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Chairman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council Peter Yucupicio (left in this August file photo) lauded the House passing a Old Pascua land acquisition bill on Tuesday.

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is closer to gaining control of Old Pascua, site of tribe’s first settlement in Tucson, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill awarding to the tribe the Northwest Side area of several city blocks, which includes the site of a planned casino. Read more»

The Google doodle for Nov. 1 is We:wa, a notable Zuni artist who lived in the latter half of the 1800s.

November is Native American Heritage Month, and for Indigenous people across the country, it’s a chance to share the unique ancestry, traditions, and contributions their communities make today and have made throughout history. Read more»

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said tribal courts 'are spending tens of millions of dollars that none of them budgeted for,' because of the increased caseload as the result of a Supreme Court ruling last year on tribal jurisdiction. But his proposal to add $154 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget to help with that surge in cases failed.

The House this week rejected a proposal that would have added $154 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget to help tribal courts cope with an influx of cases after a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that expanded tribal jurisdiction. Read more»

Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr., here testifying in February 2020, said investing in infrastructure on tribal lands is critically important.

While members of the House Natural Resources subcommittee sparred over the American Jobs Plan, tribal leaders focused more on the laundry list of needs for Native Americans, from schools and healthcare to roads and public safety, and less on where the money comes from. Read more»

Marlinda Bedonie has found a passion for running and representing her Indigenous culture on social media, highlighting her half-marathons, 10Ks and other races.

Native Women Running, an Instagram page highlighting her half-marathons, 10Ks and other races, restores an Indigenous perspective to running and gives Indigenous women a platform to showcase their cultures and their passion for this ancient celebration of life. Read more»

Marchers hold signs representing their tribes and a variety of issues, including the issue of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is creating a new unit to lead and help coordinate investigations into the ongoing crisis of murdered and missing American Indian and Alaska Native people. Read more»

Water hauling the only way to deliver water on parts of the Navajo Nation, which says it has almost $4 billion in needed water projects. In this 2017 photo, Darlene Arviso fills her truck with well water for deliver from the St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School.

Arizona tribal officials told a Senate committee that the federal government can help address a crisis with water infrastructure on their lands through more funding, and less meddling. It’s not just lack of money that’s holding tribes back, but federal laws that hamstring their ability to make decisions for themselves. Read more»

Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., speaks at a 2019 event of the American Federation of Government Employees. Haaland, nominated to be the Biden administration’s Interior secretary, would be the first Native American to run a Cabinet agency if confirmed.

U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland made history on Monday when she became the first Native American to ever be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold a position in a president's Cabinet. Read more»

Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., in a 2019 file photo, would be the first Native American to run a Cabinet agency if her nomination to be Interior secretary is approved. It took one step in that direction Thursday, when her nomination squeaked through a Senate committee on an 11-9 vote.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-9 to advance Rep. Debra Haaland’s nomination to be the next secretary of Interior, moving her one step closer to becoming the first Native American to head a Cabinet-level agency. The vote passed over the objections of Republicans who said her “radical views” are “squarely at odds with the mission of the Department of the Interior and outside of the mainstream.” Read more»

Protesters bring the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women to a rally during President Donald Trump’s visit to Phoenix in February. Advocates who have been raising the issue for years are cautiously optimistic about new federal legislation.

Native American advocates and victim’s families have worked for years to draw attention to Indian Country’s epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Read more»

National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp and CEO Kevin Allis pose at the group’s annual State of Indian Nations address in Washington in Februaary. Sharp moderated a town hall Tuesday on the federal response to COVID-19 in Indian Country.

Native American tribes have been severely hit by the coronavirus but have received only a fraction of the help they need from the federal government, said lawmakers, who called the impact on businesses and health on reservations “particularly worrisome.” Read more»

Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M. stands with a group of women who were rallying at the Capitol for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

Arizona lawmakers questioned administration officials Wednesday on what they are doing to deal with the problem of missing and murdered indigenous women – and they weren’t always satisfied with the answers. Read more»

Flags of tribal nations on display. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education and the Indian Health Service will remain on a GAO high-risk list despite some progress .

Federal agencies that oversee Indian affairs are making progress toward fixing management shortcomings that landed them on a list of “high-risk” agencies, but not enough progress to satisfy some senators. Read more»

Flags of tribal nations on display. For some tribal leaders and lawmakers who work with tribes, the fact that the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education and the Indian Health Service were put on a GAO high-risk list because of their performance was not surprising.

Federal agencies that oversee tribal schools, lands and health care still suffer from weak leadership, a lack of oversight and mismanaged resources, despite nearly a decade of prodding from the Government Accountability Office. Read more»

Environmental officials have recorded alarmingly high radiation levels at many of the known abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation. The sites in red above are those where radiation is at least 10 times normal background levels.

A consortium of federal and tribal agencies reported that a five-year, $110 million project to clean up uranium contamination in the Navajo Nation had addressed the most urgent risks there. But the report also said that much more work needs to be done to deal with the health threat. Read more»

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