Rhode Island governor opposes fix to land-into-trust decision (April 11, 2011)

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) opposes S.676, a bill to fix the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. The bill ensures that all tribes, regardless of the date of federal recognition, can follow the land-into-trust process. That...

10th Circuit dismisses charge against non-Indian at cockfight (April 11, 2011)

The federal government cannot prosecute non-Indians for victimless crimes in Indian Country, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. Robert Langford, a non-Indian, attended a cockfight on an allotment held in trust for a member of the Kiowa Tribe....

Additional meetings scheduled in Indian trust fund settlement (April 11, 2011)

More meetings are being held this week to discuss the $3.4 billion settlement to the Indian trust fund lawsuit. The settlement provides $1.412 billion in payments to individual Indians. It also creates a $1.9 billion land consolidation fund. Attorneys for...

Robert Porter: Seneca Nation will fight state tobacco initiative (April 11, 2011)

"Your editorial on April 2 directs Gov. Cuomo to commence state cigarette-tax collections on Indian lands within the state ("Andrew & the Indians"). You demean the sovereignty of our Nation, American treaties and the decisions of the American courts that...

WeNews: Seeking justice for Indian victims in South Dakota (April 11, 2011)

""When the nuns wanted you at night, they'd come get you from the dorm," recalled Mary Jane Wanna Drum, 64, who as a young child lived at one of South Dakota's several Catholic-run boarding schools for Native American children. "My...

Home and Away: Osage woman from long line of head cooks (April 11, 2011)

"“When we cook, we always pray,” said Asa Cunningham, head cook since July 2010 for Pawhuska District within the Osage Nation. “It’s a very big honor for an Osage woman to be a head cook, especially for our sacred ceremonial...

Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on bills on Thursday (April 11, 2011)

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will take up three bills at a hearing on Thursday. S. 636 will help the Quileute Tribe move out of a tsunami and flood zone. The bill transfers 772 acres within Olympic National Park to...

Seminole Tribe comparison to terrorists still in Pentagon brief (April 11, 2011)

The Department of Defense won't remove portions of a brief that compares ancestors of the Seminole Tribe of Florida to the terrorist group al-Qaeda. The tribe asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to change the brief. But government lawyers say...

BIA asks Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes to decide who's in charge (April 11, 2011)

The Bureau of Indian Affairs wants to know who is in charge of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. Janice Prairie Chief-Boswell took office as governor in January 2010. But Leslie Harjo, who was lieutenant governor, claims to be...

Opinion: Open Saginaw Chippewa crime records to the public (April 11, 2011)

"I wish to address the issue of Tribal sovereignty, hopefully better than President Bush did, after reading recently that three tribal members had been indicted in federal court for serious assaultive crimes committed in the community. Two of the indictments...

Vi Waln: Protecting Indian women and children from violence (April 11, 2011)

President Barack Obama has issued an Executive Proclamation designating the month of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. He also signed an Executive Proclamation naming April as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. We are all responsible for ensuring our...

Editorial: 'Excessive' request for attorney fees in Cobell case (April 11, 2011)

"Late last year, President Obama signed into law a $3.4 billion settlement with Native Americans who had sued the U.S. government for swindling them out of billions in oil and gas royalties. The settlement, Mr. Obama said, “closes a long...