Native American Rights Fund -- News

NARF hosts group of interdisciplinary research fellows from the Harvard Law School Environmental Law Program and Harvard Water Security Initiative

2012-01-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

On January 5, 2012, NARF hosted a group of interdisciplinary research fellows from the Harvard Law School Environmental Law Program and Harvard Water Security Initiative. The researchers are writing a background paper on water allocation and management in the Colorado River Basin and are consulting NARF because of NARF's expertise on tribal water rights and the pros and cons of litigation versus settlement of those rights.

Harvard intends to distribute this paper at an international water policy conference it is hosting this Spring of 2012. Other river basins being studied for the comparative conference include the Indus Basin of Pakistan/India; the Mississippi River Basin; the Murray-Darling Basin of Australia; and the Sao Francisco Basin of Brazil. For more information on NARF's Tribal water work, click here.

Klamath Tribes’ water rights confirmed in the Klamath Basin Water Rights Adjudication

2012-01-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

After more than 35 years of litigation the Klamath Tribes’ time-immemorial water rights to support their treaty-reserved hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering rights on the former Klamath Reservation have finally been quantified in the Klamath Basin Adjudication (KBA), for six of the Tribes’ eight claimed water sources – the Williamson River, the Sycan River, the Sprague River, the Wood River, the Klamath Marsh, and some 140 seeps and springs throughout the former Reservation. The journey began in 1975 with the filing of the Adair litigation, a federal court case which declared the existence of the Tribes’ water rights but deferred quantification of those rights to the State of Oregon’s processes in the KBA. On December 1, 2011, the Oregon Office of Administrative Hearings issued Proposed Orders in the six cases quantifying the Tribal water rights claims in the amounts claimed by the Tribes and the United States, Bureau of Indian Affairs, as trustee for the Tribes. The rulings were a resounding victory for the Tribal and federal Claimants, as they adopted, across-the-board, the flow amounts or water levels in each case sought by the Tribes, and confirmed, once again, that the Tribal water rights are the most senior in the Basin. Tribal Vice-chairman, Don Gentry stated, “This is a great day for the Klamath Tribes. It is a milestone in the Tribes’ struggle to protect their water, fishing, hunting and other Treaty rights.”

The Proposed Orders confirmed that the amounts of water claimed by the Tribes and the United States are the amounts necessary to establish and maintain a healthy and productive habitat for treaty species that will enable the Tribes to exercise their treaty protected hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering rights. “The Proposed Orders give everyone in the Basin plenty to think about,” said Jeff Mitchell who leads the Klamath Tribes’ Negotiating Team. The Team has been working hard on settlement negotiations regarding Klamath Basin water and related resource issues, resulting in the recent introduction of legislation to enact the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement. “These rulings highlight the role that the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement can play in resolving Basin water issues. The Tribes will be evaluating the rulings and discussing them with others in the Basin to determine the best path from here on.”

Significantly, Administrative Law Judge Joe Allen ruled that the Tribal water right claims may extend to off-reservation water sources where necessary to support the Tribes’ on-reservation treaty harvest rights. Judge Allen reasoned that the Tribes’ off-reservation claims are necessary “to protect spawning and other critical habitat necessary for the exercise of [the Tribes’] treaty rights.”

“This is an important step in the Adjudication. The cases will move on to Klamath County Circuit Court where much work remains to be done. Meanwhile, it is a time for the Tribes to feel good about their commitment to protecting Treaty water rights and other resources,” said Tribal Attorney, Bud Ullman.
Along with Klamath Water Adjudication Project attorneys Bud Ullman and Sue Noe, the Native American Rights Fund has represented the Klamath Tribes throughout the Klamath Basin Adjudication process. “A lot of thanks needs to be shared with all those involved over the past three decades, including NARF attorneys Walter Echo-Hawk (ret.) and David Gover, our colleagues at the US Department of Justice and Bureau of Indian Affairs, and of course the leadership and members of the Klamath Tribes but with that said there is a lot of work yet to come” said, NARF Executive Director, John Echohawk.

For more information, click HERE.

NIWOT NATIVE AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL

2012-01-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

January 6th 7:30pm-9:30pm
Located at Elysian Fields Auctions, 6924 79th Street, Niwot (Look for the signs!)

Festival is free – Donations accepted! Film Festival Director Ava Hamilton (Arapaho filmmaker) will introduce the film. Festival is hosted by Native American Producers Alliance & Ni-wot Prairie Productions Sponsors: Elysian Fields Auctions, Native American Rights Fund, and WHIZZBang Studios Contact info: Elizabeth Darling 303-931-3084 mailto:DarlingInNiwot@aol.com

On June 27, 1978, a 44-car Conrail freight train struck and killed two Crow Indian brothers near Little Falls, New York. The day before, the boys had disappeared. It was later revealed that the two boys — Bobby, 13, and Tyler, 11 — had run away from the white, Baptist family that had adopted them and their biological sisters seven years earlier, spiriting them from a troubled Montana reservation family to an idyllic Victorian castle across the country. Lost Sparrow is filmmaker Chris Billing’s investigation into the dark family secret that prompted his own adopted brothers’ fatal flight. Best Documentary Feature Award at the 34th annual American Indian Film Festival San Francisco, CA.

Buffy Saint Marie Has Kind Words for NARF

2011-12-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

In a recent interview, Buffy Sainte-Marie had some kind words for NARF and the importance of our work asserting and defending the rights of tribes. Thanks, Buffy!To read the interview, click HERE.

Make Your Year-End Gift Today to Support the Native American Rights Fund

2011-12-29T09:51:00.002-07:00

For the last 40 years, NARF has provided legal assistance to Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide who may have otherwise gone without adequate representation. Yet as the need for our services increases, our financial resources are being seriously drained. It's not too late to support our work. Your donation will be 100% tax-deductible and will create a lasting impact throughout Indian Country. As always, thank you for your continued support and best wishes for a New Year filled with peace, happiness and hope!

Click HERE for more information.

Staff in NARF's Boulder Office Celebrate the Holidays by Giving to Others

2011-12-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Staff in NARF's Boulder office recently raised several hundred dollars to purchase medicine, toiletries, and food for the Boulder Homeless Shelter. Though times are lean for everyone, NARF is dedicated to supporting our community and other non-profits, especially during the holidays and these long winter months. Cheers to our supporters and our community partners!

NARF wins case that upholds Alaska tribal government sovereignty

2011-12-21T07:57:00.001-07:00

On Friday, December 9, the Alaska Supreme Court agreed with NARF attorney Heather Kendall-Miller’s legal arguments and upheld Alaska tribal government sovereignty against a failed challenge that Alaska Tribes do not possess sovereign immunity from suit. In the case, McCrary v. Ivanof Bay Village, Appellant McCrary challenged the federal recognition of Ivanof Bay Village and the corollary right of the tribe to claim sovereign immunity from suit in the context of a contractual dispute. Appellant was represented by Don Mitchell, an Alaska attorney who has spent much of his career arguing that Congress has not approved Interior’s authority to acknowledge preexisting tribal status. However, tribal government legal status has now been clearly upheld by the Alaska Supreme Court in two successive decisions and McCrary has no other recourse in the state court system

For a copy of the opinion, click here.

For a radio story discussing the Alaska Supreme Court’s opinion, click here.

Tribal Constitution Handbook Now Available

2011-12-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

Tribal Constitution Handbook: A Guide to Writing and Revising Tribal Constitutions]
A tribe's fundamental act of self-governance is the writing or revising of its tribal constitution. A well-crafted constitution is the cornerstone of sound tribal governance. This Handbook is intended to help a tribe protect and foster its tribal sovereignty and self-governance, and to protect tribal members in the exercise of that self-governance.

This book, written by former NARF attorney Mark Tilden is now available for purchase on the NARF website. Click HERE for more information.

Thank You 2011 NARF Summer Law Clerks

2011-12-12T13:24:00.004-07:00

Each summer NARF hosts the summer clerkship program, a ten to twelve week program for second year law students. Law clerk projects consist mainly of legal research and writing. The projects are extremely challenging because NARF practices before federal, state, and tribal forums, and because most of its cases - whether at the administrative, trial, or appellate level - are complex and involve novel legal issues.

This past year the law clerk program was supported by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians through the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund, University of Denver-Sturm College of Law and the Ungar Foundation/Smith, Shelton, and Ragona LLC.

Meet the clerks who worked with us last summer: Jacqueline Jampolsky (Cherokee), Lauren Frinkman (Cochiti Pueblo), Claire Newman, Ryan Ward (Cowlitz Tribe) and Elizabeth Hutchinson.

Jacqueline Jampolsky (Cherokee)
JJ is working towards (2013) a joint JD/PhD degree at CU Law (American Indian Law Certificate and Environmental Law and Policy). She obtained her BS, majoring in Conservation and Resource Studies and minoring in Global Poverty and Practice, from the University of California-Berkeley.

Lauren Frinkman (Cochiti Pueblo)
Lauren is a third year student at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law where she is President of their NALSA chapter and a Board Member of the National Lawyers Guild. She obtained her B.A., majoring in Religion and minoring in German, from Colorado College. Lauren has been a Law Clerk with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and a Public Interest Fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

Claire Newman
Claire is a third year student at the University of Washington School of Law where she is President of their NALSA group, an Environmental Law Program Student Representative and the Pro Bono Project Director. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Carleton College. Claire has been a legal fellow for the Washington Environmental Council and in the Office of Senator Maria Cantwell. From 2007-2009 she was Assistant Director for the Lakota People’s Law Project. Claire has also been a middle school teacher at the Red Cloud Indian School on Pine Ridge.

DC Office
Ryan Ward (Cowlitz Tribe)
Ryan is a third year student at the University of Washington School of Law where he is Vice-President of NALSA chapter and a member of the Trustees for Alaska Pro Bono Project. He received his B.A. in History (Emphasis in Federal Indian Policy) from Willamette University. He has been a Judicial Intern for the Honorable W. Michael Gillette of the Supreme Court of Oregon and a high school tutor for students at the Chemawa Indian School.

Anchorage Office
Elizabeth Hutchinson
Elizabeth is a second year student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where she is a Representative of the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Society. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Davis where she majored in International Relations and minored in Comparative Literature. Elizabeth participated in 2011 Alternative Spring Break – DNA Legal Services. She worked in the Alaska office as part of Seattle University’s Study Law in Alaska Program.

Obama Signs Executive Order on American Indian and Alaska Native education

2011-12-07T11:40:00.003-07:00

At last Friday’s White House Tribal Nations Conference, President Obama announced he had signed an executive order establishing a White House initiative on American Indian and Alaska native education. NARF Staff Attorney Amy Bowers works on Native education efforts and is excited about the Administration’s support for tribal colleges and universities, and tribal education agencies expressed in the Executive Order. This executive order is a first step in the direction achieving tribal sovereignty in Native education, and NARF commends President Obama for his commitment to the issue.

For more information about this, click HERE.

Leverage Your Donation!

2011-12-02T08:08:00.004-07:00

Celebrate Colorado Gives Day
with NARF and Tocabe

Join the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) at Tocabe, an American Indian Eatery, Tuesday, December 6th for great food, fun and prizes. On Colorado Gives Day, all donations to NARF will be matched through the Community First Foundation. For one day only, you can increase the impact of your gift!

The fun will run all day, 11 AM – 9 PM. Get together, enjoy specials from the delicious Tocabe menu, connect with old friends and meet new—all while supporting justice for Native Americans.
If you cannot join us at Tocabe, you can still leverage your donation! Just go to the Colorado Gives Day website on December 6th. 100% of your donation goes directly to NARF when you give through http://www.cogivesday.org. So, please give online any time on December 6, 2011. The value of your donation will be increased by the FirstBank Incentive Fund.

For more information, call the Native American Rights Fund at (303)447-8760, www.narf.org or visit the Colorado Gives web site at http://www.cogivesday.org/.

The Native American Rights Fund has been headquartered in Colorado for 40 years. NARF helps tribes and Native people nation wide in areas of tribal sovereignty, treaty enforcement, education and protection of natural resources, cultural practices and sacred sites.
Tocabe, the only American Indian Eatery on the Front Range, is operated by Ben Jacobs and Matt Chandra. They are open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Tocabe is located at 3536 W 44th Ave., Denver CO, 80211 - (720)-524-8282.

The Community First Foundation started Colorado Gives Day in 2010. The Foundation helps donors support charitable causes through planned giving and Donor Advised Funds, and offer grants, fund management and education to nonprofits. They have been serving the community since 1975.

NARF Joins With Environmental Leaders to Call on Administration to Fix Pacific Salmon Crisis

2011-12-02T07:45:00.004-07:00

NARF has joined with leaders of six of the nation's leading environmental and conservation groups to call on Commerce Secretary John Bryson and Council for Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley for their assistance in solving the decades-long controversy surrounding restoration of wild salmon and steelhead to the Columbia/Snake River Basin. In this letter, NARF and American Rivers, Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Sierra Club have asked the Secretary and the Chairwoman to meet with them to discuss how to bring stake-holders together to find a solution that protects these remarkable fish and the Pacific Northwest jobs, economy, and cultural and religious values they support.

"It's time to try something new," said Trip Van Noppen, Earthjustice President. "We've been litigating and winning in the federal courts for more than a decade. The Court's most recent decision provides a unique opportunity to develop a process and a solution that can go beyond the courthouse and bring all stakeholders together to find a long-lasting solution. The time is now and we are urging this administration to see that reality and act on it. We can continue to argue this in court, and I believe we will continue to win those arguments, but if we step back and take a different approach - an approach tried in numerous other situations around this country - and bring the affected parties together, we could chart a new course that works for the whole region. Why this administration has so far been afraid to take the step of sitting down and talking with people is beyond me. We hope a meeting with Secretary Bryson and Chairwoman Sutley will get to the bottom of this problem and let us all get going on a solution. "

This letter comes on the heels of a request from more than 1200 businesses across the country asking President Obama for the same stakeholder process and a bi-partisan letter from the House of Representatives, signed by more than 50 members of Congress, asking for the same.

To read the letter, click HERE.

Happy Thanksgiving from your Friends at NARF!

2011-11-22T15:38:00.003-07:00

NARF Recognizes Kunani Nihipali

2011-11-17T07:01:00.002-07:00

At last month’s board meeting we also recognized Kunani Nihipali, our former Board of Directors Vice-Chairman and longtime supporter for his years of service to NARF and Native Hawaiian issues.

