Turtle Talk

Here:

2016-11-02 Reissue RFP Treasury Offsets Final

The description:

RFP REISSUE CLARIFYING NOVEMBER 9 RESPONSE DEADLINE: The Navajo Nation seeks assistance in litigation, administrative outreach, and lobbying to assist in matters related to federal administrative offsets made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for disputed debts. Selected Respondent will provide legal services to secure a favorable outcome of the disputes and will litigate those disputes if necessary. The Navajo Nation Department of Justice will be accepting proposals for this service postmarked by 5:00 PM MT on Wednesday, November 9, 2016. NO LATE PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Native American Heritage Month Activities at MSU

Image November 2, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Amended Press Release: Navajo Nation Announces Chief Prosecutor

November 2, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Download(PDF): 10 31 16 Amended Press Release re New Chief Prosecutor Gertrude Lee

Ninth Circuit Remands Two Appeals Affected by U.S. v. Bryant

November 2, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in United States v. Stewart.

Unpublished opinion

US Brief

Here are the materials in United States v. Kirkaldie.

Unpublished opinion

US Opening Brief

California Indian Law Association CLE Webinar November 30

November 1, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Visit http://www.calindianlaw.org/cle-webinar.html

Please join CILA for its CLE webinar hosted in partnership with Ceiba Legal, LLP on November 30, 2016 at 12:00 p.m.

The webinar is titled “Born Again Compacts: How an Evolution in the Definition of ‘Gaming Facilities’ May Lead to a More Intelligent Design of Intergovernmental Agreements,” and will feature a discussion of the following topics:

Kevin Washburn’s recent journal article entitled “Recurring Issues in Indian Gaming Compact Approval,” including a general overview of allowable topics for negotiation under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act;
How ancillary facilities such as hotels have been impermissibly included in compacts and county intergovernmental agreements;
Recent California trends related to ancillary facilities and how practitioners can use these new trends to their advantage when negotiating or renegotiating intergovernmental agreements; and
The unique ethical issues faced by attorneys when negotiating the best deal for the tribal client may set negative precedent for Indian Country.

Participants will receive 1 CLE credit.

Registration is free for CILA members and non-members may register for $50.00. The $50.00 registration fee includes CILA membership from October 2016 to October 2017.

Turtle Talk Poll Results — Nooksack Disenrollments

November 1, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Few Turtle Talk readers support disenrolling the so-called Nooksack 306. The vast majority of TT readers think Nooksack should hold elections before disenrollments. There is a wide variety of opinions on which forum should resolve the disputes.

Question: Should the Nooksack 306 Be Disenrolled?

	COUNT	PERCENT


Yes	12	4.44%
No	202	74.81%
Don’t Know	56	20.74%

Question: Should the Nooksack Tribe Hold Elections Before Proceeding with Disenrollments?

	COUNT	PERCENT


Yes	212	85.48%
No	25	10.08%
Don’t Know	11	4.44%

Question: Which forum is the best place to resolve litigation arising from this dispute?

	COUNT	PERCENT


Nooksack tribal council (incl. Nooksack Supreme Court)	14	5.45%
Nooksack tribal judiciary	89	34.63%
Bureau of Indian Affairs	51	19.84%
Federal or state courts	80	31.13%
International forums	7	2.72%
Other	16	6.23%

Turtle Talk Poll — Nooksack Disenrollments

October 31, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

If you’ve been following Turtle Talk for the past few years, you must have noticed the incredible volume of pleadings that have been filed in tribal, federal, and state courts in the litigation involving the so-called Nooksack 306. We at TT have largely stayed away from commenting on that internal tribal political dispute, preferring instead to serve merely as a space for the parties on both sides to make their pleadings and materials available online. They speak for themselves.

The events at Nooksack are really quite dramatic, and ongoing. The Nooksack tribe has cancelled elections (last election in 2014) and apparently operates today through some form of a holdover council, “disbarred” attorneys for the proposed disenrollees from practice in tribal courts, refused to allow parties from filing pleadings in tribal court, fired (or constructively fired) a tribal judge, been subject to contempt orders from its appellate court, sued the appellate court administrators for breach of contract, tried to create a tribal supreme court to vacate the appellate court orders, and drew a letter from the BIA saying the federal government will not recognize official actions of the holdover council. There’s more but . . . Whew!

Time for a Turtle Talk poll!!!! [results tomorrow . . . .]

The Atlantic Spotlight on Photojournalist Daniella Zalcman’s “Signs of Your Identity”

October 31, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Link: Erasing Indigenous Heritage by Emily Anne Epstein (Oct. 30, 2016)

Excerpt:

For nearly a century, the Canadian government took indigenous Canadians from their families and placed them in church-run boarding schools, forcibly assimilating them to Western culture. Children as young as 2 or 3 years old were taken from their homes, their language extinguished, their culture destroyed. With support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, photographer Daniella Zalcman has been documenting the lingering effects of this trauma for her book, Signs of Your Identity, this year’s winner for the FotoEvidence Book Award.