Trust relationship not convincing to Supreme Court (February 22, 2006)

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a small religious group from using a hallucinogenic tea in a unanimous decision on Tuesday that included some potentially hostile language about the trust relationship. By an 8-0 vote, with new Justice Samuel...

Opinion: Republican presidents pick on urban Indians (February 22, 2006)

"I haven't figured out why Republican presidents like to pick on urban Indians, but that seems to be the case In the early 1980s, President Reagan (another cowboy president) zeroed out urban Indian health funding in his first six budgets...

Lawmakers won't fund Indian education positions (February 22, 2006)

The Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee refused to fund the salaries of two Indian education positions. The state Education Department sought money for the positions after Gov. Dave Heineman (R) failed to ask for it in his budget. Lawmakers decided it...

Boulder won't build training center on sacred site (February 22, 2006)

The city council in Boulder, Colorado, abandoned plans to built a fire-training center on a sacred prayer site and pioneer burial ground. The Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming opposed the use of Valmont Butte east of the city. Elders have...

Judge accuses Native leaders of blackmail, corruption (February 22, 2006)

A judge in Canada has issued a strong ruling against leaders of the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, accusing them of blackmail and influence peddling. Justice Pierre Blais of the Federal Court of Canada decried the actions of former...

Girl arrested for alleged threat to Leech Lake school (February 22, 2006)

A 13-year-old girl was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly making a threat to carry out a shooting at the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School on the Leech Lake Reservation in Minnesota. The girl, a student at the school, allegedly gave a teacher a...

Action promised to improve water on First Nations (February 22, 2006)

The Canadian government is promising to improve the water quality on First Nations after CBC News documented major problems with the system. Based on government records, CBC News found that nearly three-quarters of reserves have unsafe water. That amounts to...

Navajo teen survives battle with brain tumor (February 22, 2006)

A 13-year-old Navajo boy from Arizona is undergoing monthly chemotherapy treatments after having a tumor removed from his brain. Travis Yazzie went to the hospital three times before the tumor was diagnosed. At one point, doctors thought his condition...

Navajo Nation mourns loss of revered educator (February 22, 2006)

Leaders of the Navajo Nation are mourning the loss of Robert A. Roessel Jr., a non-Indian who died last Thursday after spending more than 50 years on the reservation as an educator. Roessel was 79. Roessel moved to the reservation...

Oklahoma tribal retailers subject to new tax rule (February 22, 2006)

The Oklahoma Tax Commission voted Tuesday to adopt a new rule for tribal retailers who sell tobacco. The emergency rule [PDF: Announcement] applies to retailers who are licensed by tribes with state tax compacts. It seeks to crack down on...

Supreme Court ruling prompts study of peyote case (February 22, 2006)

Attorneys for the state of Utah are studying the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in a religious freedom case to determine the effect it may have on the use of peyote by non-tribal members. The state prosecuted James "Flaming Eagle"...

Terminated Utes to press case in court, public arena (February 22, 2006)

Former members of the Ute Tribe of Utah who were terminated by the federal government will continue to press their case in the courts and in the public arena. The 490 mixed-blood Uintas lost their federal recognition under an act...

Western Shoshones take land fight to United Nations (February 22, 2006)

Leaders of the Western Shoshone Nation will take their long-running battle over land rights to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, this month. The Western Shoshone National Council says an international forum is the only place where the case can...

Mashpee Wampanoag lobbying paid off in Washington (February 22, 2006)

Tired of waiting for an answer on its federal recognition petition, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts hired lawyers and lobbyists to fight the case, an effort that appears to have paid off. The tribe hired lawyers who took the...

Column: Daddy, aren't you one of those lobbyists? (February 22, 2006)

"As we were watching a story on the evening news about the extravagance and excesses of lobbyists, my son asked me, "Aren't you a lobbyist?" Yes, I said. "You must not be very good at it," he said. By some...

Dorgan to hold hearing on FY2007 budget at UTTC (February 22, 2006)

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) will take the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, North Dakota, on Thursday for a field hearing on President Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget. Dorgan, the vice chair of...

Indian Affairs Committee hands over Abramoff files (February 22, 2006)

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee has turned over previously unseen documents about Jack Abramoff to the Senate Finance Committee, the Roll Call newspaper reported on Tuesday. A source said the documents consisted of 80 to 100 pages of e-mails and...

Harvard president Summers announces resignation (February 22, 2006)

Lawrence H. Summers, a former Clinton administration official who was a named defendant in the Cobell trust fund lawsuit, announced his resignation from Harvard University on Tuesday. Summers faced criticism for suggesting in a speech that women lacked "intrinsic aptitude"...