From the AP:
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama believes Congress should let the judicial system do its work before getting involved in a dispute over Cherokee citizenship.
Obama says an injunction is in place protecting the rights of Cherokee freedmen, and Congress should not undermine the legal process.
Cherokee citizens voted last year to [...]
Here is the Tenth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Friday — us-v-friday-ca10 (thanks to Sarah Krakoff for the heads-up).
Judge McConnell wrote the decision. Here is our previous commentary on the case (here). Guess no circuit split….
Phillip M. Kannan has published “Reinstating Treaty-Making with Native American Tribes” in the William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal. An excerpt:
This Article proceeds as follows. The legal history of treaties and treaty-making with Indian tribes and the significance of these treaties to United States law are explored in Part I. The dissatisfaction of the [...]
I’ve posted a short paper called “‘Now What the Hell You Gonna Do in Those Days?’ A Research Note on Practical Barriers to Indian Land Claims” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
There are extra-legal barriers that American Indian people faced when confronted with the illegal theft of their lands, or with any dispossession of their [...]
Years ago, Wisconsin sued the Stockbridge-Munsee Community over the site of its Class III gaming operation, alleging that the land upon which the casino was located was outside the reservation boundaries, or that the reservation had been disestablished. The case is in the Seventh Circuit now and briefing is underway:
1999-dct-opinion-wisconsin-v-stockbridge-munsee
2004-dct-opinion-wisconsin-v-stockbridge-munsee
stockbridge-munsee-appellant-brief
wisconsin-appellee-brief
From the Wisconsin State Journal:
Northern Wisconsin marks an anniversary this year, but not everyone is celebrating. It involves 19th century Indian treaties that brought walleyes, fork-like spears, rock-throwing protesters and claims of racism to the forefront.
Twenty-five years ago, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago affirmed that Chippewa Indian tribes retained off-reservation fishing [...]
Our previous post is here.
And here is the Mother Earth Walk poster.
Yakama’s quest for treaty rights in United States v. Oregon suffered another setback in federal district court. Here are the materials:
yakama-motion-for-partial-summary-judgment
colville-opposition
yakama-reply
dct-order-yakama-v-colville
A few years ago, we wrote a short article that included a section on South Fox Island, traditional home to many Michigan Anishinaabeg families, that was lost during the Termination Era of the 1950s. An Indian cemetery is out there, hidden, but now the island is owned by non-Indian real estate developers (see here). This [...]
Kevin Noble Maillard (Syracuse) has posted “Redwashing History: Tribal Anachronisms in the Seminole Nation Cases” on SSRN. It is forthcoming from the Freedom Center Journal. Here is the abstract:
The status of people of African descent in indigenous nations generates important questions about what it means to be Indian. A fair understanding of the Freedmen controversy [...]
