Latest Stories
Oglala Sioux Tribe plans drug testing of employees (02/05)
The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota approved drug testing for all employees. But the testing won't occur unless the tribe finds funding and develops an implementation plan by the end of this month. More than 750 employees would be...
Rep. Bono Mack calls for probe of tribal TANF program (02/05)
Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-California) called on the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program run by the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. Bono Mack said audits have shown misuse of federal...
Coeur d'Alene law enforcement bill stirs controversy (02/05)
A proposed bill that would expand the arrest authority of police officers for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe is stirring up controversy in the Idaho Legislature. The bill would authorize cooperative law enforcement agreement between the tribe and counties. If the...
EchoHawk fills positions in regional offices and in DC (02/05)
Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk is moving to fill some director positions at the Bureau of Indian Affairs although half of the regional offices in Indian Country remain in transition. Echo Hawk recently named William Tandy “Bill” Walker as the...
Bill supports nursing home on Pine Ridge Reservation (02/04)
The South Dakota Senate Health Committee voted unanimously on a bill that would authorize a nursing home on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The state has banned new nursing homes over concerns about Medicaid costs. The limitation has prevented tribes from...
Man in border town wants to celebrate 'white' history (02/04)
A man in Farmington, New Mexico, says the city's Community Relations Commission is excluding whites from its mission. Zang Wood complained that the commission has celebrated Indian, Hispanic and African-American cultures. "What made this country great is the melting pot,"...
Oglala Sioux Tribe supports detox center in Whiteclay (02/04)
Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls testified in support of a bill that would set aside alcohol tax revenue for health facilities, economic development and law enforcement near Whiteclay, Nebraska. Two Bulls said the revenue could be used...
Colorado lawmaker withdraws anti-Indian mascot bill (02/04)
A Colorado lawmaker will withdraw a bill that would have required schools with Indian mascots to gain state approval. Sen. Suzanne Williams (D) is Comanche and the only American Indian in the Colorado Legislature. She said she achieved her...
Factions at Klamath battle for control of tribal council (02/04)
State police in Oregon have intervened twice in recent months in response to an ongoing leadership dispute within the Klamath Tribes. Two factions are vying for control of the tribal council. One group said it removed the sitting council members...
McCain faces serious primary challenge for Senate bid (02/04)
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona), in various National Congress of American Indians appearances. Photos © Indianz.Com For the first time since joining the U.S. Senate in 1987, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) is facing...
Senate Indian Affairs Committee meeting and hearing (02/03)
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting and oversight hearing next Thursday, February 11. The business meeting will focus on pending issues. The hearing will look at the fiscal year 2011 budget and how it affects Indian...
North Dakota tribal leaders back Republican candidate (02/03)
Three tribal leaders have endorsed North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven (R) in his bid for the U.S. Senate. Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation Chairman Marcus Levings, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Charles Murphy and Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation Chairwoman Myra...
BIA faces leadership void among regional director level (02/02)
Tribal leaders and members of Congress were overjoyed last year when President Barack Obama quickly found a leader for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. During the Bush era, the position saw three different nominees in seven years and went vacant...
Mary Pember: NCAI President Keel lists tribal priorities (02/02)
"Jefferson Keel, President of the National Congress of American Indians, delivered the 8th annual State of Indian Affairs address January 29 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.. Keel, as readers may recall, is the same guy who...
Obama seeks $4.4B for Indian Health Service budget (02/01)
President Barack Obama is proposing a $4.4 billion budget for the Indian Health Service. According to a fact sheet just posted by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the fiscal year 2011 budget will increase access to care...
Secretary Salazar to announce fiscal year 2011 budget (02/01)
Secretary Ken Salazar will announce the Interior Department budget at 1pm EST today. The presentation will be webcast. Visit www.doi.gov for the link. Budget documents will be available at www.doi.gov/budget once the announcement is made from Washington, D.C. Additional...
Yakama Nation chooses new chairman of tribal council (02/01)
The Yakama Nation of Washington named Harry Smiskin as chairman of the tribal council. Smiskin, 57, is a former tribal police chief. He was recently acquitted of all charges in a federal tobacco trafficking trial. Terry Goudy-Rambler will serve as...
