BREAKING NEWS

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT REJECTS CRAVEN APPEAL ON COBELL SETTLEMENT

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/10/29/u-s-supreme-court-denies-hearing-of-kimberly-cravens-cobell-appeal-142784

http://www.indianz.com/News/2012/007539.asp

"The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected one appeal in the $3.4 billion Cobell trust fund settlement.

Without comment, the justices declined a petition filed by Kimberly Craven, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, according to an order list. That leaves just one appeal remaining before the payments can go out to Indian Country.

"We're going to be ready to hit the ground running as soon as the Supreme Court makes a decision," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in an interview last week with Indianz.Com.

The second petition, filed by Charles Colombe, Carol Eve Good Bear and Mary Lee Johns, is due for consideration on November 9, according to Docket No. 12-355. Given the action on Craven, the Supreme Court will likely deny the appeal in an order on November 12.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Elena Kagan did not take part in the consideration of Craven's petition, according to Docket No. 12-134. Roberts sat on the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals when the Cobell case came before him. Kagan worked for the Department of Justice when the case was in the lower courts."

BREAKING NEWS

BOLIVIA PASSES THE LAW OF MOTHER EARTH

10-25-12

Bolivia passes law that declares Mother Earth has rights.

President Evo Morales yesterday issued Law of Mother Earth, at an emotional ceremony at the Palacio Quemado
Tawantinsuyu, Bolivia

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=437171626340063&set=a.384023621654864.85789.365616366828923&type=1&theater

http://ww4report.com/node/11643


THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS REPRINTED FROM THE TRIBAL INDEPENDENT FOR EARTH DAY 2012



EARTH DAY 2012
22 Apr 2012
By Deborah LaVallie
Tribal Independent

Our Earth Mother has sustained humanity for many eons, nurturing us, and, providing the sustenance we have needed to continue to live throughout the generations of mankind, here on Earth in harmony and balance with the ‘Natural’, the Four-leggeds, the Winged Ones, the Fishers, our Tree relatives and all that is living.

Rooted in a nation-wide grassroots movement, the first Earth Day America took place on April 22, 1970, inspired by Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Senator and environmental activist from Wisconsin. College campuses and schools throughout the country took part in the education/environmental activism program, resulting in the eventual establishment of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and wilderness protection laws. Twenty million Americans took to the streets across the land demonstrating their concerns for the deterioration and destruction of the environment. That was 42 years ago. 

Most people aren’t aware, though, that there were two annual Earth Day observances that were founded a month apart in 1970. Though Earth Day is now celebrated by most people on April 22, the first Earth Day actually took place on March 21, 1970, the vernal (Spring) Equinox at that time. Newspaper publisher and community activist John McConnell proposed a global holiday called Earth Day at a UNESCO conference on the environment in 1969. He wanted to remind people throughout the world of their shared responsibility as caretakers of the Earth and chose the vernal Equinox (the first day of Spring) because it’s traditionally known throughout many cultures of the world as a day of ‘Renewal.’ His dream was for all peoples of the world to put aside their differences and work towards the common goal of preserving the Earth’s resources for future generations.

In April of 2010, Bolivian president Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian and a ‘traditionalist’ and also an environmental activist, hosted ‘The World People’s Summit on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth,’ in Cochabamba. It was a three day summit where more than 30,000 people attended from all corners of the world and officially proposed that the United Nations adopt a declaration that recognizes the inherent rights of ‘Mother Earth.’ He believed that “Our Earth Mother is the source of life that provides for mankind.” He and his delegation from Bolivia took the lead in proposing the resolution to the UN General Assembly and in 2010, April 22 was officially declared to be ‘International Mother Earth Day.’ He stated at the time, “60 years after adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Mother Earth is now, finally having her rights recognized.” His dream began as a way to promote harmony with nature with the dream of our planet balancing nature with the economic, social, and environmental needs of the present and future generations of humanity. He declared, “We are strangling the planet – strangling ourselves,” in his appeal, stating that, “for too many years, the world has been held captive by the seductive notion of capitalism. “ However, it is clear now – that “we don’t own the planet, we belong to it," adding that the proclamation of the International day, would begin the process of ‘The Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth, though the concept of ‘Mother Earth’ is not universally accepted.

