tribal constitutions

BIA Will Not Recognize Actions of Holdover Nooksack Tribal Council

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the letter from ASIA Larry Roberts to Robert Kelly:

Letter

An excerpt:

We will not recognize any actions until duly elected officials are seated in accordance with the Tribe’s Constitution and Bylaws.  This includes recent actions by you and two Council members to enjoin the authority of the Northwest Intertribal Court System (NICS).  Since the NICS was authorized by a quorum of the Council to adjudicate matters prior to March 24, 2016, we will continue to recognize judicial decisions issued by the NICS.

Ninth Circuit Dismisses Challenge to Native Hawaiian Governmental Elections as Moot

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Akina v. State of Hawai’i.

An excerpt:

These appeals concern recent efforts by a group of Native Hawaiians to establish their own government. The plaintiffs are Hawaii residents who challenge that process. They appeal the district court’s order denying their request for a preliminary injunction to stop activities related to the drafting and ratification of self-governance documents. Separately, another group of Hawaii residents appeals the district court’s denial of their motion to intervene in the plaintiffs’ lawsuit. For the reasons that follow, we dismiss the plaintiffs’ appeal of the preliminary injunction order as moot, and we affirm the district court’s denial of the motion to intervene.

Briefs here.

Article, “The Timbisha Decision – A Familiar Story and Dangerous Precedent”

Victoria Sweet2 Comments

Christopher Foley, attorney at The Indian Law Resource Center, has published an article criticizing the most recent court decision in the Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone case.

Link to article here

From the article:

The Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone Tribe was dealt another setback last week in its ongoing efforts to preserve its constitutional government in the face of persistent federal interference.

On May 27, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a disappointing decision in the Tribe’s federal lawsuit asserting that the Interior Department’s installation of a new Timbisha government was illegal. The court did not rule on the claims of the Tribe that the Bureau of Indian Affairs had acted illegally. Instead, the court simply said that the case was moot, that deciding those issues would make no difference. The court erroneously found that a tribal constitution that was purportedly adopted in 2014 should retroactively govern this case, and it decided all this without any factual record and no trial at which to present evidence.

This is a familiar story. The United States government claims to support tribal sovereignty and to respect self-government, but when it wants to overrule or take over a tribe it simply does so. It is rarely stopped or restrained by the courts.

Previous coverage here

Ninth Circuit Holds Timbisha Leadership Dispute Mooted by Adoption of New Constitution

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Timbisha Shoshone Tribe v. Dept. of Interior.

The court’s syllabus:

The panel dismissed, as moot, an appeal from the district court’s dismissal of a case challenging the Department of the Interior’s recognition of the election results for leadership authority over the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe. The panel held that the Tribe’s recent adoption of a new constitution, which overhauled tribal membership requirements, mooted the appeal because there was no chance that a remand to the Bureau of Indian Affairs would make any difference whatsoever in the election results.

Briefs here.

Tribal NLRB Background Materials

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials relevant to Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Government v. NLRB.

Supreme Court cert stage briefs

Little River Petition and Appendix COMBINED

USET Amicus Brief

Final CO-UMUT Amicus Cert Petition – Saginaw Chippewa and LRB

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation

CNIGA Amicus

NCAI Amicus

Michigan Amicus Brief

US Cert Opposition

Little River Reply

Sixth Circuit En Banc Stage Continue reading →

Osage Supreme Court Decision in Separation of Powers Matter

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Standing Bear v. Whitehorn:

SCO-2015-01 Slip Opinion 3-8-16

Robert Miller on Tribal Constitutions and Their Influence on the American Constitution

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Robert Miller has posted “American Indian Constitutions and Their Influence on the United States Constitution” on SSRN. 

Here is the abstract:

This paper analyzes modern-day American Indian constitutionalism. It describes the development of written constitutions by Indian nations and primarily focuses on constitutions developed since 1934 under the auspices of the federal Indian Reorganization Act. This paper also briefly examines the evidence that American Indian political philosophies, and traditional tribal governmental structures and ideas, influenced many of the Founding Fathers and the drafting of the United States Constitution.

Al Jazeera Show on Disenrollments

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Without a tribe: Fighting to stay Native American — The contentious practice of disenrollment in some tribes sparks a discussion about Indigenous identity.”

MCN Adopts Free Press Legislation for Mvskoke Media

Sarah M Donnelly

Muscogee (Creek) Nation introduces protections for tribal media

NORMAN, Okla. – The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (MCN) added free press protections for the tribe’s media division, Mvskoke Media, with the passage of a free press act.

