Chairman McNamara has said he intends to sign the bill approving same-sex marriage. This information is from an email forwarded to me by a tribal member.
The previous post is here.
News
Federal Court Enjoins Sault Tribe from Seeking Trust Acquisition for Lansing Casino Property
Little Traverse Bay Bands Odawa Council Enacts Same-Sex Marriage Statute — UPDATED
Well, we know they passed it, but no news coverage yet. Here is the March 2 work session agenda, and the March 3 tribal council meeting agenda — both reference that the marriage law was up for approval.
UPDATE: Here are the draft meeting minutes, showing a 5-4 vote in favor.
NCAI President Remarks at Annual Conference
NCAI President’s Address, President Jefferson Keel
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
Executive Council Winter Session
Washington, DC – March 5, 2013 – L’Enfant Plaza Hotel
It’s only been a few weeks since I delivered the State of Indian Nations address and while much of the speech is still relevant – already many things have changed related to a number of the issues that I addressed. For some of you this is the first time I’ve seen you since our very successful Annual Conference, which we held in Sacramento California, and a number of big events have occurred over the last five months.
First, our Annual Conference was a great success. Sacramento was absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed great weather. We shared in the traditions and the celebrations of the California tribes, and we concluded some really important work and discussions. The Convention this past year was a Constitutional Convention and we reaffirmed our commitment to Indian country and made important decisions about our constitution.
NCAI members addressed, in detail, a range of issues. From the first resolution passed – Support for the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe Reservation Expansion Act, to the last, a resolution on the United Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in 2014, NCAI membership put forward our agenda.
Our Native Vote campaign was a huge part of 2011 and 2012, and was an incredible success.
As a result of the combined efforts of NCAI, Native Vote and all our partners – individuals and organizations alike – we turned out the largest Native vote ever in 2012. And now that the Presidential election season is over, we will focus on helping Native candidates, increasing protections for all of our people at the ballot box, and supporting get out the vote efforts in upcoming elections.
Since October the Cobell Settlement was finalized and the federal government began to make its payments to individual account holders. With such a large influx of money to Indian Country, NCAI launched our Protect Native Money Campaign – to educate Native people about protecting Native money from frauds and scams.
Here’s why – starting in 2012, $3 billion in individual and tribal trust fund settlements will come to Indian Country through the Keepseagle and Cobell class action legal settlements. Lump sum payouts to individual recipients started in 2012 amounting to more than $2 billion. In addition, more than 50 tribal trust settlements, totaling more than $1.0 billion, have been settled and payouts have either already been made or are due shortly, with another estimated 60 tribal settlements in the pipeline to be resolved. NCAI is committed to ensuring that Indian Country protects Native Money, if you have any questions, go to our website.
In December, many of you attended the fourth annual White House Tribal Nation’s Summit, where we welcomed the next four years with the Obama Administration. In advance of that meeting, NCAI once again developed and issued a substantial collection of policy recommendations, from tribal leaders, governments, organizations, advocates, and citizens. We hope the Obama Administration will take steps to ensure that these meetings remain a central promise of the trust responsibility, and not an element that might come and go with each administration.
The importance of nation-to-nation dialogue became even more clear with the dawn of 2013, as many of us looked North. Our brothers and sisters and first Nations of Canada are working to realign the nation-to-nation relationships between Canada’s political leadership and the first nations of Canada. As we said then; we stand united as the tribal nations of North America, as a family of first peoples and first governments of this land, and we stand united to protect our rights.
These nation-to-nation relationships do not disappear when leaders come and go from office, these are bonds that will forever link us as we were the first people of this land.
In the weeks following Superstorm Sandy, where the nations of the Northeast coast underwent great hardship, the federal government passed and signed into law the Stafford Act. This act authorizes tribal governments to directly request emergency aid from the federal government without going through state governments or waiting for state governments to act. This is a shining example of what dedicated consultation between nations can accomplish. I want to thank Administrator Fugate for his help in getting this done.
Many of these items I referenced just two weeks ago during the 2013 State of Indian Nations Address, which I delivered just days after President Obama delivered the State of the Union.
In that address titled Securing Our Futures, I outlined the State of Indian Nations once again, as we’ve done every year for almost 11 years. I called on tribal leaders and citizens to work to secure our communities, our nations, and our future prosperity.
