The Daily Spark

The works of the National Congress of American Indians 2025 are officially open at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Buffalo’s Fire and the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance are on the ground, ready to cover the event. Among the core discussions on the opening day: efforts to address violence against Native women, strategies to close tribal finance data gaps through intertribal cooperation and priorities in Native education policy.

Following public concern over drinking water safety, Devils Lake officials confirmed the city’s water supply is safe to drink, according to reporting by Devils Lake Journal. City engineer Mike Grafsgaard said the city uses the Spiritwood Aquifer, while Spirit Lake Nation uses the Warwick Aquifer, and the wells are located miles apart.

Grafsgaard said Devils Lake switched to the Spiritwood Aquifer years ago and deeded the former well field to Spirit Lake Nation. He noted the city cannot provide water through the old pipeline due to dam-related removals. He also said the city water department monitors mineral levels closely and that iron and manganese removal is a common practice. Grafsgaard has been in contact with R.J. Yankton from Spirit Lake Water Resources and offered assistance, stating, “We’re willing to help our neighbors in whatever way is practical.”

The 91st Missile Wing hosted leaders from the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation at Missile Alert Facility H-01 near New Town on May 27, according to Minot Daily News. The visit included a facility tour, cultural dialogue and a photo display honoring MHA heritage.

MHA Chairman Mark Fox led the delegation, joined by Director of Veterans Affairs Robert Hunter Sr., Director of Tourism Keira Fox and representatives from Task Force 21. The event highlighted the longstanding alliance between the MHA Nation and Minot Air Force Base. Col. James Schlabach, 91st Missile Wing commander, said the photo display “serves as a bridge between our military personnel and the MHA Nation.” Fox emphasized the historic nation-to-nation relationship, saying, “We will protect and support each other.”

The Trump administration has proposed a nearly 90% reduction in funding for tribal colleges and universities, a move that could force most to close, according to reporting by ProPublica. The Department of the Interior’s 2026 budget request slashes funding for postsecondary tribal programs from more than $182 million to just over $22 million, impacting all 37 tribal colleges.

Ahniwake Rose, president and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, said the proposed cuts would be unsustainable. “The numbers that are being proposed would close the tribal colleges,” Rose told ProPublica. The Bureau of Indian Education and Department of the Interior declined to comment. Congress, which has final budget authority, passed a 1978 law committing to fund tribal colleges, but appropriations have fallen short. Tribal leaders said the cuts violate treaty obligations and would rob Native students of opportunity.

Students at Rice University have launched an oral history archive to preserve Native stories in Texas, according to Rice News. The initiative, in collaboration with the Texas Tribal Buffalo Project (TTBP),, has gathered more than 50 hours of interviews since the fall of 2024 through the university’s Houston Action Research Teams program.

The archive, “Living Memory: An Oral History Project to Strengthen Native Sovereignty in Texas,” includes testimonies on cultural, financial, linguistic, and spiritual topics. The student-led effort aims to support sovereignty and community resilience and will be housed at Rice’s Fondren Library. Lipan Apache leader and founder of TTBP, Lucille Contreras, said the project helps ensure that Indigenous stories are not “just remembered”, but recognized.”

Members of Montana’s American Indian Caucus say the 2025 legislative session marked a historic high for advancing their priorities, according to a story co-published by Montana Free Press and ICT. Rep. Tyson Running Wolf called it “the most productive American Indian Caucus I’ve ever been part of,” during an April meeting. The group successfully advanced multiple bills, including one establishing Indigenous Peoples Day as a state holiday and extending the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act.

Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy passed seven of 11 bills and will serve as Senate dean next session. Caucus members also helped defeat legislation that threatened treaty rights and pushed for more tribal consultation in health policymaking. An amendment was made to the state budget bill, however, funding and decisions will depend on the state health department. Rep. Donavon Hawk said there is “a lot more to do,” especially around consultation.

About 75,000 pages of Indian boarding school records are locked in digital storage following federal budget cuts that halted the National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive project, according to Montana Free Press. The National Endowment for the Humanities rescinded $282,000 of a $500,000 grant after the Trump administration implemented cuts, leading to staff layoffs, canceled partnerships, and a suspended archive initiative.

