News Archive: July 31, 2007 Archives

ph: 202 630 8439 fax: 202 318 2182

July 31, 2007
Swimmer admits 'mistakes' by top OST officials
Special Trustee Ross Swimmer admits three of his highest-ranking officials made "mistakes" by repeatedly socializing with a government contractor that was awarded millions of dollars in accounting work. Donna Erwin, the second-in-command at OST, and brothers...

House backs Indian measures amid Senate inaction
With lawmakers headed for a one-month break at the end of the week, the House quickly passed seven Indian bills on Monday. In less than 10 minutes, the House approved the bills by unanimous consent, meaning no lawmakers objected. All...

Canoes begin celebration on Lummi Reservation
The Lummi Nation of Washington welcomed nearly 80 canoes to its reservation on Monday. The tribe is hosting the annual Canoe Journey for the first time since the event started in 1989. Ninety volunteers are making sure the weeklong...

Oklahoma tribes see brisk business in car tags
Oklahoma tribes have reported an increase in car tag sales, generating revenue for governmental services. The Osage Nation has issued a total of 10,000 car tags. That's double the amount sold a few years ago. The Cherokee Nation, the...

San Manuel Band donates $50K to help tribe hit by fire
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of California donated $50,000 to help the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes recover from a fire that left the Duck Valley Reservation without power for eight days. "When we heard of the conditions that our brothers...

Counties to discuss Cayuga settlement with state
Officials from two New York counties will meet with the Indian affairs adviser to Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) to discuss the proposed Cayuga Nation land claim settlement. Seneca and Cayuga counties have expressed opposition to the deal. It would allow...

Jury considers fate of Onondaga teacher
A jury in New York begins deliberations in the case of a teacher accused of abusing girls at the Onondaga Nation school. Albert Scerbo, a former music teacher, took the stand on Monday and denied the charges. His lawyer said...

Alaska Native village without power after fire
An Alaska Native village is without power after a fire destroyed the power plant. The fire in Beaver started on Sunday morning as the village was installing a new generator. Power has been out since then. The state is working...

Nine charged for cocaine on Red Lake Reservation
Nine people from the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota have been charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. The indictment is part of a larger drug investigation on the reservation. Twenty...

Editorial: Indian health care a trust responsibility
"Access to and availability of health care for the first citizens of this nation, Native Americans, was a trust contract solidified in the Constitution in 1787. That's a given. Fast forward 220 years and the results are grim. Medicine progressed...

ACLU seeks dismissal of reservation voting case
The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking to intervene in a "frivolous" lawsuit that seeks to shut down polling places on the Crow Reservation in Montana. The suit was filed in May by the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, an anti-sovereignty...

Native bishop insists injuries were accidental
Donald E. Pelotte, the first Native American Bishop in the Catholic Church, is in serious but stable condition after an incident at his home in Gallup, New Mexico. Pelotte, who is Abenaki from Maine, was discovered bleeding and bruised...

Cheyenne-Arapaho official a target of federal probe
Yet another elected official of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma is under federal investigation, The Oklahoman reports. Roy Dean Bullcoming, a legislator, was convicted in tribal court of theft. Now he's been named in a federal indictment involving...

Penobscot Nation to open hunts to non-Indians
The Penobscot Nation of Maine is allowing non-Indians to hunt on tribal land for the first time. For a minimum bid of $10,000, aspiring hunters can seek a permit to bag a moose. The package comes with a tribal guide,...

State seeks dismissal of Schaghticoke lawsuit
The state of Connecticut is seeking the dismissal of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation's federal recognition lawsuit. The tribe won federal recognition in January 2004. But an appeal by the state led the Bureau of Indian Affairs to reverse the decision....

Narragansett smokeshop defendants head to trial
Seven members of the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island are headed to trial for clashing with state troopers who raided a tribal smokeshop in July 2003. The seven, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, face misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, obstruction...

Seneca Nation seeks to expand HUD loan program
The Seneca Nation is seeking federal approval to expand a home loan program throughout New York and in Pennsylvania. The expansion of the Section 184 Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Program would enable members of any federally recognized tribes to apply...

FBI and IRS agents raid Alaska home of Sen. Stevens
FBI and IRS agents raided the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on Monday. Authorities declined to reveal details about the search. The Anchorage Daily News said agents could be seen taking photographs and videos of the home's...

Chief Justice Roberts in hospital after seizure
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court was hospitalized on Monday after suffering a seizure at his vacation home in Maine. Roberts "fully recovered" from the seizure, the high court said. He spent the night...

Local Links:

Federal Register | Indian Gaming | Jobs & Notices | In The Hoop | Message Board