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Support Info: If you are a Survivor and need emotional support, a national crisis line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week: Residential School Survivor Support Line: 1-866-925-4419. Additional Health Support Information: Emotional, cultural, and professional support services are also available to Survivors and their families through the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program. Services can be accessed on an individual, family, or group basis.” These & regional support phone numbers are found at https://nctr.ca/contact/survivors/ . THANK YOU MEGWETCH for reading

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Thursday, July 27, 2017

Sen. Udall Holds Listening Session on Human Trafficking in Indian Country

Native News Online Staff
Vice Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Tom Udall - D - New Mexico

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, held a stakeholder meeting on ways to more effectively prevent, prosecute, and improve data collection on human trafficking in Indian Country. Federal data on human trafficking in Native communities is limited, but available information suggests human trafficking in the United States frequently targets vulnerable populations, which would include Native Americans who disproportionately face high rates of poverty and trauma. In order to address the shortage of information, the Indian Affairs committee requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) seek data on the prevalence of human trafficking in Native communities and research the frequency with which law enforcement agencies have encountered it, the services that are available to victims, demographic information, efforts to increase prosecutions, and other federal initiatives. 
 
Udall released the following statement:
 
"Human trafficking affects every community in the United States – regardless of age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background. And because Native Americans disproportionally face high rates of poverty and trauma, they are especially vulnerable and frequent targets of human trafficking. For years, Tribal leaders and Native activists have raised the issue of human trafficking with Congress. By sharing their powerful and often heart-breaking stories, they have elevated our awareness about the need for more information and more resources to combat the spread of human trafficking in Indian country.  
 
"But the fact is that the federal government knows very little about the rates of human trafficking on Tribal lands. And it knows even less about human trafficking of individual Native Americans. After reviewing these GAO reports, it is clear that the true extent of human trafficking in Indian Country remains unknown. But it is also clear to me that the federal government could do more to help Native victims who are slipping through the cracks. Congress must take a long, hard look at how federal agencies collect and monitor data on this issue, ensure their accountability, and then work to provide federal and Tribal law enforcement agencies with enough resources to keep Indian Country safe. The administration’s proposed cuts to federal law enforcement agencies and Tribal programs would only further strain public safety initiatives on Tribal lands. Instead of jeopardizing Native communities by cutting policing and justice budgets, Congress should look for new ways to get funding resources to Tribes.
 
"Like with other crimes in Indian Country, addressing human trafficking will require Congress to look at and pass legislation that addresses issues of jurisdiction and inter-agency cooperation, and I’m hopeful that we can work together to provide Tribes with more resources to combat human trafficking and ensure that all Native victims of crime get the support they so desperately need."

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

The REAL ID ACT is already here?


by Lauren Hannula on

 

The REAL ID Act: Are You Ready for a National ID?


WI REAL ID 300x192 The REAL ID Act: Are You Ready for a National ID?
Sample of the new REAL ID for Wisconsin

People throughout the country might see some big changes happening to their driver’s licenses and state IDs. As of February 2013, 19 states have demonstrated compliance with the REAL ID Act, a piece of legislature that imposes much stricter measures on how people can obtain a driver’s license, and sets more thorough standards as to what will be displayed on them. Called the new “national ID,” the REAL ID Act has gained some traction in light of recent events like the Boston Marathon bombings.
But what exactly is the REAL ID Act, and how will it affect drivers across the nation?

The History of REAL ID

After 9/11, the federal government began to look at ways to increase security surrounding state identification cards and driver’s licenses, in an attempt to prevent further terrorism and/or unlawful entry into and out of the country.
In 2005, the House of Representatives passed a bill into law called the REAL ID Act. This Act would set certain federal standards upon all driver’s licenses, which are currently regulated by each individual state. After being passed into law, the bill was tabled until 2007, when it was announced that the federal enforcement of the act would be postponed for a period of two years. However, many state governments were slow to support this act, feeling that it not only infringed upon states’ rights handed to them by the 10th Amendment, but also created unnecessary cost to taxpayers in order to implement the change. It wasn’t until this year that the federal government announced that all states would need to be in compliance with the REAL ID Act by the end of 2017.

