The second largest falls in the U.S. have been inaccessible since industrialists dammed them and lined the river with paper mills 150 years ago. Four tribes are working with PGE to plan public access.
Justice
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Supreme Court keeps the Navajo Nation waiting for water
The court case was the Nation’s bid to accelerate decades of fruitless negotiations and secure water for its reservation.
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In the nation’s first youth-led climate trial, a case for hope
Five days of expert testimony argued that Montana can transition away from fossil fuels and reap economic benefits in the process. Now it’s up to the judge.
Posted inAugust 1, 2023: In the Line of Fire
The Supreme Court upheld ICWA. Now what?
ICWA policy and federal Indian Law experts break down the court’s Brackeen v. Haaland ruling — and what it means for families.
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Colorado Supreme Court drowns public access to riverbeds
Roger Hill’s landmark lawsuit fizzled out in court. What happens now?
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Despite the law meant to keep Native American families together, they’re being broken apart
A mother used the Indian Child Welfare Act to win back her parental rights. Then they came for her second child.
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Meet the youth attempting to hold Montana to account on climate
Loving the land, racing against time and paving the way for others inspired the plaintiffs to bring a case that went to trial this week.
Posted inJuly 1, 2023: Waiting for Water
How Arizona squeezes tribes for water
A High Country News/ProPublica investigation shows that Arizona goes to unusual lengths in water negotiations to extract restrictive concessions from tribes.
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The Supreme Court just made it easier to destroy wetlands and streams
The decision strips federal protections from the ephemeral streams that are crucial for life in the arid West.
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Judge rules Wyoming corner crossers did not trespass
The hunters who stepped over the corner of a Carbon County ranch did no damage to private property.
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Supreme Court shrinks definition of the Clean Water Act
In a ruling siding with an Idaho couple, justices removed protections from waters they said were non-navigable, like wetlands.
Posted inMay 1, 2023: Reemergence
Alaska Natives are underserved by emergency translation services
A FEMA contractor’s incompetence in Alaska Native languages highlights a systemic problem.
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After a controversial merger, Nevada Gold Mines union is back
In 2019, management abruptly stopped recognizing a union. This week, the company and the union negotiated a new contract.
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Q&A: The Diné worldviews in the SCOTUS water rights case Arizona v. Navajo Nation
What would it look like to interpret the treaties as tribes understood them?
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
Green colonialism is flooding the Pacific Northwest
The Yakama Nation is fighting a pumped hydro storage development near Goldendale, Washington – but it’s just one of many.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
For Black families, it isn’t simple creating roots in Phoenix
Many have moved to the nation’s fastest growing city seeking community as well as a better life. Few are finding it.
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How the West’s public lands fared in 2022
It was a bad year for dams and a good one for ‘green’ metals.
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The Cherokee Nation was promised a delegate to Congress. Why doesn’t it have one?
‘Lapse of time cannot divest Indian nations of their treaties and treaty rights.’
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Utah dismisses youth climate case. But it’s not over.
What the state court’s decision signals for other similar cases.
Posted inDecember 1, 2022: Beyond Illusion
Tribal nations fight for influence on the Colorado River
Indigenous nations in the basin are making a stand for their water — and upsetting the river’s power structure.