Volume 2 • No. 1

National Indian Law Library

NILL No. 010006/1973

January - February 1973

It Is Not Necessary For Eagles To Be Crows ·Law And The Preservation Of Indian Culture

Some races of men seem molded inwax, soft and melting, at once

·.0" plastic and feeble. Some races, like',. some metals, combine the greatest- flexibility with the greatest

strength. But the Indian is hewn outof rock. You cannot change the formwithout destruction of the substance.Such, at least, has too often provedthe case. Races of inferior energyhave possessed a power of expansionand assimilation to which he is astranger; and it is this fixed andrigid quality which has proved hisruin. He will not learn the arts ofcivilization, and he and his forestmust perish together.

Francis Parkman, 1851

In remembering how much hasperished through the sickeningrecord of the European conquestof Native Americans, it may behard for some to recognize thatwhat does remain is not only anextraordinary affirmation of theIndian's passion and power tolive, but that it is due to his un­'ommon ability to put the over-

"s-thelming demands of a foreignand triumphant culture inabeyance while continuing withhis own traditions.

Some tribes have held on totheir native experience throughthe process of conquest moresuccessfully than others. Thegeographical situation of most ofthe eastern and California tribesleft them so vulnerable that theysuffered physical, if not, culturalgenocide. The Cherokees - whoput on white men's clothes, senttheir sons to white men's schools,became farmers and cattleraisers like their white neighbors,and generally made herculeanadjustments to the dominantsociety - found that they hadsacrified their traditions fornothing. By resisting total in­tegration and the jurisdiction ofthe State of Georgia, they wereremoved to Oklahoma in the nowfamous Trail of Tears.

Many of the tribes of the South­west have remained nearly intactnot only because of their relativeinaccessibility but because of thegreat depth and the intensity oftheir tribalism. Out of necessityothers borrowed and absorbed thetechniques and traits of theirconquerors - both the horses andthe gods - and still maintainedtheir own integrity.

The military conquests of theSpanish, British, French and

finally the Confederation and theUnited States are over, but thecommon cultural drives for land,wealth and power of most non­Indian citizens are not. Indiansnow see these drives disguisedin efforts toward politicalintegration and cultural assi­milation. They are justifiablysuspicious and hesitant to par­ticipate in any process that wouldfurther destroy their substance,and their current plights havemuch to do with their "abeyancemechanism." That is, the degreeof suffering experienced by in­dividual members of a tribe is indirect proportion to that tribe'sability to hold onto its nativeexperience and structure Whilebeing propelled through thecycles of conquest.

Cherokees

If our experience is destroyed, ourbehavior will be destructive.

R.D. Laing, The Politics of Experience,1%7.

It is a well known statiStic thatIndians commit suicide twice asfrequently as the rest'of thepopulation of the United States.But many do not .realize thatsuicides .among;tribal·· memberswhose aboriginal traditions andstructures remain intact are lessthan half of ..•• those ·.··occurringamong Indian groups whose tribalexistence has been altered.·· Themore Indian •...experience/.isdestroyed or ·.lost, the moredestructive the behavior.<Suicideand alcoholisItl.are not,Indiantraits, but manifestations ofdestructive behavior turned in­ward. The Native American'scommon cultural veneration forhuman personality, the earth andthe web oflife is sustained withina strong tribal or pan-Indiansetting - when this experience isno longer available, his substanceis open to attack.

The conquerors brought withthem their own traditions anddogmas from Europe. As mastersof the situation, the Europeanshad all the prerogatives ofdeciding which of their variedcultural values they were going tosuperimpose on tribal societies.From the very beginning twothings went wrong. First, thedominant society overestimatedthe ability of its white citizens toconform to its own legal system(which under the circumstancesof conquest contained relativelypure principles of justice).Secondly, the dominant societywas blind to the fact tribalsocieties totally rejected thenotion that government had aright to impose upon its membersauthoritative and predeterminedpatterns of action. Tribal societieswere composed of membershaving an intimate relationshipwith each other. The idea of

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legislating rules for behavior andproperty was mockery. 'The triberemained together on the basis ofmutual respect and trust. If thesewere not present, the tribevanished and a new entity took its'place.

Sitting Bull, Sioux

When once you have property youwill want laws and magistrates toprotect your property and person.••.you will find that our laws are goodfor this purpose. • • .you will uniteyourself with us, form one peoplewith us, and we shall all beAmericans.

Thomas Jefferson,Addressing the O1erokees, 1818,

If the great spirit had desired me tobe a white man, he would have mademe so in the first place. He put Inyour heart certain wishes and plans,in my heart he put other and dif­ferent desires. Each man is good Inhis sight. It is not necessary foreagles to be crows.

Sitting Bull,Addressing the Dawes Commission,188.3

The dominant white society andthe Native American tribes havenow had more than two centuriesof experience together. If theinitial treaties and laws of theAmerican government had beenupheld or enforced, experientialties of trust, instead of distrust,might have developed. But,because the white society couldnot control its own membershipand had even more difficultyaccepting Sitting Bull'srecognition of the need for dif­ference, the policies affectingIndians have fluctuated morewidely than any other Americanlegal phenomenon.

Over the years there has been ac­cumulated a mass of 398 treaties,5,000 statutes (many of which may (have been repealed by implication),2,000 federal court decisions, morethan 500 attorney general opinions,numerous Department of the In­terior and solicitor rulings, 95 tribalconstitutions, and 74 tribal Charters,besides a conglomeration of ad­ministrative regulations - con­fusing and often contradictory ­collected in a manual which is solarge. that, if stacked volume uponvolume, it would dwarf any personwanting to consult(t.

W. Brophy, The Indian, America ~l UnfinirhedBusiness, 1%6.

Both cultures are stillstruggling to· define the natureand the limits of the relationship.The dominant culture's persistentexpectation of assimilation basedon its fear of difference has lead tocyclical and inconsistent policiesas the expectation clashed withthe lastingness of tribalism.Although the collective con­science of the dominant culturehas long recognized that a debt(was incurred when its cultureencountered another and pushedit aside, the Indians first found itimpossible to collect on the debt.Then they saw it aggravated bydefrayments, liquidations, cashsettlements and several otherludicrous forms of remuneration,that made up a "conceptualmushball" regulating their lives.

Indians have known that thedebt should only be paid to thesurvivors in laws, policies andattitudes which would· sustainrather than destroy tribalexistence, but they have alsorecognized a certain im­practicality, even absurdity, inattempting to "codify" tribalismwithin the context of Anglo law.Not many men from eitherculture have believed it actuallycould be done. In the dwarfingvolume of laws and policies thereare some that, if adequatelyenforced and strengthened, couldbe used as payment. The new law:r.that are needed must b'-.developed carefully and, as they .appear, the old repealed.

, Ironic ally the prim aryresponsibility for seeing that thedebt is paid rests with the

~overnment, which more often,(J:han not has lacked the power to

.. control its non-Indian citizens orelse has been so beset by internalconflicts that attempts to seeklegal remedies or to implementlegislative and executive policiessimply have not been made.

Taught by the government that theyhad rights entitled to respect, whenthose rights have been assailed bythe rapacity of the white man, thearm which should have. been raisedto protect them has ever been readyto sustain the aggressor.

Report of a Presidmtial Qmunission onIndian Affairs, 1869.

..The United States Governmentacts as a legal trustee for the landand water rights of American In­dians. These rights are often ofcritical economic importance to theIndian people; frequently they arealso the subject of extensive legaldispute. In many of these legalconfrontations, the Federalgovernment is faced with aninherent conflict of interest. TheSecretary of the Interior and theAttorney General must at the sametime advance both the nationalinterest in the use of land and waterrights and the private interests ofIndians in land which the govern­ment holds as trustee...Every trustee has a legalobligation to advance the interests ofthe beneficiaries of the trust withoutreservation and with the highestdegree of diligence and skill. Underpresent conditions, it is often dif­ficult for the Department of theInterior and the Department ofJustice to fulfill this obligation. Noself-respecting law firm would everallow itself to represent two op­posing clients in one dispute; yet theFederal government has frequentlyfound itself in precisely thatposition. There is considerableevidence that the Indians are thelosers when such situations arise.

President Richard M. Nixon,It...1essage to Q,ngress on Indian Affairs,1970.

The Cherokees were perhapsthe earliest losers to be c'aught inthe stranglehold of conflictingpolitical powers. When theSupreme Court ruled in 1832 that

President Andrew Jackson

the State of Georgia did not havejurisdiction over the CherokeeNation, President AndrewJackson said of the Chief Justice,"John Marshall has made hisdecision, now let him enforce it."

Tribe after tribe has learned thatthe government's behavior isnearly always a reflection of thecurrent distribution of politicaland economic power. Indians

. have never had much of either,but an anomalous non-Indian allyhas - the Ford Foundation. Infact, the amount of political andeconomic power held by' privatefoundations like Ford has keptthem caught in perpetual politicalcrossfire since long before thearrival of Columbus.

The whole realm stirred as menbegan to discover that they couldcreate institutions of social changeand reformation with their ownwealth and charity..••the power,the velocity and the direction of themovement, which were ordering thebasic social institutions of themodern world, were so mighty thatthey could neither be controlled nordiverted..••

W.K. Jordan,Philanthropy in England..'1480-1660, 1959.

Since World War II the FordFoundation has providedeconomic power for the establish­ment of a considerable number ofminority programs. Some wereunsuccessful, others developedenough legal, political or socialclout to lead Congressman WrightPatman of Texas to wonderwhether or not ce••••the FordFoundation (had) a grandiosedesign to bring vast political,economic, and social changes tothe nation in the 1970's?" Patmansubsequently put together the 1969Tax Reform Act, which nowprohibits foundations like Fordfrom making grants to supportdirect lobbying or grass rootspolitical activity.

Although the Ford Foundationhad no grandoise design for In­dians in the 1970's, it did havestaff members who were listeningto a multitude of suggestionsrelating to Indians and oneprogram officer in particular whowas imagining some kind of newlegal design for Indians much asVine Deloria, Jr. and other In­dians across the country were.

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Lawyers Between Two CulturesThe Native American Rights Fund

As 1 sat there listening•••.1 couldvisualize a national legal program(or Indian people.•••1 could see uspiling. case upon case, precedentupon precedent, until we had forgedout anew.definition of Indian rightsby which our Indian communitiescould Jive..in .•• peace from en­croachment~~. any source.

Vme I~lQria, Jr.,:C;ustetiDiit./For Your Sins, 1%9.

unlike\~ri~·<>ther··social ••·i orminoritygroupjn Americanhistory,'Indi~ns •. were •promisedsupport and encouragement inreturn for having given up theirlands to the European invaders.What they have been receivinginstead has been some of the mostbizarre and perverse benevolencein the history of mankind.Whatever the. Ford Foundationhad in mind or design to assist inredefining the exact nature of thatso-called support and en­couragement, the Foundationitself was unfortunately already apart of the problem - it wasanother white institution based onthe notion of benevolent expertise.Foundations, as the distributorsof largess, have generally beenviewed no differently within theIndian community than the U.S.Government. Philanthropic in­stitutions are structured so thatthe line ofauthority on theorganizational chart betweengrantor and grantee makes thefounda tions not only thebenefactors, but the judges andevaluators as well. It is for thisreason that foundation and otherphilanthropic connections withIndians are especially tenuous;the foundations' resemblance tothe Indians' governmentalguardian almost guaranteesinstant distrust.

In June 1970, in spite of theobvious diificuities, Ford made aplanning grant for a program thatwas to be "foundationdev(>loped." What that meant was

that the grantor (Ford) came tothe grantee - California IndianLegal Services (CILS) - and askedCILS to accept a grant. To theirgreat credit Ford staff membersrecognized that Indian legalproblems were unique and thatthe models for the legal' defensefunds that had been developedsuccessfully for Blacks/andChicanos were not transferrable.

Comparedto the legal problemsof otheriminority' populationsexisting in.) the midst of. thedominant culture, .Indian Jegalproblems (although terriblycomplex) are much more adaptedto the. work of lawyers and thecourts. The former soughtlegaldecisions to legislate humanbehavior - a difficult if not im­possible task. Indians, however,can rightfully seek what ThomasJefferson promised theCherokees would be so useful tothem - protection under Anglolaw of their rights to their land,water and other naturalresources. Ford and many otherssaw that these rights, so essentialto the continued survival and re­growth of tribalism, were notinconsistent with the continuedsurvival and growth of thedominant society. Still it wasclear that the small quantity ofresources that the Indians had sotenuously held onto were con­tinuing to provoke the cupidity ofothers, and that an able team oflawyers could do much to assistthe government in honoring itscommitments and respon­sibilities, as well as, protectingthe continued existence of the firstAmericans.

Because the shoals of the Indianpolitical world had alreadysnagged a number of otherfoundation programs for Indians,Ford started out slowly. CILS waschosen to develop the concept of anational Indian legal fundbecause it was one of the mostexperienced OEO Indian legal

services program in the countryand because it had ori its staffsome of the most able lawyersalready working on legal issues ofnational importance to Indians.By accepting the grant, elLS'sboard of trustees and staff werehanded the responsibility ofdetermining whether or not therewas a need for a national Indianlegal services program and afterdoing this, for developing a small,first rate staff capable ofproviding the best possiblel~gal

advice to Indian tribes. CILSalsoagreed to consult widelY<i andeventually nominate an/issue­oriented board including an In­dian perspective from throughoutthe country. That board,'nowcalled a Steering Committee, wasin turn to determine just wherethe new program was to begin itswork.

Ford determined that theprocess of development shouldtake about 18 months. Almostanyone who actually participatedin the process or had the op­portunity to observe it closely washopeful that it could be done in 36.Miraculously it only took 15. Fordwas convinced by October 1971and announced what it describedas "the Foundation's largestsingle grant to assist AmericanIndians" - a $1.2 million grantfor three years to the NativeAmerican Rights Fund (NARF).The grant was large enough toprovide support for three yearsfor seven lawyers who were torepresent the best legal talent andIndian Law expertise available inthe country. The fact that NARFhad 11 lawyers on its payroll atthe time Ford made the majorcore support grant, related to thekind of incurable perseveranceand thriftiness of a 29-year-oldnon-Indian lawyer named DavidH. Getches. Getches, selected asNARF's founding Director, isnow known not olliy for his legalability and expertise in Indian

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Nicholas Quomahu and John Lansa, Hopi Religious Leaders, with Fund DirectorJohn Echohawk at Old Oraibi on the Third Mesa in Arizona.

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treaty rights, but for his nativeability to conserve and developfunding resources. In less than

0.··. fifteen months, he had recruited a

staff of more than thirty people ­moved NARF's original officefrom California to Boulder,Colorado - and had raised anadditional half-million dollars toassure Ford that a broad base offunding support could be built andthat NARF would not forever be a

-"foundation dependentorganization."

The Steering Committee andGetches believed that the verysurvival of some tribes could bedependent on their .ability andwillingness to assert the tribes'remaining rights in the whiteman's courts. But they also knewthat even the best legal mindshave difficulty translating Indianculture and values into the con­text of Anglo law. And that intrying to adapt an alien legalsystem to the needs of un­derstandably distrustful Indianclients, lawyers neededsomething more than the bestskills and novel theories - they

O had to know and understand theirclients and their culture.

A logical solution, despite thedegree of acculturationdemanded in the process, was foras many as possible of thoselawyers themselves to be Indians.Of the 30 identifiable NativeAmericans lawyers in thecountry, most had been absorbedby the extraordinary and criticalneeds of tribal governments, theBIA and other federal agenciesserving Indians. From thebeginning the Steering Committeeand NARF staff recognized thatthe effectiveness of their legalrepresentation was dependent to alarge degree on NARF's ability tocombine expertise in the aliensystem and Indian values.

