National Native News

Native American students make up 11% of public school enrollment in New Mexico. Yet there are not enough resources for them to learn their Native languages.

A bill passed in the recent legislative session would create new schools under a state-tribal compact to address those gaps.

Reporter Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more.

New Mexico has 23 sovereign tribes and among those tribes eight languages are spoken, but only seven are taught in school districts. 

Senate Bill 13 would create a five-year pilot program with five schools prioritizing distinct Native languages of Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Keres, Apache, Zuni, and Diné.

The bill’s co-sponsor, State Sen. Benny Shendo Jr. (Jemez Pueblo/D-NM), says that many Native parents and grandparents have been conditioned to believe the only way to succeed was to speak English.

“But that’s not true. I was born and raised speaking my language. It wasn’t much later, you know, that I began to learn English. So how can that be when those of us that were fluent Native speakers are able to be successful in college and all the stuff that we’re doing today?”

He says a lot of Native students are struggling because they don’t feel that they belong.

“And if we can really reground them in who they are, then I think it gives them that confidence for them to be able to go out  and compete in the world in a way that they should be competing, not with anxiety about, ‘Who am I? Where do I belong?’”

Native American students have historically reported lower achievement and graduation rates than their peers.

The New Mexico Indian Education Act stresses the importance of maintaining Native languages and culture, but programs providing these opportunities are currently limited within public schools.

In 2018, a ruling in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit determined the state had failed to provide a sufficient education to Native American students as well as those learning English, living with disabilities, or from families with low incomes.

The Legislative Education Study Committee’s analysis of the new legislation suggested it could offer the state an opportunity to respond to the lawsuit.

The bill does not contain an appropriation, but will provide operational and capital outlay funding for immersion schools.

A shelter for victims of domestic violence in Merrill, Wisc., funded in part through a grant from USDA.

A new study shows intimate partner violence disproportionately impacts Indigenous women more than any other ethnic or racial group in the U.S.

Judith Ruiz-Branch reports.

The murder rate for Native American women and girls is up to 10 times higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, yet they account for less than 1% of the population.

Desiree Tody, outreach program coordinator at the Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse and a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, said violence against Native women is underreported and unaddressed.

“There’s jurisdictional issues that come into play as to how things are investigated, how things are tried, and there’s always racism. There’s less attention paid to the individuals that some of these things happen to.”

The Wisconsin Department of Justice created a task force to combat violence against Native women across the state after legislation which would have addressed the issues failed to pass.

There are currently no upcoming task force meetings listed on the newly updated DOJ website.

Poor tracking and data collection are among the many issues contributing to the epidemic among Indigenous women.

During a multistate march last month, Tody read a list of names of Indigenous people from Minnesota who had died from domestic violence.

No such list currently exists for Wisconsin and Tody noted she is working to change it.

She emphasized the great need to address the systems in place, which continue to fail Native people.

“I have three daughters that I want them to grow up as strong Native women and I want them to grow up safely as strong Native women. This is their futures on the line. This is their ability to walk down a street safely.”

Research shows Indigenous women also face significant barriers when seeking help after experiencing domestic violence.

A survivor of domestic violence herself, Tody works with the Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse to provide resources for those affected in Bayfield and Ashland counties.

A post shared by Governor Katie Hobbs (@govhobbs)

Tribal flags removed from a Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix, Ariz. are now being displayed by the office of Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ).

The flags were removed after new rules were issued by the Trump administration on the public display of flags throughout VA facilities.

Tribal leaders strongly objected to the removal of the flags.

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U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) has requested the issue of violent crime be addressed on the nation’s reservations, as C.J. Keene reports.

Via a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Senator has requested the creation of the Violent Crime Reduction Commission specifically for tribal lands.

This came after several tribes addressed concern about violent crime conditions on tribal land.

Sen. Rounds describes the situation on Great Plains reservation communities as a quote “public safety crisis”.

