Articles
“Three Native American tribes in the West soon will have the power to prosecute non-natives for a limited set of crimes, becoming the first group of native communities to get such authority since a 1978 US Supreme Court ruling forbade it.
The ruling stripped tribes of any criminal jurisdiction over non-natives on their reservations. But last year’s reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Actallows tribes to bring cases against non-natives for domestic violence crimes and violations of protection orders.
US Department of Justice officials announced Thursday that the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Arizona, the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon have met requirements to implement provisions of the law starting Feb. 20 under a pilot project.
Other tribes can implement the law starting in March 2015.”
– The Christian Science Monitor, Violence Against Women Act: Tribes have new authority over non-natives
“During his 18 years with the Pascua Yaqui Police Department, Michael Valenzuela repeatedly grew frustrated when responding to reports of domestic violence.”
– The Los Angeles Times, Tribes get more power to handle domestic violence cases.
“Thanks to the latest reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the U.S. government is beginning to take steps to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence within American Indian tribes. On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that three tribes will participate in a pilot program that will allow them to prosecute non-Native men for abuse against Native American women, an initiative that will eventually be expanded to additional tribes.”
– Think Progess, ‘A Historic Turning Point’: Native American Women Finally Gain More Protection From Rape And Abuse.
“The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are poised to become among the first Indian tribes in the nation to start prosecuting non-Indians who live, work or go to school on the reservation for domestic violence offenses.
The Umatilla reservation is one of three tribes in the nation granted the authority to conduct such criminal prosecutions, starting Feb. 20.
“This expanded jurisdiction will give Umatilla tribal court the authority it needs to protect victims of domestic violence and hold offenders accountable,” said Oregon’s U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall.
The expanded authority given to the tribal court stems from the Violence Against Women Reauthorization of 2013 that President Obama signed into law last March.”
– The Oregonian, Umatilla tribes to become first in nation to prosecute non-Indians for domestic violence.
“The Tulalip Tribes will be one of the first tribes in the nation to exercise special criminal jurisdiction, allowing the tribal court to prosecute non-Indians for certain domestic violence crimes committed on the reservation.”
– HeraldNet, Tulalip project allows prosecution of domestic violence crimes
Download
Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #6 – Violence against Women (VAWA).
Close Ups
Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
Creative Commons License
This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
