Tribal affairs agencies make progress, not enough to satisfy senators
WASHINGTON - Federal agencies that oversee Indian affairs are making progress toward fixing management shortcomings that landed them on a list of "high-risk" agencies, but not enough progress to satisfy some senators and auditors who say more needs to be done.
San Carlos Apache activist joins D.C. rally for ‘fundamental rights’
WASHINGTON - Native Americans face a slew of challenges, said Wendsler Nosie Sr., one of a number of speakers at a wide-ranging rally by dozens of activists as part of the Poor People's Campaign that touched on everything from voting rights to fights over the minimum wage.
Distance, language can still pose challenge to Native American voting
WASHINGTON - Overt challenges to Native Americans voting are a thing of the past, experts say, but casting a ballot can still be hard for tribal members who may face language barriers, registration difficulties and scant access to polling places and government services that can ease the process.
Lack of resources leads to grim statistics in Native American schools
WASHINGTON - Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson called on Congress to help Native Americans, that have been gains in tribal education, but American Indians still trail in test scores and graduation rates, a delay experts blame on a continuing lack of resources and funding.
Native Americans close the gap – almost – on U.S. life expectancy
WASHINGTON - Life expectancy for Native Americans is decades longer than it was in the 1960s, nearly closing the gap with the rest of the U.S. population, government data show. But experts say pockets of problems remain, particularly on traditional reservations.
Despite gains, Native American employment still lags behind nation
WASHINGTON - Native American unemployment has fallen sharply, from 40 percent in 1968 to 12 percent in 2016, but that is still more than twice the national average at the time and experts say it masks pockets of high unemployment on reservations and rural areas where systemic challenges remain.
After decades, tribal courts, police slowly regaining lost authority
WASHINGTON - Decades after Congress and the courts sharply limited Native Americans of the ability to enforce their laws, lawmakers have only recently started to restore that authority to tribal courts and cops.
Future takes flight: Navajo youths copilot planes over the Grand Canyon
The teenage squadron of the Civil Air Patrol’s Arizona wing, named after a Navajo Code Talker, soared over the Grand Canyon in their first flights.
River dreams: Native female entrepreneur starts Grand Canyon rafting company
After fighting for nearly two decades, Patricia Cesspooch just started her own business on the Colorado river.
Bill to fund White Mountain Apache water project stalls – again
WASHINGTON - A bill to give the White Mountain Apache access to water-project funds stalled in the Senate over House language to exempt tribal businesses from National Labor Relations Board oversight, delaying a project the tribe has been trying to get off the ground since 2010.
Pascua Yaqui lead shift in tribal courts’ handling of domestic violence
WASHINGTON - A five-year-old law that let Native American tribes prosecute non-Natives in domestic violence cases "has fundamentally changed the landscape of tribal criminal jurisdiction in the modern era," according to a new report.
Death of 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike may bring Amber Alert to Native American reservations
A federal bill that would bring the AMBER Alert system, which notifies citizens that a child is missing or abducted, to Native American reservations is to be decided by President Trump's signature.
