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Obama vows Salazar will fulfill trust responsibilities (12/18)
President-elect Barack Obama introduced Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colorado) as his nominee for Secretary of the Department of the Interior on Wednesday, vowing to give tribal nations a voice in his administration. Speaking from his transition headquarters in Chicago, Obama...
Another land-into-trust case on high court's radar (12/16)
The Department of Justice appears to be anticipating changes in the land-into-trust process if a critical U.S. Supreme Court case goes against tribal interests. The changes would affect tribes that gained federal recognition after 1934, the year the Indian Reorganization...
City cites BIA concessions in land-into-trust fight (12/04)
A city in Minnesota says it will finally be at the table for future land-into-trust applications by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. As part of a settlement approved this week, the city of Shakopee dropped its opposition to the tribe's...
Government files first brief in Navajo trust case (12/03)
The outgoing Bush administration filed its first brief in the contentious Navajo Nation trust case last week, raising a new claim about the handling of a botched coal lease. Solicitor General Gregory Garre, a Bush nominee, told the U.S. Supreme...
City approves Shakopee land-into-trust settlement (12/03)
A settlement will enable the Bureau of Indian Affairs to acquire 725 acres in trust for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota. The city of Shakopee agreed to the deal and will drop its lawsuit against the BIA. In...
BIA reportedly agrees to land-into-trust changes (12/01)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has reportedly agreed to make changes to the land-into-trust process with respect to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota. A proposed settlement will require the BIA to invite the city of Shakopee to meetings...
Bush administration finalizes probate rule (11/12)
Meeting a last-minute deadline, the Bush administration has finalized a comprehensive set of regulations that seek to reform the probate of Indian lands. After more than two years of development, the 200-page notice of the final rule is being published...
Jodi Rave: Trust reform an issue for Obama (11/12)
"As Native America anxiously awaits a presidential appointment to the Interior Department, a congressional watchdog agency has told President-elect Barack Obama's transition team that Indian trust fund reform is a key issue before the department. “The soul of Indian Country...
Indian issues await Obama in Washington (11/10)
Trust reform and land-into-trust are being identified as two of the biggest Indian issues that await president-elect Barack Obama. The first African-American president in history takes office on January 20, 2009. With the inauguration rapidly approaching, the Government Accountability Office...
Supreme Court takes on first Indian law case of term (11/04)
The U.S. Supreme Court heard its first Indian law case of the term on Monday, taking on a land-into-trust dispute that could affect tribes nationwide. In Carcieri v. Kempthorne, the state of Rhode Island is trying to stop the Narragansett...
Rhode Island optimistic on land-into-trust case (11/04)
Officials in Rhode Island were optimistic after the U.S. Supreme Court heard Carcieri v. Kempthorne on Monday. The state wants the justices to limit the land-into-trust provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act to tribes that were recognized when the law...
Oregon tribes await outcome of land-into-trust case (11/04)
Tribes in Oregon are paying close attention to a land-into-trust case that could affect their rights. The Klamath Tribes and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde were both terminated in the 1950s. They are slowly trying to rebuild their homelands...
Supreme Court to hear land-into-trust case (11/03)
The U.S. Supreme Court today will hear oral arguments in Carcieri v. Kempthorne, a land-into-trust case. The Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed to take 31 acres in trust for the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island. Since the land it...
Still no agreement on land-into-trust hearing (10/31)
Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) is making a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of figuring out who will represent the state in Monday's land-into-trust hearing. Carcieri wants the court to designate Theodore B. Olson, a...
Rhode Island governor angry over hearing impasse (10/30)
Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) says U.S. Supreme Court might cancel Monday's land-into-trust hearing because the state hasn't figured out who will argue the case. Carcieri blamed councilors in the town of Charlestown for creating a "circus-like atmosphere" because...
Fight over land-into-trust hearing continues (10/28)
With less than a week before the November 3 hearing, lawyers in the state of Rhode Island still haven't figured out who will argue Carcieri v. Kempthorne, a land-into-trust case. Joseph Larisa Jr., the assistant solicitor for Indian Affairs for...
Blog: MMS plans 'massive reorganization' (10/24)
"The federal office in charge of collecting billions of dollars per year in oil and natural gas royalties is in the midst of a massive reorganization after a highly-publicized sex-and-gift scandal this summer, officials said today. A two-year investigation by...
