October 13, 2025
Opinion. It’s a good day to be Indigenous.
Currents
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) issued a press release on Friday seeking assistance to locate 71-year-old Wesley Dixon Jones, a CTUIR tribal citizen missing for close to two weeks. The Umatilla Tribal Police Department (UTPD) continues the search Jones and want the assistance to locate Dixon.
From Our Partners
Litchfield Park, Arizona , is a small, charming city just 30 minutes west of Phoenix . It is home to the historic four-star Wigwam Resort and Golf Course . It is also home to several award-winning annual festivals , including the Litchfield Park Gathering . The Gathering, which is free and open to the public, is a celebration of indigenous arts and cultures. This year’s festival will be held on January 10 and 11, 2026. The festival is open daily from 10am until 5pm.
Opinion
Opinion. It’s a good day to be Indigenous.
Guest Opinion. As Columbus Day approaches, having now been proclaimed by President Donald Trump in an Executive Order for the Monday national holiday. It is a change from the alternatively proclaimed Indigenous Peoples Day since 2021. President Biden was the first President to proclaim Indigenous Peoples' Day, as a national holiday.
Sovereignty
The smell of corn, venison, and wood smoke circled the air as the Ho-Chunk Nation gathered behind the Tribal Office Building for its annual Green Corn Celebration on October 9. The celebration featured a community potluck, cooking and craft demonstrations, social and green corn dances, and cultural presentations focused on reconnecting with ancestral food and land practices.
The Oceti Sakowin Treaty Councils issue this urgent call to all Lakota people, communities, and leadership: it is time to launch large-scale emergency operations to rescue and restore the Lakota language. The Councils recognize that our language is the living heart of our Nation, and without decisive action, it stands on the brink of irretrievable loss.
Education
Indigenous education experts and advocates are outraged over the state’s draft action plan for improving education, which they say lacks detail and fails to meaningfully incorporate community input.
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians has broken ground on a new, state-of-the-art Morongo Elementary School that will strengthen and expand educational opportunities for tribal youth on the Morongo Indian Reservation.
Arts & Entertainment
At the premiere of the new short film, Following Enchantment’s Line , Jock Soto, the Diné and Puerto Rican ballet dancer, could be seen gliding underneath vast blue New Mexico skies — the only time the audience saw him dance.
During the week of Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Monday, October 13), the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) will host two special events celebrating Indigenous culture: Anishinaabe Culture Day on Wednesday, October 15, and an Anishinaabe Art and Film Series on Saturday, October 18.
Health
Environment
Deep in the Tonto National Forest in southeast Arizona, there is a land where the Ga’an, or holy spirits, reside. These spirits commune with Usen, the Creator, and act as messengers to the people.
As morning light hit flooded communities devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong on Sunday, local residents snapped photos of the storm damage across western Alaska communities.