Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 2010)
n Spilyay Tym oo, Warm Springs, Oregon Pgge 5 December 29, 2010 Obama: US will back UN on rights of native peoples WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — President Barack Obama said that the United States will re verse course and support a United Nations declaration de fending the rights of indigenous peoples. Obama told American Indian leaders that the declaration af firms the importance and rich cultu res o f native peoples throughout the world. The U.S. voted against the declaration when the General Assembly adopted it in 2007, arguing it was incompatible with existing laws. Three other coun tries, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, also opposed the dec laratio n but have since an nounced their support. The declaration is intended to protect the rights of more than 370 m illio n native peoples w orld w id e, affirm in g their equality and ability to maintain their own institutions, cultures and spiritual traditions. It sets standards to fight discrimination and marginalization and elimi nate human rights violations. Administration officials said last April that they were review ing the U.S. position on the dec laration. The State Department called the decision to support the declaration a “meaningful change in the U.S. position” that resulted from a comprehensive review that included consulta tion with tribes. While not legally binding, the declaration “carries considerable moral and political force and complements the president’s ongoing efforts to address his torical inequities faced by indig enous com m unities in the United States,” the State Depart ment said in a statement. More im portant than any resolution or declaration are actions to match those words, Obama said, adding that his ad ministration is working to help Indian tribes meet a variety of challenges. Obama noted that this year he signed laws to im prove health care and law enforcement for Native American tribes and helped resolve long-standing dis putes over discrimination against American Indian farmers by the A griculture D epartm ent and m istreatm ent by the Interior Department of those with roy alty rights for oil, gas, grazing and timber. “W e’re m aking progress. W e’re m oving forward. And what I hope is that we are see ing a turning point in the rela tionship between our nations,” Obama told a conference of tribal nations attended by more than 500 people representing more than 320 tribes. The settlement of the nearly 15-year-old Cobell royalty case, which Obama signed last week, includes separate measures set tling four long-standing disputes over N ative Am erican water rights in Arizona, New Mexico and Montana. Among the tribes winning settlements were the White Mountain Apaches, who w ill receive $292 m illion for construction and operation of a rural water system. The pay ment settles a dispute over wa ter rights on the reservation that dates to 1917. “1 think it’s a real new start for Indian Country,” Hinton said, adding that the flurry of activity on tribal issues “helps us get started in every way.” Robert Coulter, executive director of the Indian Law Re source Center, an advocacy group, called the U.N. declara tion on the rights of indigenous Those efforts include creat ing jobs, building roads on res ervations, improving education and im provin g health care, Obama said. He recalled that Crow Indi ans gave him the name “One who helps people throughout the land.” And he joked that his wife, Michelle, says his name should be “One who isn’t pick ing up his shoes and his socks.” Timothy Hinton, vice chair man o f the W hite M ountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, said Obama’s support for the U.N. declaration is among several steps forward the administration has taken this year on Native American issues. The new Indian Health Care Act, Tribal Law and Order Act and the resolution of disputes with farmers and roy alty holders are landmark events and fulfill campaign promises Obama made, Hinton said. peoples the most significant de velopment in international hu man rights law in decades. The U.S. endorsement “re flects the worldwide acceptance of indigenous peoples and our governments as a perm anent part of the world community and the countries where we live,” Coulter said. “International hu man rights law now recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples as peoples, including rights of self-determination, property and culture.” In a related development, the U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday it is creating an Of fice of Indian Energy Policy and Programs to promote tribal en ergy development. The new of fice w ill be led by T racey LeBeau, a member of the Chey enne River Sioux Tribe o f South Dakota. Leaders from Indian Country confer with President President Obama met earlier this month with 12 tribal leaders to hear directly from Indian Country about their policy pri orities and concerns. The President conveyed to the leaders his commitment to strengthen and build upon the government to government re latio n sh ip w ith Indian Country. He also noted that while much progress has been made, more remains to be done, and he is committed to working with the Native American com munity to achieve those goals. The 12 leaders who met with the President represent the geo graphic diversity of the country and they were selected by their regional peers. The leaders are: Chairman Cladoosby of the Sw inom ish T ribe; P residen t Shirley o f the Navajo Nation; Chairman Black Eagle of the Crow Tribe; Chairman Smith of the Pala Band of Mission Indi ans; C hief Red Eagle o f the Osage Nation. Chairperson Edwards of the Caddo Nation o f Oklahoma; Chairman Barbry of the Tunica- White House courtesy photo. Leaders of tribes from across Indian Country meet with President Obama and staff. Biloxi Indian Tribe; Chairman H all o f the Three A ffiliated Tribes; Chairman Wright of the Pyram id Lake Paiute Tribe; Chairm an Hayes o f the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. P residen t Thom as o f the C entral Council T lin git and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska; Chairwoman Diver of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, White House Domes tic Policy C ouncil D irector Melody Barnes and other Ad ministration officials. Also in the D ecem ber 15 m eeting were Attorney Gen eral Eric Holder, Interior Sec retary Ken Salazar, Health and H um an S e rv ic e s S e c re ta ry K ath leen S e b e liu s, W h ite Study requested fo r N ative H aw aiian governm ent HONOLULU (AP) - A fed eral go vern m ent spending measure pending in the U.S. Senate calls for a study on forming a Na tive Hawaiian governing entity. The one-sentence lan guage mandating the study was inserted into a $1.27 trillion appropriations bill that's expected to be con sidered this week. The study’s unspecified cost would be paid by the Department of the Inte rior. It w o u l d i n v o l v e com m unity and govern m ent groups to recom m end a m echanism for the reorganization o f a N ativ e H aw aiian g o v erning entity, w ith rec ognition o f that entity by the U nited States as an Indian tribe. it seems like it was yesterday when w e learned to nde our together, bikes discovered that we both liked to dance and speak our language. never apart It seems like we were and we were e ve ryo n e knew best friends. When we decided to go to school, we made sure we were going to be ro o m m a le s . W hen you finally landed that first job after all your hard work, 1 was the first to say “congratulations.” When you said you wanted to help the youth on the res«rvation, i sad. “Let’s do it together.” Then came a time when you told me that you have a mental health problem,^ depression and anxiety. N o w I know that anyone can experience mental health problems. even Native People. We thought we knew understand everything, yet I really didn’t what a my support can make tn you r recovery. Well, I am here for yo u I here for you difference will be And—as always—we will recover together. Come L Visit w w w .w h a tad ifferen ce.sa m h sa .g ov/ n a tive to learn how you can help suppor