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The Department of Interior today plans to turn on a major computer system that has been idle for more than a month, hoping some royalty payments can be sent to Indian Country as soon as possible....

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The White House has ordered a federal review of all contracts with Arthur Andersen and Enron....

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The overall health of racial and ethnic minorities improved over the past decade, according to a federal report released on Thursday, with the exception of American Indians and Alaska Natives, who saw no progress in some areas and declines in others....

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Is it Friday already? That means it's time for the weekly list of the movers and shakers in Indian Country and beyond....

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The Department of Interior is moving to close thousands of Indian trust accounts even though it can't guarantee the balance of any is correct and has yet to start the massive undertaking required to do so....


The Cowlitz Tribe of Washington has filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Fish and Wildlife over treaty rights....


The Olympic torch came to Alaska for the first time on Thursday, aided in its journey by the Juneau Tlingit Warriors....


As expected, students at San Diego State University aren't exactly jumping for joy about their new cultural symbol Montezuma....


A 911 operator who took one of the calls from two Aboriginal sisters killed in a domestic violence dispute testified on Thursday that there are no dedicated 911 operators at some of the most busy times of the year....


Citing irreparable harm to its economy and well-being, the state of Nevada asked a federal appeals court on Thursday to stop Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham from recommending the nation's nuclear waste be buried there....


The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans of Wisconsin gained approval in two places for its $600 million casino in the Catskills region of New York....


Leaders of municipalities in southeastern Connecticut are praising Governor John Rowland (R) for moving to increase their share of money taken in from two tribal casinos....


The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana was praised for developing water standards at a public hearing in Billings on Thursday....


A settlement over a lawsuit filed by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and a developer may be near....


Felix Edmund has resigned from his job as Alakanuk village police chief after being cited for smoking marijuana with a 15-year-old....


Proponents of legislation to reform the way federal political campaigns are financed won a significant victory in the House on Thursday....


Predatory lending practices in the home mortgage industry were the subject of a meeting held in Oklahoma on Thursday....


The Department of Interior said it is ready to start processing grazing checks for individual Indians but the chairman of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska isn't ready to make the trip to the bank....


The boarding school styles of Navajo comic Vincent "You look somehow" Craig will serve as the entertainment tonight at the 85th anniversary party of the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico....


A draft report prepared for the federal government says tribal members exposure to radiation from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington may have been underestimated....


Two Congressional committees on Thursday held hearings into the fall of energy giant Enron Corp., the most exciting being the one into shredding which occurred at accounting firm Arthur Andersen....


Appointing a receiver to take over the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust is not the way to reform the system, and neither is a reorganization, the Department of Interior's first Special Trustee says....


A Mi'kmaq First Nations police force has jurisdiction over the entire Nova Scotia province, a provincial court judge ruled on Thursday....


The FCC will be refunding a billion dollar investment to three Alaska Native corporations for a failed wireless deal, InfoWorld Daily News reports....


A protest on Thursday by Native Americans at the Statehouse in Indiana convinced a state lawmaker to amend a bill to create a commission of Indian affairs....


The ABC television network is hosting a Native talent showcase featuring "Smoke Signals" filmmaker Chris Eyre in Los Angeles, California, on Monday....


The US Commission on Civil Rights has subpoenaed Secretary of Interior Gale Norton to appear at a hearing on environmental justice but she won't appear due to a scheduling conflict....


It was much colder in terms of temperature but the reaction of Alaska Natives to Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's proposal to reorganize Indian trust was much the same as elsewhere in the nation....


A New Mexico state judge on Thursday approved majority-Indian voting districts suggested by the Navajo Nation and Jicarilla Apache Nation....


Land in western Alaska owned by Alaska Natives holds some of the densest gold deposits, according to a company that wants to mine the metal....

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After spending $40 million on a computer system that had a number of software bugs, the state of New Mexico has decided to scrap it for a cheaper package....

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After surviving more than a month without critical funds, thousands of American Indians throughout the country are closer to getting money that has been locked up in a political, legal and technical dispute....

