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Blog: Still no discipline for top officials at OST (08/28)
"In June 2008, the Department of Interior Inspector General (DOI-IG) issued a report describing how an employee at the Office of Special Trustee (OST) for American Indians steered lucrative contracts to an accounting firm whose principals lavished him with gifts,...
ITMA holds listening conference on Yakama Nation (08/20)
The InterTribal Monitoring Association on Indian Trust Funds is hosting a listening conference on the Yakama Nation of Washington. The conference starts today and ends tomorrow. Attendees are being asked to talk about individual and tribal trust issues. ITMA's next...
Appeals court delays casino for Michigan tribe (08/18)
A Michigan tribe's casino project was put in extended limbo on Friday so that an anti-gaming group can pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, has...
City won't oppose Cherokee Nation land-into-trust (08/12)
The city council in Catoosa, Oklahoma, voted 6-1 not to fight the Cherokee Nation's land-into-trust application. The city opposed the application when it was first filed in 1996. "Things have changed since that time," Mayor Rita Lamkin was quoted as...
Osage Nation holds forum on trust fund lawsuits (08/07)
The Osage Nation of Oklahoma is hosting a forum to discuss its trust fund lawsuits. The tribe is suing the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for breach of trust. A lawsuit for an historical accounting, similar...
Judge weighs next step in tribal trust lawsuits (07/25)
As the landmark Cobell Indian trust fund suit heads into its final chapter, a federal judge on Thursday contemplated opening a new one for hundreds of tribes. Judge James Robertson plans to wrap up the 12-year-old Cobell case next month...
Jodi Rave: NARF seeks class action for tribal trust (07/24)
"Lawyers from the Native American Rights Fund, on Thursday will ask a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to grant class-action certification on behalf of 250 tribes whose tribal trust fund accounts are managed by the U.S. Interior Department. Twelve tribes...
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe divided over trust bill (07/22)
The six bands of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe can't agree how to share a $20 million settlement for the loss of their lands. The $20 million was part of an Indian Claims Commission case. The federal government failed to compensate...
TV station finds Lakota man with $13.11 in trust (07/21)
A television station in California helped a Lakota man track down his missing trust assets. Martin Waukazoo, the CEO of the Native American Health Center, relocated to the Bay Area from South Dakota 30 years ago. Though he has been...
Judge rules on Chumash land-into-trust lawsuit (07/17)
Opponents of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians are claiming victory in their land-into-trust lawsuit. Preservation of Los Olivos and Preservation of Santa Ynez challenged a Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to acquire 6.9 acres for the tribe. But...
Wisconsin county weighs land-into-trust challenge (07/16)
Supervisors in Sauk County, Wisconsin, are meeting to discuss their land-into-trust lawsuit. The county sued the Bureau of Indian Affairs for acquiring 5 acres in trust for the Ho-Chunk Nation. The county said it wasn't allowed to challenge the BIA's...
Spirit Lake Nation slowly buys back reservation (07/14)
The Spirit Lake Nation is slowly buying back land within its 245,000-acre reservation in North Dakota. The reservation was established by treaty in 1867 and was immediately subject to allotment. After 100 years, the tribe was down to about...
Editorial: Swimmer's slap on the wrist at OST (07/11)
When John Berrey questions your ethics, you know you are in trouble. After all, the chairman of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma was more than willing to stand up for Steve Griles, whose train wreck of a tenure at the...
Swimmer reviewing latest reports on OST ethics (07/11)
Special Trustee Ross Swimmer said he is reviewing the latest Inspector General investigation of his agency's top officials "to determine the appropriate course of action," The Washington Post reports. The investigation found that deputy special trustee Jeff Lords accepted gifts...
Kempthorne urged to take action against OST officials (07/10)
The Bush administration promoted a trust reform official earlier this year despite questions about his relationship with a contractor, according to an internal investigation made public on Wednesday. Jeff Lords failed to disclose his personal relationship with the partner of...
Jodi Rave: Get started on Indian estate planning (07/04)
"All trust land holders need to begin estate planning, considering new regulations unfolding from the American Indian Probate and Reform Act. AIPRA, which went into effect on June 20, 2006, includes new rules on how the Interior Department can diminish...
City seeks delay in Soboba Band land-into-trust (07/02)
The city council in San Jacinto, California, is asking the Bureau of Indian Affairs delay consideration of the land-into-trust application filed by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians. The tribe is seeking to have 535 acres placed in trust....
