The Daily Spark

In a new effort to recognize diverse forms of excellence in North Dakota schools, state Superintendent Levi Bachmeier and the North Dakota High School Activities Association launched the “Dakota Cup” challenge on Sept. 17.

To compete for scholarship funding in the Dakota Cup, schools will earn points for a variety of important achievements, ranging from academic performance to traditional athletics to extracurricular activities like fine arts. A complex ranking system will determine each school’s outcome, with half of the weight of the scoring given to academic performance and the other half to activities. 

The exact amount of scholarship funding and the timeframe for rolling out the Dakota Cup competition haven’t been announced.

In a Sept. 17 press release, organizers behind the Dakota Cup highlighted the way they hope the new initiative will cut through digital distractions and encourage holistic student development. 

“This competition puts all sports and fine arts on equal footing, encouraging schools and communities to recognize and celebrate lesser acknowledged activities with the same vigor we do our most cherished,” Bachmeier said in the press release.

The small footprint of a Northern California site recently returned to local tribes belies its powerful cultural importance. The land stretches one half mile along a beach near the community of Westport, with a little over 100 additional acres sloping up the hillside and above Highway 1. To the Indigenous leaders of the Kai Poma nonprofit that recently received the land back from the state, the area is rich in historic and cultural significance. These Native community members have been part of a relentless effort to regain ownership of the beach and protect it from looting and damage since 2005, according to reporting by Mongabay. 

The coalition behind Kai Poma includes ancestral descendants from the Coastal Yuki and Yuki people, today represented by the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the Round Valley Indian Tribes and the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians. 

The coastline represents a sacred place where the origin story of the local tribes is rooted, and remains of their ancestors are buried beneath the terraced part of the parcel towering above the Pacific Ocean. The California Department of Transportation gave the territory back to the tribes with the requirement that the area now known as Blues Beach remain open to the public.

On the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, where turmoil has been seething within the local government, the recent discovery of a mutilated black bear cub reported in Cowboy State Daily adds a disturbing element to more than a year of deep unrest for the tribe.

The person who told the Wyoming outlet she found the carcass Tuesday described a decapitated “baby bear” near a public-use picnic table and fire ring at Crazy Head Springs. According to Cowboy State’s Emma Jane Jackson, the bear’s paws appeared to have been cut off cleanly at the ankles, its torso had been sliced open to reveal its organs and bones and its fur had been scattered around the area. Parts of the carcass also looked burned. 

According to Cowboy State, Stacie Joiner reported the bear to the Bureau of Indian Affairs after she stumbled upon the carcass but was told no officer was available to meet her. Another source told Cowboy State the bear was reported to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, but no one from the state agency had responded immediately, either. 

Joiner said in the story she plans to arrange a proper burial for the bear with her brother and a close friend. She said she definitely believes the treatment of the dead bear goes “hand-in-hand” with the pain, struggle and dysfunction the tribe is experiencing from the leadership disputes.

Organizations that represent national Native American interests are joining the legal fight behind the Tohono O’odham Nation’s pushback against the federal government’s border wall construction on tribal land.

On Wednesday, lawyers from the Native American Rights Fund asked a federal district court to reverse its decision allowing federal government contractors to work on the Tohono O’odham reservation, describing it as a trespass that is “unprecedented in the modern era of federal Indian law.” The amicus brief was filed on behalf of the National Congress of American Indians and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona.

On Aug. 25, the tribe said in a statement that federal police, as well as contractors from the Department of Homeland Security, violated the tribe’s trespassing law by working on border wall construction sites in Tohono O’odham.

The tribe is currently appealing a federal district court order that denied its right to issue the trespassing notices.

In New Mexico, the podcast Conversations Different is a main way for the state’s oldest newspaper to get information to voters about candidates running for governor.

This election’s candidates, Democrat Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) and Republican Gregg Hull, haven’t scheduled a traditional debate moderated by a news outlet. Representatives from both campaigns told Buffalo’s Fire on Thursday that discussions for a debate are stalled.

With early voting starting Oct. 6, voters have been left to learn about candidates through multiple interview-style formats, including forums hosted by special interest groups, where the two candidates have appeared together but haven’t been allowed to address each other directly.

Most often Haaland and Hull appear separately to pitch their ideas or views to voters. The Santa Fe New Mexican editorial page editor Inez Russell Gomez interviewed Hull on Sept. 23 and Haaland the next day in front of live audiences for her Conversations Different podcast.

