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Show me the money
Indian Country, are you ready for round two? The son of BITAM, that
disastrous proposal to fix the broken Indian trust, is coming your way
around January 6, 2003....
Featured Story
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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Bush officials break with tribes on trust
Department of Interior officials on Thursday announced their intent to
more forward with critical changes in the management of Indian trust
assets without the consent of tribal leaders....
Campbell wants residency for Mexican
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado) has introduced legislation to
grant permanent United States residency to a Mexican national who entered the
country illegally....
Oops! DOJ gave secrets to terrorist
Department of Justice prosecutors "mistakenly" gave 48 classified
documents to the only person charged in connection with the September
11 terrorist attacks, The New York Times reports today....
USDA accused of recurring discrimination
A House subcommittee held a hearing on Wednesday to address
unresolved discrimination problems at the Department of Agriculture....
Hispanic judicial nominee grilled
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee bashed President Bush's
nominee for a federal court appeals position....
Conn. tribe disputes casino study
The Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe of Connecticut is challenging a study
which claims a casino will create traffic problems....
Highway plan near Haskell endorsed
A Kansas county commission endorsed plans for a highway expansion that
runs through land considered sacred to Haskell Indian Nations University....
Republicans revive ANWR drilling
Republican members on the joint House-Senate energy policy conference
committee proposed what is termed a "compromise" to allow drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge....
Tribal opponents accuse Inouye
Opponents of tribes in Connecticut are accusing Senator Daniel Inouye
(D-Hawaii) and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee of a conflict of
interest....
Eastern Pequot challenge filed
The state of Connecticut and three towns on Thursday appealed Assistant
Secretary Neal McCaleb's decision to recognize the historic Eastern
Pequot Tribe....
Seneca Nation expects casino approvals
The Seneca Nation of New York is waiting on two casino-related approvals
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs....
GOPs don't like Cobell legal fees
The Bush administration, backed by Republicans in Congress, is
challenging about $2 million in legal fees collected and owed to court
investigators in the Individual Indian Money (IIM) class action....
Haskell opens dialogue with students
Haskell Indian Nations University held the first of monthly meetings with
students on Thursday....
Students helping rebuild Navajo home
Navajo Nation vice-presidential candidate Frank Dayish helped arrange for
a Navajo woman's home, destroyed by fire, to be rebuilt....
Tribes estimate 30,000 dead salmon
Biologists with the Yurok and Hoopa tribes in northern California estimate
that 30,000 salmon have died in the Klamath River....
Quechan Nation runners wrapping up journey
Members of the Quechan Nation of California and Arizona are wrapping up
a 700-mile run in support of their most sacred site....
DOI: Over 100 years of incompetence you can trust
"Why rely on a fly-by-night company for your deception and fraud needs?
We have a proven track record of lying and concealment!
Our record of robbing the poor and working class of billions speaks for
itself!
We're the U.S....
Review: 'Skins' is about 'defeated culture'
Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post reviews "Skins," director Chris
Eyre's latest film, and calls it an accurate picture of the ills "that haunt
any defeated culture."
"Skins" tells the story of two brothers whose lives seem rather different.
Rudy (Eric Schweig) is a police officer while Mogie (Graham Greene) is an
alcoholic veteran....
Five Nations land bill held up
Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahome) has placed a hold on a bill to change how
allotments belonging to members of the Five Civilized Nations are
handled....
Tribes seek Kennewick Man appeal
Four Pacific Northwest tribes who count the 9,000-year-old remains of a
Native man as their ancestor are seeking to appeal a court decision that
allows him to be studied....
McCain: DOI lacks 'credibility' on trust
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) was critical of the Department of Interior at a
Senate hearing on Indian trust this week....
NCAI: 'Alarming' land grab proposal
The nation's largest inter-tribal organization criticized the Bush
administration's draft legislation to take "unclaimed" Indian land....
Calif. tribe sued over political gifts
A California state commission sued the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla
Indians on Thursday to force compliance with a state campaign finance
law....
BIA opposes Va. recognition bill
The House Resources Committee on Wednesday held a hearing on a bill to
extend federal recognition to six Virginia tribes....