Secretary Salazar offers thanks for consultation talks (01/29)
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar offered the following message to Indian Country for participating in the tribal consultation policy meetings in December 2009 and January 2010: On behalf of President Obama and the Department of the Interior I would like...
Obama administration set to announce latest budget (01/29)
The Obama administration rolls out its fiscal year 2011 budget on Monday. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will present the Interior Department budget at 1pm EST. The budget includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of the Special Trustee...
Formerly shunned Wampanoags running for council (01/28)
Two formerly shunned members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts are now running for tribal council. Stephanie Tobey-Roderick and Michelle Fernandes were shunned for filing a lawsuit in state court that sought more information the tribe's finances. It turns...
Lakota woman goes for Senate confirmation hearing (01/28)
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee holds confirmation hearing this afternoon for Lillian Sparks as Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Sparks, who is Oglala Sioux and Rosebud...
House Resources Committee website hit by hackers (01/28)
Screen capture of hack on website. The website for the House Natural Resources Committee, which handles Indian issues, appears to have been hacked. Visitors are greeted by an obscene remark directed at President Barack Obama, who delivered his first...
Witness List: SCIA hearing on Indian unemployment (01/27)
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee holds an oversight hearing tomorrow on unemployment in Indian Country. The hearing takes place at 2:15pm. The witness list follows: Panel 1 MR. DONALD "DEL" LAVERDURE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the...
Choctaw woman headed to Obama's State of Union (01/27)
Debbie Powell, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, will attend President Barack Obama's first State of the Union this evening. Powell works for her tribe's housing authority. The tribe received funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act...
Bill seeks to boost tribal-state relationship in Maine (01/27)
The Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Tuesday on a bill that requires state agencies to consult with tribes before making decisions that affect them. Rep. Donald Soctomah, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township, said...
South Dakota governor to set Year of Unity with tribes (01/26)
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) will proclaim 2010 as a "Year of Unity" with tribes. The proclamation commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Year of Reconciliation. The late Gov. George Mickelson (R) proclaimed the year in 1980 in hopes...
Blackfeet Nation continues work to revise constitution (01/26)
The Blackfeet Nation of Montana hopes to vote this summer on a new tribal constitution. The 75-year-old constitution was adopted after the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Critics says it lacks checks and balances and places too...
Senate hopeful, seen as anti-tribal, promises to listen (01/26)
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D), long seen as a foe in Indian Country, says he will "listen – and I really mean listen carefully and thoroughly" to tribes if he were elected to the U.S. Senate. Blumenthal has fought...
Obama plans three-year freeze on domestic programs (01/26)
President Barack Obama plans to propose a three-year freeze on domestic programs in his first State of the Union address, according to news reports. The freeze would cover most programs that aren't related to national security. That would appear to...
Alaska Native lawmaker faces complaint for remarks (01/25)
Alaska Sen. Albert Kookesh (D) could face an ethics complain over remarks he made to the city council in Craig, The Anchorage Daily News reports. Kookesh asked the council not to oppose a bill in Congress to transfer land...
Seneca Nation targets Sen. Gillibrand for tobacco bill (01/25)
The Seneca Nation might spend up to $250,000 this year to target Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) for co-sponsoring the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act. The PACT Act prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from delivering cigarettes and certain tobacco products....
Senate confirmation hearing for Lillian Sparks at HHS (01/25)
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a confirmation hearing this Thursday for Lillian Sparks as Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Sparks, who is Oglala Sioux...
Arizona governor opposes tribes in national AG group (01/22)
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) doesn't think tribes should be a formal part of the National Association of Attorneys General, a campaign consultant said. Brewer believes tribal attorneys general can participate in the group on a "limited basis...
Colorado lawmaker 'sorry' for taking on Native tuition (01/22)
A Colorado lawmaker says she's "sorry" for introducing a bill that would have affected the Native student tuition program at Fort Lewis College. Rep. Karen Middleton (D) said she didn't expect controversy over the measure, which would have cut the...
House backs three Indian water settlement measures (01/22)
The House voted largely along party lines to pass three Indian water settlement bills on Thursday. H.R.3254, the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, affecting Taos Pueblo of New Mexico, passed by a 254 to 158 vote. Only 14...
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