2024 Indigenous Media Award Winners

Print / Online – Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities 

First Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio, Michael Greenlar
Carson Waterman: ‘I did the best I could to survive’
Central Current

Second Place
​​Chad Hunter
Tribe celebrates Mankiller Barbie doll
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Danielle Harrison
Tribal member may grow out hair, Army says
Smoke Signals 

Honorable Mention
Chad Hunter
CN embraces awareness movement for the missing
Cherokee Phoenix

Print / Online – Best News Story 

First Place
Bennet Goldstein
Great Lakes pollution threatens Ojibwe treaty rights to fish
Wisconsin Watch

Second Place
Nora Mabie
Medicaid fraud scheme targets Native Americans in Montana
Lee Montana newspapers

Third Place
Karina Brown
Experts Say Lawsuits Pose Greatest Threat to Tribes in Decades
Underscore News

Print / Online – Best Photo of Indigenous Communities 

First Place
​​Jeremy Wade Shockley
Southern Ute Bear Dance welcomes spring
The Southern Ute Drum 

Second Place
Jeremy Wade Shockley
Celebrating the 101st Southern Ute Tribal Fair: Rodeo
The Southern Ute Drum 

Third Place
Chris Picciuolo
Museum Specialist Debbie James teaches Kids Tortilla Camp graduates
O’odham Action News

Radio / Podcast – Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities

First Place
Anya Steinberg, Sequoia Carrillo, Casey Miner, Ramtin Arablouei, Rund Abdelfatah, Cristina Kim, Devin Katayama, Lawrence Wu, Julie Caine, Kevin Volkl
A tale of two tribal nations
National Public Radio / Throughline

Second Place
Mike DiGirolamo, Erik Hoffner
What Indigenous knowledge can teach the world about saving biodiversity
Mongabay

Third Place
Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, Amanda Aronczyk, Keith Romer, Willa Rubin
Blood, oil, and the Osage Nation: The battle over headrights
National Public Radio

Honorable Mention
Rhonda McBride
The passing of Gregory Golodoff: The last link to life on Attu Island and a forgotten chapter of World War II
KNBA

Radio / Podcast – Best Feature Story 

First Place
Steve Paulson, Anne Strainchamps, Charles Monroe-Kane, Joe Hardtke, Shannon Henry Kleiber, Mark Riechers, Angelo Bautista, Sarah Hopefl
The spirit of Jim Thorpe
To The Best of Our Knowledge / Wisconsin Public Radio and PRX

Second Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Kim Kaschor, Rhiannon Johnson, Laura Beaulne-Stuebing
Search The Landfill
CBC Unreserved

Third Place
Tana Weingartner
‘No one else has a commitment like this’: The two Miamis on their unique partnership
WVXU – Cincinnati Public Radio

Honorable Mention
Gabriel Pietrorazio
An Airbnb stay at this Navajo hogan gives guests a glimpse into life without running water
KJZZ

Television – Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities 

First Place
Sarah Weiser, Gabrielle Glaser, Anne Checler, Kyra Darnton, Chris Buck
Generations Stolen
Retro Report and WORLD Channel

Second Place
Kira Kay, Jason Maloney, Michael Janowski, Justin Allen, Tracy Wholf, Chris Drew, Adrianne Anderson
“Our America: Rebirth of the Range”
ABC OTV / ABC News and the BIR

Print / Online – Best Photo of Indigenous Communities

First Place
Amy Romer
Indigenous veterans honoured during event in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səlilwətaɬ territories
IndigiNews

Second Place
Aaron Hemens
Married at the powwow: Dancers tie the knot at snpink’tn event where they first met
IndigiNews

Third Place
Christian Toews
Stickball 2: Sunset
Biskinik 

Honorable Mention
Charles Fox
The legacy of Carlisle
ICT

Print / Online – Best News Story

First Place
Kelly Meyerhofer, Frank Vaisvilas, Sarah Volpenhein
Indigenous or pretender? Questions raised about UW-Milwaukee professor who led Native studies institute
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Second Place
Max Nesterak
White Earth marijuana raid challenges Minnesota cannabis law
Minnesota Reformer

