News Archive: March 6, 2007 Archives

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March 6, 2007
The Politico: Comments on Native apology
Readers of The Politico website don't like a proposed Congressional resolution to apologize for Native people for their treatment by the United States, or another one to apologize to African-Americans. "I am of Native American decent and I cant say...

Public school in Massachusetts drops 'Redmen' nick
The public school district in Natick, Massachusetts, voted 4-3 on Monday night to drop the use of the "Redmen" nickname. School committee members heard arguments for an against the nickname. "Redmen is as offensive as white men and yellow men....

Opera explores Ponca family and connection to past
An opera about a contemporary Ponca tribe and their connection to Ponca Chief Standing Bear premieres in Omaha, Nebraska, tonight. "Wakonda's Dream" was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa. He was inspired when he attended the Ponca Tribe's...

Former White House aide guilty on four counts
Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was found guilty on four of five counts over his role in the leaking of a CIA official's identity. Libby was found guilty of two counts of perjury, one count of...

Ute Mountain Ute puts priority on higher education
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado has hired a higher-education adviser to encourage more tribal members to attend college. More tribal members are going to college, with 39 currently enrolled at postsecondary institutions. Tribal leaders hope to increase that...

Montana woman jailed on drinking, meth charges
A woman from Crow Reservation in Montana has been jailed on charges for a drunk driving accident in which her two sons were injured and methamphetamine was found in her car. Mabel Clarrine Pretty On Top, 47, had a blood-alcohol...

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe elects new chairman
Members of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada again chose Mervin Wright Jr. as their chairman. Wright was elected on Saturday with 65 percent of the vote. He defeated incumbent chairman Norman Harry. Wright had won an election in...

Montana tribes get community development grants
Two Montana tribes have received grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Blackfeet Nation will use $324,159 to create economic opportunities and build homes for tribal members. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe received $333,590. The money came from...

Former residential school official in court
A former dormitory supervisor at a residential school in British Columbia appeared in court to face abuse charges dating back to the 1960s. Native students at the St. Mary's School alleged abuse by Gordon Irvin Kinney, but he fled to...

Jodi Rave wins national fellowship award
Jodi Rave, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes), is one of the first winners of the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution. Rave, a reporter for The Missoulian newspaper in Montana,...

Supreme Court won't hear jurisdiction cases
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear two cases affecting criminal jurisdiction on Pueblo lands in New Mexico. In June 2006, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that all crimes allegedly committed by Indians fall under the jurisdiction...

Narragansett smokeshop case moved to new court
Seven members of the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island won a motion to transfer their criminal case to a new court, The Providence Journal reports. The seven defendants -- including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas -- were arrested during the state's...

North Dakota tribal colleges discuss funding bill
Jim Davis, president of Turtle Mountain Community College, and David M. Gipp, president, United Tribes Technical College, meet with Gov. John Hoeven (back to camera) on March 1 to discuss tribal college funding bill. Photo by United Tribes News....

'Indigenous Day' bills advance in New Mexico
Two bills that would rename Columbus Day to "Indigenous Day" were passed by a New Mexico State House Committee last week, Native law students at the University of New Mexico said. HB 1200, Replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Day, passed...

Omaha Tribe receives $4M from Shakopee Tribe
The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska has received a $4 million loan and grant package from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota. The package consists of a $3 million loan and a $1 million grant. The money will help the...

Column: Lobbying against lobbying reform bill
"The National Right to Life Committee and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) are locking horns -- not over abortion, but over whether thousands of top executive branch officials should have to disclose the names of people who lobby them. Driven...

Slate: What's so good about being Cherokee?
"Over the weekend the Cherokee Nation voted to revoke citizenship from the descendents of slaves owned by the tribe more than a century ago. A group representing the 2,800 affected members plans to fight the election results. What exactly do...

North Dakota tribe pushes for return of land
The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota is pushing for the return of 24,000 acres along Lake Sakakawea. The tribe lost the land when the Garrison Dam was created in 1953. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers no...

Chilocco celebrates listing on historic register
Alumni, tribal leaders, former employees and Oklahoma state officials celebrated the placement of the old Chilocco Indian School on the National Register of Historic Places. About 300 attended a ceremony on Sunday, The Arkansas City Traveler reported. They talked...

Senate finally confirms Artman to head BIA
The Senate voted 87-1 on Monday to confirm Carl Artman as the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, ending a Republican stalemate that underscored the two-year leadership void at the Interior Department. With all but 12 senators in attendance,...

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