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Cherokee Nation Mourns as Veronica Is Returned to Adoptive Family

Suzette Brewer, Indian Country Today Media Network

In the end, it came down to one simple strategy: Waiting. As Dusten Brown faced the Damocles Sword of jail time and a felony warrant, Matt and Melanie Capobianco only had to wait.

Last week, as the clock was running down on the stay that the Oklahoma Supreme Court had granted him, Dusten Brown had tried to negotiate even a bare minimum of visitation with his daughter. At the beginning of the week, there was a hopeful offer that included three weeks in the summer, one weekend every other month in South Carolina, and with alternating Christmases, which seemed like a solid deal. But as the parties returned to court on Wednesday morning, the Capobiancos again reneged and the negotiations started all over again.

By Friday afternoon, they made one last half-hearted offer in which Brown would get to see his daughter roughly 10 hours a month in South Carolina, with supervision. But even that, according to insiders, was not written to include any kind of enforcement.

Even before they were virtually forced into mediation in a courthouse in Tulsa last week, Dusten Brown had tried to negotiate a settlement with the Capobiancos for months, which they outright rejected.

In spite of their public proclamations that they had “always” insisted that they would allow Veronica to stay in contact with her paternal biological family, behind the scenes insiders say it was apparent to the Brown family and their lawyers that the Capobiancos weren’t interested in negotiating any kind of deal at all. This fact alone is one of the reasons Dusten Brown had fought so vociferously and publicly to force them to the negotiating table.

But even then, the negotiations were merely photo opportunities in which they were photographed arriving and leaving the courthouse in downtown Tulsa. Once inside, they had no pretense about their intentions. All they had to do was wait; no matter what Dusten Brown did or did not agree to, he was going to jail, say insiders.

After the “negotiations” failed again on Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court lifted their stay, which allowed Veronica to remain with Brown while he continued to seek legal redress in Oklahoma.

Exhausted and left with few options other than jail time and the loss of his military career and pension, he discussed her peaceful transfer with his family, legal team and tribal officials. He and his wife, Robin, packed a few bags for Veronica, who had just turned four-years-old last week. Before the family gathered to say their last goodbyes, Tommy Brown, Veronica’s grandfather, began suffering chest pains and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

At 7:30, a caravan of federal marshals made their way to the Jack Brown House in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a guest residence near the Cherokee Nation tribal complex where the Browns had been staying for several months to maintain their privacy.

Chrissi Nimmo, the assistant attorney general for the tribe, took Veronica’s hand and led her to the waiting SUV that was to take her to the Capobiancos.

After a four-year struggle to keep his daughter, one that led the shy, unassuming soldier all the way to the Supreme Court and beyond, it was over.

As the Brown family went to the hospital to visit their patriarch, the Capobiancos went on another media blitz, starting with a live interview on CNN.

As word of the transfer began to go viral, condolences for Dusten Brown and his daughter began pouring in from all over the country.

“We are deeply, deeply saddened by the events of today, but we will not lose hope,” said Todd Hembree, attorney general for the Cherokee Nation. “Veronica Brown will always be a Cherokee citizen, and although she may have left the Cherokee Nation, she will never leave our hearts.”

“Our hearts are heavy at this course of events,” said Terry Cross, executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association. “Any other child would have had her or his best interest considered in a court of law. The legal system has failed this child and American Indians as well. Our prayers are with everyone concerned, but most of all with Veronica.”

Experts say that because of Veronica’s current age, she will experience trauma and homesickness. But adult adoptees who have been watching from the sidelines are all-too-familiar with the challenges that lay ahead for a little girl who is cognizant enough to know what has transpired.

In Oklahoma, she was surrounded by her large extended family, which included her grandparents, her father and stepmother, her sister, Kelsey, from Brown’s first marriage and a chatty phalanx of half a dozen cousins, with whom she had grown close. She had made friends at pre-school and loved her pets. She was a spark of lightning with a sharp mind and quick to giggle, a girl who loved pink and shoes.

In South Carolina, Veronica will be the only child on both sides of her adoptive parents’ families. The Capobiancos, both of whom are in their mid-40s, have no other extended family nearby, save for a stepmother who was divorced from Melanie’s father before he passed away.

