National Native News

After bison were nearly driven to extinction in the late 1800s, Native nations across North America have been working to restore them to their ancestral lands. A nonprofit on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation recently celebrated a milestone in its own bison reintroduction efforts. Delainey LaHood-Burns has more. Hundreds of people gathered in the Stronghold District of South Dakota’s Badlands to witness the release of 50 bison on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The vast space where the herd roams is leased from the Oglala Sioux Tribe by Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, the nonprofit working to restore bison to this culturally significant area. Brandon Big Eagle is the Lakota Land Systems Director for Thunder Valley. Big Eagle says this part of the Badlands, known as the Oonakijin, or Stronghold, was once used as a bombing range by the U.S. military. “So I like to share the history of this land too, as, as one that’s experienced its own trauma through bombings and target practices that happened out here. We can see a lot of that scarring traveling through here. And so what, you know, what better place can we start than here in that reintroduction?” Tens of millions of bison once roamed North America, but the systematic slaughter of the animals during the 19th century cut their numbers to fewer than a thousand. Over recent decades, federal agencies, conservation groups, and Native nations have worked to rebuild bison herds. The American Bison, also known as the American buffalo, is a keystone species. That means they have a major effect on the ecosystem where they live. Brandon Big Eagle says reintroducing bison to the Stronghold is part of a larger land restoration effort. One of the organizations partnering with Thunder Valley is the World Wildlife Fund, which has supported Native-led bison programs throughout the Northern Great Plains since the early 2000s. The organization’s Dennis Jorgensen says the fund has seen positive impacts in landscapes where its helped reintroduce bison. “When you bring the buffalo back, their unique ways of grazing on the land, their unique ways of wallowing, their unique behaviors bring back a number of native species. On one site, where we’ve only been working for about six years, already they’ve seen a doubling of the native plant species in that time.” Beyond grassland and ecological conservation, Brandon Big Eagle says the bison restoration initiative is also intended to strengthen the community’s connection with their relatives, the Pte Oyate or Buffalo Nation. “Historically, they play a huge significance within the Indigenous Plains tribes here in this area, and I’m sure many others. But for us, it’s part of our creation stories. So our people, we began in what is now Wind Cave and the first of our relatives, the Lakota people to emerge from Wind Cave, when they came out that’s the form that they took on was buffalo. And so when we reference them as relatives, we mean it, you know, they truly are relatives in every aspect.” Many of the people at the bison release were students from local schools. Beau LeBeaux is a founder and board chairman of Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation. “We want to get our our young people to understand that those are our relatives, and they’ll take care of us if we take care of them and reestablish that connection, not only, you know, to, you know, to survive, but there’s a lot of lessons that buffalo can teach us, have been trying to teach us. We just lost that for a bit because they were slaughtered, taken away from us. And I’m so thankful for organizations across the country that are fighting to return Buffalo to their lands.” Brandon Big Eagle says the bison release event was not only a powerful experience for the community members who witnessed it, but also an important moment for the animals themselves. “Also kind of trying to place myself in, you know, in their minds and what that means to them to be able to come back to something that their, their ancestors may have called home at one point, an area that they historically have not been able to return back to. And so […] honor that homecoming for them as well. You know, this day is as much of their day as it is ours.” The 50 bison that Thunder Valley released came from the Wolakota Buffalo Range on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south central South Dakota. It is home to the largest Native-owned bison herd in the world. The Thunder Valley team says it plans to reintroduce more bison to the Stronghold range unit in the future. A moonson sunset at Massai Point inside Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona. (Photo: Ron Stewart / National Park Service) A landscape in southeastern Arizona with deep ties to Apache history has become America’s newest national park. President Donald Trump signed legislation Tuesday designating Chiricahua National Monument as the nation’s 64th national park. The roughly 19-square-mile area is known for its towering volcanic rock formations and lies within the historical territory of the Chiricahua Apache. The area contains evidence of thousands of years of human activity. The legislation preserves tribal access for traditional ceremonies and allows temporary closures to protect cultural practices. The site was originally designated a national monument in 1924. Federal officials say the new designation will bring greater attention to the area’s natural landscape, Apache heritage and biodiversity. The legislation received bipartisan support in Congress. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, October 23, 2026 — 60 years of Alaska Native advocacy at AFN and assessing Typhoon Halong flooding a year later

