First Place
Brittany Harlow
The Morrison matriarch- Mvskoke mastermind or manipulated mother?
VNN Oklahoma

Second Place
Nora Mabie
Gone Too Soon
Lee Montana newspapers

Third Place
Nora Mabie
‘Torture center’: Community members condemn conditions at Fort Peck jail
Lee Montana newspapers

First Place
Ted McDermott
Cops kill Native Americans at a rate 5X that of whites and 3X of Blacks. Why?
Lee Enterprises 

Second Place
Nora Mabie
Gone Too Soon
Lee Montana newspapers

Third Place
Emma Glassman-Hughes
On Cape Cod, the Wampanoag Assert Their Legal Right to Harvest the Waters; The Mashpee Wampanoag Work With a Cape Cod Town to Restore Their Fishing Grounds
Civil Eats

First Place
Michelle Alaimo
Restoration celebration
Smoke Signals

Second Place
Michelle Alaimo
Native Youth Wellness Day
Smoke Signals

Third Place
Jeremy Wade Shockley
Celebrating the 102nd Southern Ute Tribal Fair: Rodeo
The Southern Ute Drum

First Place
Nora Mabie
Remains come home
Lee Montana newspapers 

Second Place
Emma Glassman-Hughes
On Cape Cod, the Wampanoag Assert Their Legal Right to Harvest the Waters; The Mashpee Wampanoag Work With a Cape Cod Town to Restore Their Fishing Grounds
Civil Eats

Third Place
Stephanie Woodard, Joseph Zummo
Federal Courts Sentence Native Americans to Longer Prison Terms
Barn Raiser 

First Place
Christian Toews
Stickball under the rainbow
Biskinik

Second Place
Emily Sullivan
An Alaska Native mutual aid network tackles the climate crisis
High Country News

Third Place
Roberto (Bear) Guerra
The complex case of growing native plants
High Country News

First Place
Jerry Redfern
‘How Do You Approve an Underground Toxic Waste Dump Without Telling Nobody?’
Capital & Main

Second Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio
Along a 300-mile hauling route, Navajo uranium concerns collide with U.S. clean energy agenda
KJZZ

 Third Place
Katheryn Houghton, Arielle Zionts
Native American Patients Are Sent to Collections for Debts the Government Owes
KFF Health News

First Place
Anna V. Smith, Maria Parazo Rose
States own lands on reservations. To use them, tribes must pay.
High Country News, Grist

 Second Place
Christine Ro
How Maasai people were reunited with precious heirlooms
BBC Future 

Third Place
Aimee Gabay
As drought parches Mexico, a Yaqui water defender fights for a sacred river
Mongabay

First Place
Jimmy Thomson, Gavin John
‘We’re just getting started’: from Alberta to Montana, Blackfeet guardians hope to bring back the buffalo jump
The Narwhal

Second Place
Sari Horwitz, Dana Hedgpeth, Emmanuel Martinez, Scott Higham, Salwan Georges
‘In the name of God’
The Washington Post

Third Place
Jessica Kutz
How a Native elections official is breaking down voting barriers in Arizona
The 19th

First Place
Sarah Keaveny Vos
Special School Ceremony Honours NDTR
CBC PEI

First Place
Yvette Fernandez
Symbolic medical bills and prayers: Tribes fight for RECA, share struggles from radiation exposure
Mountain West News Bureau (MWNB) 

Second Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio
River cane helped keep Native flute-making alive. Arizona wants this invasive reed gone
KJZZ / Here & Now

Third Place
Rhonda McBride
Call of the Seal
KNBA

First Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio
Utah mill linked to Arizona uranium mining takes 136 tons of Japanese nuclear waste
KJZZ / The World 

Second Place
Rhonda McBride
Native woman, believed slain by serial killer Brian Smith, declared homicide victim
KNBA 

Third Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio
This Phoenix nonprofit is fighting a global black market for feathers by gifting them to tribes
KJZZ 

First Place
Andrew Becker, Bernice Yeung, Ashley Cleek, Jenny  Casas, Nikki Frick, Kim Freda, Steven Rascón, Zulema Cobb
A Baby Adopted, A Family Divided
Reveal and Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley Journalism

