National Native News

An advocate for protecting Native American lands says he has concerns about some Trump administration initiatives.

Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports.

Keegan King (Pueblo of Acoma) is founder and CEO of the Native Land Institute, based in New Mexico.

At a recent forum organized by the Society of Environmental Journalists, King told reporters that he’s worried about President Trump trying to fast-track development of energy production on public lands, including parts of the sacred Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico.

King says tribal leaders are gearing up for a long battle.

“It’s going to drain a lot of resources over the next four years. So, tribes, tribal leadership are already trying to look into legal defense funds, looking at potential public lands sell-offs, and what that means for adjacent public lands to reservation communities.”

Trump talks of “unleashing American energy” and argues some development restrictions drive up energy costs, and weaken national security.

Keegan King says he’s also worried about the status of some National Monuments.

The Biden administration with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) expanded co-management with tribes.

King urges white-led conservation groups to partner with more Indigenous ones to protect various sites, in some cases, letting the tribes lead the strategy.

“All of these public lands, all of the places that we love, that you write about, are Indigenous lands at one point, and many of our tribes still go there for prayer, pilgrimage — also to recreate, to hunt, fish, like every other American.”

The latest Trump federal budget proposal would reduce money for national parks, monuments, and historic sites by nearly 25% and turn some of those properties over to states.

Sacred Mato Paha is now part of Bear Butte State Park in Meade County, S.D. (Photo: Jerrye and Roy Klotz, MD / Wikimedia)

Lawmakers have moved to ban the interment of human remains at Bear Butte State Park in South Dakota.

This ruling includes the spreading of ashes at the site.

SDPB’s CJ Keene has more.

The ban was previously instituted more than 20 years ago before being unceremoniously repealed in 2019.

Bear Butte, also known as Mato Paha, is considered a sacred site to Indigenous people, and this ban was first put in place after consultation with tribal leaders.

For those spiritual reasons, visitors are encouraged to respect the area before hiking.

The mountain stands alone from the Black Hills proper near Sturgis, and the peak is about 4,500 feet above sea level.

“Eagle Buffalo Star” by artist Rachel Berg hangs in the Oyate Health Center in South Dakota. (Courtesy OHC)

A South Dakota clinic that serves Native Americans is hanging Indigenous art on its walls as a healing tool.

Mike Moen reports.

Rachel Olivia Berg is one of the artists.

She has created artworks for companies in places such as hotel lobbies and jumped at the change to provide art at the Oyate Health Center in Rapid City after it put out a request.

“What’s really nice about Oyate [Health Center] is art from our perspective, things we understand, things we relate to. It helps you feel like it’s your space.”

The clinic-wide permanent collection includes more than 100 works of art spread throughout the center.

The pieces focus on culture-specific healing, made by 50-some tribal citizens from the Great Plains area.

Officials say having Indigenous symbolism throughout the campus has transformed the space, and what it means to heal inside it.

Here’s Ashley Pouier, selection committee member and art museum curator.

“Native people dissect that word ‘healing’ to being more of a spiritual health as well as physical and mental health.”

The collection includes photography, paintings, and 3-D work.

This story includes original reporting from Amy Felegy with Arts Midwest.

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Photo: Hoonah Head Start students try herring eggs. (Courtesy Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)

The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has announced that its annual traditional food distributions were canceled this year. In March, the federal government canceled a funding agreement with the tribe.

KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey reports.

For the last three years, the tribe distributed herring eggs, salmon, and black cod to tribal citizens in each of its recognized communities — from villages in Southeast to cities like Anchorage and Seattle.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cancelled funding that provided the tribe’s food assistance program.

A USDA notice to Tlingit and Haida said that the tribe’s community food distribution “no longer effectuates agency priorities and that termination of the award is appropriate”.

Aaron Angerman is Tlingit and Haida’s food security program manager.

He said the community distribution program started in 2022 to promote self-sufficiency and to reduce reliance on food shipped from the Lower 48.

“Our answer to that, and then our heavy reliance on barge systems and things like that, was to turn back the clock a bit about food sovereignty, which is something that our people have relied on since time immemorial.”