Mr. Nihipali is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools and a longtime advocate for Native Hawaiians. He is the Vice President and Director of the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council (dba Ke Kia’i), which works to protect traditional and customary practices and build economic independence. He is also the Director of the Pacific Alliance Advisors (PA‘A) and a core group member of Aloha First, a Native Hawaiian initiative for peace and survival. In addition, Mr. Nihipali is also a director with the Pu’a Foundation.

Mr. Nihipali has also served as the Project Director and an instructor of E Hana Like (working together) programs for Kanaka children and adults through grants from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Mr. Nihipali rounds out his expertise with his awareness of farming, fishing, language, video technician work, grant writing, the arts (multi-media contemporary, traditional visual, and performing), restoration of cultural sites and rebuilding of contemporary burial and sacred sites for na iwi kupuna through the Ola Na Iwi Project.

Finally, Mr. Nihipali served as the Po’o (Head) of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna o Hawai’i Nei (Hui Malama), a group caring for the ancestors of ka pae ‘aina o Hawai’i through repatriation and reinterment. Hui Malama has conducted reburial ceremonies throughout the Hawaiian island archipelago, and based on cultural training and practice, legal standing, and national and international efforts, the group has repatriated over 5,700 iwi kupuna and moepu from thirty-one institutions in the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland and Scotland.

We will greatly miss Mr. Kihipali and his wife, Ipo. Thank you both for your support and dedication.

NARF Recognizes the Service of Delia M. Carlyle

2011-11-15T13:30:00.003-07:00

At last month’s board meeting NARF recognized Delia M. Carlyle, our former Board Chairwoman and longtime supporter for her years of service to NARF and Native American issues.

Ms. Carlyle is currently a member of the Ak-Chin Indian Community Council. During her years on the Council, she has served in the capacity of Chairwoman, Vice-Chairwoman, and Secretary. Ms. Carlyle also served as the Chairwoman of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association and she is the first recipient of the Phyllis Bigpond Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ms. Carlyle joined the staff at the Ak-Chin Community Center, currently known as the Service Center, in 1978 and was appointed its Director in 1994. Her professional and political service to the Community Center and the Community Council enable her to assist with creating and implementing programs in areas such as housing, health, transportation, social services, education and community development, all of which directly benefit her community.

Ms. Carlyle graduated from Maricopa High School in 1974, and attended Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas and Central Arizona College. As a community and civic leader, Ms. Carlyle, has been recognized many times for her service and contributions. Despite her many accomplishments, Ms. Carlyle firmly believes her greatest achievements are her children and grandchildren.

Thank you, Ms. Carlyle, for your dedicated service to NARF.

John Echohawk to Speak at CU

2011-11-08T07:20:00.002-07:00

John Echohawk, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund, will be coming to speak at Colorado Law, Wolf Law Building on the Boulder campus on Friday at 6 pm in the Wittemyer Court Room.

Mr. Echohawk, Pawnee, was the first graduate of the University of New Mexico's special program to train Indian lawyers, and was a founding member of the American Indian Law Students Association while in law school. John has been with NARF since its inception, having served continuously as Executive Director since 1977. He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and has received numerous service awards and other recognition for his leadership in the Indian law field. John will be sharing his personal perspective on his experience in the field of native rights activism, for the purpose of inspiring aspiring professionals for the future.

What John means to the community, and what he has achieved in the field of Indian Law is hardly encompassed in his bio. This will be a special event, and welcome you, your friends, family, co-workers and everybody else to come!

For more information click HERE.

Staff Attorney Kim Gottschalk moderating a workshop on the UNDRIP

2011-11-01T14:31:00.004-06:00

If you're at NCAI this week and interested in learning more about the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), NARF Staff Attorney Kim Gottschalk will be moderating the workshop, Moving UNDRIP to Action. The workshop will be an opportunity for tribal leaders, advocates, and representatives to learn about how to strategically use the UNDRIP at the local, regional, and national level to affect change.

Click this link for more information.

NARF, TEDNA, and CTUIR present briefing on the Native Class Act

2011-11-01T08:18:00.003-06:00

Interested in learning more about Indian education efforts in Congress? NARF Staff Attorney Amy Bowers will present a briefing on the Native Class Act at NCAI this Wednesday, November 2 in Portland, OR. Amy will discuss how the Act increases tribal sovereignty and funding available to tribal governments for education purposes. Follow this link for more information.

Boulder Conversations with EXTRAORDINARY People

2011-11-01T08:06:00.004-06:00

Native American Rights Fund's Executive Director John Echohawk will speak at the Boulder History Museum’s Conversations with Extraordinary People event. Please follow this link for ticket information.

John Echohawk has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and has received numerous service awards and other recognition for his leadership in the Indian law field.

Find more information HERE.

NARF Receives 3 Star Rating from Charity Navigator

2011-10-24T13:30:00.004-06:00

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has been upgraded to a three-star (of a possible four) rating by Charity Navigator, the nation’s leading charity watchdog group. Charity Navigator’s evaluations of a charity’s Financial Health --- which examine how a charity manages its finances day to day and how financially well-positioned it is in order to sustain its programs over time --- have helped millions of donors make better giving decisions impacting billions of dollars of donations each year.

“We are very pleased to be recognized by Charity Navigator in this way,” said Morgan O’Brien, NARF Director of Development. “We have worked hard to improve in all areas of efficiency and transparency.”

NARF is the largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to protecting tribal sovereignty and enforcing treaty rights. NARF also helps protect the rights of Native Americans to practice their traditional religions, speak their own languages and enjoy their cultures.

Charity Navigator, America's premiere independent charity evaluator, works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the Financial Health and Accountability and Transparency of America's largest charities.

“In these difficult economic times, we’re thrilled to give donors more information to help them determine which charities they support are efficient and accountable,” said Ken Berger, President & CEO of Charity Navigator. “So, for the first time since launching our charity rating service nearly 10 years ago, we’ve made a major enhancement to our rating system. We know that donors will welcome this change as it gives them more knowledge to do more good.”

NARF Sponsors Indian Water Rights Symposium

2011-10-24T13:27:00.003-06:00

On August 23-25, 2011, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and the Western States Water Council (WSWC) held the twelfth Symposium on the Settlement of Indian Reserved Water Rights Claims. Since 1991, the NARF and WSWC have sponsored a biennial Symposium to discuss the settlement of Indian reserved water rights claims. This year’s symposium was held in Billings, Montana with over 225 people in attendance.

Globally, an estimated 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water. In the United States, only 0.6% of the population lacks Access to drinking water and wastewater disposal. But disproportionately, 13% of American Indians lack that access—some 20 times the national average.

NARF has been engaged in litigating and negotiating water rights for tribes for decades, and water law comprises a significant portion of our case load. In Winters v. United States, the right to water was impliedly reserved for the resident tribes with the creation of their reservations. The quantity of Indian water rights is measured by the amount of water needed to fulfill the present and future needs of the reservation – cultural, domestic, municipal, commercial, industrial and agricultural.

U.S. Senator Jon Tester recognizes the value of negotiated water settlements, and greeted the Symposium participants with this message:

“We’re already seeing the benefits of water settlements in Montana—like jobs and stronger infrastructure. But our work is not done. In addition to the Crow Water Settlement, which passed last year, I continue fighting to get the resources necessary to build authorized projects at Rocky Boy and Fort Peck. We’re also looking for opportunities to advance settlements on the Fort Belknap and Blackfeet reservations.”

This year’s session topics included: Negotiation of Indian Water Rights Claims - the Basics; Settlement Implementation - the Administration’s Settlement Policy; and Settlement Legislation - Getting Bills through Congress. The primary Symposium format consists of panel discussions with presenters who have been involved in negotiated settlements representing tribal, state, local, and federal governments, interest groups, congressional staff, and others. The Symposium schedule provided opportunities for informal interchange and cultural enlightenment. A main feature of the Symposium is always a tour of a local Indian community that highlights a recent settlement’s benefits. This year’s field trip toured the Crow Reservation and concluded with an evening social and cultural event hosted by the Crow Tribe.

For additional information about the Symposium program and to download materials, go to www.narf.org/water.

NCAIED Honors NARF Attorney Amy Bowers

2011-09-07T12:46:00.000-06:00

The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) will honor 40 American Indian professionals under the age of 40 at its 36th Annual Indian Progress in Business Awards Event (INPRO) on September 8 in Hollywood, Florida. Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Attorney Amy Bowers is one of the honorees. Read More

CCIA Taps NARF Attorney Steve Moore

2011-09-07T12:44:00.002-06:00

The Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs (CCIA) announced its newest members at its quarterly meeting on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in Towaoc, Colorado. Steve Moore, an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, and Dr. Rocco Fuschetto, School Superintendent, Ignacio School District, will hold one-year appointments to the commission, according to a press release. Dr. Fuschetto is a first-time appointee; Moore has served as a member of the Commission since 1999. Read More

NARF Attorney Natalie Landreth to Argue in Ninth Circuit

2011-09-07T12:43:00.001-06:00

Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Attorney Natalie Landreth will argue an historic hunting and fishing rights case, Eyak v. Locke, Secretary of Commerce, before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on September 21st. The legal precedents for this case flow directly from United States v. Washington, the landmark case won by NARF and other advocates in 1973 on behalf of salmon fishing tribes in the State of Washington. Professor Charles Wilkinson, co-author of the leading textbook on federal Indian law, recently described United States v. Washington as “…along with Brown v. Board of Education, the two most important civil rights cases of the 20th century. Read More

NARF Testifies for Native Education

2011-08-10T12:44:00.003-06:00

NARF staff attorney Amy Bowers testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs last month in support of the Native Culture, Language, and Access for Success in Schools Act. The Act would dramatically increase in tribal sovereignty in Indian education and marks a policy shift in education law toward recognition of the rights of tribes to educate their tribal members.

NARF appeared on behalf of its client, the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA). TEDNA is a consortium of 156 tribes dedicated to improving the academic performance of Native students by assuring adequate resources and local community and tribal input into curriculum and decision making.

The federal government has a trust responsibility to provide education for Native American students. For too long this has not been met and these students are struggling. American Indian and Alaska Native students are the lowest performing group on standardized tests. The national high school dropout rate of Native American students is 50% and even higher in many states.

Tribal education departments can help reverse these troubling trends by ensuring education is culturally appropriate. Specific examples include:

The Pueblo of Jemez Alatowa High Charter School has a graduation rate of 89.4%.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe learning center increased at risk students’ grades by two letters.

The Cherokee Nation has contributed over $19 million in 8 years to public schools and has worked with Apple Computers to make the Cherokee language available on iPhones, iPods, and apple laptops.

Amy Bower’s testimony before Committee Chairman Senator Daniel Akaka and committee focused on building on those success stories."The enormous opportunity to invest in TEDs and tribes for the sake of Native students must be seized. S.1262 does this. It aligns Federal law with what is already happening, and with what needs to happen." View all of Amy’s testimony.

To support NARF’s continuing work on behalf Native students, and all of NARF’s work in Indian Country, click here.

National Day of Prayer

2011-06-14T15:19:00.002-06:00

The National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places is being observed at the Native American Rights Fund on Friday, June 17, 2011

The public is welcome to a sunrise ceremony that will be held on NARF's front lawn beginning at 7:00 a.m. The program is expected to last for one hour with a prayer ceremony. Community members have been invited to speak, as well as other NARF staff. Speakers will be followed by a moment of silence to show concern for the sacred places that are being damaged and destroyed today.

The Native American Rights Fund is headquartered at 1506 Broadway in Boulder, Colorado. NARF extends an open invitation to its program and requests that participants bring a chair or a blanket to the front lawn and to bring food and/or beverages to share at the completion of the program.

As part of its mission, the Native American Rights Fund advocates for sacred site protection, religious freedom efforts and cultural rights. NARF attorneys and staff participate in local and national gatherings and discussions about how to protect lands that are sacred and precious to Native Americans.

The Native American Rights Fund utilizes its resources to protect First Amendment rights of Native American religious leaders, prisoners and members of the Native American Church, and to assert tribal rights to cultural property and human remains, in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Please join us! If you have any questions please contact Rose Cuny at 303-447-8760.

New Supreme Court Update Available

2011-03-25T11:38:00.003-06:00

At present, two important Indian trust cases are pending on the merits before the Court. First, the Tribal Supreme Court Project is finalizing the preparation of amicus briefs in support of the Tribe in United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation which will be argued before the Court on April 20, 2011. In this case, the United States is challenging the Federal Circuit’s ruling that the federal government “cannot deny an Indian tribe’s request to discover communications between the United States and its attorneys based on the attorney-client privilege when those communications concern the management of an Indian trust.” Second, the Project continues to wait for the Court to issue its decision in United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation which was argued on November 1, 2010. The delay in issuing an opinion may indicate a lack of consensus on the Court regarding the broad rule requested by the United States which would preclude any Indian tribe from bringing money damages claims in the Court of Federal Claims if they have filed a “related” tribal trust mismanagement case in another court even though it seeks different (e.g. equitable and injunctive) relief.

As reported last month, the Court has called for the views of the Solicitor General in three other Indian law cases: Osage Nation v. Irby (reservation disestablishment); Brown (formerly Schwarzenegger) v. Rincon Band (IGRA “revenue” sharing); and Miccosukee Tribe v. Kraus-Anderson (enforcement of tribal court judgments). More than likely, the Solicitor General will not file his briefs until after the Court’s April 2011 oral argument session, but the petitions will likely be considered in conference before the Court adjourns for its summer recess at the end of June 2011.

You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the Project’s website.

State high court empowers tribes' child custody decisions

2011-03-07T06:58:00.003-07:00

Tanana v. State, No. 3AN-04-12194 CI, No. 6542

Contact: Heather Kendall Miller, Senior Staff Attorney and Counsel for Tanana.

Last Friday the Alaska Supreme Court issued a broad affirmation of inherent tribal authority. In State of Alaska v. Tanana the Court ruled that tribal courts have authority to initiate and adjudicate children’s cases without going through state courts.

The case was brought in 2004 on behalf of the Villages of Tanana, Nulato, Akiak, Kalskag, Lower Kalskag and Kenaitze along with Theresa and Dan Schwietert. The case was brought after Governor Murkowsi’s administration, on the advice of former Attorney General Greg Renkes, abruptly stopped recognizing tribal court decrees in cases that did not originate in state court. Renkes argued that only state courts could initiate children’s cases and if they chose, transfer those cases to tribal courts. He also instructed state employees to stop recognizing or enforcing tribal court decrees. The case was brought to overturn Renkes’ opinion and to force the State, its agencies and officials to formally recognize valid tribal court decrees without regard to any state court involvement.

