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McCaleb 'throwing away a history of people'
In what is likely to be outgoing Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb's last foray into the controversial subject, the Bush administration on Thursday denied federal status to one of the oldest historically recognized tribes in the United States....
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Troubled trust office faces another move
A trust fund organization whose employees have expressed strong dissatisfaction with their own management will be shuffled yet again under the Bush administration's proposed reorganization....
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In The Hoop: Winners, Losers
Is it Friday already? That means it's time for the weekly list of the movers and shakers in Indian Country and beyond....
Mediation over land claim extended
A federal mediator for the Oneida Nation land claim says talks appear to be productive, The Syracuse Post-Standard reports....
Norton files anti-contempt brief
The Bush administration late today filed a brief challenging a federal judge's decision to hold Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and Indian affairs aide Neal McCaleb in contempt of court....
Ariz. gaming fight cost a record $39M
The high-stakes battle over high-stakes gaming in the state of Arizona was as high-stakes as people said it would be....
Mohegan Tribe feels right at home
Unlike other towns in the state, Mark Brown, the chairman of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, says the local community has always embraced his people....
Tribes asked to share casino profits
A Republican lawmaker in Iowa is asking tribes who operate casinos in the state to share their revenues....
Gaming an issue in tribal election
Voters of the Colorado River Indian Tribes of Arizona are angry about the tribe's expensive and unsuccessful campaign to authorize continued gaming, The Arizona Republic reports....
Choctaw educator receives state award
Joy Culbreath, the education director of the Choctaw Nation, was given a special awarded by the Oklahoma state regents on Thursday....
Tribal council member indicted for theft
A council member of a California tribe and two others have been indicted in federal court for allegedly embezzling tribal funds....
Haney still official Seminole chief
Jerry Haney has been officially recognized as the principal chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma....
Editorial: Tax tribes over tobacco
The Daily Oklahoman in an editorial today calls for tribes to share more of their tobacco revenues with the state....
More call on Tohono chairman to resign
The chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona is under more pressure to resign after being arrested in a prostitution sex sting....
Calif. tribe sues to regain status
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of California plans to sue the federal government to regain its status as a recognized tribe....
Trial: Seminole worker tried to cut spending
The fourth day of a trial into alleged theft of funds from the Seminole Tribe of Florida focused on one of the men accused of embezzling $2.7 million, according to news accounts....
Mont. tribal police force suspended
The entire police force serving the Chippewa-Cree Tribe of Montana has been suspended, the Associated Press reports....
Calif. tribes split over gaming group
At least seven tribes have dropped out of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, according to press accounts, while 31 others have not paid their dues to the powerful lobbying organization....
Navajo Nation signs power agreement
A Navajo Nation enterprise has signed a development deal for a 470-mile power line....
McCaleb being deposed today on e-mails
Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb is being questioned under oath today about his destruction of e-mails against court orders....
DOI backs industry over tribe in court
The Bush administration has sided with a company who wants to develop a kitty litter plant next to the Reno Sparks Indian Colony of Nevada....
Native students build community at FSU
Fewer than 1 percent of students at Florida State University claim Native descent but the American Indian Student Union keeps busy with a number of community events....
Gover to leave law firm to teach
Kevin Gover, former assistant secretary for Indian affairs at the Department of Interior, is leaving his Washington, D.C., law firm to teach at Arizona State University next year, The Arizona Republic reports....
Conn. pleased about tribe's denial
Politicians and resident of Connecticut were extremely pleased about the Bush administration's rejection of federal status for the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation....
Norton doesn't want to leave DOI
Secretary of Interior Gale Norton isn't planning on leaving the Bush administration to pursue a federal judgeship, a department spokesperson said....
Tex Hall: BIA reorganization 'waste of money'
The proposed Bureau of Indian Affairs reorganization is unacceptable, says National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall in a National Native News report....
Wash. tribe in court reclaim treaty rights
The Samish Nation of Washington was told it didn't exist....
