Native Americans

Government

What a recent SCOTUS ruling could mean for PNW Indigenous peoples

Many facets of tribal sovereignty in our country are now in limbo after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states have the power to intervene in criminal cases involving non-native people in Indian Country.

Government

A More Perfect Union: facing challenges and seeing progress in Native communities

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Environment

'It's bringing healing:' Methow Valley land returned to Colville Tribes

More than a century after the United States government took most of their land, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are getting small chunks of it back.

Arts & Life

To 'honor the shoulders we stand on' — Big band premieres with nod to history of Native jazz musicians

A scheme to entertain a four-year-old youngster in Spokane by playing a jazz album nearly three decades ago produced a cascade of aftereffects that culminated on stage in Olympia, Washington, this month with crescendos of horns and multiple standing ovations. During the debut of a 16-piece, all-Indigenous big band, the performers on stage hearkened even further back in history to celebrate the little-known, but long line of Native jazz musicians and big bands.

Race & Identity

The lasting effect indigenous boarding schools have had on Washington state

Earlier this month, the Department of the Interior published a report on indigenous boarding schools in the U.S. These schools separated Native kids from their families, forced them to stop speaking their own languages, and often inflicted abuse in the name of "civilizing" indigenous children. The Interior Department says at one point the U-S supported at least 400 of these boarding schools across the country - including 15 here in Washington. The agency’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative also found at least 50 burial sites where children were left in unmarked or poorly maintained graves, and the department is still counting.

Washington Indigenous families still living with the 'very deliberate effort to wipe us out'

The U.S. Interior Department has set out to document abusive boarding schools that once targeted Indigenous tribes, their cultures and their children. A first-of-its-kind report from the agency's Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative puts the extent of that abuse in black and white.

Politics

Federal lawsuit over new sports betting rule could jeopardize tribal sovereignty, critics say

Debbie Nelson's favorite slot machine at the Nisqually Red Wind Casino is Yogi Bear-themed, complete with spinning picnic baskets and huckleberry pies. “It keeps me entertained while I'm losing money,” she said. But Nelson also said it eases the pain to know her lost money goes to the Nisqually tribe. “To scholarships and to medical care and just to support the families. I figure if I'm going to give it to anyone it needs to go to a worthy cause,” she said.

Environment

This Skagit County park was almost a nuclear power plant. A tribe helped save it: Travel For Good

At different points in its history, the Kukutali Preserve was slated to become a summer resort and even a nuclear power plant. But those plans didn’t come to pass. Instead, a unique partnership between the Swinomish Tribe and state government now safeguards the area for conservation and public use. It opened to visitors as one of the state’s newest parks in 2014.

Law & Courts

The Duwamish seek federal recognition

The Duwamish tribe has been fighting for federal recognition for 40 years. Last week they filed a lawsuit in US District Court to plead their case. Federal recognition means the tribe would receive support for education, healthcare, and human services. Bart Freedman and Ben Mayer are attorneys serving as legal counsel for the Duwamish. They're here to help explain this case. Follow us on Instagram @seattlenowpod

Law & Courts

Seattle's Duwamish Tribe files new lawsuit seeking federal recognition

Seattle’s Duwamish Tribe renewed its quest for tribal sovereignty by filing a lawsuit against the U.S Department of the Interior on Wednesday. The tribe said the lack of federal recognition continues to cost its 600 enrolled members access to healthcare, scholarships and other benefits.