Native America Calling

The Trump administration’s intervention in the U.S. Senate race in Alaska indicates the high stakes — and the scrutiny that comes with them — in the November 3 election. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, is one of two candidates hoping to make history as the first Native woman to be elected to the Senate. The Department of Justice is trying to block election results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan lo...

A mining company unleashes an evil entity as the Arctic village of Chukchi falls into polar night in “ It Looks Like You in the Dark “, the debut horror novel from Mathilda Zeller. It’s among several new books by Native writers that are especially fitting during the annual spooky season. Dr. Mat RudeWalker’s story, “Party at the Alvarez Ranch”, is included in the horror anthology, “ Back for...

A new analysis by the Brookings Institution tallies nearly $470 million in federal funding taken from tribes and Native organizations early last year by the Department of Government Efficiency. Advocates at the Piikani Lodge Health Institute worked hard for years to secure an $8.5 million USDA grant to support local producers in and around the Blackfeet community. DOGE cut those funds before the t...

The Alaska Federation of Natives was formed by tribal leaders in 1966 to protect land and preserve tribal governance. Now, at the 60th convention, tribal leaders and members from across the state gather to discuss current issues of politics, sovereignty, and culture. This year’s central issues include subsistence fishing and hunting, the rising cost of living, climate change, and voting rights and...

Declining salmon numbers are threatening the way of life for Alaska Natives, according to a report by the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), the largest Native organization in Alaska. And report findings are similar across regions: concern about the future of food security in rural villages, frustration with state and federal management of waterways, and difficulty maintaining sacred traditions....

Hundreds of Native people from across the state will discuss issues such as declining salmon populations, voting rights, and education funding at this year’s Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Anchorage. For some, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis remains a top priority. In recent years, law enforcement agencies in Alaska have worked to improve protocols for handling missin...

In 1966, as Alaska Native leaders worked to secure their lands, Emil Notti (Koyukon Athabascan) helped form the Alaska Federation of Natives. Notti became its first president and later served as a key negotiator of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which was passed nearly 55 years ago. He also held various roles in government and business. At AFN’s 60th anniversary, we’ll speak with Notti,...

As recorder of Pima County in Arizona, Gabriella Cázares-Kelly (Tohono O’odham) is responsible for administering early voting and keeping track of more than 600,000 voter registrations. While in office during the past six years, she’s helped make voting more accessible to tribal members and rural communities, including recently installing eight new drop-off ballot boxes across the coun...

The Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe failed to stop the federal government from rounding up hundreds of wild horses this summer from public land next to their reservation at the California-Nevada border. It’s part of the government’s larger plan to remove about 14,000 wild horses from public lands in several western states in 2026. Wild horse roundups are a controversial issue that has trib...

Before Indian self-determination became federal law, a cohort of angry and disillusioned Native college students, including a young Ponca student named Clyde Warrior, helped lay the foundation for the Red Power movement and inspire the American Indian Movement. Warrior became a pivotal co-founder of the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC), an activist group that protested federal termination poli...

Across the country, tribes are coming up against resistance to having their voices heard on issues involving water. In California, tribes say they feel betrayed by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s vetoes of legislation that would have given the tribes more say in access to the state’s dwindling surface water supply. The Karuk Tribe and the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians were instrumental in drafting the...

A handful of tribes just finalized an agreement with the National Park Service , clearing the way for foraging in the Yosemite National Park. Tribal members will collect acorns, yarrow, wild onions, and numerous other plants for food and medicine on land their tribes have always been connected to. It’s the latest agreement since a 2016 law cleared the way for more traditional plant collections by...

The new poetry collection “ Cloud Runner ” from Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) is the culmination and curated expression of her own personal grief. The poems spring from the aftermath of her daughter’s death in 2023 and range from devastating to hopeful. Harjo, musician, artist, and the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, explores a mother’s anguish and the time and work it takes to reconci...

The rape allegations by a former Cornell University student that administrators and law enforcement officials failed to follow up on shine a new light on college campus safety. Sexual assault prevention advocates have long faulted colleges and universities with poor protocols and inconsistent reporting. The organization End Rape on Campus finds that Native college students and students of color ex...

The number of books dropped from school reading lists and public library shelves is the highest since the organization, PEN America, started keeping track . Fueled mainly by conservative pressure groups and elected leaders at the school board and state legislative levels , the challenges to books target what opponents consider obscenity and themes that are too mature for younger readers. But books...

Composer, singer, and ethnomusicologist Jeremy Dutcher (Wolastoqiyik) is taking his music on an international tour that includes performing in Taiwan and Japan with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Dutcher’s music continues to draws fans around the world following the release of two acclaimed albums in his Native language, featuring his distinctive tenor voice. His latest album, “ Motewolonuwok &#...

The Trump administration’s proposal to remove questions about a person’s race for the U.S. Census is sparking alarm among tribal leaders, voting rights advocates, and social service providers . They say it will significantly impede tribes’ political representation at the state and federal levels and reduce access to federal resources, adding up to a serious erosion of tribal sovereignty. Counting...

At a time when tribes across the country are working to shut down prediction market companies, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana is embracing them by launching its own mobile app with the help of industry giant, Kalshi. The Tunica-Biloxi chairman says his tribe is “ creating a new source of economic opportunity and doing it on its own terms .” That is decidedly counter to the other...

From the original Cherokee syllabary to banners waved by Native American demonstrators, graphic works by Native people carry a thread through the centuries that operate within their own design framework. A new book and accompanying gallery exhibition, “ Designed to be Red” , documents and celebrates that thread of visual works by Native designers that exert agency and authority over th...

At a time when Canada is reflecting on the painful history of residential schools, Indigenous leaders are having to speak out against organized efforts to minimize the harms inflicted on generations of Indigenous children. Just days before Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation , white nationalists gathered near the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Colum...

“The Blue Corn Kitchen ” by Alana Yazzie (Diné) gives young reader’s a glimpse of the traditional corn-based Navajo foods many Navajo grandmothers have stocked in their kitchens. It’s the latest project from the self-made, Navajo lifestyle and food blogger who also goes by The Fancy Navajo. Howdy Cakes is a new pastry and cake business by Diné culinarian, Liz McKenzie. It’s...

Named a “legendary Lakota horseman” by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Fred Ecoffey (Oglala Lakota) has enjoyed a celebrated 68-year career as a jockey. After winning his debut race in 1957, Ecoffey went on to compete in more than 17,500 races, earning inductions into both the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. Ecoffey, 88, has retired from professional racing, though h...

Aliet Paul learns traditional sacred birthing practices of her Mi’kmaq through her grandmother. But the outside world is changing and drives a wedge between her and her community. “ The Birthing Tree ” is the second novel from Amanda Peters (Mi’kmaq). It is a story of identity, overcoming tragedy, and redemption through one’s connections to family and culture. “ How Settlers Get...

Some experts are warning about the risks of artificial intelligence advancing beyond human control in the foreseeable future. The major AI developers themselves are calling on government intervention to slow down the pace of AI progress. In the meantime, tribes are developing policies to head off potential AI misuse of cultural and private data. Much of the tribal policies revolve around intellect...

After centuries of having their stories told by outsiders, Indigenous people made considerable progress in having their voices represented in the media in recent decades. The 2012 book, “ American Indians and the Mass Media ,” co-edited by Meta Carstarphen, documented that growth in authentic Native voices. Now, a new book edited by Carstarphen and Cristina L. Azocar picks up where the original bo...