cultural resources

Federal Magistrate Judge Recused from American Indian Religious Freedom Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is United States v. Baca, out of the Eastern District of California. The defendant, Baca, is being charged by the federal government for filming on government property without a permit and trespassing on a cultural resource. He was filming a tribal ceremony at Yosemite (Yosemite Big Time). He was convicted in a bench trial before a federal magistrate, but the district court vacated the conviction on the grounds that the magistrate should have recused himself for bias. Apparently, the judge has a hangman’s noose in his office, prominently featured in a local newspaper article.

It’ll be interesting to see how Baca’s defense (religious freedom, assertion that he is a religious leader, etc.) will play out in the next trial….

baca-dct-order

baca-appellant-brief

news-article-about-magistrate

government-response-brief-baca

baca-reply-brief

United States v. Akeen — Illegal Sale of Eagle Feathers at Powwow

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the indictment in United States v. Akeen (us-v-akeen-complaint). This is for a sale of eagle feathers at a powwow in Oregon, allegedly violative of the Lacey Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Thanks to J. for the tip (also reported in Indianz).

Arizona Snowbowl Case — Will US Recommend Cert Grant, Too?

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

As Indianz reports, the Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service cert petition is brewing. A bunch of amici have filed supporting the cert petition, which definitely gets the attention of the Supreme Court (or at least the cert pool).

There are times when the respondent to a cert petition agrees with the petitioner that the Court should grant cert and hear the case. It happened in Negonsott v. Samuels (link to cert pool memo) and it could happen again … maybe.

There isn’t a classic or clear circuit split, but the CA9 in the Snowbowl case has come up with the most restrictive way to interpret RFRA’s “substantial burden test,” and I bet the United States would like to see the CA9’s rule expanded nationwide. And since American Indian religious freedom rights don’t do very well in the SCT, the United States might think this is the right vehicle and take a gamble. I’m being pretty cynical, and it is pretty unlikely, but you never know.

John Cross on Indigenous Property Rights

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

John Cross has posted “Justifying Property Rights in Native American Traditional Knowledge” on SSRN, a paper coming out of the Texas Wesleyan symposium on Intellectual Property and Indigenous Peoples. Here is the abstract:

This paper explores various reasons why Congress might elect to protect the traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expression of Indian tribes. It also addresses whether Congress would have the constitutional authority to enact such legislation.

Mott CC Returns Remains to Saginaw Chippewas

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Flint Journal:

For four decades, they sat in wooden, glass-top cases on a shelf waiting to be found.

Forty-four years later, the ancestral remains of a Native American child and adult unknowingly stored at Mott Community College have finally been laid to rest.

Continue reading →

Tips from the Potlatch — NYTs

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the NYTs:

Now that hard times have arrived, now that we’re being punished for our great credit binge, what are we supposed to do for the holidays? The logical answer is to cut out the useless and the lavish, but I have it on the highest authority that it’s just not that simple.

The authority is Bill Cranmer, whom I consulted for holiday tips because he is a hereditary chief and elected leader of the Kwakwaka’wakw Indians, the world’s most experienced gift-givers. They’ve learned that exchanging presents is too important to be discontinued in any kind of economy.

These Indians on the Pacific coast of British Columbia are famous for their potlatches, which are feasts and gift-giving ceremonies that serve a variety of functions: creating alliances, promoting altruism, redistributing wealth, vanquishing rivals and, not least, showing off. The events, particularly at their most extreme in the 19th century, became a staple of anthropology textbooks (which referred to the Indians as the Kwakiutl) and helped inspire Thorstein Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption.

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NYTs: Article on Arapaho Language Preservation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the NYTs:

RIVERTON, Wyo. — At 69, her eyes soft and creased with age, Alvena Oldman remembers how the teachers at St. Stephens boarding school on the Wind River Reservation would strike students with rulers if they dared to talk in their native Arapaho language.

“We were afraid to speak it,” she said. “We knew we would be punished.”

More than a half-century later, only about 200 Arapaho speakers are still alive, and tribal leaders at Wind River, Wyoming’s only Indian reservation, fear their language will not survive. As part of an intensifying effort to save that language, this tribe of 8,791, known as the Northern Arapaho, recently opened a new school where students will be taught in Arapaho. Elders and educators say they hope it will create a new generation of native speakers.

Continue reading →

NYTs: Univ. of North Dakota to Change Nickname

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the NYTs:

North Dakota’s Board of Higher Education has approved a schedule for discarding the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname and Indian head logo if two Sioux tribes hold firm in their desire to have them dumped. The timeline directs William Goetz, the university system’s chancellor, to form a committee to discuss the issue with the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes. The panel should meet at least twice with Sioux leaders in 2009. If there is no agreement, the timeline says, the university should begin planning in January 2010 to retire the nickname and logo.

Snoqualmie Tribe v. FERC Materials

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

As Indianz reported (here)….

Here are the briefs:

puget-sound-energy-opening-brief

state-of-washington-brief

snoqualmie-brief

puget-sound-energy-reply-brief

Pigeon Family in Documentary about Basket Weaving

Kate Fort

From the Grand Rapids press via mLive, by Rick Wilson:

Students help weave film featuring Potawatomi family, basket-making

by Rick Wilson | The Grand Rapids Press

Monday September 29, 2008, 8:26 AM
Press photo / Dave Raczkowski
Connor Zautke, 11, weaves a black ash basket as Kitt Pigeon, left, offers instruction and a cameraman documents the moment.

ADA TOWNSHIP — Rachel Swem conceded it’s pretty cool to be in a movie. But she also understands she’s part of a larger picture.

The 11-year-old sixth-grader and schoolmates at Forest Hills Goodwillie Environmental School spent much of last week as a backdrop for a documentary video conceived to provide a window into the struggles of West Michigan American Indian families trying to find their place in a society dominated by people of European descent.

Press photo / Dave Raczkowski
Steve Pigeon demonstrates basket-weaving techniques at the Goodwillie Environmental School in Ada Township.

The documentary centers on the Potawatomi family of Steve and Kitt Pigeon and the ancient tradition of basket-weaving that has been kept alive in their family for generations. Continue reading →