The Daily Spark

Evey Lyn Parisien-Lafountain, a 16-year-old Indigenous girl who was seven months pregnant when she disappeared, has been missing since about 11 p.m. on May 20, according to information released by her family. Parisien-Lafountain is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs about 143 pounds, has brown eyes and brown or black hair. She was last seen in south Fargo, North Dakota, wearing a gray zip-up hoodie and white and light brown checkered pajama pants.

According to the information released by her family, Parisien-Lafountain is due to give birth at the end of July. Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to contact the Fargo Police Department at 701-235-4493. Her family said even small details, including possible sightings or interactions, could assist investigators as the search continues.

Navajo educator George R. Joe has developed the Tribal Trailz app to help travelers learn about tribal lands, history and culture while driving through New Mexico and Arizona, according to reporting from KRQE. Joe said he spent the past three years creating the app as an alternative to traditional travel guides, allowing users to listen to stories while traveling through Flagstaff, Monument Valley, Gallup and other areas.

The app currently focuses on Navajo Nation routes and also includes routes through the Zuni and Acoma pueblos, according to the KRQE reporting. Joe said he is working with additional pueblos to expand the app and is in the second phase of development, which includes adding routes in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Joe said his goal is to provide accurate information about Native people while creating an educational experience for visitors.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs has announced that it is accepting applications for $2.4 million in Tribal Tourism Grants to help federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations expand tourism and increase visitation. The program will award 10 grants ranging from $200,000 to $300,000 to support tourism promotion, strengthen destination positioning and increase tribal participation in the tourism industry.

The Tribal Tourism Grant Program is administered by the Office of Indian Economic Development under the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov by Aug. 7. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland said the funding is intended to help tribes build on their cultural and natural assets while supporting jobs and sustainable economic growth in tribal communities.

Gavin McKenna, a citizen of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Nation, became the second Indigenous player selected first overall in the National Hockey League draft when the Toronto Maple Leafs chose him with the No. 1 pick in Buffalo, New York. According to reporting from ICT, McKenna wore a beaded pin created by his sister that honored orange shirt day and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women while his family wore traditional Native clothing to represent their community during the draft.

Before the draft, McKenna told ESPN the pin featured "two wolves," with orange representing  “every child matters” and red honoring "the women who were lost." According to reporting from ICT, members of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Nation gathered for a community watch party to celebrate the selection. Deputy Chief Erin McQuaig said the First Nation is proud of McKenna and expressed confidence he will continue to uphold the Nation's values as he begins his NHL career.

A newly identified spider species found in the Columbia River Gorge received the Ichiskíin name Trogloraptor tulishpun during a traditional Yakama naming ceremony June 10, according to reporting from Underscore Native News. Arachnologist Greta Binford, a professor at Lewis & Clark College who discovered the species in 2021, invited the Yakama Nation to name the spider rather than selecting a scientific name on her own. The species is only the second identified in the Trogloraptor genus.

Yakama elder Tony Washines named the spider Trogloraptor tulishpun, which translates to "cave predator, master of domain" in Ichiskíin, according to the Underscore Native News reporting. The ceremony, organized with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, brought together Yakama citizens, scientists and researchers to recognize the discovery and celebrate the partnership between Indigenous knowledge and scientific research.

Four emerging Indigenous women artists are exhibiting their work this summer at the North Boulder Library through the Art + Place program, according to reporting by KUNC. The exhibition, presented by the NoBo Art District in collaboration with Thunder Wolf Native Arts and Culture, features artists younger than 25 and aims to expand opportunities for Native artists while bringing Indigenous perspectives to public spaces.

Among the featured artists is 19-year-old Maxx Wapasha Lake, who is part of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and a descendant of the Navajo Nation. Curator Tom Myer, who is Cayuga of the Haudenosaunee and Ngäbe-Buglé, told KUNC the exhibition also helps educate the public about Native history and contemporary Native life. The gallery is open during library hours through the end of August, and all artwork is available for purchase.

The Little Bighorn Film Festival brought Indigenous filmmakers and storytelling to Billings, Montana, during the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, according to reporting from MTN News. Held June 25–27 at the Northern Hotel and the Art House Cinema and Pub, the festival featured 22 short films, documentaries and feature films focused on the history, culture and resilience of the Allied Tribes that fought in the 1876 battle. The event also included filmmaker presentations, live music and awards honoring Native contributors.

Festival organizer Russell Brooks said the event was created to celebrate the resilience of the Allied Tribes while sharing Native perspectives on the battle, according to the MTN News reporting. Organizers also presented a lifetime achievement award to the family of Blackfeet actor Steve Reevis, who died in 2017. Dr. Brooke Beaverheart Gondara said the festival offered an opportunity to share Indigenous history that many people may have never learned.

