KUMEYAAY LAW DEPARTMENT
THE HISTORY OF
EMPOWERMENT OF TRIBAL COURTS 1883
WIKIPEDIA: On April 10, 1883, five years after establishing Indian police powers throughout the various reservations, the Indian Commissioner approved rules for a "court of Indian offenses." The court provided a venue for prosecuting criminal charges, but afforded no relief for tribes seeking to resolve civil matters. The new courts' rules specifically targeted tribal religious practices which it called "heathenish rites" and the commissioner urged courts to "destroy the tribal relations as fast as possible." Another five years later, Congress began providing funds to operate the Indian courts...
PRESENT DAY RESOURCES:
The US government's BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT website offers federal policy and enforcement guidelines source PDF.
INTERTRIBAL COURT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA -- a tribal court system serving the Native American community.
- "The overall purpose of the ICSC is to provide members of the Native American community and their participating tribes with a cultural sensitive Judicial Forum in which to present and resolve disputes...".
ICSC Member Tribes:
- Ipay Nation of Santa Ysabel
- La Jolla Band of Lusieño Indians
- Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians
- Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation
- Pauma Band of Mission Indians
- Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians
- San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians
- Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation
- Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians
- Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians
ICSC Tribes and organizations with Memorandum of Agreement (MOA):
- All Mission Indian Housing Authority
- Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians
- Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians
- Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians
- Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians
- Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians
- Jamul Indian Village
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NonIndians with legal disputes against Indian casinos and tribes will be better served by contacting their local bar association for information about how to sue sovereign Indian nations. In San Diego, that would be the SAN DIEGO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION to find Native American lawyers and attorneys who are experienced in California Indian and American tribal laws. TIPS AND INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO SUE A TRIBE OR ITS CASINO How to file a lawsuit against a federally-recognized tribal band begs the question:
The short answer is NO. Small businesses and individuals realistically can't sue wealthy Indian casinos and sovereign tribal bands because of the financial resources, the time involved, including: THE LEGAL COMPLEXITIES of trying to sue a sovereign American Indian tribe. I am not a tribal attorney or legal expert, but here is what I uncovered during my investigative journalism research about how to take a federally-recognized Indian tribe to court. Intertribal courts will also look promising for tribal mediation, but these resources are for enrolled tribal members to resolve disputes between other enrolled members -- not for nonIndians -- I was told. I've also been told it is possible to sue enrolled tribal members as individuals in small claims and superior courts, but this is about how to sue the actual band and/ or its reservation-based casino. If you are considering filing your lawsuit in federal courts:
Here are two study guides I wrote -- the third is an expert legal opinion on tribal immunity -- welcome to Indian Country!
Still feel like moving forward with a lawsuit? Better have your papers correct to file in federal court. Remember: Federally-recognized Indian reservations are sovereign territory and historically fall under federal jurisdiction. Local sheriffs, marshals, PD, prosecutors, judges tread lightly on reservation lands. HIGHLY-SPECIALIZED RARE FIELD OF LAW: Any attorney at law with the rare expertise to navigate this LABYRINTH of laws will claim CONFLICTS (and turn you away) because they would rather have enrolled tribal members as friends and clients than going after them over a claim that would quickly dissolve in legal fees and a plaintiff's age to survive a successful lawsuit and appeal processes. THEN YOU'VE GOT CORRUPTION: The gaming tribes can well afford to PAY PEOPLE OFF to make you go away or erase you, like news media to kill a story, search engines to censor their names, thugs and law enforcement to harass you (and your family), and ultimately bribe a judge to bias his ruling or throw out your judgement on appeal. That's how power, money and corruption work in our big beautiful justice system. Not quite the Level Playing Field and Character you expected? Me either.
SOURCE: www.sycuanbandofthieves.com |
ou will first have to decipher, map out and articulate applicable 18th and 19th century Treaty Rights the Indigenous tribes signed with the U.S. government as early as 1778; plus 200-year histories of Presidential Executive orders, US Supreme Court decisions, US Constitution and US Congressional amendments; California Constitution; Tribal Constitutions; the reservation's unique tribal BYLAWS; applicable federal laws, state laws, local laws; and tribal gaming compacts the band signed to operate their Indian Casinos and tribal businesses on sovereign reservation lands -- to establish LEGAL PRECEDENT of your claim.
LEGAL BASIS: TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY IN AMERICA
PRESENTLY: The Constitution of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court, state and federal laws — as well as historical Treaties with the U.S. federal government — all support the federally-recognized Native American tribes' present-day legal rights to self-governance and certain limited forms of national sovereignty....
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A LINE IN THE SAND, Hanksville.Org
WEBSITE hanksville.org:
"Cultural property includes not only land and other tangible property, but ideas, traditions, and other non-tangibles. Cultural property belongs to the cultural group, rather than to an individual. As an individual has the right to control use of his/her property, the cultural group has the right to control the use of its property. Not all people recognize cultural property. As a result some individuals will use another group's cultural properties without permission; often that use is offensive to the cultural group, because their property is used in a way that distorts or is disrespectful to the group's beliefs...".
Legal Resources General, Cultural, Copyright, Treaties
hanksville.org
Native American Sovereignty Issues
hanksville.org
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Indigenous Law Institute
"A Movement Toward Restoration and Healing"
www.ili.nativeweb.org
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• LAW LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, United States: Native Americans WEBSITE loc.gov — Texts, Commentary, Agencies, Links
• San Diego County Public Law Library
WEBSITE sdcpll.org
• University of San Diego Legal Research Center
WEBSITE sandiego.edu Link broken):
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES - Newspaper, Magazine and Web Articles:
• Indigenous Peoples on the Border
• Treaties
• Legislation
• Law Review Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Kumeyaay Community College Indigenous Law Research kumeyaaycommunitycollege.com (link broken)
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