State services frequently do not reach village Alaska. Tribal courts must therefore handle most cases involving the welfare of village children. State recognition of those tribal court proceedings is therefore critical to assure that proceedings which occur in tribal court are then respected by other state agencies. Otherwise, adoptive parents may not be able to participate in state funded assistance programs, secure substitute birth certificates necessary to travel out of state, to enroll children in school, or to secure medical care.

The Schwieterts faced just such a dilemma. After adopting a special needs child in Tanana tribal court, they had difficulty accessing health care. They were also frustrated in their plans to travel out of state when they were told that they could not acquire a substitute birth certificate for their adoptive child since the child had been adopted in a tribal rather than state court proceeding.

NARF attorney Heather Kendall Miller called on Governor Parnell and Attorney General Burns to rescind the Renkes Opinion and instead take this opportunity to work with tribes and tribal courts to ensure the protection of all children, no matter which court their case is in. She sounded on a positive note: “now that the Court has reaffirmed tribal authority in this area I look forward to working with Attorney General Burns to better coordinate tribal and state services in village Alaska.”

For more information see: http://www.courts.alaska.gov/ops/sp-6542.pdf

Supreme Court Update Available

2011-02-23T07:08:00.002-07:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review. You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF website (www.narf.org/sct/index.html).

At present, the Supreme Court remains extremely (and unusually) active in relation to its Indian law case docket. In its order of February 22, 2011, the Court invited the Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the views of the United States in Osage Nation v. Irby. This practice by the Court is known as a “CVSG” (Call for the Views of the Solicitor General) and generally occurs when the views of the federal government are relevant to a case in which the United States is not a party. It is not unusual for the Court to CVSG in an Indian law case on occasion—once every two or three years—particularly when the petitioner is a state or local government challenging an Indian tribe. Thus, it was not unusual for the Court to CVSG in the Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council case late last term when the State of Alaska challenged the authority of the Tribal Court over a tribal member-child placement proceeding (cert denied October 4, 2011).

However, the Court has now Called for the Views of the Solicitor General in a total of four Indian law cases this term: Osage Nation v. Irby (reservation disestablishment); Brown (formerly Schwarzenegger) v. Rincon Band (IGRA “revenue” sharing); Miccosukee Tribe v. Kraus-Anderson (enforcement of tribal court judgments); and Thunderhorse v. Pierce (Native American religious practices). In three of the four cases, Indian tribes and Indian interests have been on the top-side—the petitioners seeking review by the Court. The court denied review in Thunderhorse, but there is a good chance it may grant review in Osage Nation or Miccosukee Tribe, largely dependent on the views of the Solicitor General. In another remarkable development, the Court has requested a response from the State of Oklahoma in the Native Wholesale Supply case (state regulation of intertribal commerce)—the first time in the history of the Project that the Court has required a state government to respond to a petition filed by Indians. Although it would be premature to draw any conclusions regarding these “requests” by the Court, these developments may be the result of the addition of Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan on the Court. Perhaps one or both Justices are seeking a better understanding of the issues being raised and the law being applied by the lower federal and state courts in our Indian law cases.

You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the Project’s website
(www.narf.org/sct/index.html).Click to read the full Update Memo.

THE NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND NAMED ONE OF “40 HEROES” AT THE ACLU’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY LIBERTY AWARDS GALA

2011-02-01T12:39:00.001-07:00

Anchorage, Alaska -- On January 22, the Alaska Office of the Native American Rights Fund was named one of the 40 Heroes of Constitutional Rights by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska. In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Alaska office of the ACLU honored the 40 people and organizations that it considered to be heroes of constitutional rights. NARF was honored for its long history of commitment to upholding the rights of Alaska Native people as described in the following excerpt from the event program:

“The Alaska Office is responsible for many of the major subsistence decisions in Alaska in the past 25 years, such as the milestone Katie John case. . . The Alaska Office has also prioritized the protection of tribal sovereignty and has successfully litigated numerous cases affirming the governmental status of Alaska Tribes as possessing inherent authority over their members.”
The ACLU also noted that it has partnered with the NARF Alaska Office in two critical cases upholding the rights of indigenous people to use their Native languages:

“The first case successfully challenged the ‘English Only’ law that required individuals to speak only English when engaged in government business, such as at the DMV or in court. In the second case, NARF and the ACLU of Alaska sued the State of Alaska for violation of the Voting Rights Act by failing to provide language assistance to thousands of Alaska’s Yup’ik-speaking voters. Following a preliminary injunction, a comprehensive agreement was reached which includes translation and interpretation assistance for all Yup’ik speaking voters throughout the registration and voting process.”

NARF is honored to be named one of the ACLU’s 40 Heroes. For more information on the Alaska Office or its recent court victories please go to www.narf.org.

Supreme Court Update Available

2011-01-10T14:52:00.004-07:00

There has been a stunning development in the Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York case. Today, the Supreme Court issued an order vacating the opinion and remanded Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The remand order is a victory for the Oneida Indian Nation, the Tribal Supreme Court Project, and for all of Indian country. From the time when the Court granted review, this case was viewed as a prime opportunity for the Court to revisit its precedent and to carve out a significant exception to the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity. At least for now, that result has been averted.

The remand order was based on the November 30, 2010 letter from the Oneida Indian Nation informing the Court that the Nation had passed a tribal “Declaration of Irrevocable Waiver of Immunity” which waived “its sovereign immunity to enforcement of real property taxation through foreclosure by state, county and local governments within and throughout the United States.” The Oneida Indian Nation recognized the inherent danger of the Court’s review of the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity and informed the Court that it had taken this step “to clarify that, as contemplated by its prior posting of letters of credit covering taxes on all lands at issue in this case, it is prepared to make payment on all taxes that are lawfully due.” Evidently, the Court was persuaded that the declaration and waiver moots the primary question presented.

Unfortunately, in spite of the best efforts of the Project, last week the Court granted review in United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation, a case involving a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which upheld right of Indian tribes as beneficiaries to obtain all information relating to the management of their tribal trust funds by the United States. The Federal Circuit found that the federal government “cannot deny an Indian tribe’s request to discover communications between the United States and its attorneys based on the attorney-client privilege when those communications concern the management of an Indian trust and the United States has not claimed that the government or its attorneys considered a specific competing interest in those communications.” The Federal Circuit adopted the fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege in tribal trust cases which permits a beneficiary to discover information relating to fiduciary matters (including trust management). The Project will continue to work with the Tribe and all interested parties to secure the best possible result.

Click to read the full Update Memo.

U.S. Endorses the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

2010-12-16T14:50:00.002-07:00

Today, at the White House Tribal Nations Conference, President Obama made the historic announcement that the United States has reversed its previous negative vote and now endorses the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In announcing the change in position, President Obama stated… "And as you know, in April, we announced that we were reviewing our position on the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. And today I can announce that the United States is lending its support to this declaration. The aspirations it affirms - including the respect for the institutions and rich cultures of Native peoples - are one we must always seek to fulfill… But I want to be clear. What matters far more than words - what matters far more than any resolution or declaration - are actions to match those words... That's the standard I expect my administration to be held to."

The United States is the last of four countries who voted against the Declaration in September 2007 to reverse its vote and to join the international chorus of voices recognizing the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples. Australia, Canada and New Zealand had previously reversed their opposition to the Declaration.

Indigenous peoples world-wide have worked on the Declaration since the late 1970s. The Native American Rights Fund has worked on the Declaration with its client, the National Congress of American Indians, since 1999. The Declaration affirms the collective human rights of Indigenous peoples across a broad range of areas including self-determination, spirituality, land rights, and rights to intellectual property.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Land-Claim Settlement Agreement Stands On Firm Legal Ground

2010-12-07T15:54:00.003-07:00

By: John E. Echohawk, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund, Boulder, CO

On November 22, 2010, New York State, Madison County, the Town of Stockbridge and my client, the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, signed an historic land-claim settlement agreement. This settlement, if joined by the Department of the Interior, will resolve with finality Stockbridge’s claim to more than 23,000 acres in central New York. But this agreement will do much more than end a 24-year-old lawsuit.

In addition to concluding decades of contentious litigation that has strained the social fabric of many central New York communities, this settlement provides important benefits to the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe. First and foremost, it recognizes what so many seem to have either overlooked or chosen to ignore—from time immemorial until the early 1700s the Mohican Indians lived and prospered in the Hudson River valley. In 1609, the Mohicans welcomed Henry Hudson and the crew of the Half Moon to the New World. The Mohican villages are now gone from the banks of the Hudson, but the bones of their ancestors reside there to this day and, tragically, it is not uncommon for them to be plowed to the surface every spring in farmers’ fields up and down the valley. For native peoples, whose very identity is for all time intertwined with ancestry and place, this is a travesty that is at once heartbreaking and humiliating.

These circumstances need not endure—the Stockbridge land-claim settlement agreement will help the Tribe mitigate the ongoing loss of cultural resources by creating a tribal-state cooperative process to protect historic sites. And, by authorizing development of a destination resort and casino in Sullivan County, it will provide the Tribe with the financial resources that will ensure that its cultural resources in the Hudson valley are protected. In addition, the settlement promises substantial benefits for the people of New York State. By creating thousands of non-Indian jobs, much needed development in the economically depressed Catskills region, and a desperately needed multi-million-dollar revenue stream for New York State, the agreement creates opportunities for Indian and non-Indian communities alike.
But in the days following its public announcement, the Stockbridge agreement has been loudly criticized in the press by the Tribe’s business competitors, both Indian and non-Indian, because it supposedly stands on legal footing so shaky that it cannot possibly win approval by the Interior Department. Specifically, it has been said that a tribal land-claim settlement agreement, to be effective, must be ratified by Congressional action. Because approval of this settlement is so critical to my client, they have asked me to publicly explain the legal underpinnings of its settlement agreement. As this non-Congressional settlement avenue was initially proposed by me to the Interior Department’s top lawyer for Indian Affairs, I am happy to set forth what I and the other Indian-law practitioners on the Tribe’s legal team regard as the agreement’s rock-solid legal footing.

First, it is true that most Indian land claims have been resolved by Congressional acts. Indeed, my firm, the non-profit Native American Rights Fund has initiated and pursued land-claim litigation on behalf of several eastern tribes which has resulted in the enactment of Congressional settlement legislation. But, in 2005 it became apparent that a non-Congressional settlement avenue might also be available to tribes to settle the few remaining Indian land claim cases, most of which, for complicated reasons unique to New York, are situated there. In that year, the Seneca Nation’s claim to land surrounding Cuba Lake was resolved using essentially the same mechanism we have employed in the Stockbridge agreement. In that case, the Seneca Tribe, the United States and the State entered into a three-party agreement whereby New York returned some of the land around the lake to the Senecas. In return, the Senecas permanently dismissed their claim. Stockbridge will be the second New York Indian land-claim suit to be resolved without an act of Congress.

Turning now to the federal statutes and regulations governing gaming on off-reservation lands, we must first understand that Congress’ primary purpose in passing the 1988 federal law governing Indian gaming was to promote tribal self-sufficiency and economic development. This law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or “IGRA,” permits Indian tribes to conduct gaming operations on their reservations and on certain off-reservation lands, but only if those lands also qualify as “Indian land.” The most common type of off-reservation “Indian land” is land held in trust for a tribe’s benefit by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. While the BIA has continuing authority to accept land in trust upon request by the title holder (usually a tribe), IGRA limits this power by prohibiting gaming on non-reservation land acquired after 1988.

But the 1988 act makes four narrow exceptions to this general prohibition, and one of these, the exception for lands “taken into trust as part of a settlement of a land claim,” is the exception relied on in the Stockbridge settlement agreement.
In 2008, the Bureau of Indian Affairs amended its IGRA-implementing-regulations to allow gaming on tribal land acquired by BIA in trust if it was acquired pursuant to a settlement agreement to which the United States is a party and some portion of the land claimed by the tribe in its land-claim lawsuit had been returned to the tribe via a 2005 Seneca-type land-claim settlement agreement. Previously, BIA’s regulations had envisioned gaming only on land-claim-settlement lands acquired by tribes under an act of Congress extinguishing the tribe’s Indian title and directing BIA to take land into trust. But the 2008 amendment meant that, for the first time, BIA recognized it could also lawfully allow gaming on land accepted in trust as part of a settlement agreement that finally resolved tribal land-claim litigation. As BIA’s amended regulation facilitates permanent resolution of contentious litigation that, for decades, had clouded innocent landowners’ titles and undermined economic development in a number of locales within the original 13 states, it rests on solid policy grounds. The reader should also understand that the kind of Indian land claim addressed by IGRA’s land-claim exception arises, virtually without exception, only within the boundaries of the original 13 states. For this reason, as well as the fact that virtually all of the non-New York Eastern Indian land claim cases have been either litigated to conclusion or resolved by acts of Congress, fears of an expansion of off-reservation Indian gaming based on the Stockbridge precedent appear to be unfounded.

In conclusion, while the Stockbridge settlement agreement utilizes federal statutes and agency regulations in a way that has not been done before, it falls squarely within the intent and purpose of the controlling law. Because the legal authority to enter into the agreement is clear, we are confident that the Department of the Interior will decide to approve the Stockbridge-New York land-claim settlement agreement.

Native American Rights Fund Reaches 40-Year Milestone

2010-10-19T09:22:00.003-06:00

Flagship Indian Rights Organization to Celebrate Four Decades of Service October 29th at Chickasaw Nation’s WinStar World Casino

Forty years after opening its doors as a pilot project to provide legal services to American Indians nationwide, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) will host a two-day celebration of four decades “Defending Tribal Sovereignty.” Established in 1970, NARF is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide.

NARF, which stemmed from government-funded legal service programs for the poor and disadvantaged in the 1960’s, will commemorate its 40th year of serving the American Indian community on October 29th at the Chickasaw Nation’s WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, OK.

“Community, tradition, culture and sovereignty are integral values to Native American people,” said John Echohawk, Executive Director of NARF. “This celebration is not only a recognition of NARF’s four decades of service, but also the commitment by American Indians to hold these values sacred.”

The event includes an Indian Law Forum, which will highlight the history of and review current concerns and challenges in Indian law. Attendees will have the opportunity to contribute to a collective vision for the future of NARF’s direction in Indian Law.

NARF will also host a celebration dinner to highlight 40 tribes, individuals and organizations that significantly impacted NARF in its 40 years of operation. Among those honored will be former NARF attorney Arlinda Locklear, who became the first American Indian woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court; and Walter Echo-Hawk for his tremendous contributions to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Registration for the event is open to anyone. Those interested in participating in the Law Forum and Anniversary Dinner are invited to visit www.narf.org or call (303) 447-8760.

About the Native American Rights Fund
Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide.

NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.
www.narf.org

For more information, please contact Jennifer Redbone at 303-447-8760 or Jennifer@narf.org.

Pamunkey Indian Tribe Files for Federal Acknowledgment

2010-10-14T12:11:00.004-06:00

After years of preparing the necessary historical, legal, genealogical and anthropological evidence to fully document its petition for federal acknowledgment, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, located on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, Virginia, filed its petition with the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on October 14, 2010. It is the only Indian Tribe located in the Commonwealth of Virginia to have filed a fully documented petition. Established no later than 1646, the Pamunkey Indian Reservation is located next to the Pamunkey River, and adjacent to King William County, Virginia. The Reservation comprises approximately 1,200 acres and is the oldest inhabited Indian reservation in America.

The history of the Pamunkey people is rich and well documented. In the course of collecting evidence for the federal acknowledgment petition, researchers compiled more than a thousand documents recording their existence from the period of first European contact through the present. These documents comprise official censuses, correspondence between the Pamunkeys and officials of the Commonwealth and U.S. governments, numerous newspaper stories, church and school records, books by prominent scholars, popular authors, and federal officials, memoirs and much more. Because of these rich resources, continuous, detailed genealogies have been created for the Pamunkey Tribal members, which trace their lineage back over two hundred years.

Notably, documents have been preserved both in the United States and England that show the continual existence of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe as an independent sovereign since the first visit of Capt. John Smith in 1607, when the English settled Jamestown. At this time, Powhatan, father of Pocahontas, ruled a vast empire which included the great and powerful Pamunkey Indians who were at the core of his empire. A Treaty relationship between the Pamunkeys and Great Britain in 1646, followed by the Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677, is still honored between the Pamunkeys and the Commonwealth of Virginia. One expression of this continuing relationship is the annual tribute ceremony at Richmond, Virginia where deer and other wild game are presented to the Virginia Governor by the Pamunkey Chief and members of Tribal Council.

The Tribe has survived intact as an identifiable Indian tribe, although they are not yet federally acknowledged. Tribal existence does not depend on federal acknowledgment. It is, however, necessary to establish a government-to-government relationship between the Tribe and the Federal government, which allows the Tribe access to federal services and benefits. The Tribe’s petition documents their continued existence from 1789 to the present and their self-governance throughout this time, which meets the federal acknowledgment regulations.

The Pamunkey Chief and Tribal Council state that “Current Pamunkey Tribal members respect and appreciate what our ancestors have accomplished since first European contact, especially their sustained and successful efforts to maintain the lands, identity and sovereignty that have belonged to the Pamunkey Indians for thousands of years. We believe that federal acknowledgment is the natural means to continue those traditions and honor the ancestors who have given us our birthright. We look forward to the day our existence as an Indian Tribe is formally acknowledged by the United States.”

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has represented the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in this effort since 1988, joined by the law firm of Tilden McCoy, LLC this year. For any questions, please contact Robert Gray, Chief, Pamunkey Indian Tribe, 804.339.1629 or RGray58@hughes.net; Tribe's legal counsels: Mark C. Tilden, Tilden McCoy, LLC at mctilden@tildenmccoy.com, 303.323.1922 or 1942 Broadway, Suite 314, Boulder, Colorado 80302, or David Gover, NARF, dgover@narf.org, 303.447.8760 or 1506 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302.

Shinnecock Nation's federal acknowledgment finally realized

2010-10-11T11:41:00.002-06:00

The Shinnecock Indian Nation (Nation) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) are celebrating the October 1, 2010 decision by the U. S. Interior Board of Indian Appeals (the “IBIA”) dismissing two requests for reconsideration of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Final Determination for Federal Acknowledgment of the Nation (the “FD”), because the requesters failed to demonstrate that they were interested parties under the federal acknowledgment regulations. With the ruling, the FD is immediately effective, thereby rendering the Nation the 565th federally recognized Indian nation in the United States. NARF is proud and honored to have represented the Nation in its federal acknowledgment petition efforts during this time, along with Mark C. Tilden of the law firm Tilden McCoy, LLC.

The decision ends a 32-year saga initiated by the Nation and NARF when NARF filed the Nation’s initial petition and litigation request in 1978 with the U. S. Department of the Interior. The events in the following years finally culminated in the Department issuing a FD dated June 13, 2010 concluding that the Nation met the seven mandatory federal acknowledgment criteria under 25 C.F.R. § 83.7. (See 75 Fed. Reg. 34,760 (June 18, 2010)). The FD was challenged in the IBIA by the requesters who claimed to be interested parties. But, the IBIA rejected their challenges.

Chairman Randy King of the Nation's Board of Trustees eloquently stated, "After 32 years, the Shinnecock Indian Nation has finally obtained formal federal acknowledgment, thus closing a long chapter on the Nation's epic struggle. The Native American Rights Fund was part of this effort and the Nation is grateful that it crossed the finish line with NARF by its side.”

John Echohawk, NARF Executive Director, reflected on the long fight by his modern day warriors, the NARF attorneys, lamenting “It took forever to achieve federal acknowledgment for Shinnecock, but with the persistence of the Nation and the expertise of former NARF attorney Mark Tilden and NARF attorney Kim Gottschalk, we finally got it done.”

The Shinnecock Indian Nation is located on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, adjacent to Southampton, New York.

Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council Decision

2010-10-05T11:55:00.001-06:00

October 4, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Natalie Landreth, Staff Attorney and Counsel for Kaltag, (907)276-0680.

This morning the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the State’s appeal in the case of Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council, thus effectively ending the case and clearly reinforcing the rule that tribal courts have authority to initiate and fully adjudicate children’s cases.

The Kaltag Tribal Council had taken emergency custody of one of its member children due to allegations of abuse and neglect and, after conducting hearings and finding a suitable home, it terminated the rights of the birth parents and issued an order of adoption to the adoptive parents in Huslia. Kaltag then notified the State of Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics about the adoption and requested a new birth certificate reflecting the names of the adoptive parents and the new last name of the child. The State refused, claiming that it did not owe full faith and credit to the decision of the Kaltag Tribal Court because Kaltag did not have jurisdiction to initiate the case at all.

In the fall of 2006, NARF filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Kaltag Tribal Council and the adoptive parents to enforce the full faith and credit provision of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). In February 2008, the United States District Court rejected the State’s claims and held that Tribes have jurisdiction to adjudicate adoptions and child-in-need-of-aid (CINA) type cases over their member children, and that the Tribal Court’s decisions are entitled to full faith and credit by the State. In a detailed and thoughtful opinion, the Court reaffirmed what the United States Supreme Court stated in the Holyfield case that the ICWA created “concurrent but presumptively tribal jurisdiction in the case of children not living on a reservation.” The Court also noted that denying tribal jurisdiction in CINA-type cases would leave Tribes “powerless to help children in their own villages at the most critical time.” The Court’s decision was then summarily affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

This case reaffirms the rule that when Tribes adjudicate domestic matters of their own member children, whether it is a simple voluntary adoption or a CINA-type case, their decisions are entitled to full faith and credit.

Counsel for Kaltag, Natalie Landreth, said “The fact is that the Kaltag Tribal Court was doing what it, and the 561 other tribes in this country, has been doing since time immemorial: taking care of their own children. This case never should have been appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and the Plaintiffs are very glad that their victory stands.” Moreover, the Native American Rights Fund and plaintiffs Kaltag Tribal Council and Hudson and Selina Sam call upon Governor Parnell and Attorney General Sullivan to rescind the Renkes Opinion issued in October 2004 and instead take this opportunity to work with tribes and tribal courts to ensure the protection of all children, no matter which court their case is in.

Supreme Court Update Available

2010-10-04T14:34:00.004-06:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review. You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF website (www.narf.org/sct/index.html).

The U.S. Supreme Court held its opening conference on Monday, September 27, 2010, in which it considered eight petitions for writ of certiorari in Indian law and Indian-law related cases. In its order of October 4, 2010, the Court requested the views of the U.S. Solicitor General in one Indian law case, Thunderhorse v. Pierce, which seeks review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which held that the prison’s enforcement of its grooming rules, including the prohibition of long hair on men with no exception for Native American religious practitioners, does not violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person’s Act.

Without comment, the Court denied review of the other seven Indian law petitions (see the full update memo for details). The denial of review preserves important victories in the lower courts in Hoffman v. Sandia Resort & Casino and Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council. In Hoffman v. Sandia Resort & Casino, the Court denied a petition seeking review of a decision by the Court of Appeals of New Mexico which held that the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity barred a non-Indian’s claims related to a $1.5 million jackpot payout from a slot machine that “malfunctioned.” The Court of Appeals also held that the limited waiver of immunity within the tribal-state gaming compact for physical injury to persons or property did not apply to his claims. The petitioner had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to carve out “a narrower and more equitable application of tribal immunity in the context of tribal gaming under the provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.”

In Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council, the Court denied the State of Alaska’s petition seeking review of a Ninth Circuit decision which upheld the authority of the Kaltag Tribal Court over a tribal member-child placement proceeding. In the view of the State, since there are no reservations (with one exception) in Alaska, Native villages have no authority under the Indian Child Welfare Act over child placement proceedings, except the authority to request transfer of tribal member-child placement proceedings from state courts. In its petition, the State sought to characterize the dispute as a challenge to “the tribe’s effort to enforce a decree entered in a child custody proceeding involuntarily initiated in tribal court involving non-members domiciled outside of Indian country.” The Court had invited the U.S. Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the views of the United States in which the Solicitor General recommended that the Court deny review.

The Court’s next scheduled conference is October 8, 2010, during which it will consider Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York. In Madison County, the Second Circuit held that the Tribe is immune from suit in foreclosure proceedings for non-payment of county taxes involving fee property owned by the Tribe. This petition is the latest chapter of a lengthy dispute over payment of taxes addressed by the Supreme Court in 2005 in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York. Five amicus briefs, including an amicus brief on behalf of the State of New York joined by seven other states, have been filed in support of the petition. This is definitely a petition to watch!

You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the Project’s website (www.narf.org/sct/index.html).

To view the complete Update Memorandum CLICK HERE.

NARF Co-HOSTS EDUCATION MEETING at NIEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

2010-10-01T07:00:00.004-06:00

Join NARF for the 2010 TEDNA ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING, Sunrise Room, San Diego Town and Country Convention Center, San Diego, CA, Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (pst), in conjunction with the NIEA Annual Conference. The meeting is free and no registration required. Topics include:

Tribal Sovereignty in Federal Education Law: What should it Look Like?

Idaho Indian Education Coordinator and NIEA President Elect, Mary Jane Oatman Wak-Wak joins the BIE Director, Keith Moore, and Don Yu, Special Council, Department of Education, and Dr. David Beaulieu for a discussion on tribal sovereignty in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Topics include increasing tribal access to federal education funding; increasing the role of tribal governments in public schools; and increasing the role of culture and language in Indian education.

Implementing Tribal Sovereignty in Education: What Does Your Tribe Need?

National Indian Education leaders Kevin Shendo, New Mexico Indian Advisory Council Chair and Pueblo of Jemez Education Director; Denny Hurtado, Washington State Indian Education Director; and Quinton Roman Nose, TEDNA President unite to discuss building tribal education department capacity. Topics include building data systems, infrastructure to support programs and services, and building partnerships to improve academic performance.

Join U.S Department of Education Data Specialists and Acting Director of Indian Education:

Ever wondered what type of data the U.S. Department of Education has on tribal students? Ever needed more data on your tribal students to shape tribal education programs and services? Come to this workshop to find out how to access data on tribal students.

See www.tedna.org or email info@tedna.org for more information.

Supreme Court Update Available

2010-09-27T10:37:00.002-06:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review. You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF website.

The U.S. Supreme Court is still in summer recess, with the October 2010 Term scheduled to start on Monday, October 4, 2010. After a relatively quiet October 2009 Term in which the Court did not issue a single Indian law decision, Indian country may be facing rough waters once again with the upcoming October 2010 Term. The Court has already granted review in United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation, with the likelihood of cert grants in at least one, possibly two or more other Indian law and Indian law-related cases.

Next Monday, September 27, 2010, the Supreme Court will conduct its opening conference. Eight of the 16 petitions currently pending before the Court (see full report) will be considered during this conference. The Project has been closely monitoring each of these petitions, in particular petitions in which the tribal interests prevailed in the lower courts. The Project is working with the Tribes and their attorneys in securing those victories through the denial of certiorari. For example, the United States just filed a petition in United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation seeking review of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which recognized a fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege in tribal trust cases. This fiduciary exception allows Indian tribes to obtain information regarding communications between the Department of the Interior and its attorneys relating to trust management otherwise protected by the privilege.

A second example is the State of Alaska’s petition in Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council asking the Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision which upheld the authority of the Kaltag Tribal Court over a tribal member-child placement proceeding. In the view of the State of Alaska, since there are no reservations (with one exception) in Alaska, Native villages have no authority under the Indian Child Welfare Act over child placement proceedings, except the authority to request transfer of tribal member-child placement proceedings from state courts. The Court invited the U.S. Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the views of the United States. The good news is that the Solicitor General recommended that the Court deny review. This petition will be considered in the Court’s opening conference.

One final example is the petition filed in Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York seeking review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which held that the Tribe is immune from suit in foreclosure proceedings involving property owned by the Tribe for non-payment of county taxes. This petition is the latest chapter of a lengthy dispute over payment of taxes addressed by the Supreme Court in 2005 in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York. Five amicus briefs, including an amicus brief on behalf of the State of New York joined by seven other states, have been filed in support of the petition. This petition will likely be scheduled for conference in early October.

You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the Project’s website. You can read the full Update by clicking HERE.

Steve Moore to Speak at Tribal Water Law Conference

2010-09-22T13:33:00.004-06:00

NARF attorney Steve Moore will be speaking at the Tribal Water Law Conference on October 21 & 22, 2010, in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, please click HERE.

Supreme Court Update Available

2010-06-07T11:37:00.003-06:00

Under 28 U.S.C. 1500, the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) does not have jurisdiction over "any claim for or in respect to which the plaintiff * * * has * * * any suit or process against the United States" or its agents "pending in any other court." The question presented is: Whether 28 U.S.C. 1500 deprives the CFC of jurisdiction over a claim seeking monetary relief for the government’s alleged violation of fiduciary obligations if the plaintiff has another suit pending in federal district court based on substantially the same operative facts, especially when the plaintiff seeks monetary relief or other overlapping relief in the two suits.

