Opinions
February 21, 2011
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Is there a Plan B?
That is the question tribes, Indian organizations and government agencies should be asking—and answering, because it looks more and more likely there will be a federal government shutdown early next month.
Why is this a concern... Mark Trahant
February 19, 2011
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The conventional philosophy behind voting is clear. Through the collective action of casting ballots with equal value—one person, one vote—citizens elect a government committed to their welfare.
But in our reality, the conventional philosophy is... Ray Cook
February 18, 2011
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Bryan Fischer, a graduate of Stanford University and the Dallas Theological Seminary, recently posted an ugly article against American Indians entitled, “Native Americans Morally Disqualified Themselves From the Land.” A title better reflective of... Steven Newcomb
February 18, 2011
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“So tonight, I challenge you to join me in setting a new goal: by 2035, 80% of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources.”
With these words in January, President Obama challenged a contentious Congress to transition America to a... Bob Gough
February 17, 2011
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Assuming tribal sovereignty is respected in any development process, Indian country is in an optimal position to embrace solar energies as a tool for sustainable economic development.
Red Tape
The largest impediment to the proliferation of solar... Ryan D. Dreveskracht
February 16, 2011
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Much fanfare has been made of Barack Obama’s December 16, 2010, announcement at the White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, D.C. Obama stated that the United States was finally “lending its support” to the United Nations Declaration on... Glenn Morris
February 16, 2011
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The Spokane Spokesman Review chose to print Chris Cargill’s factually and legally flawed comments regarding Tribal Casinos ("State should reach deal with tribes for portion of casino profits", January 30, 2011) at the top of the page and bold... Harold A. Monteau
February 16, 2011
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In 2011, state and local governments will aggressively attempt to tax tribes. Forty-six states are facing a total of $112 billion in budget deficits, leaving them grasping for novel sources of tax revenue. Make no mistake: state and local officials... Gabriel S. Galanda
February 15, 2011
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The coming year’s proposed federal budget is a lost cause. Mostly.
The budget that will finally emerge from Congress is going to be ugly. A zealous sense of frugality will consume most federal Indian programs, agencies that serve rural communities,... Mark Trahant
February 15, 2011
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On January 27, Jefferson Keel, President of the National Congress of the American Indians delivered the 9th Annual State of Indian Nations Address in Washington, D.C. Mr. Keel is also Lieutenant General of the Chickasaw Nation.
Up front, I want to... Steven Newcomb
February 14, 2011
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Republican ersatz presidential candidate Sarah Palin, puts Representative Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, “in the crosshairs” in television commercials supporting a Republican candidate for Giffords’s seat in the U.S. House. Palin goes on TV in full... Harold A. Monteau
February 10, 2011
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Some years ago now, the late Vine Deloria wrote that as Indians emerged from a time when survival demanded that they emphasize their distinctness, it was natural for them to begin emphasizing instead the characteristics that they shared. Likewise,... Ray Cook
February 10, 2011
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A column from a right wing periodical Town Hall, "No Reservations: The Case for Dismantling the Indian Bureaucracy," gives an excellent example of the kind of stuff that feeds anti-tribal backlash. The lead sentence reads: “If ever a federal agency... Charles Trimble
February 10, 2011
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As we at First Peoples Worldwide will not be the first to observe (that distinction belongs to Slate), America has become a country where the long-familiar distinction between the haves and have-nots has been complicated by the high profile of the “... Rebecca Adamson