Kate Fort

Healthy Indigenous Communities Pow-Wow, This Saturday

April 26, 2011Kate Fort

This Saturday, April 30th from noon-4pm at the Gier Community Center in Lansing, Michigan.

The Healthy Indigenous Communities Traditional Pow-Wow and Health Fair will be taking place this Saturday, April 30 from 12p.m. to 4p.m. at the Gier Community Center, 2400 Hall St., Lansing, MI 48906. The event will honor Michigan Minority Health Month in Ingham County. The event is open to the general public and is provided at no cost to the community.

The schedule of events will include:
– A Traditional American Indian/First Nations pow-wow, (we invite all dancers to come and participate)
– Workshops discussing healthy eating and healthy lifestyles,
– A discussion regarding the Affordable Health Care Act,
– Health screenings
– College/University recruiters,
– Screen printing workshop for youth
– Family Resource Organizations and Agencies,
– Prize Drawings,
– Food Sampling of traditional indigenous foods from 2p-4p

For more information regard the event please visit the Indigenous Youth Empowerment Program (IYEP) facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=332815363266

The Center is pleased to be one of the sponsors of this program along with the following:

Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH)
Indigenous Youth Empowerment Program (IYEP)
Lansing Latino Health Alliance (LLHA)
Ingham County Health Department’s Native American Outreach Program (ICHD-NAOP)
Lansing School Districts-Native American Program (LSD-NAP)
MSU Residential College in the Arts & Humanities
Woodlands Indian Community Center
Gier Community Center
Ingham County Health Department’s Public Health Nursing
Michigan Athletic Club
YMCA Downtown Center
YMCA Dewitt Branch
The Soup Spoon Cafe
Wanderer’s Tea House
Great Harvest Bread Company
Schuler’s Bookstore
Grand Traverse Pie Company

United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation Decision

April 26, 2011April 26, 2011Kate Fort2 Comments

The Supreme Court released the decision in United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation today. You can access the decision here. Justice Kennedy wrote the decision finding against the tribe. He was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, and Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas and Justice Alito. Justice Sotomayor wrote a concurrence, which Justice Breyer joined. Justice Ginsberg wrote the dissent. Justice Kagan took no part in the case.

I’m sure we’ll have more up throughout the day, but here’s the last paragraph of the opinion:

The holding here precludes the CFC from exercising jurisdiction over the Nation’s suit while the District Court case is pending. Should the Nation choose to dismiss the latter action, or upon that action’s completion, the Nation is free to file suit again in the CFC if the statute of limitations is no bar. In the meantime, and in light of the substantial overlap in operative facts between them, the two suits are “for or in respect to” the same claim under §1500, and the CFC case must be dismissed. The contrary judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Supreme Court denies cert in Native Wholesale Supply v. Oklahoma

April 25, 2011Kate Fort

The Native Wholesale Supply v. Oklahoma petition was denied cert today.

Last week the Court denied the Winnemucca v. Wasson petition.

The Court’s orders are available here.

No Decision Today in U.S. v. TON; Oral Arguments in Jicarilla Apache Today

April 20, 2011Kate Fort

We’ll post a link to the transcript of the oral argument for U.S. v. Jicarilla Apache Nation when it becomes available.

And just for the fun of it, here’s a poll based on yesterday’s post speculating on the reasons for delay in the U.S. v. TON decision:

SCOTUSblog/ABA Preview of United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation

April 15, 2011Kate Fort1 Comment

By a business law professor and an undergraduate senior from Western Carolina University. As to be expected, I suppose, there’s virtually no Indian law in the essay. And, under the “Significance” heading:

Although it is easy to conclude that this case is only applicable to discovery issues relating to tribal funds held in trust by the U.S. government, the case has broader implications, especially in the area of employee benefits and shareholder actions. This will be the Court’s first opportunity to address the fiduciary exception to the attorney- client privilege and it can easily have an impact beyond tribal funds.

The blog link is here. The preview is here. Oral arguments in the case will be heard on Wednesday in the Supreme Court.

I guess Friday is the day when Indian law is everywhere.

ILPC Event–Charles Wilkinson to Speak on Monday

April 14, 2011April 18, 2011Kate Fort

Please come hear Charles Wilkinson speak about his new book, The People are Dancing Again: The History of the Siletz Tribe of Western Oregon. Ann Tweedy will be providing commentary. Lunch will be served around 11:30, with the speakers starting at noon in the Castle Board Room.

Minnesota Supreme Court ICWA Case–In re R.S. and L.S.

April 14, 2011Kate Fort5 Comments

The Center wrote an amici brief for this case on behalf of the Center, Leech Lake and Mille Lacs. Our discussion of the role of the GAL is in the second half of the brief.

Amici Brief for ILPC, Leech Lake and Mille Lacs

Lower court decision in the case:

Court of Appeals Decision

Ojibwe Treaty Rights Article in American Indian Quarterly

April 4, 2011Kate Fort

“After the Storm: Ojibwe Treaty Rights Twenty Five Years after the Voigt Decision” by Patty Loew and James Thannum was published in the American Indian Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 2 (Spring, 2011). Here’s an excerpt/abstract:

This article examines the socioeconomic, political, and cultural fac- tors that contributed to the spearfishing crisis twenty-five years ago and the state of relations between Native and non-Native residents in the ceded territory today. It focuses on Wisconsin, where the most virulent protests occurred. Because most residents learned about the controversy through newspaper and television news accounts, the article pays special attention to media coverage of the boat landing struggles. It argues that the relative calm that exists today is attributable to increased public awareness about treaty rights and sovereignty, largely due to education efforts and better reporting by the media. It also argues that the contributions of the Ojibwe bands themselves over the past twenty-five years to maintain and improve the natural resources within the ceded territory has also had a positive effect.

BIA Tribal Court Training Program

March 28, 2011Kate Fort

Please see the press release for more information on the newly created training program for tribal court judges and officials.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael S. Black today announced that the BIA’s Office of Justice Services (OJS) has created a training program for tribal court judges, prosecutors, clerks and administrators in an effort to improve the administration of justice in Indian Country. The program was developed in collaboration with the University of New Mexico School of Law’s Institute of Public Law (IPL) and Southwest Indian Law Clinic (SILC) and the American Indian Law Center, Inc. (AILC) in Albuquerque, N.M. The 2011 training, which is being held in four sessions over three months, started March 15 at the Bureau’s National Indian Program Training Center in Albuquerque.

NYT’s review of The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek