National Native News

Antonia Gonzales
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Daily, five-minute newscast featuring the latest headlines and breaking news from Native and Indigenous communities anchored by Antonia Gonzales (Navajo) with reporters and storytellers from around the globe.

  1. 1小時前

    Monday, April 20, 2026

    More than 400 athletes from over 100 communities gathered in Anchorage, Alaska for this year’s Native Youth Olympic games, held April 16-18 at the Alaska Airlines Center. Among them was Mila Neely, a sophomore at Juneau-Douglas High School (Yadaa.at Kalé) in Juneau, Alaska, but for Neely, the competition went beyond physical strength. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, with family roots in Oklahoma, where her ancestors, including her great, great, great, great grandmother, were forced to walk the Trail of Tears. When she was nine years old, she retraced that history alongside her father and great grandfather. “It’s kind of indescribable… to just stand where your ancestors stand… when my grandma was walking the Trail of Tears, she was thinking of me.” Neely says that experience continues to shape how she approaches the games. “For the games… especially when I’m doing seal hop… I’ll be like, ‘My grandma walked the Trail of Tears, I can make it to the end.’” She also sees connections between Cherokee traditions and Alaska Native values, rooted in community strength. “Our ancestors… they really just wanted other people to do good… because if they didn’t do good, their family might go hungry.” For Neely, every event carries a deeper purpose. “I hope I’d be making her proud… trying to make my ancestors proud, and keep our culture alive.” She says she is competing not just for herself, but for the generations who came before her, and those still to come. Turtle Mountain Community College. (Courtesy Wanda Parisien) For the second year in a row, the Trump administration is proposing to end all funding for the nation’s tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). As Brian Bull of Buffalo’s Fire reports, administrators are rallying against the proposal. The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has blasted the White House’s proposed cuts, saying it is deeply concerned that the Trump budget for Fiscal Year 2027 “does not align with the Administration’s stated policies to support rural America and expand access to higher education.” Last year’s proposed budget cuts never came to pass, but Wanda Parisien president of Turtle Mountain Community College, in Belcourt, N.D., says this renewed call is a disheartening prospect. “Our programs are gonna be cut, so we’re gonna have fewer students because those programs won’t be offered. If we have fewer students, we’re not going to have the money to pay our instructors. We live in a poverty-stricken area.” Another tribal institution of higher learning is Nueta, Hidatsa, and Sahnish Community College in Fort Berthold. Its president Twyla Baker says she and other administrators will be working with congressional representatives to challenge this proposed cut. “Our representatives are highly cognizant of the fact that we are economic drivers in our communities. The TCUs — we generated $3.8 billion for the U.S. economy and supported over 40,000 jobs in healthcare and government and retail.” Besides the disruption caused, should the cuts to tribal colleges and universities be implemented, tribal administrators say it would be a violation of the federal government’s trust and treaty obligation to tribes. Tomi Kay Phillips is president of Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, N.D. She is cautiously optimistic the funding cut will be thwarted, eventually. “I believe that we will get the funding, it just doesn’t make sense for them not to fund us. Y’know, we make do with what we have if we have to. Our ancestors went through worse things. And we will always be okay.” The proposed cut to tribal colleges and universities comes to roughly $160 million and includes TCUs, institutes operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIA), technical colleges, and scholarships. It came through the U.S. Interior Department, helmed by former Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND). A request for comment on the proposal to Sec. Burgum was not answered.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, April 20, 2026 — Native Bookshelf: “Python’s Kiss” by Louise Erdrich

