Live from Global Gaming Expo: Final Day 3 (November 20, 2006)

Updates from the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas! The world's largest gaming conference concluded last Thursday. Tribal issues played a big part of the week's events, with National Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. delivering the final keynote....

LA Times series on Navajo Nation uranium mining (November 20, 2006)

The Los Angeles Times is running a series on the devastating effects of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. From 1944 to 1986, 3.9 million tons of uranium were mined on the reservation. The sole buyer was the U.S....

Onondaga Nation makes big filing in land claim suit (November 20, 2006)

The Onondaga Nation of New York filed hundreds of pages of documents in federal court in hopes of keeping its land claim alive. The tribe went on a researching frenzy after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against another New York...

Mashantucket Tribe seeks jurisdiction agreement (November 20, 2006)

The chief of police for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut wants to settle jurisdiction issues with the state and local governments. The state has criminal jurisdiction on the reservation. Tribal police have authority over the actions of American...

Travel: Ojibwa found power in Lake Superior (November 20, 2006)

"In the old days, when the Ojibwa were still brash newcomers to Lake Superior country, young men of this tribe would head out on vision quests. Like Jesus in the wilderness or Thoreau in Walden -- though with a different...

Gila River tribe hasn't changed stance on freeway (November 20, 2006)

The Gila River Indian Community of Arizona remains opposed to a freeway through the reservation despite a published report last week. The Arizona Republic said the tribe was interested in talking with state and federal officials about the project. But...

Menominee family indicted for distributing cocaine (November 20, 2006)

A man, his wife and their son were among four members of the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin who have been indicted with trafficking cocaine on the reservation. Richard Olson, 56; his wife, Eleanor, 51; son Joseph, 24, and family associate,...

Cabazon Band hosts 25th annual powwow (November 20, 2006)

The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians is hosting the 25th annual Indio Powwow and Native American Festival during the Thanksgiving weekend. The powwow will be held at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Special Events Center. Activities start Friday and...

Editorial: 'Heroes' spoke out about misspending (November 20, 2006)

"The troubles at Twin Buttes on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation will not be settled quickly, but for the most part they are being dealt with openly now. The federal grand jury indictment of seven past and present school...

Tex Hall loses challenge to election results (November 20, 2006)

Tex Hall, the former chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation of North Dakota, lost a challenge to the tribe's recent election results. Hall accused his rival, Marcus Wells Jr., of using casino payouts to influence the vote. Wells...

Navajo delegate accuses colleague of violence (November 20, 2006)

A Navajo Nation Council delegate has accused a colleague of a domestic violence incident on Election Day. LaVern Wagner says she was assaulted by New Mexico State Sen. Leonard Tsosie and his brothers. Tsosie was just elected to the council....

Editorial: Go to court to protect 'Chief Illiniwek' (November 20, 2006)

"The NCAA ruled in 2005 that schools using what they refer to as "hostile and abusive American Indian nicknames" cannot host postseason games. The University of Illinois was one of 16 schools on the list to be subjected to...

Cherokee court to consider Freedmen referendum (November 20, 2006)

The Cherokee Nation's top court will start a trial this week to determine whether tribal citizens can vote to oust the Freedmen, the descendants of African slaves. The Freedmen were made part of the tribe after the Civil War and...

Charges dismissed against Kickapoo women (November 20, 2006)

Four elderly Kickapoo women celebrated on Friday after a tribal court dismissed charges against them for their protest and takeover of an administrative building. Auchee Wahpepah, Juanita Prado, Valentina Jimenez and Glenda Deer occupied the building from December 19, 2003,...

South Carolina tribes seek true population count (November 20, 2006)

South Carolina is home to about 31,000 American Indians, or 0.3 percent of the state population, but tribal leaders say there are more to be counted. Roosevelt Scott, the chief of the Santee Tribe, kept his Indian identity to himself...

Tim Giago: State stifling growth on reservations (November 20, 2006)

Posted by request of Tim Giago, Nanwica Kciji. © 2006 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. Something is rotten in South Dakota and the smell seems to be emanating from the office of Republican Governor Mike Rounds, the man just re-elected...

Interview with Frank Peratrovich, Tlingit (November 20, 2006)

"When I was born, there were more Natives than whites in Alaska and the average life expectancy for Natives was about 45. We Alaska Natives were at the bottom of the totem pole, considered a Third World nation. Land...

Mark Trahant: States seek 'share' of tribal cash (November 20, 2006)

"One of the most unsettling things for me during this last election was a conversation with a local legislator who suggested Washington state should pressure tribes to share more of their gaming revenue. Pressure, actually, is a mild, polite word....