Second Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio
‘A blot on American history’: Biden apologizes for 150 years of Indian boarding schools
KJZZ / Weekend Edition 

Third Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio
The Geronimo Animal Rescue Team is trying to save pets, strays on the San Carlos Apache Reservation
KJZZ

First Place
Chris Picciuolo
Community Garden and Day Labor Staff Work Together to Plant Traditional Food at Farm Plot
O’odham Action News

 Second Place
Chris Picciuolo
Beaded Plume Brings a Taste of Salt River to Santa Fe
O’odham Action News

Third Place
Chris Picciuolo
Salt River Recycling Center Open for Business 
O’odham Action News

First Place
Samah Assad, Dave Savini, Tim Viste, Alfredo Roman, DeAndra Taylor, Scott Wilson, Reed Nolan, Bill Cortez, Amanda Arden, Adam Marzec
Buying Black Hawk
WBBM-TV/CBS Chicago

Second Place
Matthew Reichel, Robyn Huang
Youth leaders revive Indigenous seafood harvesting heritage
Mongabay 

Third Place
ABC News Investigates
Prime with Linsey Davis – ABC News Investigates: Bringing 128,000 Ancestors Home
ABC News

First Place
Ginger Zee, Daniel Manzo, Kelly Landrigan, Jenn Metz, Jose Duran, Stephanie Ebbs
The Power of Us: Navajo Power
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir 

Second Place
Dawn White
100,000 square-foot Choctaw Cultural Center teaches the rich history of the tribe’s culture
KXTA/KTVT

First Place
Chad Bradley, Aspen Ford, Christopher  Lomahquahu, Madison Perales, Reagan Priest, Sam Ellefson, Eshaan Sarup, Mia Berry
Failure to Comply
ICT

First Place
Maegan Fidelino
Inuit Art Quarterly 

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

Third Place
Telling the stories of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
O’odham Action News

First Place
Napatsi Folger, Jessica MacDonald, Erin Sylvester, Melissa Kawaguchi, Emily Lawrence, Tiffany Raddi, Maegan Fidelino, Alysa Procida
Inuit Art Quarterly 

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

Third Place
Telling the stories of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
O’odham Action News

First Place
Derrick James
SE Oklahoma hydroelectric plant opposition valid
McAlester News-Capital 

Second Place
Carol Craig
Many firsts for family honored
Yakama Nation Review 

Third Place
Ronnie Washines
Yakama almost special general council
Yakama Nation Review

First Place
Nancy Kelsey
Biden’s apology for the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative rings hollow
Cleveland.com

Second Place
Nancy Kelsey
Donald Trump’s racism and ignorance have no place in an increasingly multiracial America
Cleveland.com

Third Place
Jeremy Fivecrows
Sovereignty, Policy, Climate and Fish 
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

First Place
Divine Windy Boy
Honoring Veterans powwow style
The Southern Ute Drum

Second Place
Wendy Witt
Luke’s Beans
Meskwaki Nation Times

Third Place
Jill-Marie Gavin
Delta Park Elder
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (critfc.org)

First Place
Terrence Duff, Susan Bell
Cree Unit: Cree family worries about 97-year-old elder
CBC 

Second Place
Lori Edmo
Stories told, gifts given at SR Comanche sunrise gathering
Sho-Ban News

Third Place
Divine Windy Boy
Honoring Veterans powwow style
The Southern Ute Drum

First Place
Amelia Schafer
A Civil Rights Investigation found Native students were discriminated against in Rapid City. How will the district adapt?
Rapid City Journal and ICT

Second Place
Jill-Marie Gavin
Historic Celilo Falls Photo Collection Gifted to CRITFC 
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

 Third Place
Jill-Marie Gavin
Groundbreaking Marks Start of Major Tribal Fishing Access Site Improvement
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

First Place
Richard Peterson
Brockton Honors Longtime Lunch Lady: “The Heartbeat of the School
Fort Peck Journal

Second Place
Juan Ysaguirre
It’s an ‘A’ for Salt River’s ALA
O’odham Action News

Third Place
Derrick James
Choctaw Nation, Ireland honor international bond
McAlester News-Capital

First Place
Lori Edmo
Enemy grass overtakes camas & Phosphate mining impacts on FH Rez
Sho-Ban News

Second Place
Ronnie Washines
Earth turned to improve fishing site
Yakama Nation Review 

Third Place
Carol Craig
Wishram homes powered by sun
Yakama Nation Review 

First Place
Vanna Blacksmith
CBC Cree Unit: World Broomball Championships
CBC 

Second Place
Ryan Craig
Reservation to reservation run challenges dedication runner
Yakama Nation Review

Third Place
Ryan Craig
Bilingual basketball camp weaves Ichishkiin and sports
Yakama Nation Review

First Place
Kira Lennert Olsen
Kalaallit Nunaat on the World Stage: Inuuteq Storch’s Exhibition at the 60th Venice Biennale
Inuit Art Quarterly 

Second Place
Irene Snarby
Losing Our History
Inuit Art Quarterly

First Place
Robert L. Ortiz
MMIR Prayer Walk continues with support
The Southern Ute Drum

Second Place
Krista Richards, Conrad Thompson, Divine Windy Boy, Jeremy Wade Shockley
A change of perspective: End of an era for Southern Ute Boarding School
The Southern Ute Drum

Third Place
Divine Windy Boy
Site visit to Phoenix printing press
The Southern Ute Drum

First Place
Jeremy Shay
Sho-Ban Festival Indian Relay action
Sho-Ban News

Second Place
Jeremy Shay
Indian Relay Coby team rider EJ Enos goes out for exchange
Sho-Ban News

Third Place
Wendy Witt
Elder Fitness
Meskwaki Nation Times

First Place
Amelia Schafer
South Dakota Indigenous Affairs Reporter
Rapid City Journal and ICT 

Second Place
Brooklyn Brown
MMIW on the Qualla Boundary
Cherokee One Feather

First Place
Allison Herrera, Anika Besst, Claire Keenan-Kurgan, Kate Martin
Native women fought for years to expand Plan B access. But some tribal clinics remain resistant.
APM Reports, Type Investigations

Second Place
Amelia Schafer
 ‘They’re ready to go home’: Few answers at school gravesite
Rapid City Journal and ICT

Third Place
Melanie Henshaw
Oregon makes limited progress on the ’emergency’ of MMIP
InvestigateWest

First Place
Osage News 

Second Place
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Lisa Snell, Chris Aadland, Travis Snell
Confederated Umatilla Journal

First Place
Chelsea T. Hicks
Controversial teacher leaves Skiatook High School
Osage News 

Second Place
Bella Davis
New Mexico’s response to a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people
New Mexico IN Depth

Third Place
Luna Reyna
The Chinook Indian Nation’s Fight for Recognition and Land
Underscore Native News + ICT

First Place
Luna Reyna
Secrecy and Data Issues Impede Progress on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
Underscore Native News + ICT

Second Place
Chris Aadland
Disagreements derail solar energy development 
Confederated Umatilla Journal

Third Place
Bella Davis
Community members want deputy who killed Mescalero Apache teenager charged
New Mexico In Depth

First Place
Ruby Hansen Murray
What kind of Osage are you?
Osage News

 Second Place
Ruby Hansen Murray
Giving Back: Osage and the Stars
Osage News

Third Place
Ruby Hansen Murray
Movie stars
Osage News

First Place
Luna Reyna
Failed Federal Housing Commitments Leads to Evictions for Native Families
Underscore Native News + ICT 

Second Place
Jarrette Werk
Becoming Shuína Skó
Underscore Native News 

Third Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith
Undamming the Klamath
Underscore Native News, ICT and High Country News

First Place
Jarrette Werk
Powwow for Palestine
Underscore Native News 

Second Place
Lee Gavin
CTUIR releases thousands of spring Chinook
Confederated Umatilla Journal

Third Place
Will Chavez
Remember the Removal cyclists share experiences as journey nears midway point
Cherokee Phoenix

First Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith, Isabella Breda
Tribes at the Forefront of Dam Removal and Habitat Restoration
Underscore Native News, ICT, High Country News and Seattle Times 

Second Place
Lindsey Bark
Tribal lore, beliefs surround rare eclipse event
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Luna Reyna
Tribes’ Long Fight for Fishing Rights in the Pacific Northwest
Underscore Native News + ICT 

First Place
Leah Altman
Elder Profile Series
Underscore Native News 

Second Place
Will Chavez
Remember the Removal’ founder shares story of ride’s beginning
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Rosemary Stephens
Veteran Col. John Levi Jr.
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune

First Place
Jenna Dulewich
Last man standing: The abandoned First Nation Granville Lake
CBC Manitoba 

Second Place
Karen English, Kristen Goodfriend, Meghan Little, Candace McDonough, Patrick Quinn, Patty Talahongva, Montoya Whiteman
Coastal Tribes Confront Climate Change + Seeking Solutions First Nations strive to mitigate coastal erosion in Canada
Winds of Change Magazine

Third Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith
Coquille Indian Tribe Celebrates 35 Years of Restoration
Underscore Native News + ICT

First Place
Jarrette Werk, Nika Bartoo-Smith
Oregon Ravens Honor Missing and Murdered Relatives
Underscore Native News 

Second Place
Jarrette Werk
Largest Native Youth Gathering in Nike History
Underscore Native News 

Third Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith
Portland Pilots Basketball Player Accepts Position with Team
Underscore Native News + ICT

First Place
Lindsey Bark
RTR riders visit Campground Cemetery, Hamburg Hill in Illinois
Cherokee Phoenix

Second Place
Jarrette Werk
Patsy Whitefoot MMIP Portrait
Underscore Native News

 Third Place
Aislin Tweedy
Many Nations Academy Graduation
Underscore Native News

First Place
Cherokee Phoenix

Second Place
Osage News 

Third Place
The Confederated Umatilla Journal

First Place
We Are a Saltwater People
Naka Nathaniel 

Second Place
Eden Fineday
Thanks to the Washington Post, I found my ancestor’s remains at the Smithsonian
IndigiNews

Third Place
Becky Tallent
Becky Tallent’s Columns
FaVS News

First Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine, Ed Kalama, Kaleena Patcho, Kelli Meskin-Soileau, Jason Lees, Josh Koh
Ka Wai Ola

Second Place
Kendra Germany-Wall, Chris Jennings, Christian Toews, Shelia Kirven, Christian Chaney, Kellie Matherly
Biskinik

First Place
Eden Fineday, Cara McKenna, Aaron Hemens, Dionne Phillips, Spencer Sacht Lund, Amy Romer
IndigiNews

First Place
Graham Lee Brewer
Stickball feature
Associated Press

Second Place
Kate Nelson
Janeé Kassanavoid Doesn’t Need a Gold Medal to Make a Difference
Elle 

Third Place
Dan Ninham
Olympics Notebook: Cree wrestler walks down memory lane
ICT

First Place
Kaleena Patcho
Ka Wai Ola Newspaper

Second Place
Kendra Germany-Wall, Chris Jennings, Christian Toews, Christian Chaney, Shelia Kirven, Kellie Matherly
Biskinik

First Place
Paul Robert Wolf Wilson
Meet the tree-sitters who occupied a ponderosa pine
High Country News

Second Place
Kadin Mills, JoAnn Williams
JoAnn Williams, San Carlos Apache Tribe, has never been to Oak Flat. She says she and other Apache people still have deep spiritual ties to the land.
ICT

Third Place
Evan Benally Atwood
Indigenous celebration of Hanford remembers the site before nuclear contamination
High Country News

First Place
Sonam Lama Hyolmo, Latoya Abulu
Reporting confirms Indigenous rights violations by Nepal hydropower project
Mongabay 

Second Place
Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton
How Denver nonprofits are trying to stem the migrant crisis by reducing poverty, creating stability in Guatemala
The Denver Post 

First Place
Grist Climate Change + Indigenous Affairs
Grist

Second Place
Noel Lyn Smith
Environmental Coverage of the on going legacy of Uranium Mining
Inside Climate News 