The tribe planned to use more than $500,000 from USDA for the distribution.

The money was allocated to the tribe in January, but USDA sent Tlingit and Haida a notice in March that said the agreement had been canceled.

The money was part of a program called the Local Food Purchase Assistance Agreement which was intended to encourage local governments to buy from farmers and food producers.

And that aligned with the tribe’s goal to keep more traditional foods that are harvested in Southeast Alaska in the fridges and freezers of tribal members.

“For us to be able to take a food that was purchased from commercial vendors, to contract those vendors who are tribal citizens, to keep not only that funding within the tribe and the region, but also take a food source that was harvested in our area and typically sent overseas to bring that food back to our people and to be shared.”

The herring egg distribution is special for this reason: because of overfishing and exporting of herring and herring roe, the fish now only spawn in very limited areas.

Angerman said his team is working to get more secure funding. But there’s a lot of other work they are doing to further the understanding and use of traditional foods in the meantime.

“We need to work with elders and those with traditional ecological knowledge to see why and where and how we harvested previously, then to not only do that, but to teach people how to harvest themselves, how to process that food, how to put up or prepare that food.”

Because, he said, if a salmon ends up on someone’s doorstep, and they don’t know how to process it, that isn’t food sovereignty.

Angerman said Tlingit and Haida was able to purchase enough herring eggs to bring to some of their tribally run preschool classrooms this year, so the youngest tribal citizens can still learn about the importance of traditional food and land stewardship.

And some distributions in Washington and Oregon will still happen, according to the tribe’s release.

The local tribal council in Seattle used different funding sources to set aside money for distributions to reach elders outside of Alaska.

Western Native Voice advocates at the Montana State Capitol. (Courtesy Western Native Voice / Facebook)

On the heels of a busy Montana legislative session, the advocacy group Western Native Voice is setting its sights higher and opening a Washington D.C. office next week.

Kathleen Shannon reports.

The nonprofit formed in 2022 to advocate for equity and opportunity for Montana’s Native people.

Since then, the group has gained members in, and collaborated with tribes across, many western states.

Keaton Sunchild, director of government and political relations for the group, said it can be difficult to operate at a national level from 2,000 miles away.

“Being able to be right there, be on top of the action and be able to use our voice in Washington is going to help us be a little bit more proactive.”

He pointed out top issues at the national level include criminal justice funding for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and drug crises disproportionately affecting tribal communities.

Sunchild noted the national office will open May 12.

Sunchild called this year’s Montana legislative session “pretty successful” for Western Native Voice, but highlighted one area of continued concern is voting rights.

Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) is expected to decide Tuesday on Senate Bill 490, which would add restrictions to same-day voter registration, but Sunchild has a plan for that too.

“It’s a road we’ve been down before. Trying to figure out the best way forward for that, whether that’s through the courts in Montana, maybe if there’s some sort of backstop we can look at federally.”

Other voting access issues Sunchild plans to work on are funding for more satellite elections offices and blanket protections for tribal IDs as valid voter registration identification.

Events were held across the country Monday to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs also recognized the day.

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chair of the committee, and Brian Schatz (D-HI), vice chair, acknowledge the families and communities who have lost loved ones, and said actions need to continue to raise awareness and seek justice.

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(Photo: Stephen Hill / Flickr)

A new report shows the Trump administration’s plans to repeal clean energy tax credits could increase energy bills for households, including those in Indian Country – especially in the West.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports.

U.S. households could see their annual energy costs rise significantly by the end of the decade if Congress repeals the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits.

That’s according to the independent research firm Rhodium Group, which estimated price changes in electricity, gasoline, and natural gas.

In many parts of our region, household energy bills could jump $250 or more, which is higher than the anticipated national average. That includes Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.

Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana could see energy bills climb just over a hundred dollars a year by the end of the decade.

The report’s co-author is Ben King.

“If the motivation behind some of these policy changes is to try to reduce energy costs, our evidence suggests that, certainly, these policy changes pull in the opposite direction of that.”

