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Some groups are sounding the alarm on potential scams that target people who were exposed to radiation linked to U.S. nuclear weapons, which includes Native Americans.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Yvette Fernandez reports, Congress approved and expanded funding to help the victims.

It was a big win for victims of radiation exposure, when the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was renewed and expanded to cover more states.

Victims in Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, and parts of Nevada and Arizona are among those who can seek compensation.

But many people find it difficult to qualify. That’s because necessary documentation from the Cold War era is decades old, says Carmen Valdez, with the nonprofit Health Environment Alliance of Utah.

“These funds are meant to ease people’s pain and suffering and to cover medical bills and to make sure they’re not also suffering financially while also suffering from these diseases and cancers.”

That’s where scammers are finding opportunities.

Valdez says some companies are charging fees up to three times the allowable $2,000.

It comes as deadlines for claims approach in December 2027, when the program is slated to end.

Vaccination rates are declining across Washington state and experts say this leaves Native communities vulnerable to dangerous disease outbreaks, especially heading back to school.

Isobel Charle reports.

According to the Washington State Department of Health, there have been 10 confirmed cases of measles in Washington in three counties this year.

Wendy Stevens is with the American Indian Health Commission, which formed the nation’s first Tribal Immunization Coalition. She cites data showing that the measles vaccine reduces people’s chances of getting the disease by 97%.

“Getting measles immunization protects not only you, but your family, your community from spreading measles.”

Vaccination rates have dropped to 87% among kindergartners in Washington. This is well below the 95% threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, according to the Washington Health Alliance. While most measles infections are not severe, health complications can occur in about 30% of cases, with about one-in-1,000 infections leading to death.

Stevens adds people need to stay up to date on what is happening with outbreaks in their area and advises getting any questions about vaccines answered by a doctor.

“I would encourage people in Indian country to connect to their tribal health clinic, talk to their providers, and they can make decisions that they feel good about for their family.”

As of May, the U.S. has reported over one thousand measles cases, a 400% increase from last year, with almost all involving unvaccinated people.

The Southern Indian Ute Tribe in Colorado says it “has not entered into any agreement” with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding detention operations.

The tribe issued a statement this week to clarify its position after recent news reports listed the tribe as potential ICE facility sites.

In a press release, the tribe said it was not notified nor consulted prior to the release of information regarding detention operations. And says there have been no discussions between the Tribal Council and federal authorities on the matter.

In Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signed the tribe’s first artificial intelligence policy Thursday.

It establishes new guidelines for AI use across all Cherokee Nation departments.

The policy outlines specific approved uses, and strictly prohibits AI use without quality review involving the Cherokee language, which must receive backing and incorporation from Cherokee fluent speakers.

 

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California’s only Native American state lawmaker is calling on the University of California (UC) to return Native American remains and cultural items still in its possession, despite federal and state laws requiring repatriation.

Christina Aanestad reports.

California lawmakers condemned the University of California campuses that have failed to return thousands of Native American remains and hundreds of thousands of Indigenous artifacts in their possession, 35 years after federal law required their return to tribal communities.

A new audit in April found UC campuses of Berkeley, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara, have failed to comply and fully utilize the funding allotted to them to help repatriate the remains to tribes.

Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez (D-CA) spoke during a press conference before Tuesday’s joint hearing.

“If my grandmother was found, I would expect her remains to be given to her family. Not in one year, not in 35 years but immediately.”

The audit recommends specific funding and conditions on the funding to force it’s compliance.

UC Provost Katherine Newman says they’re investing more money-but part of the challenge is finding experts to assist.

“It’s actually not easy to find those folks, there’s technical requirements for their background.”

Leo Cisco is tribal member of the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi-Yokut Tribe.

“We’re the experts.”

He spoke with Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA), who says repatriation will help Native Americans heal from the state’s historical wrongs.

“Those remains do carry connections to our people and it’s not until they are properly buried that healing can start to take place from a traumatic experience our people suffered from the history of the state of California.”

Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a land swap that would hand a swath of the Tonto National Forest – a parcel sacred to Native Americans – over to a multinational mining company.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, President Donald Trump has weighed in.

On Truth Social, Trump blamed a “Radical Left Activists” for delaying the swap, which would clear the way for a massive mine run by Resolution Copper.