Third Place
B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster
Climate and Environmental obstacles faced by Indigenous communities in the Northwest
High Country News

First Place
Martha Troian, Hilary Beaumont
New DNA technique could bring closure for families of missing and murdered Indigenous people
High Country News

Second Place
Shondiin Silversmith
With government help lacking, volunteers scramble to help Indigenous victims of health care fraud
The Arizona Mirror

Third Place
Michelle Cyca, Harley Rustad
How Workplace Diversity Fails Indigenous Employees
The Walrus

First Place
Joseph Lee
This coastal tribe has a radical vision for fighting sea-level rise in the Hamptons
Vox.com

Second Place
Graham Lee Brewer, Kim Chandler
Hickory Grounds feature
Associated Press

 Third Place
Odette Auger
Logging, climate crisis killing once great Cedar forests on Vancouver Island
APTN

First Place
Garett Fisbeck
Fire Ceremony
Hownikan

Second Place
Jenny Irene Miller
Fish camp in Alaska – without the fish
High Country News

 Third Place
Garett Fisbeck
DANCING FOR HONOR
Hownikan

First Place
Dionne Phillips
Secwépemc Elder, a veteran of the powwow circuit, has built a legacy through dance
IndigiNews 

Second Place
Sarah Liese
Handgame competition brings Kiowa, Apache elders together in Western Oklahoma
KOSU Radio 

Third Place
Graham Lee Brewer
Wild onion dinner feature
Associated Press

First Place
Dana Hedgpeth, Sari Horwitz
Indian Boarding Schools
The Washington Post

Second Place
Cara McKenna
Families of MMIWG face off with supporters of ‘comedy’ group behind Pickton shirt
IndigiNews

Third Place
Graham Lee Brewer
Washington logo story
Associated Press

First Place
Brett Forester
CBC Indigenous – First Nations rights to clean water
CBC

Second Place
Chelsea Curtis
MMIW Project
Arizona Luminaria

Third Place
Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton
Faces of the Diaspora Series: Telling the Mo’olelo of Native Hawaiians in the Diaspora
Ka Wai Ola

First Place
Shannon Mitchell, Wendy Witt, Crystal Mzhickteno, Ryan Roberts
Meskwaki Nation Times

First Place
Shondiin Silversmith
My firsthand experience with the unique barriers to voting that face Indigenous Arizonans
The Arizona Mirror 

Second Place
B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster
How do you describe a sacred site without describing it?
High Country News 

Third Place
Latoya Lonelodge
Addressing mental health at first Women’s Wellness Conference
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune

First Place
Melanie  Henshaw
Tribal citizens face health disparities, improper medical debt
InvestigateWest

Second Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith, Luna Reyna
Holistic Approaches to Substance Use Disorders and Wellness
Underscore Native News + ICT 

Third Place
Ka’nhehsí:io Deer
CBC Indigenous – The place where they heal us
CBC 

First Place
Luna Reyna, Nika Bartoo-Smith, Jarrette Werk
Two-Spirit in the Pacific Northwest
Underscore Native News 

Second Place
Shondiin Silversmith
Indigenous 2SLGTBQ+ people find Pride within culture, tradition and community
The Arizona MIrror 

Third Place
Amelia Schafer
Giving Two-Spirit people a safe space
Rapid City Journal and ICT

First Place
Sarah Liese
Healing, disappointment mark Wichita efforts to bring relatives home from Carlisle School
KOSU Radio

Second Place
Melissa Olson
Restored tribal land ends uncertainty for a family living on Mille Lacs Lake
MPR News 

Third Place
Brian Bull
Audio Postcard: With trimmers and torches, Siletz stewards prepare hazel for eventual harvest
KLCC

First Place
Sarah Liese
How Indigenous Oklahomans are leading movement to improve 2SLGBTQ youth well-being
KOSU Radio 

Second Place
Mathew Holding Eagle III
Activist Arnold Dahl-Wooley advocates, educates about the two-spirit community in rural Minnesota
MPR News 