The digitized letters include emotional exchanges between children and families, including a 1954 letter from Thomas Wall asking Chemawa Indian School to send his daughter, Irene Wall, home. Fallon Carey, digital archives manager at the coalition, said the records “can’t be touched until we get new funding.” Mark Macarro, president of the National Congress of American Indians, called the funding cuts “a betrayal.” Tribal leaders say the cuts disrupt the healing process for boarding school survivors and keep the general public from learning the truth.

Twin Buttes, North Dakota, is gearing up for its annual powwow and rodeo, according to the Twin Buttes Celebration Committee.

The powwow starts with Youth Night on Thursday, June 12, at 7:30 p.m. Grand entries are scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. Competitions include men’s traditional, fancy, and grass and women’s traditional, fancy, and jingle. There will also be teen and junior categories. Prize money ranges from $150 to $15,000. Flag raising will take place at 8 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Special events include a diabetes screening, Tiny Tot special, singing contest, and two feeds.

The rodeo performances run Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m., with slack at 9 a.m. Events include barrel racing, breakaway roping, team roping, bareback riding, bull riding and more. A buckle will be awarded to the champion bareback rider in memory of Pete Fredericks. Entries close June 3.

Six tribal programs have been selected for the site visit round of the 2025 Honoring Nations awards, according to a May 29 announcement from the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development. Chosen from 101 applicants, the programs include Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, the College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, Iron Horse Industrial Park, Jicarilla Apache Nation’s Water Sharing Agreement, Sche’lang’en Village Transformational Wrap-Around Program and the Taos Pueblo Priority Process.

The site visits will take place this summer. Awards will be presented at the National Congress of American Indians’ conference in November 2025. Honoring Nations evaluates tribal governance initiatives for their effectiveness, cultural relevance and impact on sovereignty.

A recent letter from the U.S. Department of Education affirms that American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian history is not considered diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or critical race theory (CRT), according to reporting by Inside Higher Ed. In the letter, Hayley B. Sanon, principal deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, acknowledged the “unique political and legal relationship with federally recognized Indian Tribes.”

The letter was sent in April in response to concerns from the National Indian Education Association, which sought assurance that teaching Native history would not violate a Trump executive order aimed at eliminating “discriminatory equity ideology.” Twyla Baker, president of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, said she was hopeful but cautious. Tribal college leaders said they want to see policy and funding reflect the department’s message.

Students at the Quentin N. Burdick Job Corps Center in Minot, North Dakota, were informed that they must leave campus by Wednesday, June 4, according to a student who spoke with KMOT-TV. The student said campus leadership had gathered students in the cafeteria to deliver the message and noted that while staff are working to help students return home, limited time and funds may prevent some from reaching their final destinations.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced last week that all contractor-operated Job Corps centers nationwide will be paused by June 30 due to a $140 million deficit and safety concerns. Burdick Job Corps staff said Friday they were still waiting on guidance from contractors and could not confirm the June 4 deadline as of Monday. North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn called the nationwide pause “unconscionable” and urged the state’s congressional delegation to intervene.

Indigenous students at the University of Arizona are protesting changes to Native American Student Affairs, including the firing of its director and a shift in the office's structure. According to AZCentral, about 30 Native students from different tribes sent a letter on May 25 to university leaders and the Arizona Board of Regents, calling the changes a “betrayal” of the university’s commitment to Native students.

Two days later, the university announced the student affairs program would move under the Office of Native American Initiatives. On May 27, director Julian Juan was fired. In an Instagram video, Juan said he was dismissed after asking an administrator to leave a student event in April for safety reasons. A university spokesperson told The Arizona Republic that the changes are intended to “increase collaboration and strengthen support for Native students.”

On Saturday, May 31, community members gathered under the Memorial Bridge in Bismarck for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Walk. The event began with a prayer, followed by a walk led by Roxy Leaf, the mother of Renzo Bullhead, who has been missing since March. Speakers included MMIW survivor Melanie Angel and Vicki Alberts, public information officer for the Bullhead family and Spirit Lake’s public relations specialist and law clerk. Alberts acknowledged Roxy Leaf and Delaine Blue Thunder for their unwavering efforts in searching for their son. Blue Thunder also spoke, thanking everyone for coming and saying they would never stop searching for Renzo despite the hardship.

