National Native News

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 He has been replaced by Criminal Investigations Bureau Commander Jeffrey Hunter – now appointed acting chief – following a month-long internal review.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.

As food insecurity rises across the country, groups fighting hunger are highlighting the need for food that is not only nutritious, but culturally relevant. Isobel Charle has more. Leialoha Kaula is executive director of the nonprofit Ka ʻAha Lāhui O ʻOlekona – Hawaiian Civic Club of Oregon & SW Washington (KALO HCC), which serves Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. The organization started distributing food boxes during the pandemic and Kaula said the food didn’t always meet people’s needs because it wasn’t familiar, or they didn’t know how to use it. In response, she said, KALO HCC started including traditional foods in the boxes like taro root and coconut. “We saw that it was not just hunger for food, it was that hunger for culture. It was that hunger for home, that’s what was filled.” Visits to food banks in the state have risen sharply in the last year and data shows Pacific Islander Oregonians are twice as likely to experience hunger than their white neighbors. Kaula said KALO HCC has also started cultivating taro, a Native Hawaiian staple, and encouraging people to get involved in the project. “Even though we’re here in Oregon, that’s still a connection to home. It’s about how we as Indigenous people are caring for the land.” Amid federal cuts to food programs, Kaula said she wants to see Oregon focus more on providing culturally relevant foods, so all communities in the state can thrive. “To really, truly have a healthy Oregon. We have to make sure that we’re serving all the communities in a way that makes them feel seen, heard, and feed them in that way.” A woman in a fur coat looks at the photographer, while a boy smiles at her. (Courtesy Cyril George Photo Collection) In the basement of Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) in Juneau, Alaska sit thousands and thousands of photographs. They were taken by a Lingít elder who has since passed on, but for decades he documented important events and everyday life. And as KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey reports, the organization wants help identifying people and places in the photos. Ḵaalḵáawu Cyril George Sr.’s family unearthed his photo collection in the wake of his death 11 years ago. His granddaughter Lillian Woobury says she was astounded at the volume of photos he kept in his small Juneau condo. “That tiny little room had been harboring all of these memories he captured in photo. I mean, every time we thought we’ve got them all, we pulled out another box or another container, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, Mom, it’s another box of photos.’” A family friend suggested they donate the photographs to Sealaska Heritage Institute to preserve and store them. Emily Galgano is one of the archivists who’s been combing through the photographs for the last several years. “There’s so much just joy in these photos. It’s one of my favorite things, looking through them and seeing people just having a good time, people dancing, people talking to each other, cooking out on the beach.” Some of the photos are online now and printed in books that are available in Juneau and Angoon for elders to look through. A boy jumps over a bar as his peers look on. (Courtesy Cyril George Photo Collection) SHI hopes people will recognize some of the faces. The photos are full of life. Most are of people: dancers in full regalia, fishing trips with strung up halibut, graduations, and meetings. They show Lingít people living, working, teaching, and making art. They show elders, and babies, and elders with babies. And those babies may be elders now themselves. Lingít photographer Brian Wallace helped SHI scan the photos. He knew George growing up, and looking through the photos, he says the photos show how Southeast Alaska Native cultures have endured. “They’re thriving when he took the photos, and still thriving.” And some of the photos were deeply personal for Wallace. “And then I loved finding the photographs that he had of my parents.” Woodbury, George’s granddaughter, says it was hard to part with the collection, but she hopes that others, like Wallace, will look through the collection and find photos of loved ones who have passed on. “I think if people walk away seeing these photos and they feel like he gave them that one moment in time back, that makes me happy. And that will be a small part, a small part of this legacy.”   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

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 tribal members, 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 one-point-two billion 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. A billboard along U.S. Route 89 encourages those living in the Western Agency of the Navajo Nation to get screened for uranium. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) The U.S. Senate is still drafting its version of President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Tucked away in that proposed budget is a measure to renew compensation for those who had been exposed to radiation from uranium mining and nuclear weapons’ testing. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. If finalized, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) would now sunset in 2028. It also expands eligibility for claims from the Trinity Test site in New Mexico – where the first atomic bomb was detonated – and to more uranium miners. The Navajo Nation has been lobbying to reinstate RECA since it expired last June. “I’m in just so much pain all the time.” Maggie Billiman (Navajo) has COPD and was recently diagnosed with liver and kidney disease. While downwinders like herself are hopeful about RECA returning, they’re also concerned that lawmakers are considering huge cuts to health services. “This big, beautiful bill is just something else. You get help from the RECA compensation, right, and then take Medicaid and Medicare? It just doesn’t make any sense.” (Courtesy Chickasaw Nation) Janie Simms Hipp was recently named Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anotubby. Hipp has dedicated her nearly four-decade career to food sovereignty through agricultural law, including her work at the USDA and the Native American Agriculture Fund. The award honors Chickasaw women who have made significant contributions to the Oklahoma tribe.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Apache Stronghold supporters shout “Protect Oak Flat” outside the Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse on May 7, 2025. (Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Despite the U.S. Supreme Court refusing to hear arguments last month from Apache Stronghold, the nonprofit is trying to revive its religious freedom case over Oak Flat in Arizona. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the group is asking the high court to reconsider. “I betcha the courts don’t change their mind in 0.001% of the time.” Bob Miller (Eastern Shawnee) is with Arizona State University’s Indian Legal Clinic. He’s been following the saga to protect Oak Flat from copper mining. The nation’s highest court allows parties to re-appeal a denied petition within 25 days. But Miller says asking the nine justices to reconsider will almost certainly not alter the outcome. “I cannot conceive of the Supreme Court changing its mind.” Conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas argued in a dissent that not hearing Apache Stronghold’s case was “a grievous mistake” threatening to “reverberate for generations.” In a statement, Resolution Copper says the company appreciates the court’s attention to this case – which had been reviewed over a dozen times. A letter to President Donald Trump from the nonprofit Apache Stronghold sent on May 29, 2025. (Courtesy Apache Stronghold) K’dazq’eni Glacier. (Courtesy Alaska Volcano Observatory) Although Alaska is the land of 100,000 glaciers, only 700 of them have names. Very few of those are Indigenous. But they are important for the writer of a new book called “The Alaska Glacier Dictionary” to include them. As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride tells us, it’s more than a reference book, but full of stories. Naomi Klouda says her glacier dictionary is for travelers and armchair adventurers alike, to give them quick access to a glacier’s vital stats and nuggets of history – some that have been erased from recent memory. “There are some really beautiful Alaska Native designations on glaciers, like they’ll be very descriptive. So it was really important to me to get the Indigenous names wherever I could find them.” Like K’idazq’eni, the Dena’ina name for a glacier on Mt. Spurr. “And it means one that is burning inside. Now picture this glacier is on Mount Spur, so in local memory, in Indigenous memory, they would have known about the times that mount had erupted.” Klouda says the names of Alaska glaciers also tell the story of colonialism. When geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey mapped and named glaciers, they often supplanted Indigenous names – or failed to acknowledge the contributions of Alaska Natives – like the Athabascan hunting party led by Chief Sesui, who came to the rescue of some starving, nearly frozen U.S. Army explorers, after a bear raided their cache in 1899. They took the men to their village, fed and clothed them for several months and, when the weather improved, guided them to safety. But it was the leader of the expedition, Lt. Joseph Herron, who was remembered with the name Herron Glacier, not Chief Sesui. “Every glacier has a story and no two are alike. They are very individual.” That’s why Klouda says when it comes to the Indigenous history, the name of a glacier is literally the tip of the iceberg. Special thanks to Aaron Leggett for Dena’ina Athabascan pronunciations. Cherokee Nation bike riders returned to the capital city of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma on Friday, after finishing a 950-mile journey. This year’s ride marked the Remember the Removal Bike Ride’s 41-year anniversary. Riders followed the northern route of the Trail of Tears honoring Cherokee ancestors who were forced to march it in the late 1830s. The journey began in Georgia and ended in Tahlequah, Okla. Twelve cyclists from the Cherokee Nation took part in the ride over three weeks.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (@seckennedy) U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has sworn in Mark Cruz (citizen of the Klamath Tribes) as senior advisor to the secretary for Indian Health Services. In a video on social media, Sec. Kennedy said the appointment is important for decision making in the Health and Human Services Department for Native Americans.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

