Local Organizations Work to Support Queer Indigenous Youth
A new report from the Trevor Project shows LGBTQ2S+ Indigenous youth face a disproportionate rate of mental health challenges. The report's recommendations mirror work being done by local Indigenous organizations.
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THE LATEST

Woman displaying a live lamprey

Yakama Volunteers Search for Relatives’ Remains at Mool-Mool, or Fort Simcoe Historical State Park

Members of the Yakama Nation started their volunteer project at Fort Simcoe around the time U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland launched an initiative to uncover unmarked graves and hidden history at boarding schools across the nation. To date, the Fort Simcoe project hasn't received any federal funding.
Woman displaying a live lamprey

Portland Students Headed Back to School After Historic Strike

Notably, the tentative contract gets rid of mandatory minimum suspensions, which contribute to disproportionate rates of suspension for Native and Black students.

NEWS & FEATURES

UnThanksgiving Organizers Want to Rethink Colonial Holidays

During a time of year that can be hard for many, especially Indigenous people, community members in Portland are organizing alternatives to Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Native American Heritage Celebrated During Portland NBA Game

Hundreds of Indigenous community members came together in celebration of Native American Heritage Month during the Portland Trail Blazers versus Oklahoma City Thunder game.

‘Bad Press’ Chronicles Muscogee Journalism Victory

The documentary reveals the struggles of Indigenous journalists to freely cover tribal governments. The movie will screen Nov. 26 at Portland Art Museum’s Tomorrow Theater, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Underscore News.

NCAI Vote to Exclude State Recognized Nations Fails

Proposed constitutional amendments to exclude state recognized tribes from voting membership of the National Congress of American Indians failed on Thursday.

Organization of Tribes Created to Uphold Sovereignty Could Vote to Exclude Members

On Thursday, members of the National Congress of American Indians will vote on a controversial constitutional amendment that would exclude 24 state-recognized tribes from voting membership.

Will Portland's Teachers Strike Change a Policy that Harms Native Students?

One of the policies at issue in negotiations between teachers and Oregon’s largest school district contributes to disproportionate rates of suspension for Native and Black students. Both sides say they want to change the policy. Will they?

Flexing Food Sovereignty

Flexing Our Sovereignty: An Introduction to Underscore's Food Sovereignty Project

Series Co-Manager Nicole Charley introduces a series of stories about traditional Indigenous knowledge and practices that honor and strengthen the relationship to the plants and animals that sustain all of us.

How Indigenous Nations Are Rebuilding Food Systems

Local food, grounded in cultural and spiritual values, forms the basis for a growing food sovereignty movement.

Root Down: At Warm Springs, a New Generation Leads the Feast

As the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs holds traditional first foods feasts in its ceremonial longhouses for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, tribal youth have stepped up to carry the knowledge of the many elders who passed during the pandemic.

Breaking the Law to Uphold it

Legal challenges protect tribal rights to traditional fishing, hunting and gathering.

How Acorns Carry Cultural Knowledge

An Indigenous writer reflects on learning to make acorns into San-chvn-tuu-’i’ or ‘juice of the acorn,’ a hot porridge and staple food.

When Food is Much More than a Commodity

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians leverages government-issued commodities to build a resilient food system that nourishes tribal members. It’s paying off.

SPECIAL SERIES
Sovereign Justice: Data-Driven Reporting Project

Sovereign Justice

The growing power of tribal courts is on full display at the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

On an Ancient Road, Tribal Elders Wage a Relentless Battle

The government bulldozed an Indigenous religious site along a busy Oregon highway, but tribal elders and their families still visit Ana Kwna Nchi Nchi Patat in order to satisfy their religious obligations. Now, the elders want the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their claim to restore the site.

The Chinook Nation’s Existential Fight for Recognition

Chinook people have fought for federal status for close to two centuries. This portrait shows what federal recognition means for the nation’s land base, healthcare, education and legal protections. But, more than anything, tribal members want to be recognized for who they are, and who they have been for millennia.

SPECIAL REPORT
Indigenous Survivors: Voices of Resilience

Justice Lags for Indigenous Survivors of Violence

For Indigenous families, the struggle to prosecute crimes committed by non-Natives on tribal land has created lasting trauma.

Desireé Coyote's Fight to Empower Survivors of Violence

Coyote's story, told through hours of interviews and documents, reveals how years of trauma and systemic failures drove her to advocate for survivors like her.

Indigenous Survivors: Voices of Resilience

Three Indigenous women in Oregon, all survivors of violence who have become advocates in the footsteps of Desireé Coyote, share their personal stories in an effort to inspire and help other survivors.

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