Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher – Page 745

Dakota Plains Legal Services Job Announcement

May 1, 2013May 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

(Managing Attorney – Mission, South Dakota)

DAKOTA PLAINS LEGAL SERVICES (DPLS), a non-profit legal services program, is accepting applications for a Managing Attorney position in our Mission, South Dakota, branch office. The Mission office serves the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota and Gregory, Jones, Mellette, Todd and Tripp counties in South Dakota.

QUALIFICATIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES: Applicants must have a JD degree and be licensed to practice in South Dakota, or willing and qualified to take the next South Dakota Bar Exam; must be a bright, motivated, self-starter; must have the tenacity to assume immediate practice responsibilities, including handling a significant caseload touching on many different areas of law with regular appearances in court; must demonstrate an interest in poverty law and working with Native American and low income clients; and must commit to a minimum of a two year employment period, upon completion of a six month probationary period. Applicant must have at least one year experience in the practice of poverty law or Indian law, with trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts or two years experience in the general practice of law. If Applicant does not possess this experience we would consider Applicant for a staff attorney position until qualified to be a Managing Attorney.

SALARY: Competitive, depending on experience and budgetary constraints. DPLS has an excellent fringe benefits package including generous leave benefits and employee insurance coverage (medical, dental, life, disability).

CLOSING DATE: Open Until Filled

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Please submit a letter of interest and resume to: Continue reading →

NYTs on California’s “Forced Apprenticeship” of Indians (Civil War History Series)

May 1, 2013May 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

An excerpt:

On April 27, 1863, nearly five months after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, California abolished its system of forced apprenticeship for American Indians. Under the apprenticeship provisions of the state’s Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, several thousand California Indians, mostly children, had suffered kidnapping, sale and involuntary servitude for over a decade.

Also:

Sources: “An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, April 22, 1850”; Michael Magliari, “Free Soil, Unfree Labor,” Pacific Historical Review 73 (August 2004); “Minority Report of the Special Joint Committee on the Mendocino War,” in Appendix to the Journals of the California Senate (1860); “An Act Amendatory of an Act entitled ‘An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians,’ April 16, 1860”; Mendocino Herald, April 10, 1863; George Hanson to William P. Dole, July 15, 1861, Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Received; Sacramento Union, May 5 – 12, 1862; Brendan C. Lindsay, “Murder State: California’s Native American Genocide, 1846 – 1873”; Elijah Steele to William P. Dole, Oct. 30, 1863, Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Received; Report of the Commissioner for Indian Affairs, 1867; Alta California, June 8, 1874.

Oglala Sioux Tribe Faces Ultimatum (or is it Extortion?) in Wounded Knee Property Sale

May 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Arizona Attorney Article: “Justice on Tribal Lands Still Elusive”

May 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Bayles article

An excerpt:

But a new dialogue may be in the wind. On February 15, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly spoke fresh words at the opening of an impressive justice center in Tuba City: “We’re ready to have a federal court. We’re ready for a federal judge here.” Federal judges in native America handling federal cases would help. Sure, new statutes would require enactment. Empaneling juries would present challenges. But until Indian nations acquire full criminal jurisdiction for offenses occurring within their boundaries, improved justice for native victims will require expanded federal efforts.

Interior Office of Inspector General Questions Recognition of Tejon Indian Tribe

May 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. H/T Pechanga.

From the Interior OIG website:

The Office of Inspector General investigated former Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs (AS-IA) Larry Echo Hawk’s decision to “reaffirm” the Tejon Indian Tribe of California in December 2011 without going through the acknowledgment process set forth in 25 C.F.R., Part 83, “Procedures for Establishing That an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe.”

We found that the Tejon Tribe, along with several other American Indian groups, submitted petitions requesting reaffirmation by the AS-IA. These petitions were outside the Part 83 acknowledgment process, which is the official process for recognizing Indian groups as tribes and is administered by the AS-IA’s Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA). We could not find any discernible process Echo Hawk and his staff might have used to select the Tejon Tribe for recognition above the other groups.

We also found that Echo Hawk and his staff did not consult with OFA or with Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) leadership before deciding to reaffirm the Tejon Tribe. Because OFA was not consulted, other American Indian groups with historical, genealogical, and ancestral claims to the original Tejon Indians were left out of the process. In addition, not involving BIA leadership caused budgeting and operational difficulties for BIA, which in turn slowed down the process for providing Federal services to the Tejon Tribe. The AS-IA also denied subsequent requests by BIA for additional FY 2013 funding, which was needed to provide these services for the newly recognized Tribe.

Read the complete report here.

State Law Employment Discrimination Suit against Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort Dismissed

May 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Tavares v. Harrah’s Operating Co. (S.D. Cal.):

DCT Order Granting Motion to Dismiss

Harrah’s Motion to Dismiss

Update in Federal Trespass Action at Makah (U.S. v. Ray)

May 1, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The federal court, after ordering the United States DOJ to exhaust tribal court remedies (an order that apparently made the government’s attorneys ornery), granting partial summary judgment to the government.

Here are the new materials in United States v. Ray (W.D. Wash.):

DCT Order Granting Partial Summary J

US Motion for Partial Summary J

US Motion to Lift Stay

And the Makah tribal court materials:

Makah Tribal Court Order

US Petition for Determination of Makah Tribal Law

The post on the federal court’s requirement that the government seek a tribal court determination of tribal law is here.

The underlying complaint is here.