National Native News

Photo: The Jack Egnaty Sr. School in Sleetmute. (Emily Schwing)

There are 128 open schools in rural Alaska and the state owns just under half of them.

KYUK reporter Emily Schwing dug through data and found decades of neglect and lacking accountability that’s put students, teachers, and staff at risk.

Most school districts in Alaska have access to money that doesn’t come from the state, but rural school districts are different.

“We do not have any local contributions. We do not have a tax base. Most of our family members, our community members, they live a subsistence lifestyle.”

Madeline Aguillard is the Superintendent of nine schools scattered across 12,000 square miles in Alaska’s Interior. It’s roughly the size of Maryland.

Her district relies on the state to help pay for everything from textbooks to sewer lines.

“The state does have an obligation to provide a public education. … and I would hope that providing that education would also mean assistance with providing the physical space.”

Since 1998, Alaska has only funded about 14% of nearly 1,800 project proposals from rural school districts.

The result? Exposed electrical wiring and malfunctioning fire alarms.

In one case, the school’s pipes froze and broke, so for most of the last school year, kids rode a four-wheeler, known as “the bathroom bus,” home twice a day to relieve themselves.

“I think the evidence speaks for itself.”

Bryce Edgmon, an Alaska Native, is Speaker of the Alaska State House of Representatives.

“These bright young children show up every morning to go to school in a building that’s not fit for even anything but being ready to be demolished.”

Regulations say the state is responsible for major maintenance and construction for buildings it owns. Alaska’s Education Commissioner Deena Bishop says it’s not that simple.

“So that the funding for those projects comes from the state of Alaska. It’s the legislature that would provide funding.”

This year, requests for investments in school infrastructure statewide come close to $800 million and a budget deficit looms as lawmakers in Juneau debate over how to balance a budget and fund education.

Support for this reporting comes from ProPublica and the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2024 National Fellowship.

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

Indigenous business owners are gathering in a major conference in the Mountain West region this week to discuss ways to bring more business opportunities to Native communities.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez has more.

Thousands of Indigenous entrepreneurs gathered in Las Vegas for The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development Conference — the biggest of its kind in the country.

Bryan Mercier (Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon), acting director of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, spoke to the group.

He acknowledged many conference goers are concerned about Trump administration budget cuts, but said the new administration is also working to enhance opportunities for Indigenous businesses and communities.

“Energy development, economic development.”

He told the crowd that energy and economic development are on the table, along with funding law enforcement.

“So I’m encouraging …”

He went on to encourage everybody he speaks with to “jump at these opportunities and work with this administration.”

Mercier is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon.

He was appointed in September last year under the Biden administration.

He said in his role he will continue to advocate for prioritizing Indigenous cultural perspectives in federal policy.

A patient at the IHS Fort Belknap Hospital in Harlem, Mont. receives a COVID vaccination on April 6, 2021. (Courtesy IHS)

And it was roughly five years ago this week that COVID-19 came to North America.

A Princeton University study has shown that Native people saw greater rates of COVID-19 deaths due to limited access to high-quality medical care, poverty, and crowded living conditions.

Tribes shut down many operations and organized vaccine clinics and pop-up testing sites to protect elders and children.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Kylee Probert. (Courtesy Oregon State University)

The Trump administration is cutting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.

NWPB’s Lauren Paterson reports on how that’s affecting funding and projects for tribes.

Kylee Probert is a descendent of the Spokane Tribe.

She grew up in the Northwest and went to college in Washington and Oregon. She landed in Washington, D.C. and in September, she got her dream job: helping oversee grants for tribal communities through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“I wanted to help tribes. I wanted to make a difference in, in government.”

Last month, Probert was fired. She was one of thousands of federal workers whose jobs were terminated during their probationary period. She was managing more than a dozen grants to help tribes across the country.

“There was a big push to cut diversity related projects at HHS and, of course, a lot of my work with tribes fell into that bucket.”