Time will tell what the ultimate outcome will be for Veronica, who will undoubtedly be given the best of what the Capobiancos can afford in terms of education and the trappings of an older, upper middle income childless couple. Nonetheless, so far in her young life, she brought attention to the corrupt and broken system of illegal adoptions that are taking place every day throughout Indian Country. In spite of her removal from Oklahoma, Veronica Brown paved the way for other children to remain with their communities and families, bringing attention to the loopholes and cracks in the Indian Child Welfare Act that allow attorneys, social workers, guardian ad litems and judges to continue profiting from a very profitable industry adoption and foster care industry that traffics Native babies and children.

“We hope the Capobiancos honor their word that Dusten will be allowed to remain an important part of Veronica’s life,” said Hembree. “We also look forward to her visiting the Cherokee Nation for many years to come, for she is always welcome. Veronica is a very special child who touched the hearts of many, and she will be sorely missed.”

Yakama Nation demands clean up of Columbia River following release of fish consumption advisories

Source: Pyramid Communications

TOPPENISH, Wash.—Yakama Nation Chairman Harry Smiskin today said state and federal governments must act to clean up polluted sections of the Columbia River that are contaminating fish. The call for action followed the release of fish consumption advisories by the Oregon Health Authority and Washington Department of Health.

“The fish advisories confirm what the Yakama Nation has known for decades,” he said. “State and federal governments can no longer ignore the inadequacy of their regulatory efforts and the failure to clean up the Columbia River.”

In the Treaty of 1855, the Yakama Nation retained fishing rights throughout the river. The Yakama Nation repeatedly identified contaminated sites along the Columbia, expressing concerns for the health and culture of the Yakama people and calling upon the state and federal agencies for cleanup actions that would protect the tribe’s resources.

“The new advisories once again pass the burden of responsibility from industry and government to Tribes and people in the region,” Chairman Smiskin said. “Rather then addressing the contamination, we are being told to reduce our reliance on the Columbia River’s fish,” “This is unacceptable. The focus should not be ‘Do not eat’—it should be ‘Clean up’ the Columbia River.”

For more information visit www.yakamafish-nsn.gov.

Failed Treaty of Point Elliott Promises Spotlighted in Play

Richard Walker, Indian Country Today Media Network

This was James “Smitty” Hillaire’s debut as a stage actor, and yet he emoted anger, frustration and pain like a pro.

“We don’t like to call it acting,” Hillaire said. “We’re trying to tell a story, a story that hasn’t been told … A lot of people didn’t realize why we’re still fighting for our rights today. It’s still going on.”

Hillaire portrays Chowitshoot, a leader of the Lummi people and a reluctant signer of the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott in “What About Those Promises?”, a stage production about treaty promises that have not been fulfilled by the United States.

To develop the script, Shelly Muzzy pored through transcripts of proceedings stored at the University of Washington. The audience is confronted with a true version of history not like those found in many textbooks.

“What About Those Promises?” brings to life the realities of—and the emotional trauma stemming from—the unfulfilled promises of the Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855. (Lummi Nation)

Here, Chowitshoot and other Lummi representatives raise concerns about how the treaty will affect their rights to fish, hunt, harvest, and continue their way of life. Chief Si’ahl, or Seattle, leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples, urges his peers to not sign the treaty.

The treaty was signed under duress, Hillaire said. “Sign or walk knee deep in blood—those were the words. We had no choice. We were forced to sign.”

The play brings to life the ongoing struggles of the Lummi people to see the promises of the treaty fulfilled, and gives voice to the people involved in those struggles.

The scenes take place when the United States was in the “fever of the termination era” and terminating its treaty responsibilities owed to tribes, Jewell James wrote in Whatcom Watch; he is director of the Lummi Nation’s Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office. The region’s First People were jailed for trying to fish and harvest in their traditional grounds, as promised in Article 5 of the treaty; their rights to fish and harvest were upheld in 1974 in the U.S. District Court case, U.S. v. Washington, also known as the Boldt decision.

“What About Those Promises?” also reveals to the audience the emotional toll the post-treaty years have had—the residential schools, the termination era, and the continuing fight to protect rights, the environment and sacred places.

“We’ve been treated like animals, actually,” Hillaire said. “I believe we are one of the most regulated people in the whole country. We’re treated like prisoners of war; we’ve never gone to war [against the U.S.], we never surrendered either, but they treat us like a conquered people.”

