House Republicans Attempt to Dismantle Vital Education Funding to Indian Country
by Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges
source: nativenewsnetwork.com
WASHINGTON – This week, House Republicans announced their intention to bring to the floor a highly partisan bill that deconstructs the Elementary and Secondary Education Act HR 5. The deeply flawed HR 5 undermines our national commitment to equity in education by consolidating federal funds currently designated for special populations. If HR 5 is enacted, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native students would be greatly harmed by the GOP proposal to dissolve their dedicated funding and the associated educational initiatives that exist under Title VII of the current reauthorization... READ FULL BREAKING NEWS STORY
“I object in the strongest terms to this abandonment of our federal trust responsibility to Native American youth. Students throughout Indian Country are already bearing the brunt of sequestration's cuts to education.
"Now this partisan bill would strip away the guaranteed funding and the crucial academic and cultural supports that Native students need. I commend Mr. Young, Ms. Gabbard, and Ms. Hanabusa for advancing this amendment to restore and improve the Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education Title.”
Agua Caliente Water Rights Lawsuit Puts Agencies in Hot Water
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has launched a legal battle, based on its aboriginal water rights, for clean water and plenty of it for its citizens and neighboring communities in the Coachella Valley.
The Band filed a federal lawsuit in May asking the court to declare that the tribe has “prior and paramount” rights to ground and surface water in the Coachella Valley, to quantify those rights, and stop the local water authorities from further degrading the quantity and quality of water in the aquifer. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and names the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) and Desert Water Agency (DWA) as defendants.
"The failed stewardship of the Coachella Valley's most precious resource by these water districts has to stop," Agua Caliente Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe said in a statement. "We do not take this action lightly but as a Sovereign Nation...". READ COMPLETE BREAKING NEWS STORY
RAPID CITY — When James Czywczynski first announced that he was selling the two forty acre tracts of land; one at Wounded Knee and one at Porcupine Butte, for a total of $4.9 million, many people scoffed at the notion that someone would be willing to pay that much for the land.
Nonetheless as the months have passed and several potential buyers are now negotiating a final deal on the land the Oglala Sioux Tribe has decided to take action and file in federal court under the premise of Eminent Domain to seize the land.... READ FULL BREAKING NEWS STORY.
Soaring Eagles at Randy Edmonds: Local Legends Honoring
by Roy Cook, Opata-Oodham, Mazopiye Wishasha
SCAIR Senior Advisor, Randy Edmonds is one of the honored local legends at the San Diego County Library and HHSA Aging & Independence Services new art exhibit - San Diego Legends: Living Well.
This annual recognition is comprised of painted portraits, photographs, and impact statements about six local elders who lead by example. This all took place May 31 at 6 p.m. at the Rancho San Diego Branch.
The exhibit included artist Mona Mills and the San Diego Legends plus refreshments and performances by the San Diego Native American Soaring Eagles Dancers and Ballet Folklorico Aquetzalli of Lemon Grove.
Our Native American San Diego Youth Soaring Eagle Dancers in full regalia and with traditional songs by the Green River singers represented each category of pow wow dance with spectacular response. Their attendance was in support of our honored elder and famous Emcee, Randy Edmonds.
Enjoy these images from William Buchanan, American Indian Warriors President. He and Joaquin Sandoval, in Honor Guard regalia, added their support to this worthy event. All attending had a great, Aho time tonight!... MORE PHOTOS.
FIRST ANNUAL VIEJAS YUCCA FESTIVAL 2013
by Roy Cook, Opata-Oodham, Mazopiye Wishasha
On May 18, 2013, from noon to 7pm or so, the first Yucca Harvest celebration was held at the Viejas Tribal Culture grounds.
The Yucca plant is and has been a multi-purpose plant for the Southern California and greater western Native American people for thousands of years. This day the food value of the yucca blossoms are prepared in the traditional way and offered to the many residents of the Viejas reservation and visitors to this worthy event... READ STORY.
Education Director for Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Appointed to State Board -- Nicolasa “Niki” Sandoval, Ph.D., education director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, has been appointed to the California Board of Education. The 11-member State Board of Education is the policy body responsible for approving curriculum frameworks, textbooks, statewide assessments and standards for student performance... READ STORY.
+++++++
US Department of Labor announces publication of final tribal consultation policy
News Release
OPA News Release: [12/04/2012]
Contact Name: Adriano Llosa or Laura McGinnis
Phone Number: (202) 693-4686 or x4653
Release Number: 12-2389-NAT
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today published in the Federal Register its finalized tribal consultation policy, which establishes a formal process through which the department will engage in consultation with federally recognized tribes on actions or policies that will have a significant impact on tribal nations. This policy requires that the department's government-to-government consultation with the federally recognized tribes involve appropriate tribal and department officials.