Featured Story
In The Hoop: Speech or Deflate
We all know that tribal governments have sovereign immunity (well, in
most cases) but did you know that the only Native American in the Senate
does as well?
That's according to U.S....
Featured Story
Hogen promotes successes of Indian gaming
President Bush's nominee to be the chief regulator of the $12.7 billion and
growing Indian gaming industry drew bipartisan support at his
confirmation hearing on Wednesday....
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Bush proposal to take 'unclaimed' Indian land
The Bush administration has drafted legislation to take "unclaimed" land
belonging to individual Indian beneficiaries whom the Department of
Interior cannot locate....
Non-Indians want more control
Communities in Connecticut deserve more control over the federal
recognition process, Representative Rob Simmons (R-Connecticut) told a House committee
on Wednesday....
Editorial: Norton joins 'pantheon of the unfit'
"Last Tuesday, the [Federal District] Court held that "Secretary Norton ...
can now rightfully take (her) place alongside former Secretary Babbit ......
Taxpayers to foot waste storage failures
American taxpayers will be responsible for billions of dollars in liability
owed to private nuclear reactor owners, a federal appeals court ruled on
Wednesday....
Neb. gaming petition dealt last blow
A federal judge dealt the final blow to supporters of expanded gaming in
Nebraska by refusing to hear a challenge in time for the initiative to be
placed on the upcoming November ballot....
Get a job, Mont. governor tells greens
Montana Governor Judy Martz (R) is known for making outlandish statements
about education, politics, Democrats and sacred sites....
Conn. 'tribe' claims sovereign status
A Connecticut group claiming to be a sovereign tribe is challenging
building fines and citations issued by a local city....
Benedict: Casinos attract non-whites
Tribal casinos in Connecticut have attracted immigrants who don't speak
English and have forced schools to hire bilingual education workers,
according to failed Congressional candidate Jeff Benedict....
Sides battle over Ariz. gaming proposals
With millions in dollars at stake, Arizona racetracks are in an all-out war
against the state's tribes....
First Nation reacts to child death
The Lakahamen Band of the Sto:Lo First Nation of British Columbia,
Canada, is trying to heal from the recent discovery of a child's body in a
shallow grave....
Indian student top of his class
A 17-year-old member of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona is the top
ranked student in his senior class....
Ariz. reservation schools denied funds
The Arizona Board of Education is withholding more than $30,000 per
month from schools on on the Tohono O'odham Reservation....
Okla. tribe to start fire department
The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma will use a $750,000 grant from the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to open a fire
department....
Senate panel approves Shoshone payout
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Wednesday approved without
objection a bill to distribute a $138 million trust fund to members of the
Western Shoshone Nation....
Protest held against telescope project
Opponents of a telescope project on a sacred mountain in Arizona held a
protest on Wednesday....
Aid to border crossers criticized
Every day, thousands of Mexican nationals attempt to enter the United
States through the three-million acre Tohono O'odham Reservation in
Arizona, risking capture and death....
Shut 'em down says Seminole chief Haney
Jerry Haney, recognized principal chief of the Seminole Nation of
Oklahoma, plans to call in Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement to
evict the tribe's current set of leaders....
Five Nations land reform bill advances
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Wednesday approved without
objection a bill to change how land holdings belonging to members of the
Five Civilized Nations are handled....
Report: DOI computer system 'crashed'
A major Department of Interior computer system "crashed" due to
ongoing problems stemming from a court-ordered shutdown, Natural Gas
Week reports....
Editorial: Norton deserved court slap
"A problem-plagued trust designed to protect royalties for American
Indians has become a high-profile example of inexcusable government
mismanagement.
And the Interior Department's failure to make an adequate effort to
remedy the problems in the last two presidential administrations adds
insult to injury....
Editorial: Norton should be rid of trust
"A federal judge last week rightfully criticized the Interior Secretary Gale
Norton for failing to fix a shameful system that has deprived Native
Americans of billions of dollars....
Bush wants ANWR and that's that
President Bush told members of a joint House-Senate conference
committee that he wants an energy policy bill that allows drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge....
