ASSOCIATE DIVISION
All Outlets
Radio / Podcast – Best Feature Story
1st Place
Kathleen Martens, Jesse Andrushko / APTN
Our Relatives: Life on the Streets
2nd Place
Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio
With reforms in place, California’s Karuk Tribe works to reestablish cultural burning as ‘common practice’
3rd Place
Alena Naiden / KNBA
As climate change threatens subsistence, Savoonga is going from reindeer herding to a red meat industry
Large Outlets
Print and/or Online – Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities
1st Place
Charles Fox / ICT
A Soul on Ice: The quest for recognition after 100 years for hockey great Taffy Abel
2nd Place
Naoki Nitta / Civil Eats
In Hawai’i, Restoring Kava Helps Sustain Native Food Culture
3rd Place
Adam Williams / NPR (Goats and Soda)
Why are so many Indigenous Panamanians contracting HIV — and dying of AIDS?
Photo – Best Photo of Indigenous Communities
1st Place
Christian Toews / Biskinik
Gipson
2nd Place
Chris Jennings / Biskinik
Princesses through the Curtain
3rd Place
Krislan Garside / Biskinik
A New Generation of Dancers
Small Outlets
Print and/or Online – Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities
1st Place
Gabrielle Nelson / Buffalo’s Fire
Cass Lake Superfund plume spreads toward Pike Bay Channel
2nd Place
Michele Cohen Marill / MindSite News
COVID Stole a Parent from Over 200,000 Children. Indian Country Lost the Most
3rd Place
Erin Hoover Barnett / Buffalo’s Fire
MHA citizens seek accountability in a suit against their Tribal Business Council
Photo – Best Photo of Indigenous Communities
1st Place
Kerem Yücel / Minnesota Public Radio
Leonard Peltier: From Prison to a Changed Political Landscape
2nd Place
Jeremy Wade Shockley / The Southern Ute Drum
Albuquerque welcomes Gathering of Nations
3rd Place
Brandi Morin / Mongabay
45 Indigenous Pakayaku women who patrol their territory in Ecuador have successfully kept illegal mining, logging and oil out for decades
Radio / Podcast – Best News Spot
1st Place
Rhonda McBride / KNBA
Alaska State Trooper’s new cold case list raises more questions than answers, advocates say.
2nd Place
Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ
Starlink devices are bridging internet gap for vets living on tribal lands in Arizona
3rd Place
Kaleb Roedel / KUNR
The $1 billion in cuts to public broadcasting could hit small, rural newsrooms the hardest
Television – Best News Spot
NO WINNERS
Television – Best Feature Story
1st Place
Kami Horton, Bruce Barrow / Oregon Public Broadcasting
Uncovering Boarding Schools
2nd Place
Fernando Alves de Oliveira / TV Brasil Internacional
Estudo revela alta incidência de doença renal entre indígenas Truká
3rd Place
Chris Picciuolo / O’odham Action News
“Justice For Emily” MMIP Rally March 18 at Arizona State Capitol
PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
All Outlets
Television – General Excellence
1st Place
Darren Brown, Hawk Hartico / Cheyenne and Arapaho TV
The Carlisle Project
2nd Place
Shirley Sneve, Stewart Huntington, Daniel Herrera Carbajal, Ebonye Delaney, Amelia Schafer, Pauly Denetclaw, Erica Ayisi
ICT Newscast
3rd Place
Jerrad Moore
Mvskoke Media
Radio / Podcast – General Excellence
1st Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Kim Kaschor, Rhiannon Johnson, Amanda Gear, Elena Hudgins Lyle
CBC Unreserved
2nd Place
Naka Nathaniel, Kolby Akamu Moser, Mileka Lincoln, Gilian Santiago, Mahealani duPont
Hawai’i Radio Hour
3rd Place
Antonia Gonzales, Emily Schwing
Alaska’s Native Voice: Prevention, Recovery and Youth Advocacy
Photo – Best News Photo
1st Place
Jarrette Werk / Underscore Native News
Protesters and Counterprotesters Converge at Portland ICE Facility
2nd Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith / Underscore Native News
The Paddle to Elwha Has Begun
3rd Place
Lindsey Bark / Cherokee Phoenix
RTR riders return to Tahlequah after 950-mile ride
