National Native News

The Iñupiat community of Kaktovik in northern Alaska is known as the polar bear capital of the U.S.

Hundreds of tourists used to flock to the village of about 250 people to see bears. But several years ago, the tours were halted because of opposition from residents.

The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more on what happened to the tours, and what the tribe is doing to revive them.

“There is polar bear ground right there.”

Nathan Gordon Jr. is driving his truck on the spi...

Photo: U.S. Reps. Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo/D-NM), left, Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk/D-KS), and Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee/R-OK), testify before a subcommittee on March 4, 2020 as members of the Native American Caucus. (Courtesy Rep. Markwayne Mullin)

The nomination of U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee/R-OK) to be the next Homeland Security secretary cleared a key committee vote after overcoming a cringeworthy confirmation hearing over his combative past comments.

Correspondent Matt Laslo reports on the bipartisan relationships the enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation has built over his decade in Washington.

Contrary to...

The nomination of U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation/R-OK) to become the next Homeland Security Secretary hit a rough patch Wednesday. 

Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lost the faith of President Donald Trump, but the pick to replace her, Sen. Mullin, lost the faith of the Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), for mocking him for being attacked by his neighbor nine years ago, as Matt Laslo reports.

“You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake’ and that you completely understood why I h...

Legal online sports betting in Wisconsin would have to go through in-state tribal computer servers, under a bi-partisan bill given final okay by the state legislature Tuesday.

Chuck Quirmbach reports.

Supporters and critics of online sports betting acknowledge it frequently occurs in Wisconsin.

Gamblers go through commercial companies like Draft Kings, but the Wisconsin Constitution says most legal betting can only occur on sovereign tribal properties here, regulated by state-tribal gaming compacts.

The just-passed bill by the legislature attempts to reinforce that online sports bets in the state must go through...

Prosecutors in South Dakota have dismissed charges against an Indigenous rights advocate.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s CJ Keene reports.

Charges stemming from a 2022 incident against Nick Tilsen, CEO and founder of NDN Collective, were dropped.

In a statement, Tilsen said, “my freedom wasn’t granted by a judge, a jury, or the settler colonial court system. My freedom was won by the people, the movement, and the ancestors.”

Tilsen faced more than 25 years in prison, originally facing charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and obstruction. Ultimately, the trial res...

The Chandler Museum in Arizona has a new exhibit called “Being Eddie Basha.”

It is a retrospective of the hometown-turned-statewide grocer who died in 2013.

And as KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, this 3,800 sq ft installation is all about unpacking the man behind the grocery king persona.

Chandler Museum’s storytelling coordinator, Sarah Biggerstaff, literally leaned on Basha’s own words for one interactive display.

“This is our telephone. There’s about 20 clips, and they range from, like, 20 seconds to a minute. You can pick it up, give it a couple seconds, but then you h...

This month, 34 bison were loaded into trailers at a park in Colorado’s foothills – and sent across the Mountain West region to tribal lands.

Rachel Cohen reports.

The bison are part of herds that the City and County of Denver has managed for almost a century. And since 2020, 170 animals have been gifted to tribes.

Jason Baldes is a member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe in Wyoming and works with the Intertribal Buffalo Council. He says Denver’s donations play a big role in bison restoration.

“Because there are so few animals in isola...

A new report shows access to nearby nature in the U.S. is not equal and the gap is closely tied to race and income.

Researchers say Indigenous communities are among those most affected.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more.

Communities of color are three times more likely than white communities to live in places with severe nature loss — fewer parks, fewer trees, more pollution.

That is thanks in part to resource extraction and the rapid development of natural spaces.

Researchers say that is significant for...

Photo: A scenic overview of the Colorado River from the Navajo Bridge near Jacob Lake. (Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ)

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has invited tribal leaders to testify on Capitol Hill today.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the Northeast Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act is the hearing’s subject.

This $5 billion deal would resolve claims for three parties, including the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe.

For San Juan Southern Paiute President Carlene Yellowhair, this proposal is not just about securing precious water in the Southwest.

If p...

A second funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) sought to create a safeguard for tribes getting caught up in immigration crackdowns.

Rep. Grijalva has been regularly meeting with tribal leaders from across southern Arizona, like the Pascua Yaqui, Tohono O’odham, and Gila River. She says they are all telling her the same thing.

“DHS must consult with tribes. They’re not doing it now. This administration doesn’t honor sovereignt...

Photo: Quannah Chasinghorse checks out the dog teams at the Iditarod ceremonial start on Saturday. Her mother, Jody Potts-Joseph, is rookie in the race. (Matt Faubion / Alaska Public Media)

Five Indigenous mushers and their dog teams are headed to Nome, Alaska.

KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports. (Desiree Hagen of KOTZ and Samantha Watson of KYUK contributed to this story)

The 1,000-mile Iditarod race got underway in Willow, north of Anchorage on Sunday.

