High-Tech Toys Turn into Language-Learning Tools

Hand-held video games, iPhones and iPods are the top toys of today’s kids, and they spend hours and hours every day on them. But, just as one Native American-owned company has figured out, these interactive gizmos can also be great language-learning tools.

This summer, Banning, Calif.-based Thornton Media introduced its Language Pal, software that can program an indigenous language onto Nintendo DSi hand-held consoles and the first ever Native American language iPhone/iPod app.

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Mississippi Band of Choctaw Proclaim New Calendar

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians voted unanimously to replace recognition of Columbus Day, which is celebrated in October, with Nanih Waiya Day -- a day celebrated on the second Friday of August each year to commemorate the Tribe's Mother Mounds. The Mother Mounds are the cultural and religious center of the Choctaw.

"For Native Americans, Columbus Day should not be a day of celebration," said Mississippi Band Chief (Miko) Beasley Denson. "His arrival on our shores marked the beginning of centuries of exploitation of our people and our land. Much better that we should celebrate our rich culture and our traditions."

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, with close to 10,000 members, is the only federally recognized Indian tribe in the state of Mississippi.

Energy-Efficient Lighting Brightens More Places in Indian Country

The Burns Paiute in Burns, Ore., may be a small tribe, but it is pretty big on being green, which is why it decided early this summer to do what no tribe has done yet: switch all of its residents from incandescent light bulbs to the far more efficient compact florescent (CFL) bulbs.

The effort, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration’s Energy Efficiency program, aims to switch residents in 55 homes on the reservation, amounting to around 1,200 energy- and cost-saving bulbs. The goal is to have all residents brightening up their homes with the CFLs before the end of August.

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Onondaga Chief Calls on Pope to Renounce Doctrine of Discovery

Onondaga Nation Chief Oren Lyons is calling on Pope Benedict XVI to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery "as a critical step on the road to right historic wrongs visited upon indigenous peoples here and elsewhere around the world where it was similarly applied."

In an article in Sunday's Albany Times-Union, Lyons argues that the doctrine, known as Inter Cetera, forms the basis of Indian law in United States and has been cited as recently as 2005 by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a case denying sovereign status to land purchased by the Oneida Nation.

Lyons is a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a Member of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, or the Haudenosaunee ("People of the Long House").

Indirect Cost Alert – ARRA Awards do Include Overhead Costs

There has been some confusion over the ability of tribes to collect indirect costs from funding received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Contrary to previous statements made to tribal leaders, overhead costs may be covered with ARRA funds. Even though the contract support costs will not be added onto the ARRA awards, tribes can apply their approved IDC rate to these funds to determine how much of the money can be allocated for overhead. However, if you receive ARRA funding through an existing or new program which places a cap on indirect costs, then the cap will still apply.

Here is a link to a document from Health and Human Services that might prove helpful. For more information, contact Richard Phelps, 1-800-992-4489, extension 101.

Tribes in Wisconsin Join Forces to Combat Gangs

The Green Bay Press Gazette in Wisconsin reports that tribal law enforcement and the state Justice Department have formed the Native American Drug and Gang Initiative, which Oneida Police Chief Rich Van Boxtel heads.

The team has developed a group of undercover officers, given all tribes access to the state's criminal data system and holds regular training for drug officers in an attempt to combat the problem of gangs and drug dealing on reservations, which can be compounded by a lack of authority, making prosecuting crimes difficult. A bill that would give tribal police and courts more power is moving through Congress.

Tracey Fischer Named CEO at Oweesta

First Nations Oweesta Corporation has named Tracey Fischer, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, its new CEO. Fischer is an attorney and previously served as Oweesta’s director of the Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Development Department, providing training and technical assistance to Native communities. Fischer obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1999. She also has a B.S. in business administration and accounting. Fisher takes the helm from Elsie Meeks, who stepped down as CEO of Oweesta to become the USDA Director of Rural Development for South Dakota. Fischer has acted as interim CEO since Meeks stepped down and officially took the helm at Oweesta on August 1.