Morales, has said, “We don’t believe in the linear, cumulative conception of progress and of an unlimited development at the cost of other people and nature. To live well is to think not only in terms of per capita income but of cultural identity, community harmony among ourselves and with Mother Nature.” He has become known as a ‘world hero of Mother Earth’. In January 2011, Bolivia became the world’s first nation to grant the natural environment equal rights to humans. Bolivia’s ‘Law of Mother Earth’ is heavily influenced by the spiritual and traditional lifeways of the indigenous population of the Andes. 

Indigenous peoples throughout the world believe that we are at a point of transformation and we must accept the responsibility of restoring the harmony and balance of our beloved Earth Mother. The ‘Mother Earth Accord’, developed and written at the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (SD) Emergency Summit, held during Sept. 15-16, 2011, by affected groups, tribal governments, traditional treaty councils, First Nations of Canada and impacted property owners, was written in response to the proposed Keystone XL tar Sands pipeline and the tar sands development in Canada. 

The Accord, guided by the principle of traditional indigenous knowledge, spiritual values and respectful use of the land, affirmed our responsibility to protect and preserve for our descendants, the inherent sovereign rights of our Indigenous Nations, the rights of property owners, and all inherent human rights, also recognizing that our indigenous view is that the Earth is our true Mother, our Grandmother who gives birth to us, and maintains all life.

The Accord recognized that tar sands development in northern Alberta has devastating impacts to Mother Earth and her inhabitants and perpetuates the crippling addiction to oil in the U.S. and Canada, and, urged a halt to heavy haul shipments of tar sands equipment through the two countries, also urging both to reduce their reliance on oil, including tar sands, investing in the research and development of cleaner, safer forms of sustainable energy which include, smart growth, fuel efficiency, next-generation bio fuels and electric vehicles powered by solar and wind energy. The Accord declared that the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline was not in the national interest of either country and urged President Obama to reject the Keystone. The document was presented to Obama during the third annual White House Tribal Leaders Summit in December 2011, and demonstrate the unity of Tribes on both sides of the border.

What a wonderful dream it would be if the Tribal Nations of this country followed the courageous lead of Morales and the Bolivians, amending their tribal constitutions to give ‘Mother Earth’ equal rights within our tribal nations, establishing a ‘Mother Earth Law.' Tribes here in the U.S. and the First Nations of Canada are addressing huge environmental issues, such as the tar sands of Alberta, the Keystone XL pipeline, pollution of water supplies, toxic contamination from mining and fracking, toxic and seeping landfills and the list goes on. Tribes also need to form stronger coalitions with each other to advocate the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth by the United Nations. What happened to that energy and commitment of the 20 million concerned American citizens that marched and demonstrated throughout the land 42 years ago? It saddens me to see how uncaring and unconcerned America’s citizens have become, apathetic and unworried about the state they will leave this beautiful land to future generations and it’s heartbreaking to see how our Tribal peoples have become so disconnected from the ‘natural law’ that was once the central focus of their lives and the essence of their very being.

THE $48.9 MILLION SALAZAR TRUST SETTLEMENT ISSUED TO ENROLLED MEMBERS LIVING ON THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE RESERVATION WHILE OFF-RESERVATION MEMBERSHIP WAITS TO HEAR IF THEY WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE SETTLEMENT DISTRIBUTION 

 CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT IN THE WORKS

RECALL ELECTIONS ARE NULLIFIED AND DECLARED VOID BY SRST ELECTION SUPERVISOR ELLIOT RHOADES AND SRST - ACTT PREPARES TO FILE A WRIT OF MANDAMUS IN SRST TRIBAL COURT

STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE - ACTIVE CITIZENS FOR TRIBAL TRUTH (ACTT) MEET WITH SRST CHAIRMAN CHARLES MURPHY

10-16-12

L TO R...FRONT:  SHARON KARY, KATHY DANCING BULL-BUFFALO BOY, DIANE GATES;  BACK:  BOB GATES, VALERIE WOLF NECKLACE, CHAIRMAN OF SRST, CHARLES MURPHY, ARCHIE FOOL BEAR, AND RHEA MARTINEZ ARCHAMBAULT

PHOTO CREDITS: DEBORAH LAVALLIE

By Deborah LaVallie

The $48.9 million Salazar Trust Settlement awarded to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for U.S. Government mismanagement of their lands and resources spanning over a 100 year period was distributed by the reservation districts during the past week to on-reservation tribal members in varying amounts, and while some received $10,000 per capita payments, others received lessor amounts, causing controversy and dissension among tribal members.  Off-reservation membership are still waiting to hear if they will be included in the per capita distribution, and many have been told it is highly unlikely. 

