THE BIA: Shameful Treatment of Native Americans And They Couldn't Care LESS. If You Die,If You're Disenrolled, SO WHAT?

It's shameful how the BIA is either corrupt, complicit, or unnecessary.  If they aren't protecting Natives from the corruption of tribal councils and leaders, then they are part of the problem, as we've seen in the San Pasqual Matter, or more correctly, multiple San Pasqual matters, which may require recusal

Attorney Donald Daines wrote:

The US BIA only violates Sovereignty when it is in their best interest. That’s why the BIA is known as the Bureau of Indian Annihilation. Once the BIA inserts the people its wants in power over the Tribal Nation, then when the People object and want their real leaders, the BIA says it cannot interfere because the dispute (which the BIA created in the first place) is an ‘internal’ problem which Tribal sovereignty prevents the BIA from interfering with.  

Sovereignty is the catch all excuse for BIA inaction when they don't want to correct or prevent wrongdoing.

Yesterday, we wrote about the disenrollment at Grand Ronde.  We published this in 2012:

Appointing a Civil Rights Abuser to Fresno State Board OK with YOU? Contact President Joseph Castro

Received this information from our friend Cathy Cory, disenrolled member of the PRCI, Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, a tribe which has violated the civil and human rights of nearly a THOUSAND Native Americans. This is a PERFECT way for you to get involved and have your voice heard.

If anyone has an opinion in regards to the questionable ethical choices of Fresno State in the recent appointment of Nancy Ayala, tribal "leader" at Picayune Rancheria to the Fresno State University Advisory Board by President Joseph I. Castro, please submit your comments via this website link:

http://www.fresnostate.edu/president/feedback/

my opinion? NO "tribal leader" from picayune should receive, or DESERVES, appointment to a board that is making important educational decisions for indians in the central valley native american community...those who participate in corruption and in the violation of THOUSANDS of american indians tribal, civil, and human rights should not be tolerated, much less glorified and rewarded!

BE HEARD, send your feedback. Remember, Fresno State takes students from all over the state, so this is NOT a jurisdictional issue.

READ MORE on Tribal Disenrollment:


disenrollment is paper Genocide
CA Tribal Cleansing
Tribal terrorism
TRIBAL TERRORISM includes Banishment
Nooksack Disenrollment

DOJ's Civil Rights Division On Protecting Native American...SOME NATIVE AMERICANS.

Our friend JOE LISKA who has the BLOG:  Joe’s Crime Blog/Human Rights Site    tipped us off to this publication of the Department of Justice Website.   We have written numerous letters to Attorney General Eric Holder with NO RESPONSE yet.

In keeping with President Barack Obama’s proclamation recognizing National Native American Heritage Month, this month the Department of Justice honors the vibrant cultures of Native American societies and strengthens the government-to-government relationship between the United States and each tribal nation.  By proclaiming November to be Native American Heritage Month, President Obama reaffirmed this administration’s commitment to Native self-determination and the right of tribal governments to build and strengthen their own communities.  (OP: UNMENTIONED is the number of tribal governments that have harmed more Indians that the white man has this century, and the past quarter century)

The Civil Rights Division shares this commitment to respecting and protecting the rights of tribes and individual Native Americans.  The division’s work in this area is a year-round effort, spearheaded by the division’s Indian Working Group.  The Indian Working Group has representatives from every section of the division, from education to voting to employment, recognizing that Native Americans’ civil rights should be protected in every sphere of life.  This collaborative effort elevates enforcement, outreach and educational opportunities concerning Native American issues throughout the country. (Makes one wonder if they really mean this or if this is lip service.  It's not like it's a secret, the abuses that are happening.)

For too long, Native Americans have experienced discrimination and injustice, and the federal government can and must stop such unequal treatment.  In response to frequent concerns raised by tribal leaders, the Civil Rights Division’s Indian Working Group is researching new ways to enhance implementation of civil rights laws and other laws affecting the rights of Native American parents and children in the context of child custody.  The discriminatory removal of Native American children from their families and placement in foster care and adoption systems, without adequate consideration of tribal citizenship and the unique family structures in Native American communities, are of deep concern to Native Americans and tribes.  The Indian Working Group is interested in methods in which the division can effectively assist in addressing Native American rights in the child custody context, including enforcement of federal civil rights laws and/or technical assistance to tribal or other related governmental agencies.   (OP:  We think that the discriminatory removal of people from their tribes, demands as much inspection as those 'few" children that are being harmed. )

The division enforces federal laws against hate crimes and discriminatory or abusive policing. We confront challenges to the civil rights of Native Americans, including vicious assaults born of hatred and threats used to drive Native Americans out of their homes. 

In addition, using our authority under the Religious Land Use of Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), this year we urged courts to ensure Native American prisoners in South Dakota were able to freely practice their religion.  

The Civil Rights Division’s ability to enforce federal civil rights laws on behalf of Native Americans depends on communication with Native Americans who have faced discrimination – whether in education, housing, voting, employment or lending – on the basis of race, national origin, English language fluency or religion.  

To that end, the Indian Working Group is striving to establish relationships with Native American human and civil rights groups.  This year the Indian Working Group entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) as a mechanism to communicate regularly about potential civil rights issues and the division’s role in enforcing civil rights laws.  The Indian Working Group has embarked on a series of meetings with the NNHRC to exchange information that might necessitate referral to law enforcement agencies for further investigation when deemed appropriate.  This is the first agreement of its kind reached by the Indian Working Group and it serves to support our mission to identify and address potential civil rights violations that affect Native Americans. 

In an effort to expand our outreach, the Indian Working Group has launched an Indian Working Group website – www.justice.gov/crt/iwg/ – that provides information about the Civil Rights Division’s work on behalf of Native Americans and includes links to publications, statements, briefs, press releases, outreach initiatives and contact information.

We do this work not only because it is our legal responsibility as a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, but because it is our moral responsibility as members of a broad, diverse community.  We have the power of the law and the federal government behind us, and we will continue to protect the civil rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives.  

The Indian Working Group can be reached atindianrights.workinggroup@usdoj.gov.

YOU WILL BE HEARING FROM US, INDIAN WORKING GROUP

Chukchansi Corruption Causes EPA to WITHHOLD Funding, Suspend All Grant Applications: PRESS RELEASE

In a letter last week to REGGIE LEWIS, Chairman of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated it is withholding funding and suspending all grant applications after Nancy Ayala used a previous EPA letter to claim the agency recognized her as Chair of the Chukchansi Tribe. The EPA will not take any action until the U.S. Department of the Interior makes a decision regarding the leadership of the Chukchansi Tribe.

"Nancy Ayala's deceitful actions are starting to catch up with her," said Chairman Lewis. "As she has been doing for months, she was only thinking about herself and thought that she could dishonestly crop a letter from the EPA to make it look like she is the Tribal Chair. Now she has harmed all Tribal members by forcing the EPA to deny grant funding."

Chairman Lewis expects a similar backlash from the BIA after Ayala also cropped a portion of a letter from BIA Superintendent Troy Burdick in an attempt to persuade Tribal members and the public to believe the BIA had recognized her as Tribal Chair.

Chairman Lewis added, "It is important that we let this dispute be decided in the proper forum, which is with the BIA and the court system. It is unfortunate that Nancy Ayala repeatedly engages in this behavior in order to give the appearance to Tribal members and the public that she has any authority."

Standoff at Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians ENDS in Multiple Arrests. Violent Action by Sheriffs End Standoff

A lengthy standoff at the tribal headquarters of the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians in Oroville ended in multiple arrests Thursday afternoon.

Butte County Sheriff's media liaison Miranda Bowersos said approximately 15 to 20 tribe members, unhappy with a certain internal tribal process, locked themselves in the headquarter building off Olive Highway around 1 a.m.

Deputies later revealed the protesting members were disgruntled due to a vote taken to remove numerous members from the tribe and reservation.

Deputies established contact with the individuals through the door of the building and were trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution. However, after hours of unsuccessful negotiations, deputies set of a flash bang grenade and accessed the building through a rear entry point around noon, said deputies.

All individuals inside were detained and transported to county jail, deputies said.

