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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2009)
News from Inctí^n Country Pgge 7 SpiIyayTymoo August 27, 2009 Justice to boost effort to combat tribal crime W A SH IN G TO N , D.C. (AP) — O n just a single day this year on the Red Lake reservation in northern Minnesota, police and investigators received em er gency calls about a suicide, a m urder, three stabbings, two shootings and multiple incidents o f domestic violence. Federal statistics have shown American Indians are the vic tims o f violent crime at more than twice the national rate, with incidence o f homicide and do m estic violence m uch higher than the national average. T he O bam a adm inistration announced last week a new ef fort to try and com bat some o f th is crim e o n re s e rv a tio n s, where shortages o f law enforce m ent personnel and federal dol lars have led to lawless environ ments. The top three Justice D epart m ent officials — A ttorney G en eral Eric H older, D eputy A ttor ney G eneral David O gden and A ssociate A tto rn e y G eneral Thom as Perrelli — will travel to states w ith high Indian popula tions over the next two m onths to talk to tribal m em bers and crime experts about what can be done. “It translates into suffering in people’s lives that just is unac ceptable in this country,” Ogden said. “We’re really at kind o f a crisis point.” The problem s are n o t new. In the 1990s, Holder, O gden and Perrelli all worked on Indian crime for then-Attorney G en eral Janet Reno in the Clinton administration. Many o f the same issues still e x ist, in c lu d in g lim ite d r e sources, a lack o f coordination am ong agencies and little focus on the issue. “We have'to look at w hether we’re doing enough and I think it’s clear we’re not,” O gden said. “I think we can devote m ore law enforcem ent agents, I think we can help in the training o f law en fo rcem en t agents, we can have m ore prosecutors and I think we can provide m ore sup p o rt to tribal institutions.” Increased federal dollars will Peltier denied parole BISMARCK, N o rth D a kota (AP) — American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, im prisoned since 1977 for the deaths o f two FBI agents, has been denied parole after authorities decided that re leasing him would diminish the seriousness o f his crime, a federal prosecutor said last week. Peltier, w ho claims the FBI framed him, will riot be ehgible for parole again until July 2024, when he will be 79 years old. U.S. A tto rn e y D re w Wrigley announced the deci sion o f the U.S. Parole Com mission. Peltier is serving two life sentences for the execution- style deaths o f FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Will iams during a June 26,1975, standoff on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. H e was convicted in Fargo, N orth Dakota, in 1977. H e h as said th e F B I fra m e d h im , w h ic h th e agency denies, and unsuc cessfully appealed his convic tion numerous times. H e also was denied parole in 1993. “Leonard Peltier is exactly where he belongs — in fed eral prison, serving two life sentences,” said Wrigley. A n angry defense attor ney E ric Seitz declined to com m ent last week, saying the Parole Commission had n ot had the “courtesy” to in form him o f the decision. “We’ve heard nothing,” he said. P a ro le C o m m issio n spokesman Tom! H utchison said the board notifies both sides o f a decision, and can’t control w hether one party makes it public before the other can be notified. Peltier had a full parole hearing for the first time in 15 years last m o n th at the L ew isburg, P ennsylvania, federal prison where he is being held. The hearing was closed to the public, but Seitz said he fo c u s e d o n fa c to rs th a t w ould su p p o rt parole. H e said a representative from the Turtle M ountain Band o f C h ip p ew a re s e rv a tio n in N o rth Dakota, where Peltier grew up,, said the tribe had made arrangements to incor porate Peltier back into so ciety should he be paroled. Gang activity has risen in tribes across the country as drug traffickers have taken advantage o f gaps in law enforcement. probably also be p art o f the equation, O gden said. Reports o f violence on res ervations — especially the poor est and m ost rem ote — are con stant. Red Lake has certainly know n its share o f crimes. In 2005, a 16-year-old there killed seven people at his school and two people on the reservation. G ang activity has risen in tribes across the country as drug traffickers have taken advantage o f gaps in law enforcement. Still, little is know n about w hat exacdy is happening on reservations o r how the inci den ts are handled. D ata has b een sparse for decades and crime surveys rarely separate out tribal statistics. O gden says bet ter data collection is one o f the departm ent's priorities. O ne o f the main problem s in reducing crime has been a lack o f officers; often a handful o f patrol cars will police a reserva tion the size o f a small state. T he issue o f jurisdiction has also long been an obstacle. The Justice D epartm ent shares re sponsibility fo r Indian crime with the Bureau o f Indian A f fairs, which is part o f the D e partm ent o f Interior, and with state and tribal governm ents. Jurisdiction over a crime can vary by state, by the severity o f the crime and by w hether the victim and suspect are Indian or non-Indian. While the Bureau o f Indian Affairs polices reservations, the Justice D ep artm en t’s role in volves investigating and pros ecuting crimes that fall under federal jurisdiction and admin isterin g g ra n t p ro g ram s d e signed to reduce crime on res ervations. Democrats in Congress criti- cized the Bush administration for not doing m ore to address the problem and for declining to prosecute m any crim es in In d ian country. W hile cam paigning on Indian reservations last year during the Democratic primary, Barack O bam a prom ised more protections for tribes, including