Petala Ironcloud

Petala Ironcloud is a Lakota-Dakota investigative journalist and writer based in New York City.

The Los Angeles Aqueduct winds through the hills alongside a freeway in Sylmar, California, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Trump’s willingness to sacrifice LA is familiar to Native Californians

Petala Ironcloud