News Archive: April 23, 2007 Archives

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April 23, 2007
Cobell judge orders historical accounting trial
The Bush administration will have to defend its controversial historical accounting of the Indian trust at a trial this October. In a five-page order issued on Friday, Judge James Robertson ordered the Interior Department to present its accounting of the...

Three guilty for hate crime attacks in Utah
Three members of a white supremacist group were found guilty for the racially motivated beatings of an Indian man in Utah. Shaun A. Walker, 39, Travis D. Massey, 20, and Eric G. Egbert, 22, were convicted of conspiracy to interfere...

Cheyenne-Arapaho leader seeks Washita change
Darrell Flyingman, the governor of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, vowed to change the name of the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site. The site marks the November 27, 1868, massacre of more than 100 Cheyenne men, women and children...

Lummi Nation unveils totem to mark pipeline disaster
Members of the Lummi Nation of Washington unveiled a 17-foot totem pole dedicated to the victims of a pipeline disaster. On June 10, 1999, a pipeline ruptured and spilled 277,200 gallons of gasoline. The resulting fire and fumes killed...

Program aims to keep Indian students in school
The school district in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has started a mentorship program in hopes of keeping Indian students from dropping out. The Native American Scholars program started in February. It pairs mentors from the Big Brothers Big Sisters...

New York tobacco revenue sharing bill introduced
New York lawmakers have introduced legislation to split tobacco revenues collected on reservations. The state says it will collect $200 million taxes on the sale of tobacco and gasoline to non-Indians. The bill would return some of the revenue to...

PacifiCorp cites new reason to keep Klamath dams
The power company that operates four dams on the Klamath River says removing them would pollute the environment. PacifiCorp says the hydroelectric dams provide a clean and cheap source of energy. The company says removing them would drive up...

Mohawk protesters remove blockdade of rail line
Mohawk protesters temporarily blocked rail service between Montreal, Quebec, and Toronto, Ontario. On Friday morning, the protesters blocked the Canada National line with an old school bus. They said they would leave it up for 48 hours to call...

Dakota descendants fight for land trust rights
As many as 22,000 Dakota descendants from Minnesota to Nebraska are part of a landmark breach of trust suit. Sheldon Wolfchild sued the United States over a trust that was created in the late 1800s. The federal government promised...

Editorial: Racial tensions still exist in South Dakota
"The reasons he did it are unknown, but the fact remains: The Central High School student arrested Tuesday for lying to officials about seeing a man with a handgun specifically described the phantom gun-toter as an American Indian. Specifically, the...

Senate hearing on Shoshone-Paiute water rights
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is holding a hearing this Thursday on S.462, a bill to settle the water rights of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Nevada. The bill was introduced on January 31 by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He...

Tim Giago: Honoring those who died at Washita
It was a little early in the year for the corn to be “as high as an elephant’s eye” in Oklahoma this past Friday, but the blue skies and the low flying clouds made this spring day a day to...

Mark Trahant: Tribal colleges effective and essential
"I bring this up because we live in a country that needs a smart, prepared, youthful labor force and the greatest potential for that comes from African American, Latino, Asian American and American Indian communities because these population groups are...

Opinion: 'Redskins' a slur to Native Americans
"I know that football is not in the air. I should be following the Nationals or the Wizards. But NFL mini-camps are just around the corner, and something has been bothering me: The name Redskins must go. I am a...

Mohegan Chair: Tribe works to protect Mother Earth
"The Mohegan tribe has always recognized its sacred duty to honor and respect the natural environment. The tribe understands that a commitment to protect Mother Earth is not measured by the words we use, but by the actions we...

Opinion: Alaska Natives need tribes not corporations
"Alaska Natives need to necessitate having traditional tribes rather than Alaska Native Corporations. Corporations rise and fall or move to a foreign country. It is my opinion that if we had functioning traditional tribes in our respective villages during...

Passamaquoddy Tribe sells land for gas project
The Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine has agreed to sell 308 acres on the Pleasant Point Reservation for a liquefied natural gas terminal project. The tribe will be paid $1.5 million by Quoddy Bay LNG, the developer behind the project. The...

Singing links Creeks with Scots, African-Americans
A singing style that originated in Scotland has been found among Muscogee Creek churches in Oklahoma. Jazz musician and Yale University music scholar Willie Ruff has linked on line singing, an a cappella vocal style from 18th century Scotland,...

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