November 27, 2025
Every fall, as soon as the air turned crisp and the leaves began to drop, my dad would come alive with joy. We cancelled all plans that happened to fall on the opening weekend of firearm deer hunting season in Minnesota - no questions asked.
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
Opinion. As Congress weighed releasing the Epstein files last week, the Trump administration quietly announced plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education — shifting programs that serve Native students to other agencies without consulting a single tribe.
Guest Opinion. During Native American Heritage Month, and just ahead of Thanksgiving, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced on Nov. 18 that “the Trump administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states.” On the surface, this may have some appeal, especially given that the U.S. education system was originally designed to allow local control. But in the not-so-distant past, “local control” meant a lack of opportunity—and, often, outright discrimination—against people of color like me. I was a public-school failure who dropped out at 15. With 12 graduate-level letters behind my name—and another three for my GED—I’m proof our people can accomplish anything when afforded educational opportunity.
Sovereignty
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren asked the Window Rock District Court on Monday to block legislation that seeks to remove him and Vice President Richelle Montoya from office for alleged malfeasance, misfeasance and breaches of fiduciary trust duties under Navajo Nation law.
Before sunrise Thursday, hundreds of Indigenous people and non-Native allies are expected to gather on Alcatraz Island for the annual Indigenous Peoples Gathering Sunrise Ceremony, organized by the International Indian Treaty Council.
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.