Third Place
Alex Wigglesworth
This tribe was barred from cultural burning for decades, then a fire hit their community
Los Angeles Times

Print / Online – Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities 

First Place
Liza Gross, Peter Aldhous
Indigenous, Essential, Exploited.
Inside Climate News

Second Place
Jazmin Orozco-Rodriguez
Tribal health workers aren’t paid like their peers. See why Nevada changed that.
KFF Health News

Third Place
Anna V. Smith, Mark Olalde, Umar Farooq
How Arizona squeezes tribes for water
High Country News

Honorable Mention
Charles Fox
A final journey from Carlisle
ICT

Print / Online – Best Feature Story

First Place
Joseph Lee, Jessie Blaeser, Chad Small
Extreme heat will take an unequal toll on tribal jails
Grist

Second Place
Charles Fox
Fighting to get home
Belt Magazine

Third Place
Zoya Teirstein
PFAS and Indian Country
Grist

Honorable Mention
Mark Olalde, Anna V. Smith, Umar Farooq
How Arizona stands between tribes and their water
ProPublica and High Country News

Print / Online – Best News Photo

First Place
Divine Windy Boy
Seneka Locklear Smoke Dance Showcase
The Southern Ute Drum 

Second Place
Divine Windy Boy
One way sky
The Southern Ute Drum 

Third Place
Wendy Witt
Grandchildren at powwow
Meskwaki Nation Times 

Honorable Mention
Jen Deerinwater
Remembering Urban Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People
Crushing Colonialism The Magazine 

Print / Online – Best Feature Story

First Place
Alicia Hegland-Thorpe
An act of mending: An internment memorial in ND honors resilience
ArtsMidwest.org

Second Place
Nancy Spears
Protecting children and healing families, one Native auntie at a time
The Imprint

Third Place
Alicia Hegland-Thorpe
Art as a catalyst: Indigenous expression in ND
ArtsMidwest.org

Honorable Mention
Divine Windy Boy
Native Lens Media Fellowship turns focus to tribe
The Southern Ute Drum

Print / Online – Best Longform/Magazine Story

First Place
Susan Bell, Marjorie Kitty
Healing footsteps
CBC Cree Unit

Print / Online – Best News Story 

First Place
Adrianna Adame, Tracy Barnett, Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, Bernardo Tzeliee Carrillo Ramírez
Pedestrian deaths, poor street lighting spark public safety concern on ND reservation highway
Buffalo’s Fire 

Second Place
Robert L. Ortiz
Native Love host annual walk to bring awareness to MMIR
The Southern Ute Drum

Third Place
Derrick James
House override extends tribal compacts
McAlester News-Capital

Print / Online – Excellence in Beat Reporting

First Place
Nancy Spears
Indigenous children and families
The Imprint

Second Place
Derrick James
Choctaw Tribal Council Elections
McAlester News-Capital

Third Place
Molly Adams
Indigenous community reporting in Lawrence, KS
The Lawrence Times

Honorable Mention
Derrick James
Tulsa v. Hooper
McAlester News-Capital

Print / Online – Best Environmental Coverage

First Place
Odette Auger
Lithium mining is next for Dene lands and water
Watershed Sentinel

Second Place
Odette Auger
Replenishing Front Line Activists
Watershed Sentinel 

Third Place
Roselynn Yazzie
Pine nut (teva) gathering prepares future generations
Sho-Ban News

Print / Online – Best Feature Photo 

First Place
Wendy Witt
Sunset on grand entry
Meskwaki Nation Times

Second Place
Divine Windy Boy
Jr. Womens Jingle Dress dancer Zariah J. Whiteplume
The Southern Ute Drum

Third Place
Jill-Marie Gavin
Sisters gather First Foods
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Honorable Mention
Divine Windy Boy
The 134th UMU Bear Dance welcomes all!
The Southern Ute Drum

