U.S. Developments

Many of the reports in this issue of U.S. government legislation, agency action, and court decisions are informed by electronic flyers from Hobbs, Straus, Dean and Walker, LLP, 2120 L Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20037, provided by Americans for Indian Opportunity.

U.S. Government Developments

In the Courts

Tribal Governments and State and Local Governments

Tribal Developments

Education and Culture

U.S. Government Developments

Legislation that would settle The Cobell Indian trust fund case at $3.4 billion remained stalled in the Senate, when that body adjourned September 29, despite White House attempts to have the Senate include Cobell in stopgap measures considered before the break. The House passed the bill twice in 2010, but while the Congress is scheduled to reconvene November 15 in a lame-duck session, it t will be difficult to obtain passage at that time (Rob Capriccioso “Cobell stalled in Senate,” Indian Country Today, October 5, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/iCobelli-stalled-in-Senate-104157653.html). Judge Thomas Hogan, who took over the Cobell Indian trust fund lawsuit case this summer, said at the first status conference hearing that the settlement was in the best interests of Indian beneficiaries and the federal government, saying, “The disappointment of not having the legislation implemented is great,” adding that he would wait until Oct. 15 for Congress to take action  (Rob Capriccioso, “New judge asks Congress for Cobell settlement,” Indian Country Today, September 14, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/politics/New-judge-asks-Congress-for-Cobell-settlement-102620494.html).

President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, HR725, July 29, 2010, that bolsters justice resources for reservations in a number of areas. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND), said the legislation aims to improve many aspects of the justice system reservations and clear up jurisdictional confusion among tribal, state and local law enforcement officials, which he believes often gridlocks effective law enforcement. Under the bill, tribal courts will be allowed to impose longer sentences of up to three years, but their authority is affected in some ways, such as being required to follow U.S. court system procedures. Also, tribes prosecuting individuals for crimes that could send them to jail for more than a year must provide defendants with the same right to a lawyer that they would have in state or federal court, which was not required by the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act. Under the new law, when a tribe provides a defendant a lawyer, he or she must be licensed in either federal, state, or tribal court, and that court has to have “appropriate professional licensing standards and effectively ensures the competence and professional responsibility of its licensed attorneys.” Similarly, tribal judges have to have “sufficient legal training to preside over criminal proceedings” and also be licensed in federal, state, or tribal courts to practice law. While some tribes already meet some of the new provisions, the changes are expected to come at a cost to many that choose to implement new standards. Whitney Phillips, a spokeswoman for Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), who strongly supported the bill in the House, pointed out that tribes that don’t have the resources to provide defense counsel or house inmates for longer sentences can continue to operate under the existing one-year sentencing provisions in the Indian Civil Rights Act, which does not require that defense counsel be provided. Hannah August, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, said the law will not cost tribes anything unless they choose to exercise the enhanced sentencing authority it provides. She also stated that provisions of the measure would enhance the availability of grant funds for indigent defense in Indian legal arenas. The new law requires the Department of Justice to report on the cases it declines to prosecute on reservations. Many tribal officials have complained about the large number of cases they say are never prosecuted, particularly involving sexual assault, including rape. Related to this, the act clarifies who is responsible for prosecuting crimes in tribal communities. The bill will also provide tribal police greater access to criminal history databases such as the National Crime Information Center, and will require tribal and federal officers serving Indian country to receive specialized training to interview victims of sexual assault and collect crime scene evidence. In addition, it requires Indian Health Service facilities to implement consistent sexual assault protocols, and requires federal officials to provide documents and testimony gained in the course of their federal duties to aid in prosecutions before tribal courts (Rob Capriccioso, “Tribal Law and Order Act to become law at cost to tribes,” Indian Country Today, July 23, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Tribal-Law-and-Order-Act-to-become-law-at-cost-to-tribes-99016714.html; http://blog.amnestyusa.org/women/president-obama-signs-tribal-law-and-order-act/, and http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/29/tribal-law-and-order-act-2010-a-step-forward-native-women. Text of the bill is available at: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.725:).  In October, about 150 judges, law enforcement officials and tribal leaders gathered in Albuquerque. NM for a national symposium on the implementation of the Tribal Law and Order Act (Susan Montoya Bryan, “Tribes, feds work to implement law and order act,” News From Indian Country, October, 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10304&Itemid=109).

President Obama signed into law, July 29, 2010, Public Law 111-211, Title I amending the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (H.R. 725, H.Rpt. 111-397) and enacted the Tribal Law and Order Act, in its Title II (discussed above). Title I authorizes any federal law enforcement officer to investigate suspected violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, where previously only the FBI was so authorized. In addition, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board may refer alleged violations of the act to a federal officer for investigation. Title I also increases the penalties for violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

In July, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said that there is a need to increase capacity to train tribal police officers, as only About 150 Bureau of Indian Affairs recruits are trained each year at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, N.M. (which has a waiting list), during three 16-week Indian Police Academy sessions, but only half of the students complete the course work, and some of the graduates take jobs in other areas of the federal government or in private security. This contributes to the shortage of police officers on many reservations. Currently, about 3,000 police officers patrol 56 million acres of Indian Country, by some estimates 1,900 less than needed just to provide basic, adequate staffing. Dorgan said he would like United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, N.D., to help train BIA officers, as the college began adding classes in criminal justice and law enforcement in 2008 and signed a memorandum of understanding with the BIA (Dirk Lammers, “Tribal officer recruits short on places to train tribal police,” News from Indian Country, July, 2020, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9710&Itemid=1).

The Senate, September 28, passed the Indian Veterans Housing Opportunity Act (HR3553), previously passed by the House, which defines veterans disability pay received by Indian veterans not to be counted as income under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act. Previously, these benefits had been considered income under NAHASDA, thus reducing support (Rob Capriccioso, “Indian vets score a win in Congress, Indian Country Today,” October 14, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/Indian-vets-score-a-win-in-Congress-104570029.html)

The House passed the Department of Interior Self Government Act of 2010 (HR4347), September 22, intended to make the DOI self-governance program consistent with the equivalent Indian Health Service program. There are also some clarifying amendments to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA): “Self-determination contract” is defined, with such contracts not being considered to be procurement contracts or subject to federal procurement law; Each provision of the ISDEAA and the contract must be construed liberally to favor the tribal contractor, with ambiguities resolves in the contractor’s favor; the “50% rule” provides that at least 50% of expenses incurred by a tribal governing body related to carrying out a self-determination contract are allowable and allocated to the contract. Title IV of the act includes several detailed amendments making the self-governance compacts and funding agreements within the BIA and other agencies within the Department of the Interior consistent with Title V of the HHS self-governance program. As of October, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs was working on developing a similar bill to HR4347.

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,  introduced legislation in June intended to create jobs in Indian country, while providing greater access to capital, financial services, and streamlined job training. Dorgan stated the bill would help create jobs on reservations by improving access to investment capital and removing road blocks to tribal participation in federal jobs programs. The measure would expand and permanently authorize the Native Community Development Financial Institution program. Another provision would authorize the Interior Department to provide guaranteed loans to businesses that are majority owned by tribes or individual Native Americans. Other provisions would authorize the Office of Native American Affairs at the Small Business Administration to provide tribes with guidance on SBA loan guarantees and technical assistance. Federal training programs would also be streamlined, allowing tribes to combine job training programs from several departments into a single integrated plan. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has announced millions in new grants to tribes meant to improve economic outlooks. U.S. Department of Labor officials said, in late June, that approximately $67 million would go to 256 organizations through the Workforce Investment Act Indian and Native American Program. The grants are meant to support job training and placement services for adults and at-risk youth. Of the $67 million, approximately $53 million was to be awarded to 178 organizations through the department’s Employment and Training Administration’s Comprehensive Service Program for Adults. An approximately $14 million grant was to be shared among an additional 78 organizations through ETA’s Supplemental Services Program for Youth. At the same time, a new report from the Economic Policy Institute finds that overall minority unemployment has increased more than has white unemployment in many regions of the country, during the recession. Findings show the American Indian unemployment rate in 2009 averaged 13.6% up from 7.8% percent in the last half of 2007, compared to the 8.2% 2009 white rate. The gaps between Native and White unemployment rates were largest in Alaska, the Northern Plains, and the Southwest. The report also suggested that the problem of low employment rates among American Indians may be at least partially due to conflicts between whites and Indians (Rob Capriccioso, “New Indian country job developments,” July 23, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/New-Indian-country-job-developments-99099559.html)

The House Committee on Financial Services, July 28, marked up H.R. 2276, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, to include amendments helpful to Indian gaming. The bill would legalize online poker and other non-sports betting and overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. During the earlier part of the hearing, the same day, Mohegan Tribe Chairwoman Lynn Malerba proposed a number of improvements to the bill that would clarify and protect tribal sovereignty and provide a level playing field between Indian casinos and commercial casinos, almost all of which were included in the bill through amendments. As the bill’s author, Frank included a number of ‘manager’s amendments,’ including a paragraph that calls on the Treasury secretary to conduct ‘meaningful consultation’ with tribes on all aspects of the bill that affect them “both as potential licensing entities or operating entities.” He also amended the bill to stipulate that bets are to be made with prepaid cards and debit cards only, and added a new paragraph saying that Internet gaming operations “shall not impact an Indian tribe’s status or category or class under its land-based activities.” His amendments also clarified that a licensed tribal Internet gaming operation “shall not require or impose any requirement on” tribes to re-open or renegotiate tribal-state compacts “or other understating with respect to gaming or revenue-sharing” – protecting Native nations from states attempting to claim a share of a tribes Internet gaming revenues. The revenues, however, will be shared with the federal government. Proponents of the bill claim it will create up to 30,000 new jobs and generate up to $42 billion over a decade in tax revenues for the federal government. Others question that projection. The National Indian Gaming Association provided the following summary of other amendments: Internet gaming sites that have intentionally broken Internet gambling laws cannot get a license to conduct business in the United States. Sports betting – except for horseracing – is prohibited on internet gaming. The secretary of Treasury is authorized to prohibit unsolicited e-mails and advertisements targeted to minors and problem gamblers. Offshore sites that have illegally done business in the U.S., along with people who knew they were working at an illegally-run Internet site, will be banned from obtaining a license. A multi-provisioned amendment stipulated that: 1.) All facilities of licensees that operate and/or accept wagers be located in the U.S.; 2.) States and tribes must have parallel authority; 3.) Bettors must be at least 21 years of age; 4.) Age and residence of bettors must be verified; 5.) Odds of winning at each game must be posted online; 6.) The identities of legal and illegal gambling sites must be verified by the Treasury in order for banks to prohibit certain financial transactions; 7.) Owners must meet licensing requirements; 8.) Sites must provide loss limits for each bettor. States are given one full legislative session to opt out, instead of the original period of 90 days. Internet gaming sites that advertise toward minors will have their license revoked. The Treasury Department is required to observe Internet sites and accordingly sanction fines and revoke licenses if minors are found gambling. Internet sites are forbidden from allowing people who are delinquent on child support from gambling on their site. Sites who don’t obey this rule lose their license. State and tribal lotteries are exempt from licensing requirements, as long as they are intrastate activities. Currently, these lotteries are already subject to state licensing, and the federal government should not get involved. Licensed facilities must be corporate entities of the United States, with facilities located in the United States and employees to be residents or citizens of the United States. Licensees must also be located in a place that is accessible to regulatory personnel at all times. The Treasury secretary is required to compile and make available data on player behavior including gaming frequency, gaming duration, the amount wagered, the number of bets placed and net losses, and all information will be aggregated and anonymous to prevent the identification of any individual player. A companion bill, H.R. 4976, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2010, is before the House Ways and Means Committee (Gale Courey Toensing, “Amendments improve chances for Internet gaming bill passage,” Indian Country Today, August 9, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Amendments-improve-chances-for-Internet-gaming-bill-passage-100116169.html).       

Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced the Pick-Sloan Tribal Commission Act, in late July, to seek a commission that would hold hearings and study the outstanding issues in order to make final recommendations to Congress and the Obama administration for a comprehensive resolution of the tribal claims concerning flooding on tribal land by Pick-Sloan Program dams. The Flood Control Act of 1944 authorized the Pick-Sloan Program to stop flooding along the Missouri River as well as other purposes such as navigation and hydroelectric power. This included construction of five dams on the Missouri River, which flooded Indian reservation lands, community infrastructure, prime agricultural and hunting areas. Although the tribes received some compensation for the lands, each tribe was compensated differently, some promises remain unfulfilled, and tribes report various continuing problems for which they were not compensated (Rob Capriccioso, “Tribal flooding addressed in new Senate bill,” Indian Country Today, August 29, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Tribal-flooding-addressed-in-new-Senate-bill-101641158.html).

Congressional representative Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, American Samoa’s congressional member and chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, introduced H.R. 1551, a resolution calling on the United States “to promote respect for and full application of the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples consistent with United States law,” July 22. The resolution falls far short of fully supporting of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UINDRIP), the goal set by tribal leaders. Instead, the four-part resolution asserts that: “the administration should continue to work together with partners in indigenous communities domestically and around the world to provide security, prosperity, equality, and opportunity for all; “the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides an important framework for addressing indigenous issues globally; “the Administration's decision to conduct a formal review of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United States’ position on it is welcomed; and “the United States should promote respect for and full application of the provisions of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, consistent with United States law” (Gale Courey Toensing, “House resolution falls short of unqualified UN Declaration adoption: Tribal leaders call for full, unconditional adoption,” Indian Country Today, July 30, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/House-resolution-falls-short-of-unqualified-UN-Declaration-adoption-99620824.html).

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held hearings on Indian Education, June 17. entitled, “Did the No Child Left Behind Act Leave Indian Students Behind?” A number of leading Native educators testified that that congressional reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB) must address major Native American concern, pointing out that several aspects of the current law have not worked well for many Indian youth. Mary Jane Oatman-Wak Wak, incoming president of the National Indian Education Association, states, “In examining the lessons learned from the last decade of NCLB, it is important to focus on the task before us, the task of making certain that the reauthorization of ESEA recognizes and supports the unique cultural, social, and linguistic needs of Native students in ways that ensure that no Native child is ever left behind.” She pointed out that since 2005, NIEA has been preparing for the reauthorization of NCLB, including conducting 11 field hearings with more than 120 witnesses in Native communities across the country and the development of the organization’s “Preliminary Report on No Child Left Behind in Indian Country” and other policy recommendations. “What emerged through this extensive dialogue was an appreciation for the goal of Title VII of NCLB to meet the unique cultural and educational needs of Native children. However, it was clear that many areas of concern existed about how NCLB/ESEA was unable to fully address the educational needs of Native students and communities, along with ideas about how NCLB/ESEA could and should be improved.” Oatman-Wak Wak offered proposals for several areas of improvement, including increased cultural learning, increased tribal control and input, and more funding. David Beaulieu, director of the Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, commented that that NCLB’s reliance on rigid testing appears to have have been detrimental for some Native students, saying, “We may have actually lost ground with what is essentially one entire school generation of American Indian learners from elementary through high school in the nine years since NCLB passed in 2001.” He said American Indian students need to see a personal future that connects to the education mission of the schools they attend. Chad Smith, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma principal chief, the testified that his tribe finds that adjustments need to be included in the reauthorization of NCLB to better address the needs of Indian students. “The nation would specifically like to see less emphasis on testing and more flexibility in establishing our own measurables.” Keith Moore, the new director of the Bureau of Indian Education, testified that, “The reauthorized ESEA can support the self-determination of Indian tribes and create an educational system that values tribal cultures and languages” (Rob Capriccioso, “Natives want improved education law,” Indian Country Today, June 25, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97153549.html).

Indigenous educators testified, at an August 6 House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Indian education, that lack of adequate funding was a serious detriment to American Indian and Alaska Native education. David Talayumptewa, assistant deputy director of administration of the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) said federal agencies are cooperating to improve Indian education, and that BIE is making progress in improving currently low levels of student achievement, but more remains to be done. He noted that the BIE funds 183 schools in 23 states, and 63 are now rated in poor physical condition, and it would take an estimated $2 billion to bring all the schools up to safety standards. Tribal officials said more money also is needed to recruit and keep good teachers in rural areas and replace aging textbooks. Representatives of many tribes stated that schools need to teach more Native language and culture, which would help build the self-esteem needed to reduce teenage suicide and motivate students to learn (Chet Brokaw, “Tribal officials: Indian education needs money,” Indian Country Today, August 17, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Tribal-officials-Indian-education-needs-money-100893284.ht).

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman, Byron Dorgan (D, ND), unsatisfied by Indian Health Service (IHS) responses at a September 28 committee hearing to a congressional investigation of alleged misdeeds at some IHS regional offices, stated he was considering issuing subpoenas to IHS officials (Rob Capriccioso, “Dorgan ready to issue IHS subpoenas,”  Indian Country Today, October 4, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/Dorgan-ready-to-issue-IHS-subpoenas-104147513.html).

The creation of The Office of Indian Men’s Health to complement the existing Office of Indian Women’s Health within the Indian Health Service was included in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act which was made permanent, March 23, when President Barack Obama signed the bill as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Men’s Health Network applauds creation of Office of Indian Men’s Health,” Indian Country Today, June 1, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/95322644.html).

President Barack Obama, June 28, announced several appointments to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education: Sam McCracken (Sioux and Assiniboine), Mary Jane Oatman-Wak Wak  (Nez Perce), Alapaki Nahale-a (Native Hawaiian), and S. Alan Ray (Cherokee) (Rob Capriccioso, “President picks Indian educators,” Indian Country Today, August 16, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/President-picks-Indian-educators-100792334.html).

The Obama administration announced the Opening Doors plan, “the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness,” June 22, under the leadership of several federal agencies, including the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. The aim is to put the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015, and to end homelessness among children, families, and youth by 2020. Strategies emphasized include increasing leadership, collaboration, and civic engagement; increasing access to stable and affordable housing; increasing economic security; improving health and stability; and retooling the homeless response system. With “The 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report” from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, American Indians make up 8% of the country’s homeless population, a disproportionately high level of homelessness. Open Doors has a specific Native American component. The plan was developed with tribal input and specifically mentions the need for unique attention to reservation and urban Indian, with cultural competence being sought for personnel working in these areas. Jennifer Ho, USICH deputy director, who personally worked with tribal communities on a variety of homelessness issues, posited that poverty, a lack of affordable housing, and the large number of Native Americans who are veterans might contribute to the high rates of homelessness observed in the Indian population. She noted that, in recent years, more than 300 communities nationwide, including some tribal ones, have developed plans that are successfully curbing homelessness, which the federal initiative intends to replicate. The full Opening Doors plan is online at www.usich.gov (Rob Capriccioso, “Homeless Native Americans get federal focus,” Indian Country Today,: July 2, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97664129.html).

The U.S. Treasury Department, in July, sought comments, by September 10, 2010, from tribal governments and the general public on whether the “essential government function” restriction on the issuing of tax-exempt bonds by tribal governments, under Section 7871 of the Internal Revenue Code, should be permanently repealed, as required of the Treasury by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, section 1402(b). Many Indian nations have complained that the standard has been inconsistently applied and places a restraint on tribal economic development (Rob Capriccioso, “IRS considers removing restrictive tribal tax code,” Indian Country Today, September 27, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/IRS-considers-removing-restrictive-tribal-tax-code-103709864.html).

The U.S. Department of Justice, September 15, announced awards of $127 million in a round of new funding under the “Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation Grants” to hundreds of tribes to improve the safety of tribal citizens. Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli stated, “In the department’s outreach to tribal leaders, we heard concern that the department’s grant-making process was too cumbersome, but at the same time it did not allow tribal communities the flexibility to fully address their needs. CTAS was launched in direct response to those concerns.” He said CTAS encourages local collaboration and coordination on public safety and justice planning, and noted that it combines the application process for tribes seeking federal grants for public safety. In a first for the department, the program allowed tribes to submit a single application for most tribal Justice Department grant programs. A full list of awardees is available online at www.tribaljusticeandsafety.gov (Rob Capriccioso, “Justice Department debuts streamlined tribal grants,” Indian Country Today, September 30, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/Justice-Department-debuts-streamlined-tribal-grants-103711404.html).

The Tribal Crime Data Collection Analysis and Estimation Project was instituted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), in September 2009, under the an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as part of the Justice Department’s commitment to strengthen tribal law enforcement. The Department has been offering training programs in the project to tribal personnel. The Justice Assistant Grant program uses crime data to determine funding amounts for jurisdictions. Since tribal crime data were generally not reported to the FBI, tribes in previous years were largely ineligible for the grant funds. In fiscal year 2008, only 25 tribes submitted crime data and only five tribes were eligible to receive JAG awards, totaling an estimated $159,000. In FY 2010, as a result of the Tribal Crime Data Project, the number of tribes reporting crime data meeting the FBI standards for the UCR increased to 130 and the overall amount of JAG funds awarded to tribes increased to $709,000. The Tribal Crime Data Project is administered by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Statistics in coordination with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Tribal Justice, the FBI, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, and certain state and tribal governments to address gaps in Indian country crime statistics and current reporting methods. More information on upcoming training sessions and OJP programs available at: http://www.tribaljusticeandsafety.gov/ (“Recovery Act project improves crime data reporting and access to law enforcement in Indian country,” Indian Country Today, September 23, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/Recovery-Act-project-improves-crime-data-reporting-and-access-to-law-enforcement-in-Indian-country-103662449.html).

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, announced additional Recovery Act broadband projects, August 4, intended to bring jobs and economic opportunities to rural communities. In July, the White House announced several other tribal broadband funding projects. According to a recent report conducted by Native Public Media, broadband penetration in Indian country is less than 10%. In the past, there has been little qualitative or quantitative empirical research on Native American Internet use, adoption and access. The Federal Communications Commission noted in 2004 that communities on tribal lands, by virtually all measures, have historically had less access to telecommunications services than any other segment of the population. Until the recent federal government broadband efforts, only small measures had been taken to expand the internet into Indian country. The Native Public Media report’s authors said native communities have massive internet accessibility issues, stifling business and other development and recommended the FCC create a policy office focused specifically on tribal communities and their needs. No movement has been made on this proposal, as of October 2010 (Rob Capriccioso, “New Indian country broadband funding,” August 13, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/New-Indian-country-broadband-funding-100628229.html).

The BIA’s Office of Indian Gaming Management was holding consultations around the country, September 23 – November 18, 2010, on a proposed rule that establishes criteria for implementing Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) that deals with putting land into trust for gaming when the land has been acquired after IGRA was passed on Oct. 17, 1988. Section 20 puts forward a general prohibition against Indian gaming on trust lands acquired after Oct. 17, 1988, and then provides a number of exceptions to the prohibition, including land within or contiguous to a tribe’s existing reservation; land for tribes without reservations; land within the tribe’s last recognized reservation; land claim settlements; initial reservations for newly acknowledged tribes; and restored lands for re-recognized tribes. Another exception, the Two Part Determination allows gaming on land acquired after October 1988 if the secretary determines it is in the “best interest” of the tribe and not detrimental to the surrounding community and if the governor of the state concurs with that opinion. New language in the draft rule says the department will “consider all the information” submitted from both sides and does not explicitly indicate if more weight will be given to a tribe’s “best interests”. The consultations have also been also considering a January 2008 “guidance memorandum” Issued by former AS-IA Dirk Kempthorne that added a “commutability” standard under which the applied-for land is to be considered in light of its distance from a nation’s reservation, regardless of whether it is within a nation’s historical territories. The memo received many objections in Indian country, not only because distance isn’t mentioned in IGRA, but also because the guidance effectively amounted to a new regulation that had been promulgated without consultation with Indian nations. A schedule of consultations is available at www.indianaffairs.gov (Gale Courey Toensing, “Consultations underway on Indian gaming land into trust decisions,” Indian Country Today,  October 4, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/Consultations-underway-on-Indian-gaming-land-into-trust-decisions-104155868.html).

The BIA gave final approval of Recognition, in June, to the Shinnecock Tribe, on Long Island, in New York, that plans to open a casino (“Federal government approves final Shinnecock tribal recognition,” News From Indian Country, June 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9395&Itemid=1).

The U.S. Department of the Interior reached a settlement with British Petroleum (BP), in July, for consistently underreporting the amount of gas extracted from the Southern Ute Reservation in Colorado, under which BP will pay a fine of $5.2 million in addition to paying the tribe and the U.S. government royalties on the unreported extraction (Kristen Wyatt “British Petroleum fined $5.2M for misreporting US gas output on Southern Ute Reservation,” News From Indian Country, July 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9538&Itemid=1).

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) launched a new media directive, in July, specifically aimed at young American Indian adults, ages 18 to 25, to talk openly about mental health issues with materials that caregivers hope will spur change about negative attitudes associated with mental illness in tribal communities, where there is a high incidence of serious mental health problems. The public service announcements are part of a larger effort to reach a multicultural audience including Hispanic/Latino, Asian and African American young adults, mental health officials said. Materials for the new ad campaign were created by an American Indian advertising agency, G & G Advertising and the Ad Council, the radio print and Web banner PSAs route the target audience to its new campaign Web site, www.whatadifference.samhsa.gov/Native (S.E. Ruckman, “New mental health initiative focused on Native youth,” Indian Country Today, July 27, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/New-mental-health-initiative-focused-on-Native-youth-99244934.html).