“What About Those Promises?” brings to life the realities of—and the emotional trauma stemming from—the unfulfilled promises of the Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855. (Lummi Nation)

Hillaire and his wife, Lutie, who also has a role in the play, have been participating in workshops to help them deal with the emotional impacts of historical trauma.

“I have a difficult time right off trying to deal with the anger,” he said. “I have kind of mixed emotions—some of it anger, some of it sadness.”

What producer Darrell Hillaire hopes people take away from his play: “That their word is good. Anybody. All people. All cultures. To keep our word to one another. We have such diverse peoples living in this country, in our communities. How do we best learn to live together? Well, you keep your promises first. From there, you learn to live together.”

State Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, one of two Native Americans in the state House of Representatives, authored laws that require the history and culture of Washington’s First Peoples is taught in the state’s public schools, and allow tribes to open their own schools and create their own curriculum.

“This would be a great production to be out there [in schools],” he said. “You bring in your youngsters and your current leadership and your elders, and then do this production. If every tribe would do that, we’d really educate the state of Washington.”

He added, “Youngsters, you have to listen—listen to the stories of the elders, so we know where we’ve been, so you know where to go.”

The next staging of the production will be October 18 at Seattle University’s Pigott Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at BrownPaperTickets.com.

Neo-Nazis Try to Take Over Leith, ND; Hundreds Protest

Gale Courey Toensing, September 22, 2013, Indian Country Today Media Network

By mid-afternoon on Sunday, September 22, Last Real Indians, reported on its Facebook page, “White supremacists have raised their flag over the town of Leith, ND.”

The news came as hundreds of Native Americans and others flocked to the tiny North Dakota town of Leith, population 24, to protest a group of American neo-Nazis who plan to take over the town and make it “an all-white enclave,” according to Political Blindspot.

UnityND, a group that formed in protest to the proposed extremist, neo-Nazi takeover, reported at around 2 p.m. that a caravan of protesters was on its way, including at least 25 cars, a bus and a van. “Plus more coming from the Tribes,” the site tweeted. Live streaming by Unedited Media showed what looked like several hundred people participating in the protest that began around 3 p.m.

The neo-Nazi invasion of Leith was announced in the Bismarck Tribune in a September 6 story about Craig Cobb, a white supremacist who has been living in Leith for more than a year and has purchased 13 lots, some for as little as $500, including one where he lived. He has been promoting Leith on white supremacist websites as a place where others like him could live, take over the city government and fly Nazi flags, the Tribune reported.

Neo-Nazi flags and signs were hung in Cobb’s front yard. (Courtesy Two Story)

Cobb told the Tribune he was grateful for support from Jeff Schoep, “commander” of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), according to the group’s website. In a video on the website Schoep announces “Our trip to Leith is a gesture of goodwill as we plant the seeds of National Socialism in North Dakota.” Unidentified orchestral music plays softly in the background with the sound of boots marching loudly in the foreground. The website displays the group’s motto – “Putting Family, Race and Nation First while Fighting to Secure American Jobs, Manufacturing & Innovation” – and describes itself as “America’s Premier White Civil Rights Organization – Fighting for White Civil Rights.” Schoep planned to be in Leith September 22-23 on a “fact-finding tour” to protect Cobb’s legal standing in the community and to hold a press conference, the Tribune said.

Around a dozen armed state troopers dressed in SWAT team gear were on hand. UnityND reported that none of the armed troopers had badge numbers displayed. The protesters gathered around Cobb’s residency where a Nazi flag flew and about a dozen neo-Nazis gathered. The neo-Nazis had strung a banner across his yard that said, “Anti-racist is code for anti-white.”

Various protest speakers took the mike and denounced the neo-Nazis peacefully, but emphatically. “We want the Nazis to know this is not a one day protest. We’ll be watching everything you do.” The protestors chanted, “No Nazis, no KKK!” A World War II Veteran said, “Let these creepy Nazi-Ku Klux people get out.” “Hey, hey! Ho ho! These Nazis have got to go!” the protesters chanted. “Our grandmothers will stand up to you! Our women will take you on!” one speaker said. “This is not your land. This is my land and you can go back home.” “On behalf of everybody here I’d like to say, go home.” “Go home, go home!” the crowd chanted. “Go back to Germany!” one protester said, but another replied that Germany would not have them. “They have laws against Nazis in Germany.” Some of the speakers eloquently rejected the hatred that Nazism represents. “I’m here to tell you we’ve evolved. We do not hate white people. You come here and think you can exploit the ignorance of our own people, you think that we’re going to react out of fear or a place in our hearts that wants to do you harm, but we won’t do that…We are evolved human beings and we think you know you people are a dying cause.”

