Tulalip News

Baby Veronica’s Birth Mother Files Suit, Claims ICWA Unconstitutional

Suzette Brewer, Indian Country Today Media Network

On Thursday, the day after the South Carolina Supreme Court denied an appeal filed by Dusten Brown and the Cherokee Nation to consider a “best interest determination” hearing, Veronica’s birth mother filed yet another suit in South Carolina federal court claiming that placement preferences for Indian families violates equal protection provisions because the law uses “race” as a factor in custodial placement.

Supreme Court Thwarts ICWA Intent in Baby Veronica Case

But legal experts across the country have questioned the validity of the lawsuit because of the sovereign immunity of the United States and tribes from being sued without their permission.

“Frankly, it’s frivolous and without merit,” said one legal expert who works exclusively on Supreme Court cases. “This birth mother cannot show that there has been ‘controversy’ or that there is some ‘injury’ by the placement preference of Indian children with their own families and tribes. So most likely this case will be dismissed on jurisprudential grounds by the Department of Justice.”

J. Eric Reed, a Dallas-based attorney who has practiced law as a tribal prosecutor and also as a special assistant United States attorney for the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation, points to the extensive legislative history of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the sound reasoning for its existence. Reed has extensive experience in matters related to ICWA, tribal sovereignty and international indigenous human rights.

“The constitutional questions surrounding every aspect of the Indian Child Welfare Act were vigorously debated by Congress, which enacted this legislation to protect the ultimate health and welfare of all indigenous children in the United States. Those hearings uncovered a very tragic reality in the systematic abusive child welfare practices toward Indians in state courts that resulted in the separation of great numbers of Indian children from their families and tribes through a variety of adoption or foster care placements, which are almost always in non-Indian homes,” said Reed, who is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

There are overwhelming examples, statistical data, and expert testimony documenting the evidence of these practices resulting in the wholesale removal of children from their tribal home and identity. The adoptive and foster care system operates much like the human trafficking version of ‘puppy mills’ where getting custody of a child results in increased funding for the foster operator. And private adoption agencies with wealthy clients are also in a position to entice the purchase of a child from the pregnant mother who may be in poverty. This often happens without proper notice to the Tribes or the fathers, who don’t get a hearing on the matter.”

For example, according to the Lakota People’s Law Project, nearly 750 Indian children are seized by the South Dakota Child Protective Services each year. Indian children comprise only 13.4 percent of the total population of children in South Dakota; and yet they account for a whopping 52.3 percent of the foster and adoptive placements in that state.

In March of this year, three Indian parents and two tribes represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and attorney Dana Hanna of Rapid City, filed a class action lawsuit (Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnik) in the U.S. District Court for South Dakota. For decades, the suit alleges, Indian parents and families were denied due process in being separated from their children under the 14th amendment, as well as hundreds of ICWA violations.

Even as the parties prepare for the upcoming trial, it should be noted that the impact of Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl is already being felt in Indian country. Last week, another unwed putative father in South Dakota had his parental rights terminated because of the decision.

Therefore, many legal experts, including Reed, see a troubling pattern emerging in both Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl and in the systematic seizure of Indian children from reservations across the country. Because of the recent crackdown on American adoptions by Russia and other countries, they say the U.S. adoption industry has turned toward vulnerable women in this country who may be swayed by perks, such as new cars, gifts and financial compensation in return for their unwanted children. By attempting to invalidate all or parts of ICWA, the U.S. adoption industry has a vested stake in providing children and babies to infertile couples, who are equally vulnerable to less-than-savory adoption agencies, who charge up to $8,000 per couple for a listing on their websites.

As the extraordinary drama in Baby Girl continues to unfold, legal scholars agree that while Maldonado’s suit in South Carolina against the United States and the Cherokee Nation may not get much traction in court, it reveals yet another strike at tribal sovereignty in America.

“It’s not going to fly,” said Reed. “And honestly, this case is a perfect example of exactly why the Indian Child Welfare Act was needed in the first place.”

Will It or Won’t It Cost $60 Trillion? Climate Change Unknowns Dog Methane Question

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Debate has erupted in the scientific community as a study puts the economic cost of a mega-burst of methane that could be emitted by melting Siberian permafrost over the next decade or two at $60 trillion—about equal to the entire world’s economic output in 2012.

