Native Americans Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Northwest Public Broadcasting

State Department Vague But Optimistic On Columbia River Treaty Renegotiations

By Emily Schwing May 31, 2018

An aerial photograph of the Revelstoke Dam in British Columbia. CREDIT - KELOWNIAN PILOT - TINYURL.COM/YDF7L9X2

The first round of talks to modernize the U.S.-Canada Columbia River Treaty took place this week. Officials from the U.S. negotiating team briefed reporters on Thursday on progress at the talks, which are aimed at revising the 54-year-old agreement which governs hydropower and flood control along the Columbia River.Read More

Washington Tribes Vow To Fight Canadian Pipeline With ‘Brothers And Sisters In The North’

By John Ryan May 30, 2018

A member of Puget Sound's Swinomish tribe participating in a ceremonial salmon blessing. Northwest tribes hold vigils along the Columbia River to pray for the return of salmon. CREDIT: KUOW PHOTO/KATIE CAMPBELL

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that it is buying the pipeline from Texas-based Kinder Morgan. The pipeline, built in 1953, currently carries 300,000 barrels of heavy tar sands oil daily from Alberta to British Columbia and refineries in Washington state.Read More

How The Puyallup Tribe Brings Salmon Home

By John Ryan May 22, 2018

Fred Dillon, second left, has help from his son, Codi Dillon, 10, while returning the salmon to the water after a tribal ceremony honoring the first salmon caught by Puyallup tribal fishermen on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, in Tacoma. CREDIT: MEGAN FARMER/KUOW

The Puyallup Tribe welcomed the first salmon of the year back to the Puyallup River in Tacoma on Tuesday. Strangely, perhaps, that chinook’s epic journey from mid-Pacific Ocean to a Puyallup fishing net begins with a sloshing tanker truck.Read More

Chinook Tribe Has Its Day In Court, But Still Faces Long Road To Recognition

By Molly Solomon May 9, 2018

The Chinook Indian Nation gather outside a federal courthouse in Tacoma to rally support for federal recognition. CREDIT: MOLLY SOLOMON

The Chinook Indian Nation is taking its fight for federal recognition into the courtroom. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton heard oral arguments and will take the next two weeks to decide if the case moves forward. Read More

Annual Meeting Of Energy Giant Stockholders Draws Northwest Tribal Opposition

By Emily Schwing May 8, 2018

Tribal leaders from Canada are on their way to Texas to warn Kinder Morgan stockholders against expanding its controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline project. The pipeline brings Canadian oil to Washington state.   Read More

Washington Supreme Court Visits Colville Tribal Land For Outreach, Hear Cases

By Emily Schwing May 8, 2018

File photo. Washington Supreme Court Justices, 2018.

Washington Supreme Court justices will be in northeastern Washington May 8 to hear three cases in Nespelem, where the Confederated Tribes of the Colville are headquartered. Legally, this land is sovereign— which means it’s a separate nation. It may be the first known time state Supreme Court proceedings have happened on sovereign tribal land.Read More

Northwest Tribes Bringing Traditional Wildfires Back To Their Lands

By Anna King May 4, 2018

Glacier lilies spring up in sunny clearings left by recent treatments to the landscape by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. CREDIT: ANNA KING

Tribes across the West are trying to restore their forests and grasslands to the way they were before white settlers arrived. Their goal is to return traditional foods like roots, huckleberries and big game. But it’s a complex job.Read More

Colville Tribes Granted Rights To Manage Tribal Water Resources

By Emily Schwing May 4, 2018

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville are celebrating an expansion of their sovereign rights. The federal government has granted them jurisdiction over water resources on tribal lands in northeastern Washington state.Read More

Northwest Tribes Noticeably Left Off U.S. Panel Renegotiating Columbia River Treaty With Canada

By Emily Schwing April 26, 2018

Norma Sanchez, a Colville Tribal Council member, gave public testimony during a meeting on Columbia River Treaty negotiations hosted by the U.S. State Department.

Federal officials were in Spokane this week to talk about the future of the Columbia River Treaty, an agreement between the U.S. and Canada that dates back to 1964. A six-member panel will represent the U.S. in negotiations to update the treaty. Noticeably absent were members of any of the numerous Native American tribes along the Columbia, which have been pushing to Read More

Yakama Nation Says Quarry Expansion Threatens Tribal Burial Site

By Esmy Jimenez April 10, 2018

Site of proposed Rowley Quarry expansion south of Yakima off interstate 82

Yakima County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday, April 10 to support mining operations that the Yakama Nation believes will disturb a Native burial ground. The battle is three years in the making.Read More

Fight Over Salmon-Killing Roads In Washington Now A Supreme Court Case About Native Rights

By Eilís O'Neill March 31, 2018

Salmon on their way up from northwest Washington's Skagit River have to leap two feet onto the jagged edge of this pipe to make it to habitat upstream. CREDIT: EILIS O'NEILL/EARTHFIX

Seventeen years ago, 21 tribes sued Washington state to fix road culverts. On April 18, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to take on the case. The question is whether state taxpayers should have to dish out billions to dig up roads so salmon can get through. The court’s decision will have repercussions for tribes all over the West.Read More

After Six Decades Of ‘Extinction’ In Canada, Sinixt Tribal Members Celebrate Their Homecoming

By Emily Schwing March 30, 2018

Artwork to commemorate the day a trial judge acquitted Sinixt descendant and Washington resident Rick Desautel of illegal hunting was created by Chief Rice, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville.

