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

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

Drought and fires ravage Plains-area reservations.
August 2, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 2--FORT YATES, N.D. -- As temperatures climb and humidity drops, firefighters on the Plains reservations watch for fires and listen for that call to action. The past few weeks have meant hard and long hours...

EDITORIAL: In trust we trust; others pay taxes.(Editorial)
August 2, 2006... Aug. 2--Enemies of tribal sovereignty have targeted land-into-trust as the next Indian policy to throw into the meat grinder of the U.S. Supreme Court. They have attacked it from one end of the country to another. So far, they've failed. U.S....

EDITORIAL: Kudos and consequences.(Editorial)
August 2, 2006... Aug. 2--INDIGENOUS GAMES, UNITED NATIONS AND PERPETUAL WAR: Strongest of kudos to the organizers of and participants in the indigenous Olympics held in Denver in early July. More than 7,000 Native athletes from 34 delegations (23 American and...

Schreier: Reorganization must stop.
August 2, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 2--RAPID CITY, S.D. -- A U.S. district court judge ordered the Office of Indian Education Programs to stop any restructuring or the hiring or removal of any education employees in the Plains. Judge Karen...

Gaming act changes sink under Senate holds.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 2--WASHINGTON -- A cluster of holds on a Senate bill to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has forced its sponsor to acknowledge that the time for overcoming them grows short in an election year. Sen....

Pombo steers gaming bill to full House.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 2--WASHINGTON -- The Resources Committee in the House of Representatives has sent a bill that would end reservation shopping to the full House by a vote of 27 in favor and nine opposed. "Reservation...

Settlement number in Cobell remains elusive.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 2--WASHINGTON -- A week of escalations in the suspense over a sum to settle the Cobell v. Kempthorne trust funds litigation ended in perfect character for such a convoluted lawsuit -- the money went missing, a...

Keweenaw Bay victory could help landowners.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Jim Adams Aug. 2--KEWEENAW BAY, Mich. -- Homeowners throughout Indian country could benefit if the recent U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in favor of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community remains unchallenged. A three-judge...

European misconceptions leave a costly legacy.
August 9, 2006... Aug. 9--European misreadings of American Indians should be a problem for Europeans, not for Indians, but somehow Natives have always been the ones paying the price. And it's been a steep price indeed when even the best intentioned...

Tribes hit back; lobbyists sued for damages.
August 9, 2006... Aug. 9--Perhaps Congress won't tackle the corruption of pay-as-you-go lobbying on the American political system, but at least a couple of Indian tribes are fighting back, playing hardball against lobbyists and lobbying firms that have...

Navajo presidential candidates express frustration over leaders.
August 9, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 9--WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- Navajo presidential candidates sharply criticized Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. and Vice President Frank Dayish Jr., and accused the team of corruption and failing to fulfill their...

Ex-president Fire Thunder on the offensive.
August 9, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 9--RAPID CITY, S.D. -- The ousted and battle-weary president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Cecelia Fire Thunder, is not lying down and giving up: she is fighting her impeachment in court and claims she is still...

May I Suggest ... 'The White Man's Burden' by William Easterly.
August 9, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 9--Wealthy people rely on free markets and entrepreneurs; poor people rely on bureaucracies and planners. Wealthy nations have tried to help poorer nations, but even the comparatively unformed market...

Indian leaders file petition to cancel `Redskins' trademark.
August 12, 2006... Byline: Sarah Moses CANASTOTA, N.Y. _ Six American Indian young people from across the country filed a joint petition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Friday for the cancellation of the...

Election fraud alleged in Red Lake runoff.
August 16, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 16--RED LAKE, Minn. -- Lloyd "Buck" Jourdain was elected by a narrow margin in a runoff election on the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Reservation, only to have the tribal election board order another election. ...

Indigenous in Americas just say 'no' to papal bull.
August 16, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 16--PHOENIX -- Indigenous in the Americas are demanding that the "doctrines of discovery," the papal bulls that led to the seizure of American Indian homelands, be rescinded. At the Summit of Indigenous...

Kempthorne turns biker during rally.
August 16, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 16--STURGIS, S.D. -- Secretary of the Interior Department Dirk Kempthorne saw some of the forests that are managed by his department from a back of a motorcycle. Kempthorne and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., both...

A lineup of lobbyists.
August 16, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 16--EDITORS'NOTE: This is the second in a three-part series on lobbyists in Indian country. WASHINGTON -- Each lobbyist described below shared some or all of the top lobbyist traits identified by Indian...

Lovejoy to vie for presidency in Navajo's November elections.
August 16, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 16--WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. came in first in the Navajo primary, according to unofficial results; but the person in second place, Lynda Lovejoy, claims a victory and title all her...