A report, “Building Domestic Violence Health Care Responses”, authorized by the Family Violence Prevention Fund in partnership with faculty from Sacred Circle and Mending the Sacred Hoop Technical Assistance Project, suggests that the Domestic Violence Project operating at more than 100 Indian, tribal and urban health care facilities as well as domestic violence advocacy programs across the nation, funded by the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and IHS, and implemented by leading domestic violence organizations, has shown dramatic success in improving the health system’s response to domestic violence in Indian country. The program has seen a much larger number of women receiving interventions focused on reducing domestic violence. Health officials said that when implementation began in 2002, only 4% of women at IHS facilities were screened by doctors and nurses for domestic violence. By 2009, when the program ended, 48% of women who sought services at these facilities were so screened. The report highlights the program’s progress and offers a series of recommendations to continue the results. A major finding was that, over the course of the program annual routine assessment for intimate partner and domestic violence of Native women increased 12-fold because the program offered an effective response to violence, identified best practices to raise awareness, improved clinical responses, and strengthened community partnerships to help victims of domestic and sexual violence. The report noted that the program: Trained staff members from more than 100 Indian, tribal and urban health care facilities, and domestic violence advocacy programs on domestic violence health system change: Developed community-wide domestic violence response teams that include staff from health care, judicial, law enforcement, community programs and tribal councils. Developed patient education materials including two posters targeting men and boys with prevention messages specific to domestic violence. Tailored the Electronic Health Record to integrate domestic violence routine assessment and implementation of screening reminders. Raised public awareness and promoted social norm change through community walks, billboard campaigns, candlelight vigils, radio/TV shows, public service announcements, and staff participation in health fairs, rodeos and powwows. Helped victims of domestic violence and sexual assault get the help they need to support their healing from the abuse and promote their health and wellness. “We need to build on the successes of the IHS/ACF Domestic Violence Project and fund more programs to continue this remarkable progress,” said FVPF President Esta Soler. “Tribal communities will benefit if we replicate the promising practices and materials we’ve developed, continue to integrate domestic violence and sexual assault into trainings that improve the health care responses to violence, and strengthen the tribal response to sexual assault. We also must expand our work to engage men as role models, address the impact of violence on children, and do more to teach the next generation that violence is never the answer” (Rob Capriccioso, “IHS program lauded for anti-domestic abuse efforts,” July 16, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/IHS-program-lauded-for-anti-domestic-abuse-efforts-98605214.html).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has created a new web site, Tribal Climate and Energy Information, providing a resource for tribal communities interested in implementing climate change mitigation and energy management projects that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help slow the rate of climate change and its impacts on economic and cultural sustainability. It offers links to EPA resources and other Web sites with additional information on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency, land use planning, renewable energy, transportation, water/wastewater and waste management (“EPA creates new Tribal Climate and Energy Information site,” July 30, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/EPA-creates-new-Tribal-Climate-and-Energy-Information-site-99625709.html).

A Government Accountability Office  (GAO) report, “Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act: After Almost 20 Years, Key Federal Agencies Still Have Not Fully Complied with the Act.” indicates that directly concerned federal agencies have often failed to act in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA), while the federal office charged with overseeing its implementation was found to have been ineffective in doing so. Under the law, federal agencies and museums are required to take inventory and notify tribes about their collections and work in collaboration with tribes in determining a cultural link to the remains or objects. But the 106 page study found that some federal agencies have not identified or reported all the remains or cultural items in their possession. The GAO found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority to be considerably out of compliance with NAGPRA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. National Park Service – tended to do a better job in following NAGPRA than other agencies, but still fell short of what the act required. The report raised several concerns centering on the national NAGPRA office’s administration of the law. These problems include inadequate resources, poor record keeping, and questionable decision making. In addition, the report suggested NAGPRA office officials have sometimes manipulated the composition of the seven-person NAGPRA review committee, which is responsible for overseeing tribal and other concerns with processes involving the law. On that issue, Jeff Malcolm, an assistant director with GAO who led the research, said top federal officials should perform strict and immediate oversight. “[W]e recommended the secretary of the Interior direct national NAGPRA to strictly adhere to the nomination process prescribed in the act and, working with Interior’s Office of the Solicitor as appropriate ensure that all Review Committee nominations are properly screened to confirm that the nominees and nominating entities meet statutory requirements.” As a result of the shortcomings, the report said that “policymakers, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations do not have access to readily available information about culturally affiliated NAGPRA items that have not been repatriated.” Tribal officials have long said the federal government has failed to carry out NAGPRA properly, and the latest information bolsters those claims. “This is an important report that I hope all Native people have a chance to review and share with their local communities,” said D. Bambi Kraus, president of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. An August 18 release from NATHPO pointed out the GAO’s finding that the national NAGPRA program provided unreliable information in databases that are critical to the repatriation process.“ This reaffirms our research into the law and process, and what we’ve been saying all along that without any teeth in the law or any federal oversight the law remains stagnant,” said NATHPO General Chairman Reno Franklin. Some tribal officials have questioned whether the increased scrutiny will lead to a shakeup in management at the national NAGPRA office. Sherry Hutt, manager of the national NAGPRA program, could not be reached for comment on that point, as she is out of the office on leave for much of August. Malcolm noted that further congressional action is expected, and the GAO is recommending a series of administrative actions to improve compliance. Specifically, the GAO recommends the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and the Interior, as well as TVA, report to Congress the actions they need to take to fully comply with the act and that they report the status of their repatriations to National NAGPRA. GAO is also recommending that National NAGPRA make improvements in its facilitation of the act. Agriculture, Interior and TVA agreed with GAO’s recommendations, while the Department of Defense did not provide comments on the report. “Overall, GAO recommendations have a high implementation rate,” Malcolm said. “Historically, 80 percent or more of GAO recommendations are implemented within four years.” He said the GAO clock is now ticking to track the agencies’ progress in implementing the recommendations. The study comes on the heels of a 2008 report issued by NATHPO and the Makah Nation of Washington, which found that several federal agencies have withdrawn public notices that tie held remains and objects to contemporary Natives. Hutt at the time of NATHPO/Makah report’s release called it “ambitious” and said it did a positive job at drawing attention to the reasons behind the law, but she believed that it contained several shortcomings and mistaken information. Some of the areas she considered flawed were refocused on by the GAO, which also ended up coming up with cautionary conclusions. The summary and complete reports are available at: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-768 (Rob Capriccioso, “GAO finds major federal NAGPRA snafus, Indian Country Today, August 25, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/GAO-finds-major-federal-NAGPRA-snafus-101155324.html).

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in July, Declined to take jurisdiction over a tribal hospital.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Proposed EPA Policy on Coordination with Indian Tribes, in June, to comply with President Obama’s November 5, 2009 Memorandum on Tribal Consultation, and circulated it for comment in national consultation conference calls, July 8 and 19. The proposed consultation plan calls for EPA to consult with Native nations whenever EPA actions or decisions may affect tribal interests, and includes a non-exclusive list of activities EPA believes are appropriate for consultation. In addition, the proposal specifically provides that tribal officials may request consultation on matters not identified by EPA, and requires EPA to provide feedback to the tribes involved in a consultation to explain how their input was considered in the final decision. The consultation policy will establish national guidelines that all EPA regions and programs must follow when developing their own more specific consultation policies. EPA appointed Michelle Depass, the agency’s Assistant Administrator for International and Tribal Affairs, to serve as EPA’s Designated Consultation official, and all EPA offices are required to designate a Tribal Consultation Advisor to provide advice to their office on when tribal consultation is appropriate and serve as a point-of-contact person for EP staff and tribes.

Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sebelius sent a letter to tribal leaders, October 7, announcing the launching of the Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC) that “will create a coordinated, department-wide strategy to incorporate tribal guidance on HHS priorities, policies, and budget.”

The National Indian Advisory committee on Behavioral Health to the Indian Health Service circulated a draft of Behavioral Health and Suicide Prevention Strategic Plans, September 20, 2010, for comment by November 19, 2010.

The Department of the Interior issued the 2010 list of federally recognized tribes, October 10, which now lists 564 Indian nations, the same as listed in August of 2009.

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council held Tribal Consultations on Sole-Source 8(a) Contracting, October 5, 7, and 19.

The Federal Communications Commission announced, August 12, that it was establishing an Office of Native Affairs and Policy as part of its national broadband plan, saying it would serve all federally recognized tribes and other Native American organizations to improve broadband services and address tribal problems. The action came following considerable lobbying prodding by tribal officials (Rob Capriccioso, “FCC establishes tribal office, Indian Country Today, August 30, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/FCC-establishes-tribal-office-101642363.html).

The U.S. Department of Education, as part of its compliance with President Obama’s directives for better U.S. agency consultation and communication with Indian Nations, held a conference on American Indian Civil Rights in Albuquerque, NM, in August, to promote understanding of, and action on Native American civil rights issues. Top personnel of a number of federal agencies, and a number of Indian leaders participated (Susan Montoya Bryan, “Federal authorities start discussion on Indian civil rights,” News From Indian Country, August 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9826&Itemid=1).

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Language Assistance Program released voter guides in the four most commonly spoken Native languages: Cherokee, Dakota, Navajo, and Yupik, on May 7.  The four languages are spoken by approximately 220,500 Native American citizens, and the voter guides fulfill “part of EAC’s mandate under the Help America Vote Act to assist states in making voting more accessible to all citizens (“U.S. Election Assistance Commission Releases Voter Guides in Four Native Languages,: Cultural Survival, May 13, 2010, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/united-states/us-election-assistance-commission-releases-voter-guides-four-native-languages).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota, August 5, signed the first tribal agreement in a six-state region, including Minnesota, allowing a federally recognized tribe to be considered a grantee for federal disaster assistance, clearing the way for nation-to-nation federal disaster assistance in incidents that are beyond the capabilities of the tribe. The agreement will allow federal aid to be made available to the Upper Sioux Community for damages incurred as a result of severe storms and flooding this past spring (“FEMA signs disaster agreement with Upper Sioux Community,” Indian Country Today, August 20, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/FEMA-signs-disaster-agreement-with-Upper-Sioux-Community-101159439.html).

The U.S. Department of State completed a series of meetings, October 13 and 15, receiving input from tribal leaders, NGOs and others on the administrations reconsideration of its position on the U.N. declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that the U.S. abstained on when the U.N. General Assembly voted to approve it. (More discussion of this issue is in International Developments, below).

The Pipe Spring National Monument and the Kaibab Band of Paiutes, after 11 years of planning, have built upon sharing museum space at the park’s visitor center, to jointly launch a separate $2 million modern museum repository for artifacts and archival material of early Mormon settlers and the Paiute Tribe, materials critical to understanding the area’s culture and heritage. The facility also provides opportunities for the Kaibab Band in protecting cultural and natural history items as well as tribal archives (“Tribe, national monument partner on repository, Indian Country Today, June 25, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97175009.html).

The British government, in July, denied visas to the members of the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team to play in the world lacrosse championships, attempting to travel on Iroquois nation passports, even though the U.S. State Department eventually gave one time permission to use the passports. Iroquois passports have often been accepted for foreign travel in the past, but the denial was based on recent International requirements for upgraded security features in such travel documents that the Iroquois passports did not meet.  In the Meantime, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of southern Arizona, in August tribe, became the first U.S. Indian Nation to issue identification cards with enhanced federal security features to its members, allowing them to enter the United States by land or through a sea port of entry, as well as to use the cards for identification in domestic travel. The tribe’s lands are about 60 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, and many of its 17,000 members have relatives living on both sides of the border. The cards were developed after more than a year of consultation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A number of other tribes, including the Tohono O’odham of Arizona and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, already have moved, or are moving, toward formal agreements with the Department of Homeland Security for the development of the IDs. The cards meet the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative – a post Sept. 11, 2001 effort to strengthen U.S. border security - including having radio frequency identification technology allowing for the electronic verification of tribal membership, identity and U.S. citizenship. The National Congress of American Indians is hopeful the use of the secured cards could be expanded to allow tribal members to travel abroad, following the  inability of the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team to use Iroquois passports to travel England. As of August, U.S. Homeland Security officials had said the enhanced tribal identification cards cannot be used in lieu of a federal passport. It is conceivable that a deal might be made to use the cards for international travel with an approved tribal passport (“The unfortunate denial by the British government,” Indian Country Today, July 22, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/The-unfortunate-denial-by-the-British-government-99055604.html; and “Obama Administration may thwart Iroquois Nationals’ tournament travel Team booked to fly Tuesday; feds silent on permission at midday Monday, “Indian Country Today,           http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Obama-administration-may-thwart-Iroquois-Nationals-tournament-travel-98257989.html; “Arizona tribe becomes first to issue enhanced Ids,” Indian Country Today, August 6, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Arizona-tribe-becomes-first-to-issue-enhanced-IDs-100127304.html).

