August 9 is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – a celebration of the uniqueness of the traditions of Quechua, Huli, Zapotec, and thousands of other cultures, but also of the universality of potatoes, bananas, beans, and the rest of the foods that nourish the world. These crops did not arise out of thin air. They were domesticated over thousands of years, and continue to be nurtured, by Indigenous people. On this day we give thanks to these cultures for the diversity of our food.
Court issues mixed ruling on DAPL, letting the pipeline stay open during appeal
A federal appeals court gave Dakota Access a green light Wednesday, Aug. 5, to keep running its pipeline during a long appeals process, granting temporary relief to a North Dakota oil industry that was bracing for the costs of a sudden shutdown.
In a much-anticipated decision, a three-member panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals put an emergency stay on the immediate shutdown of DAPL, reversing last month’s order by trial court judge James Boasberg that the pipeline stop running by Aug. 5.
The decision came with a significant caveat. The appeals court stated that Dakota Access has so far failed to refute Boasberg’s order for a lengthy environmental review and called on the Army Corps of Engineers to clarify whether the pipeline should be allowed to keep running in violation of environmental law.
Interior Department appeals June ruling over Wampanoag land
The Department of the Interior is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that the department incorrectly found that the tribe did not qualify for land-in-trust status.
. . .
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, at the time, said that the department’s 2018 decision that the tribe was not under federal jurisdiction in 1934 was “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and contrary to law.” He sent the case back to the department for “thorough reconsideration and reevaluation of the evidence.”
The judge also said the department could take no further action on disestablishing the tribe’s reservation until it correctly applied its guidelines on reconsideration.
HALF OF OKLAHOMA IS “INDIAN COUNTRY.” WHAT IF ALL NATIVE TREATIES WERE UPHELD?
THE U.S. SUPREME Court issued a decision last week that altered the map of Oklahoma. The eastern half of the state, including much of Tulsa, is now, for legal purposes, Indian country. The Supreme Court decision was uncommon — Indigenous people have seen few victories so sweeping in the high court — but treaty violations like those that occurred in Oklahoma are not.
. . .
“As important and right on as this decision is, it does not give tribes anything new,” Sarah Krakoff, a law professor at the University of Colorado, told The Intercept. “There are these treaty promises and treaty rights, but tribes have to litigate to make them real, especially in the modern era, because from the time the treaties were negotiated until now, federal Indian policies abandoned commitment to treaties.”
Rulings like the one in Oklahoma, she added, affirm a reality that has been routinely ignored: “Treaties are the law of the land.”
Great Plains Tribes Win Important Legal Fight to Protect Tribal Water and Treaty Resources
NCAI Press Release:
The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Association (GPTCA), the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and the National Congress of American Indians Fund (NCAI Fund) applaud the D.C. District Court’s decision today to vacate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Lake Oahe easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline, and to require the removal of all oil flowing through the pipeline by August 5, 2020. This decision ensures that the treaty-reserved rights of the plaintiff tribes – the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Yankton Sioux Tribe, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe – are adequately addressed, along with any other land and natural resource considerations, in a full-fledged and well-documented environmental review process.
GPTCA, NARF, and NCAI Fund participated in a coalition of Native organizations submitting an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff tribes during the latest proceedings in the D.C. District Court and are encouraged by this outcome. We hope that this decision helps pave the way for full and proper environmental impact studies as well as meaningful consultation with tribal nations that have direct or indirect stewardship over the lands under review. Our organizations will continue to work to ensure that every time tribal lands and resources are at stake, the environmental review processes meet all legal standards and respect the federal government’s trust obligations to tribes set forth in federal laws.
###
About the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association:
Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association is made up of the 16 Tribal Chairmen, Presidents, and Chairpersons in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Their purpose is to provide a forum for sharing information on matters of interest to its member Tribes, develop consensus on matters of mutual importance, assist member Tribes in their governmental and programmatic development consistent with their goals for self-determination, and self-sufficiency and provide for effective public relations and education program with non-Indian communities. For more information, please visit http://gptca.net/index.html
About the National Congress of American Indians:
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of tribal governments and communities, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. For more information, visit www.ncai.org.
About the Native American Rights Fund:
Founded in 1970, NARF is the oldest and largest non-profit dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and individual Indians nationwide. For the past 50 years, NARF has represented over 275 Tribes in 31 states in such areas as tribal jurisdiction, federal recognition, land claims, hunting and fishing rights, religious liberties, and voting rights. For more information, visit www.narf.org.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- …
- 60
- Next Page »