indian country

Left to right: Lourdes Pereira, 23, Matthew Holgate, 23, Alec Ferreira, 25, Shelbylyn Henry, 32, Xavier Medina, 25, and Nalani Lopez, 19. The six voters met with NPR at the Phoenix Indian Center in downtown Phoenix.

Politics & Government

In Arizona, these young Native American voters seize their political power

10:47am February 01, 2024

Young voters and Native American voters are two groups that showed up for President Biden in the 2020 election. But ahead of his 2024 match-up, it's unclear if he'll be able to keep their support.

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Pins are pictured at a display counter during a cultural meeting at the Comanche Nation fairgrounds in Lawton, Okla., on Sept. 30.

Sometimes overlooked by campaigns, Native voters could decide major elections in 2024

10:43am November 20, 2023

by Ximena Bustillo

A voting bloc that hasn't gotten as much national attention, Native voters are an influential constituency in several swing states, making them a group to watch in 2024.

Molina Richards promised her friend that she wouldn't let anyone forget her daughter, Waniyetu Rose Loves War, who died in 2019.

National

Human Trafficking Crisis In Indian Country 'Like A Pandemic'

5:00am March 12, 2021

by Kirk Siegler

Of the 109 people currently listed as missing in South Dakota, 77 of them are indigenous. The state's legislature passed a bill this week to address the alarming crisis on and off reservations.

Tribal leaders on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota say they plan to hold the Indian Health Service accountable as the first vaccines are set to be delivered to Indian Country.

'Hold Their Feet To the Fire': Getting A COVID-19 Vaccine To Hard-Hit Indian Country

7:15pm December 11, 2020

by Kirk Siegler

A portion of the first coronavirus vaccines have been designated to go to Indian Country, but some tribes are skeptical about the federal government's ability to deliver and distribute the vaccines.

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Navajo voters casting their ballots after riding 10 miles on horseback through Navajo County, Ariz.

National

In Indian Country, COVID-19 Yet Another Obstacle To Casting A Vote

10:57am November 02, 2020

by Savannah Maher

People who live on America's 326 Indian reservations often have a harder time voting due to bad roads and lack of formal addresses. The pandemic is adding challenges.

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Diana Hu is a pediatrician at Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation and a member of the Navajo epidemiology response team.

Navajo Nation Sees High Rate Of COVID-19 And Contact Tracing Is A Challenge

5:00am April 24, 2020

by Laurel Morales

The Navajo Nation has the third highest COVID-19 infection rate in the U.S., after New York and New Jersey. The pandemic is exposing a longtime lack of federal funding for Indian Country health care.

Angelita Chegup (left) and Tara Amboh are among four women banished from their reservation for what they say are political reasons. They're now suing the Ute Tribe in Utah.

National

'It Changed Our Lives': Banished Native Women Fight Tribal Leaders In Federal Court

9:18am December 27, 2019

by Nate Hegyi

Banishment in Indian Country is usually used for violent offenders only. But in Utah, some tribal members are suing in federal court after being banished for what they say are political reasons.

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Kimberly Teehee is being nominated by Cherokee National Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. as a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cherokee Nation Names First Delegate To Congress

5:22pm September 03, 2019

by Graham Lee Brewer

Former Obama adviser Kimberly Teehee is being appointed as the tribe's first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The position is outlined in an 1835 treaty but had never been filled.

Houses on the Navajo Nation sit near sandstone cliffs north of Many Farms, Ariz. New Census Bureau estimates show a low rate of high-speed internet access among Native Americans who live on tribal land.

National

Native Americans On Tribal Land Are 'The Least Connected' To High-Speed Internet

9:06pm December 06, 2018

by Hansi Lo Wang

New Census Bureau estimates underscore the digital divide facing Native Americans living on reservations or other American Indian land in the U.S.

Tribal leaders worry that they will be left out of discussions surrounding major decisions affecting tribes and their land, like that of the Navajo Nation which covers parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

Tribal Leaders: Infrastructure Bill Should Include Indian Country Priorities

5:00am February 17, 2018

by Adrienne St. Clair

"Tribal infrastructure is American infrastructure," the president of the National Congress of American Indians said in response to Trump's proposal for investing in U.S. infrastructure.