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Buffalo's Fire
Untying the knots of colonialism in Native healthcare
Psychologist turns to a Bush Fellowship to Indigenize medicine. Modern medicine and methodologies have benefits. But what if the help you seek is more than what Western medicine can offer? One psychologist is about to test his theories as a 2024 Bush Fellow. Dr. Antony Stately is an enrolled citizen...
Relatives mourn fatal shooting of man who intervened in clash during iconic Oglala Nation powwow
Family members began posting on social media Sunday afternoon in response to the death of Tom Thunderhawk who was shot at one of the biggest Lakota powwows in Indian Country. He died approximately 36 hours after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds during the Oglala Nation Wacipi on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Unprecedented shooting shakes up Oglala Nation powwow
Survivor in ‘critical’ condition but improving as participants regroup in prayer. The 2024 annual Oglala Nation Wacipi halted abruptly when a shooting broke out during a powwow dance contest. The unusual life threatening event on Friday night sent one man to the hospital and another to jail, law enforcement confirmed Aug. 3. Authorities said it was not an attempted mass killing, as some feared.
Dog woes: Judge Traynor donates $500 to animal shelter, criminal charges dropped for unleashed pet
In the Monday, July 29 edition of the Bismarck Tribune, page A3, there was a glaring headline: “Suspect in Bismarck chase and shooting resentenced.” The story, written by Tribune reporter Blake Nicholson, was in regards to a man who was involved in a high-speed car chase reaching speeds in excess of 120 mph, apparently within Bismarck city limits. The suspect also got himself into a gunfight with law enforcement officials. It can be easily surmised that this individual endangered the public, is considered a menace to society, and needs to sit and think about it for a while.
North Dakotans call on state to deny permits for carbon capture project
Many North Dakotans are concerned about the safety and environmental impact of a carbon capture proposal put forth by Summit Carbon Solutions. Local land stewards recently gathered at the state capitol, calling on regulators to deny permits for 353 miles of pipeline and four storage sites outside of Bismarck. “I...
Indigenous education director seeks to build relationships with parents, emphasizes mental health
Cimarosti wants Native students in the district to feel loved and heard. When Tomi Cimarosti was 3 years old, she entered the dance circle for the first time. Her grandmother, Standing Rock matriarch Kunshi Agatha, motivated her to pursue her passion, dancing back then. The night before, Agatha stayed up all night to finish her regalia as a sign of support.
Recent grad sees a gap in educational quality for tribal students
Survey shows many teachers unaware of resources on Native American history, culture. North Dakota tribal schools need better support — especially when it comes to serving low-income students, Shayla Davis, a member of Superintendent Kirsten Baesler’s Student Cabinet, told a crowd of tribal educators Friday. “There should be...
Department of Public Instruction gives tribal curriculum guides a digital overhaul
Traditional meets digital in a new educational book series about North Dakota’s tribes, set to be released across the state in August. The first edition of the Department of Public Instruction’s curriculum guide, which came out in five volumes from 1997 to 2002, has until now been published only in print. But the department has been prioritizing the digitalization of the guides to make them more accessible to students. The new texts are also revised to include modern history of the tribes.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ mixed record on Indigenous issues
‘We've seen an evolution in Vice President Harris' positions, advocacy, and understanding of tribal sovereignty, and tribal lands’ *Corrected. Vice President Kamala Harris is likely to be the Democratic nominee in this year’s presidential election after a shocking move by President Joe Biden to drop out of the race. Harris already has enough committed delegates to become the nominee, but it has to be confirmed at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Sicangu Lakota citizens grow vision for future of food
‘It really humbled me, being able to be in the garden’. At the height of South Dakota’s growing season, you can find Siċaŋġu Lak̇ota youth busy at Keya Wakpala Gardens. They feed the chickens and gather eggs. Some harvest lettuce, rhubarb and cilantro. At a workshop, they preserve strawberry jam.
