News

News Coverage of Eastern Band Cherokee Statute Imposing Fines on DV Offenders

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here. An excerpt:

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is hitting domestic violence abusers in their pocketbooks.

People convicted of domestic violence-related charges must now pay a $1,000 fine, in addition to other penalties handed down by tribal court. Tribal council approved of the measure at its meeting last week.

“We are hoping this will make them stop and think,” said Iva Key, the Eastern Band’s Domestic Violence program manager. “A lot of these are repeat offenders,” Key said later.

Money collected from the fine will be split 50-50 between services for victims of domestic violence and other tribal initiatives such as education.

A possible downside to the fine, however, is the financial hardship it might cause, especially if a family is trying to reunite and rebuild after an incident of abuse. Not everyone has $1,000 of disposable income, which means that money cannot be spent on necessities for the family.

 

Coverage of First Nations’ Meeting with Harper and Separate Meeting with Johnston

Ann Tweedy

Here.

NPR StoryCorps on American Indian Adoption

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

Transcript:

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And it’s time now for StoryCorps, the project recording the stories of everyday Americans. And today, we’re going to hear from Diane Tells His Name. She’s a Lakota Indian. Growing up, she never knew anything about her heritage. She was adopted when she was a baby. And at StoryCorps, her daughter, Bonnie Buchanan, asks Diane about her childhood.

BONNIE BUCHANAN: When did you first feel like you were different?

DIANE TELLS HIS NAME: Probably elementary school. I had a younger sister, and I really didn’t like doing the same things that she would do. She would do tea parties and play with dolls and things like that, and I was outside looking at the clouds and the stars. And my sister was blond, tall and thin like my mother, and I was round and brown.

(LAUGHTER)

NAME: I remember going through the family albums, looking for my face in the old photographs, and I didn’t see me. And eventually, when I was 37 years old, I happened to see a picture of my mom in October of 1951 – and it shocked me, because I was born in November of 1951 – and my mother was not pregnant. So that’s when I knew that I was adopted.

BUCHANAN: How did you feel?

NAME: It was very satisfying to know that I wasn’t crazy. I didn’t blame them. I wasn’t angry with them. In 1951, you just didn’t talk about those things. So when I got my original birth certificate, it said on there my birth mother’s name, and it said that she was born at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

So I went to South Dakota to receive my Indian name and get a crash course in how to be Indian. After that, my husband and I told Indian Family Services we wanted to adopt a child from my tribe, a Lakota child. And, finally, they faxed us a picture of a little Indian child, and she was drinking chocolate syrup out of a Hershey’s bottle. And our son said, that’s her. That’s the one we need to adopt. And it was you.

I started doing research on your family, and when I started looking at your family tree, I saw one of my relatives on your paper. So we are cousins. I thought that was just – that was amazing. I’m glad you’re my baby.

BUCHANAN: I know. I’m glad you adopted me.

NAME: I am, too. It’s like our whole family was just planned out so that it would be best for all of us.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: You can take a moment to collect yourself. That’s Bonnie Buchanan with her mom, Diane Tells His Name, at StoryCorps in San Francisco. Their story will be archived with thousands of others at the Library of Congress. The podcast is at npr.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Colville Tribal Court of Appeals Arguments at Gonzaga Law on Jan. 25

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

COLVILLE TRIBAL COURT OF APPEALS TO HEAR CASE JAN. 25 AT GONZAGA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Oral Arguments in Barbieri Courtroom Open to Public

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Colville Tribal Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments at Gonzaga University School of Law’s Barbieri Courtroom at 10 a.m., Friday, Jan. 25. The hearing, which is open to the public, is part of Gonzaga Law School’s Centennial celebration. The panel will ask if the lower tribal court abused the power of discretion in blocking further prosecution of a dismissed case. The Law School is located at 721 N. Cincinnati St.

All three of the justices presiding in this case are Gonzaga Law School alumni.

“The chance to see the highest court of the Confederated Colville Tribes in action is a unique one for both our students and the community,” said Gonzaga Law School Dean Jane Korn. “All of our students learn about the state and federal courts, but this is an incredible opportunity for them to see a tribal court of appeals in action and to learn from that experience.” The Barbieri Courtroom displays the bronze seals of nine regional tribes. The seals were installed in 2004 to honor Gonzaga’s relationships with the sovereign Native American tribes, each with its own legal and judicial system.

The case being heard, Colville Confederated Tribes v. G. Stensgar / C. Signor (case No. AP12-007/008), addresses an issue of the discretionary power of a judge when a complaint is not filed within 72 hours of arrest.

In two separate cases, defendants were arrested, cited, and appeared in court as they promised when posting bail. The prosecutor, who did not receive documents from the jail, was not prepared to proceed. The judge dismissed the case “with prejudice,” which means the prosecutor would not be allowed to prosecute the defendants for those crimes at a later date. The prosecutor’s office appealed the decision, arguing the decision, which blocks the cases from further prosecution, was an abuse of the court’s discretionary power.

The Colville Tribal Court of Appeals has been in existence for more than 50 years. In 1995, the court became a constitutionally separate branch of the Colville Tribal government and is the highest court for issues of Colville Tribal law. The court hears between 15 and 25 appeals from the lower courts each year.

The Court of Appeals last visited Gonzaga Law School in February of 2009 for an “en banc” panel (a case heard in front of all justices of the court) in a criminal case.

This year marks Gonzaga Law School’s Centennial and Gonzaga University’s 125th anniversary. Many events are planned throughout the year to mark the anniversaries. More information can be found at www.gonzaga.edu/125.

