National Native News

Navajo Nation officials this week addressed ongoing concerns about the recent restart of uranium ore hauling through the reservation.

As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, it follows months of negotiations with the owners of a mine near the Grand Canyon.

In an online video, acting Navajo Attorney General Heather Clah said the tribe was unable to prevent the transport despite opposition from many residents, lawmakers, and Navajo President Buu Nygren.

The tribe doesn’t have jurisdiction over the haul route, which is made up of state and federal highways.

“So, the next best thing that we needed to go ahead and do is to make sure that we protected our Navajo Nation people. So that’s why we took the approach of negotiating terms in order to make sure that this agreement provides those protections.”

Navajo officials can now inspect the truckloads before they enter the reservation, and the shipments are limited to certain hours and days.

The agreement also includes emergency response procedures and several other provisions.

Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the tribe’s Environmental Protection Agency, pointed out that the mine is fully permitted with state and federal agencies.

“We took that and trying to develop as many mechanisms as we can to push the limits of regulation and oversight on this transport activity for the benefit of our communities. And that’s where we remain focused.”

Earlier this month, 25-ton trucks of uranium ore left the Pinyon Plain Mine near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon bound for a mill in southern Utah.

The shipments pass through several northern Arizona communities and a large swath of the Navajo Nation.

The tribe expects 10 trucks per day for the next two to four years.

A multigenerational home in White Mountain, Alaska burns in the early morning of February 20, 2025. (Courtesy Venessa Marie Koonooka)

A young boy from White Mountain, Alaska, leaped into action recently when flames enveloped his family’s home.

And as KNOM’s Ben Townsend tells us, the second grader likely saved his great-grandmother’s life.

Roseann Titus was getting ready for the day on Thursday morning when she saw flames coming from a bathroom at the front of the house.

Her granddaughter and great-grandson were still in bed.

Titus tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire and then rushed to wake up her family, but the flames spread into the hallway, blocking the way out of the house.

That’s when her great-grandson, eight-year-old Colton Koonooka-Kowchee, sprang into action.

“We didn’t know how to contain it, so he kind of jumped out the window and ran for help.”

That’s Colton’s mother, Venessa Marie Koonooka.

She said her son plunged 10 feet from the window to a snowdrift below.

He ran through deep snow to get help – which came in the form of Shane Bergamaschi, a volunteer firefighter.

Bergamaschi helped pull Titus through a window and rushed her to the local clinic to await a medevac.

“They helped us right away when we got in there with my grandma’s burns and smoke inhalation. I only had a popped knee and a few frostbites on my toes. I was okay.”

Titus was flown to Anchorage, where she was treated for burns on her shoulder and arm. The home was a loss, including personal belongings and two moose legs from a recent hunt.

Despite the heartbreak of losing the family home, Colton’s grandmother Nora Brown, who was not in the home at the time, credited her grandson with keeping the situation from getting much worse.

“If it wasn’t for Colton jumping out on his own, we would have probably lost my mother, and the houses nearby probably would have caught fire.”

Titus has worked for the Bering Strait School District since 1988.

Bering Air is ferrying donations to the family and an online fundraising campaign has been set up.

Close-up of one of the two gowns now on display. (Courtesy Smithsonian / NMAI)

The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. is displaying two gowns worn by Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone.

The installation opens Friday, ahead of Sunday’s Oscars.

Both gowns were a custom collaboration, designed by Gucci and Indigenous artist Joe Big Mountain, featuring Native design and quillwork.

Four public programs are planned in March.

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