North Dakota

North Dakota Native Voting Rights Upheld by Supreme Court

Matthew Campbell

On January 13, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Walen v. Burgum redistricting lawsuit and affirmed the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota decision that preserves North Dakota House District 4A, a subdistrict that gives Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation voters a long-awaited opportunity to elect representatives of their choice. The lower court determined that state legislators were endeavoring to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and redistricting best practices by creating an election subdistrict along the boundaries of the MHA reservation as part of 2021 redistricting.

While the MHA Nation sided with the state to defend subdistrict 4A, North Dakota abandoned its own win during the appeal to the Supreme Court, failing to advocate for the state legislature’s voting map and citizens’ rights.

More here and here.

The Every Day Fight for Voting Rights in North Dakota

Matthew Campbell

MHA Nation Prevails in Redistricting Lawsuit

Matthew Campbell

On November 2, 2023, the North Dakota federal district court ruled in favor of the MHA Nation and North Dakota on motions for summary judgment. The Plaintiffs were alleging that the newly created MHA state legislative district was an illegal racial gerrymander.  North Dakota’s 2021 redistricting plan resulted in the election of an MHA tribal member to the state legislature in 2022.  The order means that the district will remain unchanged and MHA tribal member Representative Lisa DeVille will continue to serve as a state legislator.

Order here.

MHA Motion for Summary Judgment here:

intervenors-msjDownload

State Motion here:

states-msjDownload

Plaintiff Motion here:

plaintiffs-msjDownload

You can see a press release here and previous post on this matter here.

North Dakota Passes State ICWA Law, Needs Governor’s Signature

Kate Fort

Here is a link to the legislative page. The downloaded bill is on the Turtle Talk State ICWA Law Page.

Press coverage here:

Lawmakers voted nearly unanimously this week to pass House Bill 1536, which would weld the crux of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) onto North Dakota’s law books. The bipartisan legislation now goes to Gov. Doug Burgum, whose spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

News on Proposed State ICWA Laws

Kate Fort

Over the past few weeks, a number of states have been considering state ICWA laws. I’m keeping the bills updated here, along with their current status when I’m notified of it. https://turtletalk.blog/icwa/comprehensive-state-icwa-laws/

Today the AP had news coverage of the bills here

Finally, here is a link to the testimony that took place yesterday in the Minnesota Senate.

This bill is supported by the ICWA Law Center, one of the only organizations that provides direct, trial level legal services to Native families, and they do it very well. They are currently holding a fundraiser with Heart Berry:

https://www.heartberry.com/products/protect-icwa-pre-sale-hoodie

And listen, I’m not responsible if you follow that link and then get sucked into buying a whole bunch of stuff from Heart Berry because it’s basically impossible not to. I don’t make the rules.

ND District Court Denies State’s Motion to Dismiss Redistricting Case

Matthew Campbell

Here is the Order denying the North Dakota’s Motion to Dismiss Turtle Mountain and Spirit Lake’s Complaint.

order-denying-motion-to-dismissDownload

The Tribes’ Release can be seen here. From the release:

“North Dakota’s newly drawn state legislative map dilutes the voting strength of Spirt Lake members. The Secretary of State has tried to dismiss the case on far-fetched procedural arguments because he doesn’t want to have to argue the facts, but we look forward to the opportunity move forward with this case,” said Spirit Lake Tribe Chair Douglas Yankton, Sr.

“Historically, Native voters in northeastern North Dakota have been able to elect two State House candidates of our choice. The new map reduces our representatives to one and is in direct violation of the Voting Rights Act. We appreciate that the court recognized that Tribes and individual Native voters have the right to be heard and have our voting rights protected,” said Turtle Mountain Chippewa Chair Jamie Azure.

The Motion, Response, Reply, and United States’ Statement of Interest are below.

18-mtdDownload
24.-response-to-mtdDownload
doc.-025-statement-of-interest-of-the-us-turtle-mtn-v.-jaeger-2022.05.20Download
reply-to-response-to-mtdDownload

Previous post on this matter here.

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and Spirit Lake Tribe v. Jaeger

Matthew Campbell

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Spirit Lake Tribe, and several individual voters filed suit in North Dakota challenging North Dakota’s state legislative map as unlawfully diluting the voting rights of Native Americans in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). You can see the complaint here.

Press release is here.

May be an image of text that says 'REDISTRICTING "In a process that is supposed to produce election boundaries that fairly and accurately reflect North Dakota's population, the state instead approved a map designed to stifle Native American votes." -PLAINTIFF WES DAVIS TURTLE MOUNTAIN CHIPPEWA) CHAIR OF NORTH DAKOTA NATIVE VOTE NARF'

ND Tribe Plans to Launch Riverboat Gambling Yacht

Victoria Sweet

The Three Affiliated Tribes plans to dedicate a yacht next month that eventually will be used for a riverboat gambling operation on the Missouri River in North Dakota.

The tribe earlier this year reached an agreement with the state to allow for the expansion of gambling on the Fort Berthold Reservation, which straddles the Lake Sakakawea reservoir on the Missouri. A yacht currently is being assembled at the tribally owned 4 Bears Casino and Lodge west of New Town, the Minot Daily News reported.

Here.

Tribal and Federal Authorities Cooperate to Arrest 17 on Standing Rock

Adrea Korthase5 Comments

The article from the Bismarck Tribune is here. An excerpt:

Besides the FBI and BIA, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Sioux County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Parole and Pre-Trial Services also were involved in the investigation and arrests Tuesday morning on the reservation that straddles North Dakota and South Dakota.

Operation Prairie Thunder resulted in 10 people being charged in U.S. District Court in North Dakota, two people being charged in U.S. District Court in South Dakota and five people charged in Standing Rock Tribal Court.

and

In another unusual move, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Miller traveled to Standing Rock Reservation south of Mandan on Tuesday morning to hold first appearances for the 10 people charged in U.S. District Court in North Dakota.

“It’s very, very rare” for a federal judge to travel to a reservation for court hearings, Purdon said. “I’m aware of it at least once in North Dakota, many, many years ago.”

Review of Louise Erdrich’s New Novel, “The Plague of Doves”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From Rocky Mountain News:

There’s a clue to the way Louise Erdrich’s mind works in a note at the beginning of her new novel, The Plague of Doves.

It’s a standard message stating that all the places and people in the book are imagined, but the author lists an exception, a character named Holy Track. “In 1897,” she writes, “at the age of thirteen, Paul Holy Track was hanged by a mob in Emmons County, North Dakota.”

Other writers hitting upon this intriguing and sad bit of history might construct a novel focused around Paul himself, but as Erdrich has demonstrated in her prior novels about an Ojibwe and French Canadian clan, she thinks in terms of generations. In this book, Erdrich embeds the detail in a larger narrative about relatives and neighbors that preceded or followed him. As in her other novels, she makes room for comedy next to tragedy and includes good doses of passion, from schoolgirl crushes to a college girl’s lesbian fling to forbidden romances among the elderly.

Continue reading →