U.S. Supreme Court vacancy impacts tribal rights (June 20, 2005)

All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court this month for the possible resignation of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. In ailing health due to thyroid cancer, Rehnquist, 80, is widely expected to retire once the court wraps up its...

Native woman wants to put half-million to good use (June 20, 2005)

Katherine Gottlieb, an Alaska Native woman who is the Alaska's first recipient of the MacArthur Fellow award is still deciding how to spend the $500,000 that comes with the prestigious honor. Gottlieb, 53, the president of Southcentral Foundation, the...

New Mexico tribe celebrates return of sacred land (June 20, 2005)

Picuris Pueblo in northern New Mexico celebrated its purchase of a sacred site that was used for mining. Tribal members long used the Oglebay Norton site to collect mica clay for pottery and gather medicinal plants. Now they can do...

Native Vision draws hundreds to annual camp (June 20, 2005)

An estimated 750 American Indian students representing 30 tribes are attending Native Vision, the annual sports and life skills camp, in New Mexico. The students get to meet and learn from 45 professional, retired and collegiate athletes. They also attend...

Navajo ballet dancer gives farewell performance (June 20, 2005)

After 24 years with the New York City Ballet, Jock Soto, a Navajo/Puerto Rican ballet dancer gave his farewell performance on Saturday. Soto was born in Gallup, New Mexico, and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He began studying ballet at...

Column: Shinnecock Nation took too long to sue (June 20, 2005)

"Tragic victims, casino operators or somehow both? That question came to mind last week when the Shinnecock Indian tribe filed a lawsuit to reclaim some 3,600 acres of land in the Town of Southampton. Perhaps the same audacity is needed...

Column: Shinnecock Nation only seeks a future (June 20, 2005)

"A full 365 years since white interlopers set themselves, their locks, stocks and barrels on East End sand, a remnant of the Shinnecock tribe today is demanding that what belonged to their ancients be returned to them. It is suing...

Markers to pay tribute to Cheyenne warriors (June 20, 2005)

New markers will be dedicated on Saturday in honor of four Cheyenne warriors who died at the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. The young warriors are known as the "Suicide Boys'' for agreeing to sacrifice their lives...

Navajo First Lady serves as MADD spokesperson (June 20, 2005)

Navajo Nation First Lady Vikki Shirley is serving as a spokesperson for a Mothers Against Drunk Driving program that targets Indian Country. Shirley and her husband Joe Shirley Jr. lost a daughter in a drunk driving accident as he...

Montana finally provides funds for Indian education (June 20, 2005)

The state of Montana will spend $4.4 million over the next two years to fulfill the state's constitutional requirement to teach about Indian culture and history in public schools. Of the amount, $1 million will be distributed to the state's...

Oglala Sioux Tribe secures $38M loan from tribe (June 20, 2005)

The Oglala Sioux Tribe has secured a $38 million loan from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota. The tribal council voted 14-2 on Friday to approve the loan agreement, which has been the subject of some controversy on the...

Comanche Chair: Tractor rides, rodeos and powwows (June 20, 2005)

Powwows are coming into the mainstream of American culture, says Wallace Coffey, the chairman of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma. "I've been saying it for years, culture in America is not ballet and ballroom dancing," Coffey tells The New York...

DOJ pressured witness in tobacco industry case (June 20, 2005)

A Department of Justice political appointee who once worked for a tobacco company pressured a witness in the tobacco industry case to change his testimony, The Washington Post reports. Harvard University business professor Max H. Bazerman said he was told...

NYT Book Review: 'Little House' for Indian Country (June 20, 2005)

"In the early 1930's, Rose Wilder Lane, a journalist and an editor, persuaded her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder, to chronicle her childhood in a pioneering family of the 1860's and 70's. The result -- the legendary 'Little House' series...

BIA hopeful says he won't bring 'baggage' to the job (June 20, 2005)

Ron Volesky, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, is a Democrat but that isn't stopping him from seeking a job within the Republican Bush administration. Volesky, who served in the South Dakota Legislature for...

White House told DOI to pay attention to Abramoff (June 20, 2005)

The White House told Interior Department political appointees that they "had to pay attention" to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former Bureau of Indian Affairs official Wayne Smith says. Up until he was fired, Smith handled gaming and land-into-trust issues as...

Reed's story on Tiguas doesn't match Abramoff's (June 20, 2005)

Republican activist Ralph Reed's story about his efforts to close the Tigua Tribe's casino in Texas contradicts the one told by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Reed, a close friend of Abramoff's, has admitted taking $4.1 million from the lobbyist...

Mark Trahant: Readers offer junk mail solutions (June 20, 2005)

"I am still learning because as soon as my junk mail column was posted on the Internet, I started began hearing "solutions" from readers who had their own ideas about junk mail. Some radical ideas, at that. 'Simply return all...

Opinion: Native nations controlling destinies (June 20, 2005)

"Around the West, Native American nations are recapturing control over their lives, communities, tribal lands and heritage. Examples of this trend include: The Southern Utes in southwest Colorado are trying to save their culture and language from extinction, while equipping...

Letter: It's time for immigrants to pack up and go home (June 20, 2005)

"I read with interest Mr. Clay's letter expressing his wish that the immigrants should go home and I felt compelled to write to say that I agree with Mr. Clay 100 percent. Immigrants have literally ruined this country by...