The ACLU of Nebraska has joined a national brief filed in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a 1978 law passed by Congress aiming to stop harmful assimilation practices separating Native American children from their families and tribes.

Misty Flowers, executive director of the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Coalition, said the Indian Child Welfare Act is still very much needed, in part to help kids maintain their cultural identities.

"We see a lot of times that those that don't have a strong cultural identity have higher rates of substance abuse, mental-health issues, suicide rates," Flowers pointed out. "It's kind of all connected with those assimilation policies and historical trauma."

The ACLU is urging the high court to uphold the constitutionality of the Act, which requires state courts to help keep Native families together. Before its passage, some 35% of Native children were being removed from their homes, from intact families, with 85% placed in non-Native homes.

A U.S. appeals court invalidated portions of the act in a Texas adoption case, for imposing duties on states.

The brief also calls on the Supreme Court to uphold the centuries-long legal precedent of tribal sovereignty, including tribes' right to preserve their unique cultural identities, raise their own children and govern themselves. Flowers explained when the U.S. government consults or does business with tribes, it is nation-to-nation.

"Because we are sovereign nations of this land. We were here first," Flowers asserted. "And we had the ability, and we still maintain the ability, to govern ourselves."

The Indian Child Welfare Act also establishes preferences for placing adopted Native children in Native homes. Flowers, quoting her social worker mother, said Native children will always find their way home.

"It's like an innate human need to have that connection with your family and your tribe," Flowers noted. "Especially when you look different than other people that are around you."

Native American tribal communities and conservation groups got a big win Wednesday as President Joe Biden announced he intends to create a new national monument in Southern Nevada.

Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, sprawls across 450,000 acres near Laughlin.

Ashley Hemmers, administrator for the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, said the area is the Yuman-speaking tribes' holiest site.

"My grandmother is in her late 80s," Hemmers remarked. "I went to her house to go watch it with her, and we were both in tears because we didn't know that this could be possible that we would be able to save the point of our creation; to make sure that it's respected and honored beyond us."

The Fort Mojave tribe has been working on the issue for thirty years. Conservation groups prize the area because it is a crucial piece of the puzzle connecting wildlife migration routes used by bighorn sheep, desert tortoise and mule deer.

The revelation Avi Kwa Ame is now a done deal came in a speech Biden made to the White House Tribal Nations Summit, which ends today.

"When it comes to Spirit Mountain, the surrounding ridges and canyons in Southern Nevada, I'm committed to protecting this sacred place that is central to the creation story of so many tribes that are here today," Biden said.

As part of the Tribal Nations Summit, the administration announced more than a dozen new initiatives to strengthen Indian Country. The Interior Department has not yet announced the date for a formal ceremony to designate the new Avi Kwa Ame National Monument.

The Center for Rural Affairs is launching collaborative work spaces on Nebraska Indian Community College campuses in Macy and Santee for making, learning, exploring and sharing.

The "Makerspaces" will include traditional, low-tech tools, and also significant investments in cutting-edge technologies.

Kristine Flyinghawk, native communities manager at the Center for Rural Affairs, said among other tools available to students and tribal members, the program is especially excited to install a Glowforge.

"It can engrave and cut anything from wood to leather to glass," Flyinghawk pointed out. "Then we have the new Cricut 3 Maker, which can make up to a 12-foot vinyl sign. We will have a sublimation printer."

Flyinghawk explained a sublimation printer can print images on just about anything, from cups to coozies to keychains. The Center will also install a T-shirt press, a sticker and button maker, a sewing machine, an embroidering machine and a quilting machine. Workshops will help people get hands-on experience with each new tool.

The Makerspace also aims to facilitate experimentation, where people can test out new ideas for a side hustle or a full-on business.

Angelina Magerl, community foods associate at the Center for Rural Affairs, said financial support and expert guidance for creating a business plan will also be available to help people realize their goals.

"It gives you that step-by-step process in seeing what realistically -- like time-wise, money-wise -- what you can do," Magerl emphasized. "With a business plan, it kind of lays it all out for you, what needs to be done, and what the outcome is of having accomplished that in your plan."

Flyinghawk noted in addition to workshops the Makerspace will also offer open hours, where people can spend time with people from all ages and walks of life, to share skills, and learn traditions which have been passed down.

"They can still come and bring their beadwork, or whatever kind of project that they are working on, if they want to work in a shared space with others and have that fellowship and community," Flyinghawk added.

Native American women in Arizona are getting a chance to launch their own businesses, with expert advice.

Project DreamCatcher is a unique, free initiative for Native American women entrepreneurs. In the intensive, one-week program, they're exposed to MBA-level business classes at Arizona State University's Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Last month, 21 women graduated from the program. The current cohort began Sunday, November 13.

Cherolyn Vanwinkle, graduate of Project DreamCatcher and co-owner of AZ Native Mobile Diesel Truck and Trailer Repair, said the program has been instrumental for her, in a predominantly male-run field.

"I feel like this program just really helped me push my fears aside," Vanwinkle explained. "I wasn't fearful before, but it was just more I was sitting back and letting the world take me over. But now, I feel like I'm finally in control."

Participants have access to graduate-level courses, coaching and advising sessions with business professionals, and networking activities designed to foster confidence in starting or growing a business. According to project leaders, the last cohort graduated 67 women, who have started 30 businesses in Arizona.

Vanwinkle previously worked in the medical field and said she didn't know much about what it took to run a mechanic business. But she has taken her skills and experience and used them in new ways in her new company. She acknowledged one of the most overwhelming parts of the journey was knowing where to begin, but DreamCatcher helps participants devise a plan.

"They had a professor come in and talk to us about how to understand revenues, expenses, gross profits, salary sheets, cash flow and owner's equity," Vanwinkle outlined. "Those are large words for some of us that didn't go to business school."

Vanwinkle added having a support system as a new a business is fundamental. She encouraged the next women who enroll in Project DreamCatcher to be open-minded, ask questions and use the resources available to them.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses contributed more than $39 billion to the economy last year, but make up only 1% of all firms.