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KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. is congratulating U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee/R-OK). On Thursday, President Donald Trump nominated Sen. Mullin as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Mullin would be the first Native American man to become a U.S. cabinet secretary if confirmed. Chief Hoskin said in a statement that having a Cherokee Nation citizen serve within the U.S. Cabinet is a mark of high esteem for his tribe. Hoskin says the appointment reflects the resilience and leadership of Cherokee people. Arizona Humanities is once again teaming up with an Indigenous nonprofit to organize an all-day celebration of a unique food from the Southwest. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on Saturday's gathering. Blue corn is not only nutritious, it is also synonymous with traditional ceremonies across this arid land. Amber McCrary (Diné) is programs manager with Arizona Humanities and she says that is why, for the second year running, a festival named after this desert crop is taking root in downtown Phoenix. “It's always been there in my life and I would just like to see it kind of become this bigger thing that we all will celebrate together.” This time around, the festival is tied to a Smithsonian initiative where each state is responsible for hosting a single folklife event this year, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. And for Arizona, that theme is blue corn – through food, art, and storytelling – even down to the wardrobe, says co-organizer Kinsale Drake (Diné), founder of the NDN Girls Book Club. “If you are coming to the festival, wear your best blue. … We have a dress code.” Kyle Watson, 12, taught himself to dance by coming to the Alaska Native Medical Center Hospital lobby every Wednesday. (Photo: Matt Faubion / Alaska Public Media) You can count on it, like the steady beat of a Native drum. Every Wednesday night, dancers across the generations fill up the hospital lobby at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. But as KNBA's Rhonda McBride tells us, the kids are the ones to watch. These days, we see mostly see Alaska Native dance groups on the stage, but in the hospital lobby, the dancing is not meant to be a performance. Instead, a shared experience. The rhythms are almost hypnotic, yet the dancers are fully present. Everyone is seated, within a circle of sound and motion that spirals out from a small group of drummers. “In Yup'ik, we say Yuraq. Not dance.” Kyle Watson (Yup’ik), a 12-year-old sixth grader at Mears Middle School in Anchorage, is here every Wednesday. His movements are precise, as if every fiber of his being snaps to the beat of the drum. “It just makes me happy.” Once Kyle is here, he says any anger or sadness fades away. The Yuraq demands his full attention. “I keep on learning about Yup'ik words. And I keep on learning about dance motions too.” And then, as if he Is channeling something from another time and place. The excitement that comes out of Kyle's throat comes from way-down deep, a throwback to a technique his ancestors used to excite the dancers and encourage them to pick up their pace. Kyle's grandfather Percy Alexie usually stands in the back of the room to watch. “I'm proud of him. He makes it fun. He makes it fun. He goes around and meets people. And I enjoy meeting other people that enjoy watching him too. And I'm proud to say, he taught himself. He taught himself and it's just over a year now.” Group leader Ossie Kairairuak (Yup’ik) says this dance gathering is going on its sixteenth year – and by far, the best part is watching kids like Kyle. “Kids in their most pure form can never do wrong. This kid is purely motivated to learn those songs by heart. And let his body, let his feelings express it. He has that gift. And it's fun to watch. And it's fun to embrace. And let him be who he was meant to be.” Kairairiak says Kyle's voice is an echo from the spirit world, proof of what his mother always told him – that our ancestors are always with us. 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, March 6, 2026 — Notable events: Heard Museum art fair and Native culture in miniature
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published numbers on how many employees left the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) during President Donald Trump's first year in office. BIA focused on reducing its federal workforce through layoffs and hiring freezes. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. The 31-page report finds that more than 800 employees were gone by last July. That is roughly 11%. When such restructuring occurs, BIA is supposed to notify tribes in advance. “Tribal leaders told us that the consultations happened after the staff reductions.” Anna Maria Ortiz is director of GAO's natural resources and environmental team. “It's resulting in the loss of a lot of institutional knowledge. It's very hard for BIA to fulfill its mission.” BIA did not offer a comment to GAO on its report, but tells KJZZ it is committed to increasing efficiency, accountability, and support for tribal self-determination. (Courtesy CSPAN) Since assuming his second presidential term last year, Trump has leveled several executive orders that have affected Two Spirits and the Native LGBTQ+ community. Brian Bull (Nez Perce) of Buffalo's Fire reports. Trump's decree for federal agencies is to only recognize “male” and “female” as genders, determined at conception. Trump has also banned gender-affirming care for youth. Elton Naswood is the executive director of the Two Spirit and Native LGBTQ+ Center for Equity. He says, as the White House began its onslaught against his community last year, he reached out to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), which reactivated its Two-Spirit Task Force. “I had heard a community member express the frustration of ‘Why our people are not protecting us?’ Just that simple phrase really hit me, and instilled some type of advocacy tactic to be able to begin to highlight the issues of how the Trump administration’s executive orders were going to impact our communities.” Before colonization, Two Spirits were accepted and even seen as sacred in many tribes, but over the past few centuries, Western attitudes have sparked intolerance and harassment against them and Native LGBTQ+ people. Naswood says resolutions from the NCAI help, as does carrying on events like the annual Bay Area American Indian Two Spirit Powwow. Just being among community is healing, he adds. (Courtesy BLM) Western Washington communities are applauding the state house and senate for including full wildfire prevention funding in their proposed budgets. Isobel Charle has more. The decisions honor a previous legislative commitment. Glenn Ellis Jr. is a board member of The Nature Conservancy and a member of the Makah Tribe. The Makah reservation sits on the north end of the Olympic Peninsula – one of the rainiest places in the country. Ellis notes that while people rarely associate the peninsula with fire, recent years have proven otherwise. “Three years ago, we had two fires sprout up during November. It’s just crazy to think that fire could spread in a place like this during that time. We get 119 inches of rain a year. We’re a temperate rainforest.” Funds from what was known as H.B. 1168, that passed five years ago, have helped 175 small forest landowners in three counties reduce wildfire risk through thinning and prescribed burns. 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, March 4, 2026 — Fighting to preserve hard-won gains in K-12 lessons about Native Americans
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
A state task force in Alaska released recommendations last month for making psychedelic therapy available, if treatments are approved at the federal level. Alaska Public Media's Rachel Cassandra has the story. The Alaska state legislature established a task force in 2024 to examine psychedelic therapies, which hold a lot of promise but are still considered experimental. Jennie Armstrong is a former state representative who was on the task force. She says the group tackled questions like how to make therapy accessible and how to offer safe and culturally competent care. “The whole point of the task force was to bring up these types of questions so we’re not scratching our heads when this becomes medicalized and scrambling and being reactive, but we’re actually being proactive.” The task force did not take a stance on whether psychedelic therapies are good or bad, but recommends Alaska incorporate them as they are legalized nationally. None of the task force's recommendations are binding, but Armstrong says they are meant to guide legislators on the types of laws the state would need to offer access. Armstrong says the task force recommends incorporating a training program for therapists and healthcare providers who want to guide therapy. “Everyone needs to go through this type of training, because just being a doctor doesn’t make you qualified to facilitate this type of care.” And she says the aim is to make training accessible so a diversity of people can become certified. She says that would ensure people getting treated are a good fit with the person who guides them. Armstrong says Alaskans could benefit a lot from psychedelic therapies if they are legalized. That is because the state has such high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and other mental illnesses. Psychedelic therapies are being studied to treat those disorders and Armstrong says some of the research is promising. “There are so many folks who, through these trials, went from being suicidal and having treatment resistant depression, unable to work, unable to function, to being in remission within months.” She says that can change how people and communities can thrive. There is a new career pathway for tribal students looking at wildland firefighting jobs. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on the partnership between the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Highschoolers across six BIE-run schools are participating, including Northwest High School in Shiprock, Ariz. on the Navajo Nation. Carmelia Becenti (Diné) is chief academic officer for BIE. She credits President Donald Trump's executive order on “expanding educational freedom”. “This just happened to occur organically.” They are also pitching the curriculum to colleges. Garth Fisher is with the BIA Division of Wildland Fire Management. “We are trying to somewhat steer them towards being stewards of our lands. That doesn't always happen.” Fisher says they are teaching coursework about leadership, fire suppression, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) readiness. Once done, students put their training to the test during a field day. “They get to put the gear on, how it feels. They get to look like a firefighter.” That equipment is expensive, says Becenti, which is why the BIE is buying it now. “And that way, year after year, as we recruit more students at these schools and across the bureau, you know, we have this {#[Personal Protective Equipment] PPE that we can use over and over and over.” 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, March 2, 2026 — Native crews help solve the growing marine trash problem
