As just one example of what many tribes do with casino revenues, the press reports that the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has donated $30 million to charities since 2001. The tribe was recently recognized by the Council for Resource Development for giving to community colleges.
Also, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians [...]

There is currently a shortage of nurses in the United States and a looming crisis due to a lack of nurses in the near future.
The Fort Berthold Community College in North Dakota and the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation are taking steps to cure that problem both off and on the reservation.
The college is offering [...]

The Lower Brule Sioux tribe, based in South Dakota, purchased the Westrock Group. The company is reportedly the first fully Native American-owned investment firm.
The press reports that as a result, Westrock will gain an advantage because tribal business do not have to pay federal income tax.
Don Hunter, Westrock’s chief executive officer, also [...]

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut is reported to be close to defaulting on a $500 million loan.
“The Mashantucket situation could set a precedent,” Moody’s Investors Service said. “With casinos such as Foxwoods located on sovereign tribal land potentially out of reach of US bankruptcy law, it remains unclear whether creditors could enforce [...]

Representatives of the Gila River Indian Community, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and the Tohono O’odham Nation met with the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Phoenix to promote their reservations as good places to do business.
The Gila River and Salt River tribes’ lands sit along major interstate highways and in lucrative [...]

The U.S. Interior Department has delayed its decision on oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea of Alaska.
Shell Oil Co. has asked for more time to respond to public comments about its plan.
Alaska Natives oppose drilling in the Chukchi because they are worried about the impact on whales, seals, polar bears, and [...]

Sarah James, of the Arctic Village, a Native Village in Alaska, is an outspoken critic of oil and gas development in that state.
An elder of the Gwich’in Nation, James won the Goldman Environmental Prize for grass roots leadership on environmental issues. She and other Alaska Natives were in Washington D.C. this week to lobby against [...]

The Oneida Indian Nation’s Four Directions Productions company has begun work on its second 3D animated short-scheduled to be completed in 2011. As with the first film, “Raccoon and Crawfish,” the award-winning studio is using one of the ancient legends of the Iroquois and bringing it to life through animation.
The “Raccoon & Crawfish” won awards [...]

A group of Oneida Indian Nation employees is launching a get out the vote effort for next Tuesday’s elections, and they are targeting an Oneida county legislator who has opposed the Nation on numerous issues.
“There has been a lot of opposition in my community against the Nation, which is my employer,” said Kelli Bradley, a [...]

The Arizona Republic reports today about a green controversy that has arisen on the Navajo Nation Reservation over coal-fired power plants.
The press reports that on one side is Joe Shirley Jr., president of the Navajo Nation, who is apparently rejecting the notion of climate change, and on the other side are environmentalists opposed to [...]