Native America
Volunteers deliver firewood before the snow hits
GALLUP – Navajo elders who are in need of wood to heat their homes stay warm as it gets colder turn to the mutual aid effort Chizh for Cheii. Loren Anthony founded the group 10 years ago, and the work continues to be a vital resource. Chizh for Cheii has become a staple on Navajo. […]
State’s AG to propose a bill consolidating MMIWR investigations
When a person goes missing or is murdered in a tribal community, multiple policy agencies take part in the investigation. The state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force is just one entity that has spoken through recent years about how this can stall justice for families seeking answers. Now, task force members […]
With Rittenhouse acquittal, activists hear echo close to home
Activist Lisa Christopherson said that the day news first broke of a fatal shooting in Kenosha, Wisc., she couldn’t help but see the similarities. Since then, she’s followed the arrest, trial and, as of Friday, acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse as a potential template for what might happen here in the case of Steven Ray Baca. […]
Senate confirms first tribal member in history to lead National Park Service
The U.S. Senate approved by voice vote late Thursday the nomination of Charles F. Sams III as the first confirmed National Park Service director since 2017. Sams, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton, Ore., will be the first tribal member to lead the Park Service in the […]
ABQ officials to begin radar work and plan for a memorial at boarding school gravesite
Listen to the KUNM show Let’s Talk New Mexico hosted by Source NM reporter Shaun Griswold Changes could be coming to 4-H Park in the area that was used to bury students and staff from the Albuquerque Indian School. Another memorial will be placed in the area of the park where the gravesite is […]
What should be done with the Albuquerque boarding school grave site?
The boarding school era was a dark time in U.S. history, and the Albuquerque Indian School was the second-largest school of its kind in the country. So much of the history is left untold. People who survived the worst era of students being abused for speaking traditional language are no longer alive. But the effects […]
Billions coming to help tribes access clean water
The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden yesterday will include full funding for efforts to provide clean water to tribal nations. Over the next five years $3.5 billion will head to the Indian Health Services water and sanitation construction program to pay for tribal clean water projects. On top of that, the […]
ABQ City Council struggles over Environmental Planning Commission appointment
The Albuquerque City Council will consider a historic appointment to the city government’s Environmental Planning Commission next month. But the person up for the job is opposed by some councilors, who are questioning her qualifications. If appointed, Jana Pfeiffer (Diné) would be the first woman and the first Native person to ever serve on the […]
Indigenous traditional knowledge to be included in US efforts against climate change for first time
For the first time in history, a presidential administration has committed to incorporating traditional Indigenous knowledge into the scientific, technical, social and economic advancement of the United States. President Joe Biden pledged on Monday during the opening of the White House Tribal Nations Summit to be the first president to work with the tribes to […]
Indigenous leaders in New Mexico celebrate federal efforts to protect Chaco
The Biden administration’s announcement to begin the process that could impose mineral extraction protections around Chaco Culture National Historical Park was celebrated by Indigenous leaders in New Mexico on Monday, Nov. 15. “Pueblo leadership is charged to protect our language, songs and lifeways so that we may maintain our sacred trust and instill the gifts […]
Biden signs executive order to address violence against Indigenous people
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Monday addressing violence against Indigenous communities. “These efforts are a matter of dignity,” Biden said during the opening ceremony for the White House Tribal Nations Summit. “That’s the foundation of our nation-to-nation partnership.” The executive order directs the departments of Justice, Interior, Homeland Security, and Health and […]
Biden looks to blocks energy leases in New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon as tribal nations summit meets
President Joe Biden on Monday said the administration will move to prevent oil and gas development for two decades near Chaco Canyon, an area in northwestern New Mexico that’s culturally significant to the area’s Native American communities and important for biodiversity. The plan was formally announced during the White House Tribal Nations Summit, the first […]