Adelita Grijalva says his rhetoric is reckless, dangerous, and even corrupt.

“[President] Trump is blatantly attempting to strong-arm the court.”

She’s running to fill the seat of her father, the late U.S. Rep Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), who spent his political career trying to stop mining in the area known as Oak Flat.

Trump called those who oppose the mine “anti-American”.

“Trump can try to shame us. We’re not going to be silent. For him to call us all anti-American for standing up to protect Oak Flat, it’s not just wrong – it’s offensive. Standing up for our communities, our land and our future is the most American thing that we can do, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

Resolution Copper is owned by foreign mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP.

“It’s no surprise to see this president side with foreign corporations over America’s natural resources, and less for having any kind of consideration of tribal leaders and land.”

San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler believes Trump has been “misinformed by Resolution Copper’s supporters,” even offering to sit down with the president and share “factual information to protect American assets”.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan announced a donation of $200,000 to support Rx Kids in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

The program provides cash to moms and babies, which helps cover costs of necessities, including baby supplies, food, utilities, and rent.

According to Rx Kids, the investment reflects the “tribe’s commitment to maternal and child health, and to uplifting families across the region.”

 

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Photo: Kometos employees atop a new reindeer processing facility in Savoonga. (Wali Rana / KNOM)

On St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, the remote village of Savoonga has long struggled with limited jobs and food security.

A new reindeer processing facility hopes to help change that.

KNOM’s Wali Rana visited the site to learn more about how the development could benefit the community, while also connecting Savoonga with its history.

Just steps from the crashing waves of the Bering Sea, a new structure rises beside the sandy beach.

Workers from Finnish construction company Kometos hammer and drill away on the rooftop of the facility.

The company specializes in modular food processing facilities and is working alongside local hires from Savoonga.

The workers are putting the finishing touches on a large, white facility destined to become the village’s new reindeer processing plant.

Bengamin Pungowiyi is the president of the Savoonga Tribal Council. He says the new facility will kick off a number of opportunities for the village of 800.

“I’m making hope that if we expand over the decades, we would hopefully bring in some employment from the Nome area and some of the villages that, some of the funds that, if they accumulate, we could start a little youth camp.”

The facility will be run by Savoonga Reindeer Commercial Company (SRCC).

The history of reindeer in Savoonga goes back over a century, when a Presbyterian missionary brought a small herd to the island.

The herd grew and eventually migrated east to what would become Savoonga.

“The herd wanted to linger on the east side because of the food abundance, and the initial herders thought that they should send four apprentices to watch the reindeer, and those four men looked at Savoonga. From there, they start getting their relatives to move in.”

Over a century later, Pungowiyi says the facility aims to carry that legacy forward by creating jobs, supporting food security, and keeping reindeer at the heart of Savoonga’s identity.

“We’re hoping to bring up a little island employment, both villages, you know, the younger generation could continually benefit from that. And hopefully, for food security.”

Once operational, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will inspect the facility.

If approved, reindeer produced in Savoonga could earn the coveted “USDA Certified” label.

The designation lets customers know the animals were raised appropriately and are safe to eat.

For over a century, the Santa Fe Indian Market has been a spotlight for some of Indian Country’s most talented artists to shine, from crafts to fashion.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, 1,000 juried artists from more than 200 tribes descended upon New Mexico over the weekend.

Among them was Naiomi Glasses …

“What’s so great about Santa Fe Indian Market is that you can meet the artists and that supports so many livelihoods.”

… and her brother, Tyler.

“It’s a good time to go out and find pieces that speak to you.”

They’re both Diné and just released a new collection this week with Polo Ralph Lauren.

“I’m over the moon about it, doing cartwheels and flips inside. I’m excited for it to get out there in the world and for everyone just to see what this whole collection is about.”

His sister Naiomi was named the company’s first artist in residence in 2023.

“I’m fortunate enough to be able to collaborate with companies that I’m able to design something and then they’re able to manufacture it. I also still do my beautiful handwoven goods that I sell at markets like Santa Fe.”

She says if you love wearing Native art, buy directly from Indigenous designers.

“Authenticity is what really matters, and I really hope that more companies learn from the model that we did with Polo Ralph Lauren. I really want to see more of that.”