For more information, please contact Andrea Parrish, digital media specialist at Gonzaga Law School at (509) 313-3771 or via e-mail [aparrish@lawschool.gonzaga.edu] or Jane Smith, Administrator and Law Clerk of the Court, at (509) 634-2507 or via email [Jane.Smith@colvilletribes.com]

Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Supports Idle No More

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Press release:

Press Release – Idle No More

Tribal council resolution:

Resolution No. 13-043

From the press release:

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan has planned a Flash Mob Round Dance for Friday, January 11, 2013, at 1 p.m. on the comers of Broadway and Main streets in Downtown Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, in conjunction with peaceful demonstrations entitled Idle No More.

ALT Coverage of Federal Indictments related to Blackfeet Nation Moose Hunt

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Ugh.

Here is the blog post. News coverage here.

Here are the indictments:

Indictments

Little River Band Ottawa Passes Resolution in Support of Idle No More

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

For Immediate Release

LRBOI Supports First Nations Treaty Rights and ‘Idle No More’ (resolution: LRB — Idle No More)
(1.10.13Manistee, MI) The Tribal Council of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians has adopted a resolution of international consequence supporting the ‘Idle No More’ movement, as they join with other Tribal Nations and (Canadian) First Nations in calling upon Prime Minister Harper to meet with Chief Spence immediately.
Council Speaker Steve Parsons said that, “We are joining our sister tribes in requesting consultation regarding the Canadian governments recent action passing a law that effectively ends First Nations Treaties and ends protections over 2 million waterways and lakes in Canada.”
On 11 December 2012, Chief Theresa Spence declared a hunger strike intended to focus public attention on First Nations issues, to support the Idle No More indigenous rights movement, and to highlight concerns about the government’s omnibus bill C-45.
The LRBOI Tribal Council also found that enactment of Bill C-45 by the Canadian government diminishes the sovereign authority of First Nations by diminishing protection for sacred lands and waterways in and around First Nations’ lands; lands and waterways that are shared with their tribal Clan Relatives around the Great Lakes.
The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians are signatories to a Great Lakes Water Accord with Great Lakes Basin Native Nations in the US; states bordering the Great Lakes as well as the First Nations of Canada. The accord was signed in December of 2004, when the Tribe agreed to support First Nations on the issues presented with the Idle No More Movement.

Events at Other Indian Law Programs Around the Nation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Ok, so it’s two things, but they’re excellent.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples S. James Anaya will be visiting Colorado Law on January 24 (events calendar here).

And Arkansas Law just started a Tribal Food and Agriculture Initiative (press release here).

The Great Plains Emerging Tribal Writers Award Has an Extended Deadline

Ann Tweedy

For any writers out there, here’s the info. I received from a listserv:

Great Plains Emerging Tribal Writers Award

EXTENDED DEADLINE WITH NEW SUBMISSION CRITERIA

The Great Plains Writers Conference, in cooperation with South Dakota State University’s American Indian Studies Program and American Indian Education and Cultural Center, announces the inaugural competition for a new annual award to encourage tribal writers in the early phases of their writing lives and to honor those of extraordinary merit and promise.

The winner, judged by AIS and AIECC, will receive an award of $500 and be invited to read at the Great Plains Writers’ Conference at SDSU March 24-26, 2013. This year’s conference focuses on examining the legacy of Vine Deloria, Jr.

WHO CAN SUBMIT: Writers from the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Minnesota who have not yet published a book of creative writing.

WORK ACCEPTED: Fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, or the screenplay (20 double-spaced pages maximum) or poetry (15 pages maximum).

LOGISTICS: Send materials by February 8, 2013 to Emerging Tribal Writers Award, English Department, South Dakota State University, Scobey Hall (014) Box 504, Brookings, SD 57007. There is no application fee. Finalists will be asked to demonstrate tribal enrollment to the AIS and AIECC. For further information on the GPWC visit http://greatplainswritersconference.wordpress.com

UN Indigenous Rights Special Rapporteur Calls for Dialogue with Canadian Aboriginal Rights Protesters

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An excerpt:

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, urged the Government of Canada and Aboriginal leaders to undertake meaningful dialogue in light of First Nations protests and a month-long hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation.

“I am encouraged by reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has agreed to meet with First Nations Chiefs and leadership on 11 January 2013 to discuss issues related to Aboriginal and treaty rights as well as economic development,” Mr. Anaya said. “Both the Government of Canada and First Nations representatives must take full advantage of this opportunity to rebuild relationships in a true spirit of good faith and partnership.”

The announcement of the meeting followed weeks of protests carried out by Aboriginal leaders and activists within a movement referred to as ‘Idle no more.’ The movement has been punctuated by Chief Spence’s hunger strike that has been ongoing since 11 December 2012. “I would like to add my voice to the concern expressed by many over the health condition of Chief Spence, who I understand will be joining indigenous leaders at this week’s meeting,” the independent expert said.

The protests and hunger strike are carried in the context of complaints about aspects of the relationships between First Nations in Canada and the Government, including in the context of recent federal legislation and executive decisions affecting Aboriginal peoples.

“Dialogue between the Government and First Nations should proceed in accordance with the standards expressed in the UN Declaration* on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” the Special Rapporteur emphasized. Mr. Anaya recalled that the Government affirmed a “commitment to continue working in partnership with Aboriginal peoples and in accordance with a relationship based on good faith, partnership and mutual respect,” in its statement of support for the Declaration on 12 November 2010.