The Daily Spark

With early voting underway in New Mexico, President Barack Obama shared a video on Wednesday endorsing Democratic governor candidate Deb Haaland. 

Haaland is from Laguna Pueblo and is ahead of her Republican opponent Gregg Hull in the polls. A poll released Oct. 4 by KOB 4 and SurveyUSA showed Haaland with a 7% lead in the race; 12% of voters said they remain undecided.

Early voting started in the state on Oct. 6, which was also the last day to register to vote. Voters who requested absentee ballots should receive those in the mail soon, and people can vote in person at county clerk offices statewide. Early voting expands Oct. 17 with additional early voting centers opening across the state. 

Obama praised Haaland’s start as a community organizer and canvasser. Haaland worked on his 2012 re-election campaign as a Native American Vote Director in the state.

“That's what Deb did on my campaign, knocking on thousands of doors in Indian Country,” Obama said in the video. “And all these years later, she's still listening to folks in every corner of New Mexico. As governor, Deb will lower costs, strengthen education, build safer communities and protect your healthcare because she knows what families are up against.”

Haaland said she was honored to “earn” Obama’s endorsement.

At the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s 2026 Summit for America’s Youth, a contingent of 22 Boys & Girls Club members representing Native communities traveled to Washington, D.C., to influence nationwide policymaking.

According to a press release from the organization, the group on The Hill included teenagers from the Flathead Reservation and Lake County, Montana; Gila River, Arizona; United American Indian Involvement in California; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas; and Nowata, Oklahoma.

The program involved pairing Native youth with club mentors who supported them in leading service projects throughout the year in their local communities. During their D.C. trip, the participants also spent a week building effective leadership and advocacy skills before applying those skills and their firsthand knowledge to communicate their priorities to congressional officials and staff.

One group member from the Gila River Indian Community worked on addressing substance abuse among Indigenous youth for her project. She collected data about the issue and demonstrated how it intersects with mental health and community challenges that go back through many generations. Her advocacy in D.C. focused on the need for stronger support systems and expanded mental health resources in Indian Country. 

In the press release describing this project and the summit, the Boys & Girls Club wrote, “When Native youth have the opportunity to tell their stories and speak about the issues that matter most to them, powerful things can happen.”

Since federal protections were greatly reduced and mining claims started pouring in, Bears Ears National Monument in Utah has remained a flashpoint for nationwide contention around sacred cultural sites, public lands and resource extraction. Five tribes with cultural investment in Bears Ears have banded together to protect the area, with leadership spanning the Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, Diné and Ute tribes.

And their efforts are resonating across the state, according to a new poll. 

The findings showed two-thirds of Utah voters support restoring greater protections for all of Bears Ears and nearby Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments. Additionally, 82% of Utah voters indicated they believe tribes should have a strong role in managing public lands that involve sacred or culturally significant sites.

This broad support for Bears Ears includes significant bipartisan agreement on these issues: 76% of Republicans, 86% of independents and 97% of Democrats backed the idea that public lands management should involve strong tribal representation.

On its website, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition celebrated the results of the polling. A press release in late September noted, “Tribal people continue to return to Bears Ears to pray, gather medicines and foods, visit important places, and teach younger generations.”

The poll took place in August 2026, surveying 500 registered Utah voters, according to the Inter-Tribal coalition

Nationwide voter data consistently demonstrates how civic engagement and voter outreach lag behind for rural voters, youth and Indigenous people — but one young leader on the Colville Reservation in Washington State is bucking that trend.

An Indigenous high school junior with a bevy of accolades under his belt, DC Atkins was recently reelected to serve a second school year as Youth Council President for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, according to the Tribal Tribune.

DC is Crow as well as enrolled with the Colville Tribes, and he is already an active contributor to his local community. As Youth Council President, DC has worked on Native civic engagement by helping to organize the Confederated Colville Tribes’ candidate forum for the tribal council elections.

DC also belongs to the National Honor Society, plays varsity basketball and competes in rodeo. 

