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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a challenge to an agreement that gave the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to handle online sports betting in Florida, dealing a blow to the deal’s opponents.
The nation’s highest court denied a petition from opponents of the compact, which promises to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars for the tribe and the state.
The decision was the latest setback for West Flagler Associates and the Bonita-Fort Myers Corp., which operate racetracks and poker rooms in Florida. In March, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the companies had filed the wrong type of petition to challenge the 2021 compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration.
“What’s important with today’s announcement is that the most significant barrier to online sports betting in Florida has been removed,” said Daniel Wallach, a South Florida attorney and sports betting law expert who had filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to either take up the case or reverse it outright. READ MORE — Associated Press
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A report published this week by a Native American-led nonprofit examines in detail the dispossession of $1.7 trillion worth of Indigenous homelands in Colorado by the state and the U.S. and the more than $546 million the state has reaped in mineral extraction from them.
The report, shared first with The Associated Press, identifies 10 tribal nations that have “aboriginal title, congressional title, and treaty title to lands within Colorado” and details the ways the land was legally and illegally taken. It determined that many of the transactions were in direct violation of treaty rights or in some cases lacked title for a legal transfer.
“Once we were removed, they just simply started divvying up the land, creating parcels and selling it to non-Natives and other interests and businesses,” said Dallin Maybee, an artist, legal scholar and enrolled citizen of the Northern Arapaho Tribe who took part in the Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission, which compiled the report.
“When you think about examples of land theft,” Maybee continued, “that is one of the most blatant instances that we could see.” READ MORE — Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Tuesday marks the Oklahoma Republican primary election, with most eyes on the expensive race for the 4th Congressional District between incumbent Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and right-wing challenger Paul Bondar.
Tuesday’s primary could mark the most competitive vote for the 4th District since Cole’s election in 2002. Though Cole, Chickasaw Nation, faces four GOP challengers, Bondar has made the biggest splash thus far with the amount of money he has spent.
Despite both candidates flooding television screens with negative campaign ads, Cole is confident that the primary will end in his favor.
“In the end, this is like a bar fight,” Cole said. “The guy with the most money doesn’t win, the guy with the most friends wins. I have a lot more friends than my opponent and I think it will show on Tuesday.” READ MORE — Gaylord News
PARIS — The French Pacific territory of New Caledonia is shortening its overnight curfew and reopening its international airport that was closed to commercial flights for more than a month because of deadly violence that wracked the archipelago where pro-independence Indigenous Kanaks want to break from France.
La Tontouta airport that links New Caledonia’s capital, Nouméa, to Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and other Pacific hubs will reopen Monday, the territory’s high commissioner announced in a statement Sunday.
The overnight curfew is also being shortened by two hours, its start pushed back from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., because of “the improvement in the situation and in order to facilitate the gradual return to normal life,” the high commissioner said.
Violence that flared on May 13 over controversial voting reforms led to nine deaths, including two gendarmes, and widespread destruction of shops, businesses and homes. Tourists trapped by the airport’s closure were evacuated on military flights. READ MORE— Associated Press
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A new report in Colorado examines the rich history of tribes in the state and the horrors visited on them by territorial, state and federal governments. ICT’s Stewart Huntington has an interview with one of the report’s lead authors.
The world’s largest tree, known as General Sherman, has passed a general health check. As ICT’s McKenzie Allen-Charmley reports, researchers in the U.S. are now saying the magnificent Giant Sequoias are facing threats due to the climate crisis.
Tribes across Turtle Island pass on stories central to creation through an oral tradition. Greg Sarris shares his latest collection of stories in “The Forgetters.” The tales are set Sonoma County north of San Francisco–home to the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians. ICT senior producer Shirley Sneve has more for us.
The list is out for the best in American Indian Youth Literature. From picture books to middle grades, and even young adults. ICT’s Shirley Sneve talks with the president of the American Indian Library Association Allison Waukau.
WATCH
Minnesota State Sen. Mary Kunesh was walking to her car after giving a speech at a college in Ely, Minn., when she was approached by two tall, white men in camouflage. She was alone and nervous, especially in a place where the sex trafficking of Native women was the highest in the state.
To her surprise, the men were genuinely interested in what she had said during her presentation after hearing the stories of injustices faced by Indigenous people for centuries. They were currently training to be law enforcement officers and said there was nothing being taught to them about this issue. No one was talking about it either. Today, thanks to the work of Kunesh and other allies, racial training is a required part of public safety training.
Kunesh, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, learned from her family of leaders the importance of taking action and standing up for her rights. After becoming a legislator eight years ago, she has worked on removing the hand that has silenced countless Native Americans and made her mark as the first Indigenous woman to serve in the Minnesota Senate. Her most recognized work has been with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force, which was created in 2018. Since then, she has continued to stand with the Native community with landback bills and voting initiatives. READ MORE — Merrina O’Malley, Special to ICT
- Alissa Pili signs with N7, talks Indigenous fan support: The WNBA rookie has shown flashes as she adjusts to the professional game as a member of the Minnesota Lynx
- ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ costume designer files suit against Apple Studios: Kristi Marie Hoffman has accused the company and others of racial discrimination and lack of accreditation
- Edward Velarde leaves behind legacy of service: ‘During his tenure, President Velarde spearheaded several key initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life for the Jicarilla Apache people’
- What’s a heat dome? Here’s why so much of the US is broiling this week
- Fighting trauma on the Blackfeet Reservation through radio
- Russia President Vladimir Putin makes a rare visit to North Korea, an old ally
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