The Daily Spark

According to WyoFile, students from Arapahoe and Fort Washakie schools joined Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribal members for a buffalo harvest this week on the Wind River Reservation. The event, organized by the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative and the Food Bank of Wyoming, aimed to teach Native youth about cultural traditions and food sovereignty.

Jackie White, the Food Bank of Wyoming’s tribal relations specialist and a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, told WyoFile that the harvested buffalo will be processed and distributed in November food boxes for Wind River Reservation residents and elders. White said the effort connects generations and honors the buffalo as a sacred relative. “We have so much love and respect for our elders,” she said. “They are our knowledge keepers."

The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes in Oklahoma have reclaimed the remains of 16 children from the Carlisle Indian School Cemetery, according to WGAL. The disinterments were part of this year’s program by the Office of Army Cemeteries, which oversees the return of remains from the former boarding school site.

The tribes had requested the return of 18 children who died while enrolled at the school in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Due to the federal government shutdown, the Army was limited in releasing information about the two children not yet accounted for. Since 2017, the Army has returned the remains of more than 50 children to their tribes.

Education leaders in North Dakota are completing an updated series of Native American history books for schools, according to KXNET. As Buffalo’s Fire previously reported, the project revises four textbooks first published between the 1990s and 2002 and adds a fifth volume featuring the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. United Tribes Technical College will print the books this fall for distribution to schools, libraries and tribal colleges across the state.

The Hopi Tribe in Arizona lost $25 million in federal funding to connect 600 homes to electricity after the Trump administration ended the Solar for All program, according to NPR. The Environmental Protection Agency terminated the program in August, following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which eliminated tax credits for large-scale renewable energy projects.

Hopi Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma said the tribe will now have to choose which families receive power through limited funding from the Tribal Electrification Program. The Hopi plan to join other tribes in suing the Trump administration to reinstate the Solar for All grants, which had been approved under the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.

Chief Osceola and Renegade have performed at Florida State University football games with the approval of the Seminole Tribe of Florida since 1978, according to the Associated Press. The ritual, featuring a student rider portraying Osceola planting a flaming spear at midfield, began after FSU student Bill Durham worked with tribal leaders to develop the regalia and ceremony.

The university and the Seminole Tribe continue to maintain the partnership that defines the tradition, which FSU identifies as a symbol rather than a mascot. The pregame performance remains a central part of Florida State’s football identity nearly 50 years after its debut.

Valeriah Big Eagle, an Ihaƞktoƞwaƞ Dakota and Nakota woman from the Yankton Sioux Tribe, announced her campaign for the Ward 4 seat on the Rapid City Council in South Dakota, according to ICT. If elected, she would be the only Native woman currently serving on the council and the second Native person overall, joining Rosebud Sioux Tribe citizen Lance Lehmann.

Big Eagle said she aims to improve access to affordable housing, mental health resources and food security. She lives in Ward 4, a predominately Native area and food desert, and serves on boards for He Sapa Otipi and Oaye Luta Okolakiciye, organizations focused on community healing and development. The election is scheduled for June 2026.

Three North Dakota schools are receiving nearly $1 million through the Indian Children Program to improve education for Native American students, according to KFYR. The program supports development, testing and demonstration projects aimed at strengthening educational outcomes.

Devils Lake Public School District will receive more than $290,000, Turtle Mountain College will receive just over $360,000 and the University of North Dakota will be awarded nearly $300,000. The funding will also assist college students pursuing careers as teachers and administrators.

The State of North Dakota is encouraging residents to take part in the October Money Personality Challenge through the Smart With My Money program, according to the Minot Daily News. Participants can create a free account to complete a financial checkup and take a Money Personality Quiz that provides personalized learning recommendations.

Bank of North Dakota President and CEO Don Morgan said the challenge aims to help residents improve financial literacy after North Dakotans received a C grade in a recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority study. The Smart With My Money initiative, launched in April 2024, seeks to make North Dakota the most financially literate state by 2027, according to the Minot Daily News.

Tribal nations across the United States are facing furloughs and service closures as the federal government shutdown continues, according to the Associated Press. Tribes with independent revenue sources said they can sustain operations for several months, while others dependent on federal funding have begun cutting staff. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe in Nevada furloughed at least 25 employees and closed its museum, cultural center and education services.

Tribal leaders said they fear the Trump administration could use the shutdown to reduce the federal workforce responsible for upholding treaty and trust responsibilities. “I’m extremely nervous about that,” Liz Carr, vice president for intergovernmental relations for the Cedar Rock Alliance, was quoted as saying.

The Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation in Saskatchewan plans to establish an Indigenous-governed trade corridor connecting Dakota territories in Canada and the United States, according to reporting by Mother Jones. The First Nation is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Fort Peck Sioux Tribes in Montana to formalize the partnership. The initiative seeks to revive ancestral trade routes and operate under Indigenous law, with a proposed $2 billion infrastructure plan to develop a cross-border trade portal and renewable energy corridors.

Chief Rodger Redman told Mother Jones the project fulfills promises made to Indigenous peoples under the Jay Treaty of 1794, which recognizes cross-border trade rights. Spokesperson Solomon Cyr said the corridor would allow Indigenous nations to control the movement of resources and strengthen sovereignty.

Traditional tribal healing practices are now eligible for Medicaid coverage in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon under new federal waivers, according to Stateline. The programs allow tribal and urban Indian health facilities to bill for traditional healing services such as sweat lodge ceremonies, talking circles and plant medicine.

