The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut is reported to be close to defaulting on a $500 million loan.

“The Mashantucket situation could set a precedent,” Moody’s Investors Service said. “With casinos such as Foxwoods located on sovereign tribal land potentially out of reach of US bankruptcy law, it remains unclear whether creditors could enforce their rights.”

The tribe reportedly owns more than $2 billion in debt incurred from the operation and expansion of Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods.

Troubled casino to test extent of tribal sovereignty (The Financial Times 11/19)

Representatives of the Gila River Indian Community, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and the Tohono O’odham Nation met with the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Phoenix to promote their reservations as good places to do business.

The Gila River and Salt River tribes’ lands sit along major interstate highways and in lucrative areas.

The Tohono O’odhams live on a reservation about the size of Connecticut and it is trying to diversify its economy with real estate and other projects.

“Why would anyone want to do business on the reservation? Because you have a captured customer base,” said Travis Nabahe, chief executive officer of the Tohono O’odham Nation Economic Development Authority.

Tribes invite businesses to reservations (The Arizona Republic 11/19)

Landowners and energy companies are challenging the placement of Mount Taylor on the Register of Cultural Properties in New Mexico.

A group filed a law suit against the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee claiming that the committee violated the state’s Open Meetings Act and that placing Mount Taylor on the register amounts to government endorsement of tribal religion.

Acoma Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, Zuni Pueblo, the Navajo Nation, and the Hopi Tribe consider Mount Taylor to be one of their most significant sites and they want to protect the site from uranium development.

Group Challenges Mt. Taylor Listing (The Albuquerque Journal 11/19)

The U.S. Interior Department has delayed its decision on oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea of Alaska.

Shell Oil Co. has asked for more time to respond to public comments about its plan.

Alaska Natives oppose drilling in the Chukchi because they are worried about the impact on whales, seals, polar bears, and other subsistence foods.

At the White House Tribal Nations Conference earlier this month, Native leaders asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to take a close look at off-shore drilling plans. In contrast, Alaska’s congressional delegation is pushing Salazar to make a decision.

Read more – Obama administration pauses on Alaska drilling (AP 11/19)

The news reports that some residents of the Riverton Wyoming area are expressing concern about a proposed agreement between the city and the Northern Arapaho Tribe to cooperate on common interests.

The city and tribe have agreed to work together on issues, such as zoning and land-use planning and economic development efforts.

At a public meeting on Monday night, some local residents expressed fears about being under the jurisdiction of the Wind River Indian Reservation.

As I have written many times, the lack of criminal jurisdiction by tribal governments over non-Indian defendants causes many problems in Indian Country. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has held many hearings to discuss this issue.

Along that line, it is no surprise that news reports show that tribal lands in the west face increased drug use and gang violence. In addition, tribal governments have small police departments to try to patrol their vast territories.

The Senate recently heard reports that gang leaders are trying to use tribal reservations to grow marijuana and cook methamphetamine. These actions have also caused the use of these drugs to skyrocket in tribal communities.

According to federal law enforcement agents, this increased drug use can be blamed on Mexican gangs using reservation lands.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the Senate committee chairman, said it appears that Mexican gangs are moving east from California to use tribal lands. He noted a Wall Street Journal article that said drug production is growing the fastest on American Indian reservations.

The Utah news reports that recent legislation is funding the development of school curriculum on American Indian history and culture that can be taught to any age group, but specifically to students in 4th and 7th-grade Utah studies programs.

“I think for too long the American Indian story has been considered only a 19th century story,” said Elizabeth Player, an educator hired to work with the University of Utah’s American West Center to develop 24 lesson plans, including glossaries, mini-histories, interactive maps of original territories and more for Utah teachers to incorporate more of the American Indian heritage into current teaching plans. “This shows that our Utah American Indians are here, they’re vital, they’re living their culture. To make sure that our students are seeing that in their classrooms is going to make a big difference.”

Several years ago, nationwide studies indicated that Utah fell behind other states in its efforts to educate American Indians and to teach their heritage in public schools. The shortfalls resulted in a growing number of dropouts among American Indians, as well as increased lack of interest in schools among the demographic. Local leaders and lawmakers responded with the encouragement to develop new curriculum.

The Seattle Times reports that a multitude of law suits are expected to be filed against the Catholic Church and the Jesuit order for all sorts of abuse claims.

Apparently, many claims are expected to be filed about the St. Mary’s Mission and School at Omak Washington and there is a Nov. 30 deadline.

More than 100 people in Washington state are expected to file abuse claims against the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, by the deadline. Across the Northwest, about 400 to 500 people total are expected to file — most of them Native Americans or Alaska Natives.

As of last week, about 240 claims had already been filed.

The Jesuit province — which covers Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana and Idaho — declared bankruptcy in February, saying it didn’t have enough to pay for about 200 pending or threatened lawsuits, most filed by Alaska Natives who said they were abused in their remote villages years ago.

An unsettled question is whether the assets of Jesuit schools and universities — including Seattle University and Gonzaga University — belong to the province.

Attorneys for the victims argue that they do, and therefore can be used to pay creditors. The schools and the province say they are legally and financially separate from each other. It will be up to the court to decide.

This same argument was raised in an Oregon bankruptcy case concerning the Catholic Church and court cases alleging abuse.

The administrative process conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for recognizing new federally recognized Indian tribes has been criticized for years.

A top BIA official has promised to reform the federal recognition process.

Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs George Skibine told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs it would take about two years to review existing regulations and develop new ones in consultation with tribal nations.

Committee Chairman Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and other members of the committee noted the “frustrating” fact that similar hearings have occurred on average every two years for the past several years.

Skibine said Larry EchoHawk, the new assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, agreed at his confirmation hearing that the acknowledgment process needs to be improved.

“So he has asked me to be the chief architect of trying to fix what is broken, and as a result, I have committed to him that this is going to be one of the priorities of his administration and we are going to get that done before he leaves office, for sure.”

Read more.

The violence against Brazil’s Indigenous peoples appears to be continuing.

The Conselho Indigenista Missionário, (CIMI – local NGO), CIMI Regional Mato Grosso do Sul, Av. Afonso Pena, 1557 Sala 208 Bl.B, 79002-070 Campo Grande/MS, Brasil, Email: cimims@terra.com.br

is reporting that a male teacher, Rolindo Vera, a member of the Guarani Kaiowa Indigenous group, has been missing since October 30 after a violent eviction was carried out by armed men in Mato Groso do Sul state near Brazil’s border with Paraguay. They also report that another male teacher, Genivaldo Vera, also went missing during this eviction and that his body was found later in a nearby river.

This kind of violence against native peoples replicates much of American history that occurred on the “frontier” between advancing American settler, ala Daniel Boone, and the Indian peoples who naturally resisted this invasion of their homelands.

The Brazilan Indigenous organization is asking that people write immediately in Portuguese or your own language and demand that the Federal Police, working with their counterparts in Paraguay, redouble their efforts to find Rolindo Vera and fulfill their obligations under the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 169, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Brazilian constitution by demarcating lands to be returned to Indigenous communities.

Here is the address they give: Federal Minister of Justice, Exmo. Sr. Tarso Genro, Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco “T”, 70712-902 – Brasília/DF Brasil, Fax: + 55 61 3322 6817/ 3224 3398, Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister

and to Federal Human Rights Secretary, Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos, Exmo. Secretário Especial,
Sr. Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi Esplanada dos Ministérios- Bloco “T” – 4º andar, 70064-900 -Brasília/DF Brasil, ax: + 55 61 3226 7980, Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Secretário