Indigenous Affairs

An Endangered Language

With the majority of Indigenous tribal languages in the United States in critical danger of dying out, what does it take to keep them from becoming extinct.

We Are the Water Missing Home

Indigenous communities fight against border wall construction near a sacred Sonoran Desert spring. (10:06)

The Bahidaj Harvest

For thousands of years the Tohono O’odham have lived in the Sonoran Desert and for much of that time harvested the Bahidaj, the fruit of the Saguaro.

FBI investigates rehab scams targeting Indigenous community

Bogus organizers defraud the government out of money meant to help people at their most vulnerable.

Former Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly dies at age 75

He died Wednesday morning in New Mexico.

Apaches tell court copper mine would harm sacred sites

U.S. federal government plans for a land swap that will allow Resolution Copper to build the mine will destroy the land in eastern Arizona known as Oak Flat.

Supreme Court seems split in Navajo Nation water rights case

The justices weighed a dispute involving the federal government and the Navajo Nation’s quest for water from the drought-stricken Colorado River.

Feds want justices to end Navajo fight for Colo. River water

The tribe doesn't have enough water and says that the federal government is at fault.

First Navajo President Dies

Peterson Zah was elected in 1990.

Native dancers want Arizona gallery owner held on hate crime

Gilbert Ortega Jr. has already been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Interior: $580M headed to 15 tribes to fulfill water rights

The money will help carry out the agreements that define the tribes' rights to water from rivers and other sources and pay for pipelines, pumping stations, and canals that deliver it to reservations.

‘We were always sovereign’: Hia-Ced O’odham seek federal recognition as a tribe

Descendants of those four surviving families are working to gain recognition.

The Buzz: Sports Betting in Arizona

Arizona has always been a destination for major sporting events, but those within the state now also have the ability to gamble on the outcomes of those games.

Navajo Nation lifts mandatory mask mandate

New president Buu Nygren says it's time for the Nation to get back to work

USDA awards $930 million towards wildfire preventions

Three million acres of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Forest Protection Project will receive funding.

Buu Nygren sworn in as next Navajo Nation president

Nygren beat out incumbent President Jonathan Nez in the tribe's general election by about 3,500 votes.

Biden signs water bills benefiting 3 tribes in Arizona

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday giving leasing authority to the Colorado River Indian Tribes, whose reservation tracks its namesake on the Arizona-California border.

Northern Arizona tribe to get federal aid for flood damage

President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration made by the Havasupai Tribe, freeing up funds for flood damage as it prepares to re-open for tourists after nearly three years.

Law protects export of sacred Native American items from US

The effort largely was inspired by pueblo tribes in New Mexico and Arizona who repeatedly saw sacred objects up for auction in France.

SRP researches cloud seeding in White Mountains to create snow amid historic drought

The state also helps fund cloud seeding programs in Colorado meant to increase flows into the Colorado River.

Water bills for tribes in Arizona to head to President Biden

The U.S. House approved the legislation on Thursday, just a few days after the U.S. Senate did.

US Senate advances water bills for tribes in Arizona

The bills now head to the U.S. House.

San Carlos Apache agree to lease water for Arizona community

Without the agreement the town would have no water.

Grand Canyon park changes campground name that haunted tribe

The Havasupai Tribe and Grand Canyon National Park announced that Indian Garden will be renamed Havasupai Gardens.

After long fight, tribal water bills get primary OK; still far from final

Tribal leaders welcomed the votes, which they called the culmination of hard-fought struggles by their tribes.

Tribe continues fight against proposed Arizona copper mine

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the state Department of Environmental Quality illegally issued a Clean Water Act permit for the proposed Resolution Copper Mine.

Healing through culture

Increasing access to Native American practices to treat mental health