Indigenous Affairs

The NextGen Holiday Market will bring young, Indigenous creatives to Santa Fe this weekend.

It is unclear who is on a state advisory council on missing and murdered Indigenous people announced nearly eight months ago by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham amid upset over her decision to disband a task force focused on the crisis.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is opening an investigation into disproportionately harsh punishment of Native American children by Gallup McKinley County Schools.

Federal agencies have awarded millions of dollars to scientific studies on Native American human remains, undermining the goals of NAGPRA as tribes fight for repatriation.

The federal commission compiling a report about missing and murdered Indigenous peoples’ is traveling to Indigenous communities to hear their stories. The next stops are Albuquerque and Billings.

Like many tribal leaders and advocates, Angel Charley of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women saw court challenges to the law as an attack on tribal sovereignty. She also says it was an opportunity for extractive industries to get a larger foothold on tribal lands.

Native law experts convened by the UCLA Native Nations Law and Policy Center examine the controversies over Thacker Pass and Oak Flat, sites important to the Paiute and Apache, respectively, that would be destroyed by proposed mines.

The Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act was recently signed into law and bans the export of cultural tribal objects. It also increases penalties for stealing and trafficking them.

As the cannabis industry flourishes in New Mexico and around the Mountain West, tribal businesses operate in a legal gray area. Federal deference to states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis doesn't always occur in all of Indian Country, exposing tribal businesses to crackdowns. Some call it discrimination.

A panel at the National Native Media Conference in Phoenix last week explored conflicts involving public lands, resource extraction and sacred sites around the West. “Tribes are not being obstructionists when their public health and the health of their communities are at stake," said Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva.