....-------------- National Indian Law Library NILL No. 0 \~~oC) J \0,5"2 NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND 1982 ANNUAL REPORT The Native American Rights Fund is a non-profit protection of tribal natural resources; (3) the organization specializing in the protection of promotion of human rights; (4) the accounta­ Indian rights. The priorities of NARF are: (1) the bility of governments to Native Americans; and preservation of tribal existence; (2) the (5) the development of Indian law. Steering Committee Corporate Officers Other Professional Staff Roger Jim (Yakima), Chairman Johri E. Echohawk (Pawnee) Gloria Cuny (Oglala Sioux) Washington Executive Director Administrative Assistant Chris McNeil, Jr. (Tlingit), Vice-Chairman Jeanne S. Whiteing (Blackfeet-Cahuilla) Susan Freedman Alaska Deputy Director Legislative Assistant* Curtis Custalow, Sr. (Mattaponi) Mary L. Hanewall, Development Officer Marian Heymsfield Virginia Susan Rosseter Hart, Treasurer Head Bookkeeper:j: Kenneth Custalow (Mattaponi) Oran G. LaPointe (Rosebud Sioux) Rebecca Martinez Virginia Secretary Office Manager Bernard Kayate (Laguna Pueblo) Marilyn Pourier (Oglala Sioux) New Mexico Staff Attorneys Planned Giving Coordinator Patrick Lefthand (Kootenai) Montana Lawrence A. Aschenbrenner Support Staff Wayne Newell (Passamaquoddy) Kurt V. Blue Dog (Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux) Maine Richard B. Collins* Herbert Blacker, Printer Leonard Norris, Jr. (Klamath) Richard J. Dauphinais (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) Rose Brave (Oglala Sioux) Oregon Walter R. Echo-Hawk (Pawnee) Legal Secretary Harvey Paymella (Hopi-Tewa) Douglas Endreson (Navajo) Rosetta Brewer (Cheyenne River Sioux) Arizona Kim Jerome Gottschalk Receptionist Christopher Peters (Yurok) Yvonne T. Knight (Ponca-Creek) Mary Sumbera, Legal Secretary California Arlinda F. Locklear (Lumbee) Linda Caso, Legal Secretary Lois J. Aisling (Hoopa) Scott B. MCEiroy Debra Echo-Hawk (Pawnee) California Library Clerk :j: Don B. Miller John Stevens (Passamaquoddy) Celia Echohawk, Library Assistantt Maine Terry L. Pechota (Rosebud Sioux) Sue Feller, Bookkeeper Wade Teeple (Chippewa) Robert S. Pelcyger* Sara Hobson (Navajo), Legal Secretary Michigan Anita M. Remerowski Jeff Lorencen, Printer* Jeanne S. Whiteing (Blackfeet-Cahuilla) National Support Committee Mary Lu Prosser (Cheyenne River Sioux) Jeanette Wolfley (Navajo/Shoshone-Bannock) Direct Mail Coordinator Owanah Anderson (Choctaw) Rena Tardugno, Legal Secretary:j: Of Counsel Katrina McCormick Barnes Patricia Tate (Santo Domingo Pueblo} Earl Biss (Crow) Bruce R. Greene File Clerk Carole Bourdo (Blackfeet) Thomas N. Tureen Susan Tuttle, Bookkeeper Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. Charles F. Wilkinson Stephen A. Wheelock (Delaware) David Brubeck Library Clerk :j: Iron Eyes Cody (Cherokee-Cree) Legislative Liaison Val Cordova (Taos Pueblo) Law Clerks & Interns Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne-Creek) Scott Francis Robert Anderson (Chippewa), Law Clerk Sy Gomberg National Indian Law Library Thomas Baine, Legal Intern Will H. Hays, Jr. Scott Blanchard, Legal Intern Jamake Highwater (Blackfeet-Cherokee) Diana Lim Garry (Acoma Pueblo} Librarian Tom Christ, Law Clerk Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. Bryce M. Wildcat (Pawnee-Euchee) Colleen Dufour (Standing Rock Sioux), David Aisling, Jr. (Hoopa} Research Assistant Law Clerk Dr. Jonas Salk Joyce Gates (Seneca) Maggie Fox, Law Clerk Will Sampson, Jr. (Creek) Secretary Lynn Hayes, Law Clerk Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo} Mary Mousseau (Santee Sioux) Helen McNabb, Intern Maria Tallchief (Osage) Librarian Assistant Richie Nez (Navajo), Legal Intern Studs Terkel Larry Plank (Yankton Sioux), Law Clerk Ruth Thompson Margarethe Roderick, Intern Tenaya Torres (Chiricahua Apache) :f: Part Time Staff Lori Tofsrud (Devils Lake Sioux), • Resigned During 1982 Fiscal Year Dennis Weaver Law Clerk Jane Wilner, Law Clerk COVER: Waci (He is dancing) (1973) is by Indian artist artist and Mr. James Bialack, owner of the original. The Oscar Howe, a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of painting is part of the Oscar Howe Retrospective on South Dakota. It is reproduced through the courtesy of the national tour in 1982-83. Chairman's Message . 2 Executive Director's Report . 3 The Program The Founding of NARF.......................... 6 The Priorities . 8 Organization and Administration . 9 The National Support Committee ................. 11 Financial Accountability ......................... 12 Main Office Native American Rights Fund 1506 Broadway The Year's Activities Boulder, Colorado 80302 Tribal Status Clarification . 14 (303)447-8760 Tribal Governmental Authority· ................... 15 Protection of Indian Lands ....................... 