Immigration, Adoptees and The Identity Police: The REAL ID ACT of 2005

By Trace Hentz, Blog Editor

Have you tried to get a driver's license recently? I spoke to a cousin in Illinois who was not given a driver's license (renewal) but a piece of paper instead. She is not adopted. The Illinois Motor Vehicles people told her they are doing a background check first then will mail it to her. (My cousin has lived in Illinois all her life and she is over 60.)
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
We have seen this coming. (I was worried in 2005 when I went to get a passport and had to mail them my fake birth certificate.)
In 2011, Leland Morrill wrote this Facebook post on his concerns about the lack of original birth certificates for many Native adoptees like him. Leland did not have a birth certificate but a Certificate of No Birth Record.
READ HERE 

Leland contributed to the book series Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects. In the first book TWO WORLDS he shared he had not found his mother or father and was adopted by Mormons. In the second book CALLED HOME he found his mother's family. In STOLEN GENERATIONS, the third book, he found and met all his clans and his father.

Each year for an adoptee, information can drip drip drip and finally come. It's not a fast process. Each piece of paper helps.
You have two parents and two family trees. Never give up hope of finding the paperwork and the people.

ALSO::: If you adopted a child, request their adoption file as soon as possible. If you signed these documents you have the right to have a certified copy of the adoption proceedings and court documents. You and your adopted child will need ALL this information, when they reach adulthood. If you adopted a child from another country, did you get them their US citizenship records? If not, they could be deported. It is that serious.

If you do not have documentation of any kind, call the local FBI right now and explain your situation and remind them of the REAL ID ACT - and how it affects you as an adoptee.


Human Trafficking in Indian Country

The General Accounting Office has published a report, HUMAN TRAFFICKING: Information on Cases in Indian Country or that Involved Native Americans.
Human trafficking—the exploitation of
a person typically through force, fraud,
or coercion for such purposes as
forced labor, involuntary servitude or
commercial sex
—is occurring in the
United States and
involves vulnerable
populations. Native Americans are
considered a vulnerable population
because of high rates of poverty and
abuse, and other factors. GAO was
asked to research human trafficking
taking place in Indian country and
trafficking of Native American persons
regardless of where they are located in
the United States
.

PDF

NOTE: If you are an adoptee and do not have papers, and your adoptive parents have died CONTACT THE FBI immediately. Many adoptions were done by private attorneys and you could be a victim of human trafficking and were sold into adoption. 

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes
 

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

TRIBAL JUSTICE DOCUMENTARY: reexamine the current definition of justice in America



New PBS Documentary on Native American Judges Focuses on Rehabilitative Justice

"We are village people. We have village values. And those values compel us to take care of each other, our families and our country," says Abby Abinanti, chief judge of the Yurok Tribal Court and the first Native American woman admitted to the State Bar of California. Tribal Justice spotlights tribal courts that incorporate indigenous customs and beliefs into their justice systems. The film follows Abby Abinanti and Claudette White, chief judges in two of the more than 300 tribal courts across the country, as they navigate cross-jurisdictional issues in their courts and communities.


Tribal Justice has its national broadcast premiere on the PBS documentary series POV (Point of View) on Monday, August 21, 2017. POV is American television's longest-running independent documentary series, now in its 30th season.  



White is the chief judge of the Quechan Tribal Court in the Southern California desert. She says the affiliated tribe has been "vastly diminished," but never removed from its homeland. "We have a lot of social ills in our community based on our location and the limitation to services," she says. "In my capacity as chief judge, what I'm fighting for is our people, our independence, our sovereignty, our existence."

White sees Abinanti as a mentor, and both women are focused on restoring their communities rather than punishing offenders. The Yurok and Quechan tribes are the two largest in California. Each faces its own unique issues, but Abinanti and White share the goal of increasing safety and decreasing incarceration in an effort to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Both judges are passionate about preserving their cultures and creating new pathways to justice for families dealing with historical trauma and intergenerational addiction.

"You guys could be leaders in our community or you could help destroy our community," White tells two teenage boys in her court.