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Norton 'incapable' of reform, say trust experts
Secretary of Interior Gale Norton will never be able to fix the broken Indian
trust fund, two former government officials who left their posts amid
high-level pressure told Congress on Tuesday....
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Okla. tribes banking on Hogen stance
Phil Hogen goes before the Senate today for his confirmation hearing as
chief regulator of the $12.7 billion Indian gaming industry....
Featured Story
Recession hits poverty and income levels
American Indians and Alaska Natives suffer from the highest poverty
rates in the nation, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday....
Editorial: Tribes need nursing homes
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader in an editorial today throws its support
behind a bill to use federal funds for reservation nursing homes....
Neb. gaming supporters go to court
Supporters of expanded gaming in Nebraska filed a federal lawsuit on
Monday to get their voter initiative back on the November ballot....
Sacred site land sale bill 'dead'
A bill to sell a federal site to the Mormon Church is stalled in the Senate....
Minn. school urged on telescope project
The University of Minnesota regents plan to vote on the school's
participation in a controversial telescope project located on sacred land in
Arizona....
Book examines treaty negotiations
A book by a Smithsonian curator describes how federal bureaucrats were
able to negotiate treaties with tribal leaders during the late 1800s....
Neb. tribe in tobacco tax dispute
The state of Nebraska claims the Omaha Tribe owes in $300,000 in
tobacco-related taxes....
Native corp rejects land appeal
An Alaska Native corporation won't allow the Sitka Tribe to choose new
lands because the request came too late....
Apache tribe plans forest burns
The White Mountain Apache Tribe plans proscribed and pile burns on its
Arizona reservation....
Tribe seizes 300 pounds of drugs daily
Tribal police on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona will seize more than
100,000 pounds of illicit drugs this year, about 300 pounds a day, The
Washington Times reports....
Wash. tribes share casino profits
A unique provision in gaming compacts in Washington state allows tribes
to share in the casino wealth....
Whiteclay protesters fined for drinking
A Nebraska state judge fined five activists $100 for drinking beer in public
as a protest against liquor sales to Native Americans....
DOI claims a partial accounting
The Department of Interior wants to mail what it claims are historical
accountings to Indian beneficiaries....
The recognition beat goes on...
Federal recognition must be the most important Indian policy issue, the
way politicians and the media in Connecticut see it....
Ariz. water rights bill introduced
A massive water rights bill settling outstanding tribal claims in Arizona has
been introduced in the Senate....
Navajo ticket called 'big business'
Navajo Nation voters are questioning the presidential ticket of Joe Shirley
and Frank Dayish....
Salmon dying in Klamath River
Thousands of otherwise healthy salmon have been reported dying in the
Klamath River Basin in California-Oregon....
House panel to hear Indian bills
The House Resources Committee will hear testimony on three Indian
policy bills....
Seminole council to meet on ousting Haney
The general council of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma will meet
tomorrow to move forward with plans to suspend Jerry Haney as the
tribe's principal chief....
Roundup: The Indian Enron and other editorials
The Indian Enron: "If the theft of billions of dollars from some of the
nation's poorest citizens isn't enough to galvanize American taxpayers
into action, guarding their own pocketbooks should be....
Griles met with former industry clients
Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles continued to meet with former
clients from the mining industry despite signing recusals barring his
involvement, The Washington Post reports today....
Editorial: Strip Norton of trust
"The recent decision to hold Department of Interior Secretary Gale Norton
in contempt of court for failing to solve her department's mismanagement
of Indian trust funds does not go far enough....
Non-Indians don't like tribal rules
A non-enforceable moratorium on new construction has non-Indian
residents on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington worried....
Featured Story
Senate won't halt federal recognition decisions
Opponents of a Connecticut tribe suffered a major defeat on the Senate
floor on Monday with the rejection of a moratorium on federal recognition....
Featured Story
Judge tries to resolve Seminole Nation dispute
A federal judge on Monday ordered the Bush administration to recognize
the governing body of an Oklahoma tribe even as he expressed doubts
that his decision will resolve a long-running political and legal dispute....
