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Rep. Kennedy backs bill to fix land-into-trust ruling (11/06)
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-Rhode Island) is backing a bill to fix the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. Kennedy expects the bill to pass the 111th Congress, particularly if it's attached to must-pass legislation. The issue was raised...
Audio: House Resources hearing on land-into-trust (11/04)
The House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing this morning to discuss a fix to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. The decision restricts the land-into-trust process to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction"in 1934. H.R.3697 and...
Plea deal possible over beating of Blackfeet man (11/04)
Three brothers who are accused of beating a member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana might get off without serving jail time. Todd, Brian and Aron Molenda are "close" to a plea agreement, the special prosecutor told The Great Falls...
Drinking at issue for Pueblo leader's hit-run case (11/04)
A leader of Pojoaque Pueblo is scheduled to go to trial in January 2010 on hit-and-run charges Lt. Governor Linda Diaz, 52, is accused of striking Phillip Espinosa, 31, along a highway on the reservation. She allegedly fled the...
Blog: Cherokee woman's DOJ nomination delayed (11/04)
"Democrats and American Indian leaders are pushing the Senate to move on the nomination of Mary L. Smith to head the Justice Department’s Tax Division, despite lingering questions about her qualifications. Smith, a member of the Cherokee Nation, was...
Obama administration supports land-into-trust fix (11/04)
Note: The committee went into recess at about 11:17am for votes on the House floor. The hearing should resume in about an hour. The Obama administration supports a fix to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, top...
Soboba chair pleads not guilty to bribery charges (11/04)
Robert Salgado has been placed on leave as the chairman of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians of California after pleading not guilty to bribery charges. Salgado, 67, is accused of soliciting more than $250,000 in bribes from four...
Murder charges for death of Rosebud Sioux man (11/03)
The owner of a sushi bar in Denver, Colorado, has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree assault in connection with the death of 29-year-old Lloyd Running Bear II, who was a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South...
FBI investigation death of nun on Navajo Nation (11/03)
The FBI is investigating the death of a Roman Catholic nun on the Navajo Nation. Authorities say Sister Marguerite Bartz, 64, was murdered in her home at St. Bernard Convent on the night of October 31 or the morning of...
'Tribal Justice News' from Department of Justice (11/03)
Every week, the Department of Justice compiles a list of recent federal activity in Indian Country. Here is the latest "Tribal Justice News" for the week of November 2. Attorney General Delivers Remarks at Department’s Tribal Nations Listening Session (AG)...
Witness list for House hearing on land-into-trust (11/03)
Note: Derek Bailey, the chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, will be at tomorrow's hearing. The House Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing tomorrow on legislation to fix the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri...
Dorgan praises Obama support on Law and Order (11/03)
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, welcomed the Obama administration's support for S.797, the Tribal Law and Order Act. Dorgan introduced the bill in April. It encourages more prosecution of crime in Indian...
Alaska Native firm runs unusual jail in New York (11/02)
A subsidiary of Ahtna Inc., an Alaska Native regional corporation, runs an unusual immigrant detention facility in New York City under a $79 million, three-year contract with the federal government. Ahtna Technical Services Inc. operates the Varick Street Detention...
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...
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