As part of Mainstreet Radio series "Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country,” MPR’s Tom Robertson reports on tribal sovereignty and the civil rights issues within reservation tribal courts.
Reports of civil rights violations on Minnesota's Indian reservations have been persistent for years. Indians have filed scores of complaints to state and federal agencies, saying they live under a system where political patronage and nepotism rule the day and tribal leaders can manipulate the legal system to benefit themselves and their supporters. The past few years have brought major reforms in tribal government, but there is still a lingering mistrust.
Today, many American Indians live in two worlds. Off the reservation they are guaranteed all the rights of a U.S. citizen. On the reservation, those federal rights disappear, replaced by the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, enforced by tribal governments. Many Indian people in Minnesota and the Dakotas say they've come to expect injustice both on and off the reservation.
This is part four of eight-part series "Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country."
Click links below for other parts of series:
Awarded:
2001 NBNA Eric Sevareid Award, first place in Radio - Large Market - Continuing Coverage category
2001 Minnesota AP Award, Best in Show - Radio Class III category
2001 PRNDI Award, second place in Division A - Series category
2002 RTNDA Murrow Award, Radio - Large Market, Region 4 / News Series category