When the agency in charge of Indian Affairs, tips the scales AWAY from Justice, can their really BE JUSTICE in Indian Country?
Law 360 has the story up (payvwall) but essentially, former candidates for Nooksack council told the 9th Circuit that the Dept. of Interior illegally recognized a disputed group of Nooksack leaders, we wrote about that HERE in Aug 2018
The tribe, based in Washington state, has spent more than five years trying to kick hundreds of people off its rolls. The efforts were slowed by litigation and by the refusal of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to recognize the Nooksack government as legitimate.
But the tribe has turned the situation around, according to its recently-elected leader. Chairman Ross Cline said the dismissal of the lawsuit last week puts an end to a controversy that has attracted widespread attention in Indian Country and in the national media.
“On behalf of the tribal council and the Nooksack people, I am glad to report the successful conclusion of this dispute over tribal enrollment," Cline said after the decision was handed down on July 31. "Our people will now move forward on our journey of self-government.”
Attorney for the Nooksack 306 Gabriel Galanda has more details on his twitter account @ndnlawyer :
]changed department policy regarding Nooksack elections 'to accommodate inappropriate influence by a lobbyist,' [according] to emails between a DOI lawyer and the lobbyist in early 2018. The corruption at Interior seems stronger than that at Nooksack Stay Tuned
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