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
Canadian energy firm Enbridge will reimburse a northern Wisconsin county for the cost of policing protests expected with construction of the company's Line 5 reroute. As Danielle Kaeding reports, the Ashland County board approved the deal Tuesday. The Wisconsin Counties Association negotiated an agreement where Enbridge will reimburse local governments for public safety costs tied to the Line 5 project in northern Wisconsin. Funds will be deposited into an escrow account managed by the association. Some residents worried the deal would turn local authorities into a private security force. Bad River tribal member Edith Leoso warned against signing the agreement to get reimbursed by Enbridge. “They will feed you what you want to hear, and then they will take everything from this area and leave you to pick up the pieces.” An Enbridge spokesperson said the company volunteered to fund the account. Enbridge also said it received a final US Army Corps permit that the company says will allow construction to move forward, but state approvals for the project are being challenged in court. Enbridge previously paid millions for public safety costs tied to protests of its Line 3 replacement project in Minnesota. ZenniHome founder Bob Worsley shares his excitement about opening up his facility in 2024 atop the former Navajo Generating Station near Page, Ariz. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) A civil lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona alleges a factory on the Navajo Nation was “squandering millions on improper and mysterious expenditures” before suddenly shutting down in July. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. The Albuquerque, N.M.-based firm Indigenous Design Studio + Architecture (IDSA) alleges that Mesa subcontractor ZenniHome breached its $50 million deal to build 160 modular homes. “There's a whole lot of money that got dumped into Zenni and obviously only to produce 18 homes, it's a mystery how that occurred.” Attorney Jay Curtis says IDSA is looking to repair the reputation of its founder, Tamarah Begay, in addition to recouping roughly $22 million from the American Rescue Plan Act for the Navajo Nation. ZenniHome CEO Bob Worsley says there will not be a refund of any amount. “No, the money is gone … It's not sitting in somebody's account somewhere, so the company has been liquidated. There's no more assets. It's just almost theater when we spent every dime they gave us, and about $4 million more than that – out of my pocket – so yeah, that's not going to happen.” Worsley also faces a separate federal class action lawsuit after laying off more than 200 employees last year. Rex Lee Jim, Vice President of the Navajo Nation prepares notes prior to a media call in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Radio Studio in Washington, D. C., Monday, March. 3, 2015. (Photo: Bob Nichols / USDA) Former Navajo Nation Vice President Rex Lee Jim is being remembered for his advocacy for Navajo people, including in education and culture, and as an international diplomat. Jim served as vice president from 2011 to 2015 with Navajo President Ben Shelly. He also served on the Navajo council, was a poet, playwright, author, and traditional medicine man. The Navajo Nation Council said Jim passed away on Tuesday and recognized his dedication to Navajo people, cultural preservation, and global Indigenous advocacy. JoAnn Chase (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), is being remembered for strengthening NCAI's national presence and advocating for Native rights. Chase served as executive director from 1994 to 2001. In a statement Tuesday, NCAI said of Chase's passing that her leadership help the organization become stronger and more visible, working with tribal leaders, Congress, and others. She later worked in philanthropy, policy, and arts, including most recently serving as vice chair of the board for the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. 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, February 25, 2026 — The Menu: Commod Bods, a standout frybread stand, and Afro-Indigenous mutual aid in Minneapolis
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning news podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning news podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest story of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
Audio available by 12 p.m. EST For decades, Native women and other women of color were subjected to forced sterilization by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. New Mexico lawmakers introduced a memorial last week to create a truth and reconciliation commission that would conduct a study into the history, and continuing impacts of this abuse. KUNM's Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has this report. Senate memorial 14 includes research dating to the 1970s which shows between 25%-50% of Indigenous women ere sterilized, with some of the highest incidents occurring in New Mexico. The memorial would develop a plan to create a state truth and reconciliation commission to research and find all cases of sterilization in the state, gather survivor testimony, and review and recommend educational policy. Keely Badger is a human rights advocate who wrote her dissertation on the forced sterilization of Native