Rez Life Weekly

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor   U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has expressed willingness to investigate a contentious dispute between the town of Lac du Flambeau and the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, potentially seeking compensation from the tribe for approximately $600,000 in road access payments that a Wisconsin congressman has characterized as "extortion."   The attorney general's indication came during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Februa

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has filed a petition for judicial review in Wisconsin's Iron County Circuit Court, challenging a recent ruling that approved permits for Enbridge's proposed Line 5 pipeline reroute. The legal action contests Administrative Law Judge Angela Chaput Foy's decision to uphold Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources permits for the 41-mile project. Tribal Chairwoman Elizabeth Arbuckle announced the f

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The numbers are unacceptable. Native women and girls go missing at rates that outpace every other demographic in the country, and our communities have been screaming about it for decades. The good news? 2026 is bringing new tools, better coordination, and real momentum in Indian Country. From federal alert systems to state-level cold case units, we're finally seeing resources that match the urgency of this crisis. Here's what you need to kn

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor A long-standing dental practice within the federal health system serving Native communities is coming to an end, as the Indian Health Service announces plans to eliminate mercury-based dental fillings across its clinics nationwide. The move signals more than a routine medical update. For many tribal health advocates, it represents a step toward addressing long-standing disparities in health care options available to Native American and Alas

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor Standing before lawmakers inside the Wisconsin State Capitol, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Chairwoman Nicole Boyd delivered a State of the Tribes address that was at once ceremonial, urgent, reflective, and direct.   Her message centered on sovereignty, environmental protection, education, health, and the continued strength of Wisconsin’s tribal nations. But at its core, the speech was about something even more fundamental.   “W

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor A newly passed resolution by Mille Lacs County commissioners is threatening to reopen one of the most significant legal disputes between the county and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in recent history.   The county board voted last week to ask the federal government to withdraw a legal opinion that affirms the boundaries of the Mille Lacs Reservation. That opinion, issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2015, concluded that the 61,

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor   Drug overdose deaths across the United States are falling at a pace not seen in decades, and officials in Indian Country say tribal communities are also seeing fewer fatalities, a shift many attribute to expanded access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, known as Narcan, and a reduced flow of fentanyl into local communities. According to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdose deaths declined b

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said the federal government crossed a dangerous line when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to provide basic information about detained tribal citizens unless the tribe agreed to enter into what he described as an “immigration agreement with ICE.” In a memo addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Star Comes Out inf

By Martha Bellisle Associated Press Read Story Here Maricopa County Sheriff Booking Photo SEATTLE -- A man who held himself out as a Native American activist was sentenced Wednesday to 46 years in prison for drugging and raping women in a case that inspired calls for changes in Washington state law to prohibit defendants who represent themselves from directly questioning their accusers. Redwolf Pope, who had apartments in Seattle and Santa Fe, New Mexico, was arrested in 2018

Press Release US Attorney, Arizona White Mountain Apache officer Canyon Day charged in federal indictment PHOENIX, Ariz. – A White Mountain Apache Tribal Police officer was arrested Wednesday in Canyon Day on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, after being charged in a federal indictment with sexual abuse and kidnapping. Karl Eugene Leslie, 42, of Whiteriver, Arizona, is charged in a 15-count indictment, returned Dec. 23, 2025, with Aggravated Sexual Abuse, Kidnapping (includ

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has filed a new federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, challenging a permit issued to Enbridge Energy Partners LLC for a proposed reroute of the Line 5 pipeline around the tribe’s reservation in northern Wisconsin. The lawsuit asks the federal agency to reconsider its approval, arguing that the permitting process did not fully comply with federal environmental laws.   According

Rez Life Weekly Staff According to a report from Indian Country Today, a small but historically significant land return took place in northern Wisconsin when the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration transferred approximately two acres of land back to the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The land, located along Trout Lake in Arbor Vitae, was formerly home to the Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center and had originally belonged to the tribe before

By Joe Morey Rez Life News Editor CHICAGO — Gestational diabetes has risen steadily in the United States for nearly a decade, increasing every single year from 2016 through 2024, according to a new national analysis from Northwestern Medicine. The study, which examined more than 12 million U.S. births, found that rates climbed across every racial and ethnic group. However, the burden has fallen disproportionately on American Indian and Alaska Native women, who continue to exp

Rez Life Weekly Staff A 42-year-old Lac du Flambeau man remains in the Vilas County Jail on a $300,000 cash bond after authorities say he brutally assaulted a woman with a hammer in what prosecutors have charged as attempted first-degree intentional homicide. According to court records, Brett D. La Barge was taken into custody on Saturday, Dec. 13, after multiple 911 calls were received just before 1 p.m. reporting an active assault at a residence in the Town of Lac du Flambe

By Henry Redman Wisconsin Examiner December 17, 2025 The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, challenging the corps’ decision to grant a permit allowing the oil company Enbridge to reroute its Line 5 pipeline around the tribe’s reservation in northern Wisconsin. The lawsuit, filed in the Washington D.C. federal circuit court, is another step in the long legal history of the Enbridge pipeline and the comp

LDF Tribal Police Press Release In the early afternoon of Saturday, December 13, 2025, law enforcement officers of the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department and Vilas County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a possible homicide in the Town of Lac du Flambeau. Upon their arrival at the scene, the officers apprehended a suspect and found an unconscious victim suffering from a severe head trauma. Officers immediately rendered aid to the victim and summoned an ambu

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas is moving to cancel a nearly $30 million federal contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following intense backlash from Native communities across the country, according to a December 15 Newsweek  article that first brought widespread attention to the deal. The contract, signed in October by KPB Services LLC, a newly formed tribal entity, was awarded by ICE to develop early design

By Joe Morey Rez Life Weekly Editor For the first time in its history, the Crow Tribe is seeing its enrolled population shrink, according to a recent report by MTN News. Tribal leaders say that in the past year, the number of deaths among enrolled Crow citizens exceeded the number of new enrollees, raising alarms about the long-term future of the tribe. In response, the Crow Tribal Executive Branch has moved quickly, drafting legislation aimed at increasing enrollment and sta

University of Wisconsin Health Department Article Dr. Mariah Star Cooper (enrolled tribal member at Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake...

By Tina Van Zile Sokoagon Tribe Environmental Director Last Saturday was the 20th Anniversary Celebration for the historic Crandon Mine...