OAK FLAT: Biden's Justice Dept opposes friends of the court filing of Apache Elder, NCAI, and Grandmothers

                                            White Mountain Apache Elder Ramon Riley

OAK FLAT: Biden's Justice Dept opposes friends of the court filing of Apache Elder, NCAI, Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and MICA Group

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

The National Congress of American Indians, International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, White Mountain Apache Elder Ramon Riley and MICA Group have filed a friend of the court brief to protect the Apache ceremonial place of Oak Flat from copper mining.

Biden's Justice Department is opposing this friends of the court brief.

It is wrong "to destroy sacred land that made us who we are," states Riley, in the court filing. He is White Mountain's cultural resource director and representative for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

NCAI Files Amicus Brief in Support of Critically Injured Water Protectors at Standing Rock

Standing Rock Water Protectors Attacked by Law Enforcement. Photo copyright Ryan Vizzions.

The National Congress of American Indians filed a friends of the court brief in federal appeals court, upholding Treaty rights, and the right of free speech, in support of critically injured Water Protectors at Standing Rock.

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

The National Congress of American Indians filed an amicus brief in federal appeals court in support of Standing Rock Water Protectors who were seriously injured by militarized law enforcement while defending the water from Dakota Access Pipeline.

Upholding Water Protectors' Treaty rights, and right to free speech, NCAI described how the peaceful and prayerful movement was met by serious, life-threatening force by law enforcement, resulting in critical injuries.

NCAI urged the appeals court to uphold Native American rights and said this excessive force should not be allowed to silence Native people exercising their rights.

"If the excessive force used to silence Plaintiffs-Appellants’ protected speech stands, the ability of all NCAI member Tribal Nations to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights -- without risking injury from life threatening, excessive police force -- will be greatly undermined."

"NCAI therefore has a unique interest in advocating for the affirmance of the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs-Appellants to peacefully speak in support of tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and the protection of Native American sacred sites and burials.'"

The amicus brief, known as a friend of the court brief, was filed in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the case of Vanessa Dundon, et al, versus Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, et all, on April 29, 2022.

NCAI said, "The Native youth at Standing Rock who began the Movement are familiar with the history of violence inflicted on their people, but they began the Movement with hope by taking a peaceful, prayerful 'stand to be the voice for [their] community, for [their] great grandparents, and for Mother Earth.'"

"These Native youth inspired Plaintiffs-Appellants, and thousands of others (Native and non Native) who decided to join them in Cannon Ball, just one mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. For six months, they engaged in a peaceful, prayerful protest — all the while demanding that the United States, specifically the Army Corps, uphold the treaty rights of the SRST and refuse to allow a private company, Dakota Access, LLC ('Dakota Access'), to build its pipeline."

Standing Rock 2016. Copyright Ryan Vizzions.

"Appellants and thousands of other peaceful protestors advocated for the SRST’s treaty rights in a clear exercise of their First Amendment rights. In response to this peaceful protest, law enforcement used force."

"The question, of course, is whether that use of force was excessive and whether it violated the rights of Plaintiffs-Appellants.

"It is undisputed that Plaintiffs-Appellees suffered serious bodily harm and injury. Their exercise of their First Amendment rights was, in fact, met with serious force and, in some cases, life-threatening force."

"If the excessive force used to silence Plaintiffs-Appellants’ protected speech stands, the ability of all NCAI member Tribal Nations to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights—without risking injury from life threatening, excessive police force—will be greatly undermined."

"NCAI therefore has a unique interest in advocating for the affirmance of the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs-Appellants to peacefully speak in support of tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and the protection of Native American sacred sites and burials.'

'For the following reasons, NCAI respectfully requests that this Court reverse the District Court’s granting of Defendants-Appellees’ Motion for Summary Judgment below."

NCAI told the Appeals Court that the Movement had broad support from Indian Country. In all, 356 separate Tribal Nations sent their flags to fly at the site where the peaceful protestors camped, and nearly 300 Tribal Nations passed resolutions or wrote letters of support for Standing Rock's to protect treaty rights.

"This Movement was a peaceful protest involving nearly all of Indian Country. It was not the radical protest of a fringe group."

NCAI included its prior resolution which proclaimed “that in carrying out this resolution we remain in peace [as] . . . Indian Country’s first concern is for the safety of the peaceful protectors, law enforcement officers, government officials, and workers in Cannon Ball, ND, and any act of violence is unwelcome.”

NCAI said that a joint statement on the Movement from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army, and the Department of the Interior read: “In recent days, we have seen thousands of demonstrators come together peacefully, with support from scores of sovereign tribal governments, to exercise their First Amendment rights and to voice heartfelt concerns about the environment and historic, sacred sites.”

NCAI stated that it respectfully submits this amicus brief in support of Vanessa Dundon, Crystal Wilson, David Demo, Guy Dullknife, III, Mariah Marie Bruce, and Frank Finan (collectively, “Plaintiffs-Appellants”), and the thousands of other Americans who stood in prayer and objected to the Army Corps’s complete abdication of its treaty and trust duties and responsibilities to protect and preserve the drinking water, sacred sites, and graves of Tribal Nations.

NCAI listed authorities in its brief, including the testimony before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Jamaica in 2019, presented by Seanna Howard, Michelle Cook, Carl Williams and Rachel Lederman: Criminalization of Human Rights Defenders of  Indigenous Peoples Resisting Extractive Industries in the United States, June 24, 2019.

The authorities in NCAI's brief include:

Alleen Brown, Medics Describe How Police Sprayed Standing Rock  Demonstrators with Tear Gas and Water Cannons, THE INTERCEPT (Nov. 21,  2016, 5:52 PM)

https://theintercept.com/2016/11/21/medics-describe-how-police-sprayed-standing-rock-demonstrators-with-tear-gas-and-water-cannons/

Catherine Thorbecke, Officials Defend Use of Alleged ‘Dog Kennel’ Cells in  Dakota Access Pipeline Protest, ABC NEWS (Oct. 31, 2016, 6:32 PM)

https://abcnews.go.com/US/officials-defend-alleged-dog-kennel-cells-dakota%20access/story?id=43203236

Resolution #PHX-16-023, Support for the Standing Rock Sioux to Protect its  Lands, Waters, and Sacred Places, NCAI (Oct. 2016) 

NCAI Resolution Standing Rock

Vanessa Dundon, et al, versus Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, et al lawsuit can be viewed at:

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/4447903/Dundon-First-Amended-Complaint-Filed-2-27-18.pdf

Excerpt from the Dundon lawsuit:

Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News.

Tom Poor Bear urges NCAI advocacy for Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier with Oglala Vice President Tom Poor Bear during a recent visit.
Photo courtesy Oglala Commemoration, published with permission at Censored News.

Poor Bear urges NCAI to help bring Peltier home

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/tom-poor-bear-urges-ncai-advocacy-for.html

Oglala Sioux Vice President Thomas Poor Bear urged the National Congress of American Indians to strengthen its advocacy for imprisoned Native American activist Leonard Peltier and bring him home. Poor Bear’s letter to NCAI comes after a visit to Peltier in Coleman prison in central Florida.

“It is no secret to anyone who has followed Leonard’s almost 40-year ordeal that this is truly his last chance at Freedom. If President Obama leaves office without granting clemency to Leonard, he will almost certainly die in prison,” Poor Bear told NCAI, the largest organization of Native American Nations in the US.

Poor Bear said it was the first time that he has seen Peltier in 40 years. Although he did not know what to expect, Poor Bear said Peltier was smiling and happy to see him. 

Poor Bear pointed out that the US prison system has violated its own rules by keeping Peltier at a distance of more than 500 miles from his family. Currently, Peltier is 2,000 miles away from family members and in poor health, with diabetes and other health problems.

Poor Bear said Peltier spoke little of his own health problems and instead spoke of ways to give hope to Native young people in order to stop the suicides and hopelessness. “I was touched by that. It was clear that he has never stopped thinking about trying to make things better for our people,” Poor Bear said.

Together, Peltier and Poor Bear remembered the early fishing rights struggle at Franks Landing and other places in Indian country where American Indians stood up for their rights, including Fort Lawton and Wisconsin.

Poor Bear said he prays that Peltier will be able to come home again to the Dakotas and Black Hills, where he can live out his days in peace.

“He stood up for us at a very dark time in our history and we cannot, and will not, turn our backs on him now,” Poor Bear said.

Censored News is a service to Indigenous Peoples and grassroots human rights efforts.
www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Also see Censored News original coverage of the Peltier Tribunal in Green Bay, Wis., in October 2013

Peltier Tribunal conclusion: Judges Findings
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-judges-findings.html
Day 3 Peltier Tribunal: Findings and Testimony, Manny Pino uranium mining genocide
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-live-day-3.html
Day 2: Peltier Tribunal Lenny Foster and Dorothy Ninham, Visits to Peltier in prison, Native prisoner rights
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/live-day-2-peltier-tribunal-thursday.html
Day 1: Peltier Tribunal Reign of Terror on Pine Ridge, Peltier calls Tribunal
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-live-oct-2-4-2013.html
Dakota written testimony by Chris Mato Nunpa, Dakota historian and professor
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/dakota-genocide-chris-mato-nun
pa.html

Please share this link: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/tom-poor-bear-urges-ncai-advocacy-for.html

NCAI urges new means of protecting sacred places

By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report

PHOENIX – The National Congress of American Indians urged the US Congress to create a statute that would protect Native American sacred places from the onslaught of development, intrusion and desecration and to strengthen existing laws to protect Native Americans' freedom of religion, in a resolution passed during its 65th annual convention.
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act was enacted into law 30 years ago in 1978 to protect the religious freedom of Native people. However, the Supreme Court ruled 20 years ago that neither the Act, nor the US Constitution, provided for a course of action to truly protect Native Americans right to worship in their traditional manner. The Supreme Court said Congress would need to enact a statute for that purpose. Congress has not done so.
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act states that "it shall be the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians, including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites."
Native Americans say, however, there is no current mechanism to ensure protection of sacred places or religious rights in court. Further, they say there is too little prosecution of violators of sacred places, burial places and cultural items.
Recently, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act failed to protect two sacred places in court, San Francisco Peaks and Snoqualmie Falls. In the case of San Francisco Peaks, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed its earlier decision and ruled that sewage water could be used for snowmaking on the mountain sacred to 13 American Indian Nations. On this sacred mountain, one of Four Sacred Mountains to the Navajo or Dine’, medicine people hold ceremonies and gather healing plants. Hualapai and Hopi spiritual leaders were among those speaking out against the desecration.

