Reznet

The Senate passed an amendment Tuesday that calls for an apology to Native Americans on behalf of the government for its past misdeeds. But is an apology really what is needed when our health care, our security, our children's lives are at stake?

The lack of information about a second officer-related shooting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota has invited public speculation as to the facts of the incident. Tribal police need to give more information about the shooting, lest the speculation overcome them.

Will Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minn.) recent appointment to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee lower the committee's reputation in Indian Country? Not likely, said one Minnesota Indian.

Michael Jackson's death stirred many thoughts Thursday, including questions about whether his outrageous behavior - including trying to erase his African American features - has forever tainted his music. At least for this listener, the answer is no.

Kimberly Teehee, the newly appointed Native policy advisor to President Barack Obama, said in a statement released this week that she is elated and humbled by her appointment.

A McDonald's figurine depicting Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, the notorious leader of the doomed 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, has forced some Indian parents to explain the reckless general's "true" history.

A recent editorial by the publisher of the Madison (S.D.) Daily Leader attacked the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for using federal stimulus money to build an airport, an assault that bordered on racism in its language.

A recent episode of a PBS mini-series that focused on the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee is taking flack for ignoring activists' destructive actions. But that criticism shouldn't be allowed to erase the series' worth or the good that the activists accomplished.

Recently, as I've watched colleagues at mainstream newspapers lose their jobs to lay-offs, an interesting idea has come to mind: using the tribal-owned newspaper model to save mainstream newspapers. But would it work? Maybe not, some say.

Two weeks ago, I created a Facebook page devoted to finding finding Native leaders who are worthy of the presidency. While the page attracted 92 members, it led to only a handful of suggestions. More importantly, it became a place to talk about Native leadership.