All American Indians were made U.S. citizens by Congress in 1924. Ostensibly, all Indians of voting age could then vote in federal elections and should have also been allowed to vote in state elections. I am unfamiliar with the specific history of Indians voting in federal elections after 1924 and whether they were allowed to [...]

Canada is changing its policy around First Nations treaties in B.C. in the hope that it can calm concerns around issues of aboriginal rights and title. A policy document released by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada on March 2 indicates that the federal ministry that oversees First Nations is looking to allow negotiation of language [...]

The Yakima Herald Republic reports today that a Colville Tribal citizen, Clara Vargas, will tell her story of childhood sexual abuse before the Italian Parliament. She is traveling to Rome as part of a crusade by abuse victims to pressure the Vatican into taking more responsibility for the child sex abuse scandal that is closing [...]

The Arizona Republic reports on efforts to recruit Indian teacher at Navajo schools. The article states: “Research shows that Native American children who live on reservations have unique learning styles and that it is easier to teach Navajos how to be teachers than it is to teach Navajo culture to Anglos.” In Chinle [on the [...]

The Santiago Times [Chile] reports that with discontent among Chile’s indigenous population simmering for centuries, Chile is looking to Canada for a solution. According to the article, “Canada has policies aimed at correcting the many mistakes it made in treatment of its indigenous people in past. To compensate the native population, the state has given [...]

Inuit peoples are declaring victory and Arctic experts are warning that Canada’s approach to the North will have to change after remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “I can only express my support for her comments and her views,” said Duane Smith, head of the Canadian branch of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. On [...]

Nikolas Kozloff reports that Bolivia is going to take on Coca-Cola and what they claim is the beverage company’s usurpation of the name of the Indigenous people’s sacred coca leaf. Apparently, the government of Evo Morales announced that it would support a plan to produce a coca-based soft drink which would rival its fizzy American [...]

A southeren California Indian tribe has won a lawsuit challenging a state cap on slot machines. A federal judge ruled this week that 10,000 more slot machines should have been allocated to various tribes under a 1999 gaming deal with the state. The lawsuit was filed by the San Pasqual Indian band, which owns a [...]

The proposed $3.4 billion settlement of the Cobell class action lawsuit against the United States is far from a done deal. Eloise Cobell filed the suit in 1996 representing 300,000-500,000 individual Indian plaintiffs in suing the U.S. for the mismanagement of their lands and assets since 1887. The case has produced about 15 written court [...]

The Economist reports that American Indian tribes are struggling to develop new energy projects on the plains. At the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, the tribe has just one wind turbine in place so far. “The tribes of the northern plains are mostly destitute; their lands [...]