At around 4 p.m. many of the protesters moved into Leith town hall for the neo-Nazi press conference while bagpipe music played incongruously in the background. When Cobb entered the hall the protesters booed loudly. Many of the protesters left the town hall when one of the neo-Nazis on stage began a speech. Those who remained listened politely. By posting time – three-quarters of an hour later – neo-Nazi was still speaking.

Northwest tribes gather at 60th annual convention

ATNI members discuss healthcare during Tuesday's convention. — ATNI members discuss healthcare during Tuesday’s convention.

By Camille Troxel, Coeur d’Alene Post Falls

Members representing 40 tribes from across the Northwest region are meeting this week at the Coeur d’ Alene Casino for the 60th Annual Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians Fall Convention. The convention allows the tribes to share tradition while finding a common ground for the future.

It’s a convention that’s still steeped in tradition 60 years after the ATNI was established. In 1953, leaders from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Spokane Tribe, Colville Tribe, Yakama Nation and Tulalip Tribe, held the first meeting of the ATNI to discuss the issues of income taxes and how to protect their tribal governments from being disbanded by the U.S. government through the Termination Act.

While the issues being discussed have changed since that initial meeting, the reasons behind joining together are still the same.

“Strength in numbers. That’s completely it,” explained Jamie Sijohn, ATNI Communications Manager. “They can pull together and find a solution for issues that effect them all.”

The founding leaders joined together to protect their rights and to preserve their culture, and in 2013 that’s still the driving force behind ATNI, but the topics of discussion have changed. Tribal members from the 40 tribes are discussing a range of issues during break away sessions. This year’s topics include healthcare, natural resources and megaloads, and inter-tribal trade.

One of the larger issues is the Native Vote, a grassroots movement that is working to get tribal members to register to vote, and to get polling locations on the reservations. Some states do not recognize tribal identification cards as official forms of ID, which blocks natives from registering to vote. Another goal of Native Vote is to provide members with information on candidates that align with the values and concerns of local tribes.

“We’re coming from very humble beginnings,” said ATNI Executive Director Teri Parr. “They continue to work hard to meet the challenges that we face.”

It’s these challenges that Joanna Meninick told the room to face when she addressed the crowd in her native language on Tuesday afternoon. Meninick, who is one of the longest attending members of ATNI, switched to English expressing heartbreak that she has to do so in order to be understood.

“Fight with your native language,” Meninick said, adding that the tribes won’t be heard if they speak the language of Washington, DC. She had one more call to action for her community following the three days of discussion and talk.

“Now do something,” said Meninick.

Who was the first Native Miss America?

Nina Davuluri was crowned the first Indian American Miss America this week.

But who was the first Native American Miss America?

Norma Smallwood, the first Native Miss America, wearing the title sash.(Photo courtesy of ICTMN, via the-american-history.blogspot.com) — Norma Smallwood, the first Native Miss America, wearing the title sash.
(Photo courtesy of ICTMN, via the-american-history.blogspot.com)

ICTMN has the story of Norma Smallwood’s reign.

By Jenna Cederberg, Buffalo Post

Norma Smallwood was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1906. She graduated from high school and earned the title of Miss Tulsa when she was 16 years old.

Smallwood was an art major at Oklahoma State College and was in her sophomore year of college when she captured the Miss America title in 1926.

During her year-long reign, Smallwood became a popular poster girl, and reportedly earned more than copy00,000, which, according to pbs.org, was more than Babe Ruth made that year.

Smallwood died in Tulsa in May of 1966. She was 57.

Both Smallwood and Davuluri came from relatively small towns, and were both firsts: Davuluri is the first Indian American to hold the title; and in 1926, Smallwood was the first Native woman (she was of Cherokee descent) to wear the crown.

And while Smallwood lived in a time when women marched in the streets for equality (American women had only been given the right to vote in 1920) Davuluri is being forced to fight to be accepted as an American woman. ICTMN wrote about the racial slurs that marred her win. Those racist comments referenced convenience stores and linked her to terrorism.