Klee Benally, Navajo, with the Save the Peaks Coalition in Arizona said, "The struggle to protect Sacred Places from corporate interests is a critical struggle for a livable planet and our cultural survival as Indigenous Peoples. There are hundreds of threatened Sacred Places located on lands held by Federal Agencies such as the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. We have no guarantees that these agencies will not allow desecration of Sacred Places because there are no laws that ensure their protection."

Benally saying there is an increasing hostility in the courts.
"Congressional action to protect Sacred Places is necessary because we have no religious freedom when it comes to Federal land management decisions. We keep ending up in courts that are historically hostile towards Indigenous Peoples rights. We have very little options, this is why we must also have a broad-based grassroots movement to take action and address this cultural and environmental crisis," Benally said.
NCAI said, “It is time for Congress to enact a right of action for tribes to defend sacred places. Unless tribes can sustain lawsuits, they will not have a seat at federal negotiation tables and agencies and developers will continue to disregard existing consultation requirements. Meaningful consultation and respectful negotiations can obviate the need for litigation. However, if negotiated accords cannot be reached, tribes must be able to protect their holy places in court.”
The NCAI resolution also pointed out that universities are violating Native American graves, in development and museum content.
The NCAI resolution said, “Burial places are also sacred places. At present, there are entities subverting existing laws designed to protect our burial places and our ancestors. These entities include, for example, prominent universities in the University of California system and other federal and federally-assisted educational institutions, museums and agencies.”
Although the resolution does not name the exact institutions, the resolution follows the action of the University of California-Berkeley which recently desecrated an Ohlone burial ground for development, destroying oaks that were hundreds of years old. UC-Berkeley has also been protested for callously storing thousands of Native American remains in a rodent-filled basement. The Smithsonian Institute is among the museums that have long housed thousands of human remains of Indian people, including Native American skulls collected by bounty hunters in racist studies of intelligence.
NCAI’s resolution fails to point out the recent violation of graves and US federal laws in construction of the US/Mexico border wall. On the western portion of Tohono O’odham land in Arizona, the graves of the ancestors of the Tohono O’odham were dug up by Homeland Security’s contractor Boeing, in secret. The remains were removed from O’odham land, before being returned and reburied. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived all federal laws to construct the border wall.
Across the United States, Native Americans, including the Paiutes struggling to rebury “Spirit Cave Man,” in Nevada, are engaged in lengthy court battles. The desecration at the University of California-Berkeley, the plight of Spirit Cave Man and the threat to sacred San Francisco Peaks were among hundreds of issues brought to the Longest Walk, as Native Americans walked across America in 2008, from Alcatraz to DC, for the protection of sacred places and Mother Earth.
As liquor bars and helicopter rides threaten sacred Bear Butte, Yankton Sioux are faced with a large scale hog farm in the middle of their community in South Dakota. A new wave of profiteering uranium mining threatens Lakotas and Navajos. With power plants, coal mining and oil and gas drilling increasing, and the Arctic ice melting, Native Americans walked across America for five months to signal the nation and the world of the danger, while offering prayers for protection.
While burial places are desecrated across the nation, Native Americans ask, “How would you like it if your grandmother was in a museum? How would you like it if your grandfather’s grave was dug up and robbed?”
On the national level, NCAI said that Native Americans must be involved in the federal consultation processes and serve on boards that govern land use.
Further, NCAI said the Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act must be strengthened in several ways. First, NAGPRA’s definition of Native American needs to be clarified and state that “Native American” means “of, or relating to, a tribe, people, or culture that is or was indigenous to any geographic area that is now located within the boundaries of the United States.”
NAGPRA needs increased penalties for violations of burials and burial grounds, human remains and cultural items. NAGPRA needs to be specifically strengthened with tools for improved law enforcement and prosecutions, NCAI said in the resolution.
In related resolutions, NCAI passed resolutions supporting a moratorium on exploration and oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico; supporting protection of the Zuni Salt Lake in New Mexico and supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted Sept. 13, 2007, by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

In its resolution of support, NCAI said, "the declaration by the United Nations supports and reinforces the respect and protection of full self-determination rights by and on behalf of US Tribal Nations as well as the protection of tribal lands and treaties as a matter of international law and policy and is therefore in the vital interests of all US Tribal Nations."
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NCAI resolutions:
http://www.ncai.org/index.php?id=105&selectpro_resid=41

Photo: Snoqualmie Falls