Right now, household electricity costs are relatively flat across the Mountain West compared to a year ago, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

An unusual protest in British Columbia that is seen by some as a form of justice may be going too far, authorities say.

The family of a man accused of a targeted killing on the northern archipelago of Haida Gwaii has been banished from the community.

More from Dan Karpenchuk.

Tyson Young was charged with second degree murder after a member of the Haida Gwaii community of Skidegate was killed by a vehicle.

Police say Luke Pearson was the victim of a targeted homicide.

Several members of Young’s family fled after they say they were threatened by residents of the community. Then their homes were bulldozed and local businesses said anyone associated with the accused was not welcome in their shops.

.The family was essentially evicted and banished from Haida Gwai.

During the journey, they were prevented from sleeping, eating, or refueling in other Indigenous territories.

Protestors gathered along the route with signs saying “Justice for Luke”; others followed the convoy in their own vehicles, sometimes for hours.

Smogelgem is a hereditary chief of the Wetsuweten Nation – and was one of the protestors.

“Our ancestors, whenever somebody was exiled from their own territories, they were expelled from their territory and as they were leaving, the neighbouring territories and all the allies are not allowed to serve them. They are expected to pass through the territory and continue on. And that’s kind of what we’re doing here. We’re upholding our old laws.”

Other leaders say a number of Indigenous communities have been struggling with drug deaths – especially among young people – and this protest is indicative of the frustrations that many are feeling.

Police have been monitoring the family’s journey and out of an abundance of caution, a police escort was provided.

A drone’s eye view of Elderberry Wisdom Farm. (Courtesy Elderberry Wisdom Farm)

A farm in Salem, Oreg. that teaches Traditional Ecological Knowledge to youth has just had some federal funds unfrozen.

After President Donald Trump took office this year, many federal agencies have weathered cuts and cancellations. That includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which had previously approved three grants to Elderberry Wisdom Farm, as board president Rose High Bear explains.

A deer at Elderberry Wisdom Farm. (Courtesy Elderberry Wisdom Farm)

“The roots of traditional ecological knowledge are grounded in our spirituality. And a lot of people have forgotten their traditions, and we need to restore our own native spirituality and our relationship with our oldest grandmother, the mother earth.”

High Bear says U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR) helped restore a grant worth $750,000.

Elderberry Wisdom Farm is now looking for interns to do Native stewardship practices.

One will be planting trees in a lower-income area of Salem.

“We have heat waves here in Salem, when you’ve got a low tree canopy, it can be 30 degrees hotter than in the more prosperous neighborhoods. So we’re really committed in a number of ways to help our ecosystem and to help our young people to get into careers that are more fulfilling to them.”

High Bear says funding remains a concern, as the internship program’s account will dry out next year.

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Minneapolis Police are investigating three shooting incidents that have killed five and wounded two.

Most if not all of the victims are believed to be Native American.

Officials have arrested a suspect in a shooting Tuesday night that killed three people in the city’s south side.

James Ortley. (Courtesy Hennepin County, Minn.)

The Minnesota Star Tribune says 34-year-old James Ortley was arrested Thursday, though police say other perpetrators may still be on the loose.

Here’s Minneapolis Chief of Police Brian O’Hara at a press briefing on the arrest.

“The United States Marshall’s Office Northstar Fugitive Task Force – assisted by FBI SWAT team – executed an arrest warrant on the 1600 block of South Fourth Street and arrested James Dwayne Ortley, age 34. This is a significant step forward in what has been an intense and fast-moving investigation into the most violent incident this city has suffered this year.”

Ortley’s criminal history in Minnesota includes one conviction each for first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, illegal weapons possession, and fleeing police.

Minnesota Public Radio reports that a prayer and drum circle was held at Cedar Field Park Thursday.

Dozens attended the event, and local leaders called for an end to the violence.

One victim has been identified as 17-year-old Joey Goodwin, regarded as a talented artist.

The murders mar the beginning of American Indian Month in Minnesota. A parade and pow-wow have been canceled.

Chief O’Hara calls the shootings “outrageous and senseless.”

Minneapolis Police are seeking tips on the shootings, that could lead to more arrests.

