Podcasts about alaska native

Top federal prosecutors from the Four Corner states are descending upon the Phoenix metro this week as part of an annual conference meant to tackle crime and justice in Indian Country. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. A hotel room full of victim advocates, attorneys, and tribal law enforcement personnel congregate in Glendale. Arizona's top prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine, reminds them why they are all meeting. “It may sound like priorities are elsewhere in this administration, but all of the U.S. attorneys up here and every member of leadership in the Department of Justice will tell you: Indian Country is always a priority.” From Phoenix and Albuquerque to Denver and Salt Lake City, Courchaine stresses they are all on the same team. “If you work with a rural tribe, whether it's in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico or Arizona, it might feel like you are at the ends of the earth.” Three cubs belonging to Osso in the Anan Wildlife Observatory at Tongass National Forest. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service / Facebook) A major logging project planned for Alaska's Tongass National Forest is raising concerns about potential impacts to subsistence resources. The U.S. Forest Service acknowledges the project could affect deer harvests relied on by communities in Southeast Alaska, where the Tongass has long supported Alaska Native cultural and subsistence practices. Conservationists are now pushing back against plans to log thousands of acres of old-growth forest, as Mark Moran reports. Conservationists are pushing back on a massive old growth logging plan by the Forest Service that would carve new roads through thousands of acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. The agency says it will revitalize the logging industry and improve habitat and ecosystems for native species. The Revilla Integrated Research Project aims to log 4,000 acres of old growth trees in the Tongass near Ketchikan, harvest 83 million board feet of timber, and build more than 40 miles of roadway. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council’s Nathan Newcomber says the development plan threatens the habitat of a number of animals. He says even the Forest Service has acknowledged the risk. “Deer, bears, wolves, birds like the Queen Charlie Goshawk. They also state that they acknowledge the significant likelihood of impact to subsistence, including on deer harvest.” There were at least 120 objections to the plan during a public comment period, but the Forest Service says it intends to begin the work and address legal challenges later. Southeast Alaska has been transitioning away from clear cutting old tree stands in favor of what’s known as young growth logging, which Newcomber and other environmental advocates support, even though the practice now comprises only about one percent of the region’s economy. “To go back to this bygone era from the 1970s where you just clear-cut landscapes, it makes absolutely no sense. Nobody supports it apart from extractive industry and politicians. But local communities in Southeast Alaska, they wanna protect what we have. It’s our cultural way of life. It’s the way that people live up here.” Southeast Alaska is also highly dependent on tourism to support local economies. Driven largely by cruise ship traffic, the region sees as many as two million visitors a year, according to Alaska’s Southeast Conference. Confederate Brig. Gen. William L.. Cabell, left, and Union Col. William F. Cloud led troops during the skirmish. And on this day in 1863, fighting broke out near Camp Pike in the Choctaw Nation, in what is now Oklahoma. The skirmish came during the Civil War, when Indian Territory became a battleground involving Union and Confederate forces. Camp Pike had been used by Confederate troops following the Battle of Honey Springs, one of the war's largest battles in Indian Territory. 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 28, 2026 — Two states make progress in Native-focused education

Photo: Bill Hill (Athabascan), Independent candidate for Alaska’s at-large congressional district. (Courtesy Bill Hill campaign) Tuesday is primary day in Wyoming, Florida, and Alaska, which uses ranked-choice voting (RCV). The top four vote getters in each race, regardless of party, move on to the general election in November. That makes voters turnout a key issue, especially in remote parts of the state, where Alaska Natives have seen numbers fade over the past 20 years. As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, there are hopes Tuesday's election will show signs of a turnaround. One encouraging sign for Alaska Native voter turnout is the number of Native candidates running for office this year. “It's notable that we have a high-profile Native candidate in each big race.” Michelle Sparck is the Alaska director for Get Out the Native Vote. She says this marks the first time in years that there is an all-Native ticket for Alaska governor – with Meda DeWitt, a Tlingit and her running mate, Chris Steere, an Iñupiat. And there is national attention focused on former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup'ik/D-AK), the first Alaska Native member of Congress. Peltola’s bid for the U.S. Senate is one the state's most closely watched races – a battle that could determine control of the country’s most powerful legislative body. Polls show a tight race between Peltola and incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK). The primary election could offer the clearest picture yet of where this race really stands. There is also Bill Hill (Athabascan), a longtime school superintendent and Bristol Bay fisherman. He is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK), who in 2024 unseated Peltola. Hill is an Independent and a relative political unknown, but his grassroots campaign has gained traction and polls show he is closing the gap with his opponent. Sparck says Get Out the Native Vote remains strictly nonpartisan and does not back candidates, but she is hoping the wealth of Native candidates will energize Native voters. Sparck says the real work in getting out the Native vote might be compared to cultivating a garden that has long been neglected. The mission for Sparck and her volunteers has been to travel from village to village, to revive the voting culture of the 1980's, when voter turnout ran as high as 70-80%, the era of the super voter. “They are today's elders.” Spark says turnout has fallen below 20%, but she hopes sharing the story of those earlier generations will inspire a new wave of super voters. A marker along the Southern border near the Tohono O'odham Nation between the U.S. and Mexico in June 2026. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio) A federal judge is denying calls for a preliminary injunction by the Tohono O'odham Nation to halt border wall construction along a 60-foot stretch of land bordering the tribal reservation. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. Judge Richard Leon in D.C. ruled last week that an injunction is “unwarranted”, writing he expects the U.S. to follow through on consulting with the Tohono O'odham Nation. Historically, that has not been the case, according to Tohono O'odham Chairman Verlon Jose. He points to the destruction of the 1,000-year-old Las Playas Intaglio, as the latest example. “We were assured that the border wall construction would not impact it, but despite that warning and assurances, federal contractors just bladed right through it, causing permanent damage to this O'odham and American treasure. You can't rebuild it.” Still, the judge noted that the feds' interests in ensuring public safety and enforcing immigration laws “outweigh any surviving irreparable harms.” 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 18, 2026 — Are Native voters in line with the Democratic Party's shift to the left?

Chugach Sugpiaq jeweler Denise Wallace says she tells stories through her pieces. This year, she's presenting an elaborate belt she made with her family, featuring ornate, detailed figures, each holding significant meaning, along with intricate designs crafted from ivory, silver, and gold. Wallace has long been a fixture at the Santa Fe Indian Market, now in its 104th year, as nearly a thousand talented Native artists set up to showcase their work. Also among the longtime artists is professional painter Merlin Little Thunder, known for detailed portraits and landscapes that often depict traditional Cheyenne life. For our series of arts interviews, we'll speak with these artists along with last year's Best of Show winner Regina Free and event organizers. We’ll also get an update on the Artist Act that was just signed into federal law. The act prevents states from banning Alaska Native crafts made from materials like walrus ivory and baleen. GUESTS Leslie Wheelock (Oneida), board chair of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts Denise Wallace (Chugach Sugpiaq), artist, jeweler, and storyteller Merlin Little Thunder (Southern Cheyenne), artist Regina Free (Chickasaw), interdisciplinary artist and 2025 Santa Fe Indian Market Best of Show winner Steve MacLean (Iñupiaq), managing director of the World Wildlife Fund U.S. Arctic Program

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

This week, Kelsey brings us more Oreo's to try and we're never upset about that. We're trying the new limited run Cinnamon Bun flavored variety, and really they should keep this one around too.Then, Kelsey talks about a very recent tragic event occurring in the last month or so. This involves the murder of Sara Gilson(Duff) by Jeremiah Shawn Duffey (a terrible person who also ended himself after), after he was investigated for abusing a minor during basketball that he coached at an elementary school on tribal land, and after she got a Protective order and posted about her horrid ex on her highly followed TikTok. Note: If you know anyone who needs assistance with mental health crisis, have them call or text 988. StrongHearts Native Helpline: By calling 1–844–7NATIVE (1–844–762–8483), American Indian and Alaska Native victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and dating violence can speak to an advocate.Matt tried BTS Oreo's finally, enough that he considered saving K-Pop... The Creeps also talk about sugar bits, entry horror stories for kids, lost Oreo's, and the Netflix doc meme.

Send us Fan MailWillie Iġġiaġruk Hensley was born in 1941 in Kotzebue, Alaska, and was raised to live the traditional way that his Iñupiaq ancestors had lived for thousands of years. As a young adult away at college, his family home in Kotzebue was sold for a bottle of whiskey and then bulldozed. This lit a fire in him to fight for Alaska Native land claims, and Willie was instrumental in the creation and passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. The story of ANCSA is front and center in Hensley's 2008 book, Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People. The year the book came out it was a New York Times Editor's Choice. Willie was a founder of NANA Regional Corporation, where he served as a director for 20 years and concluded his career there as president. He also was a founder of Maniilaq, the regional non-profit representing the Tribes in the Kotzebue region. He was essential in the formation of the Alaska Federation of Natives where he has served as executive director, president, and co-chair. He spent 10 years in the Alaska legislature, serving in both in the House and the Senate.  He served as manager of federal government relations in DC for the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. Willie is currently the chair and a founding member of the First Alaskans Institute. He and his wife Abbe Hensley live in Anchorage.

A coalition of rural Alaska Native villages is launching an initiative to boost veterinary care as a way to improve public health. They aim to cut down on the increasing number of feral dogs that pose a risk to residents by offering better spay and neuter services. They also hope a vaccination program can lower the spread of rabies. Alaska Native Rural Veterinary Inc. and the Alaska Federation of Natives are moving ahead after federal legislation stalled in Congress. We’ll talk with those called to bring veterinary care to rural communities — with or without government support — to keep animals and people safe. Robert Mirabel in the film. “Road to Everywhere.” (Photo: courtesy Driven To Films) We also talk with acclaimed musician and actor Robert Mirabal about his role in the movie, “Road to Everywhere“. Mirabal is performing at a screening of the film in Albuquerque, N.M. GUESTS Mike Williams Sr. (Yupiaq), tribal chief of the Akiak Native Community Adrianna Nicolay (Diné), volunteer with Rez Vet Angie Fitch, executive director and co-founder of Alaska Native Rural Veterinary Inc. Robert Mirabal (Taos Pueblo), musician and actor Break 1 Music: Raising Goats Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album) Break 2 Music: Show the People (song) Bear Creek (artist) On The Move – Powwow Songs Recorded Live at Apache Gold

A coalition of rural Alaska Native villages is launching an initiative to boost veterinary care as a way to improve public health. They aim to cut down on the increasing number of feral dogs that pose a risk to residents by offering better spay and neuter services. They also hope a vaccination program can lower the spread of rabies. Alaska Native Rural Veterinary Inc. and the Alaska Federation of Natives are moving ahead after federal legislation stalled in Congress. We’ll talk with those called to bring veterinary care to rural communities — with or without government support — to keep animals and people safe. Robert Mirabel in the film. “Road to Everywhere.” (Photo: courtesy Driven To Films) We also talk with acclaimed musician and actor Robert Mirabal about his role in the movie, “Road to Everywhere“. Mirabal is performing at a screening of the film in Albuquerque, N.M. GUESTS Mike Williams Sr. (Yupiaq), tribal chief of the Akiak Native Community Adrianna Nicolay (Diné), volunteer with Rez Vet Angie Fitch, executive director and co-founder of Alaska Native Rural Veterinary Inc. Robert Mirabal (Taos Pueblo), musician and actor Break 1 Music: Raising Goats Song [Skip Dance Song] (song) Sweethearts of Navajoland (artist) From the Heart of Diné Nation Traditional Songs of the Navajo (album) Break 2 Music: Show the People (song) Bear Creek (artist) On The Move – Powwow Songs Recorded Live at Apache Gold

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

In this newscast: Human remains were discovered inside a chest freezer at a Lemon Creek residence on Sunday; Juneau residents in the glacial outburst flood zone are preparing for the annual flood expected soon. At a sandbag event in Mendenhall Valley on Saturday, some of that prep work is easier and faster than it was last year; Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski 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; In less than a month, Alaskans will cast their votes for governor in the primary election. But with 17 candidates, how do you choose? At a speed dating-style event in Anchorage Monday, members of the public got to talk with the gubernatorial hopefuls.

