Three Wins Today Oct 13, 2025

Indigenous Version

Today is Indigenous People’s Day. I typically find my wins by happenstance, so instead of scrambling to find new wins, because I cannot Google the 574 federally recognized and 400 not federally recognized tribes, I just opted to highlight the wins I’ve posted through the year, as well as a few sent to me by followers today that are older that I didn’t see either.

I hope you enjoy this special edition of Three Wins Today!

Colorado

Thurs, May 22 - Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the “Protect Wild Bison” bill. It re-classifies bison as wildlife, unless they are specifically livestock. This means they can’t be hunted. Bison is a sacred animal to many indigenous communities, so this is a massive win for more than just the animal rights and enviornmental activists.

Rick Williams, founder of The People of the Sacred Lands told Sierra Club:

The rebirth of the Buffalo Nation, the restoration, is directly tied to our future. The buffalo bill in Colorado, it’s tremendous, it’s gonna help us bring back the Buffalo to Colorado.

UPDATE - Nothing yet, but I’ll let you know when we have some data to show the growth of the buffalo population.

Oregon and California

Fri, July 11 - Ríos to Rivers’ Paddle Tribal Water program finished their historic Indigenous youth canoe journey of the entire length of the Klamath River. This was the first trip on the river since it was freed from the dams last year.

UPDATE - It has now been one year since the final Klamath dam was removed, and the river is thriving.

Barry McCovey Jr., Director of the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department said:

The Klamath is showing us the way. The speed and scale of the river’s recovery has exceeded our expectations and even the most optimistic scientific modeling, proving that when the barriers fall, nature has an incredible power to heal itself.

Cal Trout went a bit more scientific:

Perhaps the most immediate and vital sign of the river’s healing is the dramatic improvement in water temperature—a crucial factor for the Klamath’s ecosystem. The dams and their reservoirs created artificially warm water temperatures in late summer and fall, when fish were returning to the system to spawn, and excessively cold water in the spring, when juvenile salmon out-migrate to the ocean. Ongoing monitoring of water temperatures both pre- and post-dam removal shows that temperatures have returned to a more natural regime that provides improved conditions for salmon during adult spawning migration and juvenile outmigration.

What a beautiful story that really exhibits the power of nature, even when all odds are against it.

North Dakota

Thurs, July 24 - SCOTUS stayed the 8th Circuit Court decision that would stop voters from suing over unfair maps. This case was brought specifically by Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota, over gerrymandering in the state. Spirit Lake Nation Chairperson, Lonna Jackson-Street commended the order saying:

Native voters have the right to vote on the same terms as all other voters. Today the Court helped protect those rights for all voters across the 8th Circuit. We will continue do whatever it takes to ensure our right to have fair representation and a voice is vindicated

This is obviously not the end of the road for this awful 8th Circuit Court decision, but it’s a win for now.

UPDATE - Happy to report, there are none. No sign of appeals yet.

Oak Flat, Arizona

Mon, Aug 18 - In an 11th hour decision, a three judge panel including two Clinton appointees, Judge Barry Silverman, and Judge Sidney Thomas, as well at Trump appointee, Judge Mark Bennett, blocked a copper mining company from taking over Oak Flat, an important site for the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

This battle has been going on for 20 years, the protections first faced significant pressure in 2014. Unfortunately this isn’t the end of the story. The mining company wants to create the largest copper mine in the world and this is the site they are set on. But one of our best tools right now is our ability to slow things down. The slower we can make this process, the higher the likelihood that it will be stopped for good someday soon.

Wendsler Noise Sr, of Apache Stronghold, who has been working to keep the area protected, said:

This Injunction comes in a desperate time of asking for miracles, all over the country and all over the world, and to be granted this, for the United States government to do the right thing, not allowing a foreign mining company to take what’s precious from the people as far as the religion and the water and everything that sustains us in life, we welcome this decision that was made.

Hopefully this decision holds, at least for a while. There’s a lot of work still to be done, but this is a win.

Shout out to AZ Mirror for their fantastic reporting!

UPDATE - Last week, on Mon, Oct 6, the Supreme Court decided not to hear Appache Stronghold’s case, which means the 9th circut court decision stands, and this sacred land will become a copper mine. But Apache Stronghold aren’t done fighting, Wendsler Noise Sr said:

Most importantly, deep within us we knew, but now we definitely witness the truth of this country, by the Supreme Court taking no action. What is evil created the unfairness, not just to us human beings but to all of God’s creations. When this country was founded, humans with the heart of greed worked to mute the voice of the Creator. By this undertaking, we now live with a third entity, which was created to take and destroy every blessed gift God gave us through our Mother Earth. We know this evil as Corporations, which comes from capitalism, which colonizes people. We must defend what is spiritual, holy, and God’s greatest gift to us all, our Mother. Today is a new day for me as I now take the blessing from Usen (God), to walk the footsteps of the purpose I was blessed with and no longer be a captive.

And since the Supreme Court didn’t actually say anything, they will continue to seek appeals at lower levels, and I will keep you updated on it all.

Minnesota

Sun, Aug 31 - I had the chance to interview Minnesota LT Governor, Peggy Flanagan. She is a member of the Ojibwe tribe, but she’s so much more than that too. She’s running for Senator, and I typically don’t get involved in primaries, but I definitely have a soft spot for her.

I hope you watch the full interview below!

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So those are the indigenous wins I’ve covered this year, and here are some more:

Washington State

Wed March 26 - The Makah Indian Tribe and Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe sued to hold Big Oil accountable back in January, and in March, Biden appointee, Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled that the case could keep being heard in the state court rather than federal court.

Minneapolis, MN

April - Four indigenous fire fighters formed the first all native fire fighting crew in the city around six months ago.

WA

Tue May 13 - Bob Ferguson signed a law clarifying that there must be one tribal representative on every county heath board in counties where tribes reside.

Laramie Wyoming

Thu, Aug 13 - University of Wyoming created an endowment specifically for members of the Eastern Shoshone or Northern Arapaho tribe called “Wind River Promise Fund”

St Louis, Missouri

Tue Sept 22 - Osage Nation is now in control of Sugarloaf Mound, once again, a process that started all the way back in 2008

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I hope you enjoyed learning all about wins from various indigenous communities around the country.

As always, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!