Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) articles from March 2007

Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) archives from March 2007

Northeastern woodland tribes come to life in artist's work.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 7--GIBSONIA, Pa. -- As a boy growing up in rural northwestern Pennsylvania, artist Robert Griffing haunted the Indian trails that ran through the woods near his home, imagining he could still find a tree on...

Gun Lake, Interior win land into trust lawsuit.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 7--BRADLEY, Mich. -- A U.S. District Court judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed by anti-Indian casino group MichGO against the Interior Department, freeing the federal agency to take land into trust for...

EDITORIAL: RACIST RHETORIC SETS US ALL BACK.(Editorial)
March 7, 2007... Mar. 7--New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's approval on Feb. 20 of an off-reservation casino for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe marked a rare occasion in Indian gaming. Only three times before has a state supported a tribe in such an endeavor. For the...

Interior's problems due to 'lack of accountability,' inspector general says.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 7--WASHINGTON -- Despite charges of a criminal conspiracy at the Interior Department and attacks on his own investigatory report, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney maintained a stoic insistence Feb. 16...

Vermont state agencies clash over recognition authority.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 7--MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The chairman of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs is seeking independent legal representation for the commission after clashing with the deputy attorney general over...

An interview with Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., SCIA chairman.(Interview)
March 7, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 7--WASHINGTON -- For the first time since 2003, a Democratic chairman will take up the gavel of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota has been a member of Congress since...

International development agency commits to indigenous workshops.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 7--WASHINGTON -- Following a noon meeting Feb. 21 in Washington, an institutional structure is in place to monitor the impact of the U.S. Agency for International Development on indigenous peoples. Armstrong...

'Tour of the Nations' rolls through New Mexico.
March 14, 2007... Mar. 14--GALLUP, N.M. -- Adventure Gallup and Beyond is offering a remarkable behind-the-scenes look at a landscape most of New Mexico's visitors would love to see via the first-ever Tour of the Nations recreational bike tour, Aug. 5 -- 10. ...

Tax ruling could affirm sovereignty.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 14--NEW YORK -- In a turnaround from previous promises -- or threats -- to collect state taxes on tribal cigarette sales, the New York state attorney general's office is seeking a declaratory judgment...

EDITORIAL: Indian health care rations in Walter Reed's shadow.(Editorial)
March 14, 2007... Mar. 14--By now, the entire nation knows about veterans under the care of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Veterans who had given everything to the war effort were found to be living in squalid conditions, with the usual...

Exhibition honors Mohawk ironworkers.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 14--MASHANTUCKET, Conn. -- The thought of walking on narrow steel beams hundreds of feet above the ground while connecting the nuts and bolts of a modern high-rise building is enough to induce an anxiety...

Stage adaptation of Leonard Peltier novel premieres.
March 14, 2007... Mar. 14--BOULDER, Colo. -- Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Theatre13 and Warrior Artists Productions recently announced the world premiere of the staged adaptation of "Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance," written by imprisoned human...

New evidence surfaces in Schaghticoke appeal.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 14--KENT, Conn. -- A batch of handwritten notes about the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation's historic marriage rates surfaced recently at the BIA, raising more questions about how and why Interior Department...

Eastern Pequots vote to appoint 'ambassadors' and pursue justice.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 14--NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation council has voted to appoint two former chairmen as liaisons and goodwill ambassadors while the tribe pursues ways to regain its federal...

Judge grants anti-Indian group's stay on land into trust case in Michigan.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 21--BRADLEY, Mich. -- Just days after a federal district court judge tossed out an anti-Indian group's lawsuit to stop the Interior Department from taking land into trust for the Gun Lake Tribe's planned...

Narragansetts' smoke shop raid case gets new venue.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 21--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Seven members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe facing criminal charges in connection with a notorious state police smoke shop raid on tribal lands will have their cases heard in...

Fuel oil program praised for aiding many poor tribes.
March 21, 2007... Byline: David Melmer Mar. 21--HELENA, Mont. -- CITGO Petroleum Corp. came to the rescue of thousands of American Indian families in the Great Plains this past winter with a donation that assisted with the cost of heating homes during a...

