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A bipartisan bill signed into law last year is now giving Native Americans residing in Arizona the option to update their state-issued identification to show their tribal affiliation.
As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, it comes at a time when Indigenous peoples are being swept up in immigration raids – including Peter Yazzie (Navajo), who was recently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Phoenix metro area.
This new marker is akin to getting an organ donor or veteran insignia on any form of ID, including a driver license.
To do so, applicants need to prove that they’re enrolled in a tribe by submitting a Certificate of Indian Blood (CIB), and so far, the Arizona Department of Transportation has gotten more than 1,600 requests for the designation.
That idea of streamlining legal documents came from State Rep. Myron Tsosie (Navajo/D-AZ).
“Instead of having to dig out all your cards to show that you are Native American.”
And had nothing to do with ICE.
“That wasn’t the purpose, but I’m hearing from constituents saying that I feel safer now.”
And it’s something Thomas Cody, executive director of the Navajo Nation’s Division for Child and Family Services, is encouraging his Diné urban relatives to seek out.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to have an ID that we’re Native Americans. We shouldn’t but I’m glad the state of Arizona, Gov. [Katie] Hobbs is taking an extra step.”
His deputy director Sonlatsa Jim thinks this service is much-needed – not just for Navajos living in the Grand Canyon State.
“Because we are the largest Native American tribe, you’ll find a Navajo tribal member anywhere in the United States.”
That’s why Tsosie is working with neighboring Utah and New Mexico state lawmakers to adopt his legislation aiming to help cover more of Indian Country, including the rest of his sprawling 27,000-square-mile reservation.
The federal government is reviewing the business program that benefits Alaska Native corporations and tribes.
The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA reports.
In a video posted on X January 16, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said his department will review the 8(a) Business Development Program. That program falls under the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) and supports businesses owned by socially disadvantaged individuals or tribes including Alaska Native Corporations.
We are taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government—the 8(a) program. pic.twitter.com/c9iH8gcqG7
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) January 16, 2026
Sec. Hegseth said in the video that the 8(a) program promotes the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) framework and race-based contracting.
In the 8(a) program, the federal government sets aside contracting opportunities for disadvantaged small businesses.
Tribal entities can have multiple companies in the program, while individuals can only have one.
Alaska Native Corporations rely heavily on federal contracts often received through the 8(a) program.
Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis shows that it is their primary source of revenue. And most of those contracts come from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Quinton Carroll is the executive director of the Native American Contractors Association, and originally from Utqiagvik.
“Native participation in the 8(a) program is not a DEI initiative.”
Carroll says the program “fulfills longstanding federal trust and treaty obligations to tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and Native Hawaiian Organizations.”
Hegseth ordered a line-by-line review of sole-source 8(a) contracts that are over $20 million. He said in the social media video that the department will get rid of contracts that do not make the country’s military more lethal.
Hegseth also said the department will make sure that the businesses getting a contract are the ones actually doing the work.
He claimed that often small businesses receive the contract, take a fee, and pass it to a giant consulting firm.
However, Carroll says Native federal contractors have been partners of the Department of Defense. He added that Native contractors also support the elimination of fraud and waste within the program.
The 8(a) program has faced scrutiny from other directions as well.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April, directing rewriting of federal contracting regulations.
The SBA and Treasury department have been both investigating the program as well.
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