"The finalization of the Department of Labor's tribal consultation policy constitutes an important step in our ongoing efforts to more meaningfully engage with Indian Country," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Implementation of this policy will ensure that the department honors the government-to-government relationship shared between the United States and the federally recognized tribes."
President Obama previously has cited Executive Order 13175, which was issued by President Clinton, tasking executive branch departments and agencies with engaging in regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in the development of federal policies that have tribal implications.
Following the president's charge, the Department of Labor began devising a plan. The Department of Labor held a series of consultative listening sessions, including meetings with representatives of the Native American community, the department's Native American Employment and Training Council, and the National Congress of American Indians, preceding the finalization of the tribal consultation policy. A draft version of the policy was published in the Federal Register on April 18, 2012, followed by a comment period that ended June 18.
The final policy can be viewed in the Federal Register here: federalregister.gov
RUSSELL MEANS dies at 72
by ROBERT D. McFADDEN/The New York Times
Russell C. Means, the charismatic Oglala Sioux who helped revive the warrior image of the American Indian in the 1970s with guerrilla-tactic protests that called attention to the nation’s history of injustices against its indigenous peoples, died on Monday at his ranch in Porcupine, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was 72... MORE.
Slain ambassador was member of local Chinook Tribe
Chinook Observer, Sept. 13, 2012
CHINOOK — Slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and his family are members of the Chinook Indian Tribe, which has put out a call asking for prayers on their behalf.
Chinook Chairman Ray Gardner said Wednesday, “To all of the Chinook members and all the friends of the Chinook Nation I am hopeful that you will include the family of Chris Stevens the former Ambassador to Libya that lost his life while working towards bringing lasting peace to the region, in your prayers...". MORE
KUMEYAAY FLAG CEREMONY
SAN DIEGO April 28, 2012 — Kumeyaay tribal members gathered with state park officials and supporters at the Kumeyaay Lake and Campground, Mission Trails Regional Park, in honor of Jane Dumas Day and to hoist the national tribal flag of the Kumeyaay-Diegueño Nation alongside the American and California state flags...MORE.
Cynthia Gomez, 54, appointed Governor Brown's Tribal Advisor and executive secretary for the Native American Heritage Commission:
PRESS RELEASE, Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.
SACRAMENTO, February 7, 2012 – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointment.
Cynthia Gomez, 54, of Sacramento, has been appointed Governor's Tribal Advisor and executive secretary for the Native American Heritage Commission. Gomez has been the chief justice for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians Tribal Court since 2010. She was assistant secretary of environmental justice and tribal governmental policy for the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2008 to 2010, chief of the Native American Liaison Branch for the California Department of Transportation from 1999 to 2008, and a housing and community development representative for the California Department of Housing and Community Development from 1989 to 1999. Gomez is a member of the Tribal and State Court Forum for the California Administrative Office of the Courts and has served as chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Native American Transportation Issues Committee. Gomez received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patiño School of Law. These positions do not require Senate confirmation and the total compensation is $140,000. Gomez is a Democrat.
Governor Brown established this position by Executive Order to bolster communication and collaboration between California state government and Native American Tribes. The Tribal Advisor will serve as a direct link between the Governor’s Office and tribal governments on matters including legislation, policy and regulation. For more information, DOWNLOAD PDF EXECUTIVE ORDER B-10-11.
Tribe's contract with training center invalid
by J. Harry Jones U-T San Diego, February 3, 2012
INDIAN COUNTRY — A judge has ruled that a lease between the Los Coyotes Indian tribe and a military training business is invalid and ordered the business to remove all its property from the North County reservation within 45 days.
Intertribal Court of Southern California Chief Judge Anthony Brandenburg said in a ruling issued Thursday (Feb. 2, 2012) that the tribe's former chairwoman did not have the authority to enter into a lease on her own and that the evidence shows the tribe as a whole never agreed to the business partnership...READ the breaking U-T San Diego news article.
+++++++
Tribal court hears Indians' feud with military training center over evection
by J. Harry Jones U-T San Diego, January 11, 2012
VALLEY CENTER — An acrimonious dispute between members of the Los Coyotes Indian Tribe (sic) and a business that leased part of the North County reservation to operate a military training center and filming business has been unfolding this week in a tiny courtroom near Harrah's Casino in Valley Center.
The dispute became so contentious that it allegedly led two tribal members to burn down a guard shack that then ignited last July's 15,000-acre Eagle fire...MORE.
U.S. and Tribal Leaders to Celebrate Soboba of Luiseño Indians Water Rights Settlement Act Today!