 

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Photo courtesy Protect Oak Flat / Facebook

A federal judge in Phoenix, Ariz. Friday seemingly cleared the way for a massive copper mining project – until the Ninth Circuit suddenly stepped in.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the latest court order came less than 24 hours before Oak Flat inside the Tonto National Forest would have turned into private property.

That pending land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and Resolution Copper has been put on hold once more with a temporary administrative injunction issued Monday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The new order comes after Judge Dominic Lanza denied requests to delay the congressionally authorized land transfer.

These pleas came from conservation and environmental plaintiffs, including the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

The tribe called it a “last-minute victory,” while Resolution Copper is confident the court will ultimately affirm Judge Lanza’s “well-reasoned” orders.

The three-judge panel would not comment on the merits, but noted these appeals will undergo an expedited briefing schedule starting next month.

California state lawmakers held a joint hearing Tuesday in Sacramento, Calif. about the University of California (UC) possessing Native American human remains and cultural items.

Three state audits over the past five years show UC continues to fail to return the remains.

University officials are expected to respond.

Summer is prime time for gathering and baking camas across the Pacific Northwest, Rockies, and Plains regions.

Native people usually harvest – then bake – the plant’s bulbs, as part of their First Foods menu.

As Brian Bull (Nez Perce) of Buffalo’s Fire reports, there was even a “bake-off” held outside Eugene, Oreg. recently.

It started when members of the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP) under the Long Tom Watershed Council gathered in a former ash tree forest.

With shovels and digging sticks, they unearthed dozens of camas bulbs.

14-year-old Daniel Morrison said TEIP leader Joe Scott has already shared some things about camas.

“Joe told me it’s supposed to be called like the Native potato. And he said it tastes really good. I’m hoping that it goes really well. And that we don’t charcoal them.”

The heartbreak of “charcoaled” camas is indescribable.

The group met the next day to assemble their camas ovens, shallow pits in the ground where fire-heated rocks are strewn.

TEIP leader and Siletz tribal member Joe Scott described how he’ll layer his packets of leaf-wrapped camas bulbs.

“Here’s what I’mma gonna do … I’m gonna throw the wet sword ferns on top of this, bunch of water, like a couple buckets of water after the maple leaves, and then a layer of skunk cabbage leaves. Put the packets on top of that, and then the alder and the ferns and then all the stuff right here.”

Oh, and there’s mugwort, hazel, and bracken ferns in Scott’s recipe, too. The whole oven hissed with steam once the water hit the hot rocks.

Nearby, the TEIP’s senior intern Samuel Bull (Nez Perce) assembled the second oven with mom’s help. This was mostly ferns, maple leaves, and camas bundled in skunk cabbage leaves … with some carrots and potatoes thrown in for experimentation’s sake, all under canvas and four buckets of water.

Flash forward to a day later. Bull decided to do a camas bake for 24 hours. The group peeled back the canvas to reveal glistening and translucent camas bulbs.

“Looks good! Ohhh, look at those beauties! Mmmhmnm. Good? It’s really good. Give me some flavor notes. Really soft, sweet. And starchy. I’m so happy. Wow.”

And yes, Bull’s potatoes and carrots came out well, too.

Scott’s batch baked for nearly 26 hours and had a small fire burning atop his oven for part of that time.

At first there’s a little concern as a few bulbs are hardened and dark … but then when the rest are unearthed.

“They’re … perfect. (laughs) They’re like a sweet gumdrop.”

The longer bake means Scott’s camas were more caramelized and sweeter, but at the end of the day, Scott said the real success of the event was creating community.

“None of these things happen in isolation. There are just so many caring, loving, passionate, compassionate people who come together to make things like this happen. Hopefully people will be coming here in a hundred years making camas, and being like, ‘I heard the story of when they used to come and do this, and they would just turn it into briquets.’”

 

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Photo: Knight Hall at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo. (Kamila Kudelska / Wyoming Public Media)

Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho students will have a crack at a new scholarship at the University of Wyoming (UW).

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann has more.

UW is creating the “Wind River Promise Fund”.

Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be available to tribal members to cover undergrad tuition costs and mandatory fees for full-time students.

The idea’s been going back and forth between tribal members, state legislators, and the university for years. 

UW trustee Paul Ulrich says the move is something to celebrate.

“ I think this is a long time coming and I am absolutely thrilled to death that this motion has been made today.”

