Nez Perce 8.3M Settlement Goes to Tribal Citizens
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Follow us on Twitter #CATribalTribune www.c-a-tribes.org/tribal-news June 1, 2017 -Volume 13, Issue 11 Nez Perce 8.3M settlement goes to tribal citizens By Rosemary Stephens signed into law by Governor According to an article the resolution of Nez Perce campaigning on Facebook tribute the $8.3 million set- Editor-in-Chief Eddie Hamilton the follow- in the High Country News, et al. v. Salazar was settled and Twitter to pressure lead- tlement to all tribal citizens ing week. “it was a different battle- relatively quickly in compar- ers to “show us the money.” (regardless of age) in the On May 13 the Cheyenne In 2006 40 tribes, includ- front than the better-known ison to Cobell. The original plaintiff form of a per capita payment. and Arapaho Sixth Legisla- ing the Cheyenne & Arapaho class-action lawsuit filed by As the funds began roll- in the case, the Nez Perce The payments were mailed ture convened for their regu- Tribes of Oklahoma, joined Montana Blackfeet leader ing in, however, conflict, not Tribe, distributed most of May 31, 2017. lar monthly meeting in Con- Idaho’s Nez Perce Tribe in Elouise Cobell, which rep- celebration, ensued. Nearly the $33.7 million it received Tribal citizens 18 years cho, Okla. filing suit against the U.S. resents individual Natives every tribe that had hoped to to tribal members, but held and older will also receive One of the items on their Department of the Interior, whose resources were mis- invest or save or otherwise back $3 million for the Na- their annual Gaming per cap- agenda was to appropriate alleging a century of mis- managed by the agency. The spend the money was met tive American Rights Fund, ita payments in August 2017. and direct Nez Perce settle- managed trust funds and $3.4 billion settlement of the with resistance from tribal which handled the litigation. For members who are 17 ment monies to all tribal citi- royalties for oil, gas, grazing Cobell case authorized by members, who prefer to see Likewise after weeks of and under, annual Gaming zens in the form of a per cap- and timber rights on lands Congress in 2010 was finally it distributed on a per capita discussions and negotiations, per capita payments are de- ita payment, which passed held in common by tribal resolved after being tangled basis. Some have used social the Cheyenne & Arapaho posited into their individual through legislature and was communities. up in the courts for years, but media to make their point, Tribes of Oklahoma will dis- trust accounts. Soil health seminar in Watonga June 15 (CONCHO, OK) As part of their commitment to help production agriculture in Oklahoma and the Southern Plains of the United States, the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Blaine County Conservation Dis- trict, Redlands Communi- ty College and the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub will be hosting Soil Health Seminar 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Thursday, June 15 fat the Blaine County Fair- grounds in Watonga, Okla. According to Eddie Hamilton, Governor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, this event, which is part of the ongoing soil health partnership between the tribes and NRCS, will provide farmers and ranch- ers an opportunity to learn about some of the options they have for the applica- tion of soil health practic- es on their land to increase productivity and help make Remembering fallen heroes their land more resilient to extreme weather events. “We are very excited to partner with NRCS, Red- lands Community College, on Veteran’s Memorial Day the Blaine County Con- By Latoya Lonelodge friends and family gathered servation District and the Staff Reporter to remember those who gave USDA Southern Plains their lives during active duty, Climate Hub to make this During the weekend of the wind caressed the flags event happen,” Hamilton Memorial Day, it may be flying high above the com- said. “Agriculture produc- common to hear of big sales munity center. ers in our area have sever- occurring across stores, retail The service began with al options to improve the shops, car dealerships and a Memorial drum song and health of their soil by fol- with each beat respective to more than often some look at lowing winter wheat with Memorial weekend as an ex- the many beating hearts pres- some form or mix of cov- tra day off from work. ent; a life that was once dedi- er crops and by improving The reality of Memorial cated to the armed forces was Day is it could have a more remembered. the health of their pastures. sincere meaning for veterans Through stories and tes- By having something green and families who have lost timonials that were shared and growing on their land loved ones. during the ceremony, gratuity as long as possible, ag On May 25 the Cheyenne uplifted spirits. producers can increase the and Arapaho tribes held their “It’s important for us as microbial activity in their annual Veteran’s Memorial family and tribal members to soil, improve fertilizer ef- Day service at the Concho remember what all our Vet- ficiency and help their soil Community Center in Con- erans have done for us, the increase its water holding cho, Okla., commemorating Bible has told us that there is capacity.” the lives of those who were no greater love than to give Issues to be discussed active in the military. your life for that of another, Tribal veterans prepare for the gun salute at the annual Memorial Day commemora- at the event include grain As military veterans, tion held May 25 at the Concho Community Center in Concho, Okla. (Photos / Latoya Memorial / pg. 4 Lonelodge) Soil health / pg. 4 PAGE 2 Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune Tsistsistas & Hinonoei Sexual assault victim/survivor leads response and resource team trainings As she lay sleeping in her bed inside the safe con- fines of her home in Norman, Okla., Linda Terrell had no idea that her life was about to change … forever. It was 1985 on the cam- pus of University of Oklaho- ma (OU) Terrell became the fourth victim of serial rapist Robert Howard Bruce known as the Ether rapist. “I was living in Norman and going to the University of Oklahoma at the time and so was he. He was my age, though we didn’t know any of this until three years ago when they finally got him and figured out he had been perpetuating in Norman from the early 1980s up to 2006,” Linda Terrell has a mission in life ... to help as many rape victims/surviors as she can. Terrell said. (Photo / Rosemary Stephens) She was a 23 year old stu- dent at the university and had help people understand the importance would happen, but said, “It was kind just graduated with her master’s degree of working as a multi-disciplinary of interesting to watch myself from the at the time of her rape. Ironically Ter- group to better meet the needs of the outside go through all these emotions rell had been doing a study about rape victims and better meet the needs of the that I knew logically what I was going in Norman with a group of friends and criminal justice system in prosecuting to do. Just like Lady Gaga said at the the publication she wrote was sitting sexual assaults. academy awards, until it happens to on her living room table awaiting to be “Because both of those needs need you, you don’t understand. It complete- sent to the typist the next day when the to be met so the victims can begin to ly changed my life and I didn’t realize rapist broke into her home and she be- start healing right away, and that they the depth it changed my life. My life came statistic of her own study. can get justice and closure. And I get has always been a before and after. My “Apparently he had been watching that … I know how that feels,” she said. life before the rape, and then my life af- my home for awhile. Later, after he Because for Terrell it would be 28 ter the rape,” was convicted I found out by talking years later before she would see her After 28 years, she said she thought to the police, that he was actually rapist captures, prosecuted and incar- she had ‘sat that down and her life went stalking my roommate at the time, but cerated. on.’ Then it was all back, all the trauma she wasn’t there that night. And I be- “What we know about serial rapists, and she never dreamed after 28 years came his fourth victim,” Terrell said. “I whether they be strangers or non-strang- she would see the day the rapist in her don’t know if he even saw my case would be caught, much less prose- publication laying there, but I cuted and incarcerated. do know that he actually went My life became a before “By sharing our stories we can help through my wallet, pulled my “and after ... my life before others, that they deserve to be believed driver’s license out and set it on the rape and my life after and they deserve to find some comfort top of my wallet before he left. the rape.” and peace. Very few women get the To let me know that he knew opportunity to see their perpetuator who I was.” get convicted and many less get to see And from that time on Terrell’s life ers, is they progress and I was the first their perpetuator actually incarcerated.