She asked questions from newsroom staff and readers. One concerned the candidates’ views on eliminating New Mexico’s state income tax. Hull wants to phase it out; Haaland doesn’t.

“There are a lot of wealthy people in this state that can pay their fair share of taxes,” Haaland told the crowd of predominantly white, retired voters at the live taping.

The podcast episodes, which air just over 30-minutes, will be out later this week.

The Black Hills Clean Water Alliance seeks volunteers to join its South Dakota Adopt-A-Highway event on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 8 a.m. 

The alliance has worked to protect local resources, particularly water, from destructive mining and pollution since 2009. 

Interested volunteers can sign up or ask questions by emailing Denise at Denise.bhcwa@gmail.com

The alliance needs volunteers who are able to walk on uneven terrain and be comfortable in variable weather. Volunteers should also dress for the weather with closed-toe shoes and long pants. 

The organization will provide leather gloves, safety vests, water, trash bags and grabbers. 

“It’s a great way to get outside, enjoy the beautiful Black Hills, and protect our precious waterways from pollution,” the alliance newsletter states.

A 2024 wildfire incident report from the Idaho Department of Lands obtained by High Country News and Public Domain reveals how an unauthorized prescribed burn eventually broke containment from private property co-owned by a Trump administration appointee.

Michael Boren was confirmed in 2025 as the U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service. His brother, Steve Boren, manages the Josephine Creek Ranch in Idaho. Public financial disclosure documents show Michael Boren has an ownership stake in the ranch.

On Sept. 30, 2024, Steve Boren called local authorities to report that he would be doing a prescribed burn on the ranch.

However, according to the Idaho incident report he reportedly ignited 20 separate fires on public land around Josephine Creek Ranch. The report shows Boren did this during an Idaho fire ban due to dry conditions and without any permits. That resulted in the Rosie Fire, which burned more than 5,600 acres of public land and required federal, state and local fire agencies to respond. The fire cost $950,000 to contain. 

Steven Boren told investigators he started the fires to help with the ranch’s cattle management operations. In a statement to High Country News and Public Domain, Michael Boren denied having any advance knowledge of the unauthorized burn and denied any personal wrongdoing.

No citations or criminal charges related to the Rosie Fire have been filed. Idaho fire officials told High Country News and Public Domain that the state’s incident report remains part of an active investigation.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28624075-id-sws-001347-rosie-fire-report-final-corr-pdf-signed-redacted-3/

The PBS NOVA documentary “Knowledge Keepers” features traditional land-based practices by Indigenous people from First Nations in Canada and tribal nations from the Pacific Northwest, Great Plains and Southwest.

Filmmakers conducted interviews in deeply rural Indigenous communities including the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Pauquachin First Nation, Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Navajo Nation.

“My ancestors learned how to live in one of the most extreme places on Earth; the cold north. And if you want to live in this kind of condition here, you have to learn about the environment,” Yellowknives Dene Chief Fred Sangris told NOVA. “You have to learn it, otherwise you won’t survive.”

The documentary is available to watch now online. It premiered on PBS Sept. 23.

The second court ruling in two days regarding tribal leadership on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation emphatically supported the authority of eight tribal council members who were removed from their posts a year ago. 

Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court Judge Frans A. Andersson issued a Sept. 23 court order doubling down on the previous day’s appellate court decision that clarified who is in charge in Lame Deer, Montana.

Andersson wrote Wednesday that Melissa Lonebear, Melissa Fisher, Kristi Killsnight and their colleagues “hold office as members of Tribal Council, uninterrupted, since September 10, 2025. During that period of time, no other person has held office of Tribal Council.”

Andersson also referred to the special October 2025 election that ushered in replacements for the ousted council members as “the void election.” Any “purported actions” taken by the replacement group, Andersson wrote, “have no effect and are void.”

Andersson’s ruling arrives with little time to spare before the next round of council elections on Nov. 3. The sole power to carry out and certify the elections, Andersson added, belongs to Lonebear, Fisher, Killsnight and the members of the original council. Andersson gave the opposing faction of Northern Cheyenne leaders three days to turn over all of the property and materials needed to run the council and administer the elections, including “access to the Little Wolf Capitol Building and other tribal properties, records of Tribal Council, computers, telephones, servers, and other electronic communications or data storage devices.”