More than 7,000 delegates are expected to attend the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention over the next three days. AFN President Ben Mallott says Dr. Rosita Worl will speak to the theme of this year’s gathering, “Rooted in Our Land: Rising in Our Voices”. “Her life has been amazing. Her knowledge and subsistence management policy education is a treasure for our state.” Mallott says Worl’s keynote address caps off a year of outreach to educate Alaska Natives about the legal challenges facing subsistence. “We are trying to become very proactive in subsistence, not reactive, so we aren’t fighting legal cases, trying to defend ourselves with petitions for rulemaking.” Mallott says Worl’s knowledge and leadership have guided AFN through many subsistence battles over the years. He hopes her keynote will set the tone as AFN works to develop a new state, federal, and tribal framework for subsistence management — to give communities more direct control over the fish and wildlife they depend upon. Subsistence is an issue which has long dominated AFN conventions, going back to its first gathering 60 years ago. About 250 Native leaders from across Alaska came to form a statewide organization on October 18, 1966 to fight for their traditional lands, which the new state of Alaska wanted to claim as its own. They met above a fur store on Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage. Many of those first attendees are gone. And those who remain, like Irene Rowan (Lingít), are now in their 80’s. “I would say, Happy Birthday AFN. Thank you for keeping us together as a people.” Today, AFN often feels like a giant reunion, bringing friends and family together, flying in from far corners of the state. But 60 years ago, delegates faced geographic barriers, came from unfamiliar cultures, and spoke different languages. Rowan says, after six decades of gathering every fall, it is easy to forget how challenging that first meeting was. “They looked different. They dressed different. They were just all very different. How are you going to get them to get together to say we want to work together for our land.” Rowan says there was considerable friction at that first meeting between different Native groups, unaccustomed to working together. She says if she had been asked in 1966, whether AFN would still be around sixty years later, she would have had her doubts. But today, she says she cannot imagine life without AFN. “I just love the spirit. I just love the relationship that one has with all the regions, not just their own. But how joyful, and how meaningful, and how comforting it is to be an Alaska Native.” Rowan is from Klukwan near Haines, Alaska. In 1966, she was fresh out of college and took her first teaching job at the high school in Bethel, where she was known for her white go-go boots and pink raincoat. She says one of the things she enjoys most at AFN today is seeing the delegates dressed in their traditional regalia. She says that did not happen much in the early days of the conference, but over the years, AFN has helped to plant the seeds for today’s cultural renaissance. Watch live convention coverage Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, October 22, 2026 — Subsistence fishing a top issue at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention

Two major gatherings of Alaska Native people are taking place in Anchorage’s Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center this week: the Elders & Youth Conference and the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention. The Alaska Desk’s Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA has this story. This year marks the 60th anniversary of AFN. “It was born out of this tremendous movement for Native unity and representation and self determination.” Roy Agloinga (Iñupiaq) is the president of First Alaskans Institute. He says the event has been a touchpoint for most Alaska Native leaders over the years. “It has evolved into this tremendous celebration. It’s Native New Year. It is where all of our artists gather, and our families gather, and we get to experience the very diverse cultures across the state.” The week started with EYC, which brings together several generations through games, conversations, and workshops on Alaska Native cultures, history, and language. Tikaan Galbreath is the Chief Operating Officer of the First Alaskans Institute, which hosts EYC. “It’s just such a powerful thing to witness the youth coming with this idea or a dissatisfaction, like this isn’t working for me in the community, and then learning the framework to really have their voice heard.” The AFN convention starts on Thursday. Organizers say typically up to 7,000 people attend the event and as many as 100,000 people watch it online. This year’s keynote speaker is Tlingit leader and President of the Sealaska Heritage Institute Rosita Worl. Her Thursday speech will be followed by remarks from U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich. On Friday, there will be a political candidates forum for the upcoming November election. And on Saturday, delegates will discuss and vote on a number of resolutions that touch on healthcare, public safety, education, and