National Native News

Daily, five-minute newscast featuring the latest headlines and breaking news from Native and Indigenous communities anchored by Antonia Gonzales (Navajo) with reporters and storytellers from around the globe.

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  National Native News

  Wednesday, August 19, 2026

  Aug 19, 20265 min

  Photo: Cars destroyed in the Mukluk Fire on August 18, 2026. (Courtesy Pyotr Dobrotvorsky) Residents of the eastern Interior community of Tok, Alaska are being ordered to evacuate their homes after a wildfire broke out Monday morning. What officials are calling the Mukluk Fire was reported shortly before noon in the backyard of a residence on the Alaska Highway, near milepost 1316, as the Alaska Desk’s Shelby Herbert from KUAC reports. As of Monday evening, it had grown to over 1,500 acres and was spreading to the east and northeast. Sam Harrel, a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection said hot, dry, and windy weather has made the situation dangerous. He said in a brief phone interview that state troopers and firefighters are going door-to-door in the area north of the Alaska Highway asking people to leave. Level 3 ‘Go’ evacuations — urging residents to leave immediately — were underway from Sundog Trail to Midnight Sun Drive. Residents in that area were being asked to evacuate to the local Mushers Hall and the Tok School. Pets are being accepted in both locations. Officials have also cautioned people in the area to avoid downed power lines. Harrell also said a helicopter initial attack team from Fairbanks has been dispatched to the fire, as well as fire engines from as far away as Mat-Su and Kenai. He was not able to confirm, if — or how many — structures have burned. Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) issued a disaster declaration Tuesday, activating the state’s public and individual assistance program. Fur seals on St. Paul Island, Alaska. (Photo: Allen Shimada / NOAA NMFS/OST/AMD) Dogs have long been banned on the Pribilof Islands in Alaska, under a rule imposed by the federal government to protect the world’s largest concentration of northern fur seals, but that is set to change. The Alaska Beacon reports that under a new interim rule enacted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), dogs may be brought to the islands, but only for the specific purpose of hunting for rats. Dogs allowed on St. Paul Island or any other part of the archipelago must be trained and certified to detect and catch rats, and their stays are limited to 180 days. The Pribilofs have managed to stay rat-free, even as other Alaska islands and coastal areas have become infested with rodents. The new NOAA rule is intended to keep it that way. Rats are not native to any part of Alaska, but have been introduced by ships over time. They have infested several coastal regions and become one of the most destructive invasive species in the state. There have been instances of rat sighting on St. Paul over the years, but most were caught immediately in traps set up at the harbor. One rat escaped that gauntlet in 2018 and was found dead 10 months later. The new rule went into effect on August 6. Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. (Photo: Bob Wick / Bureau of Land Management) Mining companies are setting their sights on two national monuments in Utah. KNAU’s Chris Clements reports the monuments were slashed by President Donald Trump last month, opening them up to new mining claims. Seven mining claims were filed in Bears Ears National Monument a day after President Trump announced the cuts, with two filed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument less than a month after that. Autumn Gillard is a member of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. “It’s just very unfortunate that our public lands and Native American ancestral homelands are being put up so quickly on the chopping block.” She worries if the claims one day become mines, they will hurt a unique landscape that is home to thousands of cultural sites, but Brian Somers of the Utah Mining Association says he is confident any mining would be responsible. “We can develop our minerals in a way that respects the environment.” And, he says, mining the monuments for minerals like uranium could help reduce dependence on foreign adversaries. It is unclear if the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will approve the claims, since Trump’s executive orders only allow them after September 11.     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, August 19, 2026 — Native American groups have limited success fighting border wall construction