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BIA proposes another set of changes
The Bush administration on Wednesday announced a "major" restructuring of Indian affairs within the Department of Interior, the second time in two years the federal government has tried to address long-standing mismanagement problems....
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Second time's a charm for BITAM
Under the guise of improving trust management services to individual and tribal beneficiaries, the Department of Interior plans to reorganize the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Office of Special Trustee (OST), two agencies whose bitter rivalries have hindered real reform to the tune of $700 million....
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In The Hoop: BIA Goes Retro
We know it's still early, but has anyone noticed that the "new" Bureau of Indian Affairs looks like the "old" Bureau of Indian Affairs circa 1980s?
Yes, Virginia, Neal McCaleb has gone retro! Beneficiaries can expect to hear Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" every time they ring the Trust Beneficiary Call Center to get accurate information about their trust fund accounts....
Investigation into death of newborn
The Shoshone-Bannock Nation of Idaho and the FBI are investigating the death of a newborn baby found on the Fort Hall Reservation....
Indian reporter shakes up L.A.
An Indian reporter for The New York Times has Los Angelenos in a tizzy for his upfront stories about some of the city's oddities....
State eyes bigger share of tribal revenue
Wisconsin Governor-elect Jim Doyle on Wednesday said tribes should share more of their gaming profits with the state....
Mohegan Tribe hits billion dollar mark
The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut reported that its casino made $1 billion in net revenues in the fiscal year that ended in September 2002....
Ariz. gaming compacts finally signed
Outgoing Arizona Governor Jane Hull (R) on Wednesday signed gaming compacts with 10 of the state's 17 tribes....
Calif. tribe launches wireless venture
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of California is getting into the Internet service industry....
Wis. tribe agrees to land swap with state
The Ho-Chunk Nation and the state of Wisconsin have agreed to land swap that will establish a state recreation area....
Lawmakers attempt to thwart recognition
A group of Connecticut lawmakers made a last-ditch attempt to thwart a decision on the federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation....
Navajo inauguration budget pegged at $150,000
Navajo Nation council delegates are expected to vote on a budget for the inauguration of president-elect Joe Shirley and other council members....
Tribal officer fired for assisting feds
A wildlife officer for the Shoshone-Bannock Nation of Idaho is challenging the tribe's decision to fire him for helping federal officials go after a tribal member....
Okla. to terminate tribal tobacco deals
Outgoing Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating (R) wants to terminate existing tobacco compacts with the state's tribes in order to come up with a new deal that will "level the playing field," the Associated Press reports....
Native students in N.Y. share culture
Native American students at a high school in New York shared their culture with their classmates at a Native American Heritage Month celebration....
Santa brings joy to Gwich'in village
It was Christmas on Tuesday for the youth of Arctic Village, a Gwich'in community right outside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska....
Editorial: Indians worse off than others
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader in an editorial today says more study is needed to find out why American Indians are worse off than immigrants and refugees in a South Dakota city....
Finalists chosen to run tribal college
Three people are up for the president's job at Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota....
Move of Innu community delayed
The pending move of the Innu First Nation at Davis Inlet in Labrador, Canada, has been delayed for at least two months....
Tohono O'odham chairman asked to resign
Some Tohono O'odham Nation officials have asked Chairman Edward Manuel to resign because of his recent arrest for allegedly soliciting an undercover police officer for prostitution, The Arizona Daily Star reports....
Native corporations withdraw FCC bids
With a Supreme Court decision pending, three Alaska Native corporations are formally withdrawing their billion dollar investment in a series of wireless licenses....
Petition calls for apology to Indians
A South Dakota man is circulating a petition calling on the United States, through Congress, to apologize for the massacres of American Indians....
Schaghticoke Tribe denied recognition
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut was denied federal recognition today by the Bush administration....
Seminole Tribe spent millions freely
The third day of a trial into alleged theft of funds from the Seminole Tribe of Florida was even more colorful and exciting than the first two, according to news accounts....
Indian vote not diluted, court rules
A federal appeals court, for the second time, rejected a voter discrimination suit brought by American Indians in Montana....
