October 31, 2025
Two federal district judges said the U.S. government has $6 billion available to spend on food aid for millions of people who had prepared for those benefits to end tomorrow on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.
Currents
As millions of Americans, including some 500,000 Native Americans, face the loss benefits because the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which administers the food stamp program, is not being funding by the Trump administration beginning on Saturday, November 1, 2025, here is an overview of the program:
From Our Partners
Imagine, for a moment, that your Nation is collaborating with a renewable energy developer to construct a medium-scale solar farm on newly acquired trust land within its reservation boundaries. The Nation and developer agree on a lease, project plan, and financing. However, when submitting the deal for final approval, they encounter delays at multiple levels: the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) regional office delays title examination, and the Department of the Interior (DOI) takes months to approve rights-of-way; additionally, overlapping environmental and historic preservation reviews pile on further hold-ups.
Opinion
Guest Opinion. Critics have accused Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of endangering public health by dispatching more than 70 Public Health Service officers to strengthen care in understaffed Tribal communities, claiming that Indian Country should not be a top HHS priority. These claims could not be further from the truth. Secretary Kennedy’s bold action affirms HHS’ commitment to Tribal communities: we will bolster the Indian Health Service (IHS), revitalize Tribal healthcare, and ensure that Indian Country receives the caliber of medical support it deserves.
Opinion. It’s an old complaint and one we hear sometimes at Native News Online : Journalists don’t report the good news enough. We understand the sentiment. Day after day, our inboxes and news feeds are filled with the familiar drumbeat of struggles across Indian Country.
Sovereignty
Tribal, state, and national leaders will gather in Oklahoma City on Thursday, Nov. 6, for the annual meeting of the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma (UINO), where they will address key issues affecting Tribal Nations across the state and beyond.
The effort to preserve the Dakota language and lifeways received a major boost this week as Dakota Wicohan was named the 2025 Greater Minnesota Bush Prize: Minnesota Recipient.
Education
Three Native women—a president, a professor, and a student—are sharing their personal journeys in higher education in a new book that highlights the experiences of Native women finding place and purpose in academic spaces.
Eve’s Fund for Native American Health Initiatives and Tribal Adaptive Organization have announced the winners of the fourth annual Tribal Adaptive Student-Athlete of the Year Award, recognizing two outstanding Native student-athletes with physical disabilities.
Arts & Entertainment
This year, six Chickasaw artists attended the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) annual Santa Fe Indian Market in August. SWAIA is the largest juried First American art show in the world, with more than 100,000 people in attendance annually. Started in 1922, it is also the oldest. Each year they sponsor more than 1,000 First American artists from more than 100 tribal communities in North America and Canada, generating more than $160 million annually in revenues for artists and the community.
ZUNI, N.M. — Representatives from the Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, A:shiwi A:wan Museum & Heritage Center, and Zuni Pueblo community joined Indigenous knowledge keepers, culture bearers and leaders from around the world at the 2025 International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums, in Cherokee, North Carolina, earlier this month.
Health
Environment
Ten Michigan Tribal Nations have filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Enbridge’s “underhanded procedural tactics” in the ongoing legal fight over the Line 5 oil pipelines.
Alaska Native organizations and tribal governments, in collaboration with the Alaska Community Foundation (ACF), regional nonprofits, and community partners, have launched the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund to deliver immediate and long-term support to communities devastated by Typhoon Halong.