The projects were temporarily halted, and Probert says she has no way to verify if the work will be restarted or renewed.

Rather than feeling deterred, Probert says she feels reinvigorated, and she still wants to make a difference in public health. That could mean going to an Indigenous law school, or finding a new job in health policy.

(Courtesy Energize Wind River)

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.

The Whip Man enters the dance arena at the 2009 Wallowa Band Nez Perce Homeland Tamkaliks Celebration. (Courtesy Joe Whittle)

A Native photojournalist is promoting the idea of a national “Land Back” movement across the U.S. for territory ceded, stolen, or taken during colonization.

Joe Whittle is a member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, and descendent of the Delaware Nation.

A former back country wilderness ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, Whittle says he’s proposing that the federal government return its public lands to its original inhabitants.

“Based on the fact that the United States violated every Indian Treaty they ever signed with indigenous peoples. And essentially, my project proposes that tribal citizens come together and form a class action lawsuit to sue for damages due for our treaty violations.”

Whittle’s argument just appeared in Time Magazine. He’s hoping an inspired attorney might take the federal government on.

“There’s also an ecological argument based on our traditional ecological knowledge, and a lot of data that shows that indigenous people are better and more sustainable stewards of the land than private industry or the United States government has ever been, due to how deeply embedded in U.S. politics private industry has become on public lands.”

A presentation and discussion on Whittle’s “Land Back” proposal will be held Tuesday night at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Morgan Harris, left, Marcedes Myran, and Rebecca Contois. (Courtesy Winnipeg Police Service / Darryl Contois)

Officials in Manitoba have identified one of two sets of remains found last month at a Winnipeg landfill site.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, police have confirmed those remains belong to one of four Indigenous women murdered by a convicted serial killer.

The remains of Morgan Harris were positively identified by forensic officials. They were found two weeks ago at a landfill, north of Winnipeg.

A second set of remains have not yet been identified but are likely those of another victim of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, an Indigenous woman known only as Buffalo Woman.

Advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) are praising the Harris’ family for their strength and determination after they fought to the search of the landfill site.

Praise also came from Manitoba premier Wab Kinew (Onigaming First Nation).

“So I don’t think of us would ever want our loved ones to go through what Morgan Harris went through. However, through this journey, we have seen some remarkable strength, resilience, and power from the family of Morgan.”

Sheila North, a former grand chief of northern of a group of northern Manitoba first nations, also acknowledged the strength and lover of the families for their efforts.

And Premier Kinew says he hopes the family will have some sense of closure and healing now that they will be able to hold a sacred ceremony to memorialize here.

The families of MMIP worked alongside forensic anthropology students to search the landfill.

Some Indigenous leaders and advocates who pushed for the search said the remains wouldn’t have been found without the efforts of the Canadian government and the current provincial government.

Winnipeg police and the former Conservative government of Manitoba argued against searching the landfill, because of safety concerns.

(Courtesy AMC Networks)

The hit thriller-mystery show Dark Winds kicked off its third season over the weekend.

The new episodes have Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee investigating the disappearance of two boys, and an Federal Bureau of Investigation agent probing the death of the wealthy and powerful B.J. Vines from last season.

Zahn McClarnon plays Leaphorn.

“Season three’s basically a continuation of the exploration of the tragedy that befell the Leaphorn family from the previous seasons – with their son, the ramification of their son’s death – what consequences come to Joe Leaphorn for his actions he did last season, how it affects his mental state, and how it affects his marriage with his wife Emma.”

The third lead in Dark Winds is Jessica Matten, who plays Bernadette Manuelito.

Season three finds her hundreds of miles away working with the U.S. Border Patrol.

Matten wasn’t available for an interview with National Native News, but co-star Kiowa Gordon says her character and Jim Chee still connect.

“Jim’s not one to give up on something that he wants in his life. So I don’t think we’ve seen the last of that pairing between Bernadette and Jim Chee because, even though there may be some love triangle forming through (laughs) this Ivan character, I think we can’t ever count out Chee and Bernadette having a reunion, and I’d hold on to that hope.”