John E. Echohawk, a PawneeIndian, was the first graduate ofthe University of New MexicoSchool of Law's special programfor training Indian lawyers.Following graduation he becameone of four original NARF at-o torneys. A year later YvonneKnight, a member of the PoncaTribe and the first Indian woman

to graduate under the UMNprogram, also joined the Fund.She was followed by Leland Pond,an Assiniboine and a graduate ofthe UCLA School of La w, and F.Browning Pipestem, an Otoe, whohad graduated from GeorgeWashington University LawSchool and had been working withthe BIA. Mr. Pond and Mr.Pipestem subsequently left theFund - Mr. Pond to work with theCoalition of Indian ControlledSchool Boards and Mr. Pipestemto take charge of the NavajoTribe's economic developmentprogram.

In June 1972, Thomas W.Fredericks, a Mandan Indian withwide experience in tribalgovernment, graduated from theUniversity of Colorado School ofLaw and joined the Fund's staff.Two months later Douglas R.Nash, a Nez Perce who had beenworking with the Indian CivilRights Task Force, leftWashington, D.C. and came toBoulder to work with NARF. Mr.Nash is also a graduate of theUniversity of New Mexico Schoolof Law.

The fact t.'1at the Fund now hasfour Indian attorneys on its staffis a distinction no other legalprogram or law firm in thecountry has.

In June of 1973, JohnWabaunsee, a Pottawatomi, andWalter R. Echohawk, Jr., aPawnee, will also join the Fund'sstaff, bringing the number ofIndian attorneys to six. Mr.Wabaunsee will be graduatingfrom DePaul University School ofLaw and Mr. Echohawk from theUniversity of New Mexico.

In October of last year thESteering Committee and NARFstaff agreed that, in addtuon tcJohn Echohawk's strong andsensitive leadership qualities, thEexperience and exper:tise gainedby him in his work with the Fundhad made him the best qualifiedindividual for the directorship ofthe Fund. David Getches, whosEenergies and talents had been scessential to the Fund'sdevelopment, was particularlyanxious to see Indian leadershirat the staff level and to move intcfull time litigation. Since therGetches and Echohawk have beerworking closely to insure (l

smooth transition of the enormomresponsibilities that are part ojthe job. By the end of March tha1transition will be complete aneEchohawk's appointment as thEFund's director will be officialGetches will continue with thEFund as a staff attorney.

The time and energy consumingproblems of putting together awell-equipped and highly trainedgroup of legal marksmen haveturned out to be relatively simplecompared to the exacting task ofdeciding just which of the in­numerable targets should bestruck first. Steering Committeemembers are selected not onlybecause of their firsthandknowledge of the devastationwreaked by the in­determinateness of the legalmushball, but also because theyhave each made their owningenious attempts to assault it.

For the Steering Committee andlIe Fund's staff it has been a

painful, emotional process toreiterate and recall the effects ofthe clash between the twocultures. At the very least it hasbeen difficult to sort those effectsinto problem categories and toorder them into priorities, but ithas been almost impossible tothen try to parcel out the humanand legal resources of a dozenindividuals and to see how manyunnecessary and tragic debts arestill outstanding. It remains to beseen whether or not a people hewnout of rock, with an unmatchedpassion and reverence for life,plus a few non-Indian lawyers(with the driving, argumentativepersonalities common to suc­cessfullaw school graduates) willbe able to keep themselvestogether on the long "trail oftrials" that is going to have to bemarked out between the twocultures. However, in the lessthan three years of its existence1\TARF and its cHents have

ready covered a remarkablenumber of miles in an uncommonnumber of conveyances.

and more affluent tribes had andstill have tribal attorneys, thisrepresentation has also beenhampered by the fact that legal ~representation that effectively ~)collects on the dominant culture'sdebt is almost always extremelyexpensive - both for the tribeswhose resources are very limitedand for those lawyers whose firmsare, by necessity, profit-makinginstitutions.

Legal representation of Indiantribes in claims against theUnited States for takings of landor unconscionable dealings in­creased after Congressestablished the Indian ClaimsCommission in 1946. Until then itwas only by the grace of a specialact of Congress that Indians wereable to sue their guardian.Financing claims such as thosebrought before the Commissionhas been possible because theyhave sought monetary com­pensation for property alreadytaken - a percentage of which thelawyer takes as a fee. However,tribal existence - to the extentthat it can be defined andprotected by the law - requires .6>the protection of Indian lands,water and other resources beforethey are destroyed or lost, ratherthan after the fact and inephemeral money awards. Thecomplexity and cost of that ap­proach has seriously hamperedthe use of the American legalsystem in a manner consistentwith Indian cultural needs. Theresult has had a critical impact onthe ability of Indians to survive.

It is for this reason that,although Ford's $1.2 million grantto NARF was the largest theFoundation has ever made onbehalf of Indians, itis only a smallbeginning. It is also why theSteering Committee feels sostrongly that it must aim NARF'slegal resources as accurately aspossible into the still growingmushball. It is clear to theSteering Committee, to NARFstaff members and to most In­dians that even those tribes withthe strongest structures and ",abeyance mechanisms are going (jto have difficulty making itthrough the end of this century.

The objectives and priorities setby the Steering Committee ap­pear deceptively simple, not onlybecause Indian legal problemsare rarely definable within thecontext of only one of the ob­jectives, but because a particularlegal approach to the preser­vation of tribalism mayadequately meet the needs of onetribe and be disasterous foranother.

