FTC accuses Indian payday loan company of unfair practices (March 7, 2012)

The Federal Trade Commission filed an amended complaint in federal court today, accusing an Indian-owned payday loan company of unfair and deceptive practices. Martin A. Webb, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, operates several payday...

Jewish Times: Coushatta Tribes makes connection to Israel (March 7, 2012)

"In 2008, David Sickey of the Sovereign Nation of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana was glued to the media coverage of Israel’s sixtieth anniversary. As a result, by the end of that year, the Coushatta would become the first Native...

Teen sues BIA school in New Mexico for exposing pregnancy (March 7, 2012)

An Indian teenager is suing a Bureau of Indian Affairs school in New Mexico after being kicked out then publicly humiliated for being pregnant. Shantelle Hicks, 15, who recently gave birth to a girl, initially informed a dormitory manager at...

Opinion: Tom Rodgers a bit to 'obsessed' with Jack Abramoff (March 7, 2012)

"If there is a common denominator among the lobbyists who set up Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, it’s that they are a few feathers short of a headdress. Tom Rodgers has got to be the most insane of the bunch as...

Jack Abramoff offers to be 'of service' to tribal governments (March 7, 2012)

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff says he wants to make amends in Indian Country for swindling tribes out of tens of millions of dollars. Abramoff, who was released from prison in June 2010, has been ordered to repay some $44 million...

Final series on food and nutritional issues in Indian Country (March 7, 2012)

"Even the best nutrition education is likely to fall flat without the opportunity to put it into practice. "You can teach people, but unless you change the environment it's very difficult for people to actually use what you've taught them,"...

Chairman of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe faces removal effort (March 7, 2012)

Charles Murphy, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, could be removed from office. Murphy is being accused by a council member of acting outside of his authority. The council will decide whether to proceed with the effort at...

Peter d'Errico: Raymond Yowell resumes treaty rights push (March 7, 2012)

"The Western Shoshone have been litigating the rights to their homeland since at least 1951, when a claim was filed, purportedly in their behalf, before the United States Indian Claims Commission (ICC). A full statement of this history is in...

Fronteras: Sycuan Band sees opposition for land-into-trust (March 7, 2012)

"For decades, the Sycuan Indian reservation in eastern San Diego County was just a rugged little patch of a place. At less than 700 acres in the rural Dehesa Valley, it was one of San Diego’s smallest reservations. But in...

Tribes slam 'declaration of war' on online lending businesses (March 7, 2012)

An Obama administration official has issued a "declaration of war" on payday loan businesses in Indian Country, according to one tribal leader. Responding to pressure from state governments, Richard Cordray said his agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the...

Charles Trimble: American Indian Graduate Center memories (March 7, 2012)

In the fall of 1969 I received a call from Taos Pueblo merchant and civic leader John Rainer, asking if I would serve on the Board of Directors of a new organization he was putting together, American Indian Scholarships, Inc....

Mexico apologizes to second Indian woman in assault case (March 7, 2012)

The Mexican government apologized to a second Indian woman who was beaten sexually assaulted by soldiers. Ines Fernandez and Valentina Rosendo were assaulted in 2002. They took their case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which told the government...

Sen. Hatch opposes bill provisions to protect Native women (March 7, 2012)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) continues to oppose the Violence Against Women Act over provisions aimed at protecting American Indian and Alaska Native women. The bill authorizes tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders. Tribal authority is limited to domestic violence cases but...

Mitt Romney claims victory in six Super Tuesday primaries (March 7, 2012)

Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, won Republican primaries in six states on Super Tuesday. Romney narrowly defeated Rick Santorum in Ohio, the most contested state. The candidates were separated by just one percentage point, according to the latest...

Remarks by Commerce Secretary John Bryson at NCAI meet (March 7, 2012)

John Bryson, the Secretary of the Department of Commerce, spoke at National Congress of American Indians on Tuesday. Bryson was confirmed by the Senate in October 2011. He said one of his first actions after taking office was to appoint...

Native Sun News: Oglala Sioux arrested in Keystone blockade (March 7, 2012)

The following story was written and reported by Karin Eagle, Native Sun News Staff Writer. All content © Native Sun News. Unci Marie Randall, Oglala, speaks to the drivers and crew of the Keystone XL Pipeline trucks that she says...

Tribes in Wisconsin seek to join anti-gang prevention effort (March 7, 2012)

The Forest County Potawatomi Community and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community are looking for ways to battle gangs on their reservations. The National Violence Prevention Resource Center says tribes can change their laws to address gangs and crimes. And they can...

APRN: Alaska tribe to receive overdue child support funding (March 7, 2012)

"The State of Alaska agreed to release more than $50,000 to Central Council Tlingit and Haida Tribe’s Child Support Unit. The court agreement allows the Council to disperse the money to some families who have been waiting for years to...

Remarks by EPA Administrator Jackson at NCAI winter meet (March 7, 2012)

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson addressed the National Congress of American Indians on Tuesday. Jackson gained experience with tribes when she worked in the EPA's Region 2, which includes New York. She later served as Commissioner of New...

Navajo Nation looking to invest in big electricity grid project (March 7, 2012)

The Navajo Nation is interested in investing in a major electricity grid project, President Ben Shelly said. Shelly met with the developers behind the $1.5 billion Tres Amigas. The project will connect the three major electricity grids in the U.S....

BLM sets public meetings for Agua Caliente Band land swap (March 7, 2012)

The Bureau of Land Management will host two public meetings next month to discuss a long-delayed swap with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of California. An environmental assessment for the swap was released back in July 2010. But...

Billi Raining Bird Morsette: Indian Country facing challenges (March 7, 2012)

"We’ve seen all too well the impact of the recent economic downturn in all parts of the United States – rural, urban, and everywhere in between. And amid the images of shuttered factories, hungry children, and people from all walks...