Every Tuesday through July 21, “First Stories of the Salish Sea,” created by Taproot Travel Co. and the FRS Clipper, are offering a whale watching tour of Elliot Bay that highlights Coast Salish culture, both present and historic. ✍️: @nikabartoosmith.bsky.social, UNN + ICT

Earlier this month, the University of Washington School of Medicine Student Education Program announced the largest scholarship gift the school has received. ✍️ : @nikabartoosmith.bsky.social UNN + ICT

In one of the most competitive Indian Relay Races of the year, the Muckleshoot Gold Cup, where 21 teams competed for an overall $85,000. Take a look at some of the people that made this space one some look forward to year-round. ✍️ : Mackenzie Olivo, UNN www.underscore.news/culture/spor...

An incarcerated elder at the Cedar Creek Corrections Center, Albert Smith, leads a groundbreaking totem pole carving program aimed at healing through traditional practices.

Underscore receives five awards from the Society of Professional Journalists' 2025 Northwest Excellence in Journalism Awards.

A totem pole now stands outside the Cedar Creek Corrections Center, carved by Albert ‘Al’ Smith, Suquamish, Shoshonne-Bannock and Pima Nation, who helped start the carving program at Cedar Creek. Smith has been incarcerated at the facility since 2024. ✍️: @nikabartoosmith.bsky.social

Summer Wildbill is in the process of helping to develop a financial literacy app called NativeCents that she hopes will help youth in her community learn how to manage their own money and approach it with a “security and growth” mindset. www.underscore.news/people-profi...

For many Native nations, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program was meant to open the door to homeownership—not just rental housing. But years after eligibility, hundreds of homes remain untransferred. www.underscore.news/justice/buil...

300+ Native homes eligible for ownership weren't transferred under state-run federal housing program, legislators say. A bipartisan fix was introduced, but didn't advance after confusion and “misleading” information from the Washington Housing Finance Commission. www.underscore.news/justice/a-wa...

In honor of Manuel Bayya, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians who went missing four years ago, family and community members are holding a rally and March in Eugene, Oregon on March 27. www.underscore.news/justice/mmir...

It begins! Long awaited first episode of @mediaindigena.bsky.social introducing Beyond Fires & Floods: Indigenous Narratives in an Era of Extremes, a series of amazing panels @rickharp.bsky.social and I organized at UBC podfollow.com/mediaindigen...

On March 9, the Washington State Senate passed a bipartisan resolution formally recognizing the Chinook Indian Nation’s contributions along the Lower Columbia River. www.underscore.news/justice/legi...

The legacy of Billy Frank Jr. is strong in tribal communities throughout the Pacific Northwest and Indian country as a whole. An integral part in the historic Boldt case, Frank Jr. is a local hero, and each year the community comes together to celebrate. www.underscore.news/justice/educ...

The Idaho Council on Indian Affairs voted Wednesday to draft a letter urging state budget writers to protect Medicaid, including Medicaid expansion and more. Tribal leaders noted the federal government covers 100% of Medicaid costs for tribal members. www.underscore.news/justice/heal...

Regulators approved the $2B Goldendale Energy Storage Project, a pumped-storage facility above the Columbia River. The Yakama Nation says the project would damage a site used for ceremonies, fishing and root gathering since time immemorial. www.underscore.news/justice/feds...

In January 2025, former National Park Service Director Chuck Sams stepped down and returned home to Oregon. He left as the agency’s first Native American director, and as 1,000 NPS employees were losing their jobs. www.underscore.news/land/former-...

Never in a million years did I ever fathom when I resurrected the Epstein story in 2018 that it would lead to first arrest of a British Royal in four centuries. Not since King Charles I was arrested in 1647. open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

In the face of escalating immigration enforcement interactions, some Native people have asked what this means for Native descendants, and some tribal ID pop-ups are also offering descendancy letters. www.underscore.news/justice/trib...

Survivors described years of sexual violence, manipulation, and surveillance carried out by a man who posed as an Indigenous activist to gain access to Native communities. While his sentence brings relief, many say justice came far too late. www.underscore.news/justice/redw...

As American politics grows more unpredictable, NCAI President Mark Macarro says tribes must remember their power. “We are sovereign tribal nations, and we will never back down,” he said during the 2026 State of Indian Nations address. www.underscore.news/justice/ncai...

BREAKING NEWS: On February 3, 2026, the City of Portland announced that Gerald D. Skelton Jr., a citizen of the Klamath Tribes, has stepped in as the new tribal government relations manager. www.underscore.news/justice/city...

The Trump administration slashes the federal Office on Violence Against Women, consolidating the once-independent office and proposing budget cuts. ✍️: Mary Annette Pember, ICT 📷: Jarrette Werk, UNN www.underscore.news/justice/trum...

The Heads & Hearts: Seeing the Landscape through Nez Perce Eyes exhibit at The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry uses Indigenous oral histories to provide insights into what it was like to live during ancient geological events in the Pacific Northwest. www.underscore.news/culture/geol...

From food banks to film festivals, Tracy Rector has turned community care, motherhood, and activism into a filmmaking legacy that’s changing who gets to tell their own stories. Her work has uplifted hundreds of Indigenous films, and she’s just getting started. www.underscore.news/culture/brid...

After more than 80 years, the Bateman Island causeway is coming down. Deconstruction began Jan. 5 as part of a major effort to restore the Yakima River Delta. Here’s what the project means for salmon, water flow and the future of the river. www.underscore.news/land/bateman...

What happens if ICE comes to your home, workplace, or community space? Tribal leaders and Native legal advocates are sharing critical information on rights, identification, and detention, especially for Indigenous people. www.underscore.news/justice/what... #ICE #ICT #IndianCountryToday

@lunabreyna.bsky.social latest piece continues ICT’s ongoing series on the complicated issues of Indigenous identity. #TwoSpirit #LGBTQIA2S #2SLGBTQ #Indigiqueer #identity

Donate $10 or more to Underscore Native News on the Give!Guide website, today only, and be entered to win 3 great prize packages! giveguide.org/nonprofits/u... #GivingTuesday

All of us here at Underscore want to thank you for supporting Indigenous-centered journalism! This Giving Tuesday, we hope you consider donating to us, and thanks to Newsmatch, every donation right now will be matched dollar for dollar! Thank you for being a part of our community. ❤️

“We wanted people to feel held and celebrated,” said Valerie Segrest, Muckleshoot, CEO for Tahoma Peak Solutions. According to Segrest this food expo had been multiple years in the making. 🔗: www.underscore.news/land/food-so...  ✍️: Lyric Aquino, Underscore Native News + Report for America

In the Seattle Culinary Academy’s kitchen on October 2, Native cuisine made up the entire menu, for Native Grown and Gathered: Ancestral Table and Slow Food Feast. 🔗 : www.underscore.news/culture/indi... ✍️ : Lyric Aquino, Underscore Native News + Report for America

NOAA Fisheries spokesman Michael Milstein, who is based in Portland and has been supporting this permitting process for years, said after he was only able to provide a short emailed statement from the agency. ✍️ : Luna Reyna, Underscore Native News + ICT and Bellamy Pailthorp, KNKX

The newly elected National Congress of American Indians executive committee was sworn in during the annual conference held in Seattle, Washington from November 16-21, 2025. The executive committee will serve a two-year term from 2025-2027. ✍️: @lunabreyna.bsky.social, UNN + ICT #NCAI2025

The updated policies, released in July, are intended to improve a program that has left hundreds of eligible homes from completing the transfer process to Native ownership. 🔗 : www.underscore.news/justice/two-... ✍️ : Luna Reyna, Underscore Native News + ICT 🎨 : Kyra Antone, Underscore Native News

Underscore Native News is excited to announce our partnership with Willamette Week’s Give!Guide. If you donate $10 or more to us on the Give!Guide website during a Big Give Day, you can be entered to win one of these amazing gifts! Donate: giveguide.org/nonprofits/u... #Giveguide

AI will have all types of effects on skilled work, some bad some perhaps good, but everyone who cares about climate disruption needs to explicitly confront that ramping data centers *in the current economic model* (with the current people in charge) will only accelerate greenhouse gas emissions.

Palestinians in Gaza, including journalists, are being deliberately starved by Israel. “It’s a crisis of global accountability," CPJ's MENA Regional Director Sara Qudah told the @columjournreview.bsky.social.

Do you have experience managing project-restricted grants, planning community-centered events, and leading media initiatives that prompt narrative change? You might be our next program director 👇 airtable.com/appEohyj0xmz...

Emily Pike’s brutal murder has been used to rally support for legislation creating a new alert system for missing people. But as it’s written, the proposed law — now named in the San Carlos Apache teen’s honor — wouldn’t help in missing cases like hers because of its age criteria.

📣 @indigenousja.bsky.social continues to advocate for Indigenous journalists’ rights by addressing UNPFII members and participating in partnered side events! Read more: tinyurl.com/4969kefv

🎓 Applications Now Open: Pacific Islander Journalism Scholarship! @indigenousja.bsky.social & @aajaofficial.bsky.social are now accepting applications for the 2025 Pacific Islander Journalism Scholarship! 📅 Deadline: May 31 💰 Award: Up to two $5,000 scholarships Apply now - tinyurl.com/25k4x2c2

🚨 @indigenousja.bsky.social condemns the United Keetoowah Band’s (UKB) officials for targeting and censoring the Giduwa Cherokee News & asks United Keetoowah Band members to support an independent press free of government influence & censorship. Full statement here: tinyurl.com/4w63dxhs

📢 We're Hiring! 📢 @indigenousja.bsky.social is seeking a Fund Development Director to lead our fundraising and stakeholder engagement efforts. This is a key role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the world’s first Indigenous journalism association. Apply now! - tinyurl.com/fuhw5pdx

Coming up in the #GrowingIndigenousStorytellersFellowship training: 'Story Structure & Editing' ft Tristan Ahtone! Join us April 8 at 1pm CT/2pm ET to learn about story structure and how editing can help craft your story from @tahtone.bsky.social Register here: tinyurl.com/486wenc5

The Minnie Two Shoes Award celebrates the work of tribal media professionals who keep our communities engaged and informed. 🔹 Open to IJA members 🔹 No entry fee The award comes with a cash prize of $1000 with support from the International Women’s Media Foundation.

“This crime must not go unsolved. Emily was murdered in a cruel, depraved and heinous act and the perpetrator(s) must be held accountable.” via @diinsilversmith.bsky.social

Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violence and death at the hands of law enforcement. On Feb. 20, Allan Dale Warner Jr., 26, was shot and killed by police responding to reports of a fight in Madras, Oregon. ✍️: @nikabartoosmith for UNN+ICT

Emily Pike's death sparks calls for justice as community places hundreds of red handprints in memorial via @diinsilversmith.bsky.social

One of the greatest achievements in my journalism career was profiling five Navajo Code Talkers in 2019. Now, only two remain. When one of these last living Navajo Code Talkers states that their contributions have nothing to do with DEI, people need to listen. azmirror.com/2025/03/19/m...

Co-published with @gristnews.bsky.social: @ahofschneider.bsky.social & Jake Bittle's excellent in-depth 5-part series, 'How the Klamath Dams Came Down,' with illustrations by Jackie Fawn.