The study, published on July 25 in the journal Nature, based its economic price tag on the assumption that a 50-gigatonne reservoir of methane on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf “is likely to be emitted as the seabed warms, either steadily over 50 years or suddenly,” the paper said. This will lead to higher atmospheric concentrations of methane, which will accelerate global warming as well as Arctic ice melt, wrote the three authors, Gail Whiteman, Chris Hope and Peter Wadhams.

“The ramifications will be felt far from the poles,” they said. Further, the article made the point that the business opportunities being slavered over by oil and resource companies to the tune of copy00 billion are dwarfed by this potential cost.

At issue, besides the question of whether we can expect such a methane “pulse,” is how quickly the permafrost will melt relative to how long the methane—which does not stick around as long as carbon dioxide—will last in the atmosphere. Those critiquing the study say that the greenhouse gas will not build up faster than methane dissipates, which takes about two years. In contrast, carbon dioxide, the other potent greenhouse gas, can linger for centuries, a recent study found. And melting permafrost has also been a concern in Alaska.

Antarctic Mud Tells Tales of Ancient Ocean Rise

Melting Permafrost Could Release Greenhouse Gases: NYT

Regardless of how much the dollar amount is, said co-author Wadhams, who heads the Polar ocean physics group at Cambridge University, in a rebuttal to the initial critique in the Washington Post, “the planetary cost of Arctic warming far outstrips the benefits (from shipping and oil exploration) that have been talked about so confidently by some politicians.”

The naysayer, Jason Samenow, set off a chain reaction of sorts as expert after expert came forward to concur that the methane-belch scenario is not that probable.

“The paper says that their scenario is ‘likely.’ I strongly disagree,” said Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, to LiveScience.com. He explained that summer sea ice has nearly disappeared before, during previous warm geological eras, and did not result in the melting of methane hydrates trapped in permafrost as predicted by Wadhams and his team.

However, Wadhams said that today’s factors are different.

“The mechanism which is causing the observed mass of rising methane plumes in the East Siberian Sea is itself unprecedented, and the scientists who dismissed the idea of extensive methane release in earlier research were simply not aware of the new mechanism that is causing it,” wrote Wadhams, an oceanographer at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. “But once the ice disappears, as it has done, the temperature of the water can rise significantly, and the heat content reaching the seabed can melt the frozen sediments at a rate that was never before possible.”

Either way, the current models being used to calculate climate change may be missing some key variables, simply because they cannot be known until they happen. A rash of recent studies have shown how aspects of climate change influence other factors that compound and cloud the issue.

“What is missing from the equation is a worldwide perspective on Arctic change,” wrote the paper’s three authors. “More modeling is needed to understand which regions and parts of the world economy will be most vulnerable.”

The Antarctic is not immune from such melt either. As this debate erupted, the Los Angeles Times was reporting on another study, this one published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, that found melt rates of buried ice in the Garwood Valley “that shifted from a creeping annual rate of about 40,000 cubic feet per year over six milleniums, to more than 402,000 cubic feet last year alone,” the newspaper reported on July 24.

“We think what we’re seeing here is sort of a crystal ball of what coastal Antarctica is going to experience,” said geologist Joseph Levy, of the University of Texas, lead author of the study, to the Los Angeles Times. “When you start warming buried ice and other permafrost in the dry valley, it’s going to start to melt and it’s going to start melting in a style that’s consistent with permafrost thaw in the Arctic.”

Regardless of how much the melting permafrost will cost economically, other manifestations of climate change are already being felt, especially by Indigenous Peoples. Even if methane does suddenly get unleashed into the atmosphere, could damage be mitigated if we were to harness it for energy?

Coming Clean: Historic Agreement Reached for Navajo Generating Station

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

The electricity delivery from the Navajo Generating Station will continue well into the future – while achieving significant air pollution reductions.

That was the announcement made this morning by the Department of the Interior, which said it is part of an agreement that was reached to continue the services of NGS.

That agreement was signed by the Department of the Interior, Central Arizona Water Conservation District, Navajo Nation, Gila River Indian Community, Salt River Project, Environmental Defense Fund, and Western Resources Advocates.

With the agreement came a proposed “Reasonable Progress Alternative to BART,” that was submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency today for consideration in developing the final Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) rule for NGS.

“This consensus agreement among a very diverse group of interested parties is nothing short of historic,” said Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle in a DOI press release. “Through collaboration and cooperation, this innovative proposal will not only significantly reduce harmful emissions, it will also mitigate the plant’s carbon footprint and ensure continued generation of electricity that helps power the local economy.”

