The House Resources Committee last week approved H.R. 1575 (Stupak): To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt Band as a distinct federally recognized Indian Tribe, and for other purposes. “Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Reaffirmation Act.”
federal recognition
2008 Federally Recognized Tribes List
The 2008 list of federally recognized tribes is here: Federal Register Notice
Schaghticoke Chief’s Daughter Takes Fight to Web
From the Connecticut Post:
WASHINGTON — As far as Melissa Velky is concerned, she is Native American, tried and true.
The 24-year-old daughter of Richard Velky, chief of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, Melissa spent many a childhood day on the tribe’s 300-acre state reservation in Kent, Conn. As convinced as she is of her heritage, the federal government has said otherwise — declining to grant the tribe federal recognition, she claims, after state elected officials intervened. It is an injustice in her eyes and something she hopes to convince young Americans to rally around. “When we got our recognition reversed it was like my future being stomped on by the government,” Velky said in a recent interview. Velky, who is in her third year at Michigan State University’s College of Law, plans soon to launch “Students for Justice,” an Internet-based campaign that will utilize social networks like Facebook and MySpace to spread the word. “I’ve been through it all,” she said. “I’m interested in all aspects of the recognition process and hope other people will get involved and see what I see.” Velky was not yet born in 1981 when the tribe sent a letter of intent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs that they planned to petition for recognition. After years of gathering historical, genealogical and other records, the tribe submitted its petition to BIA and was approved on Jan. 29, 2004. The decision, however, was reversed on Oct. 12, 2005, on appeal from the state.
McMillon v. Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. — Probate Case
Strange little case involving the Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. — here is the opinion, which will be published in the Southwest Reporter. From the majority opinion:
This appeal arises from a petition to clarify a will filed by First State Bank in which it asked the court to clarify several issues, including whether the references in the will of Opal Gefon to “savings and checking account” and “remainder of my savings and checking” included the cash located in the decedent’s safety deposit box. Appellants, heirs of the decedent Opal Gefon, assert only one point of error on appeal: The trial court was clearly erroneous in finding that appellee Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Inc. was entitled to the $226,000 in cash located in the decedent’s safety deposit box at the time of her death. We find no error and affirm.
The dissent seems to have a point:
Frank Ettawageshik on CNN
From cnn.com:
Shoutout
AZUZ: Time for the Shoutout! From which Native American tribe was the leader Geronimo? If you think you know it, shout it out! Was it: A) Apache, B) Blackfoot, C) Cherokee or D) Dakota? You’ve got three seconds — GO! Geronimo was an Apache leader known for his courage and determination.
LLOYD: All of those tribes, along with the rest of the Native American community, are getting an apology from the U.S. government. Now, you guys know that saying “I’m sorry” isn’t always an easy thing to do. But it’s important, especially when you’re apologizing for wrongs that took place over hundreds of years. Kate Bolduan fills us in on the details.
Cal. Miwok v. United States (CA DC)
The D.C. Circuit affirmed the decision of the Secretary of Interior declining to approve the California Miwok Tribe’s constitution on the grounds that only a small number of tribal members participated in its formation, to the exclusion of most others.
Shinnecock Loses Rule 59 Motion; Permanent Injunction Granted on IGRA Claim
New York successfully defended a judgment in its favor from last November (noted here) from a Rule 59 motion to modify the judgment. Also, the district court issued a permanent injunction against the Shinnecock Indian Nation, preventing them from opening a gaming operation under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Here are the materials:
Western Mohegan Motion for Reconsideration (N.D. N.Y.)
The non-federally recognized Indian tribe Western Mohegan tribe sought to avoid county taxes on its land, and a resulting foreclosure for failure to pay.
Here are the materials:
NYTs Article on Little Shell Band & Federal Recognition
From the NYTs:
Landless Tribe Waits Federal Recognition
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Long after the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa was stripped of its land and scores of its people had been moved to Canada, the 4,300 surviving members are fighting to reclaim the shards of their past.
Op-Ed Favoring Virginia Tribes’ Recognition
From WaPo:
For Virginia’s Tribes . . .
. . . A Dance and Their Due
Sunday, November 18, 2007; B08
Each Thanksgiving, Americans take time to appreciate what they have. At Virginia‘s First Thanksgiving Festival, held at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County on Nov. 4, the annual Chickahominy friendship dance was preceded by a plea by Chief Stephen R. Adkins that we consider what Virginia’s tribes do without as the only Native Americans in the United States left unrecognized by the federal government.
This doesn’t give the tribes of Virginia much reason to give thanks.
Still, they came to do the friendship dance. The Chickahominy believe that once you have danced with someone, a bond of trust is forged. In this dance, a brave approaches the chief and dances for him. If the chief ascertains that the dancer is sincere, then the chief himself joins the dance, and negotiations may begin.
Virginia’s American Indian tribes have been officially embraced by the state since the 1980s, but the tribes’ sovereignty bill has been stalled in Congress since 2001, denying their existence and rights, even as the state, the nation and Britain‘s queen were celebrating their history at the 400th anniversary of Jamestown.
Federal recognition would bring federal grants for college scholarships, job training, housing, health care and other badly needed programs. Adkins adds that the tribes are not interested in opening casinos, which have been profitable but problematic in other states where tribes have received sovereignty.
Opponents ignore the rights and needs of the tribes and focus solely on the fear of Indian-run casinos, exempting tribes from taxes, preventing police from coming onto tribal grounds and inviting lawsuits to reclaim Indian land and water rights. The Pamunkey, Chickahominy, Rappahannock, Monacan, Weapemeoc and Mattaponi have danced before our nation’s chiefs for decades, only to be turned away to nurse their blisters.
Undaunted, the Chickahominy came to Berkeley because plantation owner Malcolm “Jamie” Jamieson has always kept the lands open to the tribe for any ceremonial use they require. One good steward of the land, tapping his foot to their music, has kept friendship and hope alive.
So the Chickahominy gathered to honor the site of the nation’s true First Thanksgiving at Berkeley, where English colonists held their first day of thanks in 1619, nearly two years before the Pilgrims did at Plymouth, Mass. While Virginians recognize Berkeley as the site of the first Thanksgiving, nationally this history is perceived as a myth. Once a year, the Chickahominy and Berkeley’s Jamieson champion each other’s causes, one underdog standing back-to-back with another.
If ever there were a sight to be grateful for having witnessed, it was this day of many dances. Few media representatives attended, yet the Chickahominy embodied the graciousness, spirit and strength of character so often denied them in the history books and halls of justice as if they were dancing for our commander in chief himself.
The tribes of Virginia have paid the piper more than his due, and they have danced. It’s time for Congress to stop being the wallflower and step up to recognize Virginia’s tribes.
— Lisa Suhay
Turtle Talk 