Green & indigenous News

A swarm of small earthquakes within the Karoo Basin in South Africa has revealed a critically stressed fault that could be perturbed by potential shale gas exploration in the area, according to a new report. The analysis by Benjamin Whitehead of the University of Cape Town and colleagues concludes that the Karoo microseismicity occurred along a buried fault that may extend through sedimentary layers to the crystalline bedrock, which would increase its vulnerability to stresses produced by shale gas exploration.

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Kevin Abourezk
ICT

MINNEAPOLIS – The metallic rattling of jingle dresses broke the cold winter air Sunday as Native dancers and singers gathered in a residential street before the memorial for Renée Good.

More than a hundred people gathered for a round dance to honor Good, a 37-year-old writer and mother of three who was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross.

The ceremony then moved to the site of the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who was shot multiple times and killed by two immigration agents on Jan. 24 about a mile-and-a-half from where Good was killed.

“We’re here to stand with the immigrants and anyone that’s affected by ICE and what this administration has been doing to the United States,” said Star Ishkode Downwind, a Red Lake Nation activist.

Sharyl WhiteHawk, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe, sang and offered a prayer.

“The spirits said, ‘Sing this song before you do your prayers. The times that are coming are going to get really hard and the people are going to need strong prayers,’” she said. “I think that’s appropriate for today.”

Women laugh following a round dance and prayer ceremony held at the site of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists hosted the event to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

A woman walks to the site of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

A woman hands out tobacco to participants of a ceremony held at the site of Renée Good’s killing in Minneapolis. The event was meant to honor the lives of Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Native youth hold posters at the site of Alex Pretti’s killing by federal agents in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Pretty and Renée Good, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Women take part in a ceremony held on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at the site of Renée Good’s killing in Minneapolis. The event was meant to honor the lives of Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

A woman burns sage to purify, or smudge, participants of a ceremony held on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, to honor the lives of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Women take part in a ceremony held on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at the site of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis. The event was meant to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Women take part in a ceremony held on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at the site of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis. The event was meant to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

A dancer unloads her car before a memorial at the site of Renée Good’s killing in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Two women prepare to take part in a round dance in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Women take part in a round dance in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, before the site of Renée Good’s killing. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Women take part in a round dance in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, before the site of Renée Good’s killing. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

A woman takes part in a round dance in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, before the site of Alex Pretti’s killing. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Women dance before the site of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

A woman dances during a round dance held before the site of Renée Good’s killing in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to the honor the lives of Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents.(Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

A man hoists the American Indian Movement flag before the site of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

People waved signs that read: “ICE Out.” “No One is Illegal on Stolen Land.” Others wore jackets with patches that read “American Indian Movement” and “ICE Out of Mni Sota Makoce.” Women wore red ribbons skirts embroidered with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives symbols including red hands. Others wore red shawls.

Nicole Matthews, chief executive officer of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, said the shawls were meant to represent solidarity and raise awareness of the epidemic of violence against Native people.

“We are here in solidarity to bring healing, to be with our community and to also say, ‘No more,’” she said. “We want ICE off our streets. We want our neighbors to feel safe to come out of their homes.”

Tara Geshik, secretary-treasurer of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, spoke about Good and Pretti and about the need to honor their memories with acts of justice and kindness.

“Both gave this city, this community, this state, gifts that will not fade,” she said. “May their names be carried in prayer and their memories kept in our heart. May we live in a way that honors them with compassion, justice and unity.”

The event ended in front of a donut shop and thrift store where Pretti was killed. A drum group sang the AIM song during which the jingle dress dancers war whooped and those in attendance shouted in affirmation.

A woman stands at the site of Alex Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. Native activists held a ceremony to honor the lives of Renée Good and Pretti, who were killed by federal agents. (Kevin Abourezk / ICT)

Lesley, a Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe woman, told ICT that she danced Sunday to honor Pretti, who worked at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, where her father received treatment.

“He could’ve been one of my dad’s nurses,” she said. “Who else would stand up and do these things?”

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The post Honoring Renée Good, Alex Pretti with ceremony appeared first on ICT.

