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Oyate Court, a criminal justice partnership between state prosecutors and tribal representatives, is expanding.
After beginning in Pennington County, efforts are underway to create a similar program in nearby Tripp County.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene has more.
Oyate Court offers a path for those in the criminal justice system that goes beyond locking up an offender.
Under the program, certain state cases are handed over to the Oyate Court.
A circle of Lakota elders hears from all parties involved and comes up with a solution.
Organizers say this follows an ancient procedure called “Peacemaking Circles”.
Pennington County States Attorney Mark Vargo helped develop the program. He says everyone involved shares a goal.
“Our relationship with Wambli Ska and Woyatan Lutheran Church, who are two of the centerpieces and the main people who are putting the time and effort into creating the Oyate Court, did not start because we had the idea to create an Oyate Court. It started because we were doing diversion programming to try to get kids into a better situation.”
Vargo says the program is steeped in Native culture.
“Wambli Ska and Woyatan (Lutheran Church) sponsored and ran come-as-you-are powwows, just very casual powwows where young native men and women could come and learn to dance, learn to make regalia, learn to drum sing. We would literally youngsters coming through our diversion programming, either juvenile or adult, and we would tell them that the condition of their diversion is that they go attend five or six of these.”
Jonathan Old Horse has been named an advisor for the upcoming Tripp County project. He says the future looks bright for the program.
“Actually we’ve had interest in the States Attorney Association, which is a nationwide association. We’ve had eight states attorneys that are very very interested in what the Oyate Court is doing and how it can be implemented into cities. Using those tools of restorative justice.”
Old Horse says Oyate Court is an effort to address challenges at the root level as opposed to incarceration.
A tribe based in Oregon has given out a record amount of grants to regional non-profits.
KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.
The Coquille Indian Tribal Community Fund distributed $815,000 this year across five Oregon counties. That’s nearly triple last year’s total.
Among those getting grant money is Community Supported Shelters, which received $6,300.
Heather Quaas-Annsa is CSS’ director of philanthropy.
“We’re absolutely thrilled. The funds are going to be used for our Kitchen Coordination program, specifically going towards catering supplies that we need to make sure our clients in our Conestoga hut communities receive warm food during these super cold winter months.”
The Coquille Indian Tribal Community Fund has distributed over $8 million in casino proceeds since 2001.
Other recipients this year include SquareOne Villages and South Lane Mental Health.
The Interior Department has announced the Board on Geographic Names has voted to replace more places with the SQ word.
The agency in September announced the vote for the replacement of nearly 650 names and the review of seven more locations.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says words matter and has expressed the need for the nation’s public lands and waters to be welcoming to people of all backgrounds.
Last week’s vote was made after a year-long process to remove the term considered offensive to Native women.
The locations are in Alaska, California, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
Updates of the names are immediately effective for federal use.
The public may still weigh in through the Board on Geographic Names process.
The seven places for additional review included:
- SQ Harbor, Alaska: Removed from consideration. Feature is a historical area that no longer serves as an unincorporated community.
- SQ Hill, Calif.: Name changed to Loybas Hill. Proposed by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, the name translates to “Young Lady” and honors the past, present and future Native women from and living in the area.
- SQ Valley, Calif.: Name changed to Yokuts Valley, which was proposed during the public comment period. Yokuts translates to “people.”
- SQ Gap, N.D.: Name changed to Homesteaders Gap, which was selected by the community in the populated area as relevant to their local history.
- SQ berry, Tenn.: Name changed to Partridgeberry, another common name for the plant for which the community is currently named.
- SQ Mountain, Texas: Name changed to Lynn Creek in honor of Isaac Lynn, who lived on the creek nearby that bears his name.
- SQ Place, Wyo.: Removed from consideration. Feature is a locale now listed as privately owned land.
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