Meanwhile, showrunner John Wirth says the series’ success comes from revisiting Tony Hillerman’s novels through the lens of Navajo and other Native American cast and crew members, including consultants.

“It’s a wonderfully functional-dysfunctional group of people. (laughs) All of us have the same desire to tell a really gripping story and to honor the traditions out of which these characters come. Both the fictional world of Hillerman and also the historical world and the real world of the Navajo Nation.”

Dark Winds airs Sundays on AMC.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Marie Richards loved her job as a tribal relations specialist for the U.S. National Forest Service. She was one of 3,400 workers targeted for layoffs. (Photo: Izzy Ross / Grist)

Thousands of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) workers were fired in recent weeks — part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government and cut costs.

A federal board this week ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to rehire those it fired.

Before this development, Grist and IPR’s Izzy Ross went to meet one worker caught up in the confusion.

Marie Richards is a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

A little over a year ago, she joined USFS as a tribal relations specialist in northern Michigan.

“There’s the Congressional boundaries of any forest and then there’s actually what the forests own and manage within it but you’ll pass right by on your way to 115 … yeah, see I’m still doing my job and I don’t even work there – that’s how much I loved it!”

That change was sudden. Richards got a phone call from her supervisor on a Saturday in mid-February, telling her she’d been let go.

“I hung up the phone, and I think I screamed, and my neighbor may or may not have heard me scream. I don’t have the heart to ask him.”

Richards was one of thousands of probationary workers targeted for layoffs as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut costs and shrink the federal government — some of which have now been reversed.

She was proud of her job.

“None of us deserved this. We all work hard. We all work hard and we’re dedicated for taking care of the land.”

That land includes almost one million acres and two treaty territories.

Tribal nations ceded that to the federal government, which has a responsibility to keep it in trust for Indigenous peoples.

As a liaison, Richards was part of that. As a tribal citizen, the work was also personal.

“So that was the biggest source of pride for me in doing my job, was helping people understand my tribal nation’s in trust, Little River Band’s in trust, Saginaw Chippewa’s in trust. You know, all the tribes that we communicate with and try to collaborate and engage in cooperative management with.”

She worries about what will happen to that trust responsibility as people like her are laid off.

“That’s a promise, that’s an agreement between the federal government and tribal nations, that there are things we have treaty rights and without the people doing the work to take care of the land, where is that? Where is that? We have to have the public trust to also have tribal trust. Those are intertwined, that we can’t have one without the other.”

Richards isn’t sure what’s next for her.

One thing that is certain is her desire to keep doing work with tribes and heritage.

“It still really hurts that this dream of mine is kind of shattered, and we’ll see. And you know, and find a new dream. But my, ultimately, my career, my livelihood, is in tribal relations for our heritage and I will find a home somewhere.”

A USDA spokesperson confirmed that about two thousand probationary employees had been laid off from USFS.

Richards said on Thursday that she had yet to be reinstated.

This Sunday, AMC’s crime thriller Dark Winds – based on Tony Hillerman’s novels – begins its third season.

Brian Bull has this preview.

“We all have a line that runs down the middle of our heart. That lines separates monsters…from men.”

The new episodes find Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, played by actor Zahn McClarnon, wrestling with his conscience following his actions last season.

“Y’know, he struggles with guilt, that moral gray area he’s kinda found himself in. Questions his decisions, his moral compass and what choices — how they may have cost him. It just puts him into a lot of fear and anxiety this season.”

Kiowa Gordon plays Jim Chee.

He says this season finds the ex-FBI officer trying to gain acceptance back into the Navajo community, and reconcile with a childhood tormentor who’s suspected in a boy’s death.

“He has a chance to confront his demons, so to speak, you know, which is like with Shorty Bull Legs. He’s trying to figure out if this guy is actually the murderer to this child.”

(Courtesy AMC Networks)

Dark Winds has already been greenlit for a fourth season.

