“I feel like everybody just needs to be loved and wants to be loved. Hopefully people read these cards and they're like, ‘oh, that's funny.’ And just forget about all the other nonsense that’s going on in their lives, hopefully it makes people laugh.”
nativenewsonline.net/a-e/the-rock...
NEW from me: No Turquoise Alert for Navajo teen amplifies questions about Arizona's endangered children and new missing person system azluminaria.org/2025/11/06/n... via @azluminaria.org
New from me: Pascua Yaqui Tribe pauses council meeting livestream change after community concerns over access, transparency azluminaria.org/2025/10/10/p... via @azluminaria.org
Huge thanks to @azluminaria.org & Tara Gatewood + IWMF’s Fund for Indigenous Journalists for believing in this work from the beginning & the Data-Driven Reporting Project for carrying it forward. Even bigger thanks to my family for supporting me behind the scenes. Ayóó anííníshní ❤️
I share this recognition w/ all the Indigenous journalists, storytellers & grassroots organizers who paved the way for this work to be possible. This award is a reflection of what our communities have always known to be true: Indigenous storytelling is invaluable and necessary.
I can’t begin to express how grateful I am to the families and communities who trusted me with the most tender and painful parts of their lives. Your voices are the heart of this work, and I only hope I honored them. azluminaria.org/2024/05/03/1...
When set out on this project to uncover data and stories about #MMIP
in Arizona, my goal was to lend my seat in this privileged space I hold as a journalist to Indigenous people who’ve long said they don’t feel heard or seen. azluminaria.org/mmip-arizona/
✨Some personal news, as they say✨
While I’m still half expecting a correction any day now, I’m incredibly honored to be named a 2024 Virg Hill Arizona Journalist of the Year. Congrats to @emilybregel.bsky.social & Jason Wolf, who were also recognized for this award.
Letter demanding release of journalist Mario Guevara
For over 100 days, journalist Mario Guevara has been detained by U.S. law enforcement for his livestream reporting.
He is the only journalist behind bars for his journalism, and he could be deported for doing his job.
We demand his immediate release.
freedomformario.com
#ICYMI Safety changes to Maricopa County sheriff meetings in Latino racial profiling case await federal judge’s order via @azluminaria.org azluminaria.org/2025/09/22/s...
That said, here's a friendly reminder: credit matters. When you lift someone's work without attribution, you're not just erasing a byline, you're erasing the community-centered reporting behind it.
*gets off soapbox*
I tried to shrug it off, but the reality is @azluminaria.org is a small, nonprofit newsroom so we don't have the same reach as corporate media. Still, I'm glad the story gained traction and I hope it helped inform GRIC citizens about upcoming plans for their community.
In an industry where Indigenous journalists remain underrepresented, it’s frustrating that our nuanced and thoughtful reporting is often what it takes to bring attention to some of these issues only to later see stripped-down versions of our work online without a single nod to us.
Despite the tribe sharing its plans a whole month prior, no other newsroom covered the story until ours went live. Multiple outlets have since published their own versions and not one credited our original reporting here: azluminaria.org/2025/08/29/g...
Thanks so much @apnews.com for sharing! Last week, @azluminaria.org broke the story on the Gila River Indian Community’s proposed banishment ordinance for tribal members convicted of violent crimes, marking the first move of its kind in Arizona. apnews.com/article/crim...
New, from me: Gila River Indian Community weighs banishment ordinance, a first for Arizona tribes azluminaria.org/2025/08/29/g...
“Being an immigrant is risky:" ICE enforcement drives Arizona families to online fundraising platforms azluminaria.org/2025/07/30/b... via @azluminaria.org
Wrong ballots sent to hundreds in Tucson – here’s how to fix yours before Aug. 5 primary azluminaria.org/2025/07/29/w... via @azluminaria.org
Exclusive: Records obtained by Arizona Luminaria tie Amazon to a massive Tucson area data center that has been shrouded in secrecy until now
Officials confirm Emily’s Law wouldn’t have applied to Emily Pike’s case, bringing renewed attention to gaps in missing person alerts for children labeled runaways azluminaria.org/2025/05/22/r... via @azluminaria.org #MMIP
Gov. Katie Hobbs signs Turquoise Alert System into law azluminaria.org/2025/05/13/g... via @azluminaria
“This is for shíyázhí Emily Pike”: New missing person alert bill unanimously passes AZ House, heads to Gov. Hobbs for signature azluminaria.org/2025/05/07/t... via @azluminaria.org #MMIP
Celebrate #WorldPressFreedomDay by supporting independent journalism! 🌎 @azluminaria.org has launched its 2025 Spring membership campaign that doubles every donation made to our newsroom. Help us continue to bring you more of the coverage that matters and strengthen local news! 🕯️🔗 shorturl.at/nuu2n
UPDATE: Keisha Kootswatewa’s family believes she may be among multiple sets of remains found on the Navajo Nation, potentially bringing their three-year search to an end. Charges have been filed in connection with some of the remains — but not hers. via @azluminaria.org #MMIP
Recent amendments to the bill address a discrepancy that would have excluded Emily Pike’s case, despite recently renaming the legislation in her honor
story via @chelcurtis.bsky.social/@azluminaria.org
Lawmakers have amended Arizona’s Turquoise Alert bill — addressing a previous gap in the bill’s language that would’ve excluded Emily Pike, the Indigenous teen it was named after azluminaria.org/2025/05/01/a... via @azluminaria.org #MMIP
Emily Pike’s brutal murder has been used to rally support for legislation creating a new alert system for missing people. But as it’s written, the proposed law — now named in the San Carlos Apache teen’s honor — wouldn’t help in missing cases like hers because of its age criteria.
ICYMI: A critical report created to address Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Arizona and across the country has been removed from federal websites as the Trump administration continues to slash DEI measures
Trump's anti-DEI crusade deleted a report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. It was created under the Not Invisible Act, which Trump signed in his first term.
via @chelcurtis.bsky.social/@azluminaria.bsky.social
I was honored to write for @lookoutnews.bsky.social Spring Issue! I spoke with Tucson’s trans Poet Laureate, TC Tolbert on resilience, the power of poetry & community, Indigenous & genderqueer history and our future
@transjournalists.org #transjoy #queerpoets
www.lookoutnews.org/how-poetry-a...