Backer spent $15M on Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (April 3, 2006)

Herb Strather, a real-estate developer from Detroit, Michigan, estimates he poured $15 million into the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts. Strather, 55, backed the tribe in exchange for a development agreement but said he was motivated for non-financial reasons. "I...

Lobbyist traded on DeLay's name to get tribal money (April 3, 2006)

A Washington lobbyist traded on his relationship with Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) in order to fleece money out of tribal clients, according to documents filed in federal court on Friday. Tony Rudy, a former aide to DeLay, represented a slew...

Jodi Rave: Tribes alarmed at trust reform initiative (April 3, 2006)

"Harrison Tsosie of the Navajo Nation doesn’t like Washington bureaucrats telling the tribe how to manage 15 million acres of tribal land held in trust by the federal government. And now a new federal law and proposed Interior Department policies...

BIA: Massachusetts tribe 'retained' self-governance (April 3, 2006)

MASHPEE RECOGNITION Chairman Glenn Marshall, on right, and Chief Vernon Lopez announce the news. Photo © AP. Tribal members and friends celebrate at Mashpee headquarters. Photo © AP With its successful federal recognition decision on Friday, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe...

Navajo woman missing for more than a month (April 3, 2006)

A 22-year-old Navajo woman from Chinle, Arizona, has been missing for over a month. Jilleda "Jill" John has disappeared in the past, according to family members. But they say this is the first time she has been gone for...

Arapaho man convicted of daughter's murder (April 3, 2006)

A member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of his 22-month-old daughter Andrew Yellowbear Jr. was convicted after three days of deliberations. He now faces the death penalty for the...

Native drivers in Nebraska stopped more often (April 3, 2006)

Native Americans are more likely to be arrested and searched during traffic stops than non-Natives, according to a report released by the Nebraska Crime Commission on Friday. Based on data from more than 200 state law enforcement agencies from 2002-2005,...

Young people await housing on Penobscot Nation (April 3, 2006)

More than a dozen young people are on the waiting list for new housing on the Penobscot Nation in Maine. The tribe is slated to begin work on the eight-unit apartment building. This is the first time tribe has been...

Eastern Cherokees fuel economic rebirth (April 3, 2006)

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is experiencing a revival on its reservation in North Carolina. Tribal members are moving back home, new businesses are sprouting up, and the tribe has launched a number of economic, cultural and technological initiatives....

Hope returns for tribes along Klamath River (April 3, 2006)

After decades of losing out to non-Indians and power companies, the tribes in Klamath Basin in northern California and southern Oregon feel hopeful that salmon will return to their rivers. Last week, a federal judge struck down the Bush administration's...

White Face: No development near sacred Bear Butte (April 3, 2006)

"This letter is to reaffirm our position of no development of any kind within a five-mile radius of Bear Butte, a position we have held for a number of years. Our reasons for this position are: 1. Bear Butte is...

Review: Arigon Starr's one woman tour-de-force (April 3, 2006)

"It's gettin' a mite crowded at the All Nations Café in Sapulpa, Okla. Country music star Patty Jones has arrived at this casual Native American gathering spot to do a live TV special, local radio host Clyde is on...

Senate Indian Affairs Committee meth hearing (April 3, 2006)

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is holding its first-ever hearing on methamphetamine amid growing concern about the drug's impact on Indian Country. Tribal leaders across the nation say their communities have been hit hard by meth, a synthetic drug often...

Interview with Red Lake Chairman Floyd Jourdain (April 3, 2006)

Floyd "Buck" Jourdain Jr., the chairman of the Red Lake Nation in Minnesota, recently sat down for a lengthy interview with Dorreen Yellow Bird, a Native reporter for The Grand Forks Herald. Jourdain, 42, talked about the March 21,...

Jodi Rave: Racial tensions in border communities (April 3, 2006)

"Hundreds of border towns surround the 300 reservations in the United States. These towns wouldn't survive without the millions of dollars pumped into the economy from nearby tribal governments and reservation residents. But tensions often run high between Natives and...

Mark Trahant: Entering the immigration debate (April 3, 2006)

"Historians generally chart four great waves of mass migration that people this continent, following the first arrival of the Europeans. I am not so sure; I see America's story as essentially one constant frame of mass migration that began in...

Opinion: Reservations are sovereign territories (April 3, 2006)

"It is not well known either inside or outside the United States that the reservations where many Native Americans live – also known as Indian Country – are sovereign territories. The citizens of the several hundred reservations that comprise Indian...

BIA to hold second consultation on Section 20 proposal (April 3, 2006)

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is holding the second consultation session on its proposed Section 20 regulations this Wednesday. The regulations will establish standards for implementing Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Under the law, tribes cannot open...

NCAI accepts recycled Abramoff donation (April 3, 2006)

The National Congress of American Indians is accepting $20,000 from Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), who has given away the last of his donations linked to sentenced convict Jack Abramoff. The $20,000 was initially given to Burns by the Saginaw...