The Daily Spark

A meet and greet for the Documenters program was held Thursday, July 31, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates. The event took place in room 105 of the Entrepreneurial Center and included a free meal.

Attendees learned about the program’s goals and heard from current Documenters, who shared their experiences. New participants asked questions and joined the conversation, and everyone brought a story to the table. Connections were made among attendees as the event welcomed community members interested in learning how to take part in civic engagement and community reporting.

For more information about the Documenters program, please contact Daniela Aki at daniela@imfreedomalliance.org or Castle Fox at castle@imfreedomalliance.org.

The Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 on June 27 to approve the American Indian/Native Studies course for state credit, allowing students to study Native perspectives and sovereignty, according to the Christian Post. The Texas Education Agency said the curriculum includes topics such as cultural exchanges among Native peoples and other ethnic groups, and contrasts Native egalitarian concepts with Euro-Western hierarchies.

Republican board member Julie Pickren criticized the course, saying it trains children to “resent the birth of America” and “resent Christians.” She specifically denounced the curriculum for teaching that “Christian missionaries kidnapped Indian children and sent them to re-education camps to become Americans and Christians.” She also said the curriculum was not publicly available for review before the vote.

The Chickasaw Nation implemented its inaugural Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program in 2024, reaching nearly 150,000 children across its service area and that of the Muscogee Nation, according to a case study by the Food Research & Action Center. The program provides eligible families with about $120 in grocery benefits per child during summer months to address gaps left by traditional nutrition programs.

The study highlights the importance of leveraging partnerships and strong data-sharing agreements with schools. It also recommends expanding eligibility beyond tribes operating WIC, increasing administrative funding, easing regulatory requirements and providing more federal technical support to enable broader tribal participation in Summer EBT.

A program in Kern County, California, that integrates traditional cultural practices to prevent suicide and substance use among Native youth faces uncertainty as federal funding ends, according to The Intersection. Since 2020 the Bakersfield American Indian Health Project has used federal grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to support youth services.

The Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget proposes eliminating Tribal Behavioral Health Grants, known as Native Connections. The program’s final funding round ends July 30 and technical assistance contracts expire in August. BAIHP CEO Angel Galvez said the reason for the grant’s discontinuation is unclear. Program director Johnny Delgado added that the loss of culture‑based services may reduce outreach and risk reduction for Native youth.

The Haudenosaunee Nationals Women’s Lacrosse team won a bronze medal at the Pan American Lacrosse Association tournament on June 30 in Auburndale, Florida, qualifying for the 2026 World Women’s Lacrosse Championships in Tokyo, according to ICT. It was the team’s first time competing at the senior level in international play.

The team and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy have petitioned for recognition at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. On July 26, the Syracuse Mets honored the team at the NBT Bank Stadium for “Haudenosaunee Night.” Players celebrated with fans and shared messages of encouragement for young Native athletes.

The North Dakota Chokecherry Festival will return to Davidson Park in Williston August 8-9, according to the Williston Visitor Center. Festival events include a pancake breakfast, 5K fun run, pit-spitting contest, mini train rides, a kids’ money dig and the 1,000 burger feed sponsored by Northwest Communications Cooperative. Visitors can shop from local vendors and enjoy chokecherry-flavored treats. The festival runs from 4-8 p.m. on Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, at 11th Street and 9th Avenue West.

Officials in Burlington, Vermont, plan to replace a deteriorated sculpture of Abenaki Chief Greylock with a new artwork commissioned by the state‑recognized Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, according to VTDigger. The original statue was removed last week due to safety concerns.

However, the Missisquoi group’s role in the replacement has drawn criticism from state Rep. Troy Headrick, who urged officials to consult leaders from the Odanak and Wôlinak First Nations in Quebec. Those Abenaki communities argue that Vermont’s state‑recognized tribes, including Missisquoi, lack historical continuity and should not speak for all Abenaki representation. Burlington’s mayoral office said the delay in formally accepting the new statue was unrelated to tribal identity concerns and reaffirmed its partnership with the Missisquoi group under a 2022 city council resolution.

