National Native News

“Navajo Highways”, a children’s show using puppets to teach youth the Diné language, recently won Emmys gold. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio caught up with the creator and has more. After just a single season that included six episodes and a Christmas special, “Navajo Highways” won one regional Emmy award for informational-instructional content and another for best set design....

Tribal fishing access sites along the Columbia River will be getting needed upgrades and repairs, based on the findings of a new federal report , as Isobel Charle reports. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found some infrastructure at 31 fishing access sites along the river – including docks and fish cleaning stations – is breaking down. Laurie Jordan is with the Columbia River Inter...

Photo: A loader prepares the Pinyon Plain Mine for uranium ore production on its lowest level more than 1,400 feet underground on Sept. 8, 2023. (Ryan Heinsius / KNAU) Arizona regulators approved a higher level of arsenic in groundwater under a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon. As KNAU’s Chris Clements reports, it comes despite firm tribal opposition. In its decision allowing the higher levels,...

Photo: Deb Haaland signs her new book, “A Voice Like Mine”, during a signing at the Sealaska Heritage Institute clan house Shuká Hít on June 28, 2026. (Mircea Brown / Sealaska Heritage Institute) Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) came to Juneau last weekend as a stop on a tour of her new memoir, “A Voice Like Mine”, as KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey reports. Haaland was the...

A new mobile app created by a Navajo man is offering travelers in both New Mexico and Arizona an opportunity to learn about historic routes and insight on Native American cultures. KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. Whether you are driving from Gallup, N.M. to Flagstaff, Ariz. or Flagstaff to Phoenix, a new app called Tribal Trailz, created by former Navajo educator Georg...

For many Native people, the version of California history taught in school does not tell the whole story. For Brad Munoa, a citizen of the Pechanga Band of Indians, the inspiration for “People of the West”, a new ten-part docuseries came after learning about a California history presentation at his son’s school. Munoa says Native American history received only a brief mention, wh...

Many people in small communities on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska rely on hunting for subsistence. And staff at one school district want to make sure they do it safely – by making hunter education a part of the curriculum. KRBD’s Sydney Dauphinais went to the student’s end of year field test and has this story. It is a cloudy morning at the Prince of Wales Shooting Club. Emma Garrison, a ninth...

Photo: Angie Fitch, executive irector of Alaska Native Rural Veterinary, with two Koyuk residents and their pets during a recent visit. (Courtesy Angie Fitch) A group of Alaska Native organizations is launching a new rural veterinary public health program this month to provide care for animals in dozens of tribes across the state. As the Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station K...

History was made in the National Hockey League (NHL) Friday night in Buffalo, N.Y. The Toronto Maple Leafs had the first overall pick of the NHL draft and they selected Gavin McKenna (Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation), only the second Indigenous player to ever be drafted at the top spot. Dale McCourt (Frog Lake First Nations) was taken number one by the Detroit Red Wings in 1977. More from Dan Karpe...

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola receives standing ovation from delegates at the 2025 Alaska Federation of Natives Convention. She is expected to be one of the candidates to appear at this year’s convention in October. (Photo: Matt Faubion / Alaska Public Media) The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) will celebrate the anniversary of its 60th convention this October. Rhonda McBride from our flagship s...

Communities across the country are marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. In Alaska, organizers say they are using the milestone to tell a broader story — one that includes Alaska’s history, its people, and Native contributions to America’s pastime. The America250-Alaska Commission’s “Week of Dreams” begins Saturday and runs through July 4 with events in...

The U.S. is celebrating 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, but some Native Americans in the Mount Rushmore state are turning their focus to a different anniversary, as South Dakota Searchlight’s Meghan O’Brien reports. Ben Jones is South Dakota’s state historian. He also chairs the state’s America 250 commission. He wants it to be an inclusive celebration. “There was just a str...

