Another Navajo tribal member killed serving in Iraq (September 9, 2004)

Ed. Note: Quinn A. Keith is the third, not the second, Navajo soldier to die in Iraq. A member of the Navajo Nation who was set to return from Iraq in three weeks was killed on Monday when a car...

Top court hears Wampanoag sovereignty case (September 9, 2004)

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe's sovereignty case. The tribe is asserting control over land within its settlement reservation. But the town of Aquinnah wants to impose zoning and building regulations...

Navajos want outside review of water settlement (September 9, 2004)

The Diné Bitzill Navajo Strength coalition of Navajo grassroots activists is calling for an independent review of the tribe's proposed water settlement. The group says tribal members have been kept in the dark about the proposal. They say a study...

Code Talker statue unveiled at Navajo Nation Fair (September 9, 2004)

A bronze statue of a Navajo Code Talker was unveiled at the start of the 58th annual Navajo Nation Fair on Wednesday. Navajo Code Talkers who served in World War II attended the dedication ceremony in Window Rock, Arizona, the...

Alaska Native village lauded for recycling program (September 9, 2004)

The Alaska Native village of Fort Yukon started its recycling program eight years ago and is considered a success. Among other efforts, the tribal government banned plastic grocery bags. Residents of were given canvas bags for shopping purposes. The tribe...

Agua Caliente Band seeks support for development (September 9, 2004)

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is running a television campaign in hopes of persuading voters to support the tribe's development plan in Palm Springs, California. The city council already approved the tribe's plan. But Measure U on the...

Alaska wants to reduce tribal powers in child welfare (September 9, 2004)

Alaska attorney general Gregg Renkes said the state will release new guidelines covering the handling of child welfare cases in tribal courts. According to The Anchorage Press, the state is scaling back the ability of tribal courts to decide child...

Passamaquoddy woman fights natural gas terminal (September 9, 2004)

A member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine is fighting a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on the reservation. Stephanie Bailey says a vote in favor of the terminal doesn't reflect the true opinion of tribal members. She's been going...

DOI attorney says tribes already paid for land (September 9, 2004)

A Department of Interior attorney has told the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma that they were already paid $15 million for 27 million acres in Colorado, The Denver Post reports. The tribes are claiming the land in hopes of...

Minnesota tribe's protest at burial site continues (September 9, 2004)

Members of the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribe of Minnesota have continued their occupation of a burial ground slated for development. The remains of at least one person have been discovered at the site. The tribe objects to the removal of...

Retired BIA agent still wanted to stay on the job (September 9, 2004)

Bob Pease didn't want to go. When told he had to retire from his job as a special agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he had other ideas. “‘No. Wait a minute,’ I said, ‘I don’t want to retire,’”...

Police investigate van in missing Native girl case (September 9, 2004)

The search for Tamra Keepness, a five-year-old Native girl who has been missing for more than two months, continued as police renewed attention on a stolen van. The van was seen in Tamra's neighborhood in Regina, Saskatchewan. It was stolen...

Colorado governor rejects casino for out-of-state tribes (September 9, 2004)

The state of Colorado will not negotiate a casino deal with two Oklahoma tribes that have laid claim to 27 million acres of ancestral land, Gov. Bill Owens (R) said on Wednesday. At a briefing before the Senate Indian Affairs...

Panel tackles issues affecting Tar Creek buyout (September 9, 2004)

A panel handling the buyout of residents in the Tar Creek Superfund site in northeastern Oklahoma held a meeting on Wednesday. The Tar Creek site is considered the worst in the nation. More than 70 million tons of mine waste...

Navajo ethnobotanist part of NMAI design team (September 9, 2004)

When visitors come to the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., they will see the work of Donna House, a member of the Navajo Nation. Not in any of the exhibits, though. House, an ethnobotanist, designed...

State officials want 'fix' to recognition process (September 9, 2004)

Officials from Connecticut say Congress must step in to fix the "broken" federal recognition process. Gov. Jodi Rell (R) urged the state's delegation to act after an internal investigation concluded that the Bureau of Indian Affairs acted appropriately in the...

Michigan county backs tribe's bid for recognition (September 9, 2004)

Muskegon County, Michigan, commissioners voted on Tuesday to support the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians' bid for federal recognition. The city of Muskegon is expected to do the same. Commissioners said they would lobby members of Congress to recognize...

Oregon tribe says Bush not listening on health care (September 9, 2004)

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon says cuts in the federal budget are threatening health care services for tribal members. In a letter, chairwoman Delores Pigsley told tribal members that the cost of health care is skyrocketing but...

Lack of access to health care called major problem (September 9, 2004)

News from the United Tribes Technical College. BISMARCK, North Dakota - The number one health care problem in American Indian communities is not a particular disease. It’s not diabetes, alcohol and drug abuse, or cardiovascular disease, though they are epidemic...