Indigenous Affairs Native nations lead salmon restoration efforts in Columbia Basin The number of returning adult salmon and steelhead has doubled since the 1990s, but is still only halfway to the NWPCC’s goal of 5 million. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore + ICT / February 10, 2025
Indigenous Affairs Cowlitz Tribe youth help lead this year’s First Salmon Ceremony “It’s what we do to thank the salmon for what they give,” said Lydia Hodges, 15, part of the new generation carrying on the sacred ritual. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore + ICT / June 24, 2024
Indigenous Affairs Yakama Nation’s new public safety campus gives justice room to grow The tribal court system, which had occupied a cluster of trailers since the ’50s, plans to add services like a mental health or a veterans court. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore News and ICT / January 9, 2024
Equity Snoqualmie Tribe starts land protection sales tax at Salish Lodge The 2% tax will preserve ancestral sites such as Snoqualmie Falls, and could be a model for other Indigenous nations. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore/ICT / July 17, 2023
News The Washington mental health lifeline made for and by Native people The Native and Strong Lifeline provides connection and culturally specific care to callers in crisis. by Nika Bartoo-Smith Indian Country Today and Underscore News / June 19, 2023
Culture Remembering the Wobblies, the labor union radicals of the early 1900s In a new novel by Jess Walter, the personal and the political collide during a historic, and still relevant, labor battle in Spokane. by Alex Gallo-Brown / December 31, 2020
Opinion The collective power of the pandemic's essential workers As COVID-19 continues claiming lives, many workers remain vulnerable to exposure. Will they fight back by withholding their labor? by Alex Gallo-Brown / May 12, 2020
Culture Can Rainier Beach's Kubota Garden remain a refuge for all? The South Seattle sanctuary is a testament to the power of public space and the promise of racial integration. by Alex Gallo-Brown / November 29, 2019
Opinion What the Seattle General Strike can teach workers today There are lessons we could apply to today's Seattle, which faces many of the same issues of 1919. by Alex Gallo-Brown / January 30, 2019
Opinion The Seattle I thought I knew The Seattle I grew up in was far from perfect, but its recent reaction to the head tax has shaken me to the core. by Alex Gallo-Brown / June 12, 2018