Three Coushatta leaders handed recall petitions (July 7, 2004)

Three leaders of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana face a recall election over their spending habits. Chairman Lovelin Poncho and council members William G. Worfel and Leonard Battise are targeted in the recall. Poncho and Worfel reportedly authorized spending millions...

Senate committee busy as Congress winds up session (July 7, 2004)

With less than two weeks before Congress goes on recess for the summer, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is busy this month with a slew of business meetings and hearings. The committee will take up pending legislation at meetings today...

Jail report cites 'life-threatening' conditions (July 7, 2004)

An interim report released by the Department of Interior's Inspector General says "life-threatening incidents will be inevitable" unless the Bureau of Indian Affairs cleans up its jail system. The report covered just 14 of the 74 jails in the BIA...

Voter ID law seen as attempt to suppress Indian vote (July 7, 2004)

South Dakota's voter identification law is meant to keep Indians from the polls, the president of Oglala Lakota College says. Tom Shortbull, a member of the board of advisers to the federal Election Assistance Commission, says 5 to 10 percent...

Tribal college sponsors Northern Plains art show (July 7, 2004)

Sinte Gleska University in South Dakota is sponsoring the Northern Plains Indian Market from September 23-26. The tribal college stepped in after American Indian Services said it would not host its Northern Plains Tribal Arts this year due to financial...

$2B in diamonds estimated taken from reservation (July 7, 2004)

The Brazilian government estimates that $2 billion worth of diamonds have been taken from the Roosevelt Reservation over the last five years. Mining is illegal on Indian but so-called garimpeiros have been coming to the 6.7 million-acre reservation in search...

Gila River Tribe sees land buy as crucial to future (July 7, 2004)

The Gila River Indian Community of Arizona says the purchase of 1,280 acres of county land will protect the reservation. The tribe wants to fend off unwanted development along the borders of the existing reservation. Buying parts of San Tan...

Troubled past doesn't bother buyer of totem pole (July 7, 2004)

A Washington man who paid $30,000 for a totem pole carved by a man with a criminal past says he bought the item because it is a great work of art. Charlie Pancerzewski bought the pole and donated it to...

Indian man and son found on South Dakota reservation (July 7, 2004)

An Indian man was charged with four felony counts in Wisconsin in connection with the abduction of his baby son. Marshall James Fox is accused of beating his wife at their home in Wisconsin and taking their son, Evan, with...

Little Shell Tribe seeks support for recognition bid (July 7, 2004)

The Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana is seeking federal recognition through an act of Congress. The Bureau of Indian Affairs gave preliminary approval to the tribe back in 2001. The tribe has requested, and received, several extensions on the...

Fire in Arizona threatens sacred Mount Graham (July 7, 2004)

The Nuttall Complex Fire is threatening Mount Graham in Arizona, a site held sacred by the Apache and other tribes in the Southwest. Mount Graham used to be part of the San Carlos Apache Reservation but is now in federal...

NYT Book Review: 'Four Souls' by Louise Erdrich (July 7, 2004)

"Four Souls," the new novel by Ojibwe author Louise Erdrich is "powerful and haunting at times," says New York Times reviewer Michiko Kakutani, but "also old-fashioned, stilted and contrived." "Ms. Erdrich is such a gifted writer that she manages to...

Standing Rock Sioux artist wins award for first book (July 7, 2004)

S.D. Nelson, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, received the 2004 Spur Award for his first book, The Star People: A Lakota Story. Nelson has illustrated several books but Star People is the first he's...

Tribal court rejects challenge to White Earth election (July 7, 2004)

The results of the recent election on the White Earth Ojibwe Reservation in Minnesota have been upheld by a tribal judges. On June 8, Erma Vizenor was elected chairwoman with 59 percent of the vote. Her rival, former chairman Darrell...