#39. Snap Analysis and Commentary: Week Ending 7 August 2009

(NOTE: This is an irregularly appearing weekly brief summation and analysis of a few selected tribal, national, and international events involving Indian Country.)

Quote of the week from Bolivian President Evo Morales: “Your president, your companion, your brother Evo Morales might make mistakes but will never betray the fight started by our ancestors and the fight of the Bolivian people.” (3 August 2009)

Department of the Interior and Indian Affairs

Is it possible for the Bureau to change its image in Indian Country? But more substantially, will the Bureau successfully make history on behalf of Native Peoples as promised by Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk during his 26 June 2009 official swearing-in? Indian Country is a gravy train for many individuals and organizations so which of them will attempt to block Echo Hawk’s attempt to transform the Bureau? And how much is there to repair after the previous eight years? Or, 16 years? 100 years and more?

There is so much to repair. Just as the U.S. has to reestablish “good neighbor” polices and practices with the international community, so too, it needs to establish these practices with the Tribal Nations. The U.S. government’s primary link to Indian Country, Indian Affairs (formerly the Bureau of Indian Affairs), finds its plate full of a multitude of anti-Native activities that all require immediate attention and intelligent solutions:

• The current Bureau and Department of the Interior administrations have inherited several lawsuits and rulings that require resolutions which honor Self-Determination (and in the case of, for example, the Cherokee Nation government’s resistance to the United Keetoowah Band’s claim to territory, a diplomatic solution). And a new lawsuit was recently filed by Navajo citizens. This Class Action Lawsuit against the BIA/BIE presents serious allegations that, if true, explain why Indian Country experiences ongoing frustration, cynicism and despair about the Bureau and its, if not scorched earth policies, then its long walk through wet cement-type-of-service to its constituents. The allegations made by the Navajo plaintiffs include unnecessary transfers, forced resignations, hostile work environment, lost training opportunities, unlawful hiring practices, and pay discrepancies. Reading the lawsuit provides helpful insight into the administrative and fiduciary structure of the Bureau.

• A hopeful sign that the new Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk is moving away from the culture of the past eight years: Echo Hawk has put together a team of advisors that are notable not only for their youth but also for their constructive record of service to Indian Country and understanding of “best-practices” in negotiating the hallways of federal power. With the recent selection of Donald “Del” Laverdure to the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary, and the prior appointments of Wizipan Garriott as Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, Tracie Stevens as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, and Paul Tsosie as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary, the immediate advisory team is now formally in place. As we all know, these young individuals have their work cut out for them and we hope to see them aggressively advocating for Indian Country.

• Perhaps this historic moment of the early 21st century will result in the Bureau taking the lead on these initial changes on behalf of Indian Country: (1) restoration of Constitutional Treaty-making authority; (2) the eventual abolishing of the Bureau and its replacement by an organization designed to meet requirements of new treaties; and (3) the appointment of a cabinet-level Indigenous affairs secretary (these are taken from the “Trail of Broken Treaties”).

Other Native Individual Representatives Who Have Been Called to Serve Us in D.C.

The Bureau is not the only agency that is recruiting Native Peoples. Others who have been called to D.C. to serve include Yvette Roubideaux (Director, Indian Health Service), Kim Teehee (Senior Policy Advisor for Native Americans, White House), Jodi Gillette (Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, White House), and Hilary Tompkins (Solicitor, Department of the Interior). Reviewing their respective careers prior to being called to public service, I have to write that this has to be the first moment in my lifetime that the federal beltway does have in place numerous Indigenous Peoples who appear posed to truly work for Indian Country.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs

• According to Twitter updates from @indianz, the 30 July 2009 SCIA meeting was packed. This may have been, in part, because of the new member, Senator Al Franken (D-MN). Franken made his SCIA debut at the late July hearing on gang violence at which John Mousseau, Brian Nissen, and other witnesses provided testimony on this horrific crisis.

• The testimony also reiterated the fact that numerous individuals, committed to the public and civil service necessary for nation (re)building, work for low pay and often without benefits. This fact is a reminder that economic development in Indian Country needs to move away from reliance on soft-money grants, dependence on the Feds for employment, and too little diversification of the few profits generated by one major resource (such as casinos and other service-based industries).

• See indianz for recent votings and information on the next SCAI hearing.

New Media: Twitter and Oxford, Alabama

• Speaking of Twitter, this social networking site has garnered recent ink in Native media. Twitter markets itself as a site where users can answer the question, “What are You Doing?” in 140 characters or less. This offers a great way for activists and public officials to communicate “behind-the-scenes” information to their followers, offering glimpses into settings that we might not otherwise observe. Unfortunately, as observed by journalist Mark Hayes, many public officials are using the site only as a calendar. Notable exceptions, however, are using Twitter in a way that is illuminating (even if one disagrees with an individual’s politics); a great example of smart-Twitter use is Iraqi Prime Minister, Barham Salih and Tribal Chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Derek Bailey. I think Twitter can be a great tool for tribal activists and tribal officials, especially if they explore the suggestions in Hayes’s “The Highs (and Lows) of Public Officials on Twitter.”