She shrugged off the racist backlash. “I have always viewed myself first and foremost American,” she said after being told about the comments in her first post-pageant press conference. “I have to rise above that.”

Feds Award $90 Million to Enhance Native Law Enforcement Programs

Source: Native News Network

CELILO VILLAGE, OREGON – The Department of Justice Wednesday announced the awarding of 192 grants to 110 American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, tribal consortia and tribal designated non-profits.

The grants will provide more than $90 million to enhance law enforcement practices and sustain crime prevention and intervention efforts in nine purpose areas including public safety and community policing; justice systems planning; alcohol and substance abuse; corrections and correctional alternatives; violence against women; juvenile justice; and tribal youth programs. The awards are made through the department’s Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, a single application for tribal-specific grant programs.

Associate Attorney General Tony West and Office of Justice Programs Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason made the announcement during a meeting of northwest tribal leaders with the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee’s Native American Issues Subcommittee (NAIS) in Celilo Village, Oregon.

“These programs take a community based and comprehensive approach to the root causes and consequences of crime, as well as target areas of possible intervention and treatment,”

said Associate Attorney General West.

“The CTAS programs are critical tools to help reverse unacceptably high rates of crime in Indian country, and they are a product of the shared commitment by the Department of Justice and tribal nations to strengthen and sustain healthy communities today and for future generations.”

“The Department of Justice has a responsibility to make sure its resources are not only available but accessible to tribes in a manner that they have defined and envisioned to meet the needs of their communities,”

said Assistant Attorney General Mason.

“As we have shown over the last four years, the Department of Justice takes this responsibility very seriously.”

The department developed CTAS through its Office of Community Oriented Policing, Office of Justice Programs and Office on Violence against Women, and administered the first round of consolidated grants in September 2010.

Over the past four years, it has awarded 989 grants totaling more than $437 million. Information about the consolidated solicitation is available at www.Justice.gov.

A fact sheet on CTAS is available here.

Thirty US Attorneys from districts that include Indian country or one or more federally recognized tribes serve on the NAIS. The NAIS focuses exclusively on Indian country issues, both criminal and civil, and is responsible for making policy recommendations to the Attorney General regarding public safety and legal issues.

Next month, the Justice Department will hold its annual consultation on violence against native women on October 31, in Bismarck, North Dakota. In addition, an Interdepartmental Tribal Justice, Safety and Wellness Session will be held in Bismarck on October 29-30. It will include an important listening session with tribal leaders to obtain their views on the Department grants, as well as valuable training and technical assistance.

