In 2025, Tribal College Journal published the issues Food, Energy, Water (spring); the Arts and Humanities (summer); Data Sovereignty (fall); and Advocacy (winter)—all important and timely themes selected by our advisory board. But we also published an array of web-exclusive features, columns, and news items which, in sum, account for the vast majority of our editorial content. Moreover, because TCJ offers free, unfettered access to our website, visitors can peruse our 35+ years of archives. Interestingly, articles published in 2022, 2016, 2000, and even 1992 were among the most frequently accessed articles of the year. But for this list, as always, we’ll focus on the most popular pieces of the past year. Here they are:

1. Five Native Films You Should Be Streaming in 2025
   Surprise, surprise, TCJ columnist Ryan Winn again tops our list with his film picks of the year. Look for his 2026 picks, coming soon!

2. Longtime Tribal College Leader Ron His Horse Is Thunder Walks On
   The tribal college community was shocked and saddened when TCJ announced the sudden passing of former Sitting Bull College president Ron His Horse Is Thunder. We followed up this breaking news item with a full In Memoriam tribute to his leadership.

3. “Each of Us Is a Story”: A Conversation with Joy Harjo
   For TCJ’s summer issue, Tohono O’odham Community College professor Edison Cassadore interviewed his former mentor and our three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, who extolled the vitality and great importance of the arts and humanities—especially in these crazy times.

4. AIHEC 2025: Scenes from Rapid City
   The AIHEC student conference is one of the highlights of the year, and our annual photographic retrospective captures all the fun and excitement of the event. We’ll see you in Bismarck!

5. Native Summer Reads for 2025
   It seems that whenever our columnist and College of Menominee Nation professor Ryan Winn makes a list, people tune in to check it out. His book recommendations especially hit the mark. If you happened to miss this one, click on the link above.

6. Between the Loom and the Laptop: A Tribal College Faculty Sabbatical
   Diné College professor Christine Ami is not only a phenomenal academic and writer, she’s also an award-winning Navajo weaver. In this Voices column, she chronicles how an NEH grant and college sabbatical enabled her to produce some of her best work.

7. Vibrations of the World: Pollinator Stewardship and Advocacy at the Institute of American Indian Arts
   IAIA is world renowned for its arts and writing curricula, but the institute also developed a creative beekeeping and apiary program designed to rejuvenate pollinators in the American Southwest. Melanie Kirby’s captivating feature article tells all about it.

8. Not for Sale: Tribal Colleges and Sovereignty in the Age of Datafication
   TCJ intern and journalist Kalista Peña penned this wonderful summation of how TCUs are on the frontlines in safeguarding Native nations’ data sovereignty. Her article served as the lead feature in our big fall issue.

9. Our DNA, Our Sovereignty: Reclaiming Genetic Data in Indian Country
   Robert Crawford of the Blackfeet Nation wrote this web-exclusive feature on how Native genetic data has been taken, studied, and stored without tribal consent, arguing that TCUs are best poised to change this pattern.

10. Cultural Memory, Resistance, and Identity: Arts and Humanities in Tribal College Settings
    Diné College professor Karla Britton’s lavishly illustrated and masterfully written feature argued that through their arts and humanities-centered programming TCUs can lead an experiment in non-conformity to resist outcomes-driven criteria and technological preoccupation that dominate today’s educational arena.