“From his prison cell, Hector Ortiz reexamines the traumas, hardships, and bad choices that led to his lengthy sentence—and ultimately taught him about the man he needed to be.”
indigenous peoples
Posted inEditor's Pick
Salmon Are Vanishing From the Yukon River — And So is a Way Of Life
“’I thought this wouldn’t happen in my lifetime,’ Fitka said. ‘I thought there would always be fish in the river.’”
Posted inCuration, Nonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend stories by Carla Ciccone, Lex Pryor, Bhavya Dore, Michelle Cyca, and Casey Lyons.
Posted inBooks, Design, Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Story
The Ancient Waterways of Phoenix, Arizona
To understand this sprawling desert city, you have to understand its canals, whose routes Indigenous people dug as far back as A.D. 200.
Posted inNonfiction
The Curious Tale of the Salish Sea Feet
To date, 21 disembodied feet have washed up on the shores of Seattle’s Salish Sea. What at first looked like the work of a serial killer turned out to be something even more unsettling: A message from the ocean about who we are.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Highlight, Quotes
There’s a Fine Line Between “Discovering” and “Interloping”
It’s only “discovery” if you assume the place — or the people — has no meaningful existence apart from your visit. Surprise: you’re not that important.
Posted inCulture, History, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
Building Parks on Antiquities Sites Is Not OK
How the Arizona State Parks and Trails Director got fired for violating the Arizona Antiquities Act.
Posted inHighlight
In Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Starts with Educating Ourselves and Our Kids
Canadians need to learn the truth — the individual stories of those who attended Residential Schools — before we can ever begin the reconciliation process.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Exploiting Mexico’s Indigenous People to Get the West Its Drugs
How Mexican drug cartels prey on the indigenous Tarahumara people, using endurance runners to run drugs across the border.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
When Conservation Threatens Indigenous Peoples
But the Maasai of Loliondo are not alone in disputing these supposed benefits. Worldwide, 8 million square miles—a landmass almost as large as the entire African continent—have been classified as protected areas by governments and conservation groups. In turn, the locals have mostly been pushed off their lands. Though no one formally counts people displaced […]