Antonia Gonzales

A federal watchdog says some guidelines meant to improve the response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) are falling short of federal requirements. That is according to an audit from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)'s Office of Inspector General. The watchdog reviewed guidelines from 49 U.S. Attorneys' districts developed under Savanna's Act. The law was passed in 2020 to improve coordination between tribal, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies responding to MMIP cases. The Inspector General found guidelines from 10 of the 49 districts did not fully meet requirements under the law. Seven were missing at least one of six required sections, while eight were not adequately tailored to circumstances within their individual districts. The audit also found staffing shortages within the DOJ's MMIP Regional Outreach Program. As of February, four of the program's 10 positions were vacant. The Inspector General says vacancies and staff turnover have slowed the program's progress. The office made three recommendations, including addressing staffing shortages and bringing district guidelines into compliance. The Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys agreed with all three. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan addresses her supporters during her Primary Night party. (Courtesy Peggy Flanagan / Facebook) Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Nation/D-MN) has won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. The Associated Press called the race for Flanagan Tuesday night. She defeated U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary. The win puts Flanagan one step closer to making history. If elected in November, she would become the first Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. Flanagan has served as Minnesota's lieutenant governor since 2019 and is the highest-ranking Native woman elected to executive office in the U.S. During her campaign, Flanagan focused on issues including health care and affordability. She also campaigned against corporate influence in politics. Peggy Flanagan’s note to her supporters. (Courtesy Peggy Flanagan / Facebook) She is running for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), who is not seeking reelection. Flanagan will face Republican Michele Tafoya in the November general election. The Associated Press called that primary for the former NFL sideline reporter in a crowded Republican race. The Clean Air Act requires uranium waste storage pits at the White Mesa mill near Blanding, Utah, to be covered in water to control radon gas. (Photos: Dom Smith / EcoFlight) Congressional Democrats have opened an investigation into a uranium mining company for alleged insider trading. KNAU's Chris Clements has more. Energy Fuels Resources CEO Ross Bhappu bought 74,000 shares of stock in his own company on July 7. Chairman of the board Burce Hansen bought 4,000 shares on July 8. Five days after that, President Donald Trump announced a 90% cut to Bears Ears National Monument. That timing is suspicious, says two Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee. U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Maxine Dexter (D-OR) allege the Trump administration may have tipped the company off about the reduction before it happened. The company owns the only conventional uranium mill in the U.S., and there is a lot of uranium underneath Bears Ears – which is now free from a moratorium on new mining claims. The congressmembers say the company stood to benefit from the Bears Ears reduction, but in an emailed statement to KNAU, Energy Fuels denied the allegations and said it was unaware of any evidence supporting the representatives' claims. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, August 12, 2026 — Native Playlist: Thomas Michael Swensen and Debora Iyall

Photo: Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska will host the 2028 Arctic Winter Games. (Quintin Soloviev / Wikimedia) The Arctic Winter Games International Committee has chosen Fairbanks, Alaska to host the games in 2028. Organizers chose to buck an April decision that would have moved to a three-year cycle temporarily. The announcement means the next Arctic Winter Games, which had been set for 2029, will happen a year earlier than was planned. A statement from the committee's president says an “extraordinary” proposal from Fairbanks this spring made it possible to return to the traditional two-year cycle. “Working with the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, the State of Alaska, and numerous community partners, the Host Society demonstrated the community’s readiness to host the Games.” The international competition brings together about 2,000 youth participants from across the Circumpolar North, including Alaska, Canada, and Nordic countries. The multi-sport event and Indigenous cultural celebration started in 1970 and features sports like hockey, skiing, and curling as well as Dene games, such as the finger pull and snow snake. The competition took place in Whitehorse, Canada last winter. It was last hosted in Alaska in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in 2024. The games have come to Fairbanks three times – twice in the 1980s and again in 2014. The Northwest Territories had been slated to host the 2028 iteration of the event, but withdrew its bid in 2024. Its Municipal and Community Affairs Minister cited reasons like insufficient capacity and facilities, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported at the time. (Courtesy Tohono O'odham Nation) Over the weekend, a tribe in southern Arizona warned that border wall contractors may soon encroach upon their lands. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the tribe says it is ready to deal with trespassers. According to the Tohono O'odham Code, the tribe may impose up to a $5,000 fine for civil trespassing. Tribal police would escort any offender off the reservation sharing a 62-mile boundary with Mexico. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, led by Secretary Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee) is looking to erect a border wall there. The Tohono O'odham Nation has sued, claiming its sovereignty would be violated should the Trump administration be allowed to proceed. While Customs and Border Protection is aware of the tribe's warning, the federal agency declined to comment due to ongoing litigation. Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah. (Courtesy U.S. Bureau of Land Management) Native Tribes and conservation groups are preparing to sue the Trump administration after the president signed orders to sharply reduce the size of two national monuments in Utah. Mark Richardson has details. Republicans are celebrating the move, while Tribes and environmentalists say it strips protections from culturally significant public lands. Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) and Utah’s congressional delegation joined the president to celebrate the signing of the orders. Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, calls conservatives’ vision for the state’s wildlands “wrong-headed”. “(U.S. Sen.) Mike Lee (R-UT)’s vision of the American West is not one with sweeping federal public lands. His view of the American West is Utah and other western states should be the South Carolina of the West, with almost no public land.” President Trump reduced the area of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments by about three million acres from their current boundaries – roughly 90% of the original protected area. Polling shows that 65% of Utah voters support keeping Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante protected as national monuments. Utah Republicans have long pushed to reduce or eliminate the two national monuments to allow mining and other economic development on the land. President Donald Trump speaks at the Utah State Capitol in 2017 before issuing a proclamation reducing boundaries for the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. Trump first reduced the monuments in 2017 during his first term, but President Joe Biden restored the areas. Bloch says he believes Trump is misinformed about the value of the monuments. “I think he really didn’t know what he was talking about. The line that everybody is hooked into that, as he understood it, you couldn’t hunt, fish, or walk in the monuments, and that is so demonstrably false.” The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, formed by the Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, Navajo Nation and Ute Tribes, called it a major setback to an extraordinary collaboration on public lands between Tribal Nations and federal agencies. Bloch says it was a bitter pill for the tribes to swallow. “The tribes are angry. They are really disappointed. It’s just a lot of pain from yet another attempt by the nation to try and undo their footprint.” Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, August 11, 2026 — Tribes face record-setting wildfire destruction

Photo: Invasive Green Crab. (Linda Shaw / NOAA Fisheries) Invasive European green crabs have swelled in population across southern Southeast Alaska since they were first detected in the region four years ago. In response, Ketchikan, Alaska's local tribe recently petitioned the state to open a green crab sport fishery to help manage the invasive's spread. The request was denied, citing a lack of evidence that the invasive species has contributed to environmental changes. KRBD's Hunter Morrison reports. The Ketchikan Indian Community submitted the emergency petition to the state's Board of Fisheries in March, asking to reclassify European green crabs from a Class A to a Class B banned invasive species. This change would allow anybody to transport dead European green crabs for harvest or consumption. Currently, the invasive can only be possessed or transported for scientific or educational purposes by those with a special Aquatic Resource Permit. Emily Halsell is a fisheries and wildlife biologist with Ketchikan's tribal government. “This isn’t an issue that’s going anywhere, and it seems to be largely ignored throughout much of the state.” The tribe has removed about 1,500 green crabs from Ketchikan beaches so far this year. In its petition to the state, the tribe cites the species' damaging impacts to the local ecosystem and economy. The adaptive critter can burrow and destroy eelgrass beds, which are nurseries for native species like Dungeness crabs and juvenile salmon. “So when these crabs come up and they tear up this critical marine habitat, there’s cascading population effects.” The species was first detected in Alaska in 2022 on Annette Island, south of Ketchikan. They have since reached about 70 miles north. And the number of green crabs detected has increased. Halsell says they can reproduce two or three times a year, and can lay up to 180,000 eggs each time. Halsell believes a change in how the crab is classified in Alaska, and opening a sport fishery for them, could help better manage their spread. Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, who denied the petition, says the state is determining how to best manage the invasive. A letter from his office states a lack of evidence that the invasive has contributed to changes in eelgrass habitat or caused changes in fishery populations. “I'm not opposed to the concept. I just think it needs to be fleshed out a little bit more, and I think it needs to be, you know, what does a fishery look like? What are the gear types that would be allowed, and what would happen with incidental harvests?” Halsell believes green crab management efforts need to be addressed sooner than that. Summit area of Avi Kwa Ame in southern Nevada, which is adjacent to the proposed land sale. (Photo: Stan Shebs / Wikimedia) Public lands are especially important to Tribal communities across Nevada, and a new report finds protecting those lands is also a top priority for a large majority of voters statewide. Suzanne Potter has the story. Protection of public lands is a top issue for a large majority of Nevada voters, according to a new report from the Center for Western Priorities. Researchers aggregated multiple polls and found that most voters oppose the sale of public land and the rollback of environmental protections. The center's executive director, Aaron Weiss, points to the Colorado College Conservation in the West poll, which found that 82% of Nevada voters oppose the Trump administration's funding cuts to agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. “Western voters see public lands, waters, and wildlife as a motivating factor in how they vote and is worth everyone across the political spectrum keeping in mind as we head into this election season.” Last year, proposals from U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to sell off public lands were abandoned after they drew a big backlash. Environmental advocates say the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act of 1998 is a better model, because it established a process to identify land suitable for development while giving permanent protection to hundreds of thousands of acres of public land. Weiss says the feds have now thrown their support behind the data center boom. “We see them rushing to try to hand over public lands to build data centers over the objection of local and neighboring communities. The way that this process played out near Boulder City exemplifies that.” Recently, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum slashed the boundaries of two national monuments in Utah. Conservation groups are also concerned that the feds will target other national monuments next, including Gold Butte outside of Las Vegas. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, August 10, 2026 — August primary elections offer insights on Native candidates' prospects

Photo: Desks with art supplies sit ready for preschoolers at Kodiak’s North Star building on July 31. A wing of the building reopened to children on Aug. 3. (Katherine Irving / KMXT) The doors of what was once Kodiak's North Star Elementary School reopened August 3 for the first time since last June. The school closed because of budget cuts, but one wing of the building is now home to the Sun'aq Tribe's Alutiingcut Child Care Center, a preschool for two-to-five year-olds. KMXT's Katherine Irving toured the center before its opening and has the story. “This is our foxes classroom. This is our oldest.” Montana Sanchez is the childcare administrator for the Sun'aq Tribe. On a Friday at the end of July, the building that used to be North Star Elementary School was abuzz with activity. “You just walked into fixing the ceilings and the Wi-Fi on the same day.” Sanchez and the teachers had just three days left to get everything finished before opening their doors for preschoolers on August 3. She showed me some of the classrooms, freshly redecorated with dollhouses and play mats and tables covered with art supplies. “I think everyone's been here for the last three weekends in a row getting this set up.” She says this transition has been years in the making. The Tribe's Alutiingcut Child Care Center got its start in 2022 with one classroom at St. Mary's Catholic Church. The center has always accepted all children ages two to five, but with preference for Alaska Native and American Indian families. As demand grew, they expanded to three classrooms at St. Mary's. With a long waitlist, and no more room to grow at the parish, Sanchez says moving to the North Star building was the logical next step. Sadie Coyle, or Ms. Taqu as the kids call her, is the Alutiiq language teacher for the preschool and she has been with the Alutiingcut Child Care Center since the beginning. We caught her in the middle of pushing a cart of supplies to her classroom. “When we first started, four years ago, we had one classroom, and now eventually we're gonna have five. I think that's a good milestone for us.” Enrolling at the preschool costs $1,075 per month per child for kids aged two through three-and-a-half, and $1,025 per month per child for the older kids. That hovers around the statewide average of $1,009 per month, according to data from the non-profit First Five Years Fund. Sanchez says they currently have 35 preschoolers enrolled. They are planning to enroll 75 kids by December and hoping to be licensed for a maximum of 110 by next year. “We already know this is going to be a big change for them, although it's great. So we're going to take it slow, and then hopefully in another month and a half we'll open another classroom, and after that another classroom.” Even with the expansion, she says they still have people on their waitlist. There are several in-home daycares on the island, but the Alutiingcut is the only childcare center, besides the one on the Coast Guard Base Kodiak, which is not accessible to the general public. Sanchez says childcare is hard to come by. Preschools at the Kodiak Baptist Mission and the Lutheran Church closed in 2025 and 2022. “We just don't have many options. Especially the ages from three to five, it's such a hard age to find childcare for. Yeah, we're really hoping to fill that need.” The expansion to North Star brings new opportunities. Coyle, the language teacher, says she is excited to finally have her own classroom, with the space to teach the kids Alutiiq dances. “Dance is my passion, and I want to be able to teach some dances that I’ve learned for the last 15 years now, because they have a lot more fun singing and learning, and like adding a little bit of song and tune to the language helps a lot.” Coyle says she has been designing the curriculum for her class from scratch, which has been a lot of work and no small amount of stress, but she says it has all been worth it. “A couple weeks ago, one of my kiddos looked outside, and it was very sunny, and he said, ‘Oh, Ms. Taqu, it's macanguq out.’ Just those little moments where I'm like, oh, I'm doing something right, I'm doing something for the community.” After months of work and four weekends spent getting everything ready, the North Star wing opened for childcare on August 3. Sanchez says kids and parents alike were excited to explore the new space. A post marks where Enbridge's Line 5 crosses the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa on Friday, June 24, 2022. (Photo: Danielle Kaeding / WPR) A federal appeals court is siding with a Wisconsin tribe in its long-running fight against an oil pipeline crossing its reservation. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Enbridge has been trespassing on land belonging to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, after pipeline easements on some tribal lands expired in 2013. The court says Enbridge must remove its Line 5 pipeline from those lands, but sent the case back to a lower court to reconsider how much time the company will have to complete a reroute. The court will also reconsider how much Enbridge owes the tribe for profits connected to the trespass. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, August 7, 2026 — Notable Native theater events range from horror to historic

Photo: Lifer inmates at Salem's Oregon State Correctional Institution connect with culture, family, and healing during the annual Many Nations Pow Wow. (Brian Bull) The power of a Pow Wow has been described as a collective heartbeat that draws people together. Celebrants often say they feel unity and freedom as they dance in a circle. Those elements are especially vital for those serving time at the Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem, Oreg., but as Brian Bull of Underscore Native News and KLCC reports, for one day each year, inmates get to move to the rhythm of a rawhide drum with friends and loved ones. A soft breeze rustles the frills on Anthony Salazar (Apache)'s regalia. He describes its colors, as his wife, Stephanie, helps with final adjustments. “Colors are white, black, red, and yellow, which is the colors of the four directions. The green represents Mother Earth. All the regalia is connected to nature somehow.” Drummers gather in a circle, while other dancers fix their bangles and beadwork. A man with a microphone greets the crowd of visitors with a smile. “We're so glad you guys were able to make it. We are about to prepare to do our Grand Entry.” At first, you'd think this was just any other Pow Wow getting underway. However … “I’m in here for two counts of murder, and I got a life sentence. I’ve been in 24 years.” Salazar, like everyone else preparing to dance or drum, is a “lifer” at this medium-security, all-men's prison. “This is actually the first “Pow Wow where I've actually dressed up in regalia, and I'm going to dance.” He is thrilled to be part of the Pow Wow – and that his wife Stephanie is here. “This is my first one that I've been able to come to, very fortunate to be here. Means a lot.” As dancers gather for the grand entry, a red-tailed hawk soars above. It is a simple, but powerful symbol of freedom in a place where guard towers and checkpoints remind everyone this is a prison. Emcee Shawn Jeffers-Monro says it is great having his wife and other loved ones here once a year. “My mother was dying of cancer three years ago, and I was able to have this ceremony with her and these last rites, and be able to say goodbye to her. So this is that one time of year that we get to be together as a community, as a family, and kinda be free in a way.” One of the guests for this Pow Wow is Aliza Kaplan, a professor at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland. She says she and some of her students have been invited to this event about five times. “Because we aim to really get to know our clients and what matters to them, and see them as more than people who have committed crimes.” No one here glosses over the fact that they are behind bars for serious crimes, and may not ever step foot beyond the prison gates, but many see the Pow Wow as a way to hold on to tradition and find worth, says inmate Nestor Diaz-Miller (Cow Creek Band of Umpqua). “I've dealt with suicidal thoughts and actions in my past, and being able to focus on this inipi, this sweat lodge and that drum, literally saved my life. It's given me something to believe in, something to hope in. It's such a special feeling, I can't describe it other than special.” The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is advancing several bills aimed at settling tribal water rights and funding water infrastructure across the West. During a legislative hearing last week, senators considered measures affecting the Yavapai-Apache Nation in Arizona and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians in California, along with legislation to strengthen the federal Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund. Supporters say the bills would help fulfill the federal government’s trust responsibilities while providing greater certainty for Tribal Nations and neighboring communities. The measures now await further action by the committee and Congress. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, August 6, 2026 — Testing the limits of religious freedom

Photo: The Colorado River near Lees Ferry, Colo. in May 2026. (Chris Clements / KNAU) The states that share the Colorado River have a new federal framework in place for managing the embattled waterway, but as KNAU's Chris Clements reports, the impact of the U.S. government’s strategy on tribal nations is less clear. The new framework from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation could result in steep cuts to the Central Arizona Project, a delivery system for Colorado River water. That worries some tribal leaders like Orlando Carroll, chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona. “We definitely would be concerned of any cutbacks that are generated.” Under a federal settlement, Carroll's tribe can lease its share of water from the river, but at least his tribe's water rights have been spelled out. Other tribes, like the Navajo, Hopi, and San Juan Southern Paiute are watching the U.S. put out a Colorado River management plan for the states, while their own water rights in Arizona remain unquantified. Brenda Jesus is a Navajo Nation council delegate. “I just don’t understand that they’ve gotten their water rights decree, yet in the year 2026, the Navajo Nation doesn’t have any.” A settlement to give the Navajo Nation its water rights in Arizona is still under consideration in Congress. Golden king crab season runs from August 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027. (Courtesy Ethan Nichols / Alaska Department of Fish and Game Golden king crab season opened on Saturday in the Aleutian Islands. This year, the total allowable catch for the region is 13% higher than it was last season, as Katie Reuther reports from KUCB. Ethan Nichols is an Area Management Biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) based in Dutch Harbor. He says this reflects a sizable increase for the western area of the fishery, at over a million and a half pounds this season. “The quota in the east this year is a very slight decrease from last season, it’s down 4%. In the western area, it's a large increase this year. It’s a 79% increase.” Due to the size of the golden king crab fishery, it is split into two different management areas: one east of Atka and the other to the west, each with their own harvest levels. “The east has more fishable depths or more fishable ground, whereas you get further west and much smaller islands that drop off quicker.” That means better fishing in the eastern area. Even with a slight decrease in allowable catch this year, the eastern area's limit is still more than double that of the west's limit at over three million pounds. Nichols says he is optimistic about the upcoming season. “I think it's a really unique crab fishery, just where the fishing occurs, it being a deep water fishery from a select few vessels, and I'm excited about the upcoming season.” Just four vessels are expected to fish for golden king crab this season. The fishery was worth $29.5 million at the dock last year, according to preliminary figures from ADFG. This year's season ends next April. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) meets for a business meeting in June 2026. (Courtesy ACHP / Facebook) Tribal historic preservation leaders are voicing concerns over proposed changes to the federal review process for projects that could affect sacred sites and cultural resources. Last month, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voted to advance a proposed rule revising Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, a key law requiring federal agencies to consider impacts on historic properties and consult with Tribal Nations. The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers says the proposal would weaken tribal consultation, narrow protections for places of religious and cultural significance, and give federal agencies greater authority over the review process. The proposal now heads to federal review before it is published for public comment. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, August 5, 2026 — Tribes condemn federal Colorado River water use plan

