News Archive: February 16, 2007 Archives

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February 16, 2007
University retires 'Chief Illiniwek' performances
The University of Illinois will no longer allow its "Chief Illiniwek" mascot to perform at games after next Wednesday. The school was set to announce the decision when two students who portray the chief filed suit. The students say...

Opinion: Attack on Hawaiians directed at tribes
"On Jan. 17, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, introduced S. 310, the Native Hawaiian Government Recognition Act, commonly known as the 'Akaka Bill.' On the same day, statements opposing the bill were filed by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Jon Kyl,...

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe finally wins recognition
The Bureau of Indian Affairs on Thursday announced a final determination in favor of recognition for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts. Jim Cason, the associate deputy secretary at the Interior Department, called the tribe at around 5pm. Tribal...

American Indian College Fund receives $17.5M grant
The American Indian College Fund has received a $17.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment for scholarships and to expand tribal colleges. Of the grant, $1 million will be used to create a scholarship fund. It will provide full-ride for...

Blackfeet Nation seeking help in locating missing man
The Blackfeet Nation of Montana is seeking volunteers to help search for a man who went missing on Sunday. William Joseph Westwolf, 45, was last seen leaving the Blackfeet Law Enforcement Center in Browning. He never made it home. Authorities...

House Resources Committee hearing on DOI issues
FROM THE INDIANZ.COM ARCHIVE: Internal reports uncover troubled scene at Interior (August 1, 2006) The House Committee on Natural Resources is holding a hearing this morning on oversight at the Interior Department. In recent years, the Government Accountability Office...

Man pleads guilty to murder on Red Lake Reservation
A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree murder on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota. Jacob John Lussier admitted he fired a sawed-off shotgun at Harley James Sayers, 23, after a party last September. Lussier said he had...

Class action housing lawsuit draws tribal interest
Four tribes have filed briefs in a Montana case that opened up the Blackfeet Nation's housing authority to a class action lawsuit. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Crow Tribe and the Fort Peck Tribe -- all of Montana...

Indian athletes face racism at games off reservation
Indian athletes from the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming encounter racial taunts and experience discrimination when they go away to play games. After a recent game, the Wyoming Indian girls basketball team stopped at a truck stop and asked to...

Indian commissioner worried about voting rights case
The first Indian person to win election in Fremont County, Wyoming, said she was worried a voting rights lawsuit will set back Indian and non-Indian relations. Keja Whiteman, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was elected...

Woman sentenced for abuse of 18-month-old boy
A 22-year-old woman in Billings, Montana, was sentenced to three years in prison for participating in the abuse of an 18-month-old boy. Stephanie Plainbull pleaded no contest to aggravated assault by accountability. She admitted she abused the boy, who...

IHS to force urban Indians to travel for prescriptions
Starting March 1, urban Indians in Billings, Montana, will have to go to the Crow Reservation to obtain their prescription drugs. For years, the Indian Health Board of Billings has been filling prescriptions for tribal members who can't make it...

Meth blamed for rise in Navajo Nation murder rate
The increased use of methamphetamine is being tied to a jump in the murder rate on the Navajo Nation. Five years ago, the number of homicides on the reservation started to fall. But starting in 2005, the number of murders...

Pascua Yaqui Tribe to build diabetes center
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona will break ground this Saturday on a new diabetes center. About 16 percent of tribal members have diabetes, more than twice the national rate. And the disease is beginning to show up in children...

Comanche Nation opens new outreach center
The Comanche Nation has opened a new community outreach center for tribal members who live in the Oklahoma City area. The Norman Outreach Center held its grand opening on January 23. The facility will provide some of the same services...

First Nations intervene in case over smoking ban
A group representing 32 First Nations in Manitoba has been given permission to intervene in a case challenging the province's ban on smoking in public places. The Non-Smokers Health Protection Act went into effect in October 2004. At the time,...

Consuming fish during pregnancy helps child
Women who consumed fish during pregnancy gave birth to children with higher IQs and fewer behavioral problems, according to a study published in Lancet. The Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have urged pregnant women to...

Native use of chili peppers dates back 6,100 years
Research published in today's issue of Science pushes back the date of the use of chili peppers by Native societies. Evidence of chili use was found at seven sites, with the oldest dating back 6,100 years. That's 1,000 years earlier...

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