cultural resources

Ninth Circuit Rejects Save the Peaks’ Effort to Stop the Arizona Snowbowl, Labels Effort a “Gross Abuse of the Judicial Process”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is today’s opinion in Save the Peaks v. United States Forest Service, where the court opens with:

This case represents a gross abuse of the judicial process. Just when Defendants-Appellees United States Forest Service and Joseph P. Stringer (USFS), and Intervenor-Defendant Arizona Snowbowl Resort Limited Partnership (ASRLP) had successfully defended an agency decision to allow snowmaking at a ski resort on federal land all the way to the United States Supreme Court, “new” plaintiffs appeared.

Here are the briefs:

Save the Peaks Opening Brief

Federal Response Brief

Arizona Snowbowl Response Brief

Save the Peaks Reply Brief

Oral argument audio here.

Lower court decision here.

Past Repeating Itself? Menominee Girl Suspended for Speaking Language

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here.

USFWS Video on Importance of Eagles to American Indians

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here. From the description:

Reginald Dale Akeen pleaded guilty in December 2009 to a felony violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He admitted he offered to sell a fan made of juvenile golden eagle feathers, also known as “black and whites,” to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service undercover agent and that he contacted an accomplice who agreed to sell a nine-feather black and white fan. As part of his plea agreement, Akeen agreed to speak on video about the significance of the feathers of eagles and other birds to Native Americans and about the fact that he broke the law.

Minnesota Struggles with 150 Year Anniversary of Dakota War/Mass Executions

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon Land and NAGPRA Claims Dismissed

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Robinson v. Salazar (E.D. Cal.):

DCT Order on Salazar Motion to Dismiss

Salazar Motion to Dismiss

County of Kern Motion to Dismiss

Tejon Ranch Motion to Dismiss

Corrected Opposition to Tejon Ranch

Robinson Opposition to Salazar Motion

Interview with Dr. Acuna, Author of Book Banned by TUSD

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An except:

Dr. Rodolfo Acuña – author, educator, historian and social activist – has been on the front lines in the battle over Arizona’s banning of books on Chicano history and the shutting down of Mexican-American Studies programs in the state’s public schools. The banned books include his landmark work, Occupied America, A History of Chicanos.

Often referred to as the father of Chicano Studies, Dr. Acuña co-founded the Chicano and Chicana Studies Department at the California State University at Northridge in 1969. He has taught for over 40 years at California State University, Northridge, and has become the standard-bearer in Chicano Studies classes throughout the United States.

Occupied America was first published in 1972 and is currently in its seventh edition, an exhaustive work that documents the history of Chicanos. He has also authored The Story of Mexican-American Community Under Siege, A Chronicle of Chicanos East of the Los Angeles River, 1945 – 1975, and most recently The Making of Chicano Studies in the Trenches of Academia.

Much of what Dr. Acuña has done in his life is now under assault in Arizona where right-wing officials have clamped down on classes teaching public school students about the history of white oppression directed against Native Americans and Chicanos. Claiming that this teaching of history stirs anti-white resentments, the state officials forced the banning of certain books and termination of the classes.

Tennessee Tea Party Advocates Whitewashing History of the Founders to Eliminate References to Slave Ownership and Indian Dispossession

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here, from the SBM Blog, which links to other blogs.

Excerpt from the Memphis Commercial Appeal coverage:

Regarding education, the material they distributed said, “Neglect and outright ill will have distorted the teaching of the history and character of the United States. We seek to compel the teaching of students in Tennessee the truth regarding the history of our nation and the nature of its government.”

That would include, the documents say, that “the Constitution created a Republic, not a Democracy.”

The material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.”

Fayette County attorney Hal Rounds, the group’s lead spokesman during the news conference, said the group wants to address “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.

Tribal Comments on Wisconsin Mining Proposal

Nick Reo1 Comment

Related to Matthew’s Dec 13 post on tribal objections to proposed Wisconsin mining legislation, see this post here outlining tribal comments at a recent public hearing. Representatives from several Wisconsin tribes pointed out the failure to consult with tribes about legislation that could negatively impact their treaty rights, tribal lands/waters and culturally significant resources.

Salon: Update in TUSD Book Banning Debacle

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

These excerpts suggest that there isn’t any real backtracking, just excuses.

In a district of more than 60,000 students, 61 percent of whom come from Mexican-American families, library copies of the targeted seven books appear to be sparse. There are two district-wide copies available of “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Brazilian educator Paolo Freire, which had been singled out by state superintendent Huppenthal. The district’s online catalog showed only one copy of the Critical Race Theory textbook. Tucson High School does not have one of the 16 copies available in the district of the textbook “Rethinking Columbus: The Next Five Years,” according to the catalog.

The TUSD administration also denied “The Tempest” had been banned. According to the statement, “Teachers may continue to use materials in their classrooms as appropriate for the course curriculum. ‘The Tempest” and other books approved for curriculum are still viable options for instructors.”

However, in a recorded meeting with his administrators last Wednesday, Tucson High School teacher Curtis Acosta was admonished not to teach the classic play in his literature class using the “nexus of race, class and oppression” or “issues of critical race theory.”

“What is very clear is that ’The Tempest’ is problematic for our administrators due to the content of the play and the pedagogical choices I have made,” Acosta said in an interview. “In other words, Shakespeare wrote a play that is clearly about colonization of the new world and there are strong themes of race, colonization, oppression, class and power that permeate the play, along with themes of love and redemption.

“At the end of the meeting it became clear to all of us that I need to avoid such literature and it was directly stated. Due to the madness of this situation and our fragile positions as instructors who will be frequently observed for compliance, and be asked to produce examples of student work as proof of our compliance, I cannot disagree with their advice. Now we are in the position of having to rule out ’The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,’ ‘The Great Gatsby,’ etc. for the exact same reasons.”

Lorenzo Lopez said that when his daughter, Korina, a plaintiff in the federal court case, heard the texts had been taken to a storage facility, she asked him, “Isn’t that the book graveyard where they send all the old books, never to be seen again?” Lopez said he replied, “Yes, it is.”

WKAR: Survivors of Indian Boarding Schools Tell Their Stories

Matthew L.M. Fletcher5 Comments

Here.

An excerpt:

Starting in the late 19th century, tens of thousands of Native American children were taken from their reservations to Indian Boarding Schools. The goal was to assimilate Native Americans by replacing their traditional ways with those of the majority of Americans.

In a new documentary, called “The Indian Schools, the Survivors’ Story”, Native Americans in Michigan tell their memories of the boarding schools. For most of them, the experience was painful and humiliating. WKAR’s Gretchen Millich has our story.

Edith Young is a native of Alaska who now lives in Michigan. As a child, she was forced to leave her parents to live at an Indian Boarding School in Seattle. In the film, she says although she’s 80 years old, the memories still hurt.

“We were yelled at and slapped. In the 3rd grade, I asked the teacher why she was teaching that Columbus discovered America when Indians were here first. She came over and slapped me across my face. To be humiliated in front of the class, I’ll never forget that.” Continue reading →