NGS, while being the largest coal-fired power plant in the West, is also the single sources of nitrogen oxide air pollution in the country, contributing to ozone and fine particle pollution in the region – home to the Grand Canyon and 10 other national parks and wilderness areas according to the release. Another significance for the NGS is that it provides more than “90 percent of the power for the Central Arizona Project (CAP), the state’s primary water delivery system, and plays a critical role in numerous tribal economies.”

The EPA in February issued a proposed BART rule for NGS to meet Clean Air Act legal mandates, recognizing the important role NGS plays on the regional economy, the EPA invited alternative proposals. According to the release, a Technical Working Group that consists of NGS owners, the DOI, affected tribes and other interested parties came together and submitted a supplemental proposal. “The group worked to address the concerns of many diverse interests in the plant and to provide the best path forward for all parties, in a manner that reflects current and future economic and environmental considerations,” the DOI release states.

Emissions of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide will be significantly reduced under the agreement, while maintaining essential operations at NGS into the future.

Key items within the agreement are:

–An 11.3 million metric tons, or 3 percent annually, carbon dioxide emissions reduction no later than December 31

— 80 percent clean energy by 2035 for the U.S. share in NGS

— $5 million Local Benefit Fund for community improvement projects within 100 miles of NGS or the Kayenta Mine, which supplies coal to NGS.

— Development of a 33-megawatt solar energy facility for the Gila River Indian Community

— DOI will provide copy00 million over 10 years, beginning in 2020, to provide financial assistance to tribes in Arizona that rely on water from the Central Arizona Project.

The release states “[t]he agreement reached today will further the objectives set forth in the Joint Statement to find ways to produce ‘clean, affordable and reliable power, affordable and sustainable water supplies, and sustainable economic development, while minimizing negative impacts on those who currently obtain significant benefits from NGS, including tribal nations.’”

Lovick addresses Marysville Tulalip Chamber

Kirk BoxleitnerSnohomish County Executive John Lovick addresses the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce during its Business Before Hours on July 26. — Kirk Boxleitner
Snohomish County Executive John Lovick addresses the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce during its Business Before Hours on July 26.

Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe

TULALIP — “Jobs, jobs, jobs” was how John Lovick described his focus to the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce on Friday, July 26, but during the Chamber’s Business Before Hours meeting that morning, the recently appointed Snohomish County Executive also recalled examples of leadership from his own life, as he told the Chamber members that they were the leaders of their community.

“I never in a million years thought I’d be the County Executive,” said Lovick, who cited the significant legacies that his predecessors have established in that role. “I’m not Willis Tucker, or Bob Drewel, or Aaron Reardon, but I will do my absolute best for you. Snohomish County is a tremendously great place to live, work and play, and it has become home to me. Everything in the world that you could want is right here.”

Rather than referring to the unemployment rate, Lovick noted that the county has an employment rate of 95.3 percent, and while he deemed this a statistic to be proud of, he also pledged to personally promote more jobs for county citizens.

“We have a right to be happy with where we are, but we shouldn’t be pleased until everyone who wants a job in this county has one,” Lovick said. “We should be talking about jobs every single day. We can’t expect others to support us if we don’t do it ourselves.”

After praising Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith during his opening remarks, Lovick went on to commend the dedication and talent of all the city and county officials in Snohomish County, describing its city councils in particular as “the foot-soldiers of democracy.”

Not only did Lovick pledge that the Snohomish County Executive’s Office would operate with integrity, but the former County Sheriff and Washington State Patrol trooper also offered examples of what he saw as demonstrations of integrity from his past, including his run for the Mill Creek City Council in 1993.

“I was only 22 years removed from growing up in segregated Louisiana, and I didn’t see a lot of people here who looked like me,” said Lovick, whose son wanted him to run for office in Mill Creek. “But my son said that he’d never heard me say that he couldn’t do anything he set out to do, which shows that kids actually listen to what you tell them. So I filed for the Mill Creek City Council Position 2 seat, and I went door-to-door to every house in town, five times each. By the fourth time, one man told me that he’d already voted for me and asked me not to come back,” he laughed.

Lovick went on to win 65 percent of the vote in that race, which he deemed pretty good for a man who had never planned to be a politician before then.

“I talk to young people all the time, and tell them to dream beyond what they believe they can do,” Lovick said. “I don’t think most people fail because they set their goals too high.”

After he was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard, Lovick’s next goal was to become a state trooper, which was no mean feat given that, in his estimation, academy classes back then only accepted one black cadet each. However, in the mid-1970s, Lovick beat the odds by being one of three black cadets in his academy class of 35.

