Underscore Native News staff spent 2025 reporting stories that covered a broad spectrum of areas impacting Native Nations, and the many rising Indigenous voices all across the Pacific Northwest. Our coverage touched on housing inequality, regionally specific ramped up U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies and responses from community members, as well as stories that followed the impacts of the second term of the Trump administration, covering successes and setbacks to Tribal communities in the face of that.
Reporters also joined youth on the historic 310 mile descent of the free flowing Klamath, spent time with the Muckleshoot Canoe Family on Canoe Journey, and attended an Indigenous camping trip on Mt. Hood, as well as the first Native Grown and Gather Indigenous Food Expo, showcasing Indigenous foods from across the turtle island.
In 2025, UNN collaborated on stories with other news organizations like OPB, uncovering the City of Portland’s neglect to support a Tribal relations office for the city, and KNKX kicking off a years long series this November following the decades long fight for the Makah Tribe to exercise whaling rights, as well as our ongoing partnership with ICT.
Here are a few of our favorite stories from the year.
Winter
Jarrette Werk kicked off 2025 by highlighting Portland State University’s newly revamped Vernier Science Center, designed to focus on uplifting Indigenous knowledge alongside Western science, with “A Nationally Distinctive Model of Community Science Design.” The new center incorporated BIPOC student perspectives throughout the entire planning and building process.
In late January, Nika Bartoo-Smith wrote about a report from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council in the piece, “Flatlining Salmon and Steelhead Numbers in Columbia Basin Both a Success and Cautionary Tale,” that shed light on how even though more adult salmon and steelhead have returned annually to the Columbia River Basin since the 1990s, it is still only halfway to the council’s goal and far from historic numbers.
As the Trump administration issued executive orders related to U.S. immigration law and policy, Luna Reyna reported “Native Nations Mobilize Against ICE Targeting and Profiling,” in February. The story detailed the response of Native Nations amid rising reports of Indigenous people being racially profiled, questioned, and mistakenly detained as undocumented immigrants.
That same month, Werk investigated eviction notices in Portland’s Cully Neighborhood, finding that one-fifth of the low-income units owned by the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) had been served notices in a 10 month period. In “Tenants Speak Out Amid Wave of Evictions at NAYA Affordable Housing,” Werk uncovered a troubling pattern of mismanagement including an influx in eviction notices and neglect.
In March, Bartoo-Smith took part in NPR’s “Next Generation Radio” project at OPB, producing an audio-focused digital journalism project in five days. Bartoo-Smith produced a profile on Aldo Garcia, who leads the drumming group, PDX WALPTKAIKSHA. “Healing Through Song: Culture As Medicine,” shares Garcia’s journey to sobriety, using the Native American Washut faith as a pathway to heal.
Later that month, Bartoo-Smith also wrote “‘He Didn’t Deserve What Happened:’ Community, Family of Madras Man Killed by Police Speak Out,” a story about Allan Dale Warner Jr., a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, who was shot and killed by Madras police. The community rallied together, demanding accountability amid an ongoing third-party investigation.
Spring
At the beginning of Spring, Werk traveled to Oxford, United Kingdom as one of 10 Indigenous Affairs reporters invited to participate in a workshop at the 2025 Skoll World Forum. He wrote about his experience in “Reporter’s Notebook: A Week at the AP Climate Storytelling Workshop.” Reporters had the opportunity to share their previous reporting and learn from each other, along with getting tips from AP editors to sharpen writing and photography skills.
“I never imagined my first trip overseas would be for something I love so much — storytelling. On my 10-hour flight to the U.K., I reflected on how I, a kid from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana, was being flown across the world to share my reporting and learn from others doing similar work. It’s still hard to believe. I am incredibly thankful,” Werk wrote.
Following months of reporting, Reyna published “Nooksack Eviction Exposes Gaps in Native Property Rights,” in April, sharing the story of Olive Oshiro, a disenrolled Nooksack citizen who died before seeing an end to her years long legal battle with the Nooksack Indian Tribe to keep her home. The story has led to more coverage on housing in Washington and across the country, detailing the federal homeownership program.
On the National Day of Remembrance for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives on May 5, Bartoo-Smith and Werk spent the day in Portland reporting “‘Releasing the Pain We Carry:’ Scenes from MMIR Day of Awareness and Action.”
Later that month, Reyna reported “Chinook Indian Nation Rejects Recognition Without Rights,” detailing the Chinook Indian Nation’s call for support from new legislators after an amendment to a proposed bill that would have restored recognition while erasing certain sovereign rights.
Following a federal trial, Bartoo-Smith wrote “PGE Court Battle Nears Conclusion Over Land Rights at Willamette Falls,” about the trial seeking to settle a yearslong land ownership dispute between Portland General Electric and the Oregon Department of State Lands that centered a fishing platform owned by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
In May, Reyna and Werk attended the Seattle International Film Festival, covering some of the many Indigenous films showcased this year. Those story profiles on Native directors included “‘Pow!’ Honors Heritage With Humor and Heart,” by Joey Clift, Cowlitz Indian Tribe; “‘I Was Called to Tell This Story,’” by Colleen Thurston, Choctaw; and “‘Remaining Native’ is Medicine for Generational Healing,” by Paige Bethmann, Haudenosaunee.
Summer
For 10 weeks over the summer, Adrianna Adame, a journalist of Mexican and Chippewa Cree heritage, joined the team as Underscore Native News’ 2025 Fellow. She reported multiple stories about lamprey in her time at UNN, including “Lampreypalooza Provides Educational Outreach, Knowledge on Pacific Lamprey,” about an event offering a behind-the-scenes look at efforts to protect Pacific lamprey at the Bonneville Lock and Dam along the Columbia River.