    5 分鐘

  2. 3日前

    Friday, April 17, 2026

    Opening ceremonies for the statewide Native Youth Olympic (NYO) games got underway at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska Thursday. This year’s NYO coordinator, Brittany Vo, says it is impressive to watch the procession of 400 athletes from across Alaska enter the stadium, as they carry homemade banners that represent their schools and communities. “It’s just so exciting to have so much representation in one room, which I think is really powerful to see how one event can bring us all together.” Over the next two days, thousands of people will come to watch traditional Native games like the Alaskan High Kick, the Seal Hop, and Stick Pull – tests of skill, strength, and endurance, Vo says, that are rooted in survival off the land. “It’s really important to me, because as a youth, I didn’t always feel like pride in my culture. And the fact that these students come and they’re proud to do these games is really important for self-esteem and confidence.” This year marks the 40th year that the Cook Inlet Tribal Council has hosted NYO. Since then, the games have continued to grow. Today, teams from more than 100 Alaska communities take part. The deadline to comment has passed on a Trump administration proposal that could roll back a two-decade ban on oil and gas drilling around a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Within seven days, more than 70,000 comments were gathered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on potential changes for public lands surrounding Chaco Canyon. The BLM wants to repeal a Biden-era 10-mile buffer zone of more than 336,000 acres. Rich in oil and gas, some 40,000 wells already dot the Greater Chaco Landscape. “What we are fighting for is the last, right now, unleased federal lands.” Marissa Naranjo is from the Santa Clara Pueblo. She is with the New Mexico nonprofit Sovereign Energy. “Even when tribes lead, engage and help shape the process over many years, you know at this point, there’s no guarantee that those outcomes will be respected, as we’re seeing by the seven-day public comment. It could set the tone for how sacred sites and public lands are treated nationwide.” The mineral leasing withdrawal in 2023 followed a 150-day comment period. After a year of working for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Scott Davis has stepped down from his role as deputy assistant secretary of Indian Affairs (ASIA). As Brian Bull of Buffalo’s Fire reports, Davis is now back in North Dakota and the private sector. Davis is a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe with Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa heritage. He has long been a familiar face across North Dakota, having served as the executive director of the state’s Indian Affairs Commission from 2009 to 2021. It was in that capacity that he became friends with Doug Burgum, then governor of North Dakota. When Burgum was confirmed as the 55th U.S. Secretary of the Interior last year, he tapped Davis to join his staff. Davis confesses he was hesitant. “You know when things started getting really busy, and not enough people power in the ASIA Hallway, I said I would help him get things set up, and whether that was a year, two years. But it wasn’t solely intended by no means, it was never my goal to be working in government, but sometimes that’s where the Creator puts you.” Davis said he is proud to have met with 400 tribes and addressed red tape, natural resources development, and probate while in federal office. He will go back to his consulting and lobbying firm, Tatanka Consulting, which he founded in 2023. He will also spend more time with his family. Among the groups praising Davis’ tenure are the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the InterTribal Buffalo Council.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, April 17, 2026 – Storytelling and advocacy through film, culture, and collaboration at Arctic Encounter

    5 分鐘

  3. 4日前

    Thursday, April 16, 2026

    Photo: Researchers and community members gather for a presentation by Robin Masterman at the Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center in Bethel on April 9, 2026. (Samantha Watson / KYUK) Researchers and local experts gathered in Bethel last week to share environmental knowledge. As KYUK’s Samantha Watson reports, the conference highlighted the power of linking Indigenous knowledge with Western science across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It is the beginning of the Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference, but before everyone gets down to work – organizer Katie Basile asks them to stop and … “Think about resilience and abundance in Western Alaska. What does that look like?” Basile, with the Alaska Sea Grant which organized the conference, says it is hard not to get bogged down by the difficult issues the region is facing. Many of those problems are informing research presented this week: salmon fisheries in decline, permafrost erosion, and the devastation of Typhoon Halong. Basile says this gathering is also an opportunity to imagine what things could lead to a better future. “What conversations can we have this week that will connect us to a narrative of abundance and resilience?” The conference is in its 18th year and it rotates between Western Alaska communities. Bridging Indigenous knowledge with Western science took center stage. Joann Slats, mayor of Napakiak, spoke about growing up in the village — when permafrost was close to the surface. “The permafrost was about two feet, July, June.” Today, Slats says stronger fall storms, including October’s ex-Typhoon Halong, have been a new piece of the village’s relationship with its environment. “90% in our community, 90% of the homes experienced water getting into their homes.” Much of the research that was presented had similar firsthand accounts and testimonies around the changing environment. Nicole Herman-Mercer with the U.S. Geological Survey presented a project that couples collecting interviews with data surrounding extreme weather events in Y-K Delta communities. “We set out to develop finer scale climate data coupled with community narratives to create storylines of change.” Organizers said a record-breaking 160 people registered to participate in the conference this year. An eagle staff stands among the trees in the Black Elk Wilderness on March 21, 2026. (Photo: Preston Keres / U.S. Forest Service) A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by Great Sioux Nation Tribal leaders and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), that allows collaborative stewardship of the Black Elk Wilderness in South Dakota. Brian Bull of Buffalo’s Fire reports. Last month, members of both parties signed the MOU, in an event that also included a hike up Black Elk Peak. The wilderness comprises more than 13,000 acres of forest in the Black Hills National Forest and was created in 1980. Boyd Gourneau is chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, one of the 11 tribes represented in the agreement. He says this is an especially important development for Native youth. “Our children are one of the most important resources for the future of our nation. We want our kids to have a chance to visit the sacred lands, our ancestors roamed free at one time.” Gourneau said he wished the parties would have signed a MOU, as he considers that more binding. Ultimately he would like to see all the land returned to tribes. In a release, the USFS said the MOU “enhances opportunities for tribal guidance, knowledge, and consultation regarding wilderness management, resource protection, recreation, and cultural interpretation.”     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, April 16, 2026 – Eklutna: a trailblazer on gaming and climate change action in Alaska