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An international research team led by the University of Bremen has detected chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in Earth's atmosphere for the first time in historical measurements from 1951—20 years earlier than previously known. This surprising glimpse into the past was made possible by analyzing historical measurement data from the Jungfraujoch research station in the Swiss Alps. The study has now been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

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Last Updated on February 3, 2026 In a decision that has ignited fierce opposition from Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Jan. 22 issued a 40-year license to build the Goldendale Energy Pumped Storage Project, a 1,200-megawatt energy storage facility southeast of Goldendale in Klickitat County, Wash. The project, […]

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In 2006, Paul Ferraro and Subhrendu Pattanayak issued an urgent warning: conservation lacked the causal evidence needed to know what actually works. This mattered because decades of conservation efforts were failing to stall the decline in biodiversity around the world, suggesting that scarce funding was potentially being diverted to well-intentioned but ineffective efforts, rather than toward approaches with demonstrable impact — hence the title of their paper, “Money for nothing?” The message was clear: conservationists needed to start examining whether their actions were actually causing the desired effects. A classic study published two years later showed why this mattered. In 2008, Kwaw Andam and colleagues, including Ferraro, found that protected areas were less effective at reducing deforestation than earlier research had claimed. The problem was that the earlier studies hadn’t accounted for the fact that protected areas are often created far from roads and towns, places where deforestation is already less likely. By failing to account for this location bias, protected areas appeared more effective simply because they were located in places that were less likely to be deforested in the first place. The protected area example illustrates the pitfalls of relying on correlation to infer impact. Most of us are familiar with the refrain that “correlation is not causation,” yet correlation remains seductive simply because it’s easier to observe that two things happen together, than to prove that one caused the other. We may observe that forests inside protected boundaries remain standing while surrounding forests disappear. But without ruling…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Some mammals hibernate to survive in winter, but the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus) employs Dehnel's phenomenon to get through it. This is a metabolic process that enables shrews to conserve energy by shrinking their brain and other energy-consuming organs. In the spring, the organs grow back to normal size. Scientists are learning more about how shrews can do this, and their findings may help us understand certain metabolic and neurological diseases.

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For generations, farmers have spent backbreaking hours tearing down and rebuilding fences just to move livestock to fresh grazing fields. Now, thanks to a groundbreaking project at the University of Missouri's Center for Regenerative Agriculture, that chore is becoming a thing of the past.

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Plants fix 258 billion tons of CO2 in their chloroplasts through photosynthesis every year. For these cell organelles to work properly, they require certain minerals—particularly ions of the metals iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). Disruptions of ion homeostasis impair photosynthesis and thus growth and yields. A team with members from Munich, Bochum, Columbia (MO), and Saarbrucken, led by LMU biologist Professor Hans-Henning Kunz has now deciphered the chloroplast ionome—the totality of metal ions in the chloroplast—of various plant species.

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The Fairbanks North Star Borough assembly recently approved tax incentives for new multi-family housing construction, and Leaders of the North Slope village of Nuiqsut sued the U.S. Department of Interior last week for canceling a key subsistence protection for the Willow project.

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Mantle plumes beneath volcanic hotspots, like Hawaii, Iceland, and the Galapagos, seem to be anchored into a large structure within the core-mantle boundary (CMB). A new study, published in Science Advances, takes a deeper dive into the structure under Hawaii using P- and S-wave analysis and mineralogical modeling, revealing its composition and properties.

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Last Updated on February 3, 2026 Indigenous communities in the forested Sijimali hills of Odisha have accused government authorities and corporate interests of fabricating consent for a proposed bauxite mining project, escalating local resistance and raising constitutional questions about tribal rights protections. The mining lease, granted to Vedanta Ltd., would cover about 1,549 hectares and […]

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Watching the Winter Olympics is an adrenaline rush as athletes fly down snow-covered ski slopes, luge tracks and over the ice at breakneck speeds and with grace.

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Some dogs are seemingly more talented than others. So-called gifted word learners (GWL) are rare canines that can rapidly learn the names of toys, a skill that most dogs don't possess. To understand why this is so, researchers studied how these dogs played and discovered that the key to their talent may be a desire to initiate interactions with their owners.

