DIALOGUING
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Johnny P. Flynn, “Indiana Governor
Needs to Appoint Members of State Indian Commission”
Stephen M.
Sachs, “Need for
More Indian Nations to Develop Independent Courts”
Ignacio
Ochoa, “Reforestation
Project in Antigua Guatemala: Save the forest, we need your
assistance!”
INDIANA GOVERNOR NEEDS TO APPOINT
MEMBERS OF STATE INDIAN COMMISSION
Johnny P. Flynn, PhD, IUPUI, jopflynn@IUPUI.EDU,
September 6. 2005
From today's Rapid City Journal. By investing a small
amount of money in an Indian Education coordinator, the state
of South Dakota gets a return of millions from the federal
government in the form of assistance to Indian students, K-12,
and higher education dollars. Not to mention the money the
tribes spend supporting higher education.
The state of Indiana so far refuses to even make the
necessary appointments to get the Native American Indian Commission
back on track. The Commission costs the state nothing, zero,
zilch, nada. For some reason, the three previous administrations
(O'Bannon, Kernan, and now Daniels), have seen fit to veto
attempts to give Indians a voice in state government (O'Bannon),
appoint a majority of non-Indians to the Native American Indian
Commission (Kernan), and ignore repeated requests to appoint
qualified Native Americans to the Commission to get it back
on track (Daniels).
These political moves only hurts the Indian students
in elementary and secondary schools who could benefit from
the development of Indian education programs. It would give
them shoes, books, tutoring, and other vital services. It
also harms higher education because native students are not
going to attend schools in a state that is to hostile to Indian
interests, or where the administration cannot find the time
to make a simple appointment to the Native American Indian
Commission.
Next Tuesday, September 13, there is a group of people
who are going to email, write, and call, Governor Daniels
office to beg and plead for the Governor to make the necessary
appointments to the Native American Indian Commission.
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NEED FOR MORE INDIAN NATIONS
TO DEVELOP INDEPENDANT COURTS
Stephen M. Sachs, IUPUI
It is increasingly becoming imperative for most Indian
Nations to develop independent courts to insure tribal member
rights and good government, as well as to enhance economic
development. The need for an impartial tribal judiciary is
currently most clear in the large and growing number of people
being removed from or refused tribal membership. Since the
passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and the signing
of Class II gaming compacts more than 1,500 Indians have been
removed from membership in 14 California tribes, while several
hundred people have had their membership terminated by tribes
elsewhere in the U.S., and still others say that they have
been improperly barred from becoming tribal members. Disenrollments
have occurred in disputes over tribal finances, often involving
distribution of gaming profits, and to disenfranchise and
punish political opponents and protestors. In most instances,
those involved have been left with no recourse, as many of
the nations concerned do not have tribal courts, and federal
courts have ruled that neither they nor state courts have
jurisdiction, as tribal membership is within the sovereignty
of each tribe.
The establishment of tribal courts would provide an appropriate
vehicle for justly resolving such cases and insuring fair
and democratic government, which is traditional across native
North America. But to effectively play that role, tribal judiciaries
must be sufficiently impartial and independent. In many instances,
tribal courts established under, or following the example
of, the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act can have their decisions
appealed to the tribal council, while in other instances judges
can be removed at will by the council. Thus, after 14 members
of the 46 member Las Vegas Paiute Tribe of Nevada succeeded
in having their 1999 disenrollment overturned in tribal trial
court and in the tribal appeals courts, the tribal council
passed a resolution firing the trial and appeals court judges,
and reversed the decision (See, Christine Graef, "Disenrollment:
'We’re not alone any more,'" News From Indian Country,
July 11, available on line at: http://www.indiancountrynews.com/fullstory.cfm?ID=272).
Therefore, it is essential that tribal courts be made appropriately
independent. Where single tribes are too small have their
own court or appeals system, or where impartiality can be
furthered by having judicial review beyond the immediate community,
Indian nations can collaborate in setting up intertribal court
systems, as the Lakota nations of the Dakotas have done in
establishing an intertribal court of appeals.
Establishment of independent tribal courts has additional
important benefits beyond providing fairness for a nation’s
members and keeping government responsible. It can enhance
tribal economic development by making potential investors
and business partners comfortable that, in case of dispute,
they have recourse to fair and unbiased courts. More important,
a native nation’s creation of its own judiciary allows it
to operate under laws and procedures following its own values
and traditions, and to resolve disputes in contemporarily
appropriate versions of traditional methods, as the Navajo
Nation has done.
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REFORESTATION PROJECT IN ANTIGUIA
GUATEMALA: SAVE THE FOREST, WE NEED YOUR ASSSISTANCE
Ignacio Ochoa, Director Nahual Foundation,
A Think Tank by and for Indigenous of the Americas
Ignacio Ochoa, Director of the Nahual Foundation, and
Elizabeth Bell, Director of the El Cerro de la Cruz (Hill
of the Cross) Association, have joined forces with the objective
of planting five thousand trees on the Cerro de la Cruz and
area surrounding during the winter of 2005-2006. The aim
of the tree planting is to recreate the original forest of
the Cerro de la Cruz, with cypress, ilamo, oak, nispero, jocote
and other species of birth native to the region. The participation
of the community along with international students has developed
into a pro-environment coalition to protect the natural patrimony
of the colonial city of Antigua and its surroundings.
On the 14th of August 2005, the day before
the celebration of the Feast of Saint Mary of the Assumtion,
trees were planted in the small village of El Guayabal, in
the town of El Hato (near Cerro de la Cruz). El Guayabal was
founded in 1930 by two families (Lobos and Socorec), who were
the caretakers of the Candelaria Coffee Farm. El Guayabal
is located a kilometer and half from the southern part of
the municipality of San Feliope de Jesus. In the town of
El Hato the Mayan language of Kaq’chiqel is spoken. The inhabitants
cultivate corn and beans.
El Guayabal is surrounded by coffee farm, and it is the
women who work during the harvest cutting the beans from the
plants to supplement the family’s income. From 1930 to 1995
there was only one road into the community from the town of
El Hato for the 549 residents. The road was rough, steep
and in bad condition. During the rainy season it was very
slippery. The neighbors organized and asked the coffee farm
owners to construct a new road with the exit toward the town
of San Felipe de Jesus for direct access to the city of Antigua.
The Mayor’s Office in Antigua Guatemala, has for many
years denied the families of El Guayabal basic services.
They have no electricity, no sewage disposal, no school, no
health center, no safe drinking water and no bus service.
For nine months, the President of the Community Council Development,
Mr. Julio Farfan, together with other community leaders have
been participating in the Workshops for Empowerment at the
Nahual Foundation. In the Workshops the participants learn
methods of bringing about changes in their communities to
enable the residents to develop their potential as human beings.
Mr. Julio Farfan is a graduate of the reforestation Workshop
of the Nahual Foundation. The recent tree planting in his
community of El Guayabal is a symbol of hope for the community,
a community that still desperately needs basic services.
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