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- By Native News Online Staff
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.— The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has awarded a grant of $100,000 to the nonprofit Local Media Foundation on behalf of Native News Online, a leading independent news outlet that covers important news across Indian Country.
The one-year grant will be used to hire Indigenous journalists to raise awareness and expand coverage of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) healthcare, education, tribal economic development, tribal sovereignty, and the environment.
The grant will be administered by Local Media Foundation, a charitable trust of the Local Media Association that seeks to ensure a healthy future for local journalism by reinventing business models for news.
“Sustainability for publishers of color is one of our four strategic pillars at LMA. We are extremely proud to support this important work,” said Nancy Lane, CEO, Local Media Association. “We hope more funders will step up to assist Indigenous media outlets on both the journalism and business side. Thanks to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians for this significant investment.”
“We are pleased to support this project for Native News Online, a news organization that has worked hard to improve the narrative about Indian Country through its daily reporting on important issues,” says Johnny Hernadez Jr., Vice-Chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Business Committee.
Founded in 2011, Native News Online provides news to millions of Native and non-Native readers through its website, free daily newsletters, and social media channels, as well as its weekly Livestream interview show, Native Bidaske.
“We are grateful to the San Manuel Band for this grant and its continued support of Native journalism over the years,” Editor and Publisher Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi) said. “This funding will allow us to hire more AI/AN journalists as we build our newsroom staff and expand our network of freelance writers and photographers who bring a Native perspective to their reporting.”
For the past decade-plus, Native News Online has covered the important Indigenous stories that are often overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the toppling of colonizer statues during the racial equity protests to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide, and Indian Boarding Schools, Native News has been there to provide a Native perspective and elevate Native voices.
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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.
The 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
