Rez Life Weekly

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

Rez Life Weekly Staff Denver is poised to become the site of the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy, a groundbreaking initiative that aims to honor Indigenous history and welcome Native people back to Colorado, land many tribes once called home. According to CBS-Colorado, the project received a major boost after Denver voters approved funding as part of the recent Vibrant Denver bond measure in November. At the heart of the project’s vision is a space

By Jenna Mayzouni Medill Reports Northwestern University   The sound of the Huehuetl drum thuds gently against the ground as Sergio places it down on the cement playground in Harrison Park, in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.    His wife, Ana, places offerings in front of the drums and begins preparing the copal incense for the practice of the day. They are usually the first to arrive.    Children run through the park, zooming around the drums. Ana and Sergio sit on the si

The Greatest Rez Stories Ever Told A new podcast rooted in real conversation, real people, and real stories from Indian Country is launching this March on Rez Life Weekly . Privacy, Please Podcast , hosted by Joe Morey, is a no-filter conversation series built around the stories that shape life on the reservation and beyond. It is a place for honest dialogue, uncomfortable truths, laughter, healing, and the kind of storytelling that usually happens only when the room feels sa

By Joe Morey Rez Life News Editor CHICAGO — Gestational diabetes has risen steadily in the United States for nearly a decade, increasing every single year from 2016 through 2024, according to a new national analysis from Northwestern Medicine. The study, which examined more than 12 million U.S. births, found that rates climbed across every racial and ethnic group. However, the burden has fallen disproportionately on American Indian and Alaska Native women, who continue to exp

Rez Life Weekly Staff A 42-year-old Lac du Flambeau man remains in the Vilas County Jail on a $300,000 cash bond after authorities say he brutally assaulted a woman with a hammer in what prosecutors have charged as attempted first-degree intentional homicide. According to court records, Brett D. La Barge was taken into custody on Saturday, Dec. 13, after multiple 911 calls were received just before 1 p.m. reporting an active assault at a residence in the Town of Lac du Flambe

By Henry Redman Wisconsin Examiner December 17, 2025 The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, challenging the corps’ decision to grant a permit allowing the oil company Enbridge to reroute its Line 5 pipeline around the tribe’s reservation in northern Wisconsin. The lawsuit, filed in the Washington D.C. federal circuit court, is another step in the long legal history of the Enbridge pipeline and the comp

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor Kip Ritchie has spent more than two decades helping shape economic growth in Indian Country, and in 2023 he reached a historic milestone when he was named chief executive officer of Potawatomi Ventures, becoming the first enrolled tribal member to lead the business development arm of the Forest County Potawatomi Community. Based in Milwaukee, Ritchie now oversees a diversified enterprise valued at roughly $450 million, with a mission center

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The evolving state of American Indian education in Minnesota was the focus of extensive discussion during an American Indian Education Field Hearing held Monday at the Cedar Lakes Casino Hotel in Cass Lake, an event reported by the Bemidji Pioneer and hosted by the Minnesota Department of Education. Educators, parents and students participated both in person and remotely as they listened to updates and shared concerns directly with MDE Comm

LDF Tribal Police Press Release In the early afternoon of Saturday, December 13, 2025, law enforcement officers of the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department and Vilas County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a possible homicide in the Town of Lac du Flambeau. Upon their arrival at the scene, the officers apprehended a suspect and found an unconscious victim suffering from a severe head trauma. Officers immediately rendered aid to the victim and summoned an ambu

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas is moving to cancel a nearly $30 million federal contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following intense backlash from Native communities across the country, according to a December 15 Newsweek  article that first brought widespread attention to the deal. The contract, signed in October by KPB Services LLC, a newly formed tribal entity, was awarded by ICE to develop early design