A number of Indian tribes have filed identical claims for breach of fiduciary duties in both the Court of Federal Claims and the Federal District Court seeking separate relief. At present, the United States opening brief on the merits is due on June 29, 2010. The Tribe’s response brief on the merits is due on July 6, 2010 and the United States’ reply brief is due on August 19, 2010.

Click here to read full update.

Supreme Court Update Available

2010-05-20T08:21:00.002-06:00

Under 28 U.S.C. 1500, the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) does not have
jurisdiction over "any claim for or in respect to which the plaintiff * * * has
* * * any suit or process against the United States" or its agents "pending in
any other court." The question presented is: Whether 28 U.S.C. 1500 deprives the
CFC of jurisdiction over a claim seeking monetary relief for the government’s
alleged violation of fiduciary obligations if the plaintiff has another suit
pending in federal district court based on substantially the same operative
facts, especially when the plaintiff seeks monetary relief or other overlapping
relief in the two suits.

Click here to read full update.

Congress Preparing to Take Major New Action Proposed by NARF for Native American Students

2010-05-14T09:33:00.000-06:00

Boulder, CO - May12, 2010 – The U.S. Congress is preparing to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is the most important federal law that applies to American Indian and Alaska Native tribal students. There are over 650,000 elementary and secondary tribal students nationwide. Over 90% of these students attend state public schools; the others are served primarily by schools funded through the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).

The ESEA was first enacted in 1965. In each periodic reauthorization, Congress has attempted to address the needs of tribal students with various supplemental programs, advisory committees, and unfunded options and mandates. Major reports have repeatedly suggested more fundamental changes are needed to improve tribal student opportunities and performance. For over 20 years, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and other experts have urged Congress that the key to tribal student success is to enhance and support the roles of sovereign tribal nations in the ESEA. NARF is anticipating that this Congress, and the current Administration, will finally support such efforts.

On Friday, May 14th at 10:00 a.m. EDT the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will host a briefing on Tribal Education Departments to discuss NARF's legislative recommendations on behalf of its client, the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA). TEDNA is a membership organization for the Education Departments, Divisions, and Agencies of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes. Over 200 of this country's over 562 federally recognized tribes have such Departments.

NARF 2009 Annual Report Now Available Online

2010-04-12T09:18:00.006-06:00

The Native American Rights Fund 2009 Annual Report is now available online. Click on the cover image to view.

Supreme Court Update Available

2010-03-30T14:05:00.004-06:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review. You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF website (http://www.narf.org/sct/index.html).

Although no Indian law cases have been granted review by the Court, several new petitions have been filed in the past several weeks. At present, there are 16 petitions pending, with a total of ten petitions having been denied this term. We are monitoring several petitions closely, including: (1) Wolfchild v. United States, a case that could become a vehicle for the Court to further erode the nature of the United States’ trust responsibility, and to limit the scope of the fiduciary duties the United States owes to the Indian people; (2) Rosenberg v. Hualapai Indian Nation, a case involving the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity as it applies to tribal enterprises; and (3) United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation, another case involving claims for breach of fiduciary duties which could impact a number of other cases filed by Indian tribes against the United States in both the Court of Federal Claims and the Federal District Court seeking separate relief.

However, most of the resources of the Tribal Supreme Court Project have been focused on litigation pending in the lower courts. Project attorneys are tracking lower court litigation based on subject matter area to allow the Project an opportunity to assist in earlier stages of litigation. For example, the Project has been monitoring five cases involving challenges to Reservation status of certain lands (diminishment) or challenges to the continuing existence of an entire Reservation (disestablishment). Currently, in Osage Nation v. Irby (Oklahoma Tax Commission), the Project is working diligently with the attorneys representing the Osage Nation in developing an amicus strategy and preparing amicus briefs in support of their petition for rehearing of a Tenth Circuit decision which held that the legislative history and subsequent events to the Osage Allotment Act evidence Congress’ intent to disestablish the Osage Reservation.

In similar fashion, the Project has been monitoring 11 cases involving challenges to the authority of the Secretary to take land in trust for tribes based on the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Carcieri v. Salazar. Currently, the Project is preparing materials and developing strategy in anticipation of amicus support for the tribes and the United States as the Carcieri-related litigation works its way through the courts. The Project is also tracking litigation involving challenges to the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity; challenges to the authority of Tribes to regulate the activities of non-Indians on-reservation or adjudicate disputes involving non-Indians; attempts to undermine tribal cultural values and laws protecting Native religious freedom; and attacks against the authority of tribal courts to impose consecutive sentences of more than one-year for violent crimes committed by Indians on the reservation.

Read full update here.

$1.5 million grant from Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation fuels Native American Rights Fund

2010-03-17T15:29:00.001-06:00

BOULDER, Colo. – The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has received a $1.5 million grant from the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation of Brooks, Calif., to be distributed in $500,000 allotments over three years and used for general operating expenses and special projects.

“This generous grant provides the Native American Rights Fund fiscal security for the next three years, enabling us to focus on legal advocacy and insuring the survival of tribes and their ways of life,” said Executive Director John E. Echohawk. “Our deepest thanks go to the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and their dedication to the legal rights of Indian Country.”

Tribal contributions are extremely important to help underwrite NARF’s vital work. This gift from the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation—one of the largest tribal contributions ever bestowed on NARF—not only sets an example for other tribes, but also is a testament to the value and impact of the organization’s work.

“The Tribal Council of Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is committed to Native rights and the preservation of tribal sovereignty,” said Yocha Dehe Tribal Chairman Marshall McKay. “This grant to the Native American Rights Fund tangibly expresses our belief in the importance of the outstanding work that they do.”

Since its founding in 1970, NARF has represented more than 250 tribes in 31 states in matters that have had a significant impact on the rights of all Indian people throughout the country. NARF works to empower tribes so they can continue to live according to their Native traditions, enforce their treaty rights, insure their independence on reservations and protect their sovereignty. NARF strives to enforce and strengthen laws that are designed to protect the rights of Native Americans to practice their traditional religions, use their own languages, and enjoy their cultures. NARF also works with tribes to improve education for and ensure the welfare of their children.

Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has a longstanding culture of giving: The Yocha Dehe Community Fund was one of the first to be established by a Native American tribe in California and the Tribe is a recognized leader in charitable giving. Over the past decade, Yocha Dehe has provided nearly $18 million in financial support to nonprofit organizations and service providers in Sacramento and Yolo Counties and other organizations supporting the Tribe’s goals for education, community health, arts and culture, the environment, community development and social services.

“The generosity of tribes is crucial in NARF’s struggle to ensure the freedoms and rights of all Native Americans,” said Echohawk. “The history of Yocha Dehe’s giving should be an example for every Native American Tribe and organization. We hope others will follow with their support of our organization and other Native organizations across the country.”

The State of Alaska, NARF, Northern Justice Project and ACLU Reach Settlement In Yup'ik Language and Voter Assistance Case

2010-02-24T07:30:00.002-07:00

CONTACT: Natalie Landreth (907) 276-0680 or (907) 360-3423

Anchorage, Alaska – Alaska state officials along with Native American Rights Fund (NARF), the American Civil Liberties Union, the Northern Justice Project, four Alaska Native elders and four tribal governments today jointly announced a settlement of Nick, et al. v. Bethel, et al. According to the settlement, the state of Alaska will make enhancements to language assistance for Yup’ik-speaking voters available at elections in the Bethel area.

The resolution of the case, originally filed in June 2007 on behalf of Alaska Native elders Anna Nick, Billy McCann, Arthur Nelson and David O. David and the tribal governments of Kasigluk, Kwigillingok, Tuluksak and Tuntutuliak was hailed by all parties involved.

"This settlement recognizes improvements to language-assistance protocols implemented by the state during the 2008 and 2009 elections, while providing for enhancements to ensure that limited-English-proficient voters receive effective assistance," said Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan. "We support fair voting practices and effective access to the voting booth for all Alaskans, and we will vigorously implement the terms of this settlement."

“We are extremely pleased the state of Alaska will provide Yup'ik-speaking voters in the Bethel area with the tools they need to fully participate in the political process," said Natalie Landreth of Native American Rights Fund (NARF). “That is what this case was all about – equal access to the polls.”

"Our right to vote is one of the most important that we as Americans possess," said Alaska Lieutenant Governor Craig Campbell, who oversees the Division of Elections. "Here in Alaska, we want all our citizens to exercise that right, regardless of where they live or the language they speak. We are pleased to have come together to ensure that this case is a win-win for Yup'ik-speaking voters and the State of Alaska."

“Every American deserves an equal voice in the political process,” said Laughlin McDonald, Director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project. "The Constitution protects all Alaskans' right to vote regardless of what language they speak."

Key protocols for the Division of Election include:

-Training bilingual poll workers to provide language and voter assistance to voters;

-Coordinating language assistance through a bilingual staff person with a toll-free number;

-Relying on Yup'ik language experts to translate election materials, including information on ballot measures, candidates, absentee and special-needs voting and voter registration,

-Preparation of a Yup'ik-English glossary of election terms and phrases to guide bilingual poll workers providing language assistance;

-Providing sample ballots in Yup'ik;

-Pre-election publicity in Yup’ik through radio ads, television programs, public service announcements and announcements over VHF radios in villages that do not receive local radio stations;

-Undertaking outreach to the villages in the census area.

“I have said all along that all we wanted was to be able to understand what we are voting for. Now that will happen, and I am very, very happy,” said Billy McCann, a plaintiff in the case. Being a Plaintiff is not easy but when you come together to fix a problem like this, it is worth it.”

Attorneys for the state of Alaska are Assistant Attorneys General Gilman Dana S. Burke, Sarah J. Felix, Margaret A. Paton-Walsh and Michael Barnhill.

Attorneys for the Plaintiffs are Natalie Landreth of NARF; Dr. James T. Tucker; ACLU of Alaska; Laughlin McDonald of the ACLU Voting Rights Project; and James J. Davis, Jr.

back row: Joe Alexie (Tuluksak Tribal Council), Jason Brandeis (Alaska ACLU), Peter Andrew (Tuluksak Tribal Council), Michael Martin (Kasigluk Traditional Council), Jim Tucker (attorney), Nick David (Tuntutuliak Tribal Council)

front row: Jim Davis (attorney), Leo Beaver (Kasigluk Traditional Council), Robert Enoch (Tuntutuliak Tribal Council), Natalie Landreth (NARF Attorney) and Elsie Nichols (Kasigluk Traditional Council)

To view the Settlement Agreement click here.

Supreme Court Update Available

2010-02-02T13:38:00.002-07:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review. You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF website (www.narf.org/sct/index.html).

To date, no Indian law cases have been granted review by the Court. Six petitions are currently pending, and a total of ten petitions have been denied. As anticipated, on January 15, 2010, the United States filed a petition seeking review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Tohono O’odham Nation v. United States. In Tohono O’odham, the Federal Circuit found that 28 U.S.C. § 1500 does not preclude jurisdiction in the Court of Federal Claims when a Indian tribe has also filed an action in Federal District Court seeking different relief (e.g. money damages versus historical accounting). According to the United States, at least 31 pairs of cases have been filed by Indian tribes based on identical claims for breach of fiduciary duties in both the Court of Federal Claims and the Federal District Court seeking separate relief.

In an unexpected development, on January 13, 2010, the Court requested a response from the United States in Wolfchild (and Zephier) v. United States, a case which involves two groups of individuals who claim to be the descendants of the “loyal” Mdewakanton Sioux. The United States had waived its right of response—usually an indicator to the Court that the case is not worthy of review. Evidently, something in the case has caught the interest of the Court. The Wolfchild petitioners are seeking review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which reversed the trial court’s finding of breach of trust by the United States. The Federal Circuit held that (1) the 1888, 1889 and 1890 Appropriation Acts enacted for the benefit of the loyal Mdewakanton Sioux and their lineal descendants which included lands, improvements to lands and monies as the corpus did not create a trust; and (2) even if the referenced Appropriations Acts did create a trust, the 1980 Act terminated that trust by transferring beneficial ownership to the three Mdewakanton Indian communities (Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Sioux Community, Lower Sioux Indian Community and Prairie Island Indian Community). This case could become a vehicle for the Court to further erode the nature of the United States’ trust responsibility, and to limit the scope of the fiduciary duties the United States owes to the Indian people.

Click here to read full update.

Heather Kendall-Miller, NARF Attorney, Cover Story in First Alaskan Magazine

2010-01-13T13:18:00.002-07:00

Heather Kendall-Miller, NARF Attorney in Alaska office, is profiled in First Alaskan magazine's cover story, Personal Ambition for Public Good.

To read the full article, click here.

Dawn Baum deliverse Keynote Address for Library of Congress's 2009 Celebration of Native American Heritage Month

2010-01-08T14:52:00.001-07:00

Dawn Sturdevant Baum, Native American Rights Fund Attorney, delivered Native American Heritage Month keynote address for the Library of Congress's 2009 celebration of Native American Heritage Month on Nov. 18. This year's national theme is "Pride in Our Heritage. Honor to Our Ancestors."

To watch keynote address click here.

Shinnecock Indian Nation is One Step Closer to Federal Acknowledgement

2009-12-16T10:26:00.007-07:00

Boulder, CO - The Shinnecock Indian Nation (Nation) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) welcomes the announcement by the Department of the Interior of the proposed finding in favor of acknowledgement of the Shinnecock Indian Nation. As a result of this finding, a 30-year plus effort for final federal acknowledgement of the Nation is finally within grasp.

"After 31 years of fighting for justice, the Shinnecock Indian Nation has today received a preliminary decision from the federal government to acknowledge it as an Indian Nation under federal law. During that fight, the Native American Rights Fund has stood side by side with the Nation and its peoples." Mark C. Tilden, NARF Senior Attorney.

The Nation and NARF first started their acknowledgement efforts more than three decades ago. The petition for federal acknowledgement was filed on September 25, 1998. The petition was finally placed on the Office of Federal Acknowledgement's (OFA) "Ready, Waiting for Active Consideration" list on September 15, 2003. On November 10, 2008, the OFA placed the Nation’s petition on active consideration.

The OFA must now publish the findings by December 20, triggering a 90-day comment period. During this period, anyone can comment. At the end of the comment period, the Nation has 30 days to respond. Once the comment period is completed, the BIA has 60 days to issue a final ruling. While it is possible the comment period could be extended, the Nation is on course to be formally and finally acknowledged by mid-summer 2010.

