The Daily Spark

According to KFYR, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation’s Emergency Operations Center is coordinating the tribe’s response to food access issues caused by the ongoing federal government shutdown.

The center said it will prioritize households on the Fort Berthold Reservation that rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, including off-reservation enrolled members. The tribe also announced a food distribution event on Nov. 10 at the former Jason’s Super Foods in New Town, North Dakota, where the Great Plains Food Bank will distribute 40,000 pounds of nonperishable food to community members in need.

According to reporting by MPR News, Minnesota officials have signed a cannabis agreement with a third tribal nation, expanding partnerships that allow tribal governments to regulate and sell marijuana on their lands. The agreement with Prairie Island Indian Community is part of the state’s effort to coordinate with tribes as Minnesota’s recreational cannabis market continues to develop.

Under similar compacts, tribal nations operate dispensaries and oversee their own cannabis regulations, with revenues supporting health care, education and community programs. The state has previously reached agreements with the Red Lake Nation and the White Earth Nation.

After two judges ordered the government to continue the nation’s largest food aid program during the federal shutdown, the Trump administration said Monday it will partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for November, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will use $4.65 billion from an emergency fund, enough to cover about half of normal benefits.

The agency had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1. The program serves about one in eight Americans and costs more than $8 billion per month. Officials said it could take weeks for states to distribute reduced benefits. The administration also added $450 million to the Women, Infants, and Children program to help low-income mothers buy food. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urged the USDA to fully fund SNAP, calling partial payments “unacceptable.”

According to Underscore Native News, Indigenous food producers gathered in Seattle Oct.1-3 for the inaugural Native Grown and Gathered Food Expo, organized by Tahoma Peak Solutions. The event drew more than 500 attendees, including farmers, chefs and youth from regional tribes, to share food, culture and connections centered on the theme “feeding the future.”

Organizers Valerie Segrest and Nora Frank-Buckner said the expo aimed to strengthen Indigenous food systems, but future gatherings remain uncertain following federal budget cuts. The U.S. Department of Agriculture revoked funding for programs supporting local and tribal food producers, including those relied on by Yakama Nation Farms. Segrest said the cuts eliminated about $700,000 in planned support for small Native farms, adding that future events may depend on restoring that funding.

Hundreds of students displaced by Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska have re-enrolled in schools across Alaska, according to the Alaska Beacon. State education officials estimate about 100 students have enrolled in Bethel and 140 in Anchorage, while others have joined schools in Fairbanks, Kenai, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and other rural areas.

Alaska Department of Education Commissioner Deena Bishop said Anchorage schools are coordinating with state, tribal and nonprofit partners to provide transportation, meals and language assistance for predominantly Yup’ik families. Lower Kuskokwim School District Superintendent Andrew “Hannibal” Anderson said districts are working to keep displaced students and teachers together. Schools in several affected communities continue to serve as shelters and recovery hubs as the state applies for federal and disaster relief funding.

The White Earth Nation’s Bison Program has expanded its herd with the arrival of 45 new bison, including yearlings, mature cows and cow-calf pairs, according to MPR News. The additions bring the total herd to 55 bison across two prairies near Naytahwaush and Mahnomen.

Bison foreman Jack Heisler said the animals were received through the InterTribal Buffalo Council, which partners with more than 80 tribes to restore bison to tribal lands. Sixteen of the new bison will support a harvest operation near Mahnomen beginning next spring. Heisler said the goal is to provide a healthy protein source to the community through schools, elder meal programs and ceremonies.

Food Sovereignty and Security Coordinator Nicole LaFrinier said the program also connects cultural and spiritual traditions by teaching traditional harvesting and promoting locally sourced foods.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa have enacted emergency plans to address disruptions to federal food and fuel programs during the ongoing government shutdown, according to the North Dakota Monitor.

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa announced more than $1 million in local aid, including $500,000 each for food vouchers and fuel assistance, as well as funds for senior meals, a community soup kitchen and student nutrition programs. Spirit Lake Nation and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe also declared emergencies.

Standing Rock Chair Steve Sitting Bear criticized the shutdown as a violation of federal treaty obligations. North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong said the state allocated $1.5 million to the Great Plains Food Bank and the Women, Infants and Children Program to support tribes through November.

Researchers at the Urban Indian Health Institute have launched a national survey to measure the prevalence of brain injuries among Native women who have experienced sexual assault and domestic violence, according to Stateline.

Abigail Echo-Hawk, the institute’s director and a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, said many Native women show symptoms of traumatic brain injury as a direct result of abuse. She said the new survey aims to document the scope of the problem and guide clinical care, awareness efforts and resource allocation.

The study, developed in partnership with Native Hawaiian advocates, is the first Indigenous-led survey of its kind. Nikki Cristobal, policy and research specialist for Pouhana ʻO Nā Wāhine, said health care providers need more training to recognize brain injuries in survivors of violence.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation have issued a Feather Alert at the request of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 20-year-old Danica Taylor White of Devils Lake. According to the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, White is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 125 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black hoodie with pink and purple jellyfish designs, a gray ball cap and gray low-top Nike shoes with white logos.

The alert states she has a tattoo of the number 31 on her left forearm and was last seen around 6 a.m. Nov. 1 near the Fort Totten community. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs at 701-766-4231.

Tribal governments are running out of reserve funds as the federal shutdown nears its 30th day, forcing some to consider loans to maintain essential services, according to ICT.

Sarah Harris, Mohegan and the secretary of the United South and Eastern Tribes, told the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Oct. 29 that some tribes may need to take out lines of credit to continue operations. Several tribal nations, including the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe and Blackfeet Nation, have declared states of emergency.

Witnesses also testified that layoffs and halted funding to programs such as the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are worsening conditions, particularly in Alaska Native communities still recovering from Typhoon Halong.

