National Native News

The case had the potential to overturn decades of hard-fought legal battles to protect traditional fishing rights in rural Alaska, but in the end, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the federal government in its lawsuit against the state to protect those rights. As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride tells us, the win is a major victory for tribes. This summer, for the first time in a long time, smokehouses along the Kuskokwim River were filled with bright red salmon. “We have no other choice but to prepare for hard winters, and it has been very difficult for us to meet our annual subsistence needs for the last 10 years.” Mike Williams serves on the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, which joined the federal lawsuit against the state. “As a fisherman in these hard times, I was very pleased on the Ninth Circuit decision.” The federal appeals court affirmed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), a law Congress passed in 1980 that gives rural residents, who are mostly Alaska Natives, top priority to harvest the salmon. The court says the state broke that law 2021 when it ignored restrictions that federal managers imposed to save a struggling salmon run – and subsistence protections an Athabascan elder named Katie John had won in numerous court battles. The crux of the problem remains the state’s constitution, which doesn’t allow for a rural priority. Alaska attorney general Treg Taylor says he’s disappointed in the decision, but not surprised. In a statement, he said the case would need to be decided at the “highest level” yet stopped short of saying whether the state planned to appeal this case to the U.S. Supreme Court. And that has Joe Nelson, the co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives, worried there could be litigation ahead. “This is going to be another chapter in the story that’s going to continue.” Although this case involved one river, Nelson says there is so much at stake for all Alaska Natives. The Gila River Governance Center located in the tribal capital of Sacaton. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) A youth curfew aimed at reducing violent crime in the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, has been in place since late February. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the curfew will now be in effect through the end of this year. It marks the fourth time the curfew has been extended. In this latest executive order, Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis wrote that the tribe south of Phoenix saw a decline in crime between June and August. But concerns over threats to public safety still remain, with Gov. Lewis adding that “emergency action gives us stronger, more flexible tools to prevent violence and disorder before it starts.” Leaders are even considering banishment as a solution. The tribe is surveying its membership about a draft ordinance to banish its own members who are convicted of committing violent crimes on the nearly 600-square-mile reservation. (Courtesy Native American Rights Fund) The Spirit Lake Nation, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and Native voters are formally asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review their case involving Native voting rights in North Dakota, in the court’s upcoming term. They filed a petition Tuesday. According to attorneys, the plaintiffs have been fighting for fair representation for Native American voters since 2022. Opponents of Line 5 held a press conference before an Ashland, Wisc. hearing held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2024. (Courtesy Clean Wisconsin) Public statements and expert testimony in the Line 5 reroute begin Wednesday in Madison, Wisc. Enbridge Energy plans to build a new 41-mile segment of its pipeline. Tribal and environmental groups are among those in opposition raising environmental concerns. Supporters are pointing to jobs and an economic boost.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Researchers Alexis Schultz, left, and Nike McCampbell at Smitty’s Cove in Whittier, Alaska. (Rachel Cassandra / Alaska Public Media) Studies show microplastics can be found throughout our ecosystem – and plastic pollution disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities. So scientists at Alaska Pacific University (APU) in Anchorage are studying how these tiny particles of plastic move through Alaska water – and they’re developing the first in-state lab accredited to test water samples for microplastics, as Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra reports. Nike McCambell pulls on her diving dry suit and walks down a concrete ramp to the edge of the water at Smitty’s Cove in Whittier, Alaska. She puts on fins and dives below the surface. McCambell will travel underwater about 80 yards from shore to collect water samples. She says the point is to get samples at different depths to study how microplastics are transported through ocean currents. “We’re going to see where microplastics are moving. We’re going to see if there’s any sort of correlation in certain areas through certain time periods, if the wind and the waves are showing similar patterns and traits.” The students are part of a new team at APU. Last year, the APU team got a $5 million grant from NASA to study microplastics in Alaska. Microplastics have already been found in the most remote corners of the state, so APU’s research aims to expand that understanding by looking at how microplastics enter all water sources including oceans and rain. Kian Muldoon is a graduate student on the research team. He says the ultimate goal of their work is to help reduce the harmful health effects of microplastics. “We’re not so concerned as necessarily showing that they’re there, but knowing where they came from, and how they move, and hopefully using that research to either inform cleanup efforts or anything to try to mitigate harm.” Back at the APU lab, Muldoon and his colleagues can use new specialized equipment to help identify various microplastics in the samples. The team has already collected samples from the summit of Denali, the Eklutna Lake watershed, and Prince William Sound where Smitty’s Cove is. That’s according to Dr. Dee Barker, a chemist and head of the research team. She says with new instruments funded by the grant, the team can identify particles small enough to likely pass through human tissues. And they can study the chemistry behind the microplastics they find. “To find out what type of plastic is most likely to be found of a size that would enter into the human body, and then what size would transport through human tissues, and then the chemistry of that particle. How does that interact with the chemistry of a human being?” She says that understanding is missing from much of the existing microplastics research – and she says testing water sources is the first step in understanding how communities could protect themselves from the tiny plastic particles. Megan Dicken, a public health and aging associate at the International Assocation for Indigenous Aging, holds a copy of the nonprofit’s Wandering Toolkit. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Native Americans are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia than white or Asian Americans. And because tribal members are already at risk of being murdered or going missing, it means having culturally sensitive resources for when elders stray from home. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. Megan Dicken is from the United Houma Nation in Louisiana and with the nonprofit International Association for Indigenous Aging. She recently presented a new toolkit which aims to help when Native elders wander. “It’s very customizable, and so every community can utilize it in a way that suits them, and we encourage that.” Dicken says tribal police departments are often the first responders. “But a lot of times, law enforcement is stretched thin. They don’t have enough officers, or they don’t have enough resources, or they have other crimes happening. So it can aid in community policing.” Her group says 80% of people with dementia will wander from home multiple times, while 90% may die if they are not found within 24 hours. “When they pass on, a lot of times, that knowledge disappears, and we certainly don’t want that to die with them prematurely, because they went wandering and were not found in time.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Summer is prime time for gathering and baking camas across the Pacific Northwest, Rockies, and Plains regions. Native people usually harvest – then bake – the plant’s bulbs, as part of their First Foods menu. As Brian Bull (Nez Perce) of Buffalo’s Fire reports, there was even a “bake-off” held outside Eugene, Oreg. recently. It started when members of the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP) under the Long Tom Watershed Council gathered in a former ash tree forest. With shovels and digging sticks, they unearthed dozens of camas bulbs. 14-year-old Daniel Morrison said TEIP leader Joe Scott has already shared some things about camas. “Joe told me it’s supposed to be called like the Native potato. And he said it tastes really good. I’m hoping that it goes really well. And that we don’t charcoal them.” (Photo: Brian Bull) The heartbreak of “charcoaled” camas is indescribable. The group met the next day to assemble their camas ovens, shallow pits in the ground where fire-heated rocks are strewn. TEIP leader and Siletz tribal member Joe Scott described how he’ll layer his packets of leaf-wrapped camas bulbs. “Here’s what I’mma gonna do … I’m gonna throw the wet sword ferns on top of this, bunch of water, like a couple buckets of water after the maple leaves, and then a layer of skunk cabbage leaves. Put the packets on top of that, and then the alder and the ferns and then all the stuff right here.” Oh, and there’s mugwort, hazel, and bracken ferns in Scott’s recipe, too. The whole oven hissed with steam once the water hit the hot rocks. Nearby, the TEIP’s senior intern Samuel Bull (Nez Perce) assembled the second oven with mom’s help. This was mostly ferns, maple leaves, and camas bundled in skunk cabbage leaves … with some carrots and potatoes thrown in for experimentation’s sake, all under canvas and four buckets of water. Flash forward to a day later. Bull decided to do a camas bake for 24 hours. The group peeled back the canvas to reveal glistening and translucent camas bulbs. “Looks good! Ohhh, look at those beauties! Mmmhmnm. Good? It’s really good. Give me some flavor notes. Really soft, sweet. And starchy. I’m so happy. Wow.” And yes, Bull’s potatoes and carrots came out well, too. Scott’s batch baked for nearly 26 hours and had a small fire burning atop his oven for part of that time. At first there’s a little concern as a few bulbs are hardened and dark … but then when the rest are unearthed. “They’re … perfect. (laughs) They’re like a sweet gumdrop.” The longer bake means Scott’s camas were more caramelized and sweeter, but at the end of the day, Scott said the real success of the event was creating community. “None of these things happen in isolation. There are just so many caring, loving, passionate, compassionate people who come together to make things like this happen. Hopefully people will be coming here in a hundred years making camas, and being like, ‘I heard the story of when they used to come and do this, and they would just turn it into briquets.’” The Indian Pueblo Kitchen housed at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, N.M. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) A new food spot at the Albuquerque International Sunport features Native foods. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. First opening its doors in 1976, the Indian Pueblo Kitchen was reimagined in 2020. “Every Pueblo has a different style of what they cook, what they make.” Chef Josh Aragon is from the Laguna Pueblo and heads the kitchen at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on tribal land in the heart of Albuquerque. “It’s just a combination of all the Pueblos put together all 19, as a matter of fact, and what comes out of the food is the smiles, the thoughts, the full bellies …” From frybread and enchiladas to daily hand-baked goods, like Pueblo pies, tortillas, and lots of loaves of bread. “Yesterday, I did three batches, so about 104 [loaves] plus 240 dough balls.” Rita Toledo is the head baker. She’s from the Jemez Pueblo and now has to prepare even more fresh dishes to feed traveling customers at Albuquerque International Sunport. “The bread we make, somebody’s gonna take somewhere out of state, that’s exciting.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

(Photo courtesy Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak / Facebook) Audio availble by 12:00 p.m. EDT A tearful and emotional reunion took place recently in Manitoba. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, a Sixties Scoop survivor was reunited with his Indigenous family after 50 years. Jonathan Hooker was taken from his family in 1975. He was two-month old. He is from the Mosakahiken Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. His new middle class white family moved to New Zealand when he was 18-months old. Hooker always knew he was adopted, but was never able to locate his birth mother. That is until an ancestry test, which led him to make contact with his half sister who lives in Texas. “So hopefully somebody else will see this and hopefully maybe start looking for their family or it will give them clues to reach out and help.” Hooker had tried to find his natural family a few years ago on a visit to Canada, but without success. This time he was embraced by his biological mother, Patsy George, when he arrived at the airport in Winnipeg. “I thought I would never see him again. He was only two-months old when they took him away from me. And my other daughter a month old.” George also recently found out that Hooker was married and had children. She said she would see her grandchildren one day. It is believed that about 300,000 Indigenous children were taken from their homes in a government operation known as the Sixties Scoop. Many were placed with non-Indigenous families across Canada and around the world. (Courtesy Hulu) A haunting crime story and an Alaska Native legend are at the center of a new documentary that will premiere on the streaming platform Hulu on September 4. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more on “Blood & Myth“. The film looks into a real-life crime case that happened in Kiana, in Northwest Alaska, over a decade ago. James Dommek Jr. is the executive producer of the new documentary. “It’s just incredible story of survival and legends and violence and culture.” Dommek worked at KNBA for three years starting in 2016. During his time there, a co-worker asked him if he knew any Alaska stories that would make a good podcast. Dommek told him about Teddy Kyle Smith, an Iñupiaq actor from Kiana. In 2012, troopers were investigating the suspicious death of his mother, when Smith fled to a cabin and had a violent encounter with two hunters. He was later convicted of attempted murder. Smith said that Iñukuns, or Little People, guided his actions. (Courtesy Hulu) Dommek described the incident in his 2019 audiobook called “Midnight Son”. The new Hulu documentary is a movie adaptation of the audiobook. Dommek grew up in Kotzebue hearing about Iñukuns. They are creatures that exist in various legends from Inuit groups across the globe. “If all of us had the same story, and we’re also spread out, it might have an air of truth to it.” In the film, Dommek says he also wanted to highlight the issue of justice in rural Alaska, where the state struggles to provide a consistent law enforcement presence. Dommek says that “Blood & Myth” is a true crime documentary told through an Indigenous perspective, which is rare in today’s entertainment industry. “There’s the type of story I wanted to see and no one was making it. So I made it for me. Everyone else is invited to listen and watch, but at the end of the day, it’s something I made for me.” Dommek has worked in film production, but being an executive producer in his own film is a first for him. He says he wondered if it was his story to tell but decided to do it after talking to his family and elders in his community.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Today, we’re featuring the Northern Arapaho Reentry Agency as part of our ongoing Native American Justice Series. The reentry program is helping people return home from out of state federal prisons and state incarceration to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Terri Smith moves around boxes in her office filled with blankets and other supplies. She’s the program’s administrator. Smith is a former Northern Arapaho tribal attorney and judge who went through a public downfall after being indicted on drug charges in 2019. “I was dealing with like a lot of grief and loss that I had no idea how to cope with. And so, I became addicted to opiates.” Due to the pandemic, Smith was out on bond, but eventually went to federal prison serving six month, and six months on an ankle monitor. Smith says helping clients in the reentry program is a dream job. “Just kind of being gone through the process myself, you know, being charged, being in treatment, being on probation, I feel like I connect on a deeper level with all my clients and I know what it’s like to be in their shoes and having a strong support.” Smith works with people before they even get out of prison for a smooth transition – she helps look for housing, transportation, jobs, and benefits. This day, Smith’s driving clients around to appointments, including checking on GED classes. “A lot of people when they come home, they don’t have housing to go to, either all their family members passed away when they were gone or they’re coming home to a family that’s still in dysfunction that are still drinking and drugging and they don’t have a safe, sober place to go to. So, one of the biggest things I do is help them set up with sober living. And then transportation, everyone needs, the reservation is so spread out, you know, and so, giving them access to transportation to go apply for programs is a huge support for them.” Clients Leah Little Fawn White Plume and Anthony Big Medicine say Smith and the reentry program have been a lifeline. “Some of the challenges that I faced was like trying to get a job. I didn’t have any like clothes or shoes when I first got out because what I had was the clothes on my back and that was it,” said White Plume. “She’s transported me to and from, took me to my probation meetings. She helped me get my driver’s license, something I never thought I’d actually do. She helped me get clothes because when I first got out of prison, I didn’t have any clothes. She helped me get some clothes. She’s always there when I need it,” said Big Medicine. The program’s voluntary and open to tribal citizens enrolled in one of the two tribes of the Wind River Reservation – the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone. It’s also open to tribal descendant who are not enrolled in either tribe, and other Native American tribal members. Many in the program say they have faced ups and downs, but are more determined now to stay out of the justice system with the program’s assistance like clients Thunder Little Thunder and Dolan Niedo. “I’m more confident than I used to be. I know that I could do this with the help of Terry. Terry’s program is amazing. What she does is inspiring. I love her support, how she advocates for us and helps us with the right resources and gets us going on our feet. Now I got the chance to start here in my hometown with her program her support,” said Little Thunder. “When I was getting out of prison, I kind of thought, dang, I’m a felon now. I thought everything was going to be that much harder. And she’s shown me programs that are pretty much specifically for felons like this program. I think for somebody that’s actually getting out of prison and trying to get back on their feet and trying to do the right thing and not just go back into the criminal mentality that they were in I feel that this program is very helpful. It helped me out a lot,” said Niedo. Substance misuse is among struggles clients say they have faced contributing to crimes they were sent to prison for. The tribal reentry program requires sobriety says Smith. “I’m very loud and proud about my recovery, you know, and I had a really public downfall. So I feel like it’s my responsibility to show people that we can get better.” And that’s a choice clients like Serena Perea have made. “I have three children. Their father passed away in 2020 from alcoholism, so I’m pretty much all they have left. I just want to end the generational cycle of trauma. you know, obviously I’ve made some mistakes and I just want to show them that I’ve learned from them so that, you know, in their future, they can take what I have and make something better for their children and generations to come.” This story is a collaboration with First Nations Experience Television with support from the Public Welfare Foundation   Get National Native News

Photo: The Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation office in Utqiagvik. (Courtesy Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation) The federal government is in the process of rewriting the rules for how it issues federal contracts and some Alaska Native organizations, which depend on federal contracts to pay out benefits to shareholders, are concerned that it could impact their business. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Christopher Slottee is an attorney who ‎works with Alaska Native villages, eegional corporations, and tribal ‎governments. He was previously a vice president of the Old Harbor Native Corporation. Slottee says that, over the years, more and more Native Corporations have turned to federal contracts for revenue, which then gets paid out to shareholders. But, he says, this could change. “If there is a reduction in federal contracting dollars available to Alaska Native corporations, or they don’t have as much success in that arena, they would reduce in size, at least on a revenue basis, which could have an impact on dividends.” The concern is that the federal government is currently rewriting its rules for awarding contracts. That’s a result of an executive order President Trump signed in April. It directs the government to remove unnecessary contracting rules that are not required by statute. Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) have steadily increased their share of government contracts. In 2021, Alaska Native corporations received more than $11 billion from federal contract revenue, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Slottee says that, in part, ANC participation in federal contracts has grown because Congress gave tribes and corporations easier access to the U.S. Small Business Administration programs. “It provides a little bit more of a level playing field for ANCs to compete for work. They don’t have to compete with, like, Boeing or Northrop Grumman, right, these really massive multinational companies. ” One worry Alaska Native contractors have is that the government might remove something called the Rule of Two. It directs government agencies to set aside projects to small businesses, if two or more small businesses are able to do them. Slottee says that eliminating the rule could make it difficult for small businesses, including Native contractors, to compete for the work. The deadline for rewriting federal contracting regulations is in the middle of October. Gary Farmer in Albuquerque, N.M. (Photo: Brian Bull) The sci-fi comedy series “Resident Alien” has ended its fourth and final season, leaving First Nations actor Gary Farmer (Haudenosaunee) weighing his next opportunity. Brian Bull (Nez Perce), senior reporter for Buffalo’s Fire, ran into Farmer at the recent Indigenous Journalists Association conference in Albuquerque, N.M. and has this update. “Resident Alien” not only features the titular extraterrestrial running amuck in Colorado, but also several members of the Ute Tribe including Dan Twelvetrees. Farmer plays the tribal elder and diner owner, who’s the adoptive father to Asta Twelvetrees. When not wrestling with alien mayhem, the story often turns to happenings with the Native community. In the sixth episode of the fourth season, Harry the Alien observes his first powwow, and is consumed with the music and sense of community. @syfy We’ve also had big feelings about our wifi connection before. #ResidentAlien #AlanTudyk #TVClips #Comedy #TVShow #WiFi ♬ original sound – SYFY Farmer says “Resident Alien” made Native people a part of the story without relegating them to stereotypes or background dressing. Overall, it was a special experience. “It was a real family. I mean, you have a showrunner like Christopher Sheridan, he’s a human being, and you can see it in the show. There’s not a lot of human beings out there in my business. They’ve got other interests, mostly financial. So when you come across somebody with a showrunner with that kind of heart and that kind of intelligence and that kind of open mindedness, we’re gonna win.” Farmer says there’s talk of a possible feature film that’ll continue the “Resident Alien” story, but in the meantime, he’s playing gigs on the road with his band, Gary and the Troublemakers. Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers in Albuquerque, N.M. (Photo: Brian Bull)   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

