The Daily Spark

According to reporting by CalMatters, the California Legislature approved a bill that would ban companies from offering online sweepstakes games that casino-owning tribes say threaten their exclusive gambling rights. The measure passed both chambers without opposition and now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision.

Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Chairman Isaiah Vivanco told a Senate committee the games “erase all benefits of regulated gaming while exposing consumers to serious risk.” Tribes supporting the bill have contributed at least $7.6 million to California legislators since 2015. Opponents, including online gaming companies and small tribes without large casinos, argue the games are legal and offer revenue opportunities. If signed, the bill would create criminal penalties for operators and affiliated businesses, with violators facing up to a year in jail and fines of up to $25,000.

A new orange “Every Child Matters” crosswalk was unveiled Sept. 17 at Dollarton Highway and Sleil-Waututh Road in North Vancouver, according to the North Shore Daily Post. The project was a collaboration between səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation), the Orange Shirt Society and the District of North Vancouver, and is one of eight such crosswalks across Canada.

The design, created by Tsleil-Waututh artist Candace Thomas, features a Thunderbird symbol honoring residential school survivors who never returned home and missing and murdered Indigenous women. Phyllis Webstad, CEO of the Orange Shirt Society, attended the ceremony. səlilwətaɬ Chief Justin Sky George was quoted as saying the crosswalk honors survivors and “sends a clear message to the external community and allies that we welcome them to walk with us on this journey of reconciliation.” Orange Shirt Society President Seli’xwelut-Shannon Henderson said each crosswalk is a promise to remember and stand with Indigenous families and communities.

According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, HHS is dispatching more than 70 Public Health Service officers from the USPHS Commissioned Corps to Indian Health Service facilities across the country. Officers from leadership and frontline ranks will be detailed to IHS sites with the most urgent staffing shortages.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the mobilization “takes bold action to close gaps and deliver timely, quality care to Native families.” Acting IHS Director Benjamin Smith said the officers will help expand preventive care, improve chronic disease management and advance wellness across Indian Country. The IHS serves about 2.7 million American Indians and Alaska Natives across 574 federally recognized tribes.

On the Sipayik peninsula in Maine, Passamaquoddy tribal members face rising seas, eroding marshes and the risk of flooding that threatens homes and infrastructure, according to Inside Climate News. The tribe created the Sipayik Resilience Committee in 2022 and filed a climate action plan with the Environmental Protection Agency in 2024.

Aquatic restoration coordinator and former chief Ralph Dana said he has watched the community’s coastline recede and fish stocks decline. “We’ve got nowhere to go. Our infrastructure is in danger,” Dana told Inside Climate News. The tribe is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and nonprofit partners on adaptation projects. Robert Wood, who oversees the tribe’s planning grant, said the goal is to build a “resilience basket” to strengthen food security, housing and cultural connections so the community can respond quickly to climate threats.

U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, will host a Tribal Housing Forum with Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner on Sept. 22 in Bismarck, according to reporting by Quiver CongressRadar. The forum will bring together tribal leaders and housing authorities to discuss federal tribal housing programs, treaty responsibilities and housing challenges in North Dakota.

Cramer described the event as a “great opportunity” for stakeholders to engage on federal housing concerns in Indian Country. The forum will also feature a special announcement at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation highlighting ongoing tribal housing development efforts.

The inaugural Lone Peak Film Festival ran Sept. 19–21 with six feature films and 16 shorts and included a mentorship program for local Native American filmmakers, according to the Daily Montanan. Organizers said the event focused on “uplifting” stories and offered opportunities for aspiring filmmakers to meet industry professionals.

The festival featured films such as Bring Them Home (Aiskótáhkapiyaaya), Lost Wolves of Yellowstone, Champions of the Golden Valley, Runa Simi, Sing Sing and Cutting Through the Rocks. It was partially sponsored by Montana’s Department of Commerce. Senate Bill 326, signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte, extends the state’s film tax credit through 2045 with incentives for hiring veterans and Native Americans, supporting smaller filmmakers and keeping production in Montana.

Boys and Girls Clubs serving Native youth in South Dakota are finding ways to adapt after federal funding shortfalls, according to South Dakota News Watch. At the Rosebud Boys and Girls Club, which lost access to U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Center funding, staff created the Steep Up Entrepreneurs Club. Program director Rachel Kocak said members now hand make, package and sell herbal teas, gaining life skills while helping fill budget gaps.

Other efforts include an online charity auction and a U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm to School grant that funded new high tunnels for gardening. Clubs on the Pine Ridge, Standing Rock and Lower Brule reservations are also facing similar financial challenges. Richard Abdoo, chair of the board for the SuAnn Big Crow Boys and Girls Club in Pine Ridge, said the club is planning collaborations and fundraising to cover an anticipated several-hundred-thousand-dollar shortfall next year.

Officials at the University of Alaska Fairbanks said federally funded programs for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students face larger cuts than initially announced, according to the Alaska Beacon. Interim Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education Bryan Uher said the university will lose an estimated $8.8 million of $12.9 million in five-year grant funding, affecting programs in Dillingham and Fairbanks focused on career training, workforce development and student services.

University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Aparna Palmer told students in a Sept. 15 email that while a Sitka program is ending, courses in Indigenous studies and support for Native students will continue. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the grants were legally authorized by Congress and support critical workforce needs. A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said he is working with the Department of Education to restore the funds.

Alaska Beacon

According to the North Dakota Monitor, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire urged South Dakota leaders to increase regular, respectful communication during a Sept. 19 appearance before the State-Tribal Relations Committee. Alkire said North Dakota’s Indian Affairs Commission — which includes tribal leaders, the governor and other members, and operates year-round — offers a useful model.