Ashley Three-Irons Atkins, who has been involved with local youth and schools in central Washington, nominated DC for recognition. She told the Tribal Tribune he “represents the strength of youth leadership, community involvement, and positive representation for Native students.”

The deadline to submit public comments on proposed changes for the 2030 U.S. Census is fast approaching after the Census Bureau truncated its standard noticing period of 30 days down to just two weeks. General public comment ends Oct. 13. Tribal Nations and tribal-serving organizations have until Nov. 2 to provide comments.

Native-led groups have urged Indigenous commenters to weigh in on the 2030 process, which could include a new rule eliminating race/ethnicity questions. For people in American Indian and Alaska Native populations, this rule change could have substantial impacts on future funding. Housing, community development, maternal health and transportation across Indian Country are all tied to funding based on Census data.

“If adopted,” the National Congress of American Indians stated on its website, “the proposed rule would fundamentally change how the 2030 census counts every person in the United States.”

NCAI offers information about the proposed rules and guidance on submitting official comment.

Traditional medicine expansion through the Indian Health Services has now reached Maine and Utah. 

In September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved reimbursement plans that allow the two states to authorize payments for qualified traditional health care practices, including mental health and substance use treatment services and nutritional care for Native Americans.

The waivers, which went into effect Oct. 1 and last until 2031, allow state health departments to reimburse traditional medicine costs for IHS, tribal health facilities or individuals. 

The Utah waiver also allows for reimbursement through urban health care facilities.

Four other states — California, Oregon, New Mexico and Arizona — have been approved to run similar programs.

The reimbursement programs are overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 In a statement after the approval, A.C. Locklear, CEO for the National Indian Health Board, praised federal health officials for expanding traditional medicine. 

"Healing the whole person works,” Locklear (Lumbee) said. “This decision solidifies the foundation for Traditional Medicine’s role in our healthcare system, and we will continue to support the growth and evaluation of these methods of care.”

The University of Colorado Boulder is planning multiple events on Oct. 14 to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The morning will begin with a panel discussion exploring Land Back initiatives. Panelists will offer insight from projects to restore ancestral land to Indigenous communities in North, Central and South America.

In a nod to the school’s buffalo mascot, the first afternoon session will bring together panelists to discuss Indigenous-led bison restoration initiatives in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain West. The session will examine the cultural, ecological and community significance of bringing bison back to the landscapes where they were a central figure before colonization.

The day concludes with a screening of the short film ‘People of the Sacred Land,’ which takes an unflinching look at the history of Colorado, with an eye toward the destructive impact of colonization on Native people. The film features Richard Williams (Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne), the executive producer, discussing the findings of Colorado’s Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission.

In a new publication from the University of Oklahoma Press, volume editors Cristina L. Azocar and Meta G. Carstarphen “showcase the diversity and resilience of Indigenous storytelling in today’s media context,” according to a press release from the publisher.

The newly released “Storytelling Sovereignty” builds upon the 2012 book “American Indians and the Mass Media” with new insight from a wide array of practitioners involved in shaping today’s stories from Indian Country. The book brims with perspectives provided by academics, journalists, film industry professionals and even rappers. 

Through an editorial focus on newsgathering, multimedia representation and cultural influence, the book “helps readers not only understand Indigenous-produced media but also why it is so vital.”

A 31-year-old man from Porcupine, South Dakota, was sentenced two years and nine months in federal prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

On Sept. 14, U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler also ordered five years of supervised release for Griffin Cross after he is released from jail. Cross will also have to register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated under the Major Crimes Act, allowing for federal charges over a state prosecution. According to a release this week from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Public Safety Department received a report in November 2025 that Cross had assaulted the teenager. According to the release, Cross sent the girl nude pictures over social media and then brought her to his home, where he sexually abused her.

On June 9, 2026, Cross entered a guilty plea for the sexual abuse of a minor. 

The Black Hills Clean Water Alliance invites community members to three upcoming forums in South Dakota to learn about proposals to mine for uranium in the Black Hills.