Photo – Best Feature Photo
1st Place
Wendy Witt / Meskwaki Nation Times
Smore Fun Together
2nd Place
Jarrette Werk / Underscore Native News
‘I Want to Change the Film Industry’
3rd Place
Kari Rowe / Portland Monthly Magazine
Lamprey Festival
Print and/or Online – Best Layout
1st Place
Mark Dreadfulwater
Cherokee Phoenix
2nd Place
Justin Phillips
Smoke Signals
3rd Place
Shannon Mitchell, Wendy Witt, Crystal Mzhickteno, Ryan Roberts
Meskwaki Nation Times
Radio / Podcast – Excellence in Beat Reporting
1st Place
Nakanaela Nathaniel, Mahealani duPont / Hawai’i Radio Hour
Mauna Kea Kanawai
2nd Place
Jeanette DeDios / KUNM-FM
IAIA president trusts Congress to ‘do the right thing’ on potential defunding of tribal colleges
3rd Place
Kamiah Koch / Smoke Signals
Tribe holds first Toxics Take Back event
Radio / Podcast – Best News Spot
1st Place
Micah Fletcher / Cherokee Phoenix
Little Cherokee Seeds program graduates two Cherokee children
2nd Place
Kamiah Koch / Smoke Signals
Nature playground opens on Grand Ronde reservation
3rd Place
Jeanette DeDios / KUNM-FM
Bill to allow Native American students to dress in regalia passes committee
Large Outlets
Print and/or Online – Best Health Coverage
1st Place
Sis’moqon, Brett Forester / CBC Indigenous
Wolastoqey family fights for care as Jordan’s Principle backlog leaves children waiting
What one family’s ‘nightmare’ says about the chaos at Jordan’s Principle
Canada takes Oneida grandmother to appeal court in ‘collateral attack’ on Jordan’s Principle, lawyer says
Understanding Changes to Jordan’s Principle for First Nations’ Kids
2nd Place
Jourdan Bennett-Begaye / ICT
IHS Layoffs During The Trump Administration:
Abrupt federal layoffs expected to hit tribal programs
RFK Jr. rescinds Indian Health Service layoffs
‘Life or Death Consequences’: Layoffs throw Indian Country into turmoil
3rd Place
NO WINNERS
Special Coverage – Best International Indigenous Coverage
1st Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Kim Kaschor, Rhiannon Johnson, Amanda Gear, Elena Hudgins Lyle / CBC Unreserved
Global Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine
These Indigenous health-care workers joined the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza for ‘global Indigenous solidarity’
2nd Place
Miles Morrisseau / ICT
Canada by ICT:
Métis history is no longer forgotten
Canada loses measles-free status
Canadian Prime Minister budget cuts Indigenous departments, invests in clean water and housing
Canada’s auditor general calls out ‘unsatisfactory progress’ on First Nations programs
3rd Place
NO WINNERS
Special Coverage – Best Two-Spirit Coverage
1st Place
Luna Reyna / Underscore Native News + ICT
Reclaiming Two-Spirit Roles Across Native Nations
2nd Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith / Underscore Native News + ICT
Inspired by Generations Before, Healing Together for Those to Come
3rd Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Rhiannon Johnson, Elena Hudgins Lyle, Kim Kaschor / CBC Unreserved
Singer-songwriter Siibii is claiming space and showing themself compassion on their new EP
Print and/or Online – Best Elder Coverage/AARP Elder Coverage Award
1st Place
Vanna Blacksmith / CBC Cree Unit
Chisasibi elders keep Cree traditions alive
2nd Place
Sis’moqon / CBC Indigenous
Education authority brings elders together to preserve Mi’kmaw knowledge and history
3rd Place
NO WINNERS
Television – Best Feature Story
1st Place
Stephanie Cram, Jay Rosove / CBC Edmonton
Traditional births return to Kehewin Cree Nation after 60 years
2nd Place
Pauly Denetclaw, Stewart Huntington / ICT
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Restores Water with Oysters
3rd Place
Jackie McKay / CBC Indigenous
The man behind 50 years of ferrying West Coast Trail hikers
Print and/or Online – General Excellence
1st Place
