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DOJ announces Indian Country crime initiatives (10/30)
Attorney General Eric Holder attended the second day of the Department of Justice tribal nations listening conference in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday. Holder announced the creation of the Tribal Nations Leadership Council to advise the department on Indian...
1st Circuit dismisses Passamaquoddy LNG case (10/29)
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit that challenged federal approval of a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Passamaquoddy Reservation in Maine. Tribal leaders at Pleasant Point signed a contract with Quoddy Bay LNG to...
Alaska Native man to plead guilty in hunt case (10/29)
One of the Alaska Native men charged for violating state hunting laws will plead guilty for shooting more than 100 caribou and leaving many to waste. Randy John Oktollik, 26, told The Anchorage Daily News he is innocent of the...
Changes in store for Native contracting program (10/29)
The Small Business Administration is proposing a number of changes to the 8(a) federal contracting program. The changes will impose some limits on tribal and Alaska Native businesses. For example, tribal and Native businesses would be forced to "graduate" from...
Crow man sentenced for robbery with toy gun (10/29)
A man from the Crow Reservation in Montana was sentenced to three years in prison for robbing a convenience store with a toy gun. Jeremiah Paul Stewart, 24, didn't take anything from the TeePee Service store during the August 2006...
Oglala man seeks release from federal prison (10/29)
Douglas White, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, is seeking release from a 292-month federal prison sentence. White, 88, was convicted in 1991 of sexually abusing his two grandsons, who have since recanted, the Associated...
Mashantucket officer attacked at burial grounds (10/29)
Authorities in Connecticut are looking for a man suspected of attacking a police officer for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The incident occurred Wednesday night at the tribe's burial grounds. Tribal police said they lost contact with the officer and...
Some Flathead Reservation bars allow smoking (10/29)
The Montana Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect earlier this month but not all bars on the Flathead Reservation are happy with it. Tribal-owned facilities are exempt from the ban on the use of tobacco products indoors. But at...
New York tribes vow fight over tobacco taxation (10/28)
Tensions ran high at New York Senate hearing on tobacco taxation in Indian Country on Tuesday. One lawmaker walked out after being booed by tribal members, according to news reports.Sen. Martin Golden, a Republican, said the U.S. victory over the...
Department of Justice holds listening conference (10/28)
The Department of Justice is hosting the tribal nations listening conference today and tomorrow in St. Paul, Minnesota. Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden delivered the opening remarks. He participated in a similar meeting during the Clinton administration over 10...
North Dakota tribe was making payments in case (10/28)
The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota was making regular payments in a $6.3 million arbitration case when the full amount was called by surprise. The move led to the garnishment of the tribe's bank accounts. "We had...
Charges considered against Port Gamble officers (10/28)
Two natural resource officers from the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe of Washington could face charges for allegedly detaining three non-Indian men off the reservation. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office conducted an investigation...
Lenient sentence for man who robbied Yurok site (10/28)
A California man who pleaded guilty to illegally excavating an ancestral village of the Yurok Tribe was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 60 hours of community service and a $530 fine. James Edward Truhls faced up to a year...
Narragansett Tribe cites immunity in ICWA case (10/27)
The Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island says its leaders cannot be forced to testify in an Indian Child Welfare Act case. The tribe wants a federal judge to prevent council member Randy Noka from taking the stand in a child...
North Dakota tribe apologizes for finance mishap (10/27)
The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota apologized to employees and members for a finance mishap that affected payroll and tribal government services. The tribe's bank accounts were frozen as part of a $6.3 million dispute with an...
Schwarzenegger opposes Lytton land-into-trust (10/26)
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) says the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar bars the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians from following the land-into-trust process. The tribe was terminated by an act of Congress in 1958. Congress restored...
Soboba Band leader accused of accepting bribes (10/26)
Robert Salgado, the chairman of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians of California, was indicted on 36 bribery and income tax charges. Salgado, 67, is accused of soliciting more than $250,000 in bribes from four vendors that did business...
New law recognizes tribal adoptions in California (10/23)
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed AB1325, a bill to recognize tribal customary adoptions, on October 11. The Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians pushed for the bill, considered the first of its kind in the U.S. It treats tribal adoptions...
