From coast to coast, major weather events are happening more often. As we’ve seen recently, some can be life threatening, like hurricanes, heat waves, and droughts. All of this means the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been very busy. We spoke with FEMA’s National Tribal Affairs Advocate, Kelbie Kennedy. She is the direct point of contact between the agency and tribal nations.

Alaska public safety officials recently released their first report tracking Missing and Murdered Native Alaskans. But it wasn’t the first such report in the state. Indigenous leaders compiled their own database a couple of years ago. Charlene Apok was part of that effort. ICT’s Stewart Huntington asked about the long road that got her state where it is today.

Leonard Peltier has been in federal prison for nearly 49 years and many groups, including NDN Collective, are pushing the White House for his release. ICT’s Mark Trahant talks to organization’s President and CEO Nick Tilsen about the latest effort.

  • In Oklahoma, the legislature has again stepped in, amid hostility between Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and tribes in the state. Last week, Oklahoma lawmakers curbed Stitt’s power over the state’s Advisory Council on Indian Education. Now Stitt only has authority to appoint one member. The remaining eight seats would be filled by both chambers of the state’s legislature, with input from tribal leaders. Stitt described the advisory council as an unnecessary government function. However tribal leaders say the council is to set an agenda for the needs of 150,000 Native American students in K through 12.
  • The Army has recently partnered with a tribal nation to honor Native remains. A headstone has been created in partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Historical Office and Fort Cambell. The marker was placed on the grave of 50 partial remains of Native Americans that are buried near the German POW cemetery at the fort. The stone, written both in Cherokee and English, is likely the only marker of its type written in an Indigenous script. The fort has been working with tribes to repatriate remains that have been kept within its museum and provide proper burials to those that it has been unable to repatriate.
  • Lawmakers voted this year to return Upper Sioux Agency State Park to the Dakota Upper Sioux Community. The two-square-mile park on traditional Dakota Territory is home to ancestral burial grounds. It also houses ruins where soldiers withheld supplies from and starved Dakota people. That helped set the stage for 1862’s Dakota War that ended in the largest mass hanging in US history. The transfer isn’t expected until 2033. A report on the process is due to the Legislature in January. Minnesota has reportedly never transferred a state park to a Native community.
  • A new study found that more than one million acres of Indigenous land has been historically flooded by dams. The number is likely higher due to a select amount of available data. Researchers at Penn State found that the area of flooded land is larger than the size of Rhode Island. Land displacement was a method used to strip land from Indigenous communities, including when families were uprooted from their homes.

Today’s newscast was created with work from:

Shirley Sneve, Ponca/Sicangu Lakota, is vice president of broadcasting for the ICT Newscast. Follow her on Twitter @rosebudshirley. She is based in Nebraska and Minnesota.

Aliyah Chavez, Kewa Pueblo, is the anchor of the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @aliyahjchavez.

McKenzie Allen-Charmley, Dena’ina Athabascan, is a producer for the ICT Newscast. Instagram: @mallencharmley.

Paris Wise, Zia and Laguna Pueblos, is a producer for the ICT Newscast. Email: paris@ictnews.org.

Stewart Huntington is a producer for the ICT Newscast.

Quindrea Yazzie, Diné, is a video production editor for the ICT Newscast. Email: qyazzie@ictnews.org . Yazzie is based in Phoenix.

Daniel Herrera Carbajal is a video editor for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @daniulherrrera

Pauly Denetclaw, Diné, is a political correspondent for ICT. Email her at pauly@ictnews.org

Pacey Smith-Garcia, Ute, is a production assistant for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @paceyjournalist.

Jack Orleans is an Intern for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter @JackOrleans5

Demi Dupavillon is an Intern for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter @DemiDupavillon

Mark Trahant, Shoshone-Bannock, is ICT editor-at-large and executive producer of the ICT Newscast Email: marktrahant@ictnews.org Trahant is based in Phoenix.

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