The Nation's Board of Trustees would like to thank those responsible for their active support, "As a result of this ruling, our more than 30-year quest for federal recognition is finally within our grasp . . . We look forward to reclaiming our rightful place on this list, which will enable us to qualify for federal programs long denied to our people. To be denied the ability to partner with the federal government on housing, healthcare, educational, and economic justice initiatives is no longer tolerable . . . This final recognition, when it inevitably comes, will come after years of anguish and frustration for many members of our Nation, living and deceased."

The Shinnecock Indian Nation is located on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, adjacent to Southampton, New York.

To read the DOI news release click HERE.

To read the NY Times article click HERE.

©2009 Native American Rights Fund

NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND PLEASED WITH COBELL SETTLEMENT

2009-12-10T07:45:00.001-07:00

A settlement agreement was announced on December 8 between Elouise Cobell, lead plaintiff in the Cobell v. Salazar class action lawsuit over federal mismanagement of individual Indian trust fund accounts, and the Obama Administration. Under the terms of the settlement, the federal government will create a $1.4 billion Accounting/Trust Fund and a $2 billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund. The settlement also creates an Indian Education Scholarship fund of up to $60 million to improve access to higher education for Indians. The settlement agreement must be approved by Congress and a federal district court.

John Echohawk, Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund, expressed support for the settlement. “We have been waiting for President Obama and his Administration to fulfill his campaign promise to settle the Indian trust fund litigation and he has met that commitment. We are very pleased," he said. The Native American Rights Fund was co-counsel for the Cobell plaintiffs when the case was originally filed in 1996 and participated in the case until 2006 when it undertook the filing of a similar case for Indian tribes over federal mismanagement of tribal trust fund accounts, Nez Perce Tribe, et al. v. Salazar.

Echohawk said that he is hopeful that the Obama Administration can soon focus its efforts on settlements for the tribal claims. The Native American Rights Fund currently represents 42 tribes in the Nez Perce case. There are also about 100 other tribal cases asserting claims stemming from federal mismanagement of tribal trust fund accounts. By the government’s own figures, tribal trust accounts hold five times as much money as the individual Indian trust accounts involved in the Cobell case.

Information on the Cobell settlement can be found at www.CobellSettlement.com

Walter R. Echo-Hawk II, honored by Federal Bar Association

2009-12-02T09:54:00.001-07:00

Walter R. Echo-Hawk II, former NARF staff attorney, was selected by the Federal Bar Association to receive the Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award. The award - one of the major awards by the FBA - honors a person that has promoted civil and human rights and who exemplifies Judge Hughes' spirit of devoted service and leadership in the cause of equality.

The award recognizes Walter's lifetime of service, including his more than 35 years service as a lawyer for the Native American Rights Fund and his myriad civic, legislative, professional and other contributions. In addition to his active writing, Walter is also currently a member of the Carter Center's International Human Rights Council and serves as Chairman of the Board for the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, a new foundation dedicated to tribal philanthropy to preserve Indian art and culture. Walter is currently an attorney at Crowe & Dunlevy.

NARF congratulates Walter R. Echo-Hawk II, on this well-deserved recognition of his accomplishments and service.

John Echohawk honored with Mary G. Ross Award

2009-12-02T09:52:00.002-07:00

John E. Echohawk was honored with the Mary G. Ross Award from the Council of Energy Resources Tribes at the American Spirit Award Dinner on November 4th in Tulsa, OK. John was flattered to be acknowledged for his 40 years of dedication to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide.

The Mary G. Ross Award, named for the Cherokee woman who became the first Indian and the first woman engineer at Lockheed, is presented to an American of indigenous heritage who has brought notable attention to the contributions by American Indians to the development of American society, and whose life reflects credibility upon and brings honor to all Americans.

John Echohawk was unable to attend the event because of the National Tribal Leaders Summit with the Obama Administration on November 5th, to see his acceptance speech click here.

NARF Testimony Strengthens the Indian Child Welfare Act

2009-12-02T09:49:00.001-07:00

In September, NARF Staff Attorney Mark Tilden represented the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and provided testimony for the Wisconsin Legislature on a LRB 0150/3, which would enact a state Indian Child Welfare Act into law.

To begin, Tilden testified that the bill is designed to remedy the continuing problem of Native American children being disproportionately over-represented in the substitute care system. Tilden discussed the history of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), stating that Congress intended to give the ICWA a broad scope because of the massive problem it meant to remedy.

Read More >

Supreme Court Update Available

2009-11-30T08:37:00.002-07:00

With the beginning of the October 2009 Term, much of the attention and speculation has been focused on the addition of Justice Sotomayor to the Court, as well as the possible retirement of Justice Stevens at the end of the term. The implications for Indian country as a result of these changes are still unfolding, but at present, Indian country is 0 for 5 before the Roberts’ Court.

To date, no Indian law cases are currently pending before the Court on the merits. In a disappointing outcome, on November 16, 2009, the Court denied review in Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc. The D.C. Circuit’s decision held that the doctrine of laches (i.e. long delay in bringing lawsuit) precluded consideration of a petition seeking cancellation of the “Redskins” trademarks owned by Pro-Football, even though the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board’s found that the trademarks disparaged Native Americans. The Tribal Supreme Court Project coordinated four amicus in support of the petition: (1) the NCAI-Tribal Amicus Brief which summarizes the efforts of the Native American community over the past forty years to retire all Indian names and mascots; (2) the Social Justice/Religious Organizations Amicus Brief which focuses on the social justice and public interests present in the case; (3) the Trademark Law Professors’ Brief which supports and enhances the trademark law arguments put forward by petitioners; and (4) the Psychologists’ Amicus Brief which provides an overview of the empirical research of the harm caused by racial stereotyping. Attention will now focus on the Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. litigation which was brought in 2006 by young Native Americans in an effort to avoid the laches defense, and then stayed pending the outcome in the Harjo case.

Click here to read full update.

Native American Rights Fund's climate change work is highlighted in Indian Country Today

2009-11-03T12:49:00.004-07:00

BOULDER, Colo. – Climate change may be only the latest of many challenges facing Indian country, but it is having devastating effects in parts of the far North where at least one Native village faced with inundation by melting polar ice is suing energy companies it says are responsible.
John Echohawk, executive director of Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund, said the village of Kivalina, Alaska, located on the Chukchi Sea coastline, is suing energy companies for contributing to the public nuisance of global warming it says is going to force the community to relocate to avoid being flooded out.

Read full article here.

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month

2009-11-03T12:35:00.004-07:00

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month by hosting a Native Justice house party on American Indian Heritage Day, November 27, 2009. Order your Community Action House Party Kit from NARF today and host a party with your friends and family.

The Washington, DC office of NARF has moved!

2009-11-03T12:34:00.004-07:00

After nearly forty years at its 1712 N Street address, the DC Office of the Native American Rights Fund has moved to join with the National Congress of American Indians at the “Embassy of Tribal Nations” – an historic office building and carriage house located near Dupont Circle.

The new office address is: Native American Rights Fund, 1514 P Street, NW (Rear) Suite D, Washington, D.C. 20005. The phone and fax numbers remain the same: phone: (202) 785-4166; fax: (202) 822-0068.

To mark the move and celebrate the historic opening of the Embassy of Tribal Nations, Executive Director John Echohawk will join Tribal leaders, NCAI and NARF-DC staff in a Blessing Ceremony on Tuesday morning, November 3rd, followed by an Open House later in the afternoon. John Echohawk will then join Tribal leaders on November 5th at the Tribal Nations Summit – the first of what-is-promised-to-be an annual Nation-to-Nation meeting between Tribal leaders and President Obama.

Embassy of Tribal Nations Gala Open House

This event is open to the public. Please RSVP to Tonya Deal at tdeal@ncai.org

Time: 2:00-8:00 p.m.

NARF Attorney to Deliver Library of Congress's 2009 Celebration of Native American Heritage Month Keynote Address

2009-11-03T12:33:00.004-07:00

Dawn Sturdevant Baum, Native American Rights Fund Staff Attorney, will deliver Native American Heritage Month keynote address for the Library of Congress's 2009 celebration of Native American Heritage Month on Nov. 18. This year's national theme is "Pride in Our Heritage. Honor to Our Ancestors."

This event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
2:00 p.m.
Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building
Whittall Pavilion (first floor)
10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.

Click here for more information

NARF to appeal Kivalina environmental case dismissal

2009-11-03T12:29:00.004-07:00

On September 30, 2009 the United States District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a lawsuit by the Native Village of Kivalina (Native Village of Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil, et al) against twenty-four oil, energy and utility companies. The Village sought damages under a federal common law claim of nuisance, based on the companies contribution to the excessive emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases which the Village claims is causing global warming. Judge Armstrong concluded that the Village’s federal claim for nuisance is barred by the political question doctrine and for lack of standing under Article III of the United States Constitution.

This case will now be appealed to the Ninth Circuit to overturn the Judge’s decision. Since the September ruling, the Fifth and the Second Federal Appellate Courts (a total of six judges) have now disagreed with Judge Armstrong. Read More

KGNU Interview

2009-10-20T11:02:00.003-06:00

Click here to listen to the October 7, 2009 Dot Org interview on KGNU about NARF and the Gary Farmer benefit concert.

Blues for Native Justice

2009-09-30T10:15:00.002-06:00

Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers
to perform benefit concert for Native American Rights Fund

On October 9, 2009, at 7:00 pm Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers will perform at the Rock N Soul Café in Boulder in support of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). This performance will be a blues filled evening with information about Native American Rights Fund.

Click HERE for more information.

NARF News of Interest

2009-08-27T12:23:00.002-06:00

The City Of Bethel, NARF And ACLU Agree On Voting Rights Act Measures
Measures providing additional language assistance for Yup'ik speakers at municipal elections in Bethel, Alaska were agreed upon as part of a settlement among the city of Bethel, Native American Rights Fund (NARF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and two local Alaska Natives. Yup'ik is the primary language of a majority of citizens in the Bethel region. The settlement agreement follows a lawsuit filed against the city by NARF and the ACLU on behalf of the two local Alaska Natives. Read More...

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Tribal Rights
In a unanimous decision, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision by a Nebraska county court which had refused to allow the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska to intervene in a child custody case involving two children that are members of the Tribe. The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the absolute and unconditional right of an Indian tribe to intervene in a child custody proceeding under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Read More...

NARF Announces New Alliance with Westlaw to Improve Access to Tribal law
The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is pleased to announce a new strategic alliance with West, a Thomson Reuters business. Under this alliance, NARF and West will work to improve access to Native American tribal law available through NARF's National Indian Law Library (NILL) and Westlaw, West's premier online legal research service. Select tribal law content will be editorially annotated by West for Westlaw and will be cross-linked to court opinions and other law on Westlaw when available. Unannotated tribal law will be freely available through the NILL website. Select materials may also be published in West print products and law books. Content will include tribal codes, ordinances, constitutions, and intergovernmental agreements. Read More...

2009 List of Federally Recognized Tribes 8/11/09

2009-08-11T16:55:00.004-06:00

The Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs has published "Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs." on 8/11/09.

The list includes 564 tribal entities in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska.

Two tribes have been added to the list since the last publication. Federal relations have been reestablished with Wilton Rancheria pursuant to a court-ordered settlement and government-to-government relations were reestablished with the Delaware Tribe of Indians through its reorganization under federal statute, the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. In addition, name changes and corrections have also been made.

See the notice on the Access GPO web site: PDF, Text.

Supreme Court Update Memorandum Available

2009-08-11T10:40:00.003-06:00

At present, the U.S. Supreme Court is in summer recess, with the October 2009 Term scheduled to start on Monday, October 5, 2009. The big news continues to be the addition of a new Associate Justice to the Court. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted four days of hearings for the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Hackett Souter. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark-up the nomination of Judge Sotomayor this week, with a final Committee vote next week. The full Senate will likely hold its final roll call vote on her confirmation before the August recess (by August 7, 2009).

As reported in the last update, Judge Sotomayor is considered a centrist and pragmatist, in the mold of a Justice Souter. NARF conducted an extensive review of her record which reveals that she has had very little exposure to, or experience in federal Indian law. Our research of her years as an Assistant District Attorney, as an attorney in private practice, or as a federal district court judge has not uncovered any cases dealing with issues pertaining to Indians or Indian tribes. During her tenure on the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor participated in only a handful of cases involving Indians, Indian tribes, or issues involving some aspect of federal Indian law. NARF has prepared a memo which provides more background information and a summary of her Indian law cases, a copy of which can be obtained by contacting Richard Guest at richardg@narf.org.

The approach of the October 2009 Term also provides an opportunity to review the work of the Tribal Supreme Court Project during this past term, and since the beginning of the Roberts’ Court era in 2005. During the October 2008 Term, the Court issued three Indian law decisions – ruling against tribal interests in all three cases. The Tribal Supreme Court Project coordinated resources and developed strategy in each case at the merits stage, with NCAI appearing as an amicus party in all three cases and NARF preparing amicus briefs in two of the three cases. It is significant that in all three cases – United States v. Navajo Nation, State of Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Carcieri v. Salazar – the tribal interests had been upheld by the lower courts of appeal with no conflict between the lower courts on the legal issues presented in each case. This development is a continuation of a disturbing trend in Indian law cases granted review since Chief Justice Roberts joined the Court (tribal interests have lost in two other cases – Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co. and Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation – under similar circumstances). At present, tribal interests are 0 for 5 in the Roberts’ Court!

At present, the Tribal Supreme Court Project continues to dedicate substantial resources in the wake of the Court’s disastrous decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. In Carcieri, the Court held that the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land in trust for Indian tribes under the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act (“IRA”) is limited to tribes that were “under Federal jurisdiction” in June 1934, the date the IRA was enacted. NCAI and NARF are coordinating tribal efforts to pursue a legislative “fix” to reverse the Court’s damage to Congress’ overall policy of Indian self-determination and economic self-sufficiency. This legislative fix will clarify that the benefits of the Indian Reorganization Act are available to all Indian tribes, regardless of how or when they achieved federal recognition, and retroactively ratify all past decisions made by the Secretary on behalf of tribes pursuant to the IRA. As we pursue this legislative fix, the Project remains vigilant in persuading the Department of the Interior to adopt a broad, inclusive definition of “under Federal jurisdiction” in relation to pending applications to acquire lands in trust. READ MORE

National sacred sites day raises justice issues

2009-07-15T11:15:00.004-06:00

From Indian Country Today -

originally printed at http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/50624427.html

BOULDER, Colo. – The U.S. legal system has become antagonistic to Indian interests, including those involving sacred sites, said John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund.

Echohawk addressed those who gathered for a sunrise ceremony June 19 at NARF headquarters for one of the country-wide observances of National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places.

