Why Native American Women Are Battling for Plan B

by Akiba Solomon on March 22 2012, 9:34AM

Native American women are three and a half times more likely to be raped in their lifetimes than those of other ethnicities. While some progress has been made since the groundbreaking Tribal Law and Order Act passed in 2010, a new report finds that they’re still fighting. This time it’s for the basic post-assault healthcare.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health

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ACLU Sues School that Outed Native Teen’s Pregnancy

by Jorge Rivas on March 13 2012, 2:59PM

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit last week behalf of Shantelle Hicks, 15, who was initially kicked out of middle school and then publicly humiliated at an assembly by the school director because she was pregnant.

Topics: Gender & Sexuality, /NOW Blog

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Lakota Women Lead Victory Against Keystone XL. Have You Said Thanks? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on March 12 2012, 9:41AM

Colorlines.com readers applaud the Lakota Nation’s 75-person highway blockade action, which stopped Keystone XL’s oil trucks dead in their tracks.

Topics: Environment

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Lakota Indians Block ‘Keystone XL Pipeline’ Trucks in Six-Hour Standoff

by Jorge Rivas on March 6 2012, 7:17AM

Five Lakotas on Pine Ridge Indian land in South Dakota were arrested Monday after attempting to block two tarsands pipeline trucks from entering their land.

Topics: Environment, /NOW Blog

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More Violence But Fewer Prosecutions on American Indian Reservations

by Jorge Rivas on February 21 2012, 11:11AM

The country’s 310 Indian reservations have violent crime rates that are more than two and a half times higher than the national average.

Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog

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Quietly Radical Mission at Sundance: Supporting Native Filmmakers

by Jamilah King on January 20 2012, 9:44AM

One of the buzz-making features at Sundance this weekend is “Mosquita y Mari,” an indy film about Chicana teens in L.A. It’s the latest film shepherded by Sundance’s NativeLabs, which has supported 70 indigenous filmmakers in telling their own stories.

Topics: Arts & Culture, Sundance

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Obama Rejects Keystone Oil Sands Pipeline Application

by Jorge Rivas on January 18 2012, 4:14PM

The Obama administration rejected a bid to expand the controversial Keystone oil sands pipeline.

Topics: Environment, /NOW Blog

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Navajo Nation Sees Alarming Rise in HIV/AIDS Infections

by Jorge Rivas on January 6 2012, 10:50AM

Poor education is partly to blame, with some tribal members learning about HIV and AIDS only upon diagnosis.

Topics: Health, /NOW Blog

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Native American Youth to Diane Sawyer: We’re Not Poverty Porn

by Jorge Rivas on December 14 2011, 3:22PM

Native American youth respond to ABC’s documentary and tell Diane Sawyer their stories are a lot more complex.

Topics: Media, /NOW Blog, Schools & Youth

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Kardashian In Trouble With Native American Group For ‘Indian Giver’ Comment

by Jorge Rivas on November 4 2011, 3:05PM

The National Congress of American Indians called Jenner’s comments “wrong and hurtful.”

Topics: Arts & Culture

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Judge Approves Landmark $1.2 Billion Settlement for Black Farmers

by Jorge Rivas on October 28 2011, 2:10PM

Tens of thousands of farmers who suffered racial discrimination by the U.S. Agriculture Department in the 1980s and ’90s may start getting compensation soon.

Topics: Politics

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South Dakota Profits When Native Kids Get Thrown Into Foster Care

by Jorge Rivas on October 27 2011, 2:43PM

Nearly 700 Native American children in the state are being removed from their homes every year.

Topics: Politics

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Urban Outfitters’ ‘Indian Chic’ Prompts Sadly Familiar Outrage

by Jamilah King on October 21 2011, 10:03AM

“Navajo Hipster Panties” and a “Navajo Flask”? Really? The Navajo Nation says not so fast, and one writer tells Urban Outfitters’s CEO that enough is enough.

Topics: Arts & Culture

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Native American Leader and Activist ‎Elouise Cobell Dies at 65

by Jorge Rivas on October 17 2011, 12:14PM

The American Indian woman who led to the largest government class-action settlement in the country’s history, died Sunday. She was 65.

Topics: Arts & Culture

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U.S. Government Pressures Cherokee Nation to Accept Descendants of Slaves

by Jorge Rivas on September 15 2011, 3:57PM

The battle between the Cherokee Nation and the black members recently expelled from membership just got uglier.

Topics: Politics

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First Nations and Native Activists Come Out Against Keystone XL

by Shani O. Hilton on September 7 2011, 10:42AM

Critics say that the extension — which will run from Alberta Canada to Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas — will harm ancestral homelands.

Topics: Environment

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Cherokee Nation Revokes Tribal Citizenship From Descendants of Slaves

by Jorge Rivas on August 24 2011, 10:54AM

The decision will immediately terminate the tribal citizenship of about 2,800 so-called “non-Indians.”

Topics: History

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Climate Change Report: American Indian Tribes Hit Hardest

by Jorge Rivas on August 22 2011, 11:04AM

Whether it’s a storm, wildfire or drought, the study found American Indian Tribes are always hit the hardest.

Topics: Environment

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Was Osama Bin Laden’s Military Code Name Anti-Native American?

by Jamilah King on May 3 2011, 12:53PM

American military forces called the Al Qaeda leader “Geronimo”, after the famed 19th Century Native American fighter.

Topics: Osama Bin Laden

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White House Could Be Forced To Re-Open Yucca Mountain Talks

by Julianne Hing on March 16 2011, 5:10PM

Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Congress that, if the administration loses a pending legal challenge, the idea Native Americans have fought may be back.

Topics: Environment

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