In what the South Dakota Attorney General calls the end of a three-decade legal saga, courts have upheld the extradition of John Graham. Graham was convicted of the 1975 murder of Annie Mae Aquash. South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene has more. Annie Mae Aquash was an American Indian Movement activist whose long-unsolved kidnapping, rape, and murder shocked South Dakota and the nation in the mid-1970’s. Her body was discovered in a rural area near Wanblee with a gunshot wound which traveled up from the hairline through the head. State Attorney General Marty Jackley describes the crime as an execution and says he’s confident in the result of the trial. As a former United States attorney for South Dakota, Jackley has long been involved in the case. “Ultimately, Graham took issue with the Canadian extradition and today (Monday), the Canadian Ministry of Justice has affirmed and reconsented to the extradition. John Graham will remain convicted of the execution of Annie Mae Aquash and will continue to serve his life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.” Graham, a Canadian national, was arrested for the murder in 2003. He is now 70 years old. Jackley says he believes the Aquash family has received justice. “Her two daughters have gone through the tremendous loss of their mother, through lengthy federal proceedings in federal, state, and now Canadian court. I’m happy for them, I feel justice has been served.” Jackley says he believes this bookends the legal saga. “I feel realistically this is the end of the road. This is the Canadian Ministry of Justice. This is the appellate stage. So, absent a governor’s pardon, I feel John Graham is where he needs to be.” Prior appeals from Graham’s team have gone to the state Supreme Court, federal courts, and now through the Canadian extradition process. Graham will remain in South Dakota state custody. A federal trial began Monday in Anchorage for a class-action lawsuit against the Alaska Office of Children’s Services (OCS). Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra reports. The lawsuit is on behalf of all children in OCS custody, which includes Alaska Natives and American Indians. Marcia Lowry is an attorney and director of a national nonprofit advocating for foster care reforms. She says they’re helping with this lawsuit because Alaska’s foster system has some of the worst outcomes in the country. “They have a very, very high maltreatment rate. They do not have the kids visited every month. That’s a federal requirement children have to be visited, because how else can you know whether a child is safe when you put a child in a foster home?” The complaint alleges OCS caseworkers have too many cases to be able to adequately serve families. It also alleges that the agency has failed to place Alaska Native foster children in culturally appropriate placements, violating the Indian Child Welfare Act. OCS director Kim Guay also took the stand. She said all OCS employees are working to make positive changes in the system and that the agency has taken steps to increase recruitment and improve training. Guay repeatedly said that OCS is only one piece of the child welfare system. Margaret Paton-Walsh is Assistant Attorney General for the state and defending OCS in the trial. She says running the foster care system in Alaska is challenging. “It’s especially hard in Alaska because of the size and the remoteness of so many of the communities, and we are doing the best that we can to manage the challenges that we have. And there are definitely challenges. Nobody is denying that. And I think critically in this context, we have a very, very severe caseworker shortage.” The trial is expected to take three weeks.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: This street sign was defaced in 2021 in County Tyrone, Ireland. (Courtesy Cllr. Barry Monteith / Facebook) A number of streets signs in Northern Ireland which include the island’s Indigenous language have been damaged throughout the summer. And now police are investigating the incidents as “hate crimes,” as Seo McPolin reports. Several dual-language street signs in the Irish county of Tyrone were damaged or defaced with paint. Police investigators believe the destruction was motivated by prejudice and could arrest the perpetrators under Northern Ireland’s unique hate crime laws. The Irish language is also under attack in the country’s courts. Plans to install signs with the Indigenous language at Belfast’s new Grand Central Station may be cancelled. Next month, a judge will hear a lawsuit by a far-right activist to stop the new signs. Both issues will soon be addressed by the country’s first Irish language commissioner, who is expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks. This new role is thought to be a litmus test for the British government, which historically discriminated against the language. The Indian Pueblo Kitchen housed at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, N.M. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) For decades, Albuquerque, N.M. locals have been going to the Indian Pueblo Kitchen for Indigenous cuisine. Starting this week, visitors can get a taste of the Southwest without even leaving the airport. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. Chef Josh Aragon (Laguna Pueblo) heads the kitchen at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on tribal land in the heart of Albuquerque. “It’s just a combination of all the Pueblos put together all 19, as a matter of fact, and what comes out of the food is the smiles, the thoughts, the full bellies…” From frybread and enchiladas to daily hand-baked goods, like Pueblo pies, tortillas and lots of loaves of bread… “Yesterday, I did three batches, so about 104 [loaves] plus 240 dough balls,” said Rita Toledo. Toledo (Jemez Pueblo) is the head baker. She now has to prepare even more fresh dishes to feed traveling customers at Albuquerque International Sunport. “The bread we make, somebody’s gonna take somewhere out of state, that’s exciting.” (Courtesy Western Michigan University) Western Michigan University is launching a Native American elders-in-residence program. The new program is intended to bridge the generational gap between students and Indigenous leaders at the university. The university received an award from the Native American Heritage Fund for the program called “Sharing Wisdom Across Generations”. Western’s Native American Affairs Council is consulting with elders and tribal councils of the three Potawatomi nations in Southwest Michigan. Dr. Dee Sherwood, director of the Native American Affairs Council, says elders have vast knowledge – they may have attended a boarding school, lived on the reservation their whole life, or maybe have experience as a veteran or an entrepreneur. And that the program offers the opportunity to learn from older generations for both Native and non-Native students. Three elders will hold regular office hours. They’ll also participate in 10 events over the next year, which could range from drum workshops, beadwork, and ribbon skirt making, or talking circles. Next month, the university will be recognized alongside 10 other educational and community organizations selected for grants by the Native American Heritage Fund. (Courtesy 4KINSHIP) The clothing brand 4KINSHIP is hosting a youth event next week at the Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock, Ariz., called “Good Medicine Youth Day.” During the event, 2,000 skateboards and wellness items will be distributed to families. The brand helped build a skatepark in a Navajo community with skateboarder Tony Hawk – and has given away thousands of skateboards across the Navajo Nation.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Some groups are sounding the alarm on potential scams that target people who were exposed to radiation linked to U.S. nuclear weapons, which includes Native Americans. As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez reports, Congress approved and expanded funding to help the victims. It was a big win for victims of radiation exposure, when the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was renewed and expanded to cover more states. Victims in Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, and parts of Nevada and Arizona are among those who can seek compensation. But many people find it difficult to qualify. That’s because necessary documentation from the Cold War era is decades old, says Carmen Valdez, with the nonprofit Health Environment Alliance of Utah. “These funds are meant to ease people’s pain and suffering and to cover medical bills and to make sure they’re not also suffering financially while also suffering from these diseases and cancers.” That’s where scammers are finding opportunities. Valdez says some companies are charging fees up to three times the allowable $2,000. It comes as deadlines for claims approach in December 2027, when the program is slated to end. Makaito Cuny watches as he gets his second measles shot in a mobile clinic. (Photo: Arielle Zionts / KFF Health News) Vaccination rates are declining across Washington state and experts say this leaves Native communities vulnerable to dangerous disease outbreaks, especially heading back to school. Isobel Charle reports. According to the Washington State Department of Health, there have been 10 confirmed cases of measles in Washington in three counties this year. Wendy Stevens is with the American Indian Health Commission, which formed the nation’s first Tribal Immunization Coalition. She cites data showing that the measles vaccine reduces people’s chances of getting the disease by 97%. “Getting measles immunization protects not only you, but your family, your community from spreading measles.” Vaccination rates have dropped to 87% among kindergartners in Washington. This is well below the 95% threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, according to the Washington Health Alliance. While most measles infections are not severe, health complications can occur in about 30% of cases, with about one-in-1,000 infections leading to death. Stevens adds people need to stay up to date on what is happening with outbreaks in their area and advises getting any questions about vaccines answered by a doctor. “I would encourage people in Indian country to connect to their tribal health clinic, talk to their providers, and they can make decisions that they feel good about for their family.” As of May, the U.S. has reported over one thousand measles cases, a 400% increase from last year, with almost all involving unvaccinated people. The Southern Indian Ute Tribe in Colorado says it “has not entered into any agreement” with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding detention operations. The tribe issued a statement this week to clarify its position after recent news reports listed the tribe as potential ICE facility sites. In a press release, the tribe said it was not notified nor consulted prior to the release of information regarding detention operations. And says there have been no discussions between the Tribal Council and federal authorities on the matter. Tulsa Native American Day In Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signed the tribe’s first artificial intelligence policy Thursday. It establishes new guidelines for AI use across all Cherokee Nation departments. The policy outlines specific approved uses, and strictly prohibits AI use without quality review involving the Cherokee language, which must receive backing and incorporation from Cherokee fluent speakers.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

California’s only Native American state lawmaker is calling on the University of California (UC) to return Native American remains and cultural items still in its possession, despite federal and state laws requiring repatriation. Christina Aanestad reports. California lawmakers condemned the University of California campuses that have failed to return thousands of Native American remains and hundreds of thousands of Indigenous artifacts in their possession, 35 years after federal law required their return to tribal communities. A new audit in April found UC campuses of Berkeley, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara, have failed to comply and fully utilize the funding allotted to them to help repatriate the remains to tribes. Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez (D-CA) spoke during a press conference before Tuesday’s joint hearing. “If my grandmother was found, I would expect her remains to be given to her family. Not in one year, not in 35 years but immediately.” The audit recommends specific funding and conditions on the funding to force it’s compliance. UC Provost Katherine Newman says they’re investing more money-but part of the challenge is finding experts to assist. “It’s actually not easy to find those folks, there’s technical requirements for their background.” Leo Cisco is tribal member of the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi-Yokut Tribe. “We’re the experts.” He spoke with Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA), who says repatriation will help Native Americans heal from the state’s historical wrongs. “Those remains do carry connections to our people and it’s not until they are properly buried that healing can start to take place from a traumatic experience our people suffered from the history of the state of California.” Faith advocates from around the country congregated underneath the shade of trees at the Oat Flat Campground. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a land swap that would hand a swath of the Tonto National Forest – a parcel sacred to Native Americans – over to a multinational mining company. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, President Donald Trump has weighed in. On Truth Social, Trump blamed a “Radical Left Activists” for delaying the swap, which would clear the way for a massive mine run by Resolution Copper. Adelita Grijalva says his rhetoric is reckless, dangerous, and even corrupt. “[President] Trump is blatantly attempting to strong-arm the court.” (Courtesy Adelita Grijalva for Congress) She’s running to fill the seat of her father, the late U.S. Rep Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), who spent his political career trying to stop mining in the area known as Oak Flat. Trump called those who oppose the mine “anti-American”. “Trump can try to shame us. We’re not going to be silent. For him to call us all anti-American for standing up to protect Oak Flat, it’s not just wrong – it’s offensive. Standing up for our communities, our land and our future is the most American thing that we can do, and we’re going to continue to do that.” Resolution Copper is owned by foreign mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP. “It’s no surprise to see this president side with foreign corporations over America’s natural resources, and less for having any kind of consideration of tribal leaders and land.” San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler believes Trump has been “misinformed by Resolution Copper’s supporters,” even offering to sit down with the president and share “factual information to protect American assets”. (Courtesy Rx Kids / Facebook) The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan announced a donation of $200,000 to support Rx Kids in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. The program provides cash to moms and babies, which helps cover costs of necessities, including baby supplies, food, utilities, and rent. According to Rx Kids, the investment reflects the “tribe’s commitment to maternal and child health, and to uplifting families across the region.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Kometos employees atop a new reindeer processing facility in Savoonga. (Wali Rana / KNOM) On St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, the remote village of Savoonga has long struggled with limited jobs and food security. A new reindeer processing facility hopes to help change that. KNOM’s Wali Rana visited the site to learn more about how the development could benefit the community, while also connecting Savoonga with its history. Just steps from the crashing waves of the Bering Sea, a new structure rises beside the sandy beach. Workers from Finnish construction company Kometos hammer and drill away on the rooftop of the facility. The company specializes in modular food processing facilities and is working alongside local hires from Savoonga. The workers are putting the finishing touches on a large, white facility destined to become the village’s new reindeer processing plant. Bengamin Pungowiyi is the president of the Savoonga Tribal Council. He says the new facility will kick off a number of opportunities for the village of 800. “I’m making hope that if we expand over the decades, we would hopefully bring in some employment from the Nome area and some of the villages that, some of the funds that, if they accumulate, we could start a little youth camp.” The facility will be run by Savoonga Reindeer Commercial Company (SRCC). The history of reindeer in Savoonga goes back over a century, when a Presbyterian missionary brought a small herd to the island. The herd grew and eventually migrated east to what would become Savoonga. “The herd wanted to linger on the east side because of the food abundance, and the initial herders thought that they should send four apprentices to watch the reindeer, and those four men looked at Savoonga. From there, they start getting their relatives to move in.” Over a century later, Pungowiyi says the facility aims to carry that legacy forward by creating jobs, supporting food security, and keeping reindeer at the heart of Savoonga’s identity. “We’re hoping to bring up a little island employment, both villages, you know, the younger generation could continually benefit from that. And hopefully, for food security.” Once operational, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will inspect the facility. If approved, reindeer produced in Savoonga could earn the coveted “USDA Certified” label. The designation lets customers know the animals were raised appropriately and are safe to eat. For over a century, the Santa Fe Indian Market has been a spotlight for some of Indian Country’s most talented artists to shine, from crafts to fashion. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, 1,000 juried artists from more than 200 tribes descended upon New Mexico over the weekend. Among them was Naiomi Glasses … “What’s so great about Santa Fe Indian Market is that you can meet the artists and that supports so many livelihoods.” … and her brother, Tyler. “It’s a good time to go out and find pieces that speak to you.” They’re both Diné and just released a new collection this week with Polo Ralph Lauren. “I’m over the moon about it, doing cartwheels and flips inside. I’m excited for it to get out there in the world and for everyone just to see what this whole collection is about.” His sister Naiomi was named the company’s first artist in residence in 2023. “I’m fortunate enough to be able to collaborate with companies that I’m able to design something and then they’re able to manufacture it. I also still do my beautiful handwoven goods that I sell at markets like Santa Fe.” She says if you love wearing Native art, buy directly from Indigenous designers. “Authenticity is what really matters, and I really hope that more companies learn from the model that we did with Polo Ralph Lauren. I really want to see more of that.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Naiomi Glasses (@naiomiglasses)     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo courtesy Protect Oak Flat / Facebook A federal judge in Phoenix, Ariz. Friday seemingly cleared the way for a massive copper mining project – until the Ninth Circuit suddenly stepped in. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the latest court order came less than 24 hours before Oak Flat inside the Tonto National Forest would have turned into private property. That pending land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and Resolution Copper has been put on hold once more with a temporary administrative injunction issued Monday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The new order comes after Judge Dominic Lanza denied requests to delay the congressionally authorized land transfer. These pleas came from conservation and environmental plaintiffs, including the San Carlos Apache Tribe. The tribe called it a “last-minute victory,” while Resolution Copper is confident the court will ultimately affirm Judge Lanza’s “well-reasoned” orders. The three-judge panel would not comment on the merits, but noted these appeals will undergo an expedited briefing schedule starting next month. California state lawmakers held a joint hearing Tuesday in Sacramento, Calif. about the University of California (UC) possessing Native American human remains and cultural items. Three state audits over the past five years show UC continues to fail to return the remains. University officials are expected to respond. (Photo: Brian Bull) Summer is prime time for gathering and baking camas across the Pacific Northwest, Rockies, and Plains regions. Native people usually harvest – then bake – the plant’s bulbs, as part of their First Foods menu. As Brian Bull (Nez Perce) of Buffalo’s Fire reports, there was even a “bake-off” held outside Eugene, Oreg. recently. It started when members of the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP) under the Long Tom Watershed Council gathered in a former ash tree forest. With shovels and digging sticks, they unearthed dozens of camas bulbs. 14-year-old Daniel Morrison said TEIP leader Joe Scott has already shared some things about camas. “Joe told me it’s supposed to be called like the Native potato. And he said it tastes really good. I’m hoping that it goes really well. And that we don’t charcoal them.” (Photo: Brian Bull) The heartbreak of “charcoaled” camas is indescribable. The group met the next day to assemble their camas ovens, shallow pits in the ground where fire-heated rocks are strewn. TEIP leader and Siletz tribal member Joe Scott described how he’ll layer his packets of leaf-wrapped camas bulbs. “Here’s what I’mma gonna do … I’m gonna throw the wet sword ferns on top of this, bunch of water, like a couple buckets of water after the maple leaves, and then a layer of skunk cabbage leaves. Put the packets on top of that, and then the alder and the ferns and then all the stuff right here.” Oh, and there’s mugwort, hazel, and bracken ferns in Scott’s recipe, too. The whole oven hissed with steam once the water hit the hot rocks. Nearby, the TEIP’s senior intern Samuel Bull (Nez Perce) assembled the second oven with mom’s help. This was mostly ferns, maple leaves, and camas bundled in skunk cabbage leaves … with some carrots and potatoes thrown in for experimentation’s sake, all under canvas and four buckets of water. Flash forward to a day later. Bull decided to do a camas bake for 24 hours. The group peeled back the canvas to reveal glistening and translucent camas bulbs. “Looks good! Ohhh, look at those beauties! Mmmhmnm. Good? It’s really good. Give me some flavor notes. Really soft, sweet. And starchy. I’m so happy. Wow.” And yes, Bull’s potatoes and carrots came out well, too. Scott’s batch baked for nearly 26 hours and had a small fire burning atop his oven for part of that time. At first there’s a little concern as a few bulbs are hardened and dark … but then when the rest are unearthed. “They’re … perfect. (laughs) They’re like a sweet gumdrop.” The longer bake means Scott’s camas were more caramelized and sweeter, but at the end of the day, Scott said the real success of the event was creating community. “None of these things happen in isolation. There are just so many caring, loving, passionate, compassionate people who come together to make things like this happen. Hopefully people will be coming here in a hundred years making camas, and being like, ‘I heard the story of when they used to come and do this, and they would just turn it into briquets.’”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Knight Hall at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo. (Kamila Kudelska / Wyoming Public Media) Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho students will have a crack at a new scholarship at the University of Wyoming (UW). Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann has more. UW is creating the “Wind River Promise Fund”. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be available to tribal members to cover undergrad tuition costs and mandatory fees for full-time students. The idea’s been going back and forth between tribal members, state legislators, and the university for years. UW trustee Paul Ulrich says the move is something to celebrate. “ I think this is a long time coming and I am absolutely thrilled to death that this motion has been made today.” An additional $2 million will be managed and invested like an endowment. Students must be enrolled tribal members to qualify. They also need to be Wyoming residents and graduate from a Wyoming high school. Nanwalek in 2015. (Courtesy Chugachmiut) Many clean energy initiatives across the country have been hit hard with federal funding freezes and abrupt cuts in recent months, but two villages in Alaska are considering a project that would harness the energy of ocean waves, potentially for the first time in the U.S. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Waves gently hit the shores of Kachemak Bay as ravens croak above on a cloudy night in July. The small village of Port Graham is nested here, at the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. The village may soon convert wave energy into electricity. Dannielle Malchoff is the first chief of Port Graham. “I have a lot of hope that this is going to be something great for our community.” Chugachmiut is a consortium that serves Native tribes including Port Graham and its neighbour, Nanwalek. The consortium announced it had partnered with an Australia-based company Carnegie Clean Energy in May to explore an ocean wave energy project for both villages. Carnegie has several wave energy projects across the world, including Australia and Spain, but this would be the company’s first commercial installment in the U.S, according to Louise Richardson, Carnegie’s commercial analyst. “One thing at Carnegie that we hope our technology will be able to service in the future is remote communities and isolated communities that might not have access to other forms of renewable energy options.” Port Graham and Nanwalek have no roads connecting them to the rest of the state. Energy costs there are high because the villages are at the edge of the grid and diesel for a back-up generator comes on a barge. The electrical lines running from Homer are several decades old, don’t have enough capacity, and are unreliable. Malchoff says Port Graham loses power several times a month in winter and once every few months in summer. “We have to use satellite phones if our power is out, which isn’t very convenient when you’re trying to relay and talk to doctors in the ER and you’re dealing with a patient.” Malchoff says more reliable electricity from wave energy could solve some of these issues and, ideally, the village can sell any extra energy back to the grid and use that revenue on healthcare and education. The plan is to place a wave energy device offshore from Port Graham. The device will be submerged and tethered to the seabed, moving with the waves and converting power from that motion into electricity. Permitting, testing, and installing might take close to five years. The Gathering of Nations announced in a social media post over the weekend that next year’s powwow will be the last dance. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. The Gathering of Nations Powwow has been an Albuquerque, N.M. annual tradition beginning in 1983, drawing thousands of performers and spectators from across Turtle Island over the last four decades. On the event’s website, organizers cited “several factors beyond [their] control” making “long-term planning and coordination challenging”, without specifically saying why, But that’s the reason behind them closing this chapter nearly eight months from now. The 43rd Gathering of Nations will happen next April at the Tingley Coliseum at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The 42nd annual Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) conference wraps up Friday in Albuquerque, N.M. Buffalo’s Fire senior reporter Brian Bull was there. Nearly 400 reporters, editors, and influencers assembled at the Isleta Resort and Casino this week. Congress’ rescission and its effects on tribal radio stations were one new topic since last year, as were President Trump’s cuts to federal programs and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. IJA President Christine Trudeau. IJA President Christine Trudeau says there’s been a lot to process, but her organization’s mission remains the same: “We need to secure that there is a fourth estate that is upheld for transparency, for truth, for accuracy, for every citizen, for every human being. And that goes for federal level, and that goes for our tribal nations as well.” Trudeau wraps her term as IJA president. A new board will be announced at the evening awards ceremony and banquet. Trudeau says this is a “full-circle” event. “It’s been a real honor to be doing this and being a part of this. You know, right here in Albuquerque, I got my start. I was an intern at KUNM and I was filing a story a week while I was finishing my undergrad at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA).” Among the ongoing challenges for Native journalists is getting free press established for tribal media. Casey Jack, right, leads a Yugtun beginner phrase session at Salmonfest in 2025. (Photo: Hunter Morrison / KDLL) Alaska’s annual Salmonfest is a three-day music festival that advocates for the protection of healthy salmon through song and educational resources, but it also highlights Alaska Native culture through workshops and demonstrations. KDLL’s Hunter Morrison attended one teaching Yup’ik phrases and has this story. Between musical performances, Casey Jack takes the stage to introduce himself to an audience of about two dozen people. “I’ll just say hi real quick. Maybe some of you all have heard this. ‘Waqaa.’” The audience repeats the word back. “You gotta bring that sound from the back of your throat. Almost like you’re clearing a spit. ‘Waqaa.’” Jack teaches the group other phrases, like “How are you?” and “Where are you from?”, during the twenty-minute Yup’ik beginner phrase session. The session is one of a handful at the music festival highlighting Alaska Native language and culture. “I think in general, Indigenous voices are important to be listening to.” The Yup’ik session was put together by an organizer who identified themselves as Foot. “I think that’s kind of our duty as people who maybe are not from this land from time immemorial, to respect and learn from the people who have been.” While the festival’s main focus is the music and environmental message, Foot says Alaska Native people have been represented at Salmonfest since its kick-off in 2011. Jack, who led this year’s Yup’ik workshop, says demonstrations like the ones at Salmonfest help keep Indigenous language and culture alive. “Language is intrinsic to identity, you know? How can you be someone without your language? The language is the very vessel that you’re using to pass down your values, your culture.” The workshop wasn’t the first time Jack has taught his Native language, but Jack has never held class at a music festival. Foot, the coordinator, agrees. “It’s called Salmonfest, and salmon people, and the stewards of this land, are Alaska Native people. If you’re sticking true to it being about salmon, it’s probably also going to be about salmon people.” Foot says the festival’s environmental advocacy is as much about the people who rely on healthy salmon as the fish themselves.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Hunters from Point Lay, Alaska will collaborate with an anthropologist from Russia this summer to document traditional knowledge about walruses. It’s an important part of recording traditions – and, as the Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports, for maintaining collaboration across the Arctic. Growing up, Robert Qaummaluk Lisbourne remembers walruses starting to beach near Point Lay in large numbers. It was always an exciting time for local hunters, but he says a stream of boats and gunfire startled the animals, causing them to rush to water and crush some of the young pups. Since then, Lisbourne says, hunting practices have changed. “We gotta find a better way to hunt these animals without causing the stampede.” Robert Qaummaluk Lisbourne, left, and Eduard Kergytagyn Zdor plan to collaborate in this summer to document Point Lay residents’ traditional knowledge about walruses. (Courtesy Robert Qaummaluk Lisbourne) Lisbourne says Point Lay residents now try to hunt walruses when there are only a few of them on the beach. Lisbourne will share his knowledge about walruses with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alaska Museum of the North later this summer. The project will include a walrus drone survey and interviews with local hunters. Eduard Kergytagyn Zdor is an anthropology postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who will help with interviews. “This is about how to help local community to deal with modern challenges, including climate change.” Zdor is a Chukchi Indigenous leader, originally from Chukotka in Eastern Russia where walrus is also a traditional subsistence resource. He also researched and advocated for subsistence hunting back home. Walrus research is one of many areas where Russian and American scientists used to work together. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 put a strain on research collaborations. Zdor says he would like this project to be a link between Chukotka and Alaska. “This is what we are dreaming about, me and people like me here in Alaska and Russia as well, my fellow local villagers – of course, we are.” In Alaska’s Arctic, female walruses traditionally rest on sea ice. But the ice cover has been declining in the Arctic, and animals started to come to Point Lay beaches in recent years – sometimes, tens of thousands of them. Aerial view of a large walrus haulout on the northwestern shores of Alaska in 2019. (Courtesy U.S. Geological Survey) Lisbourne has been working with walrus biologists, making sure they follow safety protocols during regular surveys and don’t harm the animals. “We are protecting the animals.” After the project is done, Zdor says he hopes Lisbourne will continue documenting local knowledge. In South Dakota, the Humanities Council is delivering over 13,000 free books for third-grade students across the state. SDPB’s C.J. Keene has more. It’s part of the annual Young Readers program and aims to help get students at every public, private, tribal, or home school reading. The Young Readers One Book selection for 2025 is “Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills”. That book tells the story of the Oglala Lakota Olympic gold medalist and features illustrations by artist S.D. Nelson, who is also Lakota. The book tells Mills’ story, journeying from Pine Ridge all to way to his ultimate destination as a world-class Olympian. The story culminates with his last-second dash for the gold in the 10,000 meters race at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The Yurok Tribe is hosting its Klamath Salmon Festival Saturday in Klamath, Calif. The family-friendly day features a number of events including music, basket-weaving demonstrations, and stick ball. Chairman Joseph James says this year’s celebration is special pointing to the Klamath River. He says it looks better than any other time in living memory due to dam removal and restoration. The last of four dams was removed in August of last year and according to the tribe, a month after the removal, thousands of salmon started to repopulate the newly free-flowing part of the river. But there will be no salmon at the festival due to this year’s fish forecast being below average. The tribe is confident salmon runs will recover.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Shishmaref, Alaska, which will receive some of the EPA clean-up funds for tar. (Courtesy Dennis Davis) It’s been more than 50 years since Alaska’s Native corporations and villages received land from the federal government under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Some of those lands were contaminated when they were distributed, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has only recently started paying for clean-up at a few state sites. Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra has more. Alaska Native corporations and villages began to get funding for contamination clean-up under an EPA program launched in 2023. This year, the EPA has announced more clean-up sites. Alaska will get $6.7 million from the agency to clean up sites on land owned by three Alaska Native corporations and villages. The sites were already contaminated with asbestos, tar, and petroleum when they were transferred to Alaska Native corporations and villages under ANCSA in 1971. Stephanie Buss, who manages Alaska’s contaminated sites program, says it’s “past time” to clean them up. “We’re just thankful for the work that we’re able to do with the federal and tribal partners to get these sites addressed and really address the human health and environmental risks that they pose.” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has called the failure of the federal government to clean up ANCSA lands a “shocking environmental injustice.” Sen. Murkowski created the EPA’s Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program in 2023. Buss says the EPA grants target three sites. The money will go toward cleaning up asbestos near Utquiagvik, tar in Shishmaref, and sludge in Unalakleet. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium will also get $3 million in EPA funding to support the program and help communities apply for funding. Buss says the federal government and state are identifying more sites eligible for these EPA grants. “We are aware that there are hundreds of them that were conveyed contaminated that need to be addressed.” Past state estimates have identified over 1,000 contaminated sites. According to the EPA, contamination on ANCSA lands includes arsenic, asbestos, lead, mercury, pesticides, PCBs, and petroleum products. Alaska Native corporations and villages have said the contaminations are a threat to Alaska Native subsistence activities, posing serious threats to food security, human health, culture, and Alaska Native economies. More information about applying for the EPA grant funding is on the EPA’s ANCSA program website. Makaito Cuny (Oglala Sioux) watches as he gets his second measles shot in a mobile clinic. (Photo: Arielle Zionts / KFF Health News) Public health officials remain concerned about a resurgence of measles cases in the U.S. Mike Moen reports. They say it’s still hard for people in under-resourced areas, including tribal communities, to vaccinate their children. Partners in South Dakota are responding with outreach efforts. KFF Health News reports the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board, which serves tribes in Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, is trying to get a head of measles outbreaks with mobile vaccination clinics. The board’s Dr. Meghan O’Connell (Cherokee) says vaccination data on Native Americans is imperfect, but it suggests a lower percentage of them have received measles shots than the overall population. “Most of these communities are in very rural areas, so they can face significant barriers to care that others may not. Just getting to the doctor can be a challenge.” Her team also is working with tribes that want to host vaccine clinics. Elsewhere, tribal health organizations have launched social media campaigns and are reaching out to the parents of unvaccinated children. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says the highly contagious disease has seen its largest outbreak in the U.S. since 1992, with a handful of deaths this year.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Kettle River. (AndrewEnns / Wikimedia) Colville Tribal officials are hailing the discovery of a Chinook salmon in British Columbia’s Kettle River as another sign of success of their salmon reintroduction program. Spokane Public Radio’s Steve Jackson reports. It has been decades since a Chinook was last seen upstream from Coulee Dam in the Kettle River. “It’s significant because Grand Coulee Dam cut off salmon from going to the ocean and back since 1941, so for over 80 years, salmon haven’t been in the Kettle river.” That’s Casey Baldwin, a salmon reintroduction manager for the Colville Tribes. He says the program has released more than 160,000 juvenile fish per year since 2017, including about 25,000 at Kettle Falls. These fish have been tracked making their way down the Columbia River system to the ocean – and many have managed to survive passing through the Grand Coulee Dam turbines. While this Chinook salmon was not examined specifically by fish biologists, Baldwin says it’s very likely the result of the release program. Baldwin says his agency is also currently tracking one wild adult fish with a special ID tag that’s returning up the Columbia from the sea. If the fish can make it as far as Chief Joseph Dam, the hope is that it can be captured and trucked upstream to a tributary above Grand Coulee. (Courtesy IAIA) In recent months, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, N.M. was one of many tribal colleges facing federal funding cuts. KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) spoke with IAIA’s new president, Shelly Lowe, to get an update on where the prominent Indigenous art school stands. President Donald Trump’s budget proposal threatens to reduce the school’s federal allocation from around $13 million to $0 beginning October 1. President Lowe says there have been threats to federal funding all across the country, but she’s thankful that she continues to see support from the school’s appropriators and Congress. “They are on board to support us. You know, we’re still out there trying to make sure that their constituencies, our own constituencies, know very well what we are doing and the importance of it.” Lowe says she’s planning for a normal fall semester and has no intention of changing anything. “We’re going to keep talking to our appropriators and ensuring that we have enough funding, and we’re going to be out there really looking for donors and looking for individuals who are interested in supporting the institution, but we’re moving forward as normal for the next year, and we’ll just keep working hard.” According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Interior Department’s appropriation bill passed both the Senate and House Appropriations Committee, which includes a $12 million appropriation for IAIA. This bill now advances to the full House and Senate for consideration. (Courtesy Medicine Wheel Ride / Facebook) The Medicine Wheel Ride, an Indigenous led fundraiser during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, recently completed its sixth year. SDPB’s C.J. Keene has more. This year, an estimated 230 rode from Bear Butte State Park across the Black Hills to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP). The setting of Sturgis is particularly pertinent as Native Hope, a South Dakota nonprofit, considers the rally a major driver of human trafficking. This year’s ride was sponsored by Harley-Davidson and registered riders paid an entry fee dedicated to MMIP justice efforts.   Nat’uh Building in Anchorage, Alaska. (Courtesy CIRI) U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will host a roundtable Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska, on a draft legislative package addressing recommendations from a Native children commission, which was issued last year. According to Sen. Murkowski’s office, discussions are aimed at advancing the well-being and future opportunities for Native children. The event is open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-serve basis, and it will be livestreamed.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants to improve Indigenous peoples’ access to traditional foods. Patrick Gilchrist has more. Standing outside a tribal health center in Fairbanks, Alaska, Sec. Kennedy told reporters last week he’s collecting ideas, but isn’t exactly sure how to achieve that goal. “I’m trying to figure out ways I can use my agency and my relationship with other secretaries to return those foods.” Kennedy made a few stops at healthcare facilities in the state. In Anchorage, he went so far as to call processed foods’ impact on Native health part of a “genocide.” The center where Kennedy spoke in Fairbanks is operated by Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC). The nonprofit tribal organization aims to support health and social service needs of its 42 members, 37 of which are federally recognized tribes. TCC Chief Brian Ridley says the secretary’s pledge is just a starting point, but encouraging. “He seems totally on board with working with us in those areas, trying to do what we can to try to get back to our traditional foods, so that they’re healthier. And it’s just a matter of working with him and the senators going forward on trying to find a way to actually make that happen.” The press event took place after Kennedy toured the health center with Alaska’s U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). Salt River Project connects Jerome Shirley’s home in Cornfields to a power source during “Light Up Navajo” in April 2024. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Light Up Navajo is an annual aid program meant to help electrify rural and remote households across the Navajo Nation, the largest reservation in the U.S. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the project reached a major milestone earlier this month. With help from nearly four dozen public and private utilities spanning 20 states, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) says volunteers installed 41 miles of power lines and hooked up 196 homes this year alone, now surpassing 1,000 dwellings in all. Typically conducted over the summer months, Light Up Navajo began as a six-week pilot in 2019 between NTUA and the American Public Power Association. Six years later, it’s now a 14-week endeavor. NTUA estimates about 10,000 households are still in the dark. A nonprofit in New Mexico that supports Native American communities wants Congress to restore crucial funding for an employment and training program. KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. Among ongoing federal funding cuts, the Native Professional Advancement Center is urging Congress to reverse a budget proposal that would eliminate money for Native workforce training programs. The center’s board chair Lorraine Edmo (Shoshone-Bannock) recently sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), a ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, requesting action to restore $60 million dollars. Darius Lee, executive director of the center, says the elimination of federal funding “undermines decades of progress and violates the government’s responsibility to honor Tribal sovereignty.” According to a press release by the organization, the federal budget proposal by the Trump administration is calling for the elimination of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and instead creating a new state-controlled block grant called “Make America Skilled Again.” If created, it would cut tribes and nonprofits from direct access to workforce resources, force tribes to compete with the state for funding, and shut down culturally specific support systems that have helped Native people earn employment. The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to possibly take another vote on this portion of the budget on September 2.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

This week, the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund hosted its biennial tribal water symposium in partnership with the Western States Water Council. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, Interior Department (DOI) officials took time to reassure tribes that the Trump administration is behind them – despite recent staffing cuts and Congress clawing back federal dollars. Some of the federal agency’s top-ranking water officials encouraged tribes to come up with very creative solutions. As for the Colorado River and its ongoing negotiations, they warned that consensus is needed before 2026. Otherwise, DOI will be forced to step in. “We will if we have to, if we can’t get people to come to a settlement and agree. That settlement needs to include the tribes.” Kathy Budd-Falen is an advisor to DOI Secretary Doug Burgum. The seven Basin states and 30 tribes have until October 1 of next year. “But if the interim guidelines expire, then Reclamation gets to run the river. And I’m telling you, you do not want a bunch of bureaucrats from Washington, D.C. running the Colorado.” President Donald Trump tapped former CAP general manager Ted Cooke to helm the Bureau of Reclamation, pending Senate approval. Agency-wide layoffs reportedly cut at least a fourth of all reclamation staff. Former State Rep. Les Gara attends an August 4, 2021 dedication for a new Dena’ina place names project. (Photo: Jeff Chen / Alaska Public Media) Alaska’s Office of Children’s Services (OCS) is failing to meet benchmarks set by a 2018 reform law. That’s according to the final state audit released last month. About 70% of kids in OCS care in the state are Alaska Native and American Indian. Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra reports in the second-half of a two-part report. Former State Rep. Les Gara (D-AK) from Anchorage and introduced the legislation in 2017. It aimed to make things better for Alaska’s foster kids by improving hiring and training practices – and the law required a series of audits to check progress. Rep. Gara says the audit results are extremely disheartening. “It’s like we handed the state the blueprint of all the gold standard practices to make sure children had a chance in this world. We handed it to the state, and by 2020 the state had lit it on fire. It’s sad.” He says in the first two years of the law, the state saw some progress, but then the office dramatically lowered hiring requirements for caseworkers. Instead of requiring a four-year college degree in social services or equivalent experience, now caseworkers can get hired with just a high school diploma. A legislative consultant quoted in the audit called the training and support “woefully insufficient,” for most new hires. The audit also found that the OCS hiring process was “strongly out of alignment with best practices” and that new caseworkers started with “little to no understanding of what the job actually entailed.” Amanda Metivier helped write the legislation and runs the organization Facing Foster Care. “This is not entry level work, holding the authority to remove children from their parents and investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect – and it takes a skill set that requires some foundation.” Amanda Metivier. (Courtesy UAA) OCS didn’t agree to an interview for this story, but spokesperson Brian Studstill wrote in an email that their hiring practices factor in the experience and education of the applicant. He wrote that it’s “impossible” to actually cap caseloads because the agency can’t turn away families, but he wrote OCS takes many steps to keep caseloads manageable. Deko Harbi, who entered foster care in 2021 when she was 16, had to fend for herself. She says over and over, she couldn’t get the help she needed from OCS. When she was a junior in high school, she says she left the chaos of her placement with her then-23-year-old sister without telling OCS. She moved in with a friend’s family. “Without them intervening [voice wavers] … and coming in to help me that last year of high school, I don’t think I would have graduated.” She calls them her chosen foster parents – and says they were caring and helped her transition to adult life. She says that’s how the foster system in Alaska could work if it were functional. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo courtesy Gila River Police Department / Facebook Members of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona recently revealed that the tribe’s police chief was fired following a July town hall meeting to address violent crime across the nearly 600-square-mile reservation south of Phoenix, Ariz. While leaders would not publicly confirm these claims, KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has new details. In a Sunday social media post, the Gila River Indian Community confirmed that Jesse Crabtree is no longer the tribe’s chief of police. He has been replaced by Criminal Investigations Bureau Commander Jeffrey Hunter – now appointed acting chief – following a month-long internal review. Hunter has been on the force for 25 years, while Crabtree began serving in 2020 before being promoted chief three years later. Serving as one of the largest tribal law enforcement agencies, the Gila River Police Department employs more than 120 sworn officers. By comparison, the neighboring Navajo Nation lays claim to being the biggest in Indian Country with over 200 police officers patrolling a sprawling reservation roughly 45 times greater in size than Gila River. The Navajo Nation population is about 12 times larger. Now a nationwide search is underway to find Gila River’s next police chief, which the tribe says is meant to enhance public safety through meeting the needs of its leaders and members. A youth curfew aimed at curbing violent crime, which the tribe says largely stems from juveniles, has been in effect since February. Deko Harbi sits in her room in Anchorage on July 20, 2025. She entered Alaska’s foster care system when she was 16 and says it was hard to get the help she needed from the Office of Children’s Services. (Photo: Rachel Cassandra / Alaska Public Media) A 2018 law aimed at improving outcomes for kids in Alaska’s foster care system hasn’t led to much meaningful progress, according to state audits. Last year, almost 70% of kids in Alaska’s foster care system were Alaska Native and American Indian. Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra reports on the findings in the first of a two-part series. When Deko Harbi was sixteen, she was removed from her mother’s care and entered state custody. She and her little sister and brother went to live with their older sister. “She was 21 at the time that this all started.” Harbi says her sister wasn’t up for the kind of parenting she and her siblings needed. She says the household quickly became unlivable. “It was constantly dirty, it smelled horrendous. There was always screaming. There was no peace. There was no like order in the house.” Case workers from the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) are required to do home visits with kids at their placements every month, but Harbi says they never came to check on her and her siblings. She says anytime she needed something from OCS, like getting a voucher for winter clothing, it was an uphill battle. “It was like pulling teeth trying to get in contact with an OCS worker. I would call them. I would go in person to their office.” Former State Rep. Les Gara (D-AK) from Anchorage was thinking about kids like Deko Harbi in 2017, when he introduced legislation proposing sweeping reforms of OCS. The law aimed to dramatically increase the number of caseworkers at the department to help reduce caseloads to an average of 13 for experienced workers. And it required the office to more than double the amount of time child protection workers spent in training. Gara says he drafted the legislation with experts after careful research on successful models in other parts of the country. “We gave the state the gold standard, and said, this is how you run a system, so that children suffer as little trauma as possible, have as great a chance to succeed in this world as possible.” The legislation had broad bipartisan support and became law in 2018. In order to keep tabs on the department’s progress implementing the law, it required three audits. The final audit was released in June and concluded that since the law passed, OCS hasn’t implemented most of the law’s requirements or changed outcomes for Alaska kids. The report shows 70% of experienced caseworkers still had more than 13 cases, in many cases double or even triple that number. The office had high vacancy rates and turnover, which experts say leads to worse outcomes for kids. The report says that’s despite the $20 million OCS got to address labor challenges.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: A sign welcomes travelers to the Navajo Nation on July 13, 2021. (Katherine Davis-Young / KJZZ) A pair of rural counties in eastern Arizona could soon start seeing significant investments in fiber and broadband networks. The funding is part of a multi-state settlement with two national telecommunications companies. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on how it may help some tribal members get connected. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that Frontier and Verizon have agreed to spend $8 million across Navajo and Apache counties, home to some of the state’s biggest landbase tribes. “I’m never, ever going to stop bird dogging this for these two counties, because they deserve better. Just because you live in a rural county doesn’t mean that these telecommunications companies can treat you differently.” For context, tribal lands make up two-thirds of Navajo County, while Apache County has about 70%, containing swaths of the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, and White Mountain Apache reservations. Latest Census data shows that more than half of all residents there are Indigenous. The FCC reported in 2020 that almost a fifth of those living on tribal lands lacked access to broadband compared to 4% off-reservation. Part of this tentative settlement requires providers to find and fix the root causes of regular 911 outages – on top of conducting a network-wide audit. Margaret Williams, left, and Vera Kingeekuk Metcalf speak during the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage on July 31, 2025.(Photo: Alena Naiden) Food security, climate change, and increased tension with Russia are top of mind for residents in Alaska’s Bering Strait region – and it was one of the topics at the recent Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage. Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Hundreds of people, including politicians, researchers, and Indigenous knowledge holders, gathered for the event. Vera Kingeekuk Metcalf is the executive director of the Eskimo Walrus Commission. She lives in Nome and was born in Savoonga, a small village on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. The community is located closer to Chukotka, in eastern Russia, than to the U.S. and Metcalf says residents have a lot in common with their neighbors. “Many of our families, relatives, kins originated in Chukotka. So we have this close connection, not just with marine mammals, but people to people.” Metcalf says climate change has real consequences for residents in her region, who subsist on mammals migrating through the Bering Strait. A warming Arctic affects those migrations. Unstable ice conditions also make whaling and walrus hunting more dangerous. The geopolitical climate has also been changing, according to panelists who spoke at a session focused on conflict and cooperation in the region. Russia has been strengthening its relationship with China since invading Ukraine in 2022. As waters stay ice-free longer, that means shipping, fishing, and military activities on the Russian side have been growing as well. Contributing to tension between Russia and the U.S. Capt. Steve White is the president of Marine Exchange of Alaska. He says the growth of Russian vessel traffic is noticeable. “We know that traffic has been increasing in the Bering Strait. Just numbers wise, you know, it’s more than doubled … the season, the amount of time that vessels are transiting is also increasing.” White says it’s important to look at how this increased activity is affecting locals. Historically, the Bering Strait region has been a place of collaboration, according to the Walrus Commission’s Metcalf. Russian and American scientists and locals have worked together to protect their marine subsistence resources and exchange cultural knowledge. A lot of that work has come to a halt in recent years, but Metcalf and other speakers said they hope that collaboration returns.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Chilkat Indian Village environmental staff and outside researchers stand on the 23-mile slide area during a site visit in June. (Avery Ellfeldt / KHNS) The Native village of Klukwan, just north of Haines, Alaska is grappling with landslide risk that’s intensifying with climate change. It’s also posing a major obstacle to the community’s growth. The village is in the thick of a research project to better understand the threat – and as Avery Ellfeldt reports for the Alaska Desk, residents hope the information will guide housing development in the years to come. Decades ago in the Chilkat Valley, heavy rains would send mudflows tumbling down the Takshanuk Mountains, over the international highway, and into Klukwan. Dan Hotch remembers it well. He says the slides in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s would damage buildings – and send rocks and mud under the deck of his family’s home. “Growing up as a kid, we hated August and September weather because we knew the rains were coming and we knew the water was coming down.” About 25 years ago, a community member built a berm to direct the debris away from the village. It worked, says Hotch, who is now an environmental specialist with the Chilkat Indian Village, but that’s starting to shift as the slide path evolves – and in some instances points the sediment back toward Klukwan. That has major implications for the community’s long-term future. The tribe wants to expand the village, which is currently home to roughly 90 residents, but the major question is where new housing should go amid intensifying landslide risk. The conundrum isn’t isolated to Klukwan. Communities around the world are scrambling to figure out how to protect homes – and build new ones – as natural disasters intensify with climate change. In the Chilkat Valley, work is already underway to better understand – and reduce – those risks. Josh Roering is a University of Oregon-based geomorphologist involved in the project. Walking through a dense patch of forest on a recent field visit to Klukwan, he points to little black boxes strapped high on trees. “These are called infrasound sensors … they’re recording things that we are not hearing, but are happening in the environment.” The tribe will ideally be able to use the information to plan new berms – and support grant applications and safe community development. Hotch says that could encourage tribal members to move home. That idea is personal. He moved back to Klukwan about a decade ago, after spending a number of years in Oregon for boarding school, and later for work “It’s great to be home. We need more people back at home.” The ongoing research is an early step in that direction. Ethel Branch, left, presents the Florence Riggs rug to Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy, the speaker of the lower house of Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann. (Courtesy Dáil Eireann) Native leaders visited Ireland this summer, including a delegation which presented a Navajo rug to Ireland’s parliament. Seo McPolin explains. Former Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch led a delegation from the Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund. They presented Irish parliament with a rug by weaver Florence Riggs on behalf of the Navajo and Hopi Nations. It was a thank you gift for the estimated $3 million in donations from Ireland to the two nations during the pandemic – including $100,000 from U2 drummer Larry Mullen. The rug depicts the Kindred Spirits Sculpture in the Irish county of Cork, which honors Choctaw Nation donations to Irish famine victims in the 1840s. That gift inspired the World Peace Gathering last month featuring Branch and Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr. of the Yankton Dakota and Chickasaw Tribes. During the event, he honored the Irish people. “They have suffered as we’ve suffered. and they are still the most giving people per capita in the entire world. Let’s give a hand to the Irish for that (applause).” Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

A lack of reliable infrastructure is tied to worse health and economic outcomes for kids in rural Alaska. That’s according to panelists at the final day of Arctic Encounter, a symposium that just wrapped up in Anchorage, Alaska last week. Francine Moreno of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium says Alaska has the lowest rate of in-home plumbing in the nation, which directly leads to health issues. “Without plumbed water, Alaska Native children are hospitalized with RSV five times higher than the United States. The hospitalization for pneumonia is 11 times higher than in the U.S.” Moreno says her organization is working to close the water access gap in local villages. She says it’s easier to find solutions by partnering with community leaders — and she says because services like water, sewer, heat, and energy are connected, utility providers have to coordinate to prevent service interruptions. Eiryn Devereaux, left, participating in a housing construction panel. (Courtesy Arctic Encounter Symposium) Eiryn Devereaux is the president and CEO of the Nunavut Housing Corporation in Canada. He says that in his region, aging housing and a growing population has created a dire need for thousands of new homes, something that many Alaskan communities can relate to as well. “We have such a prevalence of overcrowded housing in Nunavut. It’s challenging for kids to get up in the morning and go get an education if they don’t have a place to sleep at night, or if they’re bouncing from one coach to another.” Devereaux says the housing corporation has built almost a thousand new homes in three years to address the issue. He says they did it by expanding the list of construction companies they work with, mitigating costs and moving away from relying on outsourced labor. Panelists on Friday also discussed how building in the Arctic, where permafrost is quickly melting, goes hand in hand with climate research — and how keeping this research updated can be a challenge in light of recent funding and research freezes. Pantry founder and board chair Emma Harris indicates the boundaries of the land they plan to build on in Lame Deer, Mont. (Photo: Kayla Desroches / Yellowstone Public Radio) After years of temporary sites, the Northern Cheyenne Food Pantry in Montana now plans to establish its own headquarters. As Yellowstone Public Radio’s Kayla Desroches reports, operators hope to expand not just food access, but food independence. It’s a weekday breakfast service at the pantry in Lame Deer, Mont., the Northern Cheyenne Tribal seat. People chat and pour themselves coffee. The pantry is one of the only food options here. It operates out of an auto garage, next to Lame Deer’s one grocery store. Locals either pay local prices or drive nearly two hours to the closest big city. The pantry estimates it distributes 100 boxes monthly, many to multifamily households and elders without transportation. The staff is small. Raymond Holmes returns the pantry’s support by pitching in. “It’s really helping the people, helping the elders. The ones who can’t get around and the handicapped ones, so it helps me and I help them.” Pantry founder and board chair Emma Harris leads the pantry’s funding efforts. She says they’re planning their own building, not just a permanent homebase but also an expansion of traditional foods and practices. The field they want to build on is just a couple of minutes away by car, east of the roundabout at the center of town. The property needs funds. Harris says that’s why the pantry is doing a feasibility study: to analyze costs and show potential funders what they would be bankrolling. That would include a public garden, where members can grow their own plants and herbs, and a space to share knowledge about traditional food systems. “I think the Creator kind of looks out for this place because it’s a much needed benefit for the people, so the people who are here make it. They’re the one who make it successful.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: The Native Professional Advancement Center classroom training participant Dominique Bluehorse (Diné) was the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute 2024 Student of the Year. (Courtesy National Indian Youth Council / Facebook) More than half of Native Americans in New Mexico live in urban areas and many rely on programs to help them transition from the reservation to cities, including workforce training. But the Trump administration is proposing federal cuts that could defund such programs. Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. The Native Professional Advancement Center was founded in 1961 when advocates demanded the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Labor create a workforce training program for Native Americans in New Mexico. “We have a large group of people that just kind of make the urban setting a little easier for Native peoples. A lot of the time we’re coming out of our reservations and into the cities for the first time, you don’t really have that connection that you did back on the reservation.” Deanna Aquiar (citizen of Isleta del Sur Pueblo) is director of programs and development for the center. It has 76 worksites around the state and has helped over 4,000 Native Americans access education. It also provides training opportunities, and helps place people in jobs. Since 1972, it’s been funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act, but that program has been targeted for cuts by the Trump administration. Aquiar says, if federal funding goes away, the center would likely be turned over to the state, but that could be detrimental. “We’ve been overlooked by the states, just because we don’t have a large participant base and that often leads to the state overlooking us, and we end up invisible.” She says it’s critical to continue programs like this to address poverty in Indigenous communities. “The poverty that our communities have been known for for decades. To rise above that, we need access to education and good jobs. And access to that is not readily made to those who are coming off the reservation.” The program began its new year on July 1 and is safe for now, but Aquiar is uncertain if they will be able to continue in the years to come. Te Ao o Hinepehinga in “Chief of War”. (Courtesy Apple TV+) Pacific Islander actors shined at the red-carpet premiere for “Chief of War”. The miniseries stars Jason Momoa and debuts on Apple TV+ this month. Hawaii Public Radio’s Cassie Ordonio (Filipino and Chamorro descent) spoke to some cast members about playing Hawaiian historical figures. Māori actress Te Ao o Hinepehinga almost turned down the job amid concerns raised on social media about non-Native Hawaiians cast to play prominent figures in “Chief of War”. “I actually shared those concerns. I kind of sat with this and we’re at the end of the day, it does not matter what I think. The only people who deserve to decide who tells the story are Kanaka.” She spoke with the show’s co-creators Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa‘a Sibbett to decide if the role was right for her. Now, she’s playing the role of Kupuohi. Her character is married to Kai‘ana, who is played by Momoa. “Honestly it’s a true honor for them to give that to me, and I hope they see how much we try to embody the kupuna (elders) and be guided by the akua (God) to honor this story. It truly is a gift.” “Chief of War” is a highly anticipated historical drama about King Kamehameha’s unification of the Hawaiian islands in the 19th century. While some scenes were shot in Hawai‘i, most were filmed in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Several cast members are Māori, including prominent actors Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison. Other cast members are Samoan, Tongan, and Native Hawaiian. Morrison plays Maui King Kahekili. He says he relied on cultural advisors and language experts for his role. Temuera Morrison in “Chief of War”. (Courtesy Apple TV+) There was also immense pressure after he interacted with a Native Hawaiian boom mic operator. “I better do a good job for her, otherwise she would whack me on the head with her microphone boom.” Jason Momoa says Māori actors have paved the way and inspired Pacific Islander actors. Aotearoa has a globally recognized film industry. “All these Maori actors came here and they taught our kids the next generations, because I can’t teach them shit I went through just watching stuff.” The first two episodes of “Chief of War” will be released August 1 on Apple TV+.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The Gila River Indian Community south of Phoenix, Ariz. has been grappling with guns and gang violence, largely involving juveniles. The tribe quietly fired its police chief earlier this month, days after a town hall meeting to address the issues. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the tribe has refused to explain why. The reservation covers about 600 square miles, with many of the tribe’s 20,000 members living on it. Complaints have included gang violence and even cartel activity. Gila River Police Chief Jesse Crabtree fielded most of the questions during a recent town hall meeting that ran for six hours. “We can’t police our way out of everything. We need partners from the community, from other departments. … Definitely community policing is where we’re headed.” Community members say that just two days later, on July 14, Crabtree was fired. Despite his name being scrubbed from the department’s website, the unannounced departure has not been confirmed by the Valley-based tribe. But within a week, they had turned to a familiar name, former police chief Tim Chavez, who initially considered coming out of retirement but later declined due to departmental infighting. It’s still unknown who – if anyone – has replaced Crabtree as police chief, with the tribe refusing to answer any questions. More than 700 participants, including leaders from the circumpolar North, are gathering this week at Arctic Encounter, an annual symposium in Anchorage, Alaska. That included a panel of policy experts from the U.S. and Canada, who spent Wednesday morning focused on Arctic security. The conversation covered growing geopolitical tensions and competition, as well as a need for partnerships, and they spoke about how national, personal, and environmental security are interconnected, especially for people who live in the Arctic. Mike Sfraga is a former U.S. ambassador to the Arctic who recently stepped into an interim chancellor role at University of Alaska Fairbanks. “We cannot forget that for us that live in the north and peoples who live in small communities and large communities, we’re talking about water security, food security, community security, health security. So it’s all nested in there. … But it’s highlighted by, obviously, our homeland and national security.” Sfraga says that one of the big challenges for addressing Arctic security issues is recent funding cuts to research in the U.S. He says that academics and policy makers should better communicate how research is profitable in the long run and crucial for homeland security. Sfraga and other speakers highlighted that a secure north also means functional infrastructure, from deep sea ports and warning systems to satellite communications. And speakers agreed that policy decisions about the Arctic should go hand in hand with listening to local communities. Sara Cohen is a deputy head of Mission at the Canadian embassy in the U.S., where she focuses on Foreign Policy and National Security. She says that for Canada, Arctic and defense policy starts with partnerships with Indigenous people in the North. “You can’t have safe people without having a safe environment. You can’t have safe people without them having a safe and secure access to a future that is characterized by dignity in Canada. That’s very much also part of our reconciliation with indigenous peoples as we look to continue that journey, which is very much about truth and also reconciliation.” Arctic Encounter is running through Friday. It will feature discussions about policy, infrastructure and Indigenous sovereignty. Fort Detroit C. 1710 And on this day in 1763, Oddawa Chief Pontiac led a coalition of warriors against attacking British forces at Fort Detroit in the Great Lakes region. Initially started by 260 British soldiers, the Native forces were so successful in repelling their foes, which included killing British Captain James Dalyell, that nearby Parent’s Creek was renamed Bloody Run. Today, the site is now Elmwood Cemetery in East Detroit.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

