Native and Indigenous News

The University of Arizona joins schools in a number of other states in covering tuition and fees for tribal members, who have been less likely than other Americans to pursue higher education.

Malerba, the lifetime chief of the Mohegan Indian Tribe, would be the first Native woman to have her signature on U.S. currency. She'd also lead the Treasury's new Office of Tribal and Native Affairs.

U.S. life expectancy was already lower than other high-income nations and the gap was widening before 2019. Since then, things have gotten worse. New research found that in 2020, life expectancies here dropped disproportionately for marginalized, racialized populations. Especially for Native American and Alaska Native groups

Residents of St. Mary's in southwestern Alaska are donating food to firefighters and helping clear brush as the region's largest wildfire looms just a few miles from town.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is launching an Indian Youth Service Corps with new guidelines. The corps was established in 2019 as part of an amendment to the Public Lands Corps Act. Now, Haaland has published actual guidelines. One of its goals is fostering natural resource and land stewardship skills for young tribal members aged 16 to 30, or 35 if you’re a veteran.

A federal contract to investigate deaths at tribal jails went to a man who had oversight of those facilities during 6 of the deaths. Now, watchdog group Project on Government Oversight is calling on the Interior’s Office of Inspector General to investigate that contract and whether it violated rules regarding former federal employees.

The Cherokee National History Museum in Tahlequah, Okla. will host a launch event for the new quarter. Mankiller was the first woman to head a major Native American nation in the U.S.

After 17 overdoses — including four deaths — this spring, Indigenous leaders in Montana and surrounding states look for ways to stop the fentanyl crisis and provide more treatment and care.

To help reduce high rates of diabetes and obesity, tribe leaders are working to raise $12 million by 2024 to help build the new community enterprise.

The 18,000-acre bison range is located on land taken away by the U.S. government 100 years ago. Congress passed a law in 2020 giving the land back to the local native tribes.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland about her department's Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report.

A U.S. Congress bill focuses on infrastructure. Also, a "shared vision" statement from tribes that live in the Colorado River basin and conservation groups focuses on the environmental issues around water access and aims to give tribes a greater voice.