Third Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Rhiannon Johnson
Unreserved: 2SLGBTQ+ Love Songs
CBC Radio

First Place
Brian Bull
Tribal family and anti-violence advocates praise FCC for new alert code
KLCC

Second Place
Allison Herrera
With assurance and support, Native people with felony records head out to vote
MPR News

 Third Place
Brian Bull
New OSU facility serves to return human remains and cultural artifacts to tribes
KLCC

First Place
Melissa Olson
Radio / Excellence with Beat Reporting: Tribal Cannabis in Minnesota
MPR News

Second Place
Brian Bull
Beat: Environmental stewardship, Native plants
KLCC

Third Place
Andi Murphy
“The Menu on Native America Calling” covering Indigenous food
Native America Calling

First Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Rhiannon Johnson
Unreserved
CBC Radio

Second Place
Sol Traverso, Marino Spencer, Shaun Griswold, Art Hughes, Shawn Spruce, Seo McPolin, Andi Murphy
Election coverage
Native America Calling

 Third Place
Antonia Gonzales, Jill Fratis, Emily Schwing
Alaska’s Native Voice at the Alaska Federation of Natives
KNBA 

First Place
Brian Bull
Native Vote
National Native News

First Place
Micah Fletcher
Cherokee Nation citizen Josaline Blevins takes first place in state wrestling championship
Cherokee Phoenix 

Second Place
Stacie Boston
Emotional RTR riders visit Mantle Rock
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Kamiah Koch
Tribe turns out for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Awareness Walk
Smoke Signals

First Place
Stacie Boston
RTR riders visit Campground Cemetery, Hamburg Hill in Illinois
Cherokee Phoenix

Second Place
Kamiah Koch
PNW Tribes convene for 2024 Youth Canoe Journey 
Smoke Signals 

Third Place
Stacie Boston
Gilcrease Museum repatriates Cherokee Advocate printing press to tribe
Cherokee Phoenix

First Place
Micah Fletcher
Cherokee elders move into Stilwell rental houses
Cherokee Phoenix

Second Place
Micah Fletcher
Lindy Waters III Foundation hosts annual ‘Elevated Native Youth Tournament’
Cherokee Phoenix

Third Place
Stacie Boston
Cherokee Nation’s first-ever Watercress Fest embraces culture, conservation, community
Cherokee Phoenix

First Place
Kamiah Koch
‘Transgressors’ exhibit opens at Chachalu Tribal Museum 
Smoke Signals

First Place
Cherokee Phoenix

First Place
Samah Assad, Dorothy Tucker, Tim Viste, Andrew Ramos, Alfredo Roman, Megan Hickey, DeAndra Taylor, Reed Nolan
Voices of Gaza
WBBM-TV/CBS Chicago

First Place
Aliyah Chavez, Daniel Espinoza
San Felipe Pueblo moccasin maker
KOAT Action 7 News 

Second Place
Antonia Gonzales
Native Youth Olympic Games 
Koahnic Broadcast Corporation

First Place
Sis’moqon
CBC Indigenous – Elsipogtog mourns Iggy Dedam, shot and killed by RCMP
CBC

First Place
Antonia Gonzales
Native Vote: Alaska
Koahnic Broadcast Corporation

Second Place
Antonia Gonzales
Indian Country Issues: Boarding Schools, Reimagining Columbus and Native American Studies
New Mexico In Focus

First Place
Leah Lemm, Lindsey  Seavert, Ben  Garvin
Finding Manoomin: A Search for the Spirit of Wild Rice
MPR News

Second Place
Jill-Marie Gavin
Mission Memorial Horse Parade
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission 

Third Place
Ryan Craig
Bigfoot Con 2024
Yakama Nation Review

First Place
Bella Davis – Host / Producer, Benjamin Yazza – Director/producer, Joey Dunn – Camera crew, Noah Eichstaedt – Camera Crew, Jeff Proctor – Executive producer
Gaza looms over election for some Native people
New Mexico In Depth and NMPBS/New Mexico In Focus

Second Place
Lee Gavin
Wrapping Up Round-Up
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Communications 

Third Place
David Cournoyer
Dr. Mary Jo Ondrechen – 2024 AISES Technical Excellence Award
Winds of Change Magazine

First Place
Allison Herrera, Adreanna Rodriguez, Kyle Murdock
Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land
Audible

Second Place
Odette Auger, Zain Burgess
Logging, climate crisis killing once great Cedar forests on Vancouver Island
APTN

Third Place
Caroline Hillier, Amanda Gear
Atlantic Voice: The Joy of Being Inuk
CBC Radio

The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) has selected Dana Hedgpeth (Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina) as the recipient of the 2025 IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award.