Public schools in South Dakota to include American Indian education.
March 21, 2007... Byline: David Melmer Mar. 21--PIERRE, S.D. -- Students in South Dakota will hear different approaches to the state's history in the next school year: they will be exposed to American Indian culture and the language of the Lakota. Much...

Michigan and Gun Lake Tribe sign gaming compact.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 21--LANSING, Mich. -- The Gun Lake Tribe and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a tribal/state Class III gaming compact on March 9 that could bring millions of dollars in revenue to the state and local...

'This year' is the year for health care bill.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 21--WASHINGTON -- The message sounded again and again throughout the National Congress of American Indians Tribal Nations Legislative Summit, Feb. 26 -- 28: Congressional reauthorization of the Indian Health...

Reauthorization of health act vowed by Senate committee.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 21--WASHINGTON -- By the end of a health care hearing March 8, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs had forced clarity on at least two points: a bill to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act will...

Expert testifies that bill may not violate U.S. Constitution.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 21--WASHINGTON -- Appearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on March 8 and the Natural Resources Committee in the House of Representatives on March 14, constitutional scholar Edward Lazarus...

Appeals court rules to protect sacred peaks.
March 21, 2007... Mar. 21--FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- On March 12, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling to protect the San Francisco Peaks, a mountain held holy by more than 13 Native nations. The slopes of the Peaks, located in northern Arizona, have been...

No funds to be given for S.D. non-beneficiary students.
March 21, 2007... Byline: David Melmer Mar. 21--PIERRE, S.D. -- For the past several years, bills requesting funding from state coffers for tribal colleges in South Dakota have been defeated. A rejuvenated bill asked this year to have the state provide...

Indian Country Today, Oneida, N.Y., Washington briefs column.(Column)
March 21, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 21--HEALTH CARE REAUTHORIZATION ON FAST TRACK: At the outset of a Natural Resources Committee hearing in the House of Representatives March 14, Chairman Nick Rahall said the lion's share of blame for ongoing...

EDITORIAL: Media gambling with credibility.(Editorial)
March 28, 2007... Mar. 28--In Indian gaming, unfairness and lack of credibility are constant threats -- from the national media. The latest example comes from BusinessWeek magazine, which published in its March 26 edition a one-sided critique of the...

Protesters demand new Pine Ridge election.
March 28, 2007... Byline: David Melmer Mar. 28--PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- Claims that the Oglala Sioux Tribe's general and primary elections last fall were tainted with corruption, illegally held and in violation of the people's right to a fair election have...

Native Hawaiian housing bill gets first-round rejection.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 28--WASHINGTON -- Late in the business day on March 21, the Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act fell short of a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives. The tally meant lawmakers had rejected a motion...

New music released by GRAMMY-honored performers.
March 28, 2007... Mar. 28--PHOENIX -- New music by GRAMMY winner Johnny Mike and GRAMMY-nominated signers Alex E. Smith and Cheevers Toppah has been released, along with two other albums from Canyon Records. Canyon Records announced the release of four new...

Production under way on ambitious PBS series.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 28--BOSTON -- As hordes of settlers pushed west, occupying and expropriating the vast aboriginal territories that had been home to the continent's indigenous peoples since time immemorial, the great...

Judge allows Schaghticoke more testimony from Interior officials.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 28--NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A federal court judge will allow the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation to take testimony from additional Interior Department officials, and has ordered the department and a high-powered...

Residents support repeal of law blocking Narragansett gaming.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Gale Courey Toensing Mar. 28--CHARLESTOWN, R.I -- The Narragansetts' years of legal struggles to gain the normal sovereign rights that other federally recognized tribes enjoy may gain traction now with a new poll that shows Rhode...

Indian Country Today, Oneida, N.Y., Washington briefs column.(Column)
March 28, 2007... Byline: Jerry Reynolds Mar. 28--DEROSIER ARRIVES AT NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION: National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Phil Hogen hailed the swearing-in of Norm DesRosier at a small gathering of lobbyists and bureaucrats March...