An additional $2 million will be managed and invested like an endowment.

Students must be enrolled tribal members to qualify. They also need to be Wyoming residents and graduate from a Wyoming high school.

Many clean energy initiatives across the country have been hit hard with federal funding freezes and abrupt cuts in recent months, but two villages in Alaska are considering a project that would harness the energy of ocean waves, potentially for the first time in the U.S.

The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has more.

Waves gently hit the shores of Kachemak Bay as ravens croak above on a cloudy night in July.

The small village of Port Graham is nested here, at the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula.

The village may soon convert wave energy into electricity.

Dannielle Malchoff is the first chief of Port Graham.

“I have a lot of hope that this is going to be something great for our community.”

Chugachmiut is a consortium that serves Native tribes including Port Graham and its neighbour, Nanwalek.

The consortium announced it had partnered with an Australia-based company Carnegie Clean Energy in May to explore an ocean wave energy project for both villages.

Carnegie has several wave energy projects across the world, including Australia and Spain, but this would be the company’s first commercial installment in the U.S, according to Louise Richardson, Carnegie’s commercial analyst.

“One thing at Carnegie that we hope our technology will be able to service in the future is remote communities and isolated communities that might not have access to other forms of renewable energy options.”

Port Graham and Nanwalek have no roads connecting them to the rest of the state.

Energy costs there are high because the villages are at the edge of the grid and diesel for a back-up generator comes on a barge.

The electrical lines running from Homer are several decades old, don’t have enough capacity, and are unreliable.

Malchoff says Port Graham loses power several times a month in winter and once every few months in summer.

“We have to use satellite phones if our power is out, which isn’t very convenient when you’re trying to relay and talk to doctors in the ER and you’re dealing with a patient.”

Malchoff says more reliable electricity from wave energy could solve some of these issues and, ideally, the village can sell any extra energy back to the grid and use that revenue on healthcare and education.

The plan is to place a wave energy device offshore from Port Graham.

The device will be submerged and tethered to the seabed, moving with the waves and converting power from that motion into electricity.

Permitting, testing, and installing might take close to five years.

The Gathering of Nations announced in a social media post over the weekend that next year’s powwow will be the last dance.

KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more.

The Gathering of Nations Powwow has been an Albuquerque, N.M. annual tradition beginning in 1983, drawing thousands of performers and spectators from across Turtle Island over the last four decades.

On the event’s website, organizers cited “several factors beyond [their] control” making “long-term planning and coordination challenging”, without specifically saying why, But that’s the reason behind them closing this chapter nearly eight months from now.

The 43rd Gathering of Nations will happen next April at the Tingley Coliseum at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds.

 

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The 42nd annual Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) conference wraps up Friday in Albuquerque, N.M.

Buffalo’s Fire senior reporter Brian Bull was there.

Nearly 400 reporters, editors, and influencers assembled at the Isleta Resort and Casino this week.

Congress’ rescission and its effects on tribal radio stations were one new topic since last year, as were President Trump’s cuts to federal programs and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

IJA President Christine Trudeau says there’s been a lot to process, but her organization’s mission remains the same:

“We need to secure that there is a fourth estate that is upheld for transparency, for truth, for accuracy, for every citizen, for every human being. And that goes for federal level, and that goes for our tribal nations as well.”

Trudeau wraps her term as IJA president.

A new board will be announced at the evening awards ceremony and banquet.

Trudeau says this is a “full-circle” event.

“It’s been a real honor to be doing this and being a part of this. You know, right here in Albuquerque, I got my start. I was an intern at KUNM and I was filing a story a week while I was finishing my undergrad at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA).”

Among the ongoing challenges for Native journalists is getting free press established for tribal media.

Alaska’s annual Salmonfest is a three-day music festival that advocates for the protection of healthy salmon through song and educational resources, but it also highlights Alaska Native culture through workshops and demonstrations.

KDLL’s Hunter Morrison attended one teaching Yup’ik phrases and has this story.

Between musical performances, Casey Jack takes the stage to introduce himself to an audience of about two dozen people.

“I’ll just say hi real quick. Maybe some of you all have heard this. ‘Waqaa.’”

The audience repeats the word back.

“You gotta bring that sound from the back of your throat. Almost like you’re clearing a spit. ‘Waqaa.’”

