Tulsa, Creek Nation

police to cross-commission

Tulsa, Oklahoma (AP)

Tulsa police and Muscogee (Creek) Nation tribal officers are expected to have authority to arrest suspects in each other’s jurisdictions by late summer. A cross-commissioning agreement between the two agencies is expected to be in full force by Aug. 1, authorities said. Tulsa Police Capt. Travis Yates said the department’s policy writers and legal advisers have met with legal advisers and leaders of the Creek Nation, including Tribal Police Chief Jack Shackelford, and the two agencies are now working to develop training and policies to govern the cross-commissioning agreement.

Former Standing Rock chair named to higher ed board

Bismarck, North Dakota (AP)

Charles Murphy, a former chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, has been appointed to the state Board of Higher Education. Murphy, who may be the board’s first Native, said he would support a University of North Dakota effort to keep its “Fighting Sioux” nickname. “I’m very honored,” Murphy said after Gov. John Hoeven named him to the panel. “I’m looking forward to working with the state of North Dakota to help improve (the university system)... I hope that I can bring a lot of good things to the table.” Murphy’s term is for four years.

Wisconsin governor vetoes oversight of casinos

Madison, Wisconsin (AP)

Gov. Jim Doyle on May 26 vetoed a Republican bill that would have given the Legislature the power to approve off-reservation tribal casinos. Under federal law, off-reservation casinos in Wisconsin require approval from the governor and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, which must agree the proposal would help the tribe without hurting the surrounding community. The bill would have stripped Doyle of that power, allowing him to concur with the bureau only if the Legislature let him.

Iron Wing sentenced after pleading guilty to murder

Pierre, South Dakota (AP)

A man from Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Reservation will serve 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. The U.S. attorney’s office said Daniel Keith Iron Wing, 20, was charged in the April 2005 death of James Robert High Elk Jr., 33, on the reservation in north central South Dakota.

School to allow graduates to wear feathers in caps

Phoenix, Arizona (AP)

Native high school students will be allowed to wear eagle feathers attached to their caps at graduation, Mesa Public Schools said, reversing an earlier decision. Students and elders from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Community had protested after Mesa administrators told Westwood High seniors they would be allowed to only wear a cap, gown and honor cord designating academic achievement at the ceremony.

Oklahoma’s Indian students score better

Oklahama City, Oklahoma (AP)

Oklahoma’s American Indian fourth- and eighth-graders scored better in reading and math than their counterparts in several states, according to an education survey. A report released by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that in 2005, Oklahoma’s Native fourth-graders had a higher average score in reading than students in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. Oklahoma’s American-Indian eighth-grade group had the highest average reading score in the nation. In math, Oklahoma’s tribal fourth-graders had a higher percentage of students performing at or above the basic standard than other Native students across the nation.

Mississippi Choctaw firm wins New Mexico contract

Philadelphia, Mississippi (AP)

A company owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw has signed a $15 million contract to design and build an education center and a dormitory at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. IKBI Inc. has its headquarters on the Choctaw Reservation in Neshoba County, Miss. The education center, the Center for Life Long Education, will include an alumni reception area, computer labs, cafe, administrative space, classrooms, fitness and wellness space, conference space and climate-controlled archive and artifact storage. The dorm will include 130 single-occupancy rooms for students and faculty.

Blackfoot beaded hide

shirt auctioned for $800,000

Piece of the Week, Artfact.com

Perfectly preserved in the attic of a Scottish castle for the past 150 years, a Blackfoot man’s beaded hide shirt drummed up $800,000 – a world-record price for a Native American object at auction. The stunning 19th-century shirt, arguably the finest of its type to ever appear at auction, was hammered down on May 8 to a private collector at Sotheby’s New York, amid protests. Native American representatives objected to the sale of 39 lots taken from the castle, saying they had been looted from the owners. Sotheby’s experts maintained that the collection amassed by the 9th Earl of Southesk included only items of personal, not ceremonial, value, all of which were acquired through trade.

Nation’s population

now one-third minority

Washington, D.C. (NFIC)

About 1-in-every-3 U.S. residents was part of a group other than single-race non-Hispanic white – according to national estimates by race, Hispanic origin and age released by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2005, the nation’s minority population totaled 98 million, or 33 percent, of the country’s total of 296.4 million. Hispanics continue to be the largest minority group at 42.7 million.The second largest minority group was blacks (39.7 million), followed by Asians (14.4 million), American Indians and Alaska Natives (4.5 million) and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders (990,000).

On The Net: www.census.gov

Jourdain seeks recount in Red Lake tribal election

Red Lake, Minnesota (AP)

Red Lak Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr. has formally requested a recount of the May 17 tribal election results, citing concerns about a shortage of absentee ballots and problems in voting at the Minneapolis Indian Center. Jourdain said that he requested a recount of all electronic and absentee paper ballots because, with 47.4 percent of the votes among four candidates, he fell just short of the majority he needed to avoid a runoff election. An incorrect time schedule was announced at the Minneapolis center and there weren’t enough ballots available there. Voters there used an alternative method once the ballots ran out.

Shakopee Mdewakanton fund alcohol free graduations

Prior Lake, Minnesota (ICC)

Out of a concern for area youth, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community donated a total of more than $13,800 to 14 high schools to fund alcohol and chemical-free graduation events. “There is nothing more important to the SMSC than the health and well-being of the nation’s youth. We are very thankful for the opportunity to support area youth in celebrating an important milestone in their lives.”

Cherokee Nation court

to decide spending fate

Tahlequah, Oklahoma (AP)

Cherokee Nation judges will decide the fate of $750,000 earmarked to boost the tribe’s image. A temporary restraining order was issued May 24 after a referendum petition was filed by a tribal member protesting plans to spend the money on advertising the nation’s accomplishments. A show-cause hearing on the matter was held May 27, with no decision rendered by the Judicial Appeals Tribunal. The money was allocated by the tribe’s council in January to help repair the tribe’s image, which officials believe suffered during a tobacco compact dispute with the state. Phillip Carey said he filed the petition on April 16 because he believes that the media campaign is unnecessary. “The money could be better spent on services to our people,” he said. “People already know who the Cherokee Nation is.”

NSU to change

“Redmen” nickname

Tahlequah, Oklahoma (AP)

A 26-member task force will help Northeastern State University officials find a new nickname for the school, which is dropping The Redmen after August 2007, the president said. The advisory group, whose members haven’t been chosen, will solicit input from focus groups and develop a plan for changing a name that has been in place for more than 80 years, NSU president Larry Williams said. “This has been an ongoing process,” Williams said. “We’ve given a lot of thought about this; it is not something that we decided to do overnight.” The school is changing the nickname voluntarily and is not under pressure by the NCAA, which in August banned the use of some American Indian mascots by sports teams during its postseason tournaments.