On the Wednesday edition of the ICT Newscast, troubled waters on the U.S. Canadian border mean Tribal leaders look to treaty rights. Representative Mary Peltola weighs in on her first hundred days in Congress. And Holly Cook Macarro shares Biden’s record in Native communities

Tribal and First Nations leaders were in Washington, D.C., last week for meetings of the International Joint Commission. That is the body that oversees the 114-year-old treaty governing the waters that straddle the Canada and U.S. border. Communities in British Columbia, Washington state, Idaho and Montana have been contending for decades that toxins are leaking into their watershed from coal mining operations in the province’s Elk Valley. Chairman Tom McDonald of the Confederate Salish-Kootenai Tribes was there.

The country’s first Alaska Native Congress member has just completed her first hundred days in office. ICT’s McKenzie Allen-Charmley has this interview with Rep. Mary Peltola.

The 2024 Presidential race is shaping up to be a repeat of 2020. ICT regular contributor Holly Cook Macarro joins us once again to review it all. She is a partner with Spirit Rock Consulting and a board member of IndiJ Public Media, ICT’s parent company.

• Indigenous leaders in South Dakota, are calling newly adopted social studies standards disappointing. The state’s Board of Education voted, in a five to two decision, to accept new guidelines for K through 12 schools. Under the new standards, between eighth grade and graduation, students will only encounter two lessons that directly reference Native people.
• The Native American Rights Fund is challenging a North Carolina school board on its grooming policy. In February, Ashley Lomboy says school officials told her that her son would have to cut his hair, or the first grader wouldn’t be able to attend class. In a letter, NARF requested the removal of a network-wide policy that prohibits male students from wearing long hair. A decision over the changed grooming policy will be made at the next board meeting.
• Another city in California has joined the calls for Indigenous land and rights to be protected. Last week, the Mountain View City Council adopted a resolution urging the local Santa Clara County to deny permits for a proposed mine. The location of the project is on sacred land to the Amah Mutsun people and is known as Juristac.
• Thousands of spectators and dancers were in Albuquerque, New Mexico last weekend for the Gathering of Nations powwow. The crowning of Miss Indian World, saw a record number of contestants. Roselynn Yazzie has this report.

Today’s newscast was created with work from:

Shirley Sneve, Ponca/Sicangu Lakota, is vice president of broadcasting for the ICT Newscast. Follow her on Twitter @rosebudshirley. She is based in Nebraska and Minnesota.

Aliyah Chavez, Kewa Pueblo, is the anchor of the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @aliyahjchavez.

R. Vincent Moniz, Jr., NuÉta, is the senior producer of the ICT Newscast. Have a great story? Pitch it to vincent@ictnews.org.

McKenzie Allen-Charmley, Dena’ina Athabascan, is a producer of the ICT Newscast. On Instagram: @mallencharmley.

Paris Wise, Zia and Laguna Pueblo, is a producer for the ICT Newscast. Instagram and Twitter: @parisiswise. Email: paris@ictnews.org.

Drea Yazzie, Diné, is a producer and editor for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @quindreayazzie. Yazzie is based in Phoenix.

Virginia Rigney, Chickasaw, is a video editor for the ICT Newscast.

Pacey Smith Garcia, Ute, is a production assistant for the ICT newscast. On Twitter: @paceyjournalist.

RipLey-Simone Kennebrew is an intern for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @ripleysimoneken

Daniel Herrera Carbajal is an intern for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @daniulherrrera

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California and Arizona are currently fighting each other over water from the Colorado River, but this isn’t new – it’s actually been going on for over 100 years; at one point, the states literally went to war about it – and the problem comes down to some really bad math from 1922.

Arizona border communities face a “humanitarian disaster” in two weeks if the federal government does not step in to help with the crush of migrants expected when Title 42 ends, officials from Pima County, Yuma and Sierra Vista told a Senate panel Wednesday.