News Archive: May 30, 2007 Archives

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May 30, 2007
Cobell prepares for court battle on accounting
The plaintiffs in the billion-dollar Cobell trust fund lawsuit filed their first brief on Tuesday in preparation for a landmark historical accounting trial. The brief seeks to address some of the issues surrounding the Bush administration's accounting of the Individual...

Jodi Rave: Covering tribal disenrollments
'Where does a reporter begin to tell the story when someone gets kicked out of a tribe? That question arises more and more often today. As reporters, we have to ask ourselves: What are disenrollment stories really about? Are they...

IWC approves whaling for Alaska Natives, Makah
The International Whaling Commission approved hunting quotas for Alaska Natives and the Makah Nation of Washington. The IWC voted unanimously to approve the subsistence quota for 10 Eskimo communities. Whalers can take 51 bowhead whales a year from 2008...

Column: Everyone benefits from tribal shellfish deal
"Puget Sound shellfish growers and 17 Indian tribes have reached a fair solution to a thorny treaty rights issue. The agreement rights a historical wrong, preserves the health of the shellfish industry, recognizes the importance of tribal treaty shellfish rights...

Indian inmates find their spirituality behind bars
Sometimes it takes a prison sentence for someone to connect with his Indian heritage, Lenny Foster, a Navajo spiritual adviser who has worked with Indian inmates across the country, said. Foster heads the Navajo Nation Corrections Project. He built...

White Earth chairwoman seeks ouster of Gonzales
Erma Vizenor, chairwoman of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, said U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign over his role in the firings of several federal prosecutors. Vizenor praised the work of former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger of Minnesota....

Editorial: Firing of Ward Churchill long overdue
"More than two years have passed since the waves of controversy first started lapping at Ward Churchill, the embattled University of Colorado professor. In that same time, other recognizable names tied to CU - Betsy Hoffman, Gary Barnett -...

Editorial: Collaboration needed on Oneida land claim
"Leaders of both the Oneida Indian Nation and local governments have a rare opportunity in the wake of U.S. District Court Judge's Lawrence Kahn's recent land-claim ruling. With land now off the table, it's time for a spirit of collaboration...

Views: Oneida Nation, treaties and land claims
The Utica Observer-Dispatch publishes views on the Oneida Nation's long-running land claim and two treaties at the center of the dispute. Assemblyman David Townsend, a Republican, says the 1788 Treaty of Fort Schuyler set the stage for the tribe to...

New Tohono O'odham leader wants to heal nation
Ned Norris, the newly elected leader of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona, wants to spend the next four years healing his tribe. Norris, a former social worker and former tribal judge, wants to improve education, housing and living conditions...

Osage Nation environmental bill draws complaints
A bill introduced in the Osage Nation Congress has alarmed farmers and ranchers who say the Oklahoma tribe is trying to assert jurisdiction over them. The bill authorizes the tribe to create and regulate environmental standards for all of Osage...

Martha Stewart wants to trademark chief's name
Martha Stewart is seeing opposition to her petition to trademark the name of a Lenape chief. Stewart moved to the village of Katonah after she served her prison term. Now her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, wants to trademark the...

School Lesson: Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Tribe
"The eloquent leader of the Nez Perce tribe led his people with unparalleled grace and dignity in the face of the permanent loss of their homeland. Chief Joseph was born in 1840 in the Wallowa Valley of northeast Oregon....

'No Drunken Indians Allowed' at coffee shop in Canada
A coffee shop in Alberta has apologized to the Blood Tribe and the Native community for a "No Drunken Indians Allowed" sign that was posted on a drive-through window. The Tim Hortons outlet in Lethbridge said the sign was posted...

Sotheby's to auction 28 letters by Jim Thorpe
Sotheby’s will auction 28 letters written by sports legend Jim Thorpe. The letters are from the mid-1920s. They were written by Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, to Freeda Fitzpatrick, who became his second...

Yellow Bird: Commercials influence our lives
"The first subject of our amusement is this commercial: It begins with a car stopping at a fast-food drive-up window. The man pauses for a moment, then orders something like this: Double chin, love handles and blubber. OK, says...

Editorial: Political and ethical reform in Washington
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week had to drag Democrats who were kicking and screaming behind the scenes to vote for new requirements on lobbyists. She prevailed and then was joined by smirking House Republicans who helped pass a tighter...

Tom Dowd resigns from BIA education post
Tom Dowd, the director of education at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has resigned his post. Dowd, a member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona, announced his resignation during a meeting last week. He plans to leave in August. "He's...

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