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To all of our readers and friends,

This week, witnesses appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to speak about the genocidal history of federal Indian boarding school policies as well as the generational harm of those policies on Native families and communities. 

A few days before the Senate hearing, news broke that the U.S. Army had exhumed the remains of a Native American student at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School — only to discover that the body was that of a different person. Tribal leaders told Native News that losing the remains of the Native American teen was not an isolated incident, and that it foretells a grim reality for future Indian boarding-school repatriations across the country.

If you’re a regular reader of Native News Online, you’re likely familiar with the 150-year history of Indian Boarding Schools and their impact on Indian Country. We have written extensively on this issue, reporting more than 100 stories as part of our effort to shine a bright light on this dark era of forced assimilation of Native American children.

During the Senate hearings, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo and herself a product of the boarding school policies — advocated for a Truth and Healing Commission and talked about her planned “road to healing” tour to speak with boarding school survivors and assess tribal needs.  She told the Senate committee that her first stop will be in Oklahoma.

We plan to be there and at other stops on the road to healing. And we will continue to cover this important story throughout 2022 and 2023. That’s why today, I’m asking you to support our newsroom with a one-time or recurring donation to fund our reporting, including the escalating cost of travel. I ask that you please join us in this effort with a one-time donation or a recurring donation of $5 or $10 per month. 

Yes, I’ll Support Native News Coverage of Indian Boarding Schools

Megwetch, 

Levi Rickert
Editor & Publisher

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Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions

At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.

The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.

Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.

This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.

We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.

Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.

Levi headshotThe stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.

Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.

Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher

 
 
About The Author
Levi Rickert
Author: Levi RickertEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Levi "Calm Before the Storm" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at [email protected].

September 15, 2025 Levi Rickert
Opinion. In May, the Trump administration released its fiscal 2026 budget. Conspicuously absent from the proposal was a critical provision: advance appropriations for Indian Country health care. Advance appropriations are funds approved by Congress in one fiscal year that become available in a subsequent year, ensuring continuity of services even during budget delays or federal government shutdowns.
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OKLAHOMA CITY – Soon Native American Tribes across the United States could have greater autonomy in the way their citizens are distributed food. House Bill 3956, or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) Act of 2025, will amend the 2018 Farm Bill by authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into self-determination contracts with Tribes. The bill modifies a FDPIR pilot program which is currently being utilized by 16 tribes including the Cherokee Nation and the Chickasaw Nation. Its goal is to provide greater access to healthy foods for Tribal communities.
Opinion
September 15, 2025 Levi Rickert Opinion 4236
Opinion. In May, the Trump administration released its fiscal 2026 budget. Conspicuously absent from the proposal was a critical provision: advance appropriations for Indian Country health care. Advance appropriations are funds approved by Congress in one fiscal year that become available in a subsequent year, ensuring continuity of services even during budget delays or federal government shutdowns.
September 14, 2025 Professor Victoria Sutton Opinion 2098
Guest Opinion. The concept of a university is for the free exchange of ideas, where new knowledge can be built, discovered and developed. The first university still in operation today is the University of Bologna (Italy) established around 1180. Then a group of students and faculty left the University of Bologna to form the University of Padua (Italy, 1222) becoming the second oldest university still operating in Italy and the fifth oldest in the western world. Notably, one can still stand at the podium where Galileo taught as a faculty member.The University of Bologna was granted a special status by Emperor Barbarossa, and the University of Bologna was eventually supported by taxpayers, becoming one of the first public universities.
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September 12, 2025 Native News Online Staff Sovereignty 4309
On September 4, the 25th Navajo Nation Council unanimously passed Legislation No. 0195-25, officially approving the Comprehensive Budget for Fiscal Year 2026, totaling $603.7 million.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is set to hear arguments on Wednesday, September 10, in Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska v. United States Department of the Army (No. 24-2081), a case that could have significant implications for the enforcement of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
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LAWRENCE, Kansas — Indigenous scholars, educators, and community leaders gathered Sept. 12 at the Haskell Auditorium for a panel titled Honoring Truth, which focused on the importance of accurate Native representation in culture, media, and education.
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In the dimly lit rooms of the National Archives, Joe Maxwell recalled digging through what he described as “the bowels” of the U.S. government as he and other student research assistants sifted through boxes full of paperwork as a part of Project Return, a nationwide project set to launch officially in October.
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On Monday, September 15, the Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) and Relative Arts hosted their annual event Celebrating Indigeneity in Fashion, closing out the inaugural Indigenous New York Fashion Week (NYFW).
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In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, former U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr pushed back against claims by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, Stronghold Apache, and a coalition of environmental groups that Oak Flat is sacred land that should not be transferred to a foreign-owned mining company.
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A federal appeals court has blocked a judge's order for the state of Florida and the Federal Government to shut down a temporary immigration detention facility located on the sacred and ancestral lands of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.