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A view of the Colorado River near the Silver Bridge on the Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park. From November 2022.

Supreme Court seems split in Navajo Nation water rights case

The justices weighed a dispute involving the federal government and the Navajo Nation’s quest for water from the drought-stricken Colorado River.
Phillip Yazzie waits for a water drum in the back of his pickup truck to be filled in Teesto, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation, on Feb. 11, 2021.

Feds want justices to end Navajo fight for Colo. River water

The tribe doesn't have enough water and says that the federal government is at fault.
Former Navajo chairman and president, Peterson Zah, speaks to a crowd gathered to honor his work in promoting Navajo language and culture, inspiring youth, and strengthening tribal sovereignty on Jan. 11, 2022, at the Navajo Nation casino east of Flagstaff, Ariz.

First Navajo President Dies

Peterson Zah was elected in 1990.
Low water levels at Wahweap Bay at Lake Powell along the Upper Colorado River Basin are shown, on June 9, 2021, at the Utah and Arizona border at Wahweap, Ariz.

Interior: $580M headed to 15 tribes to fulfill water rights

The money will help carry out the agreements that define the tribes' rights to water from rivers and other sources and pay for pipelines, pumping stations, and canals that deliver it to reservations.
Lorraine Eiler, a Hia-Ced O’odham woman, recalls growing up in Ajo, which is about 40 miles from the U.S. Mexico border and sacred Hia-Ced lands. Photo was taken in Ajo on Nov. 18, 2022.

‘We were always sovereign’: Hia-Ced O’odham seek federal recognition as a tribe

Descendants of those four surviving families are working to gain recognition.
Arizona has embraced the legalization of sports betting, and sites including FanDuel at Footprint Center have helped the state become second fastest in the nation to reach a billion dollars in total wagers.

The Buzz: Sports Betting in Arizona

Arizona has always been a destination for major sporting events, but those within the state now also have the ability to gamble on the outcomes of those games.
Smoke from a wildfire is lit by the sun in Eastern Arizona.

USDA awards $930 million towards wildfire preventions

Three million acres of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Forest Protection Project will receive funding.
Navajo President Buu Nygren delivers his inaugural speech Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Fort Defiance, Ariz. Navajo President Buu Nygren is the youngest person elected to the position, while Vice President Richelle Montoya is the first woman to hold that office. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca)

Buu Nygren sworn in as next Navajo Nation president

Nygren beat out incumbent President Jonathan Nez in the tribe's general election by about 3,500 votes.
A canal carries water from the Colorado River to tribal land in Arizona.

Biden signs water bills benefiting 3 tribes in Arizona

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday giving leasing authority to the Colorado River Indian Tribes, whose reservation tracks its namesake on the Arizona-California border.
Looking down at Havasu Falls.

Northern Arizona tribe to get federal aid for flood damage

President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration made by the Havasupai Tribe, freeing up funds for flood damage as it prepares to re-open for tourists after nearly three years.
A flag flies by the dome of the U.S. Capitol.

Law protects export of sacred Native American items from US

The effort largely was inspired by pueblo tribes in New Mexico and Arizona who repeatedly saw sacred objects up for auction in France.
An empty rack of flares sits on the wing of a turboprop Piper PA31T Cheyenne II airplane.

SRP researches cloud seeding in White Mountains to create snow amid historic drought

The state also helps fund cloud seeding programs in Colorado meant to increase flows into the Colorado River.
A flag flies by the dome of the U.S. Capitol.

Water bills for tribes in Arizona to head to President Biden

The U.S. House approved the legislation on Thursday, just a few days after the U.S. Senate did.
United States Capitol Building

US Senate advances water bills for tribes in Arizona

The bills now head to the U.S. House.
The Central Arizona Project moves water from the Colorado River to southern Arizona. July 2021

San Carlos Apache agree to lease water for Arizona community

Without the agreement the town would have no water.
This August 2022 photo provided by the National Park Service shows a double rainbow from the ranger station porch at Indian Garden, which is now called Havasupai Gardens, in Grand Canyon National Park. The Indian Garden name assigned to a popular Grand Canyon campground has been changed out of respect for a Native American tribe that was displaced by the national park. The Havasupai Tribe and Grand Canyon National Park announced Monday, Nov. 21, that Indian Garden will be renamed Havasupai Gardens.

Grand Canyon park changes campground name that haunted tribe

The Havasupai Tribe and Grand Canyon National Park announced that Indian Garden will be renamed Havasupai Gardens.

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