Can the right song, painting, or museum exhibit spark real political change? What if culture is the missing strategy in today's social movements?If you've ever felt like your efforts for justice aren't hitting deep enough, it might be because the culture hasn't caught up with your message. In this episode, labor organizer and social change strategist Ken Grossinger shares how his journey from labor organizing to cultural advocacy revealed a truth many overlook: policy changes fade, but stories—and the art that tells them—have staying power. In this episode:Discover how blending power analysis with artistic expression can amplify grassroots campaigns and drive long-term social change.Hear powerful case studies—from a revolutionary museum exhibit in Louisville to a musical uprising in Alaska—that reveal how art can expose injustice and build movements.Learn from real-world collaborations between artists and organizers that shift narratives, challenge power, and activate communities in ways no policy paper ever could.Tune in now to hear how Ken Grossinger's book ART WORKS and his work in communities across the U.S. show us why art isn't just a reflection of justice—it's how we get there.Notable MentionsPeopleKen Grossinger — Longtime movement strategist and author of Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together, which explores the strategic partnership between artists and organizers across decades of social-justice campaigns.Richard Cloward — Columbia University sociologist and organizer whose power-analysis framework shaped generations of strategists; co-founder of the National Welfare Rights Organization and a chief architect of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act ("Motor Voter" law).Bernice Johnson Reagon — Civil rights song leader who co-founded the Freedom Singers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later founded the a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.Si Kahn — Veteran folk musician, author, and organizer who has spent decades writing songs in direct collaboration with the communities he serves, including the fishermen and Alaska Native communities fighting the Pebble Mine.Harry Belafonte — Singer and actor who became one of the civil rights movement's most trusted strategists and financiers, sitting at the strategy tables of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference alongside Martin Luther King Jr.Bryan Stevenson — Founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy; created the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.Amy Sherald — Painter whose 2020 Vanity Fair portrait of Breonna Taylor became the centerpiece of the Speed Art Museum's "Promise, Witness, Remembrance" exhibition.Stephen Reily — Director of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville at the time of Breonna Taylor's killing, who reorganized the museum's programming around community-led advisory boards.Norman Lear — Legendary TV producer and creator of All in the Family, who used Archie Bunker's bigotry to bring racism and homophobia into American living rooms as everyday conversation.Frances Stonor Saunders — British historian and author of The Cultural Cold War, which documents the CIA's covert promotion of Abstract Expressionist artists like Jackson Pollock as ideological counters to Soviet Social Realism.Jane Fonda, Karen Nussbaum & Ellen Cassedy — Actress-activist Jane Fonda partnered with 9to5 co-founders Karen Nussbaum and Ellen Cassedy to turn the working women's organizing movement into the hit 1980 comedy 9 to 5.Organizations & InstitutionsCenter for the Study of Art and Community — Producer of Art is Change and host organization for the Art in Action series exploring arts-based civic engagement.Charles F. Kettering Foundation — Nonprofit research foundation focused on deliberative democracy; partner for the Art in Action series through its Democracy and the Arts program.Equal Justice Initiative — Montgomery, Alabama human-rights organization founded by Bryan Stevenson; operates the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.Speed Art Museum — Louisville, Kentucky museum whose 2021 exhibition "Promise, Witness, Remembrance," built around Amy Sherald's portrait, became a national model for community-driven museum programming.Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) — New York institution whose mid-century ties to CIA-backed cultural promotion of Abstract Expressionism are documented in Frances Stonor Saunders's The Cultural Cold War.American Museum of Natural History & Smithsonian — Both institutions faced public pressure after climate scientists and advocacy groups called on them to sever ties with board member and fossil-fuel financier David Koch.Highlander Research and Education Center — Tennessee-based center for labor and civil-rights organizing, where staff such as Zilphia Horton adapted "We Shall Overcome" and other freedom songs used across the movement.Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) — Student-led civil rights organization that carried freedom songs into direct-action campaigns across the South and gave rise to groups like the Freedom Singers.International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) — Union whose cultural department trained its own members to write, sing, and perform, producing the Broadway hit Pins and Needles.9to5, National Association of Working Women — Organization founded by Karen Nussbaum and Ellen Cassedy to fight for office workers' rights, later dramatized in the film 9 to 5.Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay — Network of musicians, co-organized by Si Kahn, that used songwriting and touring to build public opposition to Alaska's proposed Pebble Mine.Books, Films & RecordingsArt Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together — Ken Grossinger's book on the strategic collaborations between artists and organizers, discussed throughout this episode.Just Mercy — Bryan Stevenson's memoir recounting...

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

On this Thursday, proponents for the LNG pipeline bill said the key for its creation is dead after the House vote ended in a 19-19 tie. Three dozen people on board a tour boat in Southeast Alaska were rescued Thursday after the vessel started taking on water, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.   The 2026 World Eskimo-Indian Olympics (WEIO) are in their second day at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, as spectators gather to watch athletes compete in sporting events that celebrate Alaska Native culture and survival skills.

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

A walking tour highlights Ketchikan's paranormal historyPetersburg honors Alaska Native rights activist Amy Hallingstad

As Alaska and the nation celebrate the United States' 250th anniversary, how do Alaska Native and other underrepresented communities think we're faring on equity, cultural respect and representation?

Carolyn Woodard covers the UN's first-ever independent scientific assessment of AI — and what its findings mean for nonprofits navigating questions of data rights, economic disruption, and who actually benefits from AI's rapid rise. This episode connects the global governance conversation to practical tools and timely opportunities your organization can act on right now.From the Indigenous Data Sovereignty movement to a free geospatial tool built by a nonprofit, to two fellowship programs with deadlines this week, there's a lot here for organizations at every stage of AI engagement.This episode covers:Released July 1, the UN's Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI — co-chaired by AI scientist Yoshua Bengio and Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa — warns that AI is advancing faster than governments can keep up, and that the window for effective global governance is open but closing. The US controls 75% of the world's top AI computing power; China holds another 15%.The Indigenous Data Sovereignty movement holds that data about a community belongs to that community, not to whoever collected it. This principle, developed largely by Indigenous communities, is one of the most fully realized frameworks for data rights globally and directly informs broader movements like the Better Deal for Data (discussed with Jim Fruchterman last Friday). The Indigenous Data Alliance has an open application for its year-long paid Indigenous Data Champions Fellowship, open to Indigenous individuals working with Tribal Nations, Alaska Native communities, Native Hawaiians, or Indigenous Island Territories. Deadline: August 1.Beacon, from nonprofit DataKind, is a free geospatial platform that you can use to overlay public data on health, housing, food access, demographics - with your own program data, to generate maps and insights. DataKind does not sell your data, doesn't share it without consent, and writes its privacy policy to GDPR standard. As with any platform, consult your privacy officer before uploading sensitive constituent data.GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is the EU's gold standard for data privacy, and it applies to your organization if anyone in the EU interacts with you, regardless of where you're based. Core principles: collect only what you need, be transparent, get consent, tell everyone in your database if you have a breach, and honor deletion requests. Note: California's CCPA/CPRA is modeled on similar principles, though most nonprofits are exempt from that law. Even if neither applies to you, these are excellent data hygiene standards for any organization that wants to maintain community trust.UBI (Universal Basic Income) gives individuals direct cash payments with no strings attached. UBC (Universal Basic Capital) gives people an ownership stake in AI companies, so they share in the wealth AI generates. Senator Bernie Sanders recently introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would give the public a 50% ownership stake in major AI firms. Anthropic's June 2026 Economic Policy Framework also proposed sovereign wealth funds and equity-sharing as potential redistribution mechanisms — acknowledging that the companies building these tools see real policy problems ahead.Two fellowship deadlines this week: the OpenAI People-First AI Fund offers grants to US community nonprofits in legal aid, community arts, and local journalism — no AI experience or OpenAI tools required, deadline July 15. Claude Corps from Anthropic places early-career fellows at nonprofits for one year at $85K; both fellow and host org applications for the October 2026 cohort close July 17. Note: host orgs must currently be Claude for Nonprofits customers to apply.Resources Mentioned:Executive Summary – Independent International Scientific Panel on AI – United Nations – https://www.un.org/independent-international-scientific-panel-ai/en/preliminary-reportIndigenous Data Champions Fellowship – Indigenous Data Alliance – https://indigenousdata.org/indigenous-data-championsBeacon – DataKind – https://explorebeacon.orgGDPR for Nonprofits – Whole Whale – https://wholewhale.com/tips/gdpr-for-nonprofits/GDPR Compliance Checklist for Charities – Usercentrics – https://usercentrics.com/knowledge-hub/gdpr-for-charities/California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) – California Attorney General – https://www.oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpaBernie Sanders on the AI Sovereign Wealth Fund – WIRED – https://youtu.be/qJo12OP0xlU?si=QrXlo4bP5MiCdbrtAmerican AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act – Senator Bernie Sanders – https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-legislation-to-create-7-trillion-ai-sovereign-wealth-fund/Economic Policy Framework – Anthropic – https://www.anthropic.com/policy-on-the-ai-exponential/epfThe Atlantic: Universal Basic Capital revival – https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/2026/07/universal-basic-capital-ai/687759/ (paywalled; free account access available)Forbes: Could Americans Build Wealth Through AI? https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/06/06/could-americans-build-wealth-through-ai-why-trump-may-be-considering-equity-sharing-scheme/People-First AI Fund – OpenAI Foundation – https://openaifoundation.org/news/2026-people-first-ai-fundClaude Corps – Anthropic – https://www.anthropic.com/claude-corpsBetter Deal for Data – Tech Matters – https://bd4d.orgAI Acceptable Use Policy Template – Community IT Innovators – https://communityit.com/template-acceptable-use-of-ai-tools-in-the-nonprofit-workplace/ _______________________________Start a conversation :)Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.comon LinkedIn on reddit/r/nonprofitITmanagementon the Community IT websiteThanks for listening. 

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

A Washington State University study found that rates of food insecurity in the U.S. vary among members of different racial and ethnic groups. It found, for example, that only 10% of Asian American adults who live in severe poverty are food insecure, compared to 40% of American Indian and Alaska Native adults living in severe poverty. It also found that low-income white adults had similar levels of food insecurity as low-income Hispanic adults while low-income Black adults faced more food insecurity than both those other groups.    A household whose income is below 50% of the federal poverty level is considered to be living in severe poverty, whereas a household whose income is 100% to 200% above the federal poverty level is considered to be living in near poverty.   Justin Denney, a professor of sociology at Washington State University, joins us to share more details about the study and how its findings could inform outreach efforts to communities with the greatest food assistance needs.  