A fresh blanket of snow covered the trail.

Two of the top contenders in a field of 37 mu...

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.

A new report by the Urban Institute based in Washington D.C. is looking closely at Native American tribes and their continued challenges with broadband infrastructure.

KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) spoke with Amanda Hermans, a research associate for the report, on how sovereignty comes into play.

Hermans says, as sovereign nations, Native American tribes have the right to govern their own digital infrastructure, which in the past was not possible.

“This was rooted in a history of you know them not having the ability to take sovereignty over their acces...

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 M...

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Little Bighorn, which is also called the Battle of the Greasy Grass or Custer’s Last Stand.

Ahead of commemorative events planned in late June near Crow Agency, Mont. are reports that the National Park Service (NPS) is removing signs sharing the Native perspective on the battle.

Brian Bull (Nez Perce) of Buffalo’s Fire reports.

In late January, the Washington Post reported that President Trump ordered the removal of signage through his so-called “restoring truth and sanity to American history” directive, which pushes a...

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 whol...

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees more than 12 million acres in Arizona alone.

And much like the rest of the West, it has public lands making up national monuments that hold value for tribes.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, President Donald Trump’s pick to run BLM pledged to respect them in his confirmation hearing this week.

During his first term, President Trump shrank the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah – only for President Joe Biden to restore them and name 10 new ones.

Former U.S. Rep. S...

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says she is willing to help a northern Wisconsin town get reimbursed for money it paid to access roads.

As Danielle Kaeding reports, the town of Lac du Flambeau made payments to the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa for access to four disputed roads.

Three years ago, the Lac du Flambeau tribe barricaded four roads after negotiations failed over expired easements on roads crossing tribal lands.

While roads later reopened, the town paid the tribe to maintain access. In a House judiciary committee hearing...

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 me...

A Lake Superior tribe wants a court to halt construction of a Canadian energy firm’s $450 million plan to reroute an oil and gas pipeline around its reservation in northern Wisconsin.

As Danielle Kaeding reports, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa asked a court last week to review a decision that upheld state permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 relocation project.

The Bad River tribe is challenging a recent decision by an administrative law judge that upheld wetlands and stormwater construction permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute.

Attorneys representing the tribe also filed...

Photo: The entrance to the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site in Ganado, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation. (Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ)

The Interior Department is reviewing signs posted at more than a dozen national parks and monuments as part of President Donald Trump’s agenda to “restore truth and sanity to American history”.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, one figure featured at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site on the Navajo Nation is now in the crosshairs.

To Navajos, Ganado Mucho (Many Cattle) is like a folk hero. He went on the “Lon...

Photo: A wide shot of the west side of the WélmeltiɁ Preserve in north Lake Tahoe, Calif. (Courtesy Elizabeth Carmel)

The Washoe Tribe announced its acquisition of more than 10,000 acres of land north of Lake Tahoe.

This new WélmeltiɁ Preserve marks the largest tribal land return in the Sierra Nevada and third largest in California.

KUNR’s Mariel Day has more.

The Washoe Tribe recently finalized the purchase of the land in partnership with organizations like the Wildlife Conservation Board.

The land spans across from the northeast of Lak...

Photo: Crews install the final stages of a new fiber-optic internet network across four tribal nations in northern New Mexico. (Courtesy NMPBS)

The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion has announced more than $900 million in investments towards broadband infrastructure, with the help of both federal and state support.

Some of the funds will go to the Navajo Nation. KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more.

Among the 17 projects announced, the Navajo Nation was awarded $111 million. That is the largest single supported project from the Broadband Equity, Access and Dep...

Federal fisheries regulators approved some limits on Western Alaska chum bycatch in the Bering Sea last week.

The highly debated – and long awaited – decision aims to protect declining salmon stocks, a crucial food resource for Alaska tribes.

The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has this story.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to set a Western Alaska chum bycatch limit in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.

The council said the move will balance protections for Western Alaska salmon returns, while also allowing pollock fisheries to contin...

As immigration enforcement actions continue across the country, Indigenous people are increasingly concerned they are being targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And some have been detained.

For the Mountain West News Bureau, Daniel Spaulding has more.

On the morning of December 5, ShyLynn Allen received a panicked phone call from Jose Joaquin Sanchez Alvarado, the father of her children.

Alvarado was driving from his home in Meridian, Idaho to pick up their 10-year-old son to take him to school. Suddenly, he was surrounded by police.

“He called me fr...

The federal government is encouraging tribes to partner with data centers. That could mean leasing land or, as the Mountain West News Bureau’s Hanna Merzbach reports, selling power.

At a U.S. Department of Energy webinar, Ken Ahmann with Colusa Indian Energy said that is where the big bucks come in.

“ Potentially billions of dollars into the coffers of tribes.”

His company provides energy infrastructure to data centers on tribal land. He says these partnerships can be good for tribes that have land and resources to power big projects like the Osage Nation i...

