tribal courts – Page 117

Native Nations Institute Announces Online Courses: “Rebuilding Native Nations”

September 1, 2013August 30, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

August 8, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Native Nations Institute Launches Groundbreaking “Rebuilding Native Nations” Online Course Series

TUCSON, Arizona – Culminating a six-year development process, the Native Nations Institute (NNI) today announced the launch of its groundbreaking “Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development” distance-learning course series. Designed primarily for use by Native nations and tribal colleges and universities, the curriculum examines the critical governance and development challenges facing Native nations and surveys the breadth and diversity of Native nation-building efforts across Indian Country. Sharing lessons learned through 25 years of community-based research by NNI and its sister organization the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, it explores what is working, what isn’t, and why as Native nations move aggressively to reclaim control over their own affairs and create vibrant futures of their own design.

“Rebuilding Native Nations presents and celebrates the great strides Native nations are making as they work to fully exercise their sovereignty and engage in true self-governance,” says Joan Timeche, NNI executive director. “It offers Native nations a chance to learn from one another, and for society at large to learn about the many positive things taking place across Indian Country.”

Featuring eight different course options, Rebuilding Native Nations provides a dynamic individual or group learning experience, weaving together video lectures by course instructors, video assignments featuring the perspectives of more than 125 Native leaders and scholars, curricular materials from NNI’s “Native Nation Building” and “Emerging Leaders” executive education seminars, in-depth case studies, illustrative graphics, the landmark Rebuilding Native Nations course textbook (Univ. of Arizona Press, 2007), and original readings drawn from the NNI-Harvard Project research.

“This curriculum provides Native nation leaders, employees, citizens and others a unique opportunity to learn about Native nation building directly from the horse’s mouth,” says Ian Record, the curriculum’s director. “It puts an exclamation point on what the NNI-Harvard Project research has found – that self-determination is the only policy that has ever worked for Native nations. The many governance success stories chronicled in the curriculum attest to that fact.”

Offered online, Rebuilding Native Nations also is available on DVD for those who live in rural areas with poor internet connectivity. Volume discounts are available to Native nations, organizations, and tribal colleges and universities that wish to enroll groups of participants in the courses. To learn more about Rebuilding Native Nations, please visit www.rebuildingnativenations.com or call 520-626-9839.

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Nooksack COA Stays Enrollments

August 28, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Lomeli v. Kelly (Nooksack Ct. App.) and Roberts v. Kelly (Nooksack COA):

Roberts v Kelly Order on Motion for Permission to File Interloctory Appeal

Lomeli v Kelly Order Extending Stay

Roberts v Kelly Notice and Emergency Motion for Permission to Appeal Interlocutory Order And Aceptance of Appeal

Seattle Times Coverage of Nooksack Disenrollments

August 27, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Excerpt:

The federal government has been hesitant to get involved in tribal internal affairs, according to Robert Anderson, director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. A group of Snoqualmie members experienced a rare legal victory in 2009 when a federal court judge overturned their banishment and disenrollment.

Disenrollment decisions are not only about membership, but also about belonging, Raquel Montoya-Lewis, chief judge of the Nooksack Tribal Court, wrote in a court decision.

“Cultural and tribal identity lay at the heart of how we know ourselves. … Belonging to a tribe gives tribal members a sense of home, of connection to a community, whether one lives there or not,” Montoya-Lewis wrote.

Western Sky Motion to Dismiss Heldt Class Action in South Dakota

August 27, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

Here is the motion in Heldt v. Payday Financial LLC (D. S.D.):

Western Sky Motion to Dismiss

Complaint here.

AK Tribal Jurisdiction/ICWA Case–News Coverage

August 26, 2013August 26, 2013Kate Fort1 Comment

Here.

At issue is whether a small tribal court in the village of Minto, 130 road miles west of Fairbanks, could strip Parks of his parental rights to one of his daughters, named “S.P.” in legal filings, and approve her adoption by Jeff Simmonds, the cousin of the child’s mother, and Simmonds’ wife Rozella. According to court filings, S.P. is a member of the Minto tribe, as is her mother, Stearman, the victim of Parks’ rage. Jeff Simmonds is also a Minto tribe member, while Rozella Simmonds is a Zuni Pueblo Indian from the Southwest.

One of Parks’ parents is Alaska Native and Parks himself is an enrolled member of the tribe at Stevens Village, about 60 miles north of Minto on the Yukon River, according to the court filings.

To the state, that meant that the Minto court was trying to enforce its order against a nonmember of its tribe. The Minto court’s declaration on May 7, 2009, that Parks was an unfit parent was improperly reached, the state said in its brief to the Alaska Supreme Court, filed in April.

The proper venue for that question is before a state judge in Fairbanks, not the elders of the Minto court, the state said.

[Natalie] Landreth, from the Native American Rights Fund office in Anchorage, said the state is overreaching and ignoring the years of legal precedent since Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/08/25/3042290/in-challenging-tribal-court-state.html#storylink=cpy

Related case in the 9th Circuit here.

Oklahoma Federal Court Transfers Cherokee Freedmen Suit to D.C. District Court

August 22, 2013August 22, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

2013-08-19 Order Re-Transferring Case to DC

Materials ~~later. It’s lunchtime.~~:

DCT Order Denying Motion to Transfer — 3-15-13

Cherokee Freedmen Motion to Reconsider

Cherokee Nation Opposition

Interior Response in Support of Motion

Cherokee Freedmen Reply

Cherokee Nation Reply to Interior

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Pottawatomi — Notice for Appellate Justices

August 22, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Appellate Justices 8.2013

From the notice (read the notice for other details):

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe) is seeking three (3) Appellate Justices to serve as the Court of Appeals body of the Tribe. The authority of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi/Gun Lake Tribal Court of Appeals is defined by Gun Lake Tribal Judicial Ordinance. The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to hear all appeals arising from Tribal Court decisions or proceedings.

