Bill aims to ease teacher shortage at tribal schools by granting federal pensions to educators

WASHINGTON – A proposal in Congress aims to address recruitment and retention problems at Arizona’s tribally run schools by letting their teachers join the federal pension system. The bill is authored by Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego of Phoenix and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico.

Theodore Roosevelt School near Fort Apache serves grades six through eight. (Photo courtesy of Theodore Roosevelt School)

Low staffing, space crunch hobble state museum’s Native American repatriation work at UArizona

TUCSON – The Arizona State Museum holds the largest number of Indigenous remains in Arizona. But the museum has struggled to comply with a 1990 law to repatriate Native American remains and artifacts because of staffing and space shortages.

The Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona in Tucson is the oldest and largest anthropological facility in the Southwest, founded in 1893. (Photo by Christopher Lomahquahu/Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU)

Misplaced artifacts, inaccurate inventories and 2% of Native American remains returned to tribes: Inside ASU’s repatriation record

PHOENIX – Arizona State University has made under 2% of its Indigenous human remains and artifacts available to Native American tribes, one of the lowest rates in the nation, according to an analysis by Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU.

The School of Human Evolution and Social Change is the anthropological and archaeological research arm of Arizona State University. The school’s collections include Indigenous human remains and artifacts subject to repatriation under NAGPRA. (Photo by Chad Bradley/Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU)

What is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990?

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act empowered Indigenous people to reclaim ancestors and artifacts from American museums. The 1990 law is regarded as one of the most significant Indigenous civil rights laws of the 20th century.

A special exhibit at the S’edav Va’aki Museum in Phoenix that closed in May told the story of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, or NAGPRA. (Photo courtesy of the S’edav Va’aki Museum)

Community, healing and justice: Indigenous journalists share what reporting on repatriation meant to them

PHOENIX – Three Indigenous Cronkite reporters describe how reporting on the repatriation of Native American remains deepened their appreciation for returning ancestors home.

Cronkite News and Howard Center reporters, from left, Christopher Lomahquahu, Aspen Ford and Chad Bradley reported on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and wrote about the experience as Indigenous journalists. (Photo by Aspen Ford/Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU)

How Cronkite News and the Howard Center reported on NAGPRA

PHOENIX – Journalists at Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism reported on how Arizona public universities have complied with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. Here’s how they did it.

Eight graduate students reported on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act as part of a project on the compliance records of Arizona’s flagship public universities in returning Indigenous remains and artifacts. (Photo by Madison Perales/Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU)

Congress gave citizenship to Native Americans a century ago, but voting rights would come decades later

WASHINGTON – It’s been 100 years since Native Americans gained U.S. citizenship, but voting rights came much later. Arizona was the last state with an outright ban on voting for Native Americans.

Calvin Coolidge, center in a white suit, poses with a group of Native Americans outside the White House in 1927. (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress)

Supreme Court rules in favor of two Native American tribes in dispute with federal government over insurance billing fees

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Native American tribes in Arizona and Wyoming that sought millions in federal reimbursement for health care insurance billing fees.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Native American tribes in Arizona and Wyoming that sought millions in federal reimbursement for health care insurance billing fees. (File photo by Stephanie Snyder/Cronkite News)

Thousands of college-bound Arizona students still in financial aid ‘limbo’ in wake of FAFSA snafus

WASHINGTON – Five months after the Department of Education rolled out a long-delayed new FAFSA, thousands of students still haven’t completed the form and many still await word on their college aid awards. College administrators are optimistic the problems will unwind through the summer, but Arizona rates remain far below the national average and the same time last year.

Brielle Giesemann, a high school coordinator for the Be A Leader Foundation, helps a student navigate the FAFSA during a FAFSA drive in 2018. (File photo by Stephanie Morse/Cronkite News)

Rapid rise in syphilis hits Native Americans in the Southwest hardest

Syphilis infections nationwide reached a 70-year high in 2022, and no group has been hit harder than Native Americans, CDC data shows. Rates of congenital syphilis were three times higher for Indigenous than for Black babies, and 12 times higher than for whites.


Indigenous advocates work to combat fake sober living homes in Arizona

PHOENIX – After Arizona legislation targeting fake sober living homes failed, tribal advocates across the state are working to combat the $2.8 billion Medicaid scheme that targets vulnerable Indigenous individuals.


New Sage Memorial Hospital transforms Navajo health care

GANADO – A new $177 million state-of-the-art medical facility in the Navajo Nation is nearing completion. Before the new hospital opens, staff must keep caring for patients in cramped spaces and with outdated equipment. All of that will change this fall when the new facility opens. Here’s a look at how radically different the new hospital will be.

Sage Memorial Hospital’s new $177 million medical facility is set to open in October. (Photo by Kevinjonah Paguio/Cronkite News)