Council member Cyril Archambault, the tribe’s legislative liaison for North Dakota, said South Dakota lacks a similar commitment. Council member Nola Taken Alive said her tribe has a healthy relationship with North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and noted meetings with South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signal possible improvement.

Tribal leaders advocated for their nations’ priorities during the National Congress of American Indians’ Tribal Unity Impact Days in Washington, D.C. Attendees connected with members of Congress, staff and federal agencies during the three-day event, Sept. 16-18.

Participants discussed policy issues including fiscal 2026 appropriations, public safety and housing. Mark Macarro, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said the gathering showed "the strength and unity of Tribal Nations when we speak with one voice." He said the event reminded federal partners that "sovereignty is not negotiable."

Larry Wright Jr., executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, said the Nations "honor the strength of our ancestors" by standing together and continuing to build "a stronger future for Tribal Nations." Participants emphasized that long-term investments in Tribal communities are necessary for their success.

Guadalupe Lopez, a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, became director of Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives office in July, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The office, established in 2021, works to address the disproportionate number of Indigenous people who go missing or are murdered.

Lopez said the role is a “natural fit” because of her career in advocacy on gender-based violence and her personal connection to the issue. “I personally had people lose their life to violence and I have blood relatives that are on some of those posters that we share,” Lopez said.

She added that her priorities include supporting families, strengthening collaboration with the office’s advisory council and system partners, and advancing a new strategic plan.

Zuni Pueblo leaders have endorsed Deb Haaland’s bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of New Mexico. Haaland, an enrolled member of Laguna Pueblo and the first Native American woman to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior, launched her campaign earlier this year.

The Zuni endorsement marks the fourth from New Mexico pueblos, following Jemez, Santo Domingo and Picuris. Other prominent Native figures, including former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Taos Pueblo fashion designer Patricia Michaels have also voiced support.

Haaland faces Democratic rivals Sam Bregman and Ken Miyagashima. Sandia Pueblo and the Jicarilla Apache Nation have endorsed Bregman. The Democratic primary is set for June 2, 2026.

Native American designer Bethany Yellowtail, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, is partnering with Carhartt to launch a limited-edition fall collection, according to reporting by KPAX News. Yellowtail hails from the Might Few District of the Crow Nation and said her designs are inspired by her childhood growing up on her family’s cattle ranch on the reservation. “From my Native roots to my journey in design, all the hard work has led to this moment. My dream is to see myself, the people I love, the land and the culture I come from authentically represented and woven into the fibers,” said Yellowtail in a video Carhartt released on Friday, Sept. 12 promoting the company’s new line. The full collection is set to release in October.

Tewa Women United, an advocacy group in New Mexico, is warning Pueblo citizens about nearby radioactive substances released by Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to Koahnic Broadcast Corporation’s “Native America Calling.”

The laboratory issued a statement that said tritium is safe in small doses, but the advocacy group is urging locals to stay away, stating the substance is dangerous and could pose a threat to people’s health.

Tritium is a naturally occurring substance but is also used in nuclear weapons. The laboratory said the gas is being released because the containers the substances are stored in pose a risk.

The Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Native American Cultural Center will host the 13th annual American Indian Heritage Day on Sept. 26. The program runs from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and features dancing and drumming, hands-on stations and interactive activities for school groups. Texas House Bill 174 designates the last Friday in September to recognize the role of American Indian communities and leaders. The program will also be streamed live at noon for virtual audiences.

A University of Iowa professor and Lumbee tribal citizen is leading a project to send original documents to survivors of the boarding school era and their families, according to reporting by the Daily Iowan.

Operation Return begins in October. An online portal will let people request to have report cards, photos and letters between students and relatives sent to them free of charge. Lots of these old documents are at the National Archives, and have not been made available before.

“Most Indian boarding school survivors that I’ve ever met were not aware that there were records in the National Archives,” professor Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz was quoted as saying. She’s director of the Native Policy Lab and an associate professor for the university’s School of Planning and Public Affairs. Schuettpelz was recently awarded the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to fund Project Return earlier this summer.

Accounts of the boarding school era are often tragic. An estimated 973 Native children died while attending the schools, with survivors sharing stories of abuse and isolation. The federal government and churches operated hundreds of the schools in the 20th century.

Robert Redford, actor and Oscar-winning director, died at age 89 on Tuesday morning at his home in Provo, Utah, according to reporting by NPR. He acted in more than 80 movies, including “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting,” “All the President’s Men” and “Jeremiah Johnson.” In 1981, he founded the Sundance Institute, which became a launching pad for independent film artists.

One such artist, Sterlin Harjo, a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and of Muskogee descent, created the award-winning TV series “Reservation Dogs” about four Indigenous teenagers growing up on a rural Oklahoma reservation. In a social media post, Harjo remembered Redford as a generous and inspiring man, saying “RIP Mr. Redford. My career and path as a young man was defined by his commitment to empower Native film and storytellers .… Journey Well.”

Conservative activists are criticizing Kamehameha Schools, a private school in Hawaii, for giving admissions preference to Native Hawaiians, according to reporting by the Associated Press. A website was set up this month by Students for Fair Admissions with the goal of challenging Kamehameha’s admissions policy in court.

In 2024, more than 5,400 students enrolled across three Kamehameha campuses on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. The school is known for providing affordable tuition and education on Hawaiian values.

The White House has approved half a million dollars toward disaster relief for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe in South Dakota, following heavy floods that occurred this summer.

According to reporting by South Dakota Public Broadcasting, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he agreed to provide the $500,000 in relief funding after a phone call with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

In June, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate saw heavy flooding on the Lake Traverse Reservation, which FEMA teams investigated the following month. The approval means affected property owners can apply for federal relief for repairs and temporary housing. People are encouraged to first contact their insurance companies before applying for aid.