It is billed as “the world’s longest and toughest snowmachine race”. Next year, the Iron Dog Race plans to add three checkpoints to its over 2,000-mile course. As KOTZ’s Desiree Hagen reports, a new race route, announced earlier this month, has been several years in the making and crosses through two national wildlife refuges. The new route adds the communities of Huslia, Shungnak, and Ambler. Ric...

Photo: A panoramic view of Monument Valley. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) The nation’s 575 federally recognized tribes are now eligible for conservation grants from the National Park Service. And as KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, a new digital tool is designed to help them navigate the bureaucracy. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been around since 1964. “It receives about $900 million...

Roseburg Schools and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians have announced a partnership to help preserve the tribe’s ancestral language, as KLCC’s Brian Bull reports. Starting this fall, both Native and non-Native high school students can take the Takelma language for official language credit. The last known speaker died more than a century ago, but linguists and audio recordings from the...

For many Native people, the version of California history taught in school does not tell the whole story. For Brad Munoa, a citizen of the Pechanga Band of Indians, the inspiration for “People of the West”, a new ten-part docuseries came after learning about a California history presentation at his son’s school. Munoa says Native American history received only a brief mention, wh...

Photo: The international boundary between Mexico and the Tohono O’odham Nation in June 2026. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) An Arizona tribe along the Southern border has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. The Tohono O’odham Nation has submitted an injunction to halt the Trump administration from looking to build a wal...

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has been the target of U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). He has been looking to undo a Biden-era resource management plan, meant to focus on conservation and consultation with tribes. That effort has failed for now. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. Using the Congressional Review Act, lawmakers on Capitol Hill could’ve killed the plan with a simple majority...

Residents of Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska can now use four wheelers to subsistence hunt in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The change was announced by the U.S. Interior Secretary during a visit last month. As the Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports, residents of the North Slope village have been fighting for this decision for decades. Marc John Morry has...

Navajo Nation Controller Sean McCabe testifies under oath during the third day of the Budget and Finance Committee’s investigatory public hearing on June 10, 2026. (Courtesy Navajo Nation Council) Despite the Navajo Nation Department of Justice (NNDOJ) advising government staff not to testify about a failed, multi-million-dollar housing project, one employee broke ranks. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio...

Photo: Pullers on Petersburg’s killer whale canoe paddle in the water at Auke Recreation Area near Juneau on June 2, 2026. (Olivia Rose / KFSK) Petersburg (Séet Ká Kwáan), Alaska’s first traditional canoe (kéet yaakw) in a century recently completed its maiden voyage. A small group of pullers paddled more than 100 miles through Southeast Alaska, following the tradition known as Journey before arri...

Photo: Bear Butte State Park in Meade County, S.D. (Courtesy S.D. Department of Tourism) All nine tribes located in South Dakota are unifying in their call to return the public, federal lands in the Black Hills to tribal entities. Each tribe passed a resolution calling on Congress to act. SDPB’s C.J. Keene reports. Treaty rights mandate the Black Hills belong to tribes, although that treaty was br...

Photo courtesy Navajo Nation Council Over the last year, the Navajo Nation Council has been investigating what happened to the $24 million in COVID relief allocated for ZenniHome, a failed housing initiative. A week-long public hearing on the matter got off to a slow start Monday when subpoenaed witnesses failed to show up on the advice of the tribe’s justice department. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio...

Photo: Nahaaygm Łagyigyedm (Spirit of Our Ancestors) sits ashore One Tree Island outside of Metlakatla, Alaska. (Hunter Morrison / KRBD) Wildlife across southern Southeast Alaska is emerging from wintertime hibernation, but in Metlakatla on Annette Island, animals are not the only things waking up. Canoes are hitting the water again, marking this year’s start of a Tsimshian tradition that is tied...

The University of Washington’s WWAMI medical school program just received a new $25 million endowment for scholarships and rural education support, as Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra reports. The program gets its name from the five states it serves – Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho – and educates emerging physicians in those rural states. Dr. Nick Phelps, WWAMI’s assis...