Studies show that rural areas and American Indian reservations are plagued by the manufacturing, trafficking and use of crystal methamphetamine. Reservations are targeted by non-Native drug cartels. Native Americans have the highest meth usage of any ethnic group in the nation, resulting in extremely high crime and incarceration rates. Abinanti remarks, "The state has a lot of responsibility for all the people. I have responsibility to one set of people-6,000 Yuroks and their families. And that's what I'm responsible for: for that and for this land."

Viewers first meet Taos Proctor, a large and gregarious young man, in Abinanti's tribal court in 2013. While out on parole from San Quentin State Prison, Proctor was arrested with methamphetamine on his person; he is facing a third-strike conviction and 25 years to life in prison. Over two years, the film follows Abinanti and her staff as they take on Proctor's case and help him to complete court programs and rebuild his life.

A thousand miles to the south, White invokes the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 to reunite an autistic and epileptic 9-year-old boy with his family. She also takes on a more personal case when she becomes the legal guardian to her troubled teenage nephew, Isaac Palone. Palone has recently left a group home and faces two felony charges for breaking into cars; his case is in state court rather than tribal court, and he is at risk of beginning a life shuttling in and out of prison.


Tribal Justice contradicts the entrenched mainstream narrative that depicts Native Americans as locked in hopeless circumstances as their tribes vanish. Abinanti and White's struggles and triumphs tell a different story, one of strong female leaders working alongside their people to affirm tribal sovereignty and break free of the systems of poverty and inequality confronting Native Americans today.

Director Anne Makepeace says that she was immediately moved by the two judges upon meeting them in 2013 and felt that audiences needed to know about their work. "I realized the film would educate a broad audience about something few Americans know about-tribal courts-and that it could have a tremendous positive impact on our criminal justice system."

"Tribal Justice challenges viewers to reexamine the current definition of justice in America," says POV executive producer Justine Nagan. "Through the often personal experiences of two powerful women striving to elevate their people through the tribal court process, Anne Makepeace gives us the opportunity to watch a rarely seen justice system effectively at work."

Friday, July 7, 2017

'It's a way of moving forward': Innu leaders praise announcement of inquiry into children in care


Innu leaders say there needs to be more of an effort to keep troubled Aboriginal children in Labrador, with treatment that includes a focus on their culture and roots.
The removal of children from their homes in Labrador has also been flagged by the province's child and youth advocate who has called for a new community-based approach to child welfare in the region.
In March, CBC News reported that 265 children from Labrador were living in foster care — including many from Inuit communities who had been sent to foster homes on the island of Newfoundland.

Uprooted: Why so many of Labrador's children are in foster care so far away from home

In Natuashish, a community of 963 people, there are 60 children in care of provincial government agencies.
Sheshashiu, the other Innu community in Labrador, with a population of 671, had 90 children in care.

"This is unacceptable that your children are being taken from you," Carolyn Bennett told him at the time. "We are going to change it."
Source: 'It's a way of moving forward': Innu leaders praise announcement of inquiry into children in care - Newfoundland & Labrador - CBC News

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Powwows, rodeos, homecomings today



How do Indians observe the 4th of July? Do we celebrate? 
To answer, let’s turn back the pages of time. A reasonable chapter to begin in is July 1776, when the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and 13 colonies became the United States of America. With the emergence of a nation interested in expanding its territory came the issue of what to do with American Indians. History tells us that as the American non-Indian population increased, the indigenous population greatly decreased, along with their homelands and cultural freedoms.
From the beginning, U.S. government policy contributed to culture and land loss. Keeping our focus on the 4th of July, however, let’s jump to the early 1880s, when Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller developed what has come to be called the Religious Crimes Code—regulations at the heart of the Department of Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, Code of Indian Offenses that prohibited American Indian ceremonial life.
Bottom of Form

Teller’s general guidelines to all Indian agents were to end tribal dances and feasts. Enforced on reservations, the code banned Indian ceremonies, disrupted religious practices, and destroyed or confiscated sacred objects. Indian ceremonial activities were prohibited under threat of imprisonment and/or the withholding of treaty rations.

