This bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices for the Positive Universe: Earth Protection Team website. Some of the authors featured on this page include Michael Hussey, Melissa K. Thompson, Melissa K. Nelson, Dean J. Kotlowski, Boulder Native American Rights Fund, John Echohawk, Flo Golod, Robert B. McKay, Sarah Eppler Janda, and Lisa D. Harjo.
(1981). Native American Rights Fund: 1981 Annual Report. In 1981 the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) continued its program of providing legal representation to Indian tribes and groups in cases of major significance to Indian people throughout the country. Many significant Indian rights victories were achieved in 1981 in the areas of tribal existence, Indian natural resources protection, human rights and government accountability, and Indian education. After a detailed description of NARF, major activities during 1981 are presented in five sections: preserving tribal existence (25 cases); protecting tribal resources (36 cases); promoting human rights, which includes Indian education (19 cases); holding all levels of government accountable to Native Americans (10 cases); and furthering the development of Indian law (17 activities). The treasurer's report concludes the report. Descriptors: American Indian Education, American Indians, Civil Liberties, Court Litigation
(2006). Out of the Woods: The Making of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, American Indian Culture and Research Journal. "Maine appears out of the woods," the editor of the "Lewiston Evening Journal" opined, after President Jimmy Carter signed the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act in 1980. That sigh of relief was heartfelt. During the 1970s, two Native American tribes, the Passamaquoddies and Penobscots, had sparked a long, statewide nightmare when they asserted claim to more than 12 million acres of land in the Pine Tree State. To the Indians, their claim and the ensuing settlement represented long-delayed justice. For private-property owners, however, the controversy unleashed great anxiety about the future of Maine's economy. To leaders in the Maine statehouse, Congress, and the White House, the matter was a conundrum pitting the demands of an aggrieved racial minority against the ire of an aroused white majority. When Congress, in 1980, granted the Passamaquoddies and Penobscots federal recognition and $81.5 million in cash, from which they could purchase up to 300,000 acres of land, all sides breathed easier. The land claims of these tribes form a compelling, albeit overlooked (by historians), story that illustrates three larger themes. The first involves the Native American rights movement, whose leadership and tactics proved quite diverse. Second, the Maine saga underscores the national scope of white backlash against Indian rights. Third, the Maine claims settlement cannot be separated from the shift in Indian policy. At its core, the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act signaled an end more than a beginning. The tribes' expansive claim, the prospect of their victory in court, and the threat of similar suits in other eastern states made the road to restitution particularly long and tortuous. Passamaquoddy and Penobscot leaders at times used heated rhetoric to press their demands. Maine politicians–with the exception of Democratic Senator William D. Hathaway, who eventually brokered a compromise–sided with their non-Indian constituents, thus blocking a settlement. And the Carter administration, hamstrung by its own inexperience in governance generally and in Native American policy particularly, at best lurched toward a solution. Such happenings suggested that the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act would be the last of its scale for the federal government. [More] Descriptors: Historians, Tribes, Federal Government, American Indians
(1989). NARF Indian Economic Development Law Project Begins. The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is beginning a project to assist tribes and Indian communities with the legal aspects of economic and business development. Historic monopolistic and oppressive trade restrictions imposed on the tribes created an economic context that has suppressed Indian economic development for over two centuries. Faced with increasing federal reluctance to discharge its trust responsibility, the tribes recognize economic success as an essential component of true self-sufficiency. Against this backdrop, NARF has launched its Indian Economic Development Law Project. To focus its efforts and avoid duplication of services, the project has identified five areas of greatest need: (1) development of tribal governance infrastructure, (2) development of supportive future legislative and policy directions, (3) assistance in the networking of existing resources, (4) provision of a communications link between tribes and business interests, and (5) development of a large pool of legal expertise in the area of Indian economic development. NARF will be directly involved with specific tribal and Indian community efforts; clients will be selected for viability and significance. A major project role will be as facilitator of cooperation among various agencies and community organizations that cover the wide range of skills needed to accomplish economic development goals. This newsletter also contains updates on Indian court cases of interest and NARF organizational news. Descriptors: American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Community Coordination, Community Development
