I culled this from the Nooksack 306 Facebook page. It's a rundown on what the Nooksack Tribe is stealing/denying/taking from those they are working to disenroll. It denotes lack of DUE PROCESS, Penalties without judgement, Termination of Employment and impending loss of homes. The BIA should be protecting Native Americans from all this. Sally Jewell and Kevin Washburn are abdicating their responsibility. Sen. Maria Cantwell should be holding hearings in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Tomorrow, December 19, 2013, marks the one-year anniversary of the date the Kelly Faction started this hate-filled disenrollment effort against us. Over the last year:
• At least four members of us have been automatically disenrolled, without any hearing at all, despite the Kelly Faction’s prior promise in open court, and a Tribal Court Order, that “no person will be disenrolled prior to the completion of the meetings before the Tribal Council” – those meetings have not even commenced as a result of a Tribal Appellate Court litigation stay.
• At least thirteen members of us have been fired from our jobs with the Tribe by the Kelly Faction, without cause, or recourse.
• 64 Nooksack of our children were humiliated when the Kelly Faction denied them a $275 school supply stipend, merely because they are “proposed for disenrollment.”
• All of us were denied $250 in Christmas support, for the same shameful reason.
• Some of us have been denied Tribal public housing, for that very same reason, and 28 expect to have the homes we own taken by the Kelly Faction if we are terminated.
• 37 of our Tribal Elders face termination and a loss of health care and housing.
• The Kelly Faction has refused to hold a single public meeting of our Tribe, despite clear Tribal Constitutional requirements for (1) regular meetings of the entire Tribe on the first Tuesday of each month and (2) multiple special meetings of the Tribal Council requested by Tribal Councilpersons and various Tribal members.
• The Tribal Court Judge has dismissed two lawsuits brought by our family, believing that the Kelly Faction cannot be sued for any constitutional or civil rights violations as a mater of the Tribe’s sovereign immunity; the Judge has otherwise refused to stop any illegal behavior on the part of the Kelly Faction.
• U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn, as federal trustees to us and all enrolled Native Americans, have not even acknowledged receipt of a petition signed by 900 Indians in Washington State, requesting federal intercession on our behalf.
We wish these circumstances of hate and genocide on nobody.
I like native american indians
ReplyDeleteDidn't Washburn state at a senate Indian Affair hearing in front of senator Cantwell that the B.I.A. has a responsibility not only to the bigger tribes but to the little ones that don't have the juice to go to D.C. and have lobbyist.
ReplyDeleteWashburn nor the BIA will interfere with any tribal problems no matter how illegal they are. Even when the leaders of said tribes break their own laws. The BIA is just record keepers a useless government agency. Budget cuts anyone? Washburn told us in his letter it is a tribes sovereign right to make bad decision's even the wrong decisions but it is their sovereign right. He is right about that...problem is the tribe isn't making these decisions one person in charge is, who can because he knows there is nobody above him to answer to. When will the BIA realize these rouge tribal leaders are not the tribe and dont speak for the tribe only themselves and own agenda. STOP CALLING CORRUPT TRIBAL LEADERS THE TRIBE!!
ReplyDeleteDidn't the recent court case with the Miwok tribe say that the BIA has a responsibility to ALL Native Americans who could lose their federal recognition at the hands of corrupt tribes?
ReplyDeleteAs in our case, the head of the main BIA office was an enrolled member of the very same Tribe that was trying to disenroll us. Do you think he worked very hard for our case? I don't think so, he refused.
ReplyDeleteDuring our time of disenrollment the tribes inside man with the BIA was Fletcher
ReplyDeleteFletcher also changed I.B.D. cards. this is also illegal but the B.I.A. doesn't do anything even if its in own department that is part of congress.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an Indian, and this situation seems very sad.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone looked into the newer DNA tests that estimate the percentage of ones ethnic heritage?
The tests may not be good enough to pinpoint the precise tribes of ones ancestry. But for the purposes of this controversy, it's not as important that one be able to estimate Chukchansi heritage as that one be able to estimate the percentage of any Indian heritage, as long as someone can only claim membership in one tribe.
If those currently in control of your tribe's governance are willing to go on record regarding what percentage of Indian heritage one must have to claim membership in an Indian tribe, and if they would then submit to DNA tests themselves to show they have at least that percentage of Indian DNA -- well, people get a lot of surprises on those tests, and I suspect they would want to set the percentage fairly low for fear they would find they don't qualify as Indian themselves if they set the rule too strict. Once the standard was defined, the disenrolled members could challenge their exclusion based on the same DNA tests.
I believe the Redding Rancheria told the disenrolled they needed a D.N.A. test done. when the results came back in their favor they thru out the D.N.A. test.
ReplyDeleteNot only did they have them subject to an DNA test the test was done on a family elder that died. They exhumed her body talk about sacrilege and no respect.
ReplyDelete