Our friends, the disenrolled from the Saginaw Chippewa in Michigan want a federal judge in DC to keep their lawsuit alive against the Department of Interior which has failed to respond to their attorney's demands. DOI has made it clear they won't act.
RYAN ZINKE urged the court to dismiss the suit saying the disenrolled Saginaw Chippewas couldn't bring legal action against the dept's Bureau of Indian Affairs without exhausting all their administrative options. OP: Since when is shuffling papers, delay tactics of the BIA and administrative option. Answer, since..forever.
These actions go back to the Obama administration and it would seem futile to keep asking the department to act.
READ MORE HERE and these links
DIsenrolled Saginaw Chippewa Seek Federal Recognition
Saginaw Chippewa: Full Steam Ahead on Disenrollments
Saginaw Chippewa Disenrollment: NO ONE IS SAFE, EVER
1 comment:
The DOI and BIA rely on the Court to dismiss complaints on technicalities so their mistakes, errors, inconsistencies, discrimination, and injustices do not become public. Exhaustion of administrative remedy is just a fancy way of saying let's keep our skeletons in our own closet, no need to open up and behave like an honest institution.
It is the same with so many actions brought before the BIA, IBIA, and the Court. Challenge appellant's standing, deny jurisdiction, claim administrative was not exhausted, claim that actions are committed to agency discretion, claim that AS-IA decisions are unreviewable, resort to the APA standard of reasonableness for the most improbable reasoning. All to avoid objective review of the evidence, adjudication based on the principle of fairness, and remedy commensurate with harm.
Oh no, we wouldn't ever want to promote the general welfare of Indians! That would agree with our mandate, justify our federal funding, and make positive change. Why we would want that? How are we gonna get our bags of money from corrupt tribal leaders if we help the people attain government by consensus, and actually become democratic institutions.
We have to keep those damn Indian down. They are just nothing more than savages, and now that they have tribal gaming, they are just a bunch of greedy losers. We can take their money and terminate them all in good time.
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