Former ASU basketball player Michelle Tom helping Navajo Nation fight coronavirus

PHOENIX – Former ASU basketball player Michelle Tom is battling the coronavirus from a small, rural hospital near the Navajo Nation. And she needs help.


Tribal leaders struggle against ‘very slow’ allocation of COVID-19 aid

PHOENIX - The Navajo Nation has the country's third-highest rate of COVID-19 infections, but it has watched funds go to less hard-hit areas in a "very slow" federal aid process, Navajo President Jonathan Nez said Friday, part of an online discussion of federal response to coronavirus in Indian Country.


COVID-19 in Arizona: Weekend surge in cases, but flu threat appears less this year

PHOENIX – Arizona declared major disaster by President Trump, Navajo towns report more cases after one school remained open for a day, and other news about how COVID-19 is affecting Arizona.


COVID-19 in Arizona: Hair salons, massage parlors, other businesses ordered to close by 5 p.m. Saturday

PHOENIX – Navajo Nation calls for resources, ASU launches drive-thru testing and more in today’s COVID-19 report.


Down for the count: Tribes’ Census response lags far behind state, U.S.

PHOENIX - Tribal response to the 2020 Census badly trails state and national rates, according to Census Bureau data, with the already-challenging task of counting in tribal areas further complicated by the arrival of COVID-19.


COVID-19 in Arizona: Stay-at-home order starts at 5 p.m. Tuesday

PHOENIX – Public schools are closed for the academic year; a lawsuit is being filed on behalf of displaced university students and more updates from the Grand Canyon State.


COVID-19 in Arizona today: Navajo Nation sounds alarm as cases jump to 49

PHOENIX – There are 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus among Arizona State University students, and more of the latest news about the novel coronavirus


Clean energy produced on Navajo land could help power Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – With the recent closure of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, the Navajo leaders are looking to jump start the tribal economy by partnering with Los Angeles to bring clean energy to the second-largest U.S. city using resources on tribal land.


‘We are not ready for this’: Tribes struggle to deal with COVID-19

WASHINGTON – Tribes around the country are scrambling to protect their people from the novel coronavirus, but they face an uphill battle because of lack of funds for Indian health care programs coordinated by the U.S. government.


Blasting sacred sites for border wall ‘forever damaged’ tribes

WASHINGTON - An emotional Tohono O'odham Nation chairman told lawmakers Wednesday that blasting on sacred sites in national monuments to build a border wall near his reservation has "forever damaged our people."


Tribal officials press for more, and more predictable, federal funding

WASHINGTON - Tribal officials this week raised issues ranging from polluted water to underfunded police but there was one message they all had for House lawmakers - the government needs to be a more reliable partner on critical projects


‘What’s old is new again’: Advocates say tribal voting hurdles remain

WASHINGTON - Voting barriers for Native Americans have always existed, but polling cutbacks, discriminatory voter ID laws and lack of funding are making things worse, advocates told a House panel Tuesday - the same day a federal court reinstated an Arizona law against "ballot harvesting."