The Daily Spark

The annual National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian boarding school survivors will be held Sept. 16, according to ICT. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is hosting the D.C. event, themed “Always in our hearts,” at the Indian Gaming Association building. Vigils and gatherings are also scheduled across Indian Country.

The observance coincides with the National Congress of American Indians Tribal Unity Impact Days, which bring tribal leaders to Capitol Hill to advocate for priorities such as appropriations, public safety and self-determination. It also overlaps with congressional consideration of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. The bill, reintroduced in March by Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Elizabeth Warren, would establish a commission to investigate boarding school histories and recommend federal actions to support survivors and descendants, ICT reported.

North Dakota’s tribal college presidents say they are preparing for leaner budgets despite signs that federal support will remain intact, according to North Dakota Monitor. Earlier this year, the White House proposed a 90% cut to the Bureau of Indian Education’s budget, but Congress has since indicated that funding will be maintained. School leaders said they are still tightening finances.

Twyla Baker, president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, said her institution eliminated some positions and is stretching a limited facilities budget. Turtle Mountain Community College President Wanda Parisien reported a $133,000 cut from the National Science Foundation, though no other funding has been lost. United Tribes Technical College President Russ McDonald said his school is being cautious but emphasized resilience. College leaders noted their institutions bring significant economic benefits to the state and provide vital educational opportunities for Native students.

The Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe, working with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, has launched the first tribally led Forest Resilience Bond, securing $5 million for wildfire risk reduction in Placer County, according to Tribal Business News. The funding, provided through a mechanism developed by Blue Forest with the U.S. Forest Service, eliminates cash flow delays from traditional reimbursement grants by blending public and private capital.

Vice Chairwoman Pamela Cubbler said the tribe could not afford to pay costs upfront and wait for reimbursement under a CAL FIRE grant. “That wasn’t something we could really do,” Cubbler was quoted as saying. The bond allows the tribe to pay workers on time while conducting foliage thinning and prescribed burns across 408 acres. Blue Forest’s Indigenous partnerships manager, Saraya Hamidi, said the project sets a precedent for tribes leading restoration efforts rather than serving only as consultants.

The National Congress of American Indians, Huy and the United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 3 in Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, according to the National Congress of American Indians. Represented by the Native American Rights Fund and Hobbs, Straus, Dean, and Walker LLP, the groups urged the court to allow stronger remedies for incarcerated people whose religious freedom is violated.

The brief highlights how forced haircuts infringe on Native religious practice, noting that unshorn hair is essential to ceremonies for many Native people. It argues that such practices echo federal assimilation policies of the 19th and 20th centuries and continue to harm Native identity. More than 29,500 American Indians and Alaska Natives are incarcerated in the United States, according to the brief. NARF Staff Attorney Sydney Tarzwell said allowing damages against prison officials could help protect religious freedom.

The flags of Minnesota’s 11 sovereign Tribal Nations were raised for the first time at the State Capitol Mall during the opening of the Tribal Flag Plaza on Sept. 5, according to Red Lake Nation News. Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and tribal leaders from across the state spoke at the ceremony, which drew community members to the Capitol Complex.

The new plaza includes plantings chosen by each tribe along with Minnesota-sourced granite pavers and benches. Metro State University noted that student Brett King of the Red Lake Nation contributed through song and drumming during the event. Minnesota is the second state in the nation to dedicate a permanent plaza featuring the flags of its Tribal Nations, according to Red Lake Nation News.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs has announced a new policy to expedite the review of tribal broadband infrastructure projects, according to the department. The framework is designed to streamline right-of-way applications needed to construct broadband networks on tribal and individually owned Indian trust or restricted lands, with a focus on unserved and underserved communities.

Under the change, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has seven business days to review applications and request additional information. The policy also provides guidance on regulatory waivers and defers to tribes and landowners in determining their best interests. Webinars on the new process will be held Sept. 12, 15 and 18 for tribal, federal and industry stakeholders.

The Gila River Indian Community in Arizona is considering an ordinance that would allow the banishment or disenrollment of members convicted of violent crimes, according to Arizona Luminaria. If approved, it would be the first such measure formalized in the state. The proposal allows the tribal council to hold hearings to decide whether members convicted of a violent felony, or three violent misdemeanors, should be banished. A banishment would prohibit entry to tribal lands, participation in community events, voting in tribal elections and receiving per capita payments.

The proposed ordinance also outlines disenrollment for members convicted of the most serious crimes, including homicide and violent sexual offenses. Affected individuals would be able to present evidence and call witnesses in their defense. The council is seeking input through an online survey, which was extended to Sept. 13.

