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Sicangu Lakota citizens grow vision for future of food
‘It really humbled me, being able to be in the garden’. At the height of South Dakota’s growing season, you can find Siċaŋġu Lak̇ota youth busy at Keya Wakpala Gardens. They feed the chickens and gather eggs. Some harvest lettuce, rhubarb and cilantro. At a workshop, they preserve strawberry jam.
Pressures could lead to more closures at ND nursing homes
Federal requirements, travel nurse expenses, immigration freeze a challenge. Federal requirements for nursing homes to have a registered nurse (RN) on duty 24 hours each day are expected to add pressure to an already challenging workforce situation for the 75 rural and urban facilities across the state. A majority will...
One baby at a time: Dakota midwife revitalizes Indigenous birth work, inspired to improve quality of rural healthcare
Autumn Cavender envisions more childbirth programs and traditional care center. It’s the middle of the night, and Autumn Cavender drives down a country road through the pitch-black darkness. It’s a familiar routine for Cavender, who explains that most babies are born between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. As one of the few rural midwives in the area, she always has her bag prepared for the next birth.
Progress Made on Senate Bill to Establish a US Truth and Healing Commission On Indian Boarding School Policies
Senators Schatz, Murkowski, and Warren to Lead Floor Block on the Senate Floor. Washington, D.C. – Today, Wednesday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. ET, Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Committee, will lead a group of Senators to speak on S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act.
Community Leader to Community Healer: The unconventional path of Bush Fellow Arlene Krulish
Former CEO turns to psychiatric nursing with focus on addiction and recovery. The journey from being a healthcare administrator to becoming a nurse practitioner may seem backwards to some. But for 2024 Bush Fellow Arlene Krulish, it’s her path forward. Krulish is from St. Michael, on the Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota. Her inspiration for becoming a nurse practitioner came from the nurses she saw while growing up on the reservation at her local health care center.
History through hoop dancing
Starr Chief Eagle tells a story of culture, history and family through hoop dancing. Starr Chief Eagle stood in front of a crowd of onlookers as a drum beat began to swell from the large speakers behind her. She readied her body, preparing to reach for the first of 22 hoops that lay interlaced in front of her.
Tribal college mounts cultural exchange with Indigenous Brazilians
A coalition of Minnesota educational institutions sent nine college students to Brazil as part of the pilot program. A few weeks ago, with the gentle melody of waves breaking on the shore behind her, recent Red Lake Nation College graduate Summer May spoke into a camera in Brazil. She was a world away from the traditions and cultures in which she grew up.
Meet Grace Fiori: Buffalo Fire’s new environment and agriculture reporter
Massachusetts native brings sensitivity, passion and on-the-ground experience to the role. It’s a long way from Amherst, Mass. to Bismarck, culturally as well as geographically. But Grace Fiori, Buffalo’s Fire’s new environmental reporter, is taking the leap in stride. The recent University of Massachusetts graduate, who began on July 8, had barely landed when she got her first story, and a big one: The Environmental Protection Agency was hitting Marathon Oil Co. with a historic $64.5 million civil penalty for air quality violations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Schools receive third — and potentially final — round of federal funding for homeless students
A pandemic-era program that has pumped $2 million into Montana schools to support students experiencing homelessness is nearing its end date. From the start of the 2023-24 school year to its conclusion, the number of students experiencing homelessness in Kalispell’s public school system jumped from 293 to 365. Assistant Superintendent Sara Cole said the increase reflects a growing trend in her district, one driven primarily by the soaring cost of living in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indigenous congress members react to attempted assassination of Donald Trump
'This is an assassination attempt plain and simple. America is better than this’. Indigenous members of Congress and several national Indigenous organizations have condemned the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump during a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was grazed by a bullet from an AR-style rifle on...
Pollution knows no borders
A long-awaited agreement will address Canadian mine waste flowing downriver into Montana and Idaho. When coal miners north of Fernie, British Columbia, blast into the mountains, the piles of rocks left behind leach selenium into the Elk River, which flows south into the Kootenai River. In small quantities, selenium is an essential nutrient, but larger amounts are toxic to humans and other species. The Kootenai’s levels are so high that some local tribal members are wary of fishing in Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir on the U.S.-Canada border. “People are very cautious about what they put in their bellies up there,” said Rich Janssen (Qlispe), head of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Natural Resources Department. Any selenium that doesn’t settle in the lake flows into Montana, then Idaho, then back into British Columbia.
Celebrating a Decade: Indian Education Summit hosts 36 workshops to empower Native educators
Key sessions highlight stability for at-risk students, culturally responsive practices and leveraging AI in the classroom. Marking a decade of educational innovation, the 10th annual Indian Education Summit will bring more than 200 educators to the North Dakota State Capitol from July 18-19. When Lucy Fredericks joined the Department of...
Jules Edwards advocated for her autistic kids — then learned she’s autistic, too
She became committed to making the world a better place for generations to come. In celebration of Disability Pride Month, throughout July MPR News is featuring stories about Minnesotans with disabilities who are making an impact. See more at mprnews.org/changemakers. Jules Edwards is a Twin Cities-based Anishinaabe autistic author and...
Regulators order Marathon Oil to pay $64.5M for ‘illegal pollution’ on Fort Berthold Reservation
'This fine just proves what the people of the Fort Berthold Indian reservation have known for a long time'. Marathon Oil Co.’s air quality violations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation have drawn the largest civil penalty in United States history for flaring activity and emissions from “stationary sources,” federal agencies announced on July 11. The $64.5 million assessment comes as a complaint settlement for creating “thousands of tons of illegal pollution,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Tribe goes back to its roots with a massive greenhouse operation
Eventually totaling about 14.5 acres, officials say would make it one of the world's largest facilities of its type. A tribe in North Dakota will soon grow lettuce in a giant greenhouse complex that when fully completed will be among the country’s largest, enabling the tribe to grow much of its own food decades after a federal dam flooded the land where they had cultivated corn, beans and other crops for millennia.
Lakota Two-Spirit activist attends White House celebration
Candi Brings Plenty, Oglala Lakota, was invited to attend the White House's LGBTQ and Two-Spirit event on June 25. Candi Brings Plenty’s dedication to supporting and advocating for their Two-Spirit community has taken them across the United States, most recently to Washington D.C. Brings Plenty, an Oglala Lakota Two-Spirit...
North Dakota Growth Fund a ‘capital multiplier’ for local entrepreneurs
$89 million of $600 million in local Legacy Fund investment rolled out so far. There has been some concern among people watching the Legacy Fund about whether these investments will all go to companies in the state. Furst said that the Growth Fund’s investment policy statement makes clear that all...
‘Sacred Return’: Tribal ceremony honors white buffalo calf
Calf’s prophesied arrival means people need to come together and help Mother Nature, leaders say. The birth of a sacred white buffalo calf earlier this month in Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley fulfills a tribal prophecy, according to Native American spiritual leaders. The prophecy means people need to...
Red Ribbon Skirt Society uplifts families facing MMIP crisis
Founder Lily Mendoza earns Bush Fellowship to ‘find healing in Lakota lifeways’. Day after day, Lily Mendoza works to heal family and community through the Red Ribbon Skirt Society. She dedicates her life to saving the lives of others. Mendoza, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, founded...
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Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance's mission is to advance American Indian rights to be seen and heard through independent media, using our language and culture to create an environment where citizens can control their destiny by making informed decisions. We accomplish this mission through the organization’s publishing division, www.buffalosfire.com.
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