Chickasaw Nation

Sixth Circuit to Decide Tribal Enterprise Immunity Case — UPDATED!

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is Memphis Biofuels v. Chickasaw Nation Industries, being appealed to the Sixth Circuit from the Western District of Tennessee. The case involves the assertion by CNI, a Section 17 corporation, that it is entitled to sovereign immunity, and that there is no federal subject matter jurisdiction over this contract claim against it. The lower court granted CNI’s motion to dismiss and Memphis Biofuels has appealed to the Sixth Circuit.

Here are the lower court materials:

memphis-biofuels-complaint-and-exhibits

cni-motion-to-dismiss-and-exhibits

memphis-biofuels-response-to-motion-to-dismiss

cni-reply-motion-to-dismiss

cni-supplemental-memorandum

memphis-biofuels-supplemental-memorandum

memphis-biofuels-dct-order

Sixth Circuit materials:

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Chickasaw Nation on NPR’s Morning Edition

ilpc

You can listen to the story at the link below, or read the text here.

A Sovereign (And Successful) Chickasaw Nation

by Arun Rath

Morning Edition, April 27, 2009 · If we think of the Chickasaw as a nation, their No. 1 foreign policy priority is trade. Their No. 1 trading partner? Texas.

The WinStar casino is right across the border in Oklahoma, and it’s the closest legal gambling to Dallas, so even on a Tuesday night, the vast parking lot is filled with Texas tags.

Like many Indian tribes, the Chickasaw rake in huge sums from their casinos. But there’s a certain nervousness here about basing a whole nation’s fortunes on gambling.

“My mom used to say, ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’ and that’s the essence of what we try to do with our businesses,” says Bill Anoatubby, who has been the governor of the Chickasaw Nation since 1987. He is now serving his sixth elected term. “There’s always this resistance to gaming — it’s in the community, it’s in the Congress — so you really, you’re not sure what the direction might be. Congress, with very little notice, could change the rules on us, and if they did, we would be — we could have problems.”

Anoatubby has spent much of the past 20 years working to strengthen the nation’s foundation by diversifying the tribe’s economy.

“We shouldn’t rely strictly on gaming, and we should invest as much as we can while the dollars are there,” he says. “We will take the profits from gaming, and we will invest those in new things.”

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New Book: James Youngblood Henderson’s “Indigenous Diplomacy and the Rights of Peoples”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

James (Sa’kei’j) Youngblood Henderson has published “Indigenous Diplomacy and the Rights of Peoples: Achieving UN Recognition” with Purich Publishing Limited (2008). Here’s what it looks like. And here is the blurb:

Despite centuries of sustained attacks against their collective existence, Indigenous peoples represent over 5,000 languages and cultures in more than 70 nations on six continents. Most have retained social, cultural, economic, and political characteristics distinct from other segments of national populations. Yet recognition of their humanity and rights has been a struggle to achieve.

Based on personal experience, James (Sa’ke’j) Youngblood Henderson documents the generation-long struggle that led ultimately to the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly. Henderson puts the Declaration and the struggles of Indigenous peoples in a wider context, outlining the rise of international law and how it was shaped by European ideas, the rise of the United Nations, and post-World War II agreements focusing on human rights.

Henderson analyzes the provisions of the Declaration and comments on the impact of other international agreements on Indigenous peoples. He concludes with his view of what must be done to give the Declaration its full force for Indigenous peoples around the world, and what it means for Canada. The full text of the Declaration and selected excerpts of other key international agreements are included.