Goodbye Columbus: Mexico statue to be replaced by Indigenous

Dear Indian Voices

The Montgomery-Gibbs Environmental Coalition would like to bring to your attention to better inform the public about the toxic lead air pollution that is generated by general aviation airports not only all over San Diego County, but also nationwide. 

In response to the alarming number of infections and lack of a federal strategy to address Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Governor Gavin Newsom called upon all Californians to deploy every resource within their control to confront and slow the lethal pandemic spread. As a result, the African American community has initiated a statewide “call to action” within faith-based communities to implement testing in church parking lots, campuses, and facilities. 

Through this effort, testing of at-risk, underrepresented, and under-resourced African Americans, and all community members appearing for a test, will be phased across the state beginning in Alameda County and extending in regular intervals to encompass San Francisco, Sacramento, Solano, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Gabriel, and San Diego counties.

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Native Activist Avoids Jail Time for Keystone XL Protest

On the Same Day TC Energy Scraps Its Troubled Pipeline Project, Jasilyn Charger Negotiates a Plea Deal That Keeps Her Out of Jail. Oscar High Elk Still Faces Major Charges.

( link to website )

On the same day Canadian pipeline developer TC Energy announced that it’s officially terminating its Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline project, one Native American activist has avoided jail time for her protest against it.

Jasilyn Charger, represented by attorney Terry L. Pechota, pled no contest today to a charge of criminal trespass under the South Dakota penal code, agreeing to six months probation and fines totaling $518, in exchange for her freedom.

“It’s a great day for me personally, and the news that KXL is officially, finally dead is a big victory for all water protectors,” said Charger, who hails from the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation. “I hope this shows that — even as states around the country continue to pass laws criminalizing protest — the people still have power, and our activism can make a real difference.”

Meanwhile, a separate court date was postponed for another Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe activist, Oscar High Elk, until July 7. High Elk faces a litany of serious charges in South Dakota after protesting against the pipeline, which would have passed close to the Cheyenne River Reservation, and allegedly refusing to pull over when pursued by a police officer.

“I’m so proud of Jasilyn, and I’m honored to stand in the trenches with her against this dangerous pipeline and all threats to our sacred water and lands,” High Elk said. “Respect our existance or expect our resistance. It's time to stop destroying the Earth. Water is life, and I feel we’ve had a major victory against encroachment by fossil fuel companies on treaty lands. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to reach a reasonable resolution in my case as well, but South Dakota is not a place where Natives can always count on fairness.”

The Lakota People’s Law Project, a nonprofit Native advocacy and legal organization, has provided legal support in Ms. Charger’s case, including helping source Pechota to serve as her primary attorney. 

The organization’s co-director and lead counsel, Chase Iron Eyes, said, “This is a day to celebrate, but with clear eyes about what the future holds. Freedom for Jasilyn and the end of KXL are just starting points. The Dakota Access pipeline still crosses our unceded treaty lands, without a legal permit, endangering the sole water supply of the Standing Rock Nation. And, in Minnesota, Line 3 poses a similar threat to Anishinaabe homelands. None of this is acceptable, and we won’t stop fighting to protect water, defend our sacred lands, and safeguard the right to protest for every activist — Native or allied — on the front lines on behalf of Mother Earth.”

The Lakota People's Law Project operates under the 501(c)(3) Romero Institute, a nonprofit law and policy center.

Cherokee Freedmen and Their Fight for Acceptance

by Windy Goodloe, Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association (SISCA) secretary

This year has been monumental for the Cherokee Freedmen. On February 22, 2021, the Cherokee Supreme Court ruled that the phrase “by blood” would be removed from its constitution and other tribal laws. According to the article “The Cherokee Nation acknowledges that descendants of people once enslaved by the tribe should also qualify as Cherokee,” CNN author Harmeet Kaur reported that this means that the Cherokee Nation has now formally acknowledged the Cherokee Freedmen. This acknowledgment means that the Freedmen have the right to tribal citizenship, meaning they are eligible to run for tribal office and now have access to resources like tribal healthcare. You are probably wondering, How did we get here?

First, a brief history lesson. From about the late 1700s to 1860s, several Cherokees enslaved African Americans. The practice started out slowly and increased over time. In an 1809 census, 583 “Negro slaves” were counted. It was estimated that, by 1835, there were 1,592 enslaved African Americans. Approximately 7.4 percent of Cherokee families enslaved people. Cherokee slaveowners took their enslaved with them on the Trail of Tears. By 1861, the Cherokee held about 4,000 enslaved African Americans. It is believed that, of the Five Civilized Tribes, the Cherokee were the largest tribe and held the most enslaved African Americans. Similar to the way slavery was practiced by European-Americans, the Cherokee instituted their own slave codes and laws that discriminated against slaves and free blacks (Wikipedia).

The Cherokees practiced slavery until 1866. Following the Civil War, the Cherokee Nation signed a treaty that emancipated those who had been enslaved and made them full citizens of the Cherokee Nation. Even though this treaty granted freedom to Cherokee Freedmen, their new status was not readily embraced by their Cherokee brethren. The leadership of the Cherokee Nation did work to bring the Freedmen into the fold by creating schools for their children and making sure they were allowed to vote in local and national elections. Unfortunately, many Cherokee citizens resisted this and fought the Freedmen’s integration into the Nation. Essentially, the resistance, which was based in racism, was due largely in part to having to further divide already scarce resources. Many Cherokee were not enthusiastic about having to share land with the Freedmen. And from this unwillingness to share, resentment grew, but changes to the 1866 treaty were not made until the 1980s.

During this time, the leadership within the Cherokee Nation amended the citizenship rules that had been in place for more than 100 years. Following this amendment, anyone who wished to be considered a member of the Cherokee Nation had to do so by proving their ancestry “by blood,” meaning they had to be able to identify a relative who was listed on the Dawes Rolls. This action immediately ejected and disqualified thousands of descendants of the Cherokee Freedmen. In an instant, the Cherokee Freedmen were stripped of their rights as members of the Cherokee Nation. And from there, they began to fight to be reinstated.

It would take almost thirty years for the Cherokee Supreme Court to rule that the “by blood” requirement was unconstitutional. On March 7, 2006, the Cherokee Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Freedmen were entitled to enroll in the Cherokee Nation.

A special election held by the Cherokee Nation on March 3, 2007 resulted in the passage of a constitutional amendment that again excluded the Cherokee Freedmen descendants from membership, unless they satisfied the “by blood” requirement.

The Cherokee Nation District Court voided the 2007 amendment on January 14, 2011.

The decision was overturned by a 4-1 ruling in the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court on August 22, 2011.

On August 30, 2017, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the Freedmen, and the U.S. Department of the Interior granted the Freedmen full rights to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. It would take four more years for the Cherokee Nation’s Supreme Court to rule to remove “by blood” from its constitution and other documents. The Cherokee Freedmen’s hundred-year plus fight for recognition is an important example for all Black Indians who are still fighting for acceptance and recognition.