2026 Native Lands & Sacred Places News Stories (Land Back, Treaty Rights, Tribal Homelands, Historic Protections) News Stories
Oak Flat ruling exposes gaps in legal protections for Native sacred sites, puts U.S. behind global standards on Indigenous rights (Native News Online) 6/12/2026
Senator Mike Lee’s fast-track attempt to scrap Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s management plan has failed (Salt Lake Tribune) 6/12/2026
After generations apart, Northern California Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria regains 450 acres of ancestral land (Sacramento Bee) 6/11/2026
South Dakota Tribes revoice claim to Black Hills through joint resolution (South Dakota Public Broadcasting) 6/10/2026
This former Utah Tribal chairman believes Native American burial sites are near the MIDA data center project (Salt Lake Tribune) 5/27/2026
‘Failed experiment in human suffering’: Alligator Alcatraz immigration jail to close (Guardian) 5/13/2026
Mining company pulls out of controversial Pe’ Sla drilling project (ICT) 5/8/2026
Tribes renew opposition to Goldendale pumped storage project during ceremony near sacred site (KGW8 NBC News Portland) 5/8/2026
Court clears path for “Alligator Alcatraz” on sacred Tribal land (Mother Jones) 5/4/2026
Federal court grants two-week mining reprieve at Pe’ Sla (South Dakota Public Broadcasting) 5/4/2026
Trump border wall crews damage 1,000-year-old Native etching in Arizona (Hyperallergic) 5/1/2026
Tribal advocates seek emergency court order to halt drilling at sacred Pe’ Sla site (Native News Online) 4/28/2026
Apache Stronghold files updated lawsuit over Oak Flat land transfer (Native News Online) 4/24/2026
Plans to withdraw protections from oil and gas development around Chaco prompt 70,000 public comments to federal agency in one week (Native News Online) 4/11/2026
New Mexico officials, Tribal leaders vow to oppose slate of federal actions on public lands (Source New Mexico) 4/9/2026
Historical, cultural and environmental tensions mount ahead of uranium exploration hearing (South Dakota Searchlight) 4/7/2026
Tribes object as Trump administration moves to reopen Chaco Canyon to drilling (Native News Online) 4/3/2026
‘We will never stop fighting’ | Fight for Oak Flat wages on, despite land transfer (Native News Online) 3/31/2026
Farm bill draft would permanently block return of Fort Reno to Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (NonDoc) 3/20/2026
There are dozens of Indigenous mounds in North Carolina. Why do Tribes only own a few? (NC Local) 3/19/2026
Last hope to save Apache sacred site Oak Flat fizzles out at Supreme Court (Tucson Sentinel) 3/19/2026
Bears Ears resource management plan could be Utah lawmakers’ next target using Congressional Review Act (Aspen Public Radio Colorado) 3/18/2026
Landback: 600 acres return to Indigenous stewardship in the Adirondacks (Native News Online) 3/17/2026
California pledges to open 7% of its land and waters to Indigenous Tribes — a step toward healing a 175-year-old broken promise (LA Times) 3/17/2026
Apache women seek court intervention as federal land is turned over for copper mining (ABC News) 3/16/2026
US transfers sacred Oak Flat site to Resolution Copper, dealing blow to Tribal opponents (Cronkite News - Arizona PBS) 3/16/2026
Federal officials can honor bipartisan legacy of greater Chaco Canyon protections (Pew) 3/12/2026
Native American Tribes in the West are trying — and succeeding — in getting ancestral lands back (KJZZ NPR Phoenix) 3/11/2026
Chuckwalla National Monument’s defenders rally to save it (San Bernardino Sun) 3/10/2026
Utah lawmakers ask Congress to undo Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan (Aspen Public Radio) 3/5/2026
Indigenous Peoples decry permit allowing mineral drilling at sacred Black Hills site (IC Magazine) 2/28/2026
BLM nominee promises to protect national monument important to Tribes (AZ Central) 2/27/2026
LandBack advances across the West (High Country News) 2/16/2026
Washoe Tribe Completes historic 10,274-acre land return near Lake Tahoe (Native News Online) 2/10/2026
Fixing one byzantine process would return reservation lands to Tribes and improve landscape health (Ground Shift) 2/9/2026
Feds greenlight $2B renewable energy project on Yakama Nation sacred site (Washington State Standard) 2/2/2026
Tribes and environmental groups sound alarm about fate of one of Utah’s national monuments, Grand Staircase-Escalante (Salt Lake Tribune) 1/23/2026
Lawsuit between MHA Nation, North Dakota over mineral rights headed for trial (KFYR TV North Dakota) 1/16/2026
‘A holy place’: Preserving Native American culture in the Southwest (Deseret News) 1/11/2026
The Miccosukee Tribe blocked Alligator Alcatraz. Then Trump blocked a bill to return their land. (Grist) 1/9/2026
Western Apaches return to 9th Circuit to defend holy land (Tucson Sentinel) 1/8/2026
Apache leader walks 60 miles to court hearing that will decide fate of Sacred Oak Flat (Native News Online) 1/6/2026
Trump veto stalls effort to expand Miccosukee Tribal lands (Native News Online) 1/2/2026
