TULSA, Okla. – After six weeks in the first grade, Beverly Patchell’s grandson decides, “‘I don’t want to be Indian anymore; they’re bad.’”
Patchell provided this personal testimony as an example of how the inaccurate portrayal of Indigenous people in history books, prejudice and overall education barriers affect Indigenous people. She was one of more than 30 Indigenous leaders who took turns voicing concerns to United Nations Special Rapporteur S. James Anaya on May 3 at the University of Tulsa (TU).
Anaya spent 12 days in the U.S. listening to Indigenous leaders in the District of Columbia, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Washington State, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. He is beginning an investigation, the first of its kind, which will measure how state and federal laws, policies and programs in the United States mirror the principles of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The declaration was passed by the U.N. General Assembly in September 2007. The United States initially voted against the declaration in 2007, but later endorsed it in December 2010.
Patchell, who represented the Alaska Natives Nursing Association, said Indigenous people need a safe environment for learning and mentioned the low numbers of Alaska Natives and American Indians in the nursing field and the obstacles they face getting into school. She also used her grandson’s experience in school to demonstrate how an unhealthy learning environment can cause low self-esteem and feelings of inferiority in Indigenous people.
“My commitment is to help shed light on stories and perspectives,” Anaya said. “My commitment is to convey an expression of hope.”
Anaya first heard from a tribal judicial panel made up of the Hon. Charles Tripp, the Hon. Greg Bigler, and the Hon. Walter Echo-Hawk.
The justices spoke about tribal courts not being viewed as adequate by non-Native Americans, state and federal governments refusing to help tribes when asked, and injustices in federal Indian law.
Echo-Hawk examined the potential impact of the declaration on the future of federal Indian law and compared standards in the declaration against current U.S. federal law and policy to identify areas that need improvement or could benefit from reform.
“I think the potential impact of this declaration … would result in eradicating the dark side, the bad side of federal Indian law and provide a stronger foundation for Indigenous rights in the United States … (and) build equality and not discrimination, and democracy and good faith,” Echo-Hawk said. “It becomes clear that U.S. law and policy does fail to comport or meet the U.N. standards in many important areas.”
He identified nine key areas where U.S. policy fails Indigenous peoples including self-determination. He said the declaration views self-determination as an inherent right whereas U.S. law views it under the Plenary Power Doctrine where Congress can terminate that right at will. Echo-Hawk touched on a wide-range of injustices including the failure to making public mainstream media accountable. “We are invisible and ignored by the press,” he said.
Anaya then heard statements from leaders representing the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Sac and Fox Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees, Kaw Nation, Euchee (Yuchi) Tribe, Kickapoo Tribe, Chickasaw Nation, Isle de Jean Charles Tribe, Pointe au Chien Tribe, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Osage Headright Accounting, Alabama Ceremonial Grounds, Hickory Ceremonial Grounds, National Indian Youth Council, Wetlands Preservation Organization, Haskell Indian Nations University, Prairie Band of Potawatomi Veterans, American Indian Services in Detroit, Sand Creek Massacre Descendants, International Treaty Council, American Indian Movement (AIM), and Indigenous Environmental Network.
Concerns that have plagued Indigenous people for decades such as broken treaty promises, abuses suffered at boarding schools, veterans illegally taxed, stolen land, lingering litigation, and racial profiling were shown to still be unsettled, ignored and/or still prevalent.
“The oppressed got so used to being oppressed,” David Hill, of AIM, said. “They target us because we have long hair, brown skin, and our car is 20 years old.”
Hill, Choctaw, and Rodney Factor, Seminole, of the International Treaty Council both spoke about a duel system of justice and how jail and prison sentences are longer for Indigenous people versus other races. They also spoke about tactics used against Indigenous people to make them confess to crimes they didn’t commit and not being provided the right to a free attorney.
Tewanna Edwards, spokesperson for the Fellowship of American Indians Church in Chickasha, didn’t provide oral testimony, but prepared a document for Anaya stating, “The dominant society has viewed us as less than human, both intellectually and other areas, from the days of the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ to the present.” She asked in the document, “How do you unlearn this mental attitude after generations of reinforcement? … Does it start with recognizing the minorities being forced by the dominant society to exist with stereotyped, biased attitudes as just a way of life and not realizing to this day it is a violation of the minorities’ human rights? As stated by some of our Indian people, ‘That’s just the way it is?’”
Dr. Kay McGowen, Mississippi Choctaw, of the National Indian Youth Council spoke about the Civilization Fund Act of 1819, and the long lasting damage generations have suffered because their identity was lost at boarding schools. She said the US government should now fund extensive language programs since children lost their native language at boarding schools, and she also wants a full disclosure of what happened in boarding schools.
“I want names named,” she proclaimed. “How many children died, (how many) pregnant girls were killed … rectify the wrongs … it’s our declaration, let’s make it work.”
New challenges were also mentioned such as the Keystone Pipeline slated to barrel right through some tribal lands, tribes being asked to waive their sovereign immunity in order to receive grants, human trafficking, and coastal erosion. Some tribes continue to feel the damage caused by the BP oil spill and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well. Coastal tribes maintain their livelihood by fishing and those prospects are declining because of the erosion.
Recurring issues were federal recognition and protection of natural land and resources, improvements with Indian Child Welfare, domestic violence against women, arresting and prosecuting non-Native Americans on tribal land, and self-governance.
“We continue to struggle with self-determination,” Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief George Tiger said. “We still are under dictation of how our tribal resources are utilized.”
Tiger spoke about being forced to sign a tobacco compact with the State of Oklahoma, and also questioned “Why should businesses that operate in Indian Country not follow our laws?”
Other concerns were specific to tribes, such as the Sac and Fox Nation attempting to have the remains of tribal member Jim Thorpe repatriated, Osage headrights transferred to non-Native Americans with no accounting, Kickapoo tribal citizens who live in Mexico have difficulty returning to the states to participate in cultural ceremonies plus their burial practices being disrespected by the State Medical Examiner’s Office when autopsies are performed on some of their citizens, and the IRS making an inquiry to the Chickasaw Nation about taxing citizens who receive general welfare assistance; where no cash is received from them, such as education and health care aid.
Also on the minds of leaders was how to protect the culture and heritage of their people. Bobby Yargee of the Alabama Ceremonial Grounds said they only have a handful of their elders left and some of their young citizens don’t bother to ask what some of their ceremonial songs mean.
“We want to continue to exist,” he said. “We want to continue to teach our young ones the way of our ancestors.”
Millicent Pepion, a Blackfeet student from Haskell Indian Nations University, began speaking to Anaya in her Native tongue as other leaders did throughout the session. She spoke about the importance of teaching the next generation, “how to build positive relationships with the environment through language revitalization, traditional storytelling, and ceremonial and traditional cultural practices … “
She spoke about the Trail of Broken Promises, a journey that will take Haskell students from the Wakarusa Wetlands in Lawrence, Kan. on May 13 to Washington DC on July 9. The journey aims to bring awareness to the protection of sacred places.
“In Kansas, most of the wetlands have been drained or lost at a rate that parallels the decline of population of Native peoples indigenous to Kansas,” Pepion said. “The Trail of Broken Promises is asking for help from local, state, tribal, and federal agencies in the hope that they will endorse policies that protect our land and cultures. Our children are counting on us.”
In a statement at the conclusion of his US visit, Anaya mentioned how sacred sites like the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona and the Black Hills in South Dakota have a “profound religious and cultural significance to tribes.”
“It is important to note, in this regard, that securing the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands is of central importance to indigenous peoples' socio-economic development, self-determination, and cultural integrity,” Anaya stated. “Continued efforts to resolve, clarify, and strengthen the protection of indigenous lands, resources, and sacred sites should be made.”
Anaya said Indigenous people can still submit a report of their concerns to Anaya by sending them via e-mail to:
Anaya will provide a public report documenting the situation Indigenous people face in the United States in an upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council. He will note the “good practices and needed reforms” the U.S. has or needs in regard to complying with the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. His concluding statement about his U.S. visit mentions he also met with state and executive branch federal officials; however his attempts to meet with U.S. Congress members were unsuccessful.
S. James Anaya is a Regents professor and the James J. Lenoir professor of Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of Arizona. He was appointed as the special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples in March 2008 by the UN Human Rights Council.
PHOTO BY DANA ATTOCKNIE | NATIVE AMERICAN TIMES