    5 分鐘

  4. 5日前

    Wednesday, April 15, 2026

    Photo: Fresh snow coats Monument Valley Tribal Park straddling Utah and Arizona in February 2026. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) The Navajo Nation signed an agreement with Utah last month that centers on advancing economic development and authentic Indigenous representation through cinema. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, it also formalizes a time-honored tradition of filmmaking on Navajoland – home to one of Hollywood’s most iconic Western settings straddling Utah and Arizona. If you ever take a road trip to Monument Valley, you will see why this legendary landscape is so much more than just a movie set. It is also a tribal park, the first to be founded in 1958 and where about 100 or so Navajos actually call home. This 17-mile dirt loop – dotted with horses and hogans – is managed by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department. “If they say no, we tell the film production, no. But that doesn’t mean that we’re going to shut the door on you.” For Edsel Pete, who is in charge of the Navajo Nation TV and Film Office, the new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the state of Utah is all about being “film friendly”, while also caring for the environment. Scripts can be changed – the land, not so much. “As we know, film is not going anywhere, but we don’t want to just give away the resources. This is all we got, and we want to protect it.” Towering red sandstone buttes have, time and again, turned into the unmistakable backdrop for some of Tinseltown’s biggest blockbusters. From Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump” to the final chapter of the “Back to the Future” trilogy. No matter the genre, Monument Valley has been glittering on the silver screen for nearly a century, but its popularity began with Westerns. Virigina Pearce is director of the Utah Film Commission. “Both states claim it as our own and it does get a lot of requests.” Arizona was the first state to ink such an MOU with the Navajo Nation in 2019; talks are underway with New Mexico to follow suit. “This MOU came at such a great time for us to not only look back and consider the history, but also look forward and think about how much more could we do if we work together.” James Lujan is from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. He chairs the Cinematic Arts and Technology Department at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. and suggests these MOUs could benefit everyone. “It’s a win for the production companies. It’s a win for the tribe, because they have people that they’re putting to work to train below-the-line crew members.” Like gaffers, camera operators, and set designers. But Lujan thinks training above-the-line talent – screenwriters, producers and directors – is even more important for representation. “Because that’s the only way we’re going to break into mainstream cinema is by taking ownership and control of our own stories.”     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Wednesday, April 15, 2026 – Iñupiaq leaders weigh their economic future and oil drilling in the Arctic

