Maps help tell history of Montana's tribes (June 15, 2006)

Researchers at the University of Montana have created a map-based curriculum to help tell the history of Montana's tribes. The series starts with one of the earliest known maps of western Montana and continues to the present day. Regional maps...

Tribes hurt by Missouri River face a wary McCain (June 15, 2006)

South Dakota tribes seeking additional compensation from the federal government found a skeptical audience in Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) on Wednesday. The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe came to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to...

Editorial: Churchill in denial over his misconduct (June 15, 2006)

"Make no mistake (as Ward Churchill often does), the case against the University of Colorado professor is not about freedom of speech or political correctness or the reprehensible things he said in a 2001 essay about Sept. 11 victims. It's...

Federal judge won't intervene in state prosecution (June 15, 2006)

A federal judge said he won't intervene in the murder case of an Arapaho man until a state jurisdiction issue is settled in the Wyoming courts. Andrew Yellowbear Jr. was convicted of murdering his 22-month-old daughter in Riverton. But he...

Oglala Sioux Tribe terminates veteran police chief (June 15, 2006)

The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota is looking for a new police chief after firing Ron Duke, a 23-year veteran of the Pine Ridge police force. Duke was serving as chief in 2003 when the tribe agreed to a...

Paiute Tribe of Utah celebrates 26 years of restoration (June 15, 2006)

The Paiute Tribe of Utah celebrated 26 years of restoration as a federally recognized tribe. In 1954, the federal government terminated four of the five Paiute bands in Utah. As a result, nearly one-half of the tribal population died...

New Mexico court affirms Pueblo jurisdiction (June 15, 2006)

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked the state from prosecuting Indians for crimes committed on private lands within Pueblo reservations. The court said the boundaries of Pueblo reservations haven't been diminished by Congress even though some private lands...

Manitoba First Nations plan blockade of rail lines (June 15, 2006)

First Nations leaders in Manitoba unanimously voted to block rail lines later this month in hopes of pressuring the Canadian government to settle land claims. Fifty tribal leaders at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs supported the blockade. Plans are still...

Editorial: Give Kempthorne a chance on Cobell (June 15, 2006)

"Being found in contempt of court may become part of the job description for whoever heads the U.S. Department of Interior. But Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, the former governor of Idaho, has been on the job less than a month...

Navajo Nation declares fire, drought emergency (June 15, 2006)

The Navajo Nation declared a state of emergency in response to fires and drought conditions on the reservation. At one point, nine fires burned on the reservation, forcing some people to evacuate. All but one fire has been contained. The...

Narragansett Tribe opens rolls after ousting family (June 15, 2006)

The Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island has reopened its rolls for the first time in more than a decade. The tribe is trying to enroll children of tribal members who were inadvertently left off the rolls. Membership is traced to...

Oneida Nation leader blasts land-into-trust critics (June 15, 2006)

Ray Halbritter, the representative of the Oneida Nation of New York, spoke to the Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. Halbritter blasted opponents of the tribe's land-into-trust application. He showed a photo of Oneida County Executive Joseph Griffo...

Army Corps sets hearings on return of land to tribe (June 15, 2006)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is holding six public hearings on a proposal to return 24,000 acres to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota. The land used to belong to the tribe. But the creation of...

Gila River tribe approves freeway billboards (June 15, 2006)

The Gila River Indian Community of Arizona approved the placement of billboards along a freeway that runs through the reservation. The billboards must comply with the tribe's sign ordinance. They must be no more than 30 feet tall and spaced...

Jury resumes deliberations in ex-Bush official's trial (June 15, 2006)

Jury deliberations resumed in the case of a former Bush administration official charged with lying about his relationship with Jack Abramoff. One juror was dismissed because she had talked about the case outside of court. She was replaced with an...

Cherokee Nation starts new advertising campaign (June 15, 2006)

The Cherokee Nation has launched an advertising campaign to boost the public image of Oklahoma tribes. The $750,000 campaign touts all tribes, not just the Cherokees. One ad, "Common Values, Common Ground," notes that tribal governments are the fourth-largest employer...

Poarch Creek Band swears in new council chairman (June 15, 2006)

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama swore in a new council chairman to replace Fred L. McGhee, who died unexpectedly three weeks ago. Buford Rolin was elected chairman by a unanimous vote of the council. He had been...

Senate Indian Affairs to vote on Abramoff report (June 15, 2006)

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting on June 22 to vote on the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation report. Back in June 2005, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the chairman of the committee, said the committee would issue...

UTTC president urges against 'Fighting Sioux' lawsuit (June 15, 2006)

David Gipp, the president of United Tribes Technical College, is urging the state Board of Higher Education not to file a lawsuit in support of the University of North Dakota's "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo. Gipp, an alumnus of UND,...