Native Americans

During a span of 71 years, most of the mounds in St. Louis left by Indigenous people from centuries earlier — some of which contained the remains of ancestors — were destroyed to make way for urban development. The ones that remain are left beneath bridges and inside parking garages.

Kansas City is teeming with excitement since the Chiefs beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game. Next week, they’ll play in the Super Bowl. But some fans find the controversies surrounding the team, the sport, and the NFL, too much to gloss over.

The Shawnee Tribe says the state of Kansas should give up ownership of the historic Native American boarding school in Fairway. But this week, the Kaw Nation made an argument that they — as the original inhabitants of the land — should have a say in who controls the site.

A report commissioned by the Shawnee Tribe concluded up to $13 million in restoration and repairs are needed at the longtime Native American boarding school. But the city of Fairway, which is responsible for maintaining the site, says it has no plans to transfer ownership.

Missouri’s Ozark Mountains are known for their lush wilderness and popular tourist destinations. But what about the food? Like much of Ozark culture, the cuisine remains deeply misunderstood and shrouded in stereotypes. From deep in the forest to upscale restaurants, these food lovers are preserving the Ozarks' past and charting its future.

Classical KC's Brooke Knoll speaks with Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate about his 30 year "passion project" to increase the presence of Native American voices in classical music. We'll hear performances of his work from the Kansas City Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony.

The Kansas Board of Education will soon vote on a recommendation to do away with Native American mascots statewide. Plus, a Board of Education race in Johnson County is between two candidates who diverge on hot button issues like control of curriculum and how schools discuss mental health.

An advisory group created by the Kansas Board of Education wants the board to recommend ending Native American mascots statewide — a move sure to trigger anger and defensiveness in communities long wedded to school traditions.

The Shawnee Tribe said the Kansas Historical Society's planned study of the Fairway boarding school site “was wrong from the start," and was being done without consultation "or even acknowledgement of the cultural sensitivity involved with doing something like searching for the graves of deceased Native children.”

The Indigenous artist is among 19 local artists creating work for the new Kansas City airport, scheduled to open next year. For her piece, Cliff has spent months attaching millions of tiny beads to several pieces of raw-edge wood. The final work will be 17 feet long.

The city of Fairway says that four Native American children were reported to have died while attending the boarding school. But the Shawnee Tribe said they have "serious concerns" about an investigation by the Kansas Historical Society.

More than three decades after Congress enacted the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the University of Kansas announced that it still has American Indian ancestral remains, funerary and other sacred objects in its museum collections.