Changes proposed, again, at DOI
The Department of Interior is undergoing an organizational change as part of a greater strategy to address more than a century of mismanagement of Indian trust funds and assets....
McCaleb says credibility 'undermined'
Bureau of Indian Affairs head Neal McCaleb says his credibility has been "undermined" by a federal judge's decision holding him in contempt of court....
Death was fifth homicide on reservation
A funeral was held on Wednesday for an Indian man from the Leech Lake Reservation of Minnesota who was beaten to death by two teens....
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Panel reacts to Supreme Court trust cases
A group of Indian law experts expressed surprise on Tuesday at the reception the Supreme Court gave to two tribal trust mismanagement cases....
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Supreme Court Docket: 2002-2003
Keeping cases out of the Supreme Court has been a primary goal of tribal leaders and Indian advocates....
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In The Hoop: Supreme Showdown
The Supreme Court was packed on Monday for two hours of oral arguments for what will be the most anticipated Indian law decisions in years....
Seminole lawyer testifies in fraud case
Testimony on the second day of a fraud and theft trial involving the Seminole Tribe of Florida weakened the government's case against three associates of former chief Jim Billie, according to news accounts....
Ariz. gaming deals to be approved
Outgoing Arizona Governor Jane Hull (R) is expected to sign gaming agreements with 17 tribes after another attempt by the racetrack industry to stop her failed....
Letter: Justice for everyone but Indians
"A non-white woman who murdered two beautiful non-white children was sentenced to only eight years in prison....
Editorial: The truth about Sand Creek
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader in an editorial today welcomes the correction of a plaque at the Colorado State Capitol that properly refers to the November 29, 1864, massacre at Sand Creek....
Editorial: Another casino is bad idea
The Norwich Bulletin in an editorial today says it is "just" to recognize the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut but that "another casino is simply a bad idea."
The paper says two tribal casinos are enough....
Conn. tribe awaits recognition ruling
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut has waited at least 30 years to hear from the federal government about its federal status....
Idaho tribe considers enrollment change
The Shoshone-Bannock Nation of Idaho is considering changes to its enrollment policy....
Minn. reaches fishing deal with tribes
The state of Minnesota and eight Ojibwe bands have reached a deal affecting tribal fishing rights....
Herrington not first Indian in space
John Herrington isn't the first American Indian to go into space....
Okla. city to investigate tribe's land
An Oklahoma city wants to determine whether the Absentee Shawnee Tribe can legally operate a casino on trust land within city limits....
Oneida man facing second prosecution
An Oneida Nation official is disputing a local city's attempt to prosecute him in city court....
SIDS study shows high rate of deaths
An Indian Health Service study being published in a medical journal today confirms an extremely high infant mortality rate among tribes in the northern Plains, with most of the deaths attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)....
Indian center grows in its mission
The Heart of America Indian Center was founded in Kansas City, Kansas, by a Choctaw man and his wife who wanted to keep Indian culture alive....
BIA jail nicknamed 'Little Alcatraz'
Bureau of Indian Affairs jails are notoriously overcrowded, underfunded and understaffed....
Mass. tribe promises casino riches
The Massachusetts gambling commission gambling commission held another public hearing on Tuesday to discuss the legalization of casino gaming in the state....
Miami Nation sues over land ruling
The Miami Nation of Oklahoma is suing the Department of Interior over a legal opinion that said the tribe has no right to a parcel of land in Kansas....
Store refused to sell to Native woman
A grocery store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has apologized to a Native woman after refusing to sell her hairspray....
Indian says Indian mascots are OK
A man born in India sees nothing wrong with using American Indians as mascots....
Navajo council considers Peabody pipeline
The Navajo Nation Council will hold a special session Friday to consider a proposed pipeline to alleviate Peabody Coal's use of water in northeastern Arizona....
March planned over Whiteclay liquor sales
Frank LaMere, a member of the Winnebago Tribe who is active in Democrat politics, is organizing a protest of the sale of liquor to Native Americans in Nebraska....
