The Lakota family’s first group show is a celebration of tradition and experimentation.
Communities
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
In need of water, an Idaho town turns to its neighbors
Does recharging an aquifer solve one of the West’s oldest water problems, or perpetuate it?
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
The Green New Deal is already at work in one Portland neighborhood
How one community is building a green workforce to combat climate change.
Posted inArticles
On-the-ground pollution data spurred stricter zoning in Los Angeles
Locals’ efforts prompted buffers for auto shops and air filter rules for new buildings.
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
As shutdown ends, rural Washington considers life without feds
‘We’re going down a road to bitterness.’
Posted inArticles
A small island town prepares for a major earthquake
Without a single hospital, Washington’s Vashon Island emergency responders work to avert disaster should ‘the big one’ hit.
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
Chicano groups are embracing undocumented immigrants. It wasn’t always this way.
New alliances are forming in the face of racism and an unprecedented political moment.
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
The education crisis for children of deported parents
In Tijuana, an upstart model tries to address the challenges of educating U.S. kids who relocated to keep their families together.
Posted inArticles
Why was a study on trafficking in Indian Country canceled?
After the Trump administration transition, the Department of Justice killed a critical needs assessment initiative.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
See iconic photographers’ forgotten work in 1950s Mormon towns
Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange capture a time when the religion was growing.
Posted inArticles
Why bulldoze one of the wildest places on Earth?
The Trump administration wants a road built through an Alaska wildlife refuge for medical needs – but commerce may be the real reason.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
Elizabeth Warren’s claim to Cherokee ancestry is a form of violence
Be it by the barrel of a carbine or a mail-order DNA test, the American spirit demands the disappearance of Indigenous people.
Posted inArticles
Adoption didn’t solve the ‘Indian Problem’
An author recounts how 1960s policies ripped apart families and communities, including her own.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
It’s time to start eating roadkill
Salvaging meat in Alaska is commonplace. Can it catch on in the Lower 48?
Posted inArticles
The stories that defined the West in 2018
The year in essays, analysis and investigations from across the Western U.S.
Posted inArticles
The metalheads of the Navajo Nation
See photos of the thriving music scene in backyards, abandoned houses and parking lot shows.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
What you lose when you lose local news
People are less likely to vote, and politics become more polarized.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
As the ecosystem of news changes, will journalists adapt fast enough?
Blooms can still be found in the West’s news desert.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
As the influence of newsprint erodes, Westword prevails
Despite the state of the media, Westword Editor Patty Calhoun maintains hope.