Historically, reservations have seen higher-than-average rates of violent crime than the larger U.S. while contending with understaffing of law enforcement services.

A report that highlighted the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people was removed from several federal websites last month, to the disappointment of some Alaska Native advocates.

Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more.

The final report by the Not Invisible Act Commission was a joint effort of the U.S. justice and interior departments completed in November 2023.

It focused on the disproportionate rates of assault and murder in Indigenous communities across the country as well as unique issues faced by Alaska Native people.

President Donald Trump signed the law that mandated the report during his first term.

In February, the report’s authors and advocates noticed that the link had been deleted from several federal websites, including the Department of Justice website.

The reason for the removal was not immediately clear.

Michelle Demmert (Tlingit and Haida) is a longtime tribal judge and the University of Alaska Fairbanks professor who was one of the report’s commissioners. She says she was deeply disappointed with its removal.

“It’s like a slap in the face. It just really saddens me to have the report removed like it doesn’t even exist.”

Over 18 months, the commission heard from people across the country, including Anchorage, Bethel, and Emmonak. Those stories were included in the final report.

“People traveled far and wide to come give testimony about situations that involve their loved ones. They trusted us with their stories, even though it was painful for them to have to retell these stories, but they felt like this might be the one opportunity that someone hears them and takes action.”

Charlene Aqpik Apok (Iñupiaq) is the executive director of the non-profit Data for Indigenous Justice.

Apok attended the commission hearing that was held in Anchorage.

She says she found it unsettling that the report was deleted from several websites, but she doesn’t want people to be discouraged.

“We still know what was said. We still know our truth. We still know our stories, and they can’t take that away from us. Our knowledge and our truth is something that cannot be erased.”

Apok also says she appreciated the report’s specific recommendations for Alaska.

She says they spoke to historic violence against Alaska Native women, the landscape and structure of rural communities, and challenges with legal and public safety systems.

Apok adds that despite the report’s removal, organizations like Data for Indigenous Justice will continue to document and track cases of violence against Indigenous people in Alaska.

The Center for Native American Youth has announced its newest cohort of the Remembering Our Sisters Fellowship.

The virtual storytelling and digital arts program, supports Native young “women and femme-identifying leaders” who are raising awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S+).

During the six-month program, fellows will create digital art and storytelling projects to bring attention to the issue.

Six fellows from tribes across the country including from Oklahoma, Arizona, and California were chosen for the program.

Fellows will receive technical assistance, mentorship, and opportunities to share their projects.

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New Mexico joins three other states that have now created an alert system for missing Indigenous people.

The bill unanimously passed both chambers on Friday and now heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM).

Reporter Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has the details.

The Turquoise Alert system will allow law enforcement to quickly share information about missing Indigenous people through news media, social networks, and digital highway signs without having to wait the standard 48 hours.

According to the New Mexico Department of Justice, there are about 200 missing Indigenous people in the state.

The bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Angel Charley (Laguna Pueblo and Diné/D-NM), shared the news on Instagram and said the system is not a tribal mandate, but will instead go through the Department of Public Safety.

“It’s not going to fix our jurisdictional complexity issues, but it is going to ensure that when a Native person goes missing, that there’s an immediate, rapid response.”

The alert system will coordinate with state law enforcement agencies, tribal communities, and state resources when a missing Indigenous person goes missing in order to provide quick action and public awareness.

The governor has 20 days after the session ends to sign this bill into law and would take effect July 1.

The number of Alaska Native language speakers has been declining over the years including speakers of Alutiiq.

But a new language class that’s live streamed from the Kodiak Archipelago community of Port Lions aims to combat that trend locally.

KMXT’s Davis Hovey reports.

“Cama’I, Quyanaa, Taylugee, and welcome. Thank you for coming to another episode of King’s Corner.”

Every Thursday students from the school in the Native Village of Port Lions discuss Alutiiq culture and language. That’s in preparation for class lessons and conversations in Alutiiq that are live streamed online twice a month.

It’s the Port Lions’ students’ first time speaking their Native language within school through the Alutiiq Culture class. That includes practicing everything from weather reports to animals and place names in Alutiiq.

Jess Eggemeyer II, who works for the Native Village of Port Lions, teaches the class.

“I really saw a need for content that was focused on the local community and that would include current events happening in the village and at the school. A local safety bulletin, the weather forecast, as you’ve seen.”

Eggemeyer says the livestream, which is called Kings Corner after the school’s mascot, is a product of Elders and the previous generation laying the groundwork for language revitalization in Port Lions and around Kodiak Island.

That multi-year-long effort by multiple organizations and individuals has led to Alutiiq textbooks, digital audio recordings of Native speakers, and language courses for college students or even adults.

“If we don’t teach our children now, this is how languages die and it’s unfortunately not uncommon.”

Alaska Native languages in general are at risk of being lost or going extinct as Elders who speak the language are passing on. For Koniag or Kodiak Alutiiq, which is the dialect mainly spoken in the Kodiak Archipelago, less than 20 fluent first language speakers are still alive today.

Eggemeyer says the class will go through the rest of this semester and he hopes to continue it this summer and next school year too.

“(Sign off from show) tang’rciqamken (I’ll see you again in Alutiiq)”

The U.S. Postal Service is hosting a first-day-of-issue ceremony for its Forever stamps celebrating powwows.

Four stamps showcase paintings of Native dancers by Cochiti Pueblo artist Mateo Romero.

They feature Women’s Traditional Dance, Crow Hop Dance, Men’s Hoop Dance, and Women’s Fancy Shawl Dance.

The ceremony will be held at the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow in April in Albuquerque, N.M.

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Educators and lawmakers are blasting President Donald Trump’s push to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

Among them is the vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

In a release, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said the education department is part of the federal government’s core trust and treaty responsibility to American Indians, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives.

Sen. Schatz says over 90% of Native students attend public schools, who will be at the mercy of state governments that have no legal responsibility to meet needs.

The elimination of the department would affect special education, language learner supports, and Title VI Indian education programs, among others.

Furthermore, Native higher education would be affected including funding for tribal colleges, and programs administering federal loans and Pell Grants.

President Trump’s rationale includes low academic scores during the pandemic.

Neither Trump nor his staff have explained how ending the department would boost student performance.

(Photo: Anne Meadows / Flickr)

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to cut U.S. Department of Education spending.

Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez has more.

The non-profit argues in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that funding cuts are a violation of long-standing treaties between tribes and the U.S. government.

Attorney Jacqueline De León is leading the legal effort.

She says cuts, including layoffs of about a quarter of the staff, were made without input from tribes.

“The federal government has to consult with tribes before they make changes to education, including to staffing and they have a responsibility to fulfill those education requirements separate and apart from policy decisions or politics.”

The suit names two Indigenous colleges – one in Kansas and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in New Mexico.

DeLeon says a ruling could affect schools across the American Indian Higher Education Consortium of 37 tribal institutions across the country, including those in Mountain West states.

The secretary of the Department of Interior is named as the defendant in the suit, and has not yet filed a response, according to court filings.

Native American students in New Mexico will be able to wear their tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies this spring after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) signed a bill into law on Wednesday.

Reporter Jeanette DeDios has more.

Senate Bill 163 prevents school boards from banning tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies.

The bill is a response to an incident that occurred last May in Farmington, N.M., where a Native American high school graduate was ordered to remove their graduation cap that had an eagle plume and beads.

Despite some initial concerns from lawmakers, the bill passed unanimously through both chambers before being signed by the governor.

Gov. Lujan Grisham says Native American students are at higher risk of being bullied and committing suicide and this bill encourages them to be proud of who they are and can help promote their well-being.

“This is really about making sure that New Mexico stands on the right side of this civil rights issue and on the right side of kids.”