Stephanie Iron Shooter, director of the Office of American Indian Health at Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services, resigned Sept. 2, according to Montana Free Press. She led the office, created in 2015 to address Native health disparities, since February 2022 and was the third person to hold the role. In a Sept. 2 email to tribal leaders, Iron Shooter wrote that “recent events” had led her to resign, adding, “I did my best for our people.”

Charlie Brereton, DPHHS director, said Heidi DeRoche, programs officer for the office, will serve as acting director. He added the department “remains committed to working with all Montana tribes to meet the health needs of our tribal communities.” Iron Shooter’s tenure included controversy over the 2023 elimination of the tribal relations manager position, which tribal leaders criticized for lacking consultation.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety has pledged immediate reforms following a Sept. 3 stakeholder meeting that included families, law enforcement, prosecutors, tribal leaders and child welfare advocates, according to AZ Free News.

The department plans to draft clearer notification rules requiring group homes to promptly alert it and law enforcement when a child leaves placement. The department also intends to share facility locations with law enforcement, create standardized “face sheets” for runaway youth, renew standing meetings with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and expand tribal outreach, and develop a process to share licensing actions with tribes contracting with department-approved facilities.

State Sen. Carine Werner emphasized the need for long-term accountability. She was quoted as saying, “This is a step in the right direction, but it can’t be the last.”

TG4 will air Éire agus na Chéad Náisiúin on Sept. 17, a documentary that examines the complex roles Irish immigrants played in Native American history, according to Donegal Live. The program highlights Donegal-born seanchaí and memoirist Micí Mac Gabhann, best known for his posthumously published memoir Rotha Mór an tSaoil. Gabhann emigrated to the United States in the 1880s and worked in Montana’s mines.

Produced by Ronin Films with funding from the ILBF and Coimisiún na Meáin, the film includes perspectives from Irish historians and First Nations voices. It explores connections ranging from trade and alliances to displacement and conflict, including the Baker Massacre and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Contributors such as Mohawk elders Kay Olan and Tom Porter, Choctaw artist Waylon Gary White Deer and Lakota historian Dakota Wind Goodhouse reflect on the legacies of Irish involvement in Indigenous history.

Twenty high school students attended the Oscar Howe Summer Art Institute at the University of South Dakota this June, according to Arts Midwest. The program, now in its 35th year, gave 10th, 11th and 12th graders the chance to live on campus while learning from professional Native artists through classes, open studio time and late-night sessions.

Bdewakantunwan Dakota artist Tylar Larsen of Cansa’yapi, who joined first as a student and later as a counselor, said the experience shaped his path through undergraduate and master’s studies. “I had never stepped foot on a college campus before this,” he was quoted as saying. Visiting instructor Keith BraveHeart, a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said the institute builds on Howe’s legacy of challenging stereotypes in Native art. “It becomes contagious. You all fall into this creative bliss,” BraveHeart said.

Waller Road Elementary School in Waller, Washington, has installed a new Indigenous American Nations map following a Native student’s question about representation, according to reporting by Puyallup Tribal News. The map, created by Diné mapmaker Peter Klumpenhower, features more than 400 Indigenous nations with soft borders to reflect shared lands in the 1500s. It was unveiled during Family Cultural Night on May 29.

Multilingual Education Paraeducator Michael Frederickson said the school has the highest number of Native students in the district, making the display especially important. “We want that included, and we want it to be permanent,” he was quoted as saying. Principal John Huson said the map aligns with the school’s Since Time Immemorial curriculum and goals set in a memorandum of understanding with the Puyallup Tribe.

The Bearscat Bakehouse and Sacred Pipe Resource Center are distributing for free 200 jelly-filled doughnuts featuring a red icing handprint Sept. 5-6 on a first come first serve basis at the bakery’s South Bismarck location, 601 S. Second St.

The bakery and Sacred Pipe partnered for the third year in a row to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous people during the UTTC International Powwow, which draws a crowd.

“The symbol represents the silencing of the voices of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls,” Sacred Pipe Resource Center posted on Facebook. “The symbol calls for the end of violence against Native women/girls/people and for more attention to the high rates of disappearance of Indigenous people.”

Joint CAP: Bearscat Bakehouse’s Micah Tiger holds an MMIP-inspired doughnut at the bakery, 601 S. Second Street, Bismarck, North Dakota, Sept. 5, 2025. The bakery is handing out the doughnuts for free on a first-come basis to raise awareness about the MMIP crisis. (Buffalo’s Fire/Jolan Kruse)

Faculty at Ohio State University can no longer make land acknowledgments unless they are directly tied to course subject matter, according to a new policy from the Office of University Compliance and Integrity. The change is one of several adopted in response to a state law passed in March that eliminates diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities, Inside Higher Ed reported.

