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The world's largest coal company this week said it would use the outcome of the Navajo Nation's Supreme Court ruling in a separate lawsuit alleging the tribe lost $600 million for a unfavorable mining lease. The 6-3 decision struck down the tribe's breach of trust claim against the federal government for approving the agreement....

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Indian Health Service (IHS) programs are among the highest rated in the federal government, agency officials said this week. In formulating the Bush administration's new budget, Dr....

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White Mountain Apache Tribe - Very few rallied to your side as two of the most important cases went to the Supreme Court....


Four tribes broke ground on their $43 million hotel in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of California, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians of California, the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe of Wisconsin and the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin are opening the 233-room hotel....


Senate Republicans lost an attempt on Thursday to stop a Democrat filibuster of an appeals court nominee....


Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are drafting a new bill that would put a time-limit on new tribal casino compacts. Gov....


The New Mexico House unanimously approved a bill to rename a highway in honor of a Navajo Code Talker who serves in the state Senate. The bill changes U.S....


A group calling itself the Southern Cherokee Nation has been told to move a riverboat that it wants to use as casino. The 214-foot boat landed at Webber Falls in Oklahoma....


The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut takes safety of patrons of its 7,400-seat arena seriously, The New London Day reports. The tribe's public safety department is taking extra steps in light of the recent concert tragedy in nearby Rhode Island that killed 96....


The Tachi Yokut Tribe of California was in court on Thursday to explain why it should not be forced to comply with the state's campaign finance laws. According to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, the tribe failed to report $525,000 in contributions over a four-year period....


Water users in northern New Mexico are working to finalize an agreement to buy water from the Jicarilla Apache Nation. The San Juan Water Commission has an emergency water supply agreement with the tribe....


South Dakota lawmakers are trying to hammer out a bill that would allow counties to place inmates in Indian Country jails. The bill passed the House and Senate but with a key difference....


Members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina are voting on Saturday to consider a change to their constitution that will define the tribe's territory. Currently, the constitution identifies the entire state....


The Mescalero Apache Nation of New Mexico is thinning forest lands and setting proscribed burns in hopes of preventing forest fires. The reservation was hit by a spate of arson fires over the past year....


Nebraska tribes are making their moves in case state voters approves Class III gaming. The Santee Sioux Tribe says it will quickly expand its existing facility....


The Havasupai Tribe of Arizona won't be opening a casino in its home in the Grand Canyon any time soon but that doesn't mean the remote and small tribe won't benefit from gaming. The tribe sold its 475 slot machine rights to two urban tribes with successful casinos....


Are basketball referees in Montana biased against Indian teams? Many in Indian Country, including a coach from the Crow Reservation, say yes, citing examples of what they consider unfair treatment on the court. But others say no, like Squee Guardipee, an athletic director on the Blackfeet Reservation....


With Congress expected to rewrite a major bill that funds all federal highway spending, U.S....


Nearly 200 bison from Yellowstone National Park have been sent to slaughter this week, according to news accounts. Montana livestock officials are allowed to kill the animals when they wander out of the park....


The Stillaguamish Tribe of Washington was unable to meet with a local mayor on Thursday because the mayor didn't show up to discuss a possible casino. Marysville Mayor Dave Weiser said he decided not to attend because of media attention....


Several residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota have accused a hospital of racial discrimination. The residents say they were treated poorly during a visit to a patient last week....


The Navajo Nation has not lost hope on a conspiracy lawsuit it has filed against the world's largest coal company. The contentious case is being fought in federal court in Washington, D.C., at the same time the tribe was pursuing its breach of trust claim against the federal government....


Senator Pete Domenici today asked Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez whether there is enough cost-benefit advantage for Congress to increase funding for a federal program specifically tailored to meet the housing needs of American Indian tribes. Domenici today submitted the inquiry to Martinez, who today appeared before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee to testify on the recommended FY2004 HUD budget request. Specifically, Domenici asked whether providing $700 million for the HUD Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) program is enough to begin offsetting a growing housing backlog on the reservations....


The San Xavier district of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona holds its annual pow-wow tomorrow. The Wa:k pow-wow includes tradition O'odham competitions like team dancing and hoop dancing....