Showrunner John Wirth says the cast and crew are all dedicated to making the show authentic and respectful of Native culture.

“Without denigrating Hillerman’s accomplishments or his work at all, I have a sense that he took the Navajo story told it through his own lens. But I think it was somewhat off-putting for Indigenous people who were reading that stuff. What I really wanted to do on this TV show was re-appropriate the stories back to the Navajo people.”

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

KYUK reporter Emily Schwing spent the last year crawling through attics, basements, and classrooms in rural public schools across Alaska.

What she found was a serious public health and safety crisis that’s impacting Alaska’s Indigenous students.

There is no mechanism to condemn a building in Alaska, but in the tiny community of Sleetmute, that’s exactly what an architect recommended for the public school in 2021.

Angela Hayden is the lead teacher. 

“The roof was leaking when I first started teaching here 17 years ago.” 

That leak has been left for nearly two decades.

Today, the building is on the verge of collapse.

There are bats living in a utility closet and black mold throughout the walls and ceilings.

Superintendent Madeline Aguillard says kids can’t thrive in these conditions.

“They’re not conducive, for high expectations. They’re not conducive for academic achievement. They’re not conducive for athletic achievement.” 

It’s not just Sleetmute. Dozens of rural public schools in Alaska face similar problems and the health risks are concerning. 

Long term exposure to black mold can irritate lungs, cause chronic fatigue, and neurological problems.

Fungal spores from bat feces can also irritate lungs and cause blindness. 

Higher rates of health disparities among Alaska Natives have long been documented, compared to the general population and the majority of students in Alaska’s rural public schools are Indigenous. 

Education Commissioner Deena Bishop acknowledges the public health concern, but says her agency isn’t solely responsible. 

“If something’s happening in the school, it’s most likely happening in other buildings in the community. So, you know, like it is a collective Alaskan issue that we’d be happy to have a seat at the table to discuss.”

Andrea John, who has three kids enrolled in Sleetmute, says she thinks it’s easy for the state to forget communities like hers.

“They’re choosing to look the other  way and say the hell with us … those city people, they wouldn’t … let their kids go to school here.”

Support for this reporting comes from ProPublica and the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.  There is a Yup’ik language translation of this story by Julia Jimmy, KYUK’s Yup’ik News and Culture Producer.

A candlelight vigil is planned for Thursday night in Mesa, Ariz. for Emily Pike, a Native American teenager who disappeared in January.

She was staying at a group home in the city.

Police recently confirmed some of her remains were discovered on a remote highway last month.

Multiple agencies are now involved in the investigation, the Arizona Republic reports.

Her family and the San Carlos Apache Tribe, where she’s from, are asking for privacy.

Photo: Jeff Zylland / National Parks Service

American grasslands were once a mecca for biodiversity.

But federal data shows more than 60% of the ecosystem has vanished due to agriculture, development, and invasive species.

New research shows how the Mountain West region could play a role in the conservation of one important – and yappy – grassland animal.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Rachel Cohen reports.

If you drive along a grassland you might not see much.

Ana Davidson says that’s until you come across a colony of prairie dogs.

“And as soon as you do, the life of the prairie is there.”

Davidson is a scientist at Colorado State University. She says prairie dogs’ underground burrows provide habitat for creatures from insects to ferrets.

Her research team wanted to know the best spots to focus on their conservation, so they mapped in-tact native grasslands, but they also wanted to know where to avoid human conflict. 

“Is there oil and gas occurring there? Are there wind farms? Are there roads?”

They found the highest potential for conservation efforts in western portion of the grassland ecosystem.

That includes less developed parts of Montana and Wyoming, down to Colorado and northern New Mexico.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

President Donald Trump, in his more than one hour and a half speech to Congress Tuesday night, touted his executive actions since taking office six weeks ago, and said, “we’re just getting started.”