The policy states that acknowledgments are “considered statements on behalf of an issue or cause” and cannot be used at university-sponsored events, in syllabi, on websites or through other official channels. Ohio State spokesperson Ben Johnson told Inside Higher Ed the policy “does not categorically prohibit land acknowledgements” and that faculty “retain their academic freedom” when relevant to class content. Faculty in the American Indian Studies program and members of the Ohio State AAUP have criticized the restrictions and sought clarification.

Culturally sensitive programs and services are crucial for urban Indians, Lorraine Davis told attendees at her UTTC Tribal Leaders Summit panel Sept. 3.

“I saw there was a lack of help for Native Americans,” said Davis, founder and CEO of Native Inc. and Native American Development Center. “What I wanted was tribal people helping tribal people.”

Native Inc. provides programs for domestic violence survivors, homelessness, youth services, cultural events and more. The organizations have offices in Bismarck and Fargo but will open a new office in Grand Forks this winter.

Davis aims to inspire: “We all have a fighting spirit within us.”

This marks the third year the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board’s informatics team has been building data infrastructure for disease intervention and prevention in Native communities.

Nick Hill, the team’s senior informatics director, and his colleague Stephan Pingel, informatics specialist, spoke at the UTTC Tribal Leaders Summit Sept. 4 in Bismarck, North Dakota.

“We want to solve problems, not just talk theory,” Hill said.

The team tracks, stores, secures, accesses and exchanges data among tribes to prevent the spread of disease and manage exposures amid outbreaks.

A real-time dashboard, called the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board, is accessible to the public to view and enter information.

A “helicopter researcher” gathers information and conducts studies about Indigenous communities but then never shares that research with those communities, Julie Smith-Yliniemi, citizen of the White Earth Reservation, said Thursday at the UTTC Tribal Leaders Summit in Bismarck, North Dakota. The University of North Dakota Indigenous Trauma & Resilience Research Center does the opposite, she said: It conducts “community-based participatory research” that engages directly with Indigenous communities and uses their feedback to improve its studies. Smith-Yliniemi, director of community-engaged research for the center, shared that work during the afternoon panel “Braiding Knowledge Systems.” “We need to make sure that data is relevant to the community,” she said, highlighting the need to come together with Indigenous communities to conduct and disseminate research. Responding to a community need, Smith-Yliniemi is currently researching how sobriety is affected when people regularly engage in “culture camps,” weekly meetings where Indigenous community members craft together. Along with taking feedback from participants, community members also sit on the research team. Smith-Yliniemi ended the panel by encouraging students and attendees to learn from each other.

U.S. measles cases have surged to the highest level in 33 years. According to the CDC, 1,431 cases have been reported this year. That’s why health specialists from the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board spoke at the UTTC Tribal Leaders Summit about the importance of vaccinations.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne virus. Sarah Shewbrooks, data coordinating unit director and lead epidemiologist on the board, said that one out of five people who contract measles will be hospitalized. The virus is especially dangerous for children — one out of 20 with measles will get pneumonia, a leading cause of child death.

There’s no cure, but the measles vaccine is 93% effective after one dose and 97% after two.

“You don’t get vaccines better than this,” said Shewbrooks.

Tinka Duran, citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and senior director of the Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center, acknowledged tribal communities’ long history of distrust in vaccinations and Western medicine, which contributes to lower vaccination rates on reservations.

That’s why it’s important for tribal communities to hear about the importance of vaccinations from people they trust, said Shewbrooks.

“This isn’t going to come from me,” said Shewbrooks as she lifted her lanyard identifying her as a health specialist. “It’s got to come from tribal leaders.”

Collaboration is coming up as a consistent theme at this year’s UTTC Tribal Summit in Bismarck, North Dakota. During an afternoon panel, Surojit Gupta, mechanical engineering professor, spoke to students and faculty about the University of North Dakota’s research projects and their partnership with UTTC. “We want to work with the entire state to develop new technologies,” said Gupta. Gupta and the researchers at University of North Dakota are developing materials critical for renewable energy technologies and for worsening weather events — stronger ceramic, foam to clean up oil spills, and cement and plastic made out of soybeans. Gupta’s lab also partners with the engineering program at UTTC for its ASPIRE summer camp and a new research class. Alexa Azure, a citizen of Standing Rock Sioux Nation and the engineering department chair at UTTC, said the University of North Dakota’s partnership with UTTC provides, “opportunities for collaboration to develop solutions that impact tribal, state and global technologies.” Buffalo’s Fire is covering the UTTC Tribal Summit and International Powwow live all week.