Tonight we will be speaking Norman Sollie. Norman is the author of Before Patty Volume I: Patrick-The Sasquatch/Human Hybrid & Our Genetic Inheritance. He shared with me a Sasquatch/Human Hybrid case he spent years investigating. He shared that he starting writing because of his own experiences. Here is the description: In 1891, a young woman was taken from a fishing camp in Eastern Washington by a Skanicum, as her people knew the Sasquatch. She eventually escaped from her ordeal, but she returned to her family with a terrible secret. Before Patty, Volume 1, is the story of the life of that woman, and of her hybrid son, Patrick, uncovered after months of research into more than 160 forgotten documents dating from as early as the 1890s and spanning 100 years. Tragic, startling, and surprising, this is the story of what many thought impossible, forever altering our idea of what it is to be human and leading us to consider that Sasquatch may be a fierce and free human tribe. This is also a story of the hardships Native Americans, First Nations, and Alaska Natives have endured since Europeans first landed on the shores, devastating hundreds of once thriving cultures. As Colville Indian Agent, George H. Newman, wrote in 1897, "I am astonished at the progress they have made, while at the same time I wonder how they have managed to live."   Check out his book, Before Patty Volume I: Patrick-The Sasquatch/Human Hybrid

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

Tribal organizations across Southeast speak out against a social media trend of people dancing around Alaska Native totem poles. Plus, a critical deep ocean observation network off the coast of Alaska has been saved from getting dismantled, and a U.S. Department of Defense agency is exhuming the remains of an unidentified WWII soldier buried in the Sitka National Cemetery.

In this episode of the Research Insights Podcast, Dale Hall, Managing Director of Research at the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, speaks with Rebecca Owen, FSA, MAAA, one of the authors of the SOA Research Institute report Beyond the Headlines: The 2025 Disaster Reshaping Risk. Their conversation explores the 2025 Alaska floods, an event selected by the Catastrophe and Climate Research Program for its important implications for climate and catastrophe risk. The discussion highlights how this disaster affected remote Alaska Native villages, exposed infrastructure vulnerabilities, and raised important actuarial considerations around historical loss data, catastrophe modeling, pricing, reserving, capital frameworks and long-term climate risk projections. Listeners will gain insight into why actuaries play a critical role in translating complex climate dynamics into actionable guidance for organizations, policymakers and communities preparing for emerging risks. To learn more, read the report:  https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/2025-disaster-reshaping-risk/

The University of Washington’s WWAMI medical school program just received a new $25 million endowment for scholarships and rural education support, as Alaska Public Media's Rachel Cassandra reports. The program gets its name from the five states it serves – Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho – and educates emerging physicians in those rural states. Dr. Nick Phelps, WWAMI's assistant dean at the University of Alaska Anchorage, says the gift will go to scholarships for 30 eligible students across the five-state class. “For the students who are accepted to receive this scholarship, it covers half of their tuition.” Phelps says those eligible to apply for the scholarships are students in two specific programs: one, a rural track, and the other, a tribal and traditional medicine track. Medical school tuition – and the debt students take on to pay it – can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Phelps says the scholarships change the financial equation. “Primary care practices and primary care physicians… are the bedrock of medicine, for lack of a better term. They’re also some of the lowest paid specialties for students to go into, so for somebody who really is strongly interested in family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, some of those other primary care specialties, they have to do a bit of an internal calculus.” Many medical students choose specialties that pay better, which has helped create a shortage of primary care practitioners, both in Alaska and across the U.S. Phelps notes that the U.S. Department of Education will soon start limiting student loan amounts that Americans can take out for higher education, including medical school. Philanthropists William and Carolyn Franke and their family gave the WWAMI program the $25 million endowment to create the Franke Medical Student Scholars Program. Phelps says he hopes that the resulting scholarships encourage more Alaska students to focus on medicine that serves rural, remote and Indigenous Alaskans. The cliffs of Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation on September 1, 2023. (Photo: Chris Clements / KNAU) An energy company is asking for preliminary approval from the feds to look into building a hydropower project on the Navajo Nation. KNAU's Chris Clements has more. The company Nature and People First is asking for a preliminary permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate building a pumped storage project near Chilchinbeto, Ariz. It would include two reservoirs holding a total of 20,000 acre-feet of water. Pumped storage projects generate energy by letting water flow downhill and then pumping it back up. Nature and People First tried to get federal approval for three pumped storage projects in 2021, but the Navajo Nation and the feds later said no. Critics cited concerns about overuse of aquifers and damage to the environment of nearby Black Mesa, which is considered sacred by the Navajo and Hopi tribes. If it is granted, the permit would not allow the company to disturb any land or give them permission to enter private property. Grand Exit at Celebration 2026. (Courtesy Sealaska Heritage Institute) Thousands of Alaska Natives and visitors gathered in Juneau, Alaska last week for Celebration 2026, one of the largest Indigenous cultural events in the state. The four-day gathering, organized by Sealaska Heritage Institute, brought together Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian dancers, artists, and culture bearers from across Southeast Alaska, Canada, and beyond. The event featured traditional song and dance performances, Native art, language activities, and cultural workshops. This year’s theme was “Enduring Strength”. Celebration began more than 40 years ago as a way to preserve Native cultures and pass traditional knowledge to younger generations. Organizers say the event continues to showcase the survival and persistence of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian traditions while strengthening connections among Indigenous communities throughout the region. 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 8, 2026 — Confronting division with Pride

Daniel Buitrago & Brandon Fifield are back in studio with return guests Josh Nix and his lovely bride Mrs. Nix to find out all about Crazy J's!   The AWP studio live edge table by Knik River Customs, episode #4 w/Josh Nix in March of 2021, spring moose attacks in Anchor Town, Hilleberg Tent event brought to you by Barney's Sport Chalet & Alaska Wild Project coming up on Monday June 22nd, “This Day in Alaska History” brought to you by “Northern Waste”, 1840: The British flag replaced the Russian flag over Fort Dionysius in Southeast Alaska. The Hudson's Bay Company subsequently renamed the outpost Fort Stikine, 1924: The U.S. Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting American citizenship to all Native Americans born within the U.S. This had a profound impact on Alaska Native populations, extending their voting rights while recognizing their sovereign tribal affiliations, 1974: KISS performed at the Sundowner Drive-In Theater in Anchorage. Because of the Alaskan summer sun, the show started around 11:00 PM but still took place under a bright blue sky. The band built a stage directly in front of the drive-in's massive movie screen, digging the first guide boat out the trees, starting Crazy J's, vandalism at the boat launch, “PINKY” the bonker, 4AM starts to late night hook-ups, from the Knik to the Kenai, getting respect from your guide competition, separating from the pack through connections, full circle to the drift track in Montana, Kid friendly Northern Pike, Trivia Brought to our buy Connoisseur Crude          Visit our website - www.alaskawildproject.com Follow us on Instagram - www.instagram.com/alaskawildproject Watch on YouTube - www.youtube.com/@alaskawildproject $upport on Patreon - www.patreon.com/alaskawildproject Visit Crazy J's Guiding - www.crazyjsguiding.com

Photo: More than an hour after the levee was breached, channels in the Siuslaw Estuary begin to fill up with a mix of fresh and salt water on May 29, 2026. (Brian Bull / KLCC) A major conservation project near the Oregon town of Florence has achieved its goal: connecting a large swath of restored farmland to the ocean. The Siuslaw Estuary is a 217-acre expanse that is expected to accommodate the return of salmon, lamprey, and native plants as it transforms with the tides. KLCC's Brian Bull reports. On a cool, misty morning at the estuary, Dan Kirk waves a burning bundle of sage as they walk through an old dairy farm site called the Waite Ranch. Kirk is the restoration manager for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI). “I’ve been blessing the site almost daily, we really care about this project, and just putting as much intention and good thoughts and good feelings and gratitude as much as we can.” Besides the tribes, members of the Siuslaw Watershed Council and McKenzie River Trust gathered to witness something historic. Margaret Treadwell of the McKenzie River Trust watched a towering excavator crawl towards an earthen levee. It held back the Siuslaw River from the estuary. “It's really exciting, I have never seen a levee breach before.” After the excavator broke apart the levee, brackish water surged in immediately. People cheered. CTCLUSI Chief Doug Barrett watched as the reformed farmland became submerged. “I kinda got goosebumps. It's been a long time comin'.” The restoration work took nearly three years and $15 million. Barrett shared its new name. “Now it's called haich ikt' at'uu. Haich ikt' at'uu is the ‘heart of the river’, and so this is a pretty awesome place now to call our home. Just awesome to see the water coming in, knowing that the salmon and lamprey could come in here and hide from all of our predators. It's a pretty good feeling.” Four hours later, a contingent of tribal council members arrived in “Lottie” a 32-foot long canoe. After crossing through the mouth of the newly-opened channel, the group sprinkled tobacco and tule seeds into the water. Members of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians paddle “Lottie” a 32-foot dugout canoe, towards the Siuslaw Estuary on May 29, 2026. (Photo: Brian Bull / KLCC) Jesse Beers, CTCLUSI cultural stewardship manager, lowered the remains of a salmon into the currents. “When we were in the channel there, almost brought tears to my eyes. Returned some salmon remains to let the Salmon People know it's a good place to come again. And fatten up and be healthy. It's just an amazing experience.” The White House has nominated a citizen of the Klamath Tribes to lead the Indian Health Service (IHS). The nomination comes after more than a year without a Senate-confirmed director at the agency responsible for providing health care to Native communities across the country. The White House this week nominated Mark Cruz of Oregon to serve as IHS director. If confirmed by the Senate, Cruz would oversee an agency that provides health care services to approximately 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives through federal, tribal, and urban Indian health programs. The nomination was announced June 1. Cruz currently serves as Senior Advisor to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Native health issues. He became one of the highest-ranking Native officials in the department after being sworn into the position last year. Native health advocates say the nomination is significant because IHS has operated without a permanent director since January 2025. The agency continues to face challenges including workforce shortages, aging facilities, and growing health care demands in tribal 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 Friday, June 5, 2026 — The life of Chief Powhatan and the fight to preserve his birthplace

