Judge halts costly BIA education plan in Dakotas (July 18, 2006)

A federal judge on Friday ordered the Bush administration to halt its restructuring of Indian education programs in North Dakota and South Dakota. In a 28-page decision, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier said the administration failed to adequately consult tribes...

New Standard: U.S. failing to deliver health care (July 18, 2006)

" Despite the federal government’s own admission that the health of American Indians is below US averages, lawmakers may once again fail to reauthorize one of the principal mechanisms for funding Native healthcare programs. When the federal government brokered treaties...

UND names new director of Native Media Center (July 18, 2006)

Monique Vondall-Rieke, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, is the new director of the Native Media Center at the University of North Dakota. Vondall-Rieke earned her bachelor's and law degrees from UND. She was most recently...

Fire Thunder reinstated after being impeached (July 18, 2006)

Cecelia Fire Thunder was reinstated as president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Indian Country Today reports. Fire Thunder filed a lawsuit in tribal court. She says the tribal council didn't follow procedure when it voted to oust...

Jonathon Solomon's legacy recalled at memorial (July 18, 2006)

Hundreds attended a memorial service for Jonathon Solomon Sr., an Athabascan elder who died last week at the age of 74. Speakers recalled Solomon's commitment to the Gwich'in Nation and to Native people. He fought to protect the Porcupine...

Man charged for accident that killed Native woman (July 18, 2006)

Martha Brown, an Athabascan-Aleut woman from Alaska, was killed in a car accident in Anchorage. Brown, 41, was hit by a drunk driver whose blood alcohol reading almost five times the legal limit. She died after being taken to...

Virginia Indians enjoy historic week in England (July 18, 2006)

A delegation of Virginia Indians are having an "amazing" week in England, Ken Adams, the chief of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, told The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Representatives of the state's eight tribes left for England last Wednesday. They have been...

Man to plead guilty to murders of two Indian women (July 18, 2006)

A 25-year-old man from the Crow Reservation in Montana is expected to plead guilty to the murders of two Crow women. Eugene Raymond Rising Sun is pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the cases for the November 2003 deaths of...

Mohawk man committed to New York City food cart (July 18, 2006)

It's been a rough year for Michael Azeez, a Mohawk man who is probably the only Native American street food vendor in New York City. Azeez wanted to sell traditional Mohawk food but the city said no. Then he...

Utah governor makes historic address to tribal council (July 18, 2006)

In a first for the state of Utah, Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. (R) met with Navajo Nation leaders on Monday. Huntsman traveled to Window Rock, Arizona, the capitol of the Navajo Nation. He met with President Joe Shirley...

House approves study of Trail of Tears expansion (July 18, 2006)

The House voted 365-5 on Monday to approve a study that could add up to 2,000 miles to the Trail of Tears. H.R.3085 is sponsored by Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tennessee). He is part Cherokee, according to The Knoxville News. The...

Tohono O'odham Nation ready to close illegal road (July 18, 2006)

Correction/Clarification: Pima County, not the tribe, is building the road that won't be finished in one or two years. The Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona says it's waited long enough to act on an illegal road on the reservation....

Editorial: Crow Tribe hosts historic gathering (July 18, 2006)

"[Lewis] Clark never saw Crow people on his journey in 1806. Two hundred years later, the Crow Tribe is playing a major role in the Clark on the Yellowstone Signature Event that commemorates the bicentennial of Clark's Yellowstone Voyage. And...

Navajo Nation Council debates border town racism (July 18, 2006)

The Navajo Nation Council returned to work on Monday, with racism in border towns a top item on the agenda. Tensions have heightened in recent weeks after a Navajo man was shot by a police officer in Farmington, New Mexico....

White Earth Band opposes 70-mile ATV trail (July 18, 2006)

Opposition from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe is delaying a 70-mile all-terrain vehicle trail in Becker County, Minnesota. The trail would run through parts of the reservation. But a preliminary route was drawn without tribal input. The tribe is...

Ralph Reed blames tribes for secret payments (July 18, 2006)

Ralph Reed, the conservative Republican activist who is running for lieutenant governor of Georgia, is blaming tribes for his secret payment arrangement with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Reed was paid more than $5.2 million by the Mississippi Band of...

Northern Cheyenne Tribe to vote on coal mining (July 18, 2006)

Members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana will decide whether they want to get into coal development. The tribe owns 1 billion-plus tons of coal. A referendum will be held in November to consider developing the reserves. Separately, the...

Tim Giago: Daily screw ups in tribal governance (July 18, 2006)

"On any given day one has only to go to Indianz.com, probably the best Indian online media source, and read the daily screw ups of tribal leadership and governance. On any Indian reservation in America, and probably in Canada where...

Tribe won't allow 73-year-old on rescue team (July 18, 2006)

A 73-year-old woman won't be allowed to join the rescue team of the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona. Lucy Wallace and her dog, Molly, were training for the rescue team's canine unit. But after she was profiled in...