No cold elders: Volunteers provide firewood for Navajo families ahead of winter
Because many Navajo rely on firewood to heat their homes, volunteers with the nonprofit Chizh for Cheii provide elders across the reservation with free firewood.
Navajo warn hospitals at ‘breaking point’ in worsening COVID-19 surge
WASHINGTON - With a shortage of beds, oxygen and staff, the Navajo Nation can no longer depend on regional aid and is sending critical patients farther afield for care, officials reported Thursday.
Navajo health director named to Biden’s advisory board on COVID-19
WASHINGTON - President-elect Joe Biden has said dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic will be one of the first orders of business for his administration, and the director of the Navajo Health Department will be there to advise him on it.
Copper rush: Opponents worry feds have fast-tracked Resolution mine OK
WASHINGTON - Activists worry that the Trump administration has fast-tracked the final environmental impact statement for the massive Resolution Copper mine, a project planned for lands near Superior that are claimed as sacred by the San Carlos Apache.
Food banks receive government help to fill bellies during holidays
PHOENIX – St. Mary’s Food Bank and Local First Arizona partner with local governments to provide meals to those in need this holiday season.
‘It’s creating a new normal’: A Navajo school district and its students fight to overcome amid COVID-19
PIÑON – Even in the best of times, Native American K-12 students have faced an uphill battle to getting a high school diploma. Now COVID has brought new challenges, but one district is doing everything it can to help its students persevere.
‘Disruptive and cruel’: Native Americans worry as Supreme Court weighs repeal of health care act
PHOENIX – The Affordable Care Act expanded the number of Americans covered by private or public health insurance, but also included a number of provisions specific to Indian Country. As the Supreme Court considers a potential repeal, Indian Country watches and waits.
Navajo hemp investigation expands to federal marijuana, labor probe
WASHINGTON - A Navajo Nation probe of a controversial, Navajo-owned hemp operation has turned into a federal investigation into reports of marijuana production, interstate drug trafficking and violations of labor and child labor laws.
Pandemic shines light on complex coexistence of modern times, traditional ways on Navajo Nation
PHOENIX – People went to medicine men in Indian Country for help, exposing them to the virus and tensions between modern medicine and traditional ways.
FCC grants no-cost broadband spectrum licenses to 11 Arizona tribes
WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission has granted broadband spectrum licenses to 11 Arizona tribes in what FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called "a major step forward in our efforts to close the digital divide on Tribal lands."
Judge denies early Pascua Yaqui voting site, ending years-long feud
WASHINGTON - The Pascua Yaqui Tribe will not get the early voting location it has been asking for since 2018, after a federal judge flatly denied the request he said would overburden an elections office "already stretched to its breaking point."
Court: Mailed Navajo ballots should not get extra time to be counted
WASHINGTON - Native Americans may face barriers to voting in general, but that is not enough to require that ballots mailed from the Navajo Nation get 10 extra days to be counted, a federal appeals court said Thursday.