Jourdan Bennett-Begaye, Kolby KickingWoman, Dianna Hunt, Kevin Abourezk, Pauly Denetclaw, Amelia Schafer, Kalle Benallie, Mary Annette Pember, Luna Reyna, Nika Bartoo-Smith
ICT
2nd Place
Tina Bridenstine, Kent Bush, Trey Delonais, Reid Vishanoff, Emily Guleserian, Garett Fisbeck, Brittany Oswald, Brandon St. Clair, Rachel Maker
Hownikan
3rd Place
NO WINNERS
Radio / Podcast – Best Feature Story
1st Place
Pauline Holdsworth, Nahlah Ayed, Leena Evic / CBC Radio
Piruvik offers more than teaching Inuktut. Students learn Inuit knowledge to share as elders
2nd Place
Rosanna Deerchild, Kim Kaschor, Amanda Gear, Rhiannon Johnson, Elena Hudgins Lyle / CBC Unreserved
Unmapped: St. John’s
3rd Place
Dawna Dingwall, Falen Johnson, Sam McNulty, Catherine Rolfsen, Karla Hilton, Karen Burgess, Samantha Schwientek / CBC New Podcasts
See You in Court: The girl whose life became a battleground for Indigenous Child Welfare
Print and/or Online – Best Sports Coverage
1st Place
Dan Ninham / ICT
Historic hockey broadcast celebrates Minnesota Wild’s Native American Heritage Day
2nd Place
NO WINNERS
3rd Place
NO WINNERS
Multimedia – Best Multimedia
1st Place
Patty Talahongva, Lauren Mucciolo, Belén Tavares, Raney Aronson-Rath, Frank Koughan / PBS Frontline
Alaska’s Vanishing Native Villages
2nd Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine, Jason Lees / Ka Wai Ola
Restoring ‘Āina Momona in He’eia
3rd Place
Lachlan Madill, Terrence Duff, Cole Bosum, Betsy Longchap, Étienne Saint-Amour, Jerome Lafon, Stephane Gunner, Sebastien Lauzon / CBC Cree Unit
Maamuitaau: Juliette Rabbitskin
Print and/or Online – Best Editorial / Column
1st Place
Kevin Abourezk / ICT
‘For the first time it was cool to be Indian’
2nd Place
Kate Nelson / The Guardian U.S.
Food is medicine, and that’s a fact. Why we all need Native American foodways
3rd Place
Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton / The Seattle Times
Why we’re using this spelling of Hawai’i
Print and/or Online – Best Environmental Coverage
1st Place
Aspen Ford / InvestigateWest
The U.S. government sold off these aging ships — leaving states in the Pacific Northwest to pay the price
Washington ferries are going hybrid-electric, but disposal of old ones poses environmental, legal risks
2nd Place
Amelia Schafer, Stewart Huntington / ICT + AP
Tribes that restored buffalo are killing some to feed people because of the shutdown
A new day in the Dawnland
3rd Place
Özten Shebahkeget / CBC Manitoba
Much ado about moose: Manitoba’s hunting rift could help reconciliation or sow division
Allegations of caribou wastage after hunt meant to vilify First Nations hunters, former lodge owner says
Norway House chief says First Nations can help Manitoba’s potential to be global ‘Costco of critical minerals’
‘Extremely rare’ First Nation-owned mine in Manitoba may be more viable than Ontario’s Ring of Fire
Print and/or Online – Best Longform / Magazine Story
1st Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine / Ka Wai Ola
Restoring ‘Āina Momona in He’eia
2nd Place
Luna Reyna / Underscore Native News + ICT
Two Decades Later, a Federal Native Homeownership Program in Washington Has Yet to Convert a Single Home to Ownership
3rd Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine / Ka Wai Ola
Rebuilding Maui
Print and/or Online – Best Shortform/News Story
1st Place
Daniel Herrera Carbajal, Mary Annette Pember / ICT
Post-Typhoon Halong: ‘No home to go back to’
2nd Place
Melanie Henshaw / InvestigateWest
Native Americans face double the average medical debt, report finds — often for bills that aren’t their responsibility
3rd Place
Puanani Fernandez-Akamine, Dan Ahuna / Ka Wai Ola
Reclaiming Hā’ena
Small Outlets
Special Coverage – Best International Indigenous Coverage
1st Place
Jarrette Werk / Underscore Native News
Global Solidarity at the Mouth of the Klamath
2nd Place
Miacel Spotted Elk, Frida Garza / Grist
COP30 has big plans to save the rainforest. Indigenous activists say it’s not enough.
