Photo: Volunteer Tristan Pall packs food boxes in a truck bed at St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, Ariz. on October 30, 2025. (Shi Bradley / Cronkite News)

The Navajo Nation is bracing for the gap in SNAP benefits.

It’s yet another food insecurity problem for tribal members living on the sprawling reservation.

KJZZ’S Gabriel Pietrorazio has more.

With only a dozen or so stores in the Nation, buying groceries is already a daily struggle, but letting benefits lapse could make their dilemma much worse.

A third of Navajo households depend on SNAP today.

Thomas Cody is with the Navajo Division of Child and Family Services.

“We’re 400,000 strong, and we can get through this together.”

Meanwhile, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. have declared a state of emergency.

“Due to this federally imposed food crisis, we’re taking several actions.”

Hoskin made almost $7 million available.

As for the Navajo Nation, Cody says it’s unclear whether they’ll follow suit

“We’re coordinating right now with our legislators and our executive branch, and I don’t know if it will be a declaration, but we’re exploring all avenues to assist our people.”

On Monday, the Cherokee Nation announced the expansion of its emergency cash assistance program to all Cherokee Nation citizens on SNAP nationwide.

The tribe says it will adjust payments as the federal government partially pays benefits in November.

The deadline to apply is November 14.

A totem pole representing the Sukteeneidí clan on October 14, 2025. (Photo: Clarise Larson / KTOO)

In a recent ceremony, clan leaders and carvers dedicated the latest pole in Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Kootéeyaa Deiyí — Juneau’s totem pole trail.

KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey has more.

Inside the clan house in the Walter Soboleff building, Sukteeneidí clan members stand in front of a large poster depicting a totem pole that represents their clan story.

They offer thanks to other clans, carvers, and SHI leadership.

The actual pole – called a kooteeyaa in Lingít – was raised near Juneau’s Overstreet Park, but organizers held the dedication inside due to weather.

Edward Thomas is Sukteeneidí and he says he’s excited to see his clan join the handful of others already represented by the Kootéeyaa Deiyí.

“As I look at the walk of the totem pole along the waterfront here, I’m proud to see that all of our clans are being represented,”

Thomas went on to thank the carver, Lee Wallace, and his apprentices for the thought and work they put into the pole.

Wallace is a Haida master carver and lives in Saxman. But he says this kootéeyaa is a part of his family’s legacy, too.

“My great grandfather has a totem pole in the state building, Dwight Wallace. My grandfather, John Wallace, has a totem pole that was outside the city museum. So now, with this particular kootéeyaa pole, there’s three generations of Wallace totem poles standing here in Juneau.”

Wallace was helped by apprentices, including his son Charles Peele.

And Peele holds the youngest member of the carving team — his five-year-old daughter Jáadsangaa Elizabeth — as he describes the design of the pole.

“And at the top, we have the current clan leaders. We want to acknowledge that this is representation of a living people. That this isn’t just something that’s from the past, this is something that’s tying history together. We often look at totem poles as things that are coming back from the past. And we wanted to add a piece that represents the present.”

Below the current clan leaders, the pole features a spirit man, Raven, and a box that represents the abundance of knowledge and history held in the Sukteeneidí clan, whose homelands are near Kake.

At the base is the clan crest — dog salmon swimming in tall grasses.

The National Park Service funded this pole.

SHI plans to raise a total of 30 poles along Juneau’s waterfront. So far, 13 poles have been installed.

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