Special award winners will be recognized during the 2025 Indigenous Media Banquet on Aug. 15 

The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) announced winners for three of the five 2025 Indigenous Media Awards (IMAs) special awards. The IMAs are the only awards dedicated to honoring the work of Indigenous and non-Indigenous journalists covering their communities. They are uniquely designed to recognize excellence in reporting on Indigenous Peoples globally. 

The three special awards honor outlets and individuals that meet criteria of the special awards. 

IJA Elias Boudinot Free Press Award
Recipient: O’odham Action News (Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community)

IJA Tim Giago Free Press Award
Recipient: Troy Littledeer (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians)

IJA-IWMF Minnie Two Shoes Award for Excellence in Tribal Media
Recipient: Denise Titian (Nuu-chah-nulth) Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper

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.