Print / Online – AARP Elder Coverage Award

First Place
Lori Edmo
Longtime FH Recreation director retires
Sho-Ban News 

Second Place
Divine Windy Boy
Vida B. Peabody: Eldest living Southern Ute recognized
The Southern Ute Drum 

Third Place
Marjorie Kitty, Susan Bell
Cree elder has been playing fiddle for 70 years
CBC Cree Unit

Multimedia – Best Multimedia 

First Place
Christina Walker
Oklahoma Native royalty and traditions
The Shawnee News-Star

Second Place
Lindell Haywahe, William Yuzicapi
Maria Campbell: 50th anniversary of HalfBreed
First Nations University of Canada – Indigenous Communication Arts
CFNU the Stream, http://www.cfnuradio.ca

Third Place
Jill-Marie Gavin
Elder recounts life at Celilo, 66 years after inundation behind The Dalles Dam
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Honorable Mention
William Yuzicapi, Shannon Avison
Indigenous Mathematics Podcast
First Nations University of Canada – Indigenous Communication Arts
CFNU the Stream, http://www.cfnuradio.ca

Radio / Podcast – Best Newscast

First Place
Gary Fife
Emvpanayv – Elizabeth Johnson
Mvskoke Media

Print / Online – Best Feature Photo 

First Place
Jarrette Werk
Bhie-Cie Zahn-Nahtzu
Underscore News

Second Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith
Carla Rossi
Underscore News

Third Place
Jarrette Werk
Salmon Claus
Underscore News

Honorable Mention
Stacie Boston
SkasdiCon Vol. II sees more attendees, celebrities for second year
Cherokee Phoenix

Print / Online – Best Feature Story

First Place
Brian Bull
How the recovery of a stolen plant helped one tribe re-Indigenize tobacco
Underscore News

Second Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith, Jarrette Werk
California Gold Rush outpost now in Native hands
Underscore News

Third Place
Montoya Whiteman, Karen English, Kristen Goodfriend, Meghan Little, Candace McDonough, Kyle Coulon, Patrick Quinn
Nourishing our communities + reclaiming Indigenous food sovereignty in Canada
Winds of Change Magazine

Print / Online – Excellence in Beat Reporting

First Place
Odette Auger
Two and a half years after killing a Wet’suwet’en man, RCMP officers may finally face charges
Ricochet Media / Windspeaker.com / AMMSA / The Tyee

Second Place
Bella Davis
New Mexico elected officials’ actions didn’t match their rhetoric about MMIP
New Mexico In Depth

Third Place
Benny Polacca
Osage Nation Congress
Osage News

Print / Online – Best News Story

First Place
Chris Aadland
Parent pushback leads to day care rate hike pause
Confederated Umatilla Journal

Second Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith
Will Portland’s teachers strike change a policy that harms Native students?Underscore News

Third Place
Shannon Shaw Duty
OU student wants university’s headright interest to further Osage educations
Osage News

Honorable Mention
Meredith Johnson, Braden Harper
MCN issues arrest warrant for Okmulgee County Jail official over LHP officer assault
Mvskoke Media

Print / Online – Best Environmental Coverage

First Place
Shannon Shaw Duty
Federal legislation under review to create avenue for headright return
Osage News

Second Place
Jarrette Werk
At Thacker Pass, extraction and resistance come to a head
Underscore News

Third Place
Chris Aadland
Surprising research findings challenge assumptions
Confederated Umatilla Journal

Print / Online – AARP Best Elder Coverage

First Place
Will Chavez
Cherokee Nation citizen celebrates doing a 5K for 1,000 days in a row
Cherokee Phoenix

Second Place
Lindsey Bark
Fitness class aids in physical fitness, camaraderie among seniors
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Dionne Phillips
By teaching Secwepemctsin, Minnie Phillips breathes life into the language
IndigiNews

Print / Online – Best Editorial

First Place
Cara McKenna, Eden Fineday, Aaron Hemens, Anna McKenzie
Taking accountability and asking the B.C. Supreme Court to do the same
IndigiNews

