The Circle News

10/02/2026

As runners prepare for October races, Native Women Run is working to ensure Native women have a place at the starting line.

This nonprofit organization represents and empowers Native women across the United States and Canada, creating opportunities to run while strengthening visibility, sisterhood, empowerment, and community.

Founder Verna NezBegay Volker, a Navajo Nation citizen living in Minnesota, started the organization after noticing a lack of Native women runners on social media. She wanted to create a space where Native women could find belonging, encouragement, and recognition.

Volker began running in 2009; her journey became an exploration of identity, taking her from a beginner to a marathoner and eventually to completing 100 miles. As Native Women Run expanded, she left teaching to lead the organization full time.

Through its race teams, NWR helps address registration costs and entry restrictions that can keep runners from participating. The organization partners with race directors, announces opportunities on social media, and invites runners to apply. Selected participants connect with their teammates before gathering on race day.

Upcoming races listed by NWR include the Twin Cities Marathon on Oct. 4 in Minneapolis, the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 11, and Red Rocks of Sedona on Oct. 17 in Arizona.

Even if you are not a runner, your support elevates Native Women Run’s mission and community impact. Donations help fund race entries, airfare, team meals, and operating expenses.

Supporters can also share the organization’s posts, offer race entries or merchandise, and volunteer at races. Native women interested in joining a team can follow NWR’s social media announcements for application opportunities and any regional requirements.

At its heart, Native Women Run is about visibility, belonging, and connection. It provides a space where Native women can encourage one another, celebrate their accomplishments, and share their experiences. As NWR puts it, “Your presence matters. Your running matters. We see you.”

Source: Native Women Run

10/01/2026

Lily Gladstone and Kiowa Gordon are set to star in The Curse of Silver, a new supernatural horror-western that will reunite the actors with Quantum Cowboys director Geoff Marslett.

Gladstone, an Oscar nominee known for Killers of the Flower Moon, and Gordon, known for Twilight and Dark Winds, are attached to lead the film. Marslett will co-direct alongside Gordon.

Set along the Texas-Mexico border following the Civil War, The Curse of Silver follows two Union deserters who bring a cursed chest of Confederate silver into a town under siege. Their arrival unknowingly unleashes supernatural violence.

The project marks another collaboration between Gladstone, Gordon and Marslett following Quantum Cowboys.

The Curse of Silver has also been selected as one of 80 projects participating in the 2026 Gotham Week Project Market, taking place Sept. 27 through Oct. 3 in Brooklyn.

The film adds another project to the growing body of work featuring Gladstone and Gordon, two Native actors with prominent roles across film and television.

Source: Deadline, “Lily Gladstone & Kiowa Gordon To Star In Horror Western ‘The Curse Of Silver,’” Sept. 28, 2026.

09/30/2026

MINNEAPOLIS-- Along Ȟaȟá Wakpá, the Mississippi River, a Dakota-led effort is working to restore land, culture and community connection at Owámniyomni, commonly known as St. Anthony Falls.

For Dakota people, Owámniyomni, meaning “turbulent waters,” has long been a sacred place for ceremony, gathering, trade, and offerings. Nearby Wíta Wanáǧi, or Spirit Island, was a place where Dakota people came to give birth. The site is part of a larger network of sacred places connected by water throughout Dakota homelands.

Colonization and industrial development dramatically changed the area. The Falls, once more than 1,250 feet wide, were altered for milling and other development, while Wíta Wanáǧi was mined for limestone.

Today, Owámniyomni Okhódayapi is working to transform five acres near the Upper Lock into a place of restoration, education, healing, and connection. The Dakota-led nonprofit has a Native American-majority board and works with the four Dakota Tribal Nations in Mní Sóta: C̣aƞṡayapi, Shakopee Mdewakanton, Pežihutazizi Kapi, and Tinta Wita.

The organization says centering Dakota leadership creates opportunities for Dakota people to reconnect physically and spiritually with Owámniyomni while making Dakota people, history and values more visible in their homelands.

On Oct. 10 from 3–5 p.m., Owámniyomni Okhódayapi will host its Good Relatives Series: Mitákuye Owás’iŋ, featuring a panel discussion and community meal exploring what it means to treat plants, animals, land, water and people as relatives.

Source: Owámniyomni Okhódayapi- owamniyomni.org

09/30/2026

09/30/2026

2026 Day of Remembrance

09/28/2026

Indigenous Peoples’ Day will be observed Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, offering a day to recognize the histories, cultures, and contributions of Native peoples while encouraging communities to reconsider who and what we choose to honor.

Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1937, but Native American advocates and others have long called for replacing the observance. Critics point to Christopher Columbus’ mistreatment and enslavement of Indigenous people and the larger legacy of colonization that followed European arrival.

Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day shifts the focus from celebrating colonization toward recognizing the people who were already here and whose nations, cultures, and communities continue today. It also creates an opportunity to learn Native history beyond what is often taught in schools and challenge the misconception that Indigenous peoples exist only in the past.

Recognition continues to grow. Pew Research Center reported that 17 states and Washington, D.C., have holidays honoring Native Americans on the second Monday in October, while other states recognize Native peoples at different times of the year.

Here in Minneapolis, Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrations include Indigenous Peoples Weekend and a powwow. Wherever you live, look for events in your community, attend a powwow, cultural gathering, or educational event, and take the opportunity to celebrate and learn from Indigenous peoples.

Sources:
Pew Research Center, “Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day or just a regular Monday?”
HISTORY, “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”

09/26/2026

Louise Erdrich has been named the 2026 recipient of the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, a major U.S. arts honor, in an announcement reported September 25.

An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Erdrich has brought Native lives, families and communities to generations of readers. Her books include The Night Watchman, winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize, and The Round House, winner of the 2012 National Book Award.

Her contribution extends beyond her own writing. Through Minneapolis-based Birchbark Books, she helps connect readers with Native authors, art and culture.

The recognition offers a timely opportunity to discover her work—and the wider community of Native writers her bookstore supports.

Which Louise Erdrich book would you recommend to someone discovering her work?


Sources:
• Associated Press via News4JAX — September 25 announcement
• Birchbark Books — Our Story
• Pulitzer Prizes — Louise Erdrich
• National Book Foundation — The Round House