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  National Native News

  Tuesday, August 18, 2026

  Aug 18, 20265 min

  Photo: Bill Hill (Athabascan), Independent candidate for Alaska’s at-large congressional district. (Courtesy Bill Hill campaign) Tuesday is primary day in Wyoming, Florida, and Alaska, which uses ranked-choice voting (RCV). The top four vote getters in each race, regardless of party, move on to the general election in November. That makes voters turnout a key issue, especially in remote parts of the state, where Alaska Natives have seen numbers fade over the past 20 years. As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, there are hopes Tuesday’s election will show signs of a turnaround. One encouraging sign for Alaska Native voter turnout is the number of Native candidates running for office this year. “It’s notable that we have a high-profile Native candidate in each big race.” Michelle Sparck is the Alaska director for Get Out the Native Vote. She says this marks the first time in years that there is an all-Native ticket for Alaska governor – with Meda DeWitt, a Tlingit and her running mate, Chris Steere, an Iñupiat. And there is national attention focused on former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK), the first Alaska Native member of Congress. Peltola’s bid for the U.S. Senate is one the state’s most closely watched races – a battle that could determine control of the country’s most powerful legislative body. Polls show a tight race between Peltola and incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK). The primary election could offer the clearest picture yet of where this race really stands. There is also Bill Hill (Athabascan), a longtime school superintendent and Bristol Bay fisherman. He is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK), who in 2024 unseated Peltola. Hill is an Independent and a relative political unknown, but his grassroots campaign has gained traction and polls show he is closing the gap with his opponent. Sparck says Get Out the Native Vote remains strictly nonpartisan and does not back candidates, but she is hoping the wealth of Native candidates will energize Native voters. Sparck says the real work in getting out the Native vote might be compared to cultivating a garden that has long been neglected. The mission for Sparck and her volunteers has been to travel from village to village, to revive the voting culture of the 1980’s, when voter turnout ran as higher than 70-80%, the era of the super voter. “They are today’s elders.” Spark says turnout has fallen below 20%, but she hopes sharing the story of those earlier generations will inspire a new wave of super voters. A marker along the Southern border near the Tohono O’odham Nation between the U.S. and Mexico in June 2026. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio) A federal judge is denying calls for a preliminary injunction by the Tohono O’odham Nation to halt border wall construction along a 60-foot stretch of land bordering the tribal reservation. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. Judge Richard Leon in D.C. ruled last week that an injunction is “unwarranted”, writing he expects the U.S. to follow through on consulting with the Tohono O’odham Nation. Historically, that has not been the case, according to Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose. He points to the destruction of the 1,000-year-old Las Playas Intaglio, as the latest example. “We were assured that the border wall construction would not impact it, but despite that warning and assurances, federal contractors just bladed right through it, causing permanent damage to this O’odham and American treasure. You can’t rebuild it.” Still, the judge noted that the feds’ interests in ensuring public safety and enforcing immigration laws “outweigh any surviving irreparable harms.”     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, August 18, 2026 — Are Native voters in line with the Democratic Party’s shift to the left?

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  National Native News

  Monday, August 17, 2026

  Aug 17, 20265 min

  A Native girls softball team made history this summer, winning a Babe Ruth Softball World Series championship during its first year competing in the tournament. Na7ive Na7ions brought together Native athletes from different tribal communities to compete in Florence, Ala., but founder and former Major League Baseball pitcher D.J. Carrasco says their success was not only about what happened on the field. They were also battling the summer heat. Temperatures hovered in the 90s, with high humidity making conditions even tougher, but inside the Na7ive Na7ions dugout, there was something you might not normally associate with championship softball: Watermelon. Grapes. Oranges. Pickles. And a team favorite: frozen pickle juice, or “pickle pops”. Autumn Lopez is a holistic nutritional therapy practitioner and co-founder of Na7ive Na7ions. “We feed them from the moment they start swinging the bat, warming up through the entire game. And at first it was hard for them, and they didn’t really understand, but they adapted really fast to eating during the game.” Lopez says the approach was intentional. Carrasco pitched professionally, including ten seasons in Major League Baseball, while Lopez has a background in massage therapy and nutrition. Lopez says the goal is to develop the whole athlete, not just what happens between the lines. And in Alabama, she believes it made a difference. “We were probably one of the only teams, if not the only team, who didn’t suffer heat exhaustion, nausea, throwing up. Every time you looked around, there was a coach throwing up… We didn’t have one girl go down, so that was huge.” Lopez says she repeatedly reminded the girls that winning required more than playing good softball. They also had to stay healthy enough to keep playing. Carrasco says the tournament tested them against some formidable competition, including Puerto Rico. He says the experience also gave the girls a chance to represent Native people and their individual cultures on an international stage. “They’re literally ambassadors. They’re truly ambassadors of their tribe and their cultures.” Lopez says other teams began noticing what looked like a buffet inside the Na7ive Na7ions dugout. And eventually, what started as the team’s own nutrition strategy spread beyond it. Before another game against Puerto Rico, Lopez had extra bananas. “I thought, do I share my secret weapon?… So I grabbed those bananas and I took them over to Puerto Rico… and I said, hey, I have some bananas for you, for your team.” She also handed out electrolytes to umpires and other teams. For Lopez, that reflected something bigger than winning. (Courtesy Native Nations Sport / Facebook) Na7ive Na7ions wants young athletes to leave the program understanding how to care for themselves long after the final out. And the girls left Alabama with something else: a championship. Lopez says watching the final out was emotional after four years of building the organization, but her thoughts quickly turned toward what the victory could mean for the Native girls coming behind them. “When I saw the girls go out there, that last pitch was thrown, that last hit was hit, that last catch was caught, and they realized they won, I just thought they have just changed the trajectory for so many generations of young girls underneath them.” It was the first year Na7ive Na7ions fielded a girls softball team at the Babe Ruth World Series. Carrasco and Lopez says interest in the program has surged since the victory, with Native families asking how their children can participate. For the girls who made history in Alabama, he says the magnitude of what they accomplished might not sink in for years, but eventually, he hopes they’ll be able to look back and say: “They started it.”     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, August 17, 2026 — Remembering Hurricane Katrina more than 20 years later

