The IRS and US Treasury Department have announced an expansion of the types of returns that can be filed using IRS Direct File beyond what was available in the pilot program during the 2024 tax filing season.

Oregon to team with IRS to offer free income tax e-filing option

SALEM – Oregon resident taxpayers preparing their respective tax returns in 2025 will have the option to electronically file their federal and state income tax returns using the combination of IRS Direct File and Direct File Oregon, the IRS and the Oregon Department of Revenue (ODR) announced Oct. 3. “The Direct File Program is a game-changer for taxpayers,” Gov. Tina…

Trish Carter-Goodheart, left, is a Democratic candidate for the Idaho House District 6 seat and a member of the Nez Perce Tribe. Right is Republican Sen. Dan Foreman. COURTESY

Idaho state senator tells Native American candidate ‘go back where you came from’ in forum

KENDRICK, Idaho (AP) — Tensions rose during a Sept. 30 bipartisan forum after an audience question about discrimination reportedly led an Idaho state senator to angrily tell a Native American candidate to “go back where you came from.” Republican Sen. Dan Foreman left the event early after the outburst and later denied making any racist comments in a Facebook post.…

Bald and golden eagles are sacred to many Native Americans. U.S. law prohibits anyone without a permit from killing, wounding or disturbing eagles, or taking their nests or eggs. STOCK PHOTO

Wildlife trafficking ring killed at least 118 eagles, prosecutors say

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A man helped kill at least 118 eagles to sell their feathers and body parts on the black market as part of a long-running wildlife trafficking ring in the western U.S. that authorities allege killed thousands of birds, court filings show. Travis John Branson is scheduled to be sentenced in federal…

A bipartisan group of senators is demanding immediate action from USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack after several tribal nations reported that a federal food distribution program they rely on has not fulfilled orders for months, and in some cases has delivered expired food. DAILY MAIL | COURTESY PHOTO

Senators demand the USDA fix its backlog of food distribution to Native American tribes

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER, Associated Press A bipartisan group of senators is demanding immediate action from USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack after several tribal nations reported that a federal food distribution program they rely on has not fulfilled orders for months, and in some cases has delivered expired food. Last spring, the USDA consolidated from two contractors to one for deliveries…

This photo provided by the environmental group Earthjustice shows Ha’Kamwe’, a sacred spring near Wikieup, Ariz., March 5, 2022. ASH PONDERS | EARTH JUSTICE PHOTO

Judge blocks Arizona lithium drilling that tribe says is threat to sacred lands

By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press A federal judge has temporarily blocked exploratory drilling for a lithium project in Arizona that tribal leaders say will harm land they have used for religious and cultural ceremonies for centuries. Lawyers for the national environmental group Earthjustice and Colorado-based Western Mining Action Project are suing federal land managers on behalf of the Hualapai Tribe.…

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, right, and Gov. Tim Walz speak to reporters at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., Monday, March 21, 2022. MOHAMED IBRAHIM | REPORT FOR AMERICA PHOTO | FILE

A win for the Harris-Walz ticket would also mean the country’s first Native American female governor

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER, Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. – If Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are elected this fall, not only would a woman of color lead the country for the first time, but a Native woman would govern a state for the first time in U.S. history too. Peggy Flanagan, the…

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland at the Interior Department’s press conference on its federal boarding school investigation in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. JOURDAN BENNETT-BEGAYE | INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY PHOTO

Federal action on U.S. boarding schools inches forward

Legislation is moving through Congress to create a Truth and Healing Commission. Meanwhile, Catholic bishops issued an apology for boarding schools run by the church. By MARY ANNETTE PEMBER, ICT The U.S. is beginning to face its Indian boarding school history. Both the U.S. Congress and the Catholic Church took visible steps forward last week in officially taking action on…