Tribe seeks conciliation with SoCal deputies
(CALIFORNIA) -- The leader of a Southern California Indian tribe and a sheriff's department vowed Friday to work together to lower tensions after three people were killed on the reservation in gun battles with deputies.
Tribe meets with Riverside sheriffs, mediators on shootout
(CALIFORNIA) -- Leaders of Southern California's Soboba Indian tribe met Friday with Riverside County sheriff's officials and a federal mediator amid tensions arising from the killings of three people on the reservation during recent gunbattles with deputies.
Soboba situation remains tense today
(CALIFORNIA) -- The situation remained tense today on the Soboba Indian Reservation, where three Indians have been killed this month in two shootouts with Riverside County sheriff's deputies.
Tribe to meet with Riverside sheriffs, mediators on shootout
(CALIFORNIA) -- When Riverside County sheriff's deputies and SWAT officers stormed the Soboba Indian Reservation and killed two suspects in an hourlong gunbattle, they enforced a lockdown so strict even the tribe's leader wound up sleeping in his casino parking lot.
ICT EDITORIAL: Fatal flaws in Public Law 280
(NEW YORK) -- A May 12 gunfight that left two Native people dead in southern California is the most recent of six shootings involving local police and members of the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians.
Soboba to sue county sheriff after latest killings by deputies
(CALIFORNIA) -- The chairman of the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians said the tribe is planning to sue the Riverside County Sheriff's Department after a deadly gun battle in which deputies shot and killed a tribal man and a woman on the reservation May 12.
Commission can enforce rule regarding tribal smoke shops
(OKLAHOMA) -- A Mayes County judge has lifted a stay on an Oklahoma Tax Commission rule that limits the number of low-tax cigarettes wholesalers can sell to tribally licensed stores in counties along Oklahoma's borders with other states.
Stay for smoke shops is lifted
(OKLAHOMA) -- Six Mayes County smoke shops are now under an Oklahoma Tax Commission rule that limits the number of cigarettes that tribal smoke shops can receive.
Native American Bank hush on president's leave
(MONTANA) -- Who's in charge of the bank? Native American Bank board leaders have yet to announce why the national bank's president was placed on administrative leave more than two weeks ago.
Witnesses: BIA stifles tribal self-government
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Indian tribes want to move toward more self-governance, but red tape and foot-dragging by federal agencies continuously throws a wrench in their attempts, tribal leaders testified Tuesday.
States to enforce molester law on tribal land
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- A little-noticed provision in a 2006 federal sex-offender law is rankling American Indian tribes in six states because it would give state law enforcers unprecedented authority to monitor child molesters living on tribal land.
OP/ED: Obama Upholds Rights of Cherokees, All Native American Tribes
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has stated his opposition to H.R. 2824, an attempt by his fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) to sever government-to-government relations with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma because of an on-going dispute between the tribe and the "Cherokee Freedmen."
JODI RAVE: Offering hope to Native America
(MONTANA) -- Speaking at the University of Montana on Wednesday, Bill Clinton asked young people to consider their future. “You are moving into a 21st century world that is full of promise and excitement,” he said.
Crowd waits, then welcomes Clinton for short speech
(SOUTH DAKOTA) -- Bill Clinton returned to the land of the Oglala Lakota without the massive security detail, rock-star excitement and national press corps that followed him on his first stop here nine years ago.
Feds object to $380M Crow Tribe land bill
(MONTANA) -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs on Thursday objected to details of a proposed $380 million loan program that would let the Crow tribe buy up and consolidate land on its Montana reservation.
Clean-Air Rules Protecting Parks Set to Be Eased
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The Bush administration is on the verge of implementing new air quality rules that will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas, according to rank-and-file agency scientists and park managers who oppose the plan
Tribal trial ties whalers to federal sentence terms
(WASHINGTON) -- Five men who killed a gray whale on Sept. 8 received deferred prosecution Wednesday from the Makah Tribal Court. All five must abide for a year by conditions that will be set June 30 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, where they either have pleaded guilty or have been found guilty of federal misdemeanors.
Tribal trial angers animal advocates
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- It's not just the one whale that died off Neah Bay on Sept. 8. It's not even the maximum five whales the Makah propose to kill annually if they receive a waiver from the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
'The nail in the coffin'
(MAINE) -- Donna Loring, the Penobscot Indian Nation's representative in the Maine state Legislature, will continue her work there with the tribe's support, despite the nation having cut its ties to the state in the aftermath of a legislative session that saw every effort to squash the attempt to improve the lives of the Wabanaki people.