Tribal nations “may have to use the political process” because of shortcomings in the legal system, asking President Barack Obama to enlist Congress’ aid in sacred sites protection, he said.

Valmont Butte is a volcanic formation that juts upward from the plains east of Boulder, Colo. and faces the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is held sacred or of special significance by a number of Plains tribes, and its preservation is sought by the Valmont Butte Heritage Alliance in partnership with the Native American Rights Fund and other groups.

He pointed to a slow decline in equity on Indian issues in the nation’s court system.

“In 1970, when many of us were just starting to go to law school, you found you may have legal rights on paper, but they may be meaningless if you don’t have lawyers to protect those rights in court.”

The new lawyers “had some successes with judges who respected Native rights, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to sustain that success.”

“We don’t have the kinds of judges or the courts as sympathetic to us as they used to be, especially on the highest level of the Supreme Court,” where there is “great difficulty” in winning any kind of Indian rights cases.

NARF worked with other attorneys and organizations in an attempt to halt the use of treated sewage water for snowmaking at an expanded ski resort on Forest Service lands in the San Francisco Peaks of Arizona, sacred to a number of tribal nations.

“We asked the Supreme Court to protect us and see that we have religious rights, but it fell on deaf ears” and the high court refused to hear the case, Echohawk noted.

Indian people need Supreme Court justices who will be “sympathetic to our cause and take time to get to know us.”

NARF is a partner with tribes and other organizations in the Valmont Butte Heritage Alliance, which seeks to preserve and protect Valmont Butte, east of Boulder, a site considered sacred by Arapaho, Cheyenne and other tribal nations

NARF has also been proactive in working to address government intervention in the use of eagle feathers by tribal members who use them traditionally and, as Echohawk said, “A lot of people are not doing anything wrong – we do have our ceremonial ways.”

“The sacred sites we pray for are the center of everything,” said Ray Ramirez, a NARF staff member. “That’s where these ways come from.”

Andy Cozad, of the Native American Church, conducted a prayer and blessing ceremony.

“How come we can’t have the freedom we want in the U.S.? This is our land here, a way of life for our people.

“The white man doesn’t want to respect our ways. Something is not connecting between the Indian and non-Indian cultures.”

Cozad, who smudged the NARF staff and prayer ceremony attendees with cedar, was presented with a star quilt for his service to the organization.

The ceremony in Boulder was one of many sacred site gatherings nationwide June 19 – 23; and in the Denver area a number of Sweatlodge ceremonies took place at the same time as other solstice observances.

As part of its mission, NARF advocates for sacred site protection, religious freedom efforts and cultural rights. Its attorneys and staff participate in local and national gatherings and discussions about how to protect lands sacred to Native Americans.

NARF also works to protect First Amendment rights of Native American religious leaders, prisoners and members of the Native American Church, and to assert tribal rights to cultural property and human remains in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge of the Voting Rights Act

2009-07-14T14:00:00.003-06:00

On June 22, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of Section 5, (called the preclearance provision) of the Voting Rights Act (“VRA”) in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One (“NAMUD”) v. Holder. This provision generally required that covered jurisdictions (of which Alaska is one) submit any voting changes to the Department of Justice before implementing them. The DOJ then accepts or rejects that proposed change based on whether it will negatively impact the ability of protected minorities to cast their vote. In the 8 to 1 opinion, authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court recognized that "[t]he historic accomplishments of the Voting Rights Act are undeniable." The ruling also described Section 5's critical importance in addressing voting discrimination faced by citizens throughout our country. Read more.

Eagle feather group meets with U.S. government

2009-07-14T13:54:00.006-06:00

The Native American Rights Fund established a working group of Indian organizations and tribal leaders to address government intervention in the lives of Native people who work with or use eagle feathers in traditional ways. Since time-immemorial, the eagle and other raptor birds have been an integral part and intrinsic to the traditions, culture and religion of many tribes, pre-dating U.S. colonization. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) and other federal law enforcement agencies have been conducting raids, confiscations and interrogations on many Indian reservations and Pow-wow events, in at least 14 states of the western United States under what purportedly is referred to as an “Eagle Feather Sting Operation.” Read more.

Symposium on the Settlement of Indian Rserved Water Rights Claims

2009-07-02T13:42:00.002-06:00

The Western States Water Council and the Native American Rights Fund will hold their eleventh Symposium on the Settlement of Indian Reserved Water Rights Claims on August 24-26, 2009 at the Silver Reef Hotel, Casino and Spa in Ferndale, Washington. Session topics will include: Negotiation of Indian Water Rights Claims - the Basics; Settlements and Ground Water - the Administration's Settlement Policy; and Settlement Legislation - Getting Bills Through Congress.
The Symposium will begin on Monday, August 24, at 8:30 a.m. and continue throughout the day, with an evening reception. Discussions will continue throughout the morning of August 25, followed by a social/cultural event that afternoon and evening. The Symposium will conclude on August 26 at noon after a morning discussion panel. Each attendee will receive materials.

Early registration deadline is July 30.

Hotel Accommodations:

The Silver Reef Hotel has reserved rooms for August 23-26 for $109 per night (single/double occupancy). Make room reservations by calling the hotel directly at (866) 383-0777. Please specify that you are attending the WSWC/NARF Symposium. The cut-off for room reservations at the discounted rate is Monday, August 3.

The Lakeway Inn and Convention Center located at 714 Lakeway Drive in Bellingham (roughly 20 minutes away) has also reserved rooms for August 23-25 for $129/$139 (single/double occupancy). For reservations, please call the hotel directly at (888) 671-1011 and reference room block "WSWC" to get the special rate. The cut-off for room reservations at the discounted rate is Thursday, July 23.

Click here for the Registration Form.

Supreme Court Update Memorandum Available

2009-06-16T10:40:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday, May 26, 2009, President Obama announced the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, will replace Justice David Hackett Souter who announced his retirement from the Court on April 30, 2009. Currently, Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee are scheduled to begin on July 13, 2009, with President Obama pushing to complete the hearings with a vote by the full Senate before the August recess.

Judge Sotomayor graduated from Princeton University and then attended Yale Law School, where she served as an editor to the Yale Law Journal, writing a student note entitled Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case for Puerto Rican Seabed Rights. Following her graduation from law school in 1979, she went to work as an assistant district attorney for the New York County District Attorney’s Office, where she earned a reputation as “a fearless and effective prosecutor.” In 1984, she entered private practice in a small civil litigation firm, representing corporations on matters related to international commercial law. In 1991, Judge Sotomayor was nominated by President George H.W. Bush for a federal judgeship in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In 1997, President William J. Clinton nominated her to served as an appellate judge – and the first Latina – on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Generally, Judge Sotomayor is considered a centrist and pragmatist, in the mold of a Justice Souter. An extensive review of her record reveals that she has had very little exposure to, or experience in federal Indian law. Our research of her years as an Assistant District Attorney, as an attorney in private practice, or as a federal district court judge has not uncovered any cases dealing with issues pertaining to Indians or Indian tribes. During her tenure on the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor participated in only a handful of cases involving Indians, Indian tribes, or issues involving some aspect of federal Indian law. NARF has prepared a memo which provides more background information and a summary of her Indian law cases, a copy of which can be obtained by contacting Richard Guest at richardg@narf.org.

You can see the full text of the most current Supreme Court Update Memorandum by clicking HERE.

National Day of Prayer

2009-06-12T16:55:00.003-06:00

The National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places is being observed at the Native American Rights Fund on Friday, June 19, 2009.

The public is welcome to a sunrise ceremony that will be held on NARF's front lawn beginning at 7:00 a.m. The program is expected to last for one hour with a prayer ceremony, Andy Cozad from the Native American Church and John Echohawk, NARF Executive Director will be speaking, as well as other NARF staff. Speakers will be followed by a moment of silence to show concern for the sacred places that are being damaged and destroyed today.

Please join us!

NARF Executive Director Suggested as a Possible U.S. Supreme Court Nominee

2009-05-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

From an editorial in The Nation's online magazine:

"It goes without saying that President Obama's nominee to replace Justice
David Souter on the Supreme Court should be a person of extraordinary
intelligence, integrity and moral vision. And since archconservative
justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito are in their 50s, it wouldn't
hurt if the first Democratic appointee in fifteen years is relatively
young and in good health. It should also go without saying that the
president has the prerogative and political capital to nominate a
justice who agrees broadly with his interpretation of the Constitution
as a document that protects "people who may be vulnerable in the political process, the outsider, the minority...those who don't have a lot of clout" and grants a right to privacy. Luckily, there is no shortage of candidates who meet these criteria. "

To read the full article click here. John Echohawk is discussed on page two in the section regarding Garrett Epps.

NARF Establishes Working Group on Native American Eagle Feather Use

2009-05-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Native American Rights Fund is initiating a working group to address government intervention in the lives of Native people who work with or use eagle feathers in traditional ways, and tribes are speaking out on the issue. See the Indian Country Today story published May 11, 2009.

Environmental sustainability in our work and at our office

2009-05-13T08:00:00.002-06:00

A scientific consensus has emerged in recent decades that human activities are causing significant changes to our climate and environment. Among the documented changes are higher temperatures, rising sea levels, warming oceans and melting polar ice sheets. Climate change is a global phenomenon and will affect everyone under even the most conservative scientific projections. However, climate change will not affect everyone equally. Native peoples find themselves already at ground zero in a fight that will ultimately determine the survival of their tribal nations. Native communities are exceptionally vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the devastating results have already begun to fall disproportionately on tribes. Despite the fact that Native peoples have historically left a negligible carbon footprint, they are suffering and will suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate change. Read more here.

SLA Honors NILL Librarian as a "Green Champion" With Special Presidential Citation

2009-05-12T15:00:00.001-06:00

Individuals and Organizations Planting the Seeds of Change by Providing "Knowledge to Go Green"

In recognition of Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Special Libraries Association (SLA) announced 12 recipients of the 2008 SLA Presidential Citation honoring SLA "Knowledge to Go Green" Champions. The 2008 Green Citation, presented in early 2009, was a special one-year citation created by Past President of SLA Stephen Abram in recognition of the association's commitment to green practices through the "Knowledge to Go Green" initiative. Read more here.

Supreme Court continues to rule against tribes and Indian country

2009-05-12T11:20:00.000-06:00

On April 6, 2009, the Court decided United States v. Navajo Nation (Navajo II), part of the ongoing litigation between the Navajo Nation, Peabody Coal and the United States (as trustee) which reached the Supreme Court in 2003. In Navajo I, the Court had held that the Indian Mineral Leasing Act of 1938 (IMLA) and its regulations did not constitute the substantive source of law necessary to establish specific trust duties which mandate compensation for breach of those duties by the Government, and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. On remand the Federal Circuit held that provisions of the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation Act of 1950 and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) create specific trust duties which the Government had violated, as well as their violation of the “common law trust duties of care, candor, and loyalty” that arise from the comprehensive control exercised by the Government over tribal coal. Justice Scalia, writing for the Court, found that the IMLA governed the coal lease at issue here and, as the Court held in Navajo I, the IMLA does not constitute the requisite substantive source of law. Click here to read more.

Position Opening - Director of Development

2009-04-29T07:16:00.002-06:00

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) in Boulder, Colorado, is seeking applicants for the position of Director of Development. NARF is a non-profit national Indian law firm that provides legal representation to American Indian tribes throughout the United States. NARF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. For more information click here.

2008 Annual Report Available Online

2009-04-28T11:46:00.005-06:00

NARF's 2008 Annual Report is now available online. Click the cover to view the report.

New Supreme Court Update Available

2009-04-13T11:34:00.005-06:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project April 9, 2009 Memorandum is now available.

"The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review. You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF website."

Teacher Training Guides in Support of Land Based Curriculum Released

2009-04-07T14:36:00.001-06:00

The Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA) and the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) are pleased to announce the ILTF's land base curriculum, Lessons of Our Land and the supporting teacher implementation guides recently developed by TEDNA and Reinhardt & Associates.[1] Grants are available from ILTF to implement the curriculum in your community, school or organization.

The ILTF curriculum, Lessons of Our Land was developed to offer quality Indian land tenure educational opportunities for Head Start, K-12, college, adult and community education, tribal leaders and Indian landowners. While this curriculum positions Native American tribal issues and values at the forefront, the curriculum framework places emphasis on the fundamental relationship between land and people in general, not just Native Americans. Whether you teach on an Indian reservation or in an urban school with students from many ethnic backgrounds, you will find lessons that are both timely and adaptable for each and every one of these students.
However, the primary goal of this curriculum is for all Indian students to become intellectually reconnected to the land and to internalize its significance to their past, present and future as sovereign and land based peoples. Through this curriculum, Indian allottees, their children and other family members who will inherit their land, and landless tribal members will acquire the knowledge necessary to achieve self-determination through informed and responsible decision making concerning land assets. The ILTF and TEDNA believe that successful implementation of this curriculum is one of the best ways to strengthen Native communities and prevent further loss of Indian lands.

With the assistance of Reinhardt & Associates, TEDNA has developed teacher implementation guides to support the ILTF curriculum in Head Start, K-12, college, adult and community education programs. Grant money is available to communities interested in utilizing the curriculum. For more information simply, send an email to info@tedna.org indicating your interest in learning more about the curriculum. TEDNA will send you the curriculum and the teacher training guides free of charge!

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[1] TEDNA is a nonprofit organization that supports Tribal Education Departments; it strives to increase tribal sovereignty over education by improving law and policy and sharing information with our membership. For more information about TEDNA, see www.tedna.org. The ILTF strives to return land within original reservation boundaries or of cultural significance back to tribal ownership. For more information about ILTF, see www.indianlandtenure.org.

New memorandum from the Tribal Supreme Court Project

2009-03-16T13:56:00.001-06:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project February 28, 2009 Memorandum is now available.

"The Tribal Supreme Court Project is part of the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative and is staffed by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The Project was formed in 2001 in response to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that negatively affected tribal sovereignty. The purpose of the Project is to promote greater coordination and to improve strategy on litigation that may affect the rights of all Indian tribes. We encourage Indian tribes and their attorneys to contact the Project in our effort to coordinate resources, develop strategy and prepare briefs, especially at the time of the petition for a writ of certiorari, prior to the Supreme Court accepting a case for review. You can find copies of briefs and opinions on the major cases we track on the NARF website."

