Perhaps we should just cut the Western Region of the BIA. They have been completely ineffective in protecting Native Americans that have been harmed by their tribes. Amy Deutschke and her team has overseen the termination of THOUSANDS of Indians from their tribes via disenrollments, Tribal Cleansing, and TRIBAL TERRORISM.
The BIA failed to intervene in the Chukchansi Council Dispute, even as violence erupted. They have allowed the tribe to destroy the lives of 80% of the tribe. They are not in business to protect only the tribal leaders. They should SUSPEND the right to have casino gaming until order is restored.
The budget of the BIA is over $2.4 BILLION as of FY 2008. How many teachers and police could we keep.
What are YOUR thoughts?
6 comments:
I 100% agree. The BIA does nothing but put their hands for their share for staying out of tribal disputes and for even helping them accrue.
Sounds like Termination Policy from the 1950's, when the federal governemnt wanted to get rid of the federal governemnt/tribal governement relationship, whihc was sold as the best thing for tribes. BAck in the 1950's tribal communties were told that they would be given full protection of the US Constitution, and would be fully incorporated into American society. What they did nto say is that the BIA would be dismantled, the federal governemnt would no longer recognize Native American identity, tribal governments would no longer be recognized, and reservation lands would no longer be held in trust, but sold off. In short, getting rid of the BIA is a dismantling of tribal soverignty, and full assimilation of tribes, all tribes. Not all tribes benefit from gaming revenue, most tribes still need the BIA and the funding from the federal government, CA tribes and their success is unique and the tribal communities that have benefited becasue of gaming are fortunate.
".... the tribal communities that have benefited becasue of gaming are fortunate."
The Tribal communities are being torn apart and ripped asunder. There is much lamination and screams over what is being done to there heritage and memberships. No one will listen, and the government has turned a blind eye on the subject. Many old grudges have surfaced and people are using there position in power to remove families who they never liked.
You can say ".... the tribal communities that have benefited becasue of gaming are fortunate." , but it is a sad thing when the whole community is not allowed to benefit, Many being forced back into poverty and now have to rely on welfare again
When I mean that they are fortunate I mean that CA tribes have as a whole, benefited from gaming nad have an opportunity to succeed far better than most tribes. Dis-enrollment has nothing to do with tribes being termineted and the BIA being dissolved, tribes should have the ability to determine their own membership, as have and always will. Long before Casinos came around, many tribes found out that some Indians on their rolls were not even from their tribes, and were receiving allotments and tribal resources, these families were identified and the rolls were corrected, but now becasue some CA tribes have benefited, membership issues are being blamed on Casino's? Just becasue people get disenrolled, they want the whole tribal community and tribes to suffer and be destroyed, they want the Casino to be stopped and people to go without, but if thoses same people were enrolled, they would be protesting a BIA dissolvement or any arguments agaisnt tribal communities operating Casinno's, sounds hypocritical.
" tribes should have the ability to determine their own membership, as have and always will."
I agree, but what about when a Tribe tries to determine their own membership, with the General Membership voting to keep in the Tribe a family and voting to make disenrollment illegal, removing it from Tribal law. Then the council meeting together in secret, with armed guards guarding there doors, canceling further general membership meetings for several months. Then they decide the General Membership has no authority over membership matters (a lie as the General Membership is the final authority in all maters), voting a year later to disenroll that very same family the Memmbership voted to keep in.
We don't want Tribes dissolved, we are all for Tribal Sovereignty, and no we don't REALLY want the BIA dissolved, but when they REFUSE to do there job and protect our rights as American Indians, then people lash out proclaiming why even have them around when they refuse to do there job.
anonymous said:
"Dis-enrollment has nothing to do with tribes being termineted and the BIA being dissolved..."
i beg to differ...disenrollment has EVERYTHING to do with tribes being terminated...the very cultures of these tribes were destroyed--thoroughly and systematically--by the termination policy of the federal government, ESPECIALLY in california, where 90-95 percent of our indian people were already annihilated through the european spread of disease and the downright murder of our people...
when the tribes were to be terminated in california, ALL people of that tribe were to be notified by the federal government that this would occur...this didn't happen, with the federal government only going to the very few indian people left on the land, with no notification given to anyone else that this termination would occur...as a result, many indian people never knew their tribe had been "terminated"...when the tribes were re-recognized, again, the federal government was to inform ALL people of that tribe, which AGAIN did not happen...as a result, indian people who never knew the tribe had been terminated had no idea that they would need to reapply to be recognized as members, as they never knew in many cases that they had ever NOT existed as a tribe...hence in california, indian people stripped of their culture, and terminated by the federal government had no knowledge of what was being reinstituted...this explains the confusion and corruption which reigns today, as so many of those who call themselves "tribal leaders" have no concept of indian tradition, or what it MEANS to be indian and therefore committing this paper genocide against their own people for their own personal gain, fueled by corruption and greed, instead of restoring the circle of their people...
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