Arrested tribal judge put on suspension by council (June 3, 2005)

A tribal judge on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming was suspended by a joint council of the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Eastern Shoshone Tribe. Lynda Munnell, an Arapaho tribal member, was arrested on May 27 in what authorities...

Study finds surgery risk for Native veterans (June 3, 2005)

Male Native American veterans are more likely to die within a month of surgery than their white counterparts, according to a study published this month. A team led by the first Navajo woman surgeon examined surgery records for over 2,000...

Freedmen descendants use DNA to show Indian blood (June 3, 2005)

About 100 descendants of the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes have taken DNA tests that show they have Indian blood, The Oklahoman reports. Ohio State University geneticist Rick Kittles took the samples to test his hypothesis that Freedmen descendants...

Village women settle lawsuit against troopers (June 3, 2005)

Five women from the Alaska Native village of Aniak have settled their lawsuit against the state troopers for nearly $1 million, The Anchorage Daily News reports. The women filed a civil suit against the Alaska Department of Public Safety for...

BIA says Oneida Nation lands are in restricted status (June 3, 2005)

The Bureau of Indian Affairs says lands owned by the Oneida Nation of New York are in restricted status, free from state taxation and alienation. But state and local officials say the BIA has no power to make that designation....

Dine Coalition opposes ban on same-sex marriages (June 3, 2005)

A new group called the Diné Coalition for Cultural Preservation is leading opposition to a proposed ban on same-sex marriages on the Navajo Nation. The group held a press conference on Wednesday to criticize the Diné Marriage Act of 2005....

Citizen Pot chairman rouses crowd at symposium (June 3, 2005)

The controversial chairman of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation roused attendees of the 18th annual Sovereignty Symposium in Oklahoma City on Thursday. John "Rocky" Barrett blasted "right-wing nuts" for attacking Indian gaming, criticized the tribal-state compact as "the stupidest, most absurd"...

Editorial: Whiteclay deserves extra attention (June 3, 2005)

"Rep. Tom Osborne and Attorney General Jon Bruning should be commended for their efforts to do something about the disgrace of Whiteclay. Other officials in the state of Nebraska should follow their example by putting the state tax money generated...

Connecticut towns seek limits on tribal trust lands (June 3, 2005)

The Connecticut towns have sent a letter to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that asks Congress to impose limits on the ability of tribes to acquire trust lands. The leaders of North Stonington, Ledyard and Preston said the $18.5 billion...

Opinion: 'You sure as hell don't look Indian' (June 3, 2005)

"Five or six years ago, I was walking back to my office with a student, discussing a paper she had recently submitted. It emerged during our conversation that she had been invited to apply for a summer internship in Washington,...

Kansas tribe drops option on out-of-state land (June 3, 2005)

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas has let an option on about 120 acres of land in Illinois expire, The Dekalb Daily Chronicle reports. The tribe staked a claim to an ancestral reservation in Illinois. In the final days...

Cherokee Nation lead counsel dies at symposium (June 3, 2005)

Julian Fite, the general counsel for the Cherokee Nation, collapsed and died while attending the 18th annual Sovereignty Symposium in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Two people attempted to administer CPR to Fite, 60, when he collapsed. After being taken...

City council won't make apology to Native people (June 3, 2005)

A resolution to apologize to Native people for "whatever transgressions were made" by the city of Massillonian, Ohio, was rejected by the city council on Tuesday. Resident Jim Walker proposed the apology to honor the bicentennial signing of the Fort...

Court allows state to build outlet for Devils Lake (June 3, 2005)

The North Dakota Supreme Court released a unanimous opinion on Thursday allowing the state to build a controversial outlet on Devils Lake that is opposed by tribes, First Nations and the Canadian government. Tribes in the U.S. and First...

Mine on Pala Reservation to close after 45 years (June 3, 2005)

A 45-year-old rock and sand mine on the Pala Reservation in California will close in September, The North County Times reports. Vulcan Materials Co. has already begun the process of shutting down the mine. Site foreman Jim Goodpasture, a tribal...

Memo warns First Nations University of $3M deficit (June 3, 2005)

First Nations University of Canada faces a deficit as high as $3 million, an internal memo warns. FNUC may not be able to pay its bills within a few weeks, the school's senior financial officer said on May 25....

State hired professors to review tribe's land claim (June 3, 2005)

Ohio attorney general Jim Petro hired two professors to analyze an Oklahoma tribe's land claim. University of Toledo history professor Alfred A. Cave and Ohio State University geography professor Morton E. O’Kelly said they found no merit to the Ottawa...

Oneida Nation receives homeland security grant (June 3, 2005)

The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin has received a $36,300 terrorism response grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The grant is being distributed by Wisconsin's Office of Justice Assistance. Unlike states and local governments, tribes can't receive money from...

Oglala Sioux Tribe president has not been suspended (June 3, 2005)

Cecilia Fire Thunder, the first female president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, has not been suspended, as previously reported by the Associated Press. The AP said yesterday [Story] that the tribal council suspended Fire Thunder for 20...

Author: Republicans lead corruption of Washington (June 3, 2005)

"[Jack] Abramoff's behavior is symptomatic of the unprecedented corruption—the intensified buying and selling of influence over legislation and federal policy —that has become endemic in Washington under a Republican Congress and White House. Corruption has always been present in...

Trail of gambling cash leads to Republicans, even Bush (June 3, 2005)

President Bush has accepted $470,000 from gambling interests even though he said he would not take money from them and spoke out against gaming as governor of Texas and during his 2000 campaign, The Boston Globe reports. ''Casino gambling is...

Democrats received donations from Abramoff tribes (June 3, 2005)

Democrats received campaign contributions from tribes who were former clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Of the top 18 recipients, six were Democrats, according to The Washington Post. Bloomberg News previously reported that Republicans received most of the $1.4 million...

Echohawk optimistic on settlement of Cobell case (June 3, 2005)

John Echohawk, the executive director of the Native American Rights Fund, is optimistic that the Cobell v. Norton trust fund lawsuit will be settled. Echohawk has participated in the tribal workgroup meetings on trust reform. The final one was held...

Bush preparing dozens of judicial nominees (June 3, 2005)

President Bush is preparing to nominate at least 30 more people to fill district court and appeals court vacancies, The Washington Post reports. The White House is eager to put Democrats to the test on the recent compromise on judicial...

Cobell awarded fellowship from Lannon Foundation (June 3, 2005)

Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust fund lawsuit, is one of five winners of Cultural Freedom Fellowships awarded by the Lannan Foundation of Santa Fe. Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, is a...