Native Hawaiian recognition up for Senate debate (May 17, 2006)

A new report from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission is galvanizing supporters and opponents of Native Hawaiian recognition as a bill to extend the self-governance policy to the island's indigenous people heads for a vote. Earlier this month, the panel...

Yup'ik man finishes University of Alaska with honors (May 17, 2006)

A Yupi'k man who felt too white in his Native village and too Native in the big city graduated with honors from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Quentin Simeon grew up doing drugs and getting into trouble. After he...

Seneca-Cayuga Tribe seeks to restore land rights (May 17, 2006)

The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is asking the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm its governmental rights in New York. The tribe has purchased 229 acres of ancestral territory. The tribe wants to engage in gaming and other forms...

State asked to seek dismissal of all land claims (May 17, 2006)

New York Gov. George Pataki (R) is being asked to seek the dismissal of all Indian land claims in the state. The Cayuga Nation, the Oneida Nation, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Onondaga Nation have claims pending in...

Elem Colony seeks protection for Rattlesnake Island (May 17, 2006)

The Elem Indian Colony in California says a recommendation to place Rattlesnake Island on the list of National Register of Historic Places is a step in the right direction. The island is part of the tribe's ancestral territory. An archaeologist...

House passes Fort Peck Reservation water bill (May 17, 2006)

The House on Tuesday passed a bill to allow the tribes on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana to lease their water to surrounding communities. H.R.2978 passed by a voice vote. It authorizes the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes to enter...

Editorial: It's time for Churchill to resign post (May 17, 2006)

"After all the pressure to rush to judgment, the University of Colorado has rightly given professor Ward Chur- chill his due process, and a group of his peers has found he plagiarized, fabricated and falsified material during his years in...

Panel recommends firing or suspension of Churchill (May 17, 2006)

Members of a University of Colorado panel assigned to investigate controversial professor Ward Churchill are recommending that he be fired or suspended. The members weren't in full agreement on the punishment for Churchill. A final decision rests with the CU...

Couple sentenced for meth and drug ring on Wind River (May 17, 2006)

A husband and wife were sentenced to more than 20 years in prison each for their roles in a methamphetamine and drug ring on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Donna Ree Goodman received 24 years in prison while her...

Native man found guilty of gang-related murder (May 17, 2006)

Quinton Lloyd Bitternose, a Native gang member, was convicted on Tuesday of first-degree murder for the 2004 shooting death of Wayne Gerald Friday. Bitternose and his gang associates killed Friday and dumped his body on a reserve outside Regina. A...

Choctaw Marine from Oklahoma killed in Iraq (May 17, 2006)

Marine Lance Cpl. Hatak Yearby, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, was killed in Iraq over the weekend. Yearby, 21, died when a vehicle he was riding in hit a mine. He was in the Al Anbar province...

Column: Slade Gorton, not such a bad guy after all? (May 17, 2006)

"Slade Gorton spent most of his last Senate term demonizing "urban environmentalists," championing rural interests, trying to remove obstacles from a gold mine in Okanogan County and working with timber lobbyists to change the Endangered Species Act. At the same...

State releases report on discovery of village (May 17, 2006)

The Washington Department of Transportation released a 200-plus page report on Tuesday detailing the events of a construction project that led to the discovery of a major tribal village. As part of a $280 million bridge project, the state began...

Gila River governor pushes for study of freeway (May 17, 2006)

Gov. William Rhodes, the recently elected leader of the Gila River Indian Community of Arizona, is pushing for a study of a freeway that has been rejected by the tribe several times in recent years. Rhodes wants to create a...

Archaeologists fascinated by grave of Indian woman (May 17, 2006)

Archaeologists say the burial site of an Indian woman who died in Peru about 1,600 years ago indicates her status as a warrior or leader among the Moche people. The mummified woman was buried with gold, headdresses and other...

Rep. Mollohan tied to possible Native business scam (May 17, 2006)

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-West Virginia) is being investigated over his ties to a relative whose wife won federal contracts as a small Native American business owner. Mollohan's third cousin, Joe Jarvis, opened a small business with his wife, Rosemary....

Navajo Nation to open Early Head Start program (May 17, 2006)

The Navajo Nation will open its Early Head Start program for the summer now that the federal government has released $9.2 million in funds. The Administration for Children and Families suspended all the tribe's Head Start funding after a review...

NCAA rejects use of William & Mary 'Tribe' logo (May 17, 2006)

The NCAA rejected the College of William and Mary's logo but said the school's "Tribe" nickname was acceptable. The W&M logo features two feathers. The NCAA said the use of the logo creates "an environment over which an institution...

Editorial: Kempthorne should settle trust fund lawsuit (May 17, 2006)

"Once Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's nomination as the next secretary of the interior survives a couple of showboat attempts to block it, he'll inherit one of the federal government's longest-running headaches. That would be a lawsuit filed in 1996 by...

Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing (May 17, 2006)

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing this morning on Indian youth suicide. The hearing was the third on the subject. In June 2005, the committee held a hearing in Washington. In May 2005, the committee held a field...