Navajo woman challenges Washington Redskins “offensive” name

A Navajo woman was in Virginia on Thursday to argue that the Washington Redskins should not be allowed to trademark what she and other Native Americans see as a racial slur. “I think enough people have spoken out,” said Kayenta resident Amanda Blackhorse, of the number of people who have called the team name offensive. “One is too many.” Blackhorse was one of several Indians telling the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that Pro-Football Inc., the team’s parent company, should not be able to trademark the “Redskins.” In a petition first filed in 2006, the group of six plaintiffs said the team’s trademark should be canceled because it is used offensively, a violation of federal law.

AP: Amid renewed momentum, Native Americans opposing Redskins nickname go before trademark judges

As someone who has spent nearly a third of her life fighting the Washington Redskins nickname, Suzan Shown Harjo had a good laugh when asked about the team’s latest line of defense. Redskins general manager Bruce Allen said last month that it is “ludicrous” to think that the team is “trying to upset anybody” with its nickname, which many Native Americans consider to be offensive.

Redskins, Native American group take name battle to court

The Redskins front office was in court Thursday fighting to keep ownership of their team name. ESPN is reporting that a group of Native Americans wants the team to lose trademark protection for the name “Redskins.” If the court approves the petition any company could profit from using the team’s name. The group hopes that owner Dan Snyder would change the team name to something only his organization could profit from.

Obama signs anti-violence act renewal, extending protection to gays, Native Americans

President Barack Obama signed expanded protections for domestic violence victims into law Thursday, renewing a measure credited with curbing attacks against women a year and a half after it lapsed amid partisan bickering. The revitalized Violence Against Women Act also marked an important win for gay rights advocates and Native Americans, who will see new protections under the law, and for Obama, whose attempts to push for a renewal failed last year after they became entangled in gender politics and the presidential election.

Superintendent of Yakima reservation schools joins U.S. Secretary of Education in bemoaning sequester cuts

Henry Strom, superintendent of the tiny Mount Adams School District on Washington's Yakima Indian Reservation, was one of six school district leaders from around the nation chosen to stand with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Monday to decry sequester-induced cuts to the federal education budget. While most school districts will feel a relatively tiny hit, and not until next school year, some are disproportionately affected by the automatic federal budget cutbacks, triggered by Congressional inaction. Most of those are located on tribal lands or military bases and benefit from extra education money known as federal impact aid.

AP: Council of Michigan Indian tribe OKs gay marriage

A northern Michigan Indian tribal council has voted to recognize gay marriage. The Petoskey News-Review reports that the legislative body of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians made the decision Sunday. The tribe is based in Harbor Springs.

CHART: The Extraordinary Rise Of Native American Casinos

When you think about gambling in America, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Las Vegas. But Las Vegas currently represents just 10 percent of U.S. gaming industry revenue. This is according to a new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Regional commercial gaming accounts for another 47 percent of the industry. The remaining 43 percent: Native American gaming.

Center in OH boosts reclaiming of tribe's language

Daryl Baldwin was born around the time that his Miami Tribe of Oklahoma was losing its last generation of fluent speakers and facing the possibility that its language would die with them. Fifty years later, a project that Baldwin directs at Miami University in southwest Ohio is making headway reclaiming and revitalizing the Myaamia language, through a collaboration that linguists around the country say is an outstanding role model to help save dormant languages from extinction. The collaborative project between the tribe and its namesake university recently became a full-fledged center on the Oxford campus, a move that university and linguists say enhances the project's efforts and expands access to grants and other resources.