Congressional Apology to Native Americans Is Just Cheap Talk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2009

Apology Op-Ed
Robert T. Coulter
Executive Director, Indian Law Resource Center
www.indianlaw.org



‘No Thanks’ to Congressional Apology

This week the U.S. Senate passed a resolution apologizing to Native Americans for the wrongs done by citizens of this country. Robert T. Coulter, Executive Director of the Indian Law Resource Center, says what happened is a failure on the part of Congress to really acknowledge what it has done in the past.

The Senate has just passed a resolution that apologizes to American Indians and other Native Americans for the wrongs done by citizens of this country. But a genuine apology means you won’t do it again, and this resolution does nothing at all to stop or correct the on-going wrongs that the federal government inflicts on Indian and Alaska Native nations. Unfortunately our government still takes Indian land without paying for it, still refuses to account for the Indian money it holds, still violates its treaties with Indian nations without making amends, and still maintains a body of policy and law that is so discriminatory and racist that it should have been discarded generations ago.

To make a real apology, Congress needs to stop doing the things that it is apologizing to Indian nations and other Native peoples for. Americans generally do not know that the federal government continues to treat tribes and Alaska Native nations this way, and the evidence is that the public does not support or condone this mistreatment.

It is astonishing to most Americans that the federal government is still taking Indian land and resources – without due process of law and without fair market compensation, sometimes with no compensation at all. Of course, the Constitution says that Congress may not take anyone’s property except with due process of law and with fair market compensation. But these rules are not applied to most land and resources owned by Indian tribes, and the government takes the land and resources at will. Obviously, this is wrong. Today, the government is trying to drive Western Shoshone Indians off their homelands in Nevada without a semblance of due process and with a payment of about 15 cents per acre. This is gold mining land, but that doesn’t make it alright to take it from its Indian owners. There are other present day cases. A few years ago, Congress confiscated part of the reservation that was shared by the Yurok Nation in California and turned it over to another tribe. Congress gloated at the time that it could do this without paying compensation because of Congress’ so-called “Plenary Power” over Indians and their property.

A few years ago, Congress passed a law that orders a fund of money belonging to nine Western Shoshone tribes to be taken from the tribes and handed out by the Interior Department to some but not all individual tribal members. The bill was passed over the objections of most of the tribes.

The Interior Department still will not fully account for Indian funds that it holds. This national shame is reported regularly in the press. The Department is defying the law, as it has done for generations. The United States still insists that Indian tribes and in some respects Indian individuals, are in a state of permanent, involuntary trusteeship, with the federal government as trustee. No one else in the US is subject to such unaccountable “trusteeship.”

Congress today insists it can put Indian nations and tribes out of existence at any time. Indian nations and tribes still have no real right to exist in US law. The threat of termination is very real. Some small Native tribes in Alaska have recently heard this threat from congressional sources.

Congress also insists that it may freely violate treaties made with Indian nations. Sadly this is not a thing of the past. It does this today – regularly. Treaties are contracts, and the government cannot freely violate its contracts with others, but it does so – often – in the case of Indian treaties.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, an international legal body that is officially recognized and supported by the United States, recently concluded that US policies regarding Indian lands are discriminatory and constitute a violation of human rights. But the Bush Administration defied the Commission and the present Administration is still refusing to change the discriminatory laws it applies to Indian tribes.

This on-going pattern of lawless and arbitrary congressional power over Indians has resulted in a negative, risky, unpredictable business climate on Indian reservations that inhibits needed economic development.

To be clear, many of the things Congress is considering apologizing for are still being done to Indian and Alaska Native tribes and to Native Hawaiians as well. Sadly, the United States, especially the US Congress, has never given up its insistence on treating Indian and Alaska Native nations with injustice and discrimination. This is not only wrong but very bad public policy and wholly out of keeping with American values.

Congress should conduct hearings and adopt a resolution promising never again to take Indian or tribal property without due process of law and fair market compensation. The resolution should promise that Congress will never again terminate any Native American tribe or its government and never again violate or abrogate a treaty with an Indian nation without making full compensation and correcting all resulting harm to the Indian nation. Congress must examine and change all federal laws, regulations, and courtmade law that deprive Indian nations and tribes of constitutional rights. Congress must pass legislation to assure that the government accounts fully for the Indian money and property it holds.

Without such commitments from Congress, an apology will be just another offense against Native Americans. Until the government changes its ways, things cannot be expected to improve much in Indian country. This is a good time to make the changes.
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Source: Indian Law Resource Center

Native Rights News is making this material available in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine codified at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107: This article is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. Distribution of this material is for research and educational purposes that will promote social and economic justice and benefit society.
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NY Governor Signs Bill to Tax Cigarettes Sold by Seneca Nation

Taxation to begin on reservations within 60 days
by Sharon Turano
The Observer: December 16, 2008

Seneca Nation of Indians officials will detail their response to Gov. David Paterson's decision to collect sales tax on cigarettes sold to non-Indians during a news conference at 11 a.m. today.

