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Cherokee Nation Election Commission Allows Freedmen to Vote Provisionally

September 14, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From WaPo:

The Cherokee Nation’s election commission voted Wednesday to allow descendants of slaves once owned by tribal members to cast ballots for principal chief, but they’ll only count in the event of a court order.

Federal officials objected to a ruling last month by the tribe’s highest court that found only people of direct Cherokee ancestry could be members of the tribe and vote in the upcoming election, essentially denying ballots to some 2,800 freedmen descendants.

While the election commission’s vote doesn’t directly overturn the ruling by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court, it does allow for freedmen to cast provisional ballots in an effort to make the election results stand, regardless of how the courts ultimately rule.

“If a court decides the freedmen descendants can vote we will have the ability to certify the election,” Election Commission chairwoman Susan Plumb said. “If the court decides they cannot vote, we will still be able to preserve the election.”

MSNBC Coverage of Cherokee Freedmen Controversy

September 14, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An excerpt:

“The Cherokee Nation will not be governed by the BIA,” Joe Crittenden, the tribe’s acting principal chief, said in a statement responding to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Crittenden, who leads the tribe until a new principal chief is elected, went on to complain about unnamed congressmen meddling in the tribe’s self-governance.

The reaction follows a letter the tribe received on Monday from BIA Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk, who warned that the results of the September 24 Cherokee election for principal chief will not be recognized by the U.S. government if the ousted members, known to some as “Cherokee Freedmen,” are not allowed to vote.

Two News Articles on the State of Sequoyah Conference

September 13, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the first on Anishinaabe veteran Jim Northrup’s talk. An excerpt:

Despite the horrors he has experienced, Northrup retained his sense of humor. His poems evoked laughter, applause, and a sense of the tragedy of battle.

In one of his poems, “The Duke,” the soldiers realize that a VIP visitor arriving by helicopter is John Wayne himself. They ask him to go for a walk with him, but he refuses to go out with the “grunts.”

Northrup wrote their experiences contained “more killing than he had seen in a quarter of a century of movie killing.”

“And I have photographs that go along with that,” he said, after reading the poem.

Today Northrup travels the country, sharing his experiences with those who can best understand them.

“We’re creating new veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re coming home as messed up as I was – some less, some more,” he said.

“A lot of them just want to unload to someone who will understand.”

Many audience members were fellow Vietnam vets. Northrup asked them to help work with these new veterans.

Following his speech, the group saw the Vietnam portion of the “Way of the Warrior” video by Patty Loew. The Vietnam section on the video about native warriors features Northrup, among several others.

Dr. Richard Allen, also a Marine Vietnam veteran, organizes the annual State of Sequoyah Conference.

He said one purpose of the Friday morning session was to explore the different way of thinking many American Indians have about their war experiences. Many young people follow a warrior tradition when they enter the service. Allen echoed Northrup’s statements.

“Now we’re in a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot of these young people are coming back with PTSD. We know what that is,” he said. “These are the kinds of things that are familiar to veterans and a lot of people don’t understand them.”

The second is about Julia Coates’ talk.

NYTs: Crow Reservation Relics Found

September 11, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

An excerpt:

ABSAROKEE, Mont. — The bitter tale of Indian-white conflict that unfolded at this spot more than a century ago was told not in blood and battle, but in the legalese and fine print of a contract.

Now an archaeologist hired by the Montana Department of Transportation to plan for a road rebuilding project has found the physical evidence, in stones and building fragments that were until recently buried beneath shimmering waves of alfalfa just off State Highway 78.

“An Indian tribe faced the end of its traditional way of life, and it happened right here,” the archaeologist, Stephen Aaberg, said as co-workers sifted dirt through mesh screens on a recent afternoon.

For the Crow tribe, the events of March 1880, on which Mr. Aaberg has focused his research, proved devastating. That was when a draft agreement from Washington was read aloud to tribal leaders for the first time here, at a compound that served as the arm of the federal government on the reservation.

American Indian WTC Construction Workers Remember 9/11

September 11, 2011September 10, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From ICT.

LO RES Fea Photo Towers 03 158 BRAD Bonaparte ANDY by ©Jeff Foxx nyc 270x397 Anniversary of 9/11 Felt by Indian Construction Workers

It’s more than a job—it’s a cultural heritage going back 100 years.

Yale Law School to Host Navajo Nation Supreme Court Argument

September 8, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, via How Appealing:

FARMINGTON — The latest chapter in the legal saga of the Shiprock Home for Women and Children will take place in front of an Ivy League audience.