Second Place
Odette Auger
You can not keep killing us
Pivot Legal Society

Third Place
Tyler Thomas
Cherokee Nation needs an athletic hall of fame to celebrate citizens
Cherokee Phoenix

Multimedia – Best Multimedia

First Place
Darren Brown, Diego Hartico, Randy Burleson
“Lost Warriors” the Cheyenne and Arapaho prisoners of Fort Marion
Cheyenne and Arapaho Productions

Second Place
Stacie Boston
Threads through time
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Micah Fletcher
Exploring the Rez
Cherokee Phoenix

Television – Best Feature Story

First Place
Stacie Boston
Cherokee Cemeteries Restoration Organization locating and restoring cemeteries
Cherokee Phoenix

Radio / Podcast – Best News Story

First Place
Savannah Maher
Who is the Indian Arts and Crafts Act supposed to protect?
Marketplace

Second Place
Allison Herrera
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell: HB 1775 needs to be ‘clarified’ as spotlight shines on state’s history
KOSU Radio

Third Place
Melissa Olson
Lower Sioux Community explores reconciliation through an ‘honor tax’
MPR News

Radio / Podcast – Best Feature Story

First Place
Janell Henry
CBC Indigenous: The history of Rez Radio in Manitoba
CBC Indigenous

Second Place
Savannah Maher
Indigenous creatives are blazing trails in the gaming industry
Marketplace

Third Place
Mathew Holding Eagle III
Beltrami County Historical Society pushes to return sacred Indigenous artifacts to communities
MPR News

Honorable Mention
Melissa Olson
‘Unapologetically Indigenous’ mural preserved for future generations
MPR News

Radio / Podcast – Excellence in Beat Reporting

First Place
Brian Bull
Government-to-government legislative coverage
KLCC 

Second Place
Rhonda LeValdo
Tribals leaders meeting at NCAI to address top concerns
National Native News

Third Place
Allison Herrera
Indigenous affairs in OK
KOSU Radio

Print / Online – Best Health Coverage

First Place
Alastair Lee Bitsoi
Native mental health providers seek to heal boarding school scars with informed and appropriate treatment
High Country News

Second Place
Kate Nelson
An Indigenous-led team is transforming a Minneapolis superfund site into an urban farm
Civil Eats

Third Place
Candace Maracle
Overdose crisis in Six Nations
CBC Indigenous

Print / Online – General Excellence

First Place
Navajo Times

Second Place
Ka Wai Ola

Third Place
Biskinik

Print / Online – Best Digital Publication

First Place
Alice Malepeai Silbanuz, Amy Schwab, Puanani Fernandez-Akamine, Kaleena Patcho, Ed Kalama, Jason Lees, Kelli Soileau, Trip Rems
Ka Wai Ola

Second Place
Eden Fineday, Aaron Hemens, Cara McKenna, Dionne Phillips, Kayla MacInnis
IndigiNews

Third Place
ICT

Print / Online – Best Feature Photo

First Place
Garett Fisbeck
Grand entry
Hownikan 

Second Place
Krista Allen
Wilderness River Adventures’ S-rig goes through rapid on Colorado River
Navajo Times

Third Place
Tailyr Irvine
War against the children
The New York Times

Honorable Mention
Garett Fisbeck
Sunset ranch
Hownikan

Print / Online – Best Column

First Place
‘Auli’i Nathaniel, Nakana’ela Nathaniel
The Deeper Truths About the Maui Fires
Ka Wai Ola 

Second Place
Eden Fineday
The supposed unmasking of Buffy Sainte-Marie doesn’t bring vindication — only more hurt
IndigiNews

Third Place
Laureli Ivanoff
The Seasons of Uŋalaqłiq
High Country News 

Honorable Mention
Doug Cuthand
Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Print / Online – Best Feature Story

First Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine
Hoiana Ola: Reinvigorating Life, Recovery and Wellbeing for Maui
Ka Wai Ola

