February 28, 2026
Native youth die by suicide at rates 91% higher than the general population. Tribal communities are turning to culturally centered treatment — combining ceremony, traditional practices and mental health care — to address a crisis rooted in generations of historical trauma.
Currents
WASHINGTON — In addition to articles already covered by Native News Online, here is a roundup of other news released from Washington, D.C. that impacts Indian Country recently.
From Our Partners
Inside the Detroit Institute of Arts’ (DIA) Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation exhibition , visitors move through a gallery alive with material, memory, and motion—woven baskets, quillwork, jewelry, photographs, and mixed-media works speaking to one another across time and practice. Within this collective space, Kelly Church’s black ash basketry rises with quiet authority, grounding the room in generations of Anishinaabe knowledge and responsibility.
Opinion
Guest Opinion. The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a proposed 30-inch-diameter pipeline, 1,150 miles long, transporting crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois through South Dakota and Iowa. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of Fort Yates, North Dakota, along with the Yankton Sioux Tribe, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, were not consulted on the plan and objected to it.
Guest Opinion. Two years ago, the Cherokee Nation took a deliberate step to strengthen something that has always defined our people: Gadugi — working together for the common good.
Sovereignty
The Navajo Council's Health, Education and Human Services Committee on Monday approved Legislation No. 0195-24, amending the Navajo Nation Child Support Guidelines for the first time since 1996.
On Monday, the Resources and Development Committee (RDC) approved Legislation 0012-26, authorizing $84 million in Síhasin Funds for the Navajo Nation Transportation Improvement Project and adopting its Expenditure Plan.
Education
Three years ago, Denella Belin was not looking to become her own boss. A Navajo chef from Tuba City, Arizona, she had what many would consider strong job security.
The Ichigo Foundation has awarded the American Indian College Fund a $100,000 grant to support the Wounspe E’cetkiya O’takuye Piya A’yazunta Pi (Reconnecting Relatives to Education) Program over the next two years. As one of the College Fund’s pre-college adult education pathways, the program assists American Indians who have experienced involvement with the justice system by providing the resources and support needed to complete their high school equivalency (HSE)—an important first step toward expanded educational and career opportunities. This new funding will help grow and strengthen the program’s impact.
Arts & Entertainment
The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts announced the return of SWAIA Native Fashion Week, scheduled for May 8–9, 2026, at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe .
Moses Wiseman spoke his Yup’ik language before he learned English. As a college freshman, he entered the field of Alaska Native language revitalization with a bit of an inherited purpose.
Health
Environment
The Arctic Village Council, the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government and the Venetie Village Council submitted comments Tuesday to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service citing major deficiencies in the agency’s assessment of a proposed 20-year right-of-way that would allow the Kaktovik Iñupiat Corp. to annually construct a snow road through parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Rappahannock Tribe has filed an appeal challenging a state-issued permit that allows Caroline County to withdraw up to 9 million gallons of water per day from the Rappahannock River and transfer it to the Mattaponi River.