Protesters take message to Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
August 16, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 16--STURGIS, S.D. -- The Gathering of Nations to Defend Bear Butte camp at Bear Butte Mountain took the message directly to the bikers at the 66th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. They may be of more help than...

New petition to cancel 'Redskins' trademark.
August 16, 2006... Byline: Sarah Moses Aug. 16--CANASTOTA, N.Y. -- Six American Indian young people from across the country filed a joint petition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Aug. 11 for the cancellation...

Eastern Pequots survive BIA and celebrate elders.
August 16, 2006... Byline: Jim Adams Aug. 16--LANTERN HILL RESERVATION, Conn. -- The reversal of its federal recognition last year put the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation through something like post-traumatic stress disorder. Personal tensions wracked the...

Small Business Administration designation boosts bank's profitability.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 23--DENVER -- When well-known Native banker J.D. Colbert agreed to helm the Native American Bank, he inherited daunting challenges. The biggest of these was that the bank had not turned a profit in its five...

Arizona border wall is a source of conflict for Tohono O'odham Nation.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 23--SELLS, Ariz. -- The National Guard is preparing to construct a border wall, referred to as a "vehicle barrier" by the United States, on Tohono O'odham tribal land at the border, which has been sanctioned by...

Giving is a tradition with the Dakota.
August 23, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 23--PRIOR LAKE, Minn.-- Many indigenous nations across the country have the spirit of sharing embedded within the culture and that giving is still part of everyday life for many people. Now, something new has...

EDITORIAL: Fate of the bumblebee: 'More important than the president'.(Editorial)
August 23, 2006... Aug. 23--While humans pontificate grandly about ecological realities and drop bombs on each other without mercy, some of the little beings of nature are going away, perhaps increasingly taking with them our human ability to subsist on this...

O'odham on Arizona border protest military home invasions.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 23--GU-VO DISTRICT, Tohono O'odham Nation, Ariz. -- As the National Guard sets up observation posts on Tohono O'odham tribal land on the border, O'odham say homes are being invaded by U.S. Border Patrol agents...

Pension measure surprises tribes.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 23--WASHINGTON -- Three lines in the more than 900-page Pension Protection Act that President George W. Bush is expected to sign into law as early as Aug. 18 will fly against tribal self-determination and force...

Energy rights of way draft report up for public comment.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 23--WASHINGTON -- A worrisomely awaited draft report to Congress on energy rights of way across tribal lands will be the subject of public meetings held through the end of August in key cities around the...

Navajos, Pueblos protest Albuquerque, N.M., Tricentennial Celebration.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 23--ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Navajos and Pueblos protesting the Albuquerque Tricentennial Celebration said the conquest of lands and slaughter of Native people should not be a cause for celebration. Eulynda...

Kumeyaay southwest border project brings benefits to all.
August 30, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 30--TUCSON, Ariz. -- Kumeyaay in California are reuniting with Kumeyaay in Baja California, Mexico, with exchanges that benefit tribal members on both sides of the border. However, Kumeyaay now face a new threat...

Wabasha, Minn., National Eagle Center receives $500,000 donation.
August 30, 2006... Aug. 30--WELCH, Minn. -- The Prairie Island Indian Community presented a $500,000 check to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha on Aug. 22. This donation nearly completes the organization's fund-raising goal of $4.3 million to build the...

National Congress of American Indians responds to border concerns.
August 30, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 30--TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Bush administration recently initiated efforts that would nullify the benefits of the Jay Treaty, which recognizes the right of border passage to indigenous peoples at the northern...

Tohono O'odham, others reveal life in a militarized zone at public hearing.
August 30, 2006... Byline: Brenda Norrell Aug. 30--TUCSON, Ariz. -- Rep. Raul Grijalva and others heard from indigenous whose communities are located on both sides of the border, along with other border residents describing the realities of death in the...

Senate Appropriations Committee notes fiscal needs of Native Americans.
August 30, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 30--WASHINGTON -- The Senate Appropriations Committee drew an audience of several hundred to its meeting July 20, inspiring a few dry sparks of humor among lawmakers on the crowds they command when passing out...

Circuit Court of Appeals hands down favorable decision in voting rights case.
August 30, 2006... Byline: David Melmer Aug. 30--ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The state of South Dakota has been given notice that a redistricting plan put in place by the U.S. District Court was a workable solution for American Indian voters in the state. The 8th...

Indian Country Today, Oneida, N.Y., Washington briefs column.(Column)
August 30, 2006... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Aug. 30--'WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR' ON TAX-EXEMPT BONDING BILL: A bill to provide tribes with a broader authority to issue tax-exempt bonds, already sponsored by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., will be shelved until prospects...