16 D.C. Office Eastern Indian Land Claims ...................... 17 Native American Rights Fund 1712 N Street, N.W. Tribal Water Rights .............................. 20 Washington, D.C. 20036 Indian Hunting and Fishing Rights ................ 22 (202) 785-4166 Cultural and Civil Rights ......................... 23 Indian Education ............................... 24 Tax Status Indian Law Support Center ...................... 25 The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is a nonprofit, charitable National Indian Law Library ...................... 25 organization incorporated in 1971 under the laws of the District of Columbia. NARF is exempt from federal income tax under the Treasurer's Report . 28 provisions of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to NARF are tax deductible. The Internal Revenue State Index ....................................... 36 Service has ruled that NARF is not a "private foundation" as defined in Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Founded in 1970 and CREDITS Photos: Ankers Capitol Photographers (Washington, incorporated in 1971 in D.C.); Elsie Dennis (Olympia, Wash.); Johan Elbers (New York City); Washington, D.C. Hebald & Co. (Denver); George Mclemore (Edinburg, Texas); News Photos Worldwide (Washington, D.C.); Charles Sigo (Suquamish, Wash.); and Jerry Stowall (Boulder, Colo.). Typesetting: Horizon Graphics & Type Co. (Boulder, Colo.). Graphics: DWI Associates (Boulder, Colo.). The Native American Rights Fund is but one of many Indian organizations throughout the country working for American Indians on the local, regional, and national levels. Why have these Indian groups come into being and how do they fit into Indian life and Indian rights? To a great extent, it is failure of federal policy which has made these groups necessary. It was the failure of the federal government to fully protect the legal rights of Indians which brought NARF into being. Although Indians possess the same general rights as other people in this country, we also have rights unique to Indians, rights inherited from our ancestors and necessary for the preservation of our traditional ways of life. Many of these rights are guaranteed in treaties negotiated by the United States with Indian tribes on a sovereign-to-sovereign basis, and are part of the supreme law of the land, the United States Constitu­ tion. These special Indian rights concern tribal self­ government, water, land, hunting and fishing, Native religious freedom, and other matters upon which the survival of Indian people today is dependent. Unfortunately, there are those who would wipe out all Indian rights if they could. And to hide their real motives, these people speak of equality of citizenship. But we know that this means losing the more important rights that are vested in tribal rights. Our recent history with the tragic termination policy of the 1950s and '60s, in which an end to the federal trusteeship for Indians was attempted, has shown that Indian tribes need to Roger Jim Steering Committee Chairman survive as sovereign tribal nations to prevent the further loss of Indian property and rights. States and local governments, as well as the federal government, still attack Indian rights. Indian nations, therefore, will continue to need legal assistance in order to defend their rights against contrary claims, to strengthen their tribal governments to withstand the more sophisticated attacks of the non-tribal society, and to increase tribal expertise to avoid losing what we have left. As chairman of the Steering Committee of the Native American Rights Fund, I have not only the obligation but the sincere desire to see that Indian individuals, organizations, and tribes receive whatever assistance NARF is able to provide which will help protect the rights that affect Indian countty and Indian people. All tribal leaders, myself as well as others, must prove our right to lead our people through our actions. And it must be action that does not compromise the rights of Indian people, but assures that the dominant society will give recognition to tribal rights and tribal nations. 2 The year 1982 was the twelfth year in which the f\jative American Rights Fund provided legal representation to Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals on issues of major significance to Indian people throughout the country. With $270,000 less in federal funds due to federal program budget cuts, 1982 was our most difficult year financially. Remarkably, however, private contributors recognized the importance of our work and their support enabled us to replace these lost federal funds and maintain the level of our services. The access to justice for our Indian clients made possible by this financial support produced, once again in 1982, many Indian rights successes. The most significant achievements were in two cases that NARF has been involved in for several years.