The MCN National Council passed NCA 15-218 by a unanimous vote of 14-0 during the Sept. 26 meeting at the tribal headquarters in Okmulgee, Okla. MCN Principal Chief George Tiger signed the legislation into law Oct. 8.

The council cited access to information and a need for an independent media with stronger objective reporting by the tribe’s media department as findings of support for the amendment.

Reps. Thomas Yahola, Pete Beaver, Johnnie Greene, David Nichols, Dode Barnett, Joyce Deere, Frank Coachman, Mark Randolph, Lucian Tiger, David Hill, Robert Hufft, James Jennings and Adam Jones co-sponsored the legislation.

The department includes a semi-monthly newspaper, weekly radio and television broadcasts and graphic design and printing services.

Mvskoke Media was previously organized under the tribe’s executive branch.

Sterling Cosper, editor of the tribe’s official newspaper, the Muscogee Nation News, said the passage of the act is a positive first step toward an independent press.

“Officially confirming the fourth estate to the framework of our government is an imperative exercise in tribal sovereignty and self-governance,” he said. “We intend to perpetuate this exercise by immediately utilizing the protective provisions of this bill to fulfill its purpose of bringing fair and balanced accounts of MCN affairs to the citizens.”

Jason Salsman was named interim manager of the department earlier this year. He is also the multimedia producer and host of Native News Today, the only all-Native news format currently airing on network television in the state of Oklahoma.

“The citizens will get timely, pertinent news from credible journalists with excellent sources and documentation to back their work,” Salsman said. “The fact that the fourth largest tribe in America will fund a department to be the watchdog sends a clear, concise message that transparent government is a top priority. My hope is that many others will do the same.”

The amendment established an independent three-member editorial board, which oversees Mvskoke Media, without influence from the tribal government.

The executive branch, legislative branch and Mvskoke Media are each responsible for nominating one member to the newly established three-person editorial board. Each member will serve a three-year term.

Travis Snell and Rebecca Landsberry were confirmed as board members by tribal resolution Oct. 31 during the MCN National Council quarterly session.

As of press time, a third member has not yet been nominated.

Snell is a member of the Cherokee Nation and serves as the associate editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, the oldest Native American newspaper. The Phoenix is one of a handful of tribal media outlets with free press protections currently in place. He is a longtime member of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).

NAJA is a nonprofit organization educating and connecting its membership through programs that promote diversity and defend challenges to free press, speech and expression. NAJA currently has more than 500 members across the U.S., and Canada covering Native communities through local, tribal and mainstream media.

Landsberry is a Muscogee (Creek) citizen and former editor of the Muscogee Nation News. She is the current NAJA interim executive director and treasurer for the Native Health News Alliance.

Landsberry says freedom of the press empowers tribes.

“It is essential for these journalists covering stories in Native America to have autonomy and the means to hold those in power accountable to the citizens,” she said. “This historic act will continue to strengthen tribal sovereignty and is a tremendous accomplishment for NAJA members there in Mvskoke Media, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Indian Country.”

Cosper said the next step will be to add a freedom of information act (FOIA).

“We encourage citizens and officials alike to strengthen our role in the checks and balances system by supporting the passage of a FOIA, which will provide attributive documentation for the content of our coverage,” Cosper said.

Cosper said the department aims to ask for citizen input with adding free press language directly into the MCN Constitution, in addition to the new code of law.

“Through this, citizens would vote to add us as a functioning body of the foundational document for MCN government with their approval being the only means to reverse it,” Cosper said.

MCN is the fourth largest Native American tribe in the U.S., and includes more than 79,000 citizens across the globe. It is the third tribe in the state of Oklahoma to enact free press protections, following the Osage Nation’s passage of the Independent Press Act in 2008 and the Cherokee Nation’s Independent Press Amendment in 2009.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe Supreme Court Decision in Tribal Chairman’s Removal Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Scott v. Kindle:

Scott

An excerpt:

The case at bar is fraught with such risk. There is no doubt that the action of the Tribal Council in removing President Scott from office is of historical significance. As such, it ought not be too readily set aside, especially when no practical remedy is available. As noted above, a new Tribal president, William Kindle, has recently been elected and taken office. Mr. Scott, even if he could prevail on his substantive arguments, cannot be placed back in office.3 Under these circumstances, it’s best to avoid any unnecessary constitutional conflict.