Post by blackcrowheart on Dec 18, 2005 17:15:56 GMT -5
Bush Bureau of Indian Affairs Now Questioning Federal Indian Trust Relationship \
By John Fulton Lewis, 12/14/2005 8:40:29 PM
In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding the Cobell lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the U.S. Interior Department, there is a major tremor running through Native American tribal leaders.
James Cason, Associate Deputy Secretary of BIA, indicated in early December that the federal government is considering the termination of the Indian land trust liability. This is in conjunction with resolving the monetary claims of tribes with a settlement now proposed in legislation sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) – the chairmen of Indian affairs committees on both sides of the Capitol.
Such a decision could potentially vitiate Indian tribes’ "sovereignty" claims, jeopardize tribes’ exemptions from certain state and federal taxes, sharply reduce revenue claim settlements due tribes, and greatly limit expansion of casino sites beyond reservation boundaries. It would, in effect, revolutionize federal Indian policies.
Cason disclosed the new Administration thinking during a special Indian Trust conference held the first weekend in December 2005 at Arizona State University’s College of Law Great Hall.
The two-day event was sponsored by ASU’s Indian Legal Program and its American Indian Policy and Leadership Development Collaborative, as well as by the Law School of the University of New Mexico and the American Indian Law Center. Attending were many tribal leaders and attorneys who specialize in dealing with Indian-related issues.
Also participating in discussions were business developers seeking to joint venture construction and enterprise projects on Indian lands, which, in Arizona alone, amount to 27 percent of the total land in the State.
Cason made it clear that the Bush Administration and Congressional leaders believe that "settlement of Cobell is a settlement of the trust responsibility and therefore the federal liability," according to Indian law specialist, Lana Marcussen of Phoenix. Much of the conference time was focused on the views of Indian Law professors trying "to find ways to sever the trust from the land status" and grant ownership of the land to tribal members. Coincidentally, in a late November editorial in the Native American Press/ Ojibwe News in Bemidji, Minnesota, Editor-Publisher Bill Lawrence recommended giving every tribal adult member, such as his readers on the Red Lake and White Earth reservations, private ownership of a parcel of the reservation property. Tribal communalism, like communism, in which no one owns anything but must share everything is a demonstrated failure when it comes to building pride and self respect, he declared. It is time for change, he writes.
John Fulton Lewis is the editor of RESERVATION REPORT, A Monthly Media Letter Regarding American Indian Policies, published by New Century Communications in Reedville, VA. Reach him via email at mailto:nccomm@crosslink.net
By John Fulton Lewis, 12/14/2005 8:40:29 PM
In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding the Cobell lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the U.S. Interior Department, there is a major tremor running through Native American tribal leaders.
James Cason, Associate Deputy Secretary of BIA, indicated in early December that the federal government is considering the termination of the Indian land trust liability. This is in conjunction with resolving the monetary claims of tribes with a settlement now proposed in legislation sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) – the chairmen of Indian affairs committees on both sides of the Capitol.
Such a decision could potentially vitiate Indian tribes’ "sovereignty" claims, jeopardize tribes’ exemptions from certain state and federal taxes, sharply reduce revenue claim settlements due tribes, and greatly limit expansion of casino sites beyond reservation boundaries. It would, in effect, revolutionize federal Indian policies.
Cason disclosed the new Administration thinking during a special Indian Trust conference held the first weekend in December 2005 at Arizona State University’s College of Law Great Hall.
The two-day event was sponsored by ASU’s Indian Legal Program and its American Indian Policy and Leadership Development Collaborative, as well as by the Law School of the University of New Mexico and the American Indian Law Center. Attending were many tribal leaders and attorneys who specialize in dealing with Indian-related issues.
Also participating in discussions were business developers seeking to joint venture construction and enterprise projects on Indian lands, which, in Arizona alone, amount to 27 percent of the total land in the State.
Cason made it clear that the Bush Administration and Congressional leaders believe that "settlement of Cobell is a settlement of the trust responsibility and therefore the federal liability," according to Indian law specialist, Lana Marcussen of Phoenix. Much of the conference time was focused on the views of Indian Law professors trying "to find ways to sever the trust from the land status" and grant ownership of the land to tribal members. Coincidentally, in a late November editorial in the Native American Press/ Ojibwe News in Bemidji, Minnesota, Editor-Publisher Bill Lawrence recommended giving every tribal adult member, such as his readers on the Red Lake and White Earth reservations, private ownership of a parcel of the reservation property. Tribal communalism, like communism, in which no one owns anything but must share everything is a demonstrated failure when it comes to building pride and self respect, he declared. It is time for change, he writes.
John Fulton Lewis is the editor of RESERVATION REPORT, A Monthly Media Letter Regarding American Indian Policies, published by New Century Communications in Reedville, VA. Reach him via email at mailto:nccomm@crosslink.net