Among actions he mentioned were the federal hiring freeze, creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “headed” by Elon Musk, and renaming Denali to Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

Since taking office in January, tribal leaders from across the country have been raising concerns about the administration’s actions.

The hiring freeze and the mass firing of government employees with the help of DOGE has tribal leaders worried about essential services in tribal communities, saying there could be devastating impacts, including to health care, education, and public safety.

Last week, tribal leaders from across the country and leaders of Native organizations testified during three days of hearings in Washington, on American Indian and Alaska Native programs in a subcommittee in the House Committee on Appropriations.

Marc Macarro, president of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), released a written statement to the subcommittee.

“The Trump administration’s early actions have generated confusion, fear, and real consequences throughout Indian Country.”

Tribal leaders who testified urged for exemptions for tribes from President Trump’s orders, and for the federal government to uphold trust and treaty obligation.

According to the Subcommittee of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, there were an unprecedented number of requests by leaders to participate in the hearings, which needed a third day to accommodate around 100 tribes and tribal organizations.

The action changing Denali to Mt. McKinley prompted the Alaska State Legislature to urge the administration and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to maintain the name Denali. And U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a bill that would officially designate the mountain as Denali, its Koyukon Athabascan name.

During his address when talking about the war in Ukraine, Trump referred to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as “Pocahontas,” which he has used as a jab at her.

Tribes and Native groups have condemned Trump’s use of the name, including NCAI, which said in a 2017 statement that “the name of Pocahontas should not be used as a slur, and it is inappropriate for anyone to use her name in a disparaging manner.”

Native women’s advocates say it hurts the image of Native American women, adding the name is used by some as a stereotype for sexualizing them, pointing to Native women facing high rates of sexual violence and assaults in the U.S.

(Courtesy NM Indian Affairs Department / Instagram)

A bill in the New Mexico Legislature seeks to help address missing Native Americans in the state with a new alert system.

According to the New Mexico Department of Justice, Native people account for 16% of missing persons in the state.

Reporter Jeanette DeDios has more.

Senate Bill 41 passed the Senate unanimously Saturday and would amend the Missing Person Information and Reporting Act to include a Turquoise Alert for Native Americans who are enrolled in a federally recognized tribe and go missing.

An alert would go out immediately across the state without having to wait the standard 48 hours for a missing person.

The bill is sponsored by State Sen. Angel Charley (Laguna and Diné/D-NM). State Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta (Diné/D-NM) from To’hajile is a co-sponsor.

She says in her large rural district, it can take law enforcement a long time to respond to emergencies.

“And I’m not talking a few hours, I’m talking days. And when someone goes missing or someone’s endangered, we need these alerts to go out right away.”

The bill passed with an amendment that refines the criteria for issuing an alert to high-risk cases. It’s now in the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee.

The bill would require the Department of Public Safety to develop a plan for getting alerts out to law enforcement and the public.

This bill does not include a direct appropriation, but a fiscal analysis states there may be recurring costs for state agencies to implement the alert system.

At least three other states including, Washington, California, and Colorado have passed similar legislation in recent years.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Photo: Brian Bull

Longtime activist Winona LaDuke says powerful corporations and the Trump Administration are trying to eliminate dissent and disrupt Native American interests.

As Brian Bull reports, she visited the University of Oregon Monday, fresh from observing the start of a trial against Greenpeace.

LaDuke, an Anishinaabe tribal member from Minnesota’s White Earth Reservation, says the powerful Energy Transfer corporation has taken Greenpeace to a district court trial for multiple reasons:

“To diminish and squash any kind of civil disobedience or First Amendment rights, by criminalizing criticism of big energy corporations because they’re charging Greenpeace with defamation. It’s called a SLAP suit: Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation.”

LaDuke adds the case will be determined by jury in North Dakota’s Morton County, which she accuses of being racist and biased towards energy development companies.

It’s all part of a larger concern Native environmentalists have as President Donald Trump continues to slash federal agencies and revisit his environmental agenda.

In his first term, President Trump cut protections on certain areas deemed sacred or important to tribes.

