Articles written by Susan Montoya Bryan


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 6 of 6

  • U.S. increases focus on cases of missing or dead Native Americans

    Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press|May 8, 2024

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It was a frigid winter morning when authorities found a Native American man dead on a remote gravel road in western New Mexico. He was lying on his side, with only one sock on, his clothes were gone and his shoes tossed in the snow. There were trails of blood on both sides of his body and it appeared he had been struck in the head. Investigators retraced the man’s steps, gathering security camera footage that showed him walking near a convenience store miles away in Gallup, an economic hub in an otherwise rural area bor...

  • Federal government expands tribal consultations for managing land

    Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press|Jan 3, 2024

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. government is entering a new era of collaboration with Native American and Alaska Native leaders in managing public lands and other resources, with top federal officials saying that incorporating more Indigenous knowledge into decision-making can help spur conservation and combat climate change. Federal emergency managers on Dec. 7 also announced updates to recovery policies to aid tribal communities in the repair or rebuilding of traditional homes or ceremonial buildings after a series of wildfires, floods and o...

  • Justice Department steps up investigation of missing Native Americans

    Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press|Jul 5, 2023

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. Department of Justice on June 28 announced it will be funneling more resources toward addressing the alarming rate of disappearances and killings among Native Americans. As part of a new outreach program, the agency will dispatch five attorneys and five coordinators to several regions around the country to help with investigations of unsolved cases and related crimes. Their reach will span from New Mexico and Arizona to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Michigan and Minnesota. Attorney General M...

  • Truth and healing commission would look at Native American boarding schools

    Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press|Jun 29, 2022

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The federal government has a responsibility to Native American tribes, Alaska Native villages and Native Hawaiian communities to fully support and revitalize education, language and cultural practices that prior boarding school policies sought to destroy, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said June 22. Haaland testified before a U.S. Senate committee that is considering legislation to establish a national commission on truth and healing to address intergenerational trauma stemming from the legacy of Native American b...

  • National Park Service committed to boosting tribal role in land management

    Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press|Mar 16, 2022

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said March 8 that he and other officials are committed to boosting the role Native American tribes can play in managing public lands around the U.S. He told members of a congressional committee during a virtual hearing that part of the effort includes integrating Indigenous knowledge into management plans and recognizing that federal lands once belonged to the tribes. Sams was questioned about how the National Park Service could use existing authority and recent executive d...

  • U.S. will investigate past oversight of Native boarding schools

    Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press|Jul 1, 2021

    The federal government will investigate its past oversight of Native American boarding schools and work to “uncover the truth about the loss of human life and the lasting consequences” of policies that over the decades forced hundreds of thousands of children from their families and communities, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced June 22. The unprecedented work will include compiling and reviewing records to identify past boarding schools, locate known and possible burial sites at or near those schools, and uncover the names and tri...