The Associated Press is reporting that the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Cobell settlement, to settle individual American Indian claims against the United States for mismanagement and breach of fiduciary trust responsibilities and that they were cheated out of royalties overseen by the U.S. Interior Department for resources like oil, gas, and timber. The [...]

As part of the continuing struggle between New York and various tribal nations located there, several tribes have requested the U.S. to approve taking new lands into trust, which turns them into Indian Country under federal law. See 25 U.S.C. sections 465 & 1151. Even though the Supreme Court encouraged tribes to take this administrative [...]

Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon is opening its new longhouse. The $1.6 million building has taken more than four years to build. College officials say it is only the second Native American longhouse in the nation at a community college. The 6,200-square-foot building has fir and cedar log beams, and hand-hewn cedar planking.

The Prison law blog reports something that is worth noting on this blog: the disproportionate number of Native Americans incarcerated in the United States. The blog states that basically every state with a significant native population has an enormous disparity in incarceration rates for Natives. The blog gives links to charts showing how Native Americans [...]

Yale University has agreed to return thousands of pre-Hispanic artifacts to Peru. This decision tentatively ends a long-running dispute that pitted Yale against a growing demand in the Andean nation to reclaim its “cultural patrimony.” The objects were taken from Machu Picchu in Peru. They include pottery, textiles, and human bones. They have been held [...]

A federal committee ruled recently that a Pennsylvania museum has to return Hoonah Tlingit artifacts that include a shaman’s owl mask, a brass Loon Spirit Hat, and a faded hide robe that memorializes ancestors of the Hoonah T’akdeintaan clan who were wiped out by a tidal wave. These items and dozens more belong to clan [...]

The press reports that an Indiana professor in educational psychology is arguing that Native American sports mascots in high schools lead to harassment and stereotyping of students. Assistant professor Jesse Steinfeldt, Indiana University in Bloomington, spoke at a Wisconsin State Human Relations Association conference and cited a 2008 study that showed Native American mascots had [...]

I received a copy of a blog entry about a weekend panel discussion in Missoula Montana about tar sands oil extraction. Canadian Native people are very alarmed about the pollution and problems arising from this activity and apparently tar sands work is starting in the United States. You can read the full entry. Alex Sakariassen [...]

Jean Whitehorse, a Navajo citizen, described her survival of the United State’s boarding schools, relocation, and sterilization at the 42nd anniversary of the American Indian Movement. Whitehorse said when Navajos were forced to accept a reservation that was only ten percent of their original land. She was educated at the Eastern Agency of New Mexico [...]

The bar Station 280 in St. Paul, Minnesota pulled a controversial ad campaign that it entitled “drink like an Indian.” The managers of the sports bar apologized to American Indian groups and pulled the Thanksgiving-weekend ad campaign after receiving hundreds of complaints about a racy poster that invited patrons to “drink like an Indian.” The [...]