The first forum takes place Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m at the Lakota Cultural Center in Eagle Butte, 24352 US Highway 212.

Another forum follows in Hot Springs on Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Smiling Sage Wellness Center, 240 N. Garden Street.

The third forum in the trio will be held in Porcupine on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sharps Corner at Thunder Valley CDC, 290 Empowerment Drive. 

All three forums provide attendees with a chance to learn about current proposals, participate in discussions with other interested locals and explore ways to get involved.

Immediately following the Oct. 3 forum at the Lakota Cultural Centre in Eagle Butte, Native BioData Consortium (NativeBio) will host Rez Tech Reimagined, another event to raise awareness and encourage action “on behalf of protecting Uncimaka – Grandmother Earth,” according to reporting by West River Eagle. Rebecca Dickinson (White Earth Ojibwe of the Minnesota Chippewa), grants manager for NativeBio, said the topics of the interactive event and roundtable discussion are “technologies, our future, and protecting Mother Earth.” The event will provide childcare, and a free dinner will be served.

An upper respiratory infection that can cause serious health issues in young children, RSV occurs with a higher frequency among Alaska Natives than non-Natives in the state, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. Rates of hospitalization related to RSV are two to seven times higher in Alaska Native children than the rates for other children in the U.S. Although RSV antibodies can prevent severe illness in infants and some young children, local health providers often face difficulties connecting young Alaska Natives in remote communities with the antibodies that can keep them safe from infection. 

Recent efforts to address these health concerns are equipping Alaska Native communities with critical resources. In 2022, the CDC partnered to monitor wastewater with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, which serves 49 villages in southwestern Alaska. This coordinated effort gave the health corporation a valuable headstart to secure immunizations  ahead of RSV’s peak in 2023. Two weeks before the first RSV case was officially reported in a community where RSV hospitalization rates have been historically high, wastewater from the monitoring program gave an early signal to the health corporation to secure additional supplies of antibodies.  

The CDC highlighted the effective partnership on Sept. 21, explaining its community wastewater monitoring program as a tool tribes and regional health organizations can tap into “to build wastewater monitoring awareness, infrastructure, and expertise to strengthen the public health of their communities.”

On Tuesday the FBI announced charges against 18 people for a variety of crimes on the Wind River Indian Reservation, including murder, sexual abuse, illegal drug distribution and violence against children.

The arrests are part of Operation Steadfast Promise, a multi-police agency taskforce the FBI started earlier in the year to target gang activity and violent crimes within Indian Country. 

The Wind River Police Department worked with federal and state forensics experts and received training from the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, which tracks cell phone data and locations.

Tribal police also analyzed more than 30 firearms with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

After a historic election in August 2025, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is confronting major financial challenges, according to KOSU radio station’s Thomas Pablo.

The nation currently depends upon U.S. federal funding and grants for all of its finances. Principal Chief Sena Yesslith, the nation’s first female chief, told the community earlier this month that service delivery is hampered because they don’t have any way to independently generate revenue.

Tribal governments are often tasked with engineering creative revenue streams to augment financial support from the federal government, and some tribes bring in additional money through gaming enterprises or natural resource development. But the Seminole Nation has been hamstrung since incurring a large fine from the National Indian Gaming Association for unauthorized use of gaming equipment in the early 2000s. The tribe finally managed to pay off more than $11 million for the infraction eight years ago.

Now the nation is struggling to open its aquatic facility for swimming classes Yesslith hopes to provide for members. She’s facing additional issues with financial audits and unfinished projects after pandemic relief funds ran out. 

Led by Montana Republicans Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Troy Downing, legislation impacting the Crow Reservation passed both chambers of Congress last week, according to a press release from Downing’s office.

The Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendment would build on the 2010 water compact between the Crow and the state of Montana. Its updates would include changes to the reservation’s public water system, billed by Downing as a way to integrate a “more flexible, localized approach.” 

The amendment also extends the exclusive right of the tribe to develop a hydropower project at the Yellowtail Afterbay Dam through 2030. The dam on the Bighorn River impacts flood control and irrigation for the Missouri Basin. 

