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Abenaki have new chief

St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki
Written by webmaster
Friday, 03 February 2012
Abenaki have new chief Churchill takes over after Merrill resigns Written By: Jessie Forand SWANTON — The Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi St. Francis/ Sokoki Band has a new leader. Newly appointed Chief John Churchill, 61, made the announcement Tuesday saying he was taking the position formerly held by April St. Francis Merrill, 43. “As of this morning I have been appointed/designated successor from within the hereditary families of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi St. Francis/Sokoki Band as Chief of our Nation,” Churchill said in an e-mail.
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Artisan Spotlight: Roger Longtoe

ELNU Tribe Of The Abenaki
Written by Administrator
Friday, 03 February 2012
Artisan Spotlight: Roger Longtoe Posted 2.3.2012 Roger Longtoe Sheehan recreates Native American weapons and tools based on historical documentation. He is citizen of the El-Nu Abenaki Tribe. Here, he provides insight to the weapons making process and displays some of his handmade wares. For more information on the El-Nu Abenaki Tribe, please visit: http://elnuabenakitribe.org/ For more information on Roger Longtoe Sheehan, please visit: http://roglongtoe.tripod.com/

Menominee Seventh Grader Suspended for Saying "I Love You" in her Native Language

National News
Written by Administrator
Friday, 03 February 2012
Menominee Seventh Grader Suspended for Saying "I Love You" in her Native Language Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges 2.3.2012 SHAWANO, WISCONSIN - What's love got to do with it? Not much, especially if you say the words "I love you" in the Menominee language in front of a certain Wisconsin teacher. Seventh grader Miranda Washinawatok, Menominee, found this out. Miranda speaks two languages: Menominee and English. She also plays on her basketball team. However, two Thursdays ago she was suspended for one basketball game because she spoke Menominee to a fellow classmate during class. Miranda attends Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Shawano, Wisconsin. The school body is over 60 percent American Indian. The school is approximately six miles from the south border of the Menominee Indian Tribe Reservation. "On January 19 I was told by Miranda she was being benched from playing that night. I found out at 4:20 and we were back at school at 6:30 pm so I could get to the bottom of why she could not play," said Tanaes Washinawatok, Miranda's mother. "Miranda kept saying she was only told by her assistant coach she was being benched because two teachers said she had a bad attitude. I wanted to know what she did to make them say she had a bad attitude."
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Census: Native American Count Jumps by 27 Percent

National News
Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Census: Native American Count Jumps by 27 Percent Posted: Jan 30, 2012 America's Native population climbed by nearly a third between 2000 and 2010, surprising U.S. Census Bureau data analysts and delighting managers of federally funded programs whose budgets depend on official head counts. "I think the numbers surprised us all," said Tina Norris, an analyst with the Census's Racial Studies Branch who authored a brief that was presented to the press Wednesday. The American Indian and Alaska Native population increased by 26.7 percent in the last decade, compared to 9.7 percent for Americans as a whole. This means Natives are now a slightly larger minority, comprising 1.7 percent of the population versus 1.5 in 2000. There were 5.2 million American Indians in the county in 2010, compared to 4.1 million in 2000.
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Pipeline rejection is a huge Native American victory

National News
Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Pipeline rejection is a huge Native American victory Albert Bender, a Cherokee activist, journalist and historian Jan. 28, 2012 First, make no mistake: It was Native Americans who spearheaded and bore the brunt of the campaign against the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline. The news media continue to engage in loathsome racist marginalization by ignoring Native involvement in this struggle, touting the opposition of environmentalists. With all due respect to our environmentalist allies, they were following the Indian lead, but it was Native Americans of Canada and the U.S. in the forefront of this protracted struggle, which is still far from over. Nonetheless, a major battle has been won. The rejection of the pipeline by President Obama was a tremendous victory for tribal nations of the U.S. and Canada. Obama listened to the voices of this land’s first peoples. In early December, Native leaders presented the president with the “Mother Earth Accord” that outlined the unique U.S. Tribal and Canadian First Nations objections to the pipeline.
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Charges aim to deal a blow to Native Mob