The Court of Appeals shall consist of three (3) Justices, each appointed by majority vote of the Tribal Council at a meeting at which a required quorum plus one additional Tribal Council member is present. At least two (2) of those Justices shall be attorneys who are or have been licensed to practice law before the courts of a state in the United States and who have not been disbarred from practicing law in any tribal, federal, or state court, provided, however, that if a person has been disbarred but later reinstated, such person shall be eligible. The other Justice shall be either a registered voter of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians or an attorney who is, or has been, licensed to practice law before the courts of a state in the United States and who has not been disbarred from practicing law in any tribal, federal, or state court, provided, however, that if a person has been disbarred but later reinstated, such person shall be eligible. No Court of Appeals Justice may sit simultaneously as a Tribal Court Judge. Each Court of Appeals Justice shall be at least twenty-five (25) years of age.

Press Release on Federal Complaint against New York DFS over Tribal Payday Lending

August 22, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

WASHINGTON (August 21, 2013) — After recent actions by New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) Administrator Benjamin Lawsky to unlawfully intimidate Native American tribes and the legal and licensed businesses they run, a coalition of Tribes has filed a complaint today with the United States District Court Southern District of New York requesting an injunction against Lawsky’s efforts. The tribes filing the lawsuit are members of the Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA).

“Defendant Lawsky and the State of New York have overstepped their bounds with their illegal attacks on our tribes,” said Barry Brandon, Executive Director of the Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA). “His actions are a flagrant denial of our rights as sovereign entities, and today, we are fighting back to defend these rights.”

“We have enjoyed these sovereign rights for centuries predating even the United States,” Brandon continued. “They have been established and reinforced by Constitutional law, federal legislation, and a long history of legal rulings. Our actions today will protect the sovereign rights of Native American tribes and their wholly-owned businesses from extraterritorial attempts to impose New York State laws on transactions governed by tribal law.”

“This is a straightforward case that is about the real world importance of Native American sovereign rights,” said David Bernick of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP, who serves as Counsel of Record for the action. “Defendant Lawsky knows that he doesn’t have the authority to regulate and limit tribes’ sovereignty, which is why the Department of Financial Services has instead gone after tribes’ banking relationships. Since Defendant Lawsky has turned a blind eye to hundreds of years of precedent, he has left tribes with only one clear path: go to the courts to protect these very old and highly-respected rights.”

The complaint argues that tribes will suffer irreparable injury absent injunctive relief, as Defendant Lawsky’s intimidation tactics against banks and third-party processors have already led to significant harm to tribes’ business relationships. As a result, critical funding for government operations on tribal lands, such as health care, social services, and education will be severely impacted. Funding from these businesses can make up 25% of tribal operating budgets, at a minimum.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, a federally-recognized Indian Tribe; Great Plains Lending, LLC, a wholly-owned tribal limited liability company; American Web Loan, Inc., a wholly-owned tribal corporation; Otoe-Missouria Consumer Finance Services Regulatory Commission, a tribal regulatory agency; Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, a federally-recognized Indian Tribe; Red Rock Tribal Lending, LLC, a wholly-owned tribal limited liability company; and the Lac Vieux Desert Tribal Financial Services Regulatory Authority, a tribal regulatory agency. Benjamin M. Lawsky, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, has been named as the Defendant.

David Bernick of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP, is serving as Counsel of Record for the action with Robert Rosette serving as co-counsel and attorney representing the two tribes.

About NAFSA

The Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA) formed in 2012 to advocate for Native American sovereign rights and enable tribes to offer responsible online lending products. Through the protection of consumer rights and sovereign immunity, NAFSA provides vital services to tribally operated lenders serving the under-banked with better short term financial services, furthering economic development opportunities in Indian Country. Continue reading →

Federal Court Dismisses Grand Canyon Skywalk Development Complaint Seeking Arbitration against Hualapai Tribe

August 22, 2013August 22, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Grand Canyon Skywalk Development LLC v. Hualapai Indian Tribe of Arizona (D. Ariz.):

DCT Order Denying Motion to Compel Arbitration

First Amended Complaint

Amended Complaint Exhibit Set 1

Amended Complaint Exhibit Set 2

Hualapai Motion to Dismiss

Hualapai Motion to Disqualify

Charlton Declaration

Rhodes Affidavit

GCSD Opposition

Greenberg Traurig Opposition to Motion to Disqualify

Harrison Declaration

Overton Declaration

Overton Exhibit Set 1

Overton Exhibit Set 2

Overton Exhibit Set 3

Quasala Declaration

Hualapai Reply in Support of Motion to Disqualify

Hualapai Reply in Support of MTD

From the opinion:

Defendants Hualapai Indian Tribe and seven named members of the Hualapai Tribal Council have filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiff Grand Canyon Skywalk Development, LLC’s (GCSD) first amended complaint to compel arbitration. Doc. 19; see Doc. 18. The motion has been fully briefed. Docs. 21, 29. Defendants also have filed a motion to disqualify Greenberg Traurig (GT) as counsel for GCSD and for related orders protecting theTribe’s confidential information. Doc. 25. GT has filed a response in opposition which GCSD joined. Docs. 43, 37. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant Defendants’ motion to dismiss GCSD’s first amended complaint, and deny Defendant’s motion to disqualify GCSD’s counsel and for related orders.

Prior post on this specific suit is here.