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe - Active Citizens for Tribal Truth, SRST - ACTT members met with Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Charles Murphy in his office at tribal headquarters on Monday morning, October 8, regarding the Recall petitions of three SRST Council members, Avis Little Eagle, Phyllis Young and Jay Taken Alive, and the way that the tribal election supervisor, Elliot Rhoades has handled the Recall election and hearing, including the intimidation and verbal abuse of petitioner, Rhea Martinez Archambault.  Other Recall petitions are also in the works with signatures being gathered for Council members Duane Claymore, Sharon Two Bears, Ron White and Ron Brown Otter.

That same morning the ACTT group along with their attorney had been to Tribal Court prepared to file their response to Associate Judge B.J. Jones' Denial of the Preliminary Injunction they had filed freezing the $48.9 million Salazar Trust Settlement, only to find out their names hadn't been put on the Court Docket.  Their attorney, Don Bruce has since filed their response also requesting that Associate Judge B.J. Jones recuse himself from the case on the grounds that he is prejudiced or bias in favor of the Defendants, the SRST Tribal Council, as they are his employer.  The group is still waiting to hear back from the Court.

Archie Fool Bear, spokesman for the SRST - ACTT for on reservation members stated, "This is going to end up being a class action lawsuit, due to the discrimination of the off reservation membership.  This was a 'special' settlement, and all enrolled members should have been included, a one time settlement that everybody could have enjoyed a 'share of', and, is different from the gaming revenues and JTAC.  The Judge 'allowed' the tribal council to discriminate, here."  He stated that even though the Recall election has been declared null and void the issue is not 'moot'.  "We filed our response to the SRST Tribal Council's Motion to Dismiss, and also a Motion for a Stay, and for Judge B.J. Jones to recuse himself from the case."  He said, "As for the Recalls, Elliot Rhoades made a decision on his own, and has produced a poorly written statement at that.  Our attorney is preparing to file a Writ of Mandamus with the Tribal Court that will direct the tribal election office to do their job."  "The issues that Rhoades based his nullification on have already been addressed and the next step will be a hearing," he said.  "Allegations of threats made by Rhoades in his statement are completely unfounded.  No actual threats were made, documented or filed anywhere."

The ACTT Appeal is based on the belief that there were many factual and procedural errors made during the hearing of September 21, when the Court 'fast tracked' and consolidated the Wolf Necklace case with the Fool Bear - Dancing Bull- Buffalo Boy case.  On Appeal they argue that they were not afforded due process and the matter was 'fast tracked' to accommodate the tribal council's immediate need to spend the Salazar Settlement funds and this sort of accommodation raises suspicions of a bias or prejudice on the part of the Judge. They also allege that council members met with the Special Judge in a closed-door session just days prior to the hearing.  The Appellants allege the Legislative process of approving budgets was not followed, that there were significant misstatements made, possibly perjury, depriving all enrolled tribal members an opportunity for true participation in the budgetary process and denying the membership basic due process rights and that denial of the temporary injunction in favor of the Council spending the Salazar settlement funds goes against the spirit of the SRST Constitution.  The checks and balances of the SRST Constitution dictates that a court should error on the side of the people when interpreting constitutional provisions limiting governmental powers.  Finally, the Appeal will challenge the concept and interpretation of separation of powers.  Fool Bear stated, "It is the SRST Council that has violated the separation of powers principle by preventing the Tribal Court from performing its constitutional duties.  How can there be a 'true' separation of powers when the Council is the Judge's employer and issues his paycheck?"

After the Tribal Council meeting on Wednesday, September 10, the issue of distribution was passed back to the districts, and Fool Bear believes that by doing this the Council escaped their responsibility to the people.  "They took a monkey off their backs and now the districts will be following Title 20 which states that you have to be a resident of the district for 30 days minimum.  By using the districts to make that decision, the Council through the districts discriminated against their own people, the off-reservation members."

