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San Diego County tribes can share up to $165 million in federal stimulus money, federal officials announced yesterday. The money — in the form of federally guaranteed bonds — will go for energy projects, tourism facilities, retail and wastewater treatment, U.S. Treasury officials said. The local bonds are part of $2 billion in funding the federal government is making available. Half of that total was announced yesterday, with the other half in September. The Campo Indian band got $30 million. It will use the money to fund its share of a big wind farm it is planning to build on...

Earlier this week, the California Fair Political Practices Commission released its top 10 list of the biggest individual political spenders in the state between January 2000 and the end of 2009. It's a lot of money flying around: $266 million from the 10 donors alone. KQED's John Myers summed it up nicely. But if that wasn't enough, just a few months ago, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., released a similar, but less-noticed study, which should cement the Golden State's place atop the national political spending pantheon. The study revealed, among other things, that California's tribal gaming...

TACOMA – Nationwide, $3 billion in federal grants, contracts and loans has been set aside for 564 federally recognized tribes in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As a whole, Northwest tribes are faring better than most as the money filters down from federal agencies. However, a News Tribune analysis of the money allocated so far shows that the stimulus funds are not helping all tribes in the state equally. On the contrary, the stimulus is widening the gap between rich and poor tribes created by the relative success of their casinos. Of the $94 million awarded to Washington’s 29...

OMAHA, Neb.- Native American tribes tired of waiting for the U.S. government to honor centuries-old treaties are buying back land where their ancestors lived and putting it in federal trust. Native Americans say the purchases will help protect their culture and way of life by preserving burial grounds and areas where sacred rituals are held. They also provide land for farming, timber and other efforts to make the tribes self-sustaining.....

Do you lead one? Do you have one? It's a pretty good question these days since there's a lot of talk about Tribes going around. And it seems to be an evolving situation but an interesting one since it's apparent that it's becoming a very powerful cultural phenomenon. I would say that it's probably because of the increased connectivity we all have allows us access to people who have the same views and values. For more on Tribes, I would recommend Seth Godin's book, oddly enough titled: Tribes. I had the priviledge of attending the recent PGC200 (www.pgc200.org) launch event...

In the Bronx, a Clash of Cultures Turns Violent Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times Community leaders organized meetings at Al Tawba mosque in Claremont to address fear and frustration expressed by many local West African immigrants who have experienced tensions with the local black American residents. Published: October 19, 2009 The storefronts on a stretch of Webster Avenue in the Claremont neighborhood in the South Bronx tell the story of local shifts as well as any census: a Senegalese-run 99-cent store, an African video store, an African-run fast-food spot, a mosque, several African restaurants. A Community Struggles The owner of...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary __________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 2009 President Obama Announces Kimberly Teehee as Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs WASHINGTON – Today, in taped remarks to the 2009 National Congress of American Indians Mid-Year Conference, President Barack Obama announced the appointment of Kimberly Teehee as Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs. As a member of the Domestic Policy Council, Teehee will advise the President on issues impacting Indian Country. President Obama also announced that the White House will hold a Tribal Nations Conference later this fall. "Kim Teehee will be...

WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan, June 12, 2009 – Every summer, the Kuchi tribe migrates through the Daymardad district of this central-Afghanistan province, allowing their animals to graze in the open pastures belonging to the Hazara tribe. This frequently has sparked violent territorial disputes. An elder with the Kuchi tribe explains his situation to Ali Khashe, deputy governor of Afghanistan’s Wardak province, center in gray jacket, June 8, 2009. The Kuchi have asked for water and veterinarian supplies for their livestock as a condition to stop fighting with the Hazara tribe. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Frazier  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

Reporting from Fuhays, Jordan -- Michel Hattar's father was a priest in Jerusalem in 1947 when word arrived from the rocky Jordanian hills that he must renounce his vows and marry to protect his tribe's land and inheritances. He did as he was told. He broke from the holy order he had known for 20 years to wed the bride picked by his family, his first cousin, Widad. Today their son Michel lives on a bluff of olive groves and fig trees that slopes toward the valley that his Fuhays tribe has farmed and fought over for more than four...

Last Monday began the PBS Series, "WE SHALL REMAIN" with their first Episode "After The Mayflower". The ones that will get my attention begin next week, Monday April 20th, 2009, and especially the April 27th "Trail of Tears" episode which will feature "The Ridge", the Cherokee leader and his clan who I wrote about in "Jesus Wept" An American Story. It will be VERY interesting to see how PBS deals with this situation or if they will be overtaken with the usual political correctness and historical rumor. My story is taken from documented records as well as family letters saved...