Second Place
Brandi Morin
“We are not trash!” A daughter’s fight to bury her mother
BBC 

Third Place
Anna McKenzie
Parents win battle to have son’s Kwak̓wala name on his birth certificate
IndigiNews

Honorable Mention
Kate Nelson
For many Native Americans, fry bread is tasty, nostalgic and complicated
Conde Nast Traveler

Print / Online – Best Sports Story

First Place
Molly Young
In ‘football heaven,’ a coach suspended. A town divided. What happened in Ringling?The Oklahoman

Second Place
Lauren J. Mapp
For Indigenous men playing in world championship this week, lacrosse isn’t just a sport. It’s medicine.
The San Diego Union-Tribune

Third Place
Kate Nelson
Angel City FC’s Madison Hammond is Black, Native and using her spotlight in the NWSL
Andscape

Honorable Mention
Quentin Jodie
Monument Valley parents, athletes outraged with alleged racial comments made by Utah referee
Navajo Times

Print / Online – AARP Best Elder Coverage 

First Place
Amelia Schafer
Oglala Lakota elder reflects on military service
ICT

Second Place
Aurora Pfaff
Sick days
Adirondack Life

Third Place
Joaqlin Estus
Iñupiaq artist Joseph ‘Joe’ Senungetuk has died
ICT

Honorable Mention
Kellie Matherly
Wilson Roberts, storyteller
Biskinik

Print / Online – Best Layout 

First Place
Biskinik

Second Place
Krista Allen
Navajo Times

Third Place
Kaleena Patcho
Ka Wai Ola

Print / Online – Best Longform / Magazine Story

First Place
Anita Hofschneider, Jake Bittle
West Maui Grist
Grist

Second Place
Cara McKenna, Matt  Simmons, Marty Clemens
‘Welcome home, dear ancestor’: after nearly a century, a stolen totem pole returns to the Nisg̱a’a Nation
IndigiNews / the Narwhal

Third Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine
Transportation tribulation
Ka Wai Ola

Print / Online – Best Sports Photo

First Place
Quentin Jodie
Piedra Vista ace pitcher Emma Lovato
Navajo Times

Second Place
Quentin Jodie
Monument Valley Mustang Uzziel Flores battles Valley Christian’s Caleb Danzeisen
Navajo Times

Third Place
Quentin Jodie
Northern Elite post Kenyon Aguino puts up a shot against the Akichita boys basketball team
Navajo Times

Print / Online – Best Editorial

First Place
Meghan Sullivan
Indigenous students fight tribal regalia bans
Scripps News

Print / Online – Best News Story

First Place
Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton
Tulsa panelists call out law enforcement on inaction regarding MMIP
Tulsa World

Second Place
Shondiin Silversmith
‘Failure of government’: AZ moves to end predatory Medicaid fraud targeting Indigenous people
The Arizona Mirror

Third Place
Joaqlin Estus
Anchorage pledges permanent housing amid record homeless deaths
ICT

Honorable Mention
Kianna Joe
Protect ‘Adahiil Residents working to keep Grand Falls grand
Navajo Times

Print / Online – Best Environmental Coverage

First Place
Lyric Aquino
Forests managed by Indigenous nations face a $100 million funding gap
Grist

Second Place
Joseph Lee
30×30 Grist
Grist

Third Place
Mark Trahant
This time it’s different? The rush to mine Indigenous lands
ICT

Honorable Mention
Kate Nelson
Alaska’s climate-driven fisheries collapse is devastating Indigenous communities
Civil Eats

Print / Online – Best Two-Spirit Coverage

First Place
Graham Lee Brewer
Legislation seeks to repeal the Navajo Nation’s ban on same-sex marriages
NBC News

Second Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine
Preserving the Original Story of Kapaemahu
Ka Wai Ola 

Third Place
Laura Clark, Justin O’Reilly
Two-Spirit powwow dancers represent LGBTQ2S pride in traditional Native spaces
In The Know by Yahoo

