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Native students put on 'lockdown' by drug dugs
Nearly 20 Native American students in
South Dakota who claim they were
"terrorized" by drug-sniffing dogs filed
suit on Thursday against a school board
located near the Yankton Sioux
Reservation....
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Slonaker doesn't want to fire advisers
Special Trustee Tom Slonaker yesterday broke with the Department of
Interior's silence on a controversial spending bill recently approved by
the House....
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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....
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Historical accounting plan comes under fire
The Department of Interior's top Indian trust official won't endorse the
Bush administration's controversial historical accounting proposal....
New Red Lake chairman suffers stroke
Gerald "Butch" Brun suffered a stroke last Friday, two days after he was
elected chairman of the Red Lake Nation of Minnesota....
McCain lifts block on nominations
The Senate on Thursday confirmed 15 presidential nominees after the
White House brokered a deal with Sen....
R.I. tribe welcomes slot machine delay
The Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island is praising the delay of a vote to
expand video slot machines at non-Indian gaming facilities....
Police were accused in reservation break-in
Two Connecticut police detectives challenging the Mashantucket Pequot
Tribal Nation were accused in a 1995 break-in on the tribe's reservation....
Hearing set on federal recognition
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a hearing to codify existing
federal recognition regulations into law....
McCaleb names BIA computer official
Brian Burns is the new chief information officer for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs....
Navajo chapter still wants casino
The To'hajiilee Chapter of the Navajo Nation plans to continue fighting for
a casino on its land in New Mexico....
Alabama-Coushatta Tribe shuts down casino
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas closed its casino at midnight on
Thursday, putting more than 200 people out of work....
Wash. man sentenced for sexual assault
A member of the Confederated Colville Tribes of Washington was
sentenced to 6 and one-half months for the rapes of two young griles on
the reservation....
Tribal ranger's work strikes a chord
Leland Thomas comes to the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in
Arizona to work in the bookstore....
Native children to stay with Jewish gram
The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday said two Alaska Native
children can continue living with their paternal Jewish grandmother....
N.M. court upholds Indian prosecution
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that federal land
located near a Navajo Nation chapter house is not Indian Country....
Juvenile workers learn about tribal culture
A training program in Oklahoma helps juvenile workers better serve and
understand Native Americans youths in the justice system....
ACLU: Wagner is hotbed of racial tension
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed two lawsuits on behalf of
members of the Yankton Sioux Tribe that allege discrimination at a
school near the South Dakota reservation....
Apache Tribe fights for bingo hall
The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma was in court on Thursday to try and
reopen its disputed bingo hall....
Minn. tribe standing firm on nuke waste
Attempts to expand the amount of nuclear waste stored next to the
Prairie Island Reservation in Minnesota are meeting resistance from the
tribe....
Opinion: Not just Navajo code talkers
"Many Americans have recently been introduced to the American Indian
code talkers of World War II by the MGM epic, "Windtalkers." However,
like the blind man who touched an elephant's trunk and described that
animal as being long and tubular, the current vision of the code talkers is
incomplete....
Test scores show racial disparity
Alaska Native students are scoring higher on state reading, writing and
math tests but large disparities remain....
First Nations Briefs
The Shamattawa First Nation is still feeling the effects of three recent
suicides....
Norton promotes geothermal energy
Secretary of Interior Gale Norton was in Nevada on Thursday to visit a
geothermal plant....
Indian saint looks non-Indian now
Some Mexicans are upset over the Catholic Church's new depiction of the
first Indian saint....
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Lamberth takes on tribal trust onslaught
The federal judge overseeing the Indian trust debacle dealt the Bush
administration a major blow this week with his decision to take on
several tribal mismanagement disputes....
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Casino company bets on Indian gaming policies
Wall Street benefited from a surge in stock prices on Wednesday but the
rally largely bypassed a casino company with close ties to the $10 billion
Indian gaming industry....
Police detectives sue Pequot tribe
Two police detectives are suing the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of
Connecticut for alleged libel....
Name of new Okla. bridge draws dispute
Two factions are battling to name a new bridge in Oklahoma....
House expels animated Traficant
Representative James Traficant (D-Ohio) was expelled by the House on Wednesday
night by a vote of 420 to 1....
Contemnor Rubin won't face questions
Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who was found in contempt for
mishandling the Indian trust fund, won't face questions for his role in
another accounting scandal, The Washington Times reports today....
Neb. gaming challenge moves forward
A Nebraska state court will hold a trial next month to determine the
validity of a voter petition that could expand gaming options for tribes....
Wis. tribe sued for $1M jackpot
A Wisconsin man is suing the Ho-Chunk Nation and a slot machine
manufacturer over a lost $1.17 million jackpot....
