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.
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