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Yellow Bird: Indian Country will miss Senator Dorgan (02/05)
"My way of life has changed since I left Grand Forks. Where I used to have my car serviced in hours, it now takes days. One of my local friends smiled when she asked me what I missed most...
Editorial: Approve wind farm over sacred site concerns (02/05)
"For nine years, the developers behind the Cape Wind project have jumped through regulatory hoops in hopes of erecting 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound, a near-ideal location -- shallow, protected from large waves, close to a large number of electricity...
Editorial: Support tribal arrest authority over non-Indians (02/03)
"The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is supporting proposed legislation that would allow tribal officers to make arrests of non-tribal members on reservation land in Benewah County. Officials in Benewah County don't like that a bit. They say it's unconstitutional. We...
Opinion: Don't ignore First Nations fishing rights cases (02/03)
"Native rights are a head-scratcher, but it's really difficult to understand the province withdrawing from key court cases involving the West Coast fishery. Consider what's happened. The Lax Kw'alaams band, about 3,000 descendants of the Coast Tsimshian tribes who live...
Opinion: Phillip Martin led Choctaw self-determination (02/03)
"Assessing the legacy of former Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Chief Phillip Martin is an exercise that is incomplete without context. Martin was in critical condition at a Jackson hospital at deadline for release of this column. The Choctaws...
Editorial: Indian student graduation rates unacceptable (02/02)
"The news was grim last week during a forum conducted by the Farmington Inter-Tribal Indian Organization on the topic of American Indian education. The New Mexico Public Education Department says that more than half of the American Indian students...
Column: Whiteclay in the news just for being Whiteclay (02/02)
"Early Monday I looked out my window: It was snowing again, of course. Is it simply my age or are winters growing colder, longer? The scene of black, gray and white seemed sketched with charcoal on notebook paper. I thought...
Editorial: Red Lake Nation restores fishery for its future (02/02)
"The state of Minnesota and the Red Lake Band of Chippewa on Thursday continued an important partnership in the preservation of Minnesota’s premier walleye fisheries. The two signed a new five-year agreement, which included the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs,...
HuffPo: 'Expert' answers questions about sweat lodges (02/02)
"Since the horrible tragedy involving 3 deaths and more than 20 injuries relating to a Sweat Lodge at a James Ray retreat in October of 2009, I have been contacted widely for commentary and education about sweat lodges and ceremonial...
Mark Trahant: Transparency and Indian Health Service (02/01)
"Paul Levy’s Running A Hospital “is a blog started by a CEO of a large Boston hospital to share thoughts about hospitals, medicine, and health care issues.” The postings started as a lark. But when the president and CEO of...
Charles Trimble: Victimhood and a young Indian writer (02/01)
There is a younger columnist whose writing has caught my attention in recent times. I have been greatly impressed by, first of all, his good writing style. He talks to his readers, straight talk about what he thinks, not mincing...
Opinion: Cobell trust settlement addresses land issues (02/01)
"The close of 2009 saw resolution of a nearly invisible but monumental problem facing America’s first, and one of its most disadvantaged, populations. The settlement of Cobell v. Salazar, a lawsuit initiated 14 years ago by Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet...
Marc Simmons: Clothing of the Pueblos of New Mexico (02/01)
"I was reading an article recently by Marian Rodee, a noted expert on Pueblo textiles and clothing. She described a prehistoric shirt found intact in a cliff dwelling and compared it to a modern Pueblo shirt that is visually similar....
Delvin Cree: Census counts especially on reservations (02/01)
"A new motto should encourage American Indians to complete the U.S. Census and the updating of tribal enrollments. The slogan, “Do the Indian Census Roll” should be the mind-catching phrase to persuade tribally enrolled members to do both. It is...
Editorial: It's time to get rid of offensive 'Reds' mascot (02/01)
"It's time for the Reds to go. The Eaton High School mascot — a cartoon figure of a shirtless, scowling American Indian in a loin cloth and leather pants — is offensive. And not just to American Indians. We,...
Tim Giago: Natives finding true voice as Independents (02/01)
Like millions of other Americans I watched the State of the Union address by President Barack Obama almost as a moth drawn to a flame. I saw something afoot that I haven’t read about in the words of other columnists...
Dennis Gingold: The facts behind trust fund settlement (01/29)
"Mr. William Martin suggests in his opinion published Jan. 26, 2010, on Indian Country Today’s Web site that the $3.4 billion Cobell settlement is unfair to 500,000 individual Indians. Unfortunately, Mr. Martin omits mention of the fact that the settlement...
Doug George-Kanentiio: A Mohawk perspective on Haiti (01/29)
Haiti is a place of angry spirits never released from the agony of their passing. This land was called Ayiti by its Arawak-Taino native peoples who may, according to some, be the relatives of the Iroquois. We do have a...
Bozo Opinion: Obama pushing tribal jurisdiction bill (01/28)
"I can say, without reservation, that I’m not a racist. Black or white, yellow or brown, I don’t care, so long as the fellah is decent and sociable. Obama, however, IS racist, and it shows in this proposed piece of...
Gyasi Ross: Making excuses won't help Native people (01/28)
"See, I hear “intergenerational trauma” arguments over and over and over. I hear that the reason why Natives consistently serve as the poster children for FAS, teen suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence is because of what happened to us...
Editorial: Alaska Native corporation's weak defense (01/28)
"Chris O'Neil, president of Sealaska Corp., had a classic response to the criticism of Sen. Albert Kookesh for his threats to the Craig City Council if it opposed a Sealaska land claim before Congress. Weak but classic. Minimize the...
Column: Bill goes after 'Indian' mascots in Colorado (01/28)
"High schools with Native American mascots -- ” do the Montrose “Indians” ring a bell? -- will need approval from the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs if state Sen. Suzanne Williams has her way. Williams, a 20-year teacher, is one-quarter...
Editorial: Don't negotiate taxes with New York tribes (01/28)
"We were pleased to hear that Gov. David Paterson's proposed budget includes an attempt to collect taxes on cigarettes sold by Indian tribes, but we're not exactly holding our breaths while we wait to see what will come of it....
Jefferson Keel: Making Indian Country count in 2010 (01/27)
"On Jan. 25, the 2010 Census kicks off in the Inupiat Eskimo village of Noorvik, Alaska. No roads lead to this community, so Census workers will arrive by air, snow machine or dog sled – and they will need to...
Editorial: Alaska Native lawmaker jumped over the line (01/26)
"If there's an ethics complaint in the works against Sen. Al Kookesh of Angoon, then due process will take its course. But the senator's comments before the Craig City Council can't be read as anything other than no-veil-at-all threat...
Editorial: State shouldn't regulate Indian 'ceremonies' (01/26)
"Native Americans have a legitimate gripe against those who borrow religious practices, such as sweat-lodge ceremonies, without much understanding of the context or meaning. Offering a sweat-lodge experience for profit might be akin to setting up a booth at the...
Bill Martin: No rubber stamp for trust fund settlement (01/26)
"f you are anything like me, you breathed a sigh of relief when the news broke last month that the Cobell case had been settled. I suspect virtually everyone in Indian country welcomed the prospect of a Cobell settlement...
Mark Trahant: Transparency in health care reform bill (01/25)
"Perhaps one reason why the massive health care reform legislation is in so much trouble is that few people understand the details. The bill is massive, complicated, packed with official government jargon and so many specifics were kicked forward to...
Editorial: Taking action against Indian Country crime (01/25)
"The federal government has an obligation to fight crime on the nation's Indian reservations. While many people are frustrated with the vexing problems in Indian Country, giving up isn't an option. The U.S. Justice Department and the Bureau of Indian...
Opinion: Russian skaters owe apology to Aboriginals (01/25)
" I've always believed that if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all. So I'll start by saying that the interest in Aboriginal culture by the two talented Russian figure skaters, Oksana Domnina and...
Harlan McKosato: Obama's promise in Indian Country (01/25)
"President Obama is scheduled to deliver the State of the Union address this week, marking his first year in office. Although opinion is divided on how the president has acted upon his campaign promises and his slogans of "hope and...
Editorial: Crow Creek Sioux energy project promising (01/25)
"Ethanol, we know. But Torqazine? That's the name of the fuel that Victory Circle Fuels wants to build a plant to produce on Crow Creek Sioux tribal land - a move the tribal council endorsed unanimously last week. The feedstock...
Opinion: No need to be offended by 'Indian' mascots (01/25)
"Faced with a $1.5 billion budget shortfall that's crippling state services and forcing cuts to K-12 schools, a group of mostly statehouse Democrats have banded together towait for it — require public high schools to get state permission to...
Melvin Martin: The big question -- To fry or not to fry? (01/25)
Every Saturday evening I like to prepare a special meal for my relatives and a friend or two. At the conclusion of last Saturday's Southern-style pork chop supper, when I made the wholly innocent suggestion that I make venison stew,...
Charles Trimble: Reaching a settlement for Black Hills (01/25)
Lakota activist Bill Means got it right on when he wrote “Only in America if you steal something and hold onto it long enough does it become yours.” He was referring to the Indian trust funds settlement, or as it...
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