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The former chairman of the Blackfeet Nation has resigned from his post on the tribal council following his arrest last week.
Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports.
Blackfeet Tribal Business Council members last week announced that board member Tim Davis was arrested for disorderly conduct and threatening a public official.
The allegations are related to legal charges family members face for selling and possessing drugs, including fentanyl, at Davis’ house last year.
The council was scheduled to hold an expulsion hearing for Davis this week, but he resigned before the hearing, according to a press release from the council.
Nearly a year ago, police arrested nine people at the home of then-tribal chair Davis on drug-related charges.
Shortly after, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council unanimously voted to remove Davis as chairman, but he continued to serve on the council. Davis denied that he knew anything about the drugs at his home.
According to the release announcing Davis’ resignation, he said “I understand the importance and high standard of conduct that each member of the Blackfeet Tribal Council must conduct oneself, which is why I am resigning.”
The Blackfeet Nation will hold a special election on April 25 to fill Davis’ seat through the end of his term in July.
Leaders of the Wabanaki Nations are calling on Maine lawmakers to recognize tribal sovereignty and help ensure a better economic future for their youth.
The first “State of the Tribes” address in two decades was recently delivered focusing on self-determination and economic collaboration with the state.
Kathryn Carley has more.
Research shows the five Wabanaki tribes could be an economic engine for large parts of rural Maine, but restrictions set in the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 ensure the tribes are governed under state law.
The tribes are also not guaranteed access to federal programs like the other 574 federally recognized tribes in the U.S.
Mi’kmaq Tribe Vice Chief Richard Silliboy says self-governance would bring jobs and growth to one of the nation’s poorest areas.
“This wouldn’t just benefit the Native Americans. This would benefit the surrounding communities. This would benefit the state of Maine as a whole.”
Silliboy says Wabanaki tribes would benefit from available federal dollars, helping them to create local farming and mill jobs, or extend hours at a fishery that once fed diners in Portland.
A growing bipartisan effort is backing legislation that could avoid a veto by Governor Janet Mills, who has long opposed tribal sovereignty over concerns for land use and potential litigation.
In its recent report, a Guatemalan human rights monitoring group says attacks against human rights defenders, including Indigenous leaders throughout the country are on the rise.
Maria Martin reports.
The Union for the Protection of Guatemalan Human Rights Defenders (UFEDEGUA) says in 2022, they documented over 3,500 attacks.
These ranged from the criminalizing of independent judges and prosecutors to threats and arrests of Indigenous leaders opposing mining and palm oil projects, to organized smear campaigns on social media.
UFEDEGUA says vengeance against its political and economic enemies has become Guatemala’s public policy.
“Vengeance is definitely a strong word” says Brenda Guillen of UDEFEGUA, “but when you analyze what’s happening, we see retaliation using the system against Indigenous and other human rights defenders.”
The government has not yet responded to the report.
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