The award honors IJA’s mission and the exemplary people who have led the way with outstanding work and contributions to the field of journalism. The award recognizes important work by journalists in the past and encourages the new generation of Indigenous journalists to achieve career excellence.

The IJA special awards committee selected Hedgpeth for her work at The Washington Post across 26 years where she has covered dozens of stories revealing hidden histories and truths about Native Americans.

Hedgpeth has also mentored journalists and storytellers by modeling how to interview leaders, elders and community members who may be hesitant speaking with the media.

“Dana’s investigative work has been critical to raising awareness of long overlooked tragedies the Indigenous community has suffered,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “Medill is honored to recognize her with this award, and we hope that it further calls attention to the critically importance of journalists.”

About Dana Hedgpeth
Dana Hedgpeth is an award-winning Native American journalist at The Washington Post and an enrolled member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of N.C.

She recently she completed a year-long investigative series with a team that revealed the deaths of more than 3,100 Native students at boarding schools – three times the number the federal government found — and another piece that documented the widespread sexual abuse of Native children at these institutions.

Her team’s work won the 2025 Dori J. Maynard Justice Award from Marquette University. The judges called it “a series that stays with you forever –  haunting, beautifully done, searing, …, important, with stunning findings and writing.” Their work was also a finalist for the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics.

In her decades at The Post, she has also uncovered stories of Native Americans that haven’t been widely told in mainstream media, including the real story of the first Thanksgiving with the Wampanoags and the worst massacre of Native people that no one’s ever heard of. She’s also covered a range of topics, including the Washington area’s transportation system, the D.C. area economy, local governments, courts and crime, plus Pentagon spending and wacky animal stories. She and a colleague also won the 2008 Gerald Loeb Award in the Best Writing Category for a piece on government contracting. She’s the only Native American in the roughly 900-person newsroom at The Post.

Dana attended the University of Maryland at College Park where she majored in journalism and economics and was a top scholar at the College of Journalism. She is a member of the Indigenous Journalists Association and served on its board of directors where she helped oversee the scholarship committee. She has served as a mentor to Native American journalists at the Freedom Forum and other venues.

Dana lives in D.C. with her husband and two children and in her spare time, she enjoys participating with her girls in competitive powwow dancing as a jingle dress dancer.

The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) has selected Grist as the recipient of the 2025 Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism, which honors groundbreaking work by journalists who serve as community watchdogs using innovative storytelling and reporting tools. Special consideration is given to journalism that helps Indigenous communities understand and address pressing issues.

The 2025 Special Awards Selection Committee selected Grist for its “Misplaced Trust” investigation series, which revealed how land-grant universities continue to profit from more than 8.3 million acres of land taken from 123 Indigenous nations. This deeply reported series traced the legacy and ongoing impacts of these land transfers, exposing how universities have benefited financially while tribes were dispossessed and excluded from decision-making.

Led by Indigenous and allied journalists, “Misplaced Trust” combined archival research, data analysis and on-the-ground reporting to illuminate the historical and contemporary consequences of land expropriation. The series has fueled national conversations about restitution, university accountability and Indigenous sovereignty.

Grist is an independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to climate justice, sustainability and solutions-driven reporting. Its Indigenous affairs coverage centers Native perspectives and leadership in addressing environmental and systemic injustices.

Grist will be honored during the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet on Friday, Aug. 15, during the 2025 Indigenous Media Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The IJA Special Awards Committee is composed of current and former IJA board members and past awardees.

Learn more about the Misplaced Trust team here.

