White House tribal summit is Thursday!
Thursday, of course, is the first White House tribal summit in 15 years, since President Clinton hosted tribal leaders. Hopes are high because the concern for tribes evidenced by then-candidate Barack Obama as he campaigned in Indian Country. This Green Bay Press Gazette story nicely lays out the issues. Can you say health care, crime, education? Just about everything that’s been under-funded for decades now in Indian Country will certainly be discussed.

Little Shell Chippewa to address “broken” recognition process
Only representatives of federally recognized tribes were invited to the White House meeting. That dis really stung state-recognized tribes, one of which – the Little Shell Band of Chippewa in Montana – saw their three-decade bid for federal recognition rejected last week. Tomorrow, Little Shell leader John Sinclair will be in Washington for a Senate Indian Affairs Committee oversight hearing. Sinclair will testify about a recognition process that Sen. Jon Tester – who invited him to the hearing – calls “broken.” Tester, fellow Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and Montana GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg all are pushing legislation that would grant the tribe that long-overdue recognition. The hearing will be webcast.

Standing Rock leader: Fighting Sioux nickname debate not a priority
In North Dakota, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has yet to schedule a vote on the University of North Dakota’s use of the Fighting Sioux nickname for its teams. The NCAA strongly terms tribal nickname for teams “hostile and abusive”; North Dakota decided to resolve that by leaving it up to the tribes. The Spirit Lake Sioux have OK’d the nickname, but the Standing Rock remain divided. An Oct. 30 deadline passed with no resolution, and the state Board of Higher Education agreed to a 30-day extension. Now, the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer reports here that new Standing Rock chairman Charlie Murphy says resolving the controversy isn’t a top priority and that furthermore, the tribe rejects any deadlines imposed by the board.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Federal recognition, Fighting Sioux, Little Shell Chippewa, Native American news, Presidential Barack Obama, Spirit Lake Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, Tribal Nations Conference, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, University of North Dakota, White House