Featured Story
Missing U.S. Army soldier located by civilians
The body of an Army officer was positively identified on Monday by
military officials who failed to recover the Sioux tribal member despite an
exhaustive search and an ongoing investigation into the circumstances of
his death....
Santee Sioux water bill up for vote
The House today will consider a bill to study the water system for the
Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska....
Bush veto over ANWR drilling not certain
President Bush hasn't yet decided to veto an energy bill that doesn't allow
development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to Secretary
of Energy Spencer Abraham....
Drilling allowed in Colo. monument
The Department of Interior and environmentalists have reached an
agreement that allows drilling in a Colorado monument to move forward....
Minn. candidates debate nuclear storage
Minnesota's candidates for governor disagree about the storage of
nuclear waste in their state....
Navajo woman makes campaign speech
Sharon Clahchischilliage will make a campaign stop today in the Four
Corners area of New Mexico....
Bill to double reservation road funds
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) has introduced a bill to double the amount of
money available to the Indian Reservation Road Program at the Bureau of
Indian Affairs....
Editorial: Limit gaming to Neb. tribes
If gaming is expanded in Nebraska, it should be limited to the state's
tribes, The Lincoln Journal Star argues in an editorial today....
Yellow Bird: Oops, I did it again...
"My sister-in-law is a language teacher at White Shield school, and she
speaks fluently....
Conn. towns formally join Pequot appeal
Three Connecticut towns agreed to join state attorney general Richard
Blumenthal's challenge to the federal recognition of the historic Eastern
Pequot Tribe....
Alaska village girl killed in ATV crash
A 15-year-old girl from the Alaska village of Chevak died in an
four-wheeler accident on Saturday....
Shoshone cattle seized, horses feared next
Armed federal agents seized 227 head of cattle from two Western
Shoshone sisters in Nevada, who fear their horses may be next....
Judge orders surrender of Lumbee photos
A North Carolina judge ordered an Eastern Cherokee man to turn over any
revealing photos he may have of a Lumbee woman who was barred from
the Miss America pageant over the debacle....
Oneida woman won't appear before court
An Oneida Nation woman whose home has been threatened with
demolition plans to avoid a tribal court trial for an alleged assault and
violation of a court order....
Mexican migrants stress tribal hospital
The Tohono O'odham Nation's only hospital is being overwhelmed by
Mexican immigrants seeking care, a tribal health administrator said....
Navajo candidate is mining lobbyist
Navajo Nation presidential candidate Joe Shirley's running mate is a
lobbyist for a multinational corporation that wanted to start a mine near a
Wisconsin reservation....
Dodd-Lieberman 'crushed' on recognition
Connecticut's two Democratic senators were defeated on Monday in an
attempt to halt the federal recognition process....
E-mails subpoenaed on missing soldier
The Army has subpoenaed Internet e-mail accounts as part of a probe into
the death of a soldier, The Middletown Times Herald-Record reports....
Senate stalls on 'healthy forest' debate
The Senate on Monday continued to debate a controversial measure to
implement President Bush's "Healthy Forests" initiative....
Mont. project to combat Indian dropouts
A private-public partnership in Montana will receive a three-year grant
from the Department of Education for a project aimed at lowering the high
drop out rate of Indian students....
Featured Story
Norton's witness on TAAMS does damage
The federal government's key witness on a $40 million failed Indian trust
accounting system was not "credible," the federal judge overseeing the
debacle said in his contempt of court opinion against the Bush
administration....
Featured Story
The Week in Review
Federal judge delivers explosive contempt ruling against Bush administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs holds economic development summit, and federal appeals court affirms gaming rights of Arizona tribes....
Featured Story
Judge rejects Norton's 'absurd' accounting claim
A federal judge last week said it was "absurd" for Secretary of Interior
Gale Norton to claim she has fulfilled her trust responsibilities to four of
the five named plaintiffs in the Indian trust fund lawsuit....
Editorial: Probe Norton subordinates too
"US District Judge Royce Lamberth is right to be upset about
foot-dragging at the Interior Department - but his anger may be directed
at the wrong people....
