Vernon Bellecourt Passes

R.I.P.Vernon Bellecourt

Date: Oct 13, 2007 10:46 PM
AIM Leader Vernon Bellecourt Dies at 75

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Vernon Bellecourt, a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement who fought against the use of American Indian nicknames for sports teams, died Saturday his brother said. He was 75.

Bellecourt died at Abbott Northwestern Hospital of complications of pneumonia, according to Clyde Bellecourt, a founding member of the militant American Indian rights group. Just before he was put on the respirator, Vernon Bellecourt joked that the CIA had finally gotten him, his brother said.

"He was willing to put his butt on the line to draw attention to racism in sports," his brother said.

Vernon Bellecourt — whose Objibwe name WaBun-Inini means Man of Dawn — was a member of Minnesota's White Earth band and was an international spokesman for the AIM Grand Governing Council based in Minneapolis.Clyde Bellecourt helped found AIM as a militant group in 1968 and Vernon Bellecourt soon became involved, taking part in the 1973 occupation of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. He was present only briefly during the 71-day standoff with federal agents, serving mostly as a spokesman and fundraiser, Clyde Bellecourt said.

He was active in the campaign to free AIM activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout in 1975 on the Pine Ridge reservation.He was also involved as a negotiator in AIM's 1972 occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington as part of the Trail of Broken Treaties caravan.In recent years, Bellecourt had been active in the fight against American Indian nicknames for sports teams as president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media.

He was arrested in Cleveland during the 1997 World Series and again in 1998 during protests against the Cleveland Indians' mascot, Chief Wahoo. Charges were dropped the first time and he was never charged in the second case.After Wounded Knee, Vernon Bellecourt became a leader of AIM's work abroad, meeting with presidents such as Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his brother said. He said they plan to list them as honorary pallbearers.

Clyde Bellecourt said his brother had been in Venezuela about four weeks ago to meet with President Hugo Chavez to discuss Chavez' program for providing heating assistance to American Indian tribes. He fell ill around the time of his return, Clyde Bellecourt said.

*PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FAMILY OF VERNON BELLECOURT*

Vernon Bellecourt (WaBun-Inini)

SERVICES:

MONDAY, October 15, 2007

PMALL NATIONS CHURCH

1515 East 23rd Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota

TUESDAY, October 16, 2007

Circle of Life School, White Earth, Minnesota

WEDNESDAY

Funeral, White Earth, Minnesota

For further information contact Clyde Bellecourt at 612-251-5836

Donations needed and accepted

American Indian lawsuit sparked by Montana woman being heard
Oct 10, 2007 07:26 AM CDT
Reporting from KPAX in Missoula

Some 11 years ago a woman from Montana sued the federal Interior Department over money owed to Native Americans and over time that suit by Elouise Cobell of Browning became the largest class action ever filed against the U.S. government.

Come Wednesday Cobell will be in a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C. as her case goes to trial for the second time. At issue is whether or nit the government can provide an accounting for money that it held in trust for half a 500,000 people.

Cobell believes that if she wins it could be the key to ending the lawsuit.

"Then we can come up with an amount that is due Indian beneficiaries. Actually it's called the remedy. And then we would be able to come up with a rough justice figure about how much is owed. I think we're a huge step closer to people getting their money."

Cobell and her lawyers believe the government could owe Native Americans hundreds of billions of dollars in principal and interest dating back to the 1800's.

Two years ago Cobell's legal team offered to settle the case for $27 billion.

For a full list of documents that have been produced in this ongoing (since 1996) litigation:
see Indian Trust: Cobell v. Kempthorne

Tribal Defense Attorney Group

The following message was forwarded to me by Lori Guevara, who serves as a Trustee for the Washington State Bar Association's Indian Law Section. She wanted me to get the word out about this group - so feel free to pass the following information on to whomever may be interested. Thank you.

We are pleased to announce the creation of a new national web page and listserve for attorneys, law students and lay advocates who represent native defendants in criminal proceedings before tribal courts! So far we have over 30 individuals participating from across the county ( i.e. Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado, and Minnesota), which includes public defenders from such tribes as Swinomish, Lummi, Tulalip, Umatilla, Pascua Yaqui, Navajo, Gila River, Tohono O'odham, Southern Ute, Sault Ste Marie, Bay Mills, Mississippi Choctaw and attorneys from Indian legal aid offices that provide criminal representation in tribal courts. We have had discussions concerning such things as the ICRA, mental competency hearings, and funding sources. The web site is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tribaldefenseattorneys/. Because it is a "closed" group, it does required the approval of a moderator to join and have access. We would love to have all tribal public defenders and defense attorneys join us.
Thank you,
Cami


--
Cameron Ann Fraser
Michigan Indian Legal Services
814 S Garfield Avenue, Suite A
Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 947-0122
cfraser@mils.org

Navajo president addresses crime issues at Native law enforcement conference

For Immediate Release: October 5, 2007
Navajo Nation Office of the President & Vice President
www.opvp.org
Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., addresses Native crime before National Native American Law Enforcement Assoc. conference
MEMPHIS, Tenn.- Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., has credited the National Native American Law Enforcement Association with helping to elevate the profile of tribal law enforcement agencies and bring greater attention to the needs of tribes nationally.
The President made his comments Tuesday during the opening session of NNALEA's 15th annual training conference here.
Approximately 600 participants attended the conference. Also representing the Navajo Nation was Navajo Division of Public Safety Director Samson Cowboy, Navajo Police Chief Jim Benally and Navajo Nation Emergency Management Incident Commander Johnny Johnson.
NNALEA is a nonprofit organization to promote and foster mutual cooperation between American Indian Law Enforcement Officers/Agents/Personnel, their agencies, tribes, private industry and public.
"In this day and age, it seems every which way we turn our sovereignty as individuals, as families, as communities, as nations is tested by crime," President Shirley said.
TO READ THE FULL STORY CLICK HERE
Audio:
President Shirley 1
President Shirley 2
President Shirley 3
President Shirley 4
Navajo Nation Office of the President
George Hardeen,
Communications Director
E-mail: pressoffice@opvp.org
Ofc: 928-871-7917 Cell: 928-309-8532

A Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act

BOULDER, CO-NARF is proud to announce the publication of its new "Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act." The Guide, available both on the Internet and in print, is a powerful resource tool for tribal, state and federal entities involved in Indian child custody proceedings. Among the wealth of contents and resources is frequently asked questions with answers falling under 22 topics, including:
Application of the ICWA
Jurisdiction
Who has rights under the Act
Intervention
Role of Tribal Courts
Tribal State Agreements
Foster placement & removal
Resources

The Internet version, available at www.narf.org/icwa, also contains more than 1,000 full-text resources.

The ICWA Practical Guide Project was generously funded by the Administration for Native Americans, with supplemental funding by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and supported by NICWA as a key partner. NARF and an Advisory Board-made up of multi-disciplinary team consisting of members of tribal courts, tribal ICWA departments, state governments, Indian law practitioners, Native non-profit organizations, law firms and urban Indian centers-provided guidance on the comprehensive content of the guide. To order a copy of the Guide, print a free copy, or access the expanded Internet edition, please visit: www.narf.org/icwa.