A High Country News/ProPublica investigation shows that Arizona goes to unusual lengths in water negotiations to extract restrictive concessions from tribes.
Anna V. Smith
Anna V. Smith is an associate editor of High Country News. She writes and edits stories on tribal sovereignty and environmental justice for the Indigenous Affairs desk from Oregon.
Posted inJune 1, 2023: Seen and Unseen
Is Harriet Hageman an ally of Indian Country?
The rookie congresswoman says she wants to advance tribal autonomy.
Posted inApril 1, 2023: The Path Forward
Tribal nations’ lasting victory in the Mojave Desert
Before Avi Kwa Ame became a national monument, there was the fight for Ward Valley.
Posted inArticles
Avi Kwa Ame is now a national monument
Biden’s proclamation protects parts of the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada and includes tribal co-stewardship.
Posted inArticles
Q&A: The Diné worldviews in the SCOTUS water rights case Arizona v. Navajo Nation
What would it look like to interpret the treaties as tribes understood them?
Posted inFebruary 1, 2023: The Reveal
What does the nation’s commitment to tribal co-stewardship mean for public lands?
The Biden administration’s policies signal a shift in lands management, but a sea change is yet to come.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s anti-Indigenous politics aren’t going away
The now-dead proposal to ‘investigate’ reservations was neither the beginning or the end of combative attitudes towards tribal nations in the state.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Can dam removal save the Snake River?
See the river as the climate changes, development continues and consequences grow with inaction.
Posted inDecember 1, 2022: Beyond Illusion
Tribal nations fight for influence on the Colorado River
Indigenous nations in the basin are making a stand for their water — and upsetting the river’s power structure.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
In a post-Roe West, abortion is on the ballot
Reproductive rights are in the hands of the states — and their voters.
Posted inArticles
What new national monuments are likely under Biden?
New designations could help meet conservation goals set by the administration.
Posted inArticles
What the Inflation Reduction Act means for Indian Country
$720 million goes directly to tribal nations, but compromises raise questions.
Posted inArticles
At Oak Flat, courts and politicians fail tribes
Chi’chil Biłdagoteel exemplifies the larger struggle tribes face over protecting off-reservation, culturally important lands.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
The effort to save Upper Klamath Lake’s endangered fish before they disappear
Another dry year pushes tribal nations, federal agencies and irrigators to find long-lasting solutions.
Posted inAugust 1, 2021: A Mega-Dairy Comes to the Desert
Interior looks into the legacy of Native boarding schools
The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative aims to shed light on the grim history of residential Indian boarding schools in the U.S.
Posted inArticles
Will history repeat in a dry Klamath Basin this summer?
This year’s drought is worse than in 2001, when political and environmental tensions exploded into the national spotlight.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Ongoing fish kill on the Klamath River is an ‘absolute worst-case scenario’
Unprecedented drought in the Klamath Basin leaves communities wondering how they will make it through the summer.
Posted inArticles
How the West has changed since the last census
Population growth has slowed overall, but the West continues at a fast pace, adding three congressional seats.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
Supreme Court of Canada affirms trans-boundary Indigenous rights
The Arrow Lakes Band is one of many Indigenous communities bisected and disrupted by a border about which they were never consulted.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
The ‘slow-motion genocide’ of the Chinook Indian Nation
Federal recognition provides tribes with critical healthcare and education. What happens to the tribal nations that the U.S. refuses to recognize?