SAN JACINTO, Calif. — On Wednesday, Jan. 11, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary Letty Belin and other U.S. officials will join tribal leaders including Scott Cozart, Chairman of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, for a ceremony in San Jacinto, Calif., to celebrate conclusion of an historic U.S.-tribal water rights settlement.
Federal funding recently released under the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Settlement Act of 2008 marked the final step in the historic water rights settlement and fulfilled promises made to the Soboba Band and southern California communities when the Act was approved by Congress in 2008...SOURCE | PDF.
Native American Scholar, Cahuilla Historian Katherine Siva Saubel, 91 (1920-12011)
by Guy McCarthy, Nov. 2, 2011, Banning-Beaumont Patch
Dr. Katherine Siva Saubel, a Native American scholar, Cahuilla historian, co-founder of the Malki Museum, and one California's most respected tribal elders, died Tuesday at her home on the Morongo Indian Reservation..."It is windy today, because the wind is looking for her," Kevin Siva, a lifelong resident of the Morongo Reservation, said in a phone interview. "She always told me stories about the wind when I was younger....".
Everett Freeman, the longtime tribal chair of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, who led the charge to re-establish his tribe’s sovereign status and then worked to put his tribe on a healthy economic path before he died in 2010, will posthumously receive the Eagle Spirit Award from the American Indian Film Institute. His son, who is the current Nomlaki tribal chair, will accept the award for him at a special ceremony in San Francisco on November 12, Everett Freeman...FULL PRESS RELEASE.
Energy projects spur alarm among Indians
by Guy McCarthy, Nov. 5, 2011, The San Diego Union-Tribune
Alarmed by the growing list of energy projects that are underway or proposed in both counties, three southwestern tribes — including San Diego’s Kumeyaay — are forming the first intertribal group to watchdog the work...SOURCE & FULL BREAKING NEWS ARTICLE.
Burial-Site Battle Pits Kumeyaay Against University
by Dina Gilio-Whitaker August 22, 2011, Indian Country Today Media Network
Ever since the remains of three ancient humans were unearthed in 1976 on property owned by the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), the Kumeyaay people have been engaged in a complex battle to have the remains repatriated to them. This would be against the wishes of many University of California (UC) scientists, who want to keep them for further study, a stance that is now opposed by UCSD administrators. But after decades of wrangling, recent actions by UCSD and the scientists who oppose repatriation have brought the remains once again into the spotlight....
by Michael Gardner, June 27, 2011 (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
SACRAMENTO — The U.S. Supreme Court Monday sided with a North San Diego County Indian tribe that had challenged the state’s bid to exact money from casinos in return for permission to add slot machines.
The court, without comment, declined to hear an appeal of an earlier 9th Circuit Court of Appeal ruling in 2008 that declared the assessment illegal.
The decision is a big win for gaming tribes that had claimed former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s demands for money in return for gambling expansions amounted to an illegal tax.
Remarks by President Obama at Bill Signing For The Claims Resolution Act — the Cobell v. Salazar Settlement:
"After 123 years of living with what Congress once called the ‘Broken Trust,’ people throughout Indian Country will see Wednesday as a monumental day," said Ms. Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Nation...MORE.
BO MAZZETTI blames the governor not the DOI
The situation we find ourselves in with the California compacts is not the doing of the Rincon Band or DOI. The person to blame is the governor of the State of California....
CONGRATULATIONS! — Rose Vasquez, Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, was crowned Miss Kumeyaay Nation (2010-2011) August 28 at the Viejas Gathering...MORE.
NIEA Announces Executive Director
July 6, 2010, Washington, DC- Colin Kippen has been selected by the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) board of directors to serve as its new Executive Director. He will undertake the leadership of NIEA, the largest Indian education organization... full PRESS RELEASE. CIEA E-Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue #5: September 20, 2009
This issue celebrates the success of our friends and colleagues in the success of the Bill on Banning In Stream Dredge Gold Mining! Congratulations and thank you to everyone for your hard work. Press Release and details are below, read on…
Support AB 544 (Coto) Teaching Credential: Native American Indian Languages (a form .doc letter to download and mail)
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger, I write this letter to ask for your support and signature for the Law of AB 544 (Coto): Teaching Credential: American Indian Languages. Across California there are stories of young tribal members decades ago being punished for speaking their native language. California tribes are working hard to reverse this loss of native languages with after school programs, as a Foreign Language alternative, and on weekends, but this is not enough. Native languages need to be taught as part of the school curriculum. To do this we need certified Native American Language Teachers...
Soboba 62-year water struggle not over yet!
