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Montana is the only state in the nation where the percentage of Indigenous elected lawmakers exceeds the state’s overall Indigenous population, potentially giving Native Americans a bigger voice in their government.

There are 12 tribes in Montana living on seven reservations, making Native Americans the largest minority population in the state. However, raising that voice can be difficult. In fact, despite being iconic to the state’s image, Native Americans and their issues seemed to have been trivialized in recent years.

For instance, early in the 2023 state legislative session, non-Native lawmakers raised concerns by introducing, or considering, legislative bills that could be described as anti-Indigenous. One of them was a draft joint resolution to “investigate alternatives to the American Indian reservation system.” Resolution sponsor, Keith Regier, a Republican from northwestern Montana, decided not to follow through with the bill due to public outcry.

In response, members of the Montana American Indian Caucus, comprised of Indigenous legislators, offered a couple of bills to increase awareness of the state’s tribes and their history with the state, including one requiring schools to teach more Native history. Both measures were dismissed quickly. READ MORE — JoVonne Wagner, ICT and MTFP

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A sandy bluff towers above the beach in Dillingham, Alaska. Every year, Alaska Native resident Ken Shade watches as a little more of his land falls over the edge, into the sea.

Dillingham is just one example of a small Alaskan town with a big erosion problem. Around the state, dozens of coastal communities are watching their coastlines crumble, losing at least 3 feet of land per year. Critical infrastructure such as airport runways, fuel tanks, and schools are in danger. Many Alaska Natives have been hard hit: Now, with climate change altering weather patterns, melting permafrost, and reducing sea ice, the land these communities are built on is falling into the sea.

Shade has already moved his house farther away from the bluff once, about 25 years ago, to save it from falling over the edge. The process took him a whole summer. After digging around the foundation and jacking up the house, he slid the building onto a trailer built out of old car axles, then dragged the whole thing using heavy machinery. His neighbor, a mechanic, took a different approach and tried to stabilize the bluff by building a wall in front of it using dozens of old cars. “It doesn’t work too well,” Shade said. Now when he sets out fishing nets, he catches car parts along with the salmon.

Other parts of town are also losing ground fast. The earth in front of Dillingham’s sewage lagoon — two open-air cells that hold the city’s wastewater — is receding at a rate of about 16 feet per year. Meanwhile, a mass grave containing victims of tuberculosis and the 1918 flu pandemic is slowly falling out of the bluff and onto the beach below. READ MORE — Grist

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Netherlands has returned the remains of nine Indigenous people that archaeologists found more than 30 years ago on the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius, officials said.

The request for repatriation was made by the island’s Culture Department as part of a new push to recover artifacts and human remains held by former colonial powers and others to highlight and preserve St. Eustatius’ history.

Some artifacts found alongside the bone fragments on the island, known as Statia, date back to the 5th century, the island government said in a press release Monday.

“Our story is much broader and richer than even we thought, and it’s up to us to tell this story,” government commissioner Alida Francis said. READ MORE — Associated Press

ICT has won a top business journalism award for an investigative report on tax inequities that was produced in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity.

The series, “Unequal Burden,” won its division in the explanatory category in the Best in Business Awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, or SABEW.

Judges said the “breadth of reporting was impressive.”

Among the writers cited for the award were ICT national correspondent Joaqlin Estus and Osage News editor Shannon Shaw Duty, along with James B. Steele of Bloomberg Tax and Public Integrity reporters Maya Srikrishnan, Melissa Hellmann, Ashley Clarke and Joe Yerardi. READ MORE — ICT

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During the White House Tribal Nations Summit in November, President Joe Biden said he intends to make the sacred site Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada a national monument. Friday marks 100 days since that commitment. Last week it seemed as though the designation would finally happen — then the White House rolled back, saying the designation could come at a later time. Timothy Williams is the Chairman of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe.

The American bison, or buffalo, is much more than an important historical source of food to Natives of the Northern Plains. For 30 years, the InterTribal Buffalo Council has worked to restore buffalo herds to tribes across the country. Troy Heinert is its executive director.

The percentage of Native Americans in the armed forces is higher than any other ethnic group per capita. These warriors serve the United States and their tribes. Bernie Tyler is among these veterans. She works for the Dine Naazbaa Partnership for the Navajo Nation.

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Khloe Cavanaugh learned some Dakota words from her grandfather growing up on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota. He was one of the few fluent first language speakers on the reservation.

“I have an Indian name and I didn’t know how to say it in Dakota, so he taught me how to say it and how to introduce myself,” said Cavanaugh.

“Haŋ Mitáuyepi, Čhaŋte waštéya napé čhiyúzapi. Dakȟóta ia Heȟaka Thašina Wakȟaŋ Wi emákiyapi. Wašiču ia Khloe Cavanaugh emákiyapi.”

“(Hello my friends and relatives, I greet you with a good heart and handshake. My Dakota name is Heȟaka Thašina Wakhaŋ Wi and my English name is Khloe Cavanaugh.)” READ MORE — Minnesota Reformer

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