Photo: Rose High Bear, left, David Mora-Flores, Roman Wood, Joaquin Ocana, Claudia Vega, Damian Salazar, Paige Wentzel, amd Jaimie Myrick Duckett in Salem, Oreg., July 9, 2026. (Brian Bull) A small, two-acre farm near Salem, Oreg. aims to save the planet. Elderberry Wisdom Farms launched in 2018 and is the creation of Rose High Bear. The 81-year-old Alaskan Native trains interns on urban forestry and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, but as Brian Bull of Underscore Native News and KLCC reports, funding challenges make its future uncertain. Inside the Elderberry Wisdom Farm classroom, several people monitor a kettle of pressed elderberries. Urban forestry coordinator David Mora-Flores reads a thermometer … “It’s at 133 (degrees) right now. We’re trying to get it to about 90 degrees. At 90 degrees, we can add our flavoring and pH stabilizing agents, which are honey, lemon, and cinnamon juice.” … as Rose High Bear observes. “We're using raw organic honey from the Willamette Valley, and we don’t want to put it in something more than like 90 degrees, so we can keep all the health properties of the honey.” It is a lesson in product creation and marketing. This syrup will be used in spritzer and other items, and sold at markets. 30 years ago, High Bear helmed an award-winning audio series called “Wisdom of the Elders”, which profiled venerable people from Indian Country. But then Martin High Bear, her husband and Lakota medicine man, died. “And when he died in 1995, I seemed to continue to get messages through interpreters. So he told me that I would be leaving Portland.” High Bear settled in Salem and launched her farm. Her focus has since been getting her hands dirty, with help. Intern Claudia Vega shows some potted yew trees that a resident donated to the farm. “They’re so small, but they’re so-they’re so resilient. I mean, even just interacting with the trees is medicine itself.” Eight years in, the environmental and political climates have heated up for the farm. Last year, the Trump administration slashed budgets for DEI and environmental programs. High Bear recalls what she was about to do with a $750,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant when the axe fell. “Planting trees in the city of Salem in the, you could call it, Title I school neighborhoods, low-income neighborhoods, where there is low tree canopies. Then on February 28, 2025, I lost four staff all in the same day after we got notified of the freeze.” U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR) was able to unfreeze the funds, which run out in 2028. High Bear says there is a need for her farm. “The prophecy says the day will come when the people of the earth will turn to Native people to learn how to care for the earth, and to care for one another. And so you know we’re just trying to help fulfill that. This work is really spiritual work.” Randy Merrill, left, and Brian Cassidy. (Courtesy AAIA) Two Army veterans are riding nearly 10,000 miles across Turtle Island to raise money and awareness for Native Nations. Randy Merrill and Brian Cassidy began the 2026 Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge on August 2 with a goal of raising $10,000 for the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA). The nonprofit says the money will strengthen Native Nations, support Native youth and family programs, protect tribal sovereignty, preserve Indigenous cultures, and educate the public about Native Peoples. The veterans say the journey is also part of their own healing after military service and a way to stand in solidarity with Native communities. AAIA CEO Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) says the challenge represents healing through service and helps raise awareness that Native Peoples and their diverse cultures deserve equal protection. Missouri in 1824 when the Treaty of Washingon was signed. (Photo: Lucas Fielding, Jr. / courtesy State Historical Society of Missouri) On this day in 1824, the U.S. and leaders of the Ioway (Baxoje) Nation signed the Treaty of Washington. Under the agreement, the Ioway ceded their remaining lands in present day Missouri to the U.S., marking another chapter in the federal government’s expansion through treaty-making with Tribal Nations. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, August 4, 2026 — When is it OK to let a Native language die?

Efforts to encourage more Native Americans to vote are underway in more than a dozen states this year. Chuck Quirmbach reports on how things are going in Wisconsin, ahead of the state primary contests on August 11. The nonpartisan group Wisconsin Native Vote is about a decade old, and is now up to four organizers around the state. They have already been doing outreach at Pow Wows and a variety of other community events. Spokesperson and organizer Anne Egan-Waukau (Menominee) says a key message is that voting is a way to make sure Native voices are heard. “We tell people to vote for the Seventh Generation. That’s what really resonates with people, because our ancestors worked to make sure Mother Earth was clean and healthy for us. And, it’s our job to do that for our next seven generations. But also, it’s working to maintain our sovereignty.” Egan-Waukau says tribal sovereignty is an especially powerful theme for the Menominee, which only won back full tribal status in the early 1970’s after much activism and debate with state and federal elected officials. Still, this is not a presidential election year, and Wisconsin only has high-profile races for Governor, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the state legislature. Statewide voter turnout is expected to be down from 2024, but Egan-Waukau says there are some big problems, new and ongoing, likely to motivate tribal members to vote. “Like we had listening sessions and people came to talk to us about issues important to them, like data centers, the opioid problem we have on our reservations.” Egan-Waukau says she does encounter people who are cynical about voting and politicians, but she says she asks them do they really want to do nothing at election time. The Eklutna Tribe's Pow Wow and Potlatch happens only once every two years, but when it does, it draws hundreds of people to the village of Eklutna near Anchorage, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports. The weekend of dancing, drumming, and feasting kicked off Saturday morning at the tribe's Pow Wow grounds. Aaron Leggett, the president of the Native Village of Eklutna, says what makes him most proud is that no one leaves hungry, because the tribe feeds everyone. “We'll have moose, various types of moose stew, and roast and fish, salmon. It's just sort of our way of really being open and good community partners.” Many also bring dishes to share. Leggett says the tribe had plenty to celebrate this year — including the groundbreaking for its long-awaited gathering hall, funded in part by the success of its new casino. The Chin’an Gaming Hall is in a temporary, modular near the Birchwood Airport. (Photo: Rhonda McBride) But more than anything, Leggett says, the gathering is a chance for Anchorage, Chugiak, and Eagle River to get to know their neighbors in the village of Eklutna. “There's certainly people that wouldn't necessarily, you know, when think of Eklutna, maybe they would think of the cemetery and the church but don't really have any sense of it. The Pow Wow, the Potlatch, really was our way of increasing awareness to the community and building that up.” The theme for this year's event was “Restoring our River — 97 Years Later”. It highlighted the tribe's efforts to restore the natural flow of the Eklutna River and its wild salmon runs. Treaty of Greenville depiction, 1795, artist unknown. On this day in 1795, the Treaty of Greenville was signed, ending the Northwest Indian War. The agreement between the U.S. and several Tribal Nations ceded much of present-day Ohio to the U.S., marking a major turning point in federal-Tribal relations and westward expansion. Page 1 of the Treaty of Greenville. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, August 3, 2026 — New outbreak of food-borne illness shakes public confidence in food supply

Families and communities across western Alaska are getting long-awaited answers after federal investigators released their final report on last year’s deadly crash of Bering Air Flight 445. The report identifies multiple factors that contributed to the accident, including severe icing and safety shortcomings by the airline. Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. All nine passengers and the pilot died when a Bering Air Cessna Grand Caravan crashed during its flight between Unalakleet and Nome in February of last year. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) final report on the incident faults the pilot for “inadequate airspeed management”. It also says the plane faced severe icing conditions and was overweight, leaving less of a margin to avoid a stall. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy was on scene in Nome last year and visited the state again this week, meeting with families of the victims of the crash. She says several preventable problems contributed to the accident. “In this case, we had a number of issues. We had first chronic underreporting of weight loads on the aircraft. There were problems with airspeed management. Between the airspeed, the increased load, the icing conditions, and some pilot inputs, he ended up in a stall.” Homendy says the pilot encountered severe icing conditions that were not initially forecast. She says investigators found that the pilot checked the weather, but did not receive any support from the air carrier making the decision on whether it was safe to fly. “We found that there wasn’t a process in place for Bering to have a weather risk assessment of when to fly – go/no go decision. It was all on the pilot.” According to the report, a few minutes before the crash, a controller in Anchorage told the pilot that both of Nome's runways were temporarily closed for de-icing and advised the pilot to slow down. The pilot initially decreased speed before increasing engine power again. Flight data showed that the plane pitched nose up at one point before losing speed and altitude until its low airspeed awareness system activated, which disengaged the autopilot. The controller sent a low-altitude alert but had lost contact with the pilot. The NTSB report says the plane's anti-icing system was working, and the pilot used it before the crash. A U.S. Coast Guard plane found the wreckage resting on an ice floe east of Nome the next morning, with no survivors. The NTSB also listed “inadequate safety management” by Bering Air as a cause of the crash. The report says the airline's planes routinely flew overweight. Bering Air declined to provide a statement when reached for comment. Homendy says the agency looked at 16 other Bering Air flights and found that loads often exceeded what was stated. She says that the agency did not look at whether other Alaska operators were also underreporting weights, but broadly speaking, it is a concern. She says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not provide adequate oversight of the air carrier, particularly as it rapidly expanded in the region in recent years. She says the agency advised the FAA to require operators to adopt safety management systems like evaluating risks, having procedures to make sure the loads are accurate, and look at how they do pre-flight planning and go/no go decisions. “Those, to me, are not burdensome. Those are procedures that any operator, including a single operator can put in place themselves and can save lives and frankly save a company.” Bering Air faces three wrongful death lawsuits related to the crash. Clay Robbins is an attorney representing the family of Talaluk Katchatag (Iñupiaq) from Unalakleet. He says the suit seeks compensation for Katchatag's children, but the family also hopes to set a standard for bush airlines across the state. “They must be held accountable for satisfying their responsibility to exercise the highest standard of care to protect their customers from tragedies such as this, that was entirely, entirely avoidable.” The report is NTSB's final action on the crash. It calls for more training for pilots to better handle loss of control situations. It also includes a host of recommendations for airlines like Bering Air, called Part 135 operators, like using certified dispatchers and expanding flight monitoring. KNOM's Ben Townsend contributed to this reporting Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, July 31, 2026 – Native film/TV round-up: A gritty tribal cop thriller, ‘Little House on the Prairie’ reboot, and remembering Native ‘Emergency!’ TV star

Photo: Santa Fe Indian School campus. (Courtesy Administration for Native Americans for Children & Families) U.S. Rep Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) introduced two bills this week to modernize the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and potentially bring higher teacher salaries and more federal funding for tribal schools. KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. The Indigenous Students Excel through Parity Act and its supporting Act II bill would create a study under the Department of Interior (DOI) to recommend reforms in order to provide funds that could increase teacher pay, and provide more educational opportunities. An identical bill is sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). DOI administers BIE, which funds 183 schools across the country. New Mexico has one of the highest concentrations of BIE-funded schools with 44. Despite this, Rep. Stansbury says BIE schools have traditionally been underfunded, but they are competing with state-funded schools to recruit teachers. “So what this bill would do is study the current formula funds that are allocated per student to these tribally controlled schools to evaluate one how to increase funding per student, how to address increasing teacher and staff pay, and how to make sure that those schools who have extra costs and needs can have their needs met.” Stansbury says the goal of the bills is to bring teacher salaries in tribal schools up to the same level as those in state-funded schools. “If you’re a teacher, I mean, think about it, and you really want to work in a tribal community, whether you are a Native person yourself or not. And you’re looking at the difference of getting paid, let’s say, $50,000 by the federal government versus going and teaching in APS (Albuquerque Public Schools) making $60,000, you know, you’re going to have to make that economic decision for yourself and your family, and so we don’t want teachers to have to make that decision. We want teachers to be teaching in the schools they want to.” The proposed bill does not have a cost included with it, but if the study recommendations are enacted, BIE would have to boost funding for tribal schools. Jaynie Parrish and her father drop off ballots at the one county ballot box in their town of Kayenta, Ariz., left, and members of Arizona Native Vote's Hopi team, the Firekeepers, register younger community members in Bacavi, Ariz. (Photos: Jason Biggs / courtesy Jaynie Parrish) The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day can still be counted. While the move is a win for Arizona’s Indigenous voters, it highlights the challenges Native people still face in rural parts of the state, as Mark Moran reports. Voting rights advocates say the debate highlights the challenges Native people face in trying to submit a ballot in person. The sheer geography, vast distances between physical polling places, and lack of transportation all present obstacles for Indigenous voters. In many places, the nearest polling place may be miles away, but Arizona Native Vote’s Jaynie Parrish says many people on reservations also lack physical addresses, which creates its own set of problems. “Even in some rural towns, they have physical addressing, but not on a lot of Tribal lands. We still predominantly use PO boxes. That means we have to go to a U.S. Post Office or another location to pick up mail, but our folks still vote by mail.” The Trump administration has pushed back on the high court’s ruling, asking justices to allow the president’s executive order to be implemented. The attempt to reject mail-in ballots received after Election Day is among a host of bold policy choices under the Trump administration. Parrish also points to efforts to challenge voter citizenship, which she says hit especially hard on Native reservations. “It’s just absurd. You get a look on people’s face when we have to explain this or when they hear about the news or what this means, and it’s another barrier. And it’s ridiculous to ask First Peoples, Indigenous Peoples of their citizenship.” According to research from the Brennan Center, Indigenous voters were about 7% less likely to cast their ballot by mail in the last General Election, reflecting a wider lack of participation among Natives. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, July 30, 2026 — The Menu: food heals in books ‘Our Knives Will Save Us’ and ‘Raven, Rising’

Photo: Kaiser Canyon fire in Washington, July 2026. (Courtesy Inciweb / USFS via National Interagency Fire Center / Facebook) Wildfires continue to burn across the U.S, including many areas of Indian Country. In Washington state, the largest fire is the Kaiser Canyon Fire which is burning through the Colville Indian Reservation. As of late Tuesday, the fire surpassed 126,000 acres and was 16% contained. In an update Tuesday morning, Keith Kelley, operations section chief for Northern Rockies Unit 2, shared the day's plan of attack against the Kaiser Canyon Fire. More than 1,000 personnel are committed to the effort. “And we do have resources looking at some additional containment lines, trying to find places to what we call pinch in the fire, to keep it from spreading. So we’re kind of like checking it up. So we’ll put some dozer lines in, and the fire will slow its progression, and then eventually it will it will kind of continue to move. But it gives us an opportunity to put some dozer lines and put in some containment lines so we can stop that progression as it moves to the north. So certainly have resources in there. We’ll continue to do that.” The Kaiser Canyon Fire started July 16 when a lightning strike hit the Nespelem area on the Colville reservation. Meanwhile, more than a million acres have burned in Oregon. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has closed its tribal government due to Level Three evacuations caused by the Bench Fire, which at last check had burned more than 45,000 acres. The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation have set up a Wildfire Recovery Fund for volunteers and supplies to help those affected by the fires. Chris Deschene, left, and Emily Ellison are the two vice-presidential candidates in the upcoming 2026 Navajo Nation election. (Courtesy U.S. Department of Energy / Emily Ellison for Navajo President 2026 / Facebook) Following the Navajo Nation presidential primary last week, the top vote-getters have named their vice presidential picks. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley was first to announce her ticket in Window Rock, Ariz. “Excited to share this moment with you. I know people online were very anxious.” She picked former Arizona Democratic state lawmaker Chris Deschene. “Throughout my career, I know what it's like to be an underdog.” In 2014, the Marine Corps vet vied for the very seat Curley is now seeking, but after placing second in that primary, Deschene was disqualified, in part, because of Curley's November opponent – Farmington attorney Justin Jones. “This is where I grew up.” As for Jones, he returned to Rock Point, Ariz. to name his running mate. Emily Ellison is in charge of the Gallup nonprofit Battered Families Services. “I want to thank the committee for this opportunity to serve our Navajo people.” Billy Kirkland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, visits Choctow Central High School, one of several Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools with a graduation rate above 90%. (Courtesy BIE / Facebook) The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) says 21 of the high schools they fund achieved graduation rates of 90% or greater in 2025, in what the agency calls an “unprecedented milestone”, reflecting their commitment to student achievement, college and career readiness, and workforce development. The 21 schools include Kickapoo Nation School, Santa Fe Indian School, Shoshone-Bannock School, Navajo Preparatory School, and Choctaw Central High School. The BIE's overall graduation rate reached 79%, the highest in its history. The BIE is aiming for a rate of 91% by May 2030. The Associated Press reports that, beginning in 2018, the BIE began standardizing data collection methods, which has helped improve data accuracy. While Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland (Navajo) said that these gains reflect the Trump administration's commitment to Native American students, there are concerns that the administration's changes to the BIE — including the planned dissolving of the U.S. Department of Education and further fallout from DOGE cuts — could undermine progress and prevent struggling schools from improving students' performance. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, July 29, 2026 – Southeast Alaska tribes closer to land designation more than a half century after being locked out

Photo: First Nation leaders held a press conference on July 21, 2026 to address claims by the Ontario government. (Courtesy Nishnawbe Aski Nation / YouTube) Indigenous leaders in Ontario are calling for a public inquiry into how the provincial government responded to the wildfires that ripped through parts of Northern Ontario. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, at least two First Nations communities burned to the ground. Several First Nations leaders held a news conference in Thunder Bay recently to counter claims by the Ontario government that it did communicate and respond with Native communities about the fire dangers. Helen Paavola is the chief of the Collins First Nation. “There's nothing left but just ashes. My members barely escaped with the clothes on their back.” Paavola says her community was left to evacuate without notice or support from the government, but Ontario Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response Jill Dunlop insists there was communication. “There has been a lot of communication back and forth between First Nations communities with myself and with my colleagues and our ministry officials as well.” But Alvin Fiddler, grand chief of the Nishnabe Aski Nation, disagrees. “They were here on Saturday. Premier Doug Ford some ministers were here as well and they didn't even bother to reach out to First Nations leaders.” The chiefs are calling for changes, including officials at the top of the forest fire and emergency services for the ministry of natural resources, pending an independent investigation. And they want a public inquiry into decision making, emergency coordination, and communications with First Nations as well as over provincial preparedness. Jerrod Sessler addresses the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce candidate forum, July 21, 2026. (Courtesy Columbia Basin Herald / Facebook) A congressional candidate in Washington state has apologized for recent remarks that falsely claimed the Colville Tribe has an “incentive” for more fires, because they get “free money” from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). KREM 2 TV reports that Republican Jerrod Sessler hopes to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) in an upcoming primary. The district includes parts of the Colville Indian reservation and the entire Yakama Reservation, which are both experiencing wildfires. At a candidate forum on July 21, Sessler made the following comments about the Colville Tribe. “They don’t pay taxes for anything, but yet we fight those fires to the tune of millions of dollars, and they got a check from FEMA for $30 million for the fire. So what's the incentive for them? The incentive is more fires, ‘Because we get free money.'” Tribal officials condemned Sessler's remarks, reminding people that Native citizens pay federal income “and other applicable federal taxes” while outlining how FEMA funds disaster responses. In a statement sent to tribal leaders Monday, Sessler said his remarks were “ill-informed and incorrect” and there is “no excuse for making these sorts of public comments without verifying the information.” Sessler is one of 11 candidates vying for the 4th Congressional District in the August 4 primary. And the 2026 Indigenous Media Conference just wrapped up in Portland, Oreg. The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) organized the three-day event, which held panels ranging from how to best cover the MMIP crisis to doing social videos. Melissa Greene-Blye (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma) of the IJA education committee says final registration totals came to roughly 490 attendees, one of the best turnouts yet. “That’s really exciting, um, to maybe find out that word of what’s happening is spreading and people are saying, ‘I want to be a part of this’, and they’re showing up.” Chuck Sams (Cayuse/Walla Walla, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation), the first Native director of the National Park Service, gave the keynote address. Greene-Blye says new developments also sparked interest. “The launch of the Pacific Islander Journalism Network at conference, there was a lot of excitement with that. The new bylaws were an important point of discussion, because it had been decades since they had been updated. Now, the Indigenous Journalist Association renaming is official, official, official on paper, in law.” The event wrapped up with the IJA awards and banquet, which honored Osage News editor Shannon Shaw Duty with two IJA distinguished awards. Former National Native News host Antonia Gonzales (Navajo) was also recognized for her 22 years of hosting this program. Next year's conference will be held in Minneapolis, Minn. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, July 28, 2026 — Addressing public health with veterinary care in rural areas

