In October 1871, a frenzied mob was responsible for one of the largest lynching in Western U.S. history.
Articles
Posted inArticles
Coming out as trans in the rural West
A high schooler’s photo essay documents what it’s like to go through intense change in a place that never changes.
Posted inArticles
Wildfire smoke pushes migrating birds hundreds of miles out of their way
‘I was glued to my computer for days, trying to figure out what these birds were doing, because it was so clearly, obviously, not normal.’
Posted inArticles
Nevada’s Thacker Pass highlights how federal courts routinely dismiss Indigenous concerns
‘These legal systems are not set up for Indigenous people at all.’
Posted inArticles
What’s going on with redistricting in the West?
Yurij Rudensky of the Brennan Center breaks down the politics — and potential issues — Western states face in this year’s redistricting process.
Posted inArticles
How arson factors into California’s wildfires
While it may grab headlines, the actual sparks are much more complex.
Posted inArticles
Black entrepreneurs built beach havens in California. Racism shut them down.
The hidden history of Santa Monica’s Black coastal enclaves.
Posted inArticles
7 statistics that illuminate the housing crisis
Headwaters Economics shines a light on record-breaking costs in the West.
Posted inArticles
7 questions about Freedmen answered
Descendants of those enslaved by Native tribes are gaining political momentum. Here’s a primer on the issues surrounding Freedmen and tribal recognition.
Posted inArticles
Home after fire: A new housing model aims to give kids stability
Wildfires often hit low-income, minority families the hardest. Talent, Oregon, offers a home-grown solution to the displacement that follows.
Posted inArticles
How the U.S. legal system ignores tribal law
Elizabeth Reese, Stanford Law School’s first Native American professor, discusses the intentional marginalization of tribal legal structures.
Posted inArticles
California oil spill contaminates restored wetland
The Talbert Marsh is refuge to at least 90 species of shorebirds, and now it’s slicked with oil.
Posted inArticles
How community control of housing and land can help solve the housing crisis
Communities are turning to land trusts and real estate cooperatives as possible solutions.
Posted inArticles
Indigenous women tackle college during a pandemic
How three Native American students took on the challenges of their first year away from home.
Posted inArticles
Just how fat are the fat bears?
Katmai National Park and Preserve’s famous bears from Fat Bear Week are helping provide some answers.
Posted inArticles
Marilyn Vann becomes the first person of Freedmen status in Cherokee Nation government
A retired engineer and Freedmen activist, Vann joins the tribe’s Environmental Protection Commission.
Posted inArticles
What Las Vegas area workers say about navigating record unemployment rates
Federal benefits ended last month, but over 100,000 Nevadans are still out of work.
Posted inArticles
The public lands that kept us sane
In honor of National Public Lands Day, High Country News staff reflect on access to spaces across the West.
Posted inArticles
Indigenous college faculty and students lead the removal of racist panels in Colorado
A former Native boarding school turned liberal arts college in Durango reckons with its ugly history.
Posted inArticles
9 numbers that explain the BLM’s headquarters boomerang back to D.C.
A look at what happened to the reorganization of the agency under the Trump administration.