Effort keeps 127 cases of beer away from Pine Ridge Reservation (January 6, 2011)

A joint effort between law enforcement and volunteers kept 127 cases of beer from entering the Pine Ridge Reservation, where liquor is outlawed. The United Urban Warriors Society and the Strong Heart Warrior Society monitored vehicles that left the town...

Nominee for Department of Justice has experience with Indian law (January 6, 2011)

President Barack Obama has nominated Virginia A. Seitz to lead the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. Seitz has extensive experience in Indian law, siding mostly with tribal interests in the circuit courts and before the U.S....

Standing Rock Sioux woman charged with second-degree murder (January 6, 2011)

A woman from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation has been charged with second-degree murder. Ivanna Red Bow, 26, is accused of stabbing her boyfriend, Loren Jay Uses Arrow, 23, on December 30. He later died at an Indian Health Service...

Seneca Nation leaders hoping for better relationship with governor (January 6, 2011)

Leaders of the Seneca Nation are looking to forge a better relationship with new Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) . President Robert Odawi Porter attended Cuomo's State of the State address on Wednesday. But he wasn't invited by the governor. "I'm...

Mashpee Wampanoag woman known as tireless housing advocate (January 6, 2011)

Friends and family remember Alice Lopez, the late director of housing for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts, as a tireless advocate for her people. Lopez, 49, became a housing advocate on Cape Cod in the 1990s. She started the...

Arizona tribes lose appeal to block shooting range on sacred land (January 6, 2011)

The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and the Hualapai Tribal Nation have lost their bid to stop a shooting range on sacred land in Arizona. The Bureau of Land Management plans to transfer 787 acres to the Arizona Department of Game...

Two counties start foreclosure proceedings against Cayuga Nation (January 6, 2011)

Two New York counties have initiated foreclosure proceedings against the Cayuga Nation. Seneca County and Cayuga County say the tribe owes more than $60,000 in property taxes. They say a case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving another New York...

Former Senate aide sentenced for guilty plea in Abramoff scandal (January 6, 2011)

Ann Copland, a former aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), was sentenced for her role in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Copland was sentenced to 75 days in a halfway house and 75 days of home detention. She pleaded guilty to...

Editorial: Lumbee Tribe back to square one on federal recognition (January 6, 2011)

"The Lumbee Tribal Council's ill-conceived dalliance with the gaming industry has cost the tribe government recognition it has sought for more than a century and deserves. In 2009, the bill cleared the House by 61 votes. Then, despite support from...

San Manuel Band chairman named to California Board of Education (January 6, 2011)

James Ramos, the chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education. Ramos as served as chair of his tribe since 2008. He recently won re-election to the San Bernardino...

Native Sun News: Fatal accident linked to road work at Pine Ridge (January 6, 2011)

The following story was written and reported by Ernestine Chasing Hawk. All content © Native Sun News. PINE RIDGE, SOUTH DAKOTA — On November 12, Patrick Clarke, 45, and Bluecher “Blue” Annis, 30, died when the 1991 Pontiac they were...

Republicans take control of House with new leaders on key panel (January 6, 2011)

Republicans formally took control of the House on Tuesday, ushering in a new political environment for the 112th Congress. The House Natural Resources Committee is now in the hands of Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Washington). The committee has jurisdiction over Indian...

Column: Once again time to tell the Redskins to drop 'racist' name (January 6, 2011)

"After a recent visit to the National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall, I'm wondering how much longer our city will tolerate having a football team known as "Redskins." It's a racist name, patently offensive - and the...

Sen. Murkowski officially sworn in after legal battles end in Alaska (January 6, 2011)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was officially sworn into her second full term in the Senate on Wednesday. Murkowski was successful in her historic write-in campaign last November. Litigation by her challenger Joe Miller, who won the Republican primary, put a...

Alaska Native family wins money damages in breach of trust case (January 6, 2011)

An Alaska Native family has won a multi-million dollar judgment in a breach of trust lawsuit against the federal government. Judge Nancy Firestone of the Court of Federal Claims ruled that the Bureau of Indian Affairs breached its trust responsibility...