Jeddah // Saudi Arabia’s religious police have been forced to issue a rare apology after a member of one of the country’s most influential tribes said he was beaten by police for allegedly kissing his wife in public. Mohammed al Qahtani, of the Qahtan tribe – the largest in Saudi Arabia – had threatened to present his case to King Abdullah after the police spokesman issued a statement eight days ago accusing Mr al Qahtani of lying about the incident. Damaging the reputation of a tribal member in Saudi is considered an insult to the entire tribe, and releasing personal...

At first, it was a bit odd to see Washington, D.C. attorney Kannon Shanmugam, counsel for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in the "ceded lands" case immediately concede in oral argument that the U.S. Supreme Court should rule against OHA -- and hold the Apology Resolution was simply a symbolic statement of regret -- if the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision relied on it. Responding to a question from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he stated: "Let me -- let me be clear about this, Justice Ginsburg, if the Hawaii Supreme Court's opinion is read to construe the Apology Resolution as creating...

The Obama White House plans to add a policy adviser on native American tribal concerns within the next few weeks, First Lady Michelle Obama said today. The president "will soon appoint a policy adviser to his senior White House staff to work with tribes and across the government on these issues such as sovereignty, health care and education, all central to the well being of native American families and the prosperity of tribes,'' the first lady said in a visit to the Interior Department today. The first lady, embarked on a tour of all the federal agencies, was greeted with...

Local shaykhs and an Iraqi Soldier discuss the future of the area after a bridge reopening ceremony in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, Jan. 18, 2009. The bridge crosses the Salty River, joining two halves of the Mamour Tribe. Photo by Spc. Jamie Vernon, 1st Armored Division. BAGHDAD — Leaders from the Iraqi Army, local shaykhs and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers participated in a bridge reopening ceremony in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, Jan. 18. The improvement in security and reduction in sectarian violence made it possible to reopen the bridge which had separated a tribal community. The reopening also returns...

<p>Eight members of a remote Indian tribe have died after drinking a chemical they mistook for alcohol.</p> <p>The dead men from the tiny Onge tribe swigged the brown liquid which washed ashore in a bottle.</p> <p>There are fewer than 100 members of the Onge left. They are the last remaining hunter-gatherers and live on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.</p>

THE "LOST" TEN TRIBES In a recent discussion of the subject, by P. Asmussim, in a German periodical, the writer shows that the ten tribes never were "lost." Both in the Books of Kings and in the Assyrian inscriptions we have records of the deportations of the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom, and in leading particulars the accounts agree. In 734 Tiglath-Pileser led into captivity the people of Gilead and of Galilee, and the districts of Issachar, Zebulon, Asher, Naphtali, Northern Dan, Eastern Manasseh and Gad were incorporated into the Assyrian monarchy. The last king of Israel accordingly ruled over...

Pakistani tribes reach for guns after U.S. attack GHALANAI, Pakistan, June 13 (Reuters) - Fiercely independent tribesmen, angered by a U.S. air strike that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers earlier in the week, vowed to raise a militia to help Pakistan's army defend the border with Afghanistan. Elders from ethnic Pashtun tribes in Mohmand, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, issued a statement late on Thursday condemning the attack as “naked aggression” and said they were ready to raise a “lashkar”, or tribal army. “It's the duty of the government to protect and defend the frontiers and we are ready to...

Skin painted bright red, heads partially shaved, arrows drawn back in the longbows and aimed square at the aircraft buzzing overhead. The gesture is unmistakable: Stay Away. Behind the two men stands another figure, possibly a woman, her stance also seemingly defiant. Her skin painted dark, nearly black. The apparent aggression shown by these people is quite understandable. For they are members of one of Earth's last uncontacted tribes, who live in the Envira region in the thick rainforest along the Brazilian-Peruvian frontier. Thought never to have had any contact with the outside world, everything about these people is, and...

ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Traveling though Montana on Monday, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., made his first stop as a presidential candidate to an Indian reservation - and got a little more than expected. Obama was adopted as an honorary member into the family within the Crow tribe that inhabited the reservation - who gave the presidential candidate a new name and new parents. "Awe Kooda bilaxpak Kuuxshish" was the honorary name given to Obama meaning, "one who helps people throughout the land." Obama was escorted out to the stage in Crow Agency, Montana arm-in-arm between his adopted parents: Sunny...

Nearly 17 years after riots tore Crown Heights apart, the recent beating of a black college student by Jewish assailants has exposed rising tensions between blacks and Jews in my neighborhood. Cops and city officials have quietly gone on high alert, worried that another riot could be in the works. The troubles began on April 14, when Andrew Charles, a 20-year-old sophomore at Kingsborough Community College, says he and a friend encountered a pair of young Jewish men while walking down Albany Ave. about 6 p.m. "One was on bike, one was on foot. They were staring at us, staring...