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The Supreme Court’s ruling could have broad implications for what tribal policing means for Indian tribal governments.

The U.S. Supreme Court was unanimous in holding that tribal officers can temporarily detain and search non-Natives traveling on public roads running through a reservation if there is reasonable suspicion a state or federal crime has been committed. Read more»

An Arizona National Guard soldier tests a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation for COVID-19 in Santa Rosa in this August photo. Advocates told a congressional panel Tuesday that COVID-19 relief funds targeted to Native Americans will help, but will not solve deep-rooted problems that made the pandemic so hard on Indian Country.

Advocates said the billions in aid slated for Native Americans under the latest COVID-19 relief bill is welcome, but they told a House committee Tuesday that a one-shot infusion will not solve all the challenges facing tribes. Read more»

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamal Harris on a Nov. 19, 2020, video conference call with a bipartisan group of governors from the National Governors Association to discuss COVID-19 plans.

President-elect Joe Biden pressed the urgent need for economic relief and a vaccine distribution plan for states and tribes after a video meeting Thursday with bipartisan leaders of the National Governors Association. Read more»

The bison herd that has moved into the North Rim of the Grand Canyon now numbers between 400 and 600 animals, a stress on the environment. Wildlife management officials want to reduce that to about 200 animals, in part through bringing in sharpshooters.

State and federal officials have agreed on a plan that includes bringing in volunteer sharpshooters to cut the number of bison on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Read more»

Pascua Yaqui tribal officials are raising a new argument in their two-year fight to reinstate an early voting site on the reservation, saying the COVID-19 pandemic makes it essential. The county recorder disagrees, and now the tribe is trying to enlist the support of county supervisors.

At least two Pima County supervisors will “press forward” to get an early voting site reinstated on the Pascua-Yaqui reservation, setting up a showdown with the county recorder who rejected the request again this week. Read more»

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told viewers of his May 28 town hall on Facebook to continue practicing health and safety measures: stay at home, limit contact with others, eat healthful food and wear a face mask

At a time when some Native American communities continue to struggle with the most basic needs, tribal leaders Wednesday called it “an outrage” that tribes had to wait months for coronavirus relief funds. Read more»

Visitors at Mather Point in the Grand Canyon in this 2019 photo, taken during the partial government shutdown. The park, which closed April 1, 2020, due to coronavirus is slowly reopening, but some groups worry that the National Park Service is not taking sufficient health precautions.

Arizona tribal leaders told House lawmakers Tuesday that moves to reopen national parks are being made without needed health safety measures to protect tribal members or park visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more»

At the Gathering of Native Americans facilitator training, organizers move chairs and ask participants to sit in a circle, with an altar in the center where they place items of importance to them.

Domestic violence affects 4 out of 5 Native American women, according to the Indian Law Resource Center. Read more»

National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp said the U.S. “has some serious and significant homework to do,” before it can work with tribal governments to fix persistent problems.

Tribal leaders went before Congress Tuesday to demand the government address longstanding problems in Indian Country – and not for the first time. Read more»

Members of the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators’ meeting on missing and murdered indigenous women pose outside the U.S. Capitol. Attendees said the problem of missing women is ages old, but only now starting to get attention.

State officials agree that none of the $150,000 allocated for a task force on missing and murdered indigenous women that was created in May has been seen yet. But they disagree on who’s to blame. Read more»

Kimball Sekaquaotewa, chief technology director of the Santa Fe Indian School, tells the Senate Indian Affairs Committee how students at her school are held back by the lack of internet access at home.

Tribal representatives told a Senate committee Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission is not doing enough to ease the regulatory burdens that keep Indian Country from getting wireless broadband access. Read more»

Restrictions on tribal lands can make lenders leery, which is why the Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program was created. By guaranteeing loans – more 42,000 totaling $7.2 billion – it gives mortgage lenders an incentive to lend.

The Navajo Nation Council voted unanimously Thursday to oppose a Trump administration draft plan that critics say could put income restrictions for the first time on applicants to the Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program. Read more»

Annita Lucchesi speaks about the report she co-authored, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as Sens. Lisa Murkowksi, R-Alaska, left, and Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, look on.

While rates of violence on reservations have been found to be as high as 10 times the national average, no research had been done in the area of indigenous women in cities, even though “71 percent of American Indians and Alaska natives live in urban areas," the report said. 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»

Arizona Republican Sens. Jeff Flake, left, and John McCain, listen to testimony about sex trafficking in Indian Country. Members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee said federal agencies are too often failing trafficking victims.

Sex-trafficking in Indian Country is a significant problem, with tribal women and children suffering at higher rates than the general population, a panel of experts and activists told a Senate committee Wednesday. Read more»

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