 2013, Issue 3
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5 Steps to Help Tribes Engage with the United Nations |
President's
Message
Robert T. Coulter |
One of the largest tribes in the United States recently asked me how to get involved at the United Nations. This is an important question because Indian nations must be involved in UN activities to protect our rights and interests as nations and tribes, particularly with the climate of hostile and unsympathetic domestic courts and agencies. Here are five concrete steps to get started.
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| Vote To Change Timbisha Shoshone Constitution Stopped |
Timbisha Shoshone tribal leaders won a small victory in a battle to preserve their sovereign government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) called off a scheduled Nov. 4, 2013, Secretarial Election to vote on a new constitution for the Tribe. The proposed constitution would revoke the existing Constitution adopted by the Tribe in 1986 and establish many non-Timbisha as new tribal members.
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| Protecting Native Women Today and Tomorrow |
The Indian Law Resource Center and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) have launched a new campaign to raise awareness of and help end violence against Native women and girls. The campaign is two-fold, featuring a series of “Survivor Stories” with Native women who have experienced domestic and sexual violence and another series of videos on the theme of “Native Love,” with Native youth expressing what Native love means to them and the changes they want to see in their communities.
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 | Sheila Harjo survived 8 years of abuse by her former husband. Today, as First Lady of The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and Councilwoman, she has helped her tribe establish a shelter for abused women. |  | Lisa Frank, Gwich’in, finds strength from her Native culture to speak up for women who have been the victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse. |
  | Justin Secakuku, a member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona, shares the Hopi view of white corn, known as the corn mother, and likens it to the value of women in Native communities to give and produce life. |  | Jalisa Ross (Creek, Cherokee, and Otoe-Missouri) believes Native love includes the ability to walk in grace; to humble oneself to serve and protect others. | 
Your voice matters in building awareness about violence against Native Women. |
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| Inter-American Development Bank to Investigate Harmful Wind Power Project in Mexico |
 The Center is providing legal council to seven indigenous communities whose lands and resources are being threatened by a massive wind farm located in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Center filed a request to have the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) investigate the impact of the project which the IDB helped fund. The Center is pushing for policy changes to better protect human and land rights regarding IDB funded projects.
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| Panel Discussion Highlights Need to Safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ Collective Ownership Rights |
The Washington, D.C. office recently held a panel discussion to highlight Indigenous Peoples’ land rights and the impacts of development activities financed by the World Bank. The panel brought together development and indigenous rights experts to identify key issues regarding indigenous peoples and land. Drawing examples from past Bank-financed projects, panelists showed that when indigenous peoples’ lands are at issue, development outcomes often depend on the extent to which projects recognize indigenous peoples’ special relationship to, and collective ownership rights over, their lands and resources.
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The Center participated in the 24th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Switzerland in September. Oral and written statements were made to the Human Rights Council on combating violence against Indigenous women, setting international legal standards for the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks, and recommendations for action at the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples. All of the statements and video testimony are available here. Please review and share.
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 Please support and celebrate 35 years of the Center working for justice for indigenous peoples with your donation today! Your gift makes it possible for us to continue advocating for indigenous peoples’ permanent status for participation in the United Nations, an end to violence against Native and indigenous women and children, land and human rights protections, and much more.
Please join us in this important work and donate today. Thank you for your support!
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