Photo: Siletz tribal members Todd Logan, Joshua Rilatos, and Dylan Gorman work next to anatomic pathologist Kurt Williams of the Oregon State University necropsy team on November 18, 2025, The tribe removed the whale’s blubber, bones, and baleen for cultural use, while the OSU crew took away tissue samples for diagnostic testing. (Jens Odegaard / Oregon State University) A group of Siletz Indians in Oregon are holding a presentation this Saturday to honor a humpback whale that washed ashore in Lincoln County last fall and died. As KLCC's Brian Bull reports, it is to help non-Natives understand the historical and cultural significance of these mammals. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (CTSI) sent a team in mid-November to do a traditional salvage of the whale, a common practice for coastal Native people for centuries. Lisa Norton, CTSI's chief administrative officer, and several others will discuss whales through storytelling, in a welcoming and open space near the Amanda Trail in Yachats. Norton hopes the audience leaves with one main takeaway. “Gaining and understanding of what it meant to us as a people, as individuals. And for those who were already connected with the whale, to understand that connection a little bit deeper or maybe understand that that connection isn’t over. And that it will live on in the stories that we do tell.” Norton says CTSI's cultural and natural resources department will eventually decide what will be done with the whale's bones and other materials. Ḵaayák'w Brandon Gomez introduces the Wind Dancer yaakw and asks permission to come ashore at Auke Recreation Area on June 2, 2026. (Photo: Yvonne Krumrey / KTOO) Thirteen canoes bringing Alaska Native paddlers from across Southeast Alaska and Canada arrived in Juneau, Alaska Tuesday afternoon. The canoes landed in two separate groups — one in downtown Juneau and the other at a traditional Aak’w (AHK) village site, north of town, as KTOO's Yvonne Krumrey reports. Áak'w Kwáan Elder Seikoonie Fran Houston waits on the shore at Auke Recreation Area as yaakw (canoes) enter the bay. “It’s going to be good to see family and family and family and friends, and it’s a beautiful day, so the ancestors are happy also.” Every other June, more than 100 paddlers arrive in Juneau this way to kick off Celebration, a gathering of Alaska Native people celebrating cultural revitalization. Sealaska Heritage Institute started the event more than four decades ago. They come to Celebration the old-fashioned way — paddling yaakw that were carved for this occasion. Some travel from as far north as the Yukon. “My name is Ughąts'etsӓna Ma. I'm Crow Clan. We’re from Dakwäkäda, Haines Junction, Yukon… We’re looking to celebrate now.” Ughąts'etsӓna Ma Cheyenne Sparvier-Kinney introduces her boat to the shore. Later, she reflects on the multi-day journey down Lynn Canal. “The journey was great. It was really a healing journey for a lot of us, not just our boat, but from the experiences that we’ve shared together. Yeah, it’s a healing journey for all of us.” Others, like ShaaL'aanee Brandon Ware, are from as far south as Petersburg. This was the community's first time sending a canoe to Celebration. “Gunalcheesh 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.” In downtown Juneau, three yaakw make their way to shore as hundreds stand watching. As the yaakw neared, Shangukeidí Casey Moats stands up to greet the crowd. “I had heard that I would never know my language, I’d never belong to a clan, I’d never have a name, I wouldn’t know my songs, and to do this means everything in the whole world.” X'ash Kugé ka Yaanasax Barbara Cadiente-Nelson is a council member and secretary at Douglas Indian Association. She was one of the original planners for the first-ever Celebration in 1982. As she watches the yaakw arrive downtown, she says that for Alaska Native culture to continue to flourish, the next generation has to be grounded in place. “When you take a look around and you see our people of all ages and our youth, we are, yeah, and the young people that are singing and dancing, that they’re connected to place, they’re understanding and growing in their responsibility as Lingít, Haida, Tsimshians.” Celebration officially starts Wednesday, with a Grand Entrance parade into Centennial Hall downtown. Over the coming days, there will be numerous events and ceremonies dedicated to honor and uplift Alaska Native culture. With reporting help from Clarise Larson 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 4, 2026 — Telling the full story of Route 66

In this newscast: Twelve people were infected by an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness while aboard a cruise ship traveling through Southeast Alaska last week; A new public use cabin opened near Ward Lake this week; Thirteen canoes bringing Alaska Native paddlers from across Southeast Alaska and Canada arrived in Juneau Tuesday afternoon; A soon-to-be change in shipping services for Juneau's Costco is expected to make it more difficult for small businesses in outlying communities to get products to their towns; Petersburg residents give items at the dump a second life through the borough's salvaging program.

The U.S. House of Representatives considers H.R.41, the Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act, on June 2, 2026. Following consideration under a suspension of the rules, the House approved the bill by a voice vote. The bill would still need to be passed by the U.S. Senate before it can become law.

World War II reached far beyond the beaches of Normandy and the islands of the Pacific. It also came to Alaska, where Indigenous communities found themselves on the front lines of invasion, military occupation, and forced relocation.In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian Holly Miowak Guise discusses her groundbreaking book Alaska Native Resilience: Voices from World War II. Drawing on more than 90 oral history interviews with Alaska Native elders, Guise reveals how Alaska Native communities experienced the Aleutian Campaign, wartime relocation camps, segregation, military service, and the ongoing realities of colonialism in America's far north.Together, we explore the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands, the forced evacuation of Indigenous communities, Alaska Native military service, the power of oral history, and the ways Native peoples resisted, adapted, and rebuilt their communities in the aftermath of war.This conversation challenges familiar narratives of the "Good War" and offers a powerful reminder that some of the most important stories of World War II remain largely unknown.

A new law permits the transfer of federal land in the Tongass National Forest to the Cape Fox Corporation. Plus, a Lingit leader is remembered for his Alaska Native fishing rights advocacy, and Virgin Voyages sees its inaugural visit to Sitka.

Photo courtesy Heard Museum / Facebook The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz. remembered Indigenous servicemembers, who made the ultimate sacrifice, during a Memorial Day observance. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. On this hot Monday morning, Kiowa-Comanche singer Kenneth Cozad Sr. chants a series of honor songs. Each melody is meant to pay tribute to the fallen as the Oklahoma native beats upon a drum made from rawhide. One of his patriotic tunes is called “Star and Stripes”. It is inspired by World War II Kiowa Code Talker Leonard “Red Wolf” Cozad Sr. “My grandpa, he had a thought came to him about this flag here that our folks fought for this red, white, and blue, he said.” For Cozad, he's thankful to share his music. “Because we don't just be singing songs, just to be singing them, there's always has to be a purpose.” Visitors of the exhibition, “Arctic Marine Science: Sikuliaq to Shore”, can learn about various science instruments used by Sikuliaq research crews to study the environment. (Photo: James Daggett / Alaska Public Media) A new exhibit at an Alaska museum takes visitors inside an Arctic research vessel. Since opening last week, it has given guests a chance to glimpse at what it is like to study the Arctic marine ecosystem – and how Indigenous communities shape that research. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Rachel Boesenberg is associate curator at the Anchorage Museum. She is walking under a tall crane, with deep blue all around her. “So you enter here through the stern of the vessel.” Boesenberg is giving a tour of the new exhibition called Arctic Marine Science: Sikuliaq to Shore, which brings the audience aboard a replica of the research vessel Sikuliaq. Visitors make their way onto the bridge. Here, the captain’s chair faces a ceiling-high projector screen with a vast ocean that changes from stormy swells to chunks of pancake ice. “We’re looking off the bow of Sikuliaq, which visitors at this point have walked through.” Sikuliaq is operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and owned by the National Science Foundation. Each year, dozens of scientists board the vessel to study the Arctic. Brendan Smith is the communications director at the North Pacific Research Board. He dreamed up the idea for the exhibition. “I said to myself, what if we bring the Sikuliaq … into the museum? How do we give people an experience that makes them feel like they’re out at sea?” The result is an immersive experience, focused on how the ship is used to study the environment, and the people who bring that knowledge to life. And there is a station with Arctic soundscapes. “That’s a bowhead whale.” Boesenberg says these are the sounds that scientists gather using hydrophones they deploy from the real vessel. Harmony Jade Sugaq Wayner is an Indigenous scholar from Naknek in Southwest Alaska. She consulted on the exhibition and suggested curators include what Arctic research means for Alaska Native people. “We see a lot of big graphs about climate change and the extent of sea ice and those big global processes, but we don’t see the joy of living our culture in coastal Alaska and river Alaska.” The exhibition runs through April 2027. Whitewater rafting on the Gallatin River in Montana in 2023. (Photo: Watts / Flickr) People working in Montana's outdoor industry are reporting emotional impacts tied to climate change. According to reporting from Glacier Raft Company and environmental advocates, river guides are increasingly experiencing ecological grief as changing waterways affect their work and livelihoods. 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, May 26, 2026 – Border wall construction causes sacred site destruction

What does it take for a single idea to travel from a research lab in New Haven to war zones in Uganda, refugee camps in Malaysia, and clinics across 30 countries and six continents? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Myrna Weissman, one of the most consequential figures in modern psychiatry, to find out.Dr. Weissman co-developed Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) alongside her late husband, Dr. Gerald Klerman, on a simple premise: that human suffering is deeply tied to human connection. Grief. Conflict. Loneliness. Life upended. These are not niche clinical categories, but rather a universal language of distress. And IPT was built to respond to it.In this conversation, Dr. Weissman reflects on five decades of research, the pandemic-era project that became a sweeping global volume (now available free via open access), and what it means to build something that outlives its origins. *This episode briefly mentions suicide.(Re-post: This is one of our most beloved episodes, brought back by popular demand. If you've heard it before, we hope it moves you just as much the second time.)What Is Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) and Why Does It Work?IPT links the emergence of psychiatric symptoms to what is happening in a person's current life. It focuses on four core problem areas:1. Grief — the loss of a loved one2. Disputes — conflict with someone important to you3. Transitions — life changes, even positive ones, that disrupt relationships4. Loneliness/Isolation — chronic or newly developed lack of attachmentThese four areas have proven to resonate across vastly different cultures because they reflect fundamental aspects of the human condition. Dr. Weissman emphasizes that IPT is not the only evidence-based psychotherapy — it is “one tool in the toolbox, not a religion.”IPT for AdolescentsAdolescence is a prime time for IPT's problem areas, especially disputes, transitions, and loneliness. Key takeaways for parents:• Try to understand the specific stressors behind an adolescent's symptoms rather than reacting to global, dramatic statements.• Always be alert to the possibility of suicidal ideation.• Communication barriers between teens and parents are common; a trusted third party (grandparent, therapist, family friend) can sometimes serve as a valuable bridge.The New Book: IPT Around the WorldThis book is now available open access for readers everywhere!The COVID-19 pandemic gave Dr. Weissman the unexpected opportunity to connect with IPT practitioners worldwide. What began as a routine update to the standard IPT manual grew into a sweeping collaborative volume covering more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Contributors were asked: What are you doing? What works? What doesn't? What adaptations did you need to make?Notable chapters include:• Uganda — IPT was introduced around 2003 amid civil war and a mental health crisis. A landmark clinical trial published in JAMA confirmed its effectiveness. Sean Mabry, a former WHO worker, went on to treat hundreds of thousands of people using IPT, even by telephone during the pandemic, and has now established a low-cost program in New Jersey.• China — After government engagement and training by Columbia experts, IPT became what practitioners called a “rapidly growing practice,” with books, training programs, and internet-based delivery.• Malaysia — IPT has been applied with refugees, using the “transitions” framework to help people process displacement and profound loss.• Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Zambia, Uganda) — Adaptations have been made for cultural context, including how disputes are communicated and resolved within different family and community structures.• Japan and Hong Kong — Initial resistance to psychotherapy has given way to growing acceptance and translated materials.• United States special populations — Chapters cover Alaska Natives, people who are incarcerated, sexual and gender minorities, pre-adolescents, adolescents, and older adults.Cultural AdaptationsDr. Weissman shares a vivid example from Uganda: women in marital disputes are often encouraged not to confront their husbands directly, but to work through an elder who mediates. The underlying IPT principle, that the dispute is driving the symptoms, remains intact; only the implementation changes.Resources Mentioned• International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT) — volunteer-run, affordable membership, biannual international conference (10th meeting held in the UK, March 2024)• Dr. Weissman's new book on IPT across international sites — published Open Access, freely available to practitioners and researchers worldwide• Oxford University Press — publisher of the standard IPT manualAbout the GuestDr. Myrna Weissman is the Diana Goldman Kemper Family Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health, and Chief of the Division of Translational Epidemiology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Alongside her late husband, Dr. Gerald Klerman, she co-developed Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), now backed by over 140 clinical trials, translated into numerous languages, and recommended by the World Health Organization.

