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By shaylyn martos Desirae Barragan hugs her program co-directors on stage at the Blue Lake Rancheria Casino, smiling into a sea of faces and a swell of cheers. Across her shoulders – and those of her fellow graduates of the Huwighurruk Tribal Health Program – drapes a blue “Warrior Blanket” emblazoned with golden stars across…

By Jeanne Ferris This year, on February 10, the Waší·šiw Land Trust acquired 10,274 acres in the Washoe Tribe’s ancestral homeland. This marks a historic return of land and a major step in restoring tribal stewardship in an area central to their culture for thousands of years. The Waší·šiw Land Trust was created in 2025…

By Jeanne Ferris In early February this year, California Indian Nations College (CINC) in Palm Desert was awarded an inaugural eight-year full accreditation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). This places CINC among regionally accredited institutions recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education. California…

By Tori McConnell It’s an unusually windy day. I breathe in the light scent of smoke as I stand up from my work desk and gaze outside at the golden mid-afternoon light. Wait – the light scent of smoke? That’s not normal. Maybe someone is doing a pile burn nearby? I linger at the window…

By Gl-o Salcido “Our people call it Hey-ah-klau, which means Golden Rock or shrine. It is our most precious power place. It is the home of the mountain spirits, the Little People, the Ancient Ones, and the wogey. The wogey are what you younger generation of people might consider outer space beings. From this high…

By Tori McConnell It wasn’t intended to be a spiritual gathering, but it felt like one. It seems like whenever Indigenous women from anywhere come together it’s near guaranteed that the good feelings of unity and ceremony will follow. “All Together Now” is what we embodied at a gathering to honor and uplift the work…

By Tori McConnell Ayukîi! Hello, everyone. Most know me as a former Miss Indian World, but to my friends and family I’m an artist, musician, basketweaver, traditional foods practitioner, writer, and burgeoning fire practitioner. I am elated to introduce myself as the new Graton Heyday Berkeley Roundhouse Writing Intern. I was born and raised in…

By shaylyn martos The 18th annual Thanks Taken event at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley honored centuries of Indigenous resistance to colonization across the world, from Huichin to Hawaii and Palestine. Organized by the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, this year’s Thangs Taken also marked 10 years of the Shuumi Land Tax. Operated by Sogorea…

By Tori McConnell Moving into winter I wanted to reflect on one inspirational piece of popular media that took the world by storm – a golden, technicolor, musical storm. Anyone that has children in their life has probably heard of or seen this movie at least once, if not dozens of times. Both fun and…

By Terria Smith  A lot of us have heard of (or have had) “rez dogs.” If you come from tribal reservation  communities, you have surely heard this term used to describe our scrappy little furry  friends that roam around, getting into misadventures. Although we often characterize rez  dogs as being tough, the truth is that…

By shaylyn martos To Native Californians, fire is a living being – the center of both culture and ecology. Despite centuries of suppression, good fire practitioners continue to resist the effects of settler colonialism and educate new generations in land stewardship. Good Fire: Tending Native Lands, is the latest special exhibition from the Oakland Museum…

By Terria Smith Things have been heavy for a lot of us for a lot of different reasons. So when my friend Sara Calvosa Olson (yes, the Karuk food writer of Chimi Nu’am fame) asked me if I was interested in going to the Good Medicine Comedy Show in San Francisco during a working weekend,…