Ruth H. Burns

Columnist

Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota

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Ruth H. Burns standing on top of a mountain in front of a Mt. Washburn sign.

Ruth Burns (Hopkins), or Cankudutawin (Red Road Woman), is a Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer who was born on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. She resides in her ancestral homelands and is a biologist as well as the Chief Judge of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, where she is an enrolled member.

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Taking Back Our Ancestors As a Native woman, I’ve learned that historical trauma is real, writes Ruth H. Burns.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

A True Vision for Alaskan Native Representation As a Native woman, the show True Detective: Night Country made me hopeful for Native representation yet to come, writes Ruth H. Burns.

Indigeneity Art & Culture

Expressions of Love The disaster that was my love life led me to wonder if I even knew what real love was, writes Atmos columnist Ruth H. Burns.

Indigeneity Well Being

A moon sits low in the sky right above a vast sea.

Honoring the Cycles of Life In the New Year, Atmos columnist Ruth H. Burns reminds us it’s important to stay adaptable and, above all else, to continue to dream big.

Indigeneity Well Being

Light shines down on the surface of a body of water, showing its ripples and waves.

How Native Nations Are Leading the Way in Saving Water for the American Southwest Through careful water use and wise conservation efforts, native nations are saving the Colorado River’s life from climate change.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

Red flags hang onto a fence in front of a large grassy hill

Inside #SearchTheLandfill Movement The movement was started by the families of Indigenous women murdered at the hands of a serial killer in Manitoba, Canada.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

A drawing of several different sized figures standing in a line in front of a black shadow.

Indigenous Tales of the Paranormal Unlike the colonial perspective, Indigenous cultures accept the spiritual realm as part of our reality.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

Cracked beige concrete is slightly shown in the shadows, slightly in the sunlight

Earthquakes in a Warming World As climate change causes increased seismic activity, ancestral teachings about earthquakes continue to provide life-saving knowledge.

Indigeneity Anthropocene

Ancient Ties: Indigenous Peoples and the Extraterrestrial Native Nations around the globe have known of the existence of alien creatures for thousands of years.

Indigeneity Anthropocene

The sun is setting along the indigenous Black Hills, commonly known as Mount Rushmore.

Reclaiming the Six Grandfathers LANDBACK is about healing, and the return of the Black Hills to the Oceti Sakowin is about returning to ourselves, writes Ruth Burns.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

A black and white illustration of a person laying their head on the bottom of a large statue head.

Language of the Spirit For Indigenous tribes in the U.S., safeguarding Native languages means keeping their cultures and belief systems alive.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

Speaking in Unison Similar to the written word, oral tradition preserves knowledge, history, and the memory of an entire populace, writes Ruth H. Robertson.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

In the center of rocky, red terrain sits a shallow, muddy puddle

The Dirt From Which We Came According to Ruth H. Robertson, soil degradation caused by human consumption should be one of our top concerns amidst climate change.

Anthropocene Indigeneity

In Honor of the Divine Feminine Atmos columnist Ruth H. Robertson urges that it’s not too late to rewrite history, which has—mostly—been recorded by colonial minds.

Indigeneity

From Reservation Dogs to Murder in Big Horn, The Rise of Native Media Real Native American representation is making a splash in the mainstream entertainment industry after decades of erasure.

Art & Culture Indigeneity

The Certainty of Becoming Atmos columnist Ruth H. Robertson reflects on the act of emerging from darkness and experiencing the rebirth of spring.

Indigeneity Deep Ecology

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Ruth H. Burns

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