Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher – Page 635

News Coverage of DOJ Taskforce Hearing #2

February 13, 2014February 13, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. An excerpt:

Daniel Cauffman, 21, can speak candidly about the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepmother when he was a child.

He knows his story of closed-fist punches coupled with other acts of physical violence speaks for hundreds – if not thousands – of children on Native American lands across the country.

“I hope it does help,” said Cauffman, a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, Mich.

He was one of several young people to give testimony Tuesday alongside regional experts at a public hearing for the advisory committee to the Attorney General’s Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence.

“I’m glad they do stuff like this ’cause it does raise awareness,” Cauffman said. “As far as hopes goes, hopefully we can pull kids out of the situation.”

More detailed coverage here.

SCIA Hearing on the Indian Law and Order Commission Report

February 13, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Link to video here.

Witness list:

Panel 1

The Honorable Kevin Washburn
Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs-U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC

The Honorable Timothy Q. Purdon
U.S. Attorney-District of North Dakota, U.S. Department of Justice, Fargo, ND

Panel 2

Mr. Troy Eid
Chairman-Indian Law and Order Commission, Denver, CO

Ms. Affie Ellis
Commissioner-Indian Law and Order Commission, Cheyenne, WY

Ms. Tamra Truett Jerue
Director-of Social Services and Tribal Administrator, Anvik Tribal Council, Anvik, AK

Additional Update in Luckerman v. Narragansett

February 13, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are additional materials in Luckerman v. Narragansett Indian Tribe (D. R.I.):

29 Motion to Correct the Record

33-1 Response

34 DCT Order on Amending the Record

Meanwhile, the tribe has appealed the sovereign immunity issue here to the First Circuit.

Prior posts on this case are here and here.

Oregon School Mascots Issue Reaches Governor

February 13, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. An excerpt:

Senators also heard testimony in favor of the bill from the Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians. The Siletz Warrior mascot at the tribe’s charter school violates the current rule, but the bill would allow the tribe to keep it in place.

“A lot of the issue is we need Oregon-based curriculum in our schools,” said Robert Kentta, a member of the Siletz tribal council speaking in support of the bill. “Taking away mention of Indians in schools is not an approach that we think is productive toward that goal.”

Samuel Henry, chairman of the Oregon Board of Education, said the state needs to improve its Native American curriculum but he said the board fully vetted their ban.

Native American mascots provide no educational benefit, Henry said, and open the state up to potential lawsuits challenging the mascots.

“One question for state legislators is: Do you want to buy more kindergarten teachers or do you want to pay for attorney’s fees and staff time?” Henry said. “It’s that simple.”

Winslow Indian Health Care Center Inc. v. United States Complaint

February 12, 2014Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

01 Complaint

An excerpt:

This is a suit against the United States for breach of contract and statute by the Indian Health Service (“IHS”), an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”). Plaintiff, the Winslow Indian Health Care Center (“WIHCC”), seeks money damages under the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. § 7101 et seq. (“CDA”), based on the Secretary’s repeated violations of WIHCC’s contractual and statutory right to the payment of full funding of contract support costs (“CSC”) for contracts entered under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (“ISDEAA”), Pub. L. No. 93-638, as amended, 25 U.S.C. § 450 et seq.