Rez Life Weekly

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor   Drug overdose deaths across the United States are falling at a pace not seen in decades, and officials in Indian Country say tribal communities are also seeing fewer fatalities, a shift many attribute to expanded access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, known as Narcan, and a reduced flow of fentanyl into local communities. According to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdose deaths declined b

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor   A major federal contracting pipeline used by tribally owned businesses is facing sudden turbulence after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a sweeping Department of Defense review of certain SBA 8(a) Business Development Program contracts, saying the Pentagon will take a “sledgehammer” approach to what he characterized as abuse and “DEI” driven contracting.   In public remarks reported by multiple outlets, Hegseth framed the review

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor Wisconsin could see online sports betting become legal as early as 2026 under new legislation that would place control firmly in the hands of the state’s tribal nations, according to reporting by Gaming America.   The proposal, Assembly Bill 601, would allow Wisconsin tribes to offer online sports wagering through mobile platforms while keeping major national sportsbook operators such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM outside the state’s b

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that high school graduation rates among Bureau of Indian Education funded schools have reached the highest level in the agency’s history, according to a department press release.   According to the Department of the Interior, graduation rates at Bureau of Indian Education funded high schools increased from 51 percent in 2015 to 79 percent in 2025. Federal officials said the gains surpass pre pan

By Jazmin Orozco Rodriquez KFF Health News Just hours after Rhonda Swaney left a prenatal appointment for her first pregnancy, she felt severe pain in her stomach and started vomiting. Then 25 years old and six months pregnant, she drove herself to the emergency room in Ronan, Montana, on the Flathead Indian Reservation, where an ambulance transferred her to a larger hospital 60 miles away in Missoula. Once she arrived, the staff couldn’t detect her baby’s heartbeat. Swaney b

Rez Life Weekly Staff The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe marked a significant milestone in community care and child protection with the grand opening of its new Child Advocacy Center in Wahkon on Dec. 18, 2025. Photo by Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin According to Inaajimowin, the official news publication of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the opening brought together an extensive network of partners committed to supporting children and families who have experienced trauma. The event

By Chandra Colvin Minnesota Public Radio Read Story Here Virgil Wind, chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, gave the tribe’s 42nd annual State of the Band address on Tuesday at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia. The address updates band members on current tribal affairs and provides updates from the previous year. Last year, Wind named 2025, “Year of the Child.” The tribal government said it would update the band’s K-12 schools.   Since then, he said the band

By Jill R. Dorson Ingame.com Arguing that despite the efforts from Wisconsin’s Ho-Chunk Nation to “affix the ‘sports betting’ label” to its sports event contracts, the U.S. Congress allows for trades made on a designated contract market (DCM) to be exempt from tribal gaming laws, Kalshi Monday filed a brief in support of dismissing the tribe’s case to keep it from operating on Indian land. In the case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the Ho-Ch

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The Oneida Nation has removed the former president and chief executive officer of its economic development group after one of its companies entered into contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a move that tribal leaders and citizens said conflicted with the nation’s values and culture.   On Thursday, Oneida ESC Group announced that Matt Kunstman had been appointed interim president and CEO effective January 5, replacing Jef

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said the federal government crossed a dangerous line when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to provide basic information about detained tribal citizens unless the tribe agreed to enter into what he described as an “immigration agreement with ICE.” In a memo addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Star Comes Out inf

By Martha Bellisle Associated Press Read Story Here Maricopa County Sheriff Booking Photo SEATTLE -- A man who held himself out as a Native American activist was sentenced Wednesday to 46 years in prison for drugging and raping women in a case that inspired calls for changes in Washington state law to prohibit defendants who represent themselves from directly questioning their accusers. Redwolf Pope, who had apartments in Seattle and Santa Fe, New Mexico, was arrested in 2018

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians is taking steps to preserve and celebrate traditional Native foodways through the creation of a Native American traditional recipe book, according to a report from the Leelanau Enterprise.   The project is being led by the tribe’s Community Health Representatives Sub-Department and is designed to gather and document traditional recipes shared by tribal members and community participants

Press Release US Attorney, Arizona White Mountain Apache officer Canyon Day charged in federal indictment PHOENIX, Ariz. – A White Mountain Apache Tribal Police officer was arrested Wednesday in Canyon Day on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, after being charged in a federal indictment with sexual abuse and kidnapping. Karl Eugene Leslie, 42, of Whiteriver, Arizona, is charged in a 15-count indictment, returned Dec. 23, 2025, with Aggravated Sexual Abuse, Kidnapping (includ

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has filed a new federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, challenging a permit issued to Enbridge Energy Partners LLC for a proposed reroute of the Line 5 pipeline around the tribe’s reservation in northern Wisconsin. The lawsuit asks the federal agency to reconsider its approval, arguing that the permitting process did not fully comply with federal environmental laws.   According

Rez Life Weekly Staff According to a report from Indian Country Today, a small but historically significant land return took place in northern Wisconsin when the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration transferred approximately two acres of land back to the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The land, located along Trout Lake in Arbor Vitae, was formerly home to the Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center and had originally belonged to the tribe before

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor For Tailyr Irvine, photography has become a powerful tool for connection, identity, and truth telling. A photojournalist from the Flathead Indian Reservation and a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Irvine is featured in a recent PBS video where she reflects on her journey into photography and the responsibility she feels telling stories from Native communities.   Irvine said that early in her career, she struggled wit

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor   The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development has announced its 2026 Native American 40 Under 40 class, recognizing 40 outstanding Native leaders from across Indian Country who are making significant impacts in business, education, governance, nonprofit work, and community development. According to the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED), the annual award honors Native professionals under t

Melissa Olson MPRNEWS.ORG 2025 was a big year for tribal-state cannabis agreements. Seven tribal nations have entered into government-to-government cooperative agreements or compacts with the state that regulate tribal businesses participating in the state’s cannabis market. Two and a half years ago, state lawmakers envisioned a role for tribally regulated cannabis markets. The resulting state law authorizes the governor to negotiate compact agreements with tribes. Tuesday, G

By Brian Edwards Tribal Business News Congress released bill text Monday for a bipartisan, bicameral package of three fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills that would reject nearly $1 billion in proposed cuts to tribal programs sought by the Trump administration, according to congressional negotiators. The package would preserve funding for health care, public safety, education, infrastructure and treaty obligations across Indian Country. The three-bill package combines the C

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor Wisconsin’s 2025–26 elk hunting season concluded with a total of 15 elk registered, according to a report by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and data provided by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. The harvest included 12 elk taken by state-licensed hunters and three bulls harvested by Ojibwe tribal members. State hunters registered seven bulls and five cows during the season, according to the Wisconsin DNR’s