Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Officials ID ‘person of interest’ in ND slayings on Fort Berthold Reservation

The tiny public school in Flasher, N.D. is the target of Native American parent demands for cultural sensitivity training after a racially charged high school prom incident. Google Maps image accessed May 1, 2024

NEW TOWN, N.D. — A stuffed bear is placed on a white picket fence on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 in New Town, N.D. Authorities say a woman and her three grandchildren were murdered in in the home on Sunday, Nov. 18.

Editor’s note: Four people, Martha Johnson and her four grandchildren, died on the Fort Berthold Reservation — they were not tribal citizens. Hours later a fifth person died, Kalcie Eagle, who was a tribal citizen. He turned a knife on himself in front of authorities. It has not been determined if he was connected with the slayings.
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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.