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Show IVndaj, Apri 25, The Ute Bulletin Indian Rights Act Strikes Again In Pueblo Groundbreaking Rites Held For New -- WASHINGTON, Housing Development st Rights Act of 1968 have been violated by the Santo Clara Pueblo, and that the 1964 Civil Rights Act which forbids the use of federal money in a discriminatory manner has been violated by the Santa Clara Pueblo. The suite arose over a beneficiary clause in a tribal application form for housing built with funds provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The clause in essence says that while a member of the pueblo can acquire a house, that member cannot leave the property to children who are not members of the pueblo. According to a Martinez daughter, Wilma, her mother does not want to acquire the house unless she can leave it to her children. . offices. completed the development will include a housing administration building, community center and ten rental units for elderly tribal members and 30 e families. The first homes for homes are expected to be ready for occupancy by fall. i When m low-incom- Mrs. Martinez cannot enroll her children because tribal law forbids the enrollment in the Pueblo of children whose' father is not a member of the tribe. Miles Martinez, the father, is a d Navajo, who according to Wilma is enrolled with the Navajos. The basic issue in the litigation is Police Chief Resigns Ute Police Chief Gerald Martinez resigned his post April 10 according to a personnel sub-committ- spokesman. The resignation became effective immediately. Pete Pickup, who served as. acting chief of police while Mr. Martinez attended the police academy in Brigham City, has agreed to remain in that capacity. full-bloo- TURNING OVER A SHOVELFUL OF EARTH--At the recent groundbreaking ceremonies lor the new Federally loaded housing development is Mrs. Rebecca Cnch of Fort Duchesne. Mrs. Cuch wfll occupy one of ten rental units for elderly citizens of the Ute Tribe to be constructed north of the Fort Duchesne campus. Officials from the Denver Regional offices of the Housing and Urban Development Administration joined the Ute Housing Authority, the contractors for the project and other reservation officials for the event. low-co- st whether the sovereign Santa Clara On Protection Rights For Minors Hearings Focus Testimony By Karen Ducheneaux WASHINGTON. D.C. what point does governmental intrusion, whether federal, state or local, into Indian family life to protect a child become kidnaping or cultural genocide," and what should be the role of a tribal government in this area? These questions were at the heart of testimony taken from about 30 witnesses by the Senate Indian Affairs Subcommittee in two days of hearings Apr. 9 to 8-- document what Committee chairman called Sen. James D. Abourezk, which child removal abusive practices are destroying Indian families." Lead-of- f witness William Byler, execuD-S.- tive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs, stated that based on his organizations surveys, approximately 25 to 35 percent of all Indian children are separated from their families and placed in foster homes, adoptive homes, or instititutions. Institutions were defined by Byler as federal or mission boarding schools or state training schools. Byler died the following statistics: In Minnesota the rate of adoption of Indian children per capita is five times greater n children; in South than that of Dakota the foster care rate is nearly 16 times greater per capita; in Washington state the adoption rate is 19 times greater, the foster care rate 10 times greater; in Michigan, 16 times greater. A number of Indian parents before the subcommittee recited a litany of abuses they and their children suffered at the hands of state and county welfare workers eager to remove the children from what they deemed a home environment of neglect" or social deprivation." Margaret Townsend (Paiute) of Fallon, Nev., described how her children were non-India- D.C.--(AIPA)--T- he Indian Civil. Rights Act of 1968, considered by many a thorn in the side of tribal sovereignty, has struck again at the Santo Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, this time at traditional tribal law,' in a suit brought against the pueblo by a member and her eight children. Julia Martinez and her eight children allege in the suit that their rights, which arise under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Indian Civil Representative of the Federal Housing and Urban Development office joined tribal officials and reservation residents April 3 at groundbreaking ceremonies for the new federally funded $966,000 housing development. Clifford Rice of the Salt Lake City HUD office and Jack Windsor of the Denver office met with representative of the B.B. Andersen Developement Co. of Denver, contractors for the project, Tribal Housing AuthorTom Director ity Appah and other reservation officials in a conference prior to the ceremony. A crowd of approximately 30 people braved a cold wind under threatening skies as Irene Cuch, vice chairman of the Tribal Housing Authority, turned over the first shovelful of earth at the construction site north of the tribal low-co- 1174 forcibly taken