Petala
Ironcloud
Petala Ironcloud is a Lakota-Dakota writer and journalist covering politics, foreign affairs, culture, environment, and technology. They’ve written for TIME, World Politics Review, The New York Times, MIT Technology Review, Business of Fashion, Inc. Magazine, and others.
They’ve sat on the boards of Natives in Tech and the American Indian Cultural Center of San Francisco.
Their recent TIME coverage of the hydropower line, called the Champlain Hudson Power Express, extending from Quebec through the Kahnawà:ke First Nation to New York City, examines the deal that will power 20% of the city in spring 2026.
They are currently working on their debut novel, set on Fire Island, which weaves together themes of queer desire, disappearance, and the afterlives of history.
They live in Manhattan, New York City.
Reporting
Journalism
The True Face of Avatar? – Air Mail – 2026
UC Is Finalizing Its Land-Use Rules Without Involving Directly Impacted Tribes – Truthout – 2026
The Tribal Organizations That Won’t Quit ICE– The New Republic – 2026
At Art Basel Qatar, Global Soft Power Ambitions Collide With a Culture of Repression – World Politics Review – 2026
A New Hydropower Deal Will Provide Clean Energy to NYC. Here's How a Canadian First Nation Made It Happen – TIME Magazine – 2026
How This Brand Stopped Appropriation of Native American Designs by Giving Artists Control- Inc. Magazine - 2025
Indigenous Designers Are Driving Brands to Collaborate, Not Appropriate – Business of Fashion – 2025
Artificial intelligence meets Indigenous knowledge– MIT Technology Review – 2025
The Rise of the Indigenous Model – Business of Fashion – 2024
Unsettling Reparations – Rosa Lux – 2024
The Climate Crisis Is Displacing Indigenous Peoples First– Atmos Magazine – 2025
Profiles
Arts & Culture Writing
Reviews
In Jeffrey Gibson’s “An Indigenous Present,” Native Art Beyond Representationalism – Observer – 2025
Landmark George Morrison show foregrounds Abstract Expressionism’s debt to Native art – The Art Newspaper – 2025
With the Boston Public Art Triennial, Four Indigenous Artists Reckon with Memory and Monuments – Boston Art Review – 2025
Cara Romero’s Indigenous Futurist Lens Resists Erasure Through Humor and Strength – ARTnews – 2025
Cara Romero Frames Indigenous Sovereignty in Sharp Relief – Observer – 2025
Nico Williams Beads Trash and Treasures – Art in America – 2025
In an Exhibition of Native Artists, Clichés Give Way to Charged Memories – New York Times – 2025
A Vision of Design That Transcends Empire’s Grid – Hyperallergic – 2025
Indigenous Art History Has Been Waiting for You to Catch Up – Hyperallergic – 2025
Raul De Lara’s Transcendent Takes on Household Things – T Magazine – 2025
Artists Find Power, Care, and Resistance in the Garden – Hyperallergic – 2025
The Quiet Power of Presence: Amy Sherald at SFMOMA– Observer – 2025
Four Artists Dismantle the Boundaries of “Immigrant” – Hyperallergic – 2025
13 Artists Perform Selfhood in the Age of Alienation – Hyperallergic – 2025
Oscar yi Hou Keeps It Real – PAPER Magazine – 2024
Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) “milk and honey” Cristin Tierney Gallery / New York – Flash Art – 2024
Rachel Martin Is ‘Bending The Rules’ at Hannah Traore Gallery – Observer – 2024
Tyrrell Tapaha’s Transgressive Navajo Weaving – Art in America – 2024
Interviews
Profiles & Reporting
Phoenix Art Museum gifted 185 works of Native American art – The Art Newspaper – 2026
The Met Touted Her as Its First Native American Curator. Amid Criticism, She Quietly Left.– ARTnews – 2026
Anna Tsouhlarakis and Native Visibility at the Whitney Biennial– Observer – 2026
Influential collection of Indigenous art hires former Whitney curator, will open exhibition space in New York– The Art Newspaper – 2026
Inside Art Basel’s Gulf Chapter– GQ Middle East - 2026
New York Historical receives gift of 150 works by Indigenous artists- The Art Newspaper - 2026
Indigenous artists transform works at Metropolitan Museum in unsanctioned augmented reality project- The Art Newspaper - 2025
What Happens When Heritage Craft Meets Global Ambition – Business of Fashion – 2025
The Indigenous Designers Reclaiming ‘Southwestern’ Blankets– Architectural Digest – 2025
25 Native American Artists to Know – ARTnews – 2025
Jeffrey Gibson on 10 Artists to Know this Native American Heritage Month– Artsy – 2025
How New Collector Habits Are Shaking Up Art Fair Season– Hyperallergic – 2025
SWAIA | Native Fashion, Unapologetic Vision- Flaunt Magazine - 2025
Artificial intelligence meets Indigenous knowledge– MIT Technology Review – 2025
Crystal Bridges and Art Bridges Acquire 90 Works of Contemporary Native Art– ARTnews – 2025
Indigenous Designers Are Driving Brands to Collaborate, Not Appropriate – Business of Fashion – 2025
15 Native American Women Artists to Know – Art in America – 2025
The Rise of the Indigenous Model – Business of Fashion – 2024
The Opposite Of The World – Los Angeles Review of Books – 2025
The Climate Crisis Is Displacing Indigenous Peoples First – Atmos Magazine – 2025
Painter Kent Monkman Wants To Flip Our Colonized View of Sexuality on It’s Head – Them Magazine – 2025
10 Questions With… DY Begay – Interior Design Magazine – 2025
Interview with Cheyenne Artist Luke Longfellow: The Politics of Materials, the Erotics of Craftsmanship – Whitehot Magazine – 2025
Brad Kahlhamer on Art and Inspiration – Whitehot Magazine – 2025
10 Questions With… Raul De Lara – Interior Design Magazine – 2025