Big Indian to grace Kan. statehouse
Kansas will become the second state to put a statue of an Indian atop its
statehouse but at considerably more cost and controversy....
Native whaling quota up for vote
Japan will no longer oppose a bowhead whaling quota for Alaska Native
subsistence hunting, a United States official said....
Changes made in Alaska police department
Anchorage police chief Walt Monegan has replaced a top lieutenant and
will institute a new communications program in response to the failure to
find the home of an Alaska Native executive who was shot to death in
August....
Dam could destroy major Mayan sites
Preservation officials in Mexico fear a dam proposed by their own
government will destroy at least 18 culturally and historically significant
Mayan sites....
School supplies destined for reservation
A woman who watched the Indian episode of Oprah Winfrey's Angel
Network was inspired to help and organized a large donation of school
supplies to the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana....
John Potter: Snot noses at art show
"If you're into snoot, you gotta look like you just stepped out of the slick
pages of Cowboys & Indians magazine (which really should be "Indians &
Cowboys," by the way), if you're anybody at all....
Seminole Freedmen a divisive issue
Are the Freedmen, descendants of African slaves, members of the
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma? The Associated Press tries to find out in a
two-part series....
Crow Tribe to hold chairman primary
The Crow Tribe of Montana will hold a primary election October 19 to
replace indicted ex-chairman Clifford Bird in Ground....
Ariz. tribe to open new megaresort
The Gila River Tribe of Arizona will open a new $125 million hotel and
casino resort next month....
Wash. tribes benefit from casinos
Gaming has poured more than $1.2 billion into the pockets of tribes in
Washington since 1996, The Seattle Times reports....
Ute chairman jailed for drunk driving
A tribal court sentenced Southern Ute tribal chairman Leonard C....
Genealogist ignores tribal court trial
A genealogist being sued by the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of Arizona failed
to show up for a tribal court trial contesting her work last week....
End of the road for Nez Perce
Five Nez Perce bands who refused to be confined to a reservation in Idaho
were nearing their goal -- the Canadian border -- in late September 1877
before they were caught....
Alaska Native recognized as 'visionary'
A 28-year-old Alaska Native woman from the village of Chickaloon has
been chosen as one of 30 young visionaries by the magazine Utne Reader.
Shawna Larson was recognized for her work on the recent treaty to limit
the use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)....
Obituary: Charles Ballard, Quapaw educator
Charles Ballard, the noted Quapaw professor and poet, died on Friday....
Mich. tribe loses gaming suit
A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed the dismissal of a Michigan
tribe's gaming suit....
Editorial: Norton needs to settle trust
"A federal judge has once again found a Cabinet official in contempt over
failed efforts to account for money the government holds in trust for
Indians....
Editorial: Lamberth throws 'temper tantrum'
"Can one man single-handedly right a century of wrongs? That seems to
be the Quixotic obsession of US District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is
overseeing what seems like an endless series of court actions involving
the federal government's mishandling of Indian trust fund accounts dating
back to the late 1880s....
Editorial: Don't appeal trust fund ruling
"More than 300,000 Native Americans should be receiving about $500
million a year from the Department of the Interior in royalties collected on
oil, gas, coal, timber and grazing operations on 11 million acres of
Western lands held in trust for the Indians since 1887....
Editorial: Norton's 'shameful' behavior
"A judge's decision to hold the interior secretary of the United States in
contempt of court is a serious matter....
Tiny praise for Norton on trust
There was little praise for Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and Indian
affairs aide Neal McCaleb in a court ruling holding them in contempt for
misleading a federal judge about efforts to fix the broken Indian trust....
Editorial: UND gets off easy on 'Sioux' name
The school with the "Fighting Sioux" nickname is getting off easy even
though it didn't respond to discrimination and harassment complaints
made by Native students, The Sioux Falls Argus Leader says in an
editorial....
Slonaker to testify at Senate hearing
Tom Slonaker, former Special Trustee for the Indian trust, will testify at a
Senate hearing tomorrow about his ouster from the Department of
Interior....
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