Christine Trudeau

The Institute of American Indian Arts will launch its first graduate program this summer. The Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative writing will be the first program of it’s kind at any tribal college in the nation.

The two-year program will focus heavily on writing in a number of genres, and the Institute of American Indian Arts, or IAIA, says there are nearly 30 candidates admitted for the program, which officially opens at the end of July.

The nations largest powwow, Gathering of Nations, is in full swing in Albuquerque, New Mexico this weekend. KUNM's Christine Trudeau reports the event is a time for celebration, but also security and surveillance for black market goods.

The Star Wars films have been translated into at least 50 languages, but this will be the first time a major movie, Star Wars Episode IV will be dubbed into a North American indigenous language. 
 The translation comes from a partnership between the Navajo Nation Museum, Navajo Parks and Recreation and Lucasfilm.

Manuelito Wheeler is the director of the Navajo Nation Museum and has been working to get the film translated for over three years. He hopes the movie will serve as a tool to preserve the language.

Obama’s proposed budget for Indian Health Services is up from FY 2012 by $124 million.. The White House’s focus on increased funding to IHS programs, it’s now up to congress to make a decision on the President’s budget.

Many tribal colleges are preparing for budget cuts if across-the-board spending cuts, known as the sequester, take place.

Developed to bring a Native perspective to higher education, the nations 36 tribal colleges serve nearly 20,000 Native and non-Native students, while tribal community colleges and GED programs serve an additional 88,000 students.

At the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, a cut in funding as large as 5% could take place.