This year, five Native Americans were among 29 people named Bush Fellows. The Bush Foundation provides up to $150,000 over two years for their fellows to build on their leadership skills.

In the second of five profiles, Brian Bull of Buffalo’s Fire highlights what a South Dakota university administrator wants to accomplish.

John Little is the director of Native Recruitment and Alumni Engagement at the University of South Dakota (USD).

The Standing Rock Sioux tribal member works with many Native students and wants to get more fired up for higher education. He says part of getting many ready is adapting from small Midwestern rural communities to large campuses with many academic offerings.

“It is a shock factor for a lot of students.”

Boosting Native enrollment and retention will be a challenge.

In a census review shared by the Postsecondary National Policy Institute, data showed that nearly 26% of Native Americans ages 18-24 were enrolled in college, compared to 39% of the overall U.S. population.

Additionally, undergraduate enrollment dropped 40%, while graduate enrollment fell 18% for Native students.

Little says he’s been lucky to have parents who’ve supported his academic goals, including a masters degree from USD and a Ph.D from the University of Minnesota.

“Especially my mom has been really influential in me going to school and has been there every step. Not every student that I work with in South Dakota has that. Or maybe they do, but they’re first-gen so they just don’t know what that looks like.”

Little says he’ll research college fairs and regional programs to develop stronger preparation initiatives for future students.

(Photo: Liz West / Flickr)

A study aims to shed light on the hidden impacts of domestic violence in Native communities.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Daniel Spaulding reports on the effort to understand the unrecognized brain injuries many survivors are living with.

The Urban Indian Health Institute’s survey aims to find out how common traumatic brain injuries are among Native survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

More than 80% of Indigenous women have experienced violence in their lifetime.

According to Abigail Echo-Hawk, the institute’s director, many survivors of domestic and sexual violence suffer from brain injuries that never get diagnosed or receive proper care.

“They deserve justice, they deserve safety, and they deserve to get the treatment that they need when they’ve been impacted by traumatic brain injury.”

The goal of the survey is to ensure survivors get the right care and support, through programs and policies designed to help them heal.

The survey began in October and will remain open through January 2026.

Members of the Hualapai Tribe stand in front of the 2025 Capitol Christmas tree. (Courtesy Hualapai Tribe)

Another Arizona tribe has been picked to keep a newer holiday tradition going by supplying this year’s Christmas tree for the state Capitol.

KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more.

For three years running under Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ), the state has taken bids from tribes, beginning with the White Mountain Apache in 2023. Then, the San Carlos Apache last year.

Now, the Capitol tree will come from the Hualapai or “People of the Tall Pines”.

“And I hope, no matter who is in the Office of the Governor, that this holiday spirit of bringing all our communities together continues.”

Duane Clarke is chairman of the 2,300 member Hualapai Tribe north of Kingman, Ariz.

“Oddly enough, the one tree that has been selected, it’s close to, I want to say about 30 feet, was not one of the three options, to be honest. Councilman [Diane] Imus did a quick prayer. He turned to the right and said, ‘That’s the tree.’ We all looked and it was a moment of awe.”

The tribe will bless the tree before trucking it more than 200 miles to the state Capitol from their reservation hugging the Grand Canyon’s West Rim.

It will be on display by December 1.

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Monday, November 24, 2025 – Native candidates make strides in local elections