Top Stories
Kennise McGertt Continues Flag Tossing with ASU Marching Band
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member Kennise McGertt has had quite an adventure since graduating from Mountain View High School in May. McGertt traveled to more than 20 states while on tour with the Academy Drum and Bugle Corps over the summer. When she returned in mid-August, she began her first year of college, attending […]
Kennise McGertt Continues Flag Tossing with ASU Marching Band
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member Kennise McGertt has had quite an adventure since graduating from Mountain View High School in May. McGertt traveled to more than 20 states while on tour with the Academy Drum and Bugle Corps over the summer. When she returned in mid-August, she began her first year of college, attending […]
SRPMIC Member Becomes IFBB Bikini Professional Bodybuilder
Leanne “Aimee” Velasquez, a 27-year-old Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member, was working as a registered nurse when she decided to change up her routine of going to the gym in February 2020. Feeling intimidated and lost, she hired a fitness coach to help her get a new routine down. Her coach turned out to […]
Jacob Butler Becomes Chair of Native Seeds/SEARCH
After serving on the board of Native Seeds/SEARCH since 2017, Community Garden Coordinator Jacob Butler will now serve as chair of the board for the nonprofit seed-conservation organization based in Tucson. Butler has a big presence in the Community, having served as Community garden coordinator for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community for 16 years. […]
Harvesting the Fruit of the Prickly Pear
The O’odham and Piipaash people traditionally collected many indigenous plants in the Sonoran Desert. Many people continue to go out today and collect them when they are in bloom. The fruit of the prickly pear cactus, I:ibhai in O’odham, is one of the best traditional foods to collect from the summer through the beginning of […]
Recent Stories
Rianna Tate Wins Match at Spartan Invitational 19
With a hulking black helicopter parked behind them and the Superstition Mountains in the background, the Rezdogs Jiu Jitsu team from the Wa:k San Xavier District on the Tohono O’odham Nation joined Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member Rianna “Ona Bear” Tate in a circle and stacked their hands in…
Norris Brothers Play in Big Championship Game
Doing their best and putting their best foot forward has always been the main goal for Elijah and Ezekiel Norris. Winning the Boys & Girls Clubs Jr. Suns championship game in overtime, 29-28, was a dream come true for these brothers. The players on the team received a championship ring,…
Online Exclusive: Native Comedy Night with Tonia Jo Hall and James & Ernie
Three takeaways: Salt River, clear your schedule for Sunday, Nov. 2, and get ready to laugh until your cheeks hurt! It’s Native Comedy Night at the Showroom at Casino Arizona featuring solo act Tonia Jo Hall and the first contemporary Native American comedy duo in the U.S., James & Ernie….
SRPMIC Youth Services Staff Present at ICWA Conference
3 takeaways: In mid-August, six staff members from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community traveled to the Casino Del Sol Resort in Tucson for the eighth annual Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Conference, hosted by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Nearly 300 representatives from various tribes attended. Mylo Smith (Crow Creek-Dakota)…
Around the Community: Adams Elementary Students Learn What It Takes to Be a Journalist
Adams Elementary students in Mesa have some new ideas for what they might want to be when they grow up. The Native American Education Program at Mesa Public Schools invited O’odham Action News to the school on Tuesday, Sept. 15, to speak with students and share what it takes to get into…
13 Successful Years with Ann Cvelich
The Courtyard by Marriott Scottsdale Salt River and the Residence Inn Scottsdale Salt River have reached incredible heights in the hospitality field, occupying the top two spots for hotels in Scottsdale on Tripadvisor for the last seven years. Ann Cvelich joined Marriott in 1981, and she has worked at multiple…