Thursday, June 18, 2026

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Photo: The international boundary between Mexico and the Tohono O’odham Nation in June 2026. (Gabriel Pietrorazio)

An Arizona tribe along the Southern border has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has details.

The Tohono O’odham Nation has submitted an injunction to halt the Trump administration from looking to build a wall along its 62-mile boundary with Mexico.

According to the complaint, the administration plans to solicit contracts for construction on sovereign lands – without the tribe’s consent.

Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose in a social media message.

“We would prefer not to file this lawsuit, and instead use these resources for our people. And it is our hope DHS will reconsider their plans once they see the strength of our arguments, however, at this point we have been left with no other choice.”

Carla Johnson is Tohono O’odham Vice Chairwoman.

“The wall is a wasteful political gimmick. It will separate our families, desecrate our sacred sites and waters and harm our natural environment, while doing nothing to actually make us safer.”

In response to the legal filings, DHS cites Mullin’s Cherokee citizenship and commitment to tribal sovereignty, telling KJZZ the agency “values its relationship with the Tohono O’odham Nation and remains focused on open communication and minimizing impacts.”

A Navajo Nation community near Page voted Sunday to oppose a controversial copper mine proposal, as KNAU’s Chris Clements reports.

The Coppermine Chapter voted 45-12 to adopt a resolution opposing Essential Minerals’ exploration of a possible copper mine.

The resolution also rescinded a policy put forward by the chapter back in 2005 that supported exploration of a separate copper mine.

The resolution adopted on Sunday says back in 2005, the company looking into mining failed to fulfill its commitments.

It adds that no mining company – like Essential Minerals – can use the 2005 policy to justify exploring a copper mine now.

Tribal members say they are worried a copper mine would cause health and environmental issues in the community.

Representatives of Essential Minerals previously told KNAU they want to build trust about the project, which they say is just being explored right now.

The day after the season’s first drift gillnet fishing opener, salmon remained top of mind for fishers of the Kuskokwim River, as KYUK’s Samantha Watson reports.

At Riverview Park in Bethel, Alaska, community members gathered and filled plates of dried whitefish and grilled, fresh-caught fillets of king salmon.

The second annual Return of the Salmon event was put on by Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition, a grassroots organization opposing the proposed Donlin gold mine.

Supporters of the mine point to the job prospects it would bring to locals in the region.

Calista Corporation, the regional Native corporation who owns the subsurface rights to the proposed mine site, says that responsible development and subsistence can coexist.

Others, like Mother Kuskokwim, say it is too risky. They argue that potential contamination from the mine could pose dire environmental impacts, namely for the region’s salmon populations.

The celebration is, at its core, an anti-Donlin demonstration, but it feels like a fish camp cookout.

Organizer Gloria Simeon says on the Kuskokwim, salmon is a mechanism for something bigger.

“Fish camp is not an activity. Fish camp is the time, the single most important time of families coming together with one purpose, and that’s to get prepared for the winter, catch our salmon, take care of it, to have it for the winter, and it’s not just only about that, it’s about sharing your genealogy, your oral traditions, our cultural values, who we are as a people, our history.”

She talks about how it is sustained her family, and people like her granddaughter, Ashlynn Simeon, who is the Deputy Director of Mother Kuskokwim organization.

She says the moments on display in a community event like this — children playing, babies having their first bites of fresh salmon of the season — that is what the Mother Kuskokwim advocates are trying to protect.

 

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Check out today’s Native America Calling episode

Thursday, June 18, 2026 — Native Bookshelf: ‘The Home of the Drowned’ by Elin Anna Labba