After a judge dismissed charges of shellfish trafficking on treaty grounds, tribes and treaty rights organizations say the case exemplifies how Washington officials are working to undermine treaty fishing rights and agreements, which the state denies.
Posted inLanguage
‘You Lose a Language, You Lose a Culture’
The recent publication of a four-volume Kalapuya dictionary and a separate ongoing effort to build an expansive digital archive have brought renewed attention to an Indigenous language that has been dead in spoken form for more than a half century.
Posted inEducation
Portland State University Graduates First Native American with Ph.D. in Math
Benjamin Parker is one of only three dozen Indigenous mathematicians in the U.S. who have completed the field’s most advanced degree, although that number is beginning to grow more rapidly.
Posted inTribal Government
Nooksack Tribe Demands Retraction from United Nations
Tribe says U.N. call for U.S. to stop evictions of disenrolled citizens is filled with ‘misinformation.’
Posted inTribal Government
United Nations Calls for Halt to Nooksack Evictions in Washington
In an unusual move, two U.N. Human Rights Council special rapporteurs ask the U.S. government to intervene in the tribal dispute.
Posted inHousing
Seattle Nonprofit Builds Permanent Housing for Native Americans in Need
Chief Seattle Club announced the completion of 80 housing units for homeless Indigenous people and veterans. The units are in a nine-story building that will also include a health clinic, café serving traditional foods, social services and Indigenous artwork.
Posted inTreaty Rights
Tribe Hoping for End to Yearslong Hunting Treaty Rights Fight in Wyoming
A 2019 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed off-reservation hunting treaty rights for the Crow Tribe. Wyoming officials have been resisting that decision ever since, despite recent losses in state courts.
Posted inSalmon
Oregon Tribe Partners with State to Save Chinook Salmon in Coquille River Basin
After a successful start to the partnership, the Coquille Indian Tribe wants to be named a co-manager of the river, a proposal backed by local governments, watershed associations and business groups. The effort comes amid a broader push by Oregon tribes to gain more authority in natural resource management and water policy decisions.
Posted inSports
Indigenous Focus Hits the Ice in Professional Hockey
The NHL’s newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken, is leading the way with art and youth programs to build Native American ties to a sport that traces much of its history to Indigenous peoples of North America.
Posted inLand Back
The Indigenous Voice at the Helm of the National Park Service
In a sit-down conversation with Underscore.news, Chuck Sams, the country’s first Native American parks director, discusses the role his agency can play in better representing Indigenous people and their stories.