In southern California, a coalition of Native American tribes, community advocates, and law enforcement are holding their first-ever summit to address Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP).

Danielle Bush is the program director for MMIP San Diego, which will host the summit this Saturday at the Viejas Casino and Resort. She says one of the breakout sessions will be on human trafficking.

“What are the warning signs, red flags of that? And what to do if you or a loved one, or you just see someone who might be in that situation what steps you can take, because we’re trying to end that heinous crime in the community.”

Another breakout session will be with regional law enforcement.

“The goal of that is to educate people about the Savannah Act and about the Feather Alert, and what are your rights, and how to proceed if you have a missing relative or anything that law enforcement can provide support on and building those relationships.”

The final breakout session will be on healing and support services, specifically for the tribal community.

Bush says the San Diego area is close to the U.S-Mexican border, which poses challenges.

“With our proximity to the border and for other reasons, San Diego is a hotspot for human trafficking. I believe third in the country, it’s up there. It’s definitely an issue in the community that we’ve been trying a multi-pronged approach to attacking.”

Bush says MMIP San Diego hopes to grow its resources, so invites anyone in the southern California region to reach out and connect with the organization.

A post shared by Big Wind Carpenter (@bigwindriver)

And the Oglala Sioux Tribe based in South Dakota has voted to cancel its annual powwow, rodeo, and fair for 2025.

This year’s Oglala Nation Wacipi was scheduled for early August.

This comes after a shooting at the 2024 event which killed 57-year-old Tom Thunder Hawk August 2.

Despite concerns from the family of the victim, the powwow continued after Thunder Hawk’s shooting.

This year the tribal council has instead allocated a small fund for each of the nine districts to host local powwows.

The event is a major economic driver for the reservation, drawing thousands of tourists from across the nation.

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Photo: Red Lake Nation Embassy in Minneapolis, Minn. (Courtesy Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians)

The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians say they’re in touch with Minneapolis law enforcement after what could be gang-related shootings Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon that led to four deaths.

KSTP News reports police say the shootings were three blocks apart.

A 17-year-old boy, a 20-year-old woman, and a 27-year-old man were pronounced dead at the first scene.

At the second, police found a man in his 30s who had been fatally shot near an intersection.

All four fatalities are believed to be Native American.

The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians said it plans to keep additional security present at its apartment building and embassy “around the clock”, while Minneapolis police keep up patrols.

Oak Flat Campground. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service / Public Domain)

Some Apache people and their supporters are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will agree — soon — to hear a case involving a sacred site in Arizona that could become the largest copper mine in North America.

Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports.

An appeals court narrowly ruled last year that the federal government could transfer the Oak Flat property east of Phoenix to Resolution Copper.

Resolution, a joint venture of international mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP, wants to turn the 2,200 acres that is partly now a U.S. Forest Service campground into a mine two miles wide.

That’s despite the Apache and other Native peoples using Oak Flat for sacred religious ceremonies for more than 1,000 years.

For a decade, Henry Munoz served on the town council of nearby Superior, Ariz. He recently told the Society of Environmental Journalists that he supports tribal religious freedom.

“I’m not Apache. But, I do know a lot about their religions and cultures. What’s happening to the Apache people with their first amendment rights is not right.”

Munoz also chairs the Concerned Citizens Retired Miners Coalition. He says he usually backs mining, but worries about Resolution Copper promising to use an underground ore removal technique known as block cave.

“Very destructive. What it does is devour Mother Earth, whether it be water, trees, anything in its path.”

Resolution Copper says it’s committed to protecting the land and surrounding area while the mine is open and after mining is completed.

The Trump administration says it would approve a land swap needed to open a mine at Oak Flat.

Mining opponents have asked a lower court to block that transfer, while waiting to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of Apache Stronghold v. United States.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says he’s reviewing the boundaries of several national monuments.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, officials are reportedly considering shrinking at least six national monuments in the West to increase energy development on public lands.

The monuments under review include Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in New Mexico, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni of the Grand Canyon and Ironwood Forest in Arizona, and Chuckwalla in California.

That’s according to a report by the Washington Post.

