Maybe. News articles from Indianz and the NYTs.
News
Beth Kronk on Judicial Ethics
MAYETTA, Kan. – Appearances are everything in small communities. This is especially true in Indian country, where close family, social and work relationships may appear to compromise the integrity of tribal judicial systems.
Elizabeth A. Kronk, assistant professor of law at theUniversity of Montana School of Law, urges tribes to adopt a code of ethics for their tribal justices and elected officers, not only as an exercise in sovereignty, but also to avoid even the perception of impropriety.
“Our communities are small, and we know everybody,” said Kronk, who spoke on ethical considerations for tribal courts, practice and governance at the 10th Annual Native Nations Law Symposium, Feb. 12, at Prairie Band Casino & Resort on the Potawatomi reservation.
Kronk presented excerpts from the National Tribal Judicial Center’s Sample Code of Judicial Conduct and theABA’s 2007 Model Code of Judicial Conduct to discuss the appearance of impropriety, the definition of who a judge is, disqualification, extrajudicial activities, ex parte communication, and the integrity and independence of the tribal judiciary.
NPR on Mashantucket Pequot Labor Deal
From NPR:
American Indian casinos are big business in the United States, with an estimated 280,000 people employed across more than 400 sites.
That huge workforce is largely unorganized. Only a few such casinos recognize union contracts. Among them is North America’s largest gaming center, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
Its dealers recently struck a deal after a lengthy dispute with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. What makes this agreement different is that it was brokered under tribal law.
Unionizing Casinos
Eric Hemenway Column on Cultural Preservation
From the Petoskey News-Review:
My name is Eric Hemenway and I am an Anishnaabe/Odawa from Cross Village. I work in the Archive/Records and Cultural Preservation Department for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians here in Emmet County. I am very fortunate to have such a diverse job that involves cultural preservation for my tribe — but cultural preservation is a very broad term that covers many different areas. One aspect of the Odawa culture that I focus on in my work is the caretaking for our dead. Respecting and honoring our ancestors who have passed on is a fundamental element of our identity as Odawa and has been with our tribe for countless generations. I have the opportunity to carry on this tradition in a unique way by working in my department.
The federal law NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) enables tribes to reclaim human remains and sacred items associated to their respective tribal communities. These remains and items are housed in museums and universities throughout the country. What I do is locate where the remains are, submit claims and if all goes well, retrieve the remains and rebury them. We also submit claims for sacred items affiliated to our tribe. Repatriating remains is a difficult task, but a necessary one, because it ties in with our belief the dead need to be taken care of. This is a new dilemma tribes across the country have to deal with, having their ancestors taken from their final resting places and placed in boxes on shelves, to be examined and documented in manners the tribes deem as inappropriate and disrespectful. But we have the opportunity to get these old ones back and we at LTBB Odawa have made it a priority to do so. It’s sad yet rewarding work. Sad to know the history of how museums acquired these remains and the fact our dead were not given the proper respect as groups, yet rewarding to finally lay them to rest, again, and finally see our beliefs being recognized.
Along with work in NAGPRA, I also take care of several Odawa cemeteries within our reservation boundary. Many of these cemeteries are in very rustic, rural areas. The grass needs to be mowed, dead trees taken out, crossed fixed and replaced. When I first started my job in 2006, I never would have thought I would be working so much with the dead, but that’s my job now. Other people work in the Odawa language, with the youth, elders, education, housing, education, etc. I just happen to work with the ones who have passed on. Hopefully someday all our ancestors will be returned and all the tribes across the country can have that piece of their tribe back. And when that days comes, I am sure my job will change into something else, but in the meantime, there are thousands of Anishnaabe that need to come back home.
Here is Eric’s outstanding blog!
NAGPRA News: Regs on Culturally Unidentifiable Remains to be Published on March 15
From the National NAGPRA site:
CUI RULE TO PUBLISH MARCH 15
The reserved section of the NAGPRA regulations, 10.11, the disposition of culturally unidentifiable Native American human remains, is set to publish on Monday, March 15, as a final rule. The rule will be effective on May 14, 2010. During the 60 days, the public may submit additional comments on the rule to Regulations.gov. The comments will thereafter be considered as to whether amendment to the rule is appropriate.
The National NAGPRA Program will offer a webinar prior to the comment deadline, which will include a training on the rule. The webinar date will be announced shortly anticipating a 200 capacity access line.
Navajo Supreme Court to Reconsider High-Profile Cases in Light of Prohibition on Use of Fundamental Law
From the Navajo Times Online (via Pechanga):
The Navajo Nation Supreme Court has pushed back two high-profile cases by a month in the wake of a new law that the court says could enhance the Navajo Nation Council’s immunity against lawsuits, and may not be valid.
The law in question limits the use of Diné Fundamental Law to Peacemaker Court, and the justices said in two orders issued March 4 that this raises questions in both cases, because both sides rely heavily on Fundamental Law in their briefs.
The cases at hand are Timothy Nelson v. Joe Shirley Jr. and his initiative committee, in which a Western Agency voter is seeking to overturn the Dec. 15 special election that reduced the council from 88 to 24 members; and Office of the President v. Navajo Nation Council, in which the council is appealing a Dec. 14 ruling that reinstated Shirley after the council put him on leave.
