December 26, 2025
This Day in History: Dec. 26, 1862 — Most commonly revered as the United States president who freed the slaves, Abraham Lincoln is known for something different in Indian Country. On this day 163 years ago, 38 Dakota men were hanged following orders from Lincoln in the largest mass hanging in U.S. history.
Currents
Native Vote. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland (Laguna Puebloe) hosted a roundtable with police chiefs, lieutenants, marshals and sheriffs from across southern New Mexico to discuss public safety concerns, including staffing shortages, drug trafficking and juvenile crime.
From Our Partners
For generations, many Native families have relied on community knowledge, not institutions, to guide their financial lives. That wisdom remains essential.
As First American Capital Corporation’s (FACC) influence expands across Wisconsin, it is through strong community partnerships that connect Native entrepreneurs with business loan options, education and resources for success.
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
To move forward, Coloradans must face the massacre’s trauma and begin to repair trust.
Opinion. One line in a press release from New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D) this past week stopped me cold.
Sovereignty
The Shinnecock Indian Nation’s battle to keep its two electronic signs operational will move to federal court next Tuesday, December 30, 2025.
On Friday, members of the 25th Navajo Nation Council joined Diné Action Plan task force leaders, community partners and subject matter experts at the 2025 Diné Action Plan Winter Gathering.
Education
On Dec. 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education said it will begin administrative wage garnishment for borrowers with defaulted federal student loans in early 2026, marking the first resumption of such collections since the pandemic-era pause that began in 2020.
It’s a scene straight from a Dickens novel: a family sits around the table on Christmas Day with an empty chair amongst them and a somber air. Except this isn’t the Victorian classic, it’s real life for far too many Native families and no well-intentioned spirits to save the day. The epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) in the United States that has existed for years continues unabated. And while Native students deal with the same end of semester pressures and holiday stresses as other students, they’re more likely to also be living in a state of fear or mourning for a relative who may never make it home.
Arts & Entertainment
Watermark Art Center will welcome several artists from the Naytahwaush community in a collaborative exhibition titled Minwaajimowinan — “Good Stories” — on view Jan. 9 through March 18, 2026. The public is invited to an afternoon reception for the artists from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14. Live music will be performed by Doyle Turner and Jayme Littlewolf.
Museums Alaska has announced its 2025 Alaska Art Fund and Collections Management Fund grant recipients, awarding $208,440.15 to 12 museums and cultural organizations across the state.
Health
Environment
President Donald Trump has signed a resolution backed by members of Alaska’s Congressional delegation to revoke restrictions on drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve on the North Slope.
Nearly 900 acres of land have been returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation in California. The land borders Yosemite National Park -- one of the most visited National Parks—— and the Sierra National Forest.