Today’s announcement is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

Award List by State

Alaska

Akiachak Native Community
$299,447

Aleut Community of St. Paul Island
$600,000

Bristol Bay Native Association, Inc
$582,054

Iliamna Village Council
$149,561

Kenaitze Indian Tribe
$534,304

Maniilaq Association
$958,252

Native Village of Barrow
$2,940,730

Native Village of Kwinhagak
$149,163

Native Village of Old Harbor
$578,154

Nome Eskimo Community
$697,595

Qagan Tayagungin Tribe
$61,762

Southcentral Foundation
$850,000

Sun’ ‘aq Tribe of Kodiak
$384,657

Traditional Council of Togiak
$442,320

Arizona

Hualapai Detention and Rehabilitation Center
$764,298

Navajo Division of Public Safety
$673,348

Pascua Yaqui Tribe
$605,494

Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community
$1,027,981

SanCarlos Apache Tribe
$223,314

Tohono O’odham Nation
$645,725

California

Bishop Indian Tribal Council
$300,000

Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria
$299,966

Hoopa Valley Tribe
$1,379,961

Hopland Band of Pomo Indians
$300,000

Round Valley Indian Tribes
$300,000

Shingle Springs Rancheria
$465,906

Two Feathers Native American Family Services
$399,525

Yurok Tribe
$924,999

Colorado

Southern Ute Indian Tribe
$417,554

Florida

Seminole Tribe of Florida
$320,298

Idaho

Coeur D’Alene Tribe
$1,356,626

Nez Perce Tribe
$1,262,805

Kansas

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
$777,096

Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri
$222,799

Louisiana

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
$725,224

Maine

Aroostook Band of Micmacs
$499,696

Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians
$899,954

Penobscot Nation
$281,099

Michigan

Bay Mills Indian Community
$282,657

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
$862,037

Hannahville Indian Community
$305,475

Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
$295,742

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians
$138,353

Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan
$1,112,111

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
$478,356

Minnesota

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
$727,056

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
$4,994,283

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
$751,379

Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
$1,293,218

The Prairie Island Indian Community
$66,411

White Earth Reservation Tribal Council
$278,000

Mississippi

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
$691,000

Montana

Chippewa Cree Tribe
$1,094,574

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
$721,266

North Carolina

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
$891,216

North Dakota

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
$854,084

Nebraska

Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
$803,339

Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
$1,279,108

New Mexico

Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, Inc. PeaceKeepers
$1,300,000

Mescalero Apache Tribe
$450,000

Pueblo of Acoma
$1,324,996

Pueblo of Isleta
$753,858

Pueblo of Jemez
$671,194

Pueblo of Laguna
$401,348

Santa Clara Pueblo
$748,203

Zuni Tribe
$1,416,266

Nevada

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
$1,129,000

Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California
$684,200

New York

Oneida Indian Nation
$223,769

St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
$515,000

Oklahoma

Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
$1,357,873

Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
$765,000

Cherokee Nation
$845,664

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
$628,227

Citizen Potawatomi Nation
$1,265,758

Kaw Nation
$1,100,571

Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
$848,234

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
$296,104

Muscogee (Creek) Nation
$3,734,853

Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma
$1,049,844

Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
$1,489,068

The Chickasaw Nation
$1,734,022

Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
$295,342

Wyandotte Nation
$867,061

Oregon

Burns Paiute Tribe
$350,494

Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
$298,017

Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
$695,466

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
$1,150,000

Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
$1,671,142

South Carolina

Catawba Indian Nation
$499,639

South Dakota

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
$262,977

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation
$156,003

Wiconi Wawokiya Inc
$1,354,000

Washington

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
$496,488

ConfederatedTribes of the Chehalis Reservation
$1,125,991

Cowlitz Indian Tribe Total $711,000

Kalispel Tribe of Indians Total $981,540

Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
$1,032,932

Puyallup Tribal Council
$2,586,479

Quileute Tribe
$784,446

Spokane Tribe of Indians
$1,060,999

Squaxin Island Tribe
$824,445

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
$1,049,379

Tulalip Tribes of Washington
$2,068,058

Wisconsin

Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission
$348,095

Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
$1,076,105

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
$591,049

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
$269,000

Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
$251,006

St. Croix Chippewa Housing Authority
$571,030

Grand Total
$90,382,567

4 Candidates Campaigning to Be Next NCAI President

By Richard Walker, ICTMN

Want to know what the next president of the National Congress of American Indians will be like? Take a look at the pace of the candidates in the weeks leading to NCAI’s convention and election.

One of the four will be elected to a two-year term as president when NCAI meets October 13-18 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. NCAI’s president is not salaried but leads an organization that has a staff of 33 and a lot of clout.

This is an influential crop of candidates.

Brian Cladoosby, Swinomish Chairman

Brian Cladoosby (Courtesy EcoTrust)

Cladoosby recently pulled in seine nets, getting a first-hand look at the results of ongoing work to restore salmon habitat, then oversaw the Tribe’s acquisition of more than 250 acres of land that had been removed from his reservation by executive order in 1873. The acreage includes a golf course and shellfish tidelands.

In Cladoosby’s 17 years as chairman, the Swinomish Tribe has emerged as one of the five largest employers in Skagit County and a major partner in efforts to restore the health of the Salish Sea. He served as president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, and said the NCAI presidency would give him a national platform from which to work on economic development, education, health services, and protection of natural resources.

Cladoosby served on NCAI’s board of directors and on EPA’s National Tribal Operations Committee.

“I have no doubt that Brian has the skills to advance Northwest tribal issues at a national level,” said Micah McCarty, former Makah chairman and member of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee.

“Tribes fared well in the Obama administration but could have done better in natural resource areas of the administration. The [Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission] Treaty Rights at Risk initiative is a case in point, regarding the need for greater national attention and better regional responses [to salmon habitat needs].”

