BREAKING! Ron Paul Upset White Man Might Be Treated Like Indian In His Imagination

Remember Wounded Knee! But only if it might happen to white people!

Shorter Ron Paul: The Wounded Knee Massacre isn’t really anything all that bad unless I can imagine it happening to a white man like Cliven Bundy.

Free Speech Writing for Elizabeth Warren

“When I was a little girl growing up in Oklahoma, I heard family stories about Cherokee ancestors, just like a lot of families. I loved the stories; my cousin even wrote a cookbook of what he and I thought were authentic Cherokee recipes. Later, when I came to Harvard, an article in the Crimson described me as a ‘Native American professor.’  I never bothered to consider how insensitive and hurtful it was to citizens of the Cherokee Nation and other Native Americans for people like me, with no documented Indian ancestors, to make such claims. Even though I never sought any professional advantage based on my family history, I should’ve known better. Harvard should’ve known better. Listing me as a Native American was an insult to the many authentic Indian lawyers, law professors and law school deans. I apologize for my insensitivity to all Native Americans and to the Cherokee in particular, who are plagued by fake tribes and fake claimants who steal and dilute their heritage and culture. But I am also offended by my political opponents who made hay of this issue by using racist terms like ‘squaw’ and ‘Pocahantas’. Such language is hateful and I call upon Senator Brown to join me in condemning it. What’s more, I call on Senator Brown and all Republicans to drop their obstruction of the Violence Against Women Act and in particular their efforts to prevent tribal courts from regaining jurisdiction over non-Indians who abuse Indian women. Native American women are two-and-a-half times more likely than any other group to be the victims of domestic violence, mostly at the hands of non-Indians.  Because tribal courts were stripped of jurisdiction over violent crimes and crimes committed by non-Indians on Indian land, these horrible attacks on women and children often go unpunished. The Justice Department has utterly failed Indian Country with its pitiful record of prosecution.  In fact, the Justice Department can’t even be bothered to keep statistics on crimes reported, investigated or prosecuted.  I may not be Indian myself, but as your senator I will work tirelessly to protect Indian women and children from abuse. We owe the first Americans no less.”

Suffer the Little Children

An excellent NPR piece on child abduction by CPS in South Dakota.  THIS is why tribal sovereignty matters.  The yoneg government will continue to commit cultural genocide as long as it is allowed to do so with impunity.

Indians Screwed by Supreme Court

Also, sun rises.  Under this truly mind-boggling decision, the government is rewarded for its steadfast dedication to racism by refusing to recognize certain tribes until 1934.  And the tribes are punished because they were unable to force the government to recognize them, even though no such mechanism existed until 1934.  Once again, the courts have demonstrated that any right possessed by Indian Tribes that inconveniences white people in the least will be overturned or watered-down, no matter how convuluted the construction of the law.  The decision is here.

Stimulus for Indian Country

NPR story I listened t0 today on the nearly $3billion in the stimulus package for Indian Country, with a focus on hopes for economic development on the vast, impoverished Navajo Reservation.

Elder Court

The Tulalip Tribe has instituted a remarkable program where tribal elders intervene to help young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 with pending criminal cases.  Every tribe should be experimenting with such a plan, as it directly addresses the serious problem of young Indians ending up permanently on the wrong side of the law and without hope.

Justice in Indian Country

Bill Moyers on the combinaton of racism and federal apathy that has transformed large swaths of Indian Country into lawless zones.

A Little Good News

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) has introduced a bill to address the epidemic of white-on-Indian crime in Indian Country. While far short of a full restoration of sovereignty, it does strengthen the power of tribal courts and tribal police and force some measure of accountability on the Department of Justice. It’s a good start, but Congress needs to go further and repeal the odious Major Crimes Act outright and explicate overturn the Oliphant decision (which they can do since the case was based on a transparently false reading of Congressional intent or rather the lack thereof).

The Candidates and Indian Country

As promised in a previous column, here is a link to John McCain’s Indian policy (from Indianz.com with a link to the .pdf file). Someone from the Obama campaign was kind enough to send me his candidate’s full policy paper, but I am not smart enough to know how to directly post .pdf files. If it is available as a web-page link, please send it again and I will glad to post it. No word yet from the Hillary campaign…

Expanding Indian Country

In a rare bit of good news, it appears very likely that the Oneida Nation will succeed in converting 13,000 acres out of a requested 17,000 in Oneida and Madison Counties in New York into trust. This is not, of course, the end; the decision will almost surely face litigation from those forces who have struggled to uphold the cherished legal principal that if you just steal something for long enough, you get to keep it. And they will continue to do so by arguing “fairness” and “equality” with a straight face.