3rd Place
Anita Hofschneider / Grist
Digging for minerals in the Pacific’s graveyard: The $20 trillion fight over who controls the seabed
Special Coverage – Best Two-Spirit Coverage
1st Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith, Lyric Aquino / Underscore Native News
Here’s What We Know About What’s at Stake for 2SLGBTQ+ Rights Across Indian Country
“We Need Our Own People to Protect Us:” NCAI Restarts Two-Spirit Task Force
2nd Place
NO WINNERS
3rd Place
NO WINNERS
Photo – Best Sports Photo
1st Place
Divine Windy Boy / The Southern Ute Drum
Tribal Fair Rodeo Mutton Bustin’
2nd Place
Jeremy Shay / Sho-Ban News
EISF Relay riders avoid collision after exchanging at Championship races
3rd Place
Wendy Witt / Meskwaki Nation Times
Atti Action
Television – Best News Spot
1st Place
Dawn White / KTVT CBS News Texas
Fort Worth teenager is one of 5,000+ Native American women who go missing in U.S. each year
2nd Place
Jerrad Moore / Mvskoke Media
Bacone Accreditation Withdrawn
3rd Place
Micah Fletcher / Cherokee Phoenix
Graves of two enslaved Trail of Tears survivors marked by Oklahoma TOTA
Television – Best Feature Story
1st Place
Micah Fletcher / Cherokee Phoenix
Indigenous newspapers chronicle history, Sequoyah National Research Center preserves it
2nd Place
Dawn White / KTVT CBS News Texas
Texas’ oldest Native American radio show “Beyond Bows and Arrows” connects DFW’s Indigenous community
3rd Place
Dawn White / KTVT CBS News Texas
Welder builds 25-foot cross to bring attention to murdered Native American girl
Print and/or Online – Best Health Coverage
1st Place
Nika Bartoo-Smith, Lyric Aquino / Underscore Native News
Medicaid Cuts Could Strip Critical Funding from Tribal Health Clinics, Including in Rural Oregon
“We Need Our Own People to Protect Us:” NCAI Restarts Two-Spirit Task Force
Healing through Song: Culture as Medicine
New Center Providing Comprehensive Youth Services Opens in Spokane
New Online Support Hub Launches for 2SLGBTQ+ People
2nd Place
Kate Nelson / Civil Eats
An Alaska Native Chef Builds Foodways for the Future
Sean Sherman Expands His Vision for Decolonizing the US Food System
Indigenous Food Reciprocity as a Model for Mutual Aid
3rd Place
Gigi Sieke / The Oklahoman
How COVID-19 prompted the Osage Nation to take more action against food insecurity
From food deserts to telehealth, tribal students tackle public health inequities
Print and/or Online – General Excellence
1st Place
Myers Reece, Christine Trudeau, Amy Franco, Jarrette Werk, Nika Bartoo-Smith, Lyric Aquino, Luna Reyna, Kyra Antone
Underscore Native News
2nd Place
Eden Fineday, Cara McKenna, Aaron Hemens, Dionne Phillips, Crystal Greene, Amy Romer, David Ball, Abby Francis
IndigiNews
3rd Place
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
Buffalo’s Fire
Print and/or Online – Best Sports Coverage
1st Place
Luna Reyna / Underscore Native News
Coast Salish Weavers Bring Meaningful Representation to New Seattle Sounders Jerseys
2nd Place
NO WINNERS
3rd Place
NO WINNERS
Print and/or Online – Best Elder Coverage/AARP Elder Coverage Award
1st Place
Dionne Phillips / IndigiNews
Secwépemc Elder reflects on teaching herself — and others — her crafts: ‘I just went and did it on my own’
2nd Place
Shannon Shaw Duty / Osage News
Osage elder displaced after rent quadruples over headright dispute
3rd Place
Kate Nelson / American Craft
Hands-On History
Radio / Podcast – Best Feature Story
1st Place
Chandra Colvin / MPR News
Dakota language competition held in Shakopee
2nd Place
Jeanette DeDios / KUNM-FM
Audio postcard: UNM powwow is all about community
3rd Place
Thomas Pablo / KOSU Radio
Choctaw Code Talkers memorialized with overdue honors in Southeast Oklahoma
Print and/or Online – Best Editorial / Column
1st Place
Jordan Dresser / High Country News
Tribal objects returned to the Northern Arapaho Tribe
2nd Place
Michelle Cyca, Harley Rustad / The Walrus
Can You Be Sued for Saying Someone Isn’t Indigenous?
