Friday – June 13, 2025 By Allison Levering | The Haskell Indian Leader
The Haskell Indian Leader has been recognized with nine awards in the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards, announced by the Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA) Thursday morning. The awards celebrate excellence in journalism from Indigenous and allied student and professional media outlets.
Allison Levering, Editor-in-chief of the Indian Leader earned top honors in the Student Division-TV-Best Feature Story category with three wins, including:
First Place – “Haskell Native Youth Olympics Presented by Kyle Worl”
Second Place – “Haskell 2024 Welcome Back Powwow”
Third Place – “Haskell Women’s Basketball: Sports Insider Interviews”
In the Student Division-Print and/or Online category:
Best News Story – First Place: Wyomee Cook, “Historical Erasure and People of Color”
Best News Story – Second Place: Indian Leader Vice-President Tara Roanhorse, “AISES
Fosters Community and Opportunities for Haskell Students”
Best News Photo – First Place: Emmitt Brazille, “Haskell’s Destress Event”
Best News Photo – Second Place: Batool Fields, “Saturday Night Lights”
Best News Photo – Third Place: Tara Roanhorse, “Celebrating Heritage and Harmony at the Haskell Cultural Dinner”
Best Feature Story – Third Place: Batool Fields, “They Came Home”
This marks a significant achievement for the student-run publication, which has represented Haskell Indian Nations University since 1897.
Haskell-KU Collaboration Recognized for Best Newscast
Haskell students were also recognized for their work in partnership with the University of Kansas as part of the award-winning team behind Good Morning Indian Country (GMIC), which swept the Student Division-TV-Best Newscast category:
First Place: GMIC, “October 18, 2024”
Second Place: GMIC, “October 9, 2024”
Third Place: GMIC, “September 25, 2024″
The team included Haskell and KU students: Shia Blackcloud, Jacob Curtis, Emma Coffey (KU), Ryn Drummond (KU) , Mily Favella (KU), Melissa Greene-Blye (KU), Allison Levering, Victor Organista, Emma Saville (KU), and Travis Tafolla. The awards will be formally presented at the 2025 Indigenous Media Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in August
.
IJA supports Indigenous voices in media and has honored excellence in reporting for more than 40 years. The 2025 competition received over 800 entries.
