Threat to Indian sovereignty

Grants | Legacy Digitization | Topics | Politics |
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Two provisions in a major spending bill in the US Senate would deal a serious blow to the sovereignty of Native American tribes. The first would force tribes to waive their sovereign immunity from civil lawsuits or lose 767-million dollars in Federal funding. The second would deny tribes Federal money if tribal members' average income is above a certain level. Some say it's part of a strategy to eventually dismantle tribal protections. The proposals apparently face stiff opposition in the Senate and a Presidential veto threat. But if they were to pass, Federal Judge Jack Tunheim doesn't think they'd survive in the judiciary. The measures are riders on a 13-billion dollar bill paying for the National Endowment for the Arts and parklands acquisition, and are supported by a Senator who has an old axe to grind, according to Henry Buffalo.

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Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.

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