National Native News

This week, the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund hosted its biennial tribal water symposium in partnership with the Western States Water Council.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, Interior Department (DOI) officials took time to reassure tribes that the Trump administration is behind them – despite recent staffing cuts and Congress clawing back federal dollars.

Some of the federal agency’s top-ranking water officials encouraged tribes to come up with very creative solutions. As for the Colorado River and its ongoing negotiations, they warned that consensus is needed before 2026. 

Otherwise, DOI will be forced to step...

Photo courtesy Gila River Police Department / Facebook

Members of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona recently revealed that the tribe’s police chief was fired following a July town hall meeting to address violent crime across the nearly 600-square-mile reservation south of Phoenix, Ariz.

While leaders would not publicly confirm these claims, KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has new details.

In a Sunday social media post, the Gila River Indian Community confirmed that Jesse Crabtree is no longer the tribe’s chief of police.

He has been replaced by Crimin...

Photo: A sign welcomes travelers to the Navajo Nation on July 13, 2021. (Katherine Davis-Young / KJZZ)

A pair of rural counties in eastern Arizona could soon start seeing significant investments in fiber and broadband networks.

The funding is part of a multi-state settlement with two national telecommunications companies.

KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on how it may help some tribal members get connected.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that Frontier and Verizon have agreed to spend $8 million across Navajo and Apache counties, home to some of the state’s biggest landbase trib...

Photo: Chilkat Indian Village environmental staff and outside researchers stand on the 23-mile slide area during a site visit in June. (Avery Ellfeldt / KHNS)

The Native village of Klukwan, just north of Haines, Alaska is grappling with landslide risk that’s intensifying with climate change. It’s also posing a major obstacle to the community’s growth.

The village is in the thick of a research project to better understand the threat – and as Avery Ellfeldt reports for the Alaska Desk, residents hope the information will guide housing development in the years to come.

Decade...

A lack of reliable infrastructure is tied to worse health and economic outcomes for kids in rural Alaska.

That’s according to panelists at the final day of Arctic Encounter, a symposium that just wrapped up in Anchorage, Alaska last week.

Francine Moreno of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium says Alaska has the lowest rate of in-home plumbing in the nation, which directly leads to health issues.

“Without plumbed water, Alaska Native children are hospitalized with RSV five times higher than the United States. The hospitalization for pneumonia is 11 times higher than in the...

Photo: The Native Professional Advancement Center classroom training participant Dominique Bluehorse (Diné) was the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute 2024 Student of the Year. (Courtesy National Indian Youth Council / Facebook)

More than half of Native Americans in New Mexico live in urban areas and many rely on programs to help them transition from the reservation to cities, including workforce training.

But the Trump administration is proposing federal cuts that could defund such programs.

Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more.

The Native Professional Advancement Center was founded in 1961 when advocates demanded the Bu...

The Gila River Indian Community south of Phoenix, Ariz. has been grappling with guns and gang violence, largely involving juveniles.

The tribe quietly fired its police chief earlier this month, days after a town hall meeting to address the issues.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the tribe has refused to explain why.

The reservation covers about 600 square miles, with many of the tribe’s 20,000 members living on it.

Complaints have included gang violence and even cartel activity.

Gila River Police Chief Jesse Crabtree fielded most of the questions duri...

It’s been an up and down week for former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo).

On the up side, Sec. Haaland has been deemed the 2025 recipient of the Chief Standing Bear Prize for Courage.

The Nebraska Examiner reports that Haaland – the first Native person to serve as a cabinet secretary who addressed the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis and the oppressive legacy of federal boarding schools – will receive the honor on October 13 in Lincoln, Neb.

The non-profit Chief Standing Bear Project recognizes those people who embody the spirit of the famed...

Photo: St. Paul Island, Alaska. (mazaletel / Flickr)

With the stroke of a pen Thursday, President Donald Trump has rescinded more than $1 billion in Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds.

Buffalo’s Fire reports this loss will hit both large operations, including Koahnic Broadcasting, and especially small stations, such as KUHB on St. Paul’s Island in the Bering Sea.

Such stations are very tribally centered in their talk, music, and news programming – and managers are hard-pressed to know how to replace the lost funds while preserving Native culture and traditions.

An app called...

Photo: Mescalero Apache Conservation Officers with BIA OJS Officers participating in Active Shooter Training in 2022. (Courtesy Mescalero Apache Tribe / Facebook)

Officials with the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico recently told state lawmakers during an interim legislative meeting that they’re concerned about the impact of potential cuts to federal law enforcement on the reservation.

Jeanette DeDios has more.

The Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee held its interim hearing in Mescalero.

Vice President of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, Duane Duffy estimates that there could be a 20-to-30% decrease in fe...

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  Alaska Native villages seek to harness power of ocean for energy   Kirkland one step closer to becoming head of Indian Affairs

  Carney addresses Indigenous summit about Building Canada Act   Nez to face off with Crane for House seat instead of Nygren rematch   Tribal Access to Clean Water bill reintroduced in Congress

  Burgum, Bondi visit Alcatraz as Native activists push back on plan   Some tribal stations may close after Trump claws back CPB funding   NCAI opposes Trump's revival of 'racist mascots' in DC, Cleveland

  New app teaches Dena'ina language to the next generation   California Indian Nations College celebrates $10m state investment   Trump wants DC NFL, Cleveland MLB teams to restore previous names

  Regional Food Business Centers program cut by USDA this week   Senate holds Kirkland hearing for Indian Affairs secretary nomination

  Senate passes bill to cut CPB funding for public, tribal stations   Alaska Native designer of state flag celebrated in honor of first raising   Ramos to present $10m check to California Indian Nations College

  Congress, USDA have yet to act on year-old food insecurity report   Miccosukee Tribe joins lawsuit against Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'   Omaha tribal council adopts cannabis code after Nebraska OKs medical

  Trump may defy son's opposition to Pebble Mine in Alaska with deal   Alaska Native whaling captains get Murkowski carveout in Trump tax bill   Davids urges restoration of Not Invisible Act Commission report

  Dental services to be added to Fallon Paiute-Shoshone mobile clinic   Arizona launches Turquoise Alert system to help MMIP response

  Manitoba wildfires cause more evacuations of First Nations   Team finds evidence of Shuyak Island villages from 7,000 years ago   Native leaders slam far-right influencer Coulter for 'careless comments'

  Mobile clinic links tribal members to quality care where they live   Yurok project connects rural members to high-speed broadband

  Federal judge dismisses one of two lawsuits against Eklutna Tribe   Indigenous leaders feel betrayed by passage of Canada's Bill C-5

  'Some tribal colleges will die quickly and others will die slowly'   Coulter slammed for 'ignorant', 'genocidal language' in X post   Kirkland's Senate nomination hearing for DOI post scheduled this month

  Tribal colleges brace for devasting impact of major funding cuts   Congress working with White House to protect tribal radio stations   Nygren, Hobbs meet at command center as Oak Ridge Fire eases up

  Nez Perce firefighters step up as numbers dwindle nationwide   Death certificate divide exposed in new study on Native healthcare   Suina to strengthen state-Tribal early childhood partnerships in new role

  Murkowski cast deciding vote for bill formerly known as OBBB   Florida tribes object to Everglades immigration facility 'Alligator Alcatraz'   Washington state leaders sound alarm over Native overdose rates

  EPA failed to distribute millions in tribal water funding - federal audit   Residents of communities near Arizona's Oak Ridge Fire evacuated   Curious birders flock to festival in Alaska's northernmost community

  Ontario's Ford apologizes to First Nations leaders for Bill 5 slurs   Two-spirit justice of the peace in Arizona celebrates Pride month   World Peace Gathering in Ireland celebrates Choctaw famine donation

  Native Americans underreported on death certificates - new study   Forever stamps celebrating powwows unveiled by US postal service

  Job Corps closure temporarily paused by federal judge   Dallas renames three Trinity River lakes after tribes   New study reveals health gaps for Colorado's Native community   Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribal housing plans in flux

  Oregon food group grows a little taste of home for Native Hawaiians   SHI seeks identification help with its new Alaska Native photo collection

  Nez Perce Tribe steps up as firefighter numbers dwindle in Idaho   RECA compensation renewal is part of Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill'   Chickasaw food expert Simms Hipp receives Woman of the Year award

  Apache Stronghold trying to revive Oak Flat religious freedom case   New book includes Alaska Native place names for glaciers   Remember the Removal ride concludes in Oklahoma after 950 miles   Kennedy swears in Cruz as senior advisor to IHS secretary

  New Oregon welcome center rises from ashes of Holiday Farm Fire   Uncertainty and hope around tribal water rights under Trump

  Newly released footage of Standing Rock Sioux MMIP in Mandan   Arizona tribes report signficant progress with Trump on water rights   On this day in 1868, De Smet and Chief Sitting Bull negotiate peace

  Miccosukee Tribe seeks to protect threatened species in Everglades   Alcatraz Island's history as dramatic as Hollywood portrayals

  Some federal housing funding for tribes uncertain amid GOP cuts   Hopi Tribe's 'horrible' and 'miserable' history with Alcatraz Island   On this day in 1876, Lakota Sioux warriors surprise US in Rosebud battle

  Schmieding delivers commencement address at alma mater UO   Hoonah unveils new totem pole in celebration of fishing history