Andersson warned that anyone who fails to comply with the court order could be found in contempt of court or criminal contempt.

“Any attempt to undermine or inhibit the administration of the November 3 Election is an attack on the democratic process,” Andersson continued. “Attempts by unelected individuals to exercise Tribal authority in contradiction of the Constitution is lawlessness.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics and its partners will host the 12th International Meeting on Indigenous Child Health in Portland, Oregon, May 28-30, 2027. With a particular focus on maternal-child health, the event will convene health leaders, community members, researchers, academics and clinicians. 

The annual gathering centers the unique health challenges, approaches and learnings that emerge in treating Indigenous youth, not only in North America but around the world. The 2027 meeting, AAP stated in its recent newsletter, will feature sessions that examine growing health issues, community programs, public policy and other topics related to Native youth, children, pregnant people and families. 

On Monday, the Indigenous Conservation Council of the Chesapeake Bay stepped away from a land management agreement between the state of Virginia, local governments and seven tribal nations in the area.

The fallout ends nearly a year of negotiations after the tribal group did not receive signatory status to go along with its role in the planned Chesapeake Bay Program.

Tribal leaders said this is a clear disregard to tribal sovereignty.

Melissa Ann Ehrenreich, executive director of the Indigenous Conservation Council, told Maryland Matters the group would be open to a new conversation if tribes were granted more autonomy in any new conservation rules on or near tribal land.

“If people are not willing to create a seat at the table, why should you sit under the table?” Ehrenreich was quoted as saying. “That was what they were suggesting: For tribes to sit under the table and catch crumbs.”

Wildfires in the Pacific Northwest have destroyed homes, polluted water with ash and devastated traditional food systems for salmon and berries.

This year the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington is experiencing the worst wildfire season in more than a decade. According to Stateline, roughly 900,000 acres have burned across Washington, including 200,000 from the Kaiser Canyon Fire burning across Colville.

“What typically used to be like a two-month fire season for us when I first started fighting fire about 25 years ago — now that’s at least three months and sometimes longer, depending on the year,” said Cody Desautel, executive director of the Colville Tribes, who is also a forester and wildland fire expert told Stateline.

In Oregon, the Klamath Tribe has concerns about wildfire pollution impacting streams and rivers that are central to its salmon restoration, which includes new salmon hatches in the Williamson River and Upper Klamath Lake. The fire has also scorched fields that grew traditional foods like huckleberries, chokecherries and camas.

Two Spirit activist David Herrera has served as an influential leader supporting Montana Indigenous communities since 1986. Drawing on his education at Stanford University, his Mestizo heritage and his adoption into the Blackfeet Tribe in Browning, Herrera has been at the forefront of health, education and community support for Two Spirit individuals statewide since the height of the AIDS epidemic. 

Herrera was recently recognized by the city of Missoula for his long list of contributions to the community — including health work focused on HIV, educational opportunities centering Two Spirit perspectives and the long-running Montana Two Spirit Gathering that takes place every summer. The city of Missoula dedicated Aug. 15, 2026, as “David Herrera Day,” highlighting in its proclamation his “exceptional courage, selfless compassion and visionary leadership.”

The Montana Two Spirit Society, which Herrera co-founded in 1996, also celebrated the impressive legacy of its executive director. Community members offered thanks, memories and words of support for Herrera and his impact, and the Montana Two Spirit Society noted that “a life of service is ultimately measured in the people and communities we touch along the way.”

The Saddle Lake Cree Nation used its treaty rights with Canada to establish gender affirming care and protections for medical professionals in the field. 

The announcement last week came in response to Alberta’s ban on gender affirming care. The First Nation asserted Canada’s provision under Treaty 6, which guarantees “that a medicine chest shall be kept at the house of each Indian Agent for the use and benefit of the Indians.”

CTV News reports that the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs from Nos. 6, 7, and 8, and the Blackfoot Confederacy, passed an emergency resolution this week to support Saddle Lake Cree’s decision. 

Saddle Lake Cree Nation issued a news release, cited by CTV, saying, “This support from Treaty relatives sends an important message: Saddle Lake is not standing alone. When one Treaty Nation exercises its jurisdiction, we strengthen Treaty for all of our Nations and future generations.”

Saddle Lake Cree Nation Chief Dale Steinhauer outlined next steps that include creating a licensure program for clinicians that provide gender affirming care. She also celebrated that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has taken a “hands off approach” to the Saddle Lake Cree’s decision on gender affirming care.

