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Luiseño, Soboba Indian Reservation, Editor, "The Indian Reporter"

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Education Director for Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Appointed to State Board -- Nicolasa “Niki” Sandoval, Ph.D., education director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, has been appointed to the California Board of Education. The 11-member State Board of Education is the policy body responsible for approving curriculum frameworks, textbooks, statewide assessments and standards for student performance... READ STORY.

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US Department of Labor announces publication of final tribal consultation policy

News Release
OPA News Release: [12/04/2012]
Contact Name: Adriano Llosa or Laura McGinnis
Phone Number: (202) 693-4686 or x4653
Release Number: 12-2389-NAT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today published in the Federal Register its finalized tribal consultation policy, which establishes a formal process through which the department will engage in consultation with federally recognized tribes on actions or policies that will have a significant impact on tribal nations. This policy requires that the department's government-to-government consultation with the federally recognized tribes involve appropriate tribal and department officials.

"The finalization of the Department of Labor's tribal consultation policy constitutes an important step in our ongoing efforts to more meaningfully engage with Indian Country," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Implementation of this policy will ensure that the department honors the government-to-government relationship shared between the United States and the federally recognized tribes."

President Obama previously has cited Executive Order 13175, which was issued by President Clinton, tasking executive branch departments and agencies with engaging in regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in the development of federal policies that have tribal implications.

Following the president's charge, the Department of Labor began devising a plan. The Department of Labor held a series of consultative listening sessions, including meetings with representatives of the Native American community, the department's Native American Employment and Training Council, and the National Congress of American Indians, preceding the finalization of the tribal consultation policy. A draft version of the policy was published in the Federal Register on April 18, 2012, followed by a comment period that ended June 18.

The final policy can be viewed in the Federal Register here: federalregister.gov

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RUSSELL MEANS dies at 72

by ROBERT D. McFADDEN/The New York Times

Russell C. Means, the charismatic Oglala Sioux who helped revive the warrior image of the American Indian in the 1970s with guerrilla-tactic protests that called attention to the nation’s history of injustices against its indigenous peoples, died on Monday at his ranch in Porcupine, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was 72... MORE.

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Slain ambassador was member of local Chinook Tribe

Chinook Observer, Sept. 13, 2012

CHINOOK — Slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and his family are members of the Chinook Indian Tribe, which has put out a call asking for prayers on their behalf.

Chinook Chairman Ray Gardner said Wednesday, “To all of the Chinook members and all the friends of the Chinook Nation I am hopeful that you will include the family of Chris Stevens the former Ambassador to Libya that lost his life while working towards bringing lasting peace to the region, in your prayers...". MORE

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KUMEYAAY FLAG CEREMONY

SAN DIEGO April 28, 2012 — Kumeyaay tribal members gathered with state park officials and supporters at the Kumeyaay Lake and Campground, Mission Trails Regional Park, in honor of Jane Dumas Day and to hoist the national tribal flag of the Kumeyaay-Diegueño Nation alongside the American and California state flags...MORE.

U-T San Diego, 4/11/2012

The Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association has created a new website called Nativehire.org, which aims to link Native American job seekers with prospective employers in the San Diego region.

The website was unveiled this week at a meeting of tribal chairmen, as we as representatives from the Department of Labor, Qualcomm, US Foods, The San Diego Zoo, San Diego Gas & Electric and others.

The companies and the tribal chairmen worked together to create the job search engine. In some cases, projects that occur on or adjacent to Native American lands have a requirement that employers hire a certain percentage of Native American workers.

Job seekers can access the website at no charge. Employers will be charged a fee to pay for the job search engine costs.

Along with job postings, the tribal employment data base also will posts training and apprenticeship opportunities. It claims to access to more Native America job seekers in the San Diego area than any other job search engine.The website for the job search engine is www.nativehire.org.

Cynthia Gomez, 54, appointed Governor Brown's Tribal Advisor and executive secretary for the Native American Heritage Commission:

Southern California tribal chairman Bo Mazzetti (Rincon band) pictured back row, right.

PRESS RELEASE, Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.

SACRAMENTO, February 7, 2012 – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointment.

Cynthia Gomez, 54, of Sacramento, has been appointed Governor's Tribal Advisor and executive secretary for the Native American Heritage Commission. Gomez has been the chief justice for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians Tribal Court since 2010. She was assistant secretary of environmental justice and tribal governmental policy for the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2008 to 2010, chief of the Native American Liaison Branch for the California Department of Transportation from 1999 to 2008, and a housing and community development representative for the California Department of Housing and Community Development from 1989 to 1999. Gomez is a member of the Tribal and State Court Forum for the California Administrative Office of the Courts and has served as chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Native American Transportation Issues Committee. Gomez received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patiño School of Law. These positions do not require Senate confirmation and the total compensation is $140,000. Gomez is a Democrat.

Governor Brown established this position by Executive Order to bolster communication and collaboration between California state government and Native American Tribes. The Tribal Advisor will serve as a direct link between the Governor’s Office and tribal governments on matters including legislation, policy and regulation. For more information, DOWNLOAD PDF EXECUTIVE ORDER B-10-11.

