Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) articles from February 2005

Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) archives from February 2005

Gaming revenue big issue for Minnesota governor.
February 2, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Feb. 2--ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota gaming tribes have fought off a barrage of threats by the Minnesota governor who wants money from the tribes to help balance the state budget, but the tribes now have some allies....

Disenrolled tribal members recall tribal council.
February 2, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 2--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Countering a previous move by the tribal council, a disenrolled faction from the Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe of the Enterprise Rancheria in the Sierra Nevada foothills has staged a recall...

DQ University students call for resignations.
February 2, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 2--DAVIS, Calif. -- A group of DQ University students held a press conference on Jan. 26 calling for school president Victor Gabriel and his Executive Assistant Shiella McCampbell to resign. The calls come less than...

South Dakota reprieve in voting rights violation.
February 2, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Feb. 2--PIERRE, S.D. -- American Indian voters in South Dakota may have to wait to elect their candidate of choice in redesigned districts until the state Supreme Court decides whether redistricting now would violate...

Gambling indictment aftershocks.
February 9, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 9--NEW YORK -- It's not just horses. The tribal casinos caught, innocently they say, in the aftershocks of a major illegal-gambling indictment are taking the impact on one side of federal national security concerns...

N.Y. land claim deal.
February 9, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 9--ALBANY, N.Y. -- Mohawk leaders signed an amended land claim deal with New York Gov. George Pataki Feb. 1 that clears the way for their long-delayed Catskills casino and defers the volatile sales tax issue for...

Compensation for Lower Brule and Crow Creek.
February 9, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Feb. 9--WASHINGTON -- Two South Dakota tribes did not receive adequate compensation for lands lost as a result of Missouri River flood control projects. The Lower Brule and Crow Creek Sioux tribes, located on...

Navajo president addresses issues.
February 9, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Feb. 9--WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. urged the Navajo Nation Council to be diligent in its use of funds and seek new remedies for the current jail crisis, as the tribe prepares to move into...

NIGC probe uncovered trail to major racetrack scandal.
February 9, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 9--NEW YORK -- When two Brooklyn gamblers showed up at the 300-seat Tonkawa bingo hall in north-central Oklahoma in the fall of 2000, they weren't there to daub bingo cards. According to federal investigators and...

Federal sentencing up to judges.
February 9, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Feb. 9--WASHINGTON -- American Indians in the federal court system may find it easier to get a favorable sentence, and those whose sentences are considered extreme may get another day in court. The U.S. Supreme...

Tsunami relief focuses on safe water systems.
February 9, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Feb. 9--SEATTLE -- An American Indian relief effort, of indigenous to indigenous, is under way to deliver safe drinking water systems to communities in Asia suffering from the devastation of the tsunami. Robert...

Lawsuit latest chapter in Humboldt State dispute.
February 9, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 9--ARCATA, Calif. -- An American Indian Humboldt State University professor has filed a lawsuit against the school claiming discrimination and harassment in the latest chapter of troubles with American Indian faculty...

Army, tribes to decide on Hudson's Bay-era cemetery.
February 16, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 16--VANCOUVER, Wash. -- On the north banks of the Columbia River in this modern day town opposite Portland, Ore. sits the historic site of a former fort used by the fabled Hudson's Bay Company in the 19th century....

Coeur d'Alene casino urges New York to restore horse racing OTB signals.
February 16, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 16--WORLEY, IDAHO -- The Coeur d'Alene tribal casino is offering to bring in neutral third-party auditors to review its off-track betting operation in a bid to win back New York horse racing simulcast signals. ...

South Dakota tribes mired in land use misinformation.
February 16, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Feb. 16--RAPID CITY, S.D. -- The state of South Dakota, by way of the Attorney General's office, has established a reputation of standing in the way of tribal economic development by filing lawsuits that prevent the...

Colorado Regents probe '9/11 essay professor' Churchill's record.
February 16, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 16--BOULDER, Colo. -- Ward Churchill's controversy continues to flame, but the focus is shifting away from questions about his personal Indian identity to a formal look at his academic record. At a special...

Doubts loom over Mohawk tax talks.
February 16, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 16--ALBANY, N.Y. -- As the St. Regis Mohawk tribal council negotiates a sales tax deal with New York state Gov. George Pataki, it has one overriding question to answer to the Akwesasne community and to Indian country...

IRS investigating tax-exempt bonds at Cabazon.
February 16, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 16--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Should tax-exempt bonds, a mainstay of cities and other public governments for funding public projects, be issued to tribal entities for their resort facilities? Apparently this is a...

Urban Indian summit mirrors population shift.
February 16, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Feb. 16--PHOENIX -- American Indians and Alaska Natives are organizing assistance to fellow urban Indians, who now constitute more than half of all Indians in the United States, following a radical shift in...

Sister cities Portland, Denver and Chicago: Reaching for home.
February 16, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Feb. 16--PHOENIX -- Stretched across the nation, Portland, Denver and Chicago are sister cities, sharing the common bond of attracting large numbers of American Indians in search of new beginnings. The cities,...

Tribal faction claims nearby tribe not legitimate.
February 16, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 16--IONE, Calif. -- Just a few miles from this Sierra Foothill town sits Buena Vista Peak. Sitting on a perch at this tranquil spot on a clear day, looking to the west across the expanse of the Sacramento Valley,...

South Dakota ICWA report complete.
February 22, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Feb. 22--PIERRE, S.D. -- One year ago, the governor of South Dakota sidetracked a bill that would have required the state to abide by the federal Indian Child Welfare Act and instead organized a commission that would...

Churchill affair prompts shakeup.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 22--HAMILTON, N.Y. -- Unabating furor over Ward Churchill has led to yet another academic resignation, this time at the controversial program at Hamilton College in upstate New York where the current affair hit the...

Mutual cooperation agreement three times over in northern Calif.
February 22, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 22--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In late January, a former intergovernmental ad hoc committee took steps towards becoming a formal body and hoped to use its combined strength to have a voice in Indian gaming developments....

Land into trust is this year's hot issue.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 22--BOSTON -- Call it "reservation shopping" or "land into trust," but the arcane process by which the federal government establishes "Indian country" has suddenly emerged as one of the hottest tribal issues of the...

GRAMMYs and NAMMYs celebrate Native music.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Feb. 22--HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- The eclectic sound of Indian country, from rap to rock 'n' roll and traditional, captured awards at the 7th Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMMYs) and the 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards....

USET opposes 'reservation shopping'.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Feb. 22--WASHINGTON -- The premier lobbying group for Eastern tribes has joined the fight against "reservation shopping" and Congressional action to ratify New York state land claims settlements. During the annual...

Blood is thicker than oil.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Feb. 22--SAN ANTONIO -- The state of Texas has recognized the descendants of five mission areas as the Aboriginal people of South Texas. However, in the oil-rich and primarily privately-owned state, American Indians...

Tsunami EAGLES relief team delivers magic in Thailand.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Feb. 22--PHANG NGA PROVINCE, Thailand -- Reaching out to a fishing village in Thailand, an American Indian-organized relief team brought smiles and healing hands to Phang Nga, a province in southern Thailand where...

Bay Area TV report called 'erroneous' by CNIGA.
February 22, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 22--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) claims a report that appeared on an Oakland-based television station's Web site and aired as a news segment contained erroneous...

Makah seek waiver on whaling.
February 22, 2005... Byline: James May Feb. 22--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For at least a millennium and a half, the Makah Tribe in Washington state harvested whales from the nearby Pacific Ocean on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula. In the 1920s they...