With films like Killers of the Flower Moon winning critical acclaim, Native Americans have a lot to look forward to during this year's Academy Awards ceremony. Ariel Tweto, an Inupiaq TV personality and actress from Unalakleet, says it's an important milestone for Indigenous people.

An SD card ,with an almost unimaginable story, turned out to be the key to the murder trial of Brian Smith, a killer who targeted vulnerable Alaska Native women. During the trial, it was revealed that footage on the card came from a cellphone, stolen from Smith. Family members and advocates for Kathleen Henry and Veronica Abouchuk had to hear sounds from Smith's videos and see images that were horrific. And yet they came everyday to seek justice, to remind the court that the women were someone's daughters — and in Abouchuk's case, a mother and a grandmother.

After three weeks of testimony, the trial of serial killer Brian Smith came to a quick conclusion Thursday. The jury convicted Smith of all counts against him in the deaths of two Alaska Native women, who he targeted for their vulnerability. National media has followed the Smith murders closely, dubbing them the "Memory Card Murders." During the trial, the jury saw footage and photographs of the killings.

The murders of two Alaska Native women, Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk, have a lot in common. Both women are from Southwest Alaska and each battled homelessness and addiction in Anchorage. The same man, Brian Smith, a South African immigrant, has been charged with their murders.

A changing of the guard is ahead for the Alaska Federation of the Natives, which has been under the leadership of Julie Kitka for almost 35 years. The search for a new president will soon get underway, in hopes of having the position filled in time for this October’s AFN convention.