February 03, 2026
Opinion. On the Monday before the 2016 presidential election, I covered campaign stops by the two major candidates — Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Both came to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to ask voters for their support.
Currents
President Trump’s massive spending bill, signed into law last July, strips Tribes of billions in clean energy spending and could potentially have devastating effects on Native communities’ access to healthcare and food assistance. That’s according to a new report from the Brookings Institution examining the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” (OBBBA) and its potential influence on clean energy, Medicaid, and food programs in Indian Country.
From Our Partners
New Ojibwe Children’s Book Shares the Seven Grandfather Teachings Through ‘Aaniin: I See Your Light'
One afternoon, during the pandemic, I sat alone at my kitchen table. Over the months I would read a lot (like so many of us did then). One theme kept resurfacing as I read books, articles, and social media posts: The Seven Grandfather Teachings (which I’ve included below).
Renowned author Nikki Grimes and debut picture book writer Stacy Wells (Choctaw) lend their resonant, lyrical voices to award-winning artist E. B. Lewis’s (Lenni Lenape) luminous watercolor illustrations in a deeply moving picture book that explores heritage, memory, and the enduring power of ancestral love.
Opinion
Opinion. On the Monday before the 2016 presidential election, I covered campaign stops by the two major candidates — Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Both came to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to ask voters for their support.
Guest Opinion. Holidays and the law around them may not be your first thought when you think about these official and unofficial events; but those who follow my work know I have written a couple of books on two different holidays. My first was The Legal Kiss (2012) for Valentine’s Day, and the second was Halloween Law (2012). So Groundhog Day seemed to warrant at least an investigation into legal issues that might involve it.
Sovereignty
The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council is punching back at the sanitizing of history by the Trump administration that is removing Native American signs, markers, monuments, or exhibits at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jose Farinango Muenala, 47, of Casselberry, Florida, pleaded guilty on January 28, 2026, to misrepresenting Indian-produced goods. U.S. District Judge William M. Conley sentenced Farinango Muenala to three years of probation and imposed a $25,000 fine.
Education
By 2029, it will be mandatory for all high school students to take courses in Native American history. The reason: California education has failed its first people.
Congress has approved $13.482 million in federal funding for the Institute of American Indian Arts for fiscal year 2026, rejecting a Trump administration proposal that would have eliminated the school’s federal appropriation.
Arts & Entertainment
SULPHUR, Okla. – First American artists are invited to participate in the 13th annual Artesian Arts Festival Saturday, May 2, in Sulphur, Oklahoma.
It’s been a meteoric rise in Hollywood for Kali Reis. Since her breakout role in 2021's Catch the Fair One , the Seaconke Wampanoag actor and sixth-time world champion boxer has garnered critical acclaim, most notably for her portrayal of Trooper Evangeline Navarro in HBO's True Detective: Night Country (2024). In the high-stakes thriller Mercy —coming to theaters nationwide on January 24—Reis stars as officer Jack Diallo in an intense procedural alongside co-star Chris Pratt.
Health
Environment
The Rappahannock Tribe has filed an appeal challenging a state-issued permit that allows Caroline County to withdraw up to 9 million gallons of water per day from the Rappahannock River and transfer it to the Mattaponi River.
Published on January 9, 2026