skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Canada and Mexico agree with Trump to postpone tariffs by at least 30 days; Indiana steps up to get the lead out; UW study: Rural women have it harder with menopause; Cost of living tops Denver lawmaker's priorities.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Democrats protest Elon Musk's meddling in federal payment systems, Trump directs Cabinet secretaries to funnel federal dollars to private and religious schools and Virginia lawmakers aim to restore felon voting rights.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

As bird flu spreads, egg prices continue to soar, wildfires aren't stopping Americans from moving to wildfire-prone states, and post-pandemic infrastructure isn't just roads and bridges but also education, healthcare and economic opportunity.

Native American Women Begin Awareness Walk Along Missouri River

play audio
Play

Tuesday, August 1, 2017   

THREE FORKS, Mont. – Women from native tribes across the country begin their walk along the Missouri River today to show their respect for the water and raise awareness about protecting it.

Starting at the headwaters in Three Forks, Montana, the women will walk over the next month and a half to the river's confluence with the Mississippi in Missouri. They are inviting the public to join them along the way for as long as they want.

Lori Watso of the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes in Minnesota will be walking the river. She says she is honoring the water as a giver of life.

"It's our purpose, our intention to show our respect for the water and our gratitude and help other people to understand the importance of our caring for the water and its necessity in our future and future generations," she explains.

They will be passing through the homelands of Native Americans along the way, including the Standing Rock reservation.

People who want to join can go to www.nibiwalk.org There will be a geolocation tag at the top of the webpage.

In the past, the water walkers have followed the St. Louis River in Minnesota, the Ohio River and more.

Roxanne Ornelas, another river walker, also is a geography professor at Miami University in Ohio. While Ornelas talks to her class about protection of the environment in terms of regulations and public policy, she says it's also important to impart indigenous knowledge about the sacredness of the river to non-native students.

"We look at the earth and our place in it, on it, holistically, that we are not separate from the earth," she says. "We are the earth."

Sharon Day is a leader of the walks and executive director of the Indigenous People's Task Force. She says the Missouri River faces threats not just from oil and gas production but agriculture too. Chemicals from fertilizers used on large farms flow down into the river and contaminate it.

Day says it's important to talk about threats to the river on this walk, but more important is the spiritual connection she feels with the river. She talks about how she's felt at the end of other river walks.

"You have a deep relationship with the water," says Day. "And that's what we need to try to do is get people to understand that they do have a relationship and how do you nurture that relationship just as you would any other relationship, and this one is primary, right?"


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Rental application fees alone create $276 million in profits for landlords each year, far above the actual cost of background checks and processing applications, according to a Biden-era report. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, recently introduced House Bill 1090 to regulate so-called junk fees charged by landlords. The bill would protect …


Social Issues

play sound

A bipartisan nonprofit group in Michigan is opposing pending legislation which would reverse a Michigan Supreme Court ruling, stripping paid sick …

Social Issues

play sound

Arizona's largest high school district has stated it will not voluntarily help the Trump administration with its immigration promises by declaring its…


Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability rights advocates want state lawmakers to focus on issues such as housing and health care. In the budget, they want more funding …

A University of Washington study found knowledge of treatment options for menopause was lower in rural areas. (loran4a/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Women in rural areas struggle more with menopause than their urban counterparts, according to a study from the University of Washington. Rural women …

Social Issues

play sound

States like North Dakota could see unique effects under President Donald Trump's approach to tariffs. Uncertainty lies ahead, but one expert said …

Health and Wellness

play sound

February is American Heart Month and some Minnesota families are sharing their experiences with a sometimes overlooked disease among newborns: congeni…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021