February 15, 2026
Opinion . On Saturday, Native News Online celebrated its 15th anniversary of delivering news to Indian Country and beyond. With great pride, I still remember the day this publication was born.
Currents
ZUNI, N.M. — The Zuni Youth Enrichment Project received a $25,000 Judges’ Award at the inaugural UpTide Nonprofit Accelerator Showcase, held Jan. 28 in New York City. The showcase marked the culmination of a six-month accelerator program for five nonprofit leaders from across the country; hosted by the 92NY Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact, it also was made possible with support from Seed Spot.
From Our Partners
Inside the Detroit Institute of Arts’ (DIA) Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation exhibition , visitors move through a gallery alive with material, memory, and motion—woven baskets, quillwork, jewelry, photographs, and mixed-media works speaking to one another across time and practice. Within this collective space, Kelly Church’s black ash basketry rises with quiet authority, grounding the room in generations of Anishinaabe knowledge and responsibility.
California Indian Nations College (CINC) is proud to announce that it has been awarded full 8-year institutional accreditation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) —a historic milestone in the college’s mission to offer accessible, culturally grounded higher education.
Opinion
Guest Opinion. I first met Jesse Jackson in 1978. He was speaking at a youth conference in Washington with Billy Mills. It was electric. He had youth from across Indian Country standing up and shouting, “I am somebody.”
Opinion . On Saturday, Native News Online celebrated its 15th anniversary of delivering news to Indian Country and beyond. With great pride, I still remember the day this publication was born.
Sovereignty
For his courageous and selfless actions while responding to an apartment fire in Ardmore, Chickasaw Lighthorse police officer Tucker Halstead has been named the 2025 Indian Country Officer of the Year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).
The Indian Gaming Association hosted a congressional briefing last Wednesday in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs meeting room on Capitol Hill, warning lawmakers of what tribal leaders described as the most significant threat to Indian gaming since passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act .
Education
On Friday, February 13, 2026, at the Navajo Nation President’s Office in Window Rock, leaders from Navajo Technical University (NTU) joined representatives from Diné College and the Office of Navajo Nation Scholarship and Financial Assistance (ONNSFA) for the official signing of Legislation No. 0169-25, the Diné Higher Education Grant Fund Act.
The Institute of American Indian Arts will host the presidential inauguration of Dr. Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo) on March 26–27, 2026, at its campus, 83 Avan Nu Po Road.
Arts & Entertainment
In the poster for an upcoming concert, Jacob Shije is playing a vintage black-and-white 1960s Silvertone 1446 guitar, a symbol of the Santa Clara Pueblo musician’s love of blues legend Jimmie Vaughan.
The world’s longest-running Native American art organization has appointed new leadership to its executive committee.
Health
Environment
The Arctic Village Council, the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government and the Venetie Village Council submitted comments Tuesday to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service citing major deficiencies in the agency’s assessment of a proposed 20-year right-of-way that would allow the Kaktovik Iñupiat Corp. to annually construct a snow road through parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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.