President approves Pueblo land claim settlement

San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico (AP)

Legislation settling San Ildefonso Pueblo’s decades-old claim to thousands of acres of ancestral land in northern New Mexico was signed into law by President Bush during September. The settlement includes land transactions affecting San Ildefonso and Santa Clara Pueblos, Los Alamos County and the U.S. Forest Service. The pueblos will be able to add land to their boundaries, and the county can protect its water wells. The settlement resolves the last remaining claim before the Indian Claims Commission, which was established in 1946.

6-year-old hospitalized after school bus drags him

Buffalo, New York (AP)

A 6-year-old boy remained hospitalized Oct. 7 after a school bus dragged him along the road for about 60 feet. Shane Stout had skin scraped from his torso, patches of hair ripped off his head, a broken thumb and bruises on his face after the Oct. 6 accident on the Cattaraugus Reservation, authorities said. The doors of the bus closed on Shane’s backpack and the driver took off without realizing the boy was stuck. The driver finally stopped after other children on the bus alerted him, authorities said.

Reede given 40 months for killing LeCompte

Pierre, South Dakota (AP)

An Eagle Butte man will serve three years and four months in prison for shooting a man to death on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Sam Andrew Reede, 19, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Pierre to voluntary manslaughter for the Nov. 7, 2005 slaying of Quentin LeCompte in Dupree. Reede was originally charged with second-degree.

Judge dismisses

bald eagle killing charge

Casper, Wyoming (AP)

A federal judge has dismissed a charge against a Northern Arapaho member who shot a bald eagle last year on the Wind River Reservation. The motion to dismiss the case against Winslow Friday centered on arguments that government efforts to protect bald eagles unduly restrict tribal members from practicing their traditional religious ceremonies. U.S. District Judge William Downes announced on Oct. 6 his decision to dismiss the case during a brief telephone conference with Winslow Friday and various attorneys involved in the case.

Red Lake chairman schedules drug summit

Fargo, North Dakota (AP)

The chairman of the Red Lake Chippewa said the tribe is close to signing a cooperative agreement with local and federal task forces to help fight drugs and violence on the reservation in northern Minnesota. Chairman Floyd “Buck” Jourdain also announced Oct. 6 that the tribe has scheduled a Jan. 17 summit on drug problems, particularly dealing with methamphetamine and crack cocaine.

Penobscot Nation

elects Francis as new chief

Indian Island, Maine (AP)

The newly elected chief of the Penobscot Nation says one of his principal goals will be to promote economic self-sufficiency for the tribe. Kirk Francis Sr. was elected during September to succeed Chief James Sappier, who did not seek another term because of family concerns. Francis outpolled former Chief Barry Dana, 373 to 172. Francis, who resigned from his third term on the Tribal Council in order to run for chief, assumed his new post Oct. 1. He said that with funding from federal programs becoming more unpredictable each year, the tribe needs to explore ways to create a sustainable economy and maintain an adequate level of services for tribal members.

Museum sells

lands with Catawba relics

Rock Hill, South Carolina (AP)

Land that contains Catawba relics has been sold to a developer despite requests from at least five archaeologists that the property be extensively surveyed first. The 350 acres on the banks of the Catawba River was sold this year to Cherokee Investment Partners. It plans a residential and retail community called “Kanawha.” But the sales agreement doesn’t have any specific covenants protecting the sites. The museum said a thorough archaeological survey would take more than $10,000 and the museum organization didn’t have the money. The land was donated to the museum in 1998. The museum will use the money from selling the property to pay for a proposed $50 million Museum of Life and Environment. The two known village sites on the parcel will likely have hundreds of burial sites because they date around the time of a smallpox epidemic that killed scores of Catawbas, said R.P. Stephen Davis Jr., a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Martell charged with manslaughter in killing

Wolf Point, Montana (AP)

A Wolf Point man was charged with manslaughter in tribal court in the beating death of a man who reportedly tried to intervene in a domestic dispute. John Martell, 29, pleaded not guilty Oct. 3 to tribal court charges of manslaughter, severe physical domestic abuse and disorderly conduct in the death of his neighbor, Kenneth Booth, 47. Booth’s body was found lying outside his apartment in Wolf Point, September 30. Glenda Moran, Booth’s sister, said Booth heard a female neighbor screaming the night of Sept. 30 and went to see if she needed help. Authorities told Moran that Martell attacked Booth when he tried to intervene. Chief Tribal Prosecutor Imogene Lilley said the U.S. attorney’s office in Great Falls will review the case to decide if federal charges should be filed. Moran said her brother died of severe head trauma. The FBI and local authorities are investigating the death. Judge Lonnie Headdress set Martel’s bail at $5,000 and ordered him not to leave the Fort Peck Reservation.

Okreek man gets 46 months for fatal accident

Pierre, South Dakota (AP)

An Okreek man will serve nearly four years in prison for causing an accident that killed a man. Chester Jason Stoneman Jr., 31, earlier pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Pierre to involuntary manslaughter. He was driving on the Rosebud Reservation in December when he crashed. The accident killed Brandon William White Hawk of Rosebud, according to court documents. Besides serving 46 months in prison, Stoneman must also pay $673 in restitution.

Bill lets Pascua Yaqui consolidate land holdings

Tucson, Arizona (AP)

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to consolidate its land holdings. At issue is tribal land comprising more than 400 acres next to the tribe’s reservation near Tucson. After purchasing the land from the state, the tribe applied to have it placed into trust by the federal government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which operates under the Department of Interior, approved the tribe’s application for trust status but the state objected, said Natalie Luna, a spokeswoman for Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., who sponsored the legislation.

Passamaquaoddy

elect new Governor

Pleasant Point, Maine (AP)

Voters during September at the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s Indian Township reservation elected William Nicholas as governor over incumbent Robert Newell. At the tribe’s Pleasant Point Reservation, voters elected Rick Doyle as the new governor, replacing Melvin Francis, who died in an automobile accident last year.

U.S. Supreme Court declines to

review Pequot tax case

New London, Connecticut (AP)

The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a case involving a member of the Mashantucket Pequot who had claimed she does not have to pay state income taxes. The Connecticut Supreme Court had ruled last December that Jo-Ann Dark-Eyes, a Mashantucket Pequot tribal member who did not live on the reservation must pay state income taxes, a decision hailed as a victory for state authority. The nation’s top court, acting without comment Oct. 2, declined to review the Connecticut ruling. The Connecticut high court unanimously upheld a 2003 decision by a New Britain Superior Court judge who ruled that Dark-Eyes must pay more than $150,000 in back state taxes. The court agreed with the judge that the property Dark-Eyes lived on did not qualify as Indian Country during the taxable years in question. Tribal members pay federal income taxes, but those who live and make their income on a reservation are exempt from state income tax. Dark-Eyes’ home was not on the reservation, but on land owned by the tribe in Ledyard.