Arizona authorities arrested 42 people in 10 separate cases tied to a nearly $3 billion sober living home fraud scheme that targeted Native Americans, according to reporting by Native News Online. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the arrests June 24. The charges include fraudulent billing, theft, conspiracy, vulnerable adult abuse, manslaughter and negligent homicide.

The scheme involved kidnapping Native Americans and enrolling them in the American Indian Health Program through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and billing Medicaid for mental health services that were allegedly never provided, according to the Native News Online reporting. The state estimates the fraud cost taxpayers $2.8 billion. Native News Online reported that nearly 180 people have been indicted, 41 have been convicted and about 200 cases remain under investigation. Native advocates told the outlet they believe recruiters continue targeting vulnerable Native people.

The National Native American Hall of Fame announced six inductees for its 2026 class, according to a Hall of Fame press release. The honorees are Tom Cole of the Chickasaw Nation; Carol Juneau of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation; Arlinda Locklear of the Lumbee Tribe; the late Richard Milanovich of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians; Ernie Stevens Jr. of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin; and Lyle Thompson of the Onondaga Nation. The induction ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 21 at the OKANA Resort & Hotel in Oklahoma City.

According to the news release, the inductees were recognized for contributions in government, law, education, tribal leadership, gaming and athletics. The National Native American Hall of Fame said the 2026 class reflects achievements across multiple fields that have shaped Indian Country and Native communities.

A proposed settlement to secure Colorado River water rights for the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe remains stalled after Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming opposed key provisions, according to reporting from ProPublica and KJZZ News-Phoenix. The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act would resolve the largest outstanding tribal claim to the Colorado River and provide about $5 billion in federal funding for water infrastructure.

Supporters say the settlement would bring running water to communities that lack reliable access while allowing the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe to lease some water rights to help pay for infrastructure, according to the ProPublica and KJZZ News-Phoenix. The Upper Basin states have raised concerns about the leasing provisions and their effect on Colorado River management. Marilyn Tewa, a member of the Hopi Tribal Council, said she hopes the agreement is approved "for all three tribes."

MiigWitches Brew, a Native-owned coffee business on the Fond du Lac Reservation in northeastern Minnesota, is expanding while focusing on community over profit, according to reporting from MPR News. Jackson Ripley, a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, and his family opened the first location in 2024. The business recently added a second shop at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.

Ripley said he wanted to bring quality coffee to the reservation, where residents previously traveled farther for coffee. The business also supports other Native and local businesses by purchasing coffee, baked goods and maple syrup from nearby suppliers. Andrea Reese, CEO of the Mni Sota Fund, told MPR News that Native entrepreneurs often prioritize supporting their communities over maximizing profits. Ripley said staying close to family and serving the community remain central to the business.

Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament is highlighting the role skateboarding plays in Indigenous communities through the short documentary "Paving the Way," according to reporting from The Associated Press. The film premiered June 8 at the Tribeca Festival and follows skater and artist Alishon Kelly while showcasing new skate parks being built across the Flathead Reservation through a partnership between Ament's Montana Pool Service and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Ament, who created original music for the film, said the parks give young people a place to connect and express themselves, according to The Associated Press reporting. The documentary also features skater Terrence Lozeau, who said the parks build community. "These parks are where we come together and where we look out for each other," Lozeau said. "You see little kids watching the older ones and learning."

Dakota Plains Legal Services is facing a $176,000 budget shortfall that is affecting staffing and services, Interim Director William Sulik told the Commission on Equal Access to Our Courts, according to reporting from South Dakota Searchlight. The nonprofit serves western South Dakota and Native Americans on and off tribal lands statewide. Sulik said the organization is delaying hiring, reviewing operations and leaving three recently vacated positions unfilled to help preserve services.

The financial challenges could continue if federal funding is reduced. According to reporting from South Dakota Searchlight, Dakota Plains received about $76,000 less this year from the Legal Services Corporation, which provides about 73% of the organization's operating budget. Sulik said funding and staffing shortages have also slowed expansion of the Justice Bus, a mobile legal aid clinic serving rural and tribal communities. "We're trying the best we can," Sulik told South Dakota Searchlight.

A new Indigenous-led whale watching experience launched June 16 in Seattle, offering visitors a tour rooted in Coast Salish history, culture and traditional knowledge, according to reporting from Underscore Native News and ICT. The inaugural voyage of the "First Stories of the Salish Sea" tour included Indigenous storytelling, cultural education, and sightings of orcas and a humpback whale in Elliott Bay.