women. Lawmakers asked her about challenges finding and accessing records. “I do think that the requests have to come from an official state body, official agencies, to get to the heart of this information. It is going to be more than one person’s ability to accumulate this information.” She says this may have been intentional by the states. “At a national level, they have sealed some of these records for a reason, in the same way that a lot of the information about the boarding school system was very challenging; took decades and decades of research to accumulate to get to a point where we could have a national apology. “I believe that this is one of those situations where it is going to require real political will and advocacy from civil society groups to get to the real heart of this from a national perspective.” If the memorial goes into law, New Mexico would be the first state in the nation to formally investigate and acknowledge these violations. The memorial will head to the senate floor for a vote and if passed, will go to the House of Representatives. White Mountain Apache Chairman Kasey Velasquez speaks about the significance of the Apache trout in Mesa, Ariz. on September 4, 2024. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ Thousands of members from the White Mountain Apache Tribe went to the polls last week to vote in a primary election that resulted in the sitting chairman losing his chance at another term. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports. In a three-way race, Chairman Kasey Velasquez earned a little over 400 votes, while his challengers both received nearly four times as much, according to the tribe's election commission. In the end though, longtime Whiteriver school board member Orlando Carroll got the most votes by a margin of more than 50 ballots. He will face off against Councilman Gary Alchesay in the April general election. Also on Wednesday, the tribe announced that a special prosecutor declined to criminally charge Velasquez under tribal law for allegations of sexual harassment against the HR director. A civil investigation by the tribe is still ongoing. And you will be seeing lots of commemorative Seahawks swag now that Seattle's NFL team has won Super Bowl 60. The ‘hawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13. The BBC reports that many Native American and First Nations people appreciate the team's logo. Turns out, it is based on a carved transformation mask from the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation from the late 1800s. The logo was chosen by the Seahawk's manager in the 1970s. Seattle's Burke Museum traced the origins of it to a photo of a ceremonial mask in an old art book. This led them to the Hudson Museum in Maine. The mask was loaned to Seattle for a ceremony with tribal members and team representatives. The BBC reports that, unlike other major league sports teams, the Seahawks logo has not sparked backlash because it respectfully borrows from Indigenous culture and does not resort to racist stereotypes. Some Indigenous people from Canada and the U.S. say it has inspired them to learn more of their own culture. A ceremony and parade for the Seahawks will be held in Seattle Wednesday morning. 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 Native America Calling’s special coverage of the 2026 State of Indian Nations address Monday, February 9, 2026 – 2026 State of Indian Nations
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories on the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. it is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
Leaders of the North Slope village of Nuiqsut sued the U.S. Department of Interior on January 28, for canceling a key subsistence protection for a development project, as The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports. About a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued an agreement with Nuiqsut leaders that prohibited oil and gas development around Teshekpuk Lake, which is located in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The goal was to mitigate the harm that the ConocoPhillips' Willow project would have on caribou – a crucial subsistence resource for Nuiqsut residents. But last month, the Department of the Interior, which oversees BLM, canceled that agreement, saying it was improperly issued in the first place. In turn, Nuiqsut's leadership filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the cancellation was illegal. “We’re fighting to protect the area and think about the caribou.” George Tuukaq Sielak is the president of Nuiqsut's Kuukpik Corporation. He says the cancellation was disappointing and damaged the trust of Nuiqsut residents. “By pulling that right of way off, I mean, it’s just like throwing us away.” Department of Interior officials declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. When BLM approved the controversial Willow project in 2023, one condition was mitigating the harm on Teshekpuk Lake – a key habitat for the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd. And BLM signed a right-of-way agreement with Nuiqsut to meet that condition. That conservation measure was backed by the law that directs the Department of Interior to conduct oil and gas leasing in the reserve. The law also requires “maximum protection” for Teshekpuk Lake and other significant subsistence areas. M Sielak, with Kuupik Corporation, says that Nuiqsut residents are careful when they consider development projects so close to their home, but the promise of additional protections for caribou helped more