Native News Online

Despite historic federal investments in Tribal nations following the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report released today by Brookings Metro and the American Indian College Fund finds that funding for Native communities continues to fall far short of their needs, while philanthropic giving to Native causes remains disproportionately low. The report, “Underinvestment in Indian Country: How federal and philanthropic funding to Native Americans falls short, and how to fix it,” by Robert Maxim (Mashpee

A new report from the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General reveals that a fifth of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices required to implement a law aimed at improving outcomes for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) are noncompliant. After passing the House and Senate unanimously, Savanna’s Act was signed into law in October 2020. The law is named for 22-year-old Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a citizen of the Spirit Lake Nation whose brutal murder when she was eight m

President Donald Trump has nominated a Project 2025 author to serve as inspector general of the U.S. Department of the Interior, raising questions about the independence of the federal watchdog responsible for overseeing an agency with enormous responsibilities to tribal nations. Dennis Kirk, a former Trump administration official and contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, has been selected to lead the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General. The posit

ZUNI, NM — As another growing season reaches its peak in the Pueblo of Zuni, the Zuni Youth Enrichment Project’s food sovereignty initiatives are thriving. From serving 120 children during the nonprofit’s 18th Annual Summer Camp to supporting apprentice families, local partnerships and community gardening efforts, ZYEP is helping youth and families build lasting connections to healthy food, cultural knowledge and one another. Summer Camp represented the season’s largest undertaking as th

The Navajo Nation Supreme Court has denied a petition seeking extraordinary relief related to an ongoing investigation by the Navajo Nation Council’s Budget and Finance Committee into housing and related matters. The Supreme Court denied the Navajo Nation Assistant Attorneys General’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari or Clarifying Opinion on procedural grounds. The petition sought review of an order issued by the Window Rock District Court in Cause No. WR-CV-49-26 concerning the validity of le

Food manufacturers may have to start disclosing to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the ingredients they determine to be safe for consumption, according to an announcement made today by the Department of Health and Human Services. A new rule proposed by federal food regulators could begin to close a loophole that allows food manufacturers to determine, with no FDA oversight or required disclosure, that an ingredient is safe to add to food products. The Red 40 that gives Flamin’ Hot Ch

CHICAGO — Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick recalled how the Potawatomi were once labeled “combatant enemies of the government” during the forced removals of the 1830s, when the Tribe was driven from Illinois to present-day Kansas and Oklahoma. Rupnick made the remarks Tuesday during the opening of his Tribe’s #LandBack exhibition, part of the Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago. Prairie Band Potawatomi Nati

This was not the weekend I expected. Lots of family and friends in town for the Shoshone-Bannock Festival. I was eager to visit, walk around, and enjoy a range of Indigenous foods. (I always smile when thinking about mutton stands this far north.) Only a little bug had a different idea. To read more articles by Mark Trahant, go to: Marktrahant.substack.com Two “bites?” on one ankle, and a third on my other ankle. By Saturday afternoon there were welts, swelling, itching, and pain.

Opinion Last week, my home state of Michigan took the national stage with a Democratic U.S. Senate primary that pitted Rep. Haley Stevens, the establishment-backed candidate, against Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and progressive Democrat. El-Sayed’s campaign was heavily outspent. Some $70 million in outside money was spent to defeat him. Still, El-Sayed won by less than one percentage point. El-Sayed served as director of the Wayne County Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services

The demand for engaging video content is growing faster than ever. Businesses want compelling advertisements, educators need interactive learning materials, and content creators are constantly searching for ways to produce high-quality videos without spending days on editing. Artificial intelligence is helping meet these demands by making video production faster, more efficient, and accessible to everyone. Today, many creators use Dreamina to discover advanced AI video technologies that simpl

Native Vote 2026 The race to lead the Navajo Nation entered a new phase this week as the two candidates advancing to the general election announced their choices for vice president, completing their tickets ahead of the November election. Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley selected former Arizona state legislator and U.S. Army veteran Chris Deschene as her running mate, while Justin Jones named nonprofit executive Emily Ellison as his vice presidential nominee. The announce

TISHOMINGO, Okla. — Chickasaw Nation Governor Chris Anoatubby led a groundbreaking ceremony July 23 for the Chickasaw Nation Tishomingo Youth Club. The new Chickasaw Nation Tishomingo Youth Club, 807 E. 5th St., will accommodate the youth club’s ever-increasing participation and provide a dedicated space where youth can experience new opportunities in a safe and supportive environment after school and during school breaks. For more than two and a half decades, Chickasaw Youth Clubs have of

The 25th Navajo Nation Council on Monday approved legislation amending Title 14 of the Navajo Nation Code to permit limited motorcycle traffic lane filtering under narrowly defined safety conditions. Sponsored by Council Delegate Vince R. James, Legislation No. 0064-26 authorizes operators of two-wheeled motorcycles to carefully overtake stopped vehicles by traveling between lanes in certain traffic situations. The measure allows lane filtering only on roadways with at least two lanes traveli

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), the committee’s vice chairman, are urging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to conduct formal government-to-government consultation with Tribal Nations before moving forward with a proposed rule governing prediction markets. In a letter sent to the CFTC, the senators asked the agency to immediately extend the public comment period for its proposed “Prediction M

Bodéwadmi Gathering 2026 FOREST COUNTY POTAWATOMI COMMUNITY, Wis. — Thousands of Potawatomi citizens from across the United States and Canada are gathering this week at the Forest County Potawatomi Community for Bodéwadmi Gathering 2026 (Potawatomi Gathering). Hosted in Crandon, Wisconsin, the weeklong event is expected to draw up to 5,000 attendees representing the 12 Potawatomi Nations. Eager to learn and see family and friends, hundreds of Potawatomi gathered on Monday. Since 1994—e

A historic data-sharing agreement between the Tulalip Tribes and Washington state has advanced data sovereignty and created a roadmap for successful agreements between other tribes and states, according to findings by Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Pew Research Center. In 2025, the Tulalip Tribes and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) signed a first-of-its-kind agreement giving the tribe access to various state public health databases. The agreement was developed in collaborati

The Navajo Nation Council announced today that it has passed legislation authorizing the name change of the tribe’s Division of Human Resources to the Navajo Division of Human Services to better reflect the division’s mission and reduce confusion with the Department of Personnel Management. Legislation sponsor Council Delegate Vince R. James said in a press release that the change represents an important administrative modernization that will improve government services. “This will bring g

Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland says she hopes her new memoir, A Voice Like Mine, inspires Native youth to see themselves as future leaders, regardless of where they come from. Appearing on Native Bidaské with host Levi Rickert on July 24, Haaland discussed the inspiration behind her memoir, lessons learned throughout her historic career, the importance of Native representation in government and her campaign for governor of New Mexico. During the conversation, Haaland ref

A mid-sized logistics firm in Ohio once sat on four years of dispatch logs, a few hundred customer complaints, and not much else. Nobody on staff had trained a model before. Hiring a team for artificial intelligence advisory services felt, at first glance, like overkill for a company of that size, especially one whose warehouse software had been upgraded twice since anyone bothered to clean the old spreadsheets. Four months later, the firm had something running anyway, a small tool that flagged

A missing tooth is rarely just a dental issue. It shows up in the way you smile at a job interview, the way you laugh at a dinner party, and the way you feel walking into a room full of strangers. While many people think of tooth loss as a cosmetic inconvenience, its ripple effects reach far into confidence, communication, and career opportunities. The encouraging news is that modern dentistry offers reliable, natural-looking ways to restore a full smile — and with it, a fuller sense of self.