Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Reconsider Columbus Day
This is a fabulous PSA that was originally put together in 2009, entitled "Reconsider Columbus Day." The project is associated with ReconsiderColumbusDay.org, which is another fabulous resource.
NativeAppropriations.blogspot.com
Pamunkey - Federal Acknowledgment
Pamunkey Indian Tribe Files for Federal Acknowledgment
October 14, 2010
Contact: Chief Robert Gray, 804.339.1629; Tribe's legal counsels: Mark C. Tilden, Tilden McCoy, LLC at, 303.323.1922, or David Gover, Esq. and Kim Gottschalk, Esq. at Native American Rights Fund at 303.447.8760.
Boulder, CO - After years of preparing the necessary historical, legal, genealogical and anthropological evidence to fully document its petition for federal acknowledgment, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, located on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, Virginia, filed its petition with the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on October 14, 2010. It is the only Indian Tribe located in the Commonwealth of Virginia to have filed a fully documented petition. Established no later than 1646, the Pamunkey Indian Reservation is located next to the Pamunkey River, and adjacent to King William County, Virginia. The Reservation comprises approximately 1,200 acres and is the oldest inhabited Indian reservation in America.
The history of the Pamunkey people is rich and well documented. In the course of collecting evidence for the federal acknowledgment petition, researchers compiled more than a thousand documents recording their existence from the period of first European contact through the present. These documents comprise official censuses, correspondence between the Pamunkeys and officials of the Commonwealth and U.S. governments, numerous newspaper stories, church and school records, books by prominent scholars, popular authors, and federal officials, memoirs and much more. Because of these rich resources, continuous, detailed genealogies have been created for the Pamunkey Tribal members, which trace their lineage back over two hundred years.
Notably, documents have been preserved both in the United States and England that show the continual existence of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe as an independent sovereign since the first visit of Capt. John Smith in 1607, when the English settled Jamestown. At this time, Powhatan, father of Pocahontas, ruled a vast empire which included the great and powerful Pamunkey Indians who were at the core of his empire. A Treaty relationship between the Pamunkeys and Great Britain in 1646, followed by the Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677, is still honored between the Pamunkeys and the Commonwealth of Virginia. One expression of this continuing relationship is the annual tribute ceremony at Richmond, Virginia where deer and other wild game are presented to the Virginia Governor by the Pamunkey Chief and members of Tribal Council.
The Tribe has survived intact as an identifiable Indian tribe, although they are not yet federally acknowledged. Tribal existence does not depend on federal acknowledgment. It is, however, necessary to establish a government-to-government relationship between the Tribe and the Federal government, which allows the Tribe access to federal services and benefits. The Tribe’s petition documents their continued existence from 1789 to the present and their self-governance throughout this time, which meets the federal acknowledgment regulations.
The Pamunkey Chief and Tribal Council state that “Current Pamunkey Tribal members respect and appreciate what our ancestors have accomplished since first European contact, especially their sustained and successful efforts to maintain the lands, identity and sovereignty that have belonged to the Pamunkey Indians for thousands of years. We believe that federal acknowledgment is the natural means to continue those traditions and honor the ancestors who have given us our birthright. We look forward to the day our existence as an Indian Tribe is formally acknowledged by the United States.”
The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has represented the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in this effort since 1988, joined by the law firm of Tilden McCoy, LLC this year. For any questions, please contact Robert Gray, Chief, Pamunkey Indian Tribe, 804.339.1629 or RGray58@hughes.net; Tribe's legal counsels: Mark C. Tilden, Tilden McCoy, LLC at mctilden@tildenmccoy.com, 303.323.1922 or 1942 Broadway, Suite 314, Boulder, Colorado 80302, or David Gover, NARF, dgover@narf.org, 303.447.8760 or 1506 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302.
The Shinnecock Indian Nation
October 11, 2010
Contact: Mark C. Tilden, Tilden McCoy, LLC at 303.323.1922 or Kim Gottschalk, Native American Rights Fund at 303.447.8760.
Boulder, CO - The Shinnecock Indian Nation (Nation) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) are celebrating the October 1, 2010 decision by the U. S. Interior Board of Indian Appeals (the “IBIA”) dismissing two requests for reconsideration of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Final Determination for Federal Acknowledgment of the Nation (the “FD”), because the requesters failed to demonstrate that they were interested parties under the federal acknowledgment regulations. With the ruling, the FD is immediately effective, thereby rendering the Nation the 565th federally recognized Indian nation in the United States. NARF is proud and honored to have represented the Nation in its federal acknowledgment petition efforts during this time, along with Mark C. Tilden of the law firm Tilden McCoy, LLC.
The decision ends a 32-year saga initiated by the Nation and NARF when NARF filed the Nation’s initial petition and litigation request in 1978 with the U. S. Department of the Interior. The events in the following years finally culminated in the Department issuing a FD dated June 13, 2010 concluding that the Nation met the seven mandatory federal acknowledgment criteria under 25 C.F.R. § 83.7. (See 75 Fed. Reg. 34,760 (June 18, 2010)). The FD was challenged in the IBIA by the requesters who claimed to be interested parties. But, the IBIA rejected their challenges.
Chairman Randy King of the Nation's Board of Trustees eloquently stated, "After 32 years, the Shinnecock Indian Nation has finally obtained formal federal acknowledgment, thus closing a long chapter on the Nation's epic struggle. The Native American Rights Fund was part of this effort and the Nation is grateful that it crossed the finish line with NARF by its side.”
John Echohawk, NARF Executive Director, reflected on the long fight by his modern day warriors, the NARF attorneys, lamenting “It took forever to achieve federal acknowledgment for Shinnecock, but with the persistence of the Nation and the expertise of former NARF attorney Mark Tilden and NARF attorney Kim Gottschalk, we finally got it done.”
The Shinnecock Indian Nation is located on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, adjacent to Southampton, New York.
NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum
Native American Rights Fund Celebrates 40 Years of Defending Native Rights
On October 29, 2010, the Native American Rights Fund will hold its 40th Anniversary Celebration hosted by the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. This unique gathering will include NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum and NARF's 40th Anniversary Dinner. NARF is honored to celebrate four decades of standing firm for justice.
NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum will highlight four decades of Indian law and NARF's role. We will examine current concerns and challenges within each of NARF’s priority areas and their impact on Indian law. Utilizing the tribal leaders and attorneys attending, in each priority area we will craft a shared vision for the future direction for that issue of Indian law. Each session will end with strategic outlines for how NARF can address each issue for the next 40 years.
The NARF's 40th Anniversary Dinner -- "40 for 40" -- will highlight the 40 tribes, individuals and organizations that have helped shape the 40 years of NARF. We will spotlight Native clients, past board and staff members and funding partners. This will be a celebration honoring the impact that NARF has had in Indian Country.
Registration for the NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum and 40th Anniversary Dinner is $125.00. NARF is also offering a limited number of registration fee waivers. For more information, please go onto our website for a registration fee waiver form. Please visit our website, www.narf.org, to register for these events.
NARF would like to thank the following tribes, organizations and individuals for their sponsorships: Seminole Tribe of Florida, Wayne and Nancy Starling Ross, Seven Cedars Casino, Bridget K. Stroud, Barbara Bastle, Rev. William Wantland, Lyle A. Dethlefsen, the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, and Americans for Indian Opportunity.
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities or registration information, contact Jennifer Redbone at (303) 447-8760 or jennifer@narf.org.Tuesday, October 5, 2010
NARF article: Supreme Court denies Alaskas Appeal
October 5, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Natalie Landreth, Staff Attorney and Counsel for Kaltag, (907) 276-0680
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the State's appeal in the case of Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council, thus effectively ending the case and clearly reinforcing the rule that tribal courts have authority to initiate and fully adjudicate children's cases.
The Kaltag Tribal Council had taken emergency custody of one of its member children due to allegations of abuse and neglect and, after conducting hearings and finding a suitable home, it terminated the rights of the birth parents and issued an order of adoption to the adoptive parents in Huslia. Kaltag then notified the State of Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics about the adoption and requested a new birth certificate reflecting the names of the adoptive parents and the new last name of the child. The State refused, claiming that it did not owe full faith and credit to the decision of the Kaltag Tribal Court because Kaltag did not have jurisdiction to initiate the case at all.
In the fall of 2006, NARF filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Kaltag Tribal Council and the adoptive parents to enforce the full faith and credit provision of the Indian Child Welfare Act (IWCA). In February 2008, the United States District Court rejected the State's claims and held that Tribes have jurisdiction to adjudicate adoptions and child-in-need-of-aid (CINA) type cases over their member children, and that the Tribal Court's decisions are entitled to full faith and credit by the State. In a detailed and thoughtful opinion, the Court reaffirmed what the United States Supreme Court stated in the Holyfield case that the IWCA created "concurrent but presumptively tribal jurisdiction in the case of children not living on a reservation". The Court also noted that denying tribal jurisdiction in CINA-type cases would leave Tribes "powerless to help children in their own villages at the most critical time." The Court's decision was then summarily affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This case reaffirms the rule that when Tribes adjudicate domestic matters of their own member children, whether it is a simple voluntary adoption or a CINA-type case, their decisions are entitled to full faith and credit.
Counsel for Kaltag, Natalie Landreth, said "The fact is that the Kaltag Tribal Court was doing what it, and the 561 other tribes in this country, has been doing since time immemorial: taking care of their own children. This case never should have been appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and the Plaintiffs are very glad that their victory stands." Moreover, the Native American Rights Fund and plaintiffs Kaltag Tribal Council and Hudson and Selina Sam call upon Governor Parnell and Attorney General Sullivan to rescind the Renkes Opinion issued in October 2004 and instead take this opportunity to work with tribes and tribal courts to ensure the protection of all children, no matter which court their case is in.
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