• As the recent demonstrates in Iran showed us, many Twitter users go beyond personal status updates and employ the site to share news stories and to network around issues and events. This includes users who have been using Twitter to share information about, in a example of “follow the money,” Oxford, Alabama’s decision to destroy an Indigenous mound in order to build a Sam’s Club nearby.

Native American Journalists Association

• NAJA held its annual conference in July 2009. A free and independent media is essential for the integrity of self-determination, and among the numerous conference panels was a session on freedom of the tribal press. According to the Twitter updates (!), the session described three media models: private/independent (Navajo Times); funded by tribe but operating under Freedom of the Press (Cherokee Phoenix); and nonprofit (currently being explored by Crow and Osage Nations).

• Brenda Norrell correctly described NAJA as a censored story. This assessment prompted me to think that perhaps one project that can be put on the to-do list is a yearly list of top-censored stories in Indian Country or involving Indigenous Peoples, akin to Project Censored. For example, see Norrell’s article on the Worst Companies.

Leonard Peltier

• Leonard Peltier recently had a full parole hearing, the first in 15 years. According to his website, a decision will be announced later this month.

And Lastly,

• Environment and Climate Change
  • Visit the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) website and download the Tribal Campus Climate Challenge. Kandi Mosset is one of my heroes! I had the chance to meet her and hear her powerful presentation on climate change this past summer. Mosset is one of the jewels of Indian Country.
  • The Navajo Nation recently agreed to take the lead in establishing a green economy. In a 62 to 1 vote, the Navajo Nation Council voted to establish the “Navajo Green Economy Commission,” making the Nation the first tribal government to create an initiative that promotes Green jobs policy and structure.
• California STILL Remains without a Tribal College
  • There are 36 tribal colleges within the U.S. and Canada. There are over 100 (federally-recognized) Tribes in California. There are 0 tribal colleges in California.

• Book Club
  • Venezuela President Hugo Chavez recently announced the Revolutionary Reading Plan. Just imagine if Ophra Winfrey selected a significant book or a “reading plan” for the development of critical consciousness or if a Tribal leader began to promote reading for self-determination. Such authors would include Taiaiake, Edward Valandra, and Elizabeth Cook-Lynn.
• Militarization
  • Given the amount of Native participation in the U.S. military, then we are obligated to give extra attention to articles on both U.S. international policy and militarization, both of which greatly involve the participation of Indian Country. This week, The Nation published Jeremy Scahill’s must-read article on Erik Prince, the CEO of Blackwater.

• Palestine and Indian Country
  • More Native Peoples are visiting Palestine and Israel and, if fortunate, are stepping outside “the bubble” to witness first-hand the conditions endured by the Palestinians. The experiences of the visitors are diverse, depending on the nature of the “tour.”
  • Recent visits include those by Tanka Bar’s Mark Tilsen, the Indigenous Youth Delegation (composed of several tribal college students), and my friend, Brooke. Hopefully, these visits will allow for the coordination of mutual assistance in our respective self-determination struggles.

• U.S. Supreme Court Poll
  • Improbably, U.S. News and World Report published a poll that showed support for a “Native American” Justice member. Earlier this year, Louis Gray and Indian Country Today were identifying John Echo Hawk as a possible Justice candidate. It is important for Native Peoples to have a less-hostile U.S. court, but this tight-rope possibility will need to be a move forward to Self-Determination while also being a non-threat to the U.S.

• IHS Loses Lawsuit
  • Turtle Talk has posted the ruling that IHS must pay $500,000.00 to a Sisseton Citizen.

• Native Women
  • Indian Country Today published a special section on Native Women. I was very happy to see a Haskell Indian Nations University graduate featured among the other profiles. It is my hope to see more and more emerging activists, representatives and leaders, coming from Tribal Colleges.

MEDIA SOURCES FOR THIS AND OTHER NEWS INCLUDE:

TRIBAL, INTERTRIBAL, NATIONAL, and INTERNATIONAL NEWS :

Indianz * Turtle Talk * Indian Country Today * Reznet * Native American Times * Brenda Norrell’s Censored News *

TRIBAL NEWSPAPERS:

Bay Mills News * Cherokee Phoenix * Grand Traverse Band News * Little River Currents (LRB) * Navajo Times * Odawa Trails (LTBB) * Tribal Observer (SCIT) * Turtle Press (NHBPI) *

INTERTRIBAL RADIO PROGRAMMING:

American Indian Airwaves * Native American Calling * Red Town Radio *

MAINSTREAM (non-Native) MEDIA:

Al-Jeezera (English edition) * BBC News * Counterpunch * Democracy Now! * Farmington Daily Times * Independent Media Center * Lawrence Journal-World * Le Monde Diplomatique (English edition) * The Nation * New York Times * Truthout * Washington Post *

/// Send news suggestions to julia <dot> goodfox <at> gmail <dot> com.