Kate Groetzinger is with the nonpartisan Center for Western Priorities. She says these monuments represent ecological and cultural sites that Western communities and tribes have fought to protect.

“They are great recreation drivers. They really drive economic activity in really rural parts of the West that don’t have a lot of other economic activity going on.”

Sec. Burgum recently said that national monuments are under review, but downsizing them is not a top priority of the agency.

Such a move would build on the Trump administration’s push to further expand America’s energy security.

It has announced plans to fast track oil, gas, and mining projects.

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Photo: Alaska Native Heritage Center. (Skvader / Wikimedia)

This Friday, a special event is being held in Anchorage that will bring together former boarding school students, researchers, and others for a day of remembrance and reflection.

Called “Moving Beyond Boarding Schools Summit: Towards Truth and Healing”, the event will be moderated by National Native News anchor Antonia Gonzales. For her, the issue strikes home.

“My mom went to boarding school hundreds of miles away. Having her mouthed washed out with soap for speaking her Navajo language. Going there and experiencing the trauma of having to cut her hair, which you know in Native culture is a big thing, with her long beautiful hair. And she tells stories about just how traumatic that was.”

The Alaska Native Heritage Center and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, which owns National Native News, are co-hosting the event.

While members of the press are welcome to attend, recording will not be allowed for a four-hour block in the afternoon.

“We do have people who are going to be in attendance who are traditional healers, culture bearers, elders. So there are a lot of people there to offer support, but also to allow people space so that they can feel like they can share openly.”

The boarding school era is a painful one for many Alaska Natives and Indigenous communities.

Both government-run schools and those operated by churches worked to remove Native culture and practices, and accounts of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse have surfaced in the years since they operated.

Reine Pavlik. (Courtesy Alaska Native Heritage Center / Facebook)

Skin sewing, or hide sewing, and beadwork are vital art forms in Southeast Alaska’s Lingít culture.

Reine Pavlik of Yakutat in rural Alaska is blending those art forms with contemporary style.

As Alaska Public Media’s Cadence Cedars reports, Pavlik sees it as a way to resist the pressure on Indigenous artists to modernize their work.

Reine Pavlik sits on a bed next to a large collection of her latest work.

There’s a pair of jeans with seal skin flare, a women’s suit made of deer skin and seal hide and many of the pieces include ornate beading. beading a straight line is really hard.

She holds up a pair of hand-sewn moccasins.

“This pair of moccasins is made with deer and moose skin.”

She turns them over, revealing beadwork on the back.

(Courtesy alaskasoles / Instagram)

The letters read “Land Back” in an Old English typeface, which is a message for the world we live in today.

Pavlik says she grew up in Yakutat surrounded by artists.

She says she first learned from her mother how to sew items like pillowcases, but few members of her family practiced skin sewing on animal hides like sea otter and moose.

So Pavlik learned from her aunt, Jennie Wheeler.

“Making moccasins really was a way to connect to my family and my ancestors.”

Now Pavlik’s community knows her for her beadwork and skin-sewn garments.

She says her art is inspired by her Lingít heritage.

“Using the traditional materials and using it in a modern way feels like I’m honoring my ancestors but I’m also modernizing some of the ideas that people have attached to traditional materials.”

And she says she tries to only use materials from donations or thrift stores.

“It’s something that our ancestors would do. They’d use what is near us and so I felt like that was a good way to honor them.”

And next, she says she wants to explore new ways to pass on her skills to the next generation.

The Carolyn Lewis Attneave House, home of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research. (Courtesy Stanford University)

And on this day in 2019, Stanford University’s Serra House was renamed after Carolyn Lewis Attneave, a member of the Delaware Tribe.

She was a globally-recognized scholar and psychologist who is seen as a major figure in creating the field of Native American mental health.

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A bill to formally reschedule Indigenous Peoples Day in Nevada has just been heard in the state’s Senate Committee on Government Affairs.

Assembly Bill (AB) 144 would make the second Monday in October an official commemoration of Nevada’s Native and Indigenous residents. Currently it’s held on August 9.