New Mexico Secretary for the Indian Affairs Department Josett Monette (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) says she’s excited to see this year’s graduates in their tribal regalia.

“It shows New Mexico’s dedication and respect for our Native students throughout the entire state.”

Monette said her department plans to create a campaign that will collect pictures of this year’s Native American students during their graduation ceremonies.

Those will be shared on social media and other outlets to recognize the hard work of the students and the passing of this bill, which goes into effect immediately.

And yesterday we reported on the disappearance of references to Navajo Code Talkers on U.S. military websites.

We’ve learned since then that following widespread outcry, those references and webpages are back up.

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Photo: Peter MacDonald, one of two surviving Navajo Code Talkers. (Courtesy Navajo Nation Council)

Navajo officials are demanding an explanation and apology from the Trump administration for the removal of online articles about the Navajo Code Talkers.

These were the estimated 400 Navajo Marines who used their unwritten language to thwart Japanese Imperialist forces during World War II.

The Japanese were never able to decipher the Code Talker’s radio transmissions, which were used to communicate the movements of American forces across the Pacific Theater.

The Navajos deployed during the fierce battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 are credited with helping the Marines take the island stronghold.

Crystalyne Curley is the Speaker of the 25th Navajo Nation Council.

She says the White House’s Executive Orders removing all references to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is behind the deletion of Code Talker articles from U.S. military websites.

“Our Navajo Code Talkers are seen as heroes, and community leaders, healers, protectors. So when we heard that the Navajo Code Talkers’ contributions, their legacy, their history, was deemed erased, the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘This can’t be true.’”

Curley says the omission was shocking to her and other delegates of the Navajo Council, given the sacrifices made by the Code Talkers.

“Now many of our Navajo veterans, Navajo Code Talker families, and communities are very frustrated. As of right now, many of our Navajo people don’t feel that reassurance or confidence that we are appreciated or even recognized.”

Of the 400 Navajo Code Talkers, only two are alive today.

Curley says she’s heard second-hand that the articles recognizing their contributions to the Allied war effort will be restored, but she’s not yet heard that directly from any official with the White House or Department of Defense.

“I’ve just seen it on press releases, other media, outlets that say that it was a mistake. And that they will be rescinded and restored. However, the council has not received any official apology or any type of form of communication on why it happened or if it will be fully 100% restored.”

Curley says the Navajo Council is working on a resolution to affirm the Navajo Nation’s government-to-government relationship with the United States, and that their contributions to national defense isn’t a DEI matter.

Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush have all bestowed accolades upon the Navajo Code Talkers, including the Congressional Medal of Honor.

In 2017, President Donald Trump honored three visiting Code Talkers at the White House Office, but the occasion was marred when he took the opportunity to refer to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) with the nickname “Pocahontas,” which many Native Americans consider a slur. Additionally, President Trump displayed a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office.

Jackson deemed himself an “Indian fighter” whose actions against Native people included the 1830 Indian Removal Act, which led to the infamous Trail of Tears.

Air Force training courses with footage of Women Airforce Service Pilots and the Tuskegee Airmen, Black pilots who flew fighter escorts during American bombing raids against Nazi Germany, also disappeared following President Trump’s recent calls to eliminate DEI policies.

In this June 21, 2023 photo, a Siletz tribal member and friends dig for camas bulbs outside of Eugene. Only until this past week are Siletz people able to harvest, hunt, and fish on their traditional lands since their tribe entered into a consent decree in 1980. In exchange for having a reservation created, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians had to relinquish subsistence rights. Many officials have since agreed this arrangement was biased and restrictive. (Photo: Brian Bull / KLCC)

Nearly half a century after losing their right to hunt, fish, and gather on their ancestral lands, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have just regained it.

In 1980, the Siletz and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife agreed to create a reservation for the tribe. In exchange, the Siletz gave up their subsistence rights.

“At the time, we were told by the state, ‘this is meant to be permanent, forever.’”