Photo: The territory being purchased encompasses the headwaters of various tributaries to the Scott River in Siskiyou County in the Klamath River Basin. (Courtesy Trust for Public Land) California is moving forward with what could become the second largest tribal land return in state history. The California State Water Resources Control Board has approved $25 million in financing to help the Quartz Valley Indian Reservation acquire nearly 40,000 acres of the Scott River headwaters in Northern California’s Klamath River Basin. The acquisition would return ancestral lands that include salmon-bearing streams, cultural sites, forests, and critical drinking water resources to tribal stewardship. Quartz Valley Indian Reservation Chairman Leonard Lincoln says the project marks a truly historic moment for the tribe. He says for a tribe that was once terminated and subsequently confined to just 2,000 acres, reclaiming nearly 40,000 acres of our ancestral territory is a monumental victory that secures our sovereignty and our people. The acquisition is being supported by Trust for Public Land and the current landowner, EFM Investments and Advisory. Trust for Public Land says returning the land to tribal stewardship will help protect clean water, restore salmon habitat, improve forest health, and strengthen climate resilience throughout the Klamath River Basin while expanding opportunities for cultural access, ecological restoration, and conservation jobs. The great kiva in the plaza of Chetro Ketl at Chaco Canyon National Historic Park in New Mexico. (Courtesy National Park Service) The Trump administration is considering a complete or partial reversal of a 20-year federal mineral ban on new oil and gas leasing that protects New Mexico’s Greater Chaco region, and time for public comment is running out. Roz Brown explains. The Department of the Interior says revoking protections on a landscape that holds cultural importance for Indigenous people could boost oil production by more than two million barrels over the next 20 years. Jesse Deubel from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation says despite the importance of oil and gas to New Mexicans’ livelihood and the state’s economy, some things are priceless. “It’s really important to understand that there are some places where it is absolutely inappropriate to risk destruction of sacred sites for the idea that there might be some amount of oil and gas underneath that mineral estate.” The administration is looking at three options: keep a current 10-mile buffer in place, cut it to five miles, or revoke it entirely, which could destroy artifacts and architecture. It argues maximizing fossil fuel production through increased drilling could lower utility and fuel costs and bolster national security. The public has until this Wednesday to comment online through the Bureau of Land Management’s NEPA web page. The Federation’s Andrew Black, a public lands field director in New Mexico, says there is a good reason Chaco is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site — one of only 24 such sites in the U.S. “9th to 13th century complex Pueblo cultural settlements with multi-story houses, sacred sites… the architecture is truly unbelievable. Uh, just from that perspective alone, it is remarkable.” Last week, the New Mexico congressional delegation called on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to extend the public comment period to 90 days, conduct tribal consultation, and allow extensive public engagement before making a decision. Black says it is the least that should be done. “After various archaeological surveys and studies, that area was determined to have the greatest amount of cultural resources within it. More study and more examination and more analysis needed to be done within that buffer zone.” The buffer zone is home to bobcats, pronghorn, elk and deer, coyotes, bald eagles, small mammals, and various reptiles. New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich calls on the Interior Department to reconsider its oil and gas proposal and honor the public land order approved by the Biden administration in 2023. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, July 27, 2026 – Trial by concrete and steel: Native strongmen push their strength to the limit

Alaska's main Native healthcare organization is set to receive a $400 million settlement from the federal government for unpaid expenses to provide medical services. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the settlement Tuesday. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) filed a lawsuit in 2021 claiming that the federal government did not fully compensate the organization for administrative costs over seven years of providing medical services. This settlement follows several U.S. Supreme Court decisions in favor of tribal health contractors like the consortium. Lloyd Miller is a tribal attorney who handled three cases involving costs that the government had refused to pay. “To be sure, a significant amount of money is owed to tribes, and the latest settlement you heard about is just one of many settlements that have been achieved throughout the United States over the last two years.” ANTHC provides health services in clinics throughout the state and at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. The organization also runs rural infrastructure projects in villages, including improving water and sewer systems. The consortium entered an agreement with the federal government under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Under that agreement, ANTHC is responsible for providing healthcare that the federal government would otherwise provide, through agencies like the Indian Health Service (IHS). The consortium said in its court complaint the government failed to reimburse administrative costs for healthcare services between 2014 and 2022, with the exception of one year. The consortium's attorneys dismissed its case this month after a settlement was reached, according to court documents. Natasha Singh is president and CEO of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. She said in a prepared statement that the settlement helps make sure that “resources accurately reflect the true cost of operating a complex Tribal health system and advancing self-determination in healthcare.” Singh said the details of the settlement are still being finalized, but it helps the consortium to expand their services for Alaska Native people. Tribal attorney Miller says this and other cases follow a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision that the federal government owed money to the Carlos Apache and Northern Arapaho tribes in Arizona and Wyoming. “When the court held that those two tribes had been underpaid, the court was saying that every tribe in the United States that has a contract with [IHS] has been underpaid.” Miller says many tribes have filed or reactivated litigation with IHS in the last two years. KIC's new gift shop is where tourists can purchase care packages for community members. (Photo: Hunter Morrison / KRBD) There is a new way to give back to Ketchikan's unhoused population. The Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC) rolled out a new program this month where people can pay for and assemble care packages to those in need, as KRBD's Hunter Morrison reports. Emily Edenshaw is the tribe's administrator and CEO. To her knowledge, there is no other program like it in Alaska. She says that the initiative is aimed at tourists “We often invite tourists to our homelands, but there’s really a need for service tourism. You have the second largest tribe in Alaska that’s really tried to innovatively create an experience for our tourists to leave a community in a better place than they found it.” Care packages are $25 and include necessities like toothpaste, deodorant, socks, and sanitary products. People who purchase the care packages can also leave a handwritten note. Edenshaw says each dollar raised from the program will go to support the tribe's permanent supportive housing project, a 28-unit housing complex for seniors, set to open next month. The care packages can be purchased at KIC's newly opened gift shop at the corner of Dock and Main Streets downtown. That space was once home to the tribe's seasonal warming shelter, which closed in the spring. The tribe will open another temporary warming shelter in the fall, although they haven't determined a location yet. Edenshaw says the new care package program is a way to carry on the legacy of the former warming shelter space. She says a little bit of support can go a long way. “For those who might be wanting to do this, make it a family affair. You know, use this as an opportunity to instill the value of giving back, to your children. You know, bring your families by the gift shop and use it as an educational opportunity while also making an impact in people’s lives.” Edenshaw says visitors to the tribe's gift shop will see information about the new program as soon as they walk through the door. She hopes to inform the cruise lines of the program so that more tourists can participate in it. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, July 24, 2026 — Zuni Pueblo responds to monsoon flooding

Photo: “Navajo” Bob Sandoval announces the results of the 2025 Navajo Nation presidential primary (Courtesy Crystalyne Curley for Navajo Nation President / Facebook) Tuesday was primary Election Day not only in Arizona, but across the Navajo Nation, which includes Utah and New Mexico. And as KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, incumbent President Buu Nygren will not be moving on to the general. Before midnight, the tribal radio station KTNN – known in these parts as the “Voice of the Navajo Nation” – called the 16-candidate race. Here is host “Navajo Bob” Sandoval reading the unofficial score from the 110 polling places. “Here we go, Justin Jones – 15,039. Crystalyne Curley – 8,424. Buu Nygren – 7,410.” Farmington attorney Justin Jones came in third behind Buu Nygren during the 2022 primary. Justin Jones speaks during his 2026 primary watch party in Window Rock, Ariz. (Courtesy Justin Jones for Navajo Nation President / Facebook) This time, Jones and sitting Navajo Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley beat out incumbent President Nygren, who has faced ethics violations and allegations of corruption. Now, Jones and Curley will pick their VP running mates before November. If elected, Curley would be the first Diné female president. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) makes remarks regarding her bill that passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on July 17 2026. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced last week that her bill allowing five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to receive land entitlements passed out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The legislation, called The Alaska Native Landless Equity Act, would allow Petersburg, Wrangell, Haines, Ketchikan, and Tenakee to form Alaska Native corporations and each receive about 23,000 acres of federal land, as KFSK's Baiz Hoen reports. Those communities were excluded from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) when it became law over 50 years ago. ANCSA transferred 44 million acres of land to more than 200 regional, village, and urban corporations to resolve land claims throughout Alaska. The Landless movement is not without controversy. ANCSA mandated the newly recognized Native corporations to make a profit. Because of this, some who oppose Sen. Murkowski's bill argue that it would privatize 115,000 acres of land in the Tongass National Forest. Murkowski spoke directly to the opposition in her committee remarks last week. She addressed concerns about environmental conservation, but said “this should not be the controversial measure it has historically been viewed as.” “There are no better stewards of our Alaska lands than the people who have lived on them for thousands of years.” The Alaska delegation has been introducing landless legislation since the early 1990s without success. In 2023, a landless bill introduced by Murkowski cleared committee for the first time. Murkowski also noted during remarks that a companion measure by U.S. Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) passed in the House of Representatives last month — with no recorded opposition. Rep. Begich's bill is the first Landless bill to clear the House. “ And I think there’s good reason for that because it comes back to the inequity that we have seen, uh, and in an effort to do right by the Alaska Native peoples who were excluded so many decades ago.” Murkowski's legislation now heads to the Senate floor for consideration. Fort Harney in Oregon in 1872. On this day in 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes signed an executive order canceling Oregon’s Fort Harney Military Reservation and placing those lands under the existing Malheur Indian Reservation. The order expanded the reservation established in 1872 for the Northern Paiute and Snake peoples as federal policies continued reshaping Native homelands. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, July 23, 2026 – First Nations in Canada wary of new bill addressing longstanding water issues

Photo: Navajo Mine is the sole supplier of the Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico. An environmental group met in Window Rock, Ariz. Monday to argue against keeping a Navajo Nation coal mine alive. As KNAU's Chris Clements reports, critics say it would ignore a nationwide transition away from fossil fuels. Members of the group Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (CARE), like Devon Norberto, say the permit to extend the life of the Navajo Mine by 110 years is rushed. “A lot of the concerns we heard were around that the community hadn’t been fully notified of this permit.” The tribally owned Navajo Transitional Energy Company (N-TEC) operates the Navajo Mine in northwestern New Mexico and is pushing for its expansion. Supporters of that proposal argue it is essential to the tribe's economic stability and sovereignty, but Norberto says members of Burnham Chapter, a community near where coal would be mined, were not properly consulted. “It would relocate some of the families within the leasing area that they are trying to mine at. It would force them to lose their grazing lands. It would remove them from their ancestral ties to the land.” N-TEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A federal agency tasked with approving the mine expansion is expected to release a decision in August. The 65-year-old Hills Creek Dam and Reservoir roughly four miles east of Oakridge, Oreg. as seen on June 24, 2026. (Photo: Brian Bull / KLCC) Across the Pacific Northwest, tribes and conservationists are working to help the eel-like fish, the lamprey rebound. As KLCC's Brian Bull reports, dams have greatly diminished their numbers. Recently near Oregon's Coyote Creek, technicians with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs arrived with 100 lampreys in their truck. Aldwin Keo introduced himself and his slithering cargo. “They're filter feeders, they clean out whatever is in the sediment, that's where they stay for many years before they go out to the ocean.” A group of Native educators and students helped release the prehistoric critters into the creek. This is a practice called translocation, where adult fish are released in waterways above dams. Courtney Golts, a lamprey biologist with the tribe, says dam development has had its impact. “In the upper Willamette tributaries are areas that have been completely impassable to lamprey for decades, so these are reintroductions to areas that do not have Pacific lamprey, and as of today, they do.” The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) says lamprey once teemed in the millions through the Columbia River Basin, but only 23,000 were recorded in 2010. Jerrid Weaskus of the Nez Perce Tribe holds a lamprey before releasing it in a waterway near Hills Creek Dam on June 24, 2026. (Photo: Brian Bull / KLCC) Raymond Ellenwood Jr. is a fisheries technician with the Nez Perce Tribe. Near Oakridge, he and Jerrid Weaskus released more lamprey. The goal is to have adult lamprey stay and mate, creating little lampreys called ammocoetes. “The ammocoetes, they burrow into the sand and the substrate and they'll filter feed off the detritus in the river or stream. And what they're doing is the adults are smelling the ammocoetes, that are upriver in those river systems. They're telling them, ‘Hey that river system's good. There's good spawning habit. That's where we want to go.'” If all goes to plan, lamprey released here will start migrating to the Pacific Ocean around 2030, and come back as adults four years later. “Wanna welcome you guys to our annual lamprey celebration.” Recently in Oregon City, more than 1,200 people signed up for the annual Yakama Nation Willamette Falls Lamprey Celebration. It is a day of music, presentations, even a lunch with grilled lamprey. CRITFC's Jeremy Five Crows says they have updated their plan to include a technical document for scientists, students, and resource managers, and a policy brief for lawmakers. “The lamprey has been around 450 million years. We're closer to a T-Rex than a T-Rex was to lamprey. That's how far back they go, and so the thought of just in the past 100 years that we could drive something extinct that's been on Earth for that long, is terrible.” Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, July 22, 2026 — Accessing the vulnerability of Indigenous communities during 2026 wildfire season

The western Canadian province of Alberta is grappling with the divisive political issue of separation from the rest of Canada. Indigenous leaders in Alberta are opposed to the idea. And as Dan Karpenchuk reports, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations recently weighed in on their side. Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak made her position known during the three-day annual gathering in Ottawa of the Assembly of First Nations. She told delegates to the meeting that any movement by Alberta to separate from Canada is illegitimate without the consent of First Nations. Chief Nepinak says First Nations have always stood for Canadian unity and they want Prime Minister Mark Carney to know that. “We have made it clear that any proposal to separate from any province or territory from Canada is fundamentally illegitimate and unconstitutional without the explicit prior informed and collective consent of First Nations. We need to make him call it what it is because Albertans need to know that if they vote to separate from Canada, that they're not taking the land with them.” The chiefs from across the country expressed their overwhelming opposition to Alberta separation. Nepinak says First Nations chiefs want the federal and provincial governments to protect treaty rights from the threats posed by Alberta separatism. They passed a resolution asking Ottawa to ensure constitutional procedures that impact First Nations only go ahead with consultation and the consent of affected groups. They say that the Alberta government has failed to recognize or engage First Nations on the issue, adding that treaty rights would be fundamentally affected by such constitutional change. Alberta Premier Danelle Smith says she supports a stronger Alberta staying in Canada. Recently, an Alberta court quashed the approval of a pro-separation petition. The judge found that the province's chief electoral officer did not properly fulfill his duty to consult with First Nations – and also failed to consider a previous court ruling that said separation would violate treaty rights. The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is criticizing a new White House report that it says misrepresents Native history and ignores the sovereign status of Tribal Nations. The report, “Saving America’s Story“, was released earlier this month and calls for changes in how American history is presented in museums and public institutions. In a statement, NCAI Executive Director Larry Wright Jr. says the nation’s history cannot be told truthfully without acknowledging Tribal Nations, the realities of land dispossession, forced removal, federal Indian boarding schools, and other documented chapters of U.S. history. “Tribal Nations are sovereign governments with a unique political relationship with the United States. This distinction is foundational to the U.S. government's relationship with Tribal Nations and should never be minimized or mischaracterized. America’s story begins with Tribal Nations. It cannot be told truthfully without us.” NCAI is urging federal leaders, museums, educators, and the public to reject efforts to revise the documented history of Tribal Nations and instead support accurate historical scholarship and implementation of federal Indian boarding school recommendations. (Courtesy Bureau of Indian Education) New federal data shows graduation rates are rising at Bureau of Indian Education schools. Some tribal schools credit career training, virtual classes and more accurate student records. But Crow Creek Sioux Chairman Peter Lengkeek says severely underfunded schools still depend on the government to fulfill its treaty promises. Swinomish Tribal Chairman Steve Edwards and La Conner Mayor Marna Hanneman mark the day with an inaugural slurp. (Courtesy Swinomish Senate / Facebook) The Swinomish and Squaxin Island tribes in Washington state sued the federal government last week over changes to the Endangered Species Act. Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards called the rule “anti-science”, saying weakened habitat protections threaten Chinook salmon and treaty fishing rights. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, July 21, 2026 – Native in the Spotlight: Laura Tohe

Pueblo leaders and environmentalists are angry that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released an environmental assessment last week with the intent of eliminating a buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park that has prevented oil and gas leasing. As KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) reports, BLM is offering just two weeks for public comment on the report. A Biden administration order placed a 20-year ban on oil and gas development on federal lands within 10 miles of Chaco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This upset some Navajo communities who rely on royalty payments and infrastructure from oil and gas for their livelihoods. President Buu Nygren said thousands of Navajo oil and gas allottees would be negatively impacted by the decision. But in April, the BLM gave the public one week to comment on a proposal to expand oil and gas leasing around Chaco. The current proposed environmental assessment has three options: leave the buffer intact, reduce it to five miles, or remove all protections. Brian Vallo (Acoma Pueblo), chairman for the Chaco Heritage Tribal Association, says the Trump administration is not working with Pueblo communities, despite tribes working together to create an ethnographic study on why this landscape is vital to Native cultures. The study is a first of its kind, he says, and was conducted by the Pueblos themselves. “So it really traces the ethnography of this cultural and sacred landscape from our present-day communities to the great houses in Chaco, but also everything in between, pilgrimage trails, shrines, sacred sites, springs, and other places that are significant to our continued observance and practice of our own traditions and you know, Indigenous way of life.” Vallo says the association is frustrated that the federal government is not adhering to a data-sharing agreement and not considering information from this ethnographic study, but moving forward with a draft environmental assessment. “All of humanity, the land, and the resources, the animals, the water. All of those things have connection, and that connection is maintained through the generations of those of us who are the practitioners, those of us who are the cultural leaders, and the greater Pueblo community as well.” Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation have also condemned the BLM announcement as a move to push for more oil and gas drilling. The All Pueblo Council of Governors has continued to invite Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum to visit Chaco Canyon and hold a consultation with Pueblo members, but he has not responded. Vallo says young folks at Acoma are already mobilizing. “Young people from within our community who are going door to door with laptops and or notebooks to encourage tribal members to submit letters.” Public comment closes on July 29. The view of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation as resident evacuated across Collins Lake. (Courtesy Wayne Wastaken) Across Canada this weekend, nearly 900 wildfires were burning – from the Atlantic provinces to British Columbia. Northern Ontario is one of the regions that has been hardest hit. One Indigenous community there has been destroyed. And as Dan Karpenchuk reports, Indigenous leaders are calling on the federal government in Ottawa for more support. At least one small first nation in northern Ontario has burned to the ground by a devastating wildfire, which is one of nearly 200 alone burning in the province. Residents fled the Namaygoosisagagun First Nation by boat on Collins Lake, many having only a few minutes to gather some personal belongings, according to Chief Helen Paavola. “It was just a matter of minutes before my members would have died. And even during that whole time, there was no help.” Namaygoosisagagun, also known as Collins First Nation, is only one of ten communities, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, that have been evacuated as wildfires rip through the region. Namaygoosisagagun is now is ashes – and its residents say they face an uncertain future. The Assembly of First Nations is calling on Ottawa for help including financial support. Linda Debassige is the grand chief of the Anishnabek Nation. She says when the wildfire first approached the community, the chief herself tried to contact government officials, but they said they were not aware of the fire. “And so, had the community waited for the official emergency response activiation, this would be a recovery mission at this point in time, which is unfathomable.” Debassige says the community now needs accommodations, food, and especially a commitment to support rebuilding. One of the problems is that the Namaygoosisagagun is not federally recognized as an official Indigenous first nation. The remote first nation, more than 700 miles north of Toronto, has no road access. Debassige says the Anishnabek Nation Grand Council, which includes 39 first nations, does recognize it and is supporting members by providing accommodation, food, and clothing. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, July 20, 2026 — Tribes sue after feds redefine ‘harm’ in Endangered Species Act, upend decades of land conservation