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In a near party line split, a Senate committee voted 10-5 on Wednesday to approve the nomination of Ross Swimmer as Special Trustee at the Department of Interior. All Republican members of the panel voted yes, including chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and John McCain of Arizona, who had earlier raised concerns about the nomination....

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The federal judge overseeing the Indian trust fund sanctioned several government attorneys on Wednesday for a "frivolous" attempt to undermine the court's authority. For the second time in as many months, U.S....

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If you heard coughing and sniffling and hacking at yesterday's Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing, that was Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado)....


The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians voted to appeal a California judge's decision that subjects the tribe to the state's campaign finance law. The Fair Political Practices Commission, a state board, says the tribe is not complying with the law....


Navajo Nation leaders expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday to end their $600 million breach of trust claim. The 6-3 ruling found that the Department of Interior did not violate any trust obligations for approving a coal lease that was unfavorable to the tribe....


The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld California's tough "three strikes" sentencing law. In two separate 5-4 decisions, the majority said the law does not violate the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment....


In response to a lawsuit filed by the state of Washington, the Department of Energy agreed to put a temporary halt to nuclear waste shipments to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The state wants the federal government to commit to a cleanup schedule before any more waste is stored at Hanford....


Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature plan to introduce another measure aimed at providing more oversight of Indian gaming compacts. GOP lawmakers have been upset that Gov....


The North Dakota Senate voted down a bill to rename the Four Bears Bridge on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The bridge is named for Mandan and Hidatsa chiefs....


The Stillaguamish Tribe of Washington is considering a casino in the city of Marysville but isn't being met with open arms, according to news accounts. The tribe wants to build a casino on trust land but is facing opposition from a group that wants the proposed facility moved....


A citizens group sued the state of Washington for approving the Muckleshoot Tribe's amphitheater. The tribe gained federal and state approval for the project after a lengthy review process....


The Muckleshoot Tribe of Washington filed suit against a group of cities to require a more detailed study of a proposed water project. The Cascade Water Alliance wants to build a pipeline to pipe water from a lake....


Nebraska lawmakers voted 25-19 to advance a constitutional amendment that allows expands gaming in the state. The amendment allows tribes to open Class III gaming facilities on reservation land....


More than 200 bison from Yellowstone National Park have been rounded up this week, with most headed to the slaughterhouse. Federal and state officials in Montana are looking at rounding up an additional 100, a park official told The Billings Gazette....


A federal judge in Nevada dismissed a suit seeking approval of a kitty litter mine next to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. Oil-Dri Corp....


The Northwest Area Foundation is being sued for withdrawing a $15 million offer to reduce poverty among Indians, Hispanics and whites in Yakama Nation country in Washington. The foundation wanted the community to decide how to spend the money....


The Chippewa Cree Tribe of Montana has reinstated police chief Arthur Windy Boy, The Havre Daily News reports. The tribal council voted 4-2, with two abstentions....


The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition to recognize tribal court orders and judgments. The Minnesota Tribal Court Association was a backer of the initiative, which was heavily covered by The Native American Press / Ojibwe News....


The state of Washington and the federal government have agreed to pay $5 million to four children who were abused at foster home on the Nooksack Reservation, The Seattle Times reports. The children were in legal custody of the state when placed in the home of a former tribal council member....


The Whiteriver Unified School District Governing Board welcomed the Show Low Unified School District Governing Board in a joint Board meeting to discuss the recent controversy surrounding racially motivated comments and actions of spectators attending basketball games between the two schools on February 4 of this year. Show Low Superintendent Norlis McKay and Show Low High School Principal Ken Van Winkle opened the meeting with formal apologies extended on behalf of the school and governing board....


"I am writing in regards to the recent media coverage on Navajo allottees claiming their royalties which are long overdue. I, unfortunately, do not receive royalty checks; yet I know of relatives and friends that do....


Oklahoma Senator Don Nickles, a Republican, said he was ready for the full Senate to confirm Ross Swimmer as Special Trustee at the Department of Interior. Nickles does not sit on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee but supports his fellow Oklahoman....


Senator Pete Domenici, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, today joined forces to revive legislation with wide-ranging importance to American Indians in New Mexico. Domenici is an original cosponsor of the Indian Programs Reauthorization and Technical Amendments Act, introduced today by Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Senator Ben Nighthorse-Campbell....


