By Peter Yeung for Yes! Magazine.Broadcast version by Alex Alex Gonzalez for Utah News Connection reporting for the Yes! Magazine-Public News Service Collaboration About five miles north of the Arizona border, drive straight along a sand-swept road as it snakes through brush-covered foothills, keep going beyond a row of barns with rusting reddish roofs, make a left after a gray boulder, and the road will eventually lead to a cul-de-sac lined by two dozen homes. .
A federal judge in Nevada has dealt three tribal nations a legal setback in their efforts to stop what could be the construction of the country s largest lithium mine. They claim it will destroy habitat for wildlife species and parts of Native American culture. Judge Miranda Du granted the tribes the ability to amend their complaint against the Bureau of Land Management, which they claim fast-tracked the project to meet growing demand for lithium. .
California tribes are headed to the White House Tribal Nations Summit tomorrow, where they will ask Congress and the Biden administration to create or expand several national monuments. The Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla tribe in the Coachella Valley would like the president to establish a new Chuckwalla National Monument and expand Joshua Tree National Park. Thomas Tortez Jr., chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, said the area is an important wildlife corridor. .
November is Native American Heritage Month, and a South Dakota organization is working to help establish leadership skills for Indigenous youth. Data compiled by the Center for Native American Youth show young people within this population face many obstacles, from high school graduation rates below the national average to being over represented in foster care. John Richard, youth and family specialist with the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation on the Pine Ridge Reservation, said it underscores how Indigenous youth are still reeling from trauma experienced by past generations, and added their programs focus on providing structure and healing. .