Born near Four Peaks and taken from his Yavapai family as a child, Wassaja became Dr. Carlos Montezuma, a physician, publisher, and outspoken defender of Native rights and Fort McDowell land and water.

Hopi artist Kurt Ovah returns to the Museum of Indigenous People. Meet the artist, explore his detailed kachina dolls, and purchase work directly from him.

Diné scientist Reagan Wytsalucy is restoring the Southwest peach and reconnecting Native communities with a food nearly erased by forced removal.

Hopi artist Abel Nash uses watercolor, family pottery designs, and cultural symbolism to carry generations of knowledge into the present.

Diné artist Landis Bahe works across tattooing, painting, music, and contemporary Native art. His practice opens a larger story about Indigenous tattoo traditions, cultural renewal, personal expression, and the responsibilities carried by designs placed permanently on the body.

Thirty Tribal Nations share the Colorado River Basin, and many hold some of its oldest water rights. As new rules take shape in 2026, the fight is about more than water. It is about sovereignty, culture, infrastructure, and who has the authority to decide the river’s future.

Border construction in 2026 damaged an ancient O’odham geoglyph, altered a mountain sacred to Kumeyaay and Kumiai communities, and placed Lower Pecos rock art at risk. The conflict raises a difficult question: can the United States secure its border without destroying the Indigenous history it is also responsible for protecting?

The Museum of Indigenous People’s 2026 Annual Backpack Drive prepared 950 backpacks and supply bags for Native students in Navajo Nation, Hopi, and San Carlos Apache communities.

Diné painter and botanist Tracy Tohannie brings horses, family life, and northern Arizona landscapes to life through vivid color, expressive lines, and the teaching of Beauty Way.

Hopi artist Filmer Kewanyama transformed his painting Spiritual Life into a large mural inside the Museum of Indigenous People’s HOOP Room. Through water, corn, pueblo architecture, color, and visual storytelling, Hopi Spiritual Life presents a contemporary Hopi artist’s perspective on culture, community, spirituality, and the natural world.