My Sister's House honors tribal chairman
(CALIFORNIA) -- A host of community, business and philanthropic leaders, as well as local officials came together to honor the heroes of My Sister's House at their annual Heroes of Hope dinner on Monday at the Masonic Temple.
Newcomb: Spirit-breaking: Mission horrors
(CALIFORNIA) -- In 1769, Catholic priest Junipero Serra founded the Catholic mission system in California. In 1775, the Franciscan and Dominican orders in California made a joint statement characterizing their mission.
BIA objects to Crow land plan
(MONTANA) -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs on Thursday objected to details of a proposed $380 million loan program that would let the Crow tribe buy up and consolidate land on its Montana reservation.
A GAGGLE OF MORONS: Warriors Speak Up
(CALIFORNIA) -- The five-member school board of the Carpinteria Unified School District voted unanimously on May 13 to approve a motion to establish a board-appointed committee that would analyze and evaluate Carpinteria High’s use of Native American imagery and determine which emblems are offensive.
Land-claim deadline necessary, Strahl told
(ONTARIO) -- The Ontario government kicked off a new round of federal-provincial bickering yesterday, this time over a long-running land-claim dispute in the province.
Shirley initiative divides branches
(ARIZONA) -- President Joe Shirley Jr.'s government reform initiative that would cut the council by two-thirds and give the president more veto power has divided the tribal government.
Roadblocks planned during graduation season
(ARIZONA) -- It's graduation time, which means celebrations and parties, which means the Navajo police will be out in force during the next few weeks with roadblocks checking for drunk drivers.
Last minute rush for election staff
(ARIZONA) -- What if you hold an election and no one wanted to run? That was a scenario that Edison Wauneka, director of the Navajo Election Administration, was looking at on Monday.
Honoring Jim Thorpe in Carbon County
(PENNSYLVANIA) -- People in Carbon County have their fingers crossed for nice weather this weekend. They're breaking out the birthday cake in Jim Thorpe and they better have a lot of candles.
EDITORIAL: The Threatened Polar Bear
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- INTERIOR SECRETARY Dirk Kempthorne held true to the letter of the law in the Endangered Species Act and announced yesterday that the polar bear will be listed as a "threatened" species. Its habitat -- Arctic sea ice -- is disappearing because of global warming.
Bear listing endangers Wyoming, Barrasso says
(WYOMING) -- Protecting polar bears under the Endangered Species Act could cripple Wyoming's economy and threaten the well-being of the country, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso asserted Wednesday.
U.S. polar bear decision condemned in North
(CANADA) -- Condemnation came swiftly from Canada's North to Wednesday's decision by the U.S. government to list polar bears as a threatened species, as Inuit groups and northern politicians denounced the bears' new status.
Natives Won’t Fish Sockeye
(CANADA) -- First Nations people in the Port Alberni area won’t be fishing for sockeye unless the run size is nearly twice the 150,000 expected.
NEC weighs stance on Klamath agreement
(CALIFORNIA) -- Scientific and legal reviews commissioned by the Northcoast Environmental Center may have the environmental group reconsidering its position not to support the Klamath River settlement agreement hatched earlier this year.
Group: Cultural sites in national forests threatened
(COLORADO) -- Indian pueblos, Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields and trails used by Lewis and Clark are in jeopardy because the Forest Service lacks the means to protect them, a prominent preservation group said Thursday.
Southampton to preserve sacred Shinnecock land
(NEW YORK) -- Southampton Town is getting ready to buy 9.3 acres of waterfront land in Water Mill for $5 million, land that includes the site of an ancient summer village and burial ground for the Shinnecock Tribe.
Olympia, tribe agreement aims to ease water worries
(WASHINGTON) -- The water agreement signed Wednesday between the city of Olympia and the Nisqually tribe is the first concrete step on a path to ease the water crunch for Thurston County's population center.
Water plan for Grand Coulee Dam released
(WASHINGTON) -- Washington’s Department of Ecology has released a new environmental study of an ambitious plan to make more Grand Coulee Dam water available for farms, towns and fish in Eastern Washington.
Saudis see no reason to raise oil production now
(RIYADH, Saudi Arabia) -- Saudi Arabian leaders made clear today they see no reason to increase oil production until their customers demand it, apparently rebuffing President Bush amid soaring U.S. gasoline prices.