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California's San Diego State University on Wednesday debuted its new Aztec symbol, refashioned as a cultural ambassador after Hispanic and Native students complained about the spear-chucking, red-faced warrior that had been a tradition for decades....


The Montana State University at Billings hosted a forum on racial profiling on Wednesday, an event which included a Bureau of Indian Affairs criminal investigator....


Law enforcement authorities in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, are investigating new evidence that suggests police officers played a role in the death of an Aboriginal man who was found frozen on the outskirts of town two winters ago....


"When I was a child growing up in central New Mexico, we used to pass Isleta Pueblo on our way to Albuquerque....


A group which writes information for the National Cancer Institute but doesn't make specific medical recommendations said on Wednesday it was changing its position on mammogram screening....


The chairmen of three Senate committees on Wednesday asked Vice President Dick Cheney to release documents and records from the national energy task force he chaired....


Confirming projections by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the White House on Wednesday said the national deficit has returned and would stay until the end of President Bush's term....


The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to relax rules governing the storage of nuclear waste by eliminating events it considers unlikely....


The US Army Corps of Engineers is still reviewing a fisheries plan proposed by the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut....


The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans from Wisconsin has reached a deal to open a casino in the Catskills region of New York....


In a short editorial, The Lincoln Journal Star today gives the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska kudos for coming up with an innovative way to sell energy to a local university....


Washington's two Democratic senators are miffed they weren't consulted over the nomination of the state's U.S....


A 911 operator who took one of the calls from two Aboriginal sisters killed in a domestic violence dispute testified on Wednesday that the incident has had negative effects on the emergency system in Winnipeg, Manitoba....


Three Native American Church groups have asked a federal judge for permission to intervene in a religious freedom case occurring in New Mexico....


Nebraska State Sen Chris Beutler of Lincoln has introduced a bill to legalize casino gaming on and off reservations in the state....


The Alaska House on Wednesday voted 33-2 to give $1.1 million to a lobbying group trying to convince the Senate to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling....


The Alaska House on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to add a second verse to the state song that recognizes Alaska Natives....


A South Dakota attorney with experience in Indian law is up for the U.S. Attorney's job....


The Washoe County Commission has decided to delay by one month a decision on a controversial kitty litter mine....


Native American activists erected a teepee on the lawn of University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof's home on Wednesday to protest the school's involvement in an telescope project....


The 10-member New Mexico Commission on Indian Affairs voted last Friday to remove executive director Terry Aguilar from his position should he choose not to resign voluntarily....


Two Congressional committees are holding hearings today on the Enron / Arthur Andersen debacle....


Nebraska Senator Don Preister of Omaha has introduced a bill that would prohibit the issuance of new liquor licenses within a five-mile radius of any reservation that bans alcohol....

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The management consulting firm which recommended Secretary of Interior Gale Norton appoint a single person to be in charge of Indian trust, thereby setting forth a reorganization proposal roundly rejected by tribes, is on board for yet another project....

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Among the many changes to the Department of Interior's trust reform update that Secretary Gale Norton personally submitted last week is the addition of a section on information technology and computer security issues....


The New Mexico Legislature is moving forward a bill to provide $2 million in funds, up from $750,000, to domestic violence programs....


"I hear the Sioux Nation speaks of disgust and shame concerning the Washington High School mural....


The American Indian Business Development Corp....


The Department of Energy is being urged to beef up security at weapons plants throughout the nation by a government oversight group and a Democratic Congressman....


Government attorneys for the U.S....


The House Finance Committee of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday approved a bill to give a lobbying group an additional $1 million to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge....


The Hart Senate Office Building finally reopened on Tuesday, more than three months after it was shut down when anthrax letters were received there....


The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider whether a key U.S. Census Bureau counting method is unconstitutional....


The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday issued subpoenas to senior Arthur Andersen executives involved in the Enron debacle as President Bush defended his administration's handling of the situation....


AOL TimeWarner sued Microsoft Corp....


Peru's Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in the case of former Massachusetts Institute of Technology student Lori Berenson, convicted of aiding separatist rebels try to take over the nation's Congress....