Jack teaches the group other phrases, like “How are you?” and “Where are you from?”, during the twenty-minute Yup’ik beginner phrase session.

The session is one of a handful at the music festival highlighting Alaska Native language and culture.

“I think in general, Indigenous voices are important to be listening to.”

The Yup’ik session was put together by an organizer who identified themselves as Foot.

“I think that’s kind of our duty as people who maybe are not from this land from time immemorial, to respect and learn from the people who have been.”

While the festival’s main focus is the music and environmental message, Foot says Alaska Native people have been represented at Salmonfest since its kick-off in 2011.

Jack, who led this year’s Yup’ik workshop, says demonstrations like the ones at Salmonfest help keep Indigenous language and culture alive.

“Language is intrinsic to identity, you know? How can you be someone without your language? The language is the very vessel that you’re using to pass down your values, your culture.”

The workshop wasn’t the first time Jack has taught his Native language, but Jack has never held class at a music festival.

Foot, the coordinator, agrees.

“It’s called Salmonfest, and salmon people, and the stewards of this land, are Alaska Native people. If you’re sticking true to it being about salmon, it’s probably also going to be about salmon people.”

Foot says the festival’s environmental advocacy is as much about the people who rely on healthy salmon as the fish themselves.

 

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Hunters from Point Lay, Alaska will collaborate with an anthropologist from Russia this summer to document traditional knowledge about walruses.

It’s an important part of recording traditions – and, as the Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports, for maintaining collaboration across the Arctic.

Growing up, Robert Qaummaluk Lisbourne remembers walruses starting to beach near Point Lay in large numbers.
It was always an exciting time for local hunters, but he says a stream of boats and gunfire startled the animals, causing them to rush to water and crush some of the young pups.

Since then, Lisbourne says, hunting practices have changed.

“We gotta find a better way to hunt these animals without causing the stampede.”

Lisbourne says Point Lay residents now try to hunt walruses when there are only a few of them on the beach.

Lisbourne will share his knowledge about walruses with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alaska Museum of the North later this summer.

The project will include a walrus drone survey and interviews with local hunters.

Eduard Kergytagyn Zdor is an anthropology postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who will help with interviews.

“This is about how to help local community to deal with modern challenges, including climate change.”

Zdor is a Chukchi Indigenous leader, originally from Chukotka in Eastern Russia where walrus is also a traditional subsistence resource. He also researched and advocated for subsistence hunting back home.

Walrus research is one of many areas where Russian and American scientists used to work together.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 put a strain on research collaborations.

Zdor says he would like this project to be a link between Chukotka and Alaska.

“This is what we are dreaming about, me and people like me here in Alaska and Russia as well, my fellow local villagers – of course, we are.”

In Alaska’s Arctic, female walruses traditionally rest on sea ice. But the ice cover has been declining in the Arctic, and animals started to come to Point Lay beaches in recent years – sometimes, tens of thousands of them.

Lisbourne has been working with walrus biologists, making sure they follow safety protocols during regular surveys and don’t harm the animals.

“We are protecting the animals.”

After the project is done, Zdor says he hopes Lisbourne will continue documenting local knowledge.

In South Dakota, the Humanities Council is delivering over 13,000 free books for third-grade students across the state.

SDPB’s C.J. Keene has more.

It’s part of the annual Young Readers program and aims to help get students at every public, private, tribal, or home school reading.

The Young Readers One Book selection for 2025 is “Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills”.

That book tells the story of the Oglala Lakota Olympic gold medalist and features illustrations by artist S.D. Nelson, who is also Lakota.

The book tells Mills’ story, journeying from Pine Ridge all to way to his ultimate destination as a world-class Olympian.

The story culminates with his last-second dash for the gold in the 10,000 meters race at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

The Yurok Tribe is hosting its Klamath Salmon Festival Saturday in Klamath, Calif.

The family-friendly day features a number of events including music, basket-weaving demonstrations, and stick ball.

Chairman Joseph James says this year’s celebration is special pointing to the Klamath River. He says it looks better than any other time in living memory due to dam removal and restoration.

The last of four dams was removed in August of last year and according to the tribe, a month after the removal, thousands of salmon started to repopulate the newly free-flowing part of the river.

But there will be no salmon at the festival due to this year’s fish forecast being below average.

