Obama signs Minnesota Chippewa Tribe trust fund bill into law (October 9, 2012)

President Barack Obama signed H.R.1272, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Judgment Fund Distribution Act, into law on Friday. The bill distributes $28 million to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The money comes from a judgment for land that was taken from the...

Family finds clothing in search for missing Alaska Native woman (October 9, 2012)

A sweatshirt belonging to Valerie Sifsof was found by family members of the Alaska Native woman who went missing three months ago. Family members spotted Sifsof's sweatshirt in a creek near the campground where she was last seen on July...

Man from Spirit Lake Nation pleads guilty for assault of 2 boys (October 9, 2012)

A man from the Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota who beat two young male relatives and set their bedroom on fire pleaded guilty on Monday. Lyndon Greybear, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and one count...

Employee fired by UTTC wanted on child pornography charges (October 9, 2012)

A man who was fired by the United Tribes Technical College in North Dakota is wanted on child pornography charges, The Bismarck Tribune reports. Richard Barclay Cutting, 58, was deputy chairman of UTTC’s criminal justice program. Employees there said they...

Column: Passing on tradition at Native American Day powwow (October 9, 2012)

"The thundering beat of drums reverberated throughout the Multi-Cultural Center on Monday as a group of children from the city’s middle and elementary schools held colored shawls around their shoulders and danced in circles with their friends, learning how to...

John Torres-Nez, Navajo artist, takes lead for Indian art group (October 9, 2012)

John Torres-Nez, a member of the Navajo Nation, has been named chief operating officer of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, the group behind the annual Santa Fe Indian Market. Torres-Nez, an artist and archaeologist, has worked at SWAIA for...

Supreme Court puts end to Samish Nation federal funding case (October 9, 2012)

Without setting a hearing or requesting briefs on the merits, the U.S. Supreme Court today put an end to a long-running federal funding lawsuit filed by the Samish Nation of Washington. The Bureau of Indian Affairs left the tribe off...

Loris Taylor: Mitt Romney as president would harm tribal radio (October 9, 2012)

"In the October 3rd, 2012 presidential debate, GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney made this remark: I’m sorry, Jim, I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually...

Review: Louise Erdrich draws in readers for 'The Round House' (October 9, 2012)

"In the jarring opening to Louise Erdrich's beautiful new novel, "The Round House," a Native American boy learns that his mother has been brutally, and mysteriously, attacked. The assault raises troubling concerns regarding hate crimes against Native American women...

Native Sun News: South Dakota observes Native American Day (October 9, 2012)

The following story was written and reported by Jesse Abernathy, Native Sun News Editor. All content © Native Sun News. For 22 years now, South Dakota has observed Native American Day instead of “Columbus Day” as a legal holiday on...

Doug George-Kanentiio: Sacred land returned to Iroquois tribes (October 9, 2012)

For the first time in generations the Iroquois people celebrated the return of a part of their ancestral lands without prolonged litigation or the animosity of the local residents. The land is located in the town of Waterford, NY on...

North Dakota tribe seeks a bigger share of energy tax revenue (October 9, 2012)

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota is seeking a bigger share of energy tax revenues. Energy development has increased on the Fort Berthold Reservation. But the tribe has only received 37 percent of $346 million in tax...

Officer charged for assaulting Indian man who uses wheelchair (October 9, 2012)

A police officer in Duluth, Minnesota, faces misdemeanor assault charges for punching an Indian man who uses a wheelchair. Police video shows officer Richard Jouppi, 35, hitting Anthony Jon Jackson in the face and throwing him to the floor of...

Crime Report: Abuse and violence pervasive in Indian Country (October 9, 2012)

"In Native American culture, a medicine man is revered as both a spiritual and physical healer. So when Karl Gillson, the District Attorney in New Mexico’s McKinley County, found himself prosecuting a Navajo healer for sexual abuse he recognized how...

Column: All quiet with no protest on Columbus Day in Colorado (October 9, 2012)

"Last year, Columbus Day seemed on a particular collision course. While the annual Columbus Day Parade was gearing up downtown, the anti-Columbus Day protesters were gathering outside the Capitol -- right by Occupy Denver. And Occupy Denver had planned its...

Ray Cook: Going a week without saying lost European's name (October 9, 2012)

"I am trying to write this day without mentioning the lost European’s name. There are store sales in his honor. That’s a distinctly American thing; if you are a dead white man that did something spectacular, you would know because...

Suzan Harjo: Revisiting historic 'Our Visions' gathering of 1992 (October 9, 2012)

"“Our Visions” was a historic gathering of 100 Native writers, artists and wisdomkeepers at Taos Pueblo and sponsored by The Morning Star Institute and The 1992 Alliance. The statement was the collective work of Oren Lyons and myself, as co-chairs,...