Article published in the Seattle Times on April 8, 2026, by Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks, Seattle Times staff reporter:
Fatal police violence against Indigenous people in the United States is significantly concentrated in and around reservations, a new study found.
Roughly 3 in 4 Native people killed by police from 2013 through 2024 were on or within 10 miles of a reservation, despite only about 50% of Indigenous people living on or near them, researchers at the University of Washington and Drexel University found.
Researchers say the overpolicing and racial profiling of people traveling in and around tribal lands, combined with chronic underinvestment and poverty in Native communities, may explain the disparity.
“These are the sorts of stories that Native people are already telling, and have long been telling, about their relationships with police,” said co-author Theresa Rocha Beardall, who is a UW associate professor of sociology.
Published last month, the study analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Mapping Police Violence database, which compiles information from government agencies, public records and media reports. The database recorded 203 American Indian or Alaska Native people killed by police from 2013 through 2024.
Read the rest of the article in the Seattle Times.