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe is facing a leadership crisis marked by arrests, frozen bank accounts and a disputed special election that bars women from running, according to the Montana Free Press.

The conflict began after Tribal President Gene Small initiated an audit into the council’s use of federal COVID-19 relief funds, leading to his removal by the council on Sept. 11. Small and a group of traditional leaders responded by appointing a new interim council, which approved an Oct. 30 election to fill eight seats. The original council members say the election is invalid and have filed legal complaints.

Several council members were arrested earlier this month, and tribal accounts were frozen as both sides claim authority. The Bureau of Indian Affairs said it will not intervene in the dispute.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said the state’s new Turquoise Alert system is functioning as intended despite being activated only once since July, according to the Arizona Luminaria.

The alert, created under House Bill 2281 and renamed in honor of 14-year-old San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike, was designed to reach missing persons who do not qualify for Amber or Silver Alerts. Sgt. Kim Love-Ness said the alert’s limited use reflects the narrow scope established in state law, not underuse.

DPS told Arizona Luminaria each request for activation undergoes a strict review process, and most do not meet all legal criteria. The agency added that issuing alerts outside those parameters could “dilute public responsiveness and reduce overall system effectiveness.”

More than 1,000 Indian Health Service employees accepted early retirement offers in early 2025, leaving the department struggling to fill vacant positions, according to ICT.

National Indian Health Board Chief Executive Officer A.G. Locklear, Lumbee, told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Oct. 29 that IHS faces its lowest offer acceptance rate in history and a 30% overall vacancy rate. Locklear said hiring freezes have further reduced the workforce tribes rely on for grant management and technical assistance.

The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal outlines cuts to multiple tribal health programs and creates a new agency, the Administration for Healthy America, within the Department of Health and Human Services to oversee programs previously managed by IHS, according to the National Indian Health Board.

A Bureau of Indian Affairs officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Northern Cheyenne girl, according to the Daily Montanan.

Murrell D. Deela appeared in federal court in Billings, Montana, on Tuesday and denied the charge. Court documents allege Deela assaulted the teen on Aug. 7, 2024, after responding to a report of an intoxicated female in Lame Deer. The Daily Montanan reports that Deela also faces two civil lawsuits over police brutality (one brought by the victim in the sexual assault case) and was previously involved in a fatal 2021 shooting of a tribal member, for which the federal government paid $800,000 to the victim’s estate. The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council banned Deela from the reservation in 2024.

Daily Montanan

Tensions between Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and government officials are escalating as several chapters call for the Navajo Nation Council to remove him or place him on administrative leave without pay, according to reporting by ICT.

The calls come as an investigation examines alleged financial misconduct and “recent behavior unbecoming of a Navajo leader.” Nygren said in a press release he will not resign. The dispute follows Nygren’s attempt to remove Navajo Nation Controller Sean McCabe, which the Window Rock District Court blocked on Oct. 17 with a temporary restraining order.

Western Navajo Agency Council President Dellard Curley said multiple chapters have passed resolutions supporting Nygren’s removal. The resolutions will go before the Navajo Nation Council, which holds authority to remove a president from office.

The Trump administration has issued a reduction-in-force notice to eliminate the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, a Treasury program that supports lending in economically distressed areas, according to ICT.

The Oct. 10 notice from the Office of Management and Budget stated the fund no longer aligns with President Donald Trump’s priorities, the staff would be let go and the fund would be terminated in the midst of an ongoing government shutdown. Native financial leaders said the move would severely impact tribal economies, where CDFIs are often the only source of business and housing loans.

“Without CDFIs, there would be literally no form of funding available to start a small business, purchase homes, and provide technical assistance in rural communities,” Pete Upton, chief executive officer of the Native CDFI Network and Native360 Loan Fund, was quoted as saying.

A North Dakota judge has reduced a $660 million jury award against Greenpeace to about $345 million in a civil case brought by Energy Transfer, the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to the North Dakota Monitor.

Southwest Judicial District Judge James Gion issued the order Wednesday, finding parts of the jury’s damages lacked legal basis, were duplicative or exceeded statutory limits. The jury in March found Greenpeace liable for defamation and interference with Energy Transfer’s business during protests against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017.

Energy Transfer said it plans to ask the North Dakota Supreme Court to reverse Gion’s revisions, while Greenpeace said it will seek a new trial or appeal once the final judgment is entered.

A New Mexico high school’s volleyball team is honoring missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls at its game on Oct. 30. Mescalero Apache Lady Chiefs junior varsity volleyball game will take place at the Mescalero Apache High School gymnasium at 4 p.m.

The event will include a bake sale and raffles, and MMIP resources will be available for families. Money raised will be donated to 4Corners K-9 Search and Rescue, a Native nonprofit that facilitates search and rescue on tribal land.

Community members are encouraged to show up in red for support.

“Let’s show up in red. Let’s fill every seat. Let’s make sure our young people see what community strength looks like,” 4Corners K-9 Search and Rescue posted on Facebook. “Every serve, every point, every cheer will echo for those who can no longer speak for themselves.”

Leaders of the North Dakota Tribal College System requested the state raise its non‑beneficiary appropriation to $1.6 million — a $200,000 increase — before the Senate Appropriations, Education and Environment Division, according to an article by Citizen Portal.

Executive Director Tracy Bauer testified the system served about 2,600 students and 650 full‑time staff in 2022–23, noting an economic‑impact study that showed $169.5 million in combined impacts and a $1.30 taxpayer return for every dollar invested.

College presidents from institutions including United Tribes Technical College and Sitting Bull College said additional funding would support tuition aid, student health services, career development and infrastructure improvements for non‑beneficiary students.