Spirit Lake woman sentenced for partner's death (10/23)
A woman from the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation of North Dakota was sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison for stabbing her boyfriend to death. Rebecca Brown, 49, was sentenced on a voluntary manslaughter charge. The U.S. Attorney's Office in...
Navajo Nation Council delays ski resort measure (10/23)
The Navajo Nation Council will take more time to consider the purchase of a ski resort at the center of a sacred site case. The bill authorizes the Navajo Nation to seek an appraisal of the Arizona Snowbowl and negotiate...
Hearing set for Pueblo leader's hit-and-run case (10/22)
A federal judge will hold a hearing on November 3 in the case of a Pojoaque Pueblo leader accused of a fatal hit and run. Lt. Governor Linda Diaz, 52, pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of leaving...
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe starts gun buy back plan (10/22)
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe of New York is offering a one-day, no questions asked, gun buy back program. People can turn in firearms on Saturday and receive a gift certificate based on the value of the item. The goal...
Three die after paying for 'spiritual warrior' quest (10/22)
The Yavapai County Sheriffs Office continues to investigate the deaths of three people at a resort in Arizona. The three died after taking part in a "sweat lodge" overseen by self-help guru James Arthur Ray. Witnesses said more than 50...
Navajo Nation Council weighs purchase of resort (10/22)
The Navajo Nation Council is considering legislation that could lead to the purchase of a ski resort at the center of a sacred site case. The Arizona Snowbowl is located on federal land in the Coconino National Forest in Arizona....
Foul play feared with disappearance of BIA driver (10/21)
Navajo Nation authorities are seeking information about the disappearance of Nate Browning, who was last seen on October 9. Browning was last seen at the tribe's casino near Gallup, New Mexico. His burning car was found a few hours...
Puyallup smokeshop operators arrested for drugs (10/21)
Federal authorities arrested five people and issued a warrant for a sixth person in connection with the alleged sale of drugs at smokeshops on the Puyallup Reservation in Washington. Authorities say Billy Miranda Flores, 40, of Puyallup, and his...
'Threat assessment' sought in tribal tobacco fight (10/21)
New York Gov. David Paterson (D) wants know whether imposing taxes on tribal tobacco sales will spark "violence and civil unrest," according to news reports. In a letter to three U.S. Attorneys in New York, Paterson cited past incidents in...
Judge dismisses lawsuit over Mesa Grande land (10/20)
The Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians of California can't sue the federal government over a century-old land dispute, a federal judge ruled last month. The Mesa Grande Band sued the Bureau of Indian Affairs to change the status of...
Court rejects Schaghticoke recognition appeal (10/20)
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals won't give the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut another shot at federal recognition. The tribe accused state and local officials of exerting "improper political influence" on the Bush administration. But the court said tribe...
BIA fills law enforcement positions in Montana (10/19)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has hired police chiefs for the Crow Reservation and the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Willard Michael Cuny, 45, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, will serve at Crow. He hopes...
Nevada's US Attorney targets reservation crime (10/16)
Daniel Bogden, the U.S. Attorney for Nevada, hopes to work more closely with tribes and secure funding to boost law enforcement on reservations in the state. Nevada is home to 27 tribes and 31 reservations. Bogden says not enough is...
Seminole man disputes US laws in support case (10/16)
A Seminole man who is accused of failing to support his children says U.S. and Florida state laws don't apply to him. Bobby C. Billie is a spiritual leader of the Traditional Seminole Nation, a non-federally recognized group. He says...
Judge rejects challenge to Oneida policing deal (10/15)
A judge in Wisconsin said Oneida Nation police can be dispatched on emergency calls in the village of Hobart as part of a law enforcement agreement with Brown County. The village claimed the agreement violated its right to home rule....
Onondaga Nation teen sentenced in arson case (10/15)
A 17-year-old from the Onondaga Nation in New York was sentenced for setting fire to two churches on the reservation. Dylan Antone pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree arson for one fire and satisfied burglary and arson charges...
Cocopah Tribe's police chief receives top honor (10/15)
The head of law enforcement for the Cocopah Tribe of Arizona was named Police Chief of the Year by the National Native American Law Enforcement Association. Chief James Spurgeon said he was surprised to win the award. He was...
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