After two years, Congress OKs bill to let Apache move on water project

WASHINGTON - The House gave final approval to a bill that would let the White Mountain Apache proceed on desperately needed improvements to their water system, ending two years of back-and-forth debate in Congress on what most said was a simple issue.


‘Everyone can see themselves in Barbie’: Iconic doll better reflects global diversity

PHOENIX – Mattel, like many companies adapting to a multicultural world, has been working to diversify the shape, races, ethnicities and occupation of Barbies.


Tribal leaders tell Senate voting barriers are persistent, systemic

WASHINGTON - Native Americans have been "systematically denied access to fair representation" as a result of persistent barriers to voting, advocates and tribal leaders told a Senate roundtable.


Grassroots group works to save wild horses on parched Navajo Reservation

Last month, more than one hundred horses were found dead, drowned in the thick mud surrounding a dried up watering hole on the Navajo Nation.


Navajo, others testify for bill to expand protections for ‘downwinders’

WASHINGTON - Navajo officials and residents urged a Senate committee Wednesday to expand coverage of a fund that compensates uranium miners and "downwinders" - people who lived downwind from Cold War nuclear tests.


Native American lawmakers combat Trump stance on immigration

Indigenous people are among the thousands of immigrants being detained the border, according to the Arizona Legislature’s Indigenous Peoples Caucus. Arizona leaders from the Pascua Yaqui, Tohono O’Odham and Navajo nations said the issue goes back generations and told the story of a Guatemalan girl separated from her mother | Cronkite News


‘Looking for someone like me’: JJ Nakai blazes trail for younger Native American basketball players

Junior college point guard JJ Nakai led Pima Community College in scoring and assists and made 40 percent of her 3-pointers.


Tribal affairs agencies make progress, not enough to satisfy senators

WASHINGTON - Federal agencies that oversee Indian affairs are making progress toward fixing management shortcomings that landed them on a list of "high-risk" agencies, but not enough progress to satisfy some senators and auditors who say more needs to be done.


San Carlos Apache activist joins D.C. rally for ‘fundamental rights’

WASHINGTON - Native Americans face a slew of challenges, said Wendsler Nosie Sr., one of a number of speakers at a wide-ranging rally by dozens of activists as part of the Poor People's Campaign that touched on everything from voting rights to fights over the minimum wage.


Distance, language can still pose challenge to Native American voting

WASHINGTON - Overt challenges to Native Americans voting are a thing of the past, experts say, but casting a ballot can still be hard for tribal members who may face language barriers, registration difficulties and scant access to polling places and government services that can ease the process.


Lack of resources leads to grim statistics in Native American schools

WASHINGTON - Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson called on Congress to help Native Americans, that have been gains in tribal education, but American Indians still trail in test scores and graduation rates, a delay experts blame on a continuing lack of resources and funding.


Native Americans close the gap – almost – on U.S. life expectancy

WASHINGTON - Life expectancy for Native Americans is decades longer than it was in the 1960s, nearly closing the gap with the rest of the U.S. population, government data show. But experts say pockets of problems remain, particularly on traditional reservations.