News Archive: August 24, 2007 Archives

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August 24, 2007
Editorial: Cherokee Nation deserves heat on Freedmen
No one likes it when Washington meddles with tribal affairs. But the Cherokee Nation deserves the heat for the way its leaders have handled the removal of the Freedmen. Chief Chad Smith is urging Rep. Diane Watson (D-California) to hold...

Native chief's remains returned home after 120 years
Chief One Arrow, a Cree leader from Saskatchewan, will be reburied on his home reserve after more than 120 years. One Arrow participated in the Riel Rebellion of 1885. He was convicted of treason for fighting for Native rights...

Fake tribe selling car tags in South Carolina
South Carolina authorities are investigating the sale of car tags by a person claiming to be a part of the Little Shell Pembina band of North America. The Pembina group is not state or federally recognized and has been linked...

NIHB Chair: Tribal membership not for sale
The following was submitted by Sally Smith, the chair of the National Indian Health Board, to The Washington Times, which ran an Associated Press article about the sale of "tribal membership" to illegal aliens. As Chairman and on behalf of...

Candidates reach out at 'Prez on the Rez' forum
Three Democratic candidates for president promised to include Native Americans if they win election in 2008. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson laid out a 14-point plan for improving Indian Country. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said he has met...

Navajo allottees plan another trust lawsuit
Navajo landowners in the Four Corrners are planning another trust lawsuit against the federal government. Shi Shi Keyah previously sued on behalf of 8,000 Navajo landowners. The settlement resulted in the creation of the Farmington Indian Minerals Office, a special...

Navajo Nation's Head Start director to resign
After less than a year on the job, Francis Becenti is resigning as director of the Navajo Nation's Head Start program. Becenti was hired to help the tribe restart its troubled program. The U.S. Administration for Children and Families suspended...

Karuk vice chairman arrested in domestic dispute
Leaf Grant Hillman, the vice chairman of the Karuk Tribe of California, is being asked to step down from his post after being arrested on domestic violence charges. Hillman was charged with one count corporal injury on a spouse or...

Editorial: Wait for court ruling on Cherokee Freedmen
"We agree with U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., that the Cherokee Nation should not cut off membership to freedmen. But Watson should end her threats of stopping $300 million in federal funding to the nation and allow a federal court...

Graham: Rep. Watson attacks Cherokee Nation
"Congresswoman Watson conducted two town hall meetings that took place in Tulsa and Muskogee, Oklahoma on August 29, 2007. Watson informed everyone that she was not there to hear about any other issue than the Freedman's citizenship. Watson went...

Mashpee Wamapanoag chair relinquishes duties
Glenn Marshall, the chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts, has relinquished his duties amid scrutiny into his military record and past. Marshall apologized and said he was handing duties to vice chairman Shawn Hendricks so he can...

Rep. Renzi, under investigation, won't run in 2008
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Arizona), a three-term Congressman whose district includes parts of the Navajo Nation and some Apache reservations, announced on Thursday that he won't seek re-election in 2008. Renzi denied his decision was affected by federal probes of...

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe opposes Navajo power plant
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado is joining opposition to a proposed power plant on the Navajo Nation. Ute Chairman Manuel Heart says the $2.5 billion, coal-fired power plant will hurt the Four Corners area. The Ute reservation is...

Cowlitz Tribe serves all at growing health clinic
The Cowlitz Tribe of Washington is receiving positive reviews for its health clinic as it undertakes a major expansion. Last week, the clinic received accreditation from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. The rating demonstrates the clinic's quality...

Los Lonely Boys to perform at Eastern Cherokee fair
Los Lonely Boys, a Grammy-award winning group, will perform at the 95th annual Cherokee Indian Fair in North Carolina. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians hosts the annual fair from October 2-6. Los Lonely Boys performs on the final...

Eddie Palmanteer, Colville leader, dies at 75
Eddie Adrian Palmanteer Jr., a longtime leader of the Confederated Colville Tribes of Washington, died last Friday. He was 75. Palmanteer was chairman when the tribe settled a dispute over the loss of fishing, land and burial grounds to the...

Syphilis outbreak affects Tohono O'odham Nation
Tribal, state and federal health workers are trying to prevent a further outbreak of syphilis on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona. So far this year, there have been 46 cases on the reservation. Most are of young people. This...

Editorial: Race and citizenship in Cherokee dispute
"The controversy enveloping the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and Cherokee freedmen recently has taken some interesting and unexpected turns. Americans, through the prism of this situation, are growing comfortable discussing Indian issues in dangerous terms of race and exclusion. The...

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