Indian inmate files opening brief in Supreme Court sovereignty case
Wednesday, February 5, 2020   
By Acee Agoyo

An opening brief has been submitted on behalf of Jimcy McGirt, the Indian inmate whose U.S. Supreme Court case is poised to resolve the sovereign status of millions of acres in Oklahoma.
McGirt, a 71-year-old citizen of the Seminole Nation, has been sentenced by the state to serve 500 years in prison, as well as life without parole, in connection with the sexual assault of a child. But his legal team told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that Oklahoma can't prosecute him.
The argument is based on the location of McGirt's alleged crimes. Since they occurred within the reservation promised to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation by treaty, and since Congress never disestablished those lands, the state lacked jurisdiction over him, his attorneys said.
"Congress, in short, never legislated to disestablish the Creek reservation," the team led by attorney Ian Gershengorn wrote for the opening brief in McGirt v. Oklahoma. "And because the Creek reservation endures, the federal government— not Oklahoma—has jurisdiction over petitioner’s alleged crimes."
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'Do your job': Tribes slam Trump administration on sovereignty and homelands
Wednesday, February 12, 2020   
By Acee Agoyo

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Trump administration's point person on Indian policy took a brutal beating here as tribal leaders opened a meeting in the nation's capital with warnings about dire threats to their sovereignty.
At the National Congress of American Indians winter session on Tuesday, tribal leaders confronted Assistant Secretary Tara Sweeney with numerous questions about her effectiveness. Even as she reiterated her pledge to serve as an "advocate" within the Republican political administration, the doubts once again exposed her limited ability to influence decisions coming out of Washington, D.C.
"You decide what's appropriate and inappropriate for Indian Country," Jessie "Little Doe" Baird, the vice chairwoman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, told Sweeney at NCAI's meeting, being hosted at a hotel just a couple of blocks from the White House occupied by Donald Trump.
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Sharp: Tribal sovereignty still threatened from ‘every corner’
Monday, February 17, 2020   
By McKenzie Sadeghi
Cronkite News / cronkitenews.azpbs.org

WASHINGTON – Despite some “encouraging developments,” threats to tribal sovereignty still come “from every branch and every corner of federal and state governments,” the president of the National Congress of American Indians said last Monday.
NCAI President Fawn Sharp said in a wide-ranging State of Indian Nations address that the state of the nations is strong, with “remarkable stories of cultural, social, political and economic renewal” made possible by “the greatest indigenous core value of all – self-governance.”
But that self-governance continues to be threatened by many Americans, including policymakers, who don’t understand tribal sovereignty, she said.
“They don’t recognize the indisputable fact that we are genuine governments with the right, and more importantly, the ability, to govern our own lands and communities,” Sharp said.
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Leaders say border wall blasting typical of feds’ neglect of tribes
Tuesday, February 18, 2020   
By MacKinley Lutes-Adlhoch
Cronkite News / cronkitenews.azpbs.org

WASHINGTON – Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris said the “controlled blasting” for a border wall that will ultimately cut through his reservation is just the latest example of the federal government ignoring its duty to consult with tribes.
Federal agencies involved in border wall construction “are in violation of their own policies since meaningful consultations have not been held with the Tohono O’odham Nation,” Norris said in a statement Monday.
The statement was in response to reports that crews have begun blasting Monument Hill in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument – an area that includes a burial ground sacred to the Tohono O’odham.
Customs and Border Protection in a statement confirmed that contractors have started blasting in the area and said it “will continue to have an environmental monitor present during these activities as well as on-going clearing activities.”
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Alum Proud to Give Back to Native American Community
10/9/2019 9:10:15 AM

As a member of the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, Devon L. Lomayesva ’99, Chief Judge of the Intertribal Court of Southern California, and a practicing Indian law attorney is passionate about giving back to her community.
“The Native American community still suffers from the effects of historical mistreatment,” says Lomayesva. “That is proven out in the high rates of substance abuse, suicide, drop-out rates, single parents, and high rates of juvenile delinquency and foster care placements.”
Lomayesva’s passion for giving back to her tribal community started when she became involved with Native American student groups as an undergraduate at Grossmont Jr. College and San Diego State University (SDSU), where she graduated with a BA in History.
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