Native spiritual and tribal rights are the focus of legal discussion

2009-03-16T12:17:00.001-06:00

(Reprinted Courtsey of Indian Country Today)BOULDER, CO-In contemporary law, human rights tend to be equated with individual rather than collective rights, and government can interfere with Native spiritual practices by claiming it has a compelling interest in doing so, according to legal experts who gathered for a conference Feb. 27.
“It’s all about the rights of the conqueror and the colonized and I don’t know if that’s ever going to change,” said Steven C. Moore, a senior staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, Boulder. READ MORE

NARF Bids Farewell to a True Modern Day Warrior: Walter Echo-Hawk Jr

2009-03-16T12:16:00.002-06:00

BOULDER, CO-It is with great sadness and with well wishes that NARF bids farewell to senior staff attorney Walter “Bunky” Echohawk. Walter will be retiring from NARF in April. He has served as an attorney for NARF since 1973 and has been a true pioneer and icon of Indian law. His contributions to the field are far too numerous to entirely mention. Walter has tirelessly served as a lawyer, tribal supreme court judge, scholar, writer and activist for more than 35 years. His legal experience includes cases involving Native American religious freedom, prisoner rights, water rights, treaty rights, and reburial/ repatriation rights. Among Walter’s most important contributions to Native American rights was his involvement in the development and passage of The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a Federal law passed in 1990. READ MORE

Supreme Court’s decision threatens to be destabilizing for a significant number of Tribes

2009-03-16T12:11:00.001-06:00

Washington D.C. - On February 24, 2009, the Supreme Court issued an extraordinarilytroubling decision, limiting the authority of the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act (“IRA”). This case involved a challenge by the State of Rhode Island to the authority of the Secretary to take land in to trust for the Narragansett Tribe under the IRA. The Court has invoked a strained and circular reading of a few sentences in the Indian Reorganization Act to create different “classes” of tribes. Given the fundamental purpose of the IRA was to organize tribal governments and restore land bases for tribes that had been torn apart by prior federal policies, the Court’s ruling is an affront to the most basic policies underlying the IRA. READ MORE

Nation’s Tribes Asking Congress for Swift Action on Climate Legislation

2009-03-02T13:36:00.001-07:00

Nation’s Tribes Asking Congress for Swift Action on Climate Legislation

***PHOTO & INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE***

WASHINGTON-Tribal leaders from around the country have come to Washington, D.C., to press their Senators and Representatives for support of federal climate legislation in 2009. Historically, tribal communities have borne the brunt of negative environmental impacts generated primarily by non-tribal activities, and are recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as disproportionately impacted by the effects of global warming.

To fight global warming and preserve their ways of life, America’s tribal governments call for national legislation that results in mandatory reductions in climate change pollution, the development of renewable energy sources within a timeframe that prevents irreversible harm to public health, the economy and the environment, and includes dedicated funding for fish and wildlife conservation and restoration. The tribes also call for legislation that supports tribal efforts to lessen climate change impacts on tribal communities, lands and natural resources, and cultural traditions, and provides tribes with equal access to economic development opportunities presented by renewable energy development, energy efficiency, carbon trading mechanisms, and other mitigation strategies.

“Every day, our people are impacted by global warming and the changes to our environment,” said Jerry Pardilla, executive director of the National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC) and member of the Penobscot Nation. “It is important for tribes to participate in national efforts to mitigate the causes of global warming and to develop adaptation strategies for the anticipated changes in our homelands.”
NTEC, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) are calling for federal climate legislation that addresses the following:

Indian tribes should be specifically referenced as sovereign partners in addressing the problems of climate change.

Indian tribes, states and local governments should be treated equally in climate legislation to the degree that each of these jurisdictions should have equal access to the same technical support and financial resources.

When referencing national and international efforts to address climate change, Indigenous peoples domestically and throughout the world should be given the status and rights recognized in the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Tribal set-asides should be established for tribes to address the disproportionate climate impacts upon their infrastructures, services, lands and resources, and traditional lifeways, and ensure their participation in green job transition training.

Tribal efforts to develop their vast renewable energy potential, obtain access to energy infrastructure, and implement energy efficiency programs should be supported through federal programmatic support and removal of barriers to implementation

As the majority of Alaska Native Villages must be relocated due to rising water levels, flooding, and erosion, sufficient federal support should be provided for their safe relocation with their free prior and informed consent. .

Appropriate weight should be given to traditional tribal knowledge of the environment in climate legislation.

NTEC, NCAI, NARF, and NWF hope that climate legislation will help tribes address the many challenges posed by a changing climate.

Contacts:
Bob Gruenig, National Tribal Environmental Council, (505) 242-2175
Jose Aguto, National Congress of American Indians, (202) 553-7202
Myra Wilensky, National Wildlife Federation, (303) 725-3157
Kim Gottschalk, Native American Rights Fund, (303) 775-1315

The National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC) is comprised of 184 member tribes with a mission to enhance each tribe’s ability to protect, preserve and promote the wise management of air, land, and water for the benefit of current and future generations.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest and largest intertribal organization in the country with over 250 member tribes, serving as the major national tribal government organization, monitoring federal policy and coordinating efforts to inform federal decisions that affect tribal government interests.

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is America's conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future. NWF partners with sovereign tribal nations to solve today’s conservation challenges for future generations.

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide. NARF's practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.

NARF Attorney to speak at United Nations

2009-02-03T13:46:00.004-07:00

NEW YORK, NY-NARF Attorney Heather Kendall-Miller will be speaking at the United Nations in New York on Friday, Febraury 6th. She will be speaking on the issue of climate change at a conference entitled "Year of Change: New Prospects for America at the United Nations. Kendall Miller will be one of three speakers on climate change at the UNA-USA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference at the United Nations. Keynote speakers at the conference are U.S. Senator Robert Mendez and U.S. Ambassador Suan Rice. For more information, download the conference flyer.

Tribal Supreme Court Project Update: Supreme Court likely to make decision soon in land-into-Trust case

2009-02-03T13:44:00.001-07:00

The Tribal Supreme Court Project, a joint project of NARF & NCAI, anticipates a decision in the very near future in Carcieri v. Kempthorne, a case involving a challenge by the State of Rhode Island to the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land in to trust for the benefit of the Narragansett Indian Tribe under the provisions of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. Rhode Island argued that the Secretary’s authority to take land in trust for the benefit of “Indians” was limited by Congress to recognized Indian tribes now under federal jurisdiction in 1934.

The Project has continued to focus its energy and resources on two other Indian law cases that the Court is scheduled to decide this term: United States v. Navajo Nation and State of Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs. In addition, the Project has committed substantial resources to the petition for writ of certiorari in Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service filed on January 7, 2009 which seeks review of a decision by an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversing a three-judge panel decision and holding that the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of a permit allowing the use of recycled sewage waste-water to manufacture snow for a ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks a sacred-site for many American Indian Tribes does not violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”). (Read more)…

Troubled Times For All: NARF to postpone Santa Fe Benefit Auction

2009-02-03T13:43:00.001-07:00

SANTA FE, NM-After careful thought and consideration, NARF has decided to postpone its 8th annual Visions for the Future Benefit Art Auction scheduled to be held in August 2009 during Santa Fe Indian Market. The Auction will be tentatively postponed until 2010.

"Given the current economic crisis and the hardships it has created for so many, including our supporters, artists and NARF itself, we believe it is prudent to postpone the auction this year, stated NARF Executive Director John Echohawk. "In light of the economic challenges we believe it will be extremely difficult to match the fundraising success the auction has enjoyed in recent years. We do however want to thank all the artists, auction sponsors, donors and supporters who have helped to make NARF's Santa Fe Auction such a success. We are hopeful that the event can return in 2010. In the meantime, we ask that our auction supporters consider alternative means of giving to support NARF's work. This level of support, especially in these hard times, is both necessary and greatly appreciated," Echohawk added.

NARF, like everyone else has also been impacted severely by the financial crisis. As a result, NARF will intensify its fundraising efforts to support our legal and advocacy work for Native American rights in a variety of ways. NARF will release announcements in the near future regarding alternative fundraising efforts to our Santa Fe auction. For more information please contact Don Ragona, Director of Development at 303.447.8760.

NARF Legal Review: Summer/Fall 2008 issue now available

2009-01-16T11:01:00.008-07:00

The latest issue of NARF's semiannual newsletter, the NARF Legal Review, is now available at http://www.narf.org/pubs/nlr/nlr33_2.pdf This issue discusses:

Federal Court orders Alaska to provide language assistance to tribes.
NARF Attorney is one of four equal justice heroes to receive national awards at NLADA annual conference.
NARF Executive Director and two former NARF Attorneys named to Obama transition team.
Case updates.

Previous issues can be accessed online at http://www.narf.org/pubs/nlr/index.html or by contacting NARF's National Indian Law Library.

Victory for American Indian Religious Freedom

2008-12-24T14:11:00.002-07:00

NEW ORLEANS, LA - Last month, the ACLU of Louisiana (ACLU) and the Native American Rights’ Fund in Boulder, Colorado (NARF) announced a victory on behalf of a Native American child attending public school in St. Tammany Parish. Curtis Harjo is a five-year-old Native American child who wears his hair in a neat braid down his back. The Harjo’s religion, like that of many Native Americans, includes a belief that hair should not be cut, except as a symbol of mourning upon the death of a loved one. The principal at Curtis’ elementary school advised his mother that he would be required to cut his hair to continue to attend school even though to do so would violate his family’s religion. (Read more…)

NARF wins important ICWA Victory for Indian children & tribes

2008-12-24T14:10:00.004-07:00

BOULDER, CO - The Native American Rights Fund recently won a lower court case in the State of Colorado to enforce the absolute and unconditional right of an Indian tribe to intervene in a child custody proceeding under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The case involved an Indian child eligible for membership in the Osage Nation of Oklahoma who was involved in a child custody proceeding as defined under ICWA. (Read more)…

It's Not Too Late to Make Your Tax Deductible Contribution Before the End of The Year to Support Native American Rights

2008-12-24T14:05:00.003-07:00

Since 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has fought to defend the rights of Native Americans. NARF has won numerous and significant victories that have preserved the continued existence of tribes, their sovereign rights, traditional lands and cultural and spiritual lifeways. While much has been achieved, considerable work remains.

Times are hard for everyone this Holiday Season. Nonprofit organizations like NARF are feeling a dramatic and negative impact from the recession. Now, more than ever we need your support. We respectfully ask that you consider giving what you can by December 31st. Every dollar makes a difference in our battle to ensure justice and a brighter future for Native Americans. Every gift is 100% tax deductible. Again, any level of support can make a big difference for Native American rights in 2009.

Help defend the rights of Native Americans by:
Becoming a member of NARF
Renewing your membership
Becoming a monthly sustainer
Making a one-time gift
Including NARF in your estate planning
Giving non-cash gifts (stocks, bonds or mutual fund gifts)

We thank you for your time, consideration and for the support you have given to NARF this past year that has helped us achieve so much for Native Americans. As we look ahead to the New Year we hope that you will pledge once again to help NARF to continue to stand firm for justice for Native Americans in 2009.

Happy Holidays & Best Wishes for a Safe & Happy New Year,

The Attorneys, Board, Staff & Clients of the Native American Rights Fund

NARF Holiday Gift Ideas: Every dollar you spend makes a difference for Native rights!

2008-12-16T09:24:00.003-07:00

Give the gift that keeps on giving...make a tax deductible gift before December 31st!
In these troubled economic times, NARF needs your support more than ever to ensure that we can continue our work to defend the rights of Native Americans. We are a 100% reliant on the generosity and support of people like you to sustain this important work that has made a tremendous difference for more than 250 tribes and thousands of Native Americans across our country. There are a number of ways that you can give generously this year. Your gift is a 100% tax deductible.
Make a one-time gift
Make a tribute or memorial gift in honor of a loved one
Give the gift of NARF annual membership
Become a monthly sustainer of NARF's work
Include NARF in your estate planning

NARF Attorney Steve Moore honored as Native rights champion

2008-11-21T13:28:00.006-07:00

WASHINGTON, DC, October 29, 2008 — The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) is pleased to announce that it will honor four equal justice heroes, including Native American Rights Fund Senior Staff Attorney Steven Moore, at the NLADA 2008 Annual Conference Awards Luncheon on Friday, November 21 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. Moore is the 2008 winner of the Pierce-Hickerson Award. This award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement or preservation of Native American rights. Read more.

NARF Executive Director appointed to Obama transition team

2008-11-21T13:24:00.007-07:00

BOULDER, CO - John Echohawk, Executive Director for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has been appointed to serve on President-elect Obama's agency transition team for the Department of Interior. Mr. Echohawk, who also served on the Clinton-Gore transition team in 1992, will serve as a member of the Energy and Natural Resources work group.

The Agency Review Teams for the Obama-Biden Transition will complete a thorough review of key departments, agencies and commissions of the United States government, as well as the White House, to provide the President-elect, Vice President-elect, and key advisors with information needed to make strategic policy, budgetary, and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration. The Teams will ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in.

John Echohawk is a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and has served as NARF's Executive Director since 1977. Mr. Echohawk will be on personal leave from NARF during his period of service to the transition team as required by the President-elect's transition ethics requirements. For more information, please contact Dan Pfeiffer with the Obama-Biden Transition Team at dpfeiffer@barackobama.com or at dan.pfeiffer@ptt.gov.

NARF Director Named to President-Elect Obama's Transition Team

2008-11-20T12:46:00.004-07:00

NARF Executive Director John E. Echohawk is one of six American Indians named to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.

Read more at:
Obama names six Indians to transition team (The Bismark Tribune)
Obama appoints Native officials to transition team (Missoulian)

Victory for Native American Religious Freedom

2008-11-19T13:27:00.003-07:00

Today the ACLU of Louisiana (ACLU) and the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colorado (NARF) announced a victory on behalf of a Native American child attending public school in St. Tammany Parish. Read more.

NARF to screen new Native American rights film in Boulder 11/18

2008-11-14T12:34:00.005-07:00

The Boulder Public Library & the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) are proud to present a special event in honor of National Native American Heritage Month:

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
6:30-8:30 PM - FREE EVENT
Boulder Public Library Auditorium
1000 Canyon Blvd. Boulder, CO 80302

(Main entrance and extensive FREE parking located at 11th & Arapahoe)

-Screening of NARF Short Documentary "Modern Day Warriors"-a new film on the history of the Native American rights movement

-Reception with Native American foods offered

-Featured Speaker: Amy Bowers (Yurok), NARF attorney

Ms. Bowers will speak about the most pressing issues impacting Native Americans today. Topics will include human rights, global warming, government accountability & education.

For more information contact: Ghada at 303.441.4941 or Crystal at 303.447.8760, crystal@narf.org
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