NEC weighs stance on Klamath agreement
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Scientific and legal reviews commissioned by the Northcoast Environmental Center may have the environmental group reconsidering its position not to support the Klamath River settlement agreement hatched earlier this year.
10 gill nets found
(MINNESOTA) -- Recovery of missing tribal gill nets is continuing, according to Charlie Rasmussen of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. To date, 10 of the original 15 nets that went missing when ice blew in to Garrison Bay last week have been recovered.
27 grant applications seek funding from Sachem Fund
(CONNECTICUT) -- City officials received 27 applications totaling $921,049 for funding from the new Sachem Fund created by the city and the Mohegan Tribe to fund economic development, arts and historic preservation projects.
Legal views clash on Shirley reform
(ARIZONA) -- Since President Joe Shirley Jr. launched his government reform effort two weeks ago, officials have weighed in with conflicting legal opinions on the validity of a voter initiative he is pushing to accomplish his goals.
Anti-uranium attorney 'encouraged' after hearing
(ARIZONA) -- It's well-known in legal circles that you can jinx yourself by predicting how judges are going to rule, but an attorney for two groups protesting uranium mining in New Mexico said he felt good about a hearing in Denver Monday.
Leech Lake Police Chief Day plans to retire
(MINNESOTA) -- Leech Lake Tribal Police Chief Steve Day has announced his last day in office will be May 23. “It is time to move on to a healthy retirement with my loving family and friends,” Day wrote in a memo to Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Tribal Council members, department staff and other tribal division employees
Joint power one step closer
(CALIFORNIA) -- The Joint Power Agreement between the City of Porterville and the Tule River Tribe took another step close to the governor’s desk when it passed the Assembly floor Thursday, by a unanimous vote of 64 to 0.
Smithsonian Strategies Suggested
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The Government Accountability Office recommended yesterday that the Smithsonian Board of Regents develop ways to critique its own policies and institute a plan to discipline its members if they neglect their duties.
Clock ticking to replace BIA chief
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- As Indian leaders come to terms with the unexpected resignation of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman, they are now working overtime to ensure the Interior Department doesn't muck up its next appointment to head the BIA.
Self-governance revisited
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Shortfalls in congressional appropriations for federal Indian agencies again moved front and center at a May 13 Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing.
Obama Secret Service Agent Tied to Sex Joke
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- A Secret Service supervisor who until recently was a leader of Senator Barack Obama’s security detail sent several colleagues an e-mail message in 2005 that included a crude sexual joke about blacks and American Indians, according to documents disclosed last week as part of a lawsuit by black Secret Service agents.
Tseshaht Elect New Council
(CANADA) -- The Tseshaht First Nation has elected band leaders. On May 8 nine new members took office for the coming four-year term.
Solicitor General Clement Says He Will Step Down
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Solicitor General Paul D. Clement, a key advocate in court for the administration's counterterrorism policies, will resign from the Justice Department in early June, the department announced yesterday.
Federal prosecutor to be added in South Dakota
(SOUTH DAKOTA) -- The U.S. attorney is getting another prosecutor in South Dakota. Marty Jackley says there were 128 requests for extra prosecutors across the country, and his office is one of 43 to get another assistant U.S. attorney.
Music download case may be retried
(MINNESOTA) -- A Minnesota woman ordered to pay $222,000 in the nation's first music download trial may get another chance with a jury.
Museum director dies in custody
(WASHINGTON) -- An internationally recognized expert on Asian antiquities who had been arrested in connection with an artifact-smuggling scheme died in custody early Wednesday.
Official Urged Fewer Diagnoses of PTSD
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- A psychologist who helps lead the post-traumatic stress disorder program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking government disability payments for the condition.
State's Indians show superb scores
(OKLAHOMA) -- American Indian students in Oklahoma are outperforming their counterparts in nearly every other state in reading and math, a report released Wednesday shows.
TIM GIAGO: Finding an Indian Role Model in Life
(SOUTH DAKOTA) -- In the spring of 1976, 32 years ago, I had an actor named Will Sampson as my guest on the weekly television show I hosted, The First Americans, which aired each Sunday morning on KEVN- TV in Rapid City, SD.
American Indians' Untold Baseball Stories
(NEW YORK) -- Baseball fans around the world have probably heard of two of America's major league teams, the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves. Both names refer to American Indians, although the teams themselves have no connection with tribal culture.
