News

News Coverage of Settlement of US Accounting Claims against Oglala Sioux Tribe

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, via Pechanga. The settlement documents are here.

An excerpt:

SIOUX FALLS — The U.S. government has settled three lawsuits against the Oglala Sioux Tribe that had sought to recover more than $800,000 in federal grant money.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuits Tuesday as long as the tribe makes changes to its accounting practices.

According to the settlement, the government will forgo the $808,917 principal amount if the tribe has its accounting system certified by a licensed accountant, keeps a separate fund for each federal grant or contract and abides by other audit procedures.

The lawsuits said the tribe received millions of dollars from the Department of Health and Human Services in three grants. The government said audits found instances of noncompliance with terms of the grants, but the tribe had not appealed the audit results or returned the disputed money portions.

Continue reading →

U.C. Berkeley College Republicans: Indians Only Worth a Quarter

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

It’s amazing how young, ignorant conservatives inadvertently reveal so much about their ideas about the racial hierarchy in the United States. It goes like this: (1) whites, (2) Asians, (3) Latinoa/s, (4) Blacks, and way, way down on the bottom, (5) Indians.

Check out the tiny print on the bottom right: “Native Americans $0.25” (now updated so you can see the bottom right)

More details and pics from the UC Berkeley College Republicans racist bake sale here.

Navajo Judicial Branch Press Release Opposing Changes to Judicial Qualifications

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the press release: 92311_ProposaltoAmendQualificationsofNavajoNationJusticeMayUn.

And here are links to other responses to the proposal, including comments by Dr. Raymond Austin, former Navajo Supreme Court Justice, from the judicial branch website:

September 23, 2011: The Judicial Branch has issued its comments on proposed amendments to the qualifications of Navajo Nation Supreme Court justices at 7 N.N.C. § 354 (B) that were submitted last week to the Navajo Nation Council legislative process through Legislation No. 0388-11.  Chief Justice Yazzie and branch Human Resources Director Darren Tungovia commented separately, expressing concerns about the candidate pool and the consequences on Supreme Court’s ability to continue to be a leader in tribal court adjudication rather than in “a borrowed state or federal system in which our culture is merely anthropological speculation.”  Late Friday, Asso. Justice Emeritus Raymond Austin also submitted comments.  See press release.

 

News Coverage of Saginaw Chippewa Disenrollment Efforts

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here. An excerpt:

By MARK RANZENBERGER

TheMorningSun.com

A hearing officer has ruled that the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe cannot revoke the membership of an 87-year-old elder, despite the fact that she is not directly descended from a person listed on one of the Tribe’s base rolls.

But the disenrollment case of Anna Bell Atwell may not be over, according to her attorney.

“Tribal government officials, both certifiers and enrollment department staff, had a policy that collateral tracing to a constitutional base roll was sufficient to satisfy the tracing requirement for membership eligibility for enrollment,” said a ruling from the Tribe’s Office of Administrative Hearings. Continue reading →

ICT on the Keystone Oil Pipeline that May Cross Sioux Nation Territory

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. Additional coverage of the lobbying efforts of TransCanada in the Washington Post today.

Keystone XL Pipeline Map

Sen. Bill Bradley on the Lower Elwha Dam Removal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are his remarks:

Sen. Bradley Elwha Remarks

Interview with Tiya Miles on NPR’s Tell Me More

Kate Fort

Prof. Miles was yesterday interviewed about the history of the Cherokee Nation and Freedmen here.

MILES: Well, I think that those legacies remain with us. And I think that in the case of the Cherokee Nation and other native nations, there’s a felt conflict between the sovereignty of those nations and the question of what the role should be, what the place should be of minorities in those nations.

So, whereas the United States can and has at times protected the status of minorities and not felt itself threatened by Canada, for instance, about what it does. Native nations definitely feel themselves threatened by the United States government. They are concerned that their sovereignty, the right to make decisions for themselves, is going to be undermined by the U.S. government as it has been so many times in the past.

But what I feel is a real problem here is that the Cherokee Nation is taking its definition from what really has been a white supremacist U.S. nation that fought to – I’m sorry. Go ahead, Michel.

She also recounts what she was doing when she found out she won a MacArthur Genius Grant:

MARTIN: So before we let you go, we always have to ask. Where were you and what were you doing when you got the call? For people who are unaware of the MacArthur so-called Genius Grants are not things you can apply for. You have to be nominated. People generally don’t find out that they’ve won until they get the call. So, what were you doing when you got the call?

MILES: I was at home cleaning the kitchen when I got the call. And this was something that was so completely out of the blue and so completely overwhelming that I actually had to just sit down. I was on the staircase in our house. I had to sit on the steps just to kind of get my bearings and to let this sink in.

MARTIN: Any idea what you’ll do with the grant?

MILES: Well, I’ve never actually contemplated so much money, but I do have a couple of ideas. One thing that I’m really excited about is continuing my research and taking it into other areas within the U.S. and Native American history. So, I’ve worked so far on the South and Indian territory. But now, I want to really look at slavery in the north and in particular in Detroit and in Michigan, because this is a place where we also don’t really think about slavery existing, but it did. And the slaves in Detroit and in Michigan and Ontario were African-American and also Native American.

MARTIN: Well, I hope you’ll get a nice bottle of wine, too, in there, maybe.

MILES: Maybe. Maybe I’ll do that.

 

On Ernest House Sr.

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

News articles here and here.

Ernest House, Sr., was born and raised in Mancos Canyon, Colorado. He is a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Weeminuche Band) of the State of Colorado. As a respected tribal leader and former Chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, he oversaw the Tribal Council and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tribal Business and Enterprise.

Tiya Miles Wins MacAurthur Foundation Genius Grant

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, from the NYTs:

This year three fellows came from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. They are Tiya Miles, 41, a public historian and history professor who has researched the relationships between African and Cherokee people in colonial America; Melanie Sanford, 36, a professor of chemistry whose research on organometallic synthesis has implications for pharmaceuticals and other products; and Yukiko Yamashita, 39, a developmental biologist who studies the mechanisms that regulate stem cell division.

Suquamish Chairman on their Same-Sex Marriage Ordinance

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

On JURIST, via Indianz:

Last month, the Suquamish Tribal Council amended its existing Marriage and Divorce Ordinance to permit marriages regardless of the couple’s gender. The amendment passed by a unanimous vote of the council and allows same-sex couples to receive the same treatment and benefits as opposite-sex couples. At least one person entering the marriage must be an enrolled member of the Suquamish Tribe. The amendment also provides for tribe members in civil unions entered in recognized jurisdictions to convert the union into a Suquamish Tribal marriage.

The issue of sexual orientation is not controversial in the Suquamish community. I have found no mention of sexual orientation as an issue in my research of the Tribe’s oral history or in non-Indian archival data. Some elders have stated that traditional views on same-sex interactions suggested that these individuals may have possessed unique spiritual associations. Research indicates that sexual orientation was probably not an area of great moral concern or discussion in Suquamish society before interaction with non-Indians. That same cultural value remains within the community today.

This tribal community of 1,050 members is sensitive to discrimination. Many members have experienced mistreatment based on race in their own lifetime, so the council understands the importance of ensuring that tribe members do not face discrimination in their own tribal laws, including due to sexual orientation. Tribe members view the amendment as an expression of the high value they place on inclusiveness and acceptance of diverse views within our community. This amendment embodies the Suquamish people’s ultimate exercise of its inherent right as a sovereign government to address the essential social question of whom Suquamish Tribe members can choose to marry.