Ordinary Justice
by GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

Corporations, churches and even canasta clubs have more rights under U.S. law than American Indian tribes, and respect for human rights and basic fairness demand this must change, says a veteran Indian lawyer and rights advocate.

“All we want is ordinary justice,” Tim Coulter, a Potawatomi Indian and director of the Indian Law Resource Center in Helena, said Friday.

Coulter, who has battled for Indian rights for 40 years and has been honored by Columbia University for his work, spoke to a crowd of about 100 attending the American Indian Law and Resistance Symposium at Montana State University.

Congress has the power to take Indian tribal lands, seize millions of dollars from Indian accounts, take over tribal governments, and even wipe out the legal existence of tribes, Coulter said.

Injustice toward Indians is deeply imbedded in U.S. law, he said. The entire legal framework of U.S. Indian law is based upon the notion that the federal government possesses “plenary powers,” which aren’t written anywhere in the U.S. Constitution, but were invented by the U.S. Supreme Court, he said. That idea has been enforced by the government for the past 200 years.

Just as the black civil rights movement of the 1960s dismantled the racist “separate but equal” laws, Indians need to dismantle the racist framework of laws that deny their rights, he argued.

A key part of this legal construct is the basic idea that the federal government holds Indian lands as a trustee and oversees these properties on behalf of Indians.

The only people kept in permanent, involuntary trusteeships are “children, mental incompetents and Indians,” Coulter said.

This keeps Indian tribes in “second-class legal status,” he said, and it creates such legal uncertainty and instability on reservations that the business climate is “awful.”

“When you have this (legal) mess, it’s practically impossible for tribal governments to create a stable business environment,” he said. “This is a fundamental reason for ubiquitous poverty.”

The U.S. government cannot simply wipe out a corporation or break a contract with a private contractor operating in Iraq, he said. But it can and has wiped out Indian tribes and broken contracts and treaties with tribes.

For example, he cited the Sioux Nation, which has been fighting 140 years for the Black Hills, refusing to take monetary compensation offered to extinguish its claims to the land. In 1972, he said, Congress extinguished the rights of Alaskan native tribes to their lands with the stroke of a pen. The Western Shoshone of California and Nevada are fighting against land claims they contend are fraudulent.

To try to challenge U.S. law, Coulter said Indian tribes, led by the Six Nations Federation of New York and Canada, went to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva in 1977 to demand a statement supporting their human rights.

It took 30 years, but finally in 2007, the UN General Assembly passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It supports their rights to exist, to self-determination, to maintain their cultures and religions and to own their own lands.

The vote approving the declaration was 143 yes to four no, with only Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States in opposition. He urged people to write the White House in support of the declaration of rights or to visit the Web site, (www.indianlaw.org) and support the current effort to get the Organization of American States to recognize the rights of native peoples.

Coulter said he is optimistic that in the long run, Indians’ rights will be recognized as customary international law.

He added he has faith in the American people and their basic sense of fairness. When polled, 75 percent of people said it wasn’t right for the government to take Indians lands.

“I think the American people will be on our side,” Coulter said.

Take Action
There are two actions suggested by Tim Coulter in the above article. One is to obtain the support of the United States for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The other is to support the efforts of the Organization of American States to complete and ratify the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. To take action on the first issue, familiarize yourself with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/drip.html . Then, contact the White House and express your support for the declaration. The following website provides snail mail and email information for the White House, as well as telephone numbers: http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ . To take action on the second issue supporting the current efforts of the Organization of American States to recognize the rights of native peoples, inform yourself on the progress of the draft of American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through the Indian Law Resource Center, dedicated to justice for indigenous peoples at: http://www.indianlaw.org/en/search/node/declaration+of+the+rights+of+indigenous+peoples .
A copy of the most recent draft of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples can be found on the OAS website: http://scm.oas.org/doc_public/ENGLISH/HIST_08/CP20518E07.DOC .” This document applies to all indigenous peoples in the Americas. Once you have informed yourself as to the specifics of the declaration, contact the White House and encourage United States’ support for the declaration.

As discussed above, it is unconscionable that the United States government holds Native American lands in permanent, involuntary trusteeship in this day and age. It is indefensible that the United States was one of four countries which did not sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Your action on this issue will help to restore the rights of Native Americans. In addition, it is essential that the United States play an active part in drafting the American Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Please contact the White House to express your opinions on both of these issues. Use the resources provided to further inform yourself on these matters and on others which impact Native Americans. Then, take action!