Savannah Maher
Savannah comes to Wyoming Public Media from NPR’s midday show Here & Now, where her work explored everything from Native peoples’ fraught relationship with American elections to the erosion of press freedoms for tribal media outlets. A proud citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, she’s excited to get to know the people of the Wind River reservation and dig into the stories that matter to them.
Savannah got her start in journalism reporting for her hometown’s local newspaper (The Mashpee Enterprise) and public radio station (WCAI), and has since contributed to New Hampshire Public Radio, High Country News, and NPR’s Code Switch blog. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2018.
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President Joe Biden is expected to sign the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill into law on Friday. It includes the largest ever one-time federal investment in Indian Country, with $20 billion in direct aid to tribal governments, and another $11 billion set aside for federal Indian programs. The aid comes as many tribal nations in the Mountain West are struggling to stay afloat.
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Jazmine Wildcat is a star student in Riverton, Wyoming. Not the type to skip class. But on Tuesday morning, a piece of history was unfolding that the 17...
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The hearing for Interior Secretary nominee Rep. Deb Haaland was must see TV for many Native Americans across the U.S. It's been an especially inspiring time for many younger tribal members.
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As with almost all kinds of other schooling, the pandemic forced some classes in Indigenous languages to shut down. But it's also spurred development of virtual options to reach and recruit students.
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It's a Wednesday evening in December. Five o'clock means the end of my work day, and the start of Wampanoag language class. "Wunee wunôq," my language...
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New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland is poised to become our nation's first Indigenous cabinet secretary. As some prominent Mountain West lawmakers oppose her confirmation to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior, many of their Indigenous constituents are pushing back.
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Karlets Dennison's favorite place to be was on a horse. Preferably with loved ones riding alongside him.
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Last week, President Joe Biden ordered a temporary suspension of new leasing and permitting for oil and gas development on public lands. But the order will not apply to tribal lands.
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People of color are at high risk for police violence, and while data on Indigenous people specifically is difficult to come by, the numbers we do have are alarming. In Montana, Indigenous people are 60% more likely than white people to be killed by the police — and that's likely an undercount. For the Mountain West News Bureau's ongoing series Elevated Risk, Savannah Maher reports on one victim of that statistic.
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State lawmakers across the Mountain West are convening for legislative sessions that will focus largely on the fallout of the pandemic. But without significant precautions, statehouses could become hotbeds for COVID-19 spread.