Post by Okwes on Jun 14, 2007 10:47:37 GMT -5
Tribal sovereignty not up for debate, Red Cliff leader says
Annual speech calls for dialogue with state government
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MADISON — Tribal chairwoman Patricia DePerry urged state lawmakers
to uphold tribal sovereignty during an address Thursday that was as much
her personal story as an overview of Wisconsin tribal issues.
In the third annual State of the Tribes address, DePerry, chairwoman of
the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, told members of the
Wisconsin Assembly that a misunderstanding of tribal sovereignty has led
to conflicts between state game wardens and tribal members.
Tribal sovereignty is "a decree ordered by the United States government
when treaties were signed," said DePerry. "It's not up for negotiation;
it is not up for discussion. It is the law."
DePerry, the first female to serve as chairwoman of the Great Lakes
Inter-Tribal Council, was also critical of state Department of Natural
Resources Secretary Scott Hassett for failing to consult with tribes on
issues important to both the agency and tribes.
She called for meaningful dialogue between state government and tribes.
The chairwoman told legislators of her impoverished upbringing as the
eldest of nine children born to alcoholic parents. In the Catholic
school she attended, she said, she was physically abused until the
seventh grade, when she told her nun schoolteacher that the abuse had to
stop.
"The moral to this story is we need to be protectors of each other, of
those that cannot, for whatever reason, stand up for themselves," she
said, adding that tribes have come a long way since then.
DePerry said tribes today have much to be hopeful about, but that many
problems still exist, such as poverty, alcoholism and drug abuse.
The annual tribal address is a tradition started by former Assembly
Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, and has been continued by current
Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch, R-West Salem.
Huebsch said he agrees with DePerry that lawmakers should be educated
about treaty rights, and that he advocates holding a workshop on
sovereignty for the Legislature.
"The chairwoman was correct in that it really isn't up for debate.
Sovereignty is in place and it exists," said Huebsch.
Annual speech calls for dialogue with state government
www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/\
GPG0101/703020608/1207&located=RSS
<http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302\
/GPG0101/703020608/1207&located=RSS>
MADISON — Tribal chairwoman Patricia DePerry urged state lawmakers
to uphold tribal sovereignty during an address Thursday that was as much
her personal story as an overview of Wisconsin tribal issues.
In the third annual State of the Tribes address, DePerry, chairwoman of
the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, told members of the
Wisconsin Assembly that a misunderstanding of tribal sovereignty has led
to conflicts between state game wardens and tribal members.
Tribal sovereignty is "a decree ordered by the United States government
when treaties were signed," said DePerry. "It's not up for negotiation;
it is not up for discussion. It is the law."
DePerry, the first female to serve as chairwoman of the Great Lakes
Inter-Tribal Council, was also critical of state Department of Natural
Resources Secretary Scott Hassett for failing to consult with tribes on
issues important to both the agency and tribes.
She called for meaningful dialogue between state government and tribes.
The chairwoman told legislators of her impoverished upbringing as the
eldest of nine children born to alcoholic parents. In the Catholic
school she attended, she said, she was physically abused until the
seventh grade, when she told her nun schoolteacher that the abuse had to
stop.
"The moral to this story is we need to be protectors of each other, of
those that cannot, for whatever reason, stand up for themselves," she
said, adding that tribes have come a long way since then.
DePerry said tribes today have much to be hopeful about, but that many
problems still exist, such as poverty, alcoholism and drug abuse.
The annual tribal address is a tradition started by former Assembly
Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, and has been continued by current
Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch, R-West Salem.
Huebsch said he agrees with DePerry that lawmakers should be educated
about treaty rights, and that he advocates holding a workshop on
sovereignty for the Legislature.
"The chairwoman was correct in that it really isn't up for debate.
Sovereignty is in place and it exists," said Huebsch.