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
Happy Monday. Welcome to March, which the Ojibwe refer to as Ziissbaakdoke Giizis ( Sugar Moon), referring to the start of the maple syrup season.
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 Indian Gaming Association last week sharply criticized the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, accusing the federal regulator of enabling the expansion of illegal prediction market betting nationwide and undermining tribal 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.
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
On Friday, February 27, 2026, the U.S. Forest Service’s Black Hills Regional Office issued a permit allowing exploratory graphite drilling at Pe’sla, a sacred Indigenous site that has been used for ceremony and prayer for thousands of years.
Last Tuesday, Chilkat Forever delivered a powerful message to the Haines Assembly: nearly 300 Chilkat Valley residents have signed letters opposing the proposed Palmer Project and calling for long-term protection of the Chilkat River. The letters urge the Assembly to “keep the Chilkat River free of acid-generating mines and full of fish – forever.”