“That was one of the best classes in the history of that academy,” Lovick said, touting the number of his fellow cadets who went on to high-profile roles in law enforcement. Their instructor, Jerry Baxter, asked all three black cadets to stand, and defended their worthiness to wear the uniform to their classmates. “Years later, when I asked him about it, he explained his actions with the words ‘integrity’ and ‘cowardice.’ He’d seen previous cadets come and go, and he knew they were qualified, but he’d done nothing when he heard people talking about them. To his mind, someone had to protect the integrity of the process.”

Within his first 53 days as County Executive, Lovick has sought to uphold this standard of integrity by telling his office staff that, “If you see that we’re doing something improperly, or if I ask you to do anything illegal, unethical or immoral, you have my permission to go to the next level to report it.”

Lovick deemed the leadership of the Chamber members in attendance to be at least as important as his own to the well-being of the county as a whole.

“All of you are leaders, or you wouldn’t be in this room,” Lovick said. “And your leadership attracts jobs. We want businesses to want to relocate here and stay here.”

Contact Marysville Globe Reporter Kirk Boxleitner at kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com or 360-659-1300 Ext. 5052.

Track canoes online in the 2013 Canoe Journey/Paddle to Quinault

Richard Walker, Marysville Globe

Some of the traditional Native cedar canoes participating in the 2013 Paddle to Quinault can be tracked online at www.tinyurl.com/K77zryw.

The site, which is updated every 10 minutes, features the progress of canoes from the Heiltsuk and T’Sou-Ke First Nations of Canada; and the Grand Ronde, Lower Elwha, Muckleshoot, Squaxin Island, Swinomish and Warm Springs.

Approximately 100 canoes are expected to arrive at Quinault for traditional welcoming ceremonies on Aug. 1, according to Quinault Nation President Fawn Sharp. Among the participants are canoes from Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and the Suquamish Tribe.

“It has been 24 years since [the] Paddle to Seattle first revitalized this long-held Northwest tribal tradition, and the event has gained momentum throughout the Northwest ever since,” Sharp said in a press release.

“The cedar canoe holds great meaning for tribes throughout the Northwest and western Canada,” she said. “The annual Journey reaches deep into the hearts and souls of our people — both young and old, and helps them fully realize the vitality and spiritual strength of their tribal identity, underscoring our hope for a sustainable and positive future.”

This year’s Journey is expected to draw an estimated 15,000 tribal and non-tribal visitors to the land of the Quinault. The destination is Point Grenville, a Quinault beach near Taholah, approximately 40 miles north of Ocean Shores. Canoes will be escorted by the tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain, recognizing the 225th anniversary of first contact between the Quinault people and the new United States of America.

Dignitaries expected to attend: Sen. Maria Cantwell, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs; and Maia Bellon, Mescalero Apache, the director of Washington state’s Department of Ecology. Also in attendance will be tribal and state officials and hereditary chiefs.

“All visitors are welcome, as is our tribal custom,” said Guy Capoeman, Paddle to Quinault coordinator. “The Canoe Journeys have always provided a great opportunity for tribes to get together, share our thoughts, stories, traditional dance and song, and strengthen our bonds of friendship. They are a great means to teach our children about their roots, history and traditional ways. They also provide a good opportunity for non-tribal people to get to know more about us, and strengthen relations between Indian and non-Indian communities.”

This year’s Journey is significant in that it is being hosted by the home nation of Emmett Oliver, who organized the Paddle to Seattle in 1989 as part of the state’s Centennial Celebration, ushering in the modern Canoe Journey.

“The contemporary Canoe Journeys began in 1989,” Capoeman said. “Emmett Oliver, a Quinault tribal elder, organized the Paddle to Seattle as a part of [the] Washington State Centennial ceremony, revitalizing the canoe tradition, which had been lost for many years. We now know this as the Canoe Journey. The Canoe Journey has become [a] symbol of cultural revitalization on a national and even international level. We can expect anywhere from 90 U.S. Tribes, Canadian First Nations, and even New Zealand to join the celebration. In the past, we have seen canoes from Alaska and even Hawaii join in on this event. It truly has become an amazing part of revitalized Northwest culture.”

Sharp, who is also president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and a regional vice president of the National Congress of American Indians, said the Canoe Journey creates opportunities for indigenous people members to re-learn, strengthen and reinforce their canoe traditions. Many cultural values are learned from pulling in a canoe.

