Every day, newsrooms across the country make decisions about what stories to cover. Too often, stories about Native American communities — stories that matter deeply to the people living them — are pushed aside, buried, or never assigned at all.
Here are five stories from the past month that deserved more attention from the national media.
1. The Pueblo of Jemez Gets Its Land Back
In a quiet ceremony that drew far less attention than it deserved, the Biden administration transferred 465 acres of national forest land to the Pueblo of Jemez in New Mexico. The land, which includes the pueblo's ancestral village of Wan Sibi and numerous sacred sites, had been part of the Santa Fe National Forest for decades.
This is not a land swap or a lease — it is a permanent transfer of ownership. The Pueblo of Jemez now holds the land in trust, meaning it can protect sacred sites, manage forests according to traditional ecological knowledge, and ensure that future generations can access their ancestral homeland.
The transfer was years in the making, requiring coordination between the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Pueblo of Jemez. It represents one of the most significant land returns to a tribal nation in recent years — and it is part of a growing trend.
Why it matters:
Land back is not a radical fringe movement. It is federal policy, and it is happening. The Pueblo of Jemez land transfer is a model for how other tribes can reclaim ancestral lands through negotiated, legal channels.
2. The Cherokee Nation Opens Its First Immersion School in Oklahoma
The Cherokee Nation recently celebrated the opening of a new Cherokee language immersion school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma — the first new immersion school built by the nation in decades. The school will serve students from pre-K through 8th grade, with a curriculum taught entirely in the Cherokee language.
The Cherokee language is one of the most endangered Indigenous languages in North America. According to the Cherokee Nation, there are fewer than 2,000 fluent speakers remaining, most of them elders. The immersion school is part of an aggressive revitalization effort that includes online courses, a Cherokee language master-apprentice program, and a growing library of Cherokee-language media.
Why it matters:
Language is the carrier of culture. When a language dies, the knowledge, stories, and ways of thinking embedded in that language die with it. The Cherokee Nation's investment in immersion education is a model for what Indigenous language revitalization looks like at scale.
3. Tribal Nations Challenge the Supreme Court's Brackeen Decision Implementation
In June 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in the landmark Brackeen v. Haaland decision. The ruling was celebrated as a major victory for tribal sovereignty and Native children. But the fight is not over.
This month, a coalition of tribal nations filed a joint brief challenging implementation gaps in the post-Brackeen landscape. Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, some states continue to process Native child custody cases in ways that violate the spirit — and in some cases, the letter — of ICWA. The brief argues that states are using procedural loopholes to circumvent the law's requirement that Native children be placed with Native families whenever possible.
Why it matters:
ICWA is one of the most important federal laws protecting Native children and families. The Supreme Court upheld it, but laws are only as strong as their enforcement. This story is a reminder that legal victories require ongoing vigilance.
4. Boarding School Healing Coalition Releases New Report
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) released a major new report this month documenting the physical locations of federal Indian boarding schools across the United States. The report, based on archival research and site visits, identifies 18 previously undocumented boarding school sites and confirms the existence of 16 unmarked burial sites associated with the schools.
The report is part of the coalition's ongoing work to document the full scope of the federal boarding school system, which operated from 1819 to the 1970s and forcibly removed hundreds of thousands of Native children from their families. The Department of the Interior's own 2022 investigative report identified at least 973 children who died at boarding schools — a number that NABS says is likely a significant undercount.
Why it matters:
The boarding school era is one of the most traumatic chapters in Native American history, and it is only beginning to receive the public attention it deserves. For Native communities, this is not history — it is intergenerational trauma that continues to shape family and community life today.
5. The Intertribal Agriculture Council Launches Food Sovereignty Initiative
The Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC) announced a major new initiative this month aimed at expanding food sovereignty across Indian Country. The program, funded by a combination of federal grants and private foundation support, will provide technical assistance and funding to tribal nations seeking to develop local food systems.
The initiative comes at a critical time. Many Native communities live in "food deserts" where access to fresh, healthy food is severely limited. The Navajo Nation, for example, has only 13 grocery stores for a population of 170,000 spread across 27,000 square miles. The pandemic dramatically highlighted these food access disparities.
The IAC's initiative will support tribal farms, ranches, and food processing facilities, with a focus on traditional foods and sustainable agricultural practices, including a youth component training the next generation of Native farmers.
Why it matters:
Food sovereignty is one of the most concrete expressions of tribal sovereignty. When a nation can feed itself, it is less dependent on federal programs and external supply chains. It also means communities can reconnect with traditional foods central to cultural identity and spiritual practice.
The Stories That Deserve More
These five stories represent just a fraction of the news emerging from Indian Country every month. They are stories of resilience, innovation, and the ongoing work of nation-building — and they deserve to be part of the national conversation.
The Indigenous Beacon is committed to covering these stories and the many others that mainstream media overlooks.