Learn More on Disenrollment, Ethnic Cleansing in Indian Gaming Country at these Links:

Gaming Revenue Blamed for Disenrollment

disenrollment is paper Genocide

CA Tribal Cleansing

Tribal terrorism

TRIBAL TERRORISM includes Banishment

Nooksack Disenrollment

Ninth Circuit Overturns BIA Sloan Family Ruling On Laytonville Rancheria Disenrollment Case

  The 9th Circuit on Wednesday narrowly overturned a ruling that would have forced the small Cahto Tribe in northern California to re-enroll 22 members.

     The federal appeals panel in San Francisco said the tribe's governing documents do not allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs to review the tribe's decision to disenroll members.

     The Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria has fewer than 100 voting members and occupies 200 acres in Mendocino County. In 1995, it voted to remove 22 people from its membership roll, all members of the Sloan-Heckler family.

     The tribe claimed the Sloan-Hecklers were ineligible for membership because they were affiliated with other tribes and/or accepted money from a settlement involving the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe.
     However, the family reportedly did not enroll with either tribe.

     Some speculated that the tribe wanted to shrink enrollment to boost payouts from its Red Fox Casino to existing tribe members.

     The tribe's attorney asked the BIA to "honor the action taken by the tribe ... and recognize the existing tribal members." The agency instead referred the matter to the tribe's executive council.
     It echoed this hands-off approach when disenrolled member Gene Sloan appealed the tribe's action in 1999.
     But in 2000, the BIA's superintendent and regional director said the agency would not recognize the tribe's decision to disenroll the Sloan-Hecklers.

     The Interior Board of Indian Appeals, which has jurisdiction over agency decisions, reversed, saying "BIA officials lacked decision-making authority in the circumstances."

     Nonetheless, the BIA explicitly took up Sloan's appeal in 2009. It refused to recognize the disenrollments and ordered the tribe to put the disenrolled members back on its membership roll.
     The tribe challenged the action in federal court, saying the BIA's involvement violated the Administrative Procedures Act.   
   
     A federal judge upheld the agency's decision as "not in excess of its authority," and the tribe appealed.
     "We hold that the tribe's ordinance is unambiguous and that it provides a right of appeal only for rejections of enrollment applications, not for disenrollment decisions," Judge Michael Hawkins wrote for the three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit.

     "Nowhere in the tribal documents is there a grant of authority to the BIA to review appeals from disenrollment decisions," the panel concluded.

Learn More on Disenrollment, Ethnic Cleansing in Indian Gaming Country at these Links:

Gaming Revenue Blamed for Disenrollment

disenrollment is paper Genocide

CA Tribal Cleansing

Tribal terrorism

TRIBAL TERRORISM includes Banishment

CA Tribal Disenrollment: Lifelong Dry Creek Rancheria Members LOSE Appeal

Two longtime Dry Creek Rancheria members who were running for office in a high-profile political battle learned Thursday they lost their appeal to stay in the tribe.

Carmen Cordova Soltanizadeh and Laila Elgin DeRouen said they were informed the Dry Creek board of directors voted 3-2 to disenroll them from the approximate 1,100-member tribe.

“We've been members our entire life,” said DeRouen, 29. “There's absolutely no basis for what they've done.”

“I am who I am, not because of them,” said Soltanizadeh, 34. “We've been a part of the reservation since it begun.”

Soltanizadeh said the first indication she got that the vote was against her was Thursday morning, when her $650 monthly per capita payment for being a tribal member was taken out of her bank account.

“It was put in, then reversed. That's how I knew the decision was made,” she said.

But by Thursday afternoon, she was informed the money, which is generated by Dry Creek's River Rock Casino, was redeposited by tribal officials who decided she would get the final payment after all, despite her disenrollment.

“By putting it in and taking it out, it was a slap in the face,” she said.

The dispute over the status of the two women led to the postponement of tribal elections in November.

DeRouen was running for secretary-treasurer of the five-member tribal board. Soltanizadeh was a candidate for tribal gaming commission.

The two women claim they were selectively disenrolled because they were challenging members of the salaried board who are up for re-election.

Tribal Chairman Harvey Hopkins, who is running for re-election, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.


Dry Creek Appeal Denied