Tis The Season For Those Per Cap Checks (link)

Susan Ruckman writes an editorial about per cap.  Things to consider in this economy and holiday season. This news item is also posted under the Comanche, Delaware, Wichita, and Cheyenne & Arapaho tribal pages on Oklahoma Is Native.

Court Ruling Affirming Sovereignity May Affect Oklahoma Tribes (link)

A Tulsa lawyer said a recent decision by the federal appeals court in Denver has broad implications for any company that conducts business with American Indian tribes. The court ruled last week that the Seneca-Cayuga tribe's cigarette business cannot be sued in federal court because the business is shielded by tribal sovereign immunity. This news item is also posted under the Seneca-Cayuga tribal page on Oklahoma Is Native.

Fight Over a Beloved (and Lucrative) Book (link)

For most university presses, a book that sells a million copies is a rarity. When that book relates to the history of the region in which the university is located and a much-loved literary figure in the state, well, that would be almost too good to be true.  But what has been true for the University of Nebraska Press is about to end.  Black Elk Speaks - a story of American Indians on the Great Plains - is heading East, to the State University of New York Press.

Long-Haired Boy Denied Entry Into Kindergarten (link)

A Houston-area school board will decide if a boy's long hair should keep him from attending school after a superintendent denied the request, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.  The Needville Independent School District said 5-year-old Adriel Arocha's long locks violate school rules. Adriel's parents said long hair is a sacred tradition in their Native American culture.

"The idea came to me in Novem-ber 1962. That's how long I've been working on it," said Enoch Kelly Haney, a former state senator and now chief of the Seminole Nation. It would be several decades before the legal framework was crafted and ground was broken for American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, a model of modern architecture inspired by the history and customs of 39 federally recognized Indian tribes in the United States.  This news item is also posted under the Seminole tribal page on Oklahoma Is Native.

Health Care Authority Plans Second Meeting With Tribal, Health Care Leaders (link)

Health care for Oklahoma's American Indian population will be the focus of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority's second annual SoonerCare Tribal Consultation Meeting.  The meeting will focus on OHCA policy, program development and issues of access affecting SoonerCare (Oklahoma Medicaid) and Indian health care in Oklahoma.

Federal Indian Loan Program Expands (link)