Mural proposed at Indian museum
(CALIFORNIA) -- Novato’s Miwok Park is home to the Marin Museum of the American Indian, which is visited each year by thousands of Bay Area third- and fourth-graders on school field trips.
Native American hot shot crew battles fires
(MONTANA) -- The Chief Mountain Hotshots are elite firefighters based in Browning and are ready at a moment's notice to travel and suppress fires before they get out of control.
Tribe opens lion hunt
(NORTH DAKOTA) -- The Three Affiliated Tribes has opened a special mountain lion hunting season on a portion of the Fort Berthold Reservation, for the second time in two years.
Nobody's Fault: The anatomy of a suicide in the Humboldt County Jail
(CALIFORNIA) -- In January, journalism students from HSU, as part of an investigative reporting class taught by Assistant Professor Marcy Burstiner, set out to understand the intersection of the mental health and criminal justice systems in Humboldt County by investigating the death of one man: James Lee Peters, a Hoopa resident who committed suicide in the Humboldt County Jail last August.
Nikwasi Celebration on Saturday, May 17
(NORTH CAROLINA) -- The Nikwasi Celebration, a community event of cultural exchange to recognize the inclusion of the Nikwasi Mound on the Cherokee Heritage Trails, will be held this Saturday, May 17, at the Big Bear Park in Franklin.
Native American Pow Wow Comes to Greenbrier County
(WET VIRGINIA) -- If you're in the area Saturday, stop by the state fairgrounds in Fairlea for some tribal inspiration. The Appalachian American Indians of West Virginia are hosting a Native American Gathering.
Storied celebration
(MONTANA) -- Thanks to two sisters from across Montana, students from two very different communities came together in a unique storytelling project.
Main Street granted $15K for powwow
(KENTUCKY) -- The Corbin Tourism Commission will give $15,000 for a Native American powwow this summer after three of five voting commission members approved the measure.
Texan accused in South Park bison killings posts bond
(COLORADO) -- Jeffrey Scott Hawn, the Texas businessman facing multiple criminal counts in the killing of 32 bison in South Park, turned himself in at the Park County Jail this week, the Park County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.
Environmental groups slam bison hazing plan
(MONTANA) -- An effort to force hundreds of bison back into Yellowstone National Park, from land around the park's western edge, has prompted intense opposition from half a dozen environmental groups.
Rancher kills roaming bison from state park
(NORTH DAKOTA) -- Two bison bulls that breached the fence surrounding Theodore Roosevelt National Park in southwestern North Dakota were shot and killed by a Billings County rancher.
2008 fire season underway at various locations
(ARIZONA) -- The 2008 fire season for the Navajo Nation's firefighters is underway. The Navajo Hot Shots left for the South Tularosa fire on the Mescalero Apache Reservation on May 2, according to Calvin Becenti, coordinator for the Navajo Scouts.
GOP cancer: Party could lose 20 more seats
(WASHNGTON, DC) -- For the past 18 months, ever since the 2006 elections, congressional Republicans have been like a hospital patient trying to convince visitors that he is not really all that sick: a bit under the weather; actually feel better than I sound; should be up and about any day; thanks for asking.
In the South, a Force to Challenge the G.O.P.
(NEW ORLEANS) -- The sharp surge in black turnout that Senator Barack Obama has helped to generate in recent primaries and Congressional races could signal a threat this fall to the longtime Republican dominance of the South, according to politicians and voting experts.
PEGGY NOONAN: Pity Party
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Big picture, May 2008: The Democrats aren't the ones falling apart, the Republicans are. The Democrats can see daylight ahead. For all their fractious fighting, they're finally resolving their central drama. Hillary Clinton will leave, and Barack Obama will deliver a stirring acceptance speech.
After String of Losses, Republicans Face Crisis
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- House Republicans turned on themselves yesterday after a third straight loss of a GOP-held House seat in special elections this year left both parties contemplating widespread Democratic gains in November.
EJ DIONNE: Brand on the Run
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican elected in the face of the 2006 Democratic sweep, understands the panic that took hold in his party this week following its loss in a ruby-red district.
HILLARY: What Went Wrong?
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Endings are rarely as joyous as beginnings--and in the case of a long, wearing, and ultimately disappointing campaign, they can be downright brutal. But they also have the potential to be educational, for participants and gawkers alike.
Bills mount; Young's legal fund doesn't
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Rep. Don Young has reported "no activity" in the special legal fund he set up to accept donations and pay for lawyers assisting his defense in federal investigations.
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