On June 23 Lumbee Tribe voters overwhelmingly rejected a tribal casino development plan in the first major local election since Lumbee received federal recognition in 2025.

Although 63% of Lumbee voters said no to a casino, the Lumbee tribal council insisted it was in the best interest of the tribe to pursue gaming as an option in its hospitality and entertainment master plans. On June 25, two days after the casino proposal failed, the Lumbee held an emergency meeting to approve a motion to keep the gaming discussion open.

The motion was approved by a 17-1 vote.

That set into place a motion on Aug. 20 by the tribal council to begin the process to adopt a Lumbee Gaming Ordinance. The lure of potential economic development with gaming is too much to outright reject, Lumbee leaders said. The tribal council motion argues it is essential to fund government infrastructure like public safety, education, healthcare and housing.

Lumbee citizens can submit any comments online or in person about the new Gaming Ordinance proposal until Sept. 29. Three in-person public comment events will take place across the Lumbee Nation on Sept. 22, 24 and 28.

Nebraska was home to one of the largest Indian boarding schools in United States history. 

The Genoa U.S. Indian School operated from 1884 until 1934 where more than 4,300 Native students were taken from their homes to the school site. 

On Sept. 26 the site will host the 36th annual recognition and remembrance ceremony to honor the children that attended the school.

A panel on the site’s history will include speakers from across Indian Country. Aaron LaPointe (Winnebago), Dr. Kateri Hinman Petto (Omaha, Winnebago and Seneca Tribes) and Alexis Zendejas (Omaha Tribe) will speak.

On Sept. 19, 2006, a landmark local ordinance in a former Pennsylvania mining town enshrined the idea that natural ecosystems can exercise civil rights under the western legal system. The Tamaqua Borough Council ordinance drew upon traditional Indigenous understanding of the relation between humans and their environment, and it influenced an international movement that continues making strides today. 

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund that worked alongside Tamaqua residents to defend their land against corporate pollution recently released its inaugural report on what is now known as the Rights of Nature movement. The law firm detailed how more than 60 local governments in the U.S. and North American tribal nations now recognize the rights of nature. Around the world, 35 countries have also adopted rights of nature protections, and support for the rights of nature in Ecuador helped block a controversial mining project in 2021. 

Native youth leaders play a growing role in the Rights of Nature movement. In eastern Massachusetts, young members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe connected with the Bioneers organization in 2021 in an effort to save local herring populations on the decline. Bioneers supported a Mashpee group to attend an intertribal Indigenous youth gathering led by the Tlingit tribe in Alaska, where representatives of different Native traditions connected over shared values around the environment and youth leadership. 

Out of this foundation, Bioneers reports the network of young tribal leaders has achieved victories protecting the rights of the Colorado River and the Longperson stream and empowering Native youth worldwide.

On Cherokee writer Rebecca Nagle’s new podcast “First America,” Indigenous experts unpack the historical realities of U.S. development that have shaped modern democracy and the place that Native Americans play in current affairs. 

The project, which debuted this summer to coincide with the 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence, challenges popular notions about the founding fathers, the American Revolution and the role of Indigenous people over the course of colonial expansion. 

Nagle’s project centers numerous Native scholars to bring forward powerful information and better understanding around the disenfranchisement of tribal nations. First America also offers learning tools to complement the episodes. 

Native Hawaiian assistant professor Kekoa Taparra at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health recently introduced new insights into cancer rates among different demographic groups in the U.S. 

Taparra and the UCLA team disaggregated cancer data for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander patients from Asian American statistics to shed light on health disparities that weren’t previously understood. This innovative approach showed Native Hawaiian women have the highest incidence of breast cancer out of all U.S. populations, and the breast cancer incidence rate for Native Hawaiian women is 27% higher than it is for white women.

The researchers followed federal guidelines advising against combining Asian American cancer rate data with the information on cancer prevalence among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations. Taparra said in a UCLA article by Brad Smith that these guidelines haven’t been in wide use since they were established almost 30 years ago.

The results of this work provided additional demographic breakdowns that can inform health outcomes beyond the Native Hawaiian population. The co-authors found Korean people have the highest stomach cancer incidence of any U.S. racial-ethnic group, Vietnamese people experience the highest liver cancer rates and Samoan women rank the highest in the incidence of uterine corpus cancer.