News

US Capital Energy obtains drilling permit on Maya land in Belize without Maya consent and then bribes key Maya leader

November 4, 2012Ann Tweedy3 Comments

This issue came to my attention because Hamline Law had invited Cristina Coc, a Maya leader on land rights issues, to speak last week, but Ms. Coc had to cancel at the last moment when US Capital Energy obtained a permit from the Belize government without the Maya people’s consent and then bribed a Maya leader to voice his support for their actions. The Maya Leaders Alliance is still fighting the attempt by US Capital Energy, which continues it attempts to literally silence any opposition.

A news article is here, and additional information, including a request for financial help from Ms. Coc, is here:
scan coc

and here:

Govt and US Capital Energy Disrespects Maya Leadership[1]

If you want to contact someone in the U.S. who is familiar with the situation, you can contact Mark Brown of BRIDGEs, a new U.S. non-profit that had planned to bring Ms. Coc to Minnesota.

Update in Sault Tribe Lansing Casino Proposal — Update to the Update

November 1, 2012November 1, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The City transferred the land to the Sault Tribe (here). Nothing all that terribly exciting — a chance to show off before the cameras.

In anticipation of today’s 11AM press conference at the Lansing Center (Casino Project Moves Forward – ADVISORY), casino opponents have issued the following preemptive comments:

Attribute the following statement to James Nye, coalition spokesman, for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi:

“For over a decade, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe has unsuccessfully pursued off-reservation casinos hundreds of miles from its reservation. These efforts have been rejected by the U.S. Congress, the State of Michigan, and the U.S. Department of Interior.

“People should not be fooled; this latest effort to build a casino in Lansing is just another loser. The Sault Tribe has argued that under the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act it can build a casino anywhere in the United States. That conflicts with federal law, and it violates the Tribe’s state gaming compact.

“We will continue to aggressively fight this ill-conceived casino at the federal and state level, and in the courts. We are very confident that this effort will fail just like the Tribe’s past efforts.”

Release: Third Collective Bargaining Agreement Signed at Little River Band of Ottawa Indians

October 29, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Third Collective Bargaining Agreement Signed under Tribal Law

The Little River Casino Resort and the United Steelworkers Union have entered into a collective bargaining agreement covering the Resort’s EVS Bargaining Unit. This is the third collective bargaining agreement entered into by the Resort and the Union under tribal law.

“We are proud of our Tribe’s success in governing labor and employment relations,” said Larry Romanelli, the elected Ogema of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. “These three collective bargaining agreements between the Resort and the USW are concrete examples of tribal sovereignty at work.”

In 2007, the Band enacted a law governing labor unions and collective bargaining modeled on public sector labor relations laws. The law allows collective bargaining within the Band’s public sector, which includes its gaming operations at the Little River Casino Resort. It requires unions to hold a license from the Band, and it provides a structure for union elections, bargaining rules, and the resolution of unfair labor practice charges. “We found much to learn from the way state governments regulate collective bargaining,” said Stephen Parsons, the elected Speaker of the Band’s Tribal Council, which enacted the law. “In the end, however, this law reflects the unique values of our Ottawa community.”

Few Indian nations have laws governing collective bargaining. The short list includes the Navajo Nation and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

DOJ Grants Federal Law Enforcement Commission to Tigua Tribal Police

October 29, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the article.

An excerpt:

The U.S. solicitor general granted the Tigua Police Department a special law enforcement commission to apprehend potential felons, where before they would have to rely on Soccorro or El Paso PD to investigate a crime, and and could only hope justice would be served. Tribal Police Chief Raul Candelaria, Celina’s uncle, says not being able to protect the Pueblo made him feel like 2nd class citizens.

“El Paso has encroached on the land of the res, and now a lot of the indians living on the pueblo are married to non-indians,” said Chief Candelaria. “We also have visitors coming into the reservation that are non-indian and unfortunately we cannot enforce any penalty or law on them.”
The new law enforcement recognition though, changes that for the ten officers that make up the tribal police department.

“Now we have the ability to enforce our own laws, tribal laws and US laws,” Chief Candelaria said, and for Officers like Celina Candelaria, the power to protect their people.

“Now any crime that’s under the felony list, we can actually go ahead and convict them of that,” Candelaria said.

Chief Candelaria tells ABC-7 domestic violence, rape, drug abuse and theft are the most common non-native crimes on the reservation, and the ones tribal police will be pursuing.

An excerpt:

Even though our nation’s military recently elevated an openly gay woman to the rank of general officer in a ceremony attended by her spouse, the bigotry of a dwindling minority of Americans remains entrenched in our courts and state legislatures. Children no longer play “cowboys and Indians” in our backyards, but the racism against indigenous Americans is palpable when it comes to parenting matters. Indeed, we are far from a “post-racial” America.

It could be easy to brush off Sylina’s complaints as the whining of just another desperate housewife who didn’t get her way, except that the issues at the heart of Buehne v. Buehne in Virginia speak to very large civil rights and constitutional matters. The judge in this case has allowed Sylina to suffer multiple day-long sessions of cross examination of her gay life, as if she spent every day in a rainbow-soaked sapphic orgy. For the record, Sylina has been in a long-term monogamous relationship.

The family court judge also permitted Sylina to be interrogated on her occasional participation in a sacred Native American sweat lodge ceremony — a day of fasting and prayer — as if it were a peyote-drenched magic carpet ride. One wonders if the judge likewise views Yom Kippur as an aberrant practice. She was also questioned at length about the burning of sage, as if it were any different from the use of incense in High Mass each week at every Catholic church in the world.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack Calls Opponent’s Participation in Indian Protest of Thanksgiving as “Radical”

October 23, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Rep. Mary Bono Mack opened herself up to questions on her Indian record after her criticism of her opponent’s participation in a Native American protest of Thanksgiving as “radical” and anti/un American. See http://www.marybono.com/bono-mack-campaign-releases-new-radio-ad-thanksgiving/

Radio ad here.

She’s apparently not a fan of the Peltier people either.

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