November 28, 2025
Indigenous actor Elaine Miles (C onfederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation) says she was walking to a bus stop in Redmond when four men wearing masks and vests labeled “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement” stepped out of two unmarked black SUVs and demanded her identification, according to an account she shared on social media and in reporting by The Seattle Times .
Currents
The story of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag sharing a peaceful feast in 1621 has been repeated in classrooms and popular culture for centuries. But the full story of that first Thanksgiving is far more complex than the simplified tale most Americans were taught.
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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
Guest Opinion. The first Thanksgiving I remember, I was in the second grade. I didn’t know my teacher had asked my dad to come talk to the class. When he walked in, I was embarrassed to see him there. He said that white people came and didn’t know how to survive on this land, so we helped them out, then celebrated with a meal. It was a story I’d heard in school before, but not at home.
Guest Opinion. Traditional American Thanksgiving acknowledges a feast shared between Pilgrims and Indigenous Native people. We know our people assisted with the early immigration process of those people arriving from Europe because they were pitiful, hungry and starving. We were kind and loving people who helped them. However, once they got a foothold, they tried to completely extinguish us, stole our lands and now we are supposed to be thankful. This runs similar to the “Redskin” mascot Issue or the “Columbus Day” celebration of genocide. Today, we are supposed to celebrate Thanksgiving, which is part of the “Broken Circle” corporate holidays.
Sovereignty
On Friday, Nov. 28, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche at 2:30 p.m. CST for a landmark occasion: the first National Hockey League game ever broadcast entirely in the Ojibwe language.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is calling on the U.S. Department of Education to immediately halt its planned transfer of Native-focused education programs to other federal agencies until meaningful Tribal consultation occurs.
Education
In wake of Tuesday's announcement that the Trump administration is dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, the American Indian College Fund is warning that the Trump administration’s plan to transfer more than a dozen federal education programs to other agencies could jeopardize Native students’ access to critical services and undermine the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations.
Little Priest Tribal College has received a $5 million gift from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation (Yield Giving), the largest donation in the institution’s history since its founding in 1996.
Arts & Entertainment
The metal cattle guard hits with a loud thump, introducing miles of bumpy clay-red dirt roads that bring me closer to my return from the city to family in Zuni Pueblo.
This Native American Heritage Month, Native News Online is celebrating by sharing our favorite Native American actors, movies, TV shows, books, chefs, musicians, artists, and fashion designers. In Hollywood, Native actors are rewriting the narrative and proving that authentic representation matters.
Health
Environment
Leaders of the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan and the conservation group Chilkat Forever are warning the new owners of the Palmer mine project that they will face “sustained and unyielding opposition” if they pursue hardrock mining in the Chilkat Valley.
Two South Texas tribes and a local environmental group are calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revoke a federal permit for a proposed export terminal at Donnel Point, saying new environmental and cultural findings invalidate the original approval.