Monday, October 20, 2025

Photos: Willard Bill Jr. and the Black River Canoe Family provide the opening protocol at Seattle’s No Kings protest. (Courtesy SEIU6 / Protectors of the Salish / Instagram) Millions of protesters – including many Native and Indigenous people – joined this weekend’s 2,600 “No Kings” events held across the U.S. Muckleshoot tribal member Willard Bill Jr. and the Black River Canoe Family provided a drum song as part of Saturday’s opening protocol for a “No Kings” event held at the Seattle Center. Bill expressed solidarity with the Palestinian People, saying Natives know “what U.S.-sponsored genocide looks like.” President Donald Trump’s allies – including House Speaker Mike Johnson – criticized the “No Kings” rallies as un-American. The Association of Village Council Presidents CEO Vivian Korthuis speaks at Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Saturday, October 18, 2025. (Photo: Matt Faubion / Alaska Public Media) Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) delegates on Saturday called for an immediate emergency declaration from President Trump – and more federal assistance for communities hit by the remnants of Typhoon Halong earlier this month. It was one of dozens of resolutions passed on the final day of the AFN convention in Anchorage. The storm killed at least one woman, wiped out homes and infrastructure, and displaced more than a thousand people in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Hundreds of residents were sent to Bethel and then to emergency shelters in Anchorage over the last week. The resolution was put forward by the Association of Village Council Presidents, a tribal consortium that serves communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. Vivian Korthuis is the group’s CEO. “For this resolution, we have a lot of support from across the state. On behalf of our region, Quyana to everyone.” The delegates amended the resolution to also include damage caused in the Northwest Arctic and Bering Strait regions, and called for a Western Alaska emergency response hub in Bethel. Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) requested that Trump declare a federal disaster for Western Alaska earlier this week, but that request has not been approved as of this weekend. Alaska’s congressional delegation has also urged Trump to approve the declaration. Other AFN resolutions touched on a wide array of topics, from health and safety to education and subsistence. Check out our complete AFN coverage: Alaska’s Native Voice | AFN News Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Vice President Richelle Montoya in Window Rock, Ariz. on July 22, 2025. (Courtesy Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President) It’s been an interesting few weeks since Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren suddenly fired the tribe’s controller. In the fallout, local leaders from across the biggest reservation in the U.S. are now signaling growing disapproval with his administration. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has details. So far, at least two of the five regional agencies – representing nearly half of the tribe’s population – have passed no-confidence votes in President Nygren and his estranged Vice President Richelle Montoya. “Take me out of the equation, Richelle Montoya, don’t worry about me.” She’s even willing to leave office. “And if this is how we are going to be able to protect our people, then this is how it has to be.” But some have called on Vice President Montoya to lead, urging the council to suspend Nygren and install her as the tribe’s first female president. “And I’m prepared to do that.” As for Nygren, he doesn’t plan on stepping down. Citing a previous recall effort, he says those same organizers are now campaigning for no confidence resolutions across the 110 tribal chapter houses. And on this day in 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was ratified, which more than doubled the size of the United States. Napoleon Bonaparte, then the First Consul of the French Republic, sold the territory for $15 million. The purchase is considered President Thomas Jefferson’s landmark deal. Soon settlers spread across the continent, in land still occupied by an estimated 700,000 Native Americans.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.   Check out the latest episode of Native America Calling Monday, October 20, 2025 – Alaska Native residents assess their future after record-breaking storm damage