“Among these are positive pride, cultural knowledge, respect, and a sense of both personal achievement and teamwork,” she said.

For more information, including site maps and schedule, go to www.PaddletoQuinault.org.

Boy finds wedding ring, hopes to find the owner

Eric Stevick, The Herald

TULALIP —

was rummaging through the rocks and sand looking for creatures when his eyes happened on something shiny earlier this week.

It was one of those wonderfully warm sunny days of summer, idyllic conditions for a 10-year-old boy with plenty of time and curiosity.

Caleb found his spot to explore along the 3,300-foot shoreline that entices beachcombers to Kayak Point Park.

It was low tide, all that much better for poking around for sea critters and Caleb was near some pilings.

“I thought it was a fish hook,” the soon-to-be fifth-grader said of the gleam that caught his eye.

Upon closer inspection, the object was smooth and round.

“He came running to me and said, ‘Look what I found,'” his mother, Jackie Goulet said.

Caleb had recovered not only a ring, but a symbol of love.

He and his mother brought it to the attention of park maintenance workers or WSU Beach Watchers near the ranger station.

The boy and mom were told a man had been looking for a lost ring the day before near the boat launch. He was about to celebrate his 44th wedding anniversary and was hoping to find the ring before the momentous date.

Snohomish County Parks operations supervisor Rich Patton said parks employees have little information about the man who lost his ring, except that he had trouble launching his boat and may have lost the ring at that time.

Now, Caleb is hoping to reunite the man with his ring.

“I was really excited to find the ring and I was really excited he would be happy to get it back,” he said.

How excited is Caleb? On a scale of one to 10, this drama ranks a nine in his book.

Jackie Goulet said there are some distinguishing features to the ring that only the owner would know about.

She has taken out a lost-and-found ad on Craigslist: http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/laf/3957638868.html

It reads:

Found Wedding Ring at Kayak Point

My son was digging for creatures and found a men’s wedding ring. One of the Beach Watchers told me that the owner was looking for it yesterday. If you are the owner, please contact me AND be prepared to describe it. I hope I get it back to the right person.

Join neighbors in night out to fight crime

Source: The Herald

Take back the night Aug. 6 by taking part in the National Night Out Against Crime.

Big cities, towns and neighborhoods all across the country, including Everett, plan evening activities for families.

The Evergreen Library and surrounding neighborhoods join together for an ice cream social from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

The evening’s activities include door prizes, a magician, balloon art, a face painter, craft making, and visits by Everett police and firefighters.

The Evergreen Branch Library is at 9512 Evergreen Way, Everett. For more information call 425-257-8250.

Check the city of Everett website at tinyurl.com/23ph5g6 for an updated list of neighborhoods planning events.

Night Out in Marysville events take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Comeford Park, 514 Delta Ave. Marysville and Tulalip Tribal police and Marysville Fire District officers will be on hand with information about the Neighborhood Watch Program and Marysville Volunteers Program crime prevention and fingerprinting kids.

Go to tinyurl.com/n226uqn for more about Marysville Night Out events.

Learn more about National Night Out at www.natw.org.

For Canada and First Nations, it’s time to end the experiments

Shawn Atleo(Vince Fedoroff/THE CANADIAN PRESS / WHITEHORSE STAR) — Shawn Atleo
(Vince Fedoroff/THE CANADIAN PRESS / WHITEHORSE STAR)

By SHAWN ATLEO

The Globe and Mail | July 25, 2013

Recent reports about the Canadian government’s experiments on hungry, impoverished First Nations children in residential schools have sent a shock wave through the country.

My reaction was deeply personal. My father attended one of the schools where these experiments took place. My family and countless others were treated like lab rats, some even being deprived of necessary nutrition and health care so researchers could establish a “baseline” to measure the effects of food and diet.

First Nations, while condemning the government’s callous disregard for the welfare of children, were perhaps the only ones not completely surprised. The experiments are part of a long, sad pattern of federal policy that stretches through residential schools, forced relocations and the ultimate social experiment, the Indian Act, which overnight tried to displace ways of life that had been in place for generations. All of these experiments are abject failures.

It’s time to end the experiments. Canada must start working with us to honour the promises our ancestors made in treaties and other agreements, to give life to our rights as recognized by Canadian courts and relinquish the chokehold of colonial control over our communities.

As I said on the day this report came to light: Canada, this is your history. We must confront the ugly truths and move forward together. And there is a way forward that requires a dedicated commitment across three key areas: respect, fairness and reconciliation.

