Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) articles from April 2006

Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) archives from April 2006

Native arts institute names new president.
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--SANTA FE, N.M. -- The Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development, a fully accredited, four-year degree-granting college, has named Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet its president. Manuelito-Kerkvliet, a...

Hero or criminal? O'odham man works to save lives at border.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 5--BABOQUIVARI DISTRICT, Ariz. -- Tohono O'odham Mike Wilson's truck is loaded with water -- plastic gallons and huge jugs of it. Wilson is delivering water alone, as he has been doing for the past five years,...

EDITORIAL: Fire Thunder's choice worthy of respect.(Editorial)
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--Cecilia Fire Thunder, the embattled first female president of the Oglala Sioux Nation in South Dakota, caught a tiger by the tail when she pronounced herself an entrenched supporter of women's reproductive rights. When the South...

Bureaucracy thought to hamper education.
April 5, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 5--FORT YATES, N.D. -- Education in Indian country lags behind the rest of the nation for many reasons, and inadequate funding and meddling by the bureaucracy may be the top reason why, according to tribal...

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act reforms go to full Senate.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 5--WASHINGTON -- The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs voted by voice March 29 to send a bill amending the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act out of committee to the full Senate, a move long resisted by many tribes...

Nations come together to change trust reform act.
April 5, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 5--FORT YATES, N.D. -- Tribes from different regions came together in a historic meeting to find common ground in order to provide input on the proposed Indian Trust Reform Act. Tribal leaders from the...

OPINION: Indigenous sentiment kindles immigration rights marches.
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--Nearly three-quarters of a million people marched in major cities around the United States March 26 to protest foolish punitive legislation on "illegal" immigration. It was the largest political demonstration of a generation, surprising...

Oglala president takes center stage on women's clinic.
April 12, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 12--PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- The nearly total ban on abortion by the state of South Dakota has vaulted a tribal president to national prominence with her plan to build a clinic for women on a reservation that will...

ANALYSIS: Outcome unclear for Senate immigration debate.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 12--WASHINGTON -- Democracy in action has brought immigration law to the foreground in Congress, and now a legislative system designed to deal decisively with the most divisive issues must prove its prowess in...

Bear Butte to see another biker bar.
April 12, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 12--STURGIS, S.D. -- Another biker bar will live in the shadow of the sacred Bear Butte in the Northern Black Hills. With a vote of 5 to 0, the Meade County commissioners approved a malt beverage license April...

EDITORIAL: Congratulations to the Mashpee Wampanoag.(Editorial)
April 12, 2006... Apr. 12--Heartfelt congratulations to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Cape Cod, Mass. We've known all along that they belong to one of the most historic Indian nations on the continent, the first to welcome the English Pilgrims and the first to...

Support for immigrant rights emerges.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 12--TUCSON, Ariz. -- Waving American flags and Mexican flags, protesters opposed anti-immigration legislation in Washington, called for the ouster of President George Bush and celebrated renewed pride in their...

Marquez reiterates IGRA needs changes.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 12--On April 3, Deron Marquez yielded chairmanship of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to the vice chairman during his last term, Henry Duro. Duro immediately stated to the San Bernardino regional media in...

Annual World Water Forum disappointing to indigenous.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 12--MEXICO CITY -- Indigenous peoples attending the recent 4th Annual World Water Forum said the gathering catered to corporate interests, while denying the legitimacy of indigenous people and their spiritual...

Western Shoshone oppose planned 700-ton detonation.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 19--ELKO, Nev. -- Western Shoshone opposed the Pentagon's planned 700-ton detonation on aboriginal Western Shoshone land, as a delegation of Western Shoshone returned from Geneva, Switzerland, with support from...

Saginaw Chippewa return Abramoff-tainted funds.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 19--WASHINGTON -- The casino-wealthy Saginaw Chippewa Tribe in Michigan has decided to return a $3 million federal grant for school construction that it received as a client tribe of indicted lobbyist Jack...

Construction conference promotes 'growing our own'.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 19--FORT MCDOWELL YAVAPAI NATION, Ariz. -- Some 500 participants from the United States and Canada attended the recent third annual Construction in Indian Country conference. The event was an opportunity for...

Cobell trust case enters critical phase.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 19--WASHINGTON -- The issues before the court in the Cobell v. Norton class action lawsuit over the Individual Indian Money trust are accounting issues. The plaintiff class has demanded that the government...

