Alaska Native corporation contracts under scrutiny (March 7, 2005)

The leaders of the House Government Reform Committee made a bipartisan request on Friday for an investigation into the way Alaska Native corporations receive sole-source contracts. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Virginia), committee chairman, and Henry Waxman (D-California), the ranking member, asked...

Western Shoshones file lawsuit against Yucca Mountain (March 7, 2005)

Western Shoshone leaders and activists filed a lawsuit on Friday aimed at stopping the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Leaders of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and the Te-Moak Tribe joined the Western Shoshone National Council in filing the suit. They...

McCain takes on controversial topics in 109th Congress (March 7, 2005)

Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) is confronting a number of controversial topics as he makes his second run as chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The maverick Republican only plans to run the committee for two years but during that...

Arctic drilling a sensitive issue for Inupiat Eskimos (March 7, 2005)

The majority of Inupiat Eskimos have supported development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge but not every Inupiat welcomes the idea of drilling in their backyard. Some Inupiats who fear damage to the environment spoke out against drilling at a...

Navajo Nation helps with bootlegging bust (March 7, 2005)

The Navajo Nation, the FBI and state and local law enforcement in Arizona announced a bootlegging bust of three liquor stores near the reservation. During an 18-month investigation, agents were able to buy large quantities of alcohol from the stores...

Northern Cheyenne schools undergoing review (March 7, 2005)

The schools on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation are undergoing a 60-day review in hopes of resolving outstanding problems, President Eugene Little Coyote told The Billings Gazette. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe ousted the old school board and created an ad hoc...

Minnesota tribes move forward with pharmacy efforts (March 7, 2005)

Two tribes in Minnesota are moving forward with discussions to get into the prescription drug business. The Red Lake Band is negotiating with First Nations in Manitoba, Canada, who run their own pharmacy. The White Earth Band also wants to...

Bush nominates career scientist as head of EPA (March 7, 2005)

President Bush nominated a career scientist as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday. Stephen L. Johnson has worked for the EPA for 24 years. His expertise is in the biology and pathology, which led to his work in...

Tribe blasts BIA for lack of Si Tanka University funds (March 7, 2005)

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe blasted the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Friday for not providing federal funds to Si Tanka University. Chairman Harold Frazier said the BIA reneged on an agreement to release funds for the Eagle Butte campus...

Column: 'Definitely going to die' on reservation (March 7, 2005)

"The Schaghticoke Indians' sunless mountain in Kent was a battleground where the tribe's two warring factions had been known to shoot and club each other over the head with shovels. One of those factions had come to The Courant with...

Bill revokes BIA's recognition of Connecticut tribe (March 7, 2005)

Republicans from Connecticut introduced a bill to revoke the federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Connecticut) and other Republican lawmakers said the Bureau of Indian Affairs was wrong to recognize the tribe. The BIA issued a...

Dorgan received $47K from Abramoff's former clients (March 7, 2005)

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the new vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, received $47,000 from former tribal clients of Jack Abramoff, The Arizona Republic reports. The amount was the highest for any Democrat, the paper said. Some...

Displaced O'odham community gets a reservation (March 7, 2005)

The Hia-Ced O'odham Tribe of Arizona now has a place to call home thanks to the help of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The Hia-Ced are descendants of the Sand Papago Tribe who were not granted a reservation in the early...

First Nation files lawsuit over flooded lands (March 7, 2005)

The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation of Manitoba has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for lands flooded by a government dam project. The Cree Nation sued SaskPower, a provincial company that operates the dam, the government of Manitoba and the Canadian...

Three confirmed dead from fire on First Nation (March 7, 2005)

Three people died in a house fire on the Ulkatcho First Nation's 2 Mile Reserve in British Columbia. The remains of two men and one woman were located by investigators. They had attended a party at the house on Tuesday...

Miami Nation develops first modern dictionary (March 7, 2005)

The Miami Nation in Oklahoma has developed the first modern dictionary of the Miami-Peoria language. The dictionary was developed in conjunction with the Miami University of Oxford, Ohio. The university's Myaamia Project for Language Revitalization used documents from the 1960s...

Mark Trahant: Academic freedom for Churchill too? (March 7, 2005)

"Perhaps the most important arena for the debate about what it means to be an inquisitive society is on university campuses. It's been a big issue in the news recently because of controversial statements made by Larry Summers, the president...

Yellow Bird: An excellent adventure in the country (March 7, 2005)

"I'd never snowshoed, cross-country skied or seen the original bedrock of North America where no fossil forms exist. But those are some of the things I did (or almost did!) in Baudette, Minn., last week. Jenny Moorman, a biologist turned...

Firm offers $9M refund to Saginaw Chippewa Tribe (March 7, 2005)

The law firm that employed disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has offered to refund the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan $9 million, The Morning Sun reports. Tribal sources told the paper that the Greenberg Traurig firm made the offer after...

Editorial: Burns 'enriched' by Abramoff and tribes (March 7, 2005)

"Why should an Indian tribe booming with casino profits deserve a $3 million school construction grant from a federal fund specifically earmarked for impoverished tribes? That's one of the many questions emerging in Washington as investigators track how Jack Abramoff,...

Horse Sense: Burns and Baucus 'cozy' with lobbyists (March 7, 2005)

"Montana's two U.S. senators are making national news for their cozy relationships with Washington, D.C., lobbyists. The stories aren't flattering. The Washington Post and Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, last week reported that U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., last...

Editorial: A 'Super Bowl' earmark for tribe (March 7, 2005)

"The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan is one of the wealthiest in the country. Its Soaring Eagle casino is so profitable that each member of the tribe receives $70,000 annually. So the tribe wouldn't seem the worthiest candidate to...