subsistence in Alaska Native communities. Agloinga says working on resolutions is one example of how people from different regions and with different priorities find common ground. “We want our children to succeed. We want to protect our lands. We want to have access to good education. We want our languages to survive and our cultures to survive. So many of our villages are really dependent on our subsistence lifestyle, and that’s something that AFN protects.” This year’s convention was scheduled a week later than usual to coincide with the early voting period for the general election. Organizers say they plan to encourage attendees to cast their ballots while they are visiting Anchorage for the convention. AFN will also feature two nights of dancing and drumming at Quyana Alaska on Thursday and Friday. EYC started Sunday and runs until today. The AFN Convention starts tomorrow and concludes Saturday. This drawing by J. Howland, originally printed in Harper’s Weekly, depicts the council between representatives of the U.S. government and the Kiowa and Comanche tribes at Medicine Creek Lodge, Kansas, in 1867. And on this day in 1867, leaders of the Kiowa and Comanche Nations signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty with the United States in Kansas. The agreement sought to end conflicts on the Southern Plains, but required tribes to surrender vast ancestral lands and relocate to reservations in Indian Territory. Although the federal government promised food, supplies, and other assistance, disagreements over treaty terms and continued westward expansion led to further conflict in the years that followed. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, October 21, 2026 — Alaska Native advocates cite shortcomings in addressing MMIP crisis

Photo: Volunteers remove weeds and debris from the Seven Generations Children’s Teaching Garden at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center on September 10, 2026. (Brian Bull) Volunteers come to Seattle’s Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center throughout the year to tend to plants that are traditionally important to Native people. Brian Bull (Nez Perce) of Underscore Native News and KLCC reports. It is a balmy afternoon as a small group of volunteers follow Shameka Gagnier (Purépecha) down to a shed full of gardening equipment. Plants, including tule, camas, huckleberries, and cedar, are found here, which have been either First Foods or materials for making traditional baskets, mats, and other items. Gagnier is the land cultural steward manager for Daybreak Star. She says between two to 70 volunteers usually arrive, ready to connect with a vital part of Native culture. “The plants are really the ones that are going to net us back to our place in the circle of things, and they’re the ones that are going to bring us back home. And so as we bring them back to their usual and accustomed territories, we understand our roles and that restoration is reciprocal, and something happens in our spirits and transforms us.” Groundbreaking for the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center was 50 years ago, after a successful occupation by Native activists who had form the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. Facilities director Tony Monroe (Yakama) says, back then, this area was a federal military installation. “This whole area was previously Fort Lawton, and this was clear cut, so there were no trees here 55 years ago, and so most all of these have been less than that time frame. especially in our forest garden area. Started out with the Bernie Whitebear Garden that has some native plants, and then it’s spread out to the whole 20 acres, and then now we have another area that’s called Wolf Tree Trail that Shameka is now taking care of and tending.” Gagnier’s volunteers today include Beck Luke (Tlingit), who grew up in Seattle. She is on a six-week internship with the center. “We’re just mostly helping restore the land, learning about food sovereignty and everything. It’s been really nice to reconnect with my culture and just seeing all the beautiful things. It’s been really special to be able to do that.” Another volunteer, Zachary Pacleb, is skimming away a thick layer of duckweed from one of the ponds where at least one beaver is believed to inhabit. “By the looks of it, I assume that it’s a little bit invasive or inhibitive of the beaver’s work or to the water quality. I can imagine that this plant requires –or is taking a lot of oxygen– from the water.” The cultural garden tending happens year-round, with food and tools provided. Volunteers are advised to arrive with gloves, water, and a “good heart and mind.” Screenshot from drone footage taken above the Pueblo of Zuni after flooding. (Courtesy Rochelle Malie) A new report shows that natural disasters caused more than $4 billion in damages to tribal communities across the nation over a ten-year period, but there is a shortfall in economic support from the federal government to address these impacts. KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. The report by the Urban Institute found Indigenous communities are more exposed to hazards like hurricanes, wildfires, and flooding, and also face more systemic challenges. So disasters have a greater impact. The research was funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration and explores how tribes are currently handling natural disasters and what current federal resources are available. Between 2014 and 