News

• New from UCLA American Indian Studies Center Press: Structuring Sovereignty: Constitutions of Native Nations
  

  Drafting and adopting a constitution is a collective journey of self-discovery and reflection for any nation, Indigenous or non-Indigenous. This book is a guide for communities engaged in the process of drafting a constitution and for students who are studying that process. It draws on research, firsthand experience with constitution writing and constitutional change, and … Read more



• ICTMN: Three Tribes to Begin Prosecuting Non-Indian Domestic Violence Offenders
  

  Three pilot tribes have been chosen by the Obama Administration to take early advantage of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provisions passed by Congress last year that allow tribes to prosecute non-Indian offenders for domestic violence offenses on reservations. The Justice Department announced February 6 that the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Tulalip Tribes … Read more



• Justice Department Announces Three Tribes to Implement Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction under VAWA 2013
  

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014 WWW.JUSTICE.GOV AG (202) 514-2007 TTY (866) 544-5309 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES THREE TRIBES TO IMPLEMENT SPECIAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION UNDER VAWA 2013 Pilot Projects Allow Tribal Prosecution of Non-Indian Abusers For the First Time in More Than Three Decades WASHINGTON – Three American Indian tribes – the Pascua … Read more



• ICTMN Exclusive: NCAI Releases R-word Video Ahead of Super Bowl
  

  By ICTMN Staff 1/27/14 The National Congress of American Indians has released a video extending their efforts to eradicate the offensive R-word. Just days before Super Bowl XXLVII, the NCAI is reminding Americans that Native people are not mascots. “This week’s celebration of football is exactly why we need to keep talking about the D.C. … Read more



• Indian Country Today Media Network: Indian Law and Order Commission: Shelving This Report Is a Huge Mistake
  

  By Tanya Lee January 22, 2014 Radical, revolutionary, exceptional or just plain common sense are some of the terms used to describe “A Roadmap to Making Native America Safer,” the result of two years’ work by the nine-member Indian Law and Order Commission established by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010. For more … Read more



• LA Times: Fort Sill Apache tribe says its roots are in New Mexico
  

  By Cindy Carcamo January 13, 2014, 8:36 p.m. AKELA FLATS, N.M.  Each year, Emily Haozous joins other Fort Sill Apache tribal members in a mountain spirit dance in Oklahoma. But the spirits they pay tribute to and invoke for power and protection belong to a mountain more than 600 miles to the west, in the … Read more



• Chumash development plan roils Santa Ynez Valley
  

  By Scott Gold December 15, 2013, 7:34 p.m. Chumash leaders say they want to build homes on a parcel near their reservation. Community activists fear they may instead build a casino or resort. SANTA YNEZ, Calif.  The Chumash Indians, first seen by explorers along the California coast in the fall of 1542, did not have … Read more



• Indianz.com: Senate confirms nominee with Indian law experience to court
  

  The Senate voted 56 to 38 on Tuesday to confirm Patricia Ann Millett for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Republicans previously prevented the Senate from voting on Millett. But Democrats changed the rules to limit filibusters on certain judicial nominees. “I’m pleased that in a bipartisan vote, the Senate has confirmed … Read more



• Interior, Oglala Sioux Tribe Announce First Cooperative Agreement to Facilitate Purchase of Fractionated Land under Cobell Settlement
  

  Oglala Sioux Reservation is Among Most Fractionated in the United States; First Offers Expected to be Made before the End of the Year WASHINGTON, DC The Department of the Interior today announced that it has finalized the first cooperative agreement to facilitate the purchase of individual interests in highly fractionated trust lands to consolidate ownership for … Read more



• Secretary Jewell to Visit Laguna Pueblo School, Discuss American Indian Education Initiatives
  

  LAGUNA, NM  On Wednesday, December 11, as part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to strengthen education for Native youth, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn will visit New Mexico to tour a Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) tribally controlled grant school located on the Pueblo of Laguna … Read more