Joe A. Garcia, former two-term NCAI president

Joe A. Garcia (Courtesy indianpridepbs.org)

Garcia, Ohkay Owingeh, spoke before the U.S. Senate Energy Committee regarding nuclear waste management and storage, and advised the U.S. Health and Human Services Department on substance abuse and mental health services.

Garcia’s leadership at NCAI is a fresh memory for many. When he left office in 2009, the National Indian Gaming Association honored him as a defender of sovereignty and a strong voice for America’s First Peoples, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson proclaimed October 15, 2009 as “President Joe Garcia Day” in the state.

During his tenure, Garcia and NCAI “faced the scourge of meth, battled budget cuts aimed at cutting Indian funding, and welcomed the start of new opportunities with the Obama administration,” NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. said at the time.

“During the 109th Congress in 2006, President Garcia’s leadership proved invaluable as Indian country came together to defend Tribal sovereignty from attacks on Indian gaming. [He] brought NCAI together with NIGA and we held over eight national meetings to develop a consensus in Indian country and take our message to Congress.”

Garcia is former governor of Ohkay Owingeh and led the 20-pueblo All Indian Pueblo Council from 2009-11. He has an electrical engineering degree from the University of New Mexico and has taught at Northern New Mexico College since 1979.

Juana Majel-Dixon, Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians council member

Juana Majel-Dixon (Courtesy NCAI)

Majel-Dixon met President Obama at Camp Pendleton, spoke on behalf of NCAI at the United Tribes International Pow Wow in Bismarck, North Dakota, and lobbied to include Alaska Native women in the Violence Against Women Act.

Majel-Dixon, NCAI’s first vice president, has been a member of the Pauma Band council since 1974, professor of U.S. policy and Indian Law at Palomar College since 1981, and the Pauma Band’s policy director since 1997. She has a doctorate in education from San Diego State University.

She has long been at the forefront of efforts to restore and expand VAWA, and is a member of the U.S. Justice Department Task Force on Violence Against Women.

Gena Tyner-Dawson, senior adviser to the Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Tribal Affairs, wrote that Majel-Dixon provides excellent leadership on national issues impacting Tribal policy matters and “provides objective viewpoints important to developing action plans, strategies and arriving at joint solutions to issues and concerns.”

George Tiger, Muscogee Creek principal chief

George Tiger (Courtesy Muscogee Nation News)

Tiger oversaw his nation’s acquisitions of Okmulgee Memorial Hospital and the George Nigh Rehabilitation Center, brokered an agreement to prevent a museum from auctioning Creek artwork and artifacts, and spoke at the annual Indian Country Business Summit on the importance of Native peoples spending money within Indian country.

Tiger has been a member of the Muscogee Creek National Council for 14 years and served as speaker in 2006-07. He is a regent of Haskell Indian Nations University, his alma mater.

Tiger leads an economic powerhouse that contributes to the copy0.8 billion economic impact on Oklahoma by the state’s 38 indigenous nations. Muscogee Creek-owned enterprises include a document imaging company; construction, technology and staffing services; travel plazas; and 11 casino/event centers. The College of the Muscogee Nation, founded in 2004, offers associate degrees and Mvskoke language classes.

Muscogee Creek’s government has an annual budget of more than copy06 million and more than 2,400 employees, and provides public services in eight administrative districts.

Apple Bans Redskins Name From App Store

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Apple Inc., the company that created iTunes, has banned the word Redskins from its Canadian app store. But, its competitors the Redskins App on Google Play and the Washington Redskins Official Mobile App still allow the word to be used on their platforms.

According to a post written on OgokiLearning.com, the company says the name violates two sections of its policy on apps. Section 19, which relates to religion, culture and ethnicity, says, “apps containing references or commentary about a religious, cultural or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence will be rejected.”

And section 14, which states that defamatory apps likely to place targeted individuals or groups in harms way will be rejected.

It is unclear if Apple’s Canadian app stores have a different policy than it’s US stores, but the First Nation App developers praised Apple’s decision, according to NBCWashington.com. “We as Nation App developers applaud Apple Inc. in taking a stand and recognizing that Native Americans and First Nation people are not ‘Redskins,’” the company said. “We are distinct people with the same rights as we afford to every man woman and child who set foot on this earth.”

Darrick Glen Baxter, president of Ogoki Learning Systems, also weighed in on his company’s web site OgokiLearning.com.: “There is nothing more important than being recognized as a people and being treated as a human being.”