Honorable Mention
Laura Clark, Justin O’Reilly
Peshawn Bread is breaking Indigenous female stereotypes on the big and small screens
In The Know by Yahoo

Print / Online – Excellence in Beat Reporting

First Place
Debra Krol
The Arizona Republic

Second Place
Shondiin Silversmith
Coverage on MMIP issues within Arizona
The Arizona Mirror

Third Place
Anna McKenzie
Child ‘welfare’ system
IndigiNews

Honorable Mention
Lauren J. Mapp
Indigenous communities in San Diego County
The San Diego Union-Tribune

Multimedia – Best Multimedia

First Place
Brittany Guyot
APTN Investigates Inside Series: 2180 Days
APTN

Second Place
Brandi Morin, Geordie Day
Killer Water: The toxic legacy of Canada’s oil sands industry for Indigenous communities
Ricochet Media, Indiginews, The Real News Network

Third Place
Sahar Khadjenoury, Frank Blanquet
Native Hope Champions
FNX Television

Honorable Mention
Aicha Smith-Belghaba, Shane Powless
How food became a weapon of colonization
This Week in Canada, CBC News

Television – Best Feature Story

First Place
Meghan Sullivan
Indigenous students fight tribal regalia bans
Scripps News

Second Place
Jacqueline McKay
Why the Sinixt are being left out of the new Columbia River Treaty
CBC Indigenous

Radio / Podcast – Best Feature Story

First Place
Gabriel Teodros, Jeremy Dutcher, Jessica Ramirez, Tracy Rector, Jenny Asarnow, Julian Martlew, Isabel Khalili
Wolastoqey Sounds Like This: Jeremy Dutcher – Live On KEXP
Nia Tero – Seedcast

Second Place
Kamiah Koch
The story behind Grand Ronde’s MMIP billboard
Smoke Signals

Print / Online – General Excellence 

First Place
Me Yah Whae
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

Second Place
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Smoke Signals

Honorable Mention
Osage News

Print / Online – Best Health Coverage

First Place
Latoya Lonelodge
988 – Talking mental health
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune

Second Place
Montoya Whiteman, Karen English, Meghan Little, Kristen Goodfriend, Candace McDonough, Kyle Coulon, Patrick Quinn
Engineering medicine project-based learning is fostering innovation + decolonizing device-based medicine in Canada
Winds of Change Magazine

Third Place
Lindsey Bark
CN breaks ground on new $400 million hospital to replace existing facility
Cherokee Phoenix

Honorable Mention
Divine Windy Boy
Mental health first aid training made possible through 988 lifeline grant
The Southern Ute Drum

Print / Online – Best Two-Spirit Coverage

First Place
Stacie Boston
Preliminary hearing in murder case set for January
Cherokee Phoenix

Second Place
Shondiin Silversmith
‘Strength through Native drag:’ Indigenous artists don’t let discrimination stop them
The Arizona Mirror

Third Place
Nancy Spears
Born of history: A Tulalip youth’s journey to indigenize child welfare
The Imprint

Print / Online – Best Layout 

First Place
Kate Anderson
Me Yah Whae
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

Second Place
Robert L. Ortiz
The Southern Ute Drum

Third Place
Osage News

Print / Online – Best Sports Photo

First Place
Jeremy Shay
Indian Relay riders start the Chief Race at the FHIRA Memorial Day races
Sho-Ban News

Second Place
Micah Fletcher
FC Tulsa hosts Indigenous Peoples’ Night
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Wendy Witt
Powder puff football
Meskwaki Nation Times

Honorable Mention
Wendy Witt
Potato sack race
Meskwaki Nation Times

Print / Online – Best Sports Story

First Place
Jarrette Werk
‘A Centerpiece of Our Community’
Underscore News

Second Place
Roselynn Yazzie
Bannock Warrior Challenge
Sho-Ban News

Third Place
Morgan Taylor
Mvskoke fighter makes debut at XFN: Xtreme Fight Night
Mvskoke Media