Respect requires that Canada work with First Nations to give life to our rights, title and treaties. This requires true partnership. The government must stop making decisions for us and start working with us. First Nations want control over the decisions that affect their lives, to shape their own policies and institutions. They are putting ideas on the table and driving solutions.

We see this clearly in the commitment and clarion call for First Nations control of First Nations education. We reject unilaterally imposed legislation. We will exercise our right to create our own systems that are sustainable, that support our children’s success and value our languages and cultures. This is already happening in Nova Scotia, Alberta, B.C. and elsewhere – First Nations working together and pooling expertise to achieve graduation rates that exceed provincial norms. This is success we must support. It must be not the exception, but our collective expectation and commitment.

Fairness requires that we end the unequal funding that condemns too many of our people to a daily struggle to survive. The experiments on our children did not make us poor. Rather, the government experimented on our children because they were poor, an impoverished population suffering from malnutrition and deprivation. But like so much else, poverty was imposed on us. The research notes that government systematically cut back relief payments to First Nations throughout the Depression era. Non-indigenous Canadians received relief at a rate two and three times higher than First Nations. At the onset of the Second World War, relief was cut again and we were further deprived.

This is still happening. Funding for First Nations – for many of the same things Canadians expect, such as schools and infrastructure – has been capped at a 2-per-cent increase, per year, for 17 years, despite the fact that our population has boomed and inflation outpaces this amount. Provinces enjoy transfers closer to 6 per cent, and these are guaranteed.

Escaping the poverty trap requires fairness, an investment now so we can build stable communities today and stronger nations tomorrow. Research shows that healthy First Nations can contribute hundreds of billions to the economy, while saving more than a $100-billion in costs connected to poverty. Why would we not support this approach?

Finally, the way forward requires reconciliation. This means truth telling, and it requires deliberate and clear action. The government must come forward and disclose all documentation on residential schools to the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The government must be open and transparent in accounting for its spending on First Nations and the billion dollars that is poured into the bureaucracy each year. The government must stop stalling and release all documents related to its unequal funding of First Nations child welfare, the subject of a current complaint before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. It also means action to advance reconciliation through recognizing our inherent rights and responsibilities and clear commitment to honouring and implementing treaties and agreements forged between the Crown and First Nations.

Canadians are rightfully shocked by these revelations. It shakes the core of their belief in Canada as a fair and just nation. It’s time to be honest about our history. We can’t change the past but we must commit to change the present and work together to create a better, brighter and just future.

Feds hear about Indian tribe recognition proposal

Maura Sullivan, secretary for the Central Band of Chumash Nation, speaks about the proposed changes to federal acknowledgment regulations for Native American tribes Thursday in Solvang. — Maura Sullivan, secretary for the Central Band of Chumash Nation, speaks about the proposed changes to federal acknowledgment regulations for Native.American tribes Thursday in Solvang. Daniel Dreifuss/Staff

Federal officials heard testimony Thursday in Solvang on proposed changes to the process for Native American tribes to get recognized, a procedure speakers described as expensive, lengthy and burdensome.

July 26, 2013 LompocRecord.com

Julian J. Ramos/jramos@lompocrecord.com

In June, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a draft of potential changes to its Part 83 process for acknowledging certain groups as American Indian tribes granted a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

At the moment, the U.S. has 566 federally recognized tribes, of which 17 have been recognized through Part 83. California has 109 federally recognized Indian tribes with between 70 and 80 seeking federal recognition.

The draft proposal, the subject of two sessions Thursday at Hotel Corque, is meant to give tribes and the public an early opportunity to provide input on potential changes to the Part 83 process.

Proposed revisions are intended to improve transparency, timeliness, efficiency, flexibility and integrity in the acknowledgment process, according to the DOI.

However, critics of the proposed rules are calling them the “Patchak patch,” a reference to Supreme Court decision last year in favor of David Patchak, a Michigan man who challenged the way the government takes land into trust for tribes.

They say the proposed rules are meant to drastically limit the uncertainties created by the Patchak decision by adding administrative barriers for potential litigants and rushing fee-to-trust acquisitions, which removes land from local jurisdiction and makes it part of an Indian reservation, under tribal authority.

Larry Roberts, deputy assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, said the presentation during the afternoon public meeting was the same delivered during the morning tribal consultation session.