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For the first time, “hyper-carnivorous” African wild dogs have been recorded eating fruit, a behavior so far documented only in a small part of Botswana’s wildlife-rich Okavango Delta.   The wild dogs were seen picking up jackalberries, the fruit of the African ebony tree (Diospyros mespiliformis), with their teeth and swallowing them almost whole. Jackalberries are commonly eaten by jackals (Lupulella spp.), hence the name, but this is the first record of wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) consuming them. Wild dogs have teeth adapted to quickly devour flesh and bone, and were previously thought to eschew anything but meat. However, from July to August 2022, researchers observed all 11 adult members of a wild dog pack eat jackalberries daily.  These observations are published in the journal Canid Biology & Conservation. The study was led by Megan Claase, then a researcher with local NGO Wild Entrust’s Botswana Predator Conservation program. She later learned that Duncan Rowles, a safari guide, had seen a neighboring pack eating jackalberries a year earlier. Much of the fruit-eating Claase observed occurred near the pack’s den, just before the adults headed off to hunt. She hypothesized they may have been fueling up for the hunt. Older subdominant dogs were observed eating fruit throughout the day, likely to supplement their nutrition since they were lower in the pack hierarchy and had less access to meat, Claase said. Wild dogs raise pups cooperatively and regurgitate food for them in the den, so pups would likely be introduced to this novel…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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The Western rattlesnake is the only venomous snake species found only in BC’s dry interior regions such as the Okanagan.
Photo submitted by Lindsay Whitehead

This article was originally printed in Canada’s National Observer and appears here with minor style edits.

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For a long time, killing rattlesnakes was just a part of life in the South Okanagan.

Jenna Bower, a member of the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB), said that her great-grandfather, now 93 years old, remembers that one of his first jobs was being paid to kill rattlesnakes when the area was first being cleared to make way for vineyards.

As new orchards and farms took over native grasslands, the rattlesnakes had to vacate their habitats.

“Everyone saw them as a big problem,” Bower said.

By 2004, the western rattlesnake was listed as a threatened species.

Since then, a syilx-led research program has been working to change the relationship between snakes and humans. The Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, run by OIB, has been studying rattlesnakes just north of the “Canada–U.S.” border since 2002.

Thompson Rivers University has been a key partner in the project. When Lindsay Whitehead joined the program as a graduate student, she said she was also afraid of snakes.

“There’s a photo of me holding my first rattlesnake with tears in my eyes, thinking, ‘What am I doing?’” she recalled. “But it’s amazing how being out there, hands-on, changes your perspective.”

The western rattlesnake is currently federally listed as a species of special concern and provincially listed as vulnerable in “B.C.”

In December, the federal government announced it was providing a total of $19.6 million for 82 different Indigenous-led stewardship initiatives nationally, including $109,000 for the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre’s work to study rattlesnakes.

The project is funded through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Indigenous Partnerships for Species at Risk program.

The new funding will allow continued monitoring and expand research on how wildfire, climate change and habitat loss affect rattlesnakes as well as other rare species like the western yellow-bellied racer.

A major focus for which the funding will be used is understanding the impact of the 2021 wildfire that burned through the South Okanagan. Whitehead, a biologist and now the program’s manager, said the fire burned more than 19,000 hectares — and “burned through a large portion of the 450-hectare study area.”

“That actually burnt all known den locations, as well as all known birthing locations,” she added.

Rattlesnakes rely on specific dens — known as hibernacula — to survive the winter, and usually return to the same one each year. While their population seems stable so far, Whitehead said their behaviour has changed. Researchers have seen a sixfold increase in “den switching,” a rare behaviour where snakes stop returning to their usual winter dens.

The snakes are also moving less directly and covering smaller areas than before, which might show the habitat has changed since the wildfire, she added.

Climate change is adding more stress. Sudden cold snaps in the fall or spring can trap snakes away from their dens or shorten their hunting and mating seasons.

A view of the setting sun from the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre in sw̓iw̓s (Osoyoos) in syilx homelands. Photo by Aaron Hemens

Bower, the cultural centre’s executive director, said long-term federal funding has been key to keeping the program running. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to even have biologists here and be able to do the research that we do,” she said.

