Indianz.Com News Archive: December 11, 2006 Archives

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December 11, 2006
Rahall outlines Indian agenda for 110th Congress
Citing years of neglect under Republican rule, the new Democratic chairman of the House Resources Committee said he would put tribal legislation on the fast track in the 110th Congress. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-West Virginia) held a press conference on...

Ex-Indian housing aide doesn't recall Abramoff
The former head of Indian and public housing says he can't remember meeting convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff or any of Abramoff's associates. Michael Liu, who is now a lobbyist, said it would have been pointless for Abramoff to lobby...

Navajo Nation to own 25 percent of power plant
The Navajo Nation will own 25 percent of a proposed power plant on the reservation. The tribe negotiated a deal with Sithe Global, the company that wants to build the $2.5 billion, 1,500-megawatt, coal-fired plant. Other potential owners are being...

Tribes look outside the U.S. for business deals
Tribes and tribal entrepreneurs are looking outside the U.S. borders in search of business opportunities. The Navajo Nation recently signed a trade deal with Cuba. Karlene Hunter, a business owner on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, provides support...

Congress extends Indian employment tax breaks
Before adjourning for the year, the House and Senate approved a bill to extend tax breaks for businesses that hire Native Americans. The credits apply to businesses located on Indian lands or former reservations. According to The Tulsa World, two-thirds...

Northern Arapaho soldier killed in explosion in Iraq
Billy B. Farris, a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming who grew up on the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, was killed in Iraq on December 3. Farris, 20, died when an improvised explosive device was...

Editorial: A bright future for Santa Fe Indian School
"More well-deserved national recognition for Superintendent Joseph Abeyta for more than three decades of service to Santa Fe Indian School: The National Indian Education Association recently bestowed on him its Lifetime Achievement Award. Abeyta, from Santa Clara Pueblo, has painstakingly...

Indian center in Green Bay at risk of losing funds
The United Amerindian Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has until the end of March 2007 to make a series of changes or lose its federal funding. The center has failed to meet requirements of the Indian Health Services. Among...

Husband not guilty for murder of Native woman
The common-law husband of a Native woman who was killed after police failed to respond to her 911 was found not guilty of her murder. Brenda Moreside, 44, was killed in her home in Alberta. Stanley Willier, 50, her...

Court nominee denies meeting Abramoff at dinner
Federal appeals court nominee Bill Myers says he can't remember if he met convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff at a dinner back in September 2001. Myers and other top Interior officials -- including then-Secretary Gale Norton and former deputy secretary J....

IHS review board in Alaska halts DNA project
A massive project to collect 100,000 samples of DNA from indigenous people has been halted in Alaska by an Indian Health Service review board. The National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project began collecting samples from Native villages. But the Alaska Area...

Scrolls returned to Bois Forte Chippewa Band
The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa of Minnesota has reclaimed 42 sacred scrolls that are more than 200 years old. The scrolls are the records of the Bois Forte medicine society. They ended up in the hands of a man...

Tim Giago: The 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee
While Americans agonize over the contents of the Iraq Study Group and weigh the options of extricating its soldiers from the middle of a civil war, the people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota will gather on a...

Yellow Bird: Cookbook helped Mom feed family of 15
"On Thursday evening, as I searched my collection of cookbooks for a cookie recipe, I found an old cookbook that my mother, Dorothy, loaned to me a few years before she died. After some research, my editor and I...

Saginaw Chippewa Tribe gets backing on land claim
The federal government has joined the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe in its suit against the state of Michigan. The tribe says the state isn't recognizing the boundaries of the Isabella Reservation. The lawsuit, filed in late 2005, cites two treaties and...

Havasupai man arrested for murder of tourist
Randy Wescogame, a member of the Havasupai Tribe of Arizona, was charged with murder, kidnap and robbery in connection with the death of a Japanese tourist. Wescogame is accused of killing 34-year-old tourist Tomomi Hanamure. She had gone missing during...

Jodi Rave: Indian family stands up to racism
"Most people who experience racial harassment do little more than complain about it. To file a lawsuit or legal complaint is almost unthinkable. So it's remarkable that a Native family from Billings stood up, turned the table and slapped...

Oglala Sioux Tribe has two working presidents
The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota has two presidents but only one of them is in the tribal office. President Alex White Plume vacated the office but says he is in charge. "I’m still the president of the tribe,...

Haskell University bids farewell to retiring president
Haskell Indian Nations University held a farewell ceremony for President Karen Swisher, who is retiring at the end of the month. Swisher, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, served as president for seven years. She was the...

Mark Trahant: Congress finds time to do nothing
"This is a column about your tax dollars at work. Think about what Congress hasn't done recently. Our legislative wonders have not been able to pass federal budgets (it's so much easier to pass that task along to the next...

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