A DNA expert testified on Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of raping and murdering an Alaska Native woman. The expert said that sperm found at the scene did not match suspect Joshua Wade, The Anchorage Daily News reported....

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A deeply divided Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for an Arizona tribe to recover money damages for the federal government's failure to meet its trust responsibilities. Rejecting arguments proffered by the Bush administration, the court upheld the White Mountain Apache Tribe's claim....

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Pitting tribal self-determination against the federal trust responsibility, the Supreme Court on Tuesday put a dramatic halt to the Navajo Nation's landmark $600 million lawsuit. In a 6-3 decision, the justices said the largest tribe in the country failed to make a showing under Supreme Court precedents used in breach of trust cases....

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Indian leaders and Indian law scholars reacted with caution to two trust rulings issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The split nature of the decisions -- one against the Navajo Nation, the other in favor of the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona -- prevented observers from declaring a total victory....


Nearly 50 bison from Yellowstone National Park were taken to slaughter on Tuesday with 100 more headed to their deaths. The state of Montana is allowed to shoot bison that wander out of the park....


Republicans want the Senate to vote tomorrow on the nomination of a federal appeals court judge. Democrats have been filibustering Miguel Estrada, President Bush's pick to the D.C....


The Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado has suffered another vandalism attack although no archaeological sites appear to have been damaged. Previously, the Bureau of Land Management has reported pot hunting, unauthorized fires, graffiti, illegal digging and other abuses....


The state of Washington sued the Department of Energy on Tuesday, alleging the federal government broke promises to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in exchange for storing more waste at the site. The state asked a federal court to stop future shipments until the DOE agrees to a cleanup schedule that carries the weight of law....


Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate failed to override Governor Jim Doyle's veto of their gaming oversight bill. The 20-11 vote was one short of the two-thirds majority needed....


A jury in Washington convicted a man for murdering a member of the Tulalip Tribes. George Jimicum, 24, died at a party on the reservation....


The Navajo Nation's agribusiness estimates it will see a $2 million profit this year, The Farmington Daily Times reports. Navajo Agricultural Products Industry board chairman Gary Nelson said the additional money would be realized by selling excess water and alfalfa....


The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and its casino will be honored by the Special Olympics Connecticut for the their contributions to the organization. The tribe has donated $50,000 every year and has given volunteer time, The New London Day reported....


...


The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma experienced a rise in enrollment after the United Keetowah Band was forced to cut back on some services, The Tahlequah Daily Press reports. The UKB says its enrollment has grown to about 9,000....


Two former officials of the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe Tribe of North Dakota are being sent to federal prison for stealing from the tribe. Former chairman Raphael DeCoteau was sentenced to 27 months in prison and four years of probation....


Montana's attorney general is fighting a law that requires new political districts to be drawn in the state. Republicans passed the law because they said seven Indian-majority districts drawn up by a state commission were too favorable to Democrats....


The United South and Eastern Tribes (USET), which represents more than 20 tribes from Maine to Florida, passed a resolution in opposition to a proposed bridge in Florida. USET says the Fort Hamer project would damage a site significant to the Seminole people....


The American Indian Journalism Institute is accepting nominations for student journalists, the Freedom Forum announced. The three-week program takes place at the University of South Dakota....


The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is releasing a report today that cites the positive and negative impacts of drilling in Alaska's North Slope. The report, commissioned by Congress, says that the effects of development have "accumulated" on Alaska Natives and the environment....


The Bureau of Indian Affairs has recognized Ken Chambers as principal chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Chamber was elected in summer 2001 but former chief Jerry Haney claimed power....


The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will meet this morning to consider the nomination of Ross Swimmer as Special Trustee at the Department of Interior. Last week's 10-3 vote failed to advance due to procedural objections....


The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled for one tribe but against another in two closely-watched breach of trust cases. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices said the Navajo Nation failed to show the existence of a fiduciary relationship between the tribe and the federal government....


The California Wilderness Coalition named the Klamath Basin to its 10 most threatened wild places list. Last fall's massive fishkill prompted the addition....

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A deeply divided Supreme Court today issued its rulings on two breach of trust cases. In a 6-3 ruling, the court struck down the Navajo Nation's landmark $600 million claim....