In a press release, the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers condemned the removal of signage at Muir Woods that referenced the enslavement of Native Americans by Spanish missionaries and the use of racist language by John Muir. The signage removal follows the implementation of Secretarial Order 3431 by the Department of the Interior.

“The removal of historical information at Muir Woods confirms our fears the Administration is actively working to erase evidence of the pain and suffering Indigenous peoples experienced,” said NATHPO Executive Director Valerie Grussing. In a June letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, NATHPO wrote that the order “appears to instruct federal agencies to obscure the efforts on the part of the government to eradicate vibrant Indigenous cultures.” The organization called on the administration to rescind the order, restore the signage and work with Native nations.

A team of Indigenous scholars at Arizona State University is working with tribal communities across Arizona to create water-centered exhibits that reflect each tribe’s stories, rights and relationships to water, according to ASU News. The Indigenous Water Stories Research Cohort, led by assistant professor Liliana Caughman, collaborates with the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative to build immersive displays in rural areas.

The exhibits feature language, oral history, technology and cultural revitalization. One South Phoenix exhibit, “Agua es Vida: Honoring Mothers and Water,” incorporated virtual-reality games, a water chatbot and personal storytelling. The cohort is working with the White Mountain Apache Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes and Navajo Nation, among others, to tailor each display to local perspectives. “We’re trying to engage with them and use this as a process to help them think about water, tell their stories and uplift their communities,” Caughman said.

ASU News

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation supreme court ruled in July that descendants of people once enslaved by the tribe are entitled to tribal citizenship, according to reporting by the Guardian. The court found that the nation’s citizenship board violated an 1866 treaty when it denied enrollment applications from Rhonda Grayson and Jeffrey Kennedy in 2019.

The board had argued that the two were ineligible because their ancestors, although they appeared on the Freedmen Roll, did not appear on the Muscogee Roll. The court ruled unanimously that such exclusions violated Muscogee law. As a result of the decision, all future applicants who can trace their ancestry to either roll will be eligible for enrollment.

The 2025 Women Are Sacred Conference began July 29 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, bringing together tribal leaders, advocates and victim service providers from across the U.S. for three days focused on ending gender-based violence in Indian Country. The event opened with a water ceremony, land acknowledgment and morning prayer and song.

Hosted by the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, this year’s theme is “Committed to Our Relatives: Tradition in Our Hearts, Future in Our Hands.” The conference features cultural performances, keynote speakers, breakout sessions and more.

Families of missing Native people in Oklahoma say fragmented law enforcement responses and poor interagency coordination have delayed investigations, according to Oklahoma Watch. Deana Floyd, whose son Brandon Hummel went missing in January 2024, said his case was passed between the Atoka County Sheriff’s Office and Choctaw Lighthorse police with little follow-up. The Bureau of Indian Affairs became involved later, but Floyd said the assigned agent was rarely available.

Karrisa Newkirk, president of Missing Murdered Indigenous Women Chahta, said unclear responsibilities among city, county and tribal police routinely slow or prevent action. In the case of Trey Glass, a 19-year-old United Keetoowah Band member found dead in 2024, a report from the Northeastern Oklahoma Indigenous Safety & Education network cited confusion between UKB, the Cherokee Nation and local police. Newkirk called for better training, coordination and response protocols.

Protesters and local tribal citizens continue to oppose Westwin Elements, a nickel refinery in Lawton, Oklahoma, but say their efforts are restricted by longstanding legal and political barriers, according to KOSU. Comanche Nation Chairman Forrest Tahdooahnippah indicated the tribe lacks Treatment as a State status due to a federal appropriations rider, limiting its ability to regulate environmental impacts.