The 911 operator who took a call from three Aboriginal sisters killed in a domestic violence dispute was on the stand Tuesday for an inquest into their death....


Native Americans and other minorities aired their complaints about Nebraska's justice system at a public forum held Tuesday night....


Discount store Kmart on Tuesday filed for bankruptcy in federal court, making it the largest retail declaration in history....


Three Connecticut towns who have been fighting the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation over trust land say they have hope with a recent Supreme Court decision....


The Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota is releasing a report today on health disparities affecting Native American, African-American, Hispanic and Asian children....


The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana has developed standards for water quality on the reservation, affecting a number of uses from drinking to recreation to agricultural....


After receiving complaints from Native American activists, the owners of a Nevada brothel have changed the name to "Wild Horse." The Storey County brothel was originally going to be called "Crazy Horse Resort and Spa." But the operators received complaints and decided to pick another name....


Chief Richard Velky of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut says he expects the Bureau of Indian Affairs to issue a proposed finding on this tribe's recognition in the second half of 2003....


A federal judge in New York has agreed to remove private landowners from the Mohawk land claim....


There appears to have been a breakthrough in talks between the Oneida Nation, the state of New York and two counties over the tribe's unsettled land claim....


A new group called the Property Owners and Citizens Rights Organization has popped up in northern Idaho and its goal is to challenge the sovereignty of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and the Environmental Protection Agency....


"Does Orange County need another 2,500 homes near Turtle Rock? Absolutely....


"Under welfare reform, for the first time, tribes are given a choice to develop, implement and administer their own welfare program, which would be beneficial for tribes....


The Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council kicked off its health care roundtable in Montana on Tuesday as tribal leaders called on joining together to fight numerous problems facing reservations in the Plains....


Former Navajo Nation leader Peter MacDonald on Monday said it was a "miracle" that he was released from prison a year ago....


The Passamaquoddy Tribe of the Pleasant Point Reservation in Maine is moving to enforce its Indian preference policy to try and keep young tribal members at home....

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Trust reform project gets new direction, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's contempt trial finds one too, Interior computer shutdown stays the same, and tribal counsultation does as well....

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President George W Bush took office a year ago this week with little to go on in terms of Indian policy....

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The Department of Interior is hosting its sixth consultation on a proposal to create an Indian trust agency....

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As tribal leaders work to come up with alternatives to the Bush administration's proposed, and opposed, reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a key question about the status of various trust reform projects has been raised....


The Oneida Nation is hoping the state of New York will be tribally-supplied video lottery machines....


Sen John Kerry (D-Mass.) is offering his own alternative to the Bush administration's energy plan....


The Department of Interior's Board of Land Appeals has ordered the Bureau of Land Management to rewrite parts of a gas drilling plan in Wyoming....


The Department of Interior last Thursday released an environmental analysis that finds no significant impact should eight natural gas wells be drilled in and around a national monument created in the last month of the Clinton administration....


The Bush administration's move to send the nation's nuclear waste to Nevada might have a more difficult time clearing the GOP-controlled House if sentiments voiced by a Congressional leader are any indication....


The Cheyenne-Arapaho tribal complex near El Reno, Oklahoma, will play host this Thursday to a workshop for women entrepreneurs....


A former executive of failed energy giant Enron said on Monday that document shredding was taking place as recently as last week despite the company being under a federal investigation....


The Northern Ute Tribe of Colorado is helping contribute funds to clean up a 130-acre pile of radioactive mine waste in Utah but how exactly to do that is still under debate....


Law enforcement in Seattle, Washington, are seeking help in identifying a woman found dead in a park restroom last week....


A group of Native Americans in Colorado is calling on Eaton High School to get rid of its "Reds" logo, which features an Indian man with a large nose and a feather in his hair....


Thanks to a settlement brokered through the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency that works on government whistleblower cases, a National Park Service ranger is now allowed to speak freely about his job and his concerns as a ranger in Yellowstone National Park....


Arizona tribes will seek to fight a proposal by four race tracks to add video slot machines to their facilities, said Ivan Makil, president of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community....