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Diane Benson (Tlingit) having won in the August primary, is running on the Democratic ticket for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Alaska (Neva Reece, “Diane Benson makes a run for state office in Alaska,” Indian Country Today, September 27, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/Diane-Benson-makes-a-run-for-state-office-in-Alaska-103146364.html). In Washington State, Dino Rossi (Tlingit), a former state senator who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2004, ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Jeff Morris (Tsimshian) is running for an eighth term as state representative from the 40th House District. John McCoy, (Tulalip), a Democrat, is running for a fifth term as state representative from the 38th House District. Claudia Kauffman (Nez Perce), a Democrat, is running for a second four-year term as state senator from the 47th District. Steve Oliver (Lummi) is serving a four-year term as Whatcom County treasurer. He was a Ferndale City Council member and a 10-year deputy county treasurer before his election in November 2007. He is also president of the Ferndale Boys & Girls Club and a representative on the Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence. Bob Kelly, Nooksack, resigned from the Whatcom County Council in November to run for a position on the Nooksack Tribal Council. He won in March and is now Nooksack council chairman (By Richard Walker, “Four Native leaders running for office in Washington, Indian Country Today, July 22, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Four-Native-leaders-running-for-office-in-Washington-99034744.html)

h3>Federal Indian Budgets

With Congress not having passed an FY2011 budget, it passed a Continuing Resolution, HR3081, that the president signed, September 28, continuing federal funding essentially at FY2010 levels for the first two months of FY2011, beginning October 1, 2010, while Congress continued to work on an FY2011 budget bill. At the time the budget process stalled, a 5% over all budget cut was proposed in federal programs.

PRESIDENT'S PROPOSED FY2011 BUDGET IN $ billions
PROGRAM	FY2010 ENACTED	PRES. 'FY'11 PROPOSAL	% CHANGE
Operation of Indian Programs	$2.336	$2.395	2.40%
BIA	$1.537	$1.590	3.45%
Tribal Government	$0.430	$0.481	11.86%
Trust Real estate Services	$0.152	$0.151	-0.66%
Public Safety and Justice	$0.329	$0.362	10.03%
Community & Economic Development	$0.0449	$0.0384	-14.48%
Exec Dir. & Admin. Services	$0.268	$0.261	-2.61%
Bureau of Indian Education	$0.799	$0.804	0.63%
Elementary & Sec. Program-Forward Fund	$0.519	$0.525	1.16%
Elem. & Sec. Program (Not Forward Fund)	$0.077	$0.1280	66.23%
Education Management	$0.0265	$0.0251	-5.28%
Post Secondary Program-Forward Funded	$0.050	$0.0643	28.60%
Post Secondary Programs	$0.127	$0.062	-51.18%
Construction	$0.225	$0.116	-48.44%
Education Construction	$0.113	$0.053	-53.10%
Replacement School Construction	$0.00596	$0.00576	-3.36%
Replacement Facility Construction	$0.0170	$0.0081	-52.35%
Employee Housing	$0.00445	$0.00445	-0.09%
Facilities Improvement & Repair	$0.0856	$0.0346	-59.58%
Public Safety & Justice Construction	$0.0644	$0.0114	-82.30%
Resources Management Construction	$0.0384	$0.0422	9.79%
Indian Land Consolidation Program	$0.003	$0.001	-66.67%
Office of Special Trustee	$0.186	$0.160	-13.98%
State & Tribal Wildlife Grants	$0.090	$0.090	0.00%
Office of Navajo & Hopi Relocation	$0.008	$0.008	0.00%
Inst of Am Ind & AK Nat Cult & Art Develo	$0.00830	$0.00875	5.42%
EPA Tribal Capacity Building	$0.0121	$0.0150	23.97%
EPA State & Fed Tribal Assistance Grants	$0.00497	$0.00478	-3.82%
Water Sup & WasteWat Grant AK Ru&Nat	$0.013	$0.010	-23.08%
Brownfields Projects	$0.100	$0.138	38.00%
Safe Drink Water Revolving Loan Fund	$1.387	$1.287	-7.21%
Tribal General Assistance Program	$0.063	$0.071	13.52%
Tribal Air Quality Management	$0.0133	$0.0136	2.00%

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In the Courts

The U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by the State of Alaska to a lower court ruling against the state’s objection in a 2006 adoption of a 10-year-old from Kaltag to a family in Huslia, asserting that the tribal council could not initiate adoptions but must take referrals from the state. The tribe successfully argued in lower court that ICWA gives preference to the wishes of tribes in adoption of Native American children. A similar case from Tanana was then working its way through the Alaska court system, in October (“US Supreme Court rejects state appeal of tribal adoption case,” Alaska Daily News, October 5th, 2010, http://www.adn.com/2010/10/05/1486921/us-supreme-court-rejects-state.html#ixzz11byxp3fM). 

The U.S. Supreme Court, October 12, 2010, agreed to grant certiorari to the petition of Madison and Oneida, NY Counties and hear their appeal of Madison County, NY, et al v. Oneida Indian Nation, in which the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, April 27, had unanimously upheld the tribe’s sovereign immunity under existing precedents, though two of the three judges wrote a concurring opinion stating that it would be common sense to allow a state to suit a tribe for collection of the state’s taxes.

Lower Federal Courts

A divided three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell’s decision denying Cherokee Nation’s request to intervene as a new plaintiff in the state of Oklahoma’s water pollution lawsuit against 11 Arkansas poultry companies for allegedly disposing of poultry waste that the state claims has damaged portions of the Illinois River Watershed in northeastern Oklahoma. The tribe’s lands lie within the watershed (Tim Talley, “Appeals court rules tribe can’t join poultry suit,” Indian Country Today, September 23, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/Appeals-court-rules-tribe-cant-join-poultry-suit-103659324.html).

The Ninth Circuit Court of appeals ruled, June 23, 2010, that an employment rights lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Peabody Western Coal and the Navajo Nation can proceed with limitations. Under a contract, drafted by the Department of the Interior, between the Company and Navajo nation to mine coal on the reservation, Peabody gives hiring preference to members of the Navajo Nation, only. The EEOC contends that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act hiring preference is legal for Indians living on or near a particular tribe’s reservation, but not for members of a specific tribe.

U.S. district Court Judge Alan Johnson, in Wyoming, ruled, May 10, that Fremont County WY’s voting rights system diluted the Native American vote in violation of section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act, ordering the county to create a new voting arrangement consistent with the law. Fremont County than proposed a pair of plans, each of which would create one American Indian majority district while maintaining at large voting for other commissioners. Judge Johnson invalidated both plans as discriminatory, on August 10, in Large v. Fremont County, No, 05-CV-0270 (D.-WY). The county agreed to adopt a five district election system while it appeals Judge Johnson’s decision. There was growing pressure, in September, for the County to drop the appeal, because of cost.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, September 28, rescinded the Department of Interior (DOI) contract with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation to manage the National Bison Range Complex, returning its management to the U.S. Fish and wildlife Service, in Reed v. Salazar, ruling that the DOI had failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy (NEP) before entering into the 2008 funding agreement with the confederated tribes, as it had not compiled an environmental impact statement or its equivalent.

Federal District Court Judge David M. Ebel ruled. July 26, 2020, concerning the nuclear waste facility planned for the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation, that the Department of Interior, under the Bush administration, had acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner when it rejected a lease for the facility and a rail line to the reservation. The tribe had struck a deal with a nuclear waste storage company to store up to 44,000 tons of nuclear waste on a 100-acre site on the 18,000-acre reservation, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license for the deal. Interior objected (Rob Capriccioso, “Interior undecided on Goshute nuclear site appeal,” Indian Country Today, September 14, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/politics/Interior-undecided-on-Goshute-nuclear-site-appeal-102620449.html).

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn, September 22, 2010, dismissed an Onondaga Nation’s land rights lawsuit. The Onondaga filed its action in March 2005 on behalf of itself and the Haudenosaunee against New York State, Onondaga County, the City of Syracuse and five corporations, including Honeywell International, seeking a declaratory judgment that various lands situated in present-day Central New York were unlawfully acquired by the State of New York in violation of the federal Indian Trade and Intercourse Act, the U.S. Constitution, the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix and the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. Judge Kahn ruled that following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York, the Oneida Indian Nation could not make a claim that would be disruptive to current land holders after such a long period of time (Gale Courey Toensing, “Court denies Onondaga land rights lawsuit”,” Indian Country Today, October 6, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/Court-denies-Onondaga-land-rights-lawsuit-104158213.html).

A Federal District Court in Arizona dismissed a suit, for lack of jurisdiction, against the federal government for damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, over the actions of two tribal police officers acting off reservation in Shirk v. United States (CV-09-01786-PHX-NVW, August 26, 2010). The tribal police officers of the Gila River Indian Community noticed a paroled felon driving erratically on an Arizona state road off reservation. The officers turned on their car lights and siren and attempted to make contact with the driver when he reached a stop sign. However the driver accelerated, hitting a motorcycle driven by Shirk, causing him serious physical injuries. Shirk first attempted to sue in Arizona state court, but the court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.  In the federal case, Shirk argued that the officers were federal employees, but the court found they were not.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and American Indian farmers reached a settlement, October 19, of the nationwide class action lawsuit, Keepseagle v. Vilsack, in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. before Judge Emmet Sullivan, under which USDA will pay $760 million in damages and debt relief for discrimination against American Indian farmers and ranchers in the USDA’s farm loan program. The settlement will also improve USDA’s farm loan services for Native Americans, including the creation of a Native American Farmer and Rancher Council, which will enable Native Americans farmers and ranchers to collaborate with top USDA officials on greater and equitable access to  USDA’s programs. In addition, USDA has agreed to work toward enhanced delivery of technical assistance to Native American borrowers, the creation of sub-offices on tribal lands, a systematic review of the farm loan program rules to improve accessibility to Native Americans and other measures designed to improve the provision of farm loan services to Native Americans. Additional information is available at www.IndianFarmClass.com or by calling, toll free, 1-888-233-5506.

The Gila River Indian Community filed suit, September 16, in Federal District Court, in Phoenix, AZ,  attempting to block the Tohono O’odham Nation’s proposed casino near Glendale. AZ, that the Gila River tribe says would be built on its aboriginal territory. The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Interior Department acted illegally and avoided its own policies when it agreed to take land into trust on behalf of the Tohono O’odham, in July, effectively adding the land to the Tohono O’odham reservation (Jonathan J. Cooper, “Tribe files lawsuit to block Glendale casino,” Indian Country Today, September 21, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/business/Tribe-files-lawsuit-to-block-Glendale-casino-103294899.html).

The Northern Ute Tribe of Utah, as of July 16, had won the first round in its efforts to restrict energy company QEP Resources Inc., a division of Questar Corp., from building a huge gas processing plant expansion at Stagecoach on Uintah and Ouray Reservation lands, which the nation asserts is in direct violation of existing federal and tribal regulatory requirements governing use and access of tribal lands. The Ute Tribe says that QEP was in violation of the terms of a 2005 concession agreement between the company and tribe that provided temporary access and a process to obtain rights-of-way for future oil and gas activities on the million-acre reservation, and banned the company from the reservation. QEP disagreed and suited the Utes in Federal District Court in Salt Lake City. After first granting a temporary restraining order against the tribe, the judge through out the case, ruling that the issue was not within the court’s jurisdiction. The dispute concerns Questar’s proposed modification of an existing gas processing plant by adding a cryogenic processing facility and three power transmission lines, that the tribe considered an environmental hazard. The tribe has requested the EPA to enforce the Clean Air Act and to request that the BIA re-evaluate the agency’s approval of the concession agreement to determine if it was granted in the best interests of the tribe and in accordance with federal law, the tribal chair saying, “Questar has not secured any approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to construct the processing facility at the site, and the plant could produce harmful and potentially toxic levels of air emissions that could put both the tribal membership as well as other Uintah Basin residents at risk.” (Carol Berry, “Energy giant told to follow rules,” Indian Country Today, August 24, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Energy-giant-told-to-follow-rules-100631694.html).

Miami, FL Federal District Court Judge Federico Moreno, August 23, denied an emergency petition by the Miccosukee Indians of Florida to stop the state from purchasing 26,791 acres of agricultural land for about $197.4 million from U.S. Sugar agricultural land in the Everglades. Judge Moreno ruled that the tribe’s emergency motion was not actually an emergency, since the land deal would not close until October 11, leaving time for the case to be heard later. The state says the land will be used to help restore the Everglades, but the tribe has argued that the deal would stall other major restoration projects. The initial deal announced in 2008 was to pay $1.75 billion to buy all of U.S. Sugar’s 180,000 acres, but it has been scaled back, in part, because of the declined economy  (“Injunction denied for Everglades/US Sugar deal,” Indian Country Today, August 27, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Injunction-denied-for-EvergladesUS-Sugar-deal-101645408.html).