The new funding is also being used to expand the research to include other species, including the western yellow-bellied racer. While research on rattlesnakes has been conducted for many years, little is known about the other snakes that live at the northern edge of their range in “Canada.”

Whitehead said such research is key to the future of conservation in one of the county’s most biologically diverse regions.

As part of the new funding, local Youth will be hired as interpreters and field assistants to help with monitoring and outreach.

“We’re always on the lookout for band Youth passionate about biology,” Whitehead said.

Bower said involving Youth helps pass on knowledge and supports their long-term stewardship. In syilx culture, rattlesnakes (xaʔxʔulaʔxʷ) are sacred — Elders share their stories to teach lessons about respect, responsibility and living in harmony with the land and each other.

The snake program began as a response to safety concerns about bringing visitors onto the land.

“If we’re going to be taking people through the centre, walking through the trails, how are we going to do that with a rattlesnake problem,” Bower said.

With the help of public education, guided walks and live presentations, staff have taught visitors how to identify local snake species, move safely through snake habitat and respond appropriately if bitten by a snake.

They also correct myths about treatments that stem from old Western movies.

“Snake kits — they don’t work. They’re more of a novelty item,” Bower said.

The post With habitat affected by wildfires, syilx-led program monitors rattlesnakes appeared first on Indiginews.

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Imagine a world where fresh vegetables and herbs sprout in the heart of our cities without the need for sprawling farms. Hydroponics—a method of growing plants without soil—uses a nutrient-rich water solution instead of earth and is useful in areas where soil quality is poor, land is frequently flooded, water supply is unreliable, or there simply isn't enough space.

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The fastest land animal in North America is the American pronghorn, and previously, researchers thought it evolved its speed because of pressure from the now-extinct American cheetah. But recently, that theory has come under fire. Now, a University of Michigan study examining fossilized ankle bones of ancient relatives of the American pronghorn has shown that the pronghorn was evolving to be faster more than 5 million years before the American cheetah appeared on the continent. The study is published in the Journal of Mammalogy.

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Millions of tires, old washing machines, barges, warships, covering the ocean floor with thousands of square kilometers of concrete—even giant, concrete spheres full of holes: these are all things used to build artificial reefs. Advocates of artificial reefs say they are needed because they promote habitat for fish and increase biodiversity. These are indeed potential solutions to pressing problems: global oceans are faced with widespread degradation of habitat, overfishing and a loss of biodiversity. And recent legislation such as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act has incentivized governments, industries and private foundations to explore infrastructure and technologies to make fishing and other ways we use our oceans more sustainable, according to Jacob Allgeier, University of Michigan professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

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Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have discovered that climate change is causing nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance, to break down in the atmosphere more quickly than previously thought, introducing significant uncertainty into climate projections for the rest of the 21st century.

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The brutally frigid weather that has gripped most of America for the past 11 days is not unprecedented. It just feels that way.

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Kemp's ridley sea turtles are among the most endangered species of sea turtles in the world. They reside along the east and Gulf coasts of North America, alongside some of the world's most active shipping lanes. While the threats from fishing, pollution, and vessel collisions are well understood, it is less clear how disruptive human-caused noise is to their survival.

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Arctic sea ice has large effects on the global climate. By cooling the planet, Arctic ice impacts ocean circulation, atmospheric patterns, and extreme weather conditions, even outside the Arctic region. However, climate change has led to its rapid decline, and being able to make real-time predictions of sea ice extent (SIE)—the area of water with a minimum concentration of sea ice—has become crucial for monitoring sea ice health.

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More than 2,500 plant species have the potential to invade the Arctic at the expense of the species that belong there. Norway is one of the areas that is particularly at risk.

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If you've ever been for a walk in the forest or poked around your local park, you're probably familiar with seeing mushrooms popping up as the weather turns cooler. But you're not the only one.

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A research team led by Prof. Zhu Yongguan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) at the CAS Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, has identified the mechanisms by which sponge city construction significantly enhances urban plant diversity, according to a study published in Cell Reports Sustainability on January 27.

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