The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota is still waiting for the return of 24,000 acres of land.  The tribe lost over 150,000 acres to the creation of the Missouri River dams. Some of the land is under water but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is authorized to return other lands. The [...]

The Arizona Supreme Court today dismissed a challenge to a water rights settlement for the Tohono O’odham Nation. The Pasqua Yaqui Tribe disputed a 2004 federal law that addresses the O’odham’s rights on the Gila River. The Yaquis said their rights would be negatively affected by the court disagreed in a 22-page opinion. State High [...]

Members of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe of New York with high levels of PCBs are more likely to suffer from diabetes, according to a new study. Researchers at the University at Albany’s School of Public Health studied 352 tribal members, 20 percent of whom had diabetes. They found that Mohawks with high levels of [...]

“In June 2007, legislation was introduced in Congress that would undermine the collective human rights of an Indian nation, by allowing Congress to determine citizenship in an Indian nation. California Rep. Diane Watson framed her legislation, House Bill 2824, as ”the treaty rights” to citizenship of ”black freedmen” vs. the sovereign right of the historically [...]

“One of the best college campuses for Native students exists at Fort Lewis College in southwestern Colorado.  Or at least, this should be the case. More than 700 Native students attend Fort Lewis, where they make up nearly 20 percent of the campus population.  Yet students like Kimberly Daingkau, a Caddo from Oklahoma, can feel [...]

The Iowa Supreme Court today said the state’s definition of “Indian child” violates the U.S. Constitution. In a unanimous decision, the court said the definition is too broad because it applies to “ethnic Indian” children who are not eligible for tribal membership. That conflicts with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which only applies to [...]

A group of California Indians seeking membership in the Table Mountain Rancheria were rejected by a federal appeals court on Thursday.  Nearly three dozen people sued the tribe in federal court in hopes of getting on the membership roll. The plaintiffs also wanted the Interior Department to force the tribe to take action. Most membership [...]

An Ontario Indian band does not have a constitutional right to enact its own labour code on reserve lands, the province’s highest court ruled yesterday in an unusual case testing the scope of aboriginal self-government.  The Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation contended its self-proclaimed labour code, which would ban strikes at a popular casino [...]

“Several Alaska Native firms have used generous federal contracting preferences to become prosperous multimillion-dollar enterprises. Some years, the total amount of federal contract payments to Native firms tops $1 billion. Of the 10 biggest Alaska-owned companies in Alaska Business Monthly’s 2006 survey, seven were Alaska Native corporations. Federal contracts help those companies pay dividends to [...]

The National Labor Relations Board will oversee a union election at the casino owned by the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan.  The election takes place December 20. Teamsters Local 486 wants to organize about 300 housekeeping employees. This the second NLRB-overseen election at a tribal casino since the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the [...]