residents to get on board with Willow. “We will support development in our area, as long as we work together to balance, such as what we’re doing here with a right of way.” But the Department of the Interior said that the federal law does not authorize such conservation measures when it canceled the right-of-way agreement. The department also said in its cancellation letter that right-of-way agreements are usually used to allow oil and gas activities, not prohibit them, and that the primary goal of the law regulating the reserve is to support oil and gas leasing, while subsistence protections come second. The department indicated that they expect to hold lease sales this winter, which may include the area around Teshekpuk lake. Nuiqsut leadership say they might consider legal avenues – like seeking injunctive relief – to protect the area, but no decision has been made yet. A moonson sunset at Massai Point inside Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona. (Photo: Ron Stewart / National Park Service) A bipartisan bill on Capitol Hill is looking to turn one of Arizona's federal monuments into the state's fourth national park behind Saguaro, the Petrified Forest, and the Grand Canyon. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. Established in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge, Chiricahua National Monument is known by many as the “Wonderland of Rocks”. From Geronimo to Cochise, this land is also steeped in Apache history, something the San Carlos Apache Tribe and neighboring Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico, want to see permanently protected. The effort is being led by U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) in the House. If passed, Arizona would tie fourth-overall with Colorado – behind Utah, Alaska, and California – for states with the most national parks. Yurok Chairman Joseph L James speaks at the 3rd Annual MMIP Tribal Policy Summit. (Courtesy Yurok Tribe / Facebook) California tribes are gathering this week for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) Tribal Policy Summit. The annual summit in its fourth year and is expected to draw tribal leaders, lawmakers, advocates, and victims' families. The theme is justice, healing, sovereignty, and solutions to the MMIP crisis. Two proposed pieces of legislation will be discussed: a bill to establish a MMIP Justice Program within the state justice department – and a bill to establish a Tribal Foster Care Prevention Program to prevent Indigenous children from entering the child welfare system, which advocates say is a MMIP pathway. The event is taking place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sacramento. 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 the latest episode of Native America Calling Monday, February 2, 2026 – Native Americans are compelled to respond to indiscriminate ICE pressure
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning news podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
From an Iñupiaq Wordle game to a new language immersion program, a wave of efforts to revitalize Iñupiaq language has been sweeping across northern Alaska. Last month, one Utqiaġvik artist received a Rasmuson award to create an Iñupiaq language workbook for kids. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more. Alaina Bankston has loved making art since she was a child. Now that she has a child of her own, she wants to use her art to help him learn the Iñupiaq language. Bankston is an Utqiaġvik artist who recently received a Rasmuson award to create a workbook that will do just that. She will spend a year designing and illustrating a primer for children that teaches the Iñupiaq alphabet and numbers. Bankston says her four-year-old son Qalayauq was her inspiration for the project. “It all kind of started with creating for him and being able to use those resources.” Bankston says she is still on her own language learning journey. She practices speaking with elders and uses dictionaries and the Rosetta Stone app. But Bankston says children learn differently than adults, and she wanted to create educational materials that catered to the youngest learners. “You start kindergarten, you have the whole workbook, you’re learning the alphabet, the numbers, the colors, and we have all that in English. But I’m like, what if we had that in Iñupiaq?” Bankston says some resources for learning Iñupiaq are available through the North Slope Borough School District, but she says regular parents might not have access to them. “It’s really born out of necessity. I’m sure there are resources out there … but they’re not something you could just go pick up at a store or buy online.” Bankston's project is just one example of the language revitalization efforts in the region. Two years ago, the school district restarted its Iñupiaq immersion program, and a few years before that, Alaska Native linguists created a digital Iñupiaq dictionary. And when the popular puzzle game Wordle took off across the country, local linguists and enthusiasts created an Iñupiaq version. “I think we’ve been making big strides recently … with the history of it, it’s definitely a dying language, but I think it’s important we keep it alive.” Bankston says everyone can do their part to preserve the language, and the workbook is one such step for her. Arizona Poet Laureate Laura Tohe (Diné) reads her poetry at the state Capitol on January 14, 2026. (Courtesy Arizona Capitol TV) A former Navajo Nation poet laureate has been named by Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) as the state's