Native American Council convenes for Democratic Convention (September 4, 2012)

The 2012 Democratic National Convention includes 150 Native American delegates, KOAT-TV reports. Most of the delegates are taking part of the Native American Council. It's not quite the same as a caucus so tribal activists are looking for ways to...

Harlan McKosato: Meskwaki adoption keeps tribal tradition alive (September 4, 2012)

"Personally, I love being Native American. It’s different than being an “ordinary” American. I was adopted recently by the Youngbear family from the Meskwaki tribe in Iowa. The Meskwaki (People of the Red Earth) are the Fox within the Sac...

Trial delayed for man accused of murdering Spirit Lake children (September 4, 2012)

The trial for a man accused of murdering two children on the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation in North Dakota has been delayed several months. Valentino “Tino” James Bagola was due to go to trial later this month. But federal prosecutors...

Column: Healing and Honoring of Nations shares Native music (September 4, 2012)

"The sounds of Native American drums, chants and flute music drifted throughout McKennan Park on Monday afternoon. It was part of Healing and Honoring of Nations, an event set up to introduce the community to several Sioux Falls groups that...

ICT interview with Denise Juneau, speaker at Democratic meet (September 4, 2012)

"Denise Juneau, Mandan and Hidatsa, grew up in Browning, Montana, located on the Blackfeet Reservation. In 2008 she was elected as the superintendent of Public Instruction, the first American Indian woman to be elected to a statewide executive office in...

San Pasqual Band considers plan to develop full grocery store (September 4, 2012)

The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians is considering a full-service grocery store on a site that was the subject of a land-into-trust dispute. The tribe originally planned a gas station, a convenience store, a restaurant and a commercial building...

Turtle Talk Round Three: Greatest decisions in federal Indian law (September 4, 2012)

"Here is the next series of match-ups (results of the first and second series). Match-up No. 9 (3) Ex parte Kan-Gi-Shun-Ca (Crow Dog) (109US556) — No federal jurisdiction over Indian-on-Indian crimes arising in Indian country v. (30) United States v....

DOJ awards $1M in grants to tribes for sex offender monitoring (September 4, 2012)

The Department of Justice has awarded more than $1 million in grants to five tribes in Washington. The tribes will use the money in connection with sex offender monitoring on their reservations. The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which...

Steve Russell: Torts a positive tool in tribal governance systems (September 4, 2012)

"American Indians understand living in a web of relationships that carry privileges and impose duties. Therefore, I wonder, why is tort law virtually absent in the routine of tribal governance? Tort law in the dominant culture normally does not come...

Lower Sioux Indian Community wants return of sacred springs (September 4, 2012)

The Lower Sioux Indian Community says the federal government should return the Coldwater Spring in Minnesota to the Dakota people. The sacred spring lies within a 29-acre site that's managed by the National Park Service. Tribes requested a co-management role...

Prairie Island Indian Community raises nuclear waste concerns (September 4, 2012)

The Prairie Island Indian Community of Minnesota is asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to address nuclear waste issues at a plant next to the reservation. The Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant sits just 600 yards from the reservation. It has...

White Earth Nation requests federal jurisdiction in PL 280 state (September 4, 2012)

The White Earth Nation of Minnesota has asked the federal government to assert criminal jurisdiction on its reservation. With some exceptions, the state of Minnesota was granted criminal and civil jurisdiction in Indian Country by Public Law 280. Although that...

T. Lulani Arquette: America in denial over Doctrine of Discovery (September 4, 2012)

"The Doctrine of Discovery (DOD) was developed by Roman Catholic Popes beginning in 1452 to justify and provide a legal basis for European Christian nations to expand their empires, take the land and resources of non-white civilizations around the world,...

Activists to celebrate deal to preserve sacred site in Black Hills (September 4, 2012)

Lakota activists will be celebrating in Rapid City, South Dakota, today as a deal to protect a sacred site in the Black Hills moves forward. The Last Real Indians and the Lakota People’s Law Project, along with tribes from the...

Indian delegates at DNC seek a meeting with Elizabeth Warren (September 4, 2012)

Tribal members who are attending the 2012 Democratic National Convention want to meet with Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. Senate candidate who can't document her alleged Indian ancestry. Warren, who grew up in Oklahoma, has claimed Cherokee and Delaware ancestry but...

Editorial: Suquamish Tribe doesn't have treaty right on its side (September 4, 2012)

"When is a fishing right not a right to fish? Put another way, can you have a right and be wrong? Those questions remain to be settled since the Suquamish Tribe sued the Navy and other federal agencies over construction...

Native Sun News: Auction of sacred Black Hills site put on hold (September 4, 2012)

The following story was written and reported by Talli Nauman, Native Sun Health & Environment Editor. All content © Native Sun News. First reported by Native Sun News a month and a half ago, nearly 2,000 acres of the 4,000-acre...