Noel Lyn Smith
Fellow, Outrider Foundation and Roy W. Howard
Noel Lyn Smith is a Diné (Navajo) reporter. Her maternal clan is Honágháahnii (One-Walks-Around Clan), and paternal clan is Hashtł’ishnii (Mud Clan). Her reporting has focused on all aspects of the Navajo Nation. Her favorite topics include the tribal government and the environment. She reported about the Gold King Mine spill, water issues, threats to sacred sites and coal mining, including the tribe’s purchase of the Navajo Mine. She looks forward to expanding her understanding of Indigenous communities while working for Inside Climate News as part of a year-long fellowship funded by the Outrider Foundation and the Scripps Howard Fund. Noel was a staff reporter with the Farmington Daily Times in northwest New Mexico and with the Navajo Times in Window Rock, Arizona. Her work has also appeared in ICT, formerly Indian Country Today. She took a break from her career to earn a master’s degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Noel is the first recipient of a partnership between the Cronkite School, the Indigenous Journalists Association and ICT to complete a master’s degree program at Cronkite. Her bachelor’s degree is in journalism from Northern Arizona University. This story was produced with support from the Outrider Foundation.
Apache Group is Carrying a Petition to the Supreme Court to Stop a Mine on Land Sacred to the Tribe
By Noel Lyn Smith
After Navajo Nation Condemns Uranium Hauling on Its Lands, Arizona Governor Negotiates a Pause
By Noel Lyn Smith
In New Mexico, a Walk Commemorates the Nuclear Disaster Few Outside the Navajo Nation Remember
By Noel Lyn Smith
Tribes and Environmentalists Press Arizona and Federal Officials to Stop Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon
By Noel Lyn Smith
Navajo Summit Looks at History and Future of Tribe’s Relationship With Energy
By Noel Lyn Smith
Historic Agreement with the Federal Government and Arizona Gives Colorado River Indian Tribes Control Over Use of Their Water off Tribal Land
By Noel Lyn Smith
Officials Celebrate a New Power Line to Charge Up the Energy Transition in the Southwest
By Noel Lyn Smith
This Month’s Superfund Listing of Abandoned Uranium Mines in the Navajo Nation’s Lukachukai Mountains Is a First Step Toward Cleaning Them Up
By Noel Lyn Smith
Tribes Meeting With Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Describe Harms Uranium Mining Has Had on Them, and the Threats New Mines Pose
By Noel Lyn Smith
Enbridge Wants Line 5 Shutdown Order Overturned on Tribal Land in Northern Wisconsin
By Phil McKenna, Noel Lyn Smith
Feds Deny Permits for Hydro Projects on Navajo Land, Citing Lack of Consultation With Tribes
By Noel Lyn Smith, Wyatt Myskow