Tribe's contract with training center invalid

by J. Harry Jones U-T San Diego, February 3, 2012

INDIAN COUNTRY — A judge has ruled that a lease between the Los Coyotes Indian tribe and a military training business is invalid and ordered the business to remove all its property from the North County reservation within 45 days.

Intertribal Court of Southern California Chief Judge Anthony Brandenburg said in a ruling issued Thursday (Feb. 2, 2012) that the tribe's former chairwoman did not have the authority to enter into a lease on her own and that the evidence shows the tribe as a whole never agreed to the business partnership...READ the breaking U-T San Diego news article.

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Tribal court hears Indians' feud with military training center over evection

by J. Harry Jones U-T San Diego, January 11, 2012

VALLEY CENTER — An acrimonious dispute between members of the Los Coyotes Indian Tribe (sic) and a business that leased part of the North County reservation to operate a military training center and filming business has been unfolding this week in a tiny courtroom near Harrah's Casino in Valley Center.

The dispute became so contentious that it allegedly led two tribal members to burn down a guard shack that then ignited last July's 15,000-acre Eagle fire...MORE.

U.S. and Tribal Leaders to Celebrate Soboba of Luiseño Indians Water Rights Settlement Act Today!

SAN JACINTO, Calif. — On Wednesday, Jan. 11, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary Letty Belin and other U.S. officials will join tribal leaders including Scott Cozart, Chairman of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, for a ceremony in San Jacinto, Calif., to celebrate conclusion of an historic U.S.-tribal water rights settlement.

Federal funding recently released under the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Settlement Act of 2008 marked the final step in the historic water rights settlement and fulfilled promises made to the Soboba Band and southern California communities when the Act was approved by Congress in 2008...SOURCE | PDF.

Native American Scholar, Cahuilla Historian Katherine Siva Saubel, 91 (1920-12011)

by Guy McCarthy, Nov. 2, 2011, Banning-Beaumont Patch

Dr. Katherine Siva Saubel, a Native American scholar, Cahuilla historian, co-founder of the Malki Museum, and one California's most respected tribal elders, died Tuesday at her home on the Morongo Indian Reservation..."It is windy today, because the wind is looking for her," Kevin Siva, a lifelong resident of the Morongo Reservation, said in a phone interview. "She always told me stories about the wind when I was younger....".

FULL OBITUARY and study resource.

Everett Freeman receives Eagle Spirit Award, Nov. 12, 2011

by Jennifer Bridgman

Everett Freeman, the longtime tribal chair of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, who led the charge to re-establish his tribe’s sovereign status and then worked to put his tribe on a healthy economic path before he died in 2010, will posthumously receive the Eagle Spirit Award from the American Indian Film Institute. His son, who is the current Nomlaki tribal chair, will accept the award for him at a special ceremony in San Francisco on November 12, Everett Freeman...FULL PRESS RELEASE.

by Guy McCarthy, Nov. 5, 2011, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Alarmed by the growing list of energy projects that are underway or proposed in both counties, three southwestern tribes — including San Diego’s Kumeyaay — are forming the first intertribal group to watchdog the work...SOURCE & FULL BREAKING NEWS ARTICLE.

by Dina Gilio-Whitaker August 22, 2011, Indian Country Today Media Network

Ever since the remains of three ancient humans were unearthed in 1976 on property owned by the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), the Kumeyaay people have been engaged in a complex battle to have the remains repatriated to them. This would be against the wishes of many University of California (UC) scientists, who want to keep them for further study, a stance that is now opposed by UCSD administrators. But after decades of wrangling, recent actions by UCSD and the scientists who oppose repatriation have brought the remains once again into the spotlight....

SOURCE & FULL BREAKING NEWS ARTICLE.

BARSTOW, CALIF, July 1, 2011 — Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians propose off-reservation casino/hotel project, according to a Department of Interior - BIA draft Environmental Impact Statement published in the Federal Register...PRNewswire breaking news article, July 1, 2011. BARSTOW CASINO and RESORT project website.

READ THE BIA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (PDF) published in the Federal Register, July 1, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 127).

Big Supreme Court Win for Rincon Band

by Michael Gardner, June 27, 2011 (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

SACRAMENTO — The U.S. Supreme Court Monday sided with a North San Diego County Indian tribe that had challenged the state’s bid to exact money from casinos in return for permission to add slot machines.

The court, without comment, declined to hear an appeal of an earlier 9th Circuit Court of Appeal ruling in 2008 that declared the assessment illegal.

The decision is a big win for gaming tribes that had claimed former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s demands for money in return for gambling expansions amounted to an illegal tax.

The Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians led the court challenge...READ THE FULL SAN DIEGO U-T BREAKING NEWS ARTICLE.

Remarks by President Obama at Bill Signing For The Claims Resolution Act — the Cobell v. Salazar Settlement:

"After 123 years of living with what Congress once called the ‘Broken Trust,’ people throughout Indian Country will see Wednesday as a monumental day," said Ms. Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Nation...MORE.