Five die in accidents on Pine Ridge Reservation
Porcupine, South Dakota (AP)
Five people from two families at Porcupine were killed in separate highway accidents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Jason Featherman, 21, and his mother, Ethel American Horse-Means, 42, died when their car hit a horse and rolled into a ditch, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the second accident, Lawrence Young Bear Sr., 61, and daughters Janet Young Bear, 27, and Leslie Young Bear, 25, were struck by a vehicle and killed as they stood on a highway, said BIA Agent John Long. They were checking the damage to a car that had just hit a deer.
Man gets prison term
for shooting inside casino
Tucson, Arizona (AP)
A Tucson man was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for discharging a firearm inside a tribal casino in a failed robbery attempt. Alex Jackson, a 29-year-old member of the Gila River Tribe, was sentenced during December in U.S. District Court to 150 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of attempted robbery and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Jackson went to the casino cashier’s cage and fired off one round from a 12-gauge shotgun into the ceiling, authorities said. But the casino employees refused to give him any money and Jackson left the casino.
Sage leaves Wyoming tribal liaison position
Riverton, Wyoming (AP)
Allison Sage has resigned from one of the state’s two tribal liaison positions. Sage, who left the job to become a mental health counselor in Arapahoe, spent about a year as the liaison between the state and the Northern Arapaho Tribe before leaving during November. Edward Wadda remains as the tribal liaison for the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
Tribal police chief honored
Pleasant Point, Maine (AP)
Police Chief Joseph Barnes, cited for his crackdown on drug dealing on this eastern Maine Indian reservation, has received the National Native American Law Enforcement Association’s Chief of Police of the Year Award. Barnes, 38, was honored during November at an association conference in Albuquerque, N.M., becoming the first chief from Maine to receive the award. Working with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Barnes in 2000 helped oversee a covert operation that led to more than 15 arrests and blew the lid off the prescription drug problem on the reservation.
Clinton made honorary chief
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (AP)
Former President Clinton was made an honorary tribal chief during a visit December
to promote HIV/AIDS charities in the impoverished South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea. Prime Minister Michael Somare said the award was given for Clinton’s “outstanding leadership for the good of mankind during two terms as U.S. president” and his commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS.
Pine Ridge members
seek congressional help
Rapid City, South Dakota (AP)
Some members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe are seeking a congressional investigation into the dispute over the tribe’s recent election. Two sets of tribal members are claiming to be the elected officials who govern the tribe. Supporters of Alex White Plume, who became president in the summer, met Dec. 7 with members of Sen. John Thune’s staff. They say millions of dollars in federal funding is at stake if the issue is not cleared up soon. John Yellow Bird Steele said he won the November election and is president of the tribe. White Plume said a new election should be held because his name was mistakenly taken off the November ballot.
Tribal payouts to Cherokee increased by 12 percent
Cherokee, North Carolina (AP)
Year-end payments from casino profits for members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee rose 12 percent to $4,699 for each member of the tribe. Each adult in the 13,500-member tribe receives a biannual check, while payments to members younger than 18 go into trust accounts. The casino, which offers only video gambling, is owned by the tribe and operated by Harrahs. Half of the $155 million the tribe makes annually pays for government services and infrastructure, while the other half is divided into equal payments for each tribal member.
Men plead guilty to looting archaeological site
Bowling Green, Kentucky (AP)
Two Ohio men pleaded guilty to stealing Native American artifacts from federal land in western Kentucky, authorities said. Richard C. Kirk, 56, of Stout, Ohio, and David A. Whitling, 47, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, pleaded guilty during December to violations of the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act, U.S. Attorney David L. Huber said in a statement. Kirk and Whitling admitted that they entered federal land to dig for archaeological relics on Feb. 28, Huber said. Kirk and Whitling used rakes and digging implements to disturb and displace the surface of the ground, creating holes and displacing archaeological sediment at a site near Barren River Lake, Huber said.
Canadian company seeks to drill on Mount Taylor
Grant, New Mexico (AP)
After drilling six exploratory holes on Mount Taylor in search of uranium earlier this year, a Canadian-based company has submitted a plan to federal regulators that seeks to drill 47 more holes. Western Energy Development Corp. is among several companies that have expanded efforts to locate uranium in recent months in the face of rising prices. The company submitted its plan to the U.S. Forest Service during November. Cibola National Forest officials are accepting public comment on the plans through Jan. 2. Opponents fear uranium mining will scar the land, contaminate ground water and desecrate a sacred Native American site.
Man gets prison term for shooting of police officer
Phoenix, Arizona (AP)
A Sacaton man has been sentenced to nearly 15 years in a federal prison for shooting and wounding a tribal police officer. Marcus Garcia, 19, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 177 months in prison for the January 2005 incident. In August, a federal jury convicted Garcia on three charges – crime on an Indian reservation, assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a firearm in a crime of violence. Prosecutors said Garcia was in a stolen vehicle on the Gila River Reservation on Jan. 12, 2005, and fled on foot into the desert when police approached. A police car caught up to Garcia, who began shooting when the officer exited the vehicle.
Zoo holding naming ceremony for white buffalo
Farmington, Pennslyvania (AP)
A private zoo will hold a naming ceremony for a rare white buffalo born at the facility during November. The animals are considered sacred by many tribes as omens of good fortune and peace. American Indians from across the country have been calling and e-mailing to suggest names for the calf, which was born Nov. 12 at the Woodland Zoo. Dr. Wynne Brown, a medical doctor and practitioner of natural medicine and acupuncture who was helping to plan the Dec. 23 ceremony, said one in 10 million buffaloes is born white.
County renews liquor licenses near Bear Butte
Sturgis, South Dakota (AP)
The Meade County Commission has voted to renew liquor licenses for 18 establishments in the county, including those located near Bear Butte. American Indians, members of environmental groups and others opposed renewal of the licenses for the businesses near Bear Butte, which is a sacred site to many Indians. Annie Whitehat of the Bear Butte International Alliance told commissioners that the licenses should not be allowed because the establishments are in a bad location. But others at the commission meeting said the majority of Meade County residents support renewal of the licenses.
Drunken argument
leads to stabbing death
Spokane, Washington (AP)
A drunken argument over a membership in an Alaskan tribe ended with one man stabbed to death and another in custody, police said. Two others were injured during the fight the night of Dec. 6 in an apartment, police said. A 38-year-old man was stabbed to death and Frank W. Neeland, 51, of Spokane was arrested for investigation of second-degree murder after being found covered in blood near an intersection, police said. A 44-year-old woman who was stabbed in the hand and a 38-year-old man who was cut on the face were treated at a downtown hospital and released, according to a police statement.
