The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made headlines recently when it removed critical public health data from its website to comply with President Trump's executive orders to scrub any mention of race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and other terms from U.S. health agency websites.

Two employees of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), Rhone Baumgartner, 46, and Kameron Hartvigson, 41, were among those who died in a devastating plane crash last week in Alaska.

The Centers for  Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stripped crucial health data from its website that tribal nations rely on to protect their citizens’ health, prompting immediate pushback from Native health leaders. 

An FBI report on violent and sexual crimes against Native American women provides new data about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) crisis.

Across Indian Country, tribal communities are proving that blending Indigenous practices with Western medicine creates more effective addiction treatment for their citizens. This 3-part series examines how Native-led programs are transforming care for tribal members through prevention, harm reduction, and recovery approaches that honor both traditional and clinical wisdom. This series was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. 

The Trump administration ordered a pause on public communications for several federal health agencies, including the Indian Health Service, which provides healthcare to millions of American Indian and Alaska Native people. 

Newly published data from New Mexico shows a promising drop in deaths by suicide among the state’s Native American population. 

This story was originally published on ProPublica.com.

At least 40 Native American residents of sober living homes and treatment facilities in the Phoenix area died as state Medicaid officials struggled to respond to a massive fraud scheme that targeted Indigenous people with addictions.

A few years before the covid-19 pandemic, Dale Rice lost a toe to infection.

But because he was uninsured at the time, the surgery at a Reno, Nevada, hospital led to years of anguish. He said he owes the hospital more than $20,000 for the procedure and still gets calls from collection agencies.

A White Mountain Apache Tribe program that cut suicide deaths by 38% may soon expand to tribal nations across Indian Country. The program — called Celebrating Life — combines Apache cultural teachings with mandatory reporting of suicide risks among tribal members. Through a new partnership with Johns Hopkins, more than 35 Indigenous communities are looking to adopt the model.

The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) launched an evidence-based opioid treatment program at the Recovery In SouthEast Wellness Center in Ketchikan on Jan. 13.

Join Levi Rickert, Editor, and Elyse Wild, Senior Health Reporter, of Native News Online for a crucial discussion on the devastating toll of the opioid epidemic in tribal nations. This insightful interview, featuring special guest Philomena Kebec, will address myths surrounding genetic predisposition and the critical need for culturally centered solutions.

This past week, a tribal community college partnered with a university to create a direct transfer path for Native American students pursuing careers in public health; new data from New Mexico shows a significant change in suicide trends among American Indian/Alaska Natives in the state; and advocates in Arizona demand accountability for a multi-billion scam targeting Native communities. Here is our weekly round-up of health equity news from across Indian Country.

Tucson-based media firm Arizona Luminaria this week launched the state’s first database tracking Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Transgender (MMIWGTT) people. Reporter Chelsea Curtis (Diné) built the database through a year-long investigation that included nearly 100 public record requests, document analysis, and family interviews. One of her findings: the majority of victims were Navajo women between the ages of 19 and 32. 

Washington’s American Indian Health Commission is asking the state legislature to consider a federal waiver that would allow Medicaid to pay traditional Native American healers. 

For nearly four years, a multi-billion-dollar Medicaid scam involving hundreds of fraudulent providers in Arizona victimized Native Americans under the guise of addiction care.

Here’s our weekly round-up of Health Equity News, including funding announcements, legislation, program launches, appointments and nominations, and data insights.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe has filed a lawsuit against the five largest social media platforms—TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube—accusing them of contributing to a mental health crisis among Tribal youth. The suit, filed in the United States Federal Court for the Northern District of California, aims to hold these companies accountable for their platforms’ damaging influence on young users.