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An interview with Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly.

Former Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly dies at age 75

Mar 22, 2023 He died Wednesday morning in New Mexico.
Protests against the Resolution Copper mine near Oak Flat have been going for years, as shown in this 2015 file photo from a rally at the Capitol.

Apaches tell court copper mine would harm sacred sites

Mar 21, 2023 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.
A view of the Colorado River near the Silver Bridge on the Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park. From November 2022.

Supreme Court seems split in Navajo Nation water rights case

Mar 20, 2023 The justices weighed a dispute involving the federal government and the Navajo Nation’s quest for water from the drought-stricken Colorado River.
Phillip Yazzie waits for a water drum in the back of his pickup truck to be filled in Teesto, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation, on Feb. 11, 2021.

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

Mar 17, 2023 The tribe doesn't have enough water and says that the federal government is at fault.
Former Navajo chairman and president, Peterson Zah, speaks to a crowd gathered to honor his work in promoting Navajo language and culture, inspiring youth, and strengthening tribal sovereignty on Jan. 11, 2022, at the Navajo Nation casino east of Flagstaff, Ariz.

First Navajo President Dies

Mar 8, 2023 Peterson Zah was elected in 1990.
A still from the video posted to Instagram by Cod Blackbird, purportedly showing Gilbert Ortega Jr. in front of his shop in Old Town Scottsdale.

Native dancers want Arizona gallery owner held on hate crime

Feb 10, 2023 Gilbert Ortega Jr. has already been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Low water levels at Wahweap Bay at Lake Powell along the Upper Colorado River Basin are shown, on June 9, 2021, at the Utah and Arizona border at Wahweap, Ariz.

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

Feb 2, 2023 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.
Lorraine Eiler, a Hia-Ced O’odham woman, recalls growing up in Ajo, which is about 40 miles from the U.S. Mexico border and sacred Hia-Ced lands. Photo was taken in Ajo on Nov. 18, 2022.

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

Jan 28, 2023 Descendants of those four surviving families are working to gain recognition.
Arizona has embraced the legalization of sports betting, and sites including FanDuel at Footprint Center have helped the state become second fastest in the nation to reach a billion dollars in total wagers.

The Buzz: Sports Betting in Arizona

Jan 27, 2023 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 President Buu Nygren delivers his inaugural speech Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Fort Defiance, Ariz. Navajo President Buu Nygren is the youngest person elected to the position, while Vice President Richelle Montoya is the first woman to hold that office. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca)

Navajo Nation lifts mandatory mask mandate

Jan 24, 2023 New president Buu Nygren says it's time for the Nation to get back to work
Smoke from a wildfire is lit by the sun in Eastern Arizona.

USDA awards $930 million towards wildfire preventions

Jan 19, 2023 Three million acres of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Forest Protection Project will receive funding.
Navajo President Buu Nygren delivers his inaugural speech Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Fort Defiance, Ariz. Navajo President Buu Nygren is the youngest person elected to the position, while Vice President Richelle Montoya is the first woman to hold that office. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca)

Buu Nygren sworn in as next Navajo Nation president

Jan 11, 2023 Nygren beat out incumbent President Jonathan Nez in the tribe's general election by about 3,500 votes.
A canal carries water from the Colorado River to tribal land in Arizona.

Biden signs water bills benefiting 3 tribes in Arizona

Jan 6, 2023 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.
Looking down at Havasu Falls.

Northern Arizona tribe to get federal aid for flood damage

Jan 1, 2023 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.
A flag flies by the dome of the U.S. Capitol.

Law protects export of sacred Native American items from US

Dec 26, 2022 The effort largely was inspired by pueblo tribes in New Mexico and Arizona who repeatedly saw sacred objects up for auction in France.
An empty rack of flares sits on the wing of a turboprop Piper PA31T Cheyenne II airplane.

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

Dec 24, 2022 The state also helps fund cloud seeding programs in Colorado meant to increase flows into the Colorado River.

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