Siletz Tribal Chair Delores Pigsley says decades later, state, federal, and tribal officials agree this consent decree was a biased product of the times.

State Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) each introduced legislation to modify the decree, which President Joe Biden signed in December 2023.

Last week, the Fish and Wildlife Commission rescinded the original 1980 agreement – the last step in restoring the Siletz’ hunting and fishing rights.

Pigsley says tribal members are already planning their next steps.

“We’ll have a celebration. We’re happy, and we’re going to exercise our right. People have been applying for tags, now they’re able to actually feed their families.”

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Final okay is stalled in Congress on a bill setting up The Truth and Healing Commission for Indian Boarding School Policies.

This week, a tribal leader in Wisconsin asked state legislators for help in getting that measure passed, as Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports.

The bipartisan legislation would establish a federal commission to investigate the U.S. government’s role in Indian boarding school systems, an era that began during the 1800s.

The measure would also lead to more research into the schools’ effect on Native American communities and help identify pathways to healing from the cultural genocide critics of the schools say they institutions were designed to commit.

Late last year, the U.S. Senate passed the measure, but the House of Representatives has yet to do so.

During an annual State of Wisconsin Tribes speech to the Wisconsin Legislature, Saint Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin Chairman Thomas Fowler spoke about the topic.

He urged the Republican-controlled state body to encourage the GOP-controlled House to act on the bill, calling it critical for Native communities.

“The tragedy of boarding schools requires remembrance, so that the spirits of our ancestors are not lost or forgotten. We have a duty to afford them dignity and respect, to address the loss they suffered, oftentimes while being alone.”

Fowler says he is not trying to criticize all of today’s non-Indian politicians for what happened in the past.

“I recognize that not all the people in the room are responsible for those detrimental past policies. But each of us has an opportunity, and quite frankly, an obligation to ensure history never repeats itself.”

(Courtesy PBS Wisconsin / YouTube)

The U.S. Catholic Bishops have wanted representation on the boarding schools commission.

The bishops say that healing and reconciliation are only possible if all parties are involved.

Saint Croix Chairman Fowler also called on the Wisconsin Legislature to support additional state policies expanding Native American education, and legalizing medical marijuana.

Newtok was awarded $249,986 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for dismantling and restoring the old village site after severe erosion drove many of the residents to move to a new townsite, Mertarvik. (Courtesy KYUK)

Alaska experts on energy, housing, and infrastructure say billions of dollars in limbo from President Donald Trump’s federal funding freezes are affecting local projects like heat pump distribution and building infrastructure to protect against storm surges and tsunamis, as Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA explains.

Representatives from Alaska-based organizations held a joint press conference last week.

They said more than $5 billion are at risk from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and over $720 million from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Those numbers are a moving target, given some programs have been frozen and unfrozen irregularly.

Tashina Duttle works at Deerstone Consulting, which supports tribal energy infrastructure projects across Alaska.

She says many grants that are now frozen were for projects to prevent shore erosion, and stabilize villages against permafrost melt and flooding.

One program through the Bureau of Indian Affairs supports tribally led climate adaptation.

It’s allocated $72 million in funding for nearly 40 Alaskan tribal projects, but is now on pause.

“Without this funding, villages will be lost to erosion, infrastructure will collapse under worsening climate conditions, communities will have to relocate without a plan, without resources and without dignity.”

Duttle adds that the projects also create crucial economic opportunities in rural communities, like construction jobs.

Agencies are unsure what projects will be able to move forward, and what spending will be reimbursed.

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A project bringing solar energy to the Wind River Reservation has hit some road bumps due to pauses in federal funding.

But as Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports, the team is searching for other ways to move forward.

Energize Wind River is poised to set up standalone solar systems and bring electricity to roughly forty Eastern Shoshone homes. But? 

“ The ‘but’ would be that our construction funding is currently on hold pending review.”

That’s project director Levi Purdum.

He says about $2 million of funding is paused. Even though the project has funding for training, employees and outreach, it’s unable to buy or install the solar equipment.

