A Native American law group has launched a free online resource to help Tribal Nations obtain legal information about their water rights that they might not be able to afford.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, this comes at a time when tribes face increasing water challenges.

The resource is called The Headwaters Report – created by the Native American Rights Fund. 

The report breaks down the ins and outs of tribal water law updates what’s going on in the courts and Congress and highlights what water issues are on the horizon.

Daniel Cordalis is a staff attorney with the Colorado-based group. He says some tribes will pay third-party firms thousands of dollars a month to provide them with that information. 

“And it’s information every tribe should have. And the cost is a barrier to getting this kind of information for a lot of Tribal Nations, and it shouldn’t be one. I think it lifts the whole tribal communities up if they’re able to have the same information.”

Cordalis says safeguarding tribal waters is increasingly important in the West where drought is shrinking tribes’ water supplies, wildfires are damaging their watersheds, and population booms are straining water resources.

The Headwaters Report can be found at the Native American Rights Fund website.

There’s been mixed reaction from Native leaders in Canada to the death of Pope Francis.

He was the pontiff that delivered a historic apology to Canada’s Indigenous people for the Catholic Church’s role in the abuses that took place in Canadian residential schools.

More from Dan Karpenchuk.

Known as the People’s Pope because of his non-traditional papacy, he made history with a long awaited apology.

Francis died of a stroke on Monday, the day after his last public appearance on Easter Sunday. He was 88.

And he left behind a legacy that will be long remembered by Canada’s Native people.

He made the historic apology before an Indigenous delegation that travelled to Rome in April of 2022.

Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine was there as part of the delegation.

“Pope Francis relationship with Indigenous peoples is profound because he is the first pope to ever apologize for the church’s wrongdoing with our people and more importantly he asked for forgiveness for all of the church’s failures.”

Canada’s Indigenous leaders had been asking for a papal apology for decades.

Members of that delegation described the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse that took place at the residential schools, which were funded by the Canadian government and run by churches.

There was also malnourishment, neglect, the loss of culture, and forced assimilation at the schools, which operated for more than a century.

The pope also denounced the Doctrine of Discovery, a church declaration that lands being colonized belonged to no one, justifying that Indigenous lands could be seized.

He said what the Indigenous people in Canada experienced was genocide.

Many praised Pope Francis for coming to Canada six months later despite being in poor health.

(Courtesy Navajo Nation Council)

A walk for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) was held Monday in Window Rock, Ariz., ahead of the opening of the Navajo Nation Council’s spring session.

The council has a task force, which is addressing MMIP.

The task force led the walk focusing on missing children, and to raise awareness of MMIP on families across the Navajo Nation.

Task force chair delegate Amber Crotty says children must be prioritized.

Advocates were among those to join lawmakers on the walk to the council’s chamber where speakers shared personal stories and policy concerns.

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