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Public Citizen Litigation Group and several other groups initiated a class action suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, NY, in April, against the secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce to end alleged discriminatory hiring practices that impact Native Americans, among others, and obtain back pay for plaintiffs. The plaintiffs charge that the Census Bureau in hiring temporary workers over the past two years illegally screened out applicants with often decades-old arrest records for minor offenses or those who were arrested but never convicted, discriminating against more than 100,000 blacks, Latinos and Native Americans, who are more likely to have arrest records than whites (Larry Neumeister, “Lawsuit: Census Bureau discriminated in hiring of American Indians,” News From Indian Country, August, 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9783&Itemid=1).

State and Local Courts

A state appellate court judge in western New York, September 1, restored an order stopping the collection of taxes on cigarettes sold by Native American retailers to non-Indian customers. A previous order had been lifted by a state judge, August 30, a decision appealed by the Seneca and Cayuga nations. Those tribes won a separate federal court order, August 31, temporarily barring collections against them. However New York State had said it would start imposing the $4.35 per pack levy on other reservation retailers starting September 1 (Carolyn Thompson, “NY appeals court halts Indian cigarette tax plan,” Indian country Today, September 7, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/NY-appeals-court-halts-Indian-cigarette-tax-plan-102104144.html). Seneca County, NY judge Dennis Bender dismissed an indictment against the Cayuga Nation, June 28, and ordered Seneca County to return $375,000 worth of cigarettes that were taken in December 2008 when Seneca and Cayuga county sheriffs raided the nation’s two Lakeside Trading convenience stores in Seneca Falls and Union Springs. The counties had claimed that because the nation did not have an official reservation, the stores were violating state tax laws by selling untaxed cigarettes. The case eventually reached the New York Court of Appeals, which ruled in May in the Cayugas’ favor, ruling that the Cayuga Nation does not have to pay state sales taxes on cigarettes sold at its Lakeside Trading convenience stores because the stores are on qualified reservation land. The ruling also cited the lack of an effective method for the state to collect taxes on cigarettes sold to non-Indian customers on reservations (Gale Courey Toensing, “Judge orders county to return seized Cayuga cigarettes,” Indian Country Today, July 9, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Judge-orders-county-to-return-seized-Cayuga-cigarettes-98110239.html).

San Diego Superior Court Judge Judith Hayes, June 7, ordered the Padre Dam Municipal Water District to avoid construction on around two-thirds of the two-and-a-half acre site where it is building a new reservoir and pumping station, after human remains were found in an area that the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians says is a sacred burial ground and ceremonial place of their ancestors. The restraining order extends to June 25. Attorneys for the Viejas Band sought the restraining order against the Padre Dam Municipal Water District to halt construction until the matter is decided by the Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC). After NAHC voted unanimously, June 17, to declare the 2.5 acre site in San Diego County a ceremonial site and sanctified cemetery, California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California in San Diego central division, June 24, on behalf of the commission, against the water district, which was continuing construction on the site, seeking an order that the site should be permanently protected (Gale Courey Toensing, “Court orders construction halt on Viejas sacred site,” Indian Country Today, June 17, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/96566704.html; Gale Courey Toensing, “Viejas ceremonial sanctified burial site to be protected ‘in perpetuity’,” Indian Country Today, July 2, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97664204.html).

A representative of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma filed a suit in Tennessee, in August, Asserting that the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs violated open-meeting “sunshine” laws when it gave state recognition as tribes to six local groups, without prior notice or open hearing, with the commission apparently having altered its rules to do so. The commission’s action in question took place June 19, about a month after the state legislature had curtailed its authority and 11 days before the date on which the legislature had slated it to go out of existence. The groups the commission certified as state recognized tribes include the Cherokee Wolf Clan, Central Band of Cherokee, Tanasi Council, Chikamaka Band, United Eastern Lenape Nation of Winfield, Tennessee and Remnant Yuchi Nation. Principal Chief Michell Hicks, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, criticized the process. “As one of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes, we have had no interaction with any of these groups, and I absolutely do not support them in this endeavor.” Oklahoma Cherokee Nation Communications Officer Mark Miller commented that he could certainly see the attractions of his culture, but said it is important to distinguish between heritage clubs, which is how he defined these groups, and federally recognized tribes, such as the Cherokee Nation. “When people do genealogical research, they find all sorts of ethnicities and may take a particular interest in some of them. People who discover a little German heritage, for example, might want to study the German language and go to Oktoberfest. But this doesn’t give them the right to automatically become a German citizen or to create their own Germany. Similarly, you can’t make up your own tribe just because you found a Native ancestor.” Miller suggested, “If you’re proud of your Cherokee background, please express it in a way that’s friendly to our history and to those of us living today. Come and visit us. We’re alive and well, here in Oklahoma.” The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians form many years have worked to protect their political and cultural identity. A 2008 joint resolution described threats over the years to their sovereignty and reputation by those claiming to be Cherokee, along with the loss of millions in federal funding. The document called the problem epidemic and said it “often involves membership fees; misleading presentations to school children and interference in a multitude of government functions, including child welfare cases.” 10 former Tennessee Indian Affairs commissioners submitted a letter to the state’s attorney general objecting to the process and calling the groups merely “culture club,.” and charging conflicts of interest, noting that four of the six current commissioners belong to the tribes they approved. The 10 former officials also questioned the legitimacy of the new tribes’ identity claims, which are based in part on others’ perception that one is Native American and on business activities that address cultural preservation. (Stephanie Woodard, Cherokee Nation challenges newly minted tribes: Lawsuit claims Tennessee’s recognition of six groups was illegal, Indian Country Today, August 13, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Cherokee-Nation-challenges-newly-minted-tribes-100630459.html).

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Tribal Governments and State and Local Governments

A new Vermont state law creates a process for a Vermont commission to recommend tribal recognition, which the Abenaki tribes hope will also allow them to seek federal funding for education and other benefits. (Lisa Rathke, “Law gives tribe hope for recognition,” Indian Country Today, September 26, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/Law-gives-tribe-hope-for-recognition-103713899.html).

Stephanie Woodard, “Will Oglalas be disenfranchised?: South Dakota weighs in on election debacle, Indian Country Today, September 16, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Will-Oglalas-be-disenfranchised-102952769.html, reports that South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson, who is a resident of Shannon County, which is within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, has suggested that  mail-in absentee ballots can help fix the election crisis in Shannon County, if the county ends up without polling places for many people to cast ballots in person. The situation reached a critical point September 3, when five officials of neighboring Fall River County, including state’s attorney Jim Sword and head election official, county auditor Sue Ganje, gave 30-day notice that they intend to walk away from contracts to administer non-tribal government functions, including elections, for Shannon County. In South Dakota, early voting is an absentee ballot cast in person at a polling place during the six weeks before an election that is available at county seats and satellite offices in predominantly white areas, but is most often available in Indian areas for shorter periods, or not at all. The problem with using absentee voting as a solution is that it is a multi-step procedure that starts with obtaining and mailing in an application and ends with photocopying a form of identification to post with the ballot. But on Pine ridge photocopying is not easily available to most people. With a close election in some races in South Dakota, many suspect that party politics is involved in the problems of making it possible for Pine Ridge residents in Shannon County to be able to vote.

The Michigan State Supreme Court has taken a number of initiatives, in the past few years, to make the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) easier to use and understand. In 2008, a special committee was formed by the Court to help Michigan judges and child welfare practitioners learn more about ICWA and understand the need for states to comply with the act and how it can be better implemented within Michigan. In 2009, the State Court Administrative Office, the administrative agency of the Michigan Supreme Court, published a court resource guide designed to provide Michigan trial courts with best practice advice to apply when using ICWA. During work on the court resource guide it was determined further research was needed and a subcommittee was formed that recommended changes to Michigan’s court rules to help with the recognition and implementation of ICWA. The Michigan Supreme Court approved those changes, January 27, 2010, and they went into effect on May 1. A second subcommittee, the Tribal Court Relations Committee, was formed as part of the Court Improvement Program Statewide Task Force and continues to meet on proposed state legislation that was drafted to reflect ICWA with the goal of making judges and child welfare workers more aware of the federal law’s requirements at both the tribal and state levels. A special session to review the proposed ICWA statute was held September 30 in Lansing. The Michigan Supreme Court, in 2010, has been sponsoring ICWA training and dialogue for state court judges, tribal representatives, attorneys, court staff and Department of Human Services workers as a step toward implementing the “best interests” considerations for Indian children, families and tribes. In addition, the Walking on Common Ground: Michigan Regional Conference, took place October 12–13 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, MI, for tribal, federal and state justice communities throughout Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Walking on Common Ground promotes collaboration, education and the sharing of resources to build a more positive future for tribal children and families involved in the child welfare system. Circuit court judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit of Michigan, Timothy P. Connors, said, “If ICWA is codified into state law it will be more likely to be followed in our state courts. ICWA crosses the lines in several of our state courts; it comes up in our probate courts through guardianships and adoptions, through our circuit court in abuse and neglect cases out of the juvenile docket, and occasionally it can come up in a divorce proceeding. We are trying to make sure the legislation incorporates all of those areas so that whoever is following the statute can clearly see what they need to do and how it might be different for an Indian child Information about ICWA is available online from the Native American Rights Fund: www.narf.org/icwa – which publishes A Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act (“Legislation will bring clarity to the Indian Child Welfare Act if passed: Tribal and state courts working together for the benefit of American Indian children,” Indian Country Today, September 10, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Legislation-will-bring-clarity-to-the-Indian-Child-Welfare-Act-if-passed-102371894.html).

The Massachusetts Senate, in June, was considering allowing smoking in new casinos, six years after the state banned on smoking in workplaces, bars and Restaurants (Lyle Moran, “Mass. Senate casino bill would allow smoking,” Indian Country Today, June 29, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97398234.html.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, July 27, ordered the Osseo-Fairchild School District in western Wisconsin to cease using its Chieftains nickname and logo, finding it was race-based and promoted discrimination and harassment. This is the first order that the department has given under a new Wisconsin statute that went into effect in May. Two other complaints, over the use of the nickname Indians for schools in Kewaunee and Mukwonago,  are pending, and potentially 32 additional school districts with similar American Indian-based names could be forced to drop them or face fines of $1,000 a day (By Scott Bauer, “Wisconsin school ordered to drop Chieftains nickname,” News From Indian Country, July, 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9715&Itemid=1).

The Pala Band of Mission Indians, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, have at least temporarily stopped a land fill proect on Sacred ground, two miles from the community, after San Diego County rescinded the land fill permit, August 5. Gregory Landfill has until February 1, 2011 to resubmit the application (Victor Morales, “Sacred site gets respite,” Indian Country Today, August 30, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Sacred-site-gets-respite-101645678.html).

Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry’s office provided $6 million in federal stimulus dollars to the Native American Cultural and Education Authority to continue construction at the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum. The funding will permit construction on the $177.5 million project to continue through the next legislative session, which came into doubt, last summer, when the state legislature failed to hear a bill to allow the museum to sell revenue bonds to pay for construction (Julie Bisbee, “Indian center gets $6M from governor’s office, News From Indian Country, October 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10165&Itemid=1).

Officials on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota are unhjapy with the way the Mahnomen County handles criminal cases, especially rape, on the reservation, which bring few prosecutions and convictions. The tribe is seeking to have more control over law enforcement in its jurisdiction. The Mahomen county sheriff and Attorney are also unhappy that there are not more prosecutions in reservation cases, noting that sexual assault cases are complex, and that as outsiders they have difficulty gaining need cooperation from victims and other tribal members. Budget and limited staff constraints also cause the county attorney not to work on weak cases. The situation is not an unusual one be tween tribes and outside law enforcement. At White Earth, the tribe can investigate crime, but it is up to the county state or federal government to prosecute. To meet the situation, The White Earth Police Department has stepped up its role in investigating reservation crime, and hiring a full-time domestic violence and sexual assault investigator, in 2010, and beginning to track cases. In the first half of this year, White Earth investigated 36 sexual assault cases. Many are still open investigations. White Earth Police Chief Randy Goodwin is concerned that when domestic asault cases are not prosecuted it often leads to an escalation in violence. Goodwin states, “These victims and witnesses won't or don't cooperate because their feeling is nothing will happen anyway. So they'll just take their justice out on the streets. And that's where we end up going back a second or third time.” "And I do understand that prosecution being declined because there is no cooperation from victims or witnesses. But for the most part there are some cases that just don't get prosecuted and I have no idea why they're being declined." The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 gives tribes the right to petition the U.S. Attorney General for authority to prosecute crimes in tribal court, and White Earth is the first tribe in the nation to seek the change. As of mid-October, an official with the U.S. Justice Department said the department was in the process of developing regulations to put the new law into effect, and a decision on the White Earth petition could come later this year (Dan Gunderson, “White Earth pushes for more control of law enforcement,” Minnesota Public Radio, October 13, 2010, http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/10/13/white-earth-law-enforcement/).