In this episode, Fred from the Subarctic Alaska Sasquatch YouTube Channel speaks by phone with Patquah, an Inupiaq man originally from Utqiagvik who has spent years living in the Noatak River Valley.Their conversation explores subsistence living in Arctic Alaska, the nomadic history of the Inupiaq people, and the oral traditions passed down through generations to help hunters, travelers, and families understand the dangers of the land.Patquah shares accounts of strange lights, unexplained wilderness phenomena, and traditional warnings about “little people” said to inhabit remote areas of Alaska.These stories include descriptions of foot-tall mountain beings with red eyes and unusual strength, as well as child-sized figures wearing pointed hoods. Rather than framing these traditions as simple folklore or superstition, Patquah explains how elders used these stories as practical survival knowledge, teaching younger generations to respect the land, pay attention to signs, and avoid becoming careless in dangerous country.The conversation then turns to a recent and unsettling experience from April 21, 2026, during a snowmachine hunting trip near the Noatak–Kivalina trail in Northwest Alaska.While traveling through the area, Patquah heard a powerful, echoing scream that seemed to carry across the landscape and left him with the strong feeling that he was being watched. The following day, as weather conditions worsened and he and two companions briefly became disoriented, they spotted a large, dark, hairy figure sitting on a ridge. After viewing it through binoculars, the group chose to leave the area rather than approach.Patquah later learned that relatives and other hunters had reported similar screams and sightings in the region, adding another layer to an already compelling account.This episode blends Inupiaq oral tradition, Alaska Native cultural history, remote wilderness survival, and a modern hairy man encounter from the Mulgrave Hills and Noatak River Valley region.Click the link below to visit Fred's Subarctic Alaska Sasquatch YouTube Channel for more incredible encounter stories, traditional accounts, and unexplained experiences from the wilds of Alaska.Subarctic Alaska Sasquatch YouTube ChannelEmail BrianGet Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.Have you had a Bigfoot encounter, Sasquatch sighting, Dogman experience, or other cryptid or paranormal encounter? We'd love to hear your story. Email brian@paranormalworldproductions.com to be featured on a future episode of Sasquatch Odyssey.Sasquatch Odyssey is a leading Bigfoot and cryptid podcast exploring real encounters, field research, and scientific analysis of the Sasquatch phenomenon.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss an episode.

Photos: Anchorage police Chief Sean Case, left, and Kelly Hunt. (Rhonda McBride / Courtesy Melvin Hunt) Anchorage Police say they are in the final stages of their investigation into the death of Kelly Hunt, the 19-year-old Shaktoolik student who disappeared in January on her way to college in Soldotna, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports. Hunt's remains were found last month in a ravine in same Anchorage neighborhood where she had been staying with a friend. Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case says the Medical Examiner's preliminary report determined Hunt died from hypothermia and exposure, with alcohol in her system. “There's no indication that there's physical trauma. There's no indication that an assault has occurred. So, most of those questions — on whether-or-not there was a homicide — those questions have been answered through the Medical Examiner's process.” Case says Hunt was missing for more than 100 days, and due to prolonged exposure to the elements, he says it is nearly impossible to determine Hunt's exact time of death. Before closing out the investigation, Case says police will conduct follow-up interviews to learn more about the circumstances leading up to her death. Based on the outcome of those interviews, Case says the investigation could shift back towards a criminal case. He calls Hunt's death a tragedy, but says there is no evidence of a crime. Hunt was supposed to catch a bus from Anchorage to attend the Alaska Christian College in Soldotna, Alaska. Her friends told police she left on the morning of January 7 to meet with someone to buy alcohol and had left her purse and suitcase behind. Case says the investigation was further complicated, because her disappearance was not reported until four days later, but despite that, Case believes his police officers and detectives did a thorough job. But advocates for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, including Antonia Commack, question police handling of the case. She says investigators are drawing conclusions too soon, without first questioning the people who last saw Hunt.” “How are you going to make that determination before you speak to those people. Because the bottom line is, she is not old enough to drink herself. Somebody furnished her alcohol and she wound up dead. That should be a crime.” The Anchorage Police Department timed their report on the Kelly Hunt case with the launch of a new online dashboard that tracks missing persons iAnchorage and the department's homicide clearance rate. Case says the report confirms that Alaska Natives make up a disproportionate share of both missing persons and homicides, but says cases involving both Native and non-Native victims are solved at about the same rate. The Pinyon Plain Mine, as seen from the air in November 2019, is located on the Kaibab National Forest less than 10 miles from the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. (Photo: Ryan Heinsius / KNAU) The company that owns a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon wants Arizona state regulators to approve a higher arsenic level in nearby groundwater. KNAU's Chris Clements reports at least two scientists oppose the idea. Brad Esser used to work for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He was asked by a nonprofit that opposes Energy Fuels' Pinyon Plain Mine mine to look into the request. “It sets the wrong incentive. You know, the response to high levels … is to try to understand what’s going on, not just simply raise the permit levels.” But Energy Fuels says the higher arsenic levels are naturally occurring in groundwater near the mine, and are not because of mining activity. Curtis Moore is a company executive. “It’s not surprising that there are elevated levels of arsenic next to this ore body. That’s why we put a mine there, because there’s an ore body there.” But Esser and another scientist argue it is more likely the mine is contributing to the high levels. “They think the mine's ventilation shafts could be creating oxygen-rich groundwater, causing arsenic minerals to dissolve. If that's true, Esser worries arsenic could one day reach the Havasuapi Tribe's key source of drinking water.” 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, May 20, 2026 – Native Playlist: Joy Harjo and Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band

At least five Native American men were detained January by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during raids in Minneapolis, Minn. As other reports of Native Americans being mistaken for undocumented immigrants continue, federal lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill to improve the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s interactions with Native Americans when they are proving citizenship. KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. The Respect Tribal IDs Act would require DHS working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and tribal nations to create training for officers to better detect and respect current tribal IDs. U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) says ICE agents are breaking the law. “My Native American brothers and sisters, who are American citizens, are being held by ICE agents because these agents do not recognize tribal IDs, it’s disrespectful, it’s wrong, I would argue, illegal, and that’s why we need this legislation.” Luján says tribal leaders have voiced their concerns about ICE agents detaining their tribal members near their reservations. “I’ll remind you that some of the first awareness that we had about ICE agents going after Native American communities, happened in New Mexico, down in Mescalero and also on the Navajo Nation, and it’s happening in other parts of the country as well.” DHS said in a statement that ICE agents acknowledge and recognize tribal ID cards as proof of citizenship and there have been no ICE operations on tribal lands. Lujan says it is hard to collect data on the number of Native Americans who have been detained by ICE because DHS will not release the data. Meanwhile, some legal scholars are raising concerns about a case brought by the Trump administration that is before the Supreme Court and how it might undermine birthright citizenship among Native Americans. Antonia Commack, left, Abigail Echo-Hawk, Maka Monture Paki. Charlene Aqpik Apok, Tatiana Tiknor, Malia Villegas, Sabrina Dunphrey, and Jessica Black. (Courtesy Data for Indigenous Justice) A national organization called the Courage Project shines a light on acts of bravery, both big and small. This year, a group that works to bring attention to Alaska's missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) is in the spotlight. As KNBA's Rhonda McBride tells us, Data for Indigenous Justice (DIJ) is one of sixteen organizations nationwide to receive this award. The steady beat of the drum is what you hear at many events involving DIJ and while their presence is felt more than seen, they are a force for change. Funders for the Courage Project like the MacArthur Foundation say the award was created to recognize neighbors helping neighbors, people who perform everyday acts of civic courage, that speak to the American spirit and strengthen democracy. “When I first started doing this work, people wouldn’t even meet with me.” Charlene Apok, known by her Iñupiaq name, Aqpik, founded DIJ to bring attention to missing and murdered Alaska Natives. She saw breakdowns and inequities in how law enforcement handled their investigations and pushed for a database to better track those cases and expose systemic failures. “Organizations didn’t want to talk about it. It was too hot. It was too political. It was too uncomfortable. It shouldn’t be courageous to say the things that we’re saying, and to ask the questions that we’re asking. These should be things that are expected for the safety of our people.” Doug Modig, a traditional healer, says it is never easy to speak truth to power, especially for a small organization like Data for Indigenous Justice. “Real lives are at stake her. Real people are experiencing hurt. There aren't many people that have that courage, because it's so rare. It reminds me of a wolverine. They'll take on a bear, a full-grown bear.” Wolverines, Modig says, are fearless when it comes to protecting their territory. “Why don't they just give up? They're not going to make it, because they're so small. But the truth is, courage isn't about size. It's the content of your heart.” Aqpik says heart is exactly what her team brings to their work. Their commitment has helped to uncover critical information about unsolved cases. “I’ve come to learn, with a lot of guidance from my elders, that this role is called being a story keeper.” Aqpik says it is a sacred responsibility to listen to the stories that families share. She says they are the bravest of all. Long after the marches are over and the drumbeats fade, they must live with these stories. 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, May 19, 2026 — Native Bookshelf: “Shards of Silence” and “That Which Feeds Us”

