Letter: Gila River Indian Community deserves right to water (November 14, 2011)

"The Gila River Indian Community deserves every drop of water right that it has obtained and to use the water for its exclusive benefit. It is apparent from Earl Zarbin's Nov. 5 column "Tribes have a role in Ariz's water...

KVNO: Joy Harjo to share writings at University of Nebraska (November 14, 2011)

"A nationally-renowned poet, performer, playwright and author will be speaking at the University of Nebraska Omaha this week. Born in Oklahoma, Joy Harjo is considered a major figure in contemporary American poetry. Harjo’s first poems were published in 1975, when...

Interview: New 'Indian' characters in latest 'Twilight' movie (November 14, 2011)

"Kidzworld asks “Breaking Dawn’s” wolves Seth and Leah (cute Booboo Stewart and Julia Jones) about shape-shifting and acting with Taylor Lautner. These young actors love their more active roles in the two Breaking Dawn films. Kidzworld: Can you talk...

Judge pushes Oklahoma tribal water lawsuit into mediation (November 14, 2011)

A federal judge has ordered mediation in a lawsuit over tribal water rights in Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation and the Chickasaw Nation are asserting their ownership of Sardis Lake in the southeastern part of the state. They say they were...

Opinion: 1755 proclamation called for scalping of Penobcots (November 14, 2011)

"Four of my grandchildren have Loring and Francis and Mitchell ancestry from Indian Island, so I have quite enjoyed exploring their Penobscot roots. The inclusion of their Frank “Chief Big Thunder” Loring, a Penobscot guide and showman, in the current...

Ousted Pala Band members lobby for Congressional action (November 14, 2011)

Former members of the Pala Band of Mission Indians of California are asking members of Congress to address disenrollment disputes throughout Indian Country. The tribe recently removed eight people from the rolls and has asked about 120 others to prove...

American Indians with highest smoking rate in New Mexico (November 14, 2011)

Nearly a quarter of American Indians in New Mexico are smokers, according to a forthcoming state report. Historically, smoking rates among Indians in the state have been low. But the report shows that 24.1 percent of Indian adults smoke, far...

Opinion: Native American leaders deserve a place in history (November 14, 2011)

"Leaders are people in charge, organizers, people who make decisions for the best of those they lead. If they are good leaders, they take the needs and wants of those they lead into consideration trying to make a whole from...

Mark Trahant: Congress faces deadlines on big budget cuts (November 14, 2011)

Super Committee Co-Chairman Patty Murray (D-Washington) at a hearing of previous debt control proposals. (Committee TV photograph) The United States Congress is debating two important principles. There is the idea that a strict deadline forces action. (Or, more accurately,...

Supreme Court agrees to hear challenges to health reform (November 14, 2011)

The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear a series of challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which includes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. In an order, the justices accepted a case from the 11th Circuit...

Tim Giago: Reviving Native languages in face of technology (November 14, 2011)

Notes from Indian Country By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2011 Unity South Dakota There have been a lot of reasons that caused the Native languages to diminish and in some cases to disappear entirely. The first was the deliberate...

Opinion: The difficult task of Native American demographics (November 14, 2011)

"My latest exercise in nailing Jello to a tree is an encyclopedia entry about Native American demographics. Sounds simple enough. The trouble is first of all that Native Americans don’t like census time — they disappear — and second of...

Evelyn Red Lodge: Adoption by non-Indians killed my spirit (November 14, 2011)

The following appears in the latest issue of the Native Sun News. All content © Native Sun News. Evelyn Red Lodge at age 4. With the recent efforts to repeal and rescind the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse...

Oneida Nation reminds public of ban on concealed weapons (November 14, 2011)

The Oneida Nation is reminding the public that concealed weapons are still illegal on the reservation despite a new Wisconsin state law. The tribe has posted signs and notices and has provided additional training to staff and employees. Concealed weapons...

Lumbee attorney says federal recognition effort is doomed (November 14, 2011)

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is facing even tougher odds to gain federal recognition, attorney Arlinda Locklear said. Locklear, a tribal member, worked on the effort for decades. The tribe has come close but a gaming-related controversy scuttled the...

United Auburn Indian Community rejects petition for recall (November 14, 2011)

Members of the United Auburn Indian Community of California are upset that their recall petition has been rejected. Tribal members thought they gathered enough signatures to force a recall of the entire council. But the election committee said some of...

Seneca Nation leader disputes removal from executive job (November 14, 2011)

Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter was ousted from his post as chief executive officer in an ongoing dispute with the tribal council. The tribal council voted 10-6 on Saturday to remove Porter. But he issued a statement on Sunday...

Review: A 'Showdown' over the racist Washington Redskins (November 14, 2011)

"In 1992, four years after Jesse Jackson joined Stanford students in chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, Western Civ has got to go,” the Native American writer and activist Suzan Harjo, who had moved to Washington, D.C., in the 1970s,...

Steven Newcomb: No plenary power over the tribal nations (November 14, 2011)

"For generations now, Indian Country has been conditioned to believe and act upon the false view that the United States Congress has plenary power over all Indian affairs, and, by implication, over Indian Nations. This has resulted in our Indian...

Winona LaDuke: Keystone XL Pipeline a bad deal for the US (November 14, 2011)

"President Obama’s pause on the Keystone Pipeline is a victory for the environment, for sure. It is also a victory for the American people. As it turns out, once the advertising, and lobbying dollars are kept in check, the Keystone...