Taylar Dawn Stagner covers Indigenous communities for Yellowstone Public Radio in Billings, Montana. Previously, Stagner reported on the Wind River Indian Reservation for Wyoming Public Radio. She has freelanced for NPR, High Country News, and Audubon, and is working on a season of the award-winning podcast The Modern West, reporting on tribal health care and the history of disease in Indian Country. Stagner has a master’s degree in American culture studies from Bowling Green State University, and holds a bachelor’s in American studies from the University of Wyoming. She is Arapaho and Shoshone, and was a Native American Journalism fellow in 2019.
Beat: Native American issues in Montana and Wyoming
There are eight Native American reservations in Montana and Wyoming. This Report for America corps member covers the growing awareness and response to the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, ongoing negotiations over tribal water rights, differing approaches to energy development on tribal lands, unique expressions of tribal sovereignty, crime and justice, and language and cultural revitalization. This reporter covers tribal, county, state and federal policy and relations, providing sorely needed sunlight on issues that often go uncovered and can lead to severe conflict between reservation and nearby communities. This reporter is based at Yellowstone Public Radio's main studio in Billings, and travels frequently.