It’s been an up and down week for former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo). On the up side, Sec. Haaland has been deemed the 2025 recipient of the Chief Standing Bear Prize for Courage. The Nebraska Examiner reports that Haaland – the first Native person to serve as a cabinet secretary who addressed the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis and the oppressive legacy of federal boarding schools – will receive the honor on October 13 in Lincoln, Neb. The non-profit Chief Standing Bear Project recognizes those people who embody the spirit of the famed Ponca chief, whose legal fight with the U.S. government led to Native Americans being recognized as “persons” under the law. On the down side, Axios reports that Haaland did not get endorsed for her bid for New Mexico governor in the Democratic primary by the Sandia Pueblo. The tribe instead endorsed her challenger, Sam Bregman. While a small tribe, the Sandia Pueblo operates one of the state’s largest casinos and is seen as influential in the commerce and entertainment sectors. Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, who was Interior Secretary with the Biden Administration. The Hughes family hold a portrait of Sheila Hughes, who is featured in “Who She Is” and was murdered in 1996. (Photo: Zoe Friday/ Courtesy Caldera Productions) The documentary “Who She Is” humanizes the MMIP Crisis on the Wind River Reservation. As Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports, it just won a regional Emmy award. “Who She Is” uses animation to tell the story of four women: Sheila, Jocelyn, Lela, and Abbi. It’s not just about how they died – it’s about how they lived, who they were, and what they loved. The film took home the Heartland Emmy award for best cultural documentary and was co-produced by Jordan Dresser (Northern Arapaho) … “ To win this award is such a big honor. And also it gets their stories and their awareness across bigger platforms.” … and co-producer Sophie Barksdale. “ Thank you to the families. We worked so closely with them and we wouldn’t have done it in any other way.” “Who She Is” came out in 2022, with showings at national and international film festivals. There’s a screening planned for September at Central Wyoming College. One of the biggest all-Indigenous high school basketball competitions in North America wrapped up this past Saturday in Phoenix, Ariz. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, two rivalries heated up on center court in the tourney finals at PHX Arena. “Good afternoon and welcome to the 22nd annual Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI).” NABI began with 24 teams, but now it has grown to a record 204 teams with 3,100 athletes representing more than 160 federally recognized tribes – from Phoenix to Anchorage, Alaska. 508 games in all – ending with Arizona’s Rezbombers having both boys and girls teams in the finals. The boys squad dropped to Phoenix’s Young Gunz, while the defending girls champs took on Oklahoma’s Legendary Elite in a rematch from last year. Winning their third title in four years, the final score was Rezbombers 58 and Legendary Elite 47. “Rezbombers on three: One, two, three, Rezbombers!” Then Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, left, and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland in 2023. And it was one year ago today when the Department of the Interior released the second and final volume of its investigative report on federal boarding schools. Building on an initiative launched by Haaland and led by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Ojibwe), the report expanded the number of deaths of Native students, as well as the number of burial sites and the participation of religious institutions and organizations. The report concluded a three-year probe that saw the federal government accepting responsibility for its role in creating the system, which included over 400 boarding schools in roughly three dozen states. Nearly 1,000 children died while attending these schools.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: St. Paul Island, Alaska. (mazaletel / Flickr) With the stroke of a pen Thursday, President Donald Trump has rescinded more than $1 billion in Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds. Buffalo’s Fire reports this loss will hit both large operations, including Koahnic Broadcasting, and especially small stations, such as KUHB on St. Paul’s Island in the Bering Sea. Such stations are very tribally centered in their talk, music, and news programming – and managers are hard-pressed to know how to replace the lost funds while preserving Native culture and traditions. An app called Adopt A Station, developed by former NPR employee Alex Curley, shows stations who’ve lost more than half their funding. Users can contact these stations and make a donation. White Mountain Apache Tribe Chairman Kasey Velasquez speaks about the significance of the Apache trout in Mesa on Sept. 4, 2024. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) An Arizona tribal chairman is the subject of a federal probe, but as KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the reason behind why is still unclear. The Bureau of Indian Affairs confirms its Missing and Murdered Unit is investigating White Mountain Apache Chairman Kasey Velasquez. The unit’s special agents look into active cases, among other duties. A former tribal policeman, school administrator, and substance abuse counselor, Velasquez was first elected chairman in 2022 and also heads the Arizona Indian Gaming Association. His legal counsel, Kurt Altman, says that Velasquez will not be making any statements out of respect for the ongoing investigation that he’s fully cooperating with – adding that they look forward to a rapid conclusion. The chairman is up for re-election next year. (Courtesy Woodland Cree First Nation) A First Nation in Canada is cashing in on an artificial intelligence (AI) data center to build up its economy, as Sol Traverso reports. The Woodland Cree First Nation is building an AI data center on its traditional territory in Alberta. The project will convert a partially completed power plant into a 650-megawatt, natural gas-powered data center. Isaac Laboucan-Avirom is the Chief of the Woodland Cree First Nation. He wants to find other means to build a self-sufficient economy. “You have to be diverse, right? We just don’t want to rely on oil and gas and forestry as some of our own source revenue. We want to see where we can be a part of wherever a solid opportunity is.” There’s a push by world leaders for businesses to invest in AI. Canada recently appointed its first minister of artificial intelligence – and President Donald Trump says he wants to expedite building permits for AI data centers and for the U.S. to be a global leader in AI. Jon Horsman is the chief financial officer for Sovereign Digital Infrastructure. “Data centers and AI, I think, is a huge opportunity for productivity growth across humanity, really, to access information to enable people to kind of move faster, move smarter. What’s really limiting the growth of AI is access to power.” Horsman is partnering with Woodland Cree to develop this data center. He says there’s opportunities for First Nations and Indigenous communities with access to natural resources, since they require a lot of fuel and water to power them. For example, a single large data center can consume between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water a day to keep their servers cool, according to a report by the Washington Post. Chief Laboucan-Avirom says they’re going to be mindful of the environmental footprint this data center will have. “Us as a First Nation having majority control of it – we will definitely want to see the best and world-class environmental protections.” Laboucan-Avirom did not want to speculate on any financial projections of the center, but said that this will be built over several years and expects to bring in hundreds of jobs. “I’m hoping that it is a game changer. A game changer meaning – I want to pave our roads. I want to help out our elders in ways that we’re not able to help them out. I want to invest in education, better housing, etc. So, the hope is to give some of these economic development opportunities a chance.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Mescalero Apache Conservation Officers with BIA OJS Officers participating in Active Shooter Training in 2022. (Courtesy Mescalero Apache Tribe / Facebook) Officials with the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico recently told state lawmakers during an interim legislative meeting that they’re concerned about the impact of potential cuts to federal law enforcement on the reservation. Jeanette DeDios has more. The Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee held its interim hearing in Mescalero. Vice President of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, Duane Duffy estimates that there could be a 20-to-30% decrease in federal funding for law enforcement based on the proposed budget from the White House. He says this is concerning because the tribe relies completely on federal funding to pay for its law enforcement. “The federal government just built a brand new detention facility on our reservation, and they’re still trying to staff that. And you know, the question is, are those federal cuts, are they going to affect whether or not they’re going to be able to open that facility? And so they’ll have a federal facility sitting there as a shell, vacant until they can fully staff it.” The tribal nation makes up 463,000 acres and it relies on six Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers. President Thora Padilla of the Mescalero Apache Tribe says even losing one officer could be detrimental. “So any kind of cuts are gonna really impact us, and it’s difficult to try to stretch those resources over the 24-hour period that we have to protect our people with.” Duffy says he and Padilla will be having further discussions with both the federal and state delegations to work on filling the gaps from future cuts. Then AFN President and now Denali Commission Federal Co-Chair Julie Kitka at Alaska Day event held in an Washington D.C. in 2023. (Courtesy AFN) The Trump administration wants to eliminate the federal agency that’s helped Alaska villages develop infrastructure with more than $2 billion over the decades. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports on how likely the government is to cut the Denali Commission – and who would stand to lose. The cut is in the Trump administration’s budget proposal for the federal fiscal year that begins in October. It’s an effort to curtail what they call taxpayer waste and reduce the federal role in local economic development. Julie Kitka is the federal co-chair at the Denali Commission. She says previous administrations have made similar proposals and she is optimistic about the commission continuing its work. “We take it seriously, but we’re very hopeful that we’ll be identified and funded in the appropriations process.” The president’s “skinny budget” outlines the administration’s funding priorities, but Congress has the final say, expected in legislation in September or later. Congress created the Denali Commission in 1998 to work in partnership with the federal government, state, and tribes to address rural Alaska’s needs. Since then, the agency has been helping villages develop power generation facilities, transportation infrastructure, and water and sewer systems. It has also provided job training and funded more than 150 rural health clinics. “We have priority on small and distressed communities, environmentally threatened.” The administration said it wants to cut the Denali Commission – along with five other similar regional agencies – because states understand their local issues best and can address them more effectively. The state of Alaska is already a partner and a co-chair of the Denali Commission. Overall, Kitka says Alaska is growing in national and international importance, and she believes the administration will recognize the infrastructure needs of a state in such a strategic location. “There is really important work that needs to be done in our state for the resilience of our communities and our people to deal with the challenges that are just growing – the warming of the Arctic and increased transit, the access for natural resources, trade, and so forth.” Kitka says she will continue working with the House and Senate to make the case for the commission.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The statewide Turquoise Alert system in Arizona, initially touted as a way to swiftly disseminate info about Indigenous people who’ve gone missing, was enacted earlier this month. But as KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the first-ever alert helped safely locate a girl from Hawaii. “We are here because the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people demands our full attention and collaboration. It demands action and it demands solutions.” Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) hailed the Turquoise Alert back in May as a bipartisan way to address this issue in Arizona. The system went into effect on July 1 – and the first alert was 6-year-old Violet Coultas, who was identified as white. She was last seen at Sky Harbor Airport on July 12. The state Department of Public Safety (DPS) issued an alert nearly two weeks later around 7 p.m. Wednesday – within 24 hours of being notified by Hawaii police, according to Kelsey Commisso, the DPS alerts coordinator. “Immediately after that alert went out, on our end, DPS, our [Operational Communication Bureau] OPCOMM, our dispatch, was receiving multiple calls.” They received as many as 30 and over the next six hours, Cottonwood police located the missing child at a women’s shelter with help from the FBI early Thursday morning. But some expressed confusion about the girl’s Native identity, and Commisso said that’s because the Turquoise Alert had many iterations at the Capitol. “They decided to broaden that scope. That was done on the legislative end to include all members of our community.” Still, the state agency expects to issue no more than 30 alerts in any given year. Search and rescue dogs Moby and Gunny with 4Corners team member Estillee Pablo, a single mother and fluent Navajo speaker, (Courtesy 4Corners K-9 Search and Rescue / Facebook) The National Human Trafficking Hotline had 350 reports from New Mexico in 2021, according to the most recent data available. It’s an issue that also intersects with the 193 missing and murdered Indigenous people. Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) reports two organizations spoke with state lawmakers about how they could help. 4Corners K-9 Search and Rescue uses K-9 rescue dogs to search for missing persons on Native American tribal land, while Truckers Against Trafficking offers courses to truckers to keep them informed of potential trafficking signs. They recently spoke to the Legislative Indian Affairs interim committee. Bernadine Beyale (Diné), executive director of 4Corners, was part of a state response team before starting her own nonprofit in 2022. Beyale says working on tribal lands has been more challenging. “When we were part of the state rescue team, we had more finds and more successes, meaning we found people alive because we were called faster in those situations, when someone went missing through the state. But now that we’re on tribal lands, I don’t get those calls fast enough. We’re getting them too late. We’re getting them days, months, even years later.” Beyale says her organization relies on volunteers and raises its own money. She’s working with Truckers Against Trafficking, which plans to expand its outreach next year. Both groups told lawmakers they would like to see support from the state. State Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-NM) applauded the efforts. “This is why we need to change the anti-donation laws in our state, because this is one of those areas that is so incredibly important, and it’s saving lives directly.” The state’s anti-donation clause prohibits state and local governments from giving funds to individuals or entities, including nonprofits. Beyale says trafficking seems to get overlooked. “No one really talks about it, and it’s an area we do need to bring to light more, especially in our Four Corners area.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Nanwalek in 2015. (Courtesy Chugachmiut) Many clean energy initiatives across the country have been hit hard with federal funding freezes and abrupt cuts in recent months. But two villages in Alaska are considering a project that would harness the energy of ocean waves, potentially for the first time in the U.S. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Waves gently hit the shores of Kachemak Bay as ravens croak above on a cloudy night in July. The small village of Port Graham is nested here, at the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. The village may soon convert wave energy into electricity. Dannielle Malchoff is the first chief of Port Graham. “II have a lot of hope that this is going to be something great for our community.” Chugachmiut is a consortium that serves Native tribes including Port Graham and its neighbour, Nanwalek. The consortium announced it had partnered with an Australia-based company Carnegie Clean Energy in May to explore an ocean wave energy project for both villages. Carnegie has several wave energy projects across the world, including Australia and Spain, but this would be the company’s first commercial installment in the U.S, according to Louise Richardson, Carnegie’s commercial analyst. “One thing at Carnegie that we hope our technology will be able to service in the future is remote communities and isolated communities that might not have access to other forms of renewable energy options.” Port Graham and Nanwalek have no roads connecting them to the rest of the state. Energy costs there are high because the villages are at the edge of the grid and diesel for a back-up generator comes on a barge. The electrical lines running from Homer are several decades old, don’t have enough capacity, and are unreliable. Malchoff, with Port Graham, says the village loses power several times a month in winter and once every few months in summer. “We have to use satellite phones if our power is out, which isn’t very convenient when you’re trying to relay and talk to doctors in the ER and you’re dealing with a patient.” Malchoff says more reliable electricity from wave energy could solve some of these issues and, ideally, the village can sell any extra energy back to the grid and use that revenue on healthcare and education. The plan is to place a wave energy device offshore from Port Graham. The device will be submerged and tethered to the seabed, moving with the waves and converting power from that motion into electricity. Permitting, testing, and installing might take close to five years. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) welcomes William Kirkland to his confirmation hearing on July 17, 2025. (Photo: John Shinkle / U.S. Senate) Back in February, President Donald Trump tapped a Navajo man to become the next Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the nominee is one step closer to being sworn in as a top-ranking official, second only to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. William “Billy” Kirkland III was special assistant to the president and deputy director of intergovernmental affairs during President Trump’s first term. In his recent Senate confirmation hearing, Kirkland took credit for helping Trump establish Operation Lady Justice, a federal task force on missing and murdered Indigenous peoples, and for inviting the Navajo Code Talkers to the Oval Office. “I think that President Trump and Secretary Burgum love and appreciate and respect Indian Country. I think they care.” U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) disagreed. “Do you think the administration cutting billions from national programs that support Indian Country Native American communities lives, lives up to America’s trust responsibility?” “Sir, I look forward, once confirmed, to working with you, your staff, this committee, and, most importantly, tribal leaders, to prioritize the money that Congress appropriates for the Office of Indian Affairs, to make sure it’s best and most wisely invested.” If confirmed, Kirkland would be responsible for upholding tribal trust and treaty obligations on behalf of the federal government. The Senate’s August recess may be canceled to finish confirming dozens of Trump nominees.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently held a summit with some Indigenous leaders to address the issue of laws that allow the fast tracking of major development projects. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, many of those leaders say they’re still critical of the new laws, while others are taking more of a wait-and-see attitude. Carney was trying to ease First Nations fears about the major projects law, but many said it would take more than one meeting to build consensus on Ottawa’s plans. Some have already launched a legal challenge against Bill C-5 as well as Ontario’s Bill 5. Carney’s Bill C-5, also called the Building Canada Act, allows his government to sidestep laws and fast track approvals for big energy and infrastructure projects that are in the national interest. The summit, attended by hundreds of First Nations leaders, was called after Carney’s government faced a backlash from chiefs who said their concerns were not being respected, but he also promised them that they can help build the prosperity for their communities for generations to come. Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, was conciliatory in her assessment of the summit. “We want to stand up for Canada against illegal tariffs. At the same time of course we look to make sure that no more colonialism happens within our own country. We push back on that. And there’s lots of work to do and I think we can do that by working together.” Nepinak says the issues will not be settled with one meeting and she called for more, including a national summit of First Nations leaders with the prime minister. Terry Teegee is a regional chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations. He says he’s still on the fence. “There’s still a trust issue in the way the development of the actual legislation. And we see in British Columbia in the development of Bill 14/15, there’s a trust us mentality in this legislation. And as many First Nations know, we do have trust issues with all levels of government. And that’s why we wanted to be included from the start.” Much of the day was spent in panel-style discussions on meaningful consultations and economic prosperity. Carney and his cabinet ministers stayed all day doing more listening than talking. Some chiefs said they could work with the prime minister, while others said they still need more convincing. Jonathan Nez, standing in front of the U.S. Capitol in 2022, hopes to become a member of Congress starting in 2027. Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez declared his second bid for Congress Tuesday, setting up a rematch for a House seat in northeastern Arizona. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on why Nez is running again. Before this announcement, Nez admittedly mulled over launching another campaign, aiming to replace his tribal successor: Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren. The next presidential election takes place in 2026. “Folks from the Navajo Nation wanted us to come home and be their president again, and it was a tough decision. But my family decided, you know, that this is the best way we can help bring unity throughout the country. And of course, Congress should look like America.” Nez is vying to become Arizona’s first Indigenous congressman. In a statement, his opponent, U.S. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) said the Democratic Party has hit “rock bottom” by letting Nez challenge him again. He lost to Rep. Crane last year by a 9% margin – some 36,000 votes – in the state’s largest congressional district by size, which is home to more than a dozen federally recognized tribes. (Courtesy U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse / Facebook) U.S. Senators from New Mexico and Colorado have introduced the Tribal Access to Clean Water Act, which invests in tribal water projects. This bill increases funding through the Indian Health Service, the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Reclamation to support water infrastructure, and help provide clean water to Native American households that currently lack access.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