'Childish' fight over land-into-trust arguments (10/24)
Officials in Rhode Island are still fighting over who will argue Carcieri v. Kempthorne on November 3. Laurence Tribe a leading U.S. Supreme Court practitioner, said Theodore B. Olson, a former Bush administration attorney, should represent the state. He said...
Town backs lawyer to argue land-into-trust case (10/17)
The town of Charlestown, Rhode Island, wants its Indian affairs lawyer to argue a land-into-trust case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Joseph Larisa Jr. has been working on the case for more than 10 years. Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) met...
Town weighs land eyed by Narragansett Tribe (10/15)
The town of Charlestown, Rhode Island, is being urged to buy property adjacent to land held in trust for the Narragansett Tribe. The tribe's land happens to be the 31 acres at issue in Carcieri v. Kempthorne. Local officials say...
Land-into-trust argument fight gets even more nasty (10/09)
A dispute over who will present the state of Rhode Island's views in a land-into-trust case before the U.S. Supreme Court is getting even more nasty as the November 3 hearing approaches. Joseph Larisa Jr., the assistant solicitor for Indian...
Constitutionality an issue in land-into-trust lawsuits (10/08)
The Interior Department says complaints that challenge the constitutionality of its decision to acquire 13,000 acres in trust for the Oneida Nation of New York should be dismissed. The state, two counties and other groups have raised the constitutionality issue...
OST official in middle of controversy resigns (10/07)
A senior official at the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians has resigned. Jeff Lords submitted his resignation last week, according to an e-mail sent to OST employees on Friday. "We wish Jeff the very best in the...
Arguments still not settled in land-into-trust case (10/07)
Note: The hearing takes place November 3. An earlier posting listed the wrong date. Who will represent the state of Rhode Island in an upcoming land-into-trust case before the U.S. Supreme Court? As of Monday, the state still hadn't figured...
Narragansett Tribe won't argue at Supreme Court (10/06)
The Narragansett Tribe won't be allowed to present its side of a land-into-trust dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices issued an order today that rejected the tribe's request for time to argue at the November 3 hearing. The...
Jodi Rave: Interior's unfair probate deadline (10/03)
"Interior Department officials recently sent a letter to my family members announcing they planned to remove the mineral rights from my mother's estate, property on the Fort Berthold Reservation held in trust by the department for my brothers, sisters and...
Navajo Nation trust case on Supreme Court docket again (10/02)
A long-running breach of trust case that the Bush administration claims will encourage more lawsuits was accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. The justices will determine whether the Navajo Nation can sue the federal government over a bungled...
Supreme Court to hear Navajo Nation trust case (10/01)
The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear the Bush administration's appeal of the Navajo Nation's breach of trust lawsuit. The tribe says the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved a coal development lease with a less than favorable royalty rate....
Santa Fe Indian School free to ignore federal laws (09/22)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs says the Santa Fe Indian School doesn't have to comply with federal historic preservation laws. The school campus is held in trust for the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico. The tribes have razed more than...
Interior official won't confirm Indian royalty probe (09/18)
The top investigator at the Interior Department declined to confirm a probe into royalty collections on Indian lands. Inspector General Earl E. Devaney was asked about a Salt Lake Tribune story that said investigators were looking into under-reporting of royalties...
SCOTUSBlog: Narragansett land-into-trust case (09/17)
"The contentious relationship between the State of Rhode Island and the Narragansett Indian Tribe dates back to at least 1880, when – after protracted resistance to Rhode Island’s efforts to assimilate it – the Tribe surrendered its tribal authority and...
Cherokee Nation claims exclusive jurisdiction (09/16)
The Cherokee Nation says it's the only tribe with jurisdiction over Cherokee treaty lands in northeastern Oklahoma. But a land-into-trust application by United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians could change that. Approval of the application would establish UKB jurisdiction in...
BIA to rule on UKB land-into-trust application (09/15)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs will be ruling on an appeal of the United Keetoowah Band's land-into-trust application. The tribe asked for 76 acres in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to be placed in trust more than two years ago. BIA regional director...
Oneida Nation land-into-trust records at issue (09/12)
The Interior Department is seeking more time to produce records relating to its decision to acquire 13,000 acres into trust for the Oneida Nation of New York. The records are being requested as part of litigation against the department. Some...
Inspector General probes Indian royalty collection (09/12)
The Office of the Inspector General at the Interior Department is investigating royalty collections on Indian lands, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. The investigation appears to focus on under-reporting by energy companies. One of the targets is a drilling operation...
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