It's Monday, May 18th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Daughter of imprisoned Chinese pastor urges his release Before he left for the Chinese-American summit in Beijing, President Donald Trump said that he would advocate for the release of Pastor Ezra Jin of the underground Zion Church who was arrested in October 2025 during a massive Communist crackdown against the body of Christ. In a recent interview on Fox News Channel, Grace Drexel, his daughter, who emigrated to America several years ago, spoke about her father's church. DREXEL: “My father's church was one of the largest independent churches in China, and for that reason they came after my father. The charge against them was the illegal use of information networks, because he was hosting his services, both online and offline, having smaller groups meet together.” She described Pastor Jin's character. DREXEL: “My father is a pastor in China, and, like Christians everywhere, he believed that the church should only have one God and serve one God. He led his church in order to be faithful to Scripture and faithful to his beliefs. “Ultimately, I know my father as just a very gentle and kind man. He is not very confrontational.  This kind and gentle man is now in prison. They handcuffed him and shaved his hair, and is not getting his medication that he needs -- all because he was just leading a church.” Grace was counting on U.S. President Trump to negotiate her father's release from his unjust imprisonment with Chinese President Xi Jinping. DREXEL: “We hope that, as the two leaders are meeting together, that they will both have a softening of the hearts and will release my father and allow him to come to the U.S.” According to President Trump, President Jinping was “going to strongly consider the pastor,” reports The Hill.com. Grace Drexel, Pastor Jin's daughter, advocated for the release of hundreds of other pastors who have also been unfairly imprisoned for their faith in Jesus Christ. DREXEL: “We see that this is not an isolated case. There are so many pastors and church leaders and churches being persecuted in China actively today. In fact, we know that there are hundreds of pastors that are currently in prison, or are in detention, or have recently, very recently, been released. This is a very critical period in China, and it's very disheartening and very scary for many Christians in China.” Send a polite, 2-sentence letter urging Pastor Ezra Jin's release to Ambassador Xie Feng, Chinese Embassy, 3505 International Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008. Church of Scotland sees surge of converts amid “deep spiritual hunger” The Church of Scotland in the United Kingdom has seen a surge of converts since the COVID-19 pandemic amid what one clergyman called "a deep spiritual hunger,” reports The Christian Post. In 2025, 820 people in the denomination affirmed faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ, which is nearly double the 428 people who did so in 2021, according to official church figures. In a May 8th report, church leaders wrote, "We are seeing evidence of increased Bible engagement, renewed interest in spiritual questions, growing church attendance, and more young people and young adults coming to faith with confidence." Rev. David Cameron noted that 3,292 Scotts have professed faith in Christ between 2021 and 2025. He said, "I believe this growth reflects the fact that, even in uncertain times, there remains a deep spiritual hunger within our parishes." The new conversions come amid a wider decline in membership in the Church of Scotland, whose approximately 229,000 members recorded at the end of 2025 indicated a fall of 5% from 2024, primarily because of death. The Church of Scotland, which was established in the 16th century as a Reformed, Presbyterian denomination, differs from the Church of England in that it does not recognize the British monarch as its political head. Sadly, in 2016 the Scottish church rejetced clear Biblical teaching and allowed its clergy to enter into faux homosexual marriages and civil partnerships. Then, in May 2022, the Church of Scotland General Assembly voted in favor of permitting the church's clergy to conduct homosexual faux marriages, reported the BBC. Romans 1:26-27 says, “God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.” Supreme Court allows Abortion Kill Pill to continue to be sent by mail Here in the United States, on May 14th, the Supreme Court ruled to allow the Abortion Kill Pill to continue to be sent through the mail. It trumped the May 1st ruling by a federal appeals court in Louisiana which had barred the mailing of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions, which is the preferred murder method that 63% of mothers choose who wish to abort their children. To their credit, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both dissented. Alito contended that “[w]hat is at stake is the perpetration of a scheme to undermine our decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization,” the court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Gov. DeSantis vs. House Minority Leader Jeffries on redistricting Ever since the Virginia Supreme Court rejected the unconstitutional redistricting in Virginia where Republicans would only be left with one of 11 Congressional seats, Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been discouraging Florida Republican politicians from doing their own redistricting, reports The Hill.com. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis got a kick out Congressman Jeffries' rhetoric. DeSANTIS: “I heard this guy, Jeffries, popping off in Washington, about Florida. He wants to be Speaker of the House, and he's more liberal than [Nancy] Pelosi from New York City. We're going to go after Florida. Please be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida and campaign. I'll put you up in the Florida governor's mansion. We'll take you fishing. “There's nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Hakeem Jeffries everywhere around this state. Voters will not like what they see. They will not want that type of ideology. And so, the door is open. The invitation is out there. I don't think there would be anything better for the Republican Party of Florida, but to have Jeffries there. “Now, I kind of feel bad for the guy, because he's as left as they come. He's always going left, and yet the Far Left hates him. You know, they call him a ‘Dollar Store Obama.'” On May 15th, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Virginia Democrats to revive their lopsided redistricting plan, reports Politico.com. Missionary Sheldon Jackson felt compelled to share Gospel And finally, 192 years ago today, Sheldon Jackson was born in 1834.  He wanted to become a missionary overseas, but the Presbyterian board told the five-foot-tall Jackson, who had weak eyesight and was often ill, that he would be better suited for duty in the United States.  Jackson's first assignment was at the Choctaw mission in Oklahoma Territory, where he worked until poor health forced him to go back East in 1859. In the summer of 1869, Jackson went on a missionary tour using the railroad and stage lines, establishing a church a day. Jackson found his major life's work in the new territory of Alaska with 20,000 miles of coastline. In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward, during the administration of President Andrew Johnson, had negotiated the Alaska Purchase from Russia.   In 1877, Jackson began his work in Alaska. He became committed to the Christian, educational, and economic wellbeing of the Alaska Natives.  He famously said, “I must work the works of Him Who sent me while it is yet day,” adapting the command of John 9:4.  The Scripture says, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” Ultimately, he travelled one million miles and established more than one hundred missions and churches, mostly in the Western United States. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, May 18th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus  (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

The University of Arizona recognized Friday roughly 70 Native American graduates with a special celebration. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, an Indigenous actor was the event's keynote speaker. Dallas Goldtooth (Diné and Mdewakanton Dakota) is arguably best known for his role in the Peabody Award-winning FX series, “Reservation Dogs”. Goldtooth plays a comedic spiritual guide to a teen living in an Oklahoma rez town. He co-founded the 1491s, an all-Native sketch comedy group that uses humor as a way to tackle stereotypes of Indigenous people and complex social issues. Native Americans make up about 4% of the university's student body. Ice is seen held in place on the Kuskokwim River downriver from Aniak on May 8, 2026. (Photo: Samantha Watson / KYUK) The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs says it is distributing $20 million in emergency funding to more than a dozen Alaska Native communities in response to shortages of essential supplies and urgent infrastructure needs. As KYUK's Evan Erickson reports, the lion's share of the funding, $16 million, is going to the Kuskokwim Delta coastal village of Chefornak to address the impacts of severe erosion, permafrost thaw, and failing infrastructure. According to a press release, the funds are intended to restore damaged wetlands, address unsafe structures, relocate at-risk homes, and reconstruct the community's barge landing. Chefornak and 15 other communities spread across a vast swath of the state will also receive a portion of an additional $4 million that the federal government is using to purchase thousands of gallons of heating fuel, along with potable water supplies, and firewood. The press release says delayed spring barge deliveries, restricted water systems, and extreme winter conditions led to supply shortages in the communities receiving assistance. The announcement comes after Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland was in Alaska to meet with tribal leaders. Kirkland appeared alongside U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in Anchorage and Bethel as part of hearings of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on federal disaster support and the question of climate-driven village relocation. Students learn about Mark 3 pumps as part of their field day during spring training. (Courtesy Alaska DNR Division of Forestry and Fire Protection / Facebook) Alaska Native organizations and wildfire officials are preparing for another challenging fire season as communities face growing climate-related threats. Officials say dry spring conditions and warming temperatures are increasing wildfire risks in rural communities across the state. The Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection says many Alaska wildfires are caused by human activity, including escaped burn piles, campfires, and sparks from equipment or vehicles. Officials are urging residents to prepare emergency kits, create evacuation plans, and clear brush and other flammable materials away from homes and buildings. Alaska Native organizations are also working with communities on climate adaptation, emergency preparedness, and public health planning efforts tied to wildfire smoke and extreme weather. Meanwhile, tribal leaders in western Alaska are calling for stronger tribally led disaster response systems as communities face increasing wildfire and environmental threats. Some rural communities are also concerned about how major wildfires could impact subsistence activities, travel routes, and deliveries of food, fuel, and other critical supplies during the summer months. Fire officials say even a single spark can quickly ignite dry grass during spring conditions.  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, May 11, 2026 – What's in the near future for urban elder health care?

Fred from the Subarctic Alaska Sasquatch YouTube Channel is back with two more amazing encounter stories. Be sure to check out Fred's channel using the link below to see all his videos.In this episode, Fred shares two chilling accounts from the wilds of Alaska involving what many Native communities have long referred to as the “hairy man.”The first story follows Rodolfo, a Filipino immigrant who joins an Alaska Native friend on a moose hunt near Grayling Creek off the Yukon River. What begins as a routine hunting trip quickly turns unsettling when the men hear strange whistling in the dark, spot a massive shadowy figure, and witness Rodolfo's friend panic after shining a spotlight on what appears to be an angry, towering creature. As the encounter escalates, gunshots are fired when the figure comes within ten feet of them.Later, Rodolfo sees the creature from a distance, only for the terror to continue that night near their landing area, where he reports eyeshine, a nearly ten-foot-tall figure baring its teeth, brushing dirt from itself, and letting out a terrifying scream before the men arrange an early pickup by radio.The second account centers on Alvin and Myrna, an Athabascan couple hiking Devil's Creek Trail in February 2020 with their nine-month-old Tibetan Mastiff. During the hike, something begins mimicking Myrna's voice in an apparent attempt to lure the dog away. Moments later, the animal is snatched, leaving the couple shaken and desperate for answers.Alvin later catches sight of the creature and hears a scream echo through the valley, turning a peaceful outing into a nightmare they would never forget.These stories serve as a powerful reminder of how vast, remote, and mysterious Alaska's wilderness truly is. Whether you believe these encounters involve Bigfoot, the legendary hairy man, or something else entirely, Subarctic Alaska Sasquatch YouTube ChannelEmail BrianGet Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.Have you had a Bigfoot encounter, Sasquatch sighting, Dogman experience, or other cryptid or paranormal encounter? We'd love to hear your story. Email brian@paranormalworldproductions.com to be featured on a future episode of Sasquatch Odyssey.Sasquatch Odyssey is a leading Bigfoot and cryptid podcast exploring real encounters, field research, and scientific analysis of the Sasquatch phenomenon.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss an episode.

Photo: Artwork featured as part of the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition’s installation and community gathering at City Hall, May 4, 2026. (Courtesy The Ottawa Mission / Facebook) Across Canada this week, communities commemorated Red Dress Day with ceremonies. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the annual day on May 5 has become a national day of awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). On Parliament Hill in Ottawa and cities and towns across the country, people gathered for the fifteenth anniversary of Red Dress Day. They come to heal, to remember, and to honour the Indigenous people who were murdered or who have disappeared. Mary Daoust is the co-chair of the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition. “Their voices can no longer be heard, but they can be heard through us. And that's why we're here today, is to speak and honour, and respect the ones that didn't have those voices and the ones that went missing, and the ones that aren't coming home. That we are still here and we have not forgotten them.” People took part in ceremonies and educational exhibits – and created activities to honour the lives the legacies of Indigenous people. The events also included drum groups and throat singers, a sacred fire and honour songs, and, of course, people wearing a red dress. Jenny Sawanohk is an Indigenous healer and member of the Cree First Nation. “I've seen violence. I've been in communities that have been impacted by this directly. I've had family members that have been victims of violence. A lot of us are in mourning. And we will be in mourning until this gets properly addressed. And we needed this day to really bring awareness and attention to it.” Vigils and marches were also held across the country. This year also marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of the national inquiry into MMIP. That resulted in an action plan with 231 calls for justice. According to the federal government, Indigenous women are twelve times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be murdered or end up missing. Billy Kirkland in Anchorage, Alaska. (Courtesy U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs / X) May is when the federal VIP season in Alaska really gets going – when high ranking federal officials tour the state to roll out new policies, hand out grants, or just simply listen to what people have to say. The Department of Interior sent some of its top people to Anchorage Tuesday for a closed-door meeting on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, they acknowledged that the number of Alaska cases has reached a crisis point. In the Cook Inlet Tribal Council's meeting room, more than two dozen Alaska Native and government leaders looked across tables at each other. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) led the discussion. “The two top guys in America on these issues are here in this room right now.” Those top guys were Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Billy Kirkland (Navajo) and Bryan Mercier (Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon), the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). They came to announce the re-introduction of Operation Lady Justice, launched by Tara Sweeney (Iñupiaq) during President Donald Trump's first administration. The initiative created a task force that brought law enforcement, data collection and justice teams together, an effort that led to a Missing and Murdered Unit within the BIA. “All of our law enforcement are working collectively on an issue not being in silos.” This renewed federal push comes through an executive order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Kirkland says it expands efforts to solve new and cold cases and emphasizes prevention. “It's great that we're focused on these cases that haven't been solved. You know, what would be even better is that we didn't even have to solve these cases in the first place.” A crisis U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) says needs to be addressed with urgency. “I would suggest to you that that is a crisis.” Some of the Native leaders and MMIP advocates at the meeting, like Charlene Apok (Iñupiaq) with Data for Indigenous Justice, say hope now hinges on whether funding follows — and if tribes are empowered to lead the work. “We're hoping that we see the return on investments and that it trickles down to real changes. But I also know that no matter what, tribes in Alaska are going to keep working on this. And that gives me a lot of hope.” The gathering and the Interior Secretary's Executive order was timed to coincide with a national day of awareness for MMIP. 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, May 7, 2026 – Native Fashion Week takes root in Santa Fe