Mich. tribe seeks to bid on urban casino
The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians asked a
federal appeals court on Wednesday to block negotiations on permanent
casinos in Detroit....
New bones found at Bighorn battle site
Several pieces of human arm bones were discovered this week at the
Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana....
Letter: Stop fighting Pequot tribes
"Looking at Connecticut's involvement in the Eastern Pequot Indian
recognition process causes me to wonder what is the difference between
our state and Mississippi....
Crow Reservation woman pleads not guilty
A woman on the Crow Reservation of Montana pleaded not guilty to
charges of assaulting a child on Wednesday....
Black Hills forest exempted by Daschle
Language in a $28.9 billion counterterrorism spending bill exempts the
Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota from environmental
regulations and lawsuits that are blocking some forest thinning projects....
Okla. tribe to discuss future plans
The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma is inviting tribal members and
area residents to a meeting on Saturday to discuss future plans....
N.M. park hosting Indian festival
The American Indian Cultural Festival is being held this week in Berg Park
in Farmington, New Mexico....
Colo. school to return Tlingit totem
The Tlingit Tribe of Alaska will be getting a key part of its history back
with the return of a totem pole....
XIT reunites for special performance
Several Native performers, including 70s rock legends XIT, are
performing in New Mexico this weekend....
Fires come close to Native village
Fires in interior Alaska are close to the Native village of Venetie....
Money approved to study village move
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved $1
million to help prepare for the residents of Shishmaref, a Native village in
Alaska, to relocate....
New salmon proposal difficult for tribes
A new proposal to protect wild salmon supports tribal initiatives but still
makes implementation difficult, according to the Columbia River
Intertribal Fish Commission....
Editorial: Tribes should win on waste suit
The Seattle Times in an editorial today says tribes and environmentalists
are right to question the Department of Energy on plans to clean up a
nuclear waste site....
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Interior avoids admission of trust standards
Trust law standards require the federal government to pay out billions of
dollars for fiduciary mismanagement, the Department of Interior's top
Indian trust official argued recently....
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In The Hoop: Norton's Horror
Secretary of Interior Gale Norton finally got some (positive) press
yesterday for her initiative against the snakehead fish, which she
described as "like something from a bad horror movie."
But one state official wasn't too excited about Norton's warning that the
dangerous species was discovered in Maine....
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Bush urged to settle Indian trust fund dispute
Buoyed by a recent Congressional victory, Indian Country advocates on
Tuesday called on the Bush administration to settle the bitter and
long-running Indian trust fund lawsuit....
Native voters key to Ariz. district
Arizona's newly drawn 1st Congressional district has a 19 percent Native
American population, a factor which could tip the upcoming primaries
and election....
Snakehead fish to be poisoned to death
Wildlife officials in Maryland plan to exterminate all species in a pond in
order to kill any remaining snakehead fish, a species Secretary of Interior
Gale Norton declared as "injurious" to the American public on Tuesday....
Indian artist recovering from incident
An Indian artist in New Mexico is still recovering from a June 7 dragging
incident that has left him unable to walk without help, The Santa Fe New
Mexican reports....
Restored Indian portraits go on view
The Smithsonian Institution is putting on a new exhibit of 400-plus
paintings of famed Indian portrait artist George Catlin....
Editorial: Support tribe's proposal
The Lincoln Journal Star in an editorial supports the Winnebago Tribe's
proposal to take over environmental enforcement on its Nebraska
reservation....
Judge orders bison documents released
A Montana judge on Tuesday ordered the release of documents related
to the state's participation in the slaughter of bison in Yellowstone
National Park....
Mohegan Tribe gets oyster project permit
The Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit to the Mohegan Tribe of
Connecticut to harvest oysters....
Enviros wanted Interior role boosted
The Department of Interior's role in the $7.8 billion Everglades
restoration plan would be boosted under new rules the Bush
administration is releasing....
N.D. tribe not affected by funding woes
The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation isn't affected by national cuts to
Lewis and Clark bicentennial funding, a tribal planner said....
Navajo Nation signs agreement with state
The Navajo Nation and the state of New Mexico on Monday signed a
five-year renewal of an agreement to test weighing equipment owed by
the tribe....
Torture victims win $54.6 million suit
A federal jury on Tuesday awarded $54.6 million to three victims of
torture suffered at the hands of the El Salvador army....
Bush makes Yucca Mountain official
President Bush on Tuesday signed a bill that officially declares Yucca
Mountain in Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dump....
Tribe part of lake preservation plan
The Bureau of Land Management is holding a public meeting on Friday to
discuss progress on a plan to save the shrinking Walker Lake in Nevada....
Native man named to Alaska game board
Alaska Governor Tony Knowles named an Alaska Native to the Board of Game
on Tuesday....