Valerie Segrest, a citizen of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and chief executive officer of Taproot Travel Co., said the tours are designed to share Indigenous perspectives with visitors, according to Underscore Native News and ICT reporting. During the nearly four-hour tour, Owen Oliver, a citizen of the Quinault Indian Nation and Isleta Pueblo, shared stories about treaty rights, Coast Salish history and animal relatives while Elizabeth Campbell, a citizen of the Spokane Tribe, led a tasting featuring teas made from Native plants.

Jeannette Corbiere Lavell, an Anishinaabe woman from Wikwemikong First Nation, is among Indigenous advocates whose efforts helped challenge gender-based discrimination in Canada’s Indian Act. According to reporting in The Globe and Mail, Corbiere Lavell lost her Indian status in 1970 after marrying a non-Indigenous man and later joined a legal fight that contributed to reforms under Bill C-31 in 1985, which restored status to many Indigenous women.

The debate has shifted to the Indian Act’s second-generation cutoff, a provision that can prevent descendants of some Status Indians from obtaining status. Dawn Lavell Harvard, director of Trent University’s First Peoples House of Learning and Corbiere Lavell’s daughter, is among those supporting Bill S-2, which would eliminate the cutoff. According to Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty’s office, the bill would restore status to about 3,500 people and their descendants. The legislation is being studied by the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and could be considered for a vote this fall.

The Caddo Nation plans to open a new child-care center in Hinton, Okla., this fall to address limited child-care options for families in the region, according to reporting from ICT News. Caddo Nation Child Care Director Lauren French, who is Delaware and Caddo, said families have faced long waitlists and extended travel times to reach available providers. The 12,250-square-foot facility is located near Interstate 40 and will serve up to 75 children from six months to 12 years old.

The center was developed through a partnership between the Caddo Nation and the nonprofit design organization Model of Architecture Serving Society, known as MASS, according to reporting from ICT News. The facility will include indoor and outdoor learning spaces, a gym, pool, library, nursing center and playground inspired by the Caddo Nation’s mound-building tradition. The project is expected to create 20 to 23 jobs and was constructed by Arrowood Kakinah Enterprise, a Caddo-owned construction company. The building’s design incorporates elements inspired by traditional Caddo Koo Hoo Kiwat homes.

Tribal leaders and advocates are challenging a New Mexico directive that requires the state’s child welfare agency to seek custody of newborns exposed to drugs or alcohol in utero, arguing the policy conflicts with protections for Native families and tribal sovereignty, according to reporting from The Guardian. Nine tribes joined an emergency petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which argues the directive does not address safeguards required for Indian families established in state and federal law.  

At least 25 Native children have been flagged by child welfare authorities since the directive took effect, with tribes taking jurisdiction in 10 cases, according to The Guardian’s reporting. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren wrote in an April letter that the proposed rule raises concerns about tribal sovereignty, jurisdiction and unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system. Donalyn Lorenzo, a former New Mexico child welfare official, also questioned whether tribes were adequately consulted before the policy was implemented.

A new book tells the stories of Native American women in the Twin Cities, who for decades helped build organizations, advance the arts, and strengthen education and community programs, according to reporting by MPR News. The book was co-authored by White Earth Nation citizen Audrey Thayer and Colette Hyman. “Weaving Community: Indigenous Women and Leadership in the Twin Cities” chronicles the work of women activists who founded and led about 25 organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul beginning in the 1950s.

According to Thayer, the nine-year project includes perspectives from more than two dozen Dakota, Ojibwe and Ho-Chunk women, and documents the histories of organizations including the Indigenous Peoples Task Force and MIGIZI Communications. Thayer said the book was inspired by a lack of educational resources focused on Indigenous women’s leadership. Published by Minnesota Historical Society Press, the book also explores the impacts of boarding schools and relocation to Minneapolis and St. Paul for work and education opportunities.

A conference at Yale University explored the American Revolution through the experiences of Native nations as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, according to reporting by Connencticut Public. The event, “First America: The Legacies of the Declaration of Independence for Native Nations,” was organized by The Yale Group for the Study of Native America and The NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project. Participants discussed Indigenous history, land dispossession, democracy and Native visibility in narratives about the nation’s founding.

Chris Newell of the Passamaquoddy Tribe discussed his book “If You Lived During the American Revolution,” which includes Indigenous and Black perspectives. Conference organizer Ned Blackhawk, a Western Shoshone historian at Yale University, said Native communities have been left out of many accounts of American history. Participants said Native history remains an ongoing part of the American story, not one confined to the Revolutionary era.