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  National Native News

  Friday, August 14, 2026

  Aug 14, 20265 min

  Photo: Firefighters, first responders, and law enforcement officials escorted the body of Leslie Washington from Ely, Minn to Duluth, Minn. and then the Twin Cities on Tuesday. (Courtesy Scorched Earth Services) A wildland firefighter from the Northwest Arctic community of Noorvik, Alaska died Tuesday. Federal officials say 41-year-old Leslie R. Washington worked for a Huslia-based company called Scorched Earth Services. It was contracted to help fight a 30,000 acre fire on the Minnesota-Canada border in the Superior National Forest. Washington and his team were in northern Minnesota when he died after an undisclosed medical emergency. In a statement, U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy said the agency is “heartbroken at the loss of a wildland firefighter who died while protecting others.” Washington’s wife told KOTZ news she remembers her husband as humble, kind, and devoted to his family. She said the loss is being felt throughout Noorvik and across Alaska. She said she was not ready to talk further. The Department of the Interior says it is working with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to support Washington’s family, coworkers, and the broader firefighting community as they grieve. Scorched Earth Services says Washington’s remains will be sent from Minnesota home to Noorvik. Washington was one of dozens of firefighters from rural Alaska communities including Huslia, Selawik, and Fort Yukon, deployed this season through Scorched Earth Services. Officials say more information will be released in the coming days. Washington was assigned to the Bear Trap Fire. Officials said Thursday it is 44% contained. Lisa Smolenska, left, hands a bouquet to a customer on August 9, 2026 in Eugene, Oreg. as part of a fundraiser to help the Warm Springs Animal Relief Fund. (Photo: Brian Bull) While crews mop up wildfires on Oregon’s Warm Springs reservation, a relief drive is underway to help affected horses and livestock. Brian Bull of Underscore Native News and KLCC reports. The goal of the Warm Springs Animal Relief Fund was to raise $15,000 for hay, feed, and care for animals who have lost forage and grazing land. At last check, they had nearly twice that amount. The fundraising efforts are extending beyond central Oregon. Last Sunday, Lisa Smolenska sold bouquets donated by Charles Little Flower Farm outside Lox, Stocks, & Bagels in Eugene, Oreg. She raised nearly $700. “This has got to be ongoing because the animals are going to need forage over the wintertime as well and beyond. I don’t think we really know how long it’ll take to regenerate.” Warm Springs rancher Shana Johnson says she is happy that there is a fund. Her horses and cows lost 99% of their grazing district to the Beachcomb Fire. “When the fire started they all started coming home in groups, and there is absolutely nothing to eat.” Smolenska says she will do another flower fundraiser this Sunday. Tribal member Franc Fernandez, left, addresses attendees of community dinner as Sasha Ivan Sobolef of the Alaska Native Brotherhood holds burning sage on August 4, 2026. (Photo: Baiz Hoen / KFSK) The Petersburg Indian Association recently announced that they will be repatriating the remains of a 6-month-old Tlingit girl. She is one of three ancestors the tribe plans to inter in Petersburg, Alaska. KFSK’s Baiz Hoen has the story. Stephanie Aikins is the administrative assistant for Petersburg’s tribal government, the Petersburg Indian Association. She spearheaded the repatriation project, and at a community dinner this month, she said she has been working on this since last May. “ This is uncharted territory. There’s a lot of clan objects that have been taken and returned, not many who are ancestors.” The tribe applied for a grant to help cover the cost of the repatriation efforts through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a federal law that requires federal agencies and institutions that receive federal money to return important remains and objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations. Petersburg’s tribe received about $24,000 for this project. The infant will be one of three ancestors the tribe plans to inter in Petersburg. The other two have been in the tribe’s possession for over 10 years. One is a male estimated to be about 300 years old. He was found when the City of Petersburg was building the City Reservoir in the 1950s, and was given to the local high school. After it was found that he was of Native descent, the ancestor was given to the local tribe in 2013. The other, a jawbone, was found around the 1980s about 10 miles south of town on the beach. Aikins says the USFS had possession until 2011, when the ancestor was transferred to the tribe. He is thought to be prehistoric, based on the report. Aikins says that the remains of the 6-month-old girl are currently being held at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle. Aikins will be among a group of three traveling to Seattle on September 1 to receive the remains. They will return to Petersburg on September 4, and plan to host a ceremony at the airport that day for the infant girl’s return. “She has been gone away from her land for almost 100 years, and she will be back on her land for the first time on September 4.” Aikins says that the tribe will host a larger ceremony later in the fall, where they will inter the remains of the girl along with the two other ancestors already in their possession.     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 August 14, 2026 — Live at Santa Fe Indian Market 2026

