News Archive: February 26, 2007 Archives

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February 26, 2007
Michigan tribe wins land-into-trust lawsuit
A Michigan tribe whose leaders have been waiting more than six years for a land base declared victory on Friday when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Interior Department. The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as...

Interview: Woody Keeble, a hero of two wars
Dorreen Yellow Bird of The Grand Forks Herald interviews Russell Hawkins about his late stepfather, Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Keeble, the most decorated soldier in North Dakota history. Keeble, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, served in World...

Pember: 'Chief Illiniwek' tradition finally dies
"The University of Illinois' Chief Illiniwek mascot performed his last traditional dance Wednesday, and it's about time. The mascot's supporters have argued that the chief and his dance are a valuable tradition, inspiring students for more than 80 years. But...

Oglala Sioux Tribe to open new jail this week
The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota is dedicating its new jail on Friday. The Adult Offenders Facility was built with a $13 million from the Department of Justice. It can house as many as 200 inmates and includes a...

Scientists change minds yet again on Native people
Scientists are changing their minds about who they think were America's first inhabitants. The prevailing theory is that a group of people swept across North and South America about 13,000 years ago. The "Clovis" people -- named for a site...

Michigan tribe works to preserve Ojibwe
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Michigan is using a $109,708 federal grant to start a language preservation program. Few tribal members on the reservation can still speak Ojibwe. But preliminary results of an assessment survey show enthusiasm for a...

Editorial: Navajo police officers could bridge divide
"Navajo officers are few and far between in the Four Corners area. But the reasons why, we are told, rest with a distrust of the law, cultural taboos and a history that stretches back for centuries. Additional Navajo officers in...

Winnebago Tribe sees success with Ho-Chunk Inc.
The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is seeing success with Ho-Chunk Inc., its economic development corporation. The tribe started HCI with gaming money over 10 years ago. The corporation now boasts $100 million in revenues and businesses in six states, Mexico,...

Oklahoma tribes discuss partnership with Tulsa
The leaders of the Cherokee, Muscogee and Osage nations met with officials in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last week to discuss a partnership for economic development. The meeting was describe as historic. "The fact that you have all three tribal leaders...

NCAI in Washington this week for winter meeting
The National Congress of American Indians kicks off its annual winter meeting in Washington, D.C., today. Tribal leaders will hear from Bush administration officials, state governors and several members of Congress. The agenda includes Bureau of Indian Affairs nominee Carl...

Column: Grassley, Abramoff and Meskwaki Tribe
"The ghost of jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff reached out and touched Sen. Charles Grassley recently, and Grassley didn't appreciate it. The comment about the tribes goes back to a long-running internal dispute in 2003 over who controlled the Meskwaki casino...

Montana bill targets 'Driving While Indian'
Montana State Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, is once again pushing a bill that targets racial profiling. State law outlaws racial profiling. But Windy Boy says too many people are stopped for DWI, or...

Tim Giago: A view from South Dakota, the 'red' state
Many Americans view South Dakota as a backward red state. It is not a red state because of the nine Indian reservations within its borders because the voters residing on those reservations are historically blue. Check an election-day map by...

Yellow Bird: UND has many reasons to be proud
"UND celebrates what it calls Founders Day with awards, presentations and congratulations to faculty and staff to recognize excellence. On Thursday night, as I sat among candles flickering in glass bowls of clear water, starched white tableclothes and the...

Mark Trahant: An important vote for Seattle
"It's easy to dismiss the entire decision-making process about replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Nearly everyone I talk to says they are frustrated by where we are: We haven't arrived at a decision, we're in a state of perpetual delay...

Missing Indian inmates captured in Canada
• America's Most Wanted Two Indian inmates who fled their work-release program in Wyoming have been captured in Wyoming. Shannon Parazoo, 44, and his stepson, Alonzo Durgin, 28, were arrested in British Columbia on Friday afternoon. They had walked...

Pueblo artist hopes to break down barriers
Virgil Ortiz, a potter and fashion designer from Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico, hopes to open doors for fellow Indian artists. Ortiz's methods are traditional -- he gathers clay for his pottery in the same place his family has...

Scrapbook: Supreme Court rules on Indian Country
"On Feb. 25, 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case involving the Interior Alaska Native village of Venetie and the State of Alaska that none of the 44 million acres of land retained by Alaska Natives in...

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