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Tribal Developments

With strong approval from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, the South Dakota U.S. Attorney’s office in South Dakota, in September, launched a multi-faceted project to improve the justice system on the Pine Ridge reservation, in keeping with the recently passed Tribal Law and Order Act. The beginning of the project involves Greg Peterman of the Department of Justice’s Overseas Professional Development Assistance and Training program spending three or four days per week in Pine Ridge to mentor, instruct and, in conducting providing an infrastructure audit, constantly ask the question: What needs to be done to help Pine Ridge improve public confidence in its criminal justice system by improving the functioning of its attorney general’s office, the tribal courts and the police department? The Pine Ridge pilot project, laying ground work for all the South Dakota reservations, also includes funding for one victim/witness advocate, and is working to: -Create a new cross-deputization program to allow some tribal prosecutors access to federal courtrooms by making them Special Assistant United States Attorneys, or Tribal SAUSAs.–Improve prosecutorial communication with the tribes. That includes sending tribal prosecutors detailed letters that fully explain the reasons why the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to prosecute a case on the reservation. –Form an advisory council to the initiative that will bring “community” into the Community Prosecution Strategy.–Foster better government-to-government relationships with tribes, including U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson  and the new Chief Tribal Liaison Randolph Seiler making regular visits to the tribal courts of each of the state’s nine reservations, at least twice a year. Each tribal court will also be assigned its own assistant U.S. attorney in the Pierre, Sioux Falls or Rapid City offices. –Technology updates for tribal court systems and records, with staff training to help deliver efficient, predictable justice to its citizens. While lack of sufficient tribal justice funding is expected to remain a limitation on the effectiveness of the Pine Ridge Justice system, much improvement is expected from the survey and follow up coordination with the South Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office, reorganization, training, and some provision of resources (Mary Garrigan, “Pilot prosecuting program to start in South Dakota on Pine Ridge Reservation,” News From Indian Country,  August 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9876&Itemid=1).

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has announced its cooperative agreement with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center for a $1 million a year, three-year study on pregnancy outcomes and child development in relation to uranium exposure among Navajo mothers and infants living on the Navajo Nation (“UNM studies uranium exposure in Navajo mothers and infants,” Indian Country Today,  September 20, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/UNM-studies-uranium-exposure-in-Navajo-mothers-and-infants-103304479.html).

The Hopi Tribal Council, in September, rescinded their approval of a federally funded project to determine whether tribal land is suitable for carbon storage, that the council had approved in July, out of concern for potential environmental damage, groundwater contamination and risks to public safety. The project involved the drilling of one well on tribal land to explore the geologic rock formations and deep saline aquifers to determine whether carbon storage was possible, with a group of researchers from the West Coast Carbon Regional Sequestration Partnership, or WESTCARB, coal-fired power plants, said Rich Myhre, outreach coordinator for WESTCARB (Felicia Fonseca, “Hopi Tribal Council disapproves drilling project,” News From Indian Country, September 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10073&Itemid=1).

The Comanche Nation and Fish and Wildlife Service established a Comanche-operated feather repository that provides for the ethical and legal acquisition and distribution of culturally significant feathers of all species of migratory birds other than eagles. The two-year pilot program will issue feathers for religious and cultural use to federally enrolled tribal members based on an application and acquisition process used by the National Eagle Repository in Denver. Comanche Nation spokespersons noted, “Provisions for legal access to bald and golden eagle feathers through the federal government have existed since 1962. However, until today, there has not been access to the feathers of other migratory bird species from a culturally dedicated entity” (Carol Berry, “First Native non-eagle feather repository established,” Indian Country Today, July 9, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/First-Native-non-eagle-feather-repository-established-98125294.html).

Eighteen Native American nonprofit leaders were hosted by Native Americans in Philanthropy and Cherokee Preservation Foundation in Cherokee, N.C., June 15–17, to design regional networks to strengthen leadership in Indian country’s nonprofit sector. Participants represented the Bush Foundation, Cherokee Preservation Foundation, Common Counsel Foundation, First Alaskans Institute, First Nations Development Institute, Native Americans in Philanthropy, the Native Youth Leadership Alliance, the New England Foundation for the Arts, New Mexico Youth Organized, the Northwest Area Foundation, Seed to Lead, the St. Paul Foundation, The Hopi Foundation and Tiwahe Foundation (“Native American nonprofit leaders meet,” Indian Country Today, July 20, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Native-American-nonprofit-leaders-meet-98769619.html).

The Navajo Nation and Key Bank announced a $60 million loan to the tribe be used to construct new judicial and correctional facilities in Crownpoint, NM and Tuba City, AZ. The loan is believed to be the first major institutional financing deal to be governed exclusively by tribal laws and subject to tribal jurisdiction, in full recognition of the Navajo Nation’s sovereign status, with the bank agreeing that disputes arising from the contract to be decided under the laws of the Navajo Nation and in Navajo courts (“$60 million Keybank and Navajo partnership governed by Navajo law,” Indian Country Today, July 22, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/business/60-million-Keybank-and-Navajo-partnership-governed-by-Navajo-law-98826989.html). Members of the Navajo Nation’s Upper Fruitland Chapter in northwestern New Mexico have approved alcohol sales at the restaurant in the casino they plan to build near Farmington, NM (“NM Navajo chapter OKs alcohol at casino restaurant,” September 2, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/NM-Navajo-chapter-OKs-alcohol-at-casino-restaurant--102086238.html).

The Cherokee Nation recently broke ground for a new 8,000-square-foot center in Nowata, OK that will house a food distribution store, meals for seniors and better local access to some Cherokee Nation programs and services. The center will replace the current “tailgating” food distribution service provided by Cherokee Nation in Nowata once a month (“Planned Cherokee Nation facility offers better local access to services,” Indian Country Today, September 14, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Planned-Cherokee-Nation-facility-offers-better-local-access-to-services-102875889.html).

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Economic Developments

The collapse of the economy has greatly reduced the issuance of tribal bonds. Tribal bond issuance reached a high pf $577.6 million in 2007, then declined by more than half in 2008, to $271.8 million, and again by more than half again in 2009, to $77.2 million. As of the end of June 2010, tribal governments had issued only $2.8 million in bonds, despite a provision in the 2009 federal stimulus bill was designed to enhance tribal bond issuance (Mark Fogarty, “Tribal bonds fall off,” Indian Country Today, July 2, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97669404.html)

The CDFI Fund of the United States Treasury awarded more than $10 million to 45 groups in 19 states, in June, to facilitate community development, housing, and other economic development for American Indians. The largest award, for $650,000 went to First Nations Oweesta Corporation of Rapid City, SD to increase lending to Native American communities across the country. The CDFI (community development financial institution) of the Tohono O’odham Nation, Sells, Ariz., received $649,000 to expand its lending and add to loan loss reserves. The CDFI provides business loans and small business development services on the Tohono O’odham reservation. Four Bands Community Fund, of Eagle Butte, SD, has gotten $649,946. Four Bands provides microloans, small business loans, Individual Development Accounts and other services to the residents of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. It is expanding to include the Standing Rock Reservation and urban Indians in Rapid City, SD Native American Bank, N.A., in Denver, was awarded $500,000 to increase financing capital for the three reservations it serves: the Blackfeet, Rocky Boy and Fort Hall reservations in Montana and Idaho, New Mexico Community Capital, in Albuquerque, was awarded $649,111 to increase equity investments to Indian-owned businesses throughout New Mexico. Wind River Development Fund, in Fort Washakie, WY, was given $649,982 for lending capital and operational support. It provides small business lending and development services on the Wind River Reservation. In all, more than 15 of the awards involve funds for housing or mortgages. Four Directions Development Corporation was awarded $649,907 to expand lending in housing-related loans to four American Indian tribes in Maine. Cook Inlet Lending Center, Inc., in Anchorage, has received $622,611 to increase lending capital. It provides second mortgages and financial education to Native Americans in southwest Alaska. American Indian Community Development Corporation, in Minneapolis, received a technical assistance grant of $108,322 to help it become a standalone CDFI. Its mission will be to promote homeownership among Indian households throughout Minnesota. The Ho-Chunk Housing and Community Development Agency in Tomah, WI received $149,858 to create a standalone CDFI that will provide mortgage loans and other financing in the Ho-Chunk Nation. Teton Financial, in Rapid City, SD, received $150,000. It provides closing cost, down payment assistance, rehab loans and home improvement loans to Indians. In Washington state, Northwest Native Development Fund got $133,986. It provides subordinated home purchase loans and home buying services to three reservations. The fund awarded $80,100 to Fort Gibson State Bank, in Fort Gibson, OK. The bank provides housing loans to residents in its target area. Osage Financial Resources, Pawhuska, OK, received $127,806 in technical assistance funds. It provides affordable housing and home improvement loans to members of the Osage Tribe. Another Oklahoma group, Supportive Financial Services, Inc., received $149,775 to provide affordable housing loans. The Turtle Mountain Housing Authority, in North Dakota, received $126,262 to help provide home rehab loans. In New Mexico, Native Community Finance received $148,577 to strengthen capacity. It provides home rehab loans and other financial services to Natives across the state. Also in New Mexico, Isleta Pueblo Housing Authority got $122,024 to establish itself as a standalone CDFI. It will provide housing lending to Indians in and surrounding the Isleta reservation. The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, in Honolulu, received $150,000 to hire new staff. It provides affordable housing loans for Native Hawaiians. Karuk Community Loan Fund, Inc., in Happy Camp, Calif., got $127,366. The CDFI serves Natives in Siskiyou County, CA and surrounding communities, and provides residential purchase loans, home improvement loans, and other loans. In Arizona, Hopi Credit Association, in Keams Canyon, received $130,922. The group helps residents of the Hopi Reservation to purchase, build or improve a home, among other things. Salt River Financial Services Institution, in Scottsdale, AZ, was awarded $150,000. It provides mortgages and home improvement loans, as well as other financial services, to residents of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. The Arizona Tribal CDFI, in Phoenix, received $145,506. It provides affordable housing loans to Indians living in Arizona. The Wigamig Owners Loan Fund, in Lac du Flambeau, WI, received $82,280. It provides home repair loans and down payment assistance to members of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation (Mark Fogarty, “CDFI fund awards $10 million to Native groups,” Indian Country Today, July 2, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97670699.html).

The Nez Perce, Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai, Shoshone-Bannock and Shoshone Paiute tribes commissioned University of Idaho study, released in April, found that the five tribal nations in Idaho had an economic impact of more than $850 million, in 2009, adding 4,097 jobs and $331 million in revenue to the state economy. However, unemployment and poverty remain significant problems in these reservation communities, though the tribes have expanded their economies in recent years to include casinos, as well as agricultural activities that traditionally formed the backbone of their local economies. While feeling the down economy, the tribes appear to have weathered the recession better than other sectors of the economy (“UI study highlights tribal impacts on economy,” News from Indian Country, October 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10227&Itemid=1).

With the bad economy, the two Indian-run casinos in Connecticut announced revenue in August fell from the same month last year. Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s Foxwoods Resort Casino reported, September 15, that its slot revenue was $59.2 million, down 6% from $63.1 million in August 2009. The Pequot paid almost $16 million to the state in August. The Mohegan Sun reported a revenue decline of 3%, down to $67 million this August, from $69 million in August 2009, bringing a contribution to the state of about $17.3 million (“Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun report lower revenue in Aug.,” September 22, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/business/Foxwoods-Mohegan-Sun-report-lower-revenue-in-Aug-103299044.html). The Mohegan Sun’s management announced, in September, that the facility was planning to cut 355 jobs because of the continuing revenue decline (Everton Bailey Jr., “Mohegan Sun to lay off 355 workers,” News From Indian Country, September 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10041&Itemid=1). However, while Indian casino revenue in the U.S., over all, declined 1%, from about $26.7 billion in fiscal year 2008 to $26.5 billion in fiscal year 2009, Oklahoma Indian casinos have continued to do well, generating $2.9 billion in 2008 and paying the state $118.2 million, as state revenues from Indian gaming have risen about 5000% over six years (Randy Ellis, “Okla. tribes paid $118.2 M in gaming fees to state,” Indian Country Today, August 24, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Okla-tribes-paid-1182-M-in-gaming-fees-to-state-101391079.html).

