The environmental damage versus the income-producing benefits of locating fossil fuel projects in Indian Country has divided some resource-rich Native American nations -- and one North Dakota Hidatsu tribal family in particular.

"I love my tribal homelands to my very core," says Charles Hudson of Portland, Oregon, of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, where his extended family live in the midst of fracking operations.

Mainstream media tends to underreport or inaccurately represent these stories -- reporting on community divisiveness while glossing over the risks posed to tribal communities by gas flares, explosions, wastewater contamination, or the temporary worker "man camps" that foster crime, sexual trafficking, and violence against Native women.

"There is so much power and strength in Native life, but we get trapped talking about distress," Hudson says. "It's time for fresh eyes, hearts, and minds to lead the discussion. I want my sons to be in the middle of the conversation on Native futures."

Read the full article by Terri Hansen and Paul Koberstein about Native American initiatives on truthout