Tribal leaders urge House to extend funding for water settlements

WASHINGTON - Tohono O'odham Chairman Edward D. Manuel told a House panel that lack of water has been killing crops and livestock - and, essentially, the tribe's economy - and things will only get worse if federal funding is allowed to lapse.


Partisan House vote renews Violence Against Women Act, Senate fate unclear

WASHINGTON – Two months after it let the Violence Against Women Act lapse, the House voted Thursday to renew the 25-year-old law that extends protections for victims of domestic violence, and renewing protections for Native American women.


Gila River leader says feds’ inattention to roads drives other problems

WASHINGTON - Road problems caused by poor maintenance by the Bureau of Indian Affairs is more than an inconvenience for tribes, who say poor roads make it hard for people to get to school, jobs and health care, but there is little they can do to fix the federally owned roads.


Task force to study abuse of tribal youth, after IHS doctor convicted

WASHINGTON - The White House unveiled a task force that is charged with finding ways to prevent the sexual abuse of children in the Indian Health Service, after an IHS pediatrician's conviction last year on four counts of abuse during stints on different reservations.


Advocates call for funding, data to find missing, murdered Native women

WASHINGTON - Advocates told a House subcommittee investigating the problem of missing and murdered indigineous women that the issue is conplicated by a lack of solid data, a shortage of funding and a legal maze that Native victims and families often face when trying to report crimes.


Tribal officials worry Bears Ears cuts leave sacred spaces vulnerable

WASHINGTON - A Hopi leader joined officials from the Pueblo of Zuni and the Ute Indian tribes to tell the House Natural Resources Committee about worries over cultural stes at Bears Ears National Monument after the president slashed its size from 1.35 million acres to about 200,000.


Technology revitalizes Native American boarding school exhibit at the Heard

PHOENIX – Heard Museum highlights the personal stories of students who attended American Indian boarding schools in new exhibit.


‘It could be me’: Native American teen teaches self-defense to keep indigenous kids safe

MESA - Kylie Hunts-in-Winter, 16, teaches self-defense classes, part of a community effort to lower the risk of missing and murdered indigenous women.


Yuma mural highlights endangered pronghorn and marsh bird unique to the Southwest

YUMA - The latest mural from the Endangered Species Mural Project is in Yuma and focuses on the endangered Sonoran pronghorn and the Yuma Ridgway’s rail to bring awareness to these animals.


‘Historical trauma’: Native communities grapple with missing and murdered women

SELLS – A complex legal process, inconsistent data and a lack of attention contribute to the forgotten missing and murdered indigenous women. The #MMIW movement is advocating for women who no longer have a voice.


Tribal members push less government, more sovereignty to conservatives

WASHINGTON - The audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference had heard the message of low taxes and local control from speakers before, but maybe not from this group - Native Americans calling for less government oversight on reservations and greater tribal sovereignty.


Needed or misguided? Permanent ban on uranium mining near Grand Canyon draws mixed reaction

GRAND CANYON – A bill that could permanently prevent uranium mining on more than a million acres of land around the Grand Canyon is something conservation groups and tribes in northern Arizona call long overdue but mining companies condemn.