The House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 6307, the “Fostering Connections to Success Act.” Representative McDermott (D-WA) introduced the bill saying, “Today, we are focused on the shortcomings of the existing system that can disconnect foster children from the things they need most: Family, support, and school.” Part of that bill was language that would [...]

Indian Country Today reports: “A cluster of lawsuits have been filed challenging the Interior Department’s final decision to take into trust 13,004 acres of the Oneida Indian Nation’s 300,000-acre ancestral homeland. On June 19, Gov. David A. Paterson and Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo jointly announced that the governor, the counties of Oneida and Madison, [...]

Elsie Meeks reports in Indian COuntry Today on the recent Senate committee hearing into payday loans in Indian Country and she writes in part: “The payday lending industry is vigorously courting our lawmakers to facilitate these disguises, giving large campaign contributions and influencing the process in Washington, D.C. This was evident at a recent hearing [...]

“The Newfoundland Labrador government has threatened more than 100 Innu families with eviction from their aboriginal lands, which the provincial government calls ”Crown land.” According to a release by the Indian Law Resource Center, the removal notices appear to be related to the Innu people’s request to be compensated for lands that have been taken [...]

A Washington city has teamed up with an Indian tribe to develop a regional sustainable water source that will also strengthen the environmental sustainability, water stewardship and wildlife habitat of the water bodies throughout the Nisqually Watershed region. On May 14, the city of Olympia and the Nisqually Indian Tribe entered into a water source [...]

The Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted by Congress in 1978 in reaction to shocking statistics showing the wholesale removal of Indian children from their families and cultures. Apparently, more work needs to be done to remedy these continuing actions. A new study shows that Native American children in Washington State are far more likely [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court decision on Wednesday impacts Alaska Native villages and corporations. They will now only receive a small share of the damage award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The U.S. Supreme Court said Exxon only has to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages. With interest, the award will come to about [...]

Indianz.com reports on the Cobell case in which 500,000 Indians have sued the U.S. for a breach of trust in how the government has handled the property and income of the plaintiffs. “The federal judge handling the landmark Indian trust fund lawsuit said on Wednesday he will issue a final ruling in August. After 10 [...]

As I expected, the United States Supreme Court ruled against tribal court jurisdiction in the Plains Commerce Bank case today. The Court has rarely ruled in favor of tribes and their governmental authority in recent decades. In fact, various studies have demonstrated that since William Rehnquist became chief justice in 1986 tribes have only won [...]

Cochiti Pueblo is the first tribe in New Mexico to sign a cooperative management agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The tribe will co-manage the Cochiti Lake Recreation Area. The Army Corps built a dam and lake entirely within reservation boundaries in the 1960s and 1970s. The tribe lost valuable farmland due to [...]