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A senior Bush administration official warned tribal and Indian leaders on Monday that Indian housing funds are being watched "extremely closely" and could face cuts. Michael Liu, the assistant secretary for public and Indian housing, noted a government-wide push to become more "results oriented." The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and members of Congress want the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to prove its programs are working, he said. "To justify the levels of funding and hopefully to justify even more funding in the future, they have to have a better handle of what is being done and what has been done with the moneys that have gone out to the tribes and the nations and the villages," Liu said at the National American Indian Housing Council's annual Washington, D.C., summit. Citing figures that are in dispute, Liu told conference attendees that about 45 percent of funds under a key Indian housing program have not been spent....

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Calling it an exercise in "frivolity," the federal judge overseeing the Indian trust fund rejected a motion to remove information about a senior trust official from court documents and the Internet. U.S....

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Over the objections of the Bush administration, the federal judge overseeing the Cobell trust fund lawsuit on Monday accepted an amicus brief filed by the nation's largest inter-tribal organization. Tribes are not parties to the litigation but U.S....

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The federal judge overseeing the trust fund lawsuit rejected on Monday the Bush administration's second attempt to extinguish the rights of Indian beneficiaries. Last December, U.S....


It was state sovereignty, not tribal sovereignty, that was under attack in a recent campaign donation case, The Sacramento Bee says in an editorial today. A state court said tribes are required to comply with state election law....


Two witnesses in the trial of a man accused of raping and murdering an Alaska Native woman tied the accused to the crime. Jonathan Walker had to read from a statement because he was shot in the face and his memory has been damaged....


Republicans in Wisconsin were unable to muster enough votes to override Governor Jim Doyle's veto of their gaming oversight bill. Doyle has negotiated new compacts with two tribes that authorize expanded gaming in exchange for a higher share of revenues....


Nebraska lawmakers struck a deal that would combine two competing proposals to expand gaming in the state. The compromise would still allow tribes to establish Class III casinos....


The Yaqui Easter Ceremonies begin this week in Guadalupe, Arizona, near Phoenix. The ceremonies run from Ash Wednesday through Easter....


About 100 bison from Yellowstone National Park are set to be slaughtered without first being tested for a deadly cattle disease, the Associated Press reports. Under a management plan adopted by the Clinton administration, officials must first try to haze the bison back into the park....


Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), a critic of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said on Monday he would not seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2004. Dodd is a primary sponsor of a bill to reform federal recognition....


The New Mexico House passed a bill on Monday to allow state lottery scholarships to be used at two tribal colleges. The bill would benefit 68 students at Dine College on the Navajo Nation and 19 students at the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, said a supporter....


Common Cause of Wisconsin released figures on Monday that showed the amount of campaign contributions tribes in that state made to the national parties. According to the group, tribes donated more than $770,000 to the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee....


The Bureau of Indian Affairs is returning law enforcement duties to the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of Nevada. The BIA had taken over the tribe's police department in June 2001....


"I have little doubt that the United States will soon go to war against Iraq....


A New Jersey art dealer wants to post paintings that depict images sacred to a New Mexico tribe on an art web site. Fred Ross, chairman of The Art Renewal Center, said he bought the paintings with the hopes of making them public....


Critics of a proposal for a giant kitty litter plant say Secretary of Interior Gale Norton caved into industry pressure. The Reno Gazette-Journal obtained a series of letters and correspondence that urged Norton to get involved....


"The club’s use of Crazy Horse’s name was yet another reminder of mainstream society’s romanticized image of Native people....


The Grand Forks Herald in an editorial today says the state of South Dakota shouldn't "hurt relations" with the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation by renaming a bridge on the reservation. A lawmaker known for her support of Indian issues has introduced a bill to change the Four Bears Bridge to the Medal of Honor Bridge....


Four tribes are asking a federal judge to stop the Bush administration from using federal funds to build a shooting range in South Dakota. The Northern Cheyenne, Rosebud Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux and Yankton Sioux tribes, along with an Indian group called Defenders of the Black Hills, say the range will disturb ceremonies that take place near Bear Butte....


For generations, residents of Indian Country have been victimized by persistent mismanagement of trust assets by the federal government....


The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will reconsider the nomination of Ross Swimmer as Special Trustee tomorrow, an aide said. Panel members voted 10-3 last week to advance Swimmer to the Senate floor but procedural objections delayed the nomination....


