Latest Native Americans News

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, students play basketball at Little Singer Community School in Birdsprings, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation. Basketball is woven in the fabric of Native American life. Now, during a global pandemic, the balls have all but stopped bouncing. Already hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, Native Americans are faced with life without basketball — or any other sport - for the forseeable future. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

As Native Americans fight virus, basketball takes a timeout

May. 23, 2020 12:12 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Basketball is woven into the fabric of Native American life. Kids dribble balls on dirt courts and shoot at makeshift rims on some reservations while tournaments are held in state-of-the art buildings on others. Players and fans may travel hundreds of miles to play and watch games of...

This photo from early May, 2020, provided by Angeline Cheek shows Curtis Yazzie as he demonstrates at a construction site for the XL Pipeline just inside the U.S.-Canadian border near Saco, Mont. Members of several tribes in Montana and North Dakota traveled to the border crossing for a small protest against the pipeline earlier this month, according to Cheek, an activist from Montana's Fort Peck Tribe and organizer for the ACLU of Montana. Calgary-based TC Energy has built the first piece of the disputed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline across the U.S. border and started work on labor camps in Montana and South Dakota. (Angeline Cheek via AP)

First piece of disputed Keystone XL pipeline finished

May. 21, 2020 9:37 PM EDT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Canadian company has built the first piece of the disputed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline across the U.S. border and started work on labor camps in Montana and South Dakota. But it has not resolved a courtroom setback that would make it hard to finish the $8 billion project. The...

FILE - In this March 18, 2020 file photo, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, left, updates media on the COVID-19 pandemic during a news conference at Monument Health in Rapid City, S.D. While many other governor’s have broken from President Donald Trump on stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of coronavirus or when to restart economic activity, Noem has tracked close to the president. (Jeff Easton/Rapid City Journal via AP, File)

Noem: Tribes' checkpoints dispute not just about coronavirus

May. 21, 2020 6:07 PM EDT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said on Thursday that her stance against Native American tribes operating coronavirus checkpoints on federal and state highways isn't just about the response to the coronavirus pandemic, but about setting “precedent” on tribes' ability to...

FILE - In this April 13, 2020, file photo, Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at the Sanford Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. Noem appeared headed Monday, May 11, 2020, for a legal confrontation with two Native American Indian tribes over highway checkpoints intended to keep the coronavirus away from their reservations. The issue pits a governor who has taken a mostly hands-off approach to restrictions during the pandemic against tribes who say her actions are inadequate to prevent infections. (Abigail Dollins/Argus Leader via AP, File)

South Dakota gov. takes tribe checkpoint flap to White House

May. 20, 2020 6:18 PM EDT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Wednesday she is appealing to President Donald Trump's administration in her standoff with two American Indian tribes over coronavirus checkpoints they set up on federal and state highways. Noem said at her daily briefing that she has sent...

In this photo taken May 8, 2020, medical staff from Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital including Chief Medical Officer Val Wangler, center, hold a protest over working conditions and depleted staff in Gallup, N.M. Many nurses and doctors say staffing at the hospital was inadequate because of hospital CEO David Conejo's move to cut back on nurses in the first week of March to offset declining hospital revenues after elective surgeries were suspended. They voiced their discontent at the recent protest calling for his resignation. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)

Outbreak on edge of Navajo Nation overwhelms rural hospital

May. 19, 2020 6:43 PM EDT

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — On the eve of New Mexico's shutdown of bars and restaurants to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the city of Gallup came alive for one last night of revelry. Before the night was out in the desert oasis on the fringes of the Navajo Nation, 98 people were detained for public...

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2014, file photo, a shovel loads haulers with coal at the Antelope Mine north of Douglas, Wyo. A coalition of U.S. states, environmentalists and an American Indian tribe are seeking to revive a moratorium on coal sales from public lands in the West. (Ryan Dorgan/The Casper Star-Tribune via AP, File)

States, tribe seek to suspend coal sales on US lands

May. 13, 2020 5:51 PM EDT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A coalition of U.S. states, environmentalists and an American Indian tribe asked a federal judge on Wednesday to revive a moratorium on coal sales from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama then dropped by the Trump administration. The case centers on...

FILE - In this May 2, 2017 file photo, a windsurfer glides on the surface of Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. A divided Minnesota Supreme Court said Wednesday, May 12, 2020, that the state Department of Natural Resources has the authority to change the name of a popular lake, Lake Calhoun, back to its original Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP, File)

Court: Minnesota agency can change name of Lake Calhoun

May. 13, 2020 5:43 PM EDT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A divided Minnesota Supreme Court said Wednesday that the state Department of Natural Resources has the authority to change the name of a popular Minneapolis lake back to its original Dakota name, apparently resolving a long-running dispute involving neighbors who objected to the...

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2017, file photo, Chairman Harold Frazier of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe leaves federal court in Washington. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem appeared headed Monday, May 11, 2020, for a legal confrontation with two Native American Indian tribes over highway checkpoints intended to keep the coronavirus away from their reservations. Both tribes said over the weekend the checkpoints would stand on their reservations. “We will not apologize for being an island of safety in a sea of uncertainty and death,” Frazier said in a statement. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen File)

Native American tribe says sovereignty allows checkpoints

May. 13, 2020 5:39 PM EDT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The head of a Native American tribe said Wednesday it won't comply with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's demand to remove coronavirus checkpoints it set up on federal and state highways that run through its reservation. Harold Frazier, the chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe,...

Poll worker Eric Boson submits absentee ballots during the Wisconsin 7th District special election on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at the Oak Avenue Community Center in Marshfield, Wis. Republican Tom Tiffany and Democrat Tricia Zunker are vying to fill the vacancy left by Republican Sean Duffy, who resigned from the seat in September. (Tork Mason/The Post-Crescent via AP)

Trump-backed Tiffany wins Wisconsin congressional race

May. 12, 2020 10:57 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Tom Tiffany, a state senator endorsed by President Donald Trump, easily won a special congressional election Tuesday in a heavily conservative, rural Wisconsin district, cheering Republicans even as Democrats argued the victory revealed vulnerabilities for the president among his base....

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks about the so-called Heroes Act, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, providing nearly $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash payments to individuals. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)

Pelosi unveils $3T virus bill, warns inaction costs more

May. 12, 2020 10:21 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, a sweeping effort with $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash payments to individuals. The House is expected to vote on the...

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