Print / Online – Best Column 

First Place
Ruby Hansen Murray
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ a missed opportunity
Osage News

Second Place
Naka Nathaniel
Maui fires
Honolulu Civil Beat

Third Place
Gary Fife
Emvpanayv (One who Tells the Story)
Mvskoke Media

Print / Online – Best Digital Publication 

First Place
Kate Anderson
Me Yah Whae
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

Second Place
Shannon Mitchell, Wendy Witt, Crystal Mzhickteno
Meskwaki Nation Times

Third Place
Jeremy Wade Shockley, Divine Windy Boy, Robert L. Ortiz, Krista Richards, Rosaleigh Concepcion
The Southern Ute Drum

Honorable Mention
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, Adrianna Adame, Talli Nauman, Castle Fox, Tracy L. Barnett, Alicia Hegland-Thorpe, Jaucqleen Aguilar
Buffalo’s Fire
Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Radio / Podcast – Best Two-Spirit Coverage

First Place
Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker, Jessica Ramirez, Jenny Asarnow, Tracy Rector
‘We’ve become Paolo for everyone’: Creating UTOPIA for queer and trans Pacific Islanders
Nia Tero – Seedcast

Second Place
Allison Herrera
Ban on gender-affirming care would have an outsized effect on Oklahoma’s two-spirit community
KOSU Radio

Third Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Rhiannon Johnson
Two-Spirit artivists share two ways of seeing the world
CBC Unreserved

Print / Online – Best International Indigenous Coverage

First Place
Joseph Lee, Tristan Ahtone, Maria Parazo Rose, Blanca Begert
The Human Cost of Conservation
Grist

Second Place
Sonam Lama Hyolmo
Traditional healers push for recognition and licensing of age-old Himalayan practice
Mongabay

Third Place
Lyric Aquino
In Brazil, the legal theory that could strip Indigenous peoples of their land
Grist 

Television – Best Newscast

First Place
Meghan Sullivan
Indigenous students fight tribal regalia bans
Scripps News

Second Place
Micah Fletcher
Cherokee Nation wraps up series of controlled hunts
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Micah Fletcher
Cherokee Nation citizen becomes pickleball pro
Cherokee Phoenix

Television – General Excellence 

First Place
Sahar Khadjenoury, Frank Blanquet
FNX NOW
FNX Television

Second Place
Cherokee Phoenix

Television – Best News Story

First Place
Micah Fletcher
Stilwell High School football team honors late coach Zach Self
Cherokee Phoenix 

Second Place
Micah Fletcher
8-year-old Cherokee wins golf championship in Las Vegas
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Meghan Sullivan
Indigenous students fight tribal regalia bans
Scripps News

Honorable Mention
Stacie Boston
Kasey Alert system takes effect in Oklahoma
Cherokee Phoenix

Print / Online – Best News Photo

First Place
Jason Lees
Protect What You Love:  Ernie Lau and little girl at Red Hill water protest
Ka Wai Ola 

Second Place
Lindsey Bark
2023 RTR riders return from 950-mile journey
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Echo Reed
BigHill Art Space blessing
Osage News

Honorable Mention
Echo Reed
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ premieres in Los Angeles
Osage News

Radio / Podcast – General Excellence

First Place
Gary Fife
Mvskoke Radio

Second Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Rhiannon Johnson, Laura Beaulne-Stuebing, Kim Kaschor
Healing after harm: The Buffy Sainte-Marie investigation
CBC Unreserved

Third Place
Antonia Gonzales, Emily Schwing, Jill Fratis, Hannah Bissett, Rhonda McBride
Alaska’s Native Voice
KNBA

Honorable Mention
Antonia Gonzales, Rhonda LeValdo
NCAI coverage
National Native News

2024 IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award

Nellie Moore (Iñupiaq)

2024 IJA Richard LaCourse Award For Investigative Journalism

Mary Hudetz (Apsaalooke/Crow), Propublica

2024 IJA Tim Tiago Free Press Award

Brandi Morin (Cree/Iroquois/French)