Oral arguments in the appeal of a Shiprock judge’s February decision supporting an injunction against the home will be heard at Yale Law School.

The Navajo Supreme Court will travel in November to New Haven, Conn., where the case will play out in front of an audience of law school students.

The ruling likely will come after the parties return home, said Jim Zion, an Albuquerque-based defense attorney who is handling the defendants’ case pro bono.

“The actual decision will be made in Window Rock,” Zion said. “I suspect the arguments will be very interesting at Yale. I’m looking forward to it.”

The cross-country trip is not unusual for law schools, Zion said. Schools occasionally invite various courts from around the country to visit campus, where students host the legal proceedings.

“Usually it’s Indian law students who ask the administration to ask the Navajo court to come,” Zion said. “The institution pays for us to go, and we do.”

This is Yale’s first time to host the Navajo Supreme Court, Yale spokeswoman Kathy Colello said.

“The visit is the result of student interest, particularly a request by our Native American Law Students Association,” she said.

Yale approached the Navajo high court and offered to cover travel and lodging for counsel to move the arguments to the prestigious law school.

Opposition to the Anti-Sharia Law Movement

September 7, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the ICT article.

And resolutions from the National Native American Bar Association and the Coalition of Bar Associations of Color:

NNABA Resolution 2011-4

CBAC_2011_Resolution on the Law of International Law or the L

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO NOMINATE MSU LAW PROFESSOR WENONA SINGEL TO SERVE ON NATIONAL BOARD

September 6, 2011September 7, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher6 Comments

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO NOMINATE MSU LAW PROFESSOR WENONA SINGEL TO SERVE ON NATIONAL BOARD

East Lansing, MI (September 6, 2011) — President Barack Obama today announced his intention to nominate Michigan State University College of Law Professor Wenona T. Singel to serve as a member of the Advisory Board of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC).

The SLSDC, a wholly owned government corporation operating within the U.S. Department of Transportation, collaborates with its Canadian counterpart to operate, maintain, and ensure the safety and security of navigational facilities in the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Its five-member advisory board meets quarterly to advise the corporation’s administrator on policies involving the operation, development, and effects of the Seaway.

“President Obama’s nomination of Professor Singel to this important board is a tremendous honor both for her and for the Law College,” said Joan W. Howarth, dean of MSU College of Law. “We are so pleased that the White House has recognized Professor Singel’s extensive record of public service and dedication to research on major policy issues.”

Singel is an assistant professor of law and the associate director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at MSU Law, where she teaches courses in the fields of federal Indian law and natural resources law. She also is an associate appellate justice for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the former chief appellate judge for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

Prior to joining the faculty at MSU Law, Singel was an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law and a fellow with the Northern Plains Indian Law Center. She earlier worked in private practice with firms including Kanji & Katzen and Dickinson Wright. She has served as a member of the Economic Development Commission of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and as general counsel for the Grand Traverse Resort, a tribally-owned resort in northern Michigan.

Professor Singel is an enrolled member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. She received an A.B. from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

The Indigenous Law & Policy Center is the heart of the Indigenous Law Program at MSU College of Law. The Center has two goals: to train law students to work in Indian Country, and to provide services to institutional clients such as Indian tribes, tribal courts, and other tribal organizations on a wide variety of legal and policy questions. The Center’s “Turtle Talk” blog is a popular and influential source for up-to-the-minute updates and analysis on Indian law and politics. One of the most followed law blogs in the country, Turtle Talk is followed by tribal citizens; indigenous law scholars; and tribal, state, and federal leaders.

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Michigan Communities Note “Good Deeds Done by Casinos”

September 6, 2011September 4, 2011Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here, via Pechanga, is an excerpt:

In addition to bringing business to communities, casinos in Southwest Michigan — in particular, the Four Winds in New Buffalo — have been doing some good deeds the last few years. For example, the state tells us that the Pokagon tribe is one of just a tiny handful around the country to set up charity organizations like the Pokagon Fund, in addition to their revenue sharing programs. The Pokagon Fund has given out over nine million dollars since 2007, and one of the biggest beneficiaries has been New Buffalo Township. Treasurer Jack Rogers tells us that it’s had a strong impact on the community:

[click here to listen]

He says that there are also several services the township offers that wouldn’t be possible without the casino’s various donations. Rogers remembers when there was a recall effort against him over the casino issues, with people concerned that there’d be a spike in crime when the place came to town, but he says nothing like that ever happened.