For the 4th of July Weekend, we are reprising some articles on tribal disenrollment, particularly on the west coast. Some links may not work or have expired. This from April 2013 Please tweet out and share on social media.
Indian Country Today has a piece up on ETHNIC CLEANSING. We've been telling that story here for over half a decade.
Ethnic cleansing – the forced removal of a population from a designated piece of territory – is nothing new in America. The earliest example was the forced transfer of upward of 46,000 Indigenous Peoples from their homelands in the south during the seven years following the passage of Andrew Jackson’s 1830 Indian Removal Acts. The forced removal of tens of thousands of people an odious act by the dominant white settler society that was eager to grab indigenous lands. (Related story: The Battle for Hickory Ground)
But during the past decade or so, a growing number of American Indian tribes have implemented a new kind of ethnic cleansing – tribal disenrollment. Most often tribes try to eject members in order to maximize per capita payments from casino profits for the remaining members. But the Nooksack Indian Tribe’s council members have been accused of “cultural genocide” in a lawsuit challenging their attempt to disenroll hundreds of Nooksack citizens.
On March 15 attorneys from the Seattle firm of Galanda Broadman filed a complaint for equitable relief in the Nooksack Tribal Court against Chairman Robert Kelly, five other council members and other tribal officials for “act[ing] beyond the scope of their authority as tribal officers in their official capacities” in their attempt to remove 306 Nooksack enrolled tribal members. According to the tribe’s Constitution, members must be of Nooksack ancestry and have one-quarter Indian blood, the lawsuit says. “This is an action to prevent cultural genocide on 306 enrolled members of the Nooksack Indian Tribe, each of whom is of Nooksack ancestry and each of whom possesses at least one-fourth degree Indian blood,” the court document says. The attorneys also filed a request for an emergency injunction to stop the tribal council from implementing the disenrollment. The court will hold a hearing on the request on May 1.
Read the Rest of the ICT article here
Learn More on Disenrollment, Ethnic Cleansing in Indian Gaming Country at these Links:
Gaming Revenue Blamed for Disenrollment
disenrollment is paper Genocide
CA Tribal Cleansing
Tribal terrorism
TRIBAL TERRORISM includes Banishment
1 comment:
Anonymous said...
It is so sad that the only thing these committees and tribal councils will be remembered for is how they helped dismantle their own history and legitimacy as a tribe. What is even more disturbing is the amount of people that were a part of a tribe from before federal recognition and worked side by side with members to get federal recognition and now people that know the truth are arguing those same people that put in the work, blood, sweat, and tears do not belong. Are people that ignorant to think that people don't know the actual truth and even more importantly were present when original forms were signed and articles of association were put in place. It is time to stop allowing ignorance to continue and allowing people to lie there way into disenrollment hearings. Make no mistake, those that do not stand up for what is right will be exposed in name for what they allowed to happen by being silent. Your good name is as good as gone forever if you encourage and support termination and relocation of your own people. Stand up people or you are one disenrollment away from losing all your history, heritage, advocates, and legitimacy as a people.
May 22, 2012 at 4:45 PM
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