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Native American Indian News Headlines Insert Page
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Coeur d'Alene Tribe wants broader arrest authority |
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Historical Society exhibit honors Indian
soldiers |
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Natives may be recognized in
Alaska state song |
villages/native/ AP Daily_News Headlines.asp
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 Native
American Village News
By The Associated Press
Coeur d'Alene Tribe wants broader arrest authority
By The Associated Press
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - The Coeur d'Alene Tribe in northern Idaho
is proposing legislation that would give tribal police the authority to
arrest or cite non-tribal members and send them to state court.
Backers say the State and Indian Tribal Cooperative Law Enforcement
Act would close a loophole that allows suspects to avoid justice on the
reservation.
If approved, tribal officers would be able to arrest non-tribal
members in Benewah County inside the Coeur d'Alene Reservation.
Idaho lawmakers haven't introduced a draft as a bill yet. Rep. Jim
Clark, R-Hayden Lake, is chairman of the House Judiciary and Rules
Committee. He declined to comment.
The tribe hasn't had the authority to arrest non-tribal members since
a cross-deputization agreement between the tribe and the county ended in
2006.
Tribe spokesman Marc Stewart said suspects are often set free as a
result, and that the legislation would fix the problem.
"When you're talking about criminals going free, it's not a good
thing,'' Stewart said. "I can't see any reason not to support this.''
Opponents in Benewah County say the proposed legislation is
unconstitutional.
"(Tribal) officers would not have to answer to any elected
official,'' said Douglas Payne, Benewah County prosecuting attorney.
The bill would require tribal police officers to be certified and
trained like other state officers. Violators would be turned over to
state courts, not tribal courts, and tribes must be responsible for
insurance and liability issues.
Information from: Coeur d'Alene Press, http://www.cdapress.com
Historical Society exhibit honors Indian soldiers
By The Associated Press
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - The Montana Historical Society is scheduling the
Smithsonian Institution's "Native Words, Native Warriors'' exhibit to
tour the state's American Indian reservations.
"This is a rare opportunity to honor Montana's Indian veterans, and
all veterans, as well as to honor the important work of retaining native
languages,'' said Society Director Richard Sims.
The Smithsonian created the exhibit to tell the story of Indian
Marines and soldiers who used their coded native languages as a weapon
against U.S. enemies.
The Navajo code talkers during World War II have received the most
recognition, but the exhibit shows that Native Americans were first
enlisted to relay messages in their own languages during World War I.
Marines and soldiers from 16 tribal nations served as code talkers,
including the Assiniboine, Sioux, Navajo, Hopi, Cherokee, Chippewa and
Cree.
The exhibit also addresses the irony the Indians faced as they
transitioned from Indian boarding schools, where they were punished for
speaking their native languages, to being honored for using that
language as a vital secret weapon in combat.
Montana has the opportunity to bring the exhibit to the state because
the historical society is an affiliate of the Smithsonian.
Montana Historical Society Board of Trustees member George Horse
Capture of Great Falls initiated the exhibit when he was a Smithsonian
curator, and will serve as guest curator of the Montana exhibit.
The historical society plans to launch the exhibit in Helena in April
and then take it to the state's reservations. The society is also
working with tribal veterans' representatives and tribal councils who
want to contribute in their own way in honoring and celebrating their
warriors during each four-day event.
The society is seeking sponsors to help cover the $35,000 to $40,000
cost for creating and presenting the traveling exhibit.
Natives may be recognized in Alaska state song
By JEREMY HSIEH
Associated Press Writer
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The last time state lawmakers tried to add
references to Alaska Natives and a message of unity to the official
state song, it was divisive and failed. That was 2002.
Eight years later, supporters of adding a second verse to "Alaska's
Flag'' believe the state's indigenous people will finally get
recognition.
"There's a different mentality now,'' state Sen. Albert Kookesh, a
Tlingit and leader in the Alaska Federation of Natives, said Thursday.
A bill to officially add the verse is working through committees. The
verse references Benny Benson, the Native boy who in 1927 designed the
territorial flag that eventually became the state flag.
The first attempt to include the verse was in 1987, shortly after it
was written by the late poet laureate Carol Beery Davis, a friend of the
original song's author and composer. The verse is widely known, taught
and sung as part of the song; the Alaska Youth Choir sang it during the
Legislature's opening session ceremonies earlier this month.
Some of Davis' friends and her daughter testified in favor of the
verse at a Senate committee hearing Thursday; no one testified against
it.
Davis' friend Connie Munro pleaded with lawmakers to finally make the
verse official.
"I don't have many years left,'' she said, after recounting how she
encouraged Davis to write the verse decades ago.
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