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma opened Cherokee Casino Ramona, May 28, creating 100 new jobs and a monthly payroll of $400,000, For more information, visit www.cherokeestarrewards.com or call (918) 535-3800 (“Ramona now home to 100 new employees,” June 22, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/96905329.html). The St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin opened the St. Croix casino Danbury, July 30, that features more than 500 slot machines, table games, three dining venues, hotel, pool retail outlet and a convention center. For more information contact: Mark Kay Merrill: (715) 349-2195 (“St. Croiz Casino Danbury,” Indian Country Today, September 29, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/ictwriters/St-Croiz-Casino-Danbury-104012354.html). The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (NHBP)’s FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, MI celebrated its one year anniversary August 5. FireKeepers impact on the local economy has included providing 1,500 jobs, an estimated $10.2 million in annual purchasing within 60 miles of the casino, along with a $1.9 million check to the Local Revenue Sharing Board. For more information, visit www.FireKeepersCasino.com (“FireKeepers Casino celebrates first anniversary,” Indian Country Today, July 30, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/business/gaming/FireKeepers-Casino-celebrates-first-anniversary-99314569.html).

“Success amidst the storm: Tribes buck economic trends to grow business, build for the future,” Indian Country Today, September 5, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Success-amidst-the-storm-101792063.html, finds economic planning by a number of Indian nations has helped them minimize the negative impacts of the Great Recession. “The Coeur d’Alene Tribe doesn’t claim to have all the answers. But it does know one thing for sure: The procedures and strategies put in place before the recession at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort in Idaho have paid off handsomely.” The nation’s top rated Circling Raven Golf Club operated at near capacity all of last summer, with bookings up 15% over the summer of 2009, while the near by casino continued an $85 million expansion project, which is well ahead of schedule with an anticipated spring 2011 opening. Meanwhile, “Other tribal nations across the country are using golf as a stepping stone for growth and prosperity, two words that have been practically non-existent elsewhere in the industry. A similar development was recently completed at Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Wash., which is owned and operated by the Squaxin Island Tribe.” The resort doubled the number of rooms for guests to 190, helping the adjacent casino, while the large new Skookum Creek Event Center began offering live concerts, comedy acts and cage-fighting bouts. In spring of 2011, the high quality Salish Cliffs Golf Club is expected to be added to the resort. The Island Resort & Casino, on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, owned and operated by the Hannahville Indian Community, has also done well in the recession, while adding the quality Sweetgrass Golf Club in 2009, and beginning construction of a conference center, and expanding the casino, including a new restaurant, at the end of July, 2010. A factor in the success of Island Resort was anticipating a coming downturn in the economy and planning for it, including retraining personnel to focus on customer service.

After some 60 years wild rice may again flourish on Ogechie Lake in Minnesota following an agreement between the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s Department of Natural Resources/Environment and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The memorandum of understanding, in the making since first feasibility studies were undertaken in 2004, was recently signed. The proposal must first pass a joint federal-state environmental assessment later this year, including public hearings. While the agreement does not specifically address harvesting rights for band members after wild rice is re-established, treaty rights already cover the lake, according to Scott Hansen, environmental program manager for the band’s natural resource’s department (Konnie LeMay, “Ogechie Lake wild rice restoration moves forward,” Indian Country  Today, June 15, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/96386119.html).

50 Native trainees from the Wind River Reservation’s Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapahoe Tribes, and from other reservations, have gone through the Permanent Jobs Creation Initiative, with 47 have receiving jobs with a union contractor providing a career path to a better future. The 94% success rate for the reservation-based training program encompasses many participants who are former welfare recipients. The program was implemented at the end of March with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (www.recovery.gov). The Permanent Jobs Creation Initiative is a cooperative arrangement among the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapahoe Tribes; the Native American Construction Training Management, Inc., in Wheat Ridge, CO; All-State Fire Protection, in Commerce City, CO; and Road Local 669 Sprinkler Fitters of the United Association Plumber, Fitters, Welders and HVAC Service Techs, in Baltimore, Md.; and the U.S. Department of the Interiors’, Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. For additional information go to: www.nactm.com (“Tribal/union initiative gets members on long-term career paths,” Indian Country Today, August 31, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Tribalunion-initiative-gets-members-on-long-term-career-paths-101873928.html).

Minnesota’s three largest Indian nations, Red Lake, White Earth and Leech Lake co-sponsored the third biennale Economic Development Summit, the 2010 Northern Minnesota Reservation Economic Development Summit and Trade Show, at Seven Clans Casino and Event Center, Red Lake August 11–12, with the main foci developing renewable energy and fostering “green” businesses (Michael Meuers, “Renewable energy and green business were summit focus,” Indian Country Today, August 31, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Renewable-energy-and-green-business-were-summit-focus-101881118.html).

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Education and Culture

The interdisciplinary Native American Studies Graduate Program at the University of California, Davis is developing graduate study abroad opportunities in Mexico and Guatemala.  For information on this developing program go to: http://irca.ucdavis.edu/2010/08/participants-department-of-state-grant/#respond.

Arizona State University has taken successful actions to retain and support Native students, greatly increasing their rate of graduation. Prior to the University hiring of former Navajo Nation President, Dr. Peterson Zah, as special advisor to the president on American Indian Affairs, who launched the Native student support effort, in spring of 1996, 93 Native students earned degrees, and the Indian student population was 902. At that time no more than half of Native students were returning to campus after their first year. Since then, the Indian population and its graduation rate have increased steadily. ASU ranked fourth place in the nation among universities awarding Native students bachelor degrees, during the 2007-08 academic year, with more than 200 Native students obtaining undergraduate degrees. In addition, ASU ranked sixth in the nation for Natives earning master’s degrees and 12th for research doctorates, bringing the total number of degrees awarded to 295 in 2007-08, twice the number of who graduated from ASU the previous year, while the ASU Native student population climbed to more than 1,400. The Native student program began with arranging for the Navajo, San Carlos Apache and White Mountain Apache tribes to provide scholarships for their students to ASU, that the program would administer, while the program provided the student with a comprehensive retention program. The Multicultural Student Center works closely with the incoming freshmen, and students are introduced to NATIONS, a student organization with the mission of “providing strong academic and cultural support” to Indigenous students. Scholarship funds are released in three installments and contingent on a student’s adherence to the program and academic standing. As of fall 2010, nine academic departments were offering programs specifically tailored for Native students or those interested in Native affairs. Students looking for camaraderie and support from peers can join one of the seven Native organizations on campus, and mentoring relationships between faculty and students are established that Zah states play a crucial role in a student’s success in their first two years. All of this is backed up by American Indian Student Support Services (AISSS), which provides students with counselors to deal with such problems as the inability to help their family on the reservation, or deeper issues. Students can also opt to see a traditional Navajo practitioner for counseling. For a significant number of freshmen who come to campus academically unprepared, a mid-semester review of each NAAP student reveals those who are struggling in their classes and provides the help they need in order to succeed. Non-NAAP students also find the support they need through AISSS, as well as from other organizations on campus. AISSS offers a computer lab, tutoring and workshops to for students. Zah has had meetings with officials of other tribes across the country about becoming involved with NAAP, in the hopes of developing intergovernmental agreements, similar to those of the three participating tribes. For more information on NAAP and Native support services, visit www.asu.edu/president/zah (Babette Herrmann, “Arizona State University increases graduation rates,” Indian Country Today, August 30, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Arizona-State-University-increases-graduation-rates-101665318.html).

Leech Lake Tribal College, this fall, initiated the Miikinaa (The Path) mentoring program to help students stay in school and succeed, with funding from a $100,000 Walmart Minority Student Success Award. The process focuses on 15 to 20 students who are the first in their families to attend post-secondary education, who often find education beyond high school more of a challenge than those following in the footsteps of earlier relatives who attended colleges or universities. According to a story in a March 2010 edition of USA Today, more than one-quarter of first-generation, low-income students leave college after their first year and nearly 90% percent never complete a degree. The mentoring program aims at improving on those statistics by providing first generation college students with the hope, encouragement and guidance that are necessary for building self-esteem and instilling a sense of cultural pride that will sustain them in any academic or geographical setting (Konnie LeMay, “Miikinaa to set a strong path for Leech Lake’s first-generation students, Indian Country Today, August 3, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Miikinaa-to-set-a-strong-path-for-Leech-Lakes-first-generation-students-99839779.html).

The University of Hawaii at Hilo created the Native Hawaiian Learning Center called Kipuka, meaning calm place, refuge or oasis, which spearheaded the Uluākea program to help Native Hawaiian students remain in school, graduate and succeed in the post college world. Uluākea, meaning profound inspiration, addresses the need for instructors of every discipline to incorporate Native Hawaiian understanding and knowledge into their curriculum. With a  barrier to success for many Hawaiian students the lack of role models/instructors who are either Native Hawaiian or are sensitive to and inclusive of Native Hawaiian traditions in their classrooms, it became important to change the foundation of classes, and build Hawaiian culture and world view into them, to provide students with the confidence they needed to grow and flourish in the academic environment. In four years, the program has grown from six staff members to more than 25 instructors, who after engaging in a one-week intensive summer program and monthly workshops throughout the year, meet together monthly to compare experiences. For more information about the Uluākea program or any of the Kipuka resources, visit http://kipuka.uhh.hawaii.edu (Rebecca Jacobs, “Retaining and graduating main goal,” Indian Country Today, September 28, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Retaining-and-graduating-main-goal-103939309.html).

New Mexico State University opened its new American Indian Student Center, in October, with the goal of helping students from tribal communities adjust to life on campus, giving them a place to gather, support each other, and feel at home (“NMSU opens American Indian student center,” News From Indian Country, October 2010, http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10226&Itemid=1).

Sitting Bull College at Fort Yates, ND moved to a new $23 million campus this fall, more than tripling its square footage. The new facility is constructed of natural-looking materials and almost entirely equipped with geothermal heat (Courtney Sinner, ND college starts school year on a new campus, Indian Country Today, August 17, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/ND-college-starts-school-year-on-a-new-campus-100901624.html).

The American Indian College Fund received several very large donations: President Obama (from his Nobel Prize award) $125,000; actress Bea Arthur, $100,000; the Coca-Cola Foundation $1 million; and Anthony Welmas (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuila Indians) $219,482 (Indian Country Today, Education ‘10-’11).

An energy auditor training program to provided personnel in short supply was developed under a Department of Interior (www.bia.gov) grant to the United Association of Journeyman and Apprentices of the United States and Canada (UA) (www.ua.org), who partnered with HVAC Excellence (www.hvacexcellence.org) to develop and implement an eight hundred contact hour energy auditor curriculum first put into practice, in January, at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, ND with a group of students from 14 tribes and eight states to begin training in the specialized green collar field of energy auditing. The first class in the pilot program graduated on May 9. With the completion of the pilot testing, the program was ready to be repeated with Native students across the country. This was the first time in U.S. history that Native Americans were chosen to be the first to be trained in any area. For Additional Information Contact Jerry Weiss (800) 986-3726 (“Energy auditor training program trains Native Americans for success,” Indian Country Today, June 9, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/ictwriters/95982079.html).

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of the Interior are collaborating in educating future tribal leaders on energy resource development and environmental evaluations by offering several hands-on learning opportunities, including Tribal Energy Internships and the Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge. Argonne puts on a summer internship program, now in its second year, specifically for American Indian and Alaska Native college students, with 2010 interns from the Quapaw, Navajo, Shoshone Bannock, Seneca, Confederated Salish and Kootenai, Eastern Shoshone, and Cherokee Nations. Examples of recent projects are, three students from Little Big Horn College and their instructor completing a Geographic Information Systems internship to determine potential sites for a coal to liquids plant on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana; and two students, one from the University of New Mexico and one from San Juan College, comparing costs and environmental impacts associated with coal, natural gas, wind and solar energy generation technologies, including land use, water use and greenhouse gas emissions. The internship program has led to the creation of the Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge, with this year’s contest focused on designing and building an efficient portable wind turbine system, and prizes were awarded at both the high school and college level. An additional, freely available resource is the Tribal Energy and Environmental Information Clearinghouse, that creates a knowledge base to help tribes and tribal organizations develop environmental analysis and evaluation programs and processes that further their energy and economic goals. These programs are funded by the Interior Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development to support American Indians and Alaska Natives in managing their natural resources and tribal energy opportunities. In accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, there are several resources available to promote tribal energy sufficiency and economic growth and employment on tribal lands through the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies (“Tribal internship students energize alternative fuel science,” Indian Country Today,” June 22, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/96888454.html).

