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2025: A Year in Review

   By Joshua Arce

Milestones, Momentum, and Meaningful Change for Native Nations

Every year brings its own mix of challenges and progress, but 2025 stood out as a year of movement across Indian Country. From long-overdue accountability on historical injustices to measurable improvements in education and renewed visibility in arts and public discourse, Native communities shaped national conversations in ways that deserve recognition.

Below is a look at some of the most significant developments from this year and what they signal for the future.

Unexpected Shifts in Policy from Budget Cuts and the Federal Shutdown

The 2025 federal shutdown underscored how quickly tribal programs can be destabilized when Washington shifts direction. As federal agencies underwent downsizing and restructuring — including reductions within departments overseeing grants, operations, and tribal programs — many tribal communities saw delayed contracts, stalled infrastructure projects, and gaps in services that echoed the disruptions experienced in 2020. While IHS remained open because of advance appropriations, proposed cuts to the broader HHS budget raised concerns about long-term impacts on behavioral health, family services, and community-based prevention programs across Indian Country.

Amid these uncertainties, tribal leaders and some federal agencies emphasized a critical point: Native Nations are not part of corporate DEI frameworks nor general diversity conversations. Their political status is grounded in treaties, trust obligations, and sovereign nation-to-nation relationships — commitments that remain legally binding regardless of shifting national trends or the rollback of DEI initiatives elsewhere. Even as agencies faced budget reductions, the Department of the Interior reiterated its support for tribal sovereignty, reinforcing that federal obligations to sovereign Native Nations endure despite administrative transitions or changing policy priorities.

Tribal clean-energy and environmental-justice initiatives faced increased uncertainty

In 2025, Native Nations saw mixed signals when it came to federal support for environmental justice and clean-energy infrastructure — a development with major implications for sovereignty, community well-being, and long-term planning on tribal lands. On one hand, programs under federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other climate-grant streams had previously provided tribes with opportunities to access funding for renewable energy, pollution reduction, and infrastructure improvements, enabling tribal nations to pursue sustainable energy, water, and housing projects on their own terms. On the other hand, recent moves by federal regulators to cut back or reconsider certain green-energy initiatives have created uncertainty: some clean-energy grant programs once available to tribes are now on shaky ground, raising concerns about whether promised funding — and the sovereignty-affirming infrastructure it supports — will materialize. For many tribes, such instability doesn’t just delay projects — it undermines long-term efforts to build energy independence, protect traditional lands, and fulfill tribal visions for sustainable, community-led development.

Arizona Native-Serving Schools See Dramatic Academic Gains

Some of the most uplifting news this year came from Arizona, where Native-serving school districts saw major gains in math and reading proficiency, including districts where PWNA partners and volunteers are active. Nine Native-serving districts posted substantial improvements in both English and math scores, and in the Chinle Unified School District, three schools now surpass the state average in both subjects. These results reflect efforts such as professional learning communities for teachers, early-literacy supports, targeted coaching, and teaching approaches grounded in students’ cultural identities.

PWNA’s ongoing support for Native communities — through scholarships, school supplies, and encouragement of culturally responsive education — aligns directly with these improvements and strengthens our hope that similar gains can happen across all Tribal Nations.

LakotaBERT and the Power of Language Revitalization Through Technology

The development of LakotaBERT — a Lakota-specific AI language model trained on more than 100,000 sentences — marked a milestone in language revitalization efforts. Beyond its technical achievements, the model offers a promising tool for Lakota learners, immersion programs, and cultural preservation efforts.

For PWNA, which works extensively with partners across the Great Sioux Nation, initiatives like LakotaBERT reflect a broader movement toward Native-led language revitalization. As more communities reclaim their linguistic heritage, tools like this can help protect cultural knowledge and support long-term identity resilience.

Tribes Seek Transparency and Justice for the Boarding School Era

In a significant step toward historical accountability, the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and the Washoe Tribe filed a sweeping class-action lawsuit against the U.S. government, arguing that federal officials misused tribal trust funds — including treaty-mandated resources — to operate the Indian boarding school system. The lawsuit, which calls for a full accounting of $23.3 billion in federal expenditures, underscores how deeply boarding schools disrupted Native families and cultures.

Today, the landscape of Native education looks very different: tribal nations exercise far greater control over their schools, and Native students have more access to culturally grounded learning. PWNA supports this shift by providing scholarships, school supplies, and student services that help Native youth pursue their goals within systems increasingly shaped by Native voices rather than federal policies rooted in assimilation.

A Story You May Have Missed: Leonard Peltier’s Sentence Is Commuted to House Arrest

One piece of news that may have slipped under the radar this year was the federal government’s decision to commute Leonard Peltier’s sentence to house arrest after nearly 50 years of incarceration. The change followed renewed public attention from the 2025 documentary Free Leonard Peltier and represents a major development in a case long associated with debates around justice, activism, and civil rights in Indian Country. While the broader implications continue to unfold, it marked a noteworthy moment in Indigenous legal and political history.

Looking Forward: Building on the Momentum of 2025

The stories of this year share a common thread: they all reflect the resilience, creativity, and determination of Native peoples working to shape their futures on their own terms. From classrooms to courtrooms, from film screens to community centers, 2025 demonstrated both progress and possibility.

As we move into 2026, may these milestones serve not just as markers of achievement, but as motivation to continue the work — strengthening Native sovereignty, uplifting Native youth, and ensuring that Indigenous cultures and voices thrive in every area of American life.