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

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

Building trust: Construction in Indian country.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Jun. 1--PHOENIX -- Business is booming in Indian country. From tribal offices to new resorts, the upsurge in construction comes with new challenges for Indian nations and contractors seeking to build trust, while...

Schwarzenegger proclamation on off-reservation gaming issued.
June 1, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 1--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation May 18 calling for new standards regarding off-reservation casinos and limited their ability to be built in urban areas. Schwarzenegger's...

Policy debate: Power plants on Navajo land.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Jun. 1--SHIPROCK, N.M. -- Four Corners power plants and coal mines on the Navajo Nation are some of the dirtiest power plants in the U.S. and among the nation's top 50 power plants for mercury emissions, reports...

Klamath fisheries facing closure.
June 8, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 8--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Hoopa and Yurok tribes on the far northern California coast are facing drastic cuts to their annual take of the salmon fishing harvest due to ongoing problems on the Klamath River. ...

Flawed data, media fuel gaming 'crisis'.
June 8, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 8--MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- If there is a crisis in American Indian gaming, it does not come from within the industry -- it comes from outside and is fueled by flawed or non-existent data that is accepted by...

Tribes fall victim to state deficits.
June 8, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 8--MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Tribal gaming officials gathering at many regional conferences across the country find their conversations are more serious and intense lately. Like most regional gatherings, the Great...

Class II regulation changes cause conflict.
June 8, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 8--MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- New regulations governing Class II gaming are opposed by the many tribes that have that level of gaming, and a lawsuit to stop the process has been filed in federal court. The new...

OPINION: Federal court rulings belie long struggle.
June 8, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Jun. 8--ONEIDA NATION HOMELAND, N.Y. -- Legal strategists are warning tribes to avoid taking cases to an unpredictable U.S. Supreme Court, especially since its anti-Indian ruling in the recent City of Sherrill v. Oneida...

Policy debate: Power plants on Navajo land.
June 8, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Jun. 8--WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- In a region quickly becoming known as another "Cancer Alley," the Navajo Nation is gaining air emissions control over two power plants on tribal land. After years of litigation and...

Court rules against tax on Keweenaw fee land.
June 15, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 15--DETROIT -- A federal district court judge has ruled that the state of Michigan cannot collect taxes on fee land owned by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community on the L'Anse Reservation in upper Michigan. This...

Pombo holds West Coast IGRA hearing.
June 15, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 15--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Although Sacramento is generally the seat of California government, members of a U.S. congressional committee decided to pay a visit recently. Three members of the House Committee on...

Suit to block California gaming deals dropped.
June 15, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 15--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A group of California horse racetrack operators who filed suit to prevent recently amended gaming compacts from taking effect dropped its lawsuit May 25. The suit had ostensibly prevented...

Southwest artists honored for excellence.
June 15, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Jun. 15--SANTA FE, N.M. -- As Santa Fe prepares for the Aug. 20 -- 21 Santa Fe Indian Market, a prestigious event that attracts artists, collectors, musicians and filmmakers, the Southwestern Association for Indian...

Mascot bill passes California Senate Education Committee.
June 15, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 15--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California state Senate Education Committee passed a bill that would ban the use of the term "Redskin" at the state's public schools. The June 8 hearing was at times tense and emotional....

Analysis: Kansas tax case threatens balance.
June 15, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Jun. 15--WASHINGTON -- Here's the next danger that an unpredictable U.S. Supreme Court holds for Indian country, a "bright line" that could become an economic noose. A major case involving a tribal gas station in...

New Oglala president under fire.
June 15, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 15--PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- The first woman to lead the Oglala Sioux Tribe is under fire from a handful of dissenters over funding and handling of the Head Start program and for negotiating loans. Cecilia Fire...

Volesky wants BIA job.
June 22, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 22--HURON, S.D. -- A South Dakota attorney wants his name to be considered for appointment as the assistant secretary for Indian affairs. Ron Volesky, attorney and member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe,...

EDITORIAL: Oneida Nation faces historic challenge.
June 22, 2005... Jun. 22--In the midst of the land claims fight with states, the litigation posture has not always proven the most rewarding. The result of too much conflict and litigation is a continual quick-response tendency to aggression that can permeate...