Oklahoma State University is working to bolster the number of Native Americans in the field of psychology through its American Indians Into Psychology (AIP) program, one of three such Indian Health Service programs in the U.S. AIIP consists of two components, a six-week summer enrichment program preparing students for graduate school and a scholarship program. The six weeks enrichment program for junior and senior undergraduates includes classes, participation in research, and work in a tribal urban mental health facility. Scholarships are available to Native American students working on a doctorate in clinical psychology at OSU (“OSU clinical psychology program builds Native American presence,” Indian Country Today, June 8, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/95858059.html).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced, in early September, that 22 tribal colleges in nine states have been chosen to receive $4.1 million in grants through the USDA Rural Development Tribal College Initiative Grant Program. The program helps Equity in Educational Land Grant tribal institutions purchase equipment, finance infrastructure improvements – such as a library – and develop facilities that will help meet the needs of American Indian communities. The awards are as follows: Arizona: Tohono O’odham Community College: $196,600, to equip four classrooms with the latest in technological equipment and furniture. Michigan: Bay Mills Community College: $196,500, to make improvements on all three campus sites. The improvements to the main campus include a parking lot, library and improvements to the learning center. A classroom will be added to the existing EMS building. The 40 acre agriculture research site improvements include a new driveway and a power and water well. Minnesota: Leech Lake Tribal College: $196,400, to be used to upgrade equipment at the college. White Earth Tribal and Community College: $196,600, to be used to help purchase an existing building and equipment to utilize the facility for both classroom and faculty offices. Montana: Blackfeet Community College: $196,400, will be used to purchase equipment and supplies for the new “green” math/science building on the main campus located in Browning, MT. Little Big Horn College: $196,400, will be used to purchase equipment for the health and wellness facility. Stone Child College: $196,400, will be used to purchase equipment and supplies for the Little Bear Health Enhancement Center, Physical Fitness Certificate Program, Athletic Program, Allied Health Program, and Nursing Program. Fort Belknap College: $196,400, will be used to construct an addition to the cultural center by adding two immersion classrooms. Confederated Salish & Kootenai College: $196,400, will be used for construction of a new Extension Education Complex headquarters, which will provide offices, meeting space, training space, and vegetable and native seed processing space. Fort Peck Community College: $196,400, will be used for energy efficient renovations and rehabilitation of facilities. Chief Dull Knife College: $196,400, will be used to purchase an A/C unit for the information technology room, replace kitchen equipment, building renovations and purchase a 12 passenger van and four-door sedan. Nebraska: Nebraska Indian Community College: $196,400, will be used to provide a paved access road and paved campus parking lot to the already existing facility. Little Priest Tribal College: $196,40, will be used to enhance the education facility of by expanding their classrooms, including a new lecture hall and classroom facilities. North Dakota: Cankdeska Cikana Community College: $196,500, will be used to construct hallways that will connect the entire campus. United Tribes Technical College: $196,400. The funding will be used to complete a parking lot at the new campus location to accommodate 145 vehicles. Turtle Mountain Community College: $196,500, will be used for college parking lot expansion to include installation of curbing and paving to accommodate an additional 90 vehicles and provide a safe parking facility for students and staff. Sitting Bull College: $196,500, will be used to complete on campus road lighting and paving. South Dakota: Sisseton Wahpeton College: $196,500, will be used for a library expansion project. Oglala Lakota College: $196,400, will be used to assist in renovations to the college center. Sinte Gleska University: $196,400, will be used to assist in construction of a classroom. Washington: Northwest Indian College: $196,500, will be used to begin Phase III of building which includes: engineering, clearing, common utilities, water distribution systems, sanitary sewer systems, storm water retention, water quality control systems, roadway construction, lighting and sidewalks. Wisconsin: College of Menominee Nation: $196,600, will be used for a parking lot expansion and emergency generator, which is needed for the new library to address lighting and HVAC system electrical needs should there ever be a power failure on campus        (Brenda Austin, “$4.1 million invested in tribal land-grant institutions: 22 colleges in nine states to receive funding from the Tribal College Grant Program,” Indian Country Today, September 7, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Secretary-Vilsack-announces-investment-of-41-million-in-tribal-land-grant-institutions-102373704.html).

The World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium, awarded its first accreditation to a preschool to graduate school, or P-20, education system – the Hawaiian Mauli Ola Education System. The system uses Hawaiian as the language of instruction and has a strong record of producing college- and career-ready high school graduates. Supporters of this approach believe that applying it to the Hawaiian system medium education can re-establish Hawaii as a world education leader, as it was in the 1800s. The statewide Mauli Ola Education System integrates programs from cradle (infant/toddler) to university (Ph.D.) to careers and lifelong learning that include Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke’elikōlani College’s baccalaureate and graduate programs, the college’s Hale Kuamo’o Hawaiian Language Center, and its laboratory school programs, including all 11 Pūnana Leo preschools, Ke Kula ‘O Nāwahīokalani’ōpu’u, Ke Kula ‘O Samuel M. Kamakau, Ke Kula Ni’ihau O Kekaha, and Ke Kula ‘O Kawaikini. Created through a mandate from the 1997 Hawaii State Legislature, the system now serves some 1,500 students. An indigenous international body, the WINHEC Accreditation Authority was founded on the principles of the 1993 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and supports the Coolangatta Statement on Indigenous Rights in Education and the Mataatua Declaration on Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights. The WINHEC accreditation process requires a review by a team of international indigenous education experts. The review gives special recognition to institutions that demonstrate a strong educational commitment to the language, culture and traditional practices of their communities and to academic and cultural values that integrate performance, integrity, and quality (“Hawaii earns an education ‘World’s First’,” Indian Country Today, Oct 12, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Hawaii-earns-an-education-Worlds-First-104776964.html).

The St. Francis Indian School in south central South Dakota, serving more than 550 students in grades 7 – 12 for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, is receiving a $7.2 million improvement project to meet long-standing infrastructure needs with a new gymnasium and kitchen, in the launching of Department of Interior’s 4,000th stimulus project. (“Work to begin on St. Francis Indian School project,” September 24, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/-Work-to-begin-on-St-Francis-Indian-School-project-103717239.html).

The Red Cloud Indian School is receiving a five-year, $750,000 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant from the U.S. Department of Education helping to fund the reservation school’s comprehensive after-school and summer program (“Red Cloud Indian School receives largest grant in organization’s history,” Indian Country Today, July 6, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97872484.html).

The San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, in July, announced a commitment of $2.5 million over two years to a program of career technical instruction offered by the Riverside County Office of Education for students of Sherman Indian High School. The partnership of tribal - school - county partnership was forged to address a need for Native American students to develop career pathways that will contribute to new opportunities for Native students and continued economic development of Native American communities. The program is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2010. For more information go to: www.sihs.us (“San Manuel Band donates $2.5 million: Funds support Career Training Academy at Sherman Indian High School, Indian Country Today, July 20, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/San-Manuel-Band-donates-25-million-98836034.html).

With many Native Hawaiians finding the preservation of their culture and tradition becoming increasingly more difficult as the world becomes smaller and more standardized, the Ola’a Community Center after school program, “Kupukupu,” focuses on Hawaiian children learning first hand the depth of culture and tradition they are a part of, in order for them to stay on track and grow to be strong Hawaiian adults. Kupukupu founder and University of Hawaii Community College professor Trina Nahm-Mijo said she developed the program with advisor Rachel Kruse when they saw the impact “ice” or crystal meth was having on families in the Puna region of the Big Island. Kruse said that by connecting children to their culture and their land, they are connected to their family and their traditions providing a sense of self and pride. “I try to get the kids to understand all the gifts they have on this island and then when they get it, they are so excited and tell their parents. So it has an impact on the whole family,” she said. For more information about the program visit www.olaacommunitycenter.com (Rebecca Jacobs, “First hand development of Hawaii culture,” Indian Country Today, September 13, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/First-hand-development-of-Hawaii-culture-102627099.html).

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Cecelia Jackson, 87, the last fluent speaker of the Prairie Band Potawatomi’s native language living on its Kansas reservation has been working with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Language and Cultural Department on documenting it in hopes of keeping it alive. Jackson and other community members participated in early meetings o the cultural department that eventually led to the development of a strategic plan to help preserve the language and the tribe’s self-identity (“Kansas woman seeks to save Potawatomi language,” Indian Country Today, July 2, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/97670244.html).

The Cultural Survival (CS) Endangered Languages program is working with the Sauk Language Department in Stroud, Oklahoma, and the Meskwaki Historic Preservation Department in Tama, Iowa, to set up local archives and mentoring opportunities for language learners to work with the traditional stories and other cultural and linguistic knowledge contained within the 27,000 page document collection written by first-language Meskwaki speakers in the early 1900s. While the two speech communities are geographically and politically separate, they share historical, cultural, linguistic, and blood ties that predate the European settlement of North America.  Portions of the documents, stored for nearly 100 years at the National Anthropological Archives, have been viewed only a handful of times by community members, while the paper on which they were written is crumbling. Access to the collection would prove invaluable in the development of tribally-specific teaching materials, and speakers remain in the community who are literate in the earlier orthography. Other CS language preservation programs include partnerships with the Northern Arapaho Tribe's immersion schools, and the Arapaho Language Lodges on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, and the Wampanoag Nation's Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP) in Massachusetts, with whom CS has partnered in developing Voices of the Heart, produced by filmmaker Amy Williams and former Wind River resident Tish Keahna for Aljazeera’s program WITNESS, and a the feature-length documentary  We Still Live Here, As Nutayunean, produced by filmmaker Anne Makepeace (“Endangered Languages Archives Project,” cultural Survival, September 13m 2010, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/united-states/endangered-languages-archives-project; and “NIEA's Annual Language Summit,” Cultural Survival, September 13, 2010, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/united-states/nieas-annual-language-summit).

Ben Levine’s documentary film Language of America: An Indian Story, filmed over a period of six years in native communities throughout New England, shows how language is not only a tool for communication, but also a window into a culture that has existed in Maine for more than 9,000 years. The story follows members of the Passamaquoddy, Wampanoag and Narragansett Naraganset as they struggle to maintain their language. The film began showing this fall (“Film delves into Indian language, culture in Maine,” California Chronicle, October 6, 2010, http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/yb/150669549).

Neil Diamond’s (Cree) documentary film Reel Injun, examining the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema, and exploring how the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding – and misunderstanding – of Indigenous people, aired  on the PBS series Independent Lens, November 2. For more information contact Mary Lugo (770) 623-8190; lugo@negia.net or Cara White (843) 841-1480; cara.white@mac.com (“‘Reel Injun’ a portrayal of Native Americans in film,” Indian Country Today, September 13, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/ictwriters/Reel-Injun-a-portrayal-of-Native-Americans-in-film-102800619.html).

A $6 million donation by the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, announced July 16, is enabling San Bernardino-based KVCR Television to launch the nation’s first 24-hour Native American television channel in the Spring of 2011. KVCR is emphasizing the history, culture and news of American Indians and Alaska Natives. (“Donation establishes the nation’s first 24-hour Native American TV channel,” Indian Country Today, July 22, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Donation-establishes-the-nations-first-24-hour-Native-American-TV-channel-99054059.html).

A weekly audio program providing a summary of U.S. national news items important to Native communities is at: http://images.bimedia.net/audio/podcast-232.mp3.

A proposal by a group of Native and non-Native community members to build the Northwest Native Cultural Center celebrating the history and culture of Puget Sound’s First People has received broad support from Native and other community leaders, artists, educators, writers, and museum professionals. The facility would be a permanent, centrally located venue that uses displays, programs and performing arts to tell the story of the Coast Salish people, and be a resource center, directing visitors to other Native facilities in the area, such as Daybreak Star, Duwamish Longhouse and Suquamish Museum. The proposal responds to Seattle Center’s Century 21 Master Plan and the center’s 50th anniversary celebration, scheduled for 2012 (“Proposal to build a Northwest Native Cultural Center at Seattle Center gathers momentum,” Indian Country Today, September 14, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/Proposal-to-build-a-Northwest-Native-Cultural-Center-at-Seattle-Center-gathers-momentum-102865449.html). The Chickasaw Nation, opened the $40 million Chickasaw Cultural Center in Murray County Oklahoma adjacent to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, in late July, after six years of construction, featuring the nation’s culture and history. The center includes a 350-seat theater, an exhibit center, a replica of a traditional Chickasaw village, a cafe that serves items inspired by traditional Chickasaw cuisine, a garden where the tribe’s hall of fame is honored, and a research center, while the 109 acre campus incorporates trees and plants indigenous to Oklahoma and Mississippi, part of the tribe’s traditional homelands (Murray Evans, “After two decades, Chickasaw Cultural Center opens,” Indian Country Today, August 23, 2010, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/After-two-decades-Chickasaw-Cultural-Center-opens-101169919.html)

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