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Today I was told that my deceased ancestors have no right to an appeal in tribal court or a right to fight against their own Banishment (aka Disenrollment) because that Banishment has no value that can be tangibly quantified.
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| Chief TUMULTH Descendents at Grand Ronde Court of Appeals |
It is ludicrous to me that anyone representing our tribe would even insinuate that there is no value in this earthly plane for our deceased ancestors; that because there is no tangible 'thing' for which to assert or ascertain a value of, that somehow their existence in the spirit world no longer possesses the validity our people once bestow upon our ancestors.
It is currently the official position of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, as articulated on the tribe's behalf by their legal team, that deceased ancestors have no legal standing within our tribal nation and no legacy that is worth protecting.
I think that Josephine Grenia Towers whose brother, Lt. Colonel Carol Grenia WWII is on the Tribal Veterans Memorial, might have something to say about his legacy had his descendants not been prohibited from fighting his Banishment because he left no tangible 'thing' of value that one might seek redress.
This shameful non-native practice of discarding our deceased ancestors as nothing more that physics things of value to be left behind and divided up makes me want to vomit.
Tomorrow we will see how little value the tribes's attorneys place on me, Chief Tumulth, and our treaty rights! We will emerge stronger and victorious because we have not discarded our ancestors in favor of a non-traditional world view! Thank you for all your support!
2 comments:
NOone would be here if we did not recognize our ANCESTORS. The only reason we are here is because our ANCESTORS were here 1st. HONOR ALL OUR PEOPLE, or live with denial and explain that now and after you leave this chapter in our books. I'm sure ALL our ancestors understand when you don't honor ALL!
This legal position should be challenged if enrollment eligibility is based on lineal descent or blood degree of ancestors. If that is the case then deceased members have a legal standing that directly impacts the eligibility of their descendants.
There is also the fact that many individual Indians have inherited land allotments from their ancestors and derive their right to occupy land held in trust by the federal government. Allotted lands are part of reservations establishing the legal context for possession and rights the flow from descent from Indian ancestors.
Those are two points that refute the argument that deceased members have no standing. These deceased members pass on their legacy, but that legacy is based on establishing the original Indian blood degree and land rights of an ancestor. Descendants cannot claim their legacy without establishing the original blood degree and land rights of their ancestors.
This is the legal side, however, the argument is based on U.S. Indian law. The tribe's laws most certainly have some historical context of their own and the tribe derives it's federally recognized status from identification with an historical tribe and its constituent members. Indigenous custom and and tradition uniformly honors ancestors, and for lawyers to claim otherwise in order to deny membership opposes the very core values of Indian peoples.
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