The Daily Spark

The three-day event, themed "Creating Connections Between Youth & Elders," will feature dance and drum competitions, vendors, food and handgames. Festivities begin Friday, July 11, with a Gourd Dance at 2 p.m. and the first Grand Entry at 7 p.m. On Saturday, grand entries are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The final Grand Entry is Sunday at 1 p.m.

The event’s head staff includes:

• Masters of Ceremonies: James Edwards (Pawnee) and Leslie Trujillo (Taos Pueblo)
• Arena Director: Corey Reeder (Wichita/Cheyenne/Kiowa/Diné)
• Headman: Ronnie Lodgepole (Chippewa Cree)
• Head Lady: Ontarra Arrow White (Lemhi Shoshone)
• Southern Drum: Big Thunder of Comanche, Okla.
• Northern Drum: Bad Canyon of Wellpinit, Wash.

Dance categories are open for all ages, from Tiny Tots to the Golden Age division for dancers 60 and older. Competitions include Northern Traditional, Southern Straight, Grass/Chicken, Fancy, Northern Buckskin, Southern Cloth and Jingle.

No drugs, alcohol or firearms are permitted. Camping and RV spaces are available without hookups.

For more information, contact the Taos Pueblo Tourism Office at 575-758-1028. For vending inquiries, call 505-376-3702 or email taospowwow@gmail.com. Handgame information is available from Samuel J. Smith III at 575-770-2890.

The Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Hospital in Walthill, Nebraska — the first hospital built on a Native reservation — is being restored as the Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Center. According to the Flatwater Free Press, an all-volunteer effort raised more than $6 million for the project. The center honors Picotte, the first Native American to earn a medical degree in the United States. She opened the hospital in 1913 after treating more than 1,200 patients across the Omaha reservation.

A private dedication event is scheduled for June 21, with a public open house on the following day. Once operational, the center will provide health services including urgent care, behavioral health care and disability services. There will also be cultural spaces on site for art and entrepreneurship.

North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong announced plans to visit the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribe later this year as part of a broader effort to meet with all five tribal nations in the state during the summer and fall, according to the Wahpeton Daily News. Armstrong said the visits aim to foster collaboration and strengthen relationships between the state and tribal nations.

The conference, hosted by the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, included representatives from the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, Spirit Lake Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Nation. Stronger partnerships between the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe and the North Dakota State Government aim to support tribal communities while addressing shared challenges.

Juneteenth, originating June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, marks the end of slavery in the United States, when General Gordon Granger announced freedom for enslaved people in Texas through General Order Number 3. The order declared “absolute equality of rights” between former masters and former slaves, transforming their relationship into one of employer and hired laborer.

Juneteenth is observed nationwide and internationally as a day to commemorate African American freedom, emphasize education and achievement and encourage reflection and community gatherings. The celebration has grown to include events ranging from picnics and speeches to weeks or months of observances. According to juneteenth.com, the day’s increasing popularity reflects a maturing acknowledgment of this history’s continuing influence on society.

This is last year's celebration in Bismarck, ND.

The 79th Annual Shinnecock Indian Powwow will take place Aug. 29–Sept. 1 at the Shinnecock Powwow Grounds in Southampton, New York. The event features drum and dance contests, food, arts, crafts, and over $50,000 in prize money.

Grand entry is scheduled each evening at 7 p.m. from Friday to Sunday and at 12:30 p.m. Saturday through Monday. Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for children, elders and military.

Free parking is available. More information, vendor forms, directions, campground details and FAQs are available here.

The Kiowa Apache Blackfoot Society will hold its 65th Annual Ceremonial Celebration from Aug. 1-3 at the Apache Tribal Dancegrounds near Fort Cobb, Oklahoma, according to an event flyer.

• Friday, 6 p.m.: Society flag raising and all-gourd dance program.
• Saturday: Rations, 10 a.m.; Herbert Tselee flag & cedaring, noon; Blackfoot Ceremonial, 1-5:30 p.m.; gourd dance, 6:30-10 p.m.
• Sunday: Randolph R. Whiteshield flag, 1 p.m.; Blackfoot Ceremonial, 1-6:30 p.m.; gourd dance, 6:30-10 p.m.

