Author

Shondiin Silversmith
Shondiin Silversmith is an award-winning Native journalist based on the Navajo Nation. Silversmith has covered Indigenous communities for more than 10 years, and covers Arizona's 22 federally recognized sovereign tribal nations, as well as national and international Indigenous issues
Department of Interior announces funding opportunity for tribal communities to address climate change
By: Shondiin Silversmith - April 24, 2022
Tribal nations across the country have the opportunity to receive federal money to address the unique effects of climate change within their communities. “As the effects of climate change continue to intensify, Indigenous communities are facing unique climate-related challenges that pose existential threats to Tribal economies, infrastructure, lives, and livelihoods,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said […]
Replacements for removing derogatory names on federal lands published
By: Shondiin Silversmith - February 26, 2022
The Department of the Interior’s Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force has published a list of replacement names for the geographic features with the name “squaw,” which was officially declared a derogatory term last year by Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland. “Words matter, particularly in our work to make our nation’s public lands and waters accessible […]
‘A matter of dignity’: Biden signs executive order to address violence against Indigenous people
By: Shondiin Silversmith - November 16, 2021
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Monday addressing violence against Indigenous communities. “These efforts are a matter of dignity,” Biden said during the opening ceremony for the White House Tribal Nations Summit. “That’s the foundation of our nation-to-nation partnership.” The executive order directs the departments of Justice, Interior, Homeland Security, and Health and […]
Violence against Indigenous women is a crisis in the U.S., report finds
By: Shondiin Silversmith - November 14, 2021
Violence against Indigenous women in the U.S. is a crisis, but the extent of the problem remains unknown, according to a report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. “There’s no one single database that has all this information,” Gretta Goodwin, the director of GAO’s Homeland Security and Justice team, told the Arizona Mirror. “So, […]