The Contemptuous Judge Gale Norton
Is Secretary of Interior Gale Norton looking for a new job? The former Colorado attorney general is eyeing a federal judgeship, Al Kamen of The Washington Post reports today....
McCaleb to announce BIA reorganization
Tribal sources reported today that Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb plans to announce a reorganization of Indian affairs at the Department of Interior....
Changes made in Crow Tribe police force
The Crow Tribe of Montana is undergoing major changes in law enforcement....
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Navajo 'deception' gets Supreme Court hearing
The Supreme Court on Monday confronted one of the largest tribal trust mismanagement cases in history but seemed hard pressed to find any wrongdoing on behalf of government officials who suppressed and concealed vital information from the Navajo Nation....
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Trust duties to Apache Tribe questioned
Members of the Supreme Court on Monday pressed the federal government to detail its trust responsibilities to the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona, whose economy was recently devastated by the worst fire in state history....
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State power over tribal government in dispute
The Supreme Court on Monday took its first Indian law case of the term, agreeing to consider whether state jurisdiction extends to tribal lands for crimes that allegedly occur off-reservation....
Canadian Natives seek gun law exemption
Natives in the Inuit territory of Nunavut are seeking an exemption from a Canadian gun control law....
Affirmative action challenge accepted
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a law school's affirmative action policy....
Conn. city will negotiate with tribe
A Connecticut city council voted Monday to negotiate a casino deal with a state-recognized tribe awaiting a final decision on its federal status....
Wis. gaming agreements up for renewal
The state of Wisconsin and 11 tribes are planning to negotiate new gaming compact with incoming Governor Jim Doyle....
City denies services for tribal casino
An Oklahoma city council voted 3-2 to deny basic utility services to a casino proposed by the Absentee Shawnee Tribe....
Narragansett Tribe partners with old rival
The Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island has formed a gaming partnership with Harrah's Entertainment, a former rival....
BIA asked to investigate fatal crash
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been asked to independently investigate the circumstances of a fatal car crash on the Blackfeet Reservation of Montana....
Nuclear plant near tribe seeks renewal
A nuclear power company in Minnesota whose plant is located next to the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Tribe is questioning limits on on-site waste storage....
Court blocks off-shore drilling in Calif.
A federal appeals court on Monday blocked the Bush administration's attempt to renew drilling off the coast of California....
Museum seeks to keep language alive
A museum in Alaska is heading up an effort to keep the Alutiiq language from falling out of use....
First Nations tax bill tabled
The Canadian government has proposed legislation to allow First Nations to collect property taxes....
Okla. tribe seeks land claim intervention
The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is seeking intevenor status in the Seneca land claim....
Court won't stop telescope project
A federal appeals court on Monday said a power line to a sacred mountain in Arizona cannot be stopped....
Natives confront AIDS discrimination
Navajo community members and leaders held a march and rally in Shiprock, New Mexico, to observe World AIDS Day....
Reservation teens charged with murder
Two teens from the Cass Lake Ojibwe Reservation in Minnesota are being charged with brutally beating a blind man to death....
Canadian Innu community readies for move
Beset with alcoholism, drug problems, sexual abuse, low-achieving youth and lack of basic infrastructure, the Innu First Nation at Davis Inlet, Labrador, is preparing to move to an entirely new location....
Ancient skull doesn't 'look' Indian
Research being published next year in the journal Human Evolution documents 13,000-year-old bones found in Mexico....
Trial: Billie oversaw tribal theft
The trial of three former workers for the Seminole Tribe of Florida opened in federal court on Monday....
Editorial: Navajo Nation bilked of millions
The Navajo Nation was "bilked of millions of dollars by a crafty politician who was doing favors for his friends in the coal industry," The Arizona Daily Star says in an editorial today....
Supreme Court weighs trust relationship
The Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments in two breach of trust cases....
Cobell trust claim not based on damages
An attorney for the Native American Rights Fund said the Supreme Court's decisions on tribal trust cases probably won't affect the Cobell Indian trust fund lawsuit....