Photo: Salmon prepared for drying at fish camp on Kuskokwim River near Napaskiak on June 21, 2016. (Rhonda McBride / KNBA) The state of Alaska is not ready to give up its fight just yet in the Kuskokwim subsistence lawsuit. It has filed a motion to appeal a federal judge's decision to award $1.8 million in attorney fees to several Native organizations, which joined a federal lawsuit against the state over subsistence fishing rights. The case began four years ago when federal managers sued the state for failing to uphold a rural subsistence priority, required under federal law. The state ultimately lost a series of court battles, which culminated when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Tanner Amdur-Clark works for one of the groups which joined the lawsuit, the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. He says the state's appeal continues a long pattern of delay. “It's yet another blow to Alaska Native organizations that are essentially taking money that they really should be using to be providing services and helping out folks in rural Alaska — and instead they're having to do this, to essentially fight for their lives against the state of Alaska.” The other groups in the lawsuit are the Association of Village Council Presidents, the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Ahtna Native Corporation, and an Ahtna tribal advocacy group. Amdur-Clark says, combined, they spent more on legal costs than the court awarded them. “Eventually at the end of the day, it's the state of Alaska and the taxpayers of the state of Alaska that are going to pay for all of this, so the court got it right the first time. We'll continue the fight.” In a statement, acting Attorney General Cori Mills defended the state's spending. She said it was necessary to get clarity on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling’s impact on subsistence management. She also said the state should not be on the hook for attorney fees, because the Native groups voluntarily joined the federal lawsuit – and that the state is appealing the award, because it is “both legally impermissible and factually unreasonable.” Briana Murphy, the Chugach Regional Resources Commission mariculture liaison, harvests kelp in a bay near Port Graham, Alaska in 2026. (Courtesy Briana Murphy) A group of tribes in Southcentral Alaska partnered with a federal agency last month, as part of an effort to advance agriculture and mariculture projects. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. The Chugach Regional Resources Commission is a nonprofit that represents seven tribes. Last month, the consortium signed an agreement to establish the Chugach Region Tribal Conservation District. It's a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Carolyn Spencer is the environmental director with the tribal consortium. “Partnering with NRCS in this way helps us access funding for mariculture development as well as some of the agricultural streams that we’re trying to work on.” Tribal Conservation Districts are entities across Alaska and the country created to manage natural resources on Native lands with technical or financial assistance from the federal government. Jackie Kragel is the acting state tribal liaison for the program. She says these partnerships foster communication between tribes and help with work on specific projects. “For example, there’s been a couple culvert replacements to support fish passage and salmon habitat. We have different infrastructure opportunities for community gardens for food sovereignty, such as seasonal high tunnels, low tunnels, and the different irrigation systems.” The seven tribes in the Chugach Regional Resources Commission already use innovative approaches when it comes to food sovereignty, for example, through a mariculture operation in Seward that cultivates shellfish and kelp. “They want ways to access healthy food in their backyard, without having to pay the shipping costs because they’re so remote.” One project Spencer says the partnership might make easier is high tunnel construction in Port Graham. That is a covered structure that traps solar heat for growing vegetables. She says that forming a conservation district will also help tribes collaborate with other communities that might be working on similar projects. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, July 17, 2026 – A conversation about law, advocacy, and redemption with Cherokee attorney Courtney Jordan

Photo: “Water is life. Life is water”, said AFN Newfoundland Regional Chief Brendan Mitchell during the 2026 Assembly of First Nations. (Courtesy Assembly of First Nations / Facebook) First Nations chiefs in Canada have gathered in Ottawa for a three-day general assembly. High on the agenda for the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is the issue of clean water. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, many of the chiefs say Ottwa's new proposed clean water legislation appears to walk back their hard won rights. The new proposed legislation is in line with a preivous bill that failed to pass under the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Some chiefs are taking issue with new changes to the wording that no longer explicitly recognizes First Nations rights to clean drinking water … as a human right. The new bill was recently introduced with the aim of making sure that Indigenous people have reliable access to clear drinking water in their communities, according to Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation Chief Greg Sarazin. “We need to protect water. We need sustainable water. There needs to be legislation that ensures safe, clean, sustainable drinking water.” About 100 chiefs and community members recently held a march for clean drinking water. Brendan Mitchell, a regional chief from Newfoundland, says the issue is critical, but no longer appears to be a priority with the federal government. “Previously in meetings with the former prime minister, three times, I heard him state at a meeting like this, that no relationship was more important to him than his relationship with the Indigenous people of Canada. I've yet to hear our current prime minister say that.” The AFN is considering a proposed resolution that calls on chiefs to demand the right to clean water be included in new legislation. Executive chef Nephi Craig prepares a dish at Café Gozhóó in Whiteriver, Ariz., in Feburary 2026. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio) The food sovereignty movement is teaching tribes to reclaim healthier and more sustainable food systems. And a new memoir penned by one of Arizona's most popular Indigenous chefs is giving direction. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports. Executive Chef Nephi Craig is in charge of Café Gozhóó in Whiteriver and is now the author of “Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef”. “I'm 46 years old and 15 years into my sobriety, and I wanted to write a story that is a tool for others.” His modern, scratch kitchen inside a renovated gas station employs fellow Apaches recovering from substance abuse. “This is our legacy: To make health and healing an everyday practice, bringing back ceremonies, planting songs, cooking recipes, hunting, language – all of that great stuff. That way, it doesn't matter if you're in New York or on the rez.” “Dark Winds” shoots in New Mexico. (Courtesy AMC) New Mexico’s high tax incentives meant to lure film production crews are paying off – even in remote or rural communities. Roz Brown has more. After reaching a financial high mark in 2022, the state’s film industry took a hit starting the next year, after two Hollywood strikes. Now, it is showing modest gains, thanks in part to the “Uplift” program, designed to encourage film and television producers to choose more rural communities or those off the beaten path. Film Office Director Steve Graham says productions spent $325 million in the recent fiscal year – nearly a quarter in locations beyond Santa Fe and Albuquerque. “There’s a historically high mark now, from $57 million dollars worth of shooting in the rural areas. It means the uplift worked and it has spread activity across the state.” Graham says smaller towns such as Truth or Consequences and Ruidoso have shared in the windfall, along with Las Cruces – which is larger than Santa Fe, but failed to attract as many film productions until recently. The 1940 film “Grapes of Wrath” shot in New Mexico. The Uplift program benefitted from Senate Bill 12, which was signed by the governor in 2023 and increased the tax credit from 5-10%. That is in addition to the state’s 25% base film credit for expenditures on productions filmed at least 60 miles from city halls in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. New Mexico is among the top five states with the most competitive film and television tax incentives. In the past year, it has hosted 63 productions, including the hit television show, “Dark Winds”. Graham says great weather, iconic locations, robust infrastructure, world-class crews, and support from local businesses add to its appeal. “Some of the things that make it hard to shoot in larger jurisdictions, they don’t have to deal with here. Permits are inexpensive or free. Traffic is low or nonexistent. There’s places to park. It’s easy to get around.” Graham is optimistic about the film industry’s future, but he is also watching a lawsuit New Mexico joined last week to prevent a merger between Paramount Skydance Corporation and Warner Brothers Discovery. While federal regulators approved the $110 billion transaction, a coalition of attorney generals in 12 U.S. states led by California have since filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal. They claim it would create an illegal monopoly, stifle competition, and hurt entertainment workers. 19th Century illustration of Vitus Bering’s expedition wrecked on the Aleutian Islands in 1741. And on this day in 1741, Danish explorer Vitus Bering, sailing for Russia, sighted Alaska’s coast near Mount St. Elias during the Great Northern Expedition. The voyage marked the beginning of sustained Russian contact with Alaska Native peoples, forever changing the lives of Unangax̂ (Aleut), Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, Yup’ik, and other Indigenous communities through the fur trade and eventual colonization. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, July 16, 2026 — Tribal leaders condemn Trump's downsizing of Utah national monuments

Photo: Soren White working at the Harry Race Pharmacy in Sitka, Alaska on July 10, 2026. (Katherine Rose / KCAW) Historically, pharmacists in Alaska have been limited in what they can do. Over the last decade they have advocated for and been granted expanded authority. Now, a new law goes further. Alaska Public Media health reporter Rachel Cassandra delved into the law, which will increase access to care by changing how pharmacists can work in the state. Soren White grew up in a pharmacy. “Both my parents are pharmacists here in Sitka.” As a young adult, he worked as a pharmacy tech, then went to school in Oregon to become a pharmacist. That included a four-year graduate program with clinical training, but when he returned to Sitka, Alaska for a job at his parents’ pharmacies, his daily work was much more limited. “Typically we’ve been really stuck behind the counter, counting pills.” A new state law expands what White and other pharmacists can do as part of their practice. Starting in next January, they will be able to test and treat certain ailments, like strep throat, urinary tract infections, or the flu. State Rep. Justin Ruffridge (R-AK) is a pharmacist who supported the bill. He says pharmacists in rural areas play a vital role. “We are the most highly accessible healthcare professional.” Data shows people see pharmacists up to twice as often as primary care providers. The law builds on other legislation that has helped increase pharmacists’ authority in recent years. The bill passed by wide margins in both the Alaska House and Senate. Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) vetoed it, saying it would expand the scope of practice too much and too fast, but lawmakers had enough support to override his veto. Brandy Seignemartin is executive director for the Alaska Pharmacy Association. She helped write the legislation and says it will change healthcare in the state. “Patients are gonna be able to walk into community pharmacies and have access to care for minor ailments, test and treat.” She says that is really important in a rural state like Alaska and it will be easier for pharmacists to set up collaborative agreements where they work with a provider. With more training, that could include specialists. For example, she says initially a psychiatrist could diagnose the patient, but then work with a pharmacist to optimize their medication, so the patient does not need to see the psychiatrist every single visit. She says the new law also opens the door to pharmacists covering other healthcare gaps, especially for Alaska’s vulnerable populations, including HIV prevention medication like PrEP and PEP and medications for opioid use disorder. It also would create a pathway for pharmacists to be able to get a DEA license so they can prescribe those medications. She thinks that will be a major game changer for the ongoing opioid crisis in Alaska. Molly from Denali at a Heard Museum meet-and-greet on July 11, 2026. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio) Molly of Denali made her groundbreaking debut on PBS Kids back in 2019. The animated Alaska Native girl is the first Indigenous lead of a nationally distributed children's series. And as KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, she made a stop in Phoenix, Ariz. If you visit the Heard Museum between now through August, you will come across an Alaskan village where you can tag along with Molly on all of her wild adventures – from flying a bush plane to riding a snowmobile, wearing snowshoes or smoking salmon. “We brought Alaska to Arizona” Patty Talahongva (Hopi) is the museum's chief programming and engagement officer. “…and therefore the Heard Museum is the coolest place in town.” Alison Nicolosi is director of the nonprofit AZ Husky Rescue. “You never know when you're going to find your best friend, and sometimes it might be at the museum.” AZ Husky Rescue co-founders Alison Nicolosi, left, and Veronica Reece with Marley, an adoptable dog, at the Heard Museum on July 12, 2026. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio) Sadly for Heard employee Susan Taylor, Max the husky has already found a new home. “Oh my gosh, there's one that I'm trying to adopt. He claimed me like no other.” But there are still plenty more pups – maybe enough for a pack to pull a dog sled. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, July 15, 2026 – Native Playlist: Shub and Darksiderz

President Donald Trump slashed the size of two national monuments in Utah Monday. The sites feature ancient cliff dwellings and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits. As Chris Clements of KNAU reports, the move comes over the objections of tribal nations and conservation groups. President Trump issued proclamations that reduce Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by about 90% each. At a signing event with Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT), Trump said the reduction gives the land “back” to the people of Utah. Trump tried shrinking the monuments during his first term, but former President Joe Biden reversed the decision. Tim Peterson with the conservation nonprofit Grand Canyon Trust says the tribal nations that consider the monuments culturally significant were not consulted. “That lack of consultation represents a violation of federal trust and treaty obligations to tribes.” A survey of Utah residents commissioned by the trust in 2024 shows support for keeping both monuments at the size President Biden determined. Connecticut Justice Alliance (CTJA) Executive Director Christina Quaranta speaks in support of a state senate bill raising the age of arrest in CT and restricting the use of handcuffs on young children in March 2025. (Courtesy CTJA / Vimeo) Connecticut juvenile justice advocates want the state to halt plans for a new youth detention center, as Edwin J. Viera reports. The latest Re-entry, Goal-oriented, Individualized Opportunity to Nurture Success (REGIONS) center is slated to fulfill a 2018 law when the state's last large youth prison closed. Christina Quaranta with the Connecticut Justice Alliance says that was eight years ago and the state should invest in alternatives to incarceration instead. “Opening a new facility would be taking many steps backwards. It would be the opposite of progressive and doing what's right for young people. So, I encourage lawmakers to think about that. The barrier there, folks are like, ‘this is in state statute, this is what we have to do,' and we really need to get rid of that barrier.” In considering alternatives to incarceration, Quaranta says the state must ask young people what they need to be engaged and have the programs and services they require, but there is a disconnect between what policymakers know needs to be done and what families and communities are asking for. Given the short legislative session this year, the state was not able to address alternatives to incarceration. At the start of the session, Quaranta wanted to see lawmakers review the state Department of Corrections budget to find ways to further alternatives to incarceration for youth, but she says the state must keep investments moving forward rather than stalling. “As folks are stopping to make policy decisions, or wait for the elections to come and go, whatever the hiccup is, the dollars need to be bound and moved because it's an urgent issue.” State lawmakers made some youth justice progress in the 2025 legislative session by approving the Raise the Age law. The bill raises the age of arrest for children from 10 to 12 years old under certain circumstances this year. The law will raise the age of arrest again in 2028 from 12 to 14, and restrict the use of handcuffs on children under 14. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Council. (Courtesy Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has filed a federal lawsuit against the Kansas Lottery, alleging the state is violating tribal sovereignty by selling lottery tickets and operating lottery machines on the Nation’s reservation. Tribal leaders say the lawsuit seeks to protect treaty rights and enforce the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. (Courtesy U.S. Bureau of Land Management) In California, tribal leaders continue to oppose a federal roundup of wild horses near Mono Lake. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says the gather is needed because of drought and overgrazing, while tribal leaders argue the horses are culturally significant and want greater tribal involvement in managing the herd. The Cherokee Nation has awarded nearly $1.9 million in public health and wellness grants to dozens of organizations across its reservation. Tribal officials say the funding will support community health programs, mental health services, and wellness initiatives throughout northeastern Oklahoma. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, July 14, 2026 – Strengthening the tribal workforce: trade school and a new federal grant program

What does it mean to have a constitution? That is a question tribal leaders are going to grapple with this week in southern Arizona during a two-day seminar. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. Up until Congress passed the landmark Indian Reorganization Act, tribes were not seen as sovereign. That all changed in 1934. Dave Beeksma is from the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Wisconsin. “But there are going to be some conditions. So, what the U.S. government did, was they provided these boilerplate templates. [In] some cases, these were literally fill-in-the-blank constitutions.” He is also director of the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona. “We the people of – state your tribe – are constituting a constitution to do x, y, and z. That created some challenges for us over the next 90 years.” Which is why the institute is helping tribes review these outdated texts. The U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times. Such reform is something Thomas Jefferson encouraged. “The Cherokee Nation does something like that right now. They have a provision every 20 years where they can look and decide whether or not to have essentially a constitutional convention. Our constitutions should be like nature. They should be like our world. They should be like our communities. They should be able to grow.” (Courtesy New Mexico Native Census Coalition / Facebook) The 2030 Census is still nearly four years off, but a growing distrust of government has those planning to help with the New Mexico count worried about fairness and representation. Roz Brown has more. The count is conducted every ten years by the U.S. Census Bureau and relies on a vast network of partners and community organizations like the League of Women Voters to help. State Demographer Robert Rhatigan says New Mexico has had a constant problem with undercounting of first-generation immigrant families and Native Americans, primarily because addresses are missing from the Census Bureau’s address list. “Those reasons include non-standard addressing, field work limitations; there’s the language and cultural barriers, and distrust of the federal government. The Hispanic community in particular, and that is a big part of it.” Rhatigan says census undercounts can prevent tribal communities and other groups from receiving federal funding. He notes the state’s financial investment in a program called the Local Update of Census Addresses for the 2020 Census was highly successful – adding more than 100,000 previously overlooked addresses. He believes the state could see more gains if some $300,000 are allocated by the state legislature for the 2030 Census. Compared to other agencies, the Trump administration’s staff cuts to the Census Bureau have been minimal. About 300 workers, or 25% of the Bureau’s employees, were laid off during broader federal downsizing, but Rhatigan worries it still could be detrimental. “That 25% of staff represented well north of 50% of the institutional knowledge, folks who’d been through two or three censuses. So that’s a huge loss.” In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the first Trump administration could not include a question about citizenship on the 2020 census form, but there are new efforts in Congress to add a similar question in 2030. States with a majority of Democratic voters argued such a question would discourage legal and illegal immigrants from responding and make the population count less accurate. Rhatigan says there also are efforts underway by Congressional Republicans to limit the Census Bureau’s contact strategies. “The policy in 2020 was six knocks on the doors. They wanna limit that to two contacts. That would be extremely problematic, and it would almost certainly depress the count in New Mexico more so than in other states.” Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, July 13, 2026 – Tribal solar projects shine on without much federal support

“Navajo Highways”, a children's show using puppets to teach youth the Diné language, recently won Emmys gold. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio caught up with the creator and has more. After just a single season that included six episodes and a Christmas special, “Navajo Highways” won one regional Emmy award for informational-instructional content and another for best set design. “I really wanted it for the crew – the crew who believed in me – and I wanted them to feel validated that I wasn't just some crazy kook that came up with the puppet show, you know.” Utah-based creator Pete Sands, who films in Moab, says he is still awestruck, even weeks after coming back from the La Jolla ceremony. “I guess I've been out of the artist world, living in my own bubble for so long. Dipping a toe back into it, I was like, ‘Yeah, I kinda like my Utah life, keeping to myself.' And our culture is still alive.” The Star Princess in Ketchkan, Alaska, May, 2026. (Courtesy Carnival) An Alaska cruise ship recently set sail powered by liquid natural gas (LNG), the first cruise vessel in the state to do so. The Alaska Highway ferry system, which serves as the state’s public transportation network, hopes to follow suit, but operational and funding challenges have created obstacles, as Mark Moran reports. The Alaska cruise ship industry leaves a sizable carbon footprint with its emissions. The maiden Alaska voyage of the Star Princess this spring was powered entirely by LNG, which the industry says is “as clean as it gets.” Harly Penner, president of Seaspan Energy, which fuels giant, clean-burning ships, says using LNG in large vessels reduces potent and toxic emissions, like nitrogen (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx). “Those are the carcinogens that live in our port and most important to the people in those port communities. The NOx, the SOx, and the black carbon are greatly reduced.” At this point, Alaska Marine Highway still has no ferries operating on natural gas or any other alternative fuel, but they say the fleet will be designed to do so in the future. The agency is reliant on state funding for any upgrades, which has dwindled in recent years. Penner says engine, scrubber, and emissions technology on large vessels will continue to evolve, and believes LNG is the most effective way to reduce emissions among large fleets. Companies must measure the costs of retrofitting ships to run on LNG while balancing the pillars of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. “If you knock one of those pillars out, you really have a hard time making that sale in the boardroom. And one of those pillars is financial viability. Like, if you’re not financially viable, it’s hard to make a sustainable decision on that.” Data from the International Maritime Organization estimates that in the next three years, between 1,600-1,700 vessels will be powered completely by LNG. This introductory video from the ongoing exhibit “Nation to Nation” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian was named in the White House report. On the heels of America's quarter millenial, the White House is questioning the world's largest museum and its depiction of the U.S. being founded on stolen Indigenous land, as Judith Ruiz-Branch reports. The nearly 200-hundred page report was quietly published over the holiday weekend. It criticizes exhibits in the Smithsonian Institution for reinforcing narratives that the U.S. government forcibly pushed Indians from their ancestral lands. The White House argues these interpretations place too much emphasis on racial injustice while downplaying the nation's founding ideals and accomplishments, but Native scholars like Dan Lewerenz contend land dispossession and treaty violations are essential parts of the American story. “I think it’s important to remember history accurately. A part of that is remembering for purposes of the Declaration of Independence, Indians were sort of used as a propaganda tool by the colonists.” Lewerenz argues the United States has long used American Indians to serve its interests and agendas. The report was issued as part of President Donald Trump's effort to reshape how federally supported institutions are presenting American History. Experts say it sets the stage for further heightened debate over how U.S. history is told and who gets to be included. Although North Dakota's history also involves a painful past for Native people, Lewerenz says the state has made strides in repairing past harms and improving relations with Indigenous people. He says efforts like the Government to Government conference and policies to improve Tribal programs all point to a growing partnership. “Tribal sovereignty and the ability of tribes and tribal members to govern their own communities and live by their own ways has sometimes been respected and sometimes not. But tribes have to remain hopeful.” As part of the newly unveiled Theodore Roosevelt Library in Medora, N.D., a medicinal garden marks a renewed dedication to Tribal alliance. Library trustees say the monument does not ignore Roosevelt’s racist views on Indigenous people, but confronts history honestly with a call to honor and commit to a more vibrant future. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, July 10, 2026 — New report: Native student discipline disparities persist at New Mexico school district

Tribal fishing access sites along the Columbia River will be getting needed upgrades and repairs, based on the findings of a new federal report, as Isobel Charle reports. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found some infrastructure at 31 fishing access sites along the river – including docks and fish cleaning stations – is breaking down. Laurie Jordan is with the Columbia River Inter Tribal Fish Commission, which works with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to maintain the sites. She says they are known as jewels of Tribal sovereignty that are still shimmering along the sprawling waterway “I just can’t stress how fundamental the ability to maintain access to the river and to exercise the fishing right is to the member Tribes of our commission. The treaty rights are a property right. It was taken, and you gotta compensate for that.” The fishing access locations were built by the federal government after 1930s dam construction flooded traditional fishing areas. Under their treaties, four Columbia River Tribes retain fishing rights. Jordan says the Tribes look forward to improvements, including restroom repairs, additions, and updates to water systems. Anna Maria Ortiz is with the GAO. She says the report also looked at why the repairs have been delayed for so long. “If BIA could be more effective in terms of its internal communications, the way it maintains data, and its funding formula, it would have a better chance at improving the safety and sanitation of these sites.” Jordan adds with all the steps to secure funding, design the changes, permits and construction, it will likely take a couple years before the repairs and updates are done. The damaged Hopi headdress (kopatsoki) from the Desert View Watchtower at Grand Canyon National Park. (Courtesy National Park Service) Grand Canyon National Park rangers are still seeking the public's help identifying a tourist who damaged a tribal artifact last month while trying to photograph it. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on the broken piece and its famed artist. According to witnesses, a white man – believed to be in his 60s or 70s – fell while standing atop furniture inside the Desert View Watchtower. Staff rendered first aid to the man, who left before law enforcement was dispatched. The colorful, hand-carved wooden crown worn during Butterfly Dance ceremonies was fashioned years ago by the late Fred Kabotie. Kelley Hayes-Gilpin is with the Museum of Northern Arizona. “If people have heard of one Hopi artist, it'll be Fred Kabotie.” Kabotie worked alongside architect Mary Coulter to depict Kiva murals inside the South Rim watchtower. Meg Kabotie is one of his granddaughters. “I remember one of the stories. There was like a certain color of blue that she was trying to get. He kept having to go up and down the ladder and it still wasn't the right color and he finally slashed open the whole tube of paint – just kind of a renaissance man.” The damaged headdress is being evaluated to see whether repairs can be made. “It's hard to see people not caring about beautiful pieces of artwork or artifacts or things that are very sacred and special, and just kind of being dumb tourists.” The oil painting “Washington the Soldier” by Jacques Auguste Regnier depicts the battle. (Courtesy Library of Congress) On this day in 1755 at the Battle of the Monongahela, French forces and their Indigenous allies defeated a British army led by Edward Braddock. Warriors from several Indigenous nations, including members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on different sides of the conflict, played a major role in the outcome. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, July 9, 2026 – Native programs aimed at cultivating responsible tourism

Photo: A loader prepares the Pinyon Plain Mine for uranium ore production on its lowest level more than 1,400 feet underground on Sept. 8, 2023. (Ryan Heinsius / KNAU) Arizona regulators approved a higher level of arsenic in groundwater under a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon. As KNAU's Chris Clements reports, it comes despite firm tribal opposition. In its decision allowing the higher levels, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality agreed with the owner of the Pinyon Plain Mine that the increase in arsenic is naturally occurring. That is despite two comments from groundwater scientists urging regulators to require more proof from Energy Fuels Resources, the mine owner. The scientists wrote that it is likely the mine is contributing to the higher levels, but an executive with Energy Fuels told KNAU in May that the higher arsenic levels are not the result of mining activity or discharge. The Havasupai Tribe condemned the regulators’ decision and said it would pursue every legal avenue it can to protect water in the Grand Canyon. A loader prepares the Pinyon Plain Mine for uranium ore production on its lowest level more than 1,400 feet underground on Sept. 8, 2023. (Photo: Ryan Heinsius / KNAU) More than 200 intertribal youth joined community elders and mentors at the Native Youth Generational Leadership Summit to learn traditional and contemporary skills to foster strength and resiliency. (Photo: Monica Sue Minyard) This year’s Native Youth Generational Leadership Summit in Port Angeles, Wash. brought young Native people from across the country together to build community, learn about substance use prevention, and practice everyday skills, as Isobel Charle reports. The summit was hosted by the Lower Elwha Klallam and Spokane Tribes with support from the American Indian Health Commission. Tia Skerbeck with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Council says the two-and-a-half-day summit included traditional practices that not all Native young people get to experience, like storytelling and talking circles. “We rely on those teachings and those practices to help carry through the prevention messages that we’re sharing with the youth and helping them develop some skills to become resilient. They’re not just little kids running around. They’re our future leaders.” Skerbeck adds the youth also shared what issues they would like to see their communities prioritize. She says while the summit was focused on youth, it was multi-generational and included elders who offered guidance and support. Audrey Gales is a 19-year-old Lower Elwha Klallam community member. Gales' auntie, Jacqueline Salyers, was killed by police in 2016. She says learning about issues related to Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and Women while calling for justice for her auntie and all Native victims of violence is close to her heart. She has been to a number of similar events over the years and encourages other young people to attend. “Especially if you’re Indigenous and it’s a Native summit, always attend. It’s always worth it. You learn so much, meet so many people.” She adds another highlight was learning how to make a salmon net out of stinging nettle and celebrating the return of fish populations to the Elwha River after her Tribe led the campaign to remove two dams there. The Ketchikan Indian Community launched a new community care package initiative for summer visitors and local residents. (Photo: Michael Fanelli / KRBD) The Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC) has launched a new initiative that combines tourism with community service. The Community Care Package Initiative invites visitors and local residents to assemble care packages with items such as socks, toiletries, hygiene products, and snacks for people experiencing homelessness in Ketchikan. According to the tribe, proceeds from the program will support its Permanent Supportive Housing project, which is expected to open in August and provide housing and supportive services for 28 people. The initiative builds on KIC’s efforts to address homelessness, including operating Ketchikan’s only overnight cold weather shelter for the past two years. The tribe says it hopes the program encourages visitors to support the local community while visiting Southeast Alaska. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, July 8, 2026 – Trump administration escalates attack on Native American museum narratives

Photo: Deb Haaland signs her new book, “A Voice Like Mine”, during a signing at the Sealaska Heritage Institute clan house Shuká Hít on June 28, 2026. (Mircea Brown / Sealaska Heritage Institute) Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) came to Juneau last weekend as a stop on a tour of her new memoir, “A Voice Like Mine”, as KTOO's Yvonne Krumrey reports. Haaland was the first Indigenous person to be appointed a cabinet secretary. The name of the book comes from a campaign slogan she used when she successfully ran for Congress in 2018, Haaland recounted. Her media consultant told her that Congress had never heard a voice like hers and the phrase “a voice like mine” felt apt to Haaland. Haaland spoke to a crowd at the Sealaska Heritage Institute clan house. “We’d never had a native woman in Congress. We had to wait 233 years to be represented in the US House of Representatives.” Haaland is from New Mexico. Her memoir includes many recipes based on traditional Puebloan foods. Haaland said that food has always been a part of her political organizing work. “When I started organizing in Indian Country, trying to get people registered and out to vote, I would ply them with green chili stew. Of bread, so they would come to our events, and then we’d all, you know, go early vote, or something like that.” Haaland is currently running for Governor of New Mexico. She said she was inspired by Indigenous advocates who came before her and she hopes there are more to follow. “This book I dedicated for those who have never given up, we can’t ever give up. You can’t get tired and say, ‘Oh my god, we’ve been fighting this for 10 years. I’m done. I’m just gonna, you know, do something. I’m gonna go watch TV. I don’t know.’ We can’t ever give up, because I don’t think our ancestors ever gave up.” “A Voice Like Mine” came out in June and is now available at local bookstores. (Courtesy Department of Finance Canada) A group of First Nations in Ontario have signed a deal with the Canadian and Ontario governments to take part ownership in a new nuclear reactor project. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the chiefs involved called it a historic step forward. The seven first nations are part of the Williams Treaties First Nations east of Toronto. The federal government in Ottawa and the Ontario government are providing CA$700 million (about $492.4 million) in loan guarantees to the First Nations. That money will become equity for one of our small modular reactors under construction at the Darlington Nuclear project east of Toronto. Chief Laurie Hockaday of the Alderville First Nation says the importance of this deal cannot be overstated. “Economic reconciliation is not achieved simply by inviting First Nations to observe development. It is achieved when first nations have meaningful opportunities to participate, to invest, to lead, and to help shape the future of projects taking place within their territories.” Darlington is the site for four small modular reactors, which are now under construction at a cost of about CA$21 billion (about $14.78 billion). The first reactor is expected to be completed by 2030 and, when fully operational, the four will generate about 1,200 megawatts of power, enough for about 1.2 million homes. Canadian Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne says the loan guarantee is among the first, and so far the largest, in the loan guarantee program with First Nations. “When it comes to nation building projects, Indigenous people are partners and we want that today to be a blue print. And nations across our country are watching what we are achieving today because today's a great example of us working together to achieve a common goal that generations will look back with pride.” Ontario's energy minister says the involvement of First Nations in the project marks an important milestone. And he adds that it is sensible for any government to build alliances and partnerships with First Nations. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, July 7, 2026 — Finding success through the art of contemporary horsemanship

A new mobile app created by a Navajo man is offering travelers in both New Mexico and Arizona an opportunity to learn about historic routes and insight on Native American cultures. KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. Whether you are driving from Gallup, N.M. to Flagstaff, Ariz. or Flagstaff to Phoenix, a new app called Tribal Trailz, created by former Navajo educator George R. Joe, serves as your audio tour guide while you are on the road. “Are you driving over the bridge yet? It is known as Canyon Diablo, and Two Guns is right on the rim of Canyon Diablo. Many years ago, Route 66 entrepreneurs once had a roadside gas station, trading post, even a tiny zoo, where lions and bobcats were behind chicken wire.” That is one sample of the self-guided tour. Joe says the app includes information about Navajo and Acoma territories because a lot of tourists on the road are very uninformed about Native Americans. “The education world hasn’t done a good job of letting Americans know about tribal people, so they have these crazy ideas and misconceptions about us. So, I thought, ‘Here’s my chance to try to correct some of that information about housing, about how we live, about how we make money, things we do.'” Tribal Trailz is GPS-activated so all drivers need to do is open the app and start a tour. During your drive, the app will detect where you are at and point out different monuments, houses, or landmarks. “You don’t have to look at your app, you just put it right there on your dashboard. It doesn’t have to be visible, because I don’t show pictures, because I think you know you’re driving. You don’t have time to be looking at pictures and things like that. You just want to hear.” Joe says the app is meant to be a bridge for curious travelers wanting to know more about Native American communities and the Southwest. “More like bringing down that barrier, and then inviting them to go eventually visit the tribe.” Joe is currently working on including more tours in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M. The F/V Loretta Ann in Sitka Channel in 2023. (Photo: Berett Wilber / KCAW) The commercial king salmon fishery opened July 1 for trollers in Southeast Alaska. In the first king opener of the season, trollers can catch just over 81,000 Chinook salmon, roughly 70% of the allocated summer kings, as KCAW's Katherine Rose reports. The allocation is set by the Pacific Salmon Commission, under the terms of the Pacific Salmon Treaty between the U.S. and Canada. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said, based on summer harvest rates in previous years with a similar amount of fish, state fisheries biologists anticipate it will take trollers anywhere from seven to 10 days to catch the 81,000 Chinook. The fishery typically opens a second time in August for trollers to target the remaining treaty kings. The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio) The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is urging Tribal Nations to remain vigilant in protecting Native voting rights following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on mail-in ballots. The organization issued the statement after the high court upheld a Mississippi law allowing ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive afterward. NCAI says the ruling is especially important for many Tribal communities, where mail service delays and long distances can make it difficult for ballots to reach election offices on time. NCAI joined the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) in filing a friend-of-the-court brief, arguing that rural and remote Native voters face unique barriers to casting ballots. While welcoming the decision, the organization says threats to Native voting rights remain and is encouraging Tribal governments and citizens to continue monitoring election policies and preparing to ensure Native voices are heard in future elections. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, July 6, 2026 — Two Native artists making waves in the arts world

For many Native people, the version of California history taught in school does not tell the whole story. For Brad Munoa, a citizen of the Pechanga Band of Indians, the inspiration for “People of the West”, a new ten-part docuseries came after learning about a California history presentation at his son’s school. Munoa says Native American history received only a brief mention, while much of the focus was placed on a version of California history that overlooked Native voices and experiences. That moment sparked an idea. “So I wanted to make a series that would reach the youth in a compelling, cinematic way. Dramatic recreations, beautiful animations when we couldn't depict something in real life. One of the biggest archival libraries of stills and videos of California history that I think exists on the planet. We put that all together in 10 1-hour episodes. I'm telling you, it's amazing.” Munoa says the series, which took over two years to create, also touches on his family's own experiences. One scene was inspired by the love story of his grandparents. He says his grandfather was afraid to tell his future wife that he was Native because of the prejudice Native people faced at the time. Years later, watching actors bring that story to life on screen left him in tears. “I just started crying and sobbing. I explained that story was from my family history specifically. It was an honor to have them portray it.” Munoa says the series is not just about the past. He hopes Native youth see themselves reflected in stories that have often been overlooked and that viewers leave with a deeper understanding of California’s first peoples. View this post on Instagram A post shared by People of The West (@peopleofthewestseries) While the project has generated interest, Munoa says it has not yet been picked up by a streaming service. He says that is intentional. “We made the whole thing on spec without preselling it to a studio ahead of time. When you do that, yes, you get funding, but you also get oversight. And the studios get to determine final cut and get to suggest taking things out, adding stuff in. We wanted to tell the story without those handcuffs. So we made the whole thing on spec without preselling it. Now that we have it, we're trying to find distribution. “I just want everybody who watches the series to come away with a new profound understanding of history from a native perspective. I'm almost 100% sure that if they just watch with an open mind, it will inform all of their decision making going forward in a good way, so that we can build a better future for our kids.” Completing the project came with sacrifices. Munoa says work often took him away from his family. Now that the series is finished, he says he’s looking forward to making up for lost time and being more present with the people who supported him throughout the journey. “My wife has shouldered a lot of the responsibilities at home in her effort to support me, but she's been neglected, my kids have been neglected. They call me the dad from Hook as a joke. You know before he goes to Neverland in Hook, he's consumed with work and on his phone, he's missing baseball games and stuff. So I want to balance that all back and be there with my kids and wife, and tend to my land on the reservation.” The ten-part series held its world premiere on June 20 at Hollywood’s famed Chinese Theatre as part of the Dances With Films festival. Munoa says he hopes audiences leave the theater with a deeper understanding of California’s Native peoples and the stories that helped shape the state. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, July 3, 2026 — Art exhibitions offer creative interpretations of Native survival and endurance

Many people in small communities on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska rely on hunting for subsistence. And staff at one school district want to make sure they do it safely – by making hunter education a part of the curriculum. KRBD's Sydney Dauphinais went to the student's end of year field test and has this story. It is a cloudy morning at the Prince of Wales Shooting Club. Emma Garrison, a ninth grader from Thorne Bay, is trying to keep her gun steady. “Ohhh my gosh.” She and eight other students, all armed with rifles and safety gear, line up on yoga mats under a three sided shelter. She has been taking the Hunter Ed class all semester. Today, she's putting her studying to the test. “I was really nervous. Yesterday was the first day I'd ever shot a gun, so.” There are over 30 students from the Southeast Island School District taking their hunters ed certification field test today. If the students pass, they get Hunter Ed certified. This was the first year the district incorporated Hunter Education into the curriculum, with a goal to get every student from sixth to twelfth grades certified. The certification, which is through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, is required for most Alaskans to legally hunt. And in many smaller Prince of Wales Island communities, hunting is a key part of the lifestyle. The Southeast Island School district is spread out with under 150 students in seven remote schools across Prince of Wales and Baranof Islands, but all the students at the shooting club today have spent the last semester taking the course. Ellen Hannan is a retired teacher and a volunteer with Fish and Game. She has been teaching Hunter Ed in Southeast for 25 years. “Raise your hand, how many people have shot before? Anytime, anywhere, anything?” Most of the students raise their hands. Hannan says that is why the class is so important. She knows many of these students are around guns from  a young age and she wants them to be safe. The number one rule: always treat guns as if they are loaded, to help keep yourself and others safe. Hannan helps the students hold and load their guns, shooting targets in four positions: laying down, kneeling, sitting, and standing. “So what you've gotta do is get four outta five shots in a 2 inch circle. That means it touches it anywhere.” Down towards the clubhouse, students are taking a walk through the forest. It is part of the field test to identify cardboard animals and discern when, how, and if it is ethical to shoot them. One of the students is Wyatt Farr, an eighth grader from Coffman Cove.  He has been hunting with his family for years. “It’s fun. I just like, yeah, I like being outdoors, and like actually doing things, instead of like sitting there playing video games.” Farr likes to hunt deer and grouse – and wants to hunt bears soon. He says his favorite part is enjoying the meat he has processed, but he also likes how calm and quiet it is in the outdoors The course also includes basic survival skills, wildlife conservation and respect for other hunters. That's part of what he likes about it. “So there’s not like just like clueless people going out walking in the woods and like getting hurt and stuff, and it's also like teaching the generations to come how to like properly do things.” Every teacher teaches the class a little differently. Melissa Dougherty, a teacher at Thorne Bay with a background in biology, designed the curriculum so it blends with broader outdoor education. She knows the outdoors are a big part of her students’ lives and she wants them to be aware of their surroundings. She says killing an animal is a serious thing – and she wants her students to be thoughtful and observant when they are out in nature. “I think it’s really important to spend time thinking about how you fit into your environment and gaining an appreciation for the world around you.” At the end of the day, every student passed their hunter's ed field test and received their signed certificate – which is valid for life. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode

Photo: Angie Fitch, executive irector of Alaska Native Rural Veterinary, with two Koyuk residents and their pets during a recent visit. (Courtesy Angie Fitch) A group of Alaska Native organizations is launching a new rural veterinary public health program this month to provide care for animals in dozens of tribes across the state. As the Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports, that includes rabies vaccinations, testing for infectious diseases, as well as spaying and neutering. Mike Williams is a musher and the chief of the village of Akiak. He says he and other Alaska Native leaders for years have been advocating for more veterinary care in villages like his. “In Akiak, there were two rabid foxes shot this past winter, and there are many loose dogs. I think the main need is vaccinations with rabies and parvo … that kills a lot of our animals.” The Alaska Federation of Natives' new program is in partnership with a nonprofit, Alaska Native Rural Veterinary. The two-year initiative will bring veterinary services to 80 villages. Arleigh Reynolds is a former musher and the medical director for Alaska Native Rural Veterinary. He says rabies is endemic in northern and western Alaska, and up to 25 people are exposed to the virus each year. The exposure usually happens when rabid wildlife, like foxes, bite village dogs. “Dogs have been part of life in rural Alaska since people have been in rural Alaska. When something that has always been a huge benefit to a society becomes a potential threat, it’s really a problem, right? It disrupts the whole foundations of that society or culture.” Reynolds says it is difficult to access veterinary care in villages off-the road system, and traveling to get care is costly. Additionally, some parts of Alaska experience seven times the national average of reported cases of children bitten by dogs. He says he hopes the new initiative can help address both of these issues. “Most importantly, it’ll save trauma on people and dogs, but it’ll also save communities and health-providing organizations an incredible amount of money.” Taking care of pets in villages can also help protect subsistence resources, Reynolds says. One example is vaccinating against distemper that is contagious and fatal to wildlife, like seals that many Alaska Native communities hunt. The authors of the new program say they hope it will act as a bridge on the path towards permanent and sustainable veterinary care for tribes. As communities across the country mark America’s 250th anniversary, a new augmented reality experience in Boston is highlighting Indigenous history that is often missing from the nation’s founding story. White Snake Projects, in partnership with the North American Indian Center of Boston, has launched Indigenous Stories, a free, self-guided walking tour along Boston’s historic Freedom Trail. Available through December 31, the smartphone experience guides visitors to six locations where they can view virtual performances by Native artists and learn about significant events in the city’s Indigenous past. The tour explores the forced removal and imprisonment of Indigenous people on Deer Island during King Philip’s War, Native enslavement in colonial Boston, the life of African and Indigenous patriot Crispus Attucks, the 1755 scalp bounty proclamation targeting the Penobscot Nation, and the execution of Nipmuc leader Tantamous on Boston Common. Organizers say the project is meant to ensure Indigenous voices are part of the conversation surrounding the nation’s semiquincentennial and to give visitors a more complete understanding of Native peoples’ role in Boston’s history. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, July 1, 2026 — Native historians elevate overlooked history in the wake of America250 celebrations

History was made in the National Hockey League (NHL) Friday night in Buffalo, N.Y. The Toronto Maple Leafs had the first overall pick of the NHL draft and they selected Gavin McKenna (Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation), only the second Indigenous player to ever be drafted at the top spot. Dale McCourt (Frog Lake First Nations) was taken number one by the Detroit Red Wings in 1977. More from Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto. Although the draft was in Buffalo, fans in Toronto watching on the big screen at the Scotia Bank Arena went wild after the announcement that their team was choosing McKenna, born in Whitehorse, Yukon. That kind of enthusiasm from the crowd has largely been missing in Toronto, as the team suffered one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history: ending up in 28th place and missing the playoffs. The next day, McKenna, the star rookie, got to meet the Toronto media for the first time where he was asked about his immediate plans. “Yeah, I'm going to the Jays game tonight. I've never been to a baseball game, so obviously a Blue Jays fan, so I'm looking forward to that and yeah I dunno know, I think just kind of hanging out, chillin' out. I think Dev Camp starts out pretty quick so I gotta make sure I'm ready for that. Yeah, just hanging out.” McKenna has been on the radar of NHL scouts since he was fourteen years old. When he jumped to the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Medicine Hat Tigers, over two seasons he racked up 97 and 129 points consecutively. At the end of the 2024-25 season, he ended up winning rookie of the year, WHL player of the year, the Canadian Hockey League David Branch Player of the Year, and an Under 18 world championship gold medal. He then committed to playing for Penn State in NCAA hockey during his draft season. Analysts say he has a high-end hockey IQ with an ability to manipulate defenders and is often compared to such greats as Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane. Fans and owners in Toronto are hoping that with the McKenna one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts in franchise history could soon be over. Timinah Ellenwood-Parrish, left; his aunt Andria Scott, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Education Department administrative assistant; and Desiree Coyote, CTUIR Family Violence Services (FVS) coordinator, walk during an MMIP Week event on May 6, 2024, around the Nixyáawii Governance Center campus in Pendleton, Oreg. (Courtesy CTUIR / Facebook) The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) is holding a special summit next week organized by its Family Violence Services (FVS) program. Desiree Coyote is the FVS program manager. She says she is particularly excited for this biennial event, given the quality of speakers and topics. “I am really happy to be able to get Marisa Cummings to attend, she’s done a lot of federal work in regards to Violence Against Women Act, and she’s got many years when it comes to jurisdictional issues and collaboration.” Another session led by Jordan Battle and Arianna Sessoms addresses domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking in the workplace. “There isn’t a lot of meaningful policies or practices around addressing those in the workplace. So I’m excited that, Jordan and Arianna is going to be here to talk about how the federal government is ensuring that there’s technical assistance and training for us at the Umatilla Indian reservation, but for other agencies who receive state and federal funding.” Coyote says it is important to address these pervasive issues in Indian Country, to keep them in the forefront for vulnerable people. “When it comes to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, for the U.S. overall, the overrepresentation of population definitely lies with communities of color and tribal nations specifically. Research actually so shows that the Indigenous community on this land, are five times more to have lived through these types of experiences, the intimate partner violence and sexual assault.” The 2026 Tribal State and Federal Summit titled Beyond Policy: Shaping Behavior and Culture will be held July 7-9 at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton, Oreg. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, June 30, 2026 — The Menu: Native food and America's origins, a tribal vineyard, and a cafe's uninformed Indigenous branding misses the mark

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola receives standing ovation from delegates at the 2025 Alaska Federation of Natives Convention. She is expected to be one of the candidates to appear at this year’s convention in October. (Photo: Matt Faubion / Alaska Public Media) The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) will celebrate the anniversary of its 60th convention this October. Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has more on plans for this milestone gathering. “Rooted in Land and Tradition, Rising in Our Voices.” That's theme for this year's AFN Convention. AFN President Ben Mallott says it reflects six decades of advocacy and the power of collective voices. “We have taken our convention, over 60 years, and have made it in, I think, the state's largest meeting, with a broadcast of over 100,000 viewers. That's a powerful tool for our community.” In 1966, about 400 Native leaders from across the state gathered above an Anchorage storefront on Fourth Avenue to fight for their ancestral lands. This first gathering laid out the groundwork for the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971 — still the largest lands settlement in U.S. History. Today, the convention draws thousands of people, along with state and national leaders. Mallott says this year's keynote speaker is Dr. Rosita Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute and a longtime AFN board member. Mallott says Worl has dedicated her life to advancing Native causes. “It's Rosita. Dr. Worl, she's an icon. She's a legend. She has built Sealaska Heritage Institute into the institution it is now in Juneau, and she's also one of our strongest advocates for subsistence.” Mallott says this fall's convention will also feature candidate debates for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Governor's races — and will be part of an extensive Get-Out-The-Native-Vote campaign. AFN will be held for three days at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage, Alaska starting on October 22. On January 9, 2007, members of the Navajo Nation, faced with the devastating health and environmental effects of yet another coal-burning power plant, staged a peaceful demonstration in Window Rock, Ariz., on the day that returning Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley was sworn in. Peaceful demonstrators were forcibly stopped and blocked from attending the inauguration by the Navajo Nation Police. (Photo: Carlan Tapp / Palace of the Governors Photo Archives) An exhibit at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, N.M. highlights the successful campaign by three Diné women to stop a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation. KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) talked with one – Sarah Jane White – and photographer Carlan Tapp (Wacomico/Anglo). “A Question of Power” features 40 black and white photographs by Tapp as well as video and audio interviews with residents on the Navajo Nation between 2004 and 2011. They include tense confrontations between tribal members and authorities over plans by the Dine' Power Authority to build the Desert Rock plant on the Navajo Nation near Farmington, N.M. Robin Jackson is the executive director for Diné Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (C.A.R.E.), a nonprofit that works with Navajo communities on energy and environmental issues. “President (Richard) Nixon had declared that certain parts of the U.S. would be sacrificed for energy production in order to meet energy needs for some of the bigger cities like Los Angeles or Phoenix and others.” In the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, Nixon announced Project Independence that included expanding nuclear development, including lands inhabited by Native Americans. A 2010 research article identified 37 Navajo communities with high rates of certain diseases and conditions associated with coal power plants. The growing number of children with asthma was one of the reasons Sarah Jane White became involved. “So I went around the schools too, and I found out just how many children were having respiratory issues.” She says the majority of the Navajo people opposed Desert Rock and wrote letters to then Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. She says plant owners tried to get her to stop protesting against Desert Rock by offering her sons jobs. White was joined in her fight by Lucy Willie and Molly Hogue. Tapp was drawn to their compelling story. “The thing I thought, I have got to keep really good notes on this for some reason. I don’t know why.” Tapp traveled with White, Willie, and Hogue to different communities on the reservation, and he says that it was eye opening. “I could not believe it. People without electricity, people without running water.” Tapp’s photographs and interviews also helped in the fight against Desert Rock. Ultimately, the Desert Rock Energy project was officially canceled in 2011 due to the continued opposition. With the closure of another plant, the San Juan Generating Station in 2022, Jackson says you can see the difference in the air. There is still one active power plant on the Navajo Nation scheduled for decommissioning in 2031. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, June 29, 2026 — First Nations group works to reclaim thousands of sacred items from Swiss collector

Communities across the country are marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. In Alaska, organizers say they are using the milestone to tell a broader story — one that includes Alaska’s history, its people, and Native contributions to America’s pastime. The America250-Alaska Commission’s “Week of Dreams” begins Saturday and runs through July 4 with events in Anchorage and Fairbanks celebrating Alaska’s connection to baseball. Opening ceremonies at Mulcahy Field will include Alaska Native Heritage Dancers, a parade of athletes, and recognition of the Knock Down and Skin ‘Em Club from St. Paul Island, believed to be Alaska’s oldest baseball team. One of the organizers is Olga Zacharof of St. Paul Island. For more than a decade, Zacharof has helped organize community softball games on the island. She and her husband, Dimitri, recently expanded those efforts to Anchorage, bringing together Unangax families through the sport. Zacharof says the game has long brought families and community members together in St. Paul, and she hopes being a part of this week’s events will do the same. “I hope to make our people proud. I hope to make the Aleut people from the Pribilofs proud. And how lucky I am to be able to represent us in that light.” Former Major League Baseball pitcher DJ Carrasco will also be in Alaska for the celebration. Carrasco now serves as director of Native Nations Baseball, an organization working to increase opportunities for Indigenous youth in baseball and softball. Carrasco says Native Nations Baseball is about more than teaching the game. “Native Nations is a resource not only in the sport but like holistic health and wellness belief and nutrition. We believe in the holistic development of an actual person. A good person, how to be a good teammate.” The week’s events continue Monday at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where Carrasco, Zacharof, and former Knock Down and Skin em' team members will discuss Native representation in baseball and their work with Indigenous youth. The program will also feature a demonstration of Miachee, a traditional Indigenous ball game from Southwest Alaska, led by Sugpiat artist Andrew Abyo. According to the America250-Alaska Commission, Alaska chose baseball as the focus of its commemoration to highlight the state’s contributions to American history and culture while inspiring future generations to learn about Alaska’s past. Events continue through July 4 in Anchorage and Fairbanks. A bill that would change the dynamic between the feds and tribal nations on the cleanup of abandoned mines moved forward this week. KNAU's Chris Clements has more. The Legacy Mine Cleanup Act got a House committee hearing Wednesday with bipartisan support in Congress and the backing of the Navajo Nation. It would create a new office within the U.S> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to better track mine sites that need cleanup. And it would prioritize cutting edge cleanup methods like one backed by the company DISA Tech, which involves harvesting uranium mine waste so it can be reused. But that cleanup method has faced pushback from environmental advocates, who say it is still experimental, uses too much water, and does not fully clean up contamination. National Parks Service (NPS) employee testing for elevated radiation levels at the Orphan Mine Site on and below the South Rim in Grand Canyon National Park. (Courtesy NPS) Besides looking into new remediation methods, the bill would also give tribes more funding for cleaning up abandoned hard rock mines. The federal government estimates there are about 140,000 such mines in the U.S. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, June 26, 2026 — Native books to keep young readers engaged this summer

The U.S. is celebrating 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, but some Native Americans in the Mount Rushmore state are turning their focus to a different anniversary, as South Dakota Searchlight's Meghan O'Brien reports. Ben Jones is South Dakota's state historian. He also chairs the state's America 250 commission. He wants it to be an inclusive celebration. “There was just a strong desire personally, and I think among all the members of the commission, that we include everybody and everybody who lives in South Dakota to be a part of this.” But as July 4 nears, Trina Lone Hill (Oglala Sioux) is not planning to celebrate. “For me personally, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is like a slap in the face.” Lone Hill is a former historic preservation officer for the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Now, she serves on its tribal council. The founding of the country meant lost land, language, and culture for Indigenous people. So Lone Hill's focus is on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the week before Independence Day. The conflict on June 25, 1876, was a major victory for the Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Lakota, and Dakota people. It happened during the United States' encroachment on their land, after the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. Lakota people know the conflict as the Battle of the Greasy Grass. Representatives of several tribes are working with the National Park Service to commemorate the anniversary at the battlefield in Montana. Lone Hill will be one of more than a dozen speakers at the three-day event. U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) holds a press conference on Monday, June 1, 2026, in Tucson., Ariz. The Indian Health Service (IHS) is preparing to close one of its three locations in Arizona. The agency says this is part of a plan to modernize operations and improve health outcomes. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, state Democrats are raising alarm. More than 28,000 patients depend on the Tucson, Ariz. area office, especially members from the Tohono O'odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe. It mostly handles administrative work, but is expected to merge with the IHS Phoenix office. That location is already responsible for 180,000 patients in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. “Consolidating one to another, you're going to have a disruption of service. Any cut is going to cause a delay.” State Rep. Brian Garcia (Pascua Yaqui/D-AZ) is concerned. So too is State Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales (Pascua Yaqui/D-AZ), who also chairs the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. “I've never been to that clinic, but I know that some of our members do, and I used to represent Tohono O'odham and it's in their San Javier District, so it's disheartening to learn of its closure.” Arizona state Democrats sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy earlier this month, urging him to halt the looming closure. The agency did not comment on the letter. Mark Cruz testified Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The nominee to lead the IHS appeared before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday. Mark Cruz (Klamath Tribes) answered questions from lawmakers on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the next IHS director. Cruz currently serves as senior advisor for Native Affairs at HHS. He told senators he would focus on strengthening tribal consultation, improving health care access, and addressing workforce shortages across Indian Country if confirmed. His nomination now moves forward in the Senate confirmation process. IHS provides care to about 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, June 25, 2026 — First Nations challenge Alberta's separation drive

It is billed as “the world's longest and toughest snowmachine race”. Next year, the Iron Dog Race plans to add three checkpoints to its over 2,000-mile course. As KOTZ's Desiree Hagen reports, a new race route, announced earlier this month, has been several years in the making and crosses through two national wildlife refuges. The new route adds the communities of Huslia, Shungnak, and Ambler. Rick Paquette is the executive director of the Iron Dog. He says it will not add miles, but would traverse through new terrain. He says the race has been working on permitting for the route for a while. “This isn’t something like overnight that happened, you know what I mean. This was over seven years in the making, this is a really big deal, and we’re super excited to do this.” Why did it take so long? The proposed race route passes through federally protected land, more than 100 miles of it (79 miles on Koukuk, 34 miles on Selawik) through the Koyukuk and Selawik National Wildlife Refuges. Both refuges rejected the initial request, citing similar reasons: the race would be a public safety problem, require more budget and staff than available, and not align with the refuges' purpose or mission. A letter from Selawik Wildlife Refuge said that a portion of the proposed route would also violate the Wilderness Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (ANILCA) through 1.3 miles of trail. The managers of the refuges were unavailable for comment. Iron Dog also submitted a special use permit through Kobuk Valley National Park, but changed their race route to a section of the Kobuk River that does not fall under park service authority, according to a representative from the Western Arctic Parklands. Race organizers appealed the rejections in June 2025 and reached out to the office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK). A press release from the senator said he and his team played a “key role” in advancing the new route and drafted an appeal that “highlighted inconsistencies” preventing the route's expansion. “Obviously anytime you have a bunch of different organizations that you’re trying to collaborate with and get one final answer on, it’s extremely difficult. I think, new administrations, and definitely, Sen. Sullivan’s office really helped push this over and help us get to the goal line on this.” Paquette says Sullivan's office helped with letters of support, and with multiple organizations, including the Bureau of Land Management. And it paid off. In December, Sara Boario, Regional Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, overturned the previous denials, allowing for the new race routes. Boario's office did not respond to questions from KOTZ news. Paquette says there are challenges with a race this large, which passes through 23 mostly remote checkpoints. “It’s a beast to put on this race logistically, and there’s always struggles with fuel and getting equipment out, and getting, you know, resources out there.” Both Ambler and Shungnak have experienced prolonged fuel shortages in the last several years, often in winter when storms can ground fuel planes. Still, Paquette says Iron Dog is prepared for those challenges. “We do our best to make sure we get all the resources for the communities that we need to put a strong race.” Paquette says Iron Dog has several programs that the new race communities will benefit from, including free helmets and free life jackets for local youth. Last year, Iron Dog established the Iron Pup program, which fosters young racers. Iron Dog also founded the Make it Run program that partners with schools and engineers to encourage technical and mechanical training. Paquette says there is also economic benefits to the new communities. “There’s gonna be publicity, there’s gonna be people going through these areas, you know. We send resources up there, spending money, and, you know, giving a chance for these folks to see this incredible race.” The Iron Dog race typically begins in early February. A date has not been set for next year’s race. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, June 24, 2026 — Affordable housing progress misses Native priorities

Photo: A panoramic view of Monument Valley. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) The nation's 575 federally recognized tribes are now eligible for conservation grants from the National Park Service. And as KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, a new digital tool is designed to help them navigate the bureaucracy. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been around since 1964. “It receives about $900 million each year from offshore oil and gas royalties – not taxpayer dollars – to support conservation and outdoor recreation nationwide. And yet, I had never heard of the program.” Starlyn Rose Miller is from the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana. She is with the nonprofit Wilderness Society, which launched the new online hub. “Tribal governments are so busy. We thought if we could put a hub up designed in partnership with Indigenous-led orgs, agencies, nonprofits, that it could be helpful.” The fund has aided more than 47,000 projects in nearly every county nationwide. Bethel siblings Vjosa Pellumbi, left, and Drini Pellumbi pose after winning the top prize at the UAF College of Business and Security Management’s Arctic Innovation Competition held at the 8 Star Events Center in Fairbanks on April 18, 2026. (Photo: Sarah Lewis / UAF) High energy costs are a fact of life in remote, rural Alaska with few easy answers. A brother and sister team from Bethel, Alaska recently won top honors at an innovation competition hosted from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. As KYUK's Evan Erickson reports, they are committed to being part of the solution. Fraternal twins Drini and Vjosa Pellumbi have more in common than the same birthday. So far, their education and career paths have followed side by side. The brother and sister graduated from high school with college credit gained through the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) and are currently studying mechanical engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage. The Pellumbi twins are busy advancing a prototype of a device that attaches to home boilers and aims to reduce heating costs in cold-weather climates. Drini Pellumbi says their device essentially takes heat that would have been wasted by the boiler and just repurposes it to heat incoming water. Their Arctic Heat Recovery System design earned the top prize and $21,000 at the Alaska Innovation Competition hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The same day, Vjosa Pellumbi said the pair celebrated their 20th birthday. “It was such a whirlwind of emotions, because during the finals of that competition, we still had finals for our semester course, and you know we’re taking rigorous engineering courses, so stresses were high. It was just, it was a lot of good news that day.” This summer, the Pellumbis are both in Washington, D.C., interning with a wildlife conservation nonprofit. In their off-hours, they are plugging away at their prototype. Drini says the heat recovery concept is nothing new, but that it's so far been focused on large-scale commercial applications. “On my table right in front of me we have a couple thermocouples and sensors. We’re in two separate apartments, but we take turns, whose room carries all the junk. I guess a lot of people just don’t see a profit margin in developing it for Alaskan citizens, like residents, to use. We’re not really in it for the profit, we’re in it because it’s clean, it saves oil, it saves money, it saves pollutants from entering the atmosphere. Hopefully it’ll be good all around.” Friends and family in Bethel – where fuel prices have recently spiked due to the war in Iran – are eager to be the first to test the device. The Pellumbis say it has the potential to save homeowners thousands of dollars per year. They say the money they earned at this year's Arctic Innovation Competition is going directly into making the heat recovery system a reality. The second-generation Albanian-Americans credit their mother for pushing them to apply together for the competition. Vjosa says the parallel paths her and her brother have taken come down to family ties. “Within Albanian culture, one of the core values is being very family-oriented. So I guess that’s always been why we’ve gravitated towards doing the same things, because we've always been close.” Both say they could end up specializing in different engineering fields down the road. But for now, they say they're enjoying being a team as long as they can. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, June 23, 2026 — Descendants reflect on Greasy Grass anniversary

Roseburg Schools and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians have announced a partnership to help preserve the tribe's ancestral language, as KLCC's Brian Bull reports. Starting this fall, both Native and non-Native high school students can take the Takelma language for official language credit. The last known speaker died more than a century ago, but linguists and audio recordings from the Smithsonian Institution have helped revive it. Lindsay Campman, a spokesperson with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua, says the tribe has deemed language as important to its citizens. “And that continues to make our people strong. It’s a link to have something in common with your ancestors who lived a very, very different life centuries ago. But being able to speak that same language that they did, that’s a powerful connection.” The Cow Creek Band is also partnering with Roseburg Schools on a statewide program to improve Native students' attendance and is gifting the district half a million dollars towards renovating Roseburg High School's sports complex. Myles Lewallen, left, his client Indigenous Design Studio + Architecture founder Tamarah Begay, and his co-counsel Jake Curtis testify before the Budget and Finance Committee on June 17, 2026. (Courtesy Navajo Nation Council) The Navajo Nation Council has paused its public hearing into the ZenniHome scandal until next month, but in testimony last week, a key witness made a bombshell allegation against her ex-business partner. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. Tamarah Begay is the founder of Indigenous Design Studio and Architecture, which hired the now-bankrupt ZenniHome as a subcontractor to make 160 modular homes for the Navajo Nation. Zenni built only 18 after getting $24 million. “I am not a thief, and I am not a criminal.” But under oath, Begay leveled an accusation against ZenniHome CEO Bob Worsley. “He went ahead and actually forged my name under HozhoniHomes and submitted that to the state of Arizona.” That 2023 filing created an LLC, naming Begay's firm as a member. Her legal counsel clarifies they have not “seen any documents with her signature forged,” but insists this entity was formed “without her consent and against her express direction.” Neither Worsley nor his attorney, who signed off on the LLC, immediately responded to KJZZ's request for comment. (Courtesy Lomakatsi Restoration Project) Nine tribal members have graduated from a forestry and wildland firefighting training program in southern Oregon that blends modern fire management with traditional Indigenous knowledge. The graduates completed 18 weeks of paid training through the Tribal Ecological Forestry Training Program, operated by the Lomakatsi Restoration Project. Participants learned wildland firefighting, forest restoration, fuels reduction, chainsaw operation and cultural burning practices. For thousands of years, Indigenous communities across the West used carefully managed burns to improve forest health, encourage the growth of important plants and reduce vegetation that can fuel large wildfires. Many of those practices were restricted after federal fire suppression policies took hold. Today, tribes and land managers are increasingly looking to traditional fire knowledge as a tool for reducing wildfire risk. Program leaders say the training not only prepares Native youth for careers in forestry and firefighting, but also helps reconnect participants with cultural traditions tied to caring for the land. The program serves tribal communities in Oregon and northern California, where increasingly severe wildfire seasons have threatened forests, wildlife habitat and rural communities. Organizers say graduates leave with industry certifications and hands-on experience that can lead directly to employment in wildland firefighting and natural resource management. As fire seasons grow longer and more intense across the West, supporters say Indigenous knowledge and the next generation of Native fire practitioners will play an important role in protecting forests and communities. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, June 22, 2026 — Rebecca Nagle's ‘First America' amplifies Native voices amid the din of America 250 celebrations

For many Native people, the version of California history taught in school does not tell the whole story. For Brad Munoa, a citizen of the Pechanga Band of Indians, the inspiration for “People of the West”, a new ten-part docuseries came after learning about a California history presentation at his son’s school. Munoa says Native American history received only a brief mention, while much of the focus was placed on a version of California history that overlooked Native voices and experiences. That moment sparked an idea. “So I wanted to make a series that would reach the youth in a compelling, cinematic way. Dramatic recreations, beautiful animations when we couldn't depict something in real life. One of the biggest archival libraries of stills and videos of California history that I think exists on the planet. We put that all together in 10 1-hour episodes. I'm telling you, it's amazing.” Munoa says the series, which took over two years to create, also touches on his family's own experiences. One scene was inspired by the love story of his grandparents. He says his grandfather was afraid to tell his future wife that he was Native because of the prejudice Native people faced at the time. Years later, watching actors bring that story to life on screen left him in tears. “I just started crying and sobbing. I explained that story was from my family history specifically. It was an honor to have them portray it.” Munoa says the series is not just about the past. He hopes Native youth see themselves reflected in stories that have often been overlooked and that viewers leave with a deeper understanding of California’s first peoples. View this post on Instagram A post shared by People of The West (@peopleofthewestseries) While the project has generated interest, Munoa says it has not yet been picked up by a streaming service. He says that is intentional. “We made the whole thing on spec without preselling it to a studio ahead of time. When you do that, yes, you get funding, but you also get oversight. And the studios get to determine final cut and get to suggest taking things out, adding stuff in. We wanted to tell the story without those handcuffs. So we made the whole thing on spec without preselling it. Now that we have it, we're trying to find distribution. “I just want everybody who watches the series to come away with a new profound understanding of history from a native perspective. I'm almost 100% sure that if they just watch with an open mind, it will inform all of their decision making going forward in a good way, so that we can build a better future for our kids.” Completing the project came with sacrifices. Munoa says work often took him away from his family. Now that the series is finished, he says he’s looking forward to making up for lost time and being more present with the people who supported him throughout the journey. “My wife has shouldered a lot of the responsibilities at home in her effort to support me, but she's been neglected, my kids have been neglected. They call me the dad from Hook as a joke. You know before he goes to Neverland in Hook, he's consumed with work and on his phone, he's missing baseball games and stuff. So I want to balance that all back and be there with my kids and wife, and tend to my land on the reservation.” The ten-part series makes its world premiere June 20 at Hollywood’s famed Chinese Theatre as part of the Dances With Films festival. Munoa says he hopes audiences leave the theater with a deeper understanding of California’s Native peoples and the stories that helped shape the state. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, June 19, 2026 — Native Playlist: Kalyn Fay and Logan Staats

Photo: The international boundary between Mexico and the Tohono O'odham Nation in June 2026. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) An Arizona tribe along the Southern border has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. The Tohono O'odham Nation has submitted an injunction to halt the Trump administration from looking to build a wall along its 62-mile boundary with Mexico. According to the complaint, the administration plans to solicit contracts for construction on sovereign lands – without the tribe's consent. Tohono O'odham Chairman Verlon Jose in a social media message. “We would prefer not to file this lawsuit, and instead use these resources for our people. And it is our hope DHS will reconsider their plans once they see the strength of our arguments, however, at this point we have been left with no other choice.” Carla Johnson is Tohono O'odham Vice Chairwoman. “The wall is a wasteful political gimmick. It will separate our families, desecrate our sacred sites and waters and harm our natural environment, while doing nothing to actually make us safer.” In response to the legal filings, DHS cites Mullin's Cherokee citizenship and commitment to tribal sovereignty, telling KJZZ the agency “values its relationship with the Tohono O'odham Nation and remains focused on open communication and minimizing impacts.” Sheep graze in the Coppermine Community near Page, Ariz. (Courtesy Loren Thomas) A Navajo Nation community near Page voted Sunday to oppose a controversial copper mine proposal, as KNAU's Chris Clements reports. The Coppermine Chapter voted 45-12 to adopt a resolution opposing Essential Minerals' exploration of a possible copper mine. The resolution also rescinded a policy put forward by the chapter back in 2005 that supported exploration of a separate copper mine. The resolution adopted on Sunday says back in 2005, the company looking into mining failed to fulfill its commitments. It adds that no mining company – like Essential Minerals – can use the 2005 policy to justify exploring a copper mine now. Tribal members say they are worried a copper mine would cause health and environmental issues in the community. Representatives of Essential Minerals previously told KNAU they want to build trust about the project, which they say is just being explored right now. Community members enjoy a meal at the 2026 Return of the Salmon Celebration at Riverview Park in Bethel on June 13, 2026. (Photo: MaryCait Dolan / KYUK) The day after the season's first drift gillnet fishing opener, salmon remained top of mind for fishers of the Kuskokwim River, as KYUK's Samantha Watson reports. At Riverview Park in Bethel, Alaska, community members gathered and filled plates of dried whitefish and grilled, fresh-caught fillets of king salmon. The second annual Return of the Salmon event was put on by Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition, a grassroots organization opposing the proposed Donlin gold mine. Supporters of the mine point to the job prospects it would bring to locals in the region. Calista Corporation, the regional Native corporation who owns the subsurface rights to the proposed mine site, says that responsible development and subsistence can coexist. Others, like Mother Kuskokwim, say it is too risky. They argue that potential contamination from the mine could pose dire environmental impacts, namely for the region's salmon populations. The celebration is, at its core, an anti-Donlin demonstration, but it feels like a fish camp cookout. Organizer Gloria Simeon says on the Kuskokwim, salmon is a mechanism for something bigger. “Fish camp is not an activity. Fish camp is the time, the single most important time of families coming together with one purpose, and that’s to get prepared for the winter, catch our salmon, take care of it, to have it for the winter, and it’s not just only about that, it’s about sharing your genealogy, your oral traditions, our cultural values, who we are as a people, our history.” She talks about how it is sustained her family, and people like her granddaughter, Ashlynn Simeon, who is the Deputy Director of Mother Kuskokwim organization. She says the moments on display in a community event like this — children playing, babies having their first bites of fresh salmon of the season — that is what the Mother Kuskokwim advocates are trying to protect. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, June 18, 2026 — Native Bookshelf: ‘The Home of the Drowned’ by Elin Anna Labba

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has been the target of U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). He has been looking to undo a Biden-era resource management plan, meant to focus on conservation and consultation with tribes. That effort has failed for now. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. Using the Congressional Review Act, lawmakers on Capitol Hill could've killed the plan with a simple majority vote from the Senate floor, but that 60-day window has closed. Erik Stanfield is senior anthropologist with the Navajo Nation Heritage and Historic Preservation Department. “Some people think it's a win – and I suppose in some sense it is, but I don't feel excited about it, because I do think there’s more coming. We've just thrown away something that could be another weapon.” He helped shape this years-long process. An executive order could still downsize the national monument – significant to Navajos, Hopis, Zunis, Utes, and Paiutes. Together, they formed an inter-tribal coalition. “Having to respond to this really strengthened the coalition. It bonded the group a little bit better, we organized and that's going to persist.” FBI agent Christopher Dotson explains Operation Ballistic Backlog. (Photo: C.J. Keene / SDPB) Authorities are looking for methods to close gaps preventing justice from being served when violent crimes happen on reservation settings. Now, the FBI, ATF, and tribal law enforcement are doubling down on these efforts. South Dakota Public Broadcasting's C.J. Keene reports. They are calling it Operation Ballistic Backlog – and it falls under the ongoing effort Operation Steadfast Promise which is aiming to solve cases that have troubled reservations and Native communities for decades. To put it simply, firearms leave something of a ballistic fingerprint which can be traced if and only if prior uses of that firearm are documented into an ATF database. At the Rapid City FBI branch office, agent Christopher Dotson goes into detail. “In South Dakota, Operation Ballistic Backlog is an initiative that is unique to the Pine Ridge Reservation. This initiative came about when we recognized an opportunity to work with our partners with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety who had hundreds of firearms in their custody that we could help test against evidence found at various crime scenes. This cache of weapons could be tested and entered into the ATF's national integrated ballistic network – known as NIBIN. Dotson is the special agent in charge of the Minneapolis Field Office, which covers Minnesota and the Dakotas. “What makes this initiative exciting is the potential to connect these guns to unresolved crimes on the Pine Ridge Reservation and elsewhere.” This comes as the FBI announced a new reward for information in the search for a suspect in the death of six-year-old Logan Warrior Goings, who was murdered in his Oglala family home. “Weeks later, a gun firing the same kind of ammunition used in Logan's murder was located well away from the crime scene. Ballistic testing connected that gun to the murder of little Logan – and that is a key piece of evidence. Last week, the FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Logan's senseless murder. Somebody out there knows something.” In total, over 500 firearms are now slated to be tested for potential links to cases across the nation. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, June 17, 2026 — Gloves off: Native bare-knuckle boxers fight for recognition in the ring

Residents of Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska can now use four wheelers to subsistence hunt in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The change was announced by the U.S. Interior Secretary during a visit last month. As the Alaska Desk's Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports, residents of the North Slope village have been fighting for this decision for decades. Marc John Morry has been hunting caribou around Anaktuvuk Pass since he was a child, but in the summer and fall, most of the land around the village has been off limits to hunters like him. That is because residents were not allowed to use four wheelers in the majority of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The all-terrain vehicles are the only way to access the roadless preserve surrounding the village. Last month the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it would restore off-road-vehicle access to the park. Morry says he is excited. “This is life changing. I only wish my grandparents were here. Now that we’re able to access the lands, we can learn ourselves and relearn what our ancestors taught us about certain areas that always have caribou.” The Trump administration has been working to expand access to hunters on off-road vehicles in protected federal lands across the country. However, a National Park Service (NPS) spokesman for the Alaska region said this action is specific to subsistence hunting in the Gates and does not apply to sport hunters. And it comes after decades of back and forth on the issue. Before Anaktuvuk Pass became a permanent settlement about 80 years ago, the Nunamiut people were semi-nomadic and moved throughout the Brooks Range. Morry says they were searching for their main food source – caribou. “We heard many stories from our elders about hunting grounds that we weren’t able to access, which they remember before we even formed a community.” The federal government established the Gates of the Arctic around Anaktuvuk Pass when it passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Residents were still given the right to subsistence hunt using snowmachines and motorboats, among other traditional transportation methods, but the rule did not mention ATVs. And 40 years ago, new park guidance interpreted the law to ban hunts on ATVs because they were not used traditionally. Lillian Stone is the city mayor of Anaktuvuk Pass. She says the ban created invisible boundaries for residents relying on hunting for survival. “It was like we were prisoners in our own land for 40 years, where before that it was, we could hunt anywhere, we could travel anywhere.” Local Native corporations exchanged lands with the Park Service in the late 90s, which made additional areas within the park available for subsistence ATV hunts. Still, residents could only access about 1% of the Gates of the Arctic. Stone says residents and local leaders have been advocating for ATV access to the park for subsistence for decades – but with no progress. “We felt like it wasn’t getting anywhere, and we weren’t getting the answers that were needed.” Last year, local leadership traveled to Washington D.C. and asked the Interior Department to restore ATV access to the park. This May, the department announced the decision to do that. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in a social media post that “no one knows or cares for this land more than the people who live here.” Honored to be with the Nunamiut people in Anaktuvuk Pass to celebrate freedom & self-determination. After 40 years, we are restoring ORV use in Gates of the Arctic National Park for subsistence hunting, because no one knows or cares for this land more than the people who live… pic.twitter.com/m39PGbIP9C — Secretary Doug Burgum (@SecretaryBurgum) May 18, 2026 A department spokeswoman said in an email the old ban was inconsistent with supporting subsistence. She said NPS will consult local communities within six months to establish the new rule. Kristen Morry is an Anaktuvuk Pass hunter and a mother of two. She says the announcement means a lot for her and her children. “I have no words for what just happened, because it just makes me really emotional. … I’m excited to be out there and to no longer have to worry about when we have to stop, because I’m out there year round as well.” NPS said local hunters should contact the Gates of the Arctic for current information on using ATVs while the regulatory process is underway. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode

Navajo Nation Controller Sean McCabe testifies under oath during the third day of the Budget and Finance Committee's investigatory public hearing on June 10, 2026. (Courtesy Navajo Nation Council) Despite the Navajo Nation Department of Justice (NNDOJ) advising government staff not to testify about a failed, multi-million-dollar housing project, one employee broke ranks. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. So far, Navajo Nation Controller Sean McCabe has been the sole witness out of a dozen or so to comply with the Budget and Finance Committee's subpoenas. “My intention today is not to undermine a NNDOJ advisement. My intention is to fulfill my professional duties as a certified public accountant.” Yet, McCabe was still cautious on Wednesday. “I would have hoped that legal counsel was here to step in if I needed it – if I was breaching any client-attorney privilege, but it doesn't appear that they are.” The ZenniHome hearing is set to wrap up this week. Dylan Gorman, left, Lisa Norton, Todd Logan, and Joshua Rilatos speak to 165 people at their presentation at the Amanda Gathering Place in Yachats, Oreg. on June 6, 2026. (Photo: Brian Bull) Members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians recently shared their perspective on harvesting a humpback whale last November. As KLCC's Brian Bull reports, the harvest highlighted the whale's cultural significance to coastal Native communities. For nearly two hours, the group spoke to 165 people at the Amanda Trail site in Yachats, near where the 10-ton juvenile humpback washed ashore last fall. Despite efforts by locals to save it, it was ultimately euthanized on the beach. Shortly after, a team of Siletz tribal members arrived to harvest parts of the mammal, while another team from Oregon State University did a necropsy. During their talk, the Siletz said they wanted to get across that the joy many felt that day wasn't because of the whale's death, but because they were able to practice a traditional harvest that hadn't been done for generations. Lisa Norton, the tribe's chief administrative officer, said this was due to several factors. “We've got forced relocation, we've got 1932 The Marine Mammal Relocation Act, the Termination Act of '54. These aren't things that we thought, ‘Oh, well this is just temporary.' We were forbidden from practicing.” Norton's son Joshua Rilatos talked of carving the baleen and blubber from the whale, much like his ancestors did. At the end, the audience gave the Siletz a standing ovation. Rilatos said he was pleased that the event was well-received. “It was a little nerve wracking at first because you never know what to expect from the community, especially because of social media and just the perceptions people have, but people here have got a pretty good understanding of what it was like for us, and the hard work and the respect and love that we had for the animal.” In this photo from November 2025, a humpback whale lies stranded on San Marine north of Yachats, Oreg. (Courtesy View the Future) While some online commenters made racist remarks or generalizations about Native people during the harvest, supporters say the amount of reverence and respect paid to the whale showed how important it was for the Siletz to do it. Chief Doug Barrett of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians said he'd like to consult with tribes like the Siletz and Makaw to better understand whale harvesting. A dead whale recently washed ashore in his region. “I did what I could with what I had. I had my four knives and I went up there and just started taking what I could. And I would like to render the blubber out, so I could put oil on our canoes. To me, that would be an awesome way to use that whale.” Joanne Kittel is co-chair of the conservationist nonprofit View the Future, which sponsored the Siletz's presentation. She said the group picked the Amanda Trail in Yachats because of its significance to Native history. “This area symbolizes the government-sponsored genocidal policies that led to the murder and deaths of so many Coos, Umpqua, Siuslaw and Alsea people here in the Yachats area. And this whole area and the Amanda Trail bring the historical truth to the present.” Kittel said she wasn't surprised 165 people turned out to hear the Siletz's story. She added that it is important to have these conversations in an open and welcoming space. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, June 15, 2026 — The ongoing lessons from the Battle of Greasy Grass 150 years later

Photo: Pullers on Petersburg's killer whale canoe paddle in the water at Auke Recreation Area near Juneau on June 2, 2026. (Olivia Rose / KFSK) Petersburg (Séet Ká Kwáan), Alaska's first traditional canoe (kéet yaakw) in a century recently completed its maiden voyage. A small group of pullers paddled more than 100 miles through Southeast Alaska, following the tradition known as Journey before arriving in Juneau, Alaska for Celebration. KFSK's Olivia Rose spoke with some of Petersburg's pullers about the experience. Over 200 people, many wearing regalia, are gathered on a sunny afternoon at Auke Recreation Area, the former site of a Tlingit village. Ten canoes are floating near the shore, each taking turns for traditional protocols before landing on the beach. Among them is Petersburg's killer whale canoe. Brandon Ware is the skipper. He shouts an introduction from the water. “My name is Shashanee, my English name is Brandon Ware. I am Naanyaee with the mud shark house. Gulancheesh for having us. We are so grateful to be here. Forgive me if I miss protocol. This is our first Journey in over 100 years [rowdy applause]!” The 39-foot, fiberglass kéet yaakw is Petersburg's first in a century or so. This was its first multi-day Journey, and had its inaugural launch out of Petersburg – another big first – just ten days earlier. Soon, after introductions, permission is given and all the canoes land on the beach. Dozens of pullers from communities throughout and beyond the region are welcomed ashore. There is singing, dancing, and drumming. Friends, family and loved ones find each other in the crowd, hugging, taking pictures together, and congratulating the pullers on their arrival. Ten canoes take turns asking for permission to land at Auke Recreation Area near Juneau on June 2, 2026. (Photo: Yvonne Krumrey / KTOO) Ware says arriving feels … “…bittersweet, man. This is the most incredible feeling in the world, being able to pull up and see everyone here. I had tears in my eyes when we were coming ashore. This has been a dream of mine since I was since I was little, and to be able to see this and see it through, I can’t describe it, I can’t describe it.” Only about nine pullers signed up to paddle kéet yaakw through Alaska's Inside Passage — including his brothers. Sagooch Billy Ware describes the moment as powerful for keet yaakw and his community. And he says coming all this way feels surreal. “I’ve crabbed and I fished in these waters all the way from Petersburg to Juneau, but being able to take the time and camp on the beach, like in sum dum underneath the glaciers, it was breathtaking. It was amazing, and it really gave you a different perspective on just how tough and durable our people were, and just the life that they lived. This has been an amazing experience.” The group did a number of traditional landings, like today's, while making stops at villages along the way. He says the first time they did after departing from Petersburg was especially meaningful to him. “We got to do the first official landing for a canoe out of Séet Ká Kwáan in over 100 years, and I was privileged enough to do the landing introduction, and just ask for the permission to be on their land, and that was an incredibly important moment for me.” That first landing happened in Kake, a village on Kupreanof Island. The group ended up spending about three days there, waiting out some weather. For puller, Young Duane Gabe Dunham, it was the most memorable part of this Journey. “Kake was, they were wonderful hosts, and they fed us every night … and while we were there after dinner, we just, everybody got up and they shared songs, and we all danced … people from almost a half a dozen different communities just came together … and it was a really powerful thing to be able to share with my boys.” Dunham says he joined this historic paddle from Petersburg so he and his two young sons could learn more about Tlingit culture. Christian and Jacob, who tagged along on Journey, mostly aboard the safety boat. There are a couple other special moments on the 10-day Journey that stick out for Dunham, too, like when he earned a nickname from Billy and the group: “We got the Paddle Beaver over here. He chomped through two of them with the power strokes there.” “We were trying to break six knots speed in the canoe, and we nearly got there, but we were all paddling at about 110% and we’re working hard, and that’s when I broke my second paddle [light laughter].” Gooch tláa Victoria Moore paddled the canoe from Petersburg with her son, Đat xá a gutch Alex, who has autism. Like most of the pullers on keet yaakw, this was their first canoe Journey to Celebration. “He did great, I just so appreciate everybody helping me bring him to his culture and to Celebration, to my homeland here in Juneau, and, man, what an incredible to be a part of the canoe that it’s been over 100 years … that’s pretty special to me, and that my son got to join me on that Journey of, you know, making some new connections, so this is beautiful. Gualancheesh,” Over 100 years, ten days, and 100 miles later, Journey is complete for the first traditional canoe out of Petersburg. Kéet yaakw was shipped home to Petersburg after the ceremony – and the four-day Celebration wrapped up on June 6. Reporting help from Yvonne Krumrey Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, June 12, 2026 — Indigenous representation during the world's largest sporting event

Photo: Bear Butte State Park in Meade County, S.D. (Courtesy S.D. Department of Tourism) All nine tribes located in South Dakota are unifying in their call to return the public, federal lands in the Black Hills to tribal entities. Each tribe passed a resolution calling on Congress to act. SDPB's C.J. Keene reports. Treaty rights mandate the Black Hills belong to tribes, although that treaty was broken long ago. The most important detail in this new legislative push is the focus on public, federal lands. Put simply, places where people do not live. Valeriah Big Eagle is the director of He Sapa initiatives for Rapid City, S.D.-based nonprofit NDN Collective. She says this is not about private homes in the Black Hills. “That's the myth, that's the misunderstanding. When they're talking about landback in the Black Hills and we're talking about the federal public land, essentially that is the lands that nobody is living on. It's the federal, public lands so we can protect it from extractive activities.” Regardless of outcome, advocates say the inclusion of all South Dakota's tribes is a historic statement of tribal unity. Joseph Brings Plenty is a tribal council representative from Eagle Butte. He says tribes have government-signed and guaranteed rights. “That's something that needs to be remembered – the treaties still exist. That's why we stand on this. For the United States to uphold their end of the bargain.” Brings Plenty says it is a chance for Native peoples to have a meaningful say in the management of the Black Hills. With that, Brings Plenty says healing can happen. “That's a step forward, a positive step forward. The Black Hills are not for sale. I mean, it's not just in a Lakota or Indian sense. We all want clean water, we all want the air to be clear, we all want housing and grandchildren. We all want a life. The more and more, as is inevitable, the cultures mesh, I think this is all important. Why lose it?” This comes on the heels of a mining effort near the Black Hills sacred site of Pe'Sla, that was ultimately defeated in court following widespread opposition from the Indigenous community. Fruit-bearing trees and shrubs line a soon-to-be park near Metlakatla's boat harbor. The plants are part of the village's Community Food Forest Project. (Photo: Hunter Morrison / KRBD) For many communities in rural Alaska, accessing fresh fruit can be challenging. Most of it is shipped in from out of state, and often loses flavor and more along the way. But a program in Metlakatla, on Alaska's only Native reservation, is looking to change that. As KRBD's Hunter Morrison reports, it's one way the small village is trying to combat food insecurity. Near Metlakatla's boat harbor, Gatgyeda Haayk, the village’s Community Garden Champion, strolls past a row of shrubs and small trees, which rustle with the wind. “And then those two down on the end, I believe, are cherry.” The soon-to-be budding cherry trees, planted last year, were brought to the village as part of its Community Food Forest Project. The initiative incorporates fruit-bearing trees and bushes into the village's public landscapes. So far, Haayk says about 50 plants have taken root around town. “In like the next three years, we hope to be able to give fruit back to the community.” The program comes after Metlakatla's tribal council passed a resolution a few years back that required all beautification efforts in the community to be edible. Not long after, the village received a three-year grant from the U.S. Forest Service to fund the project. She says the project has primarily worked with apple trees, but they have also planted plum and nectarine trees. The initiative also deals with plants native to the region, like raspberries, gooseberries, and saskatoon berries. And increasing access to fresh fruit is important, because it is so limited in the village. There is just one grocery store on the island, and the vast majority of the produce comes from out of state. “I am hoping that the community utilizes this, and then it also inspires other communities to kind of do the same thing, so that we don’t have to rely on the Lower 48 so heavily on our food.” While most of the program’s trees and bushes are still young, Haayk is focused on educating the village about the project. She noted that once the plants begin to bloom, community members can harvest the fruit free of charge — with the exception of the village’s main community garden. “It’s astounding how much food gets wasted, and it’s really a shame, because that’s a lot of energy that goes into that little piece of food. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, June 11, 2026 — In the parched West, tribes restore waterways to improve quality and quantity

Photo courtesy Navajo Nation Council Over the last year, the Navajo Nation Council has been investigating what happened to the $24 million in COVID relief allocated for ZenniHome, a failed housing initiative. A week-long public hearing on the matter got off to a slow start Monday when subpoenaed witnesses failed to show up on the advice of the tribe's justice department. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports. Those witnesses included Navajo President Buu Nygren, but the tribe’s Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a same-day memo advising all government employees to not attend or testify. “The Department of Justice is not here to hinder the process and our main emphasis is that we protect the attorney-client relationship.” Acting Deputy Attorney General JoAnn Jayne says the best way to do so is in executive session. “We can advise you as to what can be disclosed and what cannot be disclosed, and so the sooner that we do that, you know, then the legislative branch can move on.” Budget and Finance Committee Vice Chair Carl Slater questions whether the DOJ is operating in good faith. “It's very difficult to ascertain – between the politically appointed leadership of the department and the rank and file employees – what the position of the department is with respect to trying to quash this whole endeavor.” Meanwhile, Nygren himself has filed several motions to stay the public proceedings. Tlingit Master Carver Israel Shotridge, left, was known to work with family members like nephew Robert Jackson. (Courtesy Sue Shotridge) If you have spent time in Ketchikan, Alaska, you have likely seen the work of Israel Shotridge. The Tlingit Master Carver passed away in Washington state in April at the age of 75. Shotridge is being remembered for his artistry, gentleness and love of family. KRBD's Hunter Morrison spoke with two of Shotridge's loved ones about his life and legacy, and has this story. Shotridge's Tlingit name Kinstaádaál (The Bear That is Standing up) is also the name of a song he wrote for and sang with his mother, Esther Shea. They were members of the Bear Clan of the Tongass Tribe. Born Howard Jackson in 1951, Shotridge was raised in Ketchikan and later changed his name. Growing up, he excelled in school and sports, but Shotridge's passion was for the arts. Willard Jackson, his older brother, says Shotridge liked to draw at a young age. “Creativity for him came easy, but he was good at it.” After going to college in Seattle, Wash., Shotridge returned to Ketchikan and eventually began carving. His first major project was to carve a replica of the 55-foot Chief Johnson totem pole. It was the first pole in over 50 years to be carved and raised in Ketchikan, and still stands downtown today. Shotridge also met his wife Sue around that time. “He was friendly to everybody, and I just fell in love with him. He was fun to be around. We laughed. We both had the same interest in the culture, it was a fun journey.” In addition to his totem work, Shotridge carved bentwood boxes, masks, and other ceremonial pieces. In the 1990s, Shotridge and his wife moved to Washington state, where they opened their shop The Shotridge Collection, but art was not Shotridge's only interest. He had a love for music and was also a family man who loved spending time with his children and grandchildren. His wife says this, his art, and cultural preservation, will be Shotridge's lasting legacy. “He was the humblest and most modest artist that I ever knew.” Willard says Shotridge's carvings, and legacy, can be found all around the globe. “You can’t go through town or anywhere else without seeing his artwork. It’s there. And every time I see it, I know it’s his.” His wife plans to return Shotridge's ashes to Southeast Alaska next year for a canoe journey from Wrangell to Ketchikan. She says Shotridge wanted to do that, but never had the chance when he was alive. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, June 10, 2026 — Columbia River tribes weigh in on future dredging plans

Photo: Nahaaygm Łagyigyedm (Spirit of Our Ancestors) sits ashore One Tree Island outside of Metlakatla, Alaska. (Hunter Morrison / KRBD) Wildlife across southern Southeast Alaska is emerging from wintertime hibernation, but in Metlakatla on Annette Island, animals are not the only things waking up. Canoes are hitting the water again, marking this year's start of a Tsimshian tradition that is tied to the village's history. KRBD's Hunter Morrison tagged along for a recent canoe journey, and has this story. About a dozen people are holding cedar boughs in a driveway on the outskirts of town. Seated atop a nearby trailer is a long, white canoe. David Nelson grabs his drum and begins singing. As the drumbeats echo through the subdivision, the mixed-aged crowd cleanses and awakens the vessel by brushing the cedar along its sides. The song's lyrics honor the canoe and welcome its paddlers. It has not been performed in three years. “We believe they’re like a living, breathing thing, so we treat it as such. We say ‘hello' to it, and when we put it away, we tell you ‘it was good to be you,' and we thank it for doing everything.” The ceremony marks the start of the canoe's spring and summertime journey. The 40-foot long Nahaaygm Lagyigyedm (Spirit of Our Ancestors) has navigated Metlakatla's waters and traveled to neighboring islands since 2013. Johon Atkinson, president of the nonprofit Liwaayda, says the organization's goal is to share Tsimshian culture and bring Metlakatla back to its canoeing roots, which dates back over 130 years. “So the whole reason why we got this canoe was to get our people in Metlakatla out on water.” While today's canoes are often used to educate people about Tsimshian culture, Atkinson says they are still important to traditional practices. Later this month, the Spirit of Our Ancestors will be used in Metlakatla to harvest seaweed from neighboring islands. “It’s that feeling of we’re going to be on the ocean, on the highways of our ancestors. And just that feeling is so comforting. I feel complete when it is canoe season.” Minutes after its blessing, the canoe is towed to a boat launch, from which they will paddle to nearby One Tree Island. Johon Atkinson, right, and family members cleanse the Spirit of Our Ancestors with cedar boughs before the canoe's first journey of the season. (Photo: Hunter Morrison / KRBD) Atkinson, who is joined by his son, niece, and nephew, hopes fun opportunities like these can help keep Tsimshian traditions alive for the next generation. “Having them experience this now is something that many of us adults have not experienced at their age. So the fact that they are here, learning and leading – there’s just no words on how amazing that is.” Atkinson says folks from all over the country visit Metlakatla each summer to experience the village's canoe journeys firsthand. (Courtesy Robert Nick family) Robert Nick was a man of the Southwest Alaska tundra – and much more. He died last month at the age of 84. His memorial service was at St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Anchorage last week where, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA tells us, he was remembered for a lifetime of public service. Robert Nick's Russian Orthodox service was fitting for a man who loved the harmonies of the Slavonic choir. He was known to pass out recordings of his favorite hymns to friends and fellow singers. For Andrew Guy (Yup'ik), president of the Calista Native Corporation, Nick represents the end of an era. “He's part of that group that came from having no electricity, no outboard, to where we are today.” (Courtesy Robert Nick family) Nick helped bring electricity to villages throughout Southwest Alaska through his work with the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, an organization he helped found. He also ran a store in Nunapitchuk, a village near Bethel, Alaska where he grew up. Richard Jung (Yup'ik), who owned Jung's Trading Post, in the neighboring village of Napakiak, said Nick's leadership grew from the values he was raised in. “One of the things you're taught is to help people. You try to do what you can for your village and your region. And he was one of those guys that did that./ He knew that he could get things done and was one of the ones that knew he had to do it. He was just a fine person.” Robert Nick was very proud that he was the first in his family to receive a Western education and graduate from high school. That achievement became a foundation for decades of service on boards and commissions that focused on a wide range of causes: health, education, housing, economic development, job training, and protecting the Yup'ik subsistence way of life. (Courtesy Robert Nick family) His niece Karen Cooke Phillips (Yup'ik) says he was tireless. “Attending meetings, after meetings, for days and hours, and for continued years.” And yet, Phillips says, his home was filled with love, a reflection of his early life. Nick was the eldest of nine children. After his father died, he took over his father's store and helped to provide for his younger brothers and sisters – an experience Phillips says shaped his lifelong role as a father figure – not just within his family but across the region. “He has been in those arenas, leading in lots of different organizations and providing a voice for people from our region, or the lifestyle of the people of our region.” Nick had two twin passions, housing and education. He dedicated many years of his life to improving housing conditions in rural Alaska. Eventually, he became a national advocate for federal Indian housing programs and brought attention to the Third World conditions in Alaska villages. He also served on the Lower Kuskokwim School Board for two decades and became its longtime chairman. Steve O'Brien, a former school principal, remembers giving Nick a copy of Robert Rules of order to help him. “And he laughed, and he said, ‘Oh, I already have that book.' And he reached behind from the bookshelf, and he pulled down this very worn and earmarked copy of Robert's Rules with sticky pages and stuff. He was an expert about this stuff.” O'Brien says it is no surprise that Robert Nick was eventually asked to chair almost every board he served on. In 2014, Nick received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. (Courtesy Robert Nick family) Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, June 9, 2026 — Lawsuit threatens unique century-old Native Hawaiian land benefit