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Congress refers to “the historical and special relationship of the Federal Government with Indian people,” and (like the Indian Child Welfare Act, (like 25 U.S.C. 1901), finds that “the United States has a direct interest, as trustee, in protecting Indian children” (25 U.S.C. 3201(1)(F)).

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) this week announced the passage in the Senate of S398, amendments to the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act of 1990. The bill, according to Senator Dorgan’s testimony, is “virtually identical to legislation which the Senate adopted last year. . . .”

The Senator continued, “The primary goals of that Act were to reduce the incidence of child abuse, and mandate the reporting and tracking of child abuse in Indian Country.” Additionally the bill authorizes “a study to identify impediments to the reduction of child abuse. . . as well as require[s] data collection and annual reporting to Congress concerning child abuse. . . .”

According to a press release issued by Senator Dorgan’s office, the bill “will provide treatment programs” for victims, “background checks for employees who work with Indian children,” as well as “training in suicide prevention and treatment for professional staff at . . . Indian Child Resources and Family Service Centers.” The bill will also “involve FBI and Attorney General in . . . tracking of data involving incidents of child abuse.”

Since many victims of child abuse attempt or succeed in suicide, the bill includes a provision for assuring that trained behavioral health professionals, particularly those who have training in suicide prevention be on staff at Indian Child Resources and Family Service Centers.

Late last month Amnesty International (AI) published a report: Maze of Injustice: the failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA. The press release announcing the report says, statistically more than one in 3 native (meaning American Indian and Alaska Native) women will be “raped in their lifetimes.” This figure is 2.5 times more than the probability of this happening to U.S. women in general

Because of the magnitude of the problem, AI asserts that this fact amounts to more than a criminal or social issue, and that it constitutes a human rights abuse.

AI contends that government figures “grossly underestimate the” incidence “because many women are too fearful of inaction [on the part of law enforcement officials] to report their cases.”

The report indicates that jurisdictional issues “allow perpetrators to rape with impunity.” A support worker for Native American survivors of sexual violence, is quoted in the report, “Before asking ‘what happened,’ police ask: ‘Was it in our jurisdiction?’ ”

Another support worker, in Oklahoma, told AI, “When an emergency call comes in, the sheriff will say ‘but this is Indian land.’ Tribal police will show up and say the reverse. Then, they just bicker and don’t do the job. Many times, this is what occurs.”

Law enforcement, according to AI, does not regard rape as a high priority assignment. The mother of a victim, in seeking justice after an assault on her daughter, was told her only recourse was through the FBI, located 125 miles away. When she asked questions of an agent as to what they were doing to apprehend the suspect, she was told, ”This case isn’t on the top of our list.”

Victims are often reluctant to report the assault because they know from the experiences of other women that the assault will often not be taken as a serious issue. An episode described in the report details how a 16-year-old female from Grand Forks, North Dakota, psychologically damaged by a sexual assault, stole a car. Her sentence for this offense was greater than that given to the person who raped her.

In addition, law enforcement personnel are frequently ignorant of how to handle evidence and rape kits are frequently, and it’s suggested—conveniently, mishandled or lost, making it impossible for a victim of sexual assault to prove her case.

Both the Senate Bill and the Amnesty International report are important. These documents point out the problems that exist and suggest solutions.

The AI report is especially valuable in its explicit information, e.g. giving reasons why native women are at risk, stating why victims/survivors of rape don’t report the assault, why victims/survivors are denied justice, and why perpetrators are not apprehended and punished.

However, in my view, the recommendations presented in these two documents are not appropriate. The efforts are laudable, but (as my friend Jody Crowe would ask) are they asking the right questions? Are they proposing the right solutions? I think not.

The suggested remedies in both documents call for action at the federal level. With all due respect, how could anyone expect to turn to the federal government for a solution when the federal government is responsible for the situation in the first place. In the case of the Senate bill, I believe there are already mechanisms in place that will do what the bill is proposing. Both the Senate bill and the AI report call for more money from a number of different agencies—for health services, for education and training of relevant personnel, more money for law enforcement, for cleaning up jurisdictional problems, for new positions, for support of tribal courts, etc.

How can anyone justify the appropriation of more money when the federal government allocates $12 billion annually to at most 600,000 enrolled tribal members living on reservations?. Add to that, these same ‘needy’ people control a gaming industry that produces $23 billion a year.

Additionally, AI would like to see the federal government boost the authority of tribal governments. This is a gross error in judgment.

The problem here lies with the on-going failure of federal Indian policy. It began in the 1700s and the tragedies that have resulted for the Indian people, as a result of these policies, are still perfectly visible today. The outward appearance has changed since earlier time, but the effects are manifest today in modern form, and are just as devastating.

Some of the more recent attempts by the federal government to address the “Indian problem” have been the Indian Self-Determination Act, the Indian Education Act, and the Indian Gaming Act.

Indians have been managing their own governmental affairs, educational systems, health services, businesses and economic development programs for over thirty years now as a result of these acts and the results have been astonishingly ineffectual. Reservation Indians today are further removed from self-sufficiency than they were 200 years ago.

It is probably true that many Indians want to be government Indians, i.e. those who are satisfied to live on the government dole, and that is unfortunate. Proportionally, I believe there are more such persons today than there were when I was a boy.

Since the enactment of the Indian Self-Determination Act (ISDA), the state of affairs on reservations has grown exponentially worse. Self-determination has allowed tribal governments to control the courts, the police force, economic development, jobs, services, policies and procedures.

There is no separation of powers, no checks and balances against misuse of authority. The executive branch, Tribal Council, holds all powers. In third world nations this form of government is called dictatorship. In America it is referred to as ‘tribal sovereignty.’

The concept of tribal sovereignty is inherent in all these acts. Because of this myth, despite being citizens of the United States as well as tribal members, reservation residents are consistently denied the protections and guarantees of the U.S. Constitution. Traditional guarantees, protections and liberties apply to Native Americans only when they live off reservation. Constitutional violations are prevalent on reservation because tribes are not required to uphold individual rights, and officials determine what rights the people will have.

Sovereignty is the Number One cause of corruption and poverty on reservations. Dominant society erroneously thinks tribal sovereign immunity is the right thing to do. Federal officials do the ingratiating dance of publicly acknowledging ‘the right’ of tribal sovereignty, and, at the same time, continue the paternalistic practices that have undermined legitimate law and order.

In addition to routinely suppressing human rights, corrupt tribal officials take license to pay themselves and their political favorites enormous salaries. There is a terrible disparity between the income of elected officials and their appointees, who enjoy the privilege of high position and pay based on political favoritism or family connection while members live at subsistence or poverty level.

The problems so visible on the reservations—governmental, social and familial dysfunction, poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of housing and employment, oppression, hopelessness and in general a lack of basic necessities to meet human needs—are traceable back to federal government policy and tribal sovereignty.

The litany of problems translates into the perfect formula to turn people to crime, drugs and violence in protest of the perceived and felt inequality. Drug use and traffic—and their partners, crime and violence--are overwhelming Indian reservations everywhere.

The number of tribal individuals affected by fetal alcohol effects is incredibly high and continues to rise. There are now three generations of fetal impaired individuals living on reservations. This fact contributes significantly to the over-all dysfunction of Indian communities.

Ironically, the people that are trying to address these issues are turning to the government for a solution when in fact that is the source, the fountainhead, of the problems. In addition to the Indian Self-Determination Act, the Indian Education Act, and the Indian Gaming Act were enacted by the federal government. The effects of these two acts have been as disastrous as was the Self-Determination Act.

Since the tribes have taken control of the education system, over 30 years ago, the situation has deteriorated visibly each decade. School attendance, test scores and graduation rates are at all time lows. A great number of those who do receive a high school diploma receive what is essentially a worthless piece of paper stating the student has completed an ‘alternative’ school program.

Illiteracy is on the increase, children are not prepared to earn a living and become responsible, productive members of society. This is unavoidable given the fact that the numbers of special education kids, including those with fetal alcohol effects (who unfortunately remain largely undiagnosed), have increased to the point where they make up anywhere from 50-100 per cent of the school population.

At the same time, because of poor attendance, athletics and extracurricular activities are decreasing, leading to a decline in children’s health. Obesity and diabetes are the result.

The Indian Gaming Act was intended to give Indian peoples the means to create jobs and improve living standards. Part of the rationale for approving the act was the concept that jobs would increase self-sufficiency and productivity. It would produce revenue that could be used to support needed programs and services and tribes would begin to pay their own way.

But that has not happened. Tribal gaming has improved life for an elite few. For the majority of tribal members, things have not gotten better. They have gotten progressively worse. The presence of a casino has been demonstrated to be a magnet for criminal activity. Crime rates in neighborhoods where a casino has opened have grown at a minimum by 10-12 per cent.

Revenue from tribal gaming should be available to offset these costs. Tribes should be capable of paying the costs associated with the crime and violence that comes in the wake of a casino opening. But that is far from actuality.

The tribes under the authority extended by the Indian Self-Determination Act administer Indian Health Service. Local agencies are prone to exploitation by tribal officials. In a center located on a local reservation, we’ve been told 17 members of the same family hold jobs.

In addition to funds from the government through the Indian Health Service, tribes receive money separately. This system has led to duplication of services, mismanagement and fraud. It has not however led to improved health conditions for tribal members.

When you look at the costs of drug abuse and treatment, the health care issues associated with drug related violence, I concede that money is an issue. It costs a great deal to rehabilitate drug users and restore health to those harmed through criminal activity. What is the cost of transporting a victim who’s experienced beating, shooting or stabbing from the reservation to an urban hospital by helicopter for emergency care?

What were the costs incurred as a result of the Red Lake School shooting? No one has publicly asked the question, nor has anyone stated the amount. The figure is, I’m sure, astronomical.

How much do the poor life style choices, made by Indians, cost in terms of money, of discomfort, in lost productivity and missed chances for a better life.

What are the costs of investigating, apprehending, prosecuting, jailing and rehabilitating the 19 Red Lakers recently charged with drug trafficking. And finally, how much harm (and how does that translate into monetary values) has been caused our members and our children from these 19 persons, and others, who made money by bringing drugs to the reservation.

The government’s idea of managing Indian Affairs is primarily the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Over the many years of its existence, BIA officials and employees have built an elaborate structure to deal with the various Indian problems as they arose. They are entrenched and ineradicable. The Bureau now exists for its own benefit. It is run on the basis of self-interest by civil servants whose careers have been sustained by “Indian problems.”

This feat was easy enough to accomplish because there is so much confusion about what is going on. There are enumerable authorities, each responsible for a whole spectrum of services and administrations. There is confusion about how much is owed to the Indians and what the burden of guilt should require in restitution.

The BIA is the epitome of self-interest and politics of the worst sort. It is insensitive and unresponsive. In an example close to home, over 600 lawful petitioners at Leech Lake submitted their case to the BIA for an opinion. More than 18 months have passed and the BIA has yet to deliver it.

Tribes are isolated by geography and by a lack of intelligent attention and proper oversight by the relevant governmental agencies.

How could anyone expect law and order to prevail when the very source—the federal government—is unresponsive, inattentive and inept.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) is culpable as well. Both agencies use inflated numbers to justify their budgets and the number of jobs authorized to each. They include Indians who live near reservations as well as actual reservation residents. This practice creates a fiction as to the monetary need of the actual number of persons eligible for services.

Although fewer than 600,000 Indians live on America’s reservations, the BIA and IHS reported to Congress that they had service populations of 1.5 million and 1.6 million respectively for their fiscal year 2006 budget justifications.

Our two starting points for this commentary, S398 and the Amnesty International report, are correct in one fundamental way. Congress must be forced to do something. Unfortunately, the solution to the problems they expose does not lie in business-as-usual processes. The answer lies in radically changing present policy.

Many Indians, including myself, believe the reservation system is beyond salvage. Most Native Americans do not want to be wards of the government, aka government Indians. They have demonstrated this fact by going away to school and to decent jobs.

The failed principles and policies of the feds are responsible in large part for the deplorable conditions that AI and the U.S. Senate are hoping to address. To turn to the federal government for solutions is simply a ridiculous premise.

PULL QUOTES: The [Amnesty International] report indicates that jurisdictional issues “allow perpetrators to rape with impunity.”

Tribal gaming has improved life for an elite few. For the majority of tribal members, things have not gotten better.

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