Author: Adrea Korthase

Subcommittee Hearing Today 2pm ET on Three House Resolutions

Adrea Korthase

Information here

  • H.R. 726 (Schrader), To amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act to make technical corrections, and for other purposes.
  • H.R. 3319 (Grijalva), To allow the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to determine the requirements for membership in that tribe.
  • H.R. 6141 (Schrader), To provide for the addition of certain real property to the reservation of the Siletz Tribe in the State of Oregon.

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Director Michael Black (H.R. 726, H.R. 3319 and H.R. 6141) Bureau of Indian Affairs U.S. Department of the Interior

Panel II

Vice-Chairman Reyn Leno (H.R. 726 and H.R. 6141) Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Grand Ronde, Oregon

Chair Delores Pigsley (H.R. 726 and H.R. 6141) Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon Siletz, Oregon

Chairman Robert Garcia (H.R. 6141) Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians Coos Bay, Oregon

Commissioner Terry Thompson (H.R. 6141) Lincoln County Newport, Oregon

Chairman Peter Yucupicio (H.R. 3319) Pascua Yaqui Tribe Tucson, Arizona

LTBB Tribal Council Votes Down Same-Sex Marriage Amendment, but Debate Continues

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An excerpt from the Petoskey News:

The motion to approve the amendment failed on a 4-5 vote, but a second vote — passing 5-4 — put the entire tribal marriage statute that defines marriage as between a man and a woman up for legislative review.

The amendment would have made the tribe the first in Michigan to allow same-sex couples to wed. Only two tribes in the nation have adopted a similar marriage definition.

The decision would also have skirted a 2004 ballot proposal by Michigan voters that banned gay marriage for the entire state population, because the federal government recognizes tribes’ rights to govern themselves as a domestic nation.

Despite the failed vote, the issue is unlikely to be dropped.

Previous post on the topic is here. Miigwetch to C.D.

Treaty Rights in Washington Threatened by Lack of Progress in Recovering Salmon

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Seattle Times AP article is here.

More information (including reports) here.

Tribal and Federal Authorities Cooperate to Arrest 17 on Standing Rock

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The article from the Bismarck Tribune is here. An excerpt:

Besides the FBI and BIA, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Sioux County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Parole and Pre-Trial Services also were involved in the investigation and arrests Tuesday morning on the reservation that straddles North Dakota and South Dakota.

Operation Prairie Thunder resulted in 10 people being charged in U.S. District Court in North Dakota, two people being charged in U.S. District Court in South Dakota and five people charged in Standing Rock Tribal Court.

and

In another unusual move, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Miller traveled to Standing Rock Reservation south of Mandan on Tuesday morning to hold first appearances for the 10 people charged in U.S. District Court in North Dakota.

“It’s very, very rare” for a federal judge to travel to a reservation for court hearings, Purdon said. “I’m aware of it at least once in North Dakota, many, many years ago.”

Eastern Shoshone Allowed to Participate in Northern Arapaho Eagle Permit Suit

Adrea Korthase

AP story is here.

Previous post is here.

Dennis Banks Leads Hundreds in Protest of Hate Crime Perpetrated on Lakota Elder

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Article is here.

Previous post on the subject is here.

Students at Haskell Indian Nations University Use “Trail of Broken Promises” to Draw Attention to Sacred Sites

Adrea Korthase

The story details the walk from Shawnee, KS to Washington D.C. in an effort to draw attention to threatened wetlands near Haskell, and other sacred sites and is here.

National American Indian Court Judges Association 2012 Conference Request for Proposals and Save the Date

Adrea Korthase

The conference is October 18-19, 2012 at Mystic Lake Resort Casino in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Save The Date

NAICJA Proposal RFP

Native American Mascots Banned in Oregon Public Schools

Adrea Korthase

First part of the article from the Oregonian:

The Oregon Board of Education voted Thursday afternoon to ban Native American mascots in schools across the state. The policy, which represents one of the toughest stances on the issue nationwide, was passed on a vote of 5-1.

“There’s a collective right that exists here,” said board member Artemio Paz. These sorts of mascots produce “racism and unnecessary bullying. We do not allow that to exist for any of our populations.”

All told it will affect at least 15 Oregon schools. Some schools will have to change both their mascots and their nicknames. Others, who call themselves “warriors,” will be allowed to keep their names but must change their mascots. The schools will have to make the changes by July 2017 or risk losing state funding.

Previous post is here.

Department of Interior Approves Wind Project Despite Objection of Tribes

Adrea Korthase

From  U~T San Diego here:

Native American tribal officials remain concerned about artifacts as well as the basic visual intrusion on a landscape tied to the creation stories of several nearby tribes.

“That’s part of these people’s spiritual identity, and yet they want to put up turbines and destroy and interfere with that reverence and the serenity of what the creator gave them,” said John Bathke, a historic preservation officer for the Quechan Indian Tribe.

And

“We understand that they have those concerns with regard to consultation,” said Erin Curtis, a spokeswoman for the BLM in Sacramento. Federal policy on tribal consultation, she said, “doesn’t necessarily require agreement all of the time.”

The Bureau of Land Management Press Release is here.

The Record of Decision, Final EIS, and other information from the BLM can be found here.