Site Reviewed: New York Federal-State-Tribal Courts and
Indian Nations Justice Forum
In this module I reviewed the New York Federal-State-Tribal Courts and Indian Nations
Justice Forum, a site that lists its mission as a place to “foster
understanding and improve cooperation among jurisdictions.” The forum developed from an organization of
chief judges from the 50 states and its territories and attempts to improve the
administration of justice in state court systems. From this organization also came the Tribal
Relations Committee (TRC) whose primary objective was to study tribal and state
relations in the court system. The results
of these studies made it obvious that there was a need to “address and resolve
jurisdictional conflict” in a cooperative manner across federal, state and
tribal entities.
Most of the information on this site is for the purpose of
providing legal information in protection of Indian rights and ensuring that
federal and state governments upheld their legal obligations. The site also contains
direct links to the official websites of the different Indian nations of the
Haudenosaunee League. In addition to the
extensive links to tribal courts and justice systems, the site also provides information
on education, research, training and technical assistance programs that enhance
the health and promotes the culture of Native Americans. One of the links that I was most interested in
exploring was “Native Laws & Traditions” but unfortunately the hyperlinks
were inactive. