s first group show is a celebration of tradition and experimentation.
Posted inArticles
Harvey Weinstein and a broken promise in Indian Country
Despite an agreement, royalties from ‘Wind River’ haven’t reached the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
The making of a desert surf rock band
Meet the Nizhóní Girls on the road to stardom.
Posted inArticles
The undoing of a nation
Tribal disenrollment, like Trump’s efforts to denaturalize American citizens, is just another way to make the country whiter.
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One tribal nation could decide the fate of Arizona’s drought plan
The Gila River Indian Community could pull out of the plan in light of a new bill threatening to undermine their water rights.
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Why was a study on trafficking in Indian Country canceled?
After the Trump administration transition, the Department of Justice killed a critical needs assessment initiative.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
Elizabeth Warren’s claim to Cherokee ancestry is a form of violence
Be it by the barrel of a carbine or a mail-order DNA test, the American spirit demands the disappearance of Indigenous people.
Posted inArticles
Adoption didn’t solve the ‘Indian Problem’
An author recounts how 1960s policies ripped apart families and communities, including her own.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
How Indigenous reporters are elevating true crime
In the podcasts ‘Finding Cleo’ and ‘Thunder Bay,’ First Nations reporters reinvent a common formula. Can they find even bigger audiences?
Posted inArticles
The metalheads of the Navajo Nation
See photos of the thriving music scene in backyards, abandoned houses and parking lot shows.