The 15th annual Bay Area American Indian Two Spirit Powwow is happening this Valentine’s Day.

Buffalo’s Fire reports that organizers hope that the event goes fine, with participants and volunteers feeling safe and supported as the rawhide drum ushers in the Grand Entry.

Tzapotl Flores (Salvi-Mexi Xicana) is a co-chair for the BAAITS powwow. She says, this year, the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is creating concerns.

“We are developing very specific ICE protocols internally. We hear these forms of propaganda where Two Spirit people are ‘terrorists.’ All of these diff...

It has been a month since hundreds of members of a northern Ontario First Nation were put in hotels across the province after a water crisis.

Many, however, have chosen to stay at the reserve.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, a state of emergency was declared in early January after a parasite was found in water samples and led to dozens of cases of gastrointestinal illnesses.

Medical staff left Kashechewan a week ago after consultation with community leaders, but they say residents who remain will still be able to access healthcare services.

...

Protecting tribal sovereignty is a top discussion at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 2026 Executive Council Winter Session, which is taking place this week in Washington, DC.

NCAI President Mark Macarro (Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians) highlighted the importance of tribal sovereignty in his State of Indian Nations address.

Macarro says before there was a U.S., there were sovereign tribal nations.

“Our sovereignty was not created by treaties, nor granted by Congress. It is inherent and existed before colonization. Treaties did not give us sovereignty. They recognized it. The Constitution did...

Tribal leaders from across the country are gathered in Washington D.C. this week for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 2026 Executive Council Winter Session and State of Indian Nations Address.

NCAI Youth Commission Co-Presidents Jonas Kanuhsa (Gila River Indian Community) and Angelina Serna (Oneida Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) kicked off Monday morning’s assembly by delivering the youth commission speech.

Serna says her message to tribal leaders is to recognize the contributions being made by Native youth.

“I really talk about tokenism when it comes to Native and...

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.

Before he left office, President Joe Biden came to Arizona and formally apologized for the federal government’s role in running boarding schools designed to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, Biden’s words still carry meaning as one group continues fulfilling a promise from his administration.

“Children would arrive [at] school, clothes taken off – their hair that they were told was sacred was chopped off. Their names [were] literally erased, replaced by a number or an English name.”

At least 526 facilities were built nationwide and resulted in more than 3,000 d...

Photo: Kipnuk resident Larry Kalistook asks village and state officials questions about possible relocation during the meeting on January 31, 2026. (James Oh / Alaska Public Media)

The Alaska Native village of Kipnuk is at a crossroads.

A powerful storm last fall destroyed homes, contaminated water, and left residents with a critical decision: rebuild in the same spot or move to higher ground?

As the Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports, the conversation is just getting started.

Kipnuk resident Rayna Paul fights back tears as she talks about how the...

Photo: Members of the MMIW Search & Hope Alliance attend a cadaver session led by Dr. William Borman, in Portland, Oreg. Thursday, January 22, 2026. (Brian Bull / Buffalo’s Fire)

Search teams working on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) cases must prepare themselves for the likelihood they will come across a body.

One group based in Portland, Oreg. is proactively preparing volunteers for that encounter, as Brian Bull of Buffalo’s Fire reports.

Inside an anatomy lab, William Borman, professor of basic sciences for the University of Western States, carefully turns a cadaver over on a me...

Photo: Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin. (Ty Nigh / Flickr)

Ojibwe tribes in the Great Lakes region are raising concerns about Trump administration plans to remove a rule that limits road building in national forest land, as Chuck Quirmbach reports.

The Roadless Rule is a U.S. Forest Service (USFS) policy that for 25 years has curtailed building or reconstructing roads in the national forests.

There have also been limits on commercial timber harvesting in roadless areas that have been inventoried.

Last summer, the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA), which includes USFS, proposed rescinding the...

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...

Photo: The Wind River Family and Community Health Care clinic in Riverton, Wyo. would have been impacted by the proposed cuts in tribal Medicaid funding. (Hannah Habermann / Wyoming Public Media)

State lawmakers in Wyoming backtracked this week on what many – including some lawmakers – believed was a big proposed cut to tribal Medicaid funding.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports.

Earlier this month, the Joint Appropriations Committee voted to deny a $58 million request from the Wyoming Department of Health for federal funding for tribal Medicaid reimbursements.

The move was met with pushback and protes...

There was a hung jury in Rapid City, S.D. Wednesday in a case against Nick Tilsen, the founder and CEO of the Native-led organization NDN Collective.

After three days of hearings, a mistrial was declared.

Tilsen is accused of assaulting a police officer in 2022. He is facing charges for aggravated and simple assault on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of a law enforcement officer – which could lead to a sentence of up to 26 years in prison.

In a statement, Tilsen said he’s grateful for everyone who stood with him, adding the...

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.

Banksto...

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.

...