Bush pick comes under fire at hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held a hearing for Priscilla
Owen, President Bush's pick to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals....
Bill requires Navajo-Hopi study
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs last week approved a bill to
require a study of the effects of relocation on Navajo and Hopi
communities in Arizona....
Wash. tribes cut back clam harvest
Washington tribes are being forced to cut back their clam harvest by as
much as 50 percent....
Native crews fight Wash. fire
Seven Native fire crews have been battling the Deer Point Fire in
Washington, which has consumed more than 253,000 acres since it
started July 15....
Battle brews at Indian center
Community members are calling for the removal of the board members
at the American Indian Center in Fort Worth, Texas....
Seminar focuses on tribal histories
A three-day workshop on writing tribal histories is taking place in Coeur
d'Alene, Idaho, this week....
Crow Reservation man gets plea deal
A Montana man was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison and
three years of supervised release for abusive sexual contact with a child
under the age of 12 on the Crow Reservation....
Idaho tribal member pleads guilty
A member of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho pleaded guilty this month
to embezzling more than $100,000 in tribal funds....
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Texas tribe fights casino shutdown order
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas made an urgent plea on Monday
to keep its disputed casino up and running....
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In The Hoop: If I Could Be Like...
Thanks to the programming wizardry of New York resident Monica Lamb,
you can learn Mohawk from Onkwehonwehneha, an artificial intelligence
(AI) robot available to anyone with AOL instant messenger capabilities....
Featured Story
Indian health leaders push for IHS post
President Bush's failure to name a new Indian Health Service director
has raised fears that a non-Indian will be appointed to oversee the
health care of more than 1 million Native Americans....
Sho-Bans hold community talks
The Shoshone-Bannock Nation of Idaho is holding a two-day summit this
week....
Judge to rule on tribal waste suit
A federal judge on Monday said he would decide within a week on a
lawsuit filed by tribes and environmental groups....
Ariz. fire probe expands on reservation
Several arrests might be made in connection with more than 200 fires on
the Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona, The Arizona Republic reports
today....
GOP congressman to return GOP donation
Representative Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) doesn't want to be associated with a
Republican bigshot because it would also associate him with the Eastern
Pequot Tribe of Connecticut....
Mont. county fights Native voting ruling
A hearing will be held tomorrow to address a federal judge's ruling on
voting rights affecting the Fort Belknap Reservation....
Editorial: Stop using Crazy Horse name
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader in an editorial today calls on companies to
stop using Lakota leader Crazy Horse's name....
Native tobacco conference underway
The 2nd annual National Native Conference on Tobacco Use is being held
in Utah this week....
Ill. mascot foes awarded $5,000
A federal judge on Monday ordered the University of Illinois to pay
$5,000 for five opponents of the school's Chief Illiniwek mascot....
Native groups ask Norton for more time
Several Alaska Native organizations have asked Secretary of Interior
Gale Norton to extend a comment period on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference, the Alaska Federation of Natives and the
Association of ANCSA Regional Corporation Presidents and CEOs Inc....
Candidate seeks rural Alaska votes
Fran Ulmer, the Democratic candidate for governor in Alaska, has taken
her campaign to rural Alaska in hopes of reaching Native voters....
Navajo blessings kick off rodeo
The National High School Finals Rodeo is being held in Farmington, New
Mexico, this week....
Drought forces N.M. livestock auction
Navajo ranchers on Monday were able to unload some of their livestock
at an auction sponsored by the Navajo Nation....
Idaho center to honor Sacagawea
Work has begun on the $1.5 million Sacagawea Interpretive and
Education Center in Salmon, Idaho....
Utah national park to repatriate shields
Capitol Reef National Park in Utah plans to repatriate three shields to the
Navajo Nation unless there are objections....
N.M. water project gets funds
Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) reported the approval of $300,000 in funds
for a proposed water pipeline affecting the Navajo Nation and other users
in New Mexico....
Opinion: Tribal member not worthy foe
In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, journalist Liza
Featherstone criticizes the Green Party's nomination of Lakota Sioux
tribal member Ed McGaa for U.S....
Calif. bill aims to protect sacred sites
The California Assembly is considering a bill to add protections to sacred
sites....
Fla. find documents older Indian culture
Archaeologists are tracing the discovery of a network of waterways in
central Florida to an Indian culture farther north....
S.D. mother allowed custody of son
A South Dakota judge on Monday returned custody of a 5-year-old Native
American boy to his mother....
Neb. group challenges gaming push
An anti-casino group plans to file a lawsuit to stop a gaming initiative
from going on the November ballot in November....
Controversial nominee gets hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee today is holding a hearing for Priscilla
Owen, President Bush's pick for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals....
Bush withholds $34M from UN program
The Bush administration is withholding $34 million in funds from a United
Nations family planning program over the objections of a White House
advisory panel....
