Navajo Birthworker Collective

06/14/2026

A reminder that powdered infant formula is NOT sterile. Safe preparation, handling, and storage are important to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination, including concerns related to Cronobacter sakazakii, as well as other environmental contaminants such as the spores that can cause infant botulism. Following safe feeding guidelines helps protect infants from preventable illness.
Did you know the CDC's recommendations for infant formula prep is 7 core preparation steps, plus several storage and feeding rules?

FDA, in collaboration with federal and state partners, is investigating a multistate outbreak of three confirmed or suspected infant botulism illnesses. https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-infant-botulism-powdered-infant-formula-june-2026

Do not use any Nara Organics Whole Milk Organic Powdered Infant Formula.

06/14/2026

A professional reminder for families considering or receiving doula services:

When you hire a doula, you are hiring a trained professional—not a volunteer, a novelty, or an extra guest at your birth.
Choosing doula support is also a commitment. While circumstances can change, hiring a doula should be approached with the same level of seriousness as hiring any other professional. Most people would not hire a contractor to build their home, a photographer to capture a wedding, or a lawyer to represent them and then disappear without communication. The same principle applies to doula care. Once a doula commits to supporting your family, they begin investing time, energy, and availability into your care.
Doula support begins long before labor. Most doulas require to be in attendance in one or two prenatal appointments with their clients and medical providers during the third trimester. These appointments are an important part of the support process, allowing the doula to discuss birth preferences, comfort measures, unmedicated pain management techniques, infant feeding goals, and plans for labor, birth, and postpartum recovery. They also help establish communication and collaboration between the family, doula, and healthcare team.
Doulas often rearrange personal schedules, family commitments, work obligations, and travel plans around a client's estimated due date. Many spend weeks on call to ensure they are available when support is needed. Many doulas have also spent years building professional relationships with hospitals, birth centers, physicians, midwives, nurses, lactation professionals, and homebirth teams. These relationships help foster trust, collaboration, and smoother coordination of care for families.
Doula support extends beyond labor and may include prenatal education, emotional support, resource referrals, labor support, lactation and infant feeding support, postpartum follow-up, grief support, and ongoing communication throughout the perinatal period.
Because of this commitment, timely communication is essential. If your plans change, if you hire another doula, transfer care, schedule an induction or cesarean birth, or no longer need services, please notify your doula as soon as possible.
A doula's time, expertise, and availability are valuable. Respecting those commitments allows doulas to serve families effectively while balancing the needs of their own families and other clients.
Doula care is professional care. Please treat it with the same respect you would extend to any other professional supporting you through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, or loss.

06/14/2026

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) has survived one of the biggest legal challenges in its history.

In Haaland v. Brackeen, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7–2 in favor of the federal law, rejecting major constitutional challenges and affirming Congress’s authority to protect Native children and Tribal Nations.

Passed in 1978, ICWA was created after decades of policies that separated large numbers of Native children from their families and communities. The law establishes guidelines that prioritize keeping Native children connected to their relatives, Tribal Nations, and cultural heritage whenever possible.

Tribal leaders across the country, including the Cherokee Nation, celebrated the ruling as a historic victory for Native families and Tribal sovereignty.

Today, ICWA remains one of the most significant federal laws protecting Indigenous children and preserving the bonds between Native families, communities, and future generations.

Why do you think protecting culture and family connections matters for future generations?



Sources:
• U.S. Supreme Court — Haaland v. Brackeen (2023)
• Cherokee Nation — Statement on ICWA Decision
• SCOTUSblog — Haaland v. Brackeen Explained • U.S. Department of the Interior
• National Indian Child Welfare Association

06/13/2026

Amanda (Singer) has two emerging doulas under her mentorship who are in need of births to complete their certification. Ideally, potential clients should be between 34 to 36 weeks gestation at the time of referral. This timeline allows my mentees sufficient time to complete the remaining requirements of their training programs, establish a relationship with the family, discuss expectations, and prepare for the birth window.
One mentee is Tewa and is based in Hopi Territories. She covers Flagstaff, Tuba City, and Hopi communities. Her other mentee is Navajo and based in Ft. Defiance and covers Ft. Defiance and Gallup. Both have experience supporting perinatal clients and births but require additional births to fulfill certification requirements. Their support services are complimentary, as required by their training programs. Once they complete their training programs they will be charging a fee for their support. Please contact NBWC at [email protected] for referral information. Serious Inquiries only.

06/12/2026

06/11/2026

"The declines are especially pronounced in some states — 49 percent in Arizona (51 percent using more recent state data)"

SNAP participation nationwide fell by more than 3.5 million people (nearly 9 percent) between the law’s July 2025 enactment and February 2026, based on the latest month of data.

06/11/2026

Local activists are looking to create a shasta county coalition focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people in the areaAnd are holding trainings for the

06/11/2026

Look at what relatives in North Cal are doing!

06/11/2026

06/11/2026

“The Oceti Sakowin people are coming together to claim the land that is rightfully and legally owed to us. We are here to say, loud and clear, that the Black Hills are not for sale. We love our land, and will continue defending it – from Pe’ Sla to Craven Canyon and beyond.” - Madonna Thunder Hawk, Cheyenne River Sioux elder.

All nine South Dakota Tribes have voted to move forward on developing legislation to return federal lands in the Black Hills to the Great Sioux Nation.

Indigenous organizations, elders, grassroots leaders, and community members have been organizing around proposed legislation since 2020, helping Tribal leaders prioritize this proposal as a critical way to protect drinking water for the region, preserve sacred sites, revitalize culture and land, strengthen sovereignty, bolster community wellbeing, and support jobs and economic development.

Right now, there are 8,800 active mining claims in South Dakota – about 17 percent of the entire Black Hills. This legal strategy would protect the Black Hills from all extractive activities and preserve clean drinking water for all peoples and Mother Earth.

“Crazy Horse set the bar on how to move as Indigenous people, and how important it is to defend the Black Hills,” said Joseph Brings Plenty Sr., District 5 Council Representative for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. “Together, we are strong – we need to be stronger than ever because we are fighting for an existence on our very own land.”

The fight for the Black Hills to be returned to its rightful stewards is not only a material one, but also a spiritual one. Stay tuned for more updates!

ℹ️ Read our full Press Release: https://ndnco.cc/returnfederallands