The Secretary of the Interior issued this Code of Regulations in 1884, 1894, and 1904 through Indian Affairs Commissioner’s circulars and Indian agent directives. Indian superintendents and agents implemented the code until the mid-1930s. During this 50-year period, Indian spiritual ceremonies such as the Sun Dance and Ghost Dance were held in secret or ceased to exist. Some have since been revived or reintroduced by Indian tribes.

All across Indian country, tribes hold modern celebrations— including powwows, rodeos, and homecomings—that coincide with the United States’ Independence Day celebrations. 

READ July 4th Facts 

Indian Humor

Saturday, July 1, 2017

History: Britain’s Futile Attempt to Keep American Colonists From Taking Tribal Land

880b70ce-9aeb-42fa-a725-aba0d804794a.png

***
In the 1760s, the government in Britain was taking a new approach to its vast colonial holdings, and in 1763, colonial governors and tribal leaders met in Fort Augusta, Georgia, for the first of 10 congresses at which they negotiated a geographic separation. The king had ordered that there should be a limit to colonial expansion—if a tribe claimed a stretch of land, a colonial governor was not supposed to grant it to settlers. The Fort Augusta meeting began with the tribal representatives describing what they believed to be the extent of their territory. Over the course of several congresses, the diplomats agreed on a boundary between tribal lands and the seaboard colonies. This negotiated line was supposed to limit conflict for the foreseeable future.

***
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, which forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian 

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Canada's Residential Schools

The religious organizations that operated the schools — the Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada, United Church of Canada, Jesuits of English Canada and some Catholic groups — in 2015 expressed regret for the “well-documented” abuses. The Catholic Church has never offered an official apology, something that Trudeau and others have repeatedly called for.

You are not alone

You are not alone

What our Nations are up against!

What our Nations are up against!

To Veronica Brown

Veronica, we adult adoptees are thinking of you today and every day. We will be here when you need us. Your journey in the adopted life has begun, nothing can revoke that now, the damage cannot be undone. Be courageous, you have what no adoptee before you has had; a strong group of adult adoptees who know your story, who are behind you and will always be so.

Did you know?

Did you know?
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Diane Tells His Name


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60s Scoop Survivors Legal Support

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Lost Birds on Al Jazeera Fault Lines

Lost Birds on Al Jazeera Fault Lines
click to read and listen about Trace, Diane, Julie and Suzie

ADOPTION TRUTH

As the single largest unregulated industry in the United States, adoption is viewed as a benevolent action that results in the formation of “forever families.”
The truth is that it is a very lucrative business with a known sales pitch. With profits last estimated at over $1.44 billion dollars a year, mothers who consider adoption for their babies need to be very aware that all of this promotion clouds the facts and only though independent research can they get an accurate account of what life might be like for both them and their child after signing the adoption paperwork.

NEW MEMOIR

Original Birth Certificate Map in the USA

Why tribes do not recommend the DNA swab

Rebecca Tallbear entitled: “DNA, Blood, and Racializing the Tribe”, bearing out what I only inferred:

Detailed discussion of the Bering Strait theory and other scientific theories about the population of the modern-day Americas is beyond the scope of this essay. However, it should be noted that Indian people have expressed suspicion that DNA analysis is a tool that scientists will use to support theories about the origins of tribal people that contradict tribal oral histories and origin stories. Perhaps more important,the alternative origin stories of scientists are seen as intending to weaken tribal land and other legal claims (and even diminish a history of colonialism?) that are supported in U.S. federal and tribal law. As genetic evidence has already been used to resolve land conflicts in Asian and Eastern European countries, this is not an unfounded fear.

GOOGLE

In some cases, companies may even take it upon themselves to control the narrative according to their own politics and professed values, with no need for government intervention. For example: Google, the most powerful information company in the world, has been reported to fix its algorithms to promote, demote, and disappear content according to undisclosed internal “fairness” guidelines. This was revealed by a whistleblower named Zach Vorhies in his almost completely ignored book, Google Leaks, and by Project Veritas, in a sting operation against Jen Gennai, Google’s Head of Responsible Innovation. In their benevolent desire to protect us from hate speech and disinformation, Google/YouTube immediately removed the original Project Veritas video from the Internet. - https://desultoryheroics.com/2023/11/12/internet-censorship-everywhere-all-at-once

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