Janklow Manslaughter Trial Begins Monday

FLANDREAU, S.D. (AP) -- Bill Janklow, a former four-term South Dakota governor and the state's only congressman, returns to his boyhood hometown Monday to face a trial that may decide his political future.

The 64-year-old is charged with speeding, running a stop sign, reckless driving and manslaughter in an Aug. 16 accident that killed a motorcyclist at a rural intersection in South Dakota.If convicted of manslaughter, he could face up to 10 years in prison, as well as a House ethics committee investigation.

Danish Court Upholds 1953 Move of Inuits

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- The Danish government acted within its legal rights when it removed native Greenlanders from their ancestral land to expand a U.S. air base in the 1950s, Denmark's Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Rejecting 2000 Census Counts, Tribes Are Tabulating Their Own

Warm Springs, Ore., Nov. 27 (AP) - Indian reservations posed a multitude of problems to census takers, not the least of which were big, ever-changing households, frequent moves, mistrust of government officials and differing definitions of who is an Indian. Thus, the tabulations of Indians had some of the highest error rates for any minority.

For the first time, however, tribes will not have to accept the official census numbers, which the federal government uses to distribute aid.

Janklow May Use Ill Health As Defense

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Rep. Bill Janklow may very well use his diabetes or other health problems as a defense when he goes on trial on manslaughter charges in a traffic accident that killed a motorcyclist.

Janklow's lawyer, Ed Evans, and the congressman himself will not publicly discuss what his defense will be. And the accident report and an affidavit from Janklow filed this week make no mention of a blackout or poor vision -- symptoms that can be caused by diabetes.

Take this quick Quiz on Native American History

I hope you get at least 7 of the 10 answers right. I got 9!

New virus disguised as PayPal e-mail

URGENT -- The program is a variant of the Mimail virus, which has previously spread by appearing to be a security advisory from Microsoft. The latest version of the program is attached to an e-mail forged to look as though it came from PayPal, an online payment service bought by eBay last year. Running the program infects the victim's computer and asks the PC user for credit card information, which the virus then sends to the attacker.

Accounting of Indian Money Put on Hold

An accounting of money owed to hundreds of thousands of American Indians was put on hold Thursday as an appeals court considers whether recent action by Congress can overturn a federal judge's order.

Native American Voters are important for this next election!

Among the 10 states with the highest Native American populations, four have elections in 2004 in which Native Americans' votes are especially significant. See this chart.

Tribes Now Ready to Deal With Their New Governor

VIEJAS INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif., Nov. 6 - The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, which operates a lucrative casino on its reservation here east of San Diego, spent $2 million of its gambling earnings trying to keep Arnold Schwarzenegger out of the governor's office.

Mr. Schwarzenegger said in the campaign that the Viejas and other tribes that run casinos in California were not paying their fair share to the state and were abusing their new financial muscle. Tribal leaders said Mr. Schwarzenegger did not understand the tribes' unique status as sovereign nations or realize how much they paid to the state.

Both sides now appear ready to put the bitterness of the campaign behind them.