After the walk, attendees shared a feed at Native Inc. Organizers welcomed everyone to honor missing and murdered Indigenous relatives and support affected families.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill on May 12 to resolve a decades-long law enforcement dispute between Lake County, the state and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). The legislation provides $6 million from the state’s General Fund to reimburse Lake County and the CSKT for law enforcement services on the Flathead Reservation, according to Montana Free Press. A Gianforte spokesperson said the bill is “a step in the right direction to finding a long-term resolution.”

The law aims to encourage cooperation and ends a conflict rooted in jurisdictional questions dating back to the 1950s. In April, Montana state Rep. Shelly Fyant, a CSKT citizen, called it “a solution that works for everyone.”

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a federal judge’s March decision to dismiss its latest lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the Dakota Access Pipeline. The tribe argues the pipeline lacks a valid easement to cross under Lake Oahe on the Missouri River and alleges multiple regulatory violations by the Corps, according to reporting by North Dakota Monitor.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg dismissed the suit, saying courts cannot intervene until the Army Corps completes its environmental impact study, which has remained unfinished since 2017. Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire said the tribe does not trust the Corps to properly evaluate the pipeline and will continue legal efforts to protect their water and people. The tribe also criticized a recent jury verdict holding Greenpeace liable for damages related to protests against the pipeline.

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Spirit Lake Nation and three tribal citizens have asked the full 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a case that found they lack standing to sue North Dakota over alleged voting discrimination. A three-judge panel ruled earlier this month that private individuals cannot bring cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans race-based voting discrimination. The panel sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Peter Welte with instructions to dismiss it. The tribes argue in their brief that the ruling denies citizens in the 8th Circuit the right to enforce Section 2 protections, unlike other circuits where private suits are allowed. The 2021 state redistricting plan challenged by the tribes was previously ruled discriminatory by Welte, according to North Dakota Monitor. The North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office says that if the 2021 map is reinstated, three state lawmakers would relocate to different districts.

A former coal mine near Beulah, North Dakota, will be converted into a nickel processing facility, pending regulatory approval, according to a report by the North Dakota Monitor. Talon Metals announced Wednesday that it plans to process ore from a mine near Tamarack, Minnesota, at the new Beulah Minerals Processing Facility starting in 2028. The project is expected to bring 150 jobs to the area.

Talon Metals President Mike Kicis said Tesla has contracted to buy about half of the processed nickel, and the Department of Defense is another potential customer. The $365 million project is supported by a nearly $115 million Department of Energy grant announced in 2022. While welcomed by local leaders, the project faces opposition from some Native American and environmental groups in Minnesota concerned about potential pollution, according to the North Dakota Monitor.

Colorful pageantry, high-speed competition and deeply rooted traditions will energize North Dakota this summer. The Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Indian Horse Relay will return to the North Dakota State Fair in Minot on July 22. The breathtakingly fast-paced event features Native athletes racing bareback across three horses, supported by a mugger and two horse holders in thrilling, coordinated mid-race exchanges.

Throughout the state, powwows will joyfully celebrate Native culture with competitive dancing, powerful drum circles, traditional foods and handcrafted Native art. The Fort Totten Days Celebration, Mandaree Powwow, Arikara Celebration and the prestigious United Tribes International Powwow in Bismarck are among several events planned.

For more information and a full schedule, visit the North Dakota Tourism Division at ndtourism.com.

The Spirit Lake Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa asked the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a ruling that said voters cannot sue under the Voting Rights Act for racial discrimination, according to the Jamestown Sun. The Campaign Legal Center, which represents the tribes, said the court’s earlier decision reversed a 2023 ruling that found North Dakota’s redistricting diluted Native American votes.

The Legislature’s 2021 map placed the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in District 9 and Spirit Lake Nation in District 15. Plaintiffs argued this split Native votes, giving white voters disproportionate power. “We went to court because the map the state passed made it harder for Native voters like me to have a real voice,” said Turtle Mountain voter Wes Davis, as reported by the Jamestown Sun. If the current ruling stands, only the U.S. Department of Justice can bring Voting Rights Act lawsuits in the Eighth Circuit.