SWAIA announces 'ambassadors' for traditional arts program (November 28, 2011)

The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts announced the first "ambassadors" for a new program that will promote traditional arts. Darryl Begay, a jeweler from the Navajo Nation, and Cippy CrazyHorse, a jeweler from Cochiti Pueblo, will serve as Traditional Arts...

Opinion: Bill to reauthorize highway program boosts economy (November 28, 2011)

"Leaders in transportation have long understood that there are no such things as Republican or Democratic bridges, just as there are no Democratic or Republican roads. This fundamental understanding of how roads and bridges are built and used in the...

Colorlines: Documentary follows Wampanoag language effort (November 28, 2011)

"When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, it was the Wampanoag of Southern Massachusetts who met them. They are credited in history books with helping the settlers survive in their new surroundings. Yet beyond the Thanksgiving narrative, their story,...

Opinion: Religious left refuses to celebrate 'genocidal' holiday (November 28, 2011)

"America's Thanksgiving, of course, traces to the English Separatists known as Pilgrims who quit the Church of England, and England, to create their own promised land in the American wilderness. Only about half of the original 100 settlers had survived...

Indian woman accuses police officer in border town of assault (November 28, 2011)

A woman from the Navajo Nation has accused a police officer in Farmington, New Mexico, of sexual assault. The woman said the assault by Sgt. Kent O'Donnell occurred at her home in Farmington on August 27. But she feels local...

FSRN: Elem Pomo Nation struggles to protect ancestral island (November 28, 2011)

"Each year at Thanksgiving, many Americans celebrate food, family and the history of the United States. But for Indigenous people their land and sacred places continue to be threatened by American colonization. In this Thanksgiving documentary, George Lavender takes us...

Mark Trahant: Fewer success stories arising in Indian Country (November 28, 2011)

Tribal leaders meeting at the White House in December 2010. (Official White House photo) Last December hundreds of American Indian and Alaska Native leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. for the second White House Tribal Nations Conference. I wrote at...

Tim Giago: An outlook on election season for the coming year (November 28, 2011)

Notes from Indian Country By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2011 Unity South Dakota The owner of a trucking firm posted signs on his trucks that read, “New Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone.” Bill Looman...

Native Sun News: Former NAJA leader worried about finances (November 28, 2011)

The following story was written and reported by Jesse Abernathy. All content © Native Sun News. Darla Leslie, former NAJA president. Rhonda LeValdo, new NAJA president. Shirley Sneve, former NAJA treasurer. NORMAN, OKLAHOMA -- Following a recent behind-closed-doors meeting, the...

More and more Indian children put in foster care in Minnesota (November 28, 2011)

More and more American Indian children are being placed in foster care in Minnesota, The Twin Cities Daily Planet reports. American Indians make up 1.4 percent of the child population in the state. However, they represented 10.8 percent of entries...

Rep. Barney Frank due to retire from Congress after 16 terms (November 28, 2011)

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) plans to retire from Congress after 16 terms in office, a move that could affect tribal interests. Frank is the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. He supports legalization of Internet gaming but tribes...

Supreme Court puts off action on self-determination litigation (November 28, 2011)

The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to take action on a self-determination case but the issue remains on the docket as the Obama administration seeks resolution of a major class action filed by tribes. The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance...

Editorial: Tough road ahead for new chairman of Lumbee Tribe (November 28, 2011)

"Paul Brooks sounded the right theme when he was sworn in as the new Lumbee tribal chairman last week. As he vowed to unite the more than 55,000 tribal members, Brooks asked everyone in the room to recite with him...

Marc Simmons: Military governor prolonged war with Navajos (November 28, 2011)

"On Oct. 10, 1848, Col. John M. Washington marched into Santa Fe leading four dragoon companies intended to bolster New Mexico's scant military defenses against hostile Indians. The colonel had been born in Virginia, a distant cousin of President George...

Editorial: Here comes another bad idea out of Rep. Don Young (November 28, 2011)

"Say this for Congressman Don Young: He is thoroughly predictable and, on energy and environmental matters, almost always wrong. For the last 38-plus years, Mr. Young, Republican of Alaska, has specialized in bringing copious pork dollars to his home state....

NPR: Author looks for 'Last Uncontacted Tribes' in the Amazon (November 28, 2011)

"In 2002, National Geographic asked journalist Scott Wallace to chronicle the trip of a 34-man team to search for the perimeters of a people known as the flecheiros — or the Arrow People. The Unconquered is the story of...

Delvin Cree: Media censorship on Turtle Mountain Reservation (November 28, 2011)

The Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota is one of those communities where censorship is the ultimate tool used to deprive writers of the opportunity to report about truthful activities. The "system" allows tribal leaders to have direct control over...

Hawk Rosales: California tribes hope for better state relations (November 28, 2011)

"The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council is a consortium of 10 federally recognized tribes with ancient and enduring ancestral and cultural ties to coastal and inland areas of Mendocino, Lake and southern Humboldt Counties. Our member tribes depend on the ocean...

Ruth Hopkins: Scientific evidence of intergenerational trauma (November 28, 2011)

"Epigenetics may provide hard scientific evidence of intergenerational trauma among American Indians and link it directly to diseases that currently afflict us, like cancer and diabetes. The term “intergenerational trauma” has been used to describe the cumulative effects of trauma...