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RAPID CITY, S.D. — A seventh tribe in South Dakota, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, banned Gov. Kristi Noem on May 14.

During a Tuesday meeting, the Crow Creek Tribal Council voted unanimously to ban Noem from entering its central South Dakota reservation.

The decision comes on the heels of the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s decision to ban Noem on May 10 and the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate’s banishment on May 7.

These bans have been made following the governor’s accusations that Mexican drug cartels are operating on tribal land in South Dakota. Noem also accused tribal governments of benefiting off of the alleged cartel presence and of failing their people, particularly youth. READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal

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Last week a chunk of ice, an estimated 13 miles long and hundreds of feet across, got jammed as it floated down the Kuskokwim River in western Alaska. Water piled up behind it and overflowed the riverbanks, spilling out onto the tundra, up tributaries, and into half a dozen communities on the river.

Even as the ice jam moved downriver it continued to flood villages. Hydrologist Dave Streubel with the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center told the Anchorage Daily News water levels reached their highest point since 2005 in Bethel, a hub community of 6,000. People were told to avoid the riverfront for safety reasons. The Anchorage Daily News reports “about a foot of standing water was reported around a number of houses in two subdivisions Friday,” according to City Clerk Lori Strickler. Several gravel and dirt roads were also washed out. People got around by wading through water or in boats.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Ottenweller told ICT that “anecdotal reports that we’ve had from the teams that are on the ground is that Kwethluk probably saw the most significant water rises and probably had the most inundation in terms of any kind of property or damage. They still remain under a flood warning (Tuesday) because of the high water, and it has not come down as quickly as it has in say, Napakiak or Bethel.” READ MORE — Joaqlin Estus, ICT

Warning: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives

Washington State has the second highest number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives cases in the country, according to a study by the Urban Indian Health Institute. Dawn Pullin, the tribal liaison for the Washington State Patrol, plays a role in the solution to this crisis that dates back to first contact with colonial settlers.

The Washington State Patrol actively tracks and updates missing Indigenous persons cases. As of April 24, there were more than 120 active cases of missing Indigenous people in the state.

Pullin, a citizen of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, is the person who answers the phone when an Indigenous person goes missing in Washington. House Bill 1713, a 2019 measure aimed at improving law enforcement response to missing and murdered Native American women, created her position. She stepped into her role as tribal liaison for the Washington State Patrol in December of 2020.

Pullin, who grew up mainly on the Spokane Indian Reservation, knows firsthand the importance of helping families with missing and murdered loved ones. When she was 20 years old, her mother Gloria J. White was murdered. Pullin says the trauma caused by losing a loved one to violence is what motivates her to help others. READ MORE — Jarrette Werk, Underscore News + Report for America

Soon-to-be civil engineer Charitie Ropati, Yup’ ik and Samoan, plans to build bridges in more ways than one for her community back home in Kongiganak, Alaska.

Reportedly the first Alaska Native to graduate from Columbia University in her chosen field, Ropati already has a key job lined up back home, working for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

“I’m really excited and just incredibly honored,” Ropati told ICT on Friday about representing her state and tribe as the first graduate in the discipline.

“But then also it was like, whoa, ’cause when you’re from Alaska, you meet a lot of Native people, Native women especially who study engineering,” she said. “And so it felt almost heavy, but then I was like, ‘This is okay. Being the first means that there’ll be more women and girls going into this in the future.’ And so that’s been my mindset.” READ MORE — Renata Birkenbuel, ICT

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The Klamath Tribes in southern Oregon haven’t seen salmon for over a century. That could change with a major dam removal project along the Klamath River. Reporter Nika Bartoo-Smith met with tribal citizens along the river and got a firsthand look at the hope and that’s springing up.

A new report from Prison Policy Initiative uncovers how money that is supposed to be used for non-essential of the incarcerated population is actually subsidizing essential facility operations. ICT’s Daniel Herrera spoke with Wanda Bertram about the report’s findings.

Keith Secola is an Anishanaabe musician, who makes rock, folk and country music. ICT sat down with Keith recently to ask about his career and what music means to him.

Many Indigenous college students count on federal aid to help pay for their education. In the United States, around 80 percent of Native American undergraduates received tuition grants and loans last year. But this year, a change in the federal application meant delays processing student financial aid. Lily Meskers reports the delays caused anxiety for students planning for next year.

WATCH

April Ignacio wanted to be able to create a safe space for people in her community to come together and get information about the laws in Arizona that are impacting Indigenous women’s bodily autonomy, especially after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 could once again be enforced.

“Health care is being weaponized against women, and as an Indigenous woman, I know how unfair health care access is already, and then my bodily autonomy is now being impacted by the government,” Ignacio said.

Ignacio is the co-founder of Indivisible Tohono, a grassroots group that organizes and educates on issues impacting the Tohono O’odham Nation.

When the near-total abortion ban was upheld, Ignacio said their group wanted to provide much-needed resources to people living on the Tohono O’odham Nation. READ MORE — AZ Mirror

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  • A powwow for Palestine: When the annual powwow at Portland State University was pressured to have a police presence due to an encampment in support of Palestine, Native students and community members organized a powwow for Palestine and MMIR
  • Chinook Indian Nation closer to resecuring ancestral winter village: A Washington state task force voted to recommend the return of land at a former youth detention facility to the Chinook Indian Nation. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and the fiscal committees of the legislature will review the task force report in June and make a decision
  • ‘We are going to lead the world’: CLIMATE DESK: Indigenous values center a tribal community’s move to higher ground

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