efforts to improve law enforcement. O gden says the governm ent has failed to provide adequate resources and basic protections. “All kinds o f crime flourish in that environment,” he said. “There hasn’t been enough sus tained leadership attention.” O gden and Perrelli will at tend two sessions w ith tribal leaders and experts in law en forcem ent in late August in Se attle and in Septem ber in Albu querque, N.M. In O ctober, H older will hold a larger listening conference with tribes in Minneapolis. It’s the first such conference since the Clinton administration held a similar session 15 years ago, according to the department. Judge quashes county casino suit W AYLAND TO W N SH IP, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging th e U.S. D e p a rtm e n t o f th e Interior's decision to take into trust 147 acres o f land in south w e stern M ichigan w h ere an American Indian tribe wants to build a casino. U.S. D istrict Judge Richard Leon in Washington issued the ruling Wednesday. T he M atch-E-Be-Nash-She- W ish Band o f Pottawatomi In dians, also known as the G un Lake Tribe, plans to build the $200 million casino complex in A lleg an C o u n ty ’s W ayland Township. T he land first had be taken in to trust, which the Interior D epartm ent did eariier this year. Form er Wayland Township trustee David Patchak sued to stop the land from being taken into trust in August 2008. A proclamation was signed this m onth formally making the land a reservation. Tribes, shellfish growers differ over exempt land SEATTLE (AP) - A land mark deal struck between Puget Sound Indian tribes and com mercial growers two years ago was m eant to end years o f ran co r over shellfish harvesting rights. B ut some growers were sur prised to learn this sum mer that some o f their tidelands may not qualify u n d er th e settlem ent, potentially opening them up to tribal harvest. In 2007, 17 P u g et S ound tribes agreed to give up treaty rights to harvest shellfish from com m ercial shellfish beds, as long as the beds had been ac tively farm ed before Aug. 28, 1995. In return, the tribe got $33 m illio n in state an d fed eral m oney to buy and lease tide- lands for their own use. Commercial growers submit ted documents insisting 864 par cels should be exempt from the settlements, b u t in papers filed with a federal court in Seattle in June, the tribes objected to half o f those. T h e s e ttle m e n t stem m ed from a 1994 federal court rul ing recognizing the tribes’ rights to a share o f naturally occurring shellfish grow n on Washington tidelands controlled by commer cial growers. G row ers w ho proved they actively farm ed shellfish beds before U.S. D istrict Judge E d- ward Rafeedie issued his Aug. 28, 1995, order w ould be ex em pt from tribal harvest. Tony Forsman, shellfish and wildlife policy analyst for the N o rth w e s t In d ia n F ish eries Commission, said growers had to provide specific docum enta tion th at their shellfish beds were actively farmed before that date. Som e grow ers m issed the deadline to subm it documents, while others filed im proper pa perw ork, said F orsm an, w ho helped negotiate the agreement. “Some filed stuff that would ne gate them ,” and others didn't m eet the criteria outright, he said. Interior secretary outlines priorities W IN D O W R O C K , Ariz. (AP) — Interior Sec retary K e n n e th Salazar m et with Navajo N ation P resident Joe Shirley Jr. last week. Salazar told Shirley and other Navajo leaders the O bam a adm inistration’s m ajor goals in w orking with Indian tribes include improving education, law en fo rc e m e n t, an d e c o nomic development. S h irley sp o k e sm a n George H ardeen says the president and Salazar were joined by tribal branch chiefs and senior Interior D ep artm en t officials in W indow Rock. T he tribe also honored Interior D epartm ent So licitor Hilary Tompkins, a tribe m em b er w ho has previously served as chief counsel to N ew Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Salazar then toured the site o f a proposed copper m ine in Superior, Ariz. and the G rand Canyon. Mayors oppose Glendale casino P H O E N I X (AP) - Five mayors are voicing their oppo sition to an Indian-run casino on a county island in Glendale. T h e m ayors o f Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Sur p rise a n d Y o u n g to w n jo in Glendale in opposing a casino d e v e lo p e d by th e T o h o n o O ’odham Nation. Buckeye Mayor Jackie Meek said a tribe should n o t be able to go into a city or town, pur chase land and create a reser vation w ithout any input from city leaders. Plans for the casino were announced seven m onths ago. W hile Glendale opposes a casino, the mayors o f Peoria and Tolleson sent letters to the U.S. D ep artm en t o f Interior supporting the casino and the jo b s it w o u ld bring. T ribal Chairm an N ed N orris Jr. said he would have liked to have m et with city officials who are op posed to the casino project. Investigation has artifact dealers on edge SA NTA F E , N ew Mexico (AP) — A federal investigation into the sale o f Native Ameri can artifacts has brought fear and uncertainty to one o f the nation’s largest and longest-run ning Indian artifact shows. Wealthy collectors are m ore cautious about buying artifacts for fear o f criminal liability, and rep u tab le dealers say they ’re working double-time to prove th e ir legitim acy a fte r b ein g wrongly lum ped together with looters and gravediggers. T he aisles o f the exhibit hall at the 31st annual W hitehawk A ntique Show w ere crow ded w ith collectors, including busi ness leaders and Santa Fe’s elite. T h e re w ere hugs an d h a n d shakes from the dealers for their regular customers, but rum ors w ere circulating about suspi cious vans outside and under cover federal agents. i a i Selected Electronics and Major Home Appliances also on Sale! Come draw from the Treasure Chestfor your Discount Coupon! Sale ends September 30 - (Sale applies to all furniture in stock) J