SRST - ACTT leader and organizer, Sharon Kary, also a former SRST Tribal Judge and tribal court administrator stated, "Judge B.J. Jones should have put a Stay on the monies, instead he denied the injunction.  It was his job to interpret what the laws were according to the tribal code.  He erred and according to the tribal code he should have erred on the side of the people, instead of the tribal council. They failed to prove that they took the 'actual' budget out to the people.  He just believed what the Council said, stating in his decision that it was a 'political question' that should be resolved at the ballot box."

Kary said that the Recall Election will be the first time in tribal history that a Recall has ever happened at Standing Rock.  "Nobody has ever stood up to the tribal council before."  She encourages the people to speak out now, that if they don't they are part of the problem.  "ACTT has support on the reservation and enormous support of thousands of tribal membership who live off the reservation.  When the petitions were taken out, Valerie Wolf Necklace went to Minneapolis and spent a week there sometimes sitting on the streets gathering 153 signatures that week.  Besides a chapter in Minneapolis, chapters have started up in Denver, Portland, Rapid City and Montana and Texas."

Kary also believes that when talk of the Salazar Settlement first started, the issues should have been taken out to the people for discussion instead of some secretive Council plan, and that it was the people's right to know in the first place the impact this settlement would have on the tribe as a whole.  This did not happen. Other tribes are holding back on deciding how to distribute their settlements, waiting to see how the distribution issue is settled at Standing Rock. 

Kathy Dancing Bull-Buffalo Boy questions, "When the council accepted Salazar, what did they actually give up?  We as a Tribe can't sue anymore for the government's mismanagement of our lands and resources.  It was not the people's choice.  The Council didn't take it out to the people for discussion and it was just those people on the tribal council that made the decision."  She said, "The Council did not inform the people what the Salazar Settlement was all about and many confused it with the Cobell Settlement.  This Settlement was about our land, resources, and our leases and U.S. Government mismanagement."

As an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and an organizer for SRST-ACTT Active Citizens for Tribal Truth Minneapolis branch, Velma Little Eagle Balderas feels the exclusion of non reservation members from receiving the distribution of the $48.9 million Salazar Trust Settlement is not only discrimination, but also an illegal distribution of the funds that should have been equally and fairly distributed to all members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.  "I personally feel this generation, has no real Lakota traditions, values and virtues.  This is why we were left out.  The Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council has no idea of what our lives are like, off the reservation.  Nor do they understand the Lakota kinship system.  We have a strong traditional belief, "Mitakuye Oyasin", meaning "All my Relatives".  

She states that in the early '70's' when AIM was very strong in getting recognition for Native peoples and their issues, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was recognized as one of the very strongest Treaty Councils, and that the American Indian Movement held their AIM convention at Chief Gall Inn by Mobridge (SD).  The Tribal Chairman at the time was Melvin White Eagle and Vice-Chairman, was Pat McLaughlin.  "The Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Nation was a very strong tribal nation on human rights and protected all of their Standing Rock tribal members", she said.

Little Eagle Balderas states that the Oyate (people) in the cities have a very high cost of living and that most of the large Tiwahe's ( families) are on fixed incomes.  They fall behind in their rent or utilities when they have to buy their children clothes for school or have a family emergency such as a death or illness and have a hard time catching up and because there have been a lot of foreigners moving into the cities, the churches and other resource outlets get depleted of their emergency funds to assist with rent, utilities, food banks and free clothing.  "So, we go without.  Many of our Oyate have ended up in homeless shelters or on the streets" she said. "The Ojibwes, Mystic Lake and others are now telling us to go to 'your' tribal Nation for help." "We've been told that Standing Rock is the only tribal Nation that they are aware of that is not helping their Oyate."  They have said, "Your Tribe has no shame at the way they treat their relatives."  

