Felicia Fonseca, Associated Press

Members of a small tribe in Arizona are marking the renaming of a popular campground in Grand Canyon National Park.

Several hundred homes on the outskirts of Flagstaff were evacuated and the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort was closed as a precaution.

Authorities found the body of one person on a rafting trip who was swept into the Colorado River during a flash flood in the Grand Canyon.

With tribal lands now producing more than 3% of U.S. oil and huge reserves untapped, the administration faces competing pressures to help a small number of tribes develop their fossil fuels while also addressing climate change that affects all Native communities.

Bryan Newland, nominated for assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, said he won’t impede tribes as they seek to improve infrastructure, public safety and the economy on their lands.

Navajos were encouraged to enroll in the tribe or fix their records as the tribe offered hardship assistance payments during the pandemic.

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other federal officials commemorated the annual day of awareness as a caravan of female motorcycle riders planned to ride in Phoenix, advocates took to social media, and families prepared for a night of candlelight and prayer vigils.

Oral arguments begin Monday in the case over whether Alaska Native corporations are eligible for a share of the more than $530 million in federal pandemic aid set aside for tribes.

The key question is whether Native corporations are considered tribes under the CARES Act, and therefore eligible for a share of $8 billion in designated pandemic relief.

The payments didn’t start going out until more than a week after the April 26 deadline set by Congress, and 40% of the money is being withheld.

Several Native American tribes are seeking to keep any of the $8 billion in federal coronavirus relief for tribes kept out of the hands of for-profit Alaska Native corporations.

A Northern Arizona University freshman told police he was hit in the face during a late night confrontation and then tried to render first aid after he opened fire on four fraternity members, killing one and wounding three, according to court documents released Friday.

The Navajo Nation had bitter debates when it was deciding whether to allow casinos on the reservation and if alcohol should be sold in them. The arguments focused on the revenue and jobs casinos and liquor could bring to a reservation where half the workforce is unemployed and most arrests and pervasive social ills are linked to alcohol abuse.