TRIBAL EXISTENCE

TRIBAL RESOURCES

HUMAN RIGHTS

ACCOUNTABILITY

INDIAN LAW DEVELOPMENT

In the late 1960's, after the Waron Poverty had already begun, anumber of Indian legal servicesprograms like CILS weredeveloped and funded by theOffice of Economic Opportunity.These programs had a tremen­dous impact on those few tribeswho had access to them and formany Indians they restored theirfaith and desire to work within thecontext of the white man's courts.Still the scope and resources ofthese programs were limited, notonly by inadequate funding andpolitical restraints, but alsobecause so many of the lawyersavailable to staff them wererecent law graduates. They werewell-educated and dedicated, butwithout experience, particularlyin the field of Indian law.

In addition, the multitude ofindividual Indian legal problemsso similar to the problems of thepoor everywhere (consumerprotection, welfare, criminal anddomestic matters) sapped theirresources and energy and toooften prevented them fromdeveloping expansive litigation oradministrative strategies thathad implications for the tribe as awhole.

Although several of the larger

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one of its primary efforts. ,Witthe assistance of the CarnegiCorporation of New YorkandthOEO Office of Legal Services, ihas put together two unique Indian legal resources. They are.thlNational Indian LawI.ibI"ar~

(NILL) and the Indian LawBilclUp Center. Both of these p[Oj~ctihave gone a long way to~)CP~nc

and increase the quality. ()fl~gaservices to Indian clien '" Iacross the country.

NILL, housed in NARF'soin Boulder, is a collectiodian legal materiarpleadings which havcatalogued under .general index to Indianisfsubject and legal issue,ti'· .state, and by plain~if

defendants. This cogreatly reduces the amtime consuming legalr.. ,......hrequired of NARF, legals~r~l~~sattorneys, and any att~~ji'~ypracticing Indian law. It~nableslawyers representing Indi... 0present the issues to the co~., nan orderly and car~~#l1ycalculated manner so thafq~~~law has the best possibl~;'~;pp­portunity to develop favoJ;'a~ly.

Under the OEO Indian LawBack Up Center, NARF hastlsedthe futI time resources of one staffattorney to provide"b()themergency and long term ,legalresearch, advice, and ma~~rlelsto legal services attorney~.~~cimCalais, Maine, to WindowR9gk,Arizona, to Ketchikan, Alask~~i~!naddition, the special expertis~';:~fother Fund attorneys hase:beenplugged in whenever po~~~ .

"ttY:t ..

Sometimes this is done bYS~IIlJ)lclarifying the legal issueshi"'¥aparticularly difficult t:r-i~alresource problem by telephone~rletter. In other instances it is doneby assuming the primaryre sponsi bili ty for complexlitigation that legal services;,1i~­

torneys cannot undertake ..c~ot

only because of the lack of'e1C­pertise and time, but because'9fthe tremendous financialresources required for studi~s,experts and consultantsprohibited by OEO fundinglimita tions.

As NARF and its casetoad havegrown the selection of cases hasbecome an enormously difficulttask. Not only do the requests forassistance far exceed the Fund'sexisting resources, butrepresentation of a tribe or Indianclient in one action (as in the caseof any law firm) may effectivelyprevent NARF from undertakingrepresentation on behalf ofanother. Several methods fordetermining case selection havebeen devised by the SteeringCommittee. Cases which involveclaims for damages, and whichtherefore produce revenuesenabling clients to obtain privatecounsel, are generally not taken.Cases.which involve disputesamong Indians are screened verycarefully ~ .... Representation is notundertaken unless it is deter­mined that a major issue is' in­volvedand the legal meritsclearly favofone side - and thenonly at the direction of theSteering Committee. Individualmatters involving domestic law,criminal prosecutions, adoptions,enrollment problems, etc. areusually referred to the private baror legal services programs.

Even after applying thesescreening procedures thereremain more potential suits thanNARF can currently undertake.Because of this, NARF has madethe stretching and strengtheningof existing Indian legal resources

'..-.'.

While NARF.was still in theplanning stages, decisions aboutundertaking representation were

c)relatively simple. CILS and Ford., were both aware of·' a good

sampling of Indian legal problemsthat, if solved,'could have a majorimpact for not only the particulartribes involved;rbufforall NativeAmericans:'These/cases weregiven prioi-ity."·{~:>·' .' ,. .

The suit filed byNARF onbehalf of the Pyramid Lake Tribeof Paiutes agaiIist;theSecretaryof Interior was eofthese. Thescope and comp e ty of the Issuesinvolved' ." . hroughlydiscussed ovember-Decembe ue#;ofAn-nouncemen ortant notonly to' thutto alltribes. wi d;.naturalresources' n:Indiansconcerned, eservationof the(ou 'cologicalbalance' andonders.Pyramid Lak ,oj PaiuteIndians v. >Roge C~R~:Mo,.ton

was the first .ins ancewhere In­dians successfullyeollected on thedebt by obtaining~,·.protectionof

~ tribal resources, before they wereVlost or destroyed,<rather than

waiting to collect damages afterthe fact. In addition the suit alsoclearly established the fact thatas trustee the U.S. government'sprimary responsibility was toprotect those. . resourcesaggressively" ".)~

/"'-.;".

'!}JCocopah Barley and Fund Attorney Charles Wilkinson onthe bank of the Col'orado lRivler at the Cocopah Reservation.

