(December 5, 2005)

Get the Story: ON THE BORDER: For the Tohono O'odham, the U.S.-Mexican border is a recent and difficult development. (The San Francisco Chronicle 12/3) $p Related Stories:Brother of O'odham chair arrested for drugs (09/27) Tohono O'odham Nation can't stop...

McCain expects 'lots' of indictments in Abramoff case (December 5, 2005)

ABRAMOFF SCANDAL • Washington Post Blog: The Fix: How the Abramoff Scandal Helps McCain Comment: "From the interview I heard, McCain was not forthcoming. As Chairman of Indian Affairs, he has dragged his feet in this investigation." Comment: "I worked...

Leech Lake community battles wave of violence (December 5, 2005)

Residents of a community on the Leech Lake Ojibwe Reservation met last week to discuss a rising tide of violence, substance abuse and general lawlessness in Cass Lake. Leech Lake Band Chairman George Goggleye has declared war on the scourge....

Column: Menominee girl wanted to grow up fast (December 5, 2005)

"She was a girl who once brought an injured sparrow to school and stuck it sweetly inside her locker -- next to the gang signs. A girl who brought a sick kitten to a doctor, but who also was...

Blogger draws interest for postings on Churchill (December 5, 2005)

An Internet blogger is keeping the heat on controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill. Jim Paine runs PirateBallerina [Link]. On more than one occasion, he has posted information before it made the local news media. He is highly critical...

Makah Nation displays whale skeleton at museum (December 5, 2005)

The Makah Nation of Washington has put the skeleton of the whale killed in 1999 on display at the tribal museum. Students from Neah Bay High School cleaned and catalogued 600 pounds of bones. The 30-foot skeleton now hangs...

Fort Belknap chair testifies at sentencing hearing (December 5, 2005)

Julia Doney, the chairwoman of the Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana, testified on Friday in the sentencing hearing of a tribal member who killed a deputy sheriff who was also a tribal member. Laurence D. Jackson Jr, 28, has...

Dakota families accuse school district of discrimination (December 5, 2005)

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 14 Native American families who say the Winner School District in South Dakota is sending their kids from the school house to the jail house. The families say...

Mashpee lobbyists met with Dorgan several times (December 5, 2005)

LOBBYING PROBE November 17, 2005, Hearing:Video | Exhibits November 2, 2005, Hearing:Video | Exhibits | Witness List / Testimony Lobbyists working for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts met several times with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) in 2003 in...

Scanlon had private jet, described as generous (December 5, 2005)

Michael P.S. Scanlon was a "generous friend" to lifeguards in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and once ferried them to a lifesaving competition aboard his private jet. Scanlon, who went by "Sean" on the beach, worked on and off as a...

Leech Lake woman returns home to run for office (December 5, 2005)

Irene Folstrom, a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, is seeking to become the first female American Indian legislator in Minnesota. Folstrom, 30, returned to the Leech Lake Reservation after working for the National Congress of American...

Lawmaker accuses tribes of not paying taxes (December 5, 2005)

A Colorado state lawmaker has accused the Southern Ute Tribe and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of not paying state taxes. Rep. Mark Larson, a Republican, wrote a letter to Gov. Bill Owens (R) last month. He said the tribes...

Staffer for Sen. Burns went to work for Abramoff (December 5, 2005)

A former staffer for Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana) went to work for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and may have swayed his ex-boss on issues affecting Abramoff clients. Shawn Vasell, pictured at right, worked for Burns as his staff director for...

Connecticut tribes vow to fight for recognition (December 5, 2005)

Leaders of two Connecticut tribes say they will continue to fight for federal recognition. The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation were denied recognition on October 12. The Bureau of Indian Affairs said the tribe's failed to...

Iowa Senator linked to Abramoff investigation (December 5, 2005)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) wrote letters on behalf of one faction of the Meskwaki Tribe of Iowa with the help of one of Jack Abramoff's associates, the Associated Press reports. Harkin wrote the Interior Department and the National Indian Gaming...

Dorgan questioned as Abramoff probe continues (December 5, 2005)

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, is the latest lawmaker to be linked to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Dorgan met with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts and later agreed to insert...

Jodi Rave: Black Indians struggle for acceptance (December 5, 2005)

"Radmilla Cody grew up in a Navajo world, butchering sheep, raising goats and speaking Dine. Yet many in her tribe - and her family - never accepted her. Her maternal uncle called her a black pig. Neighborhood kids taunted her...

House Resources to hold hearing on Cobell (December 5, 2005)

The House Resources Committee will hold a hearing on legislation to settle the Cobell v. Norton trust fund lawsuit and institute reforms at the Interior Department. The "Legislative Hearing on the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005," takes place at...

Mark Trahant: America's numbers don't add up (December 5, 2005)

"Last week the government reported that the Gross Domestic Product grew at a healthy rate. The most recent measure of output of "goods and services produced by labor and property" increased at an annual rate of 4.3 percent, according to...

Ute Tribe reports lead in search for missing man (December 5, 2005)

The Ute Tribe of Utah said it has a lead in the search for man who has been missing since November 25. Charles Reed Chapoose went missing on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation when his truck apparently broke down....

Former Cheyenne-Arapaho official pleads guilty (December 5, 2005)

The former chairman of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma pleaded guilty on Friday to misusing tribal funds. James Wayne Pedro Sr. admitted to embezzling nearly $200,000 in funds from the tribe's Lucky Star casino. He used the money to finance...