“Widespread mayhem is what we’re seeing. I mean obviously things like Bears Ears, everything that we have had gains on to protect sacred sites, they’re going to try to roll them back, as well as just basically destabilize tribal governments and tribal communities by cuts in funding.”

LaDuke says it’s important for Native people to work together and protect their sovereignty, as well as food, water, and families.

“Hold on. Y’know, this is not our first bad rodeo.”

In a web statement, Energy Transfer says its lawsuit against Greenpeace is not about free speech, but activists not following the law. And the White House has explained that its actions are about eliminating waste at the federal level.

First Nations HealthSource CEO Linda Son-Stone.

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night, a leader in urban Indian health, Linda Son-Stone, is advocating for urban clinics.

The CEO of First Nations HealthSource will be attending the speech in Washington, as a guest of U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM).

First Nations in Albuquerque is one of 41 urban Indian clinics in the country, which Son-Stone says is an important part of the Indian Health Service system.

Son-Stone is advocating for the protection of IHS funding and Medicaid. She’s also concerned about federal workforce reductions.

“We rely heavily on having a strong IHS infrastructure to administer and oversee a lot of the funding that we receive, as well as to advocate for both the tribes and the urban communities.”

The clinic provides, medical, dental, behavioral health services, and traditional healing.

Another effort to create Indigenous Peoples Day in Montana is underway in the state legislature.

Montana Public Radio’s Victoria Traxler has more.

State Sen. Shane Morigeau (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation/D-MT) brought a bill that would recognize the holiday statewide by sharing Columbus Day.

Watch The Senate Debate

This is the sixth legislative session in a row raising the issue.

In 2021 and 2023, legislators attempted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. But this year Sen. Morigeau’s bill proposes the two coincide.

“For all the organizers and people I’ve worked with across the state, for them this was the best step moving forward recognizing that other efforts we brought to the legislative body have not passed”

Legislators who spoke in support of the bill said it struck a balance and recognized Columbus’s impacts on world history as well as Indigenous peoples’ impacts.

The senate gave the bill an initial vote of endorsement 48 to 2.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

In Canada, potential human remains have been discovered at a landfill site near Winnipeg.

And families of two Indigenous women, who fought to have the landfill site searched, are hopeful that their struggle was not in vain.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the two women were victims of a convicted serial killer.

The Prairie Green Landfill, just outside Winnipeg, has been the site of a search since December.

It’s where the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcades Myran are believed to have been buried. The former government of Manitoba and the police rejected calls to search the site, in part, because of asbestos and toxic material at the location, and they said there was no guarantee the remains would be found.

Wab Kinew (Onigaming First Nation) is the premier of Manitoba and spoke to family members of the victims.

“I hope this is, in some way, a vindication because you’ve been saying the whole time, that should move ahead with search. Now we found what the experts tells us are human remains, There are two forensic anthropologists on site. They both double check the work here and they said these are human remains. And so now the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] and the chief medical examiner are going to doing the identification process.”

Kinew says officials don’t know yet if the remains are in fact the victims of the families. That process could take a couple of weeks.

In a statement, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says the discovery is a a painful but significant moment in the fight for justice.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson says the families deserve answers and deserve to lay their loved ones to rest with the dignity and respect that has so often been denied to Indigenous women.

Jeremy Skibicki was convicted last July of four counts of first degree murder in the killings of four Indigenous women in Winnipeg in 2022.

The possible remains found recently, could be that of Harris and Myran.

He was also found guilty in deaths of Rebecca Contois, and a still unidentified women known only as Buffalo Woman.

A new report shows North Dakota’s five tribal colleges contribute nearly $170 million to the state’s economy.

Mike Moen reports.

The data was issued by the North Dakota Tribal College System.

The report indicates between 2022 and 2023, North Dakotans saw added tax revenue and public-sector savings of more than $30 million.

Dr. Tracey Bauer, executive director of the college system, says alumni add even more economic activity when they work in their communities after graduation.