Stung by recent rulings that invoked Diné Fundamental Law, the council in January passed a bill to prevent the courts from basing rulings on Fundamental Law. The hastily drawn legislation did not address what would become of cases already in process that cite Fundamental Law, such as the election challenge that most delegates are openly supporting.
The bill to restrict use of Fundamental Law said the courts, including the Supreme Court, are to rely only on statutes, which are the laws passed by the council.
Shirley vetoed the bill, saying it was a blatant attempt to tie the courts’ hands, but the council called a special session Feb. 23 and overrode the veto by a large margin, and the restrictions took effect instantly.
“It appears that the new legislation purports to enhance the immunity of the Navajo Nation Council and all council delegates against lawsuits,” states the court’s order requesting supplemental briefs in the president’s office v. the council. “As a result, a question arises as to what impact does the new legislation have on this lawsuit. Can this lawsuit proceed?”
Michigan Senate Efforts to Allow Indian Gaming Revenue Sharing to Benefit Schools
News article here (with an assist from A.K.):
School districts could use money received through agreements with tribal-run casinos to fund college scholarship programs through legislation approved by the Michigan Senate.
The bill approved by unanimous vote Thursday now goes to the House.
Michigan has more than 20 casinos run by American Indian tribes. The tribes have agreements with the state that typically provides 2 percent of certain gaming revenue to local governments, including schools.
The bill passed Thursday would allow school districts covered by those agreements to use their proceeds for scholarships for their graduates.
The legislation sponsored by Republican Sen. Ron Jelinek of Three Oaks was sparked by a plan from New Buffalo schools to fund a scholarship program.
News Coverage of Cobell Hearing
From the National Law Journal (h/t to Mike):
Senior administration officials on Wednesday defended the proposed $1.4 billion settlement to resolve a long-running Indian trust dispute, telling skeptical members of a House committee that the resolution, which requires congressional authorization, is fair and appropriate.
Members of the House Natural Resources Committee questioned Thomas Perrelli, the associate attorney general, and David Hayes, deputy secretary for the Interior Department, about the settlement to resolve the lawsuit that Elouise Cobell filed in 1996 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Lead class member Cobell, represented by D.C. solo practitioner Dennis Gingold and a team of Kilpatrick Stockton lawyers from Washington and Atlanta, is seeking an historical accounting of billions of dollars the federal government has held in trust for American Indians. The suit alleges mismanagement in the collection and distribution of money owed to Indians stemming from the exploitation of natural resources on their land by private parties.
On Wednesday, several members of the House committee questioned whether the dollar amount of the suit is sufficient to settle the claims. The members also are trying to wrap their heads around the proposed range of attorney fees in the case — $50 million to $100 million. Obama administration officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., announced the settlement in December at a press conference at the Interior Department.
Update on Arizona Snowbowl Wastewater Snow
From the Arizona Daily Sun via Pechanga:
A federal agency is pressing the city of Flagstaff to offer potable water for snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl that does not come directly from reclaimed wastewater.
In addition, Snowbowl could get government aid to cover the $11 million in higher costs for the water over 20 winters.
Arizona’s two U.S. senators are blasting the plan as a waste of taxpayer money and a violation of court decisions in favor of making snow at Snowbowl with treated effluent.
The proposal comes in response to tribal concerns that making snow with reclaimed wastewater desecrates the San Francisco Peaks, which they hold sacred.
Continue reading
Lakota Exhibit at the Peabody Museum (Harvard)
From the Crimson:
Metal arm bands are neatly arranged by a pipe bag underneath a looming five-foot portrait of its owner: Sitting Bull, the former Lakota Sioux holy war chief who famously led the Lakota and Cheyenne troops to victory in the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Nearby, old arrows are suspended in mid-air—as if shooting out from a propped bow—under an airbrushed banner depicting “thunderbirds,” mythological messengers of thunderstorms revered by Lakota members as spiritual sources for energy in battle.
Last April, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University opened an exhibit called “Wiyohpiyata,” Lakota for “west,” which alludes to the tribe’s idea that thunderstorms originate in the west; to the cultural belief that thunderstorms fuel warfare; and to bloody Western expansion. The center of gravity for the exhibit is a ledger inscribed with the work of several Lakota artists. The ledger—which has been in the possession of Harvard’s Houghton Library since the 1930s and was only discovered to be of artistic value five years ago—contains seventy-seven color drawings of Lakota war exploits, several of which are displayed alongside ancient artifacts and contemporary art pieces.
While each of these artifacts tells a story—in the case of one drawing, the tale of a Native American warrior who rescued his friend in combat—the exhibit itself is the product of an intricate interweaving of stories and cross-cultural negotiations. The product of a 30-year friendship between Peabody Museum Associate Curator of North American Ethnography Castle McLaughlin and Lakota tribe member Butch Thunder Hawk, the Wiyohpiyata exhibit explores the tribe’s culture and traditions with genuine Lakota perspective.
“Together we wanted to come up with the key Lakota concepts that would form the backbone of the exhibits and [decide] how to best express those concepts,” McLaughlin said.
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