MMIP advocates fault police in Anchorage for not acting fast enough when young Alaska Native woman went missing in January. Kelly Hunt's body was discovered in April. Her death is now under investigation. It's the latest case revealing the persistent lack of trust Native communities have when it comes to MMIP cases. Hunt's case comes as the Trump administration is touting a surge in federal agents in selected locations to address the backlog in unsolved serious crimes, but tribal leaders and advocates say there's no real progress on the lingering disconnect between Native people and law enforcement officials on all levels. And despite some recent progress, there are serious hurdles when it comes to jurisdictional confusion and information sharing across agencies. GUESTS Regina Antone (Gila River Indian Community), lieutenant governor of the Gila River Indian Community Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community Alexis Savage (Iñupiaq), MMIP advocate LaRenda Morgan (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma), Cheyenne and Arapaho MMIP chapter chairwoman and the governmental affairs officer for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma Break 1 Music: Nakoda Healing Song (song) YB Nakota (artist) Break 2 Music: Bad Dude (song) Joe H Henry (artist) Real Things (album)

A Hualapai tribal leader is being remembered for her impact on economic development and tribal sovereignty. Louise Benson, former chairwoman of the Hualapai Tribe in Arizona, has died at the age of 83. The tribe announced her death April 18. Benson helped lead the development of Grand Canyon West, including the creation of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a major tourism destination that supports the tribe's economy. According to the Hualapai Tribe, she also worked on infrastructure and water access issues for her community. Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) said in a statement: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of former Hualapai Tribal Chairwoman Louise Benson. As a dedicated leader for the Hualapai Tribe, championing critical infrastructure, and regional water security. Chairwoman Benson spent her life serving her people with unwavering commitment. My condolences go out to the Hualapai Tribe and all those who knew her.” In its statement, the Hualapai Tribe says Benson's legacy will continue through the economic foundation she helped build for future generations. Republican Native American voters Jen Thomasik and Brandy Ross stand outside a 2024 rally for Donald Trump held in Albuquerque, NM. (Photo: Jeanette DeDios / KUNM-FM) The Trump administration issued an executive order last month that seeks to restrict mail-in voting. KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has the details on how this could impact Native American communities. The order seeks to use federal data to create a list of adult U.S. citizens in each state who would have to show proof of eligibility before voting. States would be able to review and suggest changes. But many tribal members living in rural areas rely on mail-in voting in order to participate in elections because of long travel times to polling places. Jacqueline De León (Isleta Pueblo), senior attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, says the Supreme Court is currently considering a case called  Watson v. Republican National Committee about whether or not ballots received after election day can be counted. “And we know that that is especially important in Indian Country, where mail delivery can be slow and unpredictable, that our ballots be able to be counted even if they arrive after Election Day, if they were cast before Election Day.” She says tribal nations are facing a consequential moment in history. “Protecting tribal sovereignty is something that I think every Native person needs to take seriously, and they need to make considerations when they’re voting as to which candidates are going to do that for their tribal nation.” Attorneys general in 23 states, including New Mexico, are suing to block the Trump order. Candlelight vigil for Kelly Hunt in Anchorage, Alaska. (Courtesy Data for Indigenous Justice / Facebook) Community members gathered in Anchorage this week to honor the life of Kelly Hunt. A candlelight vigil was held Wednesday at 2522 Arctic Boulevard, where family, friends, and advocates came together to remember the 19 year old from Shaktoolik. The event included traditional dance groups and songs, as attendees paid tribute and called for justice. (Courtesy Data for Indigenous Justice / Facebook) Hunt disappeared earlier this year while on her way to college. Her body was found April 20 in a Spenard neighborhood. The vigil was supported by Data for Indigenous Justice, as community members continue to call for answers and accountability. Alaska Native leaders and advocates will gather in Anchorage next month for a summit focused on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis. The Alaska MMIP Justice Summit is scheduled for May 27 and 28 at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center, followed by a Red Dress Gala on May 29. Organizers say the event will focus on raising awareness, sharing resources, and building solutions to address violence impacting Indigenous 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 Thursday, April 30, 2026 – Reflecting on the milestone pipeline protest movement at Standing Rock

Questions are being raised about how the Anchorage Police Department responded to a missing Alaska Native college student from the Bering Sea community of Shaktoolik. After almost four months, the remains of Kelly Hunt were found in a wooded area in the city, as KNBA's Rhonda McBride reports. Although the search for Kelly Hunt ended in a ravine where she was found last week, the quest for answers goes on. The 19 year old's remains were discovered not far from the home she had been staying in, where she stopped to visit on her way to attend college in Soldotna. She was last seen on the morning of January 7. Her family reported her missing four days later. Advocates for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) have questioned the police's response. “When a young Alaska Native woman is reporting missing, it is too late, and now we are looking at human remains.” Michael Livingston (Unangax̂), a retired Anchorage police officer and MMIP advocate, says Hunt's case reflects a pattern he has seen too often. He says several red flags in Hunt's disappearance should have prompted a more aggressive investigation. He says she had left her purse behind, with money inside, as well as clothing, signs she did not plan to be gone for very long. “Was there anymore, that anybody could have done, to try to have located her, early on in the game, to see whether or not any video surveillance cameras or people in the neighborhood might have seen anything suspicious?” Livingston says he would like to see an investigation into the police's response. Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case says he would be happy to discuss the department's handling of the case with advocates, but for now, the ability of police to talk about the investigation is very limited. “The problem is that can really cause challenges if it does become a criminal investigation later on.” Case says one of difficulties police faced was the four-day gap between the time that Hunt went missing and when her disappearance was reported. Case says he doesn't blame anyone for the delay. The difficulties were understandable under the circumstances. “But as soon as we found out that she was missing, we took the report, and detectives took over that case and treated that case as a critical or a high-risk case, that there was definitely concern over.” Case says investigators continue to process evidence in the case as they wait for the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the exact cause of Kelly Hunt's death. So far, no arrests have been made. A tribute to slain teen Emily Pike adorns a fence in Mesa, Ariz. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) signed a bipartisan bill into law this month, mandating that the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) make attempts to enter cooperative agreements with each of the state's 22 federally recognized tribes. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on the measure meant to improve child welfare. The statute requires DCS to identify a liaison for each tribe, who is then responsible for providing technical assistance and coordinating communication. The agency will also share best practices, policies, training materials, and operational standards. Murdered San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike was in the care of DCS when she went missing from a Mesa group home for the last time in early 2025. Her tribe has yet to enter an agreement with DCS, but is in talks. To date, only four tribes have established such Memoranda of Understanding. 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, April 28, 2026 – Oklahoma tribes work to keep Medicaid access intact as federal cuts loom

Anchorage, Alaska police have identified the person found deceased last week in the Spenard area of the city as 19-year-old Kelly Hunt from the Alaska Native community of Shaktoolik. Police say Hunt was discovered outdoors on April 20 near the 3500 block of Lois Drive. Next of kin have been notified. According to investigators, Hunt had arrived in Anchorage on January 6 and was staying at a residence on Oregon Drive. She left that home the following morning, January 7. Four days later, on January 11, Hunt was reported missing to Anchorage Police. Detectives were assigned to investigate her disappearance. More than three months later, officers responded to a call just before 9 a.m. on April 20, where Hunt's body was found outside. Members of the crowd at the 2026 ASAA 1A/2A Basketball State Championships in March hold signs with a photo of Kelly Hunt printed on them. (Photo: Waatsasdiyei Apayakuk Yates) The Anchorage Police Department says the death remains under investigation. The State Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death. No arrests have been made at this time. In a statement, Police Chief Sean Case acknowledged the impact of the loss. Police are asking anyone with information related to the case to come forward as the investigation continues. 2026 U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit. (Courtesy Indigenous Data Alliance / Instagram) With the rise of AI, Indigenous people around the world are growing more concerned about data sovereignty. The Mountain West News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach has more on a recent conference on the topic in Tucson, Ariz. One attendee was Burt Dillabaugh, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, who works for an organization focused on Indigenous data sovereignty. He says at the last conference in 2024, people were still trying to understand the concept. Now, as AI scrapes data from the internet including traditional knowledge, they are ready to take action. “Since AI is here to stay, now is the time to be planning for it before it’s too late.” The mission is to protect Indigenous data – everything from genetics to language – from being exploited. “It's some outside entity,  whether it be the federal government or a university or some corporation, wanting … to get data from tribes.” He says tribes can protect their data with policies that govern access. Or by creating systems to store it within Indigenous nations. The Indigenous data sovereignty movement is gaining steam with the growth of AI. Indigenous members from across the world recently gathered in Tucson, Arizona to discuss how to keep control of their data. That includes Burt Dillabaugh, who is with an organization trying to do just that. He says attendees at the recent event were more familiar with the movement. “It was less like introducing this new concept to people and more like, We know what’s going on. Here’s some ideas, let’s get down to work, do something.” Ideas include having tribal nations create policies to govern data access and prevent exploitation. Dillabaugh says this often happens when the federal government or universities want to collect genetic data about tribes. He wants tribes to have more of a say about how that data is used. Two community members in Galena, Alaska stand on the shore of the Yukon River, which no longer feeds their families. (Courtesy Arctic Yukon Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium) Three tribal organizations from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta have launched a new resource page for their ongoing salmon advocacy partnership. The Association of Village Council Presidents, the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish commission launched a partnership called the Arctic Yukon Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium (AYKTC) in 2002. A press release from the organization says the goal is to protect the ways of life associated with salmon, by focusing on policy and advocacy rooted in science and Indigenous knowledge. The tribal organizations have shown public support for a state Board of Fisheries proposal that would reduce salmon fishing time in Area M, and have advocated for bycatch caps and migratory corridor closures in the Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery. Its new website salmonpeople.org serves as a center for testimonials and resources for salmon advocacy. It features a collection of news stories and accounts documenting the impact of Western Alaska salmon crashes on the lives of the people who live in the region. It also aims to be a landing page where people can learn about current fisheries policies and engage in advocacy. This story was provided by KYUK's Samantha Watson 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, April 27, 2026 – Wide disparities persist when encountering ancestors' remains