from her home without her consent and placed in foster care homes by county welfare workers after she had been arrested-h- er first arrest- -f or while intoxicated. With the aid of driving an AAIA attorney Mrs. Townsend was finally able to get a court to release her children from the custody of the county and return them to her. Her daughter Anna was also a witness. Anna was supposed to describe to the subcommittee the treatment she and her younger brother endured in their foster home. Instead, Anna gave more effective testimony. After a brave start, she broke down and cried. Other witnesses told of outright abduction of Indian children from their parents. Byler of AAIA told how Benito Rowland had been taken by two Wisconsin women with the collusion of a local missionary from Smith Dakota after her Oglala Sioux mother was tricked into signing a form purportedly granting them permission to take the child on a short visit but, in fact, agreeing to her adoption. It was months before Mrs. Rowland could obtain counsel and regain her daughter. Governmental intrustion into the privacy of family life is not confined to Indian families. However, witnesses testified to the qualitative differences n between removal of children and that of Indian children. n children are taken into the custody by government when, said two physician witnesses, the child has no recognized or legally appointed guardian, that is, is dependent or abandoned; when the child has been involved in delinquent acts; when the child's needs are not being met by the family, constituting neglect; and when the child is being physically abused. According to the witnesses, Indian non-India- Non-India- children are removed for the above reasons and in addition for the following reasons: to meet the educational needs of the child, or because a social worker doesnt feel the reservation is a fit place for any child to be brought up, or because the lowered birth rate in the dominant race leaves fewer children available for adoption, and thus Indian children are considered fair game." The effects of these unwarranted removals and placements with are psychologically disastrous for both parents and children, according to witnesses. Gov. Robert E. Lewis, president of the National Tribal Chairnon-India- ns men's Association (NTCA), said: Children who must adjust to a new way of life away from their own cultural group often must overcome a language barrier, adjust to a new religion, learn new foods, and are often faced with overt and covert racism." Melvin Sampson, Yakima tribal councilman, while acknowledging the good intentions of who adopt Indian children, said: The damaging effect this creates on our Indian children is beyond the scope of evaluation. The Indian is on the receiving end of a total lack of understanding. They literally suffer when they discover that their physical appearance is not that of their adopted parents. The wonderment and search for true identy is crucial and probably, at times, never completed." The causes of this latter day Indian removal" campaign were described by witnesses as follows: a lack of standards for what constitutes mistreatment that is relevant to Indian culture; failure of social workers and courts to follow due process of law"; strictures in taking children away from parents; social non-India- (continued on page 8) Pueblo can set its own membership criteria, or whether this right is negated by the U.S. Constitution and statutes. Santo Clara Pueblo Gov. Paul Tafoya said of his tribe's enrollment practices: The Santo Clara people have a very strong tradition that the male is the head of the household. It is his responsibility to take care of his family. This (practice of enrolling only children of male tribal members) has been handed down from generation to generation." According to the Martinez attorney, Alan Taradash of Navajo Legal Services, Whether or not this is a traditional practice of the Santo Clara Pueblo is one of the issues in dispute, but even if it was, it doesn't matter. The question is whether it violates the rights of the Martinez children. Interior Department lawyers say this case is the first time the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act has been used to strike at the traditional practices and laws of a tribe. Heretofore, the actions brought against tribes have originated from oome law or ordinance of a tribe which emerged from Anglo-Saxo- n legal tradition. If the courts were to decide that tribal membership rules that were based on a traditional patriarchal system, where descent and inheritance are traced through the male line, were discriminatory and thus illegal, the ramifications of this decision would reach into other tribes which have like systems or which have a matriarchal system, sueh as the Hopi of Arizona and most of the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy. Housing Director Requests Help From Residents In view of the construction of the housing development, Tribal Housing on-goi- Authority Director Tom Appah has asked that all families cooperate in safeguard- ing construction materials. Mr. Appah specifically requested that survey stakes be left in their places as they are important guidelines for the construction workers. |