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  National Native News

  Thursday, August 13, 2026

  Aug 13, 20265 min

  Photo: A house floated by floodwaters during ex-Typhoon Halong rests on top of a snowmachine in Tuntutuliak on October 22, 2025. (Gabby Salgado / KYUK) The State of Alaska is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies to collect what are known as Right of Entry forms from households impacted by ex-Typhoon Halong, as KYUK’s Evan Erickson reports. The form is required for getting certain types of assistance with winterization and debris removal. It allows authorized recovery agencies to enter properties to inspect, document, and complete recovery work. Completing the form does not guarantee that work will be performed. The form is for households both that may need or have already received assistance in the forms of emergency winterization of storm-damaged homes; temporary weatherproofing or securing openings; moisture control or minor temporary repairs; limited heat or fuel-related stabilization; and/or certain types of private property debris removal. Gallup Indian Medical Center. (Courtesy Gallup Indian Medical Center / Facebook) The Navajo Area Indian Health Services and the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) have signed a memorandum of agreement to support rural health initiatives through data sharing. KUNM’s Jeanette DeDios (Jicarilla Apache and Diné) has more. Dr. Laura Parajón, director of the Center for Health Protection at NMDOH, says the coordination between the state and the Navajo Nation is crucial. “It’s important that Navajo Nation has the same access to high-quality data that we do, that they get similar data that allows Navajo Nation themselves to conduct their own analysis, and that they can design their own culturally meaningful public health interventions for themselves.” The agreement is a first step in partnership between state and tribal public health departments to make sharing information easier and filling gaps in data. It will help better identify unmet needs, coordinate care, and monitor outcomes. NMDOH Tribal liaison Janet Johnson (Santa Clara Pueblo) says tribal leaders need to be able to access data instantly, such as a system used to track sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. “And that will help Navajo Area Indian Health Service support their public health surveillance, and give them again that real-time access to see where these outbreaks are occurring, what they need to do and again with our support to be able to better address any issues and concerns that are affecting their populations.” The current agreement does not include any state appropriations. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, left, Gov. Katie Hobbs, and Hopi Chairman Lamar Keevama sign a memorandum of understanding for coal-impacted communities at the Desert Botanical Garden on August 11, 2026. (Photo: Connor Greenwall) Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) announced an economic agreement Tuesday with northern Arizona tribal leaders. It is meant to bolster the Four Corners region – at a time when the coal industry is in decline. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. The Memorandum of Understanding is between the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and the state – all of which are vulnerable to coal mines and power plants shutting down. That includes the Four Corners plant, which could close by 2031. The Navajo-owned company that fuels the aging facility recently announced plans to extend the life of a massive coal mine by more than a century, but with coal giving way to cleaner, more efficient fuels, state, and tribal leaders are coming together to ink a five-year commitment to track closures and promote the wellbeing of coal miners. Map of the several villages in Kaskaskia, Ill. with part of the Mississippi River from 1851 by Thomas Hutchins. On this day in 1803, the Kaskaskia Tribe signed a treaty with the United States at Vincennes in the Indiana Territory. Under the agreement, the Kaskaskia ceded most of their lands in what is now Illinois to the U.S. The treaty provided the tribe with reserved lands, annual payments, and other assistance. The agreement was negotiated for the United States by territorial governor William Henry Harrison, who later became president.     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 August 13, 2026 — Pathways Indigenous Arts Festival grows its presence and influence  

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