2024, more than half of all Indigenous communities experienced two or more disasters within a two-year span. These back-to-back disasters make it difficult for communities to respond and recover efficiently. “It could be another hurricane. It could be a wildfire. So when there are those kind of compounding or back-to-back disasters, it makes it really hard for any community, but especially for communities that have you know challenges around housing stock maintenance or challenges around lots of lower income households, it makes it really really hard to recover.” Urban Institute research associate Will Curran-Groome says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has a program called Building Resilient Infrastructure just for tribal applicants, but losses often exceed FEMA funds, or tribes do not know how to access the resources available. “So I think would really encourage tribes, if they haven’t already, to really assess the landscape and to start building some of those initial relationships with contacts of federal agencies.” He says this is just one piece of a broader project. The Institute hopes to build a community of practice with tribes facing these issues. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, October 20, 2026 — Alaska Native leadership and land rights advocacy through the generations

The 43rd annual Statewide Elders and Youth Conference got underway Sunday at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. Hosted by First Alaskans Institute, the gathering brings together Alaska Native Elders, youth, and community leaders to celebrate Indigenous cultures, strengthen relationships, and discuss challenges facing their communities. This year’s theme comes from the Denaakk’e, or Koyukon Athabascan, language and translates to “We are approaching change.” According to First Alaskans Institute, the theme reflects how Alaska Native communities are adapting to changing landscapes, including shifts in weather, waterways, traditional foods, and ways of life. The afternoon opening ceremony starts with a traditional Warming of the Hands, followed by an opening prayer and several Alaska Native dance group performances. The first day also includes auditions for Natives Got Talent, ahead of Monday evening’s talent showcase. Organizers say the conference provides an opportunity for Elders to pass down traditional knowledge while giving younger generations a voice in decisions affecting their futures. Monday’s agenda includes a keynote address from Koyukon Athabascan leader Emil Notti, the first president of the Alaska Federation of Natives. Participants will also take part in a Koyukon language panel, regional breakout discussions and a panel focused on co-management. The opening day also features a screening of the documentary, “Niqipiaq: To Eat Real Food“. “Niqipiaq: To Eat Real Food” director Alexis “Alex” Anoruk Sallee (Iñupiaq). Directed by Alaska Native filmmaker Alexis Anoruk Sallee, the 26-minute film explores the importance of traditional subsistence practices in Arctic Alaska Native communities. It follows families and hunters as they harvest, prepare, and share traditional foods, while examining the challenges posed by climate change and changing diets. The film highlights how subsistence connects Alaska Native communities to their cultural identities, health, and future generations. The conference includes workshops and cultural activities throughout the week, providing opportunities for participants to share skills, stories and Indigenous knowledge. First Alaskans Institute says the gathering is about more than preserving traditions. It is also about preparing Alaska Native communities to navigate the changes ahead. The conference continues through Wednesday, ahead of the AFN Convention in Anchorage. Candidates for Navajo Nation president and vice president met for a debate at Arizona State University on Tue, Oct 13. Candidates for Navajo Nation president and vice president squared off last week in the final debate before the election. KNAU’s Chris Clements has more. The debate focused on opposition to AI data centers and uranium mining, allegations of corruption within the tribe’s government, and the resolution of the tribe’s water rights claims. Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley is running for president and said, if elected, she would continue her work to bring water to the Navajo Nation. “I will continue to challenge Congress, and I will continue to work with the Water Rights Commission and also our communities because it is long overdue.” Attorney Justin Jones is running against Curley. If elected, he said he would support lobbying state governments to approve a federal deal that would resolve the Navajo Nation’s water claims. “We need to do some serious lobbying, not only in Washington but also in the Upper and Lower Colorado compacts and commissions.” The federal deal stalled earlier this year after neighboring states blocked it. Kona Island Sheriff Richard Neville was killed during the Kaʻona Uprising on this date in 1868. And on this day in 1868, a violent confrontation erupted in Kona, Hawaiʻi, between followers of Native Hawaiian religious leader Kaʻona and authorities attempting to evict them from their settlement. The clash left Sheriff Richard Neville dead and led to a government crackdown on the religious movement. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, October 19, 2026 — Native in the Spotlight: Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly