News from the Nations

 


U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Cancel Washington NFL Team’s R-Word Trademark

(June 18, 2014) In a landmark ruling issued on Wednesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) cancelled the Washington NFL team’s federal trademark registration of the term “Redskins.” Deeming the term “disparaging to Native Americans,” the ruling by the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) cancels the trademark status of the name, no longer providing the team with legal rights to the term.

Earlier this year, the USPTO rejected an application to register the trademark of “Redskins Hog Rinds,” citing growing opposition to the name and five separate dictionary definitions showing the offensive meaning of the R-word.

However, according to a Patent and Trademark office statement, “The decision does not, however, require the trademarks in the involved registrations to be changed or no longer be used by Washington, D.C.’s pro football team. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board does not have jurisdiction in a cancellation proceeding to require that a party cease use of a mark, but only to determine whether a mark may continue to be registered.  This decision can be reviewed by a federal court. The registrations will not appear in the USPTO’s records as cancelled until after any judicial review is completed.”

Despite the mounting calls for change, Washington team owner Dan Snyder and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell continue to defend the team’s name.

President Obama Follows Visit With Strong Action Plan for Indian Country

Reprinted from Indian Country Today Media Network

In the wake of Friday’s visit by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, the White House released an action plan to help strengthen and sustain at least two of Obama’s biggest initiatives in Indian country: Education and Economic Development.

Acknowledging the “crisis” in Indian education, including low educational attainment rates of Native high school students and the even lower number of college graduates in Indian country, the departments of Interior and Indian Education released a “Blueprint for Reform,” a comprehensive plan “to redesign the BIE to achieve one overarching goal: for tribes to deliver a world-class education to all students attending BIE schools,” according the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

On Friday, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell signed a secretarial order to start the transformation of the Bureau of Indian Education into a “School Improvement Organization,” authorizing the shift of the BIE into a “resource provider” to tribally controlled schools. In doing so, administration officials say that the department will provide customized technical assistance by developing the schools’ educational leadership skills and delivering resources informed by best practices in student support, instruction, financial management, organizational management, teacher training, recruitment, and retention.

“We are very encouraged by the President’s remarks and his commitment to improving education for Native American youth,” said Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, whose tribe hosted the President and First Lady at Friday’s Flag Day Wacipi Celebration. “We are pleased that the President has demonstrated his dedication to strengthening the Bureau of Indian Education, through additional funding and policy improvements, which we remain hopeful will include the opportunity for tribes to pursue charter schools while utilizing BIE assistance. The tribe looks forward to working with the Administration on this important issue.”

The plan was developed by a “study group” of more than 400 stakeholders in Indian education after a series of tribal consultations around the country earlier this year, which included Lone Man Day School in Oglala, South Dakota; Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, Oklahoma; Muckleshoot School in Auburn, Washington; and Gila River Head Start Building in Sacaton, Arizona.

Additionally, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held an oversight hearing on May 21 in which Melvin Monette, President of the National Indian Education Association and a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, testified that the current crisis in Indian education was due in part to the federal government’s “inability” to uphold its trust responsibilities and obligations in regards to Native education.

Chairman Tester issues statement on passage of “Carcieri fix”

(Jun 12, 2014) Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Jon Tester released the following statement after his bill which reaffirms the Secretary of the Interior’s authority to take land into trust for tribes passed out of Committee by unanimous voice vote:

“This bill is a step in the right direction to ensure that tribes have the tools they need to strengthen their economies and improve the lives and communities in Indian Country. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate as this bill moves forward.”

Tester’s bill – known as the Carcieri fix – overturns the controversial U.S. Supreme Court’s Carcieri decision that created two classes of tribes, those recognized before 1934 and tribes who were recognized after 1934.

Tester’s bill is co- sponsored by Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and supported by Senators Mark Begich (D- Alaska), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and John Walsh (D-Mont.).

700 kilometer by foot - Walk against pipeline projects arrives at Kanehsatake 

Kanesehta:ke, June 14, 2014 - The citizens who have been walking for 700km to protest the expansion of pipelines and tar sands in Quebec achieved their goal as they arrived in Kanehseta:ke.

For the past month, the marcheurs have been following the proposed routes of the TransCanada Energy East and Enbridge Line 9 pipelines to raise awareness in communities directly impacted by these projects. The marcheurs, aged 4 to 76, succeeded in gathering over a thousand signatures for the “Declaration to Protect Our Territory”, an initiative of the “Coule Pas Chez Nous!” (“Don’t Spill in Our Home!”) campaign, which asks municipal, provicincial and federal representatives to work towards a future of community-based, renewable and responsible energy sources.

Like the choice to begin the walk in Cacouna, where TransCanada plan to build an oil port, the decision to end the walk on Mohawk territory was quite intentional. The territory of more than 155 indigenous is threatened by the TransCanada pieline, and the marcheurs hope to unite their voice with those of First Nations to promote respect for the environment, with inspiration from the mobilization initiated by western Canadians against the Northern Gateway pipeline.

“Thanks to the citizen’s initiative of the Peoples’ March for Mother Earth, it has now been 34 days that First Nations and Quebecois have been walking side by side in the spirit of collaboration to resist these irresponsible pipleine projects that pollute our land and our water. The dialogue between peoples has started in Quebec, and a common resistance between nations is growing. Our peoples united will never be defeated!” asserted Nicholas Ouellet, a law student from Saint-Joseph-du-Lac who has been organizing in the march.

Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Heitkamp-Backed Bill to Preserve Native American Languages

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on legislation cosponsored by U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp that would help Native American children learn their native languages to make sure those languages continue to survive, while also boosting academic performance among students.

Heitkamp’s Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act would help protect Native languages by establishing a grant program to support Native language immersion instruction from pre-Kindergarten through college. During a time when 37 percent of Native children live in poverty and only half graduate from high school, language immersion programs have been shown to build pride in Native American cultures and languages, boost morale, and improve students’ academic performance and attendance, equipping Native youth with the resources and tools they need to be successful.

In North Dakota, programs that would benefit from such grants include the Lakȟól’iyapi Hoȟpí (Lakota Language Nest) at Standing Rock, Wakanheza oti (Sacred Children’s Place) at Spirit Lake, and Tiny Turtles preschool at Turtle Mountain, which often face hurdles hiring qualified staff and purchasing relevant curriculum.

In March, identical legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Last week, Heitkamp welcomed President Obama to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota to showcase the tribe’s history and culture, while also discussing ways the federal government can better work with tribal nations to improve conditions and opportunities for Native children and families.

 

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