The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) has selected O’odham Action News as the recipient of the 2025 IJA Elias Boudinot Free Press Award, which recognizes a publication or media outlet that has shown dedication and commitment to upholding freedom of the press, information and transparency on Turtle Island.

O’odham Action News was selected for their dedication to uncovering impactful new stories from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

About O’odham Action News
O’odham Action News is the newspaper for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, located in Scottsdale, AZ. 

The SRPMIC is home to two tribes, the Onk Akimel O’odham and Xalychidom Piipaash. 

OAN publishes its newspaper every first and third Thursday of every month. Each edition features a wide array of impactful stories from community members that call the SRPMIC their home. 

To view OAN collection of stories, visit website www.oodhamnews.org.

O’odham Action News (Team Members and tribal affiliations)

• Juan Ysaguirre, news reporter, Pascua Yaqui Tribe
• Chris Picciuolo, news reporter
• Kari Haahr, newspaper assistant
• Nalani Lopez, student news reporter, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
• Andreea Miguel, student news reporter, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
• Dalton Walker, managing editor, Red Lake Anishinaabe
• Bernice Cota-Gann, director, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community

The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) has selected Troy Littledeer (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) as the 2025 Tim Giago Free Press Award recipient. The award recognizes an individual IJA member that has shown dedication and commitment to upholding freedom of the press, information and transparency within their Indigenous community.

Littledeer was selected by the committee for his struggle with United Keetoowah Band officials regarding censorship of the Giduwa Cherokee News. The challenge of upholding press freedom came at an extraordinarily high personal cost to Littledeer and IJA recognizes these tremendous efforts.

Littledeer is an Indigenous journalist and photographer from Stilwell, Okla., with more than 20 years of experience amplifying Native voices through tribal media.

He began covering sports for the Stilwell Democrat Journal in 2003 but it wasn’t until 2020—when tribal council members delivered food during the pandemic and he documented those efforts on social media to keep the community informed—that he fully embraced journalism as a tool for accountability and sovereignty.

He has contributed to NDNSports.com, worked in public relations for Cherokee Nation Communications, and served as a multimedia specialist for the Cherokee Phoenix. Most recently, he was media director for the United Keetoowah Band, where he defended press freedom amid political censorship.

He and his wife, Novena, have two sons, Tobias and Sequoyah—their daily reminders to stay grounded in culture and responsibility, and to uplift all of Indian Country.

The IJA Special Awards Committee is composed of current and former IJA/NAJA board members and past award winners. As one of the founders of the Native American Press Association in 1983, Tim Giago shaped the organization’s mission, which is focused on uniting and empowering Indigenous media and championing accurate journalism. Giago passed in 2022 and the IJA/NAJA Board created the award to honor his legacy of fighting for press freedom in Indigenous communities.

Littledeer will be recognized during the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet Aug. 15 as part of the 2025 Indigenous Media Conference Aug. 13-15 at Isleta Resort and Casino.

The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) has selected Denise Titian (Nuu-chah-nulth) at Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper for the 2025 IJA-IWMF Minnie Two Shoes Award for Excellence in Tribal Media, which celebrates the hard work of tribal media professionals who keep our communities engaged, informed and connected.

The IJA Special Awards committee selected Titian for her work at Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper, demonstrating her tenacity in pursuing stories that matter to the people they serve. 

She is a proud Nuu-chah-nulth woman, born in Seattle, with Canadian Indian status connecting her to a tiny village called Ahousaht, located on Vancouver Island, BC. Titian became a citizen of Huu-ay-aht First Nations after her marriage to her husband, Al Titian.

In the mid 90’s Titian answered a job posting for a reporter position at Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper, Canada’s oldest First Nations newspaper. Owned by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper was launched in 1974.

In Titian’s nearly 30 years at Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper, she has never studied journalism. She has worked with five different editors, each helping her to develop as a reporter. Her work in Nuu-chah-nulth territories allows her to watch and report on the community’s successes and sometimes, disappointments, over the decades. 

She will be recognized during the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet Aug. 15 as part of the 2025 Indigenous Media Conference Aug. 13-15 at Isleta Resort and Casino in Albuquerque.