second-ever state poet. KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. Laura Tohe has dedicated her life to Indigenous literature, but doesn't want that identity to dominate her tenure. “I don't want people to think that again, you know, I'm just shifting from Navajo Nation to Arizona as a Navajo poet.” And part of her pledge is to help bring poetry to rural communities. While most living on the Navajo Nation have no choice but to haul essentials like water, coal, and wood from far away – for Tohe growing up, it was books. “I did…” Born in Fort Defiance, Ariz., Tohe remembers taking long road trips with her mother to the closest library across state lines in New Mexico. “We did make it to Gallup, and I got a library card. She wanted to make sure I had access.” The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is holding a hearing Wednesday in Washington, D.C., focusing on Native children. The hearing will examine the draft Native Children's Commission Implementation Act, which focuses on improving justice and safety outcomes for Native children. It includes Tribal-federal coordination on public safety, juvenile justice, and victim services. The hearing will be streamed live on the committee's website. 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 the latest episode of Native America Calling Wednesday, January 28, 2026 – Remembering visionary Indigenous journalist Dan David
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
Photo: A crowd congregates in Mesa, Ariz. where a roadside memorial remembering slain San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike was taken down nearly a year after she disappeared. (Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ) It was one year ago, on January 27, 2025, that San Carlos Apache teenager Emily Pike went missing from a Mesa, Ariz. group home. Her dismembered remains were discovered a month later in garbage bags more than 100 miles away. No arrests have been made, nor suspects named. Earlier this month, a memorial in Mesa marking where Emily was last seen alive got taken down. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, it's the latest rallying cry for justice in the 14-year-old girl's unsolved murder. “Who are we here for?” “Emily Pike.” “Then say her name.” “Emily Pike.” At the corner of Mesa Drive and McKellips Road, dozens of demonstrators met on a recent Saturday as cars drove by honking their horns. “Justice for who?” “Emily Pike.” “Justice for who?” “Emily Pike.” “Who do we love?” “Emily Pike.” “Who do we love?” “Emily Pike.” This is where Emily was last seen alive. Since her disappearance, a chain-link fence hugging the edge of a 28,000-square-foot vacant lot has become home to a roadside memorial for the slain Apache teen. And it just kept on growing as more shared her story. Visitors from near and far have flocked to this bustling intersection, adorned with flowers, stuffed animals, a banner of Emily's face, and lots of red ribbons – each markers of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) movement. That was, until someone suddenly took everything down earlier this month. No matter who did it, Jolene Shorty is still upset. “Look what you guys did. You took down her stuff. There is a respectful way. There is a traditional way to let things go. This is not the way.” For Shorty, she says this is the second tragedy to happen there. “But what I see here my people, what I see here my tribal nations, I see a clean slate, a clean slate to start over. … In a way, they almost helped us. We're going to come back and put up more stuff. We're going to honor them the way we're supposed to.” Delvina Charley (Diné) thinks taking down those mementos adds insult to injury. “This is the respect that we got … we're pushed to the side that our voices meant nothing, that she meant nothing. If this was a different privileged girl, it would have been handled differently.” Since the items were taken down, Emily's family has been in talks with the city of Mesa on planting a tree and placing a bench at Fitch Park – just a few blocks from her last known location. They're also in discussions with the Arizona Department of Transportation about putting up a highway sign honoring Emily at milepost 277 along US 60 near Globe – where her remains were found in the Tonto National Forest. “This girl lost her life thinking nobody cared.” Jared Marquez is San Carlos Apache and treasurer of the Turtle Island Women Warriors. “I've been there, being a 13-year-old kid, never talking to my parents, running around on the reservation, you know, nobody ever truly caring. And it's hard to think what this girl went through – a lot of us could have been through.” As for the investigation into Emily's murder, KJZZ asked the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Missing and Murdered Unit, and the lead agency, Gila County Sheriff's Office, for the status but did not receive any updates. The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) are hosting a webinar titled “Know Your Rights,” followed by a Q&A on Wednesday. NARF will provide practical guidance for Tribal citizens on interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The organizations say it is in response to growing concerns from across Indian Country. 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 the latest episode of Native America Calling Tuesday, January 27, 2026 – The concern over rising American imperialism to Indigenous people abroad and at home
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.
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