More than 400 athletes from over 100 communities gathered in Anchorage, Alaska for this year's Native Youth Olympic games, held April 16-18 at the Alaska Airlines Center. Among them was Mila Neely, a sophomore at Juneau-Douglas High School (Yadaa.at Kalé) in Juneau, Alaska, but for Neely, the competition went beyond physical strength. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, with family roots in Oklahoma, where her ancestors, including her great, great, great, great grandmother, were forced to walk the Trail of Tears. When she was nine years old, she retraced that history alongside her father and great grandfather. “It's kind of indescribable… to just stand where your ancestors stand… when my grandma was walking the Trail of Tears, she was thinking of me.” Neely says that experience continues to shape how she approaches the games. “For the games… especially when I'm doing seal hop… I'll be like, ‘My grandma walked the Trail of Tears, I can make it to the end.’” She also sees connections between Cherokee traditions and Alaska Native values, rooted in community strength. “Our ancestors… they really just wanted other people to do good… because if they didn't do good, their family might go hungry.” For Neely, every event carries a deeper purpose. “I hope I'd be making her proud… trying to make my ancestors proud, and keep our culture alive.” She says she is competing not just for herself, but for the generations who came before her, and those still to come. Turtle Mountain Community College. (Courtesy Wanda Parisien) For the second year in a row, the Trump administration is proposing to end all funding for the nation's tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). As Brian Bull of Buffalo's Fire reports, administrators are rallying against the proposal. The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has blasted the White House's proposed cuts, saying it is deeply concerned that the Trump budget for Fiscal Year 2027 “does not align with the Administration's stated policies to support rural America and expand access to higher education.” Last year's proposed budget cuts never came to pass, but Wanda Parisien president of Turtle Mountain Community College, in Belcourt, N.D., says this renewed call is a disheartening prospect. “Our programs are gonna be cut, so we're gonna have fewer students because those programs won't be offered. If we have fewer students, we're not going to have the money to pay our instructors. We live in a poverty-stricken area.” Another tribal institution of higher learning is Nueta, Hidatsa, and Sahnish Community College in Fort Berthold. Its president Twyla Baker says she and other administrators will be working with congressional representatives to challenge this proposed cut. “Our representatives are highly cognizant of the fact that we are economic drivers in our communities. The TCUs — we generated $3.8 billion for the U.S. economy and supported over 40,000 jobs in healthcare and government and retail.” Besides the disruption caused, should the cuts to tribal colleges and universities be implemented, tribal administrators say it would be a violation of the federal government's trust and treaty obligation to tribes. Tomi Kay Phillips is president of Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, N.D. She is cautiously optimistic the funding cut will be thwarted, eventually. “I believe that we will get the funding, it just doesn't make sense for them not to fund us. Y'know, we make do with what we have if we have to. Our ancestors went through worse things. And we will always be okay.” The proposed cut to tribal colleges and universities comes to roughly $160 million and includes TCUs, institutes operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIA), technical colleges, and scholarships. It came through the U.S. Interior Department, helmed by former Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND). A request for comment on the proposal to Sec. Burgum was not answered. 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, April 20, 2026 — Native Bookshelf: “Python's Kiss” by Louise Erdrich

There are no casinos or lotteries in Alaska. The state has some of the most restrictive gaming laws in the country, but the small Dena’ina Athabascan Village of Eklutna, located in Anchorage's municipality, is pushing the envelope on tribal gaming rights in the state. The Chin’an Gaming Hall is still open even after a year of legal disputes and threats by the state to close its doors. The village is also at the forefront of climate advocacy in southcentral Alaska. They have been working to restore their river’s namesake and salmon habitat. We’ll speak with the Eklutna’s president Aaron Leggett, live from the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage, an annual gathering of policymakers, diplomats, Indigenous leaders, and stakeholders. We’ll also hear from Alaska Native elders and subsistence rights advocates from St. Lawrence Island about whaling and contamination from a former military site on the island. GUESTS Aaron Leggett (Dena'ina Athabascan), president of the Village of Eklutna Vi Waghiyi (Yupik), environmental health and justice program director at the Alaska Community Action on Toxics Merle Apassingok (Yupik), elder and leader from the Native Village of Gambell Dr. Sara Olsvig (Inuit), chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council

Sam Davenport writes the AK IRL newsletter. It dissects Alaska reality television as entertainment and as a cultural lens that shapes how Alaska is perceived from the Outside — an idea often signaled right from the start in show titles filled with buzzwords like wild, survival, and frontier. As if there's a checklist for how Alaska gets branded and sold. She writes about the manufactured drama, the narrative structure, the way reality TV can feel like a funhouse mirror — recognizable, but distorted. And yet, within that distortion, there are moments of truth. Shows like Deadliest Catch have introduced millions of viewers to the commercial fishing industry, offering glimpses into lives they might otherwise never encounter. There's a reason people keep watching these reality shows about Alaska: there's a fascination with remoteness, solitude, escapism, and the idea of living outside the noise.  But Sam also looks at what gets left out of these shows. The recurring image of Alaska as an empty, unpeopled wilderness erases the Alaska Native communities who have lived on and stewarded this land for thousands of years. She points to how exaggeration, assumption, and spectacle can flatten the complexity of a place into something consumable, and how that flattening has consequences. Some shows approach that responsibility with more care than others, but the broader pattern of Alaska as novelty, extremity, and myth persists. From fishing boats to gold mines to even dating shows, the state has become a stage where outsiders project their fantasies. And what Sam's newsletter does is turn that image back onto itself, reflecting both Alaska and the assumptions and expectations of the people watching it.

Elizabeth Peratrovich is most well-known for her work to pass Alaska’s Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945. But her story also has more to it than that act. Research: Anchorage Museum. “Elizabeth Peratrovich.” https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/exhibits/extra-tough-women-of-the-north/women-of-the-north-profiles/elizabeth-peratrovich-major-force-behind-alaskas-anti-discrimination-bill/ Arnett, Jessica Leslie. “Unsettled Rights in Territorial Alaska.” Western Historical Quarterly, AUTUMN 2017, Vol. 48, No. 3 (AUTUMN 2017), pp. 233-254. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26782857 Boochever, Ann with Roy Peratrovich Jr. “Fighter in Velvet Gloves.” University of Alaska Press. 2019. Boochever, Ann. “Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich.” Sealaska Heritage Institute. 11/19/2021. Via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzvcc1UlrMw Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. “A Recollection of Civil Rights Leader Elizabeth Peratrovich.” August 1991. http://www.alaskool.org/projects/native_gov/recollections/peratrovich/default.htm Coen, Ross. “Elizabeth Peratrovich Day.” The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Summer 2021, Vol. 112, No. 3 (Summer 2021), pp. 107-123. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27165253 Cole, Terrence M. “Jim Crow in Alaska: The Passage of the Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945.” Western Historical Quarterly , Nov., 1992, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Nov., 1992), pp. 429-449. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/970301 Davis, Jennifer. “Elizabeth Peratrovich, Civil and Voting Rights Activist.” In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress. Library of Congress Blogs. 11/1/2021. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2021/11/elizabeth-peratrovich-civil-and-voting-rights-activist/ Guise, Holly Miowak. “Listening to Generations of Activists: Truly Remembering Elizabeth Peratrovich.” Indian Country Today. 2/16/2021. https://ictnews.org/opinion/listening-to-generations-of-activists-truly-remembering-elizabeth-peratrovich/ Haycox, Stephen W. “William Paul, Sr., and the Alaska Voters' Literacy Act of 1925.” Alaska History, Vol. 2., No. 1, (Winter 1986/87). http://www.alaskool.org/native_ed/articles/literacy_act/LiteracyTxt.html Johnson, Erik. “The 19th Amendment, Elizabeth Peratrovich, and the Ongoing Fight for Equal Rights.” National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/dena-history-peratrovich.htm Juneau Empire. “Mrs. Roy Peratrovich Sr. Dies in Seattle Hospital following Lengthy Illness.” 12/2/1958. National Park Service. “Alberta Schenck: Teenage Activist.” https://www.nps.gov/people/alberta-schenck.htm Page, Marisa. “Honoring the Women Paving the Path to Equity.” First Nations. https://www.firstnations.org/news/honoring-the-women-paving-the-path-to-equity/ Schenck, Alberta. “To Whom It May Concern.” The Nome Nugget. 3/3/1944. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/assets/timeline/000/000/342/342_w_full.jpg Silverman, Jeffry Lloyd and Phil Lucas, directors. “For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska.” Lincoln, NE. Vision Maker Media. 2008. “Super Race Theory Hit In Hearing.” The Daily Alaska Empire. 2/6/1945. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045499/1945-02-06/ed-1/?sp=8&st=pdf Swensen, Thomas Michael. “The Relationship between Indigenous Rights, Citizenship, and Land in Territorial Alaska: How the Past Opened the Door to the Future.” GROWING OUR OWN: INDIGENOUS RESEARCH, SCHOLARS, AND EDUCATION Proceedings from the Alaska Native Studies Conference (2015). Twyman, Abby. “Alaskans and the Nation Celebrate Elizabeth Peratrovich.” Discover Prince of Wales Island. https://discoverpowisland.com/alaskans-and-the-nation-celebrate-elizabeth-peratrovich/ Vaughan, Carson. “Overlooked No More: Elizabeth Peratrovich, Rights Advocate for Alaska Natives.” New York Times. March 20, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/obituaries/elizabeth-peratrovich-overlooked.html Weingroff, Richard F. “Who Is Elizabeth Peratrovich? The Story Behind the Country's First Anti-Discrimination Law.” U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. https://highways.dot.gov/highway-history/general-highway-history/who-elizabeth-peratrovich-story-behind-countrys-first-anti Christen, Morgan. “Alaska Native Women’s Long Road to Suffrage.” Western Legal History, Vol. 30, No. 1-2. https://www.njchs.org/wp-content/uploads/wlh_30-1_crp_color1.pdf “Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood.” EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/alaska-native-brotherhood-and-alaska-native-sisterhood Drucker, Philip. “The native brotherhoods : modern intertribal organizations on the Northwest coast.” Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Printing office. 1958. https://archive.org/details/nativebrotherhoo0168druc/ Haycox, Stephen W. “William Paul, Sr., and the Alaska Voters' Literacy Act of 1925 .” Alaska History, Vol. 2., No. 1, (Winter 1986/87). http://www.alaskool.org/native_ed/articles/literacy_act/literacytxt.html Peratrovich, Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich. Letter to Governor Ernest Gruening. 12/30/1941. https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/collection/cdmg41/id/1176/rec/4?fbclid=IwY2xjawQSoR9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFSUTluVjJHRVlpVTlvcFhYc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHq36iDmGp2t6h-sfgereAekSEHRQii-E6uBse3GvIQAw-72DcoQffc-LWxRO_aem_MECxGHPbZdPWw-7iUjGeow See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.