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Beyond this, by carefullyscreening each request forassistance (estimated to take upto 10% of NARF's resources)NARF hopes to avoid two evils.One, to prevent the unjustifiedcontinuation of long held hopes ofclients for the resolution of theirproblems legally; and two, bydetermining the exact nature ofthe client's problems (even if it isa case NARF cannot accept or anon-legal problem), Fund at­torneys are better able to makeeffective referrals resulting in asavings of human and financialresources for everyone - theclients, lawyers and other soc~al

or governmental agencies.At present NARF has two ad­

ditional special projects - onerelated to the protection of humanrights and the other to tribalexistence and resources. With theassistance of OEO, and in con­junction with the Harvard Centerfor Law and Education, Fundattorneys have been working tountangle a morass of Indianeducation problems. These rangefrom discrimination, to com­munity control of schools; to theimpoundment of Indian educationmonies.

In the Southwest the remainingmineral and water resources of

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more than 39 tribes haveprovoked some of the mostblatant examples of modern daycupidity. With the assistance ofthe Field Foundation and the Ak­bar Fund, NARF has establishedthe Southwest Indian En­vironmental Project. The liti­gation undertaken as a part ofthis project is not only difficultbecause of the usual range ofconflicting and hidden Indian lawissues, but also because of themyriad of new, complex andgenerally untested laws relatingto environmental protection. Theadversaries of NARF's clients inthis area include a governmentaltrustee (with insurmountableconflicts of interests), power,mining and businessconglomerates. All of these haveunlimited financial and legalresources at their disposal.NARF, representing three tribesand over a hundred individualIndian residents of the area, hasthe resources of less than twoattorneys on this project. Once incourt they often face ten lawyersat the opposing counsel table.Because of this NARF has in somecases joined hands with en­vironmental groups and raisedIndian law issues as intervenorsin their suits.

The process of debt collecting inthe Southwest is one of the mostperplexing of any of NARF'sefforts because it is one area /where the preservation andgrowth of Indian culture ismatched against the unyieldingdevelopment and progress of thedominant society. But tha tprocess is also symbolic of theimportance of honoring the debt.In a rapidly collapsing time span,it is becoming more apparenteach day that the Indian'suniversal and stoic reverence forMother Earth is a trait andposture that must be adopted bythe dominant culture if eithersociety is to survive.

"...1 am tired. 1 am weary of thisbluff of being civilized. Beingcivilized means trying to doeverything you don't want to, neverdoing anything you want to. . . .itmeans living in houses and neverknowing orcaring who is next door.These civilized white men want us tobe like them - always dissatisfiedgetting a hill and wanting amountain....1know my people havemany things that civilization hastaken from the whites. They knowhow to give, how to tear one's pieceof meat in two and share it withone's brother. They know how tosing, how to make ellch man his ownsongs and sing them; for their musicthey do not have to listen to othermen singing over a radio.... 1 wantto walk again among the ghost­birches. 1want to see the leaves turnin autumn, the smoke rise from thelodge-houses, and to feel the bluewinds. 1 want to hear the drums; 1want to hear the drums and feel theblue whispering winds."

Dr . Thomas S. Whitecloud,Chippewa.

Steering Committeeof theNative American

Rights Fund

EXECUTIVE COMMlrtEE

Charles H. Ulhah, Chairman.Mr. !.ohah is an Osage Indian fromOklahoma. He is an Assistant Professor atthe Baltimore-Washington Campus ofAntioch College where he is in charge ofthe Indian Studies Program. He is a for­mer County and District Court Judge ofOklahoma.

David Risling, Jr., Vice-Chairman. Mr.Risling is a Hoopa Indian from California.He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees

California Indian· Legal. Services forfour years and still serves as a member ofthe CUB Executive Committee. He is aProfessor and Coordinator of EthnicStudies at the University of California atDavis and a former President of· theCalifornia Indian Education Association.

LaNada Means, Executive Committeemember. Ms. Means is a Shoshone­Bannock Indian from Idaho. She is a

~... gr~aduate of the University of California at~rkeley and has been active in Indian

affairs on her home reservation at FortHall, Idaho, and in the San Francisco Bayarea.. She is currently studying law atAntioch School of Law in Washington, D.C.

John Stevens, Executive Committeemember. Mr. Stevens was Governor of thePassamaquoddy Tribe in Maine fornineteen years. He is now State Com­missioner of Indian Affairs.

--.:"

Cipriano Manuel. Mr. Manuel is PapagoIndian and former tribal COuncilman andtribal judge. He has worked with the ICAPprogram through Arizona State Universityand the Indian Health Service. He iscurrently serving as a counselor atPhoenix Community College.

Janet McCloud. Ms. McCloud is a memberof the TuIalip tribe; she is presently in­volved in prison and selective service workon behalf of Native Americans. Ms. Mc­Cloud is a founder of the Native AmericanFree University.

Francis McKinley. Mr. McKinley is aNavajo. He is Director of the NationalIndian Training and Research Center atTempe, Arizona. He has assisted in thedevelopment of Indian educationprograms for the Office of EconomicOpportunity..

Joseph Upicksoun. Mr. Upicksoun is anInupiat Eskimo. He is president of theArctic Slope Native Association, the ArcticSlope Regional Corporation, and of theInupiat Community (IRA Corporation).Mr. Upicksoun is also a member of theNorth Slope Borough School Board and isthe Alaskan representative to the NationalTribal Chairmans Association.