After months of reporting, UNN and OPB co-published a piece by Bartoo-Smith and OPB reporter, Alex Zielinski. The story, “Portland’s Tribal Relations Office Was Once a National Leader. What Happened?” examined a years-long pattern of neglect within the office, including a cycle of firings, staffing cuts and a pause to programs within the office, empty for months.
Later in the summer, Adame wrote “With Improved Collaboration, High Hopes for Real Solutions in Walla Walla Watershed,” about funding to support projects by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to improve water management and streamflows in the Walla Walla Basin.
In July, Underscore Native News welcomed Report for America Fellow, Lyric Aquino to the team. Aquino, a member of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo with ancestry from Isleta Pueblo and the Jicarilla Apache Nation, is an award winning journalist. In August, she wrote “Coquille Indian Tribe Partnership Could Bring Back Chinook Salmon Fishing to Coquille River This Fall,” detailing a plan to reopen Chinook Salmon fishing on the Coquille River.
Aquino spent much of her first few months at UNN tracking the impacts of federal funding cuts to Native Nations. Some of those stories include: “Tribal Radio Stations Hit Hard by Federal Broadcasting Cuts,” “Medicaid Cuts Could Strip Critical Funding from Tribal Health Clinics, Including in Rural Oregon,” and “Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Calls on U.S. Government to Reinstate CDFI Fund and Staff.”
In July, Werk joined over 120 youth kayakers representing the Klamath, Yurok, Karuk, Quartz Valley, Hoopa Valley, Warm Springs as well as the Tohono O’odham Nation completed their historic 310-mile descent of the free-flowing Klamath River. That trip led to multiple stories: “Indigenous Youth Complete 310 Mile Klamath River Journey,” “Uniting the Klamath,” and “Global Solidarity at the Mouth of the Klamath.”
Also this summer, Bartoo-Smith joined former Underscore Native News 2023 Fellow, Carrie Johnson, Chickasaw and Pawnee, on Canoe Journey with the Muckleshoot Canoe Family. They produced multiple stories about this year’s annual Tribal Canoe Journey: “The Paddle to Elwha Has Begun,” “Tsunami Warning Impedes Tribal Canoe Journey,” “Final Landing at Elwha Brings Challenges During Celebratory Year,” and “‘Storm Before the Calm:’ The Making of Tribal Canoe Journeys.”
Bartoo-Smith also wrote “New Online Support Hub Launches for 2SLGBTQ+ People” in July, sharing information about Two Spirit Support Boat, created by and for Indigiqueer people in response to a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation coming down from the federal government.
Fall
In early September, Reyna published, “Coast Salish Weavers Bring Meaningful Representation to New Seattle Sounders Jerseys,” about two Salish weavers, Gail White Eagle and Danielle Morsette who created the “Salish Sea kit” that will be worn during the 2025 and 2026 Major League Soccer season as the Seattle Sounders’ secondary kit.
Later in the month, Werk profiled another artist in the article, “Marie Watt Receives Prestigious $250,000 Heinz Award.” Watt, a citizen of the Seneca Nation, Turtle Clan, with German-Scot ancestry is a multidisciplinary artist who blends sculpture, textile and printmaking into her work.
After attending an Orange Shirt Day Vigil on Sep. 30, Bartoo-Smith and Werk reported “Orange Shirt Day Vigil Ends in Detainments at Portland ICE Facility,” detailing how organizers called for Indigenous global solidarity with Palestine and those targeted by ICE.
Throughout the course of the year, Bartoo-Smith wrote a series of Youth Profiles. In one of the articles, “Inspired by Generations Before, Healing for Those to Come,” she connected with Ei-Shah Portle-Wright, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, with Siletz, Klamath and Modoc descendancy. Pirtle-Wright, a young Two-Spirit person, is a dancer, a beader, a singer, an artist and so much more. In the piece, they talk about living their life focused on community.
This fall, Aquino attended the Native Grown and Gathered Food Expo in Seattle. Following the gathering, she published, “‘Native Grown and Gathered Food Expo’ Launches Inaugural, and Potentially Last, Gathering.’” She also wrote “Indigenous Chefs Night Brings First Foods Fine Dining,” about a night of culinary delights with dishes by Indigenous chefs Sean Sherman, Pyet Despain, Rob Kinneen and Luke Black Elk.
In November, Reyna published “Two Decades Later, a Federal Native Homeownership Program in Washington Has Yet to Convert a Single Home to Ownership,” as the latest installment in an ongoing series by UNN + ICT examining systemic affordable housing issues in the Pacific Northwest. That same month, Reyna also wrote “Reclaiming Two-Spirit Roles Across Native Nations,” as part of an ongoing ICT series examining the complicated issues of Indigenous identity.
The first of an ongoing series about Makah whaling rights, Reyna co-wrote “Makah Tribe’s Treaty-Protected Whaling Rights Remain Blocked More Than 25 Years Later” with KNKX reporter, Bellamy Pailthorp, launching a partnership between UNN, ICT and KNKX.
Looking ahead to 2026, UNN has many stories already in the works. Reporters will continue to follow the impacts of federal policies from Trump’s second administration, including a specific focus on the impact to 2SLGBTQ+ relatives. Specific coverage areas will also include surveillance and environment with a focus on solutions journalism throughout, as Aquino is taking part in the Climate Beacon Newsroom Initiative Indigenous Climate Solutions Cohort.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, using our Republishing Guidelines.