After floating the idea of reopening a shuttered federal prison on Alcatraz Island in California, President Donald Trump tasked two of his Cabinet members to see it for themselves last week. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, President Trump’s agenda is at odds with efforts in recent decades to honor the site’s Indigenous history. The National Park Service has been stewarding the 22-acre island since 1972, which now attracts more than a million tourists and $60 million in revenue annually. But Interior Secretary Doug Burgum tells Fox News that could all change. “This was part of the Bureau of Federal Prisons, and returning it to that purpose is relatively straightforward compared to a lot of transactions with federal land.” His predecessor, Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), also visited in 2021 to respect the island’s past. “Like many of the public lands and the care of the Department of the Interior, these lands tell a story, and you can feel it.” Nineteen Hopi men were imprisoned there in 1895, punished for refusing to send their children to boarding schools. A 19-month occupation occurred seven decades later. LaNada War Jack of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho was among them. “We took Alcatraz because it was bringing Indian land back into Indian custody. Meant a lot to me and to a lot of our people.” KRZA studios in Alamosa, Colo. (Courtesy KRZA.com) The claw back of federal funding to public media could hit rural radio stations especially hard. As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, stations big and small are sounding the alarm, and a leader in Native media says tribal stations could be the first to go dark. KRZA in Alamosa, Colo., KGLP in Gallup, N.M., and KGVA in Harlem, Mont. These are just a few of the stations across the Mountain West that receive up to half of their annual budgets from federal funding. Many more are located on tribal lands – like Idaho’s KIYE on the Nez Perce Reservation. Brian Wadsworth is the chief operating officer of Native Public Media – which supports dozens of tribal stations that rely heavily on federal funds. “Some of our stations, they’re managed by one person, so to lose funding, we’d see a lot of our stations go dark. He says these stations are often the only local news source – and broadcast critical information, like national emergency alerts and extreme weather warnings. That’s why South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds says he secured unused climate funds to direct to dozens of tribal stations. But, for now, Wadsworth says they don’t have any details regarding how accessible and sustainable that funding would be. The Washington Commanders roll out their team name and logo at media reveal from FedExField, Landover, Md., February 2, 2022. (Photo: Joe Glorioso / All-Pro Reels) The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) says it opposes any effort to revive “racist mascots” that demean Indigenous communities. The organization is responding to Trump’s call for the professional Washington Commanders football team to revert to its former name, the Washington R-word. In a statement Monday, NCAI said, since 1950, its priories have included eradicating Native-themed mascots. NCAI says Indian Country has repeatedly come together to condemn the unsanctioned use of Native mascots, contrary to any assertions by the president that Native Americans want the name back. Trump threatened to restrict a stadium deal for the Washington team if they don’t go back to the name. The White House told reporters Monday when questioned about the comments that the “president was serious” and “wants to see the name of that team changed.” Trump posted the comments on his social media site Sunday and also said he wants the professional Cleveland Guardians baseball team to revert back to its Native-themed name.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Andrea Ivanoff, left, and Helen MacLean during a recent recording session for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s new Dena’ina language-learning app. (Hunter Morrison / KDLL) The Dena’ina people have lived on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula for thousands of years, but today, the group’s Indigenous language isn’t spoken as widely as it once was. That’s why the Kenaitze Indian Tribe is launching interactive language-learning software to help people learn Dena’ina words and phrases. As KDLL’s Hunter Morrison reports, app developers say the language revitalization tool is key to preserving the health of the Indigenous community. “Okay, today is June 4, 2025. This is the verb stem dictionary page 553.” In a small recording studio at the tribe’s administrative office in Kenai, language transcriptionist Andrea Ivanoff runs through the book’s Dena’ina phrases. “This one’s a long one. [Dena’ina phrase]” She’s seated across from her grandmother and longtime Dena’ina language speaker Helen MacLean, who repeats the Dena’ina phrase. Ivanoff: “Overflow ice that formed into a bluff.” MacLean: “Mhm.” They’re recording content for CAN8, Kenaitze’s new language-learning computer application. It’s part of the tribe’s cultural revitalization efforts. Andrea Ivanoff runs through a book of Dena’ina phrases at a recording session for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s new language learning application. (Photo: Hunter Morrison / KDLL) Joel Isaak, Kenaitze’s director of language and cultural preservation, is also the language app’s project manager. “For adult learners, there’s no access point to learn Dena’ina.We’re hoping that this application will help foster, really a love and interest and dedication to learning Dena’ina language.” The Kenaitze application, which is still in its beta testing phase, covers everything from basic Dena’ina vocabulary to full sentences. The 20-unit program is loaded with interactive games, spelling tests, and more. Eight Dena’ina people developed the app, including MacLean. MacLean grew up speaking Dena’ina and says her language is part of her identity. “My grandma, grandpa, and our uncle, they told me, ‘You better not lose our words, you guys have to keep it.'” Dena’ina people, like Isaak, say preserving the language is important because much of their culture has been lost through the deliberate suppression of Alaska Native traditions and customs. “This is core to our identity and it’s also critical for our health and who we are as people. So it helps heal the community by bringing health back to this place that we all call home.” (Courtesy Asm. James Ramos / Facebook) Officials and students at California Indian Nations College joined tribal leaders and lawmakers Friday in Palm Springs, Calif. to celebrate a $10 million state investment in the school to help with efforts for it to become the only federally accredited tribal college in the state. Celeste Townsend, president and CEO of the college, says tribal colleges and universities uplift their communities, honor cultural knowledge, and foster student success. “For generations, the absence of a tribal college in California meant our students were left without a place that truly honored who they are, but today, with CINC’s accreditation and expanding presence, that reality is changing. Now, Native and non-Native students have a place to pursue their academic goals in a space that is respectful and rooted in cultural values that sustain our First Peoples.” California Indian Nations College is a two-year college located in Palm Desert. Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA) advocated for the state funding. Conceptual rendering of New Commanders Stadium. (Courtesy D.C. Government / Wikimedia) President Trump is threatening to hold up a stadium deal for the Washington football team over its name, the Associated Press reports. Trump posted on his social media site Sunday saying he wants the NFL team to restore its former R-word name. He also wants the professional Cleveland baseball team to restore its former name. Native groups, including the National Congress of American Indians, have long advocated for the end of the use of Indian mascots and logos in sports.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) axed a program this week that was supporting farmers and food producers. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports on what it means for farmers in the county’s most northern state. The USDA created the Regional Food Business Centers program in 2023 to strengthen local food economies, but on Tuesday, the department abruptly terminated that program, which was originally funded through pandemic relief money. USDA officials said in a press release there was no long-term way to finance it. Robbi Mixon is the executive director of the Alaska Food Policy Council, which was in charge of the program locally. Mixon says this decision pulls back over $6 million in investment for Alaska, a state where the majority of food is imported and many villages are not on the road system. “This was a chance for real economic investment into our food and farm businesses and fishers.” A dozen business centers across the country were part of the program. Each one worked to allocate grants to food producers and farmers and help them with grant writing, marketing and business planning. The Alaska Food Policy Council was working within one of those centers. “The program was tailored to address specific challenges in Alaska, so our huge geography.” Mixon says the program takes other unique hurdles into account too, like transportation and logistic costs. The council planned to award grants to over 50 food and farm businesses across Alaska, but as the council approached the time to award grants last winter, the Trump administration froze the funding, so the council had to pause their work. “We were working with an organization that was looking to set up more fresh produce markets in rural Alaska. We were working with an organization that wanted to provide technical assistance for home-based food businesses … And we did have tribal partners as well.” Still, Mixon says the Food Council will use its volunteer board and statewide working groups to advocate for investments and build stronger food systems for all Alaskans. The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing Thursday on the nomination of William Kirkland for Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in February. Kirkland is a member of the Navajo Nation and served in the Trump administration during the president’s first term. In his testimony, Kirkland said he worked on a range of tribal issues at the White House, including efforts to address missing and murdered Indigenous women, and honoring Native Code Talkers. Kirkland committed to uphold the federal trust responsibility, if confirmed, and work with tribal governments, tribal leaders, Alaska Native corporations, and Congress. Senators questioned him about a number of topics including lack of punishment bureaucrats (aka law enforcement officers), water, and substance use and overdose. Senators also asked how he’d advocate for tribes in the administration, especially as funding cuts are being made across federal programs. Kirkland says communication is key. “And collaborating with the tribal leaders to prioritize what needs they see are the most important. And specifically, when it comes to law enforcement and protecting our tribal communities, I think whatever dollars are allocated towards the office of Indian Affairs by Congress, we’re going to work to make sure that we get the best investment, that is allocated towards resources or law and order.” Senators say the position requires a strong advocate to assist the Secretary of Interior in fulfilling the U.S. trust responsibility to tribes.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The U.S. Senate Thursday passed President Donald Trump’s request to take back $9 billion in foreign aid and public media funding with a vote of 51 to 48. Leaders in Native media say tribal stations across the country will be hit hard if the $1 billion in already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is revoked. Tribal stations are among those that receive CPB funding. Leaders of Native Public Media, Vision Maker Media, and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation fear tribal stations could go dark. According to the organizations, Native radio is a vital part of tribal communities – providing emergency alerts, news and information, and cultural content. Additionally, they say tribal stations are often located in remote areas where there is limited internet — and communities rely on public broadcasting. According to Native Public Media, there are 59 tribal radio stations and three tribal television stations across the country, reaching more than 1.5 million people. Koahnic Broadcast Corporation produces National Native News and operates an urban Native radio station. Alaska Native people recently celebrated the anniversary of the day Benny Benson ran the Alaska flag up a flagpole for the very first time. He was the seventh-grade student who designed the state flag, but as KNBA’s Rhonda McBride tells us, Benson’s tribe says there is much more to the story. It was almost 100 years ago that Benny Benson won a statewide contest for the flag’s iconic design – eight stars of gold on a field of blue. The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska has passed a resolution to address some of the racial discrimination Benson experienced as a child growing up in an orphanage in Unalaska, and later at the Jesse Lee Home in Seward. Michael Livingston, a historian and member of the tribe, drafted the resolution. “I do think it’s real important that the story gets out. We’ve only got about two years before the 100-year Anniversary. We’ve forgotten some of the terrible things that happened almost 100 years ago. I think people need to know that part of the story, if for no other reason, to respect how brave and strong Benny was.” When Benny Benson entered the contest, he lived at the Jesse Lee Home in Seward. Although he came in third place in the local competition, his design was among those that were sent to Juneau for the statewide contest. Livingston says the Seward organizers did not want an Alaska Native to win and pressured him to drop out. But out of 142 entries submitted in the state contest, Benson’s design rose to the top. Seven judges, who did not know the names of the students nor where they lived, made a unanimous decision to award Benson first place. Livingston says Benson was half-white and Aleut (Unangax̂) and denigrated in news stories for his dark skin. A 1927 New York Times article described the flag contest winner as a half-caste boy, small in stature, swarthy, who spoke in “clipped” English, and knew more about hunting and fishing than anything else. Livingston said after the Alaska Territorial Legislature approved money for Benson to travel to Washington D.C. to present the new flag to President Calvin Coolidge, a Seward newspaper wrote that Benson, who “carried the blood of aboriginal ancestry from the most primitive,” would stand among the great. The tribal resolution cites numerous instances of discrimination against Benson and other Native school children of the day. Livingston hopes it will serve as an important history lesson for Alaskans, but also a point of pride. “There are 50 states in the United States, and out of those 50 state flags, there’s only one designed by a Native American, and that’s Alaska’s flag designed by Benny Benson.” As part of an ongoing campaign to recognize Benson’s contributions, his grandson accepted an honorary doctorate for Benson from Alaska Pacific University in April. On Friday, Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA) will present a $10 million state general fund check to California Indian Nations College during an event in Palm Springs, Calif. The funding is to help the higher education institution become the state’s only federally accredited tribal college. According to Asm. Ramos’ office, California has the greatest numbers of Native Americans in the nation, but lacks such an institution. California Indian Nations College is a two-year college located in Palm Desert, Calif.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: The Tribal Elder Food Box Program helps feed Native elders across Wisconsin. (Courtesy Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin) It’s been more than a year since the Government Accountability Board released a study and issued recommendations addressing food insecurity among tribes. However, neither Congress nor the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have acted on them. Brian Bull of Buffalo’s Fire reports. In its findings released in July 2024, the GAO found that Native households were more than twice as likely to deal with food shortages or problems securing nutritious meals. Kathryn Larin is the GAO’s director. She mentions a few common factors. “Just the more rural and remote locations of tribal communities. They are harder to reach. There is less access to a variety of nutritious foods. And the cost of the foods is higher, than often you find in more urban areas.” Among the recommendations the GAO has made is letting tribes administer more Food and Nutrition Service programs, and addressing dual participation in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and food distribution programs. Martha Yahola shops at the Food Distribution Program at Seminole Nation of Oklahoma in 2018. (Photo: Preston Keres / USDA) Marlon Skenandore is an Oneida Nation councilor who worked with the GAO during its research and surveying of tribes. He says traditional foods are important, but so is affordability and access. “Wild rice is super expensive now. And the berries are getting up there. So it’s all about direct access. I always think of an idea of how we can subsidize some of our traditional indigenous foods. And we kind of do that now, we have a tribal elder food box that happens twice a month that is mostly Indigenous sourced.” The GAO’s six recommendations are intended to improve knowledge of food security among tribal communities and improve services, but while Congress and the USDA have agreed with the recommendations, nothing has been done yet. Mary Greene Trottier is a Spirit Lake tribal member, who also serves as the director of the National Association of Food Delivery Programs on Indian Reservations. She says studies and recommendations are fine, but now it’s time to collaborate towards remedies. “We know the problems. We know we can address the solutions. We are boots on the ground and just listening to our voices and utilizing that knowledge.” The USDA says it’s actively working to address the GAO’s recommendations, but did not address any specifics on a timeline. And two Congressional committees that work in Indian Affairs did not return requests for comment. Interior of the immigration detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” with President Donald Trump in the background. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is taking action in its opposition of the so-called Alligator Alcatraz – an immigrant detention facility in the Everglades. In a press release Tuesday, the tribe said it is filing suit as an intervening plaintiff in a case being brought by Friends of the Everglades, Center for Biological Diversity, and Earthjustice. The suit is against the state and the federal government. The tribe is raising concerns over environmental impacts and safety. The tribe says the facility is on traditional homelands and near traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages. In a statement, Chairman Talbert Cypress said “the Miccosukee Tribe is committed to ensuring that ancestral lands in Big Cypress will not become a permanent detention facility.” Chairman Cypress says they have reached out to the state and federal governments expressing concerns, but have not heard of a closing date for the facility, so they are taking legal action. Cannabis growing in a ditch in Buffalo County, Nebraska; photographed in 2017. (Photo: Ammodramus / Wikimedia) The Omaha Tribal Council has adopted a cannabis regulatory code to establish the first medical and adult-use cannabis system in Nebraska. According to a press release Tuesday, the tribe is asserting its sovereignty with the action and building a sustainable economy. The move comes after voters in the state approved medical cannabis last year. The tribe says a phased rollout will begin this year.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Donald Trump Jr., seen in this 2014 photo with his son Donald Trump III, is among the opponents of the Pebble Mine. (Courtesy Donald Trump Jr. / Facebook) The Trump administration may be on the verge of reviving plans for a controversial mine upstream from Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin reports. The company behind the proposed Pebble Mine says it’s in talks with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and hopes the agency will withdraw its veto of the project. The open-pit copper and gold mine is widely opposed by area tribes and the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, as well as commercial fishermen. They say it’s a threat to the bay’s prolific salmon runs that are the basis of the regional economy and vital to subsistence and Alaska Native culture. Environmental studies found the mine would damage or destroy miles of salmon streams and more than 2,000 acres of wetlands. Opponents have succeeded in blocking the proposal for decades. The EPA issued a rare veto of the project in 2023, but a document filed in federal court this month reveals that the EPA is reconsidering that decision. In his first term, President Donald Trump ran hot and cold on Pebble. His first EPA administrator let the project move forward, then reversed course a few months later. Then, in 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied Pebble’s Clean Water Act permit. That came after Donald Trump Jr., a sportfisherman who visited the region, publicly announced his opposition. Several whaling crews join in a traditional Iñupiaq dance during Nalukataq. (Photo: Sarah Betcher) The Trump administration’s new budget reconciliation bill is drawing criticism from some for its cuts to social safety net programs. But residents in one Arctic community say the bill will support their economy, thanks to several carveouts for Alaska, including an increased tax break for whaling captains. Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Charles Akłinik Lampe is an Inupiaq whaler, born and raised in Kaktovik, on the North Slope. His whaling crew hosted a feast in June, celebrating their successful bowhead whale harvest and sharing it with the village. “It doesn’t only go to the whaling captains or whaling captains’ families. It goes to our entire community.” Lampe is one of the whaling captains in Alaska’s Arctic who are applauding the Republican megabill that President Trump signed into law on July 4. The bill has been criticized for extending tax breaks for wealthier Americans and for slashing social safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was a deciding vote in the bill’s passage. She defended her vote by pointing to delayed work requirements for food stamp recipients in Alaska, and offsets for Medicaid cuts with federal funding. The final bill also includes a tax deduction increase for subsistence whaling captains from $10,000 to $50,000 for whaling-related expenses. Lampe says those deductions will provide a big economic relief for 11 whaling communities in Alaska. He says captains like him annually need to buy fuel, food, whaling bombs, and safety gear for their crews. “It could be very, very spendy. Having that tax break frees up money to provide help for the rest of the year for not only the whaling captains, but to our family members and stuff too, because we help wherever we can.” The megabill also seeks to increase resource development across the state and includes new oil lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Nathan Gordon Jr. is the mayor of Kaktovik, the only community within the refuge. He says those provisions acknowledge what many North Slope residents have been advocating for: Responsible resource development to support local economy and infrastructure. “That’s where most of the tax money is going to go is to the new school in Kaktoivik, which is amazing,” North Slope residents, like Lampe, also say they’re also encouraged by the nearly $25 billion in the bill for the Coast Guard – a federal agency that often assists them with search and rescue operations. (Courtesy Rep. Sharice Davids) U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk/D-KS) and several of her colleagues are calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to restore the Not Invisible Act Commission Report to the DOJ website, which was removed earlier this year due to an executive order. Members recently sent a letter to the DOJ which said the report includes critical information on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis, and say its removal erases years of research. The members say accessible data is essential to addressing the crisis. They’re asking the DOJ to take steps to immediately restore it.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Gabriel Bourne, left, a Fallon Paiute-Shoshone member, stands next to Dr. Steven Dalton and Crystal Hall, a medical records specialist, after being treated inside the mobile clinic. (Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau) The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe in Nevada is expanding healthcare access with a mobile clinic. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more on how tribal patients are getting the healthcare they need. After years of driving their vehicles to neighboring reservations, the tribe bought a mobile clinic last year. It was funded by a $673,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, aimed at expanding rural healthcare access after the pandemic. The tribe’s mobile clinic serves its members and drives to the Lovelock Paiute and Yomba Shoshone reservations – covering a territory of about 200 miles. It can also treat any member of a tribe in Nevada. Joy Schultz, a registered nurse with the Fallon Tribal Health Center, helps a patient check in for a mobile clinic appointment. (Photo: Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau) Jon Pishion is the director of the Fallon Tribal Health Center. He says they serve about 2,000 people, averaging about 20 patients each month. They try to visit each tribe at least once a month, but that isn’t always easy. “Challenge is weather and distance. They are far away. And during winter, sometimes these areas get hard to access here.” Mobile health clinics are also being used by the Navajo Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, and the Fort Peck Tribes in Montana. “I think having the providers go into community opens their eyes to the needs and how to better serve them.” Dr. Christopher Chai is working at the mobile clinic here in Lovelock. He says they can even act as an urgent care for injuries and wounds. “We will get the random rancher come in with a broken finger and say, like, what do I do with this – it sliced open – and we can put in stitches.” Pishion adds that the clinic also helps tribal members be proactive instead of reactive about their health. “We have some people that maybe only come in when they’re sick, but now they’re seeing us for their preventative care when we come out.” Like Barbara Bonta, an elder of the Walker River Paiute Tribe who lives in Lovelock. “I’ve been seeing them for my feet and other problems that I didn’t know I had till they started testing this and testing that.” Barbara Bonta, left, an elder of the Walker River Paiute Tribe, sits on an exam table inside the Fallon Tribal Health Center’s mobile clinic. Nurse Joy Schultz prepares to check her vitals. (Photo: Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau) Bonta was brought to the mobile clinic by her daughter Tia Happy. “With my mom, she can’t sit for a long time in a car to go to Fallon or elsewhere to appointments, so it makes it super convenient when the mobile comes here.” Happy says her mom’s been seeing Dr. Chai for the past two years, consistent care that’s been made possible by this mobile clinic, which isn’t slowing down. This year, the clinic plans to add dental care to its services. An example of a Turquoise Alert issued for people missing under suspicious circumstances in Arizona. (Courtesy Arizona Department of Public Safety) Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) announced last week the launch of the Turquoise Alert system for Native Americans. It’s a new tool intended to help the state’s department of public safety and law enforcement respond when vulnerable people go missing. In May, Gov. Hobbs signed legislation creating the alert. It was deployed before its effective date this fall. Hobbs says the tool is a meaningful step to improve the safety and wellbeing of communities across Arizona, and in particular Tribal communities, which have suffered from a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Tribal leaders were among those to advocate for the alert system. Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis (Gila River Indian Community) took to social media to announce the launch of the Turquoise Alert, saying it’s in honor of Emily Pike, a San Carlos Apache teenager who went missing and was later found dead. “I feel the weight of every story of a missing loved one. Now the creation of the Turquoise Alert System through Emily’s Law is deeply meaningful to me and to all tribal communities across Arizona. We have long lived with the painful reality that our Indigenous brothers and sisters, our relatives, go missing at alarming rates and too often slip through the cracks of systems not built to protect them.” Gov. Lewis says the Turquoise Alert gives tribal communities a fighting chance to bring their relatives home. The alert will be activated when a person goes missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances and is believed to be endangered.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Manitoba has again declared a state of emergency because of wildfires. It’s the second time this year. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the province’s premier Wab Kinew says more shelter is needed for people forced to leave their homes. The wildfires continue to force community evacuations, especially in northern areas. The province is in the middle of one of the worst wildfire season in 30 years. So far, about 20 million acres of land have burned in the province, 11 times worse than the average. And there are more than 100 active fires burning in Manitoba. Now thousands of people are fleeing, some of them for the second time in the past couple of months. Here’s Manitoba premier Wab Kinew. “The primary reason that we have called this latest state of emergency is because we need access to more facilities to be able to shelter this large number of Manitobans who are being forced to flee their homes due to wildfires.” The community of Snow Lake declared a local state of emergency earlier this week. Then the Garden Hill First Nation also issued an evacuation notice. Canadian Armed Forces transport plans have already removed about 1,000 residents. So far, about 6,000 people have been transferred from their communities and 12,000 have been displaced. The state of emergency allows the province to use convention centers and arenas to help provide shelter space. Archaeologists with the Alutiiq Museum dig into layers on layers site at Karluk Lake called site 309, which revealed a “super structure”. This is separate from what was surveyed on Shuyak Island. (Courtesy Alutiiq Museum Archaeology Department & Repository) Shuyak Island, Alaska is one of several located in the Kodiak Archipelago and like many islands in the area it has a rich history. The Alutiiq Museum’s archaeological team has been surveying sites on the island for years and as KMXT’s Davis Hovey reports, they have pieced together more of the historical timeline of the island’s use. Patrick Saltonstall is the archaeology curator with the Alutiiq Museum. He’s heavily involved in site surveys and excavations around the Kodiak Archipelago. This spring, Saltonstall and staff from the museum’s archaeology team finished surveying Shuyak Island, which is located 54 air miles north of Kodiak. “A lot of the old research had focused on the northwest part of Shuyak and we surveyed the whole island. And we found a lot of really big villages on the east side.” He says they surveyed one site that dates back to roughly 7,000 years ago, which he suspects is the oldest found on that island thus far. “I think we found that one village that had 11 house pits, probably had two to three hundred people living in it, you know, 300 years ago.” Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people have inhabited areas around Kodiak Island for at least 7,500 years, according to archaeologists. And thousands of archaeological sites have been documented across the archipelago. According to the Alutiiq Museum, Shuyak Island was an integral part of that history with at least two established Alutiiq villages. But Russian fur trader Gregorii Shelikov destroyed one of the villages and by the late 1700s there were no communities left on the island. The word Suu’aq in Alutiiq means “rising out of the water”. And true to its name, Saltonstall says the island itself is rising at a faster rate than the sea level is, so the threat of eroding sites is not as prevalent today. “What we found up there is that’s not happening anymore. All the sites are much more stable. You see grass growing on all the beaches, and it demonstrates…the land sank in 1964 and it’s rebounded ever since, and it’s outpacing sea level rise up there.” Most of the island is now owned by the state and is included in the Shuyak Island State Park. Mark Macarro, seen here on Air Force One with President Joe Biden in 2024. Condemnation over conservative commentator Ann Coulter’s anti-Native post on social media site X continues. Brian Bull has more. Earlier this week, Coulter posted a video of Melanie Yazzie, a University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member at a 2023 conference discussing colonization. Coulter posted “We didn’t kill enough Indians”, sparking outrage. The post has since disappeared from X, but tribal leaders and organizations have continued to denounce it as “violent” and low, even for a controversial figure like Coulter. The National Congress of American Indians has added to the criticism. NCAI President Mark Macarro says “Careless comments like this glorify the darkest chapters of U.S. history and actively endanger Native peoples’ lives today.” Larry Wright Jr., the NCAI’s executive director, adds, “Free speech does not confer a license to advocate for or justify mass murder — past or present. When a public figure with more than two million followers romanticizes extermination, it fuels harassment, hate crimes, and political violence.” Others have pointed out the callousness of the post given the Missi

Photo: The Fallon Tribal Health Center’s mobile clinic parked at the Lovelock Paiute Tribe’s health fair in Lovelock, Nev., on May 16, 2025. (Kaleb Roedel / Mountain West News Bureau) Some tribal nations are among the most remote communities in the country – and the rural healthcare shortage has hit them especially hard. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports that one tribe in Nevada has found a solution: a doctor’s office on wheels. It’s a clear morning in Lovelock, Nev., a small desert town about 90 miles northeast of Reno. It’s also home to the Lovelock Paiute Tribe, which has a 20-acre reservation on the edge of town. At a tree-shaded park, where the tribe is hosting its annual health fair, there is live music, jewelry vendors, information booths, and food trucks. There’s also a vehicle that looks like a large blue-and-white motorhome idling on the edge of the park. But inside are two patient rooms and a center lab with a blood draw station. It’s a mobile health clinic brought here by the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe – located about an hour away. Gabriel Bourne just stepped out of the vehicle. “Having access to this, I was able to get some shots I needed – that I should’ve probably had a long time ago but didn’t get.” Time and travel are the biggest barriers, he says. Bourne (Fallon Paiute-Shoshone member) lives in Lovelock, so seeing a physician in Fallon is a two-hour round trip. So when Bourne, who hadn’t been to the doctor in more than a year, realized he was steps away from a mobile clinic, he took full advantage. “I’m able to get my eye appointment, which I’ve needed glasses for a while, along with some cancer screening setups, and follow up with the doctor to see labs and everything else.” Accessing quality health care has long been an issue for tribal nations, especially in rural areas. The federal Indian Health Service has less than 100 hospitals and medical clinics nationwide, all to serve about 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. And most facilities suffer chronic staffing shortages. Some of the highest vacancy rates have been felt by the Navajo Nation, Albuquerque, N.M., Phoenix, Ariz., and Billings, Mont. Jon Pishion is the director of the Fallon Tribal Health Center, which runs the mobile clinic here at the fair. He says the lack of access was amplified five years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic. “A lot of healthcare facilities were being shut down. And with all the services being closed, we needed something to go out to the communities.” (Courtesy Yurok Tribe / Facebook) The Yurok Tribe in rural northern California is catching up to the digital age. Like many tribal communities that are located in remote regions, the Yurok Nation has gone without high-speed broadband internet, but that is changing. Christina Aanestad reports. “Where I grew up there wasn’t any power and phone lines. No connectivity at all.” Shannon Hulbert is board president of Yurok Telecommunications (YTEL), the first-time provider of broadband internet on the Yurok reservation and surrounding communities in northern California’s redwood region. She says the multi-million-dollar project will create more than 200 jobs and make a world of difference. “This creates a reason for people to move back to the reservation, because they have that ability to connectivity to have jobs anywhere. They can work remotely from the reservation and still be part of their reservation activities and communities. Students will have access to online collaboration tools that everybody else is using.” A Census Bureau report last year found Native American communities lag behind the rest of the nation in broadband connectivity. Ninety percent of US households have access, compared to 70% of Native communities. Hulbert says it’s largely because Native American reservations are remote in rural areas, where there remains a digital divide. The YTEL broadband project was made possible through federal and state grants.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The Eklutna Tribe has operated its new casino outside Anchorage, Alaska, under the shadow of two separate lawsuits. As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports, a federal judge has dismissed one of them. Ever since a group of property owners tried to block the casino with a lawsuit, tribal advocates have kept a close eye on this case, because their attorney, Don Mitchell, challenged the Native Village of Eklutna’s status as a federally recognized tribe. “Congress has never allowed a middle-ranking employee of the Interior Department to just wave a magic wand and create 200 Indian tribes, either in Alaska or any other place.” Mitchell is referring to Ada Deer, who was Assistant Interior Secretary in the Clinton administration. In 1993, she included Eklutna in a list of Alaska tribes on the Federal Register to eliminate any doubt that they have the same status as other tribes in the United States. Numerous court cases have tried and failed to invalidate Deer’s decision. Last month U.S. District Judge James Robart stood by those cases – and ruled that the Eklutna lawsuit should be dismissed in “equity and good conscience.” Tribal legal experts like Michelle Demmert applauded the ruling, but she says cases like this one consume time, energy, and precious dollars. “Time and time again, the law is clear in these areas that continue to be challenged. If the argument was that the Eklutna tribe is not a tribe, there’s legal precedent. There’s federal law that says, ‘They are.’” In a statement, Aaron Leggett, the president of the Native Village of Eklutna, called the ruling a significant step forward because it affirmed an important principle to the tribe – that its rights are firmly rooted in the land. The tribe still faces another federal lawsuit, this one brought on by the Alaska Attorney general. It also aims to shut down the casino. Canada’s Senate debates Bill C-5 before its passage. A recent federal law that passed in the Canadian parliament, called the major projects bill, has drawn criticism and anger from Indigenous leaders. They call it a betrayal of reconciliation and a failure to properly consult with Indigenous stakeholders. More from Dan Karpenchuk. First there was Bill 5 from Ontario, which allowed the provincial cabinet to designate special economic zones. The aim to fast track resource development such as mining of critical minerals. That bill passed without consultation from First Nations and they say it oversteps treaty obligations. Now at the federal level the controversial Bill C-5 has also passed. It is legislation to fast track major projects across Canada. It gives Ottawa the power to side step environmental protections and other laws. Originally it was aimed at circumventing the Indian Act, but that part was removed. Some Native leaders have warned that it could lead to protests and legal challenges if it does not respect rights and title. And some had called on members of parliament and other lawmakers to slow down Bill C-5 so that Indigenous leaders could review the law. Senator Paul Prosper (Mi’kmaq) is calling the rushed passage of the legislation a betrayal. “We do not want success and progress to come on the backs of Indigenous peoples. We want to be at the table making decisions alongside Canadian politicians because these decisions affect us. They affect our lands and resources.” Sen. Prosper said Canada is becoming a country of extremes and the ability for moderate social discourse is gone. He says it isn’t right or acceptable. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce praised the quick passage of the bill, saying it has the potential to unleash the Canadian economy, but also urged the government to ensure that there is full compliance with rights of Indigenous communities and environmental standards.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: San Carlos Apache College Vice President and Provost Lisa Eutsey, left, and San Carlos adjunct professor Marcus Macktima commencement on May 17, 2025. (Samuel Meade) President Donald Trump is proposing drastic funding cuts for tribal colleges and universities. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on institutions in Arizona and New Mexico. “Without doubt, this is threatening to close their doors.” Ahniwake Rose (Cherokee) is president and CEO of the nonprofit American Indian Higher Education Consortium. These schools depend on three federal agencies to stay financially afloat. “If you take away any one of those legs, you know that stool will fall. We actually saw flat funding at both the Department of Education and the USDA.” As for the Interior Department … “Ironically, the agency that’s really in charge of the trust responsibilities to Indian people is the one that zeroed out funding.” The White House did not respond to KJZZ’s requests when asked to explain why. But Scott Davis (Standing Rock Sioux), senior advisor to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, testified during a congressional hearing that these huge cuts are nothing new. “We’ve been through the ebbs and flows of funding with Congress for a long time. We’ve seen cuts, we’ve seen increases, we’ve seen it all, but we’ve always been resilient.” Map of tribal colleges and universities nationwide. (Courtesy American Indian Higher Education Consortium) Tohono O’odham Community College president Stephen Schoonmaker worries this is nothing short of a death sentence. “Some tribal colleges will die quickly and others will die slowly, but we cannot sustain without the obligated funds that should be coming and have come for a long time.” While the community college is home to nearly 1,200 students with four campuses statewide, Schoonmaker says they are still dependent on the feds. More than half of its operational funding comes from the Bureau of Indian Education. He fears funding shortfalls could have cascading effects, like losing their accreditation, which took years to achieve. “Our accreditor is going to say, ‘Are you fiscally stable?’ And if you aren’t, they’re just going to look at that as a red flag.” And the looming cuts could discourage student interest, with Schoonmaker saying the mere threat hurts enrollment. “Why would a student say, ‘I’m going to go to Tohono O’odham Community College’ when they may lose 90% of a major funding source?” The Institute of American Indian Arts campus in Santa Fe, N.M. (Photo: Jason S. Ordaz / IAIA) In Santa Fe, N.M., the Institute of American Indian Arts is bracing for the Trump administration to do away with its $13 million appropriation. “They’ve never given us a reason, didn’t expect this one though.” President Robert Martin (Cherokee) never imagined his summer being bogged down by grave budget talks before retiring later this month. Now it’s up to lawmakers in DC to decide the fate of this prestigious arts school in the Southwest. “In our name, it has Indian and arts, and both of those, I don’t think, are considered to be very important to this current administration.” Ann Coulter at CPAC 2013. (Photo: Gage Skidmore / Flickr) Leaders of Native organizations and tribes are speaking out against conservative commentator Ann Coulter’s recent post on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, which she stated “we didn’t kill enough Indians,” with a photo of a Native professor. Native American Rights Fund Executive Director John Echohawk, in a statement Monday, called the post “ignorant”, “immoral”, and “genocidal language”.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Native American Rights Fund (@nativeamericanrightsfund) Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. shared a long response on Facebook, calling the post beyond abhorrent and dangerous hate speech. Navajo Nation council speaker Crystalyne Curley, left, and Billy Kirkland shake hands with guests at the Navajo Nation Washington Office. Kirkland was honored at the office during a reception in January. (Photo: Antonia Gonzales) The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has a hearing scheduled this month to consider the nomination of William Kirkland for Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior. Kirkland (Navajo) is a political strategist from Georgia and served in the first Trump administration. The National Congress of American Indians applauded his nomination in February, stating the position is critical to upholding the federal government’s trust and treaty responsibilities, and ensuring the effective delivery of services to tribes.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: A pendant for San Carlos Apache College hung on campus. (Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) While Congress continues mulling over President Trump’s fiscal agenda, part of the White House budget proposes to essentially defund tribal colleges and universities – reducing federal funding by nearly 90%. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports on how Arizona schools and others across Indian Country are bracing for devastation. Among them is San Carlos Apache College, which is not your typical campus. The tribe has been building toward this dream of making higher education more accessible on the reservation for the last decade-plus. That vision from San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler is still a work in progress, but one he’s been contributing to in ways – big and small. “So we asked the chairman if we can borrow his podium. We didn’t know he had more than one.” Lisa Eutsey is vice president and provost of San Carlos Apache College. She’s talking about the first commencement in May 2020. “And so the next year, I had texted him or something and I was like, ‘Hey, can we borrow your podium again?’ But then I realized we found it, and he was like, ‘Just keep it.’” That’s been a theme for the chairman, when it comes to piecemealing this makeshift campus together in the heart of San Carlos by slowly turning empty tribally owned buildings – including one home to old council chambers – into classrooms. “Actually, a lot of the artwork on the walls are things that the chairman donated.” Chartered in 2014, then officially opening its doors three years later, the college has graduated over 100 students. “I joke I was leaving, in a way, the most fully funded, built out, oldest tribal college.” Eutsey used to be dean of faculty for Diné College, which was founded on the Navajo Nation in 1968. “…to come to a college with no funding, no classrooms, no faculty.” By this fall, Eutsey says the college expects to employ eight full-time teachers and enroll 500 students but they and another 36 Indigenous schools across more than a dozen states are still dreading the worst. Trump wants to cut their federal funding by almost 90% – down to a collective $22 million. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds during a 2025 Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing. U.S. Senators have a deadline of July 18 to decide whether to eliminate federal funding for public media. South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s CJ Keene has more. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) sits on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He says supporting tribal radio stations is a priority through the process. “For our Native American reservations, there are some small radio stations in South Dakota and the United States who really rely on the public broadcasting funds to survive. We know that you want to revert some of those funds, but if you do that, some of those small stations that provide emergency service and community information – they may not survive.” Sen. Rounds says White House counterparts have agreed to work with Congressional leaders seeking to keep tribal-operated radio functional through the process. (Courtesy 25th Navajo Nation Council / Facebook) Over the weekend, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) visited the command center for the Oak Ridge Fire in Window Rock, Ariz. to get updates and offer her support. The Oak Ridge Fire is on the Navajo Nation near St. Michaels. Gov. Hobbs says her administration will continue to coordinate with the tribe to contain the fire, and with recovery efforts. Tribal officials, including Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley, met with Hobbs during the visit. As of Monday morning, the fire was covering more than 10,900 acres. It started on June 28. Officials say the fire has not grown significantly in recent days and additional growth is not expected. Efforts will soon be shifting to the recovery phase of the fire. Officials say in the coming weeks, it will be critical to assess the fire’s impacts on the land, vegetation, wildlife, and cultural sites.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Jalisco Miles, left, holds a checklist while Farrell Hayes and Riston Bullock check on the fire truck engine on June 12, 2025. (Lauren Paterson / NWPB) As the Trump administration looks to combine multiple fire agencies under one organization, firefighter numbers are dwindling. Northwest Public Broadcasting’s Lauren Paterson reports on how the Nez Perce Tribe is stepping up despite the challenges. Three young firefighters are standing under the hot sun in Lapwai, Idaho, doing an engine check on one of their fire trucks. All of them are members of and firefighters for the Nez Perce Tribe. Riston Bullock is going into his thirteenth season. He says he does this job because he’s dedicated to protecting the land, and his community. “Now that I’ve been in fire for so long, it’s kind of more, being the first one to respond, put the fires out.” A big challenge here in Idaho, and across the nation, is that there aren’t enough people to help. “ We’re losing firefighters. The numbers are going down.” People can still volunteer, but… “We need people at the shop ready to go when those fires start..” Across from the shop in the air conditioned office, Jeff Handel, the fire management officer, is on the phone trying to schedule repairs for fire trucks. “OK what I need is, I got a couple rigs that need radios put in ‘em.” He’s also worried the younger generation doesn’t seem too interested in firefighting. “ It’s pretty tough in today’s world when you can get a job, work from home and, and, and do okay financially, why would you wanna go out and do the firefighting thing? Which is very hard work.” Back at the shop, the firefighters are organizing equipment like ropes and hatchets. There could be changes coming to how the Nez Perce Tribal fire crew works with other agencies in the region. The Trump administration is trying to merge all federal firefighting into a single agency. That could mean shifting thousands of jobs around just as fire season is ramping up. Bullock says he’s not sure how that would work. “I feel like it’ll just kind of be a new name, but I still feel like we’ll still have our shops and everything here will be mixed out through each other. Approximately $1.2bn will be requested as part of the new Wildland Fire Service budget. For now, Bullock and the rest of the crew aren’t giving it too much thought. They’re busy getting ready for the next call. Alameda County Coroner’s sign. (Photo: I Love Old Signs! / Flickr) A group of researchers found gaps in how death certificates are maintained with implications for Native Americans’ health. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more. Researchers from prestigious universities to Indigenous communities studied death certificates from 2008 to 2019. They found Native Americans have a life expectancy of roughly 72 years old. The national average is 79. That’s a much bigger gap than official stats show, says Jacob Bor. He’s an associate professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and the study’s lead author. “American Indian populations have been subjected to deliberate policies of physical and cultural erasure for centuries. These patterns have contributed to today’s economic and physical marginalization and deprivation and to poor outcomes in these populations.” Bor and his team uncovered another problem. Death certificates for at least 40% of Native Americans failed to identify them as American Indian or Alaska Native. In most cases, their race was misreported as “White.” The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department announced this week the appointment of Joannie Suina as assistant secretary for Native American early education and care. The citizen of Cochiti Pueblo recently served as special projects coordinator at the state’s Indian Affairs Department focusing on issues including Indian education and MMIP. She previously served as communications director for the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. The position will work on strengthening state-tribal early childhood partnerships.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