FORMER STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Wendell Chino (Mescalero Apache)Lee Haven (Navajo)Fred Gabourie (Seneca)Philip Martin (Mississippi Choctaw)Alfonso Ortiz (San Juan Pueblo)Richard Trudell (Santee Sioux)

Supporting Foundations

Akbar FundAmerican Indian Civil Libertie

TrustCarnegie CorporationEdna McConnell Clark Four

dationEdward P. Elliott FoundationEspous FoundationField FoundationFord Foundation.toint Strategy and Action Con

mitteeAnn Maytag Shaker FoundatioSeacoast FoundationTamler Foundation

Maior Individual Contributors

Mr. & Mrs. Richard MillerMrs. & Mrs. Roland R. SahmMrs. Katrina McCormick Harne

\)) ,

"'-'

OTHER MEMBERS

Curtis Custalow. Mr. Custalow is chief ofthe Mattaponi Tribe of Virginia. He is anactive member of several eastern Indianorganizations.

Martha Grass. Ms. Grass is a member ofthe Ponca tribe and a field worker torOklahomans for Indian Opportunity. Shehas served as a member of the AmericanIndian Task Force and the Citizens Ad­vocate Center Editorial Advisory Board.

Leo LaClair. Mr. LaClair is a member ofthe Muckleshoot tribe and a former tribalcouncilman.. He is a 1972 eraduate of the

0···· University of Washington -School of Lawand is currently a Reginald Heber SmithFellow working with Seattle Legal Ser-vices on Indian legal problems.

John Stevens, Passamaquoddy and Steering Committee member, atPassamaquoddy Township, Maine.

Staff of theNative AmericanRights Fund

John E. Echohawk is the Director of theFund. Mr. Echohawk is a Pawnee and wasthe first graduate of the University of NewMexico's special program to train Indianlawyers, . having received nationalprominence in that capacity. He was afounder 'of the American Indian LawStudents AssoCiation while in law schooland has been with the Fund since its in-

ccepti°Il··i

DllvidU;'Getcltes i.stheFurid,~F'cifutdingDirect0l".lJntil recently he hasciu:ded theprimary responsibility ... for. the ,Fund'sdevelopment.! Prior to ••.•.• assmningthedirectorship of theF'und in Junel970,hespent three years as a co-directorof ()ne ofCalifornia Indian Legal Services' fieldoffices. Before joining CILSand followinghis graduation from the. University .. ofSouthern·California .School .• of Law, Mr.Getches was in private practice.

L. Graeme Bell is the staff attorney in theFund's Washington,.D.C. office. Agraduate of. Harvard Law .. School,hetaught law at Columbus School of Law atthe Catholic University ofAmerica prior tojoining the Fund and also helped todevelop an Indian law program at CatholicUniversity. During law school he was anintern with DNA on the Navajo reser­vation.

Joseph J. Brecher, a staff attorney, hasextensive experience in the fields of en­vironmental policy and law. He is theauthor of the first handbook on en­vironmental law for lawyers. Mr. Brecheris a graduate of New York University LawSchool.

Reid Peyton O1ambers, of counsel to theFund, teaches administrative, propertyand Indian law at UCLA. He studied atOxford UniverSity, BailliolCollege, priorto his graduation from Harvard LawSchool. He has authored a monograph onthe subject of governmental conflict ofinterest vis-a-vis Indians for the Ad­ministrative Conference of the UnitedStates.Thomas W. Fredericks is a Mandan In­dian from the Fort Berthold Reservationin North Dakota and a staff attorney. A1972 graduate of the University of ColoradoSchool of Law, Mr. Fredericks wastreasurer of the .A....~erican Indian LawStudents Association. He was tribal ad­ministrator for the Standing Rock SiouxTribe at Fort Yates, North Dakota, from1966 to 1969.

10

Roy S. Haber is a graduate of the NewYork University School of Law. He was astaff attorney for three years with theLawyers CommitteefQr Civil Rights underLaw in· Jackson, Mississippi, prior tojoining the Fund as a staff attorney.

Daniel H. Israel is a graduate of theUniversity of Michigan Law School. Hehas had experience in private practice inNew York City and taught at theUniversity of Washington. Prior to joiningthe Fund, Mr. Israel was a staff attorneyof the Colorado Rural .. Legal Servicespl'C?gram.

Yvonne ••..• 'I'.·.Knight,ia. ...Po~ca,isthe firstIndian woman law~chQ()lgraduate fromthe University ofNewl\Iexico'sIn~anlawprogram andoneofth~fe-w.Indianwoman

lawyers iIl the cOl1Il~l'Y~' .

. SOOtt E. Littlei~a'graduateoftheUniversity of Color,ado SchoolofLaw and amember of both the Arizona and ColoradoState Bars. Until joining the Fund as astaff attorney, Mr.. Little was a partnerwith the firm of Le\Vis~.:It<>~iJlPhoenix,Arizona. ."';c •.•. '.' .. , .•••

Douglas R. Nash is a Nez Perce Indian anda graduate of the' University of NewMesico School of Law, and past ExecutiveDirector of the American Indian LawStudents Association. Prior to joining the

- Fund as a staff attorney he worked withthe Indian Civil Rights Task Force for theU.S. Department of Interior.

Robert S. Pelcyger is a graduate of YaleLaw School and a Fulbright Fellow. Hegained prior experience with DNA, theNavajo legal services program, and as aDirector of the Escondido Office ofCalifornia Indian Legal Services where hepracticed Indian law for' three yearsbefore becoming a Fund attorney.

Thomas L. Smithson»ined the Fund'sstaff as its head of the Indian Law Back UpCenter. He was the only/attorney on thePine Ridge Reservation in South Dakotafor three years prior to joining the Fund.Mr. Smithson is a graduate of theUniversity of Michgan School of Law.