"We off reservation members represent our Standing Rock Tribal Nation with the utmost respect and honor." Little Eagle Balderas was a Lakota language and cultural instructor for 26 years at UND and in Minneapolis and is now retired, putting in her spare time working as an advocate and member of SRST - ACTT for the Standing Rock Tribe off reservation enrollees in the Twin Cities area.  "There are more than 1,000 enrolled members of the SRST living in the Minneapolis St. Paul area and about 8,000 members of SRST who live off the reservation, which is about one half of the tribal membership.  We really need satellite offices for the Standing Rock off reservation enrollees."  She also questions the way the Tribal Council uses each and every enrolled member's name and enrollment number when they solicit federal funding, such as the 638 contracts.  "Between the years of 1997-2009 the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe received almost a half a billion dollars in federal funding, not including funds received from the BIA, IHS, SBC, casino revenue and the irrigation project.  This is not fair.  The off-reservation membership does not benefit from these funds."

Being taught her Lakota language and traditions in the Rock Creek (SD) community on Standing Rock, and also learning about her revered ancestor, Tatanka Iyotaka, Sitting Bull, she believes in the teachings of the 'Old Ones'.  "Mitakuye Oyasin - All of my Relatives, means we are related to everything in life.  We are related to all Nations, which is why we allowed Columbus to enter our lands and welcomed him.  This concept is very crucial to our existence as a tribal nation," stating, "As the Oyate come to the Cities, they look for relatives, so they will have a place to stay, sleep, eat and shower.  It is very sad, that our on reservation relatives do not have the same hospitable feelings, and they have publicly shown it by the way they have handled this Salazar Trust Settlement," adding, "Even on the reservation, some of our relatives have been disqualified from receiving the settlement payment as there was an application process that some members weren't aware of, and when they went to apply for the distribution, they were refused."

She said, "I feel real bad for the off reservation Oyate and for my family.  We weren't greedy, we were needy.  This is really sad and I actually feel sad for the tribal council people turning their backs on their own people.  Life is a very sacred circle, like the phrase, 'what goes around, comes back around'.  This has affected the future of our Seventh generation, the Wakanyejas - the children.  There should have been a plan to put money in the children's IIM accounts to be disbursed when they reach 18 years of age.  This tribal council is nothing like the council of the White Eagle days.  This tribal council is insensitive, indifferent and couldn't care less about their people.  And his Honor, Judge Jones has really hurt our people with his decision when he denied the injunction freezing the settlement funds, until the whole issue was resolved, because everything they did was illegal."

"WE WEREN'T GREEDY....WE WERE NEEDY" VELMA LITTLE EAGLE BALDERAS ...Discussing the off reservation membership of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

http://harvester.census.gov/sac

The above chart documents the federal funding the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe received from the years 1997-2009, which the SRST Tribal Council manages, also called 638 contracts and doesn't include BIA, IHS, SBC, the revenue of the casinos or other tribally-owned entities such as MRI, SRHA and the irrigation project.  These figures are published by the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.  For further information click on the above link and type in Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=350912095001224&set=a.247982888627479.57504.169992656426503&type=1i&theater

ONCE UPON A TIME.....

BY STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE - ACTIVE CITIZENS FOR TRIBAL TRUTH

10-2-12

Once upon a time, a great feast was held by some very Lakota hosts, who loved to shake hands and say they loved their people. At this great feast, the hosts made sure that some people got great gobs of food and were very happy. They also made sure that other relatives received nothing and told them to go away. These people were very angry or sad. Some people got the good cuts of meat. Others got small pieces. Some were not satisfied, so they asked for more. Others kept quiet and accepted what they were given. But nobody who came to the feast was treated the same, even though they were all members of the same family. The hosts said to themselves, “Hau, hau…we are veerrrryyy Lakota!”

But what all the people at the feast DID have in common was that they had not even been invited to the REAL feast! That feast was held behind closed doors, where nobody could see that only a handful of the hosts sat at the table. And how the people at THIS feast laughed and laughed, knowing that their feast was a feast above all feasts! And they laughed knowing that their hosting skills ensured that the well-fed people would sit back and burp, forgetting about their relatives who had not been fed at all. And they laughed some more, guessing that the people who were not given anything to eat or only got a little would just pout and go away mad.

So they sat back and wrapped their napkins around their necks and prepared to dig in to the feast of all feasts! They were happy knowing that while everyone was burping, being mad at each other over who got what, trying to get more meat for themselves, or complaining about the feast, NOBODY noticed that it was the hosts’ responsibility to keep the family together and cared for.

SHALL WE LET THEM FEAST??

READ MORE....