Court rejects Indian taxation appeal
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an attempt by state of Montana to tax an Indian-owned business....
Casino payments help tribal members
In May, the Puyallup Tribe of Washington began distributing $2,000 in casino profits to its 2,800 members....
Cayuga land claim appeals considered
A federal appeals court is considering two appeals for the Cayuga Nation of New York land claim....
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Supreme Court hears breach of trust cases
Two tribes go to the Supreme Court today to try and make the federal government honor its trust obligations....
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The Week in Review
Department of Interior casualties mount as trust fund battle continues, tribes lose challenge to funding for self-determination contracts, and FBI reports rise in hate crimes against Indians....
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Laws, standards and the Indian trust
In carrying out its treaty obligations with the Indian tribes, the Government is something more than a mere contracting party....
Wash. tribe opening new health clinic
The Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington is opening a new family health clinic today....
Alaska Native man wrongly convicted
Phillip Jackson was "a no-good Indian" who was convicted and imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit....
Sand Creek plaque now refers to massacre
A plaque at the Colorado State Capital now properly refers to the November 29, 1864, slaughter of 150 Indians at Sand Creek as a "massacre."
The plaque previously said the atrocity in which Army soldiers killed Cheyenne and Arapaho elders and children was a "battle." Former state Sen....
BIA said to recognize Seminole council
The Department of Interior has recognized the governing body of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, tribal officials said....
Opinion: We can't stop tribal gaming
"The thing that makes gambling dicey is the twin populations of the tribes and nontribal owners and operators....
Editorials: Action needed on tribal casinos
Two Connecticut newspapers are urging action on different fronts to prevent the spread of Indian gaming in the state....
GOPs leading charge against tribes
Republican lawmakers in Connecticut are holding a series of hearings as part of their plan to halt the development of new tribal casinos....
Mont. tribe hosting justice forum
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana is hosting a legal forum at the tribe's college this week....
Recognition decision expected this week
Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb is expected to issue a preliminary decision this week on the federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut....
Fightin' Whites team raises $100,000
An intramural team whose name draws attention to the use of Indian as mascots has raised $100,000 in scholarship funds for Native students....
Navajo Nation to attend rights conference
The Navajo Nation will be the only tribe with an official government representative at an upcoming United Nations human rights conference, The Farmington Daily-Times reports....
Indian graduation rates improve in Minn.
Graduation rates among American Indian high school students in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have doubled, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports....
Nev. tribe combats diabetes epidemic
New funding from Congress will keep the diabetes program at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Nevada alive....
Tradition conflicts with hunting ban
Alaska wildlife officials are considering a ban on hunting moose on the lower Kuskokwim River but a decision is being delayed to consider the impact on Yup'ik subsistence rights....
Opinion: Take Indians out of Redskins
"The little games we play -- toning down words, replacing images of Indian heads on helmets with arrowheads, pretending that the team's name means 'courage' and has nothing to do with American Indians, as owner Dan Snyder does -- suggests a gradual, if still reluctant, realization that there is something wrong with using "Redskins" as a moniker....
Sioux tribal members seeking class action
Members of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of South Dakota are considering a class action suit to stop their tribe from using a trust fund to pay off $31 million in debt....
BIA lays out new driving policy
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has instituted a new driving policy in response to a fatal accident involving a former employee....
U.S. promises at issue in trust cases
The Supreme Court today hears oral arguments in two cases testing the limits of the federal government's trustee relationship with tribes....
John Potter: Flying to Nashville
"Usually at this time of year I like to seize the opportunity to remind folks of life's abundant blessings that we should all be giving thanks for - 401(k) losses notwithstanding.
Of all the things I'm thankful for, I'm especially thankful, of late, that my plane didn't fall out of the sky in a flaming, downward-spiraling ball of smoke and terror whilst on my way to Nashville....
Campbell was converted by Hatch
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado) gets mentioned in a new book by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Bill McAllister of The Denver Post reports in his Beltway Notebook column....
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2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
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