Author: Donovan Quintero

The morning light crept across the edge of a metal rooftop that now glimmers above a weather-worn home tucked into the red-earth hills of Oak Springs. Inside, 69-year-old Janice Billiman moved slowly through her living space, stepping around boxes, blankets and personal belongings that filled nearly every corner of the one-room house.

From 1,000 feet up, the fissures in the landscape showed themselves in unexpected colors – not just the brittle tans of drought and the rust of eroded sandstone, but the matte blacks and sun-bleached grays of trash pits scattered near homes.

With the federal government shutdown freezing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November, Arizona and New Mexico scrambled to deploy emergency aid while Utah warned that it could not issue November payments.

As the federal government shutdown stretches into its second month, Native American communities are facing a growing hunger crisis.

A federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider its decision to suspend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, ruling that the agency misinterpreted federal law and must explore using existing funds to keep food aid flowing to millions of Americans – including Native families who rely on the program.