Source: Black Hills Pioneer

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1300&dept_id=156931&newsid=10009842&PAG=461&rfi=9

On August 14, 2003 the Black Hills Pioneer reported that the Council on Crime and Justice was urging the South Dakota state legislature to adopt prison reform programs geared toward Native American culture and administered by Native Americans in an attempt to reduce the state's high percentage of Native inmates.

Source: The Boston Globe

On August 6, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "civil rights groups want governor Don Carcieri to respond to problems they see with a State Police report on a confrontation between troopers and the Narragansett Tribe [in Rhode Island]. The groups, including the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, say the report fails to explain why the troopers did not follow Carcieri's instructions to withdraw if they met resistance... The groups said the report, which Carcieri requested, makes clear police prepared for a clash...

Source: Indian Country Today

http://www.indiancountry.com/?1059748335

On August 1, 2003 Indian Country Today printed an editorial by Suzan Shown Harjo stating that "the American Indian Religious Freedom Act turns 25 on Aug. 11, and there is every reason to both celebrate it and complete its unfinished agenda... AIRFA articulates the policy of the United States to 'protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the...

Source: Tolerance.org

http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=816

On July 25, 2003 Tolerance.org reported that "in Wichita, Kansas, one group combines diversity, faith and community service to make the world around them a better, more accepting place... For more than a century, Inter-Faith Ministries has brought together people of all faiths to build inter-religious understanding and promote justice. Currently, membership represents the widest range of faith...

Source: Star-Tribune

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2003/07/23/news/casper/f9764d0fd6cd49bf42cfef62cc04eb59.txt

On July 23, 2003 the Star-Tribune reported that "Cheryl Fraine beats the drum as participants file in and settle themselves for their shamanic journey... Fraine asks each person to think of a favorite place, whether it be a mountain top or a tropical beach, and as the drum beat continues, each...

Source: Indian Country Today

http://www.indiancountry.com/?1058889987

On July 22, 2003 Indian Country Today reported that "a high-tech telescope on Mount Graham, open pit gold mining in California, federal officials collecting fossils and bones in the Badlands of South Dakota, and logging in the Black Hills and on Bear Butte all qualify as desecration of sacred sites, according to American Indian elders and spiritual leaders... The battle to educate states and federal agencies...

Source: The Boston Globe

On July 17, 2003 The Boston Globe published an editorial by Adrian Walker entitled "Adrian Walker; No Walk in the Park" in which Walker expressed his views concerning the campaign to make Deer Isle, MA off-limits to dogs. Walker wrote, "Two powerful forces - history and dog walkers - are heading toward a collision at the unlikely site of Deer Island. To many of us, who can easily pass a decade without ever setting foot on the place, Deer Island is simply the site of one of the world's largest sewage-treatment plants. To its Winthrop...

Source: Pechanga.Net

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=4085c0e4ce897ede0182c2c8a3b976c7

On July 16, 2003 Pechanga.Net reported that "California tribal leaders are outraged at the violent behavior Rhode Island State Police displayed July 14 in raiding the Narragansett Indian Tribe’s smoke shop... The raid left several tribal leaders, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, bruised and bloodied. Six...

Source: Indian Country Today

http://www.indiancountry.com/?1058276384

On July 15, 2003 the Indian Country Today reported that "for the second time in two years a bill in the California legislature is attempting to amend an existing law to protect at least a portion of California Indian sacred sites... Assembly Bill 974, authored by Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, is seeking to amend the California Coastal Act, which was enacted in 1976 to include protection of American...

Source: Helena Independent Record

On July 10, 2003 the Helena Independent Record reported that "Montana State Prison officials and American Indian inmates reached a settlement out of court recently over alleged religious discrimination by prison officials... The inmates’ complaint pinpointed 16 different ways in which prison officials allegedly misused Department of Corrections policies to shut down or limit American Indians’ traditional religious practices while allowing non-Indian denominations to function with less or no intrusion... Even...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/National/AP.V5276.AP-Wildfires.html

On July 10, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "firefighters battled a blaze Thursday in the mountains of northern New Mexico that is threatening a river considered sacred by an American Indian community... The fire has burned 5,000 acres, including patches of the Rio Pueblo watershed,...

Source: Boston Globe

On July 6, 2003 the Boston Globe reported that the Shelburne museum in Shelburne, Vermont "is hosting its fourth Native American Intertribal Powwow, two days of infectious drumming, dancing, and chanting by US and Canadian tribal communities in a re-creation of a New England ritual that pre-dates European colonization by hundreds and possibly thousands of years."

Source: The Associated Press

[.harktheherald.com/article.php?sid=88751]

On July 6, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "17 Fulbright scholars from countries such as Bangladesh and Brazil, Cameroon, the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Slovakia and Spain, have come here to see U.S. religious diversity firsthand... They arrived in Utah on Saturday... It seems an odd place to study diversity, given the fact that this state has a dominant religious majority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, much like...

Source: Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3968276.html

On July 5, 2003 the Star Tribune reported that "through the trees, a small patch of blue sky lit the sacred grounds, where two empty sweat lodges stood... A mixture of smells lingered in the air -- cedar, sage and sweet grass. The grounds were prepared for the sacred drum to beat and the singing to begin. The body had to be purified before the men entered the lodges and the doors closed... For a...

Source: The Boston Globe

On June 29, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that the Order for the Preservation of Indian Culture sponsored a Pow-Wow at Prowse Farm. "Hundreds attended the two-day event in Canton, [Massachusetts]."