Happy Monday Morning! Here are some of the stories you may have missed from this past weekend:
With Its Facebook Page Back, Native News Online Urges Readers to Help Rebuild After Hack
Several weeks ago, on Dec. 16, 2025, the Native News Online Facebook page was hacked and flooded with hundreds of inappropriate posts that our readers and followers found extremely offensive. In the weeks that followed, we received numerous calls, emails and text messages complaining to us about the material, which we had absolutely no ability to control the posts.
Our Facebook following dropped from more than 411,000 to 334,000 as of last night. The major drop came after 15 years of our hard work providing Native American news and content to our valued readers.
Family members, friends and followers told us they unfollowed the page because they were tired of seeing the inappropriate posts.
Haaland Condemns ICE, Border Patrol Actions after Minneapolis Killing, Joins Protests in New Mexico
Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), who is running to be New Mexico’s next governor, is speaking out against what she called the “cruel and unchecked” actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man by federal agents.
“This has to stop,” Haaland wrote Saturday in a Facebook post after learning of the killing of Minneapolis resident Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an ICU nurse who was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents. “While Minnesotans and many across the country protest the disgusting and terrifying violence ICE is carrying out in our country, federal agents shot and killed another person. Trump and ICE agents are making our communities unsafe.”
Education Department Accuses New York School District of Civil Rights Violation Over Mascot Change
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education has accused a New York school district of violating federal civil rights law after it modified a Native American–themed mascot to comply with a state ban on Indigenous imagery.
The Connetquot Central School District on Long Island changed its mascot name from the “Thunderbirds” to the “T-Birds” following a directive from the New York State Education Department and the Board of Regents prohibiting Native American imagery in school mascots. Federal officials said the change violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act because it was made “solely because it originates from Native American symbolism.”
The Education Department has asked the district to restore the original mascot name.