The following post appears courtesy of the Civil Rights Division.

Last week the Department of Justice formally recognized Native American Heritage Month with a program based on this year’s theme “Serving Our People, Serving Our Nation: Native Visions for Future Generations.”  As this month of special recognition of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples comes to a close, it is important to remember that the best way we can honor the contributions of tribal communities is through ongoing collaboration and effective enforcement of the civil rights of Native Americans throughout the country.  The department’s work in this area is a year-round effort, with the active engagement of the Civil Rights Division’s Indian Working Group.

For too long, Native Americans have experienced discrimination and injustice, and the federal government can and must stop such discrimination.  The Indian Working Group, with representatives from every section of the division, is a critical tool in that work.  This collaborative effort elevates enforcement, outreach, and educational opportunities concerning Native American issues within the division, within the department, and throughout the country. 

The Indian Working Group is just one tool within the Civil Rights Division when it comes to reducing crime and advancing public safety in Native American communities and the Division continues to increase the number of cases affecting Native Americans.

The department confronts daily challenges to the civil rights of Native Americans, including vicious assaults born of hatred, and threats used to drive Native Americans out of their homes. In parts of Indian country, rates of violent crime are two times, four times, even ten times what they are in other communities.  One in three Indian women reports having been raped.  This is profoundly disturbing, and completely unacceptable.

A core part of safe communities is an effective, accountable police department that reduces crime, ensures respect for the Constitution, and earns the trust of the public it is charged with protecting.  This summer, the department  reached a comprehensive agreement with the City of Seattle regarding the Seattle Police Department’s use of excessive force and concerns about discriminatory policing. Seattle must create a Community Police Commission and invite Native American community input on the Seattle Police Department’s training requirements and policies.

The Civil Rights Division’s first case under the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was in New Mexico, where the department successfully prosecuted a group of men who assaulted a 22-year-old Navajo man with a developmental disability and defaced his body with white supremacist and anti-Native American symbols.

The division enforces laws that protect the freedom to practice one’s religion, free from discrimination or persecution while incarcerated. In September, the District Court in South Dakota agreed with us that Native American inmates must be permitted to use tobacco in religious ceremonies in prison, without second-guessing whether tobacco is traditional to Native American religious practices.

In 2010, when minorities were hit particularly hard by the housing crisis, we created a Fair Lending Unit to address credit discrimination.  Particularly in communities where unemployment rates were already high, as with many Native American communities, it is critical that we remain vigilant in enforcing fair housing and fair lending laws to ensure they do not suffer even further.

Using our authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we work to ensure state courts and other federally funded programs are free of discrimination and accessible to everyone, regardless of language – including Native Americans.

Finally, the division continues to enforce and defend the laws that enable access to the paramount expression of our democracy – the equal right to vote. The division enforces federal voting laws that protect Native Americans from discrimination based on race or membership in a language minority group.  We have been active in enforcing and defending voting laws in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Alaska. 

We do this work, not only because it is our legal responsibility as a government, but because it is our moral responsibility as members of a broader community.  We have the rule of  law and the will of the federal government behind us and we will continue to protect the civil rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

For more information on the Civil Rights Division efforts, you may contact the Indian Working Group at indianrights.workinggroup@usdoj.gov.

For information about the department’s wide array of efforts in tribal communities, please visit justice.gov/tribal.

Two students talk with the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, Mary Lou Leary after the first speaker and panel session.

The following post appears courtesy of Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs Mary Lou Leary

This week, I was privileged to meet with the more than 200 American Indian and Alaska Native youth and adult leaders from 53 tribal communities across the country at the 2012 National Intertribal Youth Summit.  The conference will run through Aug. 2 at the 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and at various locations in Washington, D.C.  I was inspired by the enthusiasm of these remarkable young people who are so strongly invested in the future of their communities, and so eager to help bring about positive change. 

During the summit, the teens will discuss the critical issues facing them in Indian Country.  The participants will have a chance to develop their leadership skills and engage in interactive discussions with tribal elders and leaders, youth advocates, and field experts on cultural values and community-based solutions to these pressing issues.  They will talk about their concerns with officials from Congress and the White House, and from the Departments of Justice, Interior, Health and Human Services and Education.  And while they are here they will tour our city’s monuments and visit the Capitol and the White House.

The Justice Department launched the Youth Summit initiative to promote long-term improvement in public safety in tribal communities.  The Department was responding to requests from tribal leaders for the development of culturally appropriate prevention, treatment and reentry programs for tribal youth and families.  The Summit provides an important opportunity for the Department to ask the young people themselves how they perceive the problems and what they recommend in formulating solutions.

As Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West said at the opening ceremony:

“This summit is an opportunity for those of us in Washington to hear directly from youth as representatives of their tribes…The choices that young leaders make will help define the future of their tribal nations.  Working together, we can develop solutions to the challenges that they, their families, and their peers face each day.”

The following post appears courtesy of Tracy Toulou, Director of the Office of Tribal Justice at the U.S. Department of Justice and and Yvette Roubideaux, Director of the Indian Health Service.

The New York Times recently published an article on the problem of sexual assault of Native American women. The article raises awareness about the higher rates of sexual assault on Native American women and the challenges of getting treatment for victims, as well as the barriers to prosecuting and convicting those who perpetrate these crimes. We at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) share the common goals of building safe and healthy American Indian and Alaska Native communities and reducing the unacceptably high rates of violence against women.

The Department of Justice, working with IHS as well as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other agencies, has responded to the call for equal justice in Indian Country with substantial action. At the start of this Administration, Attorney General Eric Holder established a Department-wide initiative on tribal public safety, and issued a clear directive to every U.S. Attorney serving Indian Country: Meet with the tribes in your district and develop operational plans to improve public safety. Plans are now in place and guiding our efforts to reduce crime through aggressive law enforcement, as well as focused prevention and intervention efforts.

One of the most important improvements involving public safety is a substantial increase in federal-tribal cooperation. Our attorneys meet regularly with tribal prosecutors to discuss cases and share intelligence. In fact, some of these tribal prosecutors are now working in U.S. Attorney’s offices to help ensure that cases do not fall between the jurisdictional cracks.

Last year, IHS put into place its first comprehensive sexual assault treatment policy, and has consulted with tribes on its implementation. The IHS Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative, now in its second year is providing new resources, staff, training, outreach and supplies/equipment for IHS and tribal facilities. IHS is also establishing Sexual Assault Response Teams and training Sexual Assault Examiners to properly treat victims of sexual assault. The Department of Justice and IHS are collaborating on training for evidence collection and with the Department of Interior on implementation of the Tribal Law and Order Act.

IHS and DOJ are working with other federal agencies in partnership with tribes to prevent and address sexual assault in Indian communities. The Administration has also expressed its strong support for the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization that protects all victims and includes key tribal provisions to strengthen the ability of tribes to prosecute perpetrators of domestic violence and reach victims before it’s too late.

Making Indian Country a safer and healthier place for everyone is a shared responsibility. Action is being taken to address the problem of sexual assaults, and although much work must still be done to fully address the severe levels of sexual assault in Tribal nations, our efforts are yielding results for women and girls in Tribal communities.

For more information on IHS programs to address sexual assault and violence against women, visit ihs.gov. For more information in DOJ efforts to strengthen public safety in Indian country, visit justice.gov/tribal.

The following post appears courtesy of Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West

This week, I was honored to be a guest of the people of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations in Montana.  I saw firsthand how the Crow and Northern Cheyenne are meeting the many challenges that face them with a spirit of resilience and commitment to community.   Like many American Indian and Alaska Native communities, both communities struggle with unacceptable rates of violence against women and children, unemployment, youth delinquency, substance abuse, and suicide.

But there is also much to be hopeful for.  In my conversations with tribal leaders, law enforcement and court officials, health care workers, community advocates, youth and other tribal members this week, I was awed at the many small and large efforts underway to make these communities safer and healthier.  I was astounded at how Indians, young and old, are keeping alive ancient traditions that strengthen the bonds of family and community.

Building safe and healthy communities in Indian country is a top priority for the Department of Justice.  One of the reasons for my visit was to explore ways to build on the progress we are making through an unprecedented level of collaboration and communication with tribes, through leadership at the Justice Department and the innovative work of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country.  In Montana, these efforts are led by U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter, whose staff is fully engaged in programs underway on Montana reservations.

On Wednesday, Mike and I visited the Child and Adolescent Referral and Evaluation Center (CARE) facility at the Crow/Northern Cheyenne hospital, where children who may be victims of crime or have been exposed to violence are cared for in a safe environment that reduces trauma, provides comprehensive care, and facilitates the investigation that can bring justice and accountability where a crime has been committed.

We also announced a pilot project to establish Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) on all Montana reservations.  We hope that placing SART teams on every Montana reservation will bring healing and justice to victims of sexual violence – the kind of help that will also strengthen the faith and confidence that native women have in their criminal justice system.

On Thursday, we explored an array of youth programs underway at the Northern Cheyenne Boys and Girls Club, which provides a safe haven for at-risk youth, offers prevention programs to cut drop-out rates, teen pregnancy, and youth incarceration, and nurtures boys and girls with cultural activities that also keep Northern Cheyenne culture alive.

It was a privilege and an inspiration to visit Montana Indian country this week, and it is my hope that we continue to learn from one another and work together on this shared journey.  We have quite a ways to go to solve some very difficult problems, but with mutual respect and unbreakable resolve, we are certainly moving in the right direction.

From left Deputy Attorney General Cole, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme, and U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon at the recreated Mandan Village at the Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park on the road between Standing Rock and Bismarck, N.D.

The following post appears courtesy of Tim Purdon, U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota.

This week we were honored to have the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Jim Cole, visit the District of North Dakota on a singular mission: to meet with tribal leaders, tribal youth, and all of our law enforcement partners to discuss what we can all do as partners to strengthen public safety in Indian country. This mission is a top priority of the Department of Justice and a clear mandate from Attorney General Holder, who has committed each U.S. Attorney District with Indian country jurisdiction to develop an operational plan and to meet annually with tribal leaders to find ways to reduce violent crime.

Here in North Dakota we are seeing dramatic changes that raise both hope and concern.  At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, since 2009 I have dedicated more prosecutors to this mission, resulting in a 78 percent rise in cases.  We have cross-commissioned a tribal prosecutor who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Assistant US Attorneys from my office to bring cases in federal court. We are working closer than ever with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the FBI.

We have also started a unique anti-violence strategy at the Standing Rock Reservation by engaging with students to encourage positive behaviors and wise life choices.

On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Cole visited with many of these students at Standing Rock Community High School. These remarkable youth not only asked smart and tough questions. They showed great concern and awareness of some of the issues facing their communities, and also a startling hope for their own futures and the future of their community.

We also met with tribal leaders, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and police, who showed a living example of a criminal justice system that is doing its absolute best to keep a community safe and pursue justice for victims. 

On Thursday, the Deputy Attorney General Cole gave remarks to tribal leaders and law enforcement from across North Dakota at the 2nd annual U.S. Attorney’s Tribal Consultation Conference, held at the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. At this conference, a direct result of the Attorney General’s focused attention on crime in American Indian communities, we are marking another year of progress in Indian country, evaluating where we stand and plotting the path we will take into the future.

In his remarks, Deputy Attorney General Cole said:

“In the three years since the beginning of the Department’s initiative, we have used what we learned from tribal leaders to develop goals and priorities, and we have sought to ensure that all our efforts are guided by respect for tribal sovereignty and Indian self-determination, engagement on a government-to-government basis, and coordination and cooperation with tribal governments.  We have worked hard to improve tribal public safety, enhance tribes’ ability to receive federal support, and strengthen coordination and collaboration with our tribal law enforcement partners.”

I am proud of the progress we have made over the past year in Indian country and am more excited than ever about what is possible when we work together, when we engage tribal youth to make good choices, when we work together to protect women and girls from what Attorney General Holder has called an unacceptable status quo of sexual and domestic violence. I am proud and today I can also say I am extremely hopeful about the future because we are starting to see a tangible impact from our efforts.

 View a gallery of photos from Deputy Attorney General James Cole’s trip to Standing Rock Reservation.

Attorney General Eric Holder announces the settlement of breach-of-trust lawsuits filed by more than 40 federally recognized American Indian tribes against the United States.

The following post appears courtesy of  Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West and Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno.

Today, we were honored to join Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to announce the settlement of breach-of-trust lawsuits filed by more than 40 federally recognized American Indian tribes against the United States.  The announcement was an extraordinary conclusion to nearly two years of negotiations between the tribes and the United States that have culminated in settlements between the government and 41 tribes, totaling more than $1 billion.

These settlements resolve in a fair and just manner breach-of-trust claims brought by Indian tribes, some dating back more than a century. They bring to an end long-standing disputes about the management of trust funds and non-monetary trust resources, and will allow the United States and the tribes to move beyond divisive issues and into a new era of strengthened and respectful government-to-government relationships.  This is a fundamental goal of this Administration. 

We have been proud to lead the team of attorneys who represent the Department of Justice in these negotiations and to conclude this process in a way that addresses historical grievances and strengthens the trust relationship that is so fundamental to the government-to-government relationship with American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages.  We look forward to continuing similar efforts to resolve cases brought by other tribes through settlements that are fair to both the tribes and the United States. 

Under the negotiated settlement agreements, litigation will end regarding the Department of the Interior’s accounting and management of the tribes’ trust accounts, trust lands, and other natural resources.  The United States will compensate the tribes for their breach-of-trust claims, and the tribes will waive, release, and dismiss their claims with prejudice.  The settlement agreements also contain measures to strengthen management of the tribes’ funds and natural resources, to improve communications between the tribes and the Department of the Interior, and to resolve disputes informally to reduce the likelihood of future litigation.

Read more: Attorney General Holder and Secretary Salazar Announce $1 Billion Settlement of Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Lawsuits Filed by More Than 40 Tribes