Oneida Nation agrees to purchase golf course (06/30)
Members of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin agreed to the tribe's purchase of a golf course that is in bankruptcy proceedings. The purchase of the 320-acre, 36-hole Thornberry Creek Golf Course will increase the tribe's holdings in the village of...
Wisconsin Oneidas seek trust land in New York (06/27)
The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin will seek to have its land in New York placed in trust, the tribe's chief of staff said. The tribe owns 350 acres in New York. The properties are located in the two counties where...
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe divided over payout (06/26)
The six bands of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe are divided over legislation that would distribute a $27 million trust fund. The tribe settled a land claim lawsuit in 1999 for $20 million. H.R.2306 and H.R.3699 would finally distribute the funds...
Lawsuits challenge Oneida Nation land-into-trust (06/20)
Four lawsuits were filed against the Interior Department this week over the Oneida Nation's land-into-trust application. Three lawsuits were filed in the same federal court in upstate New York. One was filed in Washington, D.C., and an attorney involved believes...
House hearing focuses on future of Navajo trust (06/20)
INDIANZ.COM LISTENING LOUNGE House Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing on Utah Navajo Trust Fund. June 19, 2008. • Opening Statements • Panel 1 - Testimony | Q&A • Panel 2 - Testimony | Q&A • Panel 3 - Testimony |...
Osage Nation sees big increase in oil lease bids (06/19)
The Osage Nation of Oklahoma reported $643,900 in oil lease bids at a live auction on Wednesday. Thirty-six leases were offered and all of them sold. Sixteen went for more than $20,000 each and one went for about $43,000, the...
House Resources hearing on Utah Navajo trust fund (06/19)
The House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing this morning on the Utah Navajo Trust Fund. The hearing starts at 10am and lasted about an hour and 18 minutes. Audio clips follow: • Opening Statements Panel 1 - Testimony...
First lawsuits filed over Oneida land-into-trust (06/18)
The first two lawsuits were filed against the Interior Department to challenge the acquisition of 13,000 acres in trust for the Oneida Nation of New York. Upstate Citizens for Equality filed suit in federal court in New York. The group...
Deadline this week on Oneida land-into-trust (06/16)
Thursday is the deadline to challenge the Interior Department's decision to take 13,000 acres into trust for the Oneida Nation. Four challenges are in the works. One from the state of New York and two counties, another from two towns,...
House Resources hearing on Utah Navajo trust fund (06/13)
The House Natural Resources Committee will hold an oversight hearing next Thursday, June 19, on the Utah Navajo Trust Fund. Under an act of Congress from 1933, Utah manages oil and gas royalties for members of the Navajo Nation who...
Lawsuits mount over Oneida land-into-trust (06/12)
As a June 19 deadline approaches, the Interior Department faces several lawsuits and challenges over its decision to acquire 13,000 acres in trust for the Oneida Nation in New York. The state of New York and two counties will be...
New York to sue over Oneida Nation land-into-trust (06/11)
The state of New York will be suing the Interior Department over its decision to take 13,000 acres of land into trust for the Oneida Nation. The state's lawsuit is expected to be filed by June 19. According to the...
Lawsuits over Oneida land-into-trust in the works (06/06)
At least five lawsuits are being prepared to stop the Interior Department from acquiring 13,000 acres in trust for the Oneida Nation of New York. Two counties, one city and one town have already hired lawyers to challenge the decision....
Former Bush lawyer to argue land-into-trust case (06/06)
Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) is paying a former Bush administration lawyer $200,000 to argue a land-into-trust case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Theodore B. Olson served as Solicitor General at the Department of Justice. In that position, he...
House hearing on Minnesota Chippewa trust bill (06/05)
The House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing this morning on two bills that would distribute a judgment fund for the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. H.R.2306 and H.R.3699 each distribute the funds in trust account JA1041696 to six bands of the...
Witness list for House Resources hearing (06/04)
The House Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow on two bills that would distribute a judgment fund for the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. H.R.2306 and H.R.3699 each distribute the funds in trust account JA1041696 to six bands of the...
House hearing on Minnesota Chippewa trust fund (06/02)
The House Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing this Thursday on two bills that would distribute a judgment fund for the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe H.R.2306 and H.R.3699 each distribute the funds in trust account JA1041696 to six bands of...
Tachi Yokut Tribe doubles size of reservation (05/29)
The Tachi Yokut Tribe of California has more than doubled the size of its reservation. The tribe paid $1.2 million for 1,160 acres around the Santa Rosa Rancheria. The Bureau of Indian Affairs finally agreed to acquire the land in...
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