News Archive: May 7, 2007 Archives

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May 7, 2007
Report highlights tribal environmental successes
A new report from the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency highlights tribal successes in protecting the environment and natural resources. Tribes face numerous barriers when they try to implement environmental programs, the report released this month said. The...

Shadow Wolves seek more recruits to patrol border
Are you interested in a law enforcement job on the Tohono O'odham Nation. Then the Shadow Wolves might want you. The all-Native unit is seeking new recruits to patrol the reservation, which shares 75 miles with the Mexico border....

Colorado U.S. Attorney cross-deputizes tribal officers
Troy Eid, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado, has been cross-deputizing tribal police officers to enforce federal law. Eid said more than 40 officers on the Southern Ute Reservation, as well as officers in two counties, have been cross-deputized. He hopes...

Criminals get out of jail for free on Navajo Nation
A detention center crisis on the Navajo Nation gives offenders a "get-out-of-jail free" card, a tribal official said. The tribe has had to close two jails due to safety problems. That leaves just 59 beds to cover a 27,000-square-mile...

Mel Gibson attended First Americans award show
Actor/director Mel Gibson attended the 15th annual First Americans in the Arts awards show in April, Rob Schmidt reports on the NativeVue blog. Gibson presented awards to Morris Birdyellowhead and Rudy Youngblood for their roles in "Apocalypto." Comanche Nation...

'Prez on the Rez' hailed as historic event
Tribal leaders and Indian advocates say the upcoming "Prez on the Rez" presidential forum will put Indian issues in the national spotlight. American Indians and Alaska Natives make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population. But they are...

Petition to name American Indian Freeway
Native Americans in North Carolina are petitioning the state to designate a portion of Andrew Jackson Highway as the American Indian Freeway. Andrew Jackson Highway, U.S. 74, is a dark reminder of the seventh president who forced southeastern tribes...

Narragansett Tribe questions state legal spending
The Narragansett Tribe says the state of Rhode Island is using taxpayer money to attack tribal sovereignty. The tribe questions why the state paid $40,000 to help the town of Charlestown with legal fees. The town is suing the federal...

Editorial: A step forward for Virginia's tribes
"The normal way for an Indian tribe to receive federal recognition is to apply through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a process that can take up to 20 years and cost up to $1 million. The criteria for recognition include...

Virginia tribes hope 2007 is year for recognition
Virginia tribes hope they will finally win federal recognition in 2007, 400 years after Europeans established the Jamestown settlement. The tribes have tied recognition to the Jamestown 2007 commemoration. After decades of work, they are closer to their goal. "I'm...

Shinnecock Nation seeks healing after drug raid
Leaders of the Shinnecock Nation of New York say they were showing "tough love" by asking state authorities to investigate drug trafficking on the reservation. Tribal leaders said they repeatedly asked the state police to step up patrols on the...

Yellow Bird: Indian women and spiritual leadership
"My grandmother was one of a few female spiritual leaders. She used curatives and healed; this gentle woman had spiritual power and skills. But she didn't teach the things she knew about ceremonies and medicines thoroughly enough so that...

BIA names new director for Rocky Mountain region
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has named Ed Parisian, a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Montana, as director for the Rocky Mountain region. Parisian most recently served as director and acting director of the Office of Indian...

Mark Trahant: Agree to disagree about warming
"If you believe in literal truth -- and the absolute, personal power of a Creator -- then it doesn't really matter if we humans have fouled our own nest. We'll be taken care of later. That is a harsh way...

Jodi Rave: NARF delivers message with hip-hop
"A bold illustration shows the Lakota Chief Sitting Bull looking stoic in braids, suit and tie, ready for a briefcase battle in the fight for tribal sovereignty. The lettering in this Ryan Red Corn piece reads: “The Indian Wars...

Tim Giago: Indian prophecies and medicine
If one takes the time to study the prophecies and the medicine of the Hopi, Lakota and other Indian nations, I believe they would be startled to find that so many of these predictions and cures are true. The Mayan...

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