Indigenous identity fraud intensified in the 20th century on California’s Central Coast — original homelands of the Chumash — motivated by a desire for attention, a need for cultural identity and the appetite for material gain. By @dinagw.bsky.social & Allison Herrera; Illustrations: Ryan Redcorn

Calling all IJA members! We are in search of four board candidates for our upcoming elections. Deadline to submit your declaration is May 25, 2026.

Over a year into the second Trump administration, Indigenous communities have seen dramatic changes, from reducing $1.5 billion in climate funding for tribal initiatives to removing tribal flags from Veterans Affairs hospitals. Read what Indigenous leaders had to say. By our entire IA team.

"The public comment period concludes on April 7, meaning it occurs during the Easter, Passover and several traditional holidays for Pueblos." From @sourcenm.com

State Rep. Myron Tsosie said the Chinle High School basketball team was subjected to racial taunts from fans of Coolidge's team.

📣 Now hiring: Program Manager! Join IJA to support Indigenous journalists & media workers. Full-time, remote, Apply https://tinyurl.com/3c4z99jx #jobs

“Pretendian hunting” is a phenomenon of toxic, online call-out culture. But the problem of false identity claims is real, and Native researcher Dina Gilio-Whitaker says it’s time for us to find a rational approach that’s informed by history. buff.ly/4fL0r6h

Tribal sovereignty and prosperity are tied to gaming’s sovereign source of income.

We are elated to welcome Melissa to our Indigenous Journalists Association board of directors. She brings a wealth of experience to our organization and has already hit the ground running as our education committee chair.

Amy Bowers Cordalis’ new book, The Water Remembers, weaves together memoir, historical narrative nonfiction, legal battles and family to tell the story of the largest dam removal project in history. buff.ly/Ev5kjMH

Rural Californians living without power. Coho salmon finding new life. Indigenous youth finding joy in heavy metal. The November issue of High Country News captures a West in flux — and in motion. buff.ly/HYteQGv

Retired principal ballet dancer Jock Soto (Puerto Rican/Diné) shares his story and how the world can now learn about his time in the New York City ballet through a newly launched digital archive. By @shaun505.bsky.social for our Indigenous Affairs desk at HCN.

Our Indigenous Affairs fellow @chadebradley.bsky.social chatted with higher education Indigenous leaders to discuss how they've been supporting their students and colleagues during turbulent times. Read what they had to say in the latest piece from our IA desk.

I sat down with @willvh.bsky.social and @theopennotebook.bsky.social to discuss points for reporters to keep in mind when covering communities that are not their own, specifically Indigenous communities. Grateful to share the pages w/ @mariaparazorose.bsky.social who brings up some important points.

Tomorrow:

High Country News & the @indigenousja.bsky.social join forces next week to host a free webinar for Indigenous photojournalists interested in collaborating with HCN and to learn about freelancing in general. Join us at 11 a.m. MT, Sept. 23. Register here: indigenousjournalists.org/2025/09/call...

Currently, 42 Western radio stations are considered vulnerable because over 30% of their annual funding is federal. Twenty of those stations serve Indigenous communities in the rural reaches of reservations and Alaska Native villages. (From @highcountrynews.org)

The growth of Indigenous language through radio is at risk, along with the rest of public media, but cultural reclamation at large will persevere.

"Indigenous radio and media help Indigenous communities engage and grow in their understanding of their language and show them how they can better connect with their culture." By @chadebradley.bsky.social, from HCN's Indigenous Affairs desk.

"For Diné people, sheep are a blessing with responsibilities that link us to the Diyin Dine’é (Holy People). But to the U.S. government, they were an ecological proxy to 'The Navajo Problem.'" By Christine Ami.

Wampanoag writer @josephvlee.bsky.social discusses his newly released book in a Q&A with @shaun505.bsky.social. Lee's book, Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity, is out today.

Łingít, Haida and Híɫzaqv people have gathered haaw da.aa and kelp to share, trade and gift. Now, grey whales have joined the harvest. Their presence brings a new pressure — one that both humans/non-humans are learning to navigate. Writes @amyromer.bsky.social, in collab w/ @indiginews.bsky.social

No matter the distance, helping one’s Indigenous community during a disaster is possible. buff.ly/AqLVoHO

As the Oak Ridge Fire on the Navajo Nation continues, those who live away from the reservation might feel a sense of urgency to help. Here is a little something for those who live away from home and are feeling a sense of guilt or helplessness. You are not alone.

As of July 1, the Oak Ridge Fire on the Navajo Nation in Arizona burns nearly 10,000 acres as hundreds are forced to evacuate. Earlier this year, we wrote about how tribal wildfire programs in the West are underfunded and overburdened. www.hcn.org/issues/57-5/...

Protests over the sell off of public lands were hard loud and bipartisan at a gathering of the Western Governors’ Association

The tribe’s mobile clinic serves its members and drives to the Lovelock Paiute and Yomba Shoshone reservations, covering a territory of about 200 miles. It can treat any member of a tribe in Nevada. They serve about 2,000 patients, averaging about 20 patients each month. Shared by KUNR Public Radio

"Hopi have our own word for wolves, Kwewu. Much like wolves, we have now been confined to a remnant of our original lands, fenced in with arbitrary lines that do not represent our deep history, knowledge and kinship to the land." By Clark Tenakhongva www.hcn.org/articles/whe...

Defunding public media would hurt stations across the U.S. The data show that stations serving rural and Indigenous audiences in the West would be the hardest hit. Here’s why, by the numbers. By @annierosenthal.bsky.social & @chadebradley.bsky.social

“To be able to wear our regalia, especially during graduation ceremony, which is so many years of hard work being put into a single five-second walk across the stage — it’s so important." By @shaun505.bsky.social & Bella Davis, in partnership w/ @nmindepth.bsky.social

"Heartney’s pro-Trump statement felt abrupt and out of place to attendees. It echoed messaging from right-wing think tanks, which use economic development, job creation and even so-called protection as Trojan horses for resource extraction." By @btoastie.bsky.social

"Tribal wildfire fighters are stretched to their limits... Long-term federal land mismanagement and climate change have caused the number and intensity of reservation fires to soar. About 7% of the 4 million acres of tribal lands in the country burned between 2010 and 2020." By Lachlan Hyatt

Big news! For the fourth year in a row, High Country News is teaming up with Indigenous-led and allied newsrooms to cover the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) — the largest global gathering of Indigenous leaders and advocates. buff.ly/Rb7xMEd

📣 Starting now, @HighCountryNews will provide free digital access to all of our reporting to any federal employee, including those who have recently lost jobs due to government layoffs. 📣

The U.S. Forest Service announced Monday that it will temporarily prohibit commercial picking of huckleberries this summer in Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwestern Washington. ✏️ @jwoolington.bsky.social

Alaska Native youth are living through a pivotal time, bearing witness to the dramatic impacts of climate change that have occurred during their lifetimes: rapidly melting permafrost, warming oceans and declining salmon runs. Meet four of them below. By Lyndsey Brollini & Meghan Sullivan

How Trump’s funding freeze for Indigenous food programs may violate treaty law. According to Indigenous legal experts, the freeze erodes the little trust Indian country has in the federal government. grist.org/indigenous/h... #Food #Indigenous #Trump #DOGE #Tribes

"One of the things that’s really shocked me is how often our government institutions ignore the law when it comes to tribes and how hard tribes have to fight for just the law to be followed. Those weaknesses in our democracy have been there for a long time." By IA Associate Editor Anna V. Smith

“Congressman Grijalva’s voice was one of strength, compassion and integrity — qualities that defined his life’s work and his deep connection to the communities he served.” By @chadebradley.bsky.social

“Secretary Burgum has to decide if he will be a force for chaos or consistency on America’s public lands. When Donald Trump invariably orders him to illegally revoke existing permits for renewable energy, will he have the spine to tell the president ‘no’?“ By @chadebradley.bsky.social

Guided by the teachings of his late grandfather and former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Charles “Chuck” Sams III became the first-ever Indigenous director of the National Park Service. It was through storytelling and education that he helmed the Parks. From our IA desk, by @btoastie.bsky.social

Our Indigenous Affairs desk is thrilled to welcome our new Indigenous affairs fellow Chad Bradley! Welcome, @chadebradley.bsky.social! And a warm welcome to HCN's new climate and science fellow @goesbykim.bsky.social and Virginia Spencer Davis fellow @annierosenthal.bsky.social. 💜

“We do not need more apologies or statements. We need meaningful, direct action – legislative and community-led, before the Trump administration begins eviscerating the work we have done.” By Clark Tenakhongva, former Hopi vice chairman/land protection campaigns consultant with WildEarth Guardians.

The tribal roads that will soon see 10 trucks hauling uranium every day have up to 700% higher risk of deadly accidents via @diinsilversmith.bsky.social

Nearly 2 million acres of Indigenous lands are reserved for state prison systems in 10 states. In 2024, those lands disbursed an estimated $33m in funding to carceral facilities & programs. Four states use those lands to fund detention facilities and systems for children. grist.org/indigenous/p...

“Keyanna and other Diné citizens have been living with the consequences of uranium mining near the Red Water Pond Road community since the 1960s. But now, uranium waste rock that has sat for decades at a Superfund site will finally be moved to a landfill off tribal land.” By Natalia Mesa

“Whether we’re in the United States, whether we’re in Guatemala, (or) we’re crossing borders, we have the right to exist as an Indigenous person, and all the rights that stem from that.” The latest from our Indigenous Affairs Desk Associate Editor Anna V. Smith. www.hcn.org/articles/thi...

“We want you to know that we’re not just the uniform that we have, which is the inmate firefighting uniform. It’s a big impact on fighting these fires, because we do what most people don’t want to physically do.” www.hcn.org/articles/wha...

“It was true that we lacked the technical knowledge or museum expertise. But we did have a lifetime of Arapaho knowledge to draw on.” HCN’s Indigenous Affairs desk kicks off the new year with this insightful piece, an essay by Northern Arapaho writer Jordan Dresser. www.hcn.org/issues/57-1/...

Washington state is eager to return trust lands on the Yakama reservation to the tribe. However, the state’s efforts are dictated by legal policies and priorities that ensure that Washington receive compensation for the lands’ value, even though it was wrongfully taken. grist.org/indigenous/s...