NMiF Features ‘Indigenously Positive’ after First Place Award in National Journalism Contest

This week, New Mexico in Focus is highlighting the Indigenously Positive series. The collaboration between NMPBS and nonprofit news organization New Mexico In Depth has brought you episodes over the last several months covering positive and joyful stories of Native people and communities. If you’ve missed any installments, this week is your chance to catch up with the whole series as we celebrate the team taking first place in the Best Multimedia category at the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards.  

Series producer Benjamin C Yazza (Diné) says there’s a need for this kind of Indigenous affairs reporting.
 
“Before we began the series fully, we randomly asked Indigenous people how they saw themselves and communities in the current media landscape. All were about the same with a negative viewpoint,” he said. “Can you imagine what that does to your psyche? We hope with these stories that audiences have a more encompassing viewpoint of Indigenous communities.”  

Yazza said the collaboration came about after its eventual host, New Mexico In Depth Indigenous Affairs Reporter Bella Davis (Yurok), approached him.   

“She was wanting to elevate more joyful stories from Indigenous communities in New Mexico,” he said. “While stories covering MMIWR (missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives) are important, it felt like these were the only types of stories being elevated.”  

The coverage that received national recognition from the Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) this year is an October 2024 multimedia package entitled, “Gaza looms over election for some Native people.” Davis said she started thinking about collaborating with NMPBS on the topic after talking with Ahtza Dawn Chavez (Diné/Kewa Pueblo), the executive director of NM Native Vote.  

“I wanted to talk with Chavez to learn what she’s hearing from Native voters… and the barriers many face in trying to cast a ballot. Notably, Native people living on reservations in New Mexico didn’t have the right to vote until 1948 — 24 years after becoming U.S. citizens,” Davis wrote in the online story that accompanied the episode.  

In addition to Davis and Yazza, the national award also recognized the contributions of NMPBS photojournalists Joey Dunn (Diné) and Noah Eichstaedt, along with Executive Producer Jeff Proctor.  
Yazza said receiving his first IJA award felt amazing.   

“When I first met Bella and we chatted about this episode, it felt like this series would be off to a good start. But we were also both hesitant and nervous about the comments page after the fact. And even more concerning, would anyone even watch it?” he said. “Over the next two weeks we had 50,000 views and a flood of comments.”  

Once you’ve caught up on the award-winning series this week — on topics from Native joy to the power of powwows and language revitalization — Yazza says there will be more stories to come from the Indigenously Positive team.  

“We’re extremely excited about the next few episodes,” he said. “We’ve really strived towards serving the Indigenous people we surveyed at the beginning of our series. They wanted stories about entrepreneurship, resilience and stories encouraging our youth.”  

Join us on New Mexico in Focus this Friday at 7 p.m. on NMPBS and the PBS app for the Indigenously Positive special, and watch the series anytime on the NMiF YouTube Channel.  

– Nash Jones, Host