January 02, 2026
On Monday, President Donald Trump vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have expanded and clarified the Miccosukee Tribe’s land in Florida’s Everglades. The veto appears to be in retribution of the tribe’s opposition to “Alligator Alcatraz,” an immigration detention center, located near Miccosukee ancestral tribal land.
Currents
Hoopa Tribe, BIA Contribute $20K Reward in Cold Case for Native Woman Missing for Over Three Decades
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the location of Andrea “Chick” White, who has been missing for more than three decades. The reward includes $15,000 from the Hoopa Valley Tribe, headquartered in Hoppa, Calif., and $5,000 from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit, officials said. White was last seen July 31, 1991, along Highway 299 near the Blue Lake offramp. She is described as a Native American woman with brown hair and brown eyes, standing about 5 feet tall and weighing approximately 115 pounds at the time. Anyone with information is asked to contact Cold Case Investigator Mike Fridley of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at 707-441-3024.
From Our Partners
For generations, many Native families have relied on community knowledge, not institutions, to guide their financial lives. That wisdom remains essential.
As First American Capital Corporation’s (FACC) influence expands across Wisconsin, it is through strong community partnerships that connect Native entrepreneurs with business loan options, education and resources for success.
Across the country today, museums are being forced to reckon with the truth. For centuries, most mainstream museums were built from taking — taking objects, taking stories, taking lands. They displayed the Ancestors of Native Nations under the banner of “education,” while silencing the very Peoples those Ancestors came from.
Opinion
Opinion. Today marks the 135th anniversary of the Massacre of Wounded Knee, which occurred during the wintry week between Christmas and New Year’s in 1890.
Guest Opinion. Weapons of mass destruction have traditionally been characterized by the acronym “CBRN” (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear), but WMDs can also include devices such as bombs and explosives. These categories have been incorporated into federal law over time in response to attacks, disasters, and international obligations. The federal crime involving the possession or use of biological weapons was enacted in 1989 pursuant to the Biological Weapons Convention. In 1994, Congress passed a criminal statute covering all weapons of mass destruction, including radiological and nuclear weapons. The Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force in 1997, likewise required the enactment of criminal statutes punishing the possession or use of chemical weapons.
Sovereignty
On Monday, President Donald Trump vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have expanded and clarified the Miccosukee Tribe’s land in Florida’s Everglades. The veto appears to be in retribution of the tribe’s opposition to “Alligator Alcatraz,” an immigration detention center, located near Miccosukee ancestral tribal land.
The Oneida Nation, located in Green Bay, Wisc., is seeking legal advice on how to disengage from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracts after learning that one of its subsidiaries was awarded more than $6 million in federal agreements, prompting sharp criticism from tribal members and Native advocates.
Education
On Dec. 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education said it will begin administrative wage garnishment for borrowers with defaulted federal student loans in early 2026, marking the first resumption of such collections since the pandemic-era pause that began in 2020.
It’s a scene straight from a Dickens novel: a family sits around the table on Christmas Day with an empty chair amongst them and a somber air. Except this isn’t the Victorian classic, it’s real life for far too many Native families and no well-intentioned spirits to save the day. The epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) in the United States that has existed for years continues unabated. And while Native students deal with the same end of semester pressures and holiday stresses as other students, they’re more likely to also be living in a state of fear or mourning for a relative who may never make it home.
Arts & Entertainment
Watermark Art Center will welcome several artists from the Naytahwaush community in a collaborative exhibition titled Minwaajimowinan — “Good Stories” — on view Jan. 9 through March 28, 2026. The public is invited to an afternoon reception for the artists from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14. Live music will be performed by Doyle Turner and Jayme Littlewolf.
Museums Alaska has announced its 2025 Alaska Art Fund and Collections Management Fund grant recipients, awarding $208,440.15 to 12 museums and cultural organizations across the state.
Health
Environment
As salmon return to the headwaters of the Klamath River for the first time in more than a century, the newly formed Klamath Indigenous Land Trust and PacifiCorp announced the purchase of 10,000 acres in and around the river’s former reservoir reach. The deal is one of the largest private land purchases by an Indigenous-led land trust in U.S. history.
President Donald Trump has signed a resolution backed by members of Alaska’s Congressional delegation to revoke restrictions on drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve on the North Slope.