Elyse Wild

3 days ago | nativenewsonline.net | Elyse Wild

A 2022 study by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control made headlines for revealing that Native Americans die on average 6.5 years younger than the general population. But new research shows that the life expectancy gap is likely much larger. Published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study found racial misclassification on death certificates has effectively skewed data and erased Native people from vital statistics.

5 days ago | nativenewsonline.net | Elyse Wild

Victims of radiation exposure from federal uranium mining and nuclear testing on tribal lands in the Southwest could receive increased compensation under an expanded version of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act included in a major congressional spending bill. The expanded RECA, sponsored by Sen.

2 weeks ago | nativenewsonline.net | Elyse Wild

House lawmakers from both parties pledged Thursday to restore advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service after the Trump administration proposed eliminating the funding mechanism that protects tribal healthcare during government shutdowns. The Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget request includes $8.1 billion for IHS, but removes advance appropriations for fiscal 2027 — the first time since 2023 that the protection has been excluded from a budget proposal.

3 weeks ago | nativenewsonline.net | Elyse Wild

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians reached a historic water rights settlement agreement with two local water agencies, confirming the tribe's right to 20,000 acre-feet of groundwater per year. Signed between the tribe, the Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agency, the settlement calls for $500 million in federal funding for water infrastructure projects in the Coachella Valley.

3 weeks ago | nativenewsonline.net | Elyse Wild

Navajo citizens will gather outside of the Nation's Council Chambers in Window Rock, Ariz., to pray for healing and urge lawmakers to reauthorize and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which paid out a total of $372.6 million to Native Americans exposed to radiation from the United States' development and testing of nuclear weapons. For decades, the federal government mined uranium, a naturally occurring radioactive metal that fuels nuclear power, on the Navajo Nation.