Return to ‘the Rock’: Original Alcatraz occupier retraces steps during 50th anniversary
SAN FRANCISCO – Dennis Turner was one of the original activists who helped take back Alcatraz Island for Indigenous people in the fall of 1969. Last month, he and his family revisited “the Rock” on the 50th anniversary of the “Red Power” occupation.
Entrepreneur program empowers Native women to forge a brighter future
PHOENIX – A class of Navajo women entrepreneurs graduate from a free business training program to start their own businesses and help their communities.
Trump creates panel on issue of missing, murdered indigenous women
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump authorized creation of an eight-member panel of federal officials Tuesday to coordinate the federal response to the problem of murdered and missing indigenous women.
Native Americans have the most difficulty accessing clean water, report says
DENNEHOTSO – Unregulated drinking water sources are the greatest public health risk on the Navajo Reservation, according to the EPA.
‘Broken promises’ report details government’s history of failing tribes
WASHINGTON - A U.S. Civill Rights Commission report on how the federal government deals with Native American tribes details decades of underfunding, poor data collection and lack of coordination - and its authors say little has changed since their first report 15 years ago.
Navajo pull backing for tribal energy company over coal mine purchases
WASHINGTON - The Navajo Nation said Tuesday it is canceling indemnity agreements for the Navajo Transitional Energy Co., fearing the tribe's finances could be "placed in a state of uncertainty" by the company's recent purchase of three coal mines.
Court stays execution of Navajo man to hear claim of possible jury bias
WASHINGTON - A divided appeals court has stayed the scheduled December execution of Lezmond Mitchell, a Navajo double-murderer, saying it needs time to consider his claim that he was not allowed to question jurors for potential racial bias.
Navajo, Hopi will have objects, human remains repatriated by Finland
WASHINGTON - The Hopi and Navajo are among 26 tribes that will see the return of ancestral remains from Finland, where the items have been held in a museum after being taken from Colorado almost 130 years ago.
Tribal health insurance coverage rose, but still trailed U.S. average
WASHINGTON - The number of people who showed up at at Indian Health Service facilities with health insurance rose from 64% of patients in 2013 to 78% in 2018, according to a GAO report that said growth was highest in states, like Arizona, that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare.
Restrictive election laws, lack of polls hamper Native American voters, leaders say
PHOENIX – The voting rights of Native Americans in Arizona are routinely suppressed by a slew of requirements and practices, such as photo ID laws and a scarcity of polling places, Navajo and Gila River leaders said Tuesday at a congressional hearing in Phoenix.
Start of missing, murdered women panel moving ‘at speed of bureaucracy’
WASHINGTON - State officials agree on this much: "Not one red penny" of the $150,000 allocated for a task force on missing and murdered indigenous women that was created in May has been seen yet. But they disagree on who's to blame.
Tribal leaders, lawmakers chide FCC for lack of progress on broadband
WASHINGTON - Tribal representatives told a Senate committee Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission is not doing enough to ease the regulatory burdens that keep Indian Country from getting wireless broadband access.
