EPA seeks to reduce mercury from power plants (March 16, 2005)

Two tribes with coal-fired power plants on their reservations will see mercury pollution reduced by more than half under a new Environmental Protection Agency rule released on Tuesday. The Navajo Nation and the Northern Ute Tribe of Utah were included...

Bush budget test inconsistent on Indian programs (March 16, 2005)

Accountability and performance have been a cornerstone of the Bush administration's budget proposals but the standards aren't always applied equally when it comes to Indian programs. When he took over the White House in January 2001, President Bush created the...

Editorial: Montana governor on right track with tribes (March 16, 2005)

"Montana Native Americans have heard it before. 'A top priority is improving the economies on the state's Indian reservations;' 'Native Americans will play a more important role in a new state administration;' and 'Cooperation will be the watchword in relations...

Yellow Bird Series: Suicide on the reservation (March 16, 2005)

"A woman whom I'll call Jane, the mother of a suicide victim, may remember Lakota history. But she doesn't attribute the death of her 18-year-old daughter to that history. In an hourlong, heartfelt conversation, I heard a sad and devastating...

Teen still in custody over triple murder on reserve (March 16, 2005)

A 17-year-old teen is still in custody on charges that he murdered three people on the Montreal Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. The teen is being charged as a juvenile. He is accused of killing two brothers –- Kerry Naytowhow,...

Mississippi Choctaw girls basketball team is No. 1 (March 16, 2005)

For the second year in a row, the girls basketball team from the Mississippi Choctaw Reservation won the state Class 3A championship. The Lady Warriors of Choctaw Central High School finished the season 37-1. The team has lost only three...

Thousands attending job fair on Tulalip Reservation (March 16, 2005)

Hundreds of people attended the first day of a job fair on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington, with up to 2,000 expected. The tribe is creating 600 jobs with the opening of an outlet mall on the reservation. The Seattle...

Schaghticoke chief debates foe of tribe's recognition (March 16, 2005)

Richard Velky, chief of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, and Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal appeared for the first time together at a forum on the federal recognition process. Velky defended the tribe from accusations of influence-peddling at the Bureau of...

David Risling, father of Indian education, passes on (March 16, 2005)

David Risling, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe of California who was considered the father of Indian education, died on Sunday. He was 83. Risling was a longtime professor at the University of California Davis. He helped develop the...

South Dakota Supreme Court to hear voting rights case (March 16, 2005)

The South Dakota Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a voting rights case affecting members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. A federal judge has already determined that the state's 2001 legislative map violates...

Editorial: Fire proves Kickapoo Tribe in need of water (March 16, 2005)

"The Kickapoo Nation has in recent years made its argument for a new reservoir to serve the Northeast Kansas reservation numerous times. A major fire that consumed about six square miles of Kickapoo land last week added one more convincing...

Three Native women honored for their achievements (March 16, 2005)

Three Native women were among the six honorees at the 21st annual Women of Excellence recognition banquet in Sioux City, Iowa. Marilyn Charging of Vermillion, South Dakota, was recognized in the category of Women Pursuing Truth for her role in...

Students develop play based on tribal traditions (March 16, 2005)

Students at two middle schools in Billings, Montana, are turning to their tribal traditions to develop a theater production. With the help of their acting teacher, Jane Lind-Garritson, a member of the Aleut tribe, the students are learning more about...

Letters: Gale Norton still wrong on ANWR drilling (March 16, 2005)

Margi Fox: "Gale A. Norton, the interior secretary, claims that winter operations in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska would leave little trace. My experience on the contested coastal plain belies her assertion." Peter J. Rob: "Gale A. Norton...

DeLay denies wrongdoing on trip linked to tribe (March 16, 2005)

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) denied any wrongdoing for an overseas trip indirectly funded by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and a gaming firm DeLay said the trip had nothing to do with his stance on a Internet...

Former Catawba Nation official pleads guilty to theft (March 16, 2005)

Wanda George Warren, the former executive director of the Catawba Nation of South Carolina, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to embezzling more than $24,000 from the tribe. Warren was accused of double-billing the tribe for a trip she took to a...

Native lawyers file lawsuit against Chief Illiniwek (March 16, 2005)

The Illinois Native American Bar Association filed suit on Tuesday against the University of Illinois board of trustees, arguing that the school's Chief Illiniwek mascot violates the state's civil rights act. The Native lawyers say they have tried to work...

Commentary: What happened to the Catawba Nation? (March 16, 2005)

"With the news of Wanda George Warren's pleading guilty to embezzlement on Tuesday, my first thought was, 'What's happened to all the bright plans and promise of the Catawba's $50 million land claim settlement of 1993?' If federal recognition of...

Members of Michigan tribe protest state tax deal (March 16, 2005)

Members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community are staging a protest against a proposed tax agreement with the state of Michigan. Council member Fred Dakota is leading the protest. He says the state has no right to impose tobacco and...

Florida dedicates first sculpture in honor of tribes (March 16, 2005)

The state of Florida dedicated a bronze sculpture of a Miccosukee family at the state capitol on Monday, the first of four that will honor the state's tribal heritage. The Miccosukee Tribe contributed nearly $100,000 to build the life-sized "Movin'...

Man goes free for murder on Nevada reservation (March 16, 2005)

A man who was charged with murdering a member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe of Nevada was set free on Monday after the FBI lost a key piece of evidence. John Wesley Whittington was set to go to trial...

Noted Peltier foe expected to announce retirement (March 16, 2005)

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), one of imprisoned American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier's biggest foes in Congress, is expected to announce his retirement in a matter of weeks, The Washington Post reports. As former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,...

Another resignation at troubled Civil Rights Commission (March 16, 2005)

Russell G. Redenbaugh, a conservative member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, resigned on Monday, blaming the panel for refusing to change its partisan agenda and implement financial reforms. The resignation follows the recent departures of longtime chairwoman Mary...

Democrats vow to shut down Senate on judicial picks (March 16, 2005)

Senate Democrats vowed on Monday to shut down the Senate if Republicans try to push through judicial nominee Bill Myers and other controversial picks. Democrats have used filibusters to block Myers and other nominees. Republicans, unable to muster 60 votes...

Senate vote on ANWR drilling said to be very close (March 16, 2005)

Advocates for and against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge intensified their lobbying efforts as the Senate prepared to vote today on a budget resolution that authorizes development. Debate began last night on the "must pass" resolution, which only...

Vitter responsible for anti-tribal appropriations rider (March 16, 2005)

Former Congressman and current Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana) was responsible for language in an appropriations bill that discouraged approval of an off-reservation casino that was opposed by Jack Abramoff's clients, Raw Story reports. Vitter confirmed that his staff worked with...