Outgoing Princess Anna Whitewolf will hand the crown to incoming Princess Anna-Belle Banderas. Co-hosts include the Kiowa Tia-Piah Society, Oklahoma City Pow-wow Club and Apache Tribe Princess Club. Horseshoe and 3-on-3 basketball tournaments are planned.

A new study published in the medical journal JAMA finds that official U.S. death records underestimate mortality and life expectancy gaps for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. According to a summary by the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), the analysis revealed that death certificates for at least 41 percent of AI/AN individuals misclassified their race, most often as “white,” resulting in a statistical erasure of Indigenous mortality data.

The study showed that AI/AN life expectancy was 6.5 years lower than the national average — 2.9 times the gap reported in official vital statistics. AI/AN mortality rates were 42% higher than the national average, compared to only 5% higher in uncorrected official data. The research highlights the need for accurate data collection and greater investment in AI/AN health, according to study lead author Jacob Bor, an associate professor of global health and epidemiology at BUSPH.

See also: American Indians in North Dakota die 22.5 years younger than white residents.

The Bismarck Documenters, powered by Buffalo’s Fire, will present at the Sacred Pipe Resource Center’s Wisdom & Watecha event on June 20 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Wisdom & Watecha is an Indigenous version of a lunch-and-learn series that encourages community members to share knowledge, stories and skills.

The Documenters program trains residents to attend and report on public meetings to improve local government transparency and accessibility. Lunch will be provided.

The event is at 925 Basin Avenue, suite 2, in Bismarck, North Dakota. For questions, call 701-663-3886 or email native@sacredpipe.net.

The annual Santee Lucky Mound Celebration will take place June 19-22 in Parshall, North Dakota. The event will feature grand entries, dance specials, contests and giveaways sponsored by various community members and organizations, according to event organizers.

Grand entries are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with youth points beginning Thursday. The celebration will include a variety of dance specials and contest categories for all ages and abilities, along with daily flag raising and retreat ceremonies.

A diabetes program blood sugar screening will take place June 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. Vendor sign-up is closed. Camping opens June 19, with no early setup or staking allowed. Security, safety rules and a substance-free environment will be enforced.

Native Playwrights PDX, co-organized by director Amber Kay Ball, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and Lofanitani Aisea, is creating space for Indigenous theater makers to share modern Native stories in Portland, Oregon, according to Underscore Native News. The initiative launched its first staged reading of Aisea’s play “Fo’i Lole” on June 7. It was performed by an all-Indigenous cast.

“Fo’i Lole,” a Tongan creation story, centers femme and queer goddesses. Aisea said the story offers a platform to foster community connections. Native Playwrights PDX also plans to provide resources, host focus groups and develop new works to address underrepresentation in theater.

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, a 2023 plan to restore salmon populations and support tribal energy projects in the Pacific Northwest, according to the Associated Press. The agreement, supported by Washington, Oregon and four American Indian tribes, was designed to pause decades of litigation over dam impacts on salmon and invest more than $1 billion toward fish recovery and clean energy development.

Trump criticized the agreement as “radical environmentalism” that risked breaching four Snake River dams. Tribal leaders, environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers condemned the move, warning it threatens salmon recovery and tribal treaty rights. Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Gerald Lewis said the decision reflects a “historic pattern of broken promises to tribes.”

The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana recently held a moccasin-making workshop to help preserve and share cultural traditions among its members, according to the American Press. Missy Stanford, director of the tribe’s Heritage Department said the goal of the workshop was to connect tribal members of all ages to their ancestral past through the craft of moccasin making.

The workshop was led by Caspie Abbey, from the Hidatsa, Mandan, Dakota and Crow tribes, and her husband, Donovan Abbey, a member of the Coushatta Tribe from Mandaree, North Dakota. Together they taught nearly 20 participants the history, artistry and techniques of traditional moccasin making. They emphasized the importance of passing the skill to future generations and noted the cultural significance of moccasins, which are used for powwows, special dances and ceremonial purposes.

The Yurok Tribe finalized the largest land back deal in California history this May, regaining more than 47,000 acres of ancestral lands along the lower Klamath River watershed, according to Underscore Native News and ICT. The area, acquired through a partnership with Western Rivers Conservancy, includes the Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and the Yurok Tribal Community Forest, doubling the tribe’s land holdings.