State Rep. Shea Backus (D-NV) is the bill’s sponsor and a self-described “urban Indian” who’s a member of the Cherokee Nation.

Speaking to the Senate committee, she reiterated that her bill would not replace the state’s observance of Columbus Day on that same date.

“AB144 will align the date to honor the resilience of our ancestors, and to uplift of the enduring legacies of Indigenous peoples, their voices, their cultures, and their connection to this land.”

Backers of the bill included the Native Voters Alliance Nevada and the Sierra Club.

Joshua Skaggs, legislative affairs director for the Nevada Republican Party, read President Trump’s recent statement in opposition.

“You’ll be happy to know Christopher is going to make a major comeback. I am hereby reinstating Columbus Day under the same rules, dates, and locations as it has had for all the many decades before. End quote.”

The bill previously passed the Nevada Assembly on a 27-15 vote.

Housing And Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner. (Courtesy Oneida Nation / Facebook)

More than $2 million in federal funding will go to expand rental assistance for Native American veterans at risk of becoming homeless.

As Danielle Kaeding reports, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced the money on the Oneida Nation’s reservation last week.

The money will be made available through HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.

The Oneida Nation has helped Native American vets under the program for the last decade.

The tribe’s chairman Tehassi Hill says it’s helped meet the community’s needs for affordable and available housing.

“That includes emergency housing, transitional living and a path to home ownership.”

Sec. Turner says more than 500 veterans in 29 tribal communities are currently being housed under the program.

“HUD-VASH delivers critical rental assistance to Native American veterans and tribal communities all across our great nation, including right here in Oneida.”

One Oneida vet says the program helped him and his two sons find housing after he was evicted and ended up living in his car for several weeks.

U.S. Rep. Tony Wied (R-WI) says he looks forward to working with Turner to ensure communities like the Oneida Nation have access to housing.

More than 1,100 veterans have received help under the federal program.

(Courtesy Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation / Facebook)

All across Indian Country, people have been observing sexual assault awareness month.

While April is winding down, people like Desireé Coyote want the message to continue year-round: that the community needs to unite to help prevent sexual violence – and form support for survivors and their loved ones.

Coyote is the family violence services program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon.

When she talked to National Native News on Monday, she and her community had just finished a sexual assault awareness walk.

“We had about 50 folks join us, students included. Community members and employees of the tribe. So Native and non-native alike.”

Coyote says another walk is taking place this Wednesday in Roy Raley Park in Pendleton, Oreg.

“We’re braiding ribbons together to honor a variety of issues like sexual assault, domestic violence, missing murdered and trafficked, and whatever else the folks want to attach to that.”

The FBI says from 2021 to 2023, there were nearly 26,000 reports of violent crime and roughly 8,600 incidents of sexual crimes against victims who were Native American or Alaska Native women.

More events will take place on May 5, which is the Red Dress Day, a North American day of awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

“Families want folks to remember that these are our community members. They’re our relations. And that they are not forgotten that we still hold ceremonies to be able to speak their name so that everybody can remember who our Indigenous missing and murdered are.”

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The weekend of Native Youth Olympic (NYO) Games wrapped up in Anchorage, Alaska Saturday.

The event lets young athletes from around the state connect and showcase their skills in competitions rooted in Indigenous practices.

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

With much fanfare, Daisy Vanblarcom prepares for the final one-foot high kick competition at NYO on Saturday.

She hits 87 inches, which goes above her personal record – and wins her first place.

The bleachers are filled with people from all corners of Alaska, but are familiar faces for Vanblarcom.

She says making friends with other athletes and coaches is a part of her success.

“I compete a lot better when I know everybody and when I’m comfortable around everyone.”

NYO is a three-day event in which high school students participate in a dozen competitions, each representing a different Alaska Native subsistence activity or skill.

Joanna Hopson is one of the coaches working to revive the games in Alaska’s North Slope.

She says this helps reserved students come out of their shell.

“As they’re starting to learn more of their cultural games, they’re starting to learn that courage.

“They’re starting to learn what it means to be who you are, to accept who you are, where you’re at, and then to grow from that.”