Gaming association donates to groups that help youths.
April 19, 2006... Apr. 19--ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The National Indian Gaming Association announced on April 3 an ambitious charitable fund-raising campaign that will donate $10 million to two organizations benefiting Indian youth. The Boys and Girls Clubs of...

Lawsuit asks for change in health care.
April 19, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 19--DETROIT -- David Stone, White Earth Band of Chippewa, suffers from a botched hernia operation that he alleges occurred because the IHS did not have the resources to pay for a proper operation. Stone was...

Immigration march stampedes nation's capital.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 19--WASHINGTON -- At the April 10 Washington march for humanitarian immigration reform, telling moments abounded, but all of them together weren't as telling as the contrast between democracy in action and...

Protesters point out racist nature of proposed congressional legislation.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 19--HOUSTON -- As hundreds of thousands of marchers nationwide protested proposed federal anti-immigration legislation on April 10, provoking counter-demonstrators and student and teacher walkouts in Tucson,...

Organizations deal with culture and business.
April 19, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 19--CUSTER, S.D. -- "What do I say when a tourist asks if it's safe to drive onto the reservation? Do you have a hospital or clinic? Do Indians shake hands? Why don't Indian people look us in the eyes?" Those...

Indian programs to take a hit in proposed Bush budget.
April 19, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 19--WASHINGTON -- The president's fiscal year 2007 budget is an attack on Indian country and reflects skewed priorities, according to some U.S. senators. "What is lacking is not the money; what is lacking is...

Pombo rides again against off-reservation gaming.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 19--WASHINGTON -- Rep. Richard Pombo took up the gavel against off-reservation gaming again April 5, convening the latest in a series of House Resources Committee hearings aimed at amending the Indian Gaming...

After long struggle, Vermont recognizes Abenaki rights.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Adams Apr. 19--MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Barring last-minute hitches, the Abenaki could receive long-sought state recognition in a formal signing ceremony as early as April 18. Supporters of the northern Vermont tribe are hoping to...

Indigenous caught in web of border policies.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 26--TUCSON, Ariz. -- Indigenous communities living on both sides of the border are caught in the web of bi-national politics, the struggle to survive and a growing racism fueled by fear in the United States,...

The real federal deficit weighs in at ... $760 billion.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 26--WASHINGTON -- For those who have harbored doubts about the Bush administration's official statements of the federal deficit, a harrowing confirmation came in mid-April. The federal deficit for fiscal year...

EPA honors tribes as environmental heroes.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 26--SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selected American Indian tribes in the West, along the border and in Hawaii for environmental excellence, during the EPA's eighth annual...

Navajo president creates task force to battle federal budget cuts.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 26--WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- Speaking to the Navajo Nation Council, President Joe Shirley Jr. urged action to prevent the Bush Administration from slicing $109 million in funding for the BIA, which would devastate...

Health issues change little.
April 26, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 26--RAPID CITY, S.D. -- Health care in Indian country has been labeled as horrible, abysmal and an embarrassment. The IHS is chronically underfunded; and each year as budgets are rolled out, money shifts and...

Housing council wonders about zeroed budgets.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Apr. 26--WASHINGTON -- The National American Indian Housing Council keeps getting zeroed out of Bush administration budget requests, despite a track record of technical assistance in home ownership and upkeep that is...

Six Nations Reserve repels Ontario police.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Jim Adams Apr. 26--OHSWEKEN, Ontario -- More than 1,000 residents of Canada's Six Nations Reserve rushed to the site of a standoff between Native protesters and the Ontario Provincial Police during the early hours of April 20 after...

Six Nations: 'They've started a war!'.
April 26, 2006... Apr. 26--The recent massive early morning police raid on an encampment of Indian protesters at Six Nations Reserve in Canada left little doubt that authorities in that country are ready to play hardball over Indian claims, particularly when...

Drug abuse and suicide are top concerns of regional leaders.
April 26, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Apr. 26--RAPID CITY, S.D. -- Emerging priorities in health care in Indian country are as diverse as Indian country itself and difficult to categorize. Federal and state health officials recently heard comments from...

Navajos protest water talks with Peabody Coal.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Apr. 26--WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- Navajos marched to the Navajo Nation Council and protested the tribe's negotiations with Peabody Coal, opposing the use of Navajos' pristine aquifer water by coal mines and power...