Myers advocated giving $1M federal land for free (March 8, 2004)

Former Interior Solicitor Bill Myers, an appeals court nominee, suggested that two California Congressman write a bill to give $1 million worth of federal land to a private company for nothing. The Los Angeles Times reports that Myers failed to...

Opinion: Tobacco was never meant to be abused (March 8, 2004)

"Our ancestors never intended that tobacco be abused as it is today. With their chemical additives and ready availability, cigarettes have turned tobacco into a deadly substance. It is a dreadful irony, then, that Native Americans have the highest percentage...

Landless tribe's casino proposal under federal review (March 8, 2004)

The Department of Interior is holding a public hearing this week on a proposal to take up to 450 acres into trust for a landless tribe in northern California. If approved, the acquisition would mark the first time in nearly...

Opinions: Retirement of Benedict Nighthorse Campbell (March 8, 2004)

Philip Davis: "I love the way The Post glosses over the fact that Ben Nighthorse Campbell, after being elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, "switched parties but suffered no apparent political ill effects." Well, maybe Campbell suffered no...

Editorial: Lawmakers right to clear Chief Leschi (March 8, 2004)

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer praises Washington lawmakers for taking "a major step in righting a nearly 150-year-old wrong" by passing a bill to exonerate Nisqually Chief Leschi. Leschi was convicted of murdering a soldier during a battle at which scholars say...

Non-Indians in Calif. worry about aftermath of fire (March 8, 2004)

Non-Indians who rented housing sites on California reservations hit by a recent fire are worried they won't be welcomed back. The Paradise Fire destroyed land, housing and other property on 14 reservations in southern California. On some reservations, nearly every...

Native leaders selected as Man, Woman of the Year (March 8, 2004)

Two Native Americans have been selected as the 2003 Man and Woman of the Year by an Arizona leadership organization. Ivan Makil, former president of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and Diana "Dede" Yazzie Devine, president and CEO of...

Adult believed to have supplied boys with alcohol (March 8, 2004)

Police in Montana are focusing on a adult male believed to have supplied alcohol to two 11-year-old boys who died on the Flathead Reservation. Police are looking at security photographs that show the adult purchasing liquor similar or identical to...

Teen held for death on Menominee Reservation (March 8, 2004)

A 17-year-old boy faces tribal and federal charges for the death of a 70-year-old man on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin. The teen has been charged as an adult for battery in tribal court. The U.S. Attorney's Office is considering...

Ponca Tribe protests pollution from chemical plant (March 8, 2004)

The Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma is leading a protest later this month at the State Capitol to highlight pollution from a chemical plant. The tribe has filed complaints against the Continental Carbon plant but says the state is doing little...

Land transfer still a sore issue among critics of Daschle (March 8, 2004)

When Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) last week criticized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to protect sacred sites along the Missouri River, he didn't entirely disclose his role in the affair. Daschle pushed legislation through Congress that transferred...

BIA warned office of potential conflict with Calif. tribe (March 8, 2004)

The Bureau of Indian Affairs warned officials in California nearly 10 years ago of potential conflicts of interest with a tribe now at the center of several federal investigations, the Associated Press reports. Former assistant secretary Ada Deer wrote a...

Chairman of Calif. tribe disputes alleged ouster (March 8, 2004)

The chairman of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians says rumors of his ouster are greatly exaggerated. Chairman Don Arnold says he and three other tribal council members were not ousted in a recent vote. He says he remains...

Reverend claims Native culture loose on sexual matters (March 8, 2004)

A former Jesuit official recently testified that "fairly loose" sexual practices among Alaska Natives would have lessened the impact of sexual abuse, the Associated Press reports. In a deposition, Rev. William "Lom" Loyens, 77, seemed to downplay the claims of...

Single mother leads Native corporation to success (March 8, 2004)

As a corporate executive, Helvi Sandvik doesn't find that being a single mother or a woman has held her back. Sandvik, 46, is president of NANA Development Corp. She says the Alaska Native corporation has a goal of becoming a...

Pacific N.W. tribes dispute high cost of salmon recovery (March 8, 2004)

The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is disputing the federal government's estimated cost of salmon recovery. The commission, which represents four tribes with treaty rights on the Columbia River, says the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency that manages four...

Court won't invalidate lease for Goshute nuclear dump (March 8, 2004)

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday refused to invalidate the Bureau of Indian Affairs' conditional approval of a nuclear waste dump on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation in Utah. In an unpublished decision, a three-judge panel said tribal...

Mark Trahant: One Indian in Senate is wrong number (March 8, 2004)

"Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., shows how far this country has come -- and how far it has yet to go. Last week the Northern Cheyenne leader announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate, adding his name to the history...

Big Foot sightings reported on N.D. reservation (March 8, 2004)

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation is keeping track of recent Big Foot sightings on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Several tribal members have reported a very large, human-like creature. Since February 22, there have been four different...

Tex Hall: Former DOI lawyer bad choice for court (March 8, 2004)

"President Bush has nominated William G. Myers for a lifetime appointment to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears public lands cases from the nine Western states that contain the majority of our nation's public land. For Native Americans,...

Yellow Bird: Is Big Foot wandering reservation? (March 8, 2004)

"Tales of creatures that disturb our mundane and everyday lives are not uncommon. To claim, however, that you've seen such a creature is to hear snickers or out-loud laughing. Yet, when I heard what happened on the Fort Berthold reservation...