(Photo: Michael Sherman) A new welcome center in the town of Blue River, Oreg. had its grand opening last week. The McKenzie Crossing and Native Center is located in the geographic “heart” of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon. It’s also in an area hit by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. “I wanted to create something up the McKenzie River and Blue River to help it heal.” Katherine K’iya Wilson is a bicultural liaison for the center, with connections to many tribal communities including Native students she’s mentored at the University of Oregon’s Longhouse. Although the grand opening competed against other events on June 14 including the “No Kings” rallies, Wilson was pleased at those who made it. “We had over 50 people there. A wonderful celebration.” (Photo: Brittany Mason) The center will show how many tribes crossed through the area for gathering, camping, and traveling to the obsidian cliffs along the coast. Wilson’s grand plan is to establish a film center for Native people, where they can learn how to make original films. “At this point I broke the ice, so to speak, and it’s time for the tribes to step in. If they want this to happen I’m here, but it’s too big for this little old lady. But that was the dream.” Wilson says she’s working with Native grant and business writers to make the film center a reality. Lake Mead, the nation’s largest man-made lake and reservoir, in April 2025. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act earmarked $320 million to fund the planning and construction of critical water infrastructure projects across Indian Country in consultation with the Bureau of Reclamation. But as KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio in the conclusion of his two-part series, it remains unclear how many of those federal dollars – if any – will be clawed back by President Donald Trump. Uncertainty is rippling from top to bottom, although President Trump just tapped Ted Cooke to be the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. Daniel Cordalis (Navajo) runs the Tribal Water Institute at the Native American Rights Fund. “They’re still building out the political roster at Interior quite a bit.” Settlements are hugely important legal frameworks for tribes in securing their water rights by basically turning paper claims into guaranteed acre-feet allocations – along with the funding mechanism needed to do so. Such agreements, largely bipartisan, can only be ratified by Congress. “And of course, tribal waters are not the president’s priorities. It’s not uncommon. That being said, I think we have an Interior secretary who is sympathetic and supportive of tribes.” During his confirmation hearing, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was hopeful he can deliver results for all along the Colorado River. “I got some good understanding and good exposure to this, but I think you can count on that we’re going to look for a collaborative solution that serves everyone.” But even if Sec. Burgum is behind tribes, getting the GOP-controlled Congress onboard could still be challenging. Cordalis says slashing federal dollars may have a trickle-down effect stalling Indian water settlements. “Congress is very much on the president’s playbook about cutting costs, reducing the budget and doing things and requiring, for lack of a better word, offsets.” There are 39 federal water settlements with tribes. Here’s where they’re located.(Map: Chelsey Heath and Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) The biggest offset of them all would be the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement for Navajos, Hopis, and San Juan Southern Paiutes. It’s worth $5 billion, an expense that the federal government incurs. “Where do you offset that and who’s going to do it? That’s the concern here, these settlements have big price tags.” Cora Tso (Navajo), a senior fellow researching tribal issues at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy, is slightly more optimistic. She thinks the Trump administration sees this settlement for three tribes in northeastern Arizona as an economic driver. “For the most amount of acres and the largest populations of tribes in the country.” The first Trump administration ratified the nation’s most expensive Indian water settlement to date – valued at $1.9 billion. “That tells me, at least from the federal perspective, the first Trump administration understood the investment in Indian water.” But that all happened before Trump began focusing on so-called government efficiency.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

A public records request in a Missing Indigenous Persons case in North Dakota has revealed unusual footage. As reported this week in Buffalo’s Fire, 77 hours of surveillance footage from the Mandan Police Department shows 20-year-old Renzo Bullhead (Standing Rock Sioux) approaching a railroad bridge, headed east towards Bismarck, N.D. on March 16. But in footage not previously seen by the public, a large splash in the Missouri River appears on the opposite side of the bridge, roughly 20 minutes after Bullhead passes by the first camera. Since Buffalo’s Fire posted the story on its website and social media venues, the new footage has generated calls for further investigation into Bullhead’s disappearance. The Mandan Police Department has not responded to emails asking what they make of the disturbance in the water. From atop the Hoover Dam, a view overlooking the Colorado River cutting through Black Canyon in April 2025. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) While Arizona, neighboring states, the federal government, and Mexico are negotiating over a dwindling supply of water from the Colorado River, another key stakeholder is tribes. Thirty in all, trying to either ratify their rights or safeguard their allocations to the West’s most precious water resource. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports how the tribes’ seats at the negotiating table are being shaped by the second Trump administration. More than two-thirds of the Colorado River Basin tribes are from Arizona. They all need to negotiate with the federal government to essentially get what they want. Unlike states, tribes were historically excluded from these dialogues, but lately their engagement in defining the future of the Colorado River has been celebrated. “All of those tribes are in very different places and there’s no one size fits all. And what’s going to work for one tribe is probably going to not work for most of the other 30.” Scott Cameron, currently the top-ranking Interior Department official on Colorado River matters, reiterated his agency’s commitment to tribal consultation this month at an annual water conference in Boulder, Colo. “So we really need to have these conversations on a one-on-one basis, that having been said, trying to negotiate with 37 people in the room is a lot more complicated than negotiating with seven.” Gila River Indian Community President Steven Roe Lewis during President Joe Biden’s 2024 visit. So far, tribes seem fairly content with the Trump administration’s recent and frequent communication – a sentiment shared by Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community during an annual Tucson, Ariz. water conference last month. “We’ve already made significant progress with the new administration, and we’re more optimistic than ever that they’re listening and seriously considering new proposals.” At the same time, the federal agency responsible for refereeing talks has also made notable cuts – gutting roughly 4% of all Interior staff – and potentially shaping its water priorities for years to come. “I’ve heard on calls that about 25% of the workforce is now gone from Reclamation in general, and so just for water in the West, that’s significant.” Cora Tso (Navajo) researches tribal issues at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy. When pressed to confirm how many Bureau of Reclamation employees were lost, the Interior Department repeatedly said it does “not comment on personnel matters”. Tomorrow we’ll bring you part two of this special report on water access and tribes. And on this day in 1868, a Jesuit priest, Father Pierre Jean De Smet, met with Chief Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Lakota to negotiate a peace treaty. Meeting with the famed chief at his encampment along the Powder River in present-day Montana, de Smet was not able to sway Sitting Bull to sign a treaty. But the chief did send one of his delegates to Fort Laramie in Wyoming to sign a treaty which allowed whites to travel and settle in designated areas. De Smet died in 1873, three years before Sitting Bull and his forces defeated General Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the LIttle Bighorn.