Tribal college advocates see this as positive impacts, but there’s concern about Trump administration actions.

Bauer says tribal colleges are largely funded by federal grants. She warns a lot might change if federal cuts reach North Dakota’s tribal colleges.

“It’s going to possibly lead to staff layoffs, increases in tuition – to kind of make up some of that lost funding, [and] even campus program closures.”

The American Indian College Fund (AICF) stresses that tribal colleges should be exempt from executive orders due to treaty and trust obligations of the federal government.

AICF president and CEO Cheryl Crazy Bull says, as the uncertainty unfolds, organizations like hers are preparing to help these schools adjust.

“Providing resources for institutions to hire adjunct faculty, or helping students with transfer programming.”

The leaders say tribal colleges and universities were set up to provide a more cultural and welcoming learning environment, while giving students flexibility to overcome barriers to enrolling.

Meanwhile, of the 37 tribal higher education institutions across the country, only two are federally operated and they’re feeling the impacts of the Trump administration’s federal workforce reductions – Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M.

While tribal higher education advocates urge for exemptions, Haskell students have been holding protests.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Navajo Nation officials this week addressed ongoing concerns about the recent restart of uranium ore hauling through the reservation.

As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, it follows months of negotiations with the owners of a mine near the Grand Canyon.

In an online video, acting Navajo Attorney General Heather Clah said the tribe was unable to prevent the transport despite opposition from many residents, lawmakers, and Navajo President Buu Nygren.

The tribe doesn’t have jurisdiction over the haul route, which is made up of state and federal highways.

“So, the next best thing that we needed to go ahead and do is to make sure that we protected our Navajo Nation people. So that’s why we took the approach of negotiating terms in order to make sure that this agreement provides those protections.”

Navajo officials can now inspect the truckloads before they enter the reservation, and the shipments are limited to certain hours and days.

The agreement also includes emergency response procedures and several other provisions.

Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the tribe’s Environmental Protection Agency, pointed out that the mine is fully permitted with state and federal agencies.

“We took that and trying to develop as many mechanisms as we can to push the limits of regulation and oversight on this transport activity for the benefit of our communities. And that’s where we remain focused.”

Earlier this month, 25-ton trucks of uranium ore left the Pinyon Plain Mine near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon bound for a mill in southern Utah.

The shipments pass through several northern Arizona communities and a large swath of the Navajo Nation.

The tribe expects 10 trucks per day for the next two to four years.

A multigenerational home in White Mountain, Alaska burns in the early morning of February 20, 2025. (Courtesy Venessa Marie Koonooka)

A young boy from White Mountain, Alaska, leaped into action recently when flames enveloped his family’s home.

And as KNOM’s Ben Townsend tells us, the second grader likely saved his great-grandmother’s life.

Roseann Titus was getting ready for the day on Thursday morning when she saw flames coming from a bathroom at the front of the house.

Her granddaughter and great-grandson were still in bed.

Titus tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire and then rushed to wake up her family, but the flames spread into the hallway, blocking the way out of the house.

That’s when her great-grandson, eight-year-old Colton Koonooka-Kowchee, sprang into action.

“We didn’t know how to contain it, so he kind of jumped out the window and ran for help.”

That’s Colton’s mother, Venessa Marie Koonooka.

She said her son plunged 10 feet from the window to a snowdrift below.

He ran through deep snow to get help – which came in the form of Shane Bergamaschi, a volunteer firefighter.

Bergamaschi helped pull Titus through a window and rushed her to the local clinic to await a medevac.

“They helped us right away when we got in there with my grandma’s burns and smoke inhalation. I only had a popped knee and a few frostbites on my toes. I was okay.”

Titus was flown to Anchorage, where she was treated for burns on her shoulder and arm. The home was a loss, including personal belongings and two moose legs from a recent hunt.

Despite the heartbreak of losing the family home, Colton’s grandmother Nora Brown, who was not in the home at the time, credited her grandson with keeping the situation from getting much worse.