The refinery operates on fee simple land, reducing the jurisdiction of the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes, whose reservation was significantly diminished following the 1903 Lone Wolf Supreme Court ruling. Kiowa Chairman Lawrence SpottedBird told KOSU, “The only entity that has plenary authority over any person is God himself, and Congress is not God.” Protest organizer Kaysa Whitley (Kiowa/Absentee Shawnee) said the movement will continue, stating, “We’re not here to be a part of their system or to even uphold it. We exist outside of it.”

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation have officially assumed full ownership of the Chief Joseph Hatchery after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers filed a quitclaim deed, according to the Colville Tribes. The hatchery, located near the Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams, plays a key role in salmon reintroduction efforts in blocked areas of the Columbia River.

Tribal Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson said the transfer strengthens tribal sovereignty and expands opportunities for tribal management and future funding. The hatchery produces more than two million juvenile Chinook salmon annually.

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians received a major property donation from Alma LLC, which transferred ownership of a 22,000-square-foot former community center in downtown Tacoma, according to ICT. The donation, finalized July 28, includes a performance hall, rooftop event area and cafe space that hosted cultural and community events from 2018 to 2023.

“This gift of this beautiful building in downtown Tacoma, which is our ancestral homelands, is somewhat of a miracle,” Council member Annette Bryan told ICT. The transfer was facilitated by Anpo, an Indigenous-led nonprofit. The Puyallup Tribal Council is exploring future uses for the site.

The Indigenous Education Back to School Bash will take place in Bismarck, North Dakota, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Sertoma Park Shelters. The Bismarck High School Karigaard Gymnasium will serve as a backup location in case of poor weather.

The event invites students and parents from Bismarck Public Schools, Mandan Public Schools and the Theodore Jamerson Elementary School to pick up free backpacks, binders and other school supplies for grades pre-K through 12. A ticketing system will be used, and attendees are asked to check in at Shelter 10 to receive their tickets. Community agencies will provide food, vaccinations and educational resources.

For more information, contact Tomi Cimarosti at 701-323-4136 or tomicimarosti@bismarckschools.org. Organizers encourage vendors and volunteers to participate.

The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Indians opened Little Pines cannabis dispensary in July on tribal lands in northern Wisconsin, selling THC-infused hemp products. According to ICT, tribal regulatory authority allows the sale despite state laws banning medical and recreational marijuana.

Candace Thompson, a citizen of the Lac du Flambeau Band and director of retail and cultivation at Little Pines, said tribal licensing enables the store to operate legally. The 2018 Farm Bill approves the domestic production of hemp for material and food products. Manufacturers can enhance the percentage of THC from harvested hemp. “That’s the legal loophole,” Thompson told ICT. Rob Pero of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association called Little Pines the first free-standing tribal business of its kind in Wisconsin.

Deb Haaland, former U.S. Interior secretary and a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Chief Standing Bear Prize for Courage, according to the Nebraska Examiner. She will be presented with the award during an Indigenous Peoples’ Day ceremony Oct. 13 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln.

The prize is awarded annually by the Chief Standing Bear Project to honor those who embody the courage and legacy of Ponca Chief Standing Bear. Board president Katie Brossy said Haaland’s life demonstrates “quiet resilience” and a “willingness to lead, even when the path is uncertain,” highlighting her historic roles as the first Native American woman to lead a state political party, serve in Congress and serve in the Cabinet.

Ojibwe artists, cooks and culture bearers were featured at this year’s St. Croix RiverFest in Hudson, Wisconsin, from July 22-26. Traditional foods, art, prayer and powwow-style performances took place at the event, according to the Hudson Star‑Observer. Lisa Mosay, a 60-year-old Ojibwe woman, attended the festival with her family and served wild rice soup, fry bread and Native American tacos. “Our culture is beautiful,” Mosay was quoted as saying. “It’s unique.”

Indigenous artwork at the event included beadwork and birchbark jewelry from Melissa "Niigaaniigaabowikwe" Fowler, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. “We need to have our people out here doing these kinds of things,” Fowler said. Programming also included prayer and song led by Michael Decorah of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, who shared the tribe’s history and emphasized cultural visibility.