Native Life

Apache Chef Brings Truth to the Table

Our Knives Will Save Us is a memoir that cuts to the bone

Native Americans Resist SCOTUS Voting Rights Decision

Callais ruling has ramped up gerrymandering—and could choke off Native access to the polls

Why Rural America Must Protect Its National Monuments 

It takes a community to protect public lands
Essay and photography by Matt Witt

Georgia Garden Connects Cherokee Nation to Its Roots

Tribal elder helps safeguard Cherokee culture with more than 400 traditional plants

Republicans Use Little-Known Law to Open Minnesota Boundary Waters to Mining

Republicans’ decision effectively bypasses the rights of tribal nations and could drastically reshape U.S. public lands protections

Will Trump Meet His Russian Winter in Minnesota?

ICE is up against cold-hardy people whose forebearers fought for justice

When We Win: Stories From the Frontlines of Ecological Resistance

After decades of struggle, indigenous leaders and organizers have shown how to win against billionaires and large corporations

The Trees at the Center of Our History

From the Pequot War to the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps, trees tell a living story

In Times of Trouble, My Mother’s History Tells Me We Shall Overcome

Our lives are marked by our creative journeys, both inward and outward
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Religion
June 2, 2025

What Counts as American Religion?

A new history reconsiders who belongs in American religious history and what should count as religion

Environment
December 22, 2024

Who Does Minnesota’s White Earth State Forest Belong To?

Can a beloved forest bridge the gap between a fractured past and a hopeful future?

Maija Hecht, essay & photography
Native Life
December 5, 2024

Indigenous Artists Give Minnesota a Map Makeover

A roundtable conversation with three women who are reviving land-based wisdom and history from a Dakota perspective