The Daily Spark

A Nov. 4 Facebook post by International Indigenous Youth Council claims ICE has detained a Lakota person in Rapid City, South Dakota. The post advises the public to “take caution” after reports of ICE activity near the civic center. The post reports ICE is allegedly targeting Native unhoused people in Rapid City. The ICE agents are described as two men driving a black SUV wearing a bulletproof vest that says “ICE.” The post claims they are checking social security numbers. The council reminds the Native community to make sure they have their tribal ID and/or a passport and safety plan. “Protect yourselves and each other,” the post reads.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka announced its 2025 Native American Housing Initiatives Grants Program awarded $5 million to 16 tribal-led housing and community development projects, according to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka. The third year of the program builds on eight awards in 2023 and 12 in 2024.

Awardees include the Cheyenne and Arapaho Housing Authority in Clinton, Oklahoma; the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Nebraska and Kansas in Reserve, Kansas; the Iowa Tribe Housing Authority in White Cloud, Kansas; and the Wichita Housing Authority in Anadarko, Oklahoma, each receiving $500,000. The funds will support affordable-housing construction, home rehabilitation, tiny homes for veterans and other targeted initiatives.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved Enbridge Energy’s plan to reroute a section of its Line 5 oil pipeline around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation, according to the Associated Press and ICT. The 41-mile reroute would replace 12 miles of existing pipeline that cross tribal land.

The Bad River Band and environmental groups oppose the project, arguing it threatens waterways and extends fossil fuel dependence. Enbridge called the federal approval “a major project milestone.” Rob Lee, staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, said the decision violates the Clean Water Act. A decision in the state permit challenge is expected later this year. Construction remains on hold until those permits are resolved, Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said.

The Native American Development Center and Native Inc. are planning a $27 million to $35 million cultural center in Bismarck, according to the North Dakota Monitor. The 11-acre site would include three acres of affordable housing and feature a gym, auditorium, sweat lodge, healing center and cafeteria, as well as classrooms and art galleries.

Executive Director Lorraine Davis said the center would focus on traditional Indigenous healing, recovery and prevention programs. “It’s all a part of our healing,” she was quoted as saying. Davis added that the project would also support workforce development and business opportunities. State Rep. Dawson Holle, chair of the State and Tribal Relations Committee, said the proposal has bipartisan support and may be discussed during the next legislative session. Davis said the goal is to complete the project within five years.

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation’s Native Green Grow Greenhouse, or NG2, is nearing completion of its first phase, according to KFYR. The two-hectare facility in Parshall, North Dakota, is scheduled to open Nov. 26.

Chairman Mark Fox told the Minot City Council that the greenhouse could produce nearly two million pounds of food annually. The operation will capture flared gas from oil wells and convert it into energy to grow crops year-round. Fox said he hopes to see NG2 produce, such as strawberries, cucumbers and lettuce, in local grocery stores. He also reported progress in energy development, including increasing crude storage capacity to five million barrels and plans to sell liquid natural gas to foreign markets.

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 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.”