"A smart-ass shtick for journalists these days is interviewing inarticulate placard-carrying protesters at big demonstrations....


The Nebraska Legislature will hold three hearings over the next two weeks addressing the sale of liquor in the town of Whiteclay. According to The Omaha World-Herald, one would use liquor-tax proceeds for law enforcement at Whiteclay....


The Navajo Nation's new leaders are in Washington, D.C., this week for meetings with the White House, members of Congress and top government officials. It's part of the tribe's annual impact week....

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From tribal sovereignty to Indian gaming to Mary Youngblood, the top news is all here in the Week in Review. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next month in a case tribal leader feel will diminish their sovereignty. The case, Inyo County v....

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Tribal leaders are paying close attention to a land use case that is up for review by the Supreme Court this week. A unanimous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last September rejected an "unprecedented" attempt by a Washington county to assert jurisdiction over land on the Tulalip Reservation....


Tex Hall, the chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota, testified against a bill to rename a bridge on the reservation. A state lawmaker known for her support of Indian issues introduced a bill to change the Four Bears Memorial Bridge -- named for Mandan and Hidatsa chiefs -- to the Medal of Honor Bridge....


"District Judge John Conway has passed sentence on Santa Fe art dealer Joshua Baer for six charges of violating the Migratory Bird Act (selling prohibited eagle feathers) and three Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act violations (selling objects of cultural and religious patrimony). As Judge Conway stated when the case broke months ago, he did not think that Baer would do any jail time because the judge was not fond of NAGPRA laws....


An estimated $100,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from Native artist Nelda Schrupp sometime last week. Nelda Schrupp, a Nakota from North Dakota, was in Phoenix, Arizona, for the Heard Museum's annual Indian Fair and Market....


Native American students have the highest dropout rate at Arizona State University. The dropout rate for Native students is 78 percent....


The Navajo Code Talkers Association is investigating plans to build a monument and cemetery on land in New Mexico. A New Mexico man donated 50 acres to the association for a possible project....


Gloria Whitefeather-Spears received the Award of Honor at the Women of Color Recognition in St....


Federal officials are reviewing an $80 million loan the Seneca Nation of New York obtained from Malaysian financiers but might not be able to do much about it. The tribe secured the loan to build a new casino facility in Buffalo....


Connecticut's two senators say their federal recognition reform bill will not impose a moratorium on pending decisions. Sens....


Two activist groups held a march and panel discussion to protest the sale of liquor in Whiteclay, Nebraska. The American Indian Movement and Nebraskans for Peace say the state isn't enforcing liquor laws in the town....


Leonisa Lewis is one of three Indian girls on her high school tennis team but that's not the only reason she may stand out from her peers. Lewis left her home on the Tohono O'odham Reservation in Arizona to go to school in Tucson....


"Children will miss the soft-spoken, gentle Fred Rogers of Public Television's "Mister Rogers Neighborhood." He will be missed because he provided millions of children with a parentlike figure who gently helped children understand their own neighborhoods....


The Farmington Daily Times in an editorial backs Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley's campaign to "go after Navajos who drink and drive on the reservation." Shirley lost a daughter in a drunk driving accident and has promised to strengthen DWI laws on the reservation....


The Forest County Potawatomi Tribe has donated at least $3 million a year to community organizations, in addition to the millions in annual payments the city of Milwaukee, the local county and the state. Some of the tribe's benefactors include an HIV/AIDS program, a family homeless center, a drug abuse program for women and children and more than a dozen children's charities....


Navajo farmers in the Four Corners are meeting today to discuss a proposal that would limit their water use. The Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, a Navajo Nation-owned enterprise, is asking for more water from the San Juan River....


The worst fire in Arizona history destroyed more than half of the Fort Apache Reservation last summer but for members of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the effects are more than just economic and environmental. Tribal members say they face regular discrimination in the nearby town of Show Low, whose white families received most of the media attention....


A Connecticut man is asking the Supreme Court to reinstate his lawsuit against the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Joseph Chayoon says he was wrongfully fired from his job at the tribe's casino....


An official of the Mississippi Band of Choctaws will receive an award for her work to promote tribal culture. Thallis Lewis, the tribe's director of the Cultural Affairs Program, is one of eight recipients of the 2003 Governors Awards for Excellence in the Arts....

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