I noted some of the actions that Congress should take to ensure that treaty rights and trust obligations are upheld and strengthened. I also outlined actions that are necessary to strengthen our status as equal members of the family of governments of America.
And while I have been criticized by a handful of opinion columnists in Indian Country, for placing an apostrophe out of place, or quoting a great American, let me state for the record that I am proud to be an American – a Native American and a US citizen.
NYTs: Timothy Egan on Indian Country Crime (“Science and Sensibility”)
Here.
An excerpt:
For American Indians, living nearly invisible lives on archipelagos of native culture, irrational Republican philosophy has been particularly cruel. There are more than 300 reservations throughout the land — nations within a nation, sovereign to a point.
Non-Indians are responsible for most of the domestic violence in Indian country. The tribes can’t prosecute them — without the blessing of Congress — and the distant and detached feds usually won’t. Thus, the need for the change written into the renewed Violence Against Women law.
“We have serial rapists on the reservation,” Charon Asetoyer, a Native rights health advocate in South Dakota, has pointed out, “because they know they can get away with it.”
Oh, but bringing these brutes to justice in the jurisdictions where they commit their crimes would be unconstitutional, says Representative Eric Cantor, the House Majority leader. A jury of Indians, well — they’re incapable of giving a white man a fair trial. Such was the view expressed by Senator Charles Grassley, the mumble-voiced Iowa senator known for his 19th-century insight.
Both men voted against the act, and both are flat-out wrong in their interpretation. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the accused a right to a jury trial in “the state or district” where the crime was committed. It says nothing about ethnicity. The latest census found that almost half of people living on reservations were non-Indians. And more than half of Indian women are married to men who are not tribal members by blood.
Navajo President Lauds Passage of VAWA Reauthorization
Navajo President Ben Shelly Praises House Passage of Domestic Violence Bill
Bill affirms tribal sovereignty
WASHINGTON—Navajo Nation President Shelly praised the House for passing the broad bipartisan Senate version of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, by a vote of 286-138, with the tribal provisions intact. The bill now goes to President Obama for his signature.
“Today is a historic day and I commend the House of Representatives for taking a stand to protect all women from crimes of domestic violence. Women should not have to live in fear of violent acts of crime. This bill gives tribal nations the tools to protect Native women. We thank those who advocated vigorously on this important piece of legislation,” President Shelly said.
The bill reauthorizes the Act for the next five years.
Voting in favor of the Senate version of VAWA included the following from the Navajo Nation congressional delegation: Reps. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., Michelle Grisham Lujan, D-N.M., Steve Pearce, R-N.M., and Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., Voting against the bill was Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.
The bill keeps language intact that provides added protections to Native American women from domestic violence crimes on tribal lands, and would allow tribes to prosecute non-Indians in some circumstances where they commit acts of domestic violence against Indians or violate domestic violence related protection orders.
“The Navajo Nation, like any government, should have the right to protect its people. I am encouraged by the bold leadership of our congressional Representatives today in protecting our sovereign rights,” President Shelly added.
NYTs Coverage of House Passage of VAWA Reauthorization
Here.
NCAI Press Release on VAWA Reauthorization Passage
House Passes Violence Against Women Act
NCAI Praises Passage of Protections for All Women; Tribal Courts Gain Jurisdiction over Non-Indian Domestic Violence Perpetrators
Bill represents major advance for public safety in Indian Country;
Legislation headed to President for Signature
Washington, DC – Today, in a historic vote the House of Representatives passed S.47, the Senate reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), sending the legislation with the tribal provisions supported by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law. NCAI is praising the efforts of the House and the Senate to reauthorize VAWA and the bipartisan support of the Senate version of the legislation in both chambers with resounding votes of 286 – 138 in the House and 78-22 vote in the Senate earlier this month.
“It is with a glad heart and soaring spirit that I celebrate the passage of VAWA. Today the drum of justice beats loud in Indian Country in celebration of the reauthorization of VAWA and we stand in unity with all of our partners and leaders who were unrelenting in support of protections for all women, including Native women,” said Juana Majel Dixon, First Vice President of NCAI, and co-chair of NCAI’s Task Force on Violence Against Women. Juana Majel serves as a Traditional Councilwoman Pauma Band of Mission Indians located within the state of California. “500 plus days is too long to not have a bill for all women in America. For an unimaginable length of time those who have terrorized our women in our most sacred places, in our relationships, in our homes, and on our land, have gone unprosecuted. Now that time has come to an end and justice and security will flourish in these specific instances. We celebrate the protections for all women included in VAWA, including those for Immigrant and LGBT women,” added Juana Majel.