Waukazoo recognized for health work.
June 22, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 22--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Martin Waukazoo, the Oakland-based head of the Native American Health Center, was one of three recipients of the 2005 Champions of Health Professionals Diversity Award. The award was...

Study looks at historic site protocol.
June 22, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 22--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A newly released study makes several recommendations for federal agencies dealing with American Indian tribes on sacred or historical sites. The study was commissioned by the National...

OPINION: New York's Empire Zones strike back.
June 22, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Jun. 22--ALBANY, N.Y. -- Resentment over tax breaks fueled the City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. decision and the current crisis in New York state-Indian relations. Gov. George Pataki has yielded to...

OPINION: Supreme Court leaves ray of hope after Sherrill disaster.
June 22, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Jun. 22--ONEIDA NATION HOMELANDS, N.Y. -- The U.S. Supreme Court blew it in 1857, too. The infamous decision of that year centered on a slave, Dred Scott, who had been taken to free territory and then sold back into a...

Many jobs created during 'decade of respect'.
June 22, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Jun. 22--ONEIDA NATION HOMELANDS, N.Y. -- In May 1997, New York state Gov. George Pataki ended a crisis with the Iroquois Confederacy and state-recognized tribes on Long Island by repealing tax regulations for their...

EDITORIAL: Bolton nomination is wrong signal to the world.
June 29, 2005... Jun. 29--It is precisely the appointment of men like John Bolton, selected for the job of ambassador to the United Nations, who are willing to exaggerate and even make up evidence against supposed enemies of the United States and who intimidate...

Comprehensive Indian gaming report released.
June 29, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 29--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- While American Indian gaming grew at a fairly robust rate of 12 percent and grossed a total of $19 billion in the past year, there are signs that growth may be slowing in some regions of the...

Yurok, Quechan sign compacts.
June 29, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 29--SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The economic fates of the Yurok and Quechan tribes, separated by nearly 1,000 miles and located in diametrically opposed ends of California, are now linked following Gov. Arnold...

Lavish Fourth of July celebrations planned.
June 29, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Jun. 29--MASHANTUCKET, Conn. -- Independence Day might arouse mixed emotions in Native historians, but Indian country will put on some lavish celebrations this year anyway. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation will...

Hopi plan action against Forest Service.
June 29, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Jun. 29--WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- "I am disappointed but not at all surprised at this latest decision of the Forest Service to uphold the desecration of Nuvatukyaovi [San Francisco Peaks]," Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor...

Researcher reveals new face of Indian country.
June 29, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Jun. 29--ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- With the publication of the new, second edition, "Tiller's Guide to Indian Country," Jicarilla Apache businessman Veronica Velarde Tiller said there is a demand for research and...

Comedy is a day's work.
June 29, 2005... Byline: Brenda Norrell Jun. 29--ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Rooted in Native traditions, Navajo and Pueblo have found comedy, reggae and hip-hop a means of preserving culture and language, while empowering Native youths to be who they are. ...

Meeting tears down barriers to financial community.
June 29, 2005... Byline: Jim Adams Jun. 29--UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Wall Street is named for a fortification originally built to keep Indians out of lower Manhattan. But tribes are breaching the barrier with ever-increasing frequency. Another Native...

Noted filmmakers join to form production company.
June 29, 2005... Byline: James May Jun. 29--LOS ANGELES -- When film director Chris Eyre and veteran producer Scott Garen were approached by National Museum of the American Indian director Rick West to create a short film for the museum, they knew they had...

Senate committee tackles suicide.
June 29, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 29--WASHINGTON -- Suicide is the second leading cause of death among American Indian youth aged 15-24, but that is no surprise to anyone who lives on a reservation in the Great Plains. What is surprising is...

Community members speak out.
June 29, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 29--BISMARK, N.D. -- At a recent field hearing in Bismarck, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., heard testimony from community members about the prevalence of suicide among youth on reservations in the Great Plains. ...

Challenge for trust reform measures met.
June 29, 2005... Byline: David Melmer Jun. 29--WASHINGTON -- When Congress asked Indian country leaders to unite and develop a plan for trust reform, Indian country met the challenge. Now the ball is back in Congress' court. Senate Indian Affairs...