Arizona law allows Indigenous students greater cultural expression at graduation
PHOENIX – Arizona passed a law that allows Indigenous students to wear culturally significant regalia during graduation ceremonies. Previously, certain schools prohibited regalia, contributing to systemic limits on cultural expression.
Tribal members across Oklahoma reflect on Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Members of Oklahoma tribes have mixed feelings on the importance of an Indigenous Peoples’ Day, especially when symbols of racism remain prevalent.
Tribal leaders welcome return of White House meetings after four years
WASHINGTON - Tribal leaders said the just-ended White House summit on tribal affairs "shows promise" for the federal commitment to solving problems in Indian Country and to giving Native Americans a voice in the process.
Q&A: Navajo woman starts nonprofit to improve maternal health
PHOENIX – The U.S. faces higher rates of pregnancy-related deaths than other developed nations, and Indigenous mothers are 2 to 3 times as likely to die as white mothers. One nonprofit aims to help.
Arizona counties grapple with equitable distribution of COVID vaccines
PHOENIX – Some Arizona counties continue to grapple with how to administer COVID-19 vaccines equitably, even as vaccination rates still lag among some people of color and in rural communities.
Navajo president backs bill to protect Native American voting rights
WASHINGTON - Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told a Senate panel Wednesday that special protections are needed to reverse the "very disrespectful" treatment of Native Americans who face extraordinary challenges in the voting process.
A call to preserve Navajo language leads two sports broadcasters on historic path
PHOENIX - Navajo Nation duo Cuyler Frank and Glenn King are inspiring the next generation of Navajo after they made history by broadcasting a Division I football game in Dinè. However, their greatest success lies in what happens after history has been made.
West Nile mitigation keeps Yuma County, Cocopah reservation free of virus
In a record year for cases of West Nile virus, Yuma County has none, thanks in part to a partnership with the Cocopah tribe to mitigate mosquito-borne diseases.
Arizona projects get sizeable cut of Great American Outdoors Act funds
WASHINGTON - Arizona projects got $110 million last year and will get another $159 million in the fiscal year that started this month, or more than 9% of all funding nationally under the Great American Outdoors Act for those two years.
Biden reverses Trump cuts to national monuments, restores Bears Ears
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden restored Bears Ears National Monument to its previous 1.36 million-acres footprint Friday, reversing a Trump-era decision to cut as much as 85% of the southern Utah site valued for its environmental, archeological and tribal treasures.
Programs tackle diabetes prevention in Black, Hispanic youth as cases surge
PHOENIX – New research shows a surge in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in youth, and some of the biggest increases are among Black and Hispanic children. One Arizona project seeks to prevent the problem with a nutrition and exercise program focused on Latino families.
Arizonans hopeful that focus on missing Indigenous persons may pay off
WASHINGTON - Duane Garvais-Lawrence pulled into Washington, D.C., Friday, ending his second annual coast-to-coast trip to bring attention to the problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women - a trip he hopes he does not have to make again.