3rd Place
Jeff Bear / Haida Gwaii News
The Year I Took the Long Way Home
Print and/or Online – Best Environmental Coverage
1st Place
Grist
Inside the decades-long fight to tear down the Klamath dams
Digging for minerals in the Pacific’s graveyard: The $20 trillion fight over who controls the seabed
Wildlife, not livestock: Why the Eastern Shoshone in Wyoming are reclassifying buffalo
A tribe in Florida joins the fight against the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigrant detention center
What Pope Leo means for global climate action and colonialism
2nd Place
Lindsey Bark / Cherokee Phoenix
Fighting for Spring Creek: Citizens battle poultry pollution to protect a pristine stream
3rd Place
Odette Auger / Ricochet Media + Watershed Sentinel
Mining camps ‘like a frat house’: The silencing of Native women in mining boomtowns
Voices of Chi’chil Biłdagoteel – Where Deep Truth is Spoken
Lithium Valley: Clean Energy, Dirty Legacy
Peehee Mu’huh: Sacred Land at Risk
Multimedia – Best Multimedia
1st Place
Jessie Sears, Brandon Swanson, Aaron Scott, Eden McCall, Evan Rodriguez, Anna Lueck, Jarrette Werk, Kyra Antone / Oregon Public Broadcasting
First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath River after the largest dam removal in U.S. history
OPB documentary ‘First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath’ follows Indigenous kayakers on a historic journey after dam removal
2nd Place
Bella Davis, Joey Dunn, Benjamin C. Yazza / New Mexico In Depth Inc. & New Mexico In Focus
Powwow class gives urban Native families space to celebrate culture
3rd Place
Jerrad Moore / Mvskoke Media
Mvskoke Gardening Series: Mvskoke Gardening S2 E1 Yaupon Tea / Mvskoke Gardening S2 E2 Mvksoke Peaches / Mvskoke Gardening S2 E3 Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness / Mvskoke Gardening S2 E4 Skyline Resource Center
Print and/or Online – Best Longform / Magazine Story
1st Place
B ‘Toastie’ Oaster / High Country News
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation
2nd Place
Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood, Paige Taylor White, Michelle Cyca / The Narwhal
What Joffre Lakes Park looks like at rest
3rd Place
Anita Hofschneider, Jake Bittle / Grist
Inside the decades-long fight to tear down the Klamath dams
Print and/or Online – Best Shortform/News Story
1st Place
Brian Bull / Buffalo’s Fire
‘How do I have an ICE hold, when I’m Native American?’*
2nd Place
Bella Davis / New Mexico In Depth Inc.
A new alert for missing Native people has been issued just six times. State police deny most requests.
3rd Place
Miacel Spotted Elk / Grist
The Navajo Nation said no to a hydropower project. Trump officials want to ensure tribes can’t do that again.
* The restriction on board member eligibility for awards did not apply to Brian Bull, as he was an interim board member appointed by the president.
STUDENTS
Television – General Excellence
Honorable Mention
Good Morning Indian Country
Print and/or Online – Best Sports Coverage
1st Place
Andreea Miguel / O’odham Action News
Kristine Scabby takes her basketball talents to California
2nd Place
Andreea Miguel / O’odham Action News
Spring Training Opening Day Celebrates SRPMIC
3rd Place
Andreea Miguel / O’odham Action News
SRPMIC Members, Employees Participate in Pat’s Run
Photo – Best Feature Photo
1st Place
Tara Roanhorse / Haskell News
Haskell and KU Communities Unite for Morning Tipi Raising Outside Strong Hall
2nd Place
Tara Roanhorse / Haskell News
Homecoming Round Dance Brings Together Relatives from Near and Far
3rd Place
Emmitt Brazille / Haskell News
Runway shots of Haskell Indian Art Market Fashion Show
Print and/or Online – Best Editorial / Column
1st Place
Zoe Hernandez / O’odham Action News
Culture Teacher Gathering 2025
2nd Place
Andreea Miguel / O’odham Action News
Huhugam Ki: Museum Celebrates Tortilla Festival
3rd Place
Andreea Miguel / O’odham Action News
Salt River Arts Festival Soars
Print and/or Online – Best Shortform/News Story
1st Place
Tara Roanhorse / Haskell News
“You Can’t Do Space Alone”: Haskell Students Reflect on NASA’s RockOn Workshop
2nd Place
Tara Roanhorse / Haskell News
Angelina Giago Crowned Miss Haskell 2025-2026, Bringing Cultural Strength and Student Advocacy to the Forefront
3rd Place
Tara Roanhorse / Haskell News
Ishta Wabaunsee Crowned Miss AIHEC: Championing Heart Health and Student Advocacy