Anchorage athlete Anastasha Wilde took second place in a two-foot high kick competition.

Like other athletes, she says she loves the community aspect of the games.

“We’re participating together, not apart, and you get to connect with other people and make new friends. And it’s not about winning, it’s about beating your personal records and improving not for yourself, but like improving for the others around you.”

The event started more than fifty years ago, with a few dozen participants.

This year, the games brought together about four hundred and fifty athletes – a record number since the COVID-19 pandemic.

A post shared by Tréchelle R.J.M. Bunn (@trechellle)

An Indigenous woman in Manitoba has recently made history by becoming a First Nation’s youngest ever chief.

She has also become the first woman elected to the role. More from Dan Karpenchuk.

Tréchelle Bunn is a 25-year old third year law student at the University of Manitoba.

She was recently named chief of the Birdtail Sioux Dakota First Nation – about 75 miles northwest of Brandon, Manitoba – after beating her opponent with nearly 69% of the vote.

She’s not without some experience though.

Bunn has just ended her term as the Southern Chief’s Organization’s youth chief.

She says that gave her some knowledge about what to expect in everyday governance and decision making.\

Bunn says being elected to the position of chief is the greatest honour of her life.

“In my previous role as youth chief of the Southern Chief’s Organization I spoke to the importance of youth in leadership. And I think this is a testament to that. I think our young people today are really leading that way. We’re entering those leadership spaces and our voices really need to be heard. And they deserve to be at every table. And I think my community really spoke to that last night the way that they voted, that they wanted someone young, and a young voice to lead our people.”

Bunn says although she’s the first young leader, she won’t be the last.

She has pledged greater transparency and accountability for her four year term as chief. She says she’s also heard from community members who want more of a say in the first nation’s decision making.

(Courtesy Diné Parents Taking Action / Facebook)

And several groups are marking today, April 28, as Autism Awareness Day for Native Americans.

While Native children aren’t seen as necessarily having higher rates of autism than other groups, a 2023 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that they – as well as Alaska Natives, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiians – have the least access to autism resources per child, compared to others.

Groups like Diné Parents Taking Action at Northern Arizona University are promoting more awareness of autism in Native Communities.

This follows recent events like the 4th annual Autism Awareness Walk in Nevada, which involved the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

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A long fight over who pays for law enforcement services on the Flathead Reservation may be coming to an end.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports a bill would provide temporary state funding so local officials can hash out a long-term plan.

For decades, Lake County has arrested and prosecuted tribal members on the Flathead Reservation under an agreement known as Public Law 280. But the county in recent years has said it can’t afford the work and asked that the state chip in.

Lawmakers did give the county funding last legislative session, but Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) vetoed the bill, saying the state isn’t financially responsible.

This session, discussions between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Gov. Gianforte’s office, and county officials resulted in new legislation that would give the county $6 million over the next two years.

Lake County Commissioner Gayle Decker says the bill requires the tribes and the county to create a plan for law enforcement that doesn’t involve state resources.

“We think we can come up with a Memorandum of Understanding that’ll work and it’ll help us transition into the next phase of public law 280.”

The bill has passed both chambers and is nearing Gainforte’s desk.

Chris Eyre, left, Zahn McClarnon, and Jessica Matten. (Courtesy AMC Networks)

As season three of AMC’s detective series “Dark Winds” winds down this coming Sunday, executive producer and director Chris Eyre reflects on the evolution of Native Americans in popular culture.

Eyre’s breakthrough film was 1998’s “Smoke Signals,” a feature-length movie that showed the complexity – and humor – of Native people, after decades of stereotypes.

I asked Eyre if he ever saw the success of Native-produced and written series like “Dark Winds” and others on the horizon 27 years ago.

“Well, before I think ‘Reservation Dogs’ and ‘Rutherford Falls,’ I was getting somewhat concerned that ‘Smoke Signals’ was just going to be a blip on the radar of yesteryear. But I think ‘Smoke Signals’ is part of that continuum of progress with Native people in front of the camera and behind the camera.”

Eyre has directed several episodes of “Dark Winds” including the season three premiere that had a surprise cameo with Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin, who are also executive producers.

