David Grann uncovers conspiracy behind 1920s murders of members of oil-rich Osage Nation (podcast)

Although the Osage Nation had been forced from their ancestral lands by the U.S. government, through shrewd and careful bargaining, they retained the mineral rights to one of the richest oil fields in the world: Osage County, Oklahoma.

But the wealth of the Osage Nation, instead of insuring the prosperity and safety of the tribe, made its members targets for what was later known as the Reign of Terror. The task of solving dozens of murders fell in the 1920s to the newly formed FBI and its young director, J. Edgar Hoover.

Jun 7, 2017 9:21 AM CDT

What would happen if Trump administration ignored a court order? Law profs consider the issue

The Trump administration has complied with a nationwide injunction blocking the president’s executive order banning refugees and some immigrants from entering the United States. But that hasn’t stopped some publications from considering what would happen if President Trump or administration officials refused to comply with a court order. Slate and…

Feb 7, 2017 7:00 AM CST

SCOTUS turns down Indian Child Welfare Act challenge brought by foster parents of Choctaw girl

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a foster family’s challenge to the adoption of their former foster daughter under the Indian Child Welfare Act. Rusty and Summer Page of Santa Clarita, California, had asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a Los Angeles juvenile court’s ruling that there…

Jan 11, 2017 3:30 PM CST

Letters: Criticism of article on Indian child

Dec 1, 2016 4:30 AM CST

Lawsuits dispute whether the Indian Child Welfare Act is in the best interests of children

Alexandria P.’s short life has been full of harsh goodbyes. At 17 months, she was taken from her parents after accusations of neglect. Los Angeles County authorities placed her in a foster home—but within months, she suffered a black eye and a scrape and was removed again.

Oct 1, 2016 5:00 AM CDT

US will halt work on oil pipeline opposed by Standing Rock Sioux tribe; judge refused injunction

The federal government announced on Friday that it will halt construction of an oil pipeline near a lake that plays an important role to members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, even though a federal judge said the work can proceed. The Justice Department and two other federal agencies made…

Sep 9, 2016 3:27 PM CDT

May 8, 1973: American Indian Movement surrenders at Wounded Knee after 71-day standoff

By February 1973, unrest among Lakota residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota was coming to a boil. Though in office barely a year, the tribe's elected chief, Dick Wilson, was already facing impeachment. The charges against him alleged widespread nepotism and corruption, but the sources of tribal…

May 1, 2016 12:30 AM CDT

Congress should bolster jurisdiction of tribal courts over violence against children, ABA urges

The ABA is urging Congress to follow the recommendations of recent reports by the U.S. Justice Department and the Indian Law and Order Commission that call for giving American Indian and Alaska Native tribes more authority to exercise criminal jurisdiction and apply their own remedies in cases that occur on…

Nov 1, 2015 12:40 AM CDT

Gay ‘conversion therapy’ for minors opposed by ABA House leaders

“Conversion therapy,” which seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, has been rejected by a long list of medical organizations, James J.S. Holmes told the ABA’s House of Delegates on Tuesday. Holmes, the outgoing chair of the ABA’s Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, spoke in…

Aug 4, 2015 12:53 PM CDT

Commissioners speak on the future of justice on American Indian land

For Tom Gede, a member of the Indian Law & Order Commission, the most emotional part of the entity’s work took place in Alaska. That was where the commission, a body appointed by Congress in 2010 to study how justice can be improved on Native American lands, heard from a…

Jul 30, 2015 6:56 PM CDT

South Dakota class action highlights violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act

When South Dakota's Pennington County petitioned to take custody of Madonna Pappan's children, the hearing lasted slightly more than 60 seconds.

May 1, 2015 5:50 AM CDT

Indian tribes are retaking jurisdiction over domestic violence on their own land

Diane Millich was only days into her marriage when her husband first hit her. So began her year of "horrific terror." Millich, a member of the Southern Ute tribe of southwestern Colorado, called tribal police many times from her home on the reservation. But because her husband was not an…

Apr 1, 2015 6:02 AM CDT

American Indians challenging eagle feather rules get a boost from Hobby Lobby ruling

In many American Indian religions, the eagle is considered a link to the creator and the spirit world. Its feathers are an important part of rituals, facilitating spiritual or physical purification.

Jan 1, 2015 5:53 AM CST

US will pay Navajo Nation $554M to settle suit claiming mismanagement of resources

The United States has agreed to pay the Navajo Nation $554 million in a record settlement with an American tribe in litigation over mismanagement of tribal resources. The payment settles a 2006 lawsuit claiming that the U.S. government failed to maximize profits when it leased Navajo land for purposes such…

Sep 26, 2014 10:00 AM CDT

Indian tribe’s malpractice case against former lawyers thrown out

A Florida judge has thrown out a malpractice case brought by the Miccosukee Indian tribe alleging more than $10 million in billing fraud by two prominent Miami lawyers, the Miami Herald reports. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge John Thornton, in a ruling issued Sunday, said the matter was an intra-tribal dispute that…

Dec 16, 2013 7:17 PM CST