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Publishing Corner: Indian Community: Science & Wonder Indian Heros: California Indian Art: CALIE Library: Academic Financial Aid: Tribal Governments: Indian Gaming: |
American Indians Second Class Citizens by Choice By Ernie C. Salgado, Jr. (Soboba tribe)
What is pathetic is that non-American citizens seem to get more protections from the Constitution of the United State of America than the American Indian tribal people. In fact just the other day the Federal Court judge in Hawaii ruled that the Trump travel ban was not legal because it violated the Civil Rights of the non-citizens. And if that’s not bad enough the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. forces in combat fighting the Islamic extremist must read them their Miranda Rights. Sure the United States Congress passed the Indian Civil Rights Act in 1968 (H.R. 2516) stating “The Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 (ICRA) applies to the Indian tribes of the United States and makes many, but not all, of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights applicable within the tribes. The legislation also addressed the crises of domestic violence that pledge the American Indian community. The Act appears today in Title 25, sections 1301 to 1303 of the United States Code. The “and makes many, but not all,” are troublesome and were not defied The US Supreme Court had made clear that tribal internal affairs concerning tribal members' individual rights were not covered by the Fifth Amendment to the US constitution. However, the tribes were ultimately subjected to the power of Congress and the Constitution. The court case Talton v Mayes helped establish the principles. There were other court cases over the following years to continue the thoughts "that tribes were not arms of the federal government when punishing tribal members for criminal acts and that Indian tribes were exempt from many of the constitutional protections governing the actions of state and federal governments." However, in 1978 the Supreme Court totally destroyed the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 by it decision in the Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez court case (1978). Martinez involved a request to stop denying tribal membership to those children born to female (not male) tribal members who married outside of the tribe. The mother who brought the case pleaded that the discrimination against her child was solely based on sex, which violated the ICRA. The Supreme Court decided that "Tribal common-law sovereign immunity pre-vented a suit against the tribe." The courts decision in the Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez ultimately strengthened tribal self-determination by further proving that generally, the federal government played no enforcement role over the tribal governments. In my humble opinion the court got it wrong. In simple language it said the Federal Courts have no jurisdiction over the Tribal Governments with regards to the enforcement of the Civil Rights of the tribal members. Except it did provide for oversight by the courts for any tribal member that may have been detained. However, the Court did not make it clear if “detained” includes Federal, State or County facilities. It also failed to address the issue of domestic violence. Forget the findings of the hearing in the early sixties. Forget that the individual tribal member is an American citizen and entitled to the protection of the Constitution of the United States of America. It is without question that I totally sup-port Tribal Sovereignty but I also support the individual rights of the tribal members. Remember I’m a Federation Indian and in their Constitution they identify the rights of the individual as well and the sovereign rights of the tribe. However, there is hope as the individual tribes have the option of approval for the oversight by the Federal Courts to insure that the Civil Rights of the individual tribal members are not violated. Good luck with that! Only a handful of tribes in the Nation have approved this oversight. Soboba as well as many other tribes have continued to violate the Civil Rights of their members. The most often violation is the excessive fines imposed on the individual tribal members. While the Civil Rights Act prohibits excessive fines for violation in the amount not to exceed what the infraction would cost in the local courts and a maximum of $5,000. The Soboba Tribal Council regularly fines it members for minor violation in excess of the maximum amount of $5,000 to over $50,000. And in some cases much more. The taking of the individual tribal per capita is by any definition a fine. The General Membership is also guilty of the abuse of individual tribal members by both excessive fires and double jeopardy. And most times these excesses are based on politics as opposed to the proposed violation. Again, in my humble opinion the Court got it wrong. I fail to see how the decision of the Court enhances self-determination nor do I how “the federal government played no enforcement role over the tribal governments” While the federal government taxes the individual tribal members, established regulations and oversight for tribal gaming and allows State governments to enforce State laws via P.L 280. I am not implying that the current Tribal Council is going to move beyond the cur-rent Civil Rights violation of excess fines and in some cases “Double Jeopardy”. But we don’t know what the future holds. I believe It is time for the Soboba people to allowing the individual tribal members to seek protection from the Federal Counts for any overreach in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act of the individual tribal members by the Tribal Council, General membership or Tribal Courts. The individual rights of the tribal members are as sacred as the sovereignty of the tribe. 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Tribal: Luiseño |
told myself not to write this article but sometimes I just can’t help myself. I guess I’m like the bug in the movie “Bugs Life” when he was told don’t look at the lights and as he looked at the light he said “I can’t help it.” So since I can’t help myself I am going to expose this can of worms.
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