    5 分鐘

  5. 6日前

    Tuesday, April 14, 2026

    Photo: A voter fills in a ballot during Bethel’s municipal election on October 1, 2024. (MaryCait Dolan / KYUK) The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) is speaking out against a proposed federal voting bill it says could create new barriers for Alaska Native voters. In a press release issued April 6, AFN urged Congress to reject the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which is currently being debated in the U.S. Senate. AFN represents more than 190 tribes, along with Native corporations and nonprofits across Alaska. Leaders say the bill would require voters to present documentary proof of citizenship — such as a passport or birth certificate — in person at a designated election office in order to register for federal elections. For many Alaska Native communities, especially in rural areas, that could mean traveling long distances, often by plane, at significant cost. In the statement, AFN says, “The SAVE Act… would disenfranchise eligible voters and recreate the very barriers our communities have fought for decades to dismantle.” The organization also raised concerns about how the bill would treat Tribal identification, noting that many IDs do not include citizenship status and could require voters to obtain additional documentation. AFN says that process could take weeks and may be difficult or impossible for some community members. The group argues the legislation is unnecessary, calling it “a solution in search of a problem” and pointing out that noncitizen voting is already illegal and rare. AFN says the bill could also restrict systems widely used in Alaska, including mail-in and online voter registration. As the debate continues in Washington, tribal leaders are calling on Congress to focus instead on improving access to voting, particularly in rural communities. A federal judge has rejected a plea agreement in the case of missing Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay. Begay, a 62-year-old member of the Navajo Nation, was last seen in 2021 at her home in Sweetwater, Ariz. and has not been found. According to the Associated Press, the judge denied a proposed deal for Preston Henry Tolth, who is accused of assaulting Begay before she disappeared. Prosecutors say the agreement would have allowed Tolth to avoid additional prison time. Begay’s family opposed the deal in court. Her niece, Seraphine Warren, told the judge, “Accountability is not time served… we still don’t have the truth.” Advocates say the case highlights ongoing challenges in addressing missing and murdered Indigenous people across the country. Arizona drivers have lots of specialty license plates to choose from – 114 to be exact. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, the largest tribe in the Phoenix metro area is among the latest to be featured. Back in 2023, State Rep. Teresa Martinez (R-AZ) pitched letting the Gila River Indian Community design its own plate. “Lots of people will think, ‘Oh, this is just another license plate bill.’ … It is a very big deal.” Because for each plate sold, $17 will be donated to the tribe’s transportation committee for traffic and road improvements. Commuters regularly travel through their reservation just south of Phoenix. “Especially when the I-10 is down.” Martinez’s proposal passed as part of a larger bill that included the neighboring Ak-Chin Indian Community and Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Gila River, in March, became the fifth of Arizona’s 22 federally recognized tribes to print one.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Tuesday, April 14, 2026 — Native in the Spotlight: cartographer Margaret Wickens Pearce

    5 分鐘

  6. 4月13日

    Monday, April 13, 2026

    Photo: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to Native American leaders gathered at Gila River Indian Community’s Wild Horse Pass Casino on April 8, 2026. (Caitlin Sievers / Arizona Mirror) Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a stop in the Phoenix, Ariz. metro area to visit the Gila River Indian Community last week. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, Sec. Kennedy touted tribal health accomplishments a year into President Donald Trump’s second term. Kennedy briefly took the stage at Wild Horse Pass during the annual Tribal Self-Governance Conference. “ We’re going to make Indian Country healthy again. Thank you all very, very much.” In his speech, Kennedy talked about making progress on key issues like food sovereignty, chronic disease, and federal dietary guidelines. He, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) literally flipped the food pyramid upside down. Tackling staffing shortages and aging infrastructure throughout the entire Indian Health Service (IHS) was another topic. Yet, the now defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) terminated a dozen leases for IHS facilities. This decision was seen as a costs-saving measure to shore up funds tied up in federal office space. And according to data from Stanford’s Big Local News, the U.S. cancelled 121 IHS contracts totaling over $8 million last year. The federal government is encouraging tribes to partner with data centers. That could mean leasing land or, as the Mountain West News Bureau’s Hanna Merzbach reports, selling power. At a U.S. Department of Energy webinar, Ken Ahmann with Colusa Indian Energy said that is where the big bucks come in. “ Potentially billions of dollars into the coffers of tribes.” His company provides energy infrastructure to data centers on tribal land. He says these partnerships can be good for tribes that have land and resources to power big projects like the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. Paul Bemore is the chair of the tribe’s utility board. “Tribes that are casino-dependent really need to look at other ways to build their economies, and I think data centers is one of those opportunities.” Though Bemore says people may be wary about how this will impact the environment. Other tribes have expressed concerns about data centers draining precious water supplies. The Native Youth Olympic (NYO) games begin this week in Anchorage. The games kick off Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center, bringing together hundreds of student athletes from across the state. Now in its 54th year, NYO celebrates traditional Alaska Native games rooted in survival skills, strength, and endurance. Events include the one-foot high kick, seal hop, and wrist carry — all designed to test both physical ability and mental toughness. Ann Lawrence is from Point Hope, Alaska and a cultural advisor for Cook Inlet Tribal Council. She says watching the children reunite every year brings her joy. “I love watching the kids participate. You see the friendship has grown over the years. Some of them that have started out as freshman, are graduating from high school, and they’re very involved, and it just warms my heart that these kids know that what they’re doing here is something that they can share with their future relatives. Maybe as they become parents, grandparents, I think is so important.” The games run through Saturday and are free and open to the public.     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Monday, April 13, 2026 — Tribes confront growing data center development pressure

    5 分鐘

  7. 4月10日

    Friday, April 10, 2026

    After much speculation, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren announced earlier this week that he will seek reelection later on this year. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more. President Nygren became the youngest president in Window Rock after defeating incumbent Jonathan Nez four years ago. Nygren won that race by just more than 3,500 votes. In a video message on social media, Nygren picked up his signature, black open crown hat. “And I will be tossing my hat into the race for Navajo Nation president. Let’s keep building on the momentum that we’ve built so far.” Since his inauguration, the sitting president has faced considerable scrutiny. A special prosecutor has called for his immediate resignation over alleged ethics violations that included the misuse of public funds, while Navajo Nation Council delegates continue trying to oust him. (Courtesy Mircea Brown) The nonprofit tribal organization Sealaska Heritage Institute has published a new book that presents Tlingit Raven stories for the first time in the original language with English translations. The 860-page volume brings together 50 stories by seven Tlingit storytellers born in between 1870 and 1915 across Southeast Alaska. As KCAW’s Hope McKenney reports, the stories were transcribed from recordings of oral performances and include some of the oldest known recordings of these stories told in Lingít. The book is currently available through Sealaska Heritage Institute’s website. Geiger says they also hope to make the original audio recordings of these stories available in the near future. 75-year-old Ḵ’ashgé Daphne Wright grew up listening to her aunt Katherine Mills tell her stories of Raven, a cultural hero, world-maker, and trickster figure among the Tlingit of Southeast Alaska. “I can just remember we’d be sitting in the kitchen, around the kitchen table, and it was maybe in the evening, with everyone just kind of sitting around and just listening, and just kind of a warm feeling. And just listening to my aunt’s voice.” Wright says reading this book, which features stories from her aunt, is like hearing her aunt’s voice again. “I miss her so much, you know. And I miss my mother … And so it just means so much that there’s something here and an actual physical book that has her stories in it.” This volume has been more than four decades in the making. It is the fifth in a series of books from Sealaska Heritage Institute called the “Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature,” and is the first in the series to be exclusively focused on Raven. Will Geiger is a research specialist with the Southeast nonprofit. “The intention of this series is to present standout examples of the Tlingit oral tradition in a written form, so that people who whether you do speak Lingít or not, you’re able to appreciate the depth and the artistry and the history.” This book features a transcribed version of the original recording on the left hand page and an English translation on the right. Geiger says Raven is one of the most developed characters in the Tlingit oral tradition, with stories ranging from sacred to humorous. “Mostly, he appears in the form of a person. And he can change forms … He turns into a woman, a little hemlock needle … and a raven.” For Lgeik’i Heather Powell Mills, a Lingít language teacher in Hoonah, hearing or reading these stories in the original language leads to deeper understanding. “Hearing our language is it’s like medicine to us… to have a strong connection to the land, to understand where you come from, in order to know where you’re going.” Mills says she’s grateful these stories were recorded and preserved for future generations. “We don’t have the time we used to have. I think this is a great way for us to learn. It was their dream for us.”     Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Friday, April 10, 2026 – Money management during economic uncertainty and the rise of Buy Now Pay Later

