Opinions
July 09, 2011
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A recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission has affirmed the rights of tribes to own and operate important telecommunications infrastructure on tribal lands, and to receive federal universal service funding support for all areas of an... Douglas G. Bonner and Sharice Davids
July 07, 2011
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It seemed like a simple point to make, and the right time to make it.
After spending nearly 10 years in Indian country researching and writing my new book, Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans, I thought that I, a non-Native, was in as good... Alison Owings
July 06, 2011
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I recently went to Washington, D.C. to support legislative efforts to clarify the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take lands into trust for all federally-recognized Indian tribes; or what is commonly referred to as a “Carcieri fix.”... Joseph Manuel
July 05, 2011
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To the Editor:
I am writing in response to the recent opinion article “8(a) Contracts Seem to Use Natives to Benefit Non-Natives” by freelance journalist, Matt Gilbert, published on June 28, 2011 on Indian Country Today Media Network. The Native... Jim Gray
July 03, 2011
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I often think about the big-picture ideas that would help tribal governments address the small-picture details more efficiently. The one solution that I continue to come back to is this: We need a new round of agreements with the federal... Marge Anderson
July 02, 2011
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Most people in the United States are unaware of what an important role plants play in the field of medicine. Plants are the original source material for nearly 40% of all pharmaceutical remedies in the United States. In other words, there are... Ruth Hopkins
July 01, 2011
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The late Seneca scholar and philosopher John Mohawk said: "In order to be free, you must act free." Mohawk was a contemporary of mine, and he knew the struggle for freedom for indigenous peoples is not theoretical, it is real; it is also difficult,... Russell Means
June 30, 2011
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In early 2010, the Washington State Department of Corrections stripped the American Indian men and women incarcerated in its twelve prisons of virtually everything that makes them tribal. Agency religious practices policies were changed,... Gabriel S. Galanda
June 30, 2011
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Ordinarily I would not use those two words in the same sentence. A little over ten years ago I awoke in my pickup along a dirt road that served as a common driveway to my home and neighboring homes. Sometime during the night I had driven off the... Harold A. Monteau
June 28, 2011
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A year ago, I read a Washington Post article (“Two Worlds: Government Contractors, Alaska Natives”) about how Alaska Natives are being used by management consultants to land multimillion dollar 8(a) government contracts. How the leftover profits are... Matt Gilbert
June 27, 2011
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Idaho’s Bannock County is considering an ordinance that would create an “overlay” zoning district on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation ("Proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment: Special Lands District," PDF). The idea is that the county would “serve”... Mark Trahant
June 25, 2011
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This week, nearly 40 passengers (unarmed peace activists and media people) will board The Audacity of Hope, a U.S. flagged boat, which will set sail from Greece and join the international Freedom Flotilla II. These courageous passengers join people... J K?haulani Kauanui
June 23, 2011
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One seldom has an opportunity to converse with one of the brethren of the U.S. Supreme Court, as I did on August 31, 2006. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was a guest of the University of San Diego School of Law, and on that day I attended a talk... Steven T. Newcomb
June 23, 2011
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The Supreme Court issued its decision in the Dukes v. Wal-Mart sex discrimination case on Monday, a frustrating ruling that doesn’t challenge the existence of bias, but that exempts the company from accountability.
The case highlights the difficulty... Rinku Sen