Native community shaken by high suicide rate (July 4, 2005)

The Ahousaht First Nation in British Columbia is seeking help in order to with a large number of attempted suicides and suicides. In the past six months, 40 young people have tried to kill themselves. One person succeeded. Last year,...

Kiowa Tribe to go ahead with disputed election (July 4, 2005)

The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma will go ahead with a July 9 election despite a judge's order to delay it so that more people can vote. A group of 156 tribal members called the Kiowa Project for Democracy sued the...

Editorial: Reform recognition and Indian gaming laws (July 4, 2005)

"U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona held hearings on the recognition process. He and his colleagues need to reform it. One way, as Mr. Blumenthal and others have suggested, would be to place oversight in the hands of a regulatory...

Indian Country confronts rising rate of HIV/AIDS (July 4, 2005)

Once restricted to large cities, HIV and AIDS cases are showing up in reservations across the country and even in remote Alaska Native villages. The Inupiat village of Kiana, home to 400 people, is one example. After one resident went...

Lac Courte Oreilles Band battles gang infiltration (July 4, 2005)

A tribal, state and federal task force is cracking down on gang activity on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation in northern Wisconsin. The Lac Courte Oreilles Band declared a state of emergency in 2002 after the gang-related murder on the...

Little Shell Tribe seeks federal recognition through bill (July 4, 2005)

Saying it is tired of waiting to hear from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana is seeking federal recognition through an act of Congress. The tribe received a positive preliminary determination in 2000. But...

Christians say Choctaw money is not casino money (July 4, 2005)

The Christian Coalition of Alabama released a report [Link] on Friday clearing itself of accepting gaming funds in violation of its policy against accepting gaming funds. The group accepted $850,000 from Americans for Tax Reform, a Republican anti-tax organization. The...

Hayworth targeted for ties to Abramoff, DeLay (July 4, 2005)

Democrats are targeting Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona) for his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). Hayworth, who is facing re-election in 2006, held fundraisers at luxury sports suites that were leased...

Time: Abramoff gave free dinners to Congressmen (July 4, 2005)

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff offered free dinners at his Washington restaurant to Congressman, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), Time Magazine reports. An e-mail obtained by Time shows Abramoff directing the Signatures restaurant to prepare for DeLay, his wife...

Editorial: Iroquois nations gave birth to democracy (July 4, 2005)

"The Iroquois confederation, known to its members as the Haudenosaunee, was probably the greatest indigenous polity north of the Rio Grande in the two centuries before Columbus and definitely the greatest in the two centuries after. A political and military...

Opinion: Tribes share blame for Abramoff scandal (July 4, 2005)

"The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a high-profile hearing last week into the shady work of Republican-party lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is accused of fleecing Indian tribes. Everyone professed great hand-wringing sympathy for the tribes over how badly they had...