In 2024, the FBI recorded 10,248 missing Indigenous persons reports across the country. More than half of those cases involved women and girls. You probably heard about almost none of them. That silence has a name, a history, and a set of interlocking mechanisms that have nothing to do with…
A number has been spreading across social media: 5,712 federal civil rights cases in 2016, and only 116 logged by the Department of Justice. The posts frame it as a story about bureaucratic dysfunction, about how federal accountability disappears inside a machine of intake filters and overburdened attorneys. What the…
In 2016, the federal government documented 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the federal database investigators actually use to find people, contained 116 of those cases. More than 5,500 names, not even in the system. That’s not…
Quick Answer: The Wyoming Trail Council of Pennsylvania’s Native Americans hosts an annual Native American Festival and PowWow that welcomes all visitors to experience authentic Indigenous culture through traditional dance competitions, drum circles, craft vendors, and educational demonstrations. The event typically takes place in late summer at outdoor venues in…
Quick Answer: Innovation, data fixes fuel Native American graduation gains at federally funded schools by addressing decades of poor tracking, implementing culturally responsive programs, and leveraging partnerships between the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and tribal communities. Between 2011 and 2024, four-year graduation rates at BIE-funded schools climbed from 67%…
Quick Answer The deal for Native American tribes’ rights to Colorado River water stalled by four states—Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico—centers on a proposed agreement that would recognize and quantify tribal water rights under the Winters Doctrine. These states oppose the deal due to concerns about budget impacts, effects…
I stumbled on this book almost by accident. And while I did read and enjoy the whole book, I can’t help but feel that it’s poorly titled (details below). Yes, it’s a lengthy book and that’s increasingly unpopular as social media steals our time away. But there are well-told tales…
If you’ve ever driven through Robeson County, North Carolina, you’ve likely felt the pulse of Lumbee pride—seen in the flags, the festivals, and the unmistakable sense of community. But beneath that vibrant culture lies a story of perseverance, frustration, and hope: the Lumbee Tribe’s relentless pursuit of full federal recognition….
When you look at the long arc of American history, certain names leap out as symbols of resistance, resilience, and the fight for justice. Leonard Peltier is one of those names—a man whose life story is woven into the fabric of the Native American rights movement, the U.S. justice system,…
Leonard Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe, has been imprisoned for over 47 years following his controversial conviction in the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents. His case has long been a rallying cry for Native American rights activists, who argue that his trial was marred…