The public session Thursday afternoon drew between 60 and 70 attendees, including Solvang Mayor Jim Richardson, in the ballroom of the hotel, which is owned by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

Roberta Cortero of the Central Band of Chumash Nation speaks her concerns about the proposed changes to federal acknowledgment regulations for Native American tribes Thursday In Solvang. Daniel Dreifuss/Staff

Many of the speakers represented California tribes seeking recognition, a process they described as cumbersome, costly and very time consuming, or as Mona Olivas Tucker, tribal chairwoman of the Yak Tityu Tityu Northern Chumash in San Luis Obispo County, put it, something she doesn’t expect to be completed in her lifetime.

Valentin Lopez, tribal chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Coastanoan/Ohlone Indians in the San Juan Bautista area, said the acknowledgment process is getting more and more difficult, is too lengthy, should be moved out of the hands of the DOI Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the burden of proof for recognition should revert to the BIA from tribes.

Michael Cordero, tribal chairman of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, said criteria changes could make it easier to be recognized and tribes, such as his, could benefit from the acknowledgment.

A “Letter of Intent,” which begins the acknowledgment petition process, has been submitted for the tribe, he said.

During a break, Cordero said the session had been helpful in clarifying some issues on the process and requirements.

Across San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation has about 2,500 enrolled members, Cordero said.

Under the proposal, reviews of a petitioner’s community and political authority — criteria for acknowledgment — would “begin with the year 1934 to align with the government’s negation of allotment and assimilation policies and eliminate the requirement that an external entity identify the group as Indian since 1900,” according to the DOI.

No More Slots attorney Jim Marino asked why 1934 is being used in the criteria. He represents several groups against more Indian gaming and land acquisition through the fee-to-trust process, which removes land from local jurisdiction and makes it part of an Indian reservation under tribal authority.

The 1934 Indian Reorganization Act represented a “dramatic” shift in federal policy toward self determination for tribes and the use of that year as a benchmark is meant to reflect that change, Roberts said.

To block attempts to annex property into the Santa Ynez Reservation, opponents of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians have questioned whether it’s legally a tribal government and thus able to take land into trust via the fee-to-trust process.

The battle centers on Chumash efforts to annex almost 7 acres they own across Highway 246 from the tribe’s Santa Ynez casino.

Members of Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO) and Preservation of Santa Ynez (POSY) have presented documentation to the Bureau of Indian Affairs the groups believe prove the Chumash were not under federal jurisdiction in 1934, and do not qualify to take any land into trust.

By contrast, the Chumash tribe logo and flag says “Federally Recognized Tribe since 1901.”

Due to POLO’s continuing litigation, the group has been advised not to comment on the proposed rule change, POLO president Kathy Cleary said.

Other plans by the Chumash to annex property into the reservation, notably 1,400 acres they own about 2 miles east of the casino and an additional 5.8 acres in the casino area along Highway 246, have also been met with opposition.

Sam Cohen, legal and government affairs specialist for the Chumash, said the proposal is not applicable to the local tribe.

“The Department of the Interior has started to initiate the process of reviewing revisions to the federal acknowledgment regulations for Native American tribes that hope to be federally recognized,” he said in a statement. “Since the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians was federally recognized in 1901, the revisions don’t apply to the Santa Ynez Chumash tribe.”

Transcripts from both sessions will be available at www.bia.gov, officials said.

The discussion draft is available for review at www.bia.gov/whoweare/as-ia/consultation.

Interior officials will accept written comments on the draft until Aug. 16 by email to consultation@bia.gov or by mail to Elizabeth Appel, Office of Regulatory Affairs & Collaborative Action, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4141, Washington, DC 20240.

Amendment makes it easier to process Cobell claims

By Alastair Lee Bitsoi
Navajo Times

FARMINGTON, July 25, 2013

Navajo allottees in New Mexico can now submit their Bureau of Indian Affairs probate document or state-issued small estate affidavit as a way to receive trust settlement claims from the class action suit Cobell vs. Salazar.

On July 16, Richard Levy, who was appointed by Judge Thomas F. Hogan as special master overseeing the Cobell payments, made an amendment to the class action suit, which had been in litigation between Elouise Cobell and the federal government for years.

Cobell (Blackfeet) had filed the largest class action suit against the federal government, on behalf of 500,000 holders of individual Indian trust accounts, for mismanaging and failing to account for billions of dollars in Indian assets it held in trust over the last century.