Over the past decade, surviving Sinixt tribal members who live in Washington have waged a legal battle to get their rights and access to traditional territory back. They recently celebrated their victories at an honor ceremony in British Columbia.Read More

After 70 Years, Salmon Could Return To Columbia River Above Grand Coulee Dam

By Emily Schwing March 16, 2018

Grand Coulee Dam File Photo - CREDIT Bureau of Reclamation

If all goes according to plan, there could soon be salmon above the Grand Coulee Dam again. That’s according to Cody Desautel, director of Natural Resources for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville.Read More

New Washington Law Aims To Help Solve Cases Of Missing And Murdered Native Women

By Deborah Wang March 15, 2018

After a bill signing ceremony in Olympia, women from several local tribes perform a song in honor of the missing and murdered indigenous women in the US, Canada and Alaska. CREDIT: AUSTIN JENKINS/N3

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law Thursday, March 15 aimed at shedding light on the cases of missing or murdered Native American women. At the bill signing ceremony, Native women in traditional regalia performed a women’s honor song.Read More

Coeur D’Alene Tribal Member Garners FBI Attention For Work To Combat Domestic Violence

By Emily Schwing March 13, 2018

Bernie LaSarte, of Idaho's Coeur D'Alene tribe is the only Native American to win the FBI's Community Leadership Award this year. EMILY SCHWING / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

The FBI is recognizing Coeur D’Alene tribal member Bernie LaSarte for her efforts to combat domestic violence in the Idaho Panhandle.   LaSarte is one of 56 recipients from across the country who will formally accept a national Community Leadership Award in Washington, D.C., next month.Read More

Salish Karaoke: A Competitive Celebration Helping To Preserve A Northwest Indigenous Language

By Emily Schwing March 11, 2018

Keegan Heron and friend Kayla Thomas performed 'Everybody' by the Backstreet Boys in front of nearly 500 people for the annual Salish Karaoke Contest, hosted by the Kalispell Indian tribe in Spokane.

What’s the best way to learn a language? Salish teachers are using music and song to introduce their Native American language to new speakers. It’s a language spoken by many tribes across the Northwest. And it's considered ‘critically endangered’ by UNESCO — the cultural arm of the United Nations.Read More

Salish Speakers, Teachers Gather In Spokane To Celebrate Their Native Language

By Emily Schwing March 7, 2018

Native speakers from across the Northwest and Canada have gathered in Spokane for the annual Celebrating Salish Conference. CREDIT: EMILY SCHWING

Native speakers from across the Northwest and Canada are in Spokane this week to speak Salish and learn from those who teach it.Read More

Federal Judge Rules Against Northwest Tribes In Religious Freedom Case

By Conrad Wilson March 5, 2018

A federal judge ruled against tribal members with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, as well as the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in a case about the Religous Freedom Restoration Act stemming from a 2008 road expansion near Government Camp. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. CREDIT: THE BECKET FUND FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

A federal judge in Oregon ruled Friday against several Northwest tribal members in a case over the destruction of a spiritual site near Mount Hood. A road expansion project a decade ago destroyed burial grounds and a stone altar, along with old-growth trees.Read More

How Might President Trump’s Food Box Plan Affect Health? Native Americans Know All Too Well

By NPR News February 26, 2018

For some, the USDA's plan to deliver SNAP benefits as canned, shelf-stable food is painfully familiar. The agency has long given this type of aid to tribes, with devastating health effects.Read More

Dating Is Hard Enough, Harder As A Yakama Nation Member Mindful Of Tribal Identity

By Esmy Jimenez February 14, 2018

Going on a date on Valentine’s Day can be fun and full of decisions – where to eat, what to wear. But for members of the Yakama Nation in Central Washington, it can be complicated when trying to date within the relatively small tribal community. Read More

In Referendum, Tribal Members Vote To Keep The Name ‘Colville’

By Emily Schwing February 9, 2018

Colville Tribes sign in Nespelem, Washington

It looks like the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation will be keeping their name -- for now. Tribal members have rejected a referendum that would have kicked off a name-change process. Read More

Future Washington Teachers May Need More Training On Native American Culture, History

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa February 8, 2018

Washington State Capitol in Olympia. PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA USER JAY8G / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Future teachers in Washington may have to get more training in the history, culture, and treaty rights of Native American tribes. That’s a requirement of a bill currently before the state Legislature.Read More

Northwest Museums Revive Native American Artifacts To Tell Richer Stories

By Emily Schwing February 2, 2018

Sven Haakanson, the curator of North American Anthropology at the Burke Museum, says he wants exhibits at the new museum to speak to the resiliency of North America's Native people.

Museum curators in the Northwest are now working to update exhibits that focus on the region’s indigenous people. They are trying to do that in a way that both modernizes stories of indigenous people and tells them more truthfully. Read More

Yakama Nation Has A Lot Riding On The Rattlesnake Ridge Landslide

By Anna King January 24, 2018

The Yakama Nation is asking Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency for the Rattlesnake Ridge landslide. It’s a steep slope outside of Yakima that is moving slowly and clings above a small community, a railroad corridor, Interstate 82 and the Yakima River.Read More

British Columbia High Court Sides With Colville Tribal Member In Cross-Border Dispute

By Emily Schwing December 29, 2017

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has upheld the claims of a Native American man from Washington state that he has the right to hunt in the province.Read More

How To Respectfully Dispose Of An Old Totem Pole

By Tom Banse March 20, 2017

How do you dispose of an old totem pole? Fortunately, this is not a problem we regularly face. But a tall totem gifted by Seattle to its sister city in Japan renewed this question.Read More