The land transfer, 23 years in the making, covers 73 square miles and will be managed by the tribe for ecosystem health and sustainable forestry. Western Rivers Conservancy purchased the property for $56 million and provided $3.3 million from carbon credits to the tribe to support restoration efforts.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes received approval from the secretary of the Interior Department to reduce water releases from the Séliš Ksanka QÍispé Dam near Polson to keep Flathead Lake full during ongoing drought conditions in northwest Montana, according to the Montana Free Press. The flow reduction is intended to maintain lake levels within 12 inches of full pool through the end of July, however it is also expected to impact downstream fisheries and electricity production for the remainder of June.

Brian Lipscomb, CEO of Energy Keepers, Inc., said required instream flows will drop by 45 percent, from 12,700 to 7,000 cubic feet per second. Even with these adjustments, the lake is anticipated to be three feet below full pool by August 31. Council Chairman Michael Dolson said the tribe supported the decision to balance resource stewardship, economic interests and community needs.

The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon is asking Gov. Tina Kotek to delay a funding request from Willamette Falls Trust for up to $75 million to purchase land in Oregon City, according to the Lincoln Chronicle. In a June 9 letter, Tribal Chair Cheryle Kennedy cited "serious concerns" about the proposal, including a lack of tribal consultation and the exclusion of Grand Ronde from the trust while including an out-of-state tribe, the Yakama Nation.

The Willamette Falls Trust seeks to buy 60 acres, including Moores Island and adjacent uplands, to create public spaces for cultural and educational events. The Grand Ronde tribe argued that its treaty rights and aboriginal lands make it the "tribe of record" for the area and urged further evaluation of the proposal. A spokeswoman for Kotek said the letter is under review.

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians has partnered with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation to acquire and conserve lands that once served as refuge during the Seminole Wars, according to  reporting by The Guardian. The initiative supports the broader effort to unite 18 million acres of state and private land into a safe habitat for at‑risk species such as black bears, Key deer and Florida panthers.

Tribal Chair Talbert Cypress told the Guardian the tribe has a “constitutional duty” to defend ancestral lands and is shifting toward greater collaboration with conservation groups after years of limited engagement. The tribe already co‑manages nearly 3 million acres in the Everglades, Biscayne National Parks and Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. They are now working to identify historically significant land.

Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee has proposed the sale or transfer of more than 2 million acres of federal land to states or other entities as part of a GOP tax cut package, according to the Associated Press. The plan directs the secretaries of interior and agriculture to sell or transfer up to 0.75% of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management holdings, excluding national parks, monuments and wilderness areas.

Lee said the plan would target “isolated parcels” for housing or infrastructure development. Montana was excluded from the proposal after lawmakers objected. Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, said the sales could cause people to “lose access to places they know and care about,” affecting Western economies. Conservation groups criticized the plan, warning it could set a precedent for transferring public lands to developers. Federal officials would need to consult governors, local officials and affected Native American tribes before any sale.

Thousands of people gathered in 10 North Dakota cities on June 14 as part of the nationwide No Kings protest movement opposing the Trump administration’s policies, according to the North Dakota Monitor. An estimated 1,700 people rallied at the state Capitol in Bismarck, while organizers in Fargo reported about 3,000 attendees. Smaller demonstrations took place in Grand Forks, Jamestown, Bottineau, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Williston, Minot and Valley City.

Julie Schuler, an organizer in Devils Lake, said about 80 people participated there, noting the presence of many first-time protesters. In Jamestown, 180 people gathered for prayer before marching. No major incidents were reported, though minor confrontations by counter protesters occurred in Bismarck and Fargo. Protesters across locations voiced concerns about proposed federal policies and cuts, with many sharing personal stories of how the changes could impact their lives.

Tribal college leaders are warning that proposed federal changes to Pell Grant eligibility and funding could disproportionately impact Native students, according to reporting by ICT. Cheryl Crazy Bull, CEO of the American Indian College Fund, said nearly 80 percent of tribal college and university students are eligible for Pell Grants, which provide up to $7,395 annually for low-income students.

The U.S. House of Representatives has proposed raising the annual credit hour requirement from 24 to 30 beginning July 1, while also reducing the maximum award by $1,000 in the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal. Dawn Frank, president of Oglala Lakota College, said the changes would especially affect non-traditional students, who make up about 60% of the college’s enrollment. Moriah O’Brien of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium added that the proposed cuts could cause students to go into debt.