Coushatta Tribe paid $32M to lobbyist Jack Abramoff (April 6, 2004)

The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana paid Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff $32 million over a three-year period, The Lake Charles American Press reports. $p The paper said the figure came from a "source close to the investigation who asked not to...

Special master Balaran resigns from Cobell lawsuit (April 6, 2004)

Special master Alan Balaran has resigned from the Indian trust fund lawsuit, citing the Department of Interior's ongoing attempts to disqualify him. $p In a three-page letter to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, Balaran said his resignation was effective immediately....

Swimmer to retain control of Indian appraisals (April 6, 2004)

Dozens of Department of Interior employees won't lose their Indian preference status under a recent decision by Special Trustee Ross Swimmer. In a short letter to Secretary Gale Norton and other top officials, Swimmer said the employees will not join...

Obituary: Rex Redhouse, patriarch of musical family (April 6, 2004)

Rex P. Redhouse, a Navajo Nation man who formed dance, drum and musical groups with his family, died on Friday after a recent illness. He was 84. $p Rehouse was born on the Navajo Reservation and lived in Arizona and...

Oneida Nation families resist evictions pending appeal (April 6, 2004)

Four Oneida Nation families facing eviction from their homes on tribal territory say they will stay put until their appeals are exhausted. $p In a ruling last Friday, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals expressed some sympathy with the families'...

Report: Seneca-Cayuga Tribe has bigger plans in store (April 6, 2004)

The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma has been floating plans for a full-fledged Class III casino in New York, The Syracuse Post-Standard reports. $P The tribe has been purchasing land in its ancestral territory. Citing a related court decision, the tribe...

Tesuque Pueblo announces return of flea market (April 6, 2004)

Tesuque Pueblo in northern New Mexico has announced the return of its popular flea market. $p The tribe abruptly shut down the market last October as part of a highway construction deal with the state. The move left vendors upset...

Editorial: Other tribes 'selfish' for opposing Lumbees (April 6, 2004)

Critics of federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina are "selfish," The Wilmington Morning Star says in an editorial. $p "They don't want to share the federal aid," the paper says. "And these days, they might not want...

Yellow Bird: The phenomenon of the 'hobby Indians' (April 6, 2004)

"Birgit Hans, department chair of Indian Studies at UND, had a unique presentation Wednesday for the UND Indian Association's 35th Annual Time-Out and Wacipi Week. She told us about the "hobby Indians" in Germany. Hans talked from experience and with...

Canoe carved by students arrives in Alaska (April 6, 2004)

Members of the Haida Tribe of Alaska held an acceptance ceremony for a canoe that was carved by students at an alternative high school in Washington. $p The students worked for three years under Haida carver Robert "Saaduuts" Peele. They...

Cobell mediator Renfrew has oil tanker named after him (April 6, 2004)

A retired federal judge who has been selected as a mediator for the Cobell trust fund lawsuit was an oil industry executive who has an oil tanker named after him, The Farmington Daily Times reports. $p Former judge Charles Renfrew,...

Pechanga descendants protest against enrollment policy (April 6, 2004)

Several people who claim to have Pechanga ancestry held a protest on Monday against the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians. $p The group wants the financially-successful tribe to lift a moratorium on new enrollments. They say they are entitled to...

Two mediators selected in Cobell trust fund suit (April 6, 2004)

A retired federal judge who handled tribal cases and an attorney who has worked on several tribal disputes have been chosen as mediators in the Indian trust fund lawsuit. Members of Congress who are pushing for resolution of the long-running...

FBI office in N.Y. releases Peltier documents (April 6, 2004)

The FBI office in Buffalo, New York, has released about 800 pages of documents agents collected on American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier. $P According to an attorney for Peltier, the documents include notes about sources within the Seneca Nation....

First Nation in Sask. sees opposition to MRI clinic (April 6, 2004)

The Muskeg Lake Cree Nation of Saskatchewan wants to start up its own Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) clinic in Saskatoon but the province's health minister doesn't like the idea. $P The waiting list for an MRI test is lengthy in...

Anderson touring BIA schools in North and South Dakota (April 6, 2004)

Bureau of Indian Affairs head Dave Anderson is visiting four Bureau of Indian Affairs schools in North and South Dakota this week. $P On Monday, Anderson attended an honor roll banquet at Turtle Mountain High School in North Dakota. Along...

Slain Seminole woman promised to return home (April 6, 2004)

Authorities continue to investigate the deaths of at least 12 prostitutes in three or more states. One victim was Casey Jo Pipestem, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Authorities have divided the murders into two groups, believing they...

Indian woman alleges assault by Army recruiter (April 6, 2004)

A woman from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is asking the federal government to pay her damages for an alleged sexual assault by an Army recruiter. Citing the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, Lavetta Elk, 20, says the...