In October, about 130 people made the move to the new community of Mertarvik. That still leaves most of the village’s residents in Newtok, wondering when a new house will be built for them. Construction season in Mertarvik began late this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Relocation Coordinator Romy Cadiente said that his team was ready to start work earlier this summer, but businesses that they were relying on for lumber had shut down. “Our suppliers in Anchorage, in Seattle, there was

Metlakatla Indian Community is suing Gov. Mike Dunleavy and senior state officials over fishing rights . The state’s sole Native reservation says the commercial fishing permit system unfairly prevents local fishermen from harvesting on their traditional fishing grounds — a right that Metlakatla says is guaranteed to the Tribe by Congress. Metlakatla is asking a federal judge to prevent the state from requiring commercial fishing permits for Tribal members. The people of Metlakatla have called

In the first year at Mertarvik, the village council banished someone for selling alcohol. But 9 miles away in Newtok, residents say that bootleggers are being left unpunished. Some of the people left behind in the old village are asking if that’s fair . Many Mertarvik residents say one of the things they like about their new village is how quiet it is. But that may be because the new village is shipping out some of its troublemakers. “We had to banish one person,” said Newtok Village Council

State troopers have closed a 24-year old sexual assault and homicide case in Sitka . DNA evidence led investigators to a 66-year old man living in Arkansas, who took his own life last week, shortly after Alaska investigators arrived to question him. Jessica Baggen disappeared sometime after midnight on May 4, 1996, walking home from her 17th birthday party. The news was devastating, as over the course of the next two days an intensive search turned to sorrow. “On May 6 searchers found the shirt

British Columbia has released a long-awaited cleanup plan for the Tulsequah Chief Mine . The Canadian mine 40 miles northeast of Juneau has been leaching acidic runoff into a tributary feeding into the Taku River — a major salmon producing habitat — for years. “The environmental issues at the Tulsequah Chief Mine site have gone on for too long,” Bruce Ralston, B.C. Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources said in a statement. “But after working in partnership with the Taku River Tlingit

A shortage of poll workers caused the state Division of Elections to close polling places in a half-dozen small Alaska communities for Tuesday’s primary election. A spokesperson said despite raising the hourly rate for the temporary workers, the division was unable to overcome fears about the spread of coronavirus. Elections officials made the announcement late Monday, a little more than 12 hours before polls opened, that there would only be absentee in-person voting in the communities of Arctic

Results from a long-anticipated audit of the Nome Police Department have now been pushed back indefinitely. The Nome Common Council discussed public safety updates during their regular meeting and learned that a report from a November 2019 audit of NPD still hasn’t been furnished. Russell Consulting visited Nome last year to externally review policing procedures, evidence collection, and other departmental issues as part of a department-wide audit. Nearly ten months later, Nome City Manager

The State of Alaska is filing a lawsuit in federal court alleging the U.S. Office of Subsistence Management has overstepped its authority . Over the summer, the federal agency restricted one hunting area in the Interior to only local subsistence users, citing public safety concerns . It also granted permission to the Organized Village of Kake to hunt out of season during the pandemic . Alaska Department of Fish & Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang says the state fundamentally supports

A reporter documents lack of food and harsh conditions for many Diné elderly, and few willing to take responsibility. (This is an essay written by Diné journalist Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi. This story was originally published by Searchlight New Mexico and is republished here by permission. The photos in the original story were black-and-white, and so are republished here likewise. ) On a recent visit to the Navajo Nation, I sat with my parents in their garage while KTNN, a local Navajo radio

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ final environmental review of Pebble says that under normal operations, it does not expect the mine to have a significant effect on fish populations in Bristol Bay. But the Corps does say the mine would harm fish around the mine site. Some scientists say the project could also put a specific salmon population in the Koktuli River at risk and remove genetic diversity from the region. The mine would be built at the headwaters of the Koktuli River drainage, and it