Purdum is optimistic that the funding will eventually come through, but for now, the group secured a $20,000 grant from the Nature Conservancy.

“They wanted to support our non-governmental fundraising efforts, and so the intent is to hire and fund a fundraising specialist.”

Energize Wind River still plans to start construction this spring, if they’re able to raise enough money.

Other tribal nations across the Mountain West are facing similar issues amid budget cuts by the Trump administration.

(Photo: Lisa West / Flickr)

Marine species — like salmon and humpback whales – might be becoming more frequent fixtures in the Arctic, especially as sea ice becomes less reliable from climate change.

For residents in Alaska’s most northern communities, it can mean changes to subsistence.

The shifts in migration are also fascinating scientists.

Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more.

Catching salmon in the North Slope village of Kaktovik was unheard of not too long ago, but as resident Robert Thompson says, some fishermen now see salmon more regularly.

About five years ago, Thompson caught a dozen salmon – a small but noticeable number, he says.

“Before it was unusual, and people would talk about it, that somebody got a salmon, but now it’s fairly common.”

Fishermen, hunters, and researchers gathered at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage back in January to discuss changing migration patterns of several fish species and marine animals.

One of the conference presenters was Elizabeth Mik’aq Lindley, a graduate student from Bethel who grew up fishing for salmon.

For a year, Lindley and other researchers tracked temperatures in the Anaktuvuk River, which runs through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

“The temperature conditions, it seems like they are survivable.”

Less ice might also mean new territory for humpback whales.

Oceanographer Kate Stafford says data from local whalers and aerial surveys points to more humpbacks visiting the Chukchi sea in recent years.

In Utqiagvik, humpbacks were sighted only twice before 2021 and two to three times in years after that.

Then, last fall, researchers saw more than 25 whales feeding close together for two days in a row.

“We came across what I would call Humpback Palooza.”

Utqiagvik whaler Michael Donovan says he did not witness the “Humpback Palooza”, but he has seen a few humpbacks during his fall hunts.

He says that he and other whalers are worried that humpbacks might be competing for krill and copepods with bowheads, the staple subsistence resource in his community.

“They’re an invasive species, you know, they come in and eat the same food that our bowheads eat.”

Donovan and other hunters say they’re supportive of scientists collecting data on whales other than bowheads, which are growing their presence in warming waters in the Arctic.

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The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is making new efforts to help solve Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) cases.

Now, the federal agency is using forensic technology to help reunite the remains of Native Americans with their families and tribal nations.

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

Federal data shows there are roughly 4,200 unsolved MMIP cases.

The BIA is working to bring that number down with the initiative “Operation Spirit Return.”

The agency is partnering with a Texas-based company called Othram, which uses genetic genealogy to identify human remains.

Gina Jackson is Western Shoshone and an advocate. She says any resource going towards this crisis is a good thing.

“But the injustices are so huge and so vast that we need some big changes. We need to be protected, and right now, Native women and girls – and Native people, in general – are not being protected.”

The BIA did not respond to an interview request.

In a recent press release, the agency says it’s actively investigating 15 unsolved cases across tribal lands.

(Courtesy Junior League of Eugene / Facebook)

Human trafficking awareness and prevention was the focus of a community discussion last week in Eugene, Oreg.

Among those attending were MMIP advocates.

KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

The Junior League of Eugene organized the event, which was sold out with more than 150 registrants attending.

Among them was Amanda Freeman, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

Amanda Freeman (member of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde) appeared at the Junior League’s event wearing a beaded necklace created by her brother Andrew. The medallion depicts an Indigenous person with a woven basket hat and a red handprint over their mouth. (Photo: Brian Bull / KLCC)

She’s testified in the Oregon Legislature for bills to improve response and awareness of MMIP cases.

Freeman also started Ampkwa Advocacy last winter. It’s a non-profit organization that helps advocate for victims and their families, through Native culture and practices.