In a 6-3 ruling this week, the Oklahoma Supreme Court says a Native citizen living on her reservation isn’t exempt from state income tax. The Journal-Record reports that Alicia Stroble, a member of the Muscogee Nation, had argued that her income was exempt because she lived and worked on her tribe’s land. In 2020, Stroble had filed three Oklahoma Individual Income Tax Returns for the three previous years. She said the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case, McGirt v Oklahoma, supported her stance as that ruling reaffirmed the existence of the Muscogee Nation’s reservation. Two years later, the Oklahoma Tax Commission denied her exemption, leading to an appeal and the case making it up to the state’s highest court. The definition of “Indian Country” was deliberated in oral arguments last year. The Oklahoma Justices said McGirt doesn’t apply to state tax law. In an opinion, they said that extending McGirt to pre-empt Oklahoma from taxing the income of tribal members residing on unrestricted, non-trust, private-fee land must come from the nation’s highest court. Gov. Kevin Stitt (Cherokee/R-OK) praised the ruling, saying he rejects race-based tax exemptions. Tribal leaders have denounced the ruling as inconsistent and a form of “legal gymnastics”. The Muscogee Nation said they are reviewing their next steps. Quincy Adams prepares to jump on a sealskin blanket during Nalukataq festival in Utqiagvik in June 2025. (Photo: Sarah Betcher) Several coastal Arctic communities hosted festivals throughout June to celebrate a successful whaling season. In Utqiagvik, that meant four full days of sharing subsistence food, prayers, dance, and traditional blanket toss. It also meant gathering as a community, in joy and in loss. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Trigger warning: This story discusses suicide Whaler Quincy Adams soars above a seal blanket at Simmonds Field in Utqiagvik, with a bag of candy in his hands. He leaps even higher and tosses the kaleidoscope of sweets, as the children around him whoop with joy and catch treats. Adams is one of the captains of the Aaluk whaling crew. They were among those who landed a bowhead whale this spring and threw a feast for the community – especially for elders and widows who can’t hunt for themselves. On a recent visit to Anchorage, Adams watched his kids play in a park as he reminisced on the season. “It’s all for the community, not just for us or our crew. It’s to make sure everybody gets a bite to eat, to make sure that nobody goes hungry. Feeding our people.” Nalukataq, which means blanket toss in Iñupiaq, is a traditional celebration of the successful bowhead harvest. The whaling crews serve several courses of subsistence dishes throughout the event: caribou, duck and geese soup, donuts, boiled whale meat, muktuk, akutaq, and a delicacy – fermented whale meat and blubber, or mikigaq. When the feast is over, the whalers stretch a sealskin blanket, inviting everyone to jump on it. Then, the crowd moves indoors and continues with Inupiaq dancing and drumming throughout the night. This year’s Nalukataq also had an emotional side for Adams. A young member of their crew died by suicide earlier this year and the crew opened the event with a prayer and a message of hope. “It’s just something we wanted to get out to the other people and to the young people and the teens, tell them that there is hope, there is family that loves them, and if they need to talk to somebody, talk to somebody.” Whaling captain Herman Ahsoak says that dedicating Nalukataqs to those who passed is not new. He says the event is about the community coming together. “We put on the blanket and jump and let it all out on the blanket and just jump for joy.” The communities of Wainwright, Kaktovik, Nuiqsit, and Point Hope also celebrated whaling festivals in June. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide Crisis Lifeline. And this Saturday, Minnesota’s first-ever Native American Food Truck Festival kicks off in St. Paul. Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine says more than 20 Native food trucks will serve up both traditional and urban Indigenous fair foods at Harriet Island Regional Park. @makingitinminnesota FREE Twin Cities Event Spotlight This Saturday, July 5, head to Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul for the Native American Food Truck Festival. It’s happening from 11 AM to 7 PM! Swing by to try out some incredible food. It’s the first ever in Minnesota so it should be a good time! I also briefly mention Taste of Minnesota in this video, but you can check out my full breakdown of that event in a previous post And don’t forget: my full weekend guide of free Twin Cities events drops on Thursday, July 3. Follow along so you don’t miss it! #NativeAmericanFoodTruckFestival #StPaulEvents #HarrietIsland #IndigenousFood #TwinCitiesWeekend #TasteOfMinnesota #FreeEventsMN #ThingsToDoMN #MinneapolisEvents #StPaulEats #TwinCit

With a vote from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senate Republicans passed a sprawling budget reconciliation bill that contains much of President Trump’s domestic policy agenda. Liz Ruskin reports. Alaska tribes and Native organizations have raised concerns about the bill. The Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes recently sent a letter to Alaska’s Congressional delegation opposing the bill with concerns about clean energy, food security, health care, and lands and forests. In a statement Monday, the Fairbanks Native Association said it is “deeply troubled” by the passage of the spending bill, raising concerns about funding cuts to tribes, which provide critical services including health care and food assistance. Sen. Murkowski said it was one of the hardest votes she’s ever taken and she’s hoping it will be changed further before Congress sends it to the president’s desk. She said she helped improve the bill for Alaska, but she said in an emailed statement, “It is not good enough for the rest of our nation — and we all know it.” The bill’s passage followed intense negotiations between Murkowski and Senate leaders aimed at retooling the bill to overcome her objections to removing benefits from Alaskans on Medicaid and food assistance. Murkowski said she decided to vote yes because Republicans made adequate changes to rural health care and food assistance. She cited a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals and clinics, and added flexibility for Alaska in administering changes to SNAP. Only three Senate Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) voted yes. The bill includes new oil lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska. Murkowski has championed those for years. The bill goes to the House, where a different version passed in May without a vote to spare. Any changes would have to be approved again in the Senate. Interior of the immigration detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” with President Donald Trump in the background. The Miccosukee Tribe in Florida is opposing the Trump administration’s new immigration facility at an airstrip in the Everglades, which the administration calls “Alligator Alcatraz.” Chairman Talbert Cypress told ABC News that the tribe held a meeting this week regarding the facility, which is located on tribal traditional homelands of Miccosukee and Seminole people. “The tribe has been at home on the Big Cypress for centuries and what was decided at the meeting was to examine all avenues that we have to temporarily delay this facility.” Cypress says the tribe is concerned about any potential environmental impacts and safety concerns for tribal members. Demonstrations have reportedly been in the area opposing the facility, as President Trump was given a guided tour on Tuesday. The administration is touting the area for its remote location and surrounding wildlife as barriers for people to escape. (Courtesy State Rep. Debra Lekanoff (D-WA) / Facebook) Native Americans in Washington state face opioid and fentanyl overdose rates four times the national average. Isobel Charle has more. Leaders are calling for more investment in treatment centers and transitional housing to address the problem. While nationally, fentanyl overdoses have declined, Native American fatalities have surged since the pandemic. State Rep. Debra Lekanoff (D-WA) is part of the Washington State Tribal Opioid and Fentanyl (WTOF) Taskforce. During the taskforce’s third annual summit, tribal leaders and state agencies met for three days and heard from community members in recovery from Opioid Use Disorder. Last year, says Rep. Lekanoff, the taskforce partnered with tribal governments and invested in substance abuse treatment facilities based on a successful model created by the Swinomish. “The model that Swinomish created 12 years ago has now been incorporated into over 20 tribally owned substance abuse disorder facilities that are healing all Washingtonians.” Lekanoff says in the next couple of years the taskforce will focus on transitional housing for those recovering from substance abuse. She says this is a non-partisan issue and it will take everyone working together to make change.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

A federal audit has found that the Environmental Protection Agency did not distribute millions of dollars on time to clean water programs for tribes. As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, this comes as tens of thousands of tribal homes lack indoor plumbing and clean drinking water. The agency’s own inspector general examined more than $300 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was supposed to go to tribal water programs over two years. In the 2022 fiscal year, more than half of the funds allocated had not been awarded on time. And in 2023, most of the remaining water project funds did not get distributed. The audit cited that the Indian Health Service estimates about 41,000 tribal homes lack indoor plumbing – and thousands lack access to safe drinking water. Marcus Gullet is with the inspector general’s office. “So these funds are really tailored to addressing those problems. Funds for designing and constructing wastewater treatment facilities, improving drinking water systems, and addressing emerging contaminants.” The EPA acknowledged in a final report that it made mistakes in most cases and said it would work to fix them. It agreed to focus on improving the timeliness of providing funds to tribes. Evacuation map for Klagetoh Pump Station Area/Transwestern Pipeline Road in Arizona. (Courtesy Navajo Department of Emergency Management / Facebook) Navajo Nation leaders are urging residents near the Oak Ridge Fire to remain vigilant and follow emergency protocols and evacuation alerts. The fire is burning on the reservation near St. Michaels, Ariz. Residents in at least three communities were evacuated on Sunday. As of Tuesday morning, the fire was at more than 9,000 acres with zero containment. Edith Nageak draws a bird at a sketching workshop during the Migratory Bird Festival in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, in June 2025. (Courtesy Migratory Bird Festival) More than 150 people recently gathered in America’s northernmost community for the Migratory Bird Festival, where they observed, sketched, and learned about dozens of species. Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more on the festival, and on the rapid growth of birding tourism in Alaska. A little brown bird walks and chirps along the still partially frozen Utqiagvik lagoon. It’s a semipalmated sandpiper — one of about sixty species that locals and visitors spotted during the Migratory Bird Festival. Lindsay Hermanns is the festival coordinator. She says avid birders often travel to the Arctic to see rare species who fly here from all corners of the world. But sometimes it’s even more exciting to see familiar birds in their breeding grounds, where they wear totally different plumage. “It’s like a glow up. They look totally different. They’re flying around, they’re doing their mating displays and exhibiting this behavior that you only see in the Arctic.” Attendees rode around in school buses for several hours, spotting different birds and talking about Inupiaq culture, Utqiagvik history, and the Arctic environment. Hermanns says that the main goal of the free three-day festival was to show how important the Arctic ecosystem is for the birds, but the highlight for her was what the participants brought to the table. The Migratory Bird Festival attendees rode around Utqiaġvik, Alaska in school buses for several hours, spotting more than 60 different species. (Courtesy Migratory Bird Festival) Several elders came to the talks and commented on what birds they harvest, how they do it traditionally, and what they call those species in Inupiaq language. “That was a major component of success, in my mind – having the elders be involved like that.” Local knowledge holders and Inupiaq speakers also participated in creating a new Utqiagvik Birding Trail, a brochure that spotlights 10 sites throughout town where you can see birds in breeding plumage. As the Arctic warms, forests shrink and hurricanes intensify, she says migrating to the Arctic becomes more difficult. Lauren Cusimano is with Audubon Alaska. “Utiqgvik becomes even more important for shorebird species, because once they get there, you know, they can do their thing and breed and be hopefully observed by us as birders and conservationists, without much disturbance.” Hermanns says she hopes more Arctic residents will get involved in organizing the event in the future.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has apologized to Indigenous leaders for comments that some First Nations described as racist. The comments were sparked by opposition to Bill 5, which would allow his government to bypass environmental and other regulations in order to fast track resource development in special economic zones. Dan Karpenchuk has more. Native leaders have opposed Bill 5, which would, among other things, fast track mining approvals for critical minerals. And last week Premier Doug Ford appeared frustrated by their opposition. “You can’t just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government. You’ve got to be able to take care of yourselves.” Ford had also said his government was making an offer to First Nations on “a silver platter” and that he had treated them like “gold”. But his language didn’t sit will with most Indigenous leaders. Sol Mamakwa is the only First Nations member of the Ontario legislature. “Those comments that were very deeply troubling. But also racist. As First Nations, you know, we are not beggars and I think at this point, those type of comments we don’t need those comments from the premier.” During a two-hour meeting with the Indigenous leaders, Ford apologized. “I just want to say I sincerely apologize for my words. Not only if it hurt the chiefs in that room, but all First Nations. And I get passionate because I want prosperity for their communities.” Anishnabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige spoke for Native leaders. “Our chiefs felt today that the apology was sincere. We are looking at today as a new day going forward.” Debassige says the meeting was not about Bill 5, but about the Ontario government upholding its treaty responsibility. She did say Native leaders are still opposed to Bill 5. She also would not disclose everything that was said during the meeting. Deborah Ann Begay is two-spirit and the first Indigenous justice of the peace in Arizona’s Maricopa County. (Courtesy Advance Native Political Leadership) It’s the last day of Pride Month – an observance meant to celebrate the 2SLGBTQ community. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on a Navajo jurist who identifies as two-spirit. Born in Lupton on the Navajo Nation, Maricopa County’s first Indigenous justice of the peace, Deborah Ann Begay, has been ruling out of the Moon Valley courthouse in north Phoenix since 2020. The Navy veteran and single parent attended University of California, Berkeley then law school at Arizona State University. And Begay says the best part of her job is officiating marriages, especially for same-sex couples. “Doing the ceremony, you’re performing a like professional function, but yet you’re kind of included in their private lives. And that’s even more so when I would get invited to their personal homes.” Despite the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing those unions in a 2015 landmark decision, they are still not recognized by the Navajo Nation. The Diné Marriage Act defines matrimony as being only between a man and woman, though there’s been recent pushback to repeal that law. In 1847, members of the Choctaw Nation donated $170 to victims of the Irish famine. And it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Seo McPolin reports on a new festival that is bringing Indigenous and Irish people together again. It’s been ten years since the Kindred Spirits sculpture was installed in the Irish county of Cork. From the 20 feet tall, stainless steel feathers which commemorate the Choctaw donation, a new organization emerged. Kindred Spirits Ireland is hosting the World Peace Gathering July 18-20 for those who wish to “celebrate peace, healing, cultural exchange, and Indigenous wisdom”. Featured guests include former Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch and Chief Phil Lane Jr. “Sensei” Steven Seagal, who claims DNA connections to Indigenous Yakut and Buryat heritage, was also just added to the line-up.                                                       Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Alameda County Coroner’s sign. (I Love Old Signs! / Flickr) A group of researchers have found gaps in how death certificates are maintained with implications for Native Americans’ health. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more. Researchers from prestigious universities to Indigenous communities studied death certificates from 2008 to 2019. They found Native Americans have a life expectancy of roughly 72 years old. The national average is 79. That’s a much bigger gap than official stats show, says Jacob Bor. He’s an associate professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and the study’s lead author. “American Indian populations have been subjected to deliberate policies of physical and cultural erasure for centuries. These patterns have contributed to today’s economic and physical marginalization and deprivation and to poor outcomes in these populations.” Bor and his team uncovered another problem. Death certificates for at least 40% of Native Americans failed to identify them as American Indian or Alaska Native. In most cases, their race was misreported as “white.” Tony Duncan, left, competing at the 2025 World Championship Hoop Dance Contest in Feburary and a sheet of the USPS powwow Forever Stamps. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) recently unveiled four special Forever Stamps celebrating powwows. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio spoke with the artist behind the new collection. The Gathering of Nations – held annually in Albuquerque, N.M. – is where this new collection was released back in April. These tiny pieces of postage are, in part, brought to life by performers Tony Duncan, his wife, Violet, and their eldest child, Manaya. There are four designs – each honoring a different style of dance: Traditional, Fancy Shawl, Crow Hop, and Hoop. The New Mexico-based painter who designed the Forever Stamps tells the rest of his story behind hand-picking the Duncan family. “Hi, my name is Mateo Romero. I’m a tribal member from Cochiti Pueblo. I’m a contemporary Southwestern painter and I’ve worked on the USPS forever sheet stamp, the powwow series with the Duncan family and with KamiJo Whiteclay. “I don’t know of a way where an artist could sort of catch the attention of USPS. It just happened organically. And I was very flattered. I was very honored to do it. “It’s actually not easy to take a painting and translate it into a stamp. I did four paintings for USPS, which I think were like 24 by 30 inches, and then to make it into something the size of your thumb, that’s actually a little tricky, because it has to really carry color. But I think they did a really good job. I mean, I think the colors are clear and the shadows are nice and the faces pop out. It seems to work. You know, I was actually surprised at how well they did it. Yeah, I got shocked at how well it came out. “That’s really what I was trying to do was capture the sort of visual analog of what it might be if you were at a powwow and you’re looking at dancers, and you could hear the sound of the drum behind you. And so I think they move in that direction where they’re beginning to resonate like that – sort of give people maybe some visual cues of what it might be to actually be there. “I did my best. I tried to bring in the best people and the best energy I could kind of make it come alive. It’s really their story. You know, that’s the cool part about it. I mean, I’m the painter, and I’ve created this message, and I’ve put it out there. People seem to like it, but the story really is their story, right? It’s their family and their energy. They actually, in this respect, have become the face of powwow for this moment to the world. They’re the face of the Forever Stamp, and their story is being used in a good way to show the larger story of the powwow.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Cherokee Nation leaders and ambassadors and Talking Leaves Job Corps staff hosting open house at new Taling Leaves Job Corps Oklahoma City office in 2016. (Courtesy Cherokee Nation / Facebook) A federal judge Wednesday halted the closure of Job Corps locations across the country. In May, the federal government announced it was pausing the Job Corps program, which helps people ages 16 through 24 with career training. The Associated Press reports, a lawsuit is challenging that move, and the court ordered the government to keep the program running until the lawsuit is resolved. The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, raised concerns about the closures saying it was the first tribe to operate a Job Corps in 1978, and the program was serving around 150 students. A view of the Trinity River from the GeO-Deck of Reunion Tower in Dallas, Texas. (Photo: Michael Barera / Wikimedia) In Texas, the city of Dallas plans to rename three man-made lakes along the Trinity River in honor of tribes. KERA News reports the city council voted Wednesday to name them Three Sisters Lakes with each lake named after a tribe that has ties to the state. (Courtesy Denver Indian Center / Facebook) American Indian and Alaska Native communities in Colorado continue to face significant gaps in health care access, quality, and outcomes, according to a new analysis of the Colorado All Payer Claims Database. Eric Galatas reports. While the communities face higher rates of many chronic conditions, they are also not getting important preventive care. David Wright, data manager at the Denver Indian Center, said fear remains a primary barrier, pointing to decades of mistreatment, including the forced sterilization of women and federal policies forcing medicine men and other spiritual leaders into mental asylums up until 1978. “Native people, for a long time, have been used to advance medical research without their consent. And so there’s a large mistrust within the Native communities against the medical profession.” Between 2018 and 2024, American Indian and Alaska Native people were diagnosed with kidney disease, autoimmune, nervous, metabolic, and endocrine disorders such as diabetes at rates far above their white peers. Wright noted the analysis, produced in partnership with the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, will be used to create a culturally tailored education program for health providers. Without additional training, Wright pointed out health professionals are likely to continue to assume chronic conditions are due to an individual’s dietary choices. Many do not understand for more than 100 years, tribes had to rely on government rations, typically high in carbohydrates and salt, to get enough calories. “Because of the forced relocation and the reservation systems, and relying on heavily carbohydrate related rations.” Poverty, lack of affordable housing and the breakdown of family systems also disproportionately affect health outcomes. Wright argued better health will require treating the whole person, not just specific medical conditions. When people are out of balance in any one area, he stressed there are ripple effects. “If we’re not able to provide stable housing — which is not only of mental and emotional and physical importance — but it also will affect the outcomes and the teachings and the role modeling you need for your children and your family structures.” (Courtesy Northern Arapaho Tribal Housing) The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes recently received grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But as Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports, other housing-related funding for the tribes is a little less certain. Tribes around the country receive federal support through the annual Indian Housing Block Grant. This year, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe got about 2.3 million, and the Northern Arapaho Tribe received about 3.6 million. Emery’l LeBeau is the director of the Northern Arapaho Housing Authority. “We get this Block grant based on a formula, right? And so it’s based off the units and our need.” The money keeps housing authorities operating and helps maintain their current housing. President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would decrease that funding by about 20%. An earlier draft also called for eliminating a competitive community development grant. Gilbert Riche is with the Eastern Shoshone Housing Authority and says losing that would have a direct impact on future projects. “ That’s the primary funding source for us to spearhead new housing development.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.