News Archive: April 18, 2007 Archives

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April 18, 2007
Navajo Nation Council OKs emergency jail funds
The Navajo Nation Council approved $748,932 in emergency funds to fix a detention center in Chinle, Arizona. The money will be used to bring the Chinle Adult Detention Center up to code. The facility was closed last week due to...

Maine tribe loses sovereignty dispute with state
The state of Maine can enforce its employment laws on the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians, a divided federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. By a 2-1 vote, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals said the tribe has to answer...

Cherokee Nation considers anti-Freedmen funds
The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is preparing to spend $520,000 to fight legal challenges by the Freedmen, the descendants of former slaves. The tribal council's Executive and Finance Committee approved the money for any lawsuits related to the Freedmen. The...

PBS documentary to include Native veterans
Filmmaker Ken Burns has agreed to change his World War II documentary to add footage on Native American and Hispanic veterans. Burns completed "The War" for PBS. But Hispanic groups raised concerns when they found out the film didn't contain...

Yellow Bird: School shootings just don't 'happen'
"When death comes in large packages, the question “why?” is the bloody bow that needs to be untied. Perhaps there never will be a clear answer as to why one person turns into a killer while another becomes an...

Hopi court issues arrest warrant for chief judge
The chief judge for the Hopi Tribe of Arizona is a wanted man. Gary LaRance was supposed to be arraigned on criminal charges related to a fight on the reservation. But since he failed to turn up due to previously...

Arrest made in homicide on Soboba Reservation
Authorities in Riverside County, California, arrested a man in connection with a homicide on the Soboba Reservation. Bryan Jay Russell, 21, faces charges of murder for the death of Felicia Avalos, 24. Her body was found on the reservation...

Alaska Native man starts semi-pro football team
An Alaska Native man in Connecticut has started a semi-pro football team. Jeff Hurlburt, whose family is from the village of Tyonek, owns, manages and plays for the Middletown Spartans. The team is part of the New England Football League,...

Opinion: Please, let it be some other 'Asian'
"All across America, no doubt, non-Korean Asian-Americans are now heaving a sigh of relief. “Asian,” after all, was the four-alarm-fire word we saw throughout the day after the shootings that took the lives of 33 people at Virginia Tech. The...

White House a target of Abramoff investigation
The White House is the latest target in the ongoing Jack Abramoff investigation, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section and the FBI have been looking into Abramoff's contacts with White House officials, including top political...

Man gets seven years for beating of Navajo man
A 19-year-old man was sentenced to seven years in prison for a racially-motivated attack on a Navajo man in Farmington, New Mexico. John Winer was 18 when he beat, kidnapped and assaulted William Blackie in June 2006. The incident heightened...

Husband of slain Navajo weaver found dead
The husband of slain Navajo weaver Anita Tsosie was found dead on the Navajo Nation. Herman Tsosie was the subject of a manhunt following the death of Anita Tsosie on April 9. He was considered a main suspect. Authorities located...

House hearing on Lumbee, Virginia recognition
The House Committee on Natural Resources is holding a hearing on two federal recognition bills. H.R.65 would recognize the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. The tribe is currently subject to a termination-era law that prevents its treatment as a federal...

Omaha Tribe barred from imposing alcohol tax
A federal judge temporarily barred the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska from imposing an alcohol tax on business who claim they aren't under tribal jurisdiction. In January, the tribe's 10 percent liquor tax and liquor license regulations went into effect. That...

McCain won't accept tribal money for 2008
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) won't accept tribal donations for his 2008 presidential campaign, The Hill newspaper reports. McCain, who is seeking the Republican nomination, believes tribes can spend their money in other ways, a spokesperson said. But he hasn't taken...

Adkins: Virginia tribes deserve federal recognition
Wayne Adkins is the second assistant chief of the Chickahominy Tribe. He serves as president of the Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance for Life (VITAL), the group working to gain government recognition through Congress for six Virginia tribes. Virginia Indians deserve...

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