Opinion: Drilling deal good for Crow Tribe
An executive of a company that has entered into a development deal
with the Crow Tribe of Montana praises the arrangement in a guest
editorial today....
Featured Story
The Week in Review
House defeats limitations on Indian trust fund, Congress keeps eye on sacred sites, tribe's nuclear waste site sees new opposition, and federal reports shine light on Indian Country....
Featured Story
Legal tactics land Peabody in hot seat
The world's largest coal company has been threatened with contempt
sanctions for its participation in what one federal court has called
"suppressing and concealing" of information from the Navajo Nation....
Featured Story
Trust fund contract still causing headaches
A contract dispute that is part of a heavily criticized trust reform project
could end up costing the Department of Interior more than $1 million....
One clinic, 17 dentists, 56,000 Indians
The Arizona Republic continues its series on the health issues affecting
Native Americans in Arizona....
Film documents tainted artifacts
"Tainted Legacy" took 14 days to make but its story is powerful,
according to students and others who helped create the educational film.
The film documents a problem that has surfaced as tribes and Native
Americans seek to reclaim sacred and other items from museums and
other institutions....
Native villagers vote to relocate
The 600 residents of Shishmaref, a Native village in Alaska, will relocate
in response to an eroding Chukchi Sea....
Tohono O'odham youth excited about papal trip
The Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona is sending 29 tribal members,
including 23 youth, to the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day in
Toronto, Canada....
FBI says not hiding Peltier information
The FBI is refusing to release more than 60,000 documents related to
Leonard Peltier, according to an attorney for the imprisoned American
Indian Movement activist....
Food poisoning traced to whale blubber
A reported 14 residents of Kwigillingok, a Yup'ik village in Alaska, were
exposed to botulism after sharing whale blubber....
Navajo Nation lost money on Olympics
The Navajo Nation lost almost $200,000 on its highly praised and well
attended exhibit at the 2002 Winter Olympics....
First Nation rocked with suicides
The chief of the Shamattawa First Nation in Manitoba has called a state
of emergency for three suicides in nine days....
Opinion: Connecticut cares about Indians
The New London Day in an editorial today criticizes the House for
overwhelmingly stripping a spending bill of a commission to study Indian
gaming....
Mexican Indian to become a saint
Pope John Paul II will canonize Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec
man, on July 31....
Navajo court mulls election dispute
The Navajo Nation Supreme Court is expected to decide this week on the
eligibility of a candidate for the presidential election....
Anti-tribal candidate's bid defeated
Tribal critic Jeff Benedict won't be in the running for Connecticut's 2nd
Congressional district....
Chiapas migrants struck by lightning
A dozen migrants, including a group of Indians from the Chiapas region of
Mexico with little Spanish and English skills, were struck by lightning last
week as they were entering the United States....
Telecom giant files record bankruptcy
WorldCom Inc declared bankruptcy on Sunday night, beating Enron for
the largest such filing in U.S....
EPA changes mind on Superfund funds
The Environmental Protection Agency is restoring cleanup funds to 11
toxic waste sites, The New York Times reports today, but one affecting
Quapaw tribal members in Oklahoma isn't on the short list....
Eskimo-Indian Olympics wind down
The World Eskimo-Indian Olympics completed its annual run in Alaska
early Sunday morning with a traditional seal skinning....
Churches to apologize to Cherokee Tribe
Four churches on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina are
planning to apologize for not recognizing Native beliefs....
Wash. pow-wow draws thousands
An estimated 9,000 people attended the 17th annual Seafair Indian Days
Powwow at Discovery Park in Washington this weekend....
Shoshone land 'not for sale'
It started because sisters Carrie and Mary Dann wanted to graze their
cattle on public land....
Blackfeet fire halfway contained
A fire on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana has been nearly 50
percent contained....
Editorial: Indian gaming pays off
Indian gaming has brought benefits to tribes in Washington and Idaho,
The Spokesman Review says in an editorial today....
Historical accounting focus of hearing
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Thursday will hold a hearing on
the Bush administration's historical accounting proposal....
In Today's Federal Register
BIA Consultation 'No Child Left Behind'
The Bureau of Indian Affairs today announces a series of regional
consultation meetings regarding the implementation of the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001....
Editorial: Making the victims pay
The Denver Post in an editorial today criticizes supporters of a bill that
would have limited an historical accounting to more than 500,000
American Indians....
Opinion: Tribal colleges a necessity
"Tribal colleges have, in reality, brought higher education to Indian
people....
Alaska Natives reclaiming heritage
A new museum exhibit is highlighting an Alaska Native culture that has
been overshadowed by a linguistic misnomer....
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1 White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
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5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
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4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
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