When President Bush releases his fiscal year 2003 budget on February 4, it is expected he will increase funding for terrorist-related programs while other areas will see little or no growth....


The Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, in partnership with the Indian Health Service, is hosting a three-day roundtable in Billings, Montana, to discuss health care disparities on reservations....


The Montana Marrow Program is holding a blood drive today in Billings for Arianna Jordan, a 1-year-old Native child with osteopetrosis....


Buried at the end of an Arizona Republic article about a new book by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is a tidbit about former Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt....


Navajo Nation presidential candidate Joe Shirley wants to ensure the voice of tribal members on the three-state reservation is being heard....


Walela and Robbie Robertson will be joining Sting, Lee Ann Rimes, the Dixie Chicks and a host of others for the Opening Ceremony at the Winter 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah....


The Tigua Tribe of Texas is working to try and make expected layoffs of hundreds of employees less harsh by offering severance packages and post-employment aid....


The Supreme Court today declined to review of an appeal by an American Indian man convicted of the same crime under both tribal and federal jurisdiction....



Native students from the villages of Barrow in Alaska and two in Siberia are taking part in a five-year research and education project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency....


Prairie dogs are spreading "like wildfire" on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, a land coordinator for the Oglala Lakota Tribe told The Sioux Falls Argus Leader....


The Makah Nation of Washington has requested $70,000 in federal funds from the National Marine Fisheries Service for use in its traditional whale hunt....


The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Sunday proposed to sign a cease-fire agreement with the Colombian government by April 7....


The Alaska Legislature is once again moving to fund Arctic Power with an extra $1 million so the group can lobby Congress to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling....


A December 2000 ruling by a federal appeals court affecting protection of Native artifacts is being described as a setback by federal officials and Alaska Natives....


The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the state was wrong to revoke the license of a non-Indian man who was pursued off the Iowa Reservation by a tribal officer....


The beluga whale population in Alaska's Cook Inlet is growing by about 3 percent a year, according to federal scientists, giving them hope that the mammal's numbers are rebounding after a decade of decline....


"I also admired Chris Eyre's "Skins," a drama about murder, vigilantism, alcoholism and despair on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota....


The Alaska Native Heritage Center on Sunday held a celebration in honor Martin Luther King Jr., which featured a speech by Anchorage police chief Walt Monegan....


The St Francis Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont on Friday held a press conference to respond to opponents of the tribe's bid for federal recognition....


The Ponca Tribe has formed what is being called a unique partnership with the University of Nebraska....


The Southern Ute Tribe of Colorado has decided not to send a delegation of members to the Winter 2000 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah....


The federal status of the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana is not yet finalized but the landless tribe is already cultivating economic development prospects....


When the Black Eagle Singers of Jemez Pueblo go to the GRAMMY awards ceremony next month, they'll be bringing along friends from New Mexico's other Pueblos....


Over the weekend, a group of about 20 people camped out at an historic Lower Hidatsa village in North Dakota as part of a recreation of Lewis and Clark's journey through the West....


Tribal and gaming issues are becoming a rallying cry for Democratic candidates opposing Connecticut Gov....


"It was barely a year ago that Linda Chavez was on CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports," lamenting her ill-fated bid to be secretary of labor and organized labor's opposition....


A day after her department held a consultation session with tribal leaders, Secretary of Interior made her first official visit to the Coachella Valley in southern California....


The Department of Interior's drawn out Internet shutdown has had far-reaching effects on daily business, as a dispatch from The Billings Gazette notes....


In an editorial today, The Washington Post criticizes Secretary of Interior Gale Norton for not submitting comments her agency drafted in response to a major environmental plan....


Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb are "deluding themselves" if they think tribes are going to buy into their plan to create an Indian trust agency, The Sioux Falls Argus Leader says today in an editorial....


"The 50,000 American Indian students served by Bureau of Indian Affairs schools deserve higher academic standards, greater parental involvement and local control, and more flexible and efficient federal support....


The Hart Senate Office Building is set to reopen tomorrow after tests on protective gear found last week in a hallway came up negative for anthrax....


Online casinos are facing an interesting problem in the post-dotcom bust age....