(2008). Civil Rights and Social Justice: A Path to Engagement and Transformation, Horace. When one listens to Southside Family Charter School kids articulate the lessons they've learned from the school's civil rights curriculum, it's clear that demographic descriptors often lead to low expectations. These kids are articulate, knowledgeable, and deeply engaged in their study of the civil rights movement. They bring the same competence and ability to their study of Native American history, treaty rights, and current challenges. Ditto their knowledge about environmental racism and their activism on behalf of a better urban and global environment. And they are eager to talk about the political implications of redistricting, their community garden and the importance of composting, and legal challenges facing youth. But at Family School, social justice means more than youth engagement and a basic commitment to equity issues. It means that children themselves learn by doing social justice work, and do so well in their academics because they have learned that education is about them, about the roots of racism and its local legacy, about the reasons nearly half the houses in their neighborhoods are foreclosed, about the systemic reasons their mothers are poor and about why asthma rates are so high in big cities. They also know what needs to be done to change the picture; action is central to the curriculum. It is the dynamic interplay between learning and doing that makes the Family School pedagogy so compelling. [More] [More] Descriptors: Social Justice, United States History, Charter Schools, Racial Discrimination
(2000). Federal Indian Law and Policy Affecting American Indian and Alaska Native Education. Indian Education Legal Support Project "Tribalizing Indian Education.". The Native American Rights Fund is the national legal defense fund for American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. Its Indian Education Legal Support Project advances Native American education by emphasizing the legal rights of tribes to control the formal education of tribal members in all types of schools–federal, state, and tribal. This booklet presents an overview of major legal principles of federal Indian law, major developments in federal Indian policy, and how they have affected the education of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Three fundamental legal principles of federal Indian law are presented: tribes are independent sovereign governments, separate from the states and the federal government; tribal sovereignty generally extends over a federally recognized geographic territory and over the activities and conduct of tribal and nontribal members within that territory; and tribal sovereignty is inherent and exists unless and until Congress takes it away. Court case examples illustrating these principles are given. Since questions about tribal sovereignty are often viewed as questions of the intent of Congress, acts of Congress concerning treaties, statutes, and public laws are reviewed, along with court case examples. A history of federal Indian education laws and policies traces tribal control from pre-contact through Federal control, state control, and finally to the return toward tribal control. Laws and policies that are unique to Alaska Natives are reviewed. "Homework" questions explore implications for American Indian and Alaska Native education. [More] Descriptors: Alaska Natives, American Indian Education, American Indian History, American Indians
(2005). "Her Heritage Is Helpful": Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Politicization of LaDonna Harrris, Great Plains Quarterly. This article chronicles LaDonna Harris's experiences with the media, the public, and government leaders as she rose from humble origins in the Great Plains to national prominence as a leading advocate of Native American rights in the latter half of the twentieth century. Harris helped to integrate Lawton, Oklahoma, in the early 1960s, founded Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity (OIO) in 1965, and established Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) in 1970. [More] Descriptors: Women Administrators, American Indians, Civil Rights, Advocacy
(1994). The Importance of Education, Children Today. The executive director of the Native American Rights Fund recounts his education experiences in the area of Indian law. Encourages native youth to pursue higher education even under financial pressures, noting the importance of education for native youth and their tribes in this era of Indian self-determination. Descriptors: American Indian Education, American Indians, Educational Attainment, Educational Needs
(1983). Native American Rights Fund: 1982 Annual Report. The 1982 annual report of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), a non-profit organization specializing in the protection of Indian rights, explains the organization, its structure, its priorities, its activities, and its financial status. Opening statements by the chairman, Roger Jim, and the executive director, John Echohawk, note that despite $270,000 less in federal funds in fiscal 1982, NARF achieved significant decisions in major legal cases involving Indian treaty fishing rights in the Great Lakes and prevention of flooding of the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Reservation. The report continues with a description of the founding and development of NARF and an explanation of its priorities: preservation of tribal existence, protection of tribal natural resources, promotion of human rights, accountability of governments, and development of Indian law. Following descriptions of NARF's organization, administration, financial accountability, and national support committee, the report presents a detailed account of the organization's activities in 1982 in the areas of tribal status clarification, tribal governmental authority, protection of Indian lands, Eastern Indian land claims, tribal water rights, Indian hunting and fishing rights, Indian education, the Indian law support center, and the National Indian Law Library. A 9-page treasurer's report and financial statement complete the illustrated report. Descriptors: Accountability, American Indian Culture, American Indian Education, American Indian Reservations
(2009). The Link: Connecting Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare. Volume 7, Number 2, Winter 2009, Child Welfare League of America (NJ1). This issue of "The Link" newsletter contains the following articles: (1) Understanding the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (Lisa Goldblatt Grace); (2) Native American Juvenile Rights: Who Cares? (Terry L. Cross and Kathleen A. Fox); and (3) Strong Juvenile Justice Legislation Passes Senate Committee: Includes Expanded Coordination of JJ and Child Welfare (Tim Briceland-Betts). Director's Message, Policy Update, and Recommended Reading information are also included. [More] Descriptors: American Indians, Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Childrens Rights