“With this authority, comes a serious responsibility and tribal courts will administer justice with the same level of impartiality that any defendant is afforded in state and federal courts,” said Jefferson Keel, the President of NCAI and Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, speaking about implementation of the new law. “We have strong tribal courts systems that protect public safety. The law respects tribal sovereignty, and also requires that our courts respect the due process rights of all defendants. My hope is that this new law is rarely used. Our goal isn’t to put people in jail. It is to create an effective deterrent so that our people can lead safe lives in our communities and nations.”
The constitutionally sound tribal jurisdiction provisions in VAWA authorize tribal governments to prosecute non-Indian defendants involved in intimate relationships with Native women and who assault these victims on tribal land. Current federal laws do not authorize tribal law enforcement or tribal courts to pursue any form of prosecution or justice against these perpetrators.
“There were at least five things that came together: an enormous grassroots effort from Indian country; the coalition of the National Task Force to End Domestic Violence; statistics so we could finally show the problem; steadfast leadership from the Department of Justice; and incredible support from so many Members of Congress both Republicans and Democrats,” said Terri Henry, Council Member at Eastern Cherokee and Co-Chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women spoke of the large collective effort that led to the passage of the Senate version of VAWA. “We really want to thank everyone for their hard work. Now we are going to use this tool to protect Native women from violence.”
“Women and men – Native and non-Native, Senators and Representatives from all backgrounds, and tribal leaders from across Indian Country have all spoken that these injustices must not continue. We intend to keep speaking from our heart and with the law by our side,” added NCAI’s First Vice President Juana Majel Dixon. “We are thankful that there are strong leaders in both the House and Senate that have stood for the protections of Native women, regardless of party politics.”
“Today marks not the end of our efforts at NCAI to combat domestic violence issues that Indian Country faces but an important step along the way. We will remain as dedicated as we have been since we began addressing this issue as an organization. There have been many members of Congress who have stood with tribal nations throughout this effort and they have stayed true to the constitution, to the trust responsibility, and to the truth that tribal nations are the best to address our situations at the local level. Today we advance the protections tribal nations can provide all people, Native and non-Native,” said Jacqueline Pata, Executive Director of NCAI.
Findings show that 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes* and 39% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be subjected to violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes**. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46% of people living on reservations in 2010 were non-Natives (single race) and 59% of American Indian women in 2010 were married to non-Native men***.
The NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women was established in 2000 and has been working for thirteen years to protect the lives of Native American women and create more secure tribal communities.
* Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey.
** Centers for Disease Control. (2008). Adverse health conditions and health risk behaviors associated with intimate partner violence.
***US Census Bureau, Census 2010.
About The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI):
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of tribal governments and communities, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. For more information visit www.ncai.org
Congress Passes VAWA Reauthorization with Tribal Jurisdiction Provisions Intact
Today, by a vote of 286 to 138 (update: vote link), the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 47, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. Because the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 78 to 22, passed the same VAWA reauthorization bill on February 12, it will now be presented to the President for his signature.
A copy of S. 47, as passed by both chambers of Congress, can be found at this link.
DOJ started all this, and here is the original proposal:
Justice Department Legislative Proposal on Violence Against Native Women
The Denver Indian Center, Inc. is Celebrating Thirty Years of Service and Culture
There will be a reception and dinner at the Denver Art Museum on Friday, March 1, 2013, to celebrate the Denver Indian Center. Tickets to the dinner can be purchased here.
Information about the event, which will feature a performance by Shelley Morningsong and the 1491s, and the Denver Indian Center can be found here.
The Denver Indian Center, Inc. serves a diverse group of tribes, the majority of which represent the Southwest and the Northern and Southern Plains. Most come seeking economic stability, education and security for their families. The Center continues to be a highly sought after location for the community to gather for powwows and various other activities held at the facility throughout the year.
Turtle Talk 
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