Thomas N. Tureen, of counsf"l to theFund, has been involved with theproblems of eastern Indians for severalyears as director of the Indian LegalServices Unit for Pine Tree LegalAssistance in Maine. He is presentlyworking on a special research project forthe Fund relating to the problems of ob­taining federal recognition for EasternIndians and the relative value of state vs.federal status. Mr. Tureen is a graduateof George Washington University School ofLaw.

Charles F. Wilkinson is in charge of theFund's Indian education project. Prior tojoining the Fund he practiced privatelywith major law firms in Phoenix and SanFrancisco for five years. He is a graduaO

. of Stanford University School of Law.

Assistant to the DirectorJoan L. Carpenter

Law ClerksMichael Cox (Creek)Steve Jennings (Crow)Oran LaPointe (Rosebud Sioux)Victor Palmer (Kiowa)Barbara L~ Webb (Tlinget>

Legal secret~~ies·. .Elva:Arquero (Cochiti-Pueblo)Peri M.-Bateimin (Oglala Sioux)Janice C. Bray (Kiowa)

- Carlene Knowlton (Cheyerine RiverSioux)}"····,·.,

Mayredean C.· Palmer (Kiowa)Susan P.Roberson . , . .Frieda Wagner (Pomo-Concow)Patricia· Wright ."

I,,:~, .:/ _:>' \' ". ,:-:' C',. :~

Bookke~ping ..• ...•Susan Rosseter· HartCarmel Lewis (Acoma Pueblo)

ReceptionistsNorma A~ Cuny (Oglala Sioux)~aron Roybal (Winnebago-8ioux)

R~~C:dine Quintana (Oglala Sioux) 0Reproduction ,

R. Buck Benoist (Cheyenne River Sioux)Ronald Fundingsland

NATIONAL INDIAN LAW LIBRARY::<.

LibrarianMelody K. MacKenzie (Hawaiian)

Legal AdvisorJoseph R. Membrino

Research AssociatesPeter S. HrobskyDiana Lim (Acoma Pueblo)

SecretaryConnie M. Benoist. (Cheyenne RiverSioux)

11

Melody K. MacKenzie, LibrarianNative American Rights FundThe National Indian Law Library1506 BroadwayBoulder,Colorado 80302

The general index to Indian lawof the Library has been used tocompile an individual index to theCommission Decisions and toprovide access to the decisions by

. subject matter, tribe, and docketnumber. This will be available asa separate volume for an ad­ditional twenty-five . dollars($25.00) .. Those purchasing entiresets can receive subsequentdecisions as they are available, aswell as the completed boundvolumes. and. index supplementsfor fortY--five,dollars ($45.00) peryear·iii •........

\~f rou a~e in.terested in orderinga'complete>set or individualvolumes iofy the •.. Indian ClaimsCommission decisions or an in­dex,please,write to:

Indian ClaimsCommissionDecisions

As previously announced, theNational Indian Law Library isreproducing complete sets of theIndian Claims Commissiondecisions for distribution tolibraries, law schools and otherinterested groups.

The decisions are. printed froma xerox· copy provided by theCommission and are bound withcard stock covers. '.. The cost istwenty dollars ($20.00) pervolume or five hundred dollars($500.00) for a set of the firsttwenty-seven volumes whichincludes decisions through thefirst quarter of 1972.

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Map showing areas of NARF involvement

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(

Announcementsand CatalogueRequest Form

Please check the boxes forpublications you wish toreceive:

Native American RightsFundThe National Indian LawLibrary1506 BroadwayBoulder, Colorado 80302

Name (please print>

1973 Issues of AnnouncementsNational Indian Law LibrarySubject-Document Catalogue

r - - --- - - - - - - ~-.

010'

Native AmericanRig~ts Fund Offices

John E. Echohawk,DirectorNative American Rights Fund1506 BroadwayBoulder, Colorado 80302Telephone (303) 447-8760

Requests for assistance and in­formation may be directed to themain office,

or to the Washington, D.C. office,L. Graeme Bell, III,

Staff AttorneyNative American· Rights Fund1712 N. Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20036Telephone (202) 785-4166

0--- .... --------,I Enclosed in my contribu- ,I tion to assist the Native ..,I American Rights Fund in1 the assertion and ·protec- I1 ti~n of Indian rights and 1

the orderly. development ,, of the body of law affecting ,1 Indians:1 ,I Name II Address 1

"

ICity State ZIp

E~~!$~0~~~$:_ JMake~otl~~h~ckpayabletoNatiY~)J\.~erican Rights Fund.MaU·to:,';·'.·••••.• /

Native American Rights Fund1506 BroadwayBoulder, Colorado 80302

------------c·c

Announcements is published bi-monthly by the Native American Rights Fund,Inc., .1506 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado, 80302; Joan L. Caryenter, editor;Ronald Fundingsland and R. Buck Benoist, printing and circulation. Third classpostage paid at Boulder, Colorado. All nghts reserved. Subscription rates:libraries and non-Indian organizations, 1 year, $10.00; Indian tribes,organizations and individuals, no charge. Attorneys and other individuals, bycontribution.

Address

City State Zip

68S 'ON l!UUad0pe.x0I<Y.) '.xapIllog

aNd~nVJ..SOd·s·n·8.IQ lYO.IduON

ZOf:08 OPUJOIOD 'JaPlnOHAUMpUOJH 90S! (

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