Virginia Hedrick, executive director of the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health, said each tribe and facility will decide which services to offer, noting they can take place at sacred sites rather than clinics. Dr. Naomi Young of the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital Board called the integration of traditional and Western medicine “exciting.” In Washington, state officials plan to apply for similar approval by the end of the year.

When Brad Hall became president of Blackfeet Community College, finding housing near campus was one of his biggest challenges, according to Montana Free Press. Like many reservation residents, Hall faced barriers to buying a home because most land on the Blackfeet Reservation is held in trust by the federal government, limiting traditional mortgage options.

Hall eventually secured financing through NACDC Financial Services, a Native Community Development Financial Institution that offers flexible lending for Indigenous borrowers. Executive Director Angie Main said NACDC has closed more than 100 real estate loans in Montana since 2017 but lacks sufficient funding to meet demand. Hall said owning a home has deepened his connection to the community.

Nearly half of federal funding allocated to Northwest tribal nations last year could be eliminated under President Donald Trump’s new spending bill, according to InvestigateWest. A report by Portland State University researchers found that about $530 million of the $1.19 billion in 2024 federal funds for tribes in the region is at risk.

Serina Fast Horse, co-director of the Northwest Environmental Justice Center, said tribes are deeply concerned about cuts affecting programs for clean water, housing, education and climate resilience. The report links potential reductions to the repeal of former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14008 and cuts across agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. William E. Ray Jr., chair of the Klamath Tribes, said the cuts threaten tribal culture and treaty-protected resources.

A former Department of the Interior official told South Dakota Searchlight that the panel reviewing Medals of Honor awarded for the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre focused too narrowly on individual conduct instead of whether medals should exist for a massacre. Wizipan Little Elk Garriott, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and former principal deputy assistant secretary for Indian affairs, said that Department of Defense representatives dominated the review panel and ignored accounts from Lakota survivors. “They were looking for evidence that individuals committed war crimes, essentially,” Garriott was quoted as saying. “The broader question — that this was a massacre in which women and children were killed and therefore not deserving of medals — was simply not part of the conversation.”

Garriott said the panel voted 3-2 against rescinding the medals, with Defense officials in the majority. Former Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited the panel’s unreleased report last week in affirming that the medals will not be revoked. Garriott said the decision “chose not to make right a historical wrong.”

Native Forward Scholars Fund, the largest direct provider of scholarships to Native students, received a $50 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the organization announced. The contribution marks Scott’s second major gift to the fund and is the largest single award to date in Indian Country.

The Albuquerque-based nonprofit has supported more than 22,000 scholars from over 500 tribes across all 50 states since 1969. According to Native Forward, scholarship requests increased 35% this year. CEO Angelique Albert, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said the unrestricted funding will help the organization expand services and ensure students “not only enroll, but thrive and graduate.” Board Chair Lillian Sparks Robinson, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said the award reflects growing recognition of Native Forward’s impact and will strengthen its ability to reach more scholars.

Law enforcement is investigating a stolen vehicle incident that occurred on Oct. 2 near St. Michael, North Dakota, on the Spirit Lake Reservation, according to a news release from the Spirit Lake Tribe. The Bureau of Indian Affairs received a call about a stolen vehicle in Devils Lake just before 7 p.m., and minutes later a BIA officer arrived at the scene of a single-vehicle crash.

Authorities have made contact with one of the two suspects, who is cooperating with investigators. The second suspect, Winfield Chaske III, remains at large with active warrants in tribal and state courts. The tribe said there is no active threat to the community and urged residents to remain vigilant. Residents are asked not to approach Chaske and to contact Fort Totten Police at 701-766-4231.

The Lower Sioux Indian Community is developing a “seed to wall” program that grows, processes and builds with industrial hemp, including the use of hempcrete, a concrete-like insulation, for housing on the reservation, according to reporting by ICT. The program combines tribal hemp farming with construction of affordable, energy-efficient homes, according to Brooklyn Lindsey, director of innovation at the nonprofit Ivory Innovations.

Danny Desjarlais, the tribe’s hempcrete project manager, said the program provides jobs and strengthens the community while addressing a housing shortage. Hempcrete is fire and mold resistant and provides natural insulation. The tribe is also hosting the 13th International Hemp Building Symposium on the reservation from Oct. 3-5.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe held a “Paint the Town Red” event in September in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous people. According to reporting by South Dakota Searchlight, the event featured a display of red dresses and T-shirts along the main street, a commemorative walk and speakers sharing stories of lost loved ones.

Jolee Two Dogs Clark, a tribal citizen, displayed photographs of her 20-year-old daughter, Ahmyli Clark, who was killed in June, and her 23-year-old son, Miles Phillips, who was shot in July 2022. Jessica Grazier, domestic violence advocate for the Sacred Heart Center, said organizers could not hang shirts and dresses for all affected. The event offered a space for the community to pray, mourn, and access mental health and spiritual resources.

Native, Inc. will host a community event on human trafficking on Oct. 7 from noon to 2 p.m. in Bismarck, in partnership with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation Victim Services Unit and the North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force. The event aims to educate community members on recognizing signs of trafficking and connecting people to resources. It includes participation from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Office of Juvenile Services.

A light lunch at 12:10 p.m. will be followed by a community awareness training led by the Human Trafficking Task Force. Welcome, introductions and prayer are scheduled for 1 p.m.

The event takes place at 2403 E. Thayer Avenue. For more information, contact Native, Inc. at 701-595-5181.