The tribe is confident salmon runs will recover.

 

 

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Photo: Shishmaref, Alaska, which will receive some of the EPA clean-up funds for tar. (Courtesy Dennis Davis)

It’s been more than 50 years since Alaska’s Native corporations and villages received land from the federal government under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).

Some of those lands were contaminated when they were distributed, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has only recently started paying for clean-up at a few state sites.

Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra has more.

Alaska Native corporations and villages began to get funding for contamination clean-up under an EPA program launched in 2023.

This year, the EPA has announced more clean-up sites.

Alaska will get $6.7 million from the agency to clean up sites on land owned by three Alaska Native corporations and villages.

The sites were already contaminated with asbestos, tar, and petroleum when they were transferred to Alaska Native corporations and villages under ANCSA in 1971.

Stephanie Buss, who manages Alaska’s contaminated sites program, says it’s “past time” to clean them up.

“We’re just thankful for the work that we’re able to do with the federal and tribal partners to get these sites addressed and really address the human health and environmental risks that they pose.”

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has called the failure of the federal government to clean up ANCSA lands a “shocking environmental injustice.”

Sen. Murkowski created the EPA’s Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program in 2023.

Buss says the EPA grants target three sites.

The money will go toward cleaning up asbestos near Utquiagvik, tar in Shishmaref, and sludge in Unalakleet.

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium will also get $3 million in EPA funding to support the program and help communities apply for funding.

Buss says the federal government and state are identifying more sites eligible for these EPA grants.

“We are aware that there are hundreds of them that were conveyed contaminated that need to be addressed.”

Past state estimates have identified over 1,000 contaminated sites.

According to the EPA, contamination on ANCSA lands includes arsenic, asbestos, lead, mercury, pesticides, PCBs, and petroleum products.

Alaska Native corporations and villages have said the contaminations are a threat to Alaska Native subsistence activities, posing serious threats to food security, human health, culture, and Alaska Native economies.

More information about applying for the EPA grant funding is on the EPA’s ANCSA program website.

Public health officials remain concerned about a resurgence of measles cases in the U.S.

Mike Moen reports.

They say it’s still hard for people in under-resourced areas, including tribal communities, to vaccinate their children.

Partners in South Dakota are responding with outreach efforts.

KFF Health News reports the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board, which serves tribes in Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, is trying to get a head of measles outbreaks with mobile vaccination clinics.

The board’s Dr. Meghan O’Connell (Cherokee) says vaccination data on Native Americans is imperfect, but it suggests a lower percentage of them have received measles shots than the overall population.

“Most of these communities are in very rural areas, so they can face significant barriers to care that others may not. Just getting to the doctor can be a challenge.”

Her team also is working with tribes that want to host vaccine clinics.

Elsewhere, tribal health organizations have launched social media campaigns and are reaching out to the parents of unvaccinated children.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says the highly contagious disease has seen its largest outbreak in the U.S. since 1992, with a handful of deaths this year.

 

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Photo: Kettle River. (AndrewEnns / Wikimedia)

Colville Tribal officials are hailing the discovery of a Chinook salmon in British Columbia’s Kettle River as another sign of success of their salmon reintroduction program.

Spokane Public Radio’s Steve Jackson reports.

It has been decades since a Chinook was last seen upstream from Coulee Dam in the Kettle River.

“It’s significant because Grand Coulee Dam cut off salmon from going to the ocean and back since 1941, so for over 80 years, salmon haven’t been in the Kettle river.”

That’s Casey Baldwin, a salmon reintroduction manager for the Colville Tribes.

He says the program has released more than 160,000 juvenile fish per year since 2017, including about 25,000 at Kettle Falls.

These fish have been tracked making their way down the Columbia River system to the ocean – and many have managed to survive passing through the Grand Coulee Dam turbines.

While this Chinook salmon was not examined specifically by fish biologists, Baldwin says it’s very likely the result of the release program.

Baldwin says his agency is also currently tracking one wild adult fish with a special ID tag that’s returning up the Columbia from the sea.

If the fish can make it as far as Chief Joseph Dam, the hope is that it can be captured and trucked upstream to a tributary above Grand Coulee.

In recent months, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, N.M. was one of many tribal colleges facing federal funding cuts.

KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) spoke with IAIA’s new president, Shelly Lowe, to get an update on where the prominent Indigenous art school stands.

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal threatens to reduce the school’s federal allocation from around $13 million to $0 beginning October 1.

President Lowe says there have been threats to federal funding all across the country, but she’s thankful that she continues to see support from the school’s appropriators and Congress.

“They are on board to support us. You know, we’re still out there trying to make sure that their constituencies, our own constituencies, know very well what we are doing and the importance of it.”

Lowe says she’s planning for a normal fall semester and has no intention of changing anything.

“We’re going to keep talking to our appropriators and ensuring that we have enough funding, and we’re going to be out there really looking for donors and looking for individuals who are interested in supporting the institution, but we’re moving forward as normal for the next year, and we’ll just keep working hard.”

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Interior Department’s appropriation bill passed both the Senate and House Appropriations Committee, which includes a $12 million appropriation for IAIA. 

This bill now advances to the full House and Senate for consideration.

The Medicine Wheel Ride, an Indigenous led fundraiser during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, recently completed its sixth year.

SDPB’s C.J. Keene has more.

This year, an estimated 230 rode from Bear Butte State Park across the Black Hills to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP).

The setting of Sturgis is particularly pertinent as Native Hope, a South Dakota nonprofit, considers the rally a major driver of human trafficking.

This year’s ride was sponsored by Harley-Davidson and registered riders paid an entry fee dedicated to MMIP justice efforts.

 

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will host a roundtable Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska, on a draft legislative package addressing recommendations from a Native children commission, which was issued last year.

According to Sen. Murkowski’s office, discussions are aimed at advancing the well-being and future opportunities for Native children.

The event is open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-serve basis, and it will be livestreamed.

 

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U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants to improve Indigenous peoples’ access to traditional foods.

Patrick Gilchrist has more.

Standing outside a tribal health center in Fairbanks, Alaska, Sec. Kennedy told reporters last week he’s collecting ideas, but isn’t exactly sure how to achieve that goal.

“I’m trying to figure out ways I can use my agency and my relationship with other secretaries to return those foods.”

Kennedy made a few stops at healthcare facilities in the state. In Anchorage, he went so far as to call processed foods’ impact on Native health part of a “genocide.”

The center where Kennedy spoke in Fairbanks is operated by Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC).

The nonprofit tribal organization aims to support health and social service needs of its 42 members, 37 of which are federally recognized tribes.

TCC Chief Brian Ridley says the secretary’s pledge is just a starting point, but encouraging.

“He seems totally on board with working with us in those areas, trying to do what we can to try to get back to our traditional foods, so that they’re healthier. And it’s just a matter of working with him and the senators going forward on trying to find a way to actually make that happen.”

The press event took place after Kennedy toured the health center with Alaska’s U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).

Light Up Navajo is an annual aid program meant to help electrify rural and remote households across the Navajo Nation, the largest reservation in the U.S.

As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the project reached a major milestone earlier this month.

With help from nearly four dozen public and private utilities spanning 20 states, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) says volunteers installed 41 miles of power lines and hooked up 196 homes this year alone, now surpassing 1,000 dwellings in all. 

Typically conducted over the summer months, Light Up Navajo began as a six-week pilot in 2019 between NTUA and the American Public Power Association.

Six years later, it’s now a 14-week endeavor.

NTUA estimates about 10,000 households are still in the dark.

A nonprofit in New Mexico that supports Native American communities wants Congress to restore crucial funding for an employment and training program.

KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more.

Among ongoing federal funding cuts, the Native Professional Advancement Center is urging Congress to reverse a budget proposal that would eliminate money for Native workforce training programs.

The center’s board chair Lorraine Edmo (Shoshone-Bannock) recently sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), a ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, requesting action to restore $60 million dollars.

Darius Lee, executive director of the center, says the elimination of federal funding “undermines decades of progress and violates the government’s responsibility to honor Tribal sovereignty.”

According to a press release by the organization, the federal budget proposal by the Trump administration is calling for the elimination of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and instead creating a new state-controlled block grant called “Make America Skilled Again.”

If created, it would cut tribes and nonprofits from direct access to workforce resources, force tribes to compete with the state for funding, and shut down culturally specific support systems that have helped Native people earn employment.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to possibly take another vote on this portion of the budget on September 2. 

 

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