Apple Inc. joins the growing list of media companies that also oppose the Redskins name, including Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and The Washington Post.

Obama Nominates Native American Woman to Federal Court

Diane J. Humetewa has been nominated by President Barack Obama for the U.S. District Court for Arizona.

By Rob Caprioccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network

Responding to widespread requests from tribal leaders and Indian legal advocates, President Barack Obama has nominated a Native American to serve on the federal bench.

The president announced September 19 that Diane J. Humetewa is a nominee for the U.S. District Court for Arizona. She is a Hopi citizen, and from 2002 to 2007 she served as an appellate court judge for the Hopi Tribe Appellate Court.

Obama has previously nominated one tribal citizen to serve on the federal bench, Arvo Mikkanen, of the Kiowa Tribe, but Republican senators successfully blocked that nomination during the president’s first term. Oklahoma’s senators in particular expressed frustration that the administration did not consult with them on the nomination, but they would not say specifically what their problem with Mikkanen was at the time. The administration pushed back, with White House officials laying full blame with Senate Republicans, saying it was part of their overall plan to thwart the president.

If Mikkanen would have been confirmed, he would have been the only American Indian to serve on the federal bench, out of a total of 875 federal judgeships, and he would have been only the third Native American in history to secure a federal judgeship.

If Humetewa can pass muster with the Senate Judicial Committee and Arizona’s senators, then she will have the distinction of being the first Native American appointed and confirmed to the federal bench by Obama. It is already known that she has a strong ally in U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) who previously recommended her for a U.S. attorney position during George W. Bush’s second term.

Indian affairs experts had been pressuring the president to make another Native American federal judgeship appointment – several more, in fact – citing the large number of Indian law cases heard in federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court’s tendency not to understand tribal law.

Jack Trope, executive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs, told Indian Country Today Media Network earlier this month that getting more Indians appointed to the federal bench during Obama’s second term was a top priority for a range of tribal advocates.

“We just have to hope the administration goes through the process of consulting the appropriate senators,” Trope said. “We don’t want another situation like what happened with [Mikkanen].”

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn, a law dean at the University of New Mexico before joining the administration last year, expressed optimism on learning of the selection.

“Diane Humetewa will make an excellent judge,” said Washburn, a Chickasaw Nation citizen. “She was a very capable U.S. Attorney for Arizona and a capable career prosecutor before that. She is tough, but compassionate, and I know that she can gracefully handle the stress of being the first Native American woman to travel this path. This is a historic nomination.”

Matthew Fletcher, director of the Indigenous Law Center at Michigan State University, said Humetewa was “a wonderful selection,” and he expected that she should be easily confirmed.

Humetewa was previously nominated by President George W. Bush in his second term to serve as the first female Native American U.S. attorney in history. She resigned from that position in July 2009 as part of the political appointee process in Obama’s then-new administration. Some Native Americans asked the administration if Humetewa could stay on in that position at the time, but the White House declined.

RELATED: Humetewa Officially Resigns

In an interview with Indian Country Today Media Network in June 2008, Humetewa said she was “humbled” to be chosen for the U.S. attorney position, and she hoped her promotion would encourage more young Indians to consider careers in the legal field.

“The opportunity arose when one day I was sitting in my office, and the telephone rang—a gentleman said, ‘Please hold for John McCain,’” she shared. “Sen. McCain simply asked me whether I wanted to provide this service for Arizona. Frankly, I was pretty taken aback and surprised and flattered. I felt I certainly couldn’t say no.”

Humetewa’s biography, as provided by the White House, follows:

“Diane J. Humetewa currently serves as Special Advisor to the President and Special Counsel in the Office of General Counsel at Arizona State University. She is also a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. From 2009 to 2011, Humetewa was Of Counsel with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP. She worked in the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona from 1996 to 2009, serving as Senior Litigation Counsel from 2001 to 2007 and as the United States Attorney from 2007 to 2009. During her tenure in the United States Attorney’s Office, Humetewa also served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General from 1996 to 1998. From 1993 to 1996, she was Deputy Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Humetewa received her J.D. in 1993 from Arizona State University College of Law and her B.S. in 1987 from Arizona State University. She is a member of the Hopi Indian Tribe and, from 2002 to 2007, was an Appellate Court Judge for the Hopi Tribe Appellate Court.”