Brianna Chappie
Brianna Chappie Pronunciation
News Digital Reporter, Phoenix

Brianna Chappie expects to graduate in December 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication. Chappie has experience producing and reporting, as well as being a videographer and photographer. Her creativity and passion for journalism drives her to seek out and tell compelling, thought-provoking stories.

Latest from Brianna Chappie

White Mountain Apache members participate in ‘Ride to the Polls’ movement

WHITERIVER – AZ Native Vote and some members of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Whiteriver were led by horseback and spiritual Gaan dancers to the polling station to cast their ballots for the 2024 presidential election and make their voices heard.


‘Native voters can and will decide this election’: Parties fight to secure Native American votes

PHOENIX – With extremely tight polling, the Republican and Democratic parties are looking to court Native American communities that have historically been hard to reach as a way to win Arizona and the rest of the country’s vote for the upcoming November election.


JD Vance visits Arizona’s 2 largest metro areas in bid for Hispanic voters

MESA – On Wednesday, Republican vice presidential candidate and Sen. JD Vance visited Tucson and Mesa, enticing Hispanic voters to pledge for Trump in a race to win Arizona votes in the upcoming election.

Sen. JD Vance took to the stage to speak on Oct. 9, 2024, in Mesa. (Photo by Brianna Chappie/Cronkite News)

American Red Cross launches initiative to bring in Latino blood donors tied to Hispanic Heritage Month

PHOENIX – The American Red Cross Southwest Arizona chapter launched its “Los Donates” initiative to bring in more Latino donors during Hispanic Heritage Month.


‘Bridge between the generations’: Miss Navajo Nation merges traditional and modern Diné customs

PHOENIX – Six contestants vied for the crown of Miss Navajo Nation, a pageant that celebrates Navajo culture and tradition, and imbues the winner as a role model in the country’s largest Native American tribal nation.

People processing meat under a canopy tent, watched by a crowd. The women wear colorful traditional clothing and use various tools on a table in front of them.

Proposed federal commission would investigate abuses at Native American boarding schools that operated until the 1970s

WASHINGTON – A move is underway in Congress to create a commission to expose abuses at Native American boarding schools.

Navajo Girls brought to a boarding school from Keams Canyon. Photo dated June 19, 1923. (Photo courtesy of Fort Apache Central Classified Files, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Archives)

Skateboarding gives Navajo and other Indigenous people an outlet for artistry and heritage

WASHINGTON – Skateboarders from the Navajo Nation and other Indigenous groups “shredded it” at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The sport has proven to be an outlet for artistry and heritage.

Di’Orr Greenwood with one of her handcrafted skateboards at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., June 24, 2024. (Photo by Brianna Chappie/Cronkite News)

Where the buffalo roamed: Bill would return herds to ancestral Native American lands

WASHINGTON – A bill pending in the Senate would help tribal governments in Arizona and around the U.S. reintroduce buffalo onto reservations where millions of their ancestors once roamed.

Buffalo in Custer State Park, SD, Sept. 2020. (Photo by Brianna Chappie)

DOJ report says Phoenix Police used excessive force, calls out discrimination and ‘longstanding dysfunction’

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a report Thursday accusing the Phoenix Police Department of routinely using excessive force, including deadly force; violating the rights of lawful protesters; and targeting people of color.

In this May 2020 file photo, Phoenix police officers confront a protester. Protests erupted across the country in 2020 over the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. (File photo by Blake Benard/Special for Cronkite News)

Congress gave citizenship to Native Americans a century ago, but voting rights would come decades later

WASHINGTON – It’s been 100 years since Native Americans gained U.S. citizenship, but voting rights came much later. Arizona was the last state with an outright ban on voting for Native Americans.

Calvin Coolidge, center in a white suit, poses with a group of Native Americans outside the White House in 1927. (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress)

Supreme Court rules in favor of two Native American tribes in dispute with federal government over insurance billing fees

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Native American tribes in Arizona and Wyoming that sought millions in federal reimbursement for health care insurance billing fees.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Native American tribes in Arizona and Wyoming that sought millions in federal reimbursement for health care insurance billing fees. (File photo by Stephanie Snyder/Cronkite News)