Neither of the amendment’s Montana champions are Crow, but Downing is up for reelection in the state’s eastern congressional district, which includes the Crow Reservation. In a mid-September poll conducted by the Montana Free Press, Downing far outpaced his Democratic challenger when it came to registered voter preferences, name recognition among potential voters and financial reserves.

Since the state gained a second congressional representative following the 2020 Census, Downing’s eastern district has consistently supported Republicans. The Crow Tribe is located on the largest Indian reservation by land area in the state, but the district also includes the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck and the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. 

A collection of poetry and short essays from Native American writers was honored this weekend with the 2026 American Book Award.

“Beyond the Glittering World: An Anthology of Indigenous Feminisms and Futurisms” is curated and edited by Darcie Little Badger from the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas and Diné writers Kinsale Drake and Stacie Shannon Denetsosie.

The book features work from all three writers and others exploring topics on gender, community and contemporary Indigenous life. It is published by Torrey House Press.

According to Red Pop News, the trio were honored Sept. 26 at the University of California Berkley Alumni House.

A new documentary made by Blackfeet high school students shows  how a heavy metal music program can be a viable resource for Native American mental health and suicide prevention.

‘HEAVY’ is a collaborative production with the Browning Public Schools' Heavy Music Symposium, Firekeeper Alliance and MAPS Media Institute. It premiered in Browning, MT at Buffalo Hide Academy on Sept. 24.

The Heavy Metal Symposium is an 18-week workshop that connects Blackfeet students with musicians and other artists. It culminates with the Fire in the Mountains music festival.

Emily Edwards, a junior at Browning High School, told the Pioneer Press that the Heavy Music Symposium gives her space to be expressive without judgment.

"Music means a lot to me, and it has truly saved me at low points in my life. Music is like a floatie in a pool when I feel like I'm drowning,” she was quoted as saying.

The American Indian Tourism Association and U.S. Forest Service officials are looking for photos from the Nez Perce Trail to include in programs that will honor the 150th anniversary of 1877 Flight of the Nimíipuu.

The 1,170 mile route traces the path that some Nez Perce people took to escape U.S. military forces during forced relocation and war. It begins at Wallowa Lake, Oregon, and follows the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers into Idaho before moving into Montana, where several battle sites are preserved by the National Park Service. It also goes through parts of Canada and Yellowstone National Park.

Contestants can submit up to three original photographs taken anywhere on the trail. Each photo must include a 50-100 word statement, and all submissions must meet tribal cultural standards respecting ceremony protocols, sacred places, cultural resources and privacy.

The entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 1.

The Native American Rights Fund has launched a hotline for people experiencing challenges with voter registration or casting their ballot. 

Native voters facing issues in national or tribal elections can call the NARF hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE or email vote@narf.org.

 The resource was highlighted last week after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday that gives states approval to use a new federal database championed by the Trump administration to stop non-U.S. citizens from voting. The database has been criticized for removing eligible people from voting rolls.

Native American Rights Fund senior attorney Jacqueline De León said the federal tool fails to stop voter fraud and could lead to voter disenfranchisement or participation.

“At the very least, it will sow confusion among voters nationwide, which may be part of its intended purpose,” De León said in a statement.

A late-night shooting Friday in the New Town area of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota left two people dead and another hospitalized, according to tribal law enforcement. Four people were taken into custody, and the FBI is now in charge of the investigation.

Around 10:30 p.m., residents in the area received a shelter-in-place order from the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation Emergency Services. The alert described two black-clad armed men on foot in New Town, and the order was lifted at 6:10 a.m. Saturday morning.

The shooting victims had not been identified by Monday morning, but the Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College in New Town described the “loss of a treasured elder of the MHA Nation” in an announcement that the campus would be closed on Sept. 28.

Law enforcement stated there is no known threat to the public at this time.

MHA Chairman Mark Fox described the aftermath as “deeply difficult and heartbreaking” in a statement the morning after the shooting took place.