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The Miccosukee Tribe is embarking on a campaign to buy and protect lands in the Florida Everglades. The Guardian reports that it is in a partnership with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation. The goal is to create a safe habitat for threatened species including black bears, panthers, and Key deer. The initiative was spurred by the Trump administration’s slashing of federal funds for conservation projects. Talbert Cypress, chair of the Miccosukee, said the tribe has a constitutional duty to conserve their traditional homelands, the lands, and waters which have protected and fed the tribe “since time immemorial”. The agreement was announced at a summit of corridor stakeholders in Orlando recently, after a study by the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society found that 60% of federally recognized tribes have lost grants or other federal funds exceeding $56 million since President Donald Trump began his second term in January. The Hopi Nineteen were sent to Alcatraz Island for seditious conduct on Jan. 3, 1895. (Courtesy Mennonite Library and Archives / Bethel College) Alcatraz Island has been glamorized for decades on Hollywood’s silver screen, most notably by the 1979 blockbuster “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clint Eastwood. The film depicts an iconic real-life prison break by inmates Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin a year before it closed in 1963. But as KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports in the conclusion of his two-part series about the Hopi Nineteen and The Rock, the real-life history also features a number of dramatic stories. Wendy Holliday is a former archivist for the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office. “I think a lot of people know Alcatraz. They kind of know the stories from the movies when it was a federal prison and then don’t really know it’s related to Indigenous people. When I was doing the research and I lived on the reservation and I was a tribal employee, 100 years after those men were imprisoned at Alcatraz, this story was still so resonant as though it had just happened yesterday.” Built in 1854, Alcatraz Island became home to the first lighthouse on the West Coast. (Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration) As much as Alcatraz is about uncommon criminals, it’s also associated with boarding schools. “Some of the stories that people would tell me that they had heard kinda passed down, was just about the trauma for them and for their family members that were left behind, wondering what happened.” And once she started, Holliday couldn’t stop telling that side of the story. “It’s not just that they were imprisoned, but they were taken from their ancestral land that was absolutely vital to their spiritual practice and wellbeing. It was a story, still very much alive and I still think today.” Amber-Rose Howard is with Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a coalition of more than 80 groups organizing against prisons across the Golden State. “Of course, Alcatraz is just a non-starter. There’s no drinking water, no utilities, no infrastructure. It’s hard to tell what’s a real threat and what’s just fear mongering, but at this time, I think that we should be taking everything he’s saying seriously.” If not Alcatraz, Howard says undocumented people are likely next to be sent somewhere else – empty prisons that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been eyeing – even in Blythe, Calif. along the Arizona border. “But I don’t think it stops there. It starts with folks who are undocumented, and then it will continue to spill over into disappearing people from underserved, marginalized communities, who are Black, who are Brown, who are Indigenous, who don’t fit the agenda.” Listen to Part One of the Series https://media.blubrry.com/nationalnativenews/ins.blubrry.com/nationalnativenews/nnn061725.mp3   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

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.” Congress is still in the process of reviewing the budget. The Hopi Nineteen – all hailing from the pueblo village of Oraibi in northern Arizona – were arrested by the U.S. Army in 1894. (Courtesy Mennonite Library and Archives / Bethel College) Last month, President Trump announced plans to reopen and rebuild Alcatraz, one of America’s most infamous prisons that was shut down six decades ago. For now, it’s a federal historic landmark managed by the National Park Service. Several top leaders from the Bureau of Prisons, including engineers, recently toured Alcatraz to conduct site assessments. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the 22-acre island within the San Francisco Bay has strong ties to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona. First a pre-Civil War fort, then a military prison, this maximum security federal penitentiary housed some of the nation’s most notorious inmates from Al Capone to George “Machine Gun” Kelly. But Matthew Sakiestewa (Hopi), a history professor at the University of Arizona, says they all had one thing in common. “ The federal government has always seen that island as a place to put problematic people, including a group of 19 Hopi men.” Some refer to them as the Hopi Nineteen hailing from the pueblo village of Orayvi perched atop Third Mesa in the high desert of northern Arizona. The Hopis were charged with sedition after refusing to let their children attend Indian boarding schools. With no due process since they were considered wards of the state, the then-Commissioner of Indian Affairs sentenced the Hopi Nineteen to confinement and hard labor in 1895 – nearly a thousand miles away. “ You will encounter steep walkways, uneven surfaces and tripping hazards on Alcatraz Island. Please watch your step. Right now, it’s a park. This is a place for the public. I’ve taken the ferry boat trip there, less than two miles from the shore, and you can learn about this Native history.” Sakiestewa says Alcatraz Island is also a political symbol. “ Whether that’s [the] federal government’s perspective or also Indigenous people.” And for Trump, Alcatraz is not only a symbol of law order. “ It’s a big hulk that’s sitting there rusting and rotting, but it sort of represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful and strong and miserable. Weak.” Tune in tomorrow for part two of this series on Alcatraz’s ties to the Hopi. Lakota Sioux warriors charge Colonel William Royall’s detachment of Cavalry in this wood engraving from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 12, 1876. (Courtesy Library Of Congress) And on this day in 1876, the Battle of the Rosebud took place in eastern Montana between 4,000 Lakota Sioux warriors and General George Crook’s troops. His men were surprised and caught in the open of a gully, but his Crow and Shoshone allies blunted the attack long enough for Crook to regroup. He lost 28 out of 1300 men, but the greater disaster – the Battle of Little Bighorn – was eight days away.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Writer, actress, comedienne, and activist Jana Schmieding is known for her work with Native-themed series such as Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dogs, but she’s also a “Duck”. The University of Oregon alum is this year’s commencement speaker and spent this weekend reconnecting with her campus community. Schmieding graduated in 2005 with a degree in Theater Arts. On Saturday, she and her family tied on aprons and cooked fry bread tacos at the UO Longhouse for Native students, alum, and special dignitaries including President Karl Scholz. Schmieding says it turns out Scholz’s daughter is a fan of her work, and there’s a new project underway. “We just shot a pilot also created by Sierra Teller Ornelas, Bobby Wilson, and Jackie Keliiaa, three comedy writers. Sierra was the co-creator of Rutherford Falls. And it’s a community center comedy that takes place in Oakland but we shot it in Portland. And if the show gets picked up by NBC for a series run, we will shoot it in Portland.” For all of her comedy stylings, Schmieding says she takes her role as this year’s commencement speaker for the Class of ‘25 very seriously. She gave a preview summary of her speech. “Special shout out to the Native grads. And I’m talking about Indigenous joy. I’m talking about joy in general. And just the importance of maintaining joy as resistance. Joy as an important part of sustaining our movements, and joy as a creative practice.” Schmieding says the collective struggle she and others faced as people of color really motivated her through her university experience, so coming back after 20 years brings those efforts full circle. People sing and dance in front of a new Kootéeyaa raised at the Hoonah Harbor on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Photo: Clarise Larson / KTOO) The City of Hoonah and Huna Heritage Foundation unveiled a brand new, 21-foot totem pole during a ceremony