ICT is working to shape the future of journalism and stay connected with readers like you. A crucial part of that effort is understanding our audience. Share your perspective in a brief survey for a chance to win prizes

Greetings, relatives. 

A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by ICT’s digital platform.

Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you. Remember to scroll to the bottom to see what’s popping out to us on social media and what we’re reading.

Also, if you like our daily digest, sign up for The Weekly, our newsletter emailed to you on Thursdays. If you like what we do and want us to keep going, support and donate here.

Okay, here’s what you need to know today:

SISSETON, S.D. – On a small reservation in the northeast corner of South Dakota, a beige, one-story building here serves the healthcare needs of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. The Couteau Des Prairies Health Care System, a 25-bed, nonprofit hospital, is the only inpatient resource for the entire Lake Traverse Reservation and was the only hospital with a functioning OB-GYN Department.

But as of February, the hospital no longer provides specialized women’s healthcare.

“The Coteau Des Prairies Health Care System looked at what would be best for the patients and the competency that our staff and obstetrics provider had,” said Craig Kantos, the hospital’s CEO. “We had one obstetrics provider and he was leaving. The days of having one OB provider who is on call 24/7 aren’t feasible anymore.”

The closure of the reservation’s only OB-GYN program illustrates the many challenges facing healthcare providers fighting against disproportionate rates of Indigenous infant and maternal mortality. READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal

SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY

“Strong and on the rise.”

In his first State of Indian Nations address as president of the National Congress of American Indians on Monday, Mark Macarro highlighted recent accomplishments and progress made across Indian Country.

Perhaps the biggest win for tribes in the last year was the Supreme Court affirming the Indian Child Welfare Act in its decision in Haaland v. Brackeen.

Macarro, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, has been the tribe’s chairman for nearly 30 years. He noted the historic fashion in how tribes came together and “the power of our collective voice has never been more evident.” READ MORE — Kolby KickingWoman, ICT

Representatives of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge Inc. gave their oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago on the case appealing the shutdown of Enbridge’s controversial Line 5 pipeline.

The suit began in 2019, when the Bad River Band took action to remove the pipeline from their territory in Wisconsin after refusing to renew an easement on the pipeline that travels through the Bad River reservation, citing environmental concerns. While the easement expired in 2013, Enbridge refused to remove the pipeline from the parcels of land owned entirely, or partly by the tribe.

The Bad River Band later filed for injunctive relief in May 2023, after spring flooding events created concerns that the pipeline would be exposed and ruptured.

Line 5 stretches from Northwest Wisconsin, through Michigan into Sarnia, Ontario. It transports up to 540,000 barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids. READ MORE— Michigan Advance

Three bills were introduced last year at the South Dakota Legislature to address Native American child welfare reform. All of them were defeated, with opponents citing concerns about the U.S. Supreme Court’s impending case addressing the Indian Child Welfare Act, known by the acronym ICWA.

The court has since upheld the constitutionality of the federal law, and another batch of bills has been introduced during the 2024 legislative session.

“I have to bring this back,” said Rep. Peri Pourier, D-Rapid City, who sponsored the bills last year, has two new bills this session and is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. “We all have to believe that we can come together on something.”

A six-month joint investigation by South Dakota Searchlight and the Argus Leader following last year’s session explored the causes, effects and potential solutions to the decades-long overrepresentation of Native American children in South Dakota’s foster care system. Native American children accounted for nearly 74 percent of the foster care system in June 2023 — despite accounting for only 13 percent of the state’s overall child population. READ MORE — South Dakota Searchlight

Sign up here to get ICT’s newsletter

The annual State of the Indian Nations by the leader of the National Congress of American Indians was held Monday. ICT‘s Pauly Denetclaw interviewed NCAI President Mark Macarro before about his address.

The list is out for the best in American Indian Youth Literature–from picture books to middle grades and young adults. ICT‘s Shirley Sneve talks with the American Indian Library Association President Allison Waukau.

Keith Secola is an Anishinaabe 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.

WATCH

A summer academy program, Indians Into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or INSTEM, is expanding to reach all North Dakota Native students in grades 6 to 12.

“Since its inception six years ago, INSTEM has offered a wonderful opportunity for Native American students to explore,” State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesles said. Announcing the program expansion on Jan. 17, she added that participants also “experience what it’s like to live away from home on a college campus.”

The program is a tentacle of the Great Plains STEM Education Center, which opened in 2010 at Valley City State University. The center exists “to help create the path toward broadly implementing STEM education in North Dakota.”

When university Math Department head Jamie Wirth became director of the Great Plains STEM Education Center, he wanted to create a program that would benefit Indigenous students. While the university was just testing the waters to see if this program would work, INSTEM would become its biggest and most successful project yet. READ MORE — Buffalo’s Fire

FOLLOW ICT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK

We want your tips, but we also want your feedback. What should we be covering that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. dalton@ictnews.org.

Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT’s free newsletter