(2011). The Future of Native Studies: A Modest Manifesto, American Indian Culture and Research Journal. In the author's presentation at the gathering and celebration of forty years of the American Indian Studies Center, she focused on emerging, positive trends and developments in Native American/American Indian/indigenous studies (NAS) and on areas to move toward as educators expand the field in order to make it more current and relevant to the lived experiences of Native Americans today. In this short essay, the author summarizes these trends and encourages further exploration and development of other themes in the unfolding field of NAS. She offers these observations as an Anishinaabe/Metis woman who has served as a professor of American Indian studies in California for eight years and as the executive director of a Native American indigenous rights nonprofit organization for seventeen years. [More] Descriptors: American Indian Studies, American Indians, Nonprofit Organizations, Futures (of Society)
(1995). Protecting Native American Religious Freedom. Teaching Strategy, Update on Law-Related Education. Presents a secondary school lesson plan to help students recognize the status of Native American religious rights in the United States. Includes a list of presentation topics for student research. Provides learning objectives, step-by-step teaching procedures, and three student handout masters. Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indian History, American Indians, Cultural Differences
(2014). "Records of Rights": A New Exhibit at the National Archives in Washington, D.C, Social Education. America's founding documents–the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights–are icons of human liberty. But the ideals enshrined in those documents did not initially apply to all Americans. They were, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir." "Records of Rights," a new permanent exhibition at the National Archives in Washington, D.C, allows visitors to explore how generations of Americans discussed and debated how to fulfill this promise of freedom. "Records of Rights" showcases original and facsimile National Archives documents and uses an innovative interactive experience to illustrate Americans' struggles to define rights related to citizenship, free speech, voting, and equal opportunity. "Records of Rights" opened on December 11, 2013, in the David M. Rubenstein Gallery at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. In this article, National Archives and Records Administration curator Michael Hussey describes the primary features of the "Records of Rights" exhibit including a 17-foot-long interactive computer table, showcasing over 350 National Archives documents, photographs, and films that allows visitors to explore the records based on topics or themes of their choosing, including workplace rights, First Amendment rights, equal rights, rights of privacy and sexuality, rights of the accused, and Native American rights. [More] Descriptors: Archives, Exhibits, Freedom, Civil Rights
(1973). Law Suits Free Indian Education Monies. In 1973, when it became evident that the Federal Administration was not going to implement the 1972 Indian Education Act or release its funds unless pressure was applied, both the Native American Rights Fund and the Coalition of Indian Controlled School Boards filed suit against the Federal Government. [More] Descriptors: American Indians, Boards of Education, Court Litigation, Educational Finance
(1997). Indian Education Legal Support Project, "Tribalizing Indian Education." Compilation of State Indian Education Laws. The Native American Rights Fund seeks to "tribalize" formal education through developing tribal education laws and reforming state and national Indian education legislation. The Indian Education Legal Support Project advances Native American rights in education by emphasizing the legal rights of tribes to control the formal education of tribal members in all types of schools: federal, state, and tribal. This document contains the following materials for use in educational assessment and planning: an alphabetical list of the 36 states that have Indian education laws; and an alphabetical list by subject matter, with state-by-state excerpts of the relevant laws. Subject categories (with the number of states that address that category) include: (1) cooperative agreements with tribes, 8; (2) curricula and programs, 12; (3) education-related committees, 17; (4) finance and funding, 16; (5) scholarships/grants/tuition and recruitment programs, 22; (6) staffing and personnel, 7; and (7) other, including collection and reporting of statistical data, and secondary school minority career counseling, 3. Descriptors: American Indian Education, Educational Legislation, Educational Responsibility, Elementary Secondary Education
(1977). Nine for Equality Under Law: Civil Rights Litigation. A Report to the Ford Foundation. This report reviews the litigation activities of the nine organizations which received financial assistance from the Ford Foundation to assess the usefulness of litigation as a means of advancing Constitutional civil rights. The litigation activities of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law are described. The Ford Foundation also helped establish the Native American Rights Fund, the Mexican Education Fund, and the Women's Law Fund. The activities of these four organizations are described as are the activities on behalf of former addicts and ex-offenders by the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing and the Legal Action Center. Finally, the Center for National Policy Review, which monitors civil rights and equal opportunity legislation and policy by federal government agencies is described. An appendix lists the recipients of Ford Foundation funds for civil rights litigation programs along with the amount of each grant and the address, director and age of each recipient organization. Photographs of people and activities are included. [More] Descriptors: Civil Rights Legislation, Court Litigation, Educational Programs, Evaluation