“I would rather save who we can by being who we are, and if we spread awareness, teach one new person one new thing, then that’s something.”

Freeman said she planned to talk to a presenter with the FBI on internet safety for young people.

Meanwhile, organizer Sarah Koski, community resource liaison for Lane Transit District (LTD), said she was pleased with the event.

She said it’s an extension of a pledge LTD signed last November to help fight human trafficking.

“So every one of our buses is a designated safe place for youth. We partner with Looking Glass, our downtown station, and our Springfield station as well. And what does that mean if there’s a youth in crisis, if they run to our bus, how do we support them?”

The Human Trafficking Hotline’s 2023 data shows nearly 250 victims were involved in trafficking cases in Oregon, most of them female.

The San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona is offering a $75,000 reward for information in the murder case of Emily Pike.

The teenager went missing in January. Her remains were later found.

12 News reports the reward was announced during a vigil held by the tribe over the weekend.

Her case has drawn national attention as people from across Indian Country are calling for justice for Emily and other MMIP cases.

The Gila County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information at 928-200-2352.

(Photo: Gage Skidmore / Flickr)

Tribal leaders are remembering U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) as a champion for Native people.

He died last week, after battling cancer.

The Hopi Tribe in a statement said the congressman was a true statesman, champion of the State of Arizona, and friend to Indian Country.

Among accomplishments, the tribe says he helped with clean water project, electrification efforts, and other investments.

He also recently championed a water rights settlement for Arizona tribes.

The Hopi Tribe says Rep. Grijalva’s friendship and commitment to Indian Country leaves a void in Congress.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren took to social media honoring the congressman’s legacy saying Grijalva was instrumental in protecting sacred lands, including the Grand Canyon.

A candlelight vigil was held for the congressman in Tucson Sunday night. Grijalva was 77-years-old.

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Photo courtesy Angel White Eyes / NDN Collective

On his last day in office, President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier.

Peltier had already spent nearly 50 years in prison for the murders of two FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975, a crime he denies doing.

The 80-year-old American Indian Movement (AIM) activist is now living in his homeland of North Dakota and has not granted interview requests for many news outlets, including National Native News.

However, the Associated Press’ Graham Brewer (Cherokee) was given access recently and so far is the only journalist to interview Peltier after his release.

I talked to longtime reporter Brewer about his visit with Peltier.

“He was in good spirits. I met him at his new house on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Has a really nice little two-bedroom home with an office where he’s planning to write his next book.”

Brewer says Peltier gets around with a Walker or cane and is eager to start painting, something he did while in prison.

After years of campaigning and lobbying for freedom, Peltier confessed that he began to lose hope.

“He was pretty convinced that he was never going to be released and that he would die in prison. One of the details he told me that really stayed with me is, just even on the plane ride home, he kept having these feelings that the plane would disappear and it would all be a dream and he would be back in his cell.”

While he enjoys support for many in the Native and international community, Peltier acknowledges that there are those who oppose his commutation.

One is the FBI, while the other are relatives and supporters of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, an AIM activist whose body was found on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1976.

Denise Pictou Maloney has long accused Peltier of killing her mother.

Brewer says he asked Peltier about this opposition.

“Yeah, they’re still very unhappy that federal law enforcement that he was commuted and able to be released. In terms of Anna Mae Pictou Akash’s family, they’re still very much convinced that Mr. Peltier had some knowledge of her death or was involved in some way, even though two other men were eventually convicted and incarcerated for that crime. He was very clear that he considered her a friend and a colleague, that he had no knowledge of her death and was very happy that the two men who were convicted of it were tried and put away.”

And how he’ll spend his final years, Brewer says Peltier expressed the passion for working with the next generation of Native American activists.

“He really wants to train them on the threats that they’ll face and encourage them to just show up and be present and protest, the taking away of any kind of land rights or Indigenous self-determination or tribal sovereignty or treaty rights. He thinks that’s still a really important part of being an activist today and that those threats are still very much alive.

Meanwhile, some Peltier supporters say that he deserves a full pardon and that President Donald Trump should grant one.

Brewer says that possibility wasn’t touched on much in their conversation, but Peltier maintains his innocence.

He’d been sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the agents’ deaths, plus seven years for an armed escaped attempt in 1979.

(Courtesy National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development / Facebook)

Indigenous entrepreneurs are meeting in Las Vegas this week for the National Center for the American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) summit.

Dr. R.D. Plato, managing director of Yellowtail Healthcare, a National Health care group, wants the Trump administration to be cautious about federal health cuts.

“There’s an incredible lot of anxiety because it seems like there’s not a lot of planning going into these cuts. It’s like ‘Let’s jump in and just start swinging the machete and cutting’ stuff, so that keeps you up at night.”

Brian Mercier, acting head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, also attended, telling people there are opportunities under the Trump administration for Native entrepreneurs, especially in energy and economic development.

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A former residential school in British Columbia has been designated a national historic site.

It’s the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, where in 2021, a radar survey found roughly 200 potential unmarked graves, as Dan Karpenchuk reports.

National historic sites in Canada are places that have shaped the country’s history … not all of it good.

That is the case with the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

It was nominated to become a site by the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc (TteS) First Nation.

The Canadian government worked with the band to help determine its significance.

TteS First Nation Chief Rosanne Casimir says designating the school a historic site symbolizes hope and the vision of ancestors for a prosperous future for their children and those not yet born.

Many of the buildings on the site have been preserved and are being used for education language and culture.

Celia Haig-Brown is a senior scholar at Toronto’s York University.

“Recognizing the school is a much more complex recognition of Canada’s history and its relationship with Indigenous people. I just hope that declaring it a heritage site means that it will be protected in memorium, so that we do not lose site of the chequered past we have.”

The school operated from 1890 to 1969.

The government took over administration of the school from the Catholic Church. It was then run as a day school until it closed in 1978.

It was one of the many residential schools across Canada which more than 150,000 first nations Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend.

It’s estimated that about 4,100 children died at the schools. Many of those who attended never returned home.

(Courtesy Michelle Paulene Abeyta)

An estimated 40,000 children in New Mexico were raised by grandparents or a relative in 2024, according to that state’s Aging and Long-Term Services Department.

A bill in the New Mexico legislature would create a pilot program to assist these kinship caregivers.

Reporter Jeanette DeDios has more.

House Bill 252 has already passed the House and is currently at the Senate Judiciary committee.

The three-year pilot program would assist kinship caregivers in Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Taos, McKinley, and Doña Ana Counties, targeting 50 participants in each area.

According to the bill analysis, one quarter of grandparents raising grandchildren in New Mexico live in poverty.

Kinship care is growing here, despite declining in the rest of the country, and one of the reasons is parents struggling with substance use disorders.

According to the fiscal impact report, the bill originally had a $4.5 million appropriation, but an amended version changed that to $4 million from the general fund.

The program would be administered through the Aging and Long-Term Services Department and would provide resources like public assistance, economic support, and legal services.

State Rep. Michelle “Paulene” Abeyta (Navajo/D-NM) is a co-sponsor and she and her husband are kinship caregivers themselves.

Rep. Abeyta is a lawyer and even she finds the system difficult to navigate.

“Sometimes the system is not designed to be one of support, right? And so I think with this bill, what we’re looking at doing is empowering the way that we help families.”

Abeyta says this bill is to support families who want to obtain legal custody or official guardianship, because so many times those legal fees are what make families concerned about not proceeding through the court system.

The legislative session ends on March 22 at noon.

And on this day in 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition were near what would become known as the Oregon Coast.

They lost a canoe and sent an interpreter to buy two from the Clatsop.

They also describe fish later identified as the sockeye salmon and steelhead trout, which was new to science at that time, and mentioned the Indigenous people were eating starry flounder.

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