From BLT here.
Osage Trust Suit Settlement
From BLT here.
News
New Census Figures Allow South Dakota to Avoid Offering Language Support Services to Indian Voters
Here:
Here is a news article on the issue. An excerpt:
State Rep. Kevin Killer, whose district represents the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, said people do use the language services.
“We do have fluent Lakota speakers that do vote, and their preference is to have an interpreter there,” said Killer, D-Pine Ridge. “It’s better to err on the side of caution rather than make an assumption that nobody speaks Lakota.”
Fewer than 6,000 of the 120,000 members of Sioux tribes, who often identify themselves as Lakota, speak the language or its less common but closely related Dakota dialects. The average age of a Lakota speaker is 60, according to the Lakota Language Consortium.
But tribal schools such as Oglala Lakota College, Sinte Gleska University and Sitting Bull College have been reintroducing Lakota to a new generation through the schools’ language immersion programs, Killer said.
“So they’re going to be, at some point, hopefully fluent speakers,” he said.
Poll workers on Todd County’s Rosebud Indian Reservation have had to publish ballots in both English and Lakota and reprogram the AutoMark voting machines for each election, said Tripp County Auditor Kathleen Flakus, who also supervises the neighboring county.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2011/10/election-language-help-waived-sd-counties#ixzz1bKYV4wKo
CNN: Cherokee Election Observers Declare Election Fair
Here.
Salon: Hillary Clinton’s Legacy as Secretary of State Rests on Conclusion to Keystone Oil Pipeline
Here.
Reuters Article on Oneida Land Claims Cases
Here:
ALBANY, N.Y., Oct. 18 (Reuters) – In a decision that could have implications for Native American tribes nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by the Oneida Indian Nation seeking compensation for 250,000 acres of former tribal lands illegally purchased by New York in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The suit, first filed in 1974, alleged New York violated federal law when it purchased the land without Congressional approval. The suit claims the land, bought in central New York between 1795 and 1846, is now worth more than $500 million.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit tossed out the case last August, ruling that while the purchase of the land was illegal, granting the nation’s claims would be too disruptive to the state, local governments and the current owners of the land in question.
NCAI Statement on the Passing of Elouise Cobell
National Congress of American Indians
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2011
Contact:
Thom Wallace, Communications Director
NCAI – 202.630.1094, twallace@NCAI.org
NCAI Statement on Passing of Elouise Cobell
Organization calls on Indian Country to honor tireless leader’s advocacy work with continued action on rights protection and cancer awareness
Washington, DC – The President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), Jefferson Keel, has released a statement on the passing of Elouise Cobell, calling for Indian Country to honor the legacy of one of Indian Country’s most influential advocates by continuing to protect the rights of American Indian and Alaska Native people everywhere. NCAI also called for Indian Country to honor her life by confronting the quiet but devastating force of cancer, which took the life of Elouise Cobell and is the second leading cause of death among American Indian women and Natives older than 45.
“Elouise Cobell represented the indelible will and strength of Indian Country and her influence and energy will be greatly missed. Her passing on from this world must be honored by reaffirming our resolute commitment as Indigenous peoples to protect the rights of our citizens and our sovereign nations,” said Keel, President of NCAI, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native advocacy organization. “NCAI joins all who mourn the loss of this great individual. She committed her life to strengthening Indian Country and she contributed greatly.”
NYTs: “College Diversity Nears Its Last Stand”
Here.
President Obama Release on the Passing of Elouise Cobell
Here:
Michelle and I were saddened to hear about the passing of Elouise Cobell yesterday. Elouise spoke out when she saw that the Interior Department had failed to account for billions of dollars that they were supposed to collect on behalf of more than 300,000 of her fellow Native Americans. Because she did, I was able to sign into law a piece of legislation that finally provided a measure of justice to those who were affected. That law also creates a scholarship fund to give more Native Americans access to higher education, and give tribes more control over their own lands. Elouise helped to strengthen the government to government relationship with Indian Country, and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, and all those who mourn her passing.
Eastern Band Establishes Cherokee Identity Protection Committee
Here. An excerpt:
There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes in the United States including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (NC), the Cherokee Nation (OK) and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (OK). According to a list compiled in March by the Cherokee Nation, there are 212 fabricated groups claiming to be Cherokee tribes. “Fraud List” compiled by Cherokee Nation
Some of those groups are from areas thousands of miles from traditional Cherokee territory including the Northwest Cherokee Deer Clan in Oregon. And, several aren’t even in the United States at all such as the Chewah Cherokee Nation in Manitoba, Canada.
The EBCI Tribal Council passed a resolution – No. 6 (2011) – during annual council on Thursday, Oct. 13 to establish the Cherokee Identity Protection Committee.
“It’s something that we’ve had an ongoing issue with and it’s something that’s important,” said Big Cove Rep. Perry Shell who submitted the resolution passed on Thursday. “Many times people are taking our identity.” Continue reading
NYTs Article on Eskimo Whale Hunt
Here.
Turtle Talk 
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