When two major tribal organizations pulled out of the Alaska Federation of Natives this week, it fueled speculation about the reasons why. The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and the Tanana Chiefs Conference each had a different explanation. Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA talked with Paul Ongtooguk, an Alaska Native historian and a longtime observer of AFN, about these recent developments. Read their full conversation.

Watch the funeral Requiem Mass for Sacheen Littlefeather from St. Rita Church in Fairfax, CA. Plus, find out how you can honor her memory and send condolences.

NASA Commander Nicole Mann (Wailacki) already made history as the first #Native woman in space. Today, she answered questions from Indigenous journalists including ours during a live stream from the International Space Station, starting at 12:40pm ET.

The Biden administration held a government-to-government summit in Washington, D.C. this week with tribal leaders to focus on clean energy. Watch both days and Antonia Gonzales’ conversation with Wahleah Johns, director of the Energy Department’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs

Watch Antonia Gonzales’ complete conversation with Commander Nicole Aupanu Mann, who is expected to make history later this month as the first #Indigenous woman in space, about her upcoming mission for SpaceX.

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This press call captured the reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade of several Native elders and activists including Krystal Curly, director of the Native-women-led organization Indigenous Lifeways, and elder and lifelong Native advocate Noreen Kelly.

“First step” is how many advocates, relatives, and other stakeholders are reacting to the Interior Department’s initial report about its investigations into America’s troubling legacy of Indian boarding schools. Art Hughes shares some of the voices who weighed in on this emotional and historic document.

A killer whale totem pole has made its journey through the Pacific Northwest to raise awareness of calls to remove dams from the Snake River. Through May, it made stops in tribal communities and cities, as Eric Tegethoff reports. The Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey began at the beginning of May in Bellingham, […]

Noted Lakota elder Marcella Labeau has died. She was a decorated World War 2 veteran serving as a nurse in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps where she helped soldiers injured during the Normandy landings. A citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe she served on that nation’s council for four years in the early 1990s. She was inducted into the Native American Hall of Fame on Nov. 6, 2021 at age 102.
Read more here.

From medical health privacy laws to a maze of siloed information systems, a true accounting of COVID-19’s impact on Indian Country is impossible to know. The Indigenous Investigative Collective found data problems extend nationwide. As of June 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 6,585 American Indians and Alaska Natives have died from COVID-19 — the highest rate of any ethnic group in the United States. That estimate likely falls far short of the actual death toll. Read more here.