    5 分鐘

  8. 4月9日

    Thursday, April 9, 2026

    Photo: A cross and mural honor slain teen Emily Pike along U.S. 70 Route near Peridot on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. (Gabriel Pietrorazio) The FBI announced earlier this month that it is, once again, putting extra agents in the field to address a backlog of cold cases on tribal lands. As KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio reports, this effort is part of a years-long joint initiative with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Under Operation Not Forgotten, more law enforcement personnel will be filtering through nearly a dozen FBI field offices with close ties to Indian Country. Agents are being sent to cities like Phoenix, Ariz., Billings, Mont., Albuquerque, N.M., and Denver, Colo. Kevin Smith is with the FBI Phoenix Field Office. “A lot of our state is tribal territory. Right now, we’re set for 14 agents.” The FBI is handling 4,100 active Indigenous criminal cases nationwide. Smith says Arizona’s share is in the hundreds – including two high-profile ones for San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike and 8-year-old Navajo Maleeka “Mollie” Boone. “Every case is unique, and every case takes the time that it takes.” The Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments last month on whether prisoners can be forcibly medicated with psychiatric drugs — without a court hearing and the right to a lawyer. In the state corrections system, Alaska Native people are incarcerated at about twice the rate of white Alaskans. Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra has more. Prisoner Mark Andrews is housed at Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, Alaska. (Photo: Anne Hillman / Alaska Public Media) The Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments this month on whether prisoners can be forcibly medicated with psychiatric drugs — without a court hearing and the right to a lawyer. In the state corrections system, Alaska Native people are incarcerated at about twice the rate of white Alaskans. Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra has more. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought the case against the Department of Corrections (DOC) on behalf of a prisoner, Mark Andrews. He says he has been unjustly drugged with powerful psychotropic medication for most of the last seven years, without due process or access to legal counsel. The Department policy currently allows prisoners to be drugged against their will if they are gravely disabled or are in imminent risk for harming themselves or others. Doron Levine is a lawyer for the ACLU. He argued at the hearing that the policy infringes on rights protected by the state constitution. “Few things are more personal than someone’s body, and arguably, nothing is more personal than a person’s mind. It’s the locus of a person’s identity, and it’s a last refuge of freedom for people who are incarcerated.” Under department policy, prisoners have the right to hearings every six months with department staff. And they have the right to appeal the decision to a department committee. The ACLU argues that Andrews did not have sufficient access to hearings or an appeal. Justice Jennifer Henderson questioned Kimber Rogers, the attorney representing DOC. Justice Henderson says the facts seem to suggest that the prisoner was denied the rights promised in the department’s policy. Justice Henderson: “How do you respond to that?” Kimber Rogers: “Your Honor, I agree that there were definitely some problems, and Mr. Andrews’ hearings, but I don’t think that that’s important.” Henderson: “There were more than some problems. There were long periods of time where there were no hearings, for example.” Rogers: “Well, Your Honor, I would dispute that actually.” The ACLU lawyer argued that there should be a hearing in a courtroom because DOC staff may be biased to protect the institution over the person, but Rogers says a hearing inside prison is the best approach. When the Supreme Court issues a ruling, the decision could apply to the approximately 22 Alaska prisoners who are being forcibly drugged.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out today’s Native America Calling episode Thursday, April 9, 2026 — Roller derby skaters don’t let anyone push them around

    5 分鐘
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關於

Daily, five-minute newscast featuring the latest headlines and breaking news from Native and Indigenous communities anchored by Antonia Gonzales (Navajo) with reporters and storytellers from around the globe.

資料

  • 創作者
    Antonia Gonzales
  • 活躍年份
    2008年 - 2026年
  • 單集
    300
  • 分級
    兒童適宜
  • 版權
    © Koahnic Broadcast Corporation - All rights reserved - Contact nola@nv1.org for permission
  • 節目網站
    National Native News

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