tag: bia
Defense bill snubs Indian Country in favor of Lumbee federal recognition (December 8, 2025)
Indian Country is on the losing end of the stick with the release of a must-pass defense bill that was negotiated behind closed doors. 
The nation’s oldest and largest inter-tribal organization opened its annual convention with a competing set of messages about the challenges facing Indian Country.
They say timing is everything, with a state-recognized group seeking action amid a lengthy shutdown of the federal government and a major breakdown in the halls of Congress.
Montana Free Press: Northern Cheyenne Tribe in leadership crisis (October 27, 2025)
Who is in charge of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe? A dispute has led to arrests of council members. 
Payments to tribes, law enforcement in tribal communities and health care for tribal citizens are all impacted by the shutdown of the federal government.
Fifty years into the self-determination era, tribal nations are running into new obstacles when it comes to managing programs that serve their people.
AUDIO: Legislative Hearing on H.R.681, H.R.3654, H.R.3903, H.R.3925, H.R.4463 (September 10, 2025)
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs holds a legislative hearing on September 9, 2025. 
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs is taking testimony from tribal and Alaska Native leaders at a legislative hearing.
A Native charter school in New Mexico has started off the new academic year without an athletics director.
Criminal cartels have long targeted federal and tribal lands along the United States borders with Mexico and with Canada.
Long-simmering tensions in the nation’s capital burst into the open at a confirmation hearing for one of Indian Country’s most crucial government positions.
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs holds a nomination hearing for William “Billy” Kirkland on July 17, 2025.
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs holds a nomination hearing for William “Billy” Kirkland on July 17, 2025.
The House Committee on Appropriations holds a subcommittee markup on the fiscal year 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill.
William “Billy” Kirkland is finally getting his confirmation hearing to be Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. Read his written statement to Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Floods in Texas and Oregon. Fires on the Navajo Nation. Find out how tribes are preparing for natural and other disasters.
Arizona Mirror: Fire prompts evacuations on Navajo Nation (July 2, 2025)
Hundreds of residents in several communities on the Navajo Nation are under evacuation orders as the Oak Ridge Fire continues to spread. 
The House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hold a joint oversight hearing into the Bureau of Indian Education.
Two Congressional committees are holding another hearing into alleged misconduct at Haskell Indian Nations University and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute.
Markup of funding bill for Indian Country programs postponed (June 23, 2025)
Indian Country is closely watching the appropriations process in light of funding cuts proposed by the executive branch of the U.S. government. 
VIDEO: ‘Sacred, protected sites’ (June 17, 2025)
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-New Mexico) discusses efforts to protect sacred sites with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. 
VIDEO: ‘Frustrated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (June 17, 2025)
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin) voices concerns about the Bureau of Indian Affairs at a hearing on June 12, 2025. 
The House Committee on Natural Resource hears from Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on June 12, 2025.
A new lawsuit alleges the U.S. owes $23.3 billion for the mismanagement of tribal trust funds during the Indian boarding school era.
Lawmakers are siding with tribes when it comes to the budget for the Indian Health Service.
It’s the end of an era for a mainstay of Native arts and culture in the nation’s capital.
Republican lawmakers are pushing back against drastic cuts to Indian Country programs like law enforcement and school construction.
AUDIO: Budget hearing for Department of the Interior (May 21, 2025)
The House Committee on Appropriations hosts a budget hearing for the Department of the Interior on May 20, 2025. 
President Donald Trump took office with a promise to help the Lumbee Tribe with its quest for federal recognition. What happens next?
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs holds an oversight hearing titled “Examining 50 years of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act in Indian Country.”
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs holds an oversight hearing titled “Examining 50 years of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act in Indian Country.”
The vast majority of Native students attend schools funded through the Department of Education, the cabinet agency that President Donald Trump wants to shut down.
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs is holding a field hearing to mark the 50th anniversary of the self-determination era.
Senate committee schedules confirmation hearing for Interior nominee (March 27, 2025)
The Department of the Interior, the federal agency with the most trust and treaty responsibilities in Indian Country, has just one Senate-confirmed leader in office. 
“Great Plains reservation communities are continuing to deal with a public safety crisis,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Regulatory activity has ground to a halt at the Bureau of Indian Affairs but one pro-tribal action has made it over the finish line in the era of Donald Trump.
VIDEO: Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on Indian Education (March 18, 2025)
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum discusses his views on Indian education on February 12, 2025. 
Press Release: Spirit Lake Nation reclaims 680 acres in North Dakota (March 17, 2025)
“This land transfer is a significant step toward strengthening tribal sovereignty and empowering the Spirit Lake Nation to use its trust lands for economic growth and community well-being,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. 
The Donald Trump administration is facing a major test of its commitment to Indian Country with a lawsuit challenging the firings of government employees at two tribal colleges.
NAFOA: 5 Things You Need to Know this Week (March 17, 2025) (March 17, 2025)
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