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Lourdes 'Lulu' Pereira is a student worker at the Labriola Center and the official archivist for the Hia-Ced Hemajkam LLC, which was established in 2015 to work toward federal recognition and reclamation of ancestral lands. Photo taken Dec. 1, 2022, at Hayden Library in Tempe.

Descendants of the four surviving Hia-Ced O’odham families who fled their ancestral lands in the mid-1800s to escape yellow fever are researching the history of the Hia-Ced to prove their existence, and working to advocate for recognition with the federal government. Read more»

Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas

Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. and Pascua Yaqui Chairman Peter Yucupicio were appointed by President Biden to the first Department of Homeland Security advisory council meant to protect tribal lands and citizens. Read more»

In the days leading up to the 2022 election, Republican Congressman Paul Gosar made an extraordinary claim about what the his party’s Arizona gubernatorial nominee, Kari Lake, might do in the name of stopping undocumented immigration if she wins office. Read more»

Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. in February 2020

Ki:ki Housing Association, a Tohono O'odham agency, plans on using $3.45 million in federal COVID relief to build two homes and several roads that will give better access to four villages on the nation. Read more»

The Pima County Board of Supervisors will open meetings with an acknowledgement of the "ancestral homelands" of the Tohono O'odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe, after a 4-1 vote Tuesday. Read more»

Amber Ortega outside the federal courthouse in Tucson on Wednesday afternoon

Amber Ortega, a Southern Arizona border activist facing two federal charges for protesting the construction of the border wall near Quitobaquito Springs, was found not guilty by a judge on Wednesday. Read more»

President Biden signing proclamations to restore area to national monuments such as Utah's Bears Ears on Friday.

Monday marks, as is tradition, Columbus Day across the country. But it also, for the first time ever, is Indigenous Peoples Day, following President Joe Biden's national proclamation. 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»

Arizona Election Services Director Bo Dul puts the official seal on the Arizona Presidential Electoral Ballot after members of Arizona’s Electoral College signed the certificate Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Phoenix.

Eleven presidential electors in Arizona cast their votes on Monday morning for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. By Monday afternoon, as electors in other states did the same, Biden had won enough votes to clinch the presidency. Read more»

Earthmoving equipment clears a path up Monument Hill in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, just west of Lukeville, where a 30-foot-tall steel barrier is to be erected. Advocates and Tohono O’odham Nation officials are concerned about damage to the environment, lands sacred to indigenous people and potential impact on migrating animals.

Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said the “controlled blasting” for a border wall that will ultimately cut through his reservation is just the latest example of the federal government ignoring its duty to consult with tribes. Read more»

Norris and Saunders.

The new chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation will be the same as an old chair: Ned Norris Jr. will again take the top elected post of the tribe, following an election over the weekend. Read more»

Ned Norris, Jr., isn't the tribal chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation anymore and it happened this week. What's that? First you heard of it? In ignoring what's going on on the rez, the media's missing a story for the ages. Read more» 3

Former U.S. Rep. Ron Barber and Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris were named to the Homeland Security Advisory Council on Wednesday. The group provides advice to Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson. Read more»

Representatives of the Tohono O’odham Nation, Glendale and other organizations broke ground in August on the tribe’s planned $400 million casino resort in the West Valley.

Bills that would halt construction on a Tohono O’odham casino in Glendale passed committees in both the House and the Senate on Wednesday. The Keep the Promise Act of 2015 – introduced by U.S. Sen. John McCain and U.S. Rep. Trent Franks – would “prohibit gaming activities on certain Indian land in Arizona until the expiration of certain gaming compacts” in 2027. Read more» 2

An architectural rendering of the proposed Tohono O’odham casino in Glendale.

A U.S. House committee gave overwhelming approval Wednesday to a bill that would block development of a Tohono O’odham casino on land the tribe bought inside Glendale. The bill would reverse years of failed legal challenges to the project, which opponents say violates a 2002 agreement among tribes not to build new casinos in the metropolitan Phoenix area. Read more» 14