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High Country News

High Country News

A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West.

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HCN has covered the lands, wildlife and communities of the Western U.S. for more than 50 years. Get to know the West better by signing up to receive HCN’s on-the-ground reporting and investigations in your inbox.

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Arts & Culture

The Dance to the Top of the Palm Tree, Bright Ntimba, Part I. 2021, oil on linen, 45 x 80 inches.
Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories

Reenvisioning the image of immigration

by Chandler Fritz February 1, 2025January 31, 2025

Artist and refugee Papay Solomon juxtaposes European painting with African ancestry.

Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories

How do we raise our children in a time of wildfire?

by Erin X. Wong February 1, 2025February 5, 2025

The poet Rachel Richardson learns, through writing and motherhood, to defy fear.

Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories

Captive

by D.A. Powell February 1, 2025January 31, 2025

A poem by D.A. Powell.

Posted inArticles

The importance of ‘Being Caribou’

by Sarah Gilman January 29, 2025January 30, 2025

Remembering the activist and author Karsten Heuer.

Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted

Tribal objects returned to the Northern Arapaho Tribe

by Jordan Dresser January 1, 2025January 3, 2025

After years of negotiation with the Episcopal Church, over 200 cultural items finally come back home.

Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted

Interpretation of signs

by C. Dale Young January 1, 2025December 31, 2024

A poem by C. Dale Young.

Posted inArticles

Culture that impacted our sense of the West

by HCN staff December 30, 2024December 26, 2024

Some books, happenings and other cultural endeavors that helped expand our sense of place in 2024.

Posted inArticles

How Utah’s Christmas Festival has buoyed a changing coal community

by Brooke Larsen December 25, 2024December 24, 2024

Thirty-five years ago, Helper was nearly a ghost town. Now, art and tourism are providing new paths forward.

Covers from Exponent II over the years.
Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

The passion of the Mormon feminist

by Leah Sottile December 1, 2024December 4, 2024

For 50 years, ‘Exponent II‘ has made the LDS Church squirm. It has no plans to stop.

Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

How blue jeans got their sexy reputation

by Miles W. Griffis December 1, 2024December 2, 2024

The artist George Quaintance painted some of the first erotic depictions of denim.

Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

Spring of Whirling Omens

by Carolina Hotchandani December 1, 2024November 26, 2024

A poem by Carolina Hotchandani.

Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

Raccoons rampage, kangaroos cavort, and ‘art bombing’ hits Oregon

by Tiffany Midge December 1, 2024November 26, 2024

Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.

The exhibit offers a variety of objects and personal histories from decades of the quinceañera tradition in the Yakima Valley’s Latino community.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie

In Washington’s Yakima Valley, quinceañeras connect people and place

by Natalia Mesa November 1, 2024January 21, 2025

Teens are making the tradition their own with high-top sneakers, glowing dresses and Tiktok dances.

Los visitantes al Museo del Valle de Yakima disfrutan de la exposicíon de quinceñeras en Yakima, Washington.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie

Tenis, vestidos brillantes, y bailes de TikTok

by Natalia Mesa November 1, 2024November 1, 2024

En el Valle de Yakima, las jóvenes hacen suya la tradición quinceañera.

Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie

Where does the horse come from?

by Blas Falconer November 1, 2024October 31, 2024

A poem by Blas Falconer.

Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie

Pam Houston has things to say about abortion

by Afton Montgomery October 21, 2024October 21, 2024

The author’s new book is an unflinching treatise on Roe v. Wade and life post-Dobbs.

Posted inArticles

Befriending wildfire

by Meredith Lawrence October 9, 2024October 9, 2024

A new book from Obi Kaufmann illustrates the reciprocal connection between California ecosystems and fire.

Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote

Adoption

by Lee Herrick October 1, 2024September 30, 2024

A poem by Lee Herrick.

Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote

Remembering Colleen McElroy, the ‘literary North Star’ of the Pacific Northwest

by Robert Lashley September 30, 2024September 27, 2024

In the last quarter century, this Black poet was one of the most decorated in American literature.

Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

‘Rez Ball’ is no easy feat, but Indigenous communities win in the end

by Jason Asenap September 25, 2024November 22, 2024

The latest Indigenous Netflix film shows the challenges of Native life through the culture of rez ball.

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