Independent News from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Elder Celebration

MHA Nation elders gather for summer luncheon

Tribal elders enjoy an afternoon of games, prizes and food on the Fort Berthold Reservation

Gabrielle Nelson

Funding for tribal services threatened by ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Carmen O’Leary fights to help Indigenous survivors of violence amid budget cuts

MMIP motorcycle ride ends with prayers at Bear Butte

Benefit Ride to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples

Tribal judge aims to Indigenize the bench

Megan Treuer’s plan to improve Native justice is being realized with help of Bush Fellowship

Congress and USDA have yet to act on year-old recommendations that could alleviate food insecurity among tribes

Cole Brings Plenty: 2-day MMIP commemoration kicks off

High school students learn engineering at ASPIRE summer camps

Gabrielle Nelson

Dentalium image

Special Feature

For the love of dentalium

Harvested in the Pacific and traded inland, dentalium shells served Indigenous peoples as valuable currency, status symbols, and sacred items for millennia, a tradition that persists. Read our coverage.

Sovereignty, Community, Press Freedom.
Get the Buffalo's Fire Newsletter.

The Daily Spark

Quick stories, must reads

Bismarck-Mandan

Crisis Response

North Dakota Legislature passes law aimed at tackling MMIP crisis

Rural Uncertainty

USDA upheaval brings uncertainty to farmers, rural communities

North Dakota lawmakers to review key bills impacting Native American communities

Dakota Access Pipeline

Media petition North Dakota Supreme Court for expanded access to Greenpeace trial

Free school meals bill fails in the North Dakota House

Tribal consultation

Bill seeks to strengthen tribal consultation on North Dakota legislation

Northern Plains

16 North Dakota organizations receive $8 million in opioid grants

What caused a splash in the Missouri River the night Renzo Bullhead disappeared?

North Dakota ranked No. 2 for aging in place in national study

Vaccine Decline

State reports first measles case amidst declining vaccination rates

Funding Fallout

Sudden cut of ‘politicized’ FEMA grants leaves North Dakota communities in the lurch

Community Search

MMIR: Native community unites in water and ground search for Standing Rock man, last seen on train bridge

‘Big Muddy’: North Dakota approaches deadline in high-stakes MHA oil tax lawsuit

Native Issues

From tradition to trend: Where to buy dentalium in today’s market

Dentalium: History and significance in Native American cultureExplainer

Harvesting Connection: Dentalium and the two ‘Indian’ worlds

Dakota Access Pipeline

Federal government appealing $28M award to North Dakota for pipeline protest costs

North Dakota’s Feather Alert to roll out in August

Five Natives named Bush Fellows

Missing and Murdered

Daughter remembers Kristin Bruce as a woman ‘full of life’

Inside the NCAI Mid Year Conference: What we saw, heard and ran to cover

Trump wants to cut tribal college funding by nearly 90%, putting them at risk of closing

Native Nations

Twin Buttes Powwow in North Dakota celebrates every child as a champion

Angela Gillette

Pipeline Concerns

Public hearing set for proposed pipeline in Mountrail and Ward counties

Activism continues

Leonard Peltier remains defiant in AP interview, maintaining innocence and vowing continued activism

Leonard Peltier: ‘Today I am finally free’

Arts & Culture

Hollywood vs Heritage

Best Native American movies, series — the ones worth watching

Teresa Trumbly Lamsam, Ph.D.

Indigenous Cinema

How ‘Dark Winds’ delivers

The journey of dentalium: Tracing ancient trade routes along the Upper Missouri

Dentalium journey with artist Tipiziwin Tolman: from necessity to cultural icon

Revitalizing ancestral art forms: Holly Young draws inspiration from family and community

Sundance Film Festival to relocate to Boulder in 2027

ND Native photographer featured in San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition

Opinion

Justice Delivered

June 30, heirs’ deadline to file for allotment land royalties

Community Uprising

Cheyenne River Sioux families walk to draw attention to allegations of mistreatment at the jail

Why Buffalo’s Fire was red for one day

Harvesting Connection: Dentalium and the two ‘Indian’ worlds

When is being ‘elder’ more than just being ‘older’?

Cultural Preservation

A look inside the Denver March Powwow

Buffalo’s Fire’s news-sharing campaign: When republishing a story avoid the ‘copycat’ syndrome

Stories you might have missed

Urgent call to action against violence on Native women: Even when it seems there is no hope, keep fighting

Events and Announcements

Buffalo’s Fire, IMFA head to NCAI Mid Year Convention

Largest tribal transit station in Minnesota under construction on White Earth Reservation

Disease Preparedness

Tribes prepare for measles outbreaks as confirmed cases in US surpass 1,000

Cultural Innovation

Inside the 13 Moons curriculum: How the Swinomish Tribe keeps traditions alive while teaching STEAM and helping to reduce chemical exposures

Missing and Murdered

Renzo Bullhead’s family hang on to hope and prayer as search continues

Federal Accountability

Native nations sue U.S. over use of tribal funds for boarding schools

Pandleton image