Eyre says he loves all the characters in this intriguing and often mystical storyline, including the dynamic between Joe and Emma Leaphorn.

He says compelling – and humanizing – treatment of Native people in film and television is a sign that this kind of smart storytelling has arrived.

“And I don’t think it’s going to stop. I think now we’ve gotten to a place that the door is not going to close again. I think there’s too many people – Native and non-Native – but Native people that are leading the charge as writers, and directors and performers and musicians and artists and executives, that have pushed this door open, and I don’t think the door is gonna ever close again.”

Season three of “Dark Winds” is wrapping up with the eighth and final episode, but even before the first episode dropped, news came that season four was greenlit. Eyre says he’s blessed to be part of this series.

“I’m just want to say tune in for season four, I’m as excited as anybody to know what happens. And I’m an insider, so we’re all working really hard right now to make season four great like season three, and I’m excited to see what happens.”

“Dark Winds” airs Sunday nights on AMC.

It’s based on Tony Hillerman’s novels and stars Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, and Jessica Matten.

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Participants of the Sikumiut Field School observe the features of the sea ice off Utqiagvik coast in April 2025. (Photo: Alice DuVivier)

The ocean off Utqiagvik is covered with ragged sea ice ridges in early April.

Iñupiaq whalers build trails across the blue and white terrain to access hunting sites along the lead edge.

It’s hard to imagine a better spot for studying sea ice. And that’s why a group of Indigenous knowledge holders and Western scientists gathered there earlier this month.

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

The Sikumiut Field School was a week-long event that brought 20 specialists to Utqiagvik.

Some were scientists working with climate models or satellite data. Others were residents from various Arctic regions who have hands-on knowledge about when the ice is safe for travel.

Erin Emily Thomas is a sea ice modeler. She says she was excited to observe the ice in person and learn from other experts.

“Having everyone just sitting in the same room, exchanging knowledge, figuring out, where is the missing gap of information? What should we be looking at? What’s the most critical thing to study next? I thought that was the most exciting.”

Participants spent mornings in a classroom, running models and looking at data.

Afternoons were spent on the actual ice.

It’s important work – particularly as winter sea ice in the Arctic was at a record low this year.

Thomas says that sea ice affects the whole climate system, which makes observing it now crucial.

“Maybe in the near future, there will be very little sea ice to go out on. And so I think it’s really important to study this now, while we have the chance.”

Savik Richard Glenn is an Iñupiaq hunter, geologist, and a former executive.

He led some of the hands-on activities, including checking ice thickness, watching for changes, and looking at the way snow and ice interact.

“The little pieces of evidence that give you an idea about safety, about how prone the the ice might be to movement, either breaking off and floating away or ridging up and and grounding itself into the sea floor.”

Glenn said that participants asked local whaling captains for permission to use their ice trails and worked to improve them.

“We tried to behave as if we were neighbors with the folks who depend on the ice for subsistence.”

Organizers say they hope the workshop inspires scientists and Indigenous experts to continue to exchange their knowledge in the future.

(Courtesy Oregon State University)

A new species of bacteria that conducts electricity has been found on the Oregon Coast.

Scientists have named it for the Native Americans who historically lived in the area.

The bacteria was found in a mud flat in the Yaquina Bay estuary, and has been deemed Ca. Electrothrix yaqonensi.

The original people’s descendants are now part of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, who helped the researchers come up with the name.

Cheng Li was a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University during the research.

The rod-shaped cells that make up this form of “cable” bacteria have filaments that have electrical conductivity that help optimize their metabolic processes in the muck.

“The cable bacteria are able to oxidize sulfide and channeling electrons along themselves conducting like wires, and then go to the surface of the sediment and reduce oxygen. Kind of connecting the two parts together by using electrical currents, so that’s why I think is super cool, and then they’re ecologically important to the environment.”

Li says it’s important to honor the original inhabitants of the land where this bacteria was found.

“So I think that history, it’s really rich, and should be preserved and telling people what had happened. And I think especially more important nowadays, because we’re facing some unforeseen drawbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.”

The findings are published in the journal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

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