Just when the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians thought their water battle was over with the signing of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Settlement Act by President George W. Bush on July 31, 2008 the Obama administration has decided that it doesn’t have the money to pay the tribe the $11 million dollars the federal government owes the tribe as its part of the settlement with the tribe....
Edwin "Thorpe" Romero elected Chairman of Barona Tribe.
Vice Chairwoman Brandie Taylor congratulates Chairman-elect Romero, wishes good relationship with new Barona council.
FEATURE NEWS:
TRIBES FACE ECONOMIC GLOOM
Gaming Tribes react to 2008 world financial crisis, "The new game in town is 'Competition' and it will be brutal..." by Ernie C. Salgado, Jr.
YOUNGSTERS DISCOVER NATIVE CULTURES BY COMPUTER
HUMBOLT STATE UNIVERSITY — Native American youth are discovering their often-lost tribal languages and cultures using the very same global information network that sometimes seems to submerge their traditions in homogenized pop culture. They are also learning how to restore and preserve their heritage with key software programs...
KUMEYAAY.COM
Has transformed itself into an important daily news blog blogging current important news stories and newsfeature articles about California Indians in San Diego County, Sourthern California, central and northern California covering federal state city tribal governments, news on the reservations, gambling casinos and generally all news stories that informed Native Americans should read about.
INDIAN VOICES
Multicultural News From an American Indian Perspective
22nd Year in Publication!
WWW.NATIVEBIZ.COM
"The nation's Indian Country's Business news and Social Network.
WWW.PECHANGA.NET
"A top news source for California Indian News in Southern California.
NAVAJO TIMES ONLINE
"The Navajo Times was established by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1959 as a newsletter. The first issue of the Navajo Times newspaper was published in 1960. Its mission is to inform the Navajo people of events, news and issues of importance to them, whether from within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation or throughout the United States...".
Public Law 280 Forum
Soboba Indian Reservation — August 11, 2008, almost 55 years to the day of August 15, 1953, when Public Law 280 was implemented on all the Indian Reservations in California. It was also the same year Adam Castillo passed away. I mention this only because Mr. Castillo was not only the Tribal Chairman of the Soboba Band of Mission Indians (as it was known in the old days,) he was also the President of the Mission Indian Federation...
Soboba Tribe Settles 62-Year Watter Struggle
On July 31, 2008 President Bush's signature the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Settlement Act into law ending a sixty two year old Soboba Tribal water rights dispute involving the Eastern Municipal Water District and Metropolitan Water District. Tribal Chairman Adam Castillo filed the original lawsuit in 1946...
CHAIRMAN ROBERT SALGADO Receives National Award
The National Indian Gaming Association awarded Chairman Salgado the Wendell Chino Humanitarian Award at the group's annual conference in San Diego....
Judge Blocks New Rentals at Mobile Home Park
RIVERSIDE - A federal judge Monday ordered a crowded trailer park that houses thousands of Riverside County's poorest residents to stop new people from renting space there...
PECHANGA Tribal Councilman Pico Suffers Heart Attack
Gabriel Pico, 41, of Temecula, Calif., between Los Angeles and San Diego, died Monday evening from injuries he suffered about 2 a.m. Saturday, the coroner's office reported...
SHOOTOUTS ON SOBOBA INDIAN RESERVATION
SAN JACINTO, California — Authorities are conducting investigations into running gun battles on the reservation in which young Soboba tribal memembers were shot and killed in the second deadly deputy-involved shooting on the Soboba Indian Reservation in as many weeks — BREAKING NEWS! http://www.humboldtbeacon.com/ci_10127920?IADID
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
High school seniors that want to attend college, UC Riverside Indian education programs for qualified students...One-Stop-Admissions Day.
HOW UCSD SPENT OVER $500,000 on a Home that Never Happened
University House is built on historic Kumeyaay Native American burial grounds...feud between the prestigious San Diego university and the Kumeyaay-Digueño Indians persists...
JAMES RAMOS ELECTED CHAIRMAN
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians announced last week the appointment of James Ramos to the tribe's top position of chairman.
Tribal Government - Tribal Gaming - Indian Casino News - Tribal People - Indian Reservations...information is power through educational news...
May 30, 2013, written and reported by Brandon Ecoffey, Native Sun News Managing Editor. All content © Native Sun News.
Education Director for Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Appointed to State Board -- Nicolasa “Niki” Sandoval, Ph.D., education director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, has been appointed to the California Board of Education. The 11-member State Board of Education is the policy body responsible for approving curriculum frameworks, textbooks, statewide assessments and standards for student performance... 
President Obama previously has cited Executive Order 13175, which was issued by President Clinton, tasking executive branch departments and agencies with engaging in regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in the development of federal policies that have tribal implications.
Chinook Observer, Sept. 13, 2012