In 2010, the federal government approved a settlement worth $3.4 billion for the trust case, with the money being divvied up to compensate individual account holders, buy back lands and restore them back to tribal nations, and set up a $60 million scholarship fund.

Levy’s July 16 amendment allows for the BIA probate and small estate affidavit forms to serve as conduits to expedite payments to beneficiaries, both Individual Indian Money class account holders and trust administration class holders of the suit.

“This should help,” said David Smith, attorney with the Cobell class action suit, in a July 18 interview with the Navajo Times at the Farmington Civic Center.

Smith, along with Garden City Group CEO Jennifer Keough and Ervin Chavez, president of the association of Navajo allottees known as Shi Shi Keyah, saw more than 800 people turn out for meetings in Twin Lakes and Farmington last week. The meetings were a chance for Navajo allottees to hear updates on the Cobell case and the status of payments from the Garden City Group, the firm charged with administering settlement claims for the 500,000 Native American allottees.

Initially, the court had only allowed state and tribal probate forms to be used for allotment settlement claims, which only processed about 88 percent of them, Chavez said.

Chavez, who filed a friend of the court brief in the Cobell case on behalf of Navajo allottees, said that Levy’s amendment only helps allottees, most of whom already have the BIA probate documents in hand to process for their claims.

“The judge accepted that amendment to the settlement and that’s going to help a lot of families get money from the settlement,” he said.

With the special master’s amendment, Smith is hoping the 7,409 Navajo people whose whereabouts are unknown to the BIA get processed for payment. It’s also a way for heirs to process through the probate system to acquire payments of their deceased relatives.

One of the 800 people to show up at the GCG meeting on July 18 was 31-year-old Tim Beyale of Nageezi, N.M. He has allotments near Nageezi, N.M and Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

Beyale didn’t know if it was worth pursuing his claim through the Garden City Group, mostly because the $1,000 payment from his late father’s allotment would be split among his siblings and a stepmother he learned about at the time of his father’s death. The payment from his own allotment, he said, added up to a “Chiclet” amount.

The Garden City Group was on hand with computer booths and staff helping Navajo allottees like Beyale process their claims. Booths were also set up at the Twin Lakes Chapter meeting on July 17 for allottees from that region of the reservation.

For LaVone Royston, the amendment allows for her to fill out a small estate affidavit to expedite payments from her late mother’s allotments as well as mineral payments from oil companies that drill on the allotments.

“Her estate is still going through the probate process,” Royston said, which is due in part to the original terms of the Cobell settlement.

Royston, who is an accountant, attended the meeting in Farmington to also find out why the documents her mother used to receive from the oil companies ceased coming when she died in 2011.

“Since she passed away, I can’t get anything,” she said.

What Royston did learn, however, from GCG is that she can’t have access to her mom’s financial records because the land acquisition is still in probate and a federal privacy act prevents heirs from accessing that information until they get the probate document.

According to Chavez, the Navajo Area BIA office told allottees in Twin Lakes they were backlogged with probate cases for the next 13 years. Crownpoint District Judge Irene Toledo also attended the meeting in Twin Lakes to get clarity on the settlement and reportedly told Chavez, Smith and GCG officials most of her cases are tribal probate ones.

But with the option of filing a small estate affidavit with a New Mexico county, Royston is hopeful to process through the probate system more quickly.

“I am going to file,” she said. “I can do it a lot faster and don’t have to wait for a BIA hearing.”

The first round of payments was distributed in 2012 to Individual Indian Money Account holders, who held an account from October 25, 1994 to Sept. 30, 2009. These beneficiaries are also known as individuals of the historical accounting portion of the settlement. They each received a $1,000 payment.

Smith anticipates the second round of payments to be released this fall to those allottees who didn’t process through during the first round of payments. These allottees are known as the “trust administration” class, with an open account from 1985 to Sept. 30, 2009. The second round of payments will be no less than $800 for some allotees, Smith said.

Delores Hesuse, on behalf of her late father, Henry Hesuse, who founded the Shi Shi Keyah group, said she was glad that Judge Hogan agreed to the amendment in the suit.

From her experience and what she’s seen with other allottees, they would spend over a month within the legal system to get their land probated with the original terms of the case.

“I finally got what the Garden City Group and Cobell lawyers were saying,” she said. “Everybody was lost within our system. They only knew of the federal probate.”

Information: contact the Garden City Group at 888-404-8013 or visit www.indiantrust.com.

Contact Alastair L. Bitsoi at 928-871-1141 or by email at abitsoi@navajotimes.com.