at the Hoonah Harbor at the end of May. The totem pole, called a Kootéeyaa in Lingít, was designed and raised to honor the community’s rich fishing history and traditions. KTOO’s Clarise Larson was there and has this story. It’s called the Fisherman’s Honor Totem Pole. Carved into the yellow cedar log are depictions of different fishing methods locals use. Above that you have the gill knitter, and then you have the rod and reeler all by hand. Master Artist Gordon Greenwald describes the design of the brand-new totem that now stands at the Hoonah Harbor. He speaks through a microphone to a crowd of more than 100 people who gathered for the ceremony. “This is what you’re looking at, the Huna fishing people, all of us in the past, all of us in the future, and all of us now.” Many Hoonah residents attended the event and a catamaran brought dozens of people from Juneau for the ceremony. Greenwald led the team of carvers who designed and created the Kootéeyaa, which took five months to complete. Fishing is deeply intertwined with its economy and identity of Hoonah. A person unveils the new Kootéeyaa raised at the Hoonah Harbor on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Photo: Clarise Larson / KTOO) During the 1950s and 60’s, Hoonah became known as the home of the “Million Dollar Fleet”. That’s because of the local fishermen’s highly lucrative skills and success on the water. Hoonah’s Vice Mayor Amelia Wilson thanked the crowd for celebrating the Kootéeyaa and the meaning behind it. “To see so many of our fishermen and fisherwomen here really just makes me so proud to be honoring all of you and that legacy that we have of 1000s and 1000s of years of amazing fishermen.” David Sheakley, a speaker at the event, says the pole honors the fishermen who are alive today and recognizes those who have passed away. He references the rain, which patters down on the tents above the crowd. Many people present were active or retired fishermen. “It’s as if this Kootéeyaa is here to help turn those tears of sorrow into tears of joy, to continue on the fishing that is so important within the community, to continue that on into the future.” The ceremony included traditional songs and dances as the tarp was pulled away from the pole to unveil it to the community.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The U.S. Congress is considering a rescission request from the Trump administration to pull funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). As SDPB’s Lee Strubinger reports, the maneuver would negatively affect many tribal radio stations, including four in South Dakota. The station KOYA stands to lose about $200,000 if congress ultimately approves the rescission. John Miller is the station manager for the station in Rosebud. He says the funding reduction would be very detrimental. “For the folks of the Rosebud. Because, we serve a purpose of keeping them up to date and passing along emergency information—passing along pertinent information that helps them in every way and every day. [CPB] funding that we do receive is very beneficial in keeping the station on the air. It wouldn’t be a good outcome for us.” KILI of Porcupine, KDKO of Lake Andes, and KLND of McLaughlin all stand to loose around $200,000 in CPB grants. South Dakota’s lone representative in the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), voted in favor of rescinding the money. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) says he does not want to see funding cut for radio stations in rural areas that rely on public broadcasting — particularly on reservations. “Let’s not cut the stuff where we really do need to be able to help some folks that are in some rural areas, and on the reservations, where they simply don’t have other resources available to keep those radios in operation.” Rounds says his recission decision will be based on whether the package can be amended to allow for funding to continue to reach rural radio stations. The question now heads to the U.S. Senate. Grassroots organizers gathered Thursday in Montana’s largest city for a conference focused on combating the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis. Jackie Coffin reports from Billings. Montana is home to 12 tribal nations and about 7% of the state’s population is Native American. But looking at Montana’s current missing persons database, Native Americans are disproportionately represented, making up about 25% of missing persons cases. Lita Pepion, co-founder of the Billings-based Warrior Women for Justice, says she’s tired of waiting for state and federal resources to make a dent in the problem. “We hear people all the time who go, ‘what’s the council doing?’ ‘What’s the cops doing?’ ‘What’s everybody doing?’ ‘What are we doing?’ Because it’s not just their problem, it’s our problem as well.” Pepion helped organize the two-day MMIP conference to share stories and strategies for searching for missing loved ones, advocating for their cases, and how to heal from the grief that comes with losing family members. “Part of the problem with that addressing that is that we’ve been under or in a state of trauma for so long that we just carry grief after grief, after grief for centuries.” Charlene Sleeper runs MMIP Billings, a grassroots advocacy program that develops research methods, trainings, and communication strategies for missing persons cases in Montana. A presenter at the conference, she feels the state-led effort in combating MMIP has stagnated. “So when it comes to sovereignty and self-determination, I feel like if we, as Indigenous women, take the initiative to create our own solutions in a way that benefits our specific communities that we come from, they’ll be far more effective and impactful.” Pepion says Warrior Women for Justice will hold future events centered around MMIP throughout the summer and fall.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Native American tribes are advising members to carry paper documentation as they travel, to avoid getting caught up in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Since President Donald Trump’s push to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants began with his second term, reports of Native people being confronted about their citizenship status by ICE agents have been happening all across Indian Country. This week, the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians of southern California issued notice to their members to carry a state-issued drivers license, a certificate of degree of Indian blood, and a tribal ID card as their primary documents. Passports, social security cards, military IDs, and birth certificates are also recommended. The tribe says all Native Americans are U.S. citizens, and therefore not subject to being deported, but having documentation can avoid wrongful detention and harassment. People have rights during any law enforcement encounter. This includes the right to remain silent, the right to request a lawyer, and the right to ask if you are free to leave. A controversial measure in the province of Ontario was recently passed into law. It gives the cabinet of the government of Premier Doug Ford the power to create special economic zones where certain resource projects could be exempt from provincial laws. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the bill passed, even though there was widespread opposition from lawmakers, environmentalists, and Indigenous groups. Premier Ford says Bill 5 was urgently needed in the face of the trade war started by President Trump. It’s also called the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act. It would speed up the process for allowing major infrastructure and resource projects such as critical mineral extraction and make Ontario one of the world’s fastest regimes to approve permits. Even though there was widespread opposition, Ford’s government has a majority in the Ontario legislature and the law was quickly passed. Among those to speak against the new law was Linda Debassigee, a grand chief of the Anishnabet First Nation. “We are disappointed and very concerned that Ontario has proceeded in the way it has without any meaningful consultation, engagement and accommodation to our first nations. Bill 5 can be viewed as circumventing protections that are seen as impediments or obstacles to development and furthering the colonial regimes of old and the continued disregard for the treaty relationships. I caution you not sell out our first nation rights, heritage and history in your frenzied attempts to appease the U.S. president, unleash our natural resources and establish a foothold in the global economy.” Ontario’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs Greg Rickford says there will be consultations with Indigenous groups after Bill 5 is passed. That hasn’t happened yet. Other Native leaders say those talks should have taken place before the legislation was developed, not after. The question now is how soon the Ford government will act to designate any location in the province a special economy zone. The Tribe of Gad Warriors from Oklahoma celebrate after defeating AZ Heat for the Triple-A championship at the D-Backs Inter-Tribal Tournament on June 5, 2025. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Last week, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks annual baseball-softball competition for Native American youth. This summertime tradition, known as the D-Backs Inter-Tribal Tournament, is now in its 25th year. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has this report. Rising tribal baseball and softball players from near and far shined while competing in the inter-tribal tourney under the bright lights at Talking Stick Resort’s Salt River Fields near Scottsdale, Ariz. This year’s outing has grown to 75 teams, about 1,100 Indigenous youth representing more than 20 tribes from all over Arizona, California, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Four days. Three divisions. 103 games in all. Oklahoma’s Tribe of Gad Warriors won 4-2 over AZ Heat in the Thursday night Triple-A finals, scoring its second consecutive championship.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Last Friday, a federal judge in Phoenix denied a pair of motions seeking preliminary injunction to stop the Oak Flat land swap between the U.S. Forest Service and the multinational mining company Resolution Copper. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. Federal Judge Dominic Lanza considered their pleas “premature” amid a nearly two-hour hearing at the Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse. In fact, Lanza had admittedly made up his mind before plaintiffs – including the San Carlos Apache Tribe and a coalition of conservation and recreation groups – showed up in court. The judge said granting their request would subvert an act of Congress. However, Lanza also ruled that the Forest Service could not proceed with the land exchange until the 60-day mark after the government publishes its final environmental impact statement for the proposed copper mining project. The federal agency is expected to release that report later this month. Roughly 73 square miles of forestland in Northern California have been returned to the Yurok Tribe in what’s being called the largest land-back conservation project in state history. Christina Aanestad reports. The land back more than doubles the Yurok Tribe’s ancestral land holdings, including salmon habitat and areas of cultural and spiritual significance. Tiana Williams-Clausen is the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife department director. “So re-acquiring landscapes like this allows us to heal, to work towards healing a wound that was inflicted not only on the lands but our hearts when these lands were taken away from us.” Josh Kling of Western Rivers Conservancy says his organization bought and transferred land to the tribe in phases, raising $56 million for the conservation deal. “We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve transferred the final phase of land to the Yurok tribe and completed creation of the Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and the Yurok tribal community forest.” Historically, the Yurok Tribe had fished, hunted, and gathered in this watershed flanked by coastal forests. The Yurok Tribe lost 90% of its territory through Gold Rush massacres and diseases from settlers. Timber companies owned and managed the land for over a century. Tim Hayden is the Yurok Tribe’s deputy executive director of natural resources. “This is an incredible opportunity for the tribe to really assert its self-determination, manage its own resources for the benefit of both fish and wildlife, to restore the tribe’s land base, provide access for ceremonial and subsistence and gathering needs of the tribe.” Salmon and trout populations were once the third largest in the Klamath. Now with a dam removal complete, there’s hope those populations will rebound. Pergish Carlson is a river guide with the Yurok. “I know that generations from here will really see the benefits of it even when I’m gone or whatever. And that’s what I always kind of like smile about and think about, you know, a lot is that the future generations, how good it could be even from now.” (Photo: Loco Steve / Wikimedia) And on this day in 1971, federal officers removed the last few Native activists from Alcatraz. Launched November 20th, 1969, the “Occupation of Alcatraz Island” was carried out by the group, Indians of All Tribes. They claimed Alcatraz was rightfully theirs through the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and by the federal government’s closing of the prison island in 1963, designating it surplus federal property. At its peak, the occupation saw roughly 400 Natives and allies. Celebrities like Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando, and Jonathan Winters all visited. In the final months, power and telephone services were cut off, and a young girl fell to her death, devastating her parents and causing them to leave. Despite setbacks, many see this occupation as the launchpad of modern American Indian activism.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

In Montana, the FBI and Crow Tribe are working together to offer $10,000 for information in the disappearance of Sa’wade Birdinground, a teenage girl who’s been missing from the Crow reservation for eight months. YPR’s Jackie Coffin has more from Crow Agency. For its third consecutive year, the FBI has surged resources to its bureaus that serve Indian Country as part of Operation Not Forgotten, an effort in part to investigate cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. This year’s effort will see increased personnel working out of the Billings, Mont. field office covering the nearby Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribal nations. For the Crow Tribe, the surge means a flow of badly needed resources to look for missing people including Birdinground, who was last seen by her family in Garryowen on October 6. Her father Wade Birdinground remembers the last words he heard from her. “It was a Sunday, I was in Billings, I was out, it was kind of late and she called me to tell me goodnight and I love you, she always checks on me, you know.” On Friday, FBI agents from the Salt Lake City, Utah bureau, which covers Montana, joined Birdinground’s family, friends, local and tribal leadership, and law enforcement in Crow Agency to announce new resources in the search for Birdinground. The FBI Special Agent in Charge is Mehtab Syed. “The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to her recovery” Crow Tribal Chairman Frank White Clay announced the tribe would match the money. Together, FBI agents and tribal members carried red balloons on a walk around the Little Big Horn College to honor Birdinground, with her father holding onto hope the reward brings her home. “I love you, I know you’re out there, I’m not giving up.” Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. (Courtesy NCAI) This week, tribal leaders from across the country are gathered on the homeland of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut for the National Congress of American Indian (NCAI) mid-year convention. Leaders are addressing top issues facing their communities and advancing tribal priorities for NCAI to advocate on their behalf. Monday’s agenda included discussions about the Indian Health Service, violence against women, and Native education. Among concerns of attendees are recent actions by the Trump administration including possible funding cuts to federal programs and services for tribes. Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, says the NCAI gathering is a place to interact with government officials, fellow tribal leaders, and other stakeholders in Indian Country. He adds that Indigenous people are resilient and have been through many tough times. “We are born out of perseverance and we will get beyond these moments, right? That’s the most important thing in sharing that. But also, that recognizing that there are some opportunities even in the clouds that we’re seeing. So, like, the interim Assistant Secretary of Interior will be here, Scott Davis, and he’s going to talk a lot about what tribes can do with this administration and, you know, in advancing sovereignty and growing our tribal economies in other areas where their priorities do overlap. Not perfectly with ours, but there’s certainly opportunity in there. And so that’s a lot of what we’re talking about and just sharing the war stories of ‘how did you navigate this scenario with your grant reductions’ and ‘what’s the best path forward?’ And you see a lot of that. And that’s the beauty of NCAI, broadly speaking, is just being able to share those experiences with sister tribal nations. And we all learn from each other.” Tuesday’s agenda includes conversations about Native child and family wellbeing, Indigenous determinants of health, and NCAI/Native American Rights Fund priorities. The NCAI convention and marketplace continues through Wednesday.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The New York State Education Department has rejected the Trump administration’s demand that a ban on Native American mascots be reversed, challenging the federal government’s interpretation of civil rights law. The New York Times reports that President Donald Trump recently accused New York of illegal discrimination, condemning a state requirement that strips funding from school districts that appropriate Native culture in sports teams and other activities. President Trump has shown support for parents in Massapequa, a community on Long Island’s South Shore, that protested a ban on the district’s “Chiefs” logo and moniker. Trump then ordered New York to allow all school districts to choose their own mascots. But the state’s education department shot back in a letter, that the Trump Administration’s determination was based on “internally inconsistent arguments.” The ban has been in place for two years, and follows many tribe’s complaints that Native mascots are derogatory, inaccurate, and harmful. New York’s schools also rebuked the White House when it demanded that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs be ceased or face defunding. The New York Education Department’s letter also questioned the Trump administration’s involvement in a state issue, adding that a federal court in Brooklyn has previous rejected challenges to the Native mascot ban. Four Corners Power Plant. (Public domain) Last week, the Interior Department announced more than $119 million meant to aid communities reclaiming abandoned coal mines – part of President Trump’s agenda to achieve American energy dominance. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, two tribes were named as grant recipients. The Navajo Nation and Crow Tribe of Montana are among 24 coal producing states getting federal dollars, including Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Despite diversifying and transitioning to some sources of renewable energy like solar, the Navajo Nation still heavily depends on coal to fuel its economy. Four Corners Power Plant solely relies on coal coming from the Navajo Mine in New Mexico. It produces almost 5,000.000 tons of coal annually, generating over a third of the tribe’s general fund. (Courtesy Oregon State University) A new species of bacteria that conducts electricity has been found on the Oregon Coast. Scientists have named it for the Native Americans who historically lived there. The bacteria was found in a mud flat in the Yaquina Bay estuary, and has been deemed Ca. Electrothrix yaqonensi. The original people’s descendants are now part of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, who helped the researchers come up with the name. Cheng Li was a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University during the research. The rod-shaped cells that make up this form of “cable” bacteria have filaments that have electrical conductivity that help optimize their metabolic processes in the muck. “The cable bacteria are able to oxidize sulfide and channeling electrons along themselves conducting like wires, and then go to the surface of the sediment and reduce oxygen. Kind of connecting the two parts together by using electrical currents, so that’s why I think is super cool, and then they’re ecologically important to the environment.” Li says it’s important to honor the original inhabitants of the land where this bacteria was found. “So I think that history, it’s really rich, and should be preserved and telling people what had happened. And I think especially more important nowadays, because we’re facing some unforeseen drawbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.” The findings are published in the journal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

(Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Oak Flat is set to become one of the biggest copper mines in the world following a U.S. Supreme Court decision not to hear the case last month, but the Apache people who consider it to be a sacred site are still fighting to protect it. More than a dozen opponents to the project will appear at the Phoenix federal courthouse Friday where the Harvard-educated, Trump-appointed U.S District Court Judge Dominic Lanza will hear from plaintiffs representing a pair of separate lawsuits against the U.S. Forest Service. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio takes us inside Oak Flat, as he concludes his two-part series. President Ulysses S. Grant established the San Carlos Apache Reservation in 1871. Jeffrey Shepherd is a history professor at The University of Texas at El Paso. “So you get this flurry of executive orders, but it’s also tied with the just, just horribly violent clampdown on Apaches in the Southwest.” This led to rounding up thousands of Apaches, including Geronimo, and marching them to Old San Carlos — nicknamed “Hell’s Forty Acres” — as prisoners of war under military occupation. A mural in downtown Superior depicts an interpretation of the infamous Apache Leap story. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Sharpshooters surveyed the landscape for fleeing Apaches. As many as 4,000 Western Apaches, Mojave, Yavapai, and Chiracahua Apaches were held captive under deplorable conditions by 1874. Some even refer to it as a concentration camp — that became their new homeland. Yet, these communities are made up of complex kinship networks of bands and clans, like Tonto, Yavapai, Chiricahua, and many more. Today’s San Carlos tribal membership is essentially a melting pot of many Apache ancestors, including the White Mountain, Cibecue, Coyotero, Mimbres, Chiricahua, Pinal, Apache Peaks, Aravaipa, Tonto, Mogollon, and Chilecon bands. But back then, not all of them got along, according to Marcus Macktima (San Carlos Apache), an assistant history professor at Northern Arizona University. “Obviously, when you bring all of these different people together on the reservation, there’s going to be some ancient, cultural, historical clashes, because there was no Apache nation. That didn’t exist. We wouldn’t have ever confined ourselves in that way at all.” The San Carlos Apache Tribe only gained federal recognition less than a century ago, when the U.S. unified these distinct bands and clans through the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Long before that, Apaches were nomadic and traveled to hunt, gather, and farm seasonally. So when the U.S. temporarily restricted movement with reservations, that upended their entire way of life, while also severing their ties to Chi’chil Biłdagoteel until the U.S. released them, added Shepherd. “They’re really waging a military but also bureaucratic war on Apaches, as a people, but also upon their land.” Oak Flat is considered by some Apaches as holy land where the Gaan, or mountain spirits, reside beneath the earth. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Mineral wealth, in large part, was a motivator for resizing their reservation six times — between 1873 and 1912 — by the U.S. and even the tribe itself. The chance to discover old Spanish silver mines, especially, attracted expeditions to the Southwest, said Macktima. “That’s driving people into Arizona. And of course, that means the extermination of Apache peoples in the region.” Shepherd stressed that’s not hyperbole. “Rounding people up, concentrating them on reservations, deporting them, and as that happens, we start to see the emergence of that federal land management regime take over the territory as public domain.” In 1896, a tribal measure passed with 56% of the vote to reincorporate a 232,000-acre mineral strip – mostly containing coal — from off-reservation into the public domain in exchange for $12,433 annually — more than $470,000 when adjusted for inflation, explained Macktima. “In the late 19th century, they’re talking about minerals and getting rid of the [San Carlos] reservation to allow for prospecting, and they do that, but the Apaches who agree are not from that reservation.” Aravaipa Pinal Apaches primarily opposed that decision because it harmed their territorial farmlands, while Yavapais and White Mountain Apaches didn’t, with Macktima adding, “so all these different Apaches are coming in saying, ‘Hey, we should go ahead and give this up.’” These ceded lands were supposed to be supervised by the U.S. government for mineral recovery with all revenues returning to the tribe. It wasn’t profitable, so the tribe sought to regain its territory. That mineral strip along the southern border of the reservation was eventually returned to the San Carlos Apache Tribe in 1969. Unlike the mineral strip, Oak Flat has remained in the public domain since 1955, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower incorporated that site into the Tonto National Forest — where it remains protected to this day. Macktima believes

Photo: The Old San Carlos Memorial is located in Peridot on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. (Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Nestled within the Tonto National Forest in Arizona is Oak Flat – home to one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits on Earth. The ore could be worth a fortune to the mining companies planning to extract it, but to many Apache people, Oak Flat’s value can’t be measured in dollars. They are connected to it – culturally and spiritually – and have been fighting to save it. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio explores the region’s deep Apache roots, in part one of this two-part series. Chi’chil Biłdagoteel — the Apache name for Oak Flat — has been a spiritual site for generations of Apaches. Resolution Copper’s No. 10 shaft, the deepest single lift mine shaft in the U.S., overlooks the Oak Flat campground in the Tonto National Forest. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) From coming-of-age and sunrise ceremonies to picking acorns underneath Emory oak trees, it’s also where some believe angels — called the Gaan — or mountain spirits reside among minerals beneath the surface. San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler has deep ties to this land east of the Valley. “My great-grandmother, she was from that area: Winkelman, Superior, and Oak Flat. My people, Aravaipa, in Apache they’re called Tsé Binesti’é. That means Surrounded by Rocks clan. So when you’re in the area, you can just know why my ancestors were given that name.” Rambler’s relatives resided in the rugged Pinal Mountains, and are among at least eight Apache clans and two Western Apache bands that lay claim to Oak Flat. In all, about a dozen modern-day federally recognized tribes in the Southwest maintain cultural connections there, including the Hopi, Zuni, and Four Southern Tribes: Tohono O’odham, Ak-Chin, Salt River Pima-Maricopa, and Gila River. Apaches past and present, arguably, prized it the most. Apache Stronghold founder Wendsler Nosie Sr. speaks about their ongoing religious battle for Oak Flat in 2023. More than 60 Western Apache clans — some now extinct — and differing bands roamed the borderlands of the Southwest from modern-day Flagstaff, Ariz. to eastern New Mexico and even into Mexico. Violence brewed between U.S. settlers, Mexicans, and Apaches. Even the Mexican state of Sonora began, in 1835, paying out bounties for Apache scalps: 100 pesos per male, 50 pesos per female, and 25 pesos per each child under age 14. Despite the 1848 Mexican-American War ending with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, tensions still escalated. Settlers encroached on Apache homelands, bringing ranching, mining, cattle, timber, and railroad interests with them to the West. The mass migration, in part, led to the Apache Wars, a series of armed conflicts spanning decades with the U.S. Army. Then, the Treaty of Santa Fe — an 1852 truce — was ratified and supposed to cease hostilities. Wendsler Nosie Sr. speaks to the crowd about their ongoing religious struggle at the Apache holy site. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Jeffrey Shepherd is a history professor at The University of Texas at El Paso. “Apaches broke it. Americans broke it. The military broke it. Mexicans broke it. They didn’t care, they just ignored it. Then there were some bands of Apaches that said, ‘This treaty doesn’t cover us. We don’t want peace. We don’t want to let people through here. Why should we trust you?’” Two years later, Mexico sold 29,670 square miles of soil to the U.S. for $10 million through the Gadsden Purchase — eventually leading to the formation of the Arizona and New Mexico territories — with the 1863 Arizona Organic Act amid the Civil War. At the same time, the U.S. still had to deal with Apaches in the West. Marcus Macktima (San Carlos Apache) is an assistant history professor at Northern Arizona University. “A lot of superintendents are saying, ‘Hey, we’re kind of thinking we should just give up the eastern half of the Arizona Territory to the Apaches, because there’s no way we’ll ever be able to control them.’” Warfare ensued for almost four decades, with the U.S. still trying to get rid of Apaches until 1886 when Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo surrendered near Skeleton Canyon — 30 miles northeast of modern-day Douglas, Ariz., near the New Mexico border. Even then, renegade Apaches still raided northern Mexico until 1915, Macktima noted. “The reports from military say that these tribes are just kind of wandering around. They don’t really have a reason to be in these places. That’s just not the case. The people knew what they were doing, and we had a cyclical nature to our culture, but in specific places at specific times, and Oak Flat was a part of that.” They were forced out of Oak Flat in the 1870s. In one horrific incident, 75 Apache warriors near Oak Flat plummeted to their deaths off a sheer cliff — later named Apache Leap – located just on the outskirts of present-day Superior. Aravaipa Pinal Apaches, in particular, were persecuted. Federal and

Photo courtesy Oglala Lakota College Pell Grants send thousands of lower-income students to college each year across the country. However, proposed changes could lower that number drastically, often in the communities that need it most like tribes. South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene has more. Proposed Trump administration changes could slash Pell Grant funding by as much as a quarter. In a tribal setting like the Pine Ridge Reservation, that represents well over 60% of students reliant on Pell Grant support. Oglala Lakota College president Dawn Frank says it would devastate tribal colleges, and their students, across America. “These proposed changes are extremely concerning because raising the full-time credit requirements and excluding less than part time students would disproportionately harm (tribal colleges and universities). Part time TCU Pell recipients see substantial increases in certificate and degree completion rates. That’s something we’re looking at that’s across the board for TCUs.” Frank says TCUs offer nearly a $90-million economic impact to South Dakota alone when accounting for jobs, workforce development, and education. While contingencies do exist at Oglala Lakota College, Frank is concerned about the worst coming to pass with an associated loss of students. “Losing that would mean everyone would have to take a step back. If we’re not producing graduates to continue to work in those positions, I could see a lot of hardships. Look at coupling it with financial necessity amid rising inflation, affordable childcare, transportation especially in our rural area. The strain, we said, would almost cripple or close us.” Frank is calling upon tribal leaders to advocate for their tribal colleges and universities to statewide DC delegations, and specifically asked U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) to champion the issue. National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) Executive Director Valerie Grussing and tribal leaders during a Washington D.C. trip earlier this year. (Courtesy NATHPO / Facebook) President Donald Trump recently instructed the Interior Department to look into erasing negative references to the nation’s past while embracing the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape. But, as KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, a Native group worries history will be erased. President Trump’s executive order from March, which covers more than 500 million acres of land managed by the federal agency, is titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”. Valerie Grussing is the executive director of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. “From a tribal perspective, could say, ‘Great, we’re overdue for a little truth and sanity in American history.’ But of course, they mean the opposite.” The government is reviewing all monuments and other markers that have been removed, renamed, or altered since 2020 for what it calls a “false reconstruction of American history.” But Grussing worries this mandate simply means whitewashing the past. In a statement, the Interior Department said this initiative is not about erasing history, but meant to “free narratives from ideological distortion,” stressing the agency is “committed to presenting a truthful and comprehensive account” — one in which “all Americans are represented fairly and truthfully.” Any content deemed inappropriate shall be removed within 120 days. 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) The leader of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma is expressing his concern over the closure of Job Corps Training Centers across the country. The Cherokee Nation says it was the first tribe to operate a Job Corps in 1978, and the program currently serves around 150 students. The federal government recently announced it was pausing the Job Corps program, which helps people ages 16-24 with career training. In a video message on social media this week, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. shared an update, saying the pause is an “outright termination of the program.” He added that he opposes the closure and says the tribe is working to save the program. “Job Corps is often a career lifeline to students who may be struggling to find a path.” The tribe is suspending its Job Corps operations and preparing to send residential students home on June 13.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

The Coquille Indian Tribe and the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs recently signed an agreement. The agreement creates a framework for collaboration and increased resources to support Native veterans in accessing federal and state veterans’ benefits. According to a press release, the Memorandum of Understanding paves the way for the establishment of the tribe’s first Tribal Veterans Service Officer, which will jointly be funded by the tribe and state agency. The service officers help veterans and their families in accessing benefits. They’re trained by the state veterans’ affairs department and accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This is the fifth such agreement. The other agreements are with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. There are nine federally recognized tribes in the state. Last week, California Assembly lawmakers approved a bill to grant military retirees and their dependents up to $20,000 as a state tax exemption. The bill was introduced by Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA). In a statement, he said the bill’s intended to acknowledge the many sacrifices of military retirees and their families, and serve as an incentive to keep them in California. California does not offer tax exemption on military pensions. Advocates of the bill say if a tax exemption was in place, gains for the state would include more jobs and an economic boost. The bill is supported by a number of veterans organizations across the state. The measure heads to the Senate. Jeffrey Lazos-Ferns (Pascua Yaqui) speaks to a group of reporters about the importance of specific plants to Indigenous peoples in Arizona. Native experts in foraging for traditional food are sharing some of their recommendations. Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports. In Phoenix’s Papago Park, Twila Cassadore points to the base of a palo verde tree where small branches, dried leaves, and other plant matter have formed the ground nest of a desert wood rat. Cassadore says the rodent is both a source of nutrition – and knowledge. “Many of us may not think much about the desert wood rat. But as people who study environmental science and engineering, this friend of ours, also delicious friend, will tell us about climate change.” Cassadore is a traditional food forager and educator with the San Carlos Apache Tribe. She explains to a tour organized by the Society of Environmental Journalists that other researchers have found that as the planet warms, the wood rat uses larger plant material to shade or insulate its home. But where the rat is plentiful, as it is here in the Sonoran Desert, it can also be a source of what Cassadore calls pre-reservation food, from before the years when the U.S. government forced Native people away from their longtime homes. “They took everyone away from the landscape where they originally foraged from and hunted from.” Helping Cassadore with the effort to discover more traditional foods is naturalist Jeffrey Lazos-Ferns (Pascua Yaqui). He points to blossoms and seeds on the palo verde tree. “These flowers, you can make tea out of them. Also, the pods which you may be seeing some of the younger trees out here, they taste like edamame, so you can eat them fresh off the tree, or you can till them, boil them, put salt on them, or store them, for the season you actually do want to use them.” Lazos-Ferns says some larger cities like Tucson have started to plant more indigenous plants that need less water or no fertilizer and be a source of food or medicine.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Courtesy Milk River Meats & Eats / Facebook Montana’s Department of Commerce recently awarded over $300,000 in grants to Native-owned businesses across the state. The funds aim to support the economic development of tribal communities while supporting small businesses. Montana Public Radio’s Victoria Traxler has more. George Brown of Dodson and member of the Little Shell Chippewa tribe is among twenty-five business owners set to receive grants from the state. Brown operates a small cafe, store and meat processing facility with his wife, Sherri. The Milk River Meats and Eats is slated to receive $14,000 for new meat processing equipment. Brown says the money is a “life saver.” “It means a pile. I mean, things are so expensive this day and age that any help you can get to cover the main cost is going to make things work a lot better.” The funding stems from the state’s Indian Equity Fund Small Business Grant program and goes to a variety of industries. Grant funds will support Brown’s meat processing, as well as agriculture, retail, restaurants, and construction businesses. Mackenzie Espeland is an administrator with the Department of Commerce: “Supporting Native American-owned businesses empowers communities all across the state and it strengthens those tribal economies.” She explained the grants create a “ripple effect” in their communities by stimulating growth and creating job opportunities. This year, the program’s $320,000 will support business owners like George Brown. (Courtesy Pattern) Last week, a lawsuit from a pair of tribes challenging a powerline project in southern Arizona – previously thrown out by a Tucson federal judge – has been remanded back to a lower court. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. Plaintiffs allege the Interior Department illegally granted permits greenlighting construction of the SunZia Transmission Line, which broke ground in 2023. The 550-mile route through Arizona and New Mexico crosses over the San Pedro River Valley – a region of archeological, cultural, and ecological significance to Apaches and O’odhams. John Welch is with the nonprofit Archeology Southwest, one of four plaintiffs, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Tohono O’odham Nation, and San Carlos Apache Tribe. “Certainly for this project and probably never again – at least in the 9th Circuit – is a federal agency going to be able to pretend that a project doesn’t have those landscape-altering effects. This is a very, very strong appellate decision – a big thumb on the scales of justice – in favor of the plaintiffs, and so it’s not just procedural. They’re going to have to consult in much better faith than the [Bureau of Land Management] did on this project.” A three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found plaintiffs presented enough evidence to conclude that the agency violated the National Historic Preservation Act. Still, this latest ruling doesn’t mean construction of SunZia will stop, nor that the tribes will win their legal battle to remove the lines. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is urging for immediate assistance, including housing for evacuees, as wildfires burn in northern Manitoba. According to First Nations leaders, thousands of First Nations people are seeking refuge with many arriving in Winnipeg and other locations with nowhere to go and limited access to necessities. And they say, current shelters are overcrowded and inadequate, and are asking for hotels and other accommodation in Winnipeg and across the province to help displaced families. Leaders are urging the province for immediate assistance. The province has declared a state of emergency. Leaders say those in need of a place to stay, include elders, children, and individuals with serious medical conditions.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Ayuq Blanchett and Josaia Lehauli receive awards from the Tlingit Culture Language and Literacy program at Harborview Elementary School on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (Clarise Larson / KTOO) In Alaska, the Juneau School District is expanding its support of a local language immersion program. After multiple meetings and extended debate, the school board has agreed to fund more of the Lingít language immersion program in the upcoming school year – even amid statewide school budgeting concerns. KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey reports. The program in question is Át Koowaháa: Expanding the Tlingit Culture, Language, and Literacy Program (TCLL). The school district and the nonprofit arm of a regional Native corporation have historically roughly split the cost. The school board signed a memorandum of agreement Wednesday with Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) to increase its investment in the project. But school board members brought up questions about whether the district should pay for more of the TCLL program amidst widespread concerns about funding. Board member Elizabeth Siddon said the school board supports TCLL, but they have to balance that with the needs of the entire district. “But we support it amongst how we support all of our 4,000 students. So I’m trying to keep in mind that these 119 are not the only students we’re responsible for.” The school board initially approved the change during its budget process. They were then under the impression that the grant SHI used for the program was ending, according to the school board president. But SHI was later approved for an extension of the grant. The program isn’t growing, but now the Juneau School District will fund eight of its 11 positions. The change requires additional funding from the school district’s budget. SHI Education Director Kristy Ford said the program is intended to increase the number of Lingít language speakers. “We have less than 10 fluent speakers left, so the need and the urgency to put an intensive amount of support and instruction into the TCLL program was asked of us.” In recent meetings, some school board members said the program only serves a small percentage of Juneau students, but Ford said the scope is intentional. It’s intense and immersive so that there is a group of dedicated speakers to make sure the Lingít language doesn’t go extinct. Artist’s rendering of the proposed Children’s House. (Courtesy Kaala’s Village) Montana’s Native families face higher rates of separation with a disproportionate number of Native kids in foster care. A nonprofit in Lodge Grass is developing a center aimed at keeping tribal families together and out of social services. Montana Public Radio’s Victoria Traxler has more. Mountain Shadow Association recently began construction of a family healing center to support communities on the Crow Reservation. Executive Director Megkain Doyle explains addiction and behavioral health issues can break apart families. She says children from the reservation are often sent to foster care families out of state when these issues arise. The center, called Kaala’s Village, aims to change that. “That’s what Kaala’s Village is really trying to do is provide this consistent and constant relationship and connection and to help repair those places where connection and relationship are broken.” The center’s approach is based in restorative justice, which aims to address the root cause of crimes, instead of incarceration. Doyle says they hope to help break cycles of abuse and trauma. Kaala’s Village was developed from years of direct dialogue between the nonprofit and Lodge Grass community members. “They really wanted it to be a safe place for them and for their children. And they also wanted to make sure that they were gonna be surrounded by people who shared similar goals with them in recovery.” The 13-acre campus will have housing, along with a preschool and caretakers to help supervise children. Doyle says they hope to fully open by the end of 2026.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.