Editorial: EPA's fracking rules will help reduce air pollution (April 25, 2012)

"Neither side in the debate was celebrating the new Environmental Protection Agency rules announced last week to reduce air pollution from thousands of natural gas wells that undergo hydraulic fracturing every year. Hydraulic fracturing involves mixing water, chemicals and fine...

WPR: Red Cliff Band to remove barrels from Lake Superior (April 25, 2012)

"Several Department of Defense barrels containing ammunition parts dumped into Lake Superior during the Cold War will be recovered this summer. After four years of planning and investigation including an extensive side-scan sonar search over 96 square miles, crews will...

Kevin Abourezk: Disparity for Native youth in justice system (April 25, 2012)

"A state report released this week found that black and Native juveniles are contacted by law enforcement for legal violations at a higher rate than white, Asian or Hispanic youth. Anne Hobbs, director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha...

Nez Perce police officer charged with lying about shooting (April 25, 2012)

A police officer for the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho has been charged for lying about a police-officer shooting. Trevor M. Garret allegedly lied to FBI agents who were investigating the November 12, 2011, shooting of Jeffrey Allen Flinn. Garret...

Eastern Cherokees rents billboard to promote tourist route ( (April 25, 2012)

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is renting a billboard to promote an alternate way to get to the reservation in North Carolina. The official state highway sign only offers one route that some people say winds too much and...

Contestants get ready for 2012 Miss Indian World pageant (April 25, 2012)

Twenty-eight young women will be competing in the Miss Indian World pageant at the Gathering of Nations this weekend in New Mexico. Three students from the Institute of American Indian Arts, a tribal college in Santa Fe, are vying for...

Professors file competing lawsuit over ancestral remains (April 25, 2012)

Three University of California professors have filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping the school from repatriating ancestral remains to the Kumeyaay Nation. The remains were uncovered on the school's San Diego campus in 1976. They date back 9,000 years and...

Suspect in custody after ax attack on Colville Reservation (April 25, 2012)

A 32-year-old man is in custody after allegedly attacking a 71-year-old man on the Colville Reservation in Washington. Tribal authorities charged Justin F. Martinez with assault, obstructing a law enforcement officer and malicious mischief. He allegedly attacked Arthur B. Chuweah,...

Editorial: Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe key to region's future (April 25, 2012)

"One of the most dynamic, best organized, best financed, most public-spirited and capable organizations involved in Jefferson County is not formally based here. Instead, it’s just across the county line, in Clallam County – Blyn, to be precise. But, it...

Opinion: Bison from historic herd return home to Montana (April 25, 2012)

"An unusual gathering of diverse cultures occurred recently in an exceedingly remote yet beautiful area of the Great Plains. On a clear, sunny day in early March, members of Montana's White Clay (Gros Ventre) and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Indian...

Round Valley Indian Tribes receive $8.5M trust settlement (April 25, 2012)

The Round Valley Indian Tribes of California accepted $8.5 million to settle a trust mismanagement lawsuit. The tribes sought damages for the federal government's mismanagement of trust funds and trust assets. The claim dates to 1856, when the reservation was...

Sen. Hoeven seeks answers on Spirit Lake social services (April 25, 2012)

Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) is meeting with federal officials to discuss social services on the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation. Hoeven met with Yvette Roubideaux, the director of the Indian Health Service after news reports highlighted problems with child welfare...

No explanation for Alaska Native exclusion from VAWA bill (April 25, 2012)

Sometime between November 2011 and February 2012, Alaska Natives were excluded from the tribal authority provisions of S.1925, a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. The bill was introduced on November 30, 2011. As written, Section 904 recognizes...

Kim Teehee: Closing the jurisdictional gap in Indian Country (April 25, 2012)

"Native American women suffer from violent crime at some of the highest rates in the United States. One regional survey conducted by University of Oklahoma researchers showed that nearly three out of five Native American women had been assaulted by...

Native Sun News: First basketball tourney off to a good start (April 25, 2012)

The following story was written and reported by Joseph Budd, Native Sun News Correspondent. All content © Native Sun News. The first annual Marvin Hudson-Lewis Memorial Basketball Tournament All-Tourney team. The tournament was held April 14 and 15 at Rapid...

Energy company continues to fight tribal court's authority (April 25, 2012)

A non-Indian energy company says it will continue to dispute the jurisdiction of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribal Court in Wyoming. Encana Oil and Gas Inc. was sued in tribal court over the death of Jeremy Jorgenson, a member of...

Letter: Enough of government 'care' for Native Americans (April 25, 2012)

"It's high time for the federal government to dissolve the 1830s-era Indian treaties and make Native Americans equal U.S. citizens. Despite being recipients of the most obscene and longest-lasting welfare program in U.S. history, they still want more. Now they...

Jack Duran: Tribes face taxation threats from states and IRS (April 25, 2012)

"Perhaps the most innovative and aggressive means of taxing tribes also comes from California. It is established law that Indian tribes are free from state taxation unauthorized by Congress. In Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Chickasaw Nation, 515 U.S. 450 (1995),...