“The earliest probate court record book for St Louis was found in an old safe at the court house last fall.  William Clark became the guardian for Sacagawea’s two children, Toussaint, “about the age of ten years,” and his sister Lisette, age about one year old. The Orphans Court record was originally signed by John [...]

INDN list made this announcement about its work organizing Indian voters in Nevada for the recent presidential caucus.  “We are proud of our astounding success following a historic native outreach and organizing effort on Nevada’s Indian reservations.  On a day of unprecedented turnout for Nevada’s early caucuses, Indians made a little history themselves. When Nevada [...]

“Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and are targeting voters on the Navajo Nation. Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, is opening an office in Shiprock, New Mexico. Don Benally, the vice president of the Navajo Nation’s Shiprock Chapter, supports the candidate. “They believe he’s going to provide better health care for [...]

“Arizona’s gaming tribes shared $15.2 million in gaming revenues with the state in the final quarter of 2007, the Department of Gaming reported on Wednesday [PDF]. The contribution for the final quarter of 2007 was up only 0.6 percent from the $15.1 million in the third quarter. It’s the second quarter in a row that [...]

“The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma probably won’t be getting a casino in Ohio, University of Dayton law professor Blake Watson says. Watson, who specializes in property and Indian law, says the Bush administration has essentially blocked all off-reservation casinos. Gaming sites hundreds of miles from existing reservations are too far for tribal members to [...]

“The Achuar Tribe in northern Peru is suing oil giant Occidental Petroleum in federal court in California. The tribe says the company’s drilling activities destroyed the environment. Toxic chemicals dumped in the waterways have killed wildlife and caused health problems, according to the lawsuit. “Before Oxy came, the fruits and the plants grew well,” Tomás [...]

“A bill making its way through the Washington Legislature gives tribal police officers the power to enforce state criminal and traffic laws.  Rep. John McCoy, a Democrat and member of the Tulalip Tribes, says the bill patches up gaps in law enforcement in Indian Country. It requires tribal officers to meet state standards and tribes [...]

“With ongoing needs of three American Indian reservations in our area, and the constant reminder of the federal government’s failure to live up to treaty responsibilities in providing health care, housing, education and social services to Indian peoples living on the reservation, a court decision released Wednesday only confirms what we already know. But the [...]

“After 11 years of litigation in the courts and debate in Congress, a federal judge on Wednesday declared a historical accounting of the Indian trust “impossible.” In a 165-page decision, Judge James Robertson said the Interior Department is “unable to perform an adequate accounting” of the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust. The government “has not” [...]

It looks like various countries are thinking of claiming the Antarctica seabed for the oil and gas deposits estimated to be there.  This is exactly what is going on in the Arctic and is behind the growing competition between Russia, the United States and other countries for these oil and gas assets.  Check out some of this blog’s reporting on [...]