Indian Country

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.

The Palms Casino Resort closed for two years after the COVID pandemic hit. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians bought it last year and its reopening makes the Palms the first Las Vegas casino to be fully owned and operated by a Native American tribe.

The program will focus on breast, colorectal and stomach cancers. It will start in Apache and Navajo communities, but the goal is to find solutions for any tribe.

From Florida to Alaska, dozens of tribes are working to harness energy from wind, sun and water to generate millions of dollars in revenue, create short- and long-term jobs and reduce utility costs for citizens, while also helping combat climate change and boost energy independence.

Abandoned uranium mines are found in all corners of the Southwest. With big money flowing in the coming decade from settlements with large corporations and the U.S. government for contamination, cleanup of hundreds of abandoned mines will finally begin after decades of neglect. And that means jobs for tribal citizens and businesses, providing an economic balm for areas that need work.

A proposed lithium mine along the Nevada-Oregon border would produce critical materials for electric car batteries along with local jobs, but critics say the damage to the environment, including the ancestral lands of multiple tribes, isn't worth it.

Lawmakers are pushing for a "do-over" of an Interior Department contract to review tribal jail deaths awarded to a former official. Nearly half of the deaths he was to review occurred on his watch.

Ignoring Black and brown communities impedes durable climate policy, BIPOC leaders tell federal lawmakers.

Nearly half of Native Americans and Alaska Natives have struggled with food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published by several Native-led groups.

In Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, less than 8% of qualifying households had taken advantage of a federal broadband subsidy. But an expansion in eligibility may mean an uptick in uptake.