“If it wasn’t for Colton jumping out on his own, we would have probably lost my mother, and the houses nearby probably would have caught fire.”

Titus has worked for the Bering Strait School District since 1988.

Bering Air is ferrying donations to the family and an online fundraising campaign has been set up.

Close-up of one of the two gowns now on display. (Courtesy Smithsonian / NMAI)

The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. is displaying two gowns worn by Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone.

The installation opens Friday, ahead of Sunday’s Oscars.

Both gowns were a custom collaboration, designed by Gucci and Indigenous artist Joe Big Mountain, featuring Native design and quillwork.

Four public programs are planned in March.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Assemblymember James Ramos’ (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA) legislative package for the year includes continued efforts to address missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) in the state.

He spoke this week at an MMIP tribal policy summit held in Pala, Calif.

Asm. Ramos highlighted the Feather Alert system, in its second year being used in the state, to notify the public and law enforcement about missing Native Americans.

He says getting tools like this, requires tribal advocacy and representation in the legislature.

Ramos is the first and only California Native American currently serving.

“Being in the state legislature and with all your support, we’ve been able to start to bring pieces of legislation forward. Legislation that focuses on the Department of Justice to start to build that statistical data so that we go out and we ask for resources. That data is there, something that hasn’t been there for California Indian people. We continue to look at those issues moving forward and gaining allies in the state legislature and within law enforcement. Gaining allies to bring forward the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women.”

One of his bills, AB 31, authorizes the state Department of Justice to grant tribal police from three California tribes state peace officer status, if they meet the same requirements and standards as other police officers in the state.

It would also assist law enforcement by clarifying jurisdiction, permitting tribal police to assist communities close to reservations, and allowing participating tribes to enter into agreements to share liability and collaborate on MMIP cases.

AVO flew over the summit crater of Mount Spurr on February 7 and used a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera to measure the temperature of the steam and gas vents (fumaroles) at the summit, with the highest temperatures exceeding 320 degrees F (160 degrees C). (1/3) pic.twitter.com/brJlgKKDVu

— Alaska AVO (@alaska_avo) February 18, 2025

Officials are keeping a close eye on a volcano near Anchorage, Alaska, for chances of eruption.

KNBA’s Jill Fratis has more.

According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, K’idazq’eni, which is also known as Mount Spurr and is located about 80 miles west of the city, has shown signs of heightened activity.

This has promoted the elevation of the alert level to “watch,” which increases the potential for an eruption.

David Schneider is a Research Geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO).

“We increased our alert level back in October of last year, increasing the aviation color code, as well as the volcano alert level to yellow for aviation and advisory for ground hazards.”

The advisory comes after increased seismic activity and minor ash emissions observed over the past few months.

Schneider says when it comes to a possible eruption, there is no way to tell at the moment.

“I hate to say this, but the volcano is either going to erupt, or it’s not. There’s no escalating trend, where the volcano is presenting like this, can go on and it can die away, and no eruption. So we’re kind of in that stage right now of just sort of watching and seeing what the volcano is going to do.”

K’idazq’eni last erupted in 1992, sending ash as high as 65,000 feet and causing disruptions to air travel and local communities. As far as what to do in the near future, Schneider says the focus is on preparedness.

“Right now, I would say we are in the preparedness stage, which is a good place for people to be. Both as scientists and observatories who are reaching out to emergency managers, segments of the economy that can be impacted like the airport. And just to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

When all is said and done, Schneider wants to remind the public that a possible volcanic eruption is just another natural hazard to be prepared for in Alaska.

“Living in Alaska, we should all have some basic level of preparedness for natural hazards. We have wind storms that knock out power for days at a time. We have earthquakes that can happen. So we’re kind of used to that level of preparedness, and for volcanic ash, it’s really not a whole lot different than sort of being ready for any other natural hazard that you can face.”

Updates and safety information are being listed on AVO’s website.

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.