National News
Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Charges aim to deal a blow to Native Mob by: MATT McKINNEY and NICOLE NORFLEET 1.28.2012 An extensive indictment made public this week offers a detailed look at the inner workings of one of the nation's most violent American Indian gangs. The slew of federal charges against 24 suspected members of the Native Mob is being viewed as a welcome disruption of a criminal gang that for at least a decade has terrorized the Twin Cities and other Midwest communities. According to the 47-count indictment, the gang, which originated in Minneapolis, has about 200 members who regularly engage in drug trafficking, robberies, drive-by shootings and murders. Gang members can sometimes be distinguished by red and black clothing and tattoos that read "Native Mob" or incorporate Indian symbols such as a medicine wheel or a bear paw. Christopher Grant, an Indian gang specialist in Rapid City, S.D., who calls the Native Mob "one of the most significant and problematic" Indian gangs in the country, said he hopes the indictment will reduce Native Mob gang activity.
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Native American leaders ask for support, flexibility to govern

National News
Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Native American leaders ask for support, flexibility to govern Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 By Victoria Pelham Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Native American leaders called on the federal government Thursday to honor its responsibility to American Indians with continued financial support, but to grant them greater flexibility in handling their own affairs. “Protecting the Indian budget is the first step, but long–term success depends on tribal nations having the same opportunities to protect and preserve our communities that are available to state and local governments,” said Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians. Keel was delivering the State of Indian Nations address, held annually by NCAI after the president’s State of the Union. The wide–ranging speech touched on everything from education to public safety and energy independence.
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Pine Ridge Reservation still among poorest

National News
Written by Administrator
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Native Sun News: Pine Ridge Reservation still among poorest Wednesday, January 25, 2012 The Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota people, continues to be one of the most poverty-stricken geographical regions in the country. According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, Shannon County, which lies entirely within the exterior boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation, is the third poorest county in the nation. For the third consecutive year, the county ranks among America’s three poorest. The 1980 census listed Shannon County as the poorest county in America, prompting one Shannon County resident to shout, “We’re number one.” With an overall poverty rate that almost consistently hovers near 50%, the primarily Native American residents of the county remain hard-pressed to combat the rampant unemployment and diminished economic development, among other things, that plague this isolated community and keep it ensconced among the country’s most indigent areas. Neighboring Jackson and Bennett counties, which both lie partially on the Pine Ridge Reservation, are also among this nation’s poorest.
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The dying art of making ash wood baskets

North East News
Written by Administrator
Saturday, 21 January 2012
The dying art of making ash wood baskets KATHRYN OLMSTEAD Jan. 19, 2012 When Roldena Sanipass was a girl she watched her mother weave strips of brown ash into traditional Micmac baskets. She could be seen in the background, pounding ash or cleaning splints while her mother, well-known basket maker Mary Sanipass, demonstrated her craft, but she didn’t have the confidence to weave one herself until she was 20. “It was something I lived with, grew up with. Mother and Dad did it all for us,” Roldena, 45, told an audience at the University of Maine at Presque Isle in November, explaining that Donald and Mary Sanipass of Presque Isle fed and clothed their family by selling their handmade baskets. “I was brought up with ash wood.” Today, even though she creates everything from pack baskets to her signature miniature potato baskets, Roldena, an art and photography student at UMPI, does not see herself following in her mother’s footsteps. “The ash wood is dying along with the art,” she said.
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Malloy sees need to protect casinos

North East News
Written by Administrator
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Malloy sees need to protect casinos By Anthony Cronin and Lee Howard Published 01/20/2012 New London - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday that Connecticut will "want to play offensively" to ensure the state continues its role as a premier casino destination - despite the likely addition of new gaming attractions in New York and Massachusetts and the advent of online gambling throughout the United States. Malloy, speaking during an editorial board meeting Thursday at The Day, said other states likely will pass legislation authorizing online gambling now that the U.S. Justice Department has reversed its stance against most forms of Internet gaming. First among the states likely will be New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie has promised to make online gambling a priority as he seeks to make the Garden State an "epicenter" of Internet gaming, creating tie-ins with the state's large casino industry. "New Jersey is going to pass it in a matter of weeks," Malloy said.
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Cuomo submits gambling change

North East News
Written by Administrator
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Cuomo submits gambling change By Tom Precious 1.20.2012 ALBANY—Eight words. That’s all it took to begin the process of one of the greatest proposed expansions of gambling in state history. “And except casino gambling regulated by the state” is the change to the State Constitution Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo proposes. It would allow Las Vegas-style casinos on non-Indian lands. The language was submitted to the State Legislature as a Cuomo “program bill,” amending Article I of the Constitution to add casinos—along with the state lottery and horse racing— to the forms of gambling allowed in the state. But the vagueness of the language — not specifying, for example where new casinos might be located in the state — is already prompting some pushback in the hallways of the Capitol.
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