Pressures could lead to more closures at ND nursing homes
Federal requirements, travel nurse expenses, immigration freeze a challenge. Federal requirements for nursing homes to have a registered nurse (RN) on duty 24 hours each day are expected to add pressure to an already challenging workforce situation for the 75 rural and urban facilities across the state. A majority will...
One baby at a time: Dakota midwife revitalizes Indigenous birth work, inspired to improve quality of rural healthcare
Autumn Cavender envisions more childbirth programs and traditional care center. It’s the middle of the night, and Autumn Cavender drives down a country road through the pitch-black darkness. It’s a familiar routine for Cavender, who explains that most babies are born between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. As one of the few rural midwives in the area, she always has her bag prepared for the next birth.
Progress Made on Senate Bill to Establish a US Truth and Healing Commission On Indian Boarding School Policies
Senators Schatz, Murkowski, and Warren to Lead Floor Block on the Senate Floor. Washington, D.C. – Today, Wednesday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. ET, Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Committee, will lead a group of Senators to speak on S.1723, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act.
Community Leader to Community Healer: The unconventional path of Bush Fellow Arlene Krulish
Former CEO turns to psychiatric nursing with focus on addiction and recovery. The journey from being a healthcare administrator to becoming a nurse practitioner may seem backwards to some. But for 2024 Bush Fellow Arlene Krulish, it’s her path forward. Krulish is from St. Michael, on the Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota. Her inspiration for becoming a nurse practitioner came from the nurses she saw while growing up on the reservation at her local health care center.
History through hoop dancing
Starr Chief Eagle tells a story of culture, history and family through hoop dancing. Starr Chief Eagle stood in front of a crowd of onlookers as a drum beat began to swell from the large speakers behind her. She readied her body, preparing to reach for the first of 22 hoops that lay interlaced in front of her.
Tribal college mounts cultural exchange with Indigenous Brazilians
A coalition of Minnesota educational institutions sent nine college students to Brazil as part of the pilot program. A few weeks ago, with the gentle melody of waves breaking on the shore behind her, recent Red Lake Nation College graduate Summer May spoke into a camera in Brazil. She was a world away from the traditions and cultures in which she grew up.
Meet Grace Fiori: Buffalo Fire’s new environment and agriculture reporter
Massachusetts native brings sensitivity, passion and on-the-ground experience to the role. It’s a long way from Amherst, Mass. to Bismarck, culturally as well as geographically. But Grace Fiori, Buffalo’s Fire’s new environmental reporter, is taking the leap in stride. The recent University of Massachusetts graduate, who began on July 8, had barely landed when she got her first story, and a big one: The Environmental Protection Agency was hitting Marathon Oil Co. with a historic $64.5 million civil penalty for air quality violations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Schools receive third — and potentially final — round of federal funding for homeless students
A pandemic-era program that has pumped $2 million into Montana schools to support students experiencing homelessness is nearing its end date. From the start of the 2023-24 school year to its conclusion, the number of students experiencing homelessness in Kalispell’s public school system jumped from 293 to 365. Assistant Superintendent Sara Cole said the increase reflects a growing trend in her district, one driven primarily by the soaring cost of living in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indigenous congress members react to attempted assassination of Donald Trump
'This is an assassination attempt plain and simple. America is better than this’. Indigenous members of Congress and several national Indigenous organizations have condemned the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump during a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was grazed by a bullet from an AR-style rifle on...
Pollution knows no borders
A long-awaited agreement will address Canadian mine waste flowing downriver into Montana and Idaho. When coal miners north of Fernie, British Columbia, blast into the mountains, the piles of rocks left behind leach selenium into the Elk River, which flows south into the Kootenai River. In small quantities, selenium is an essential nutrient, but larger amounts are toxic to humans and other species. The Kootenai’s levels are so high that some local tribal members are wary of fishing in Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir on the U.S.-Canada border. “People are very cautious about what they put in their bellies up there,” said Rich Janssen (Qlispe), head of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Natural Resources Department. Any selenium that doesn’t settle in the lake flows into Montana, then Idaho, then back into British Columbia.
Buffalo's Fire
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