A former Native boarding school turned liberal arts college in Durango reckons with its ugly history.
Race & Racism
Posted inArticles
After the Palisades Tahoe name change, where is the Washoe Tribe looking next?
‘This whole thing, it’s decent. It’s a decent thing to do.’
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Reaching across Colorado’s racial frontiers
Jenny Shank’s new story collection ‘Mixed Company’ reveals racial fault lines in the Centennial State.
Posted inArticles
6 things you should know about the 2021 Native American Voting Rights Act
Indigenous communities face disproportionate barriers to voting, but the act would help protect this important right.
Posted inArticles
A California county spars over water, marijuana law and race
Tasked to map an enigmatic aquifer for future water management, scientists confront political and scientific uncertainty.
Posted inArticles
The lack of diversity in outdoor rec is systematic and disconcerting
I want people of color to feel called to reclaim natural spaces.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
Family, culture, politics and heartbreak in the modern West
Nawaaz Ahmed’s debut novel ponders endings from beginnings.
Posted inArticles
A Q&A with New Mexico’s deputy director of The Wilderness Society
Kay Bounkeua discusses growing up Lao-Chinese in the state, her connection to landscape and what’s next for the conservation movement.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
The fight for racial justice in Montana, one year out
From Havre to Bozeman, the push for equity persists.
Posted inArticles
Five shots in Denver
In 2013, anti-gang activist Terrance Roberts shot a man in the Holly, a historically Black neighborhood in Denver. What really happened that night?
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
The West’s Asian Americans arm up for self-defense
Once denied their Second Amendment rights, Asian Americans are heading to gun shops in droves.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
As the country reckons with race, will tribal nations lead the way?
The descendants of those once enslaved by tribes continue to push for equality.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Albuquerque’s racist history haunts its housing market
Policymakers and activists fight to remove pro-segregation, anti-immigrant provisions from property deeds.
Posted inArticles
The long Western legacy of violence against Asian Americans
‘History is repeating itself.’
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What tribal sovereignty means for Freedmen citizenship
Is Congress coercing the Choctaw Nation into doing away with discriminatory policies?
Posted inArticles
Western lawmakers lead a movement to protect natural hair
A recent wave of legislation fights for Black women’s right to wear natural styles and have safe hair products.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Honoring Montana’s first Black librarian
Carrying on the legacy of Alma Smith Jacobs requires representation and education.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
How Wyoming’s Black coal miners shaped their own history
Many early Wyoming coal towns had thriving Black communities.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Mustafa Santiago Ali describes the path forward for environmental justice
Former EPA program leader shares ideas for federal action in the Biden administration.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
In the face of #MMIWG, Indigenous women fight back
On the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, girls and women box, march and continue searching for those lost.