''The Seneca Nation of Indians will explore all of its options,'' report nation officials, who said the law threatens the nation's treaty rights and 1,000 retailing jobs in Western New York.

''This action is a threat to the Seneca Nation, and we have no choice but to explore all of our options,'' said Barry E. Snyder Sr., Seneca Nation president.

''Attacking tax-free commerce in our territories is short-sighted and disastrous for us and all of Western New York. The nation has a complicated and intertwined relationship with the state. Since this is the direction that the governor wants to take things, then we have no choice but revisit every aspect of our relationship with the state.''

''The issue here is not cigarettes, but the protection of the nation's treaty rights. We will do what it takes at the right time to protect those rights,'' said Snyder.''Because our Nation believes that diplomacy is always the best path when governments are in dispute, I have invited Governor Paterson to our historic territory to discuss how this problem can be resolved in a matter respectful of our treaties,'' said President Snyder.

GOV. PATERSON'S DECISION

Paterson also listed his reasons for signing the bill into law.

''Cigarettes sold by Indian retailers to non-Indians must be taxed,'' a news release from Paterson said.

Under the law, those selling cigarettes to retailers must provide the state tax department with certification the cigarettes will not be resold to untaxed retailers to resell without collecting taxes on the products. The state Department of Taxation will have 60 days to issue a certification form and prepare to receive the certifications that will be submitted.

Under the law, tax law violators are subject to revocation or cancellation of its license. A false certificate could be referred to a district attorney's office for prosecution for perjury or filing a false instrument.

''This law has not been adequately applied for far too long giving non-Indians easy access to tax-free cigarettes both on the reservations and over the internet,'' Paterson said. ''However, the signing of this bill should not be seen as anything other than enforcing the tax laws of New York in a fair and effective manner. My commitment to the sovereign powers of New York's Indian Nations has not and will not waver and I will continue to seek a comprehensive negotiated solution with all of New York's Indian nations.''

Although cigarettes sold by agents to retailers for re-sale to non-Indian purchasers must bear tax stamps, the state has, for many years, adopted a policy of non-enforcement, and unstamped cigarettes continue to be sold by agents to Indian retailers who sell them to non-Indians at discount prices, his press release states.

''Tomorrow, I will present my 2009-2010 budget proposal and while we will continue to aggressively and responsibly address New York's current budget crisis, this bill is not only about collecting revenue for the state of New York, it is also about protecting the health of our citizens. Smoking has long been a tragic public health crisis in New York and around the world,'' Paterson said.

He said cigarette taxes have been one of the state's most effective tools in addressing this crisis.

''To the extent that the tax is undermined, our efforts to fight smoking are also undermined,'' Paterson said.

GROUPS PICKING SIDES

Bills that state tobacco manufacturers can't sell untaxed cigarettes to retailers for resale were passed by the state Assembly and Senate over the summer and were awaiting the governor's signature to become law.

''I urge the governor and the Seneca Nation to undertake discussions to find a peaceful and productive resolution to their differences,'' said state Sen. Catharine Young, R-Olean.

''I am disappointed that Governor Paterson has signed this legislation without further negotiation with the Seneca Nation of Indians,'' said state Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda. ''I believe that this is a complicated issue, and negotiations among the involved parties should take place prior to the effective date of this legislation.''

Convenience store lobbies, such as the New York State Association of Convenience Stores, have requested taxes be collected.

''In the quest for tax fairness, this would be a step in the right direction,'' said James Calvin, executive director of the association about the governor signing the bill into law,'' he said.

Members of the Seneca Free Trade Association, a private-non-profit cooperative assoication of individuals and businesses licensed by the Nation to develop commerce and industry within and around Nation territories, could not be reached to comment Monday.

They previously called on the public to ask Paterson to veto the bill.

''We are both saddened and angered by the continued attacks upon our indigenous rights and sovereignty by narrow-minded New York politicians and government officials,'' they wrote in a letter seeking support for a veto. They called the legislation ''a misguided assault upon Seneca Indian sovereignty.

''Because tobacco and the trade of tobacco have long been an integral part of our Seneca culture and heritage, we view this recent effort by the New York Legislature as a direct, discriminatory attack on the Seneca people,'' they said. ''Seneca Indian business owners have no intention of helping New York's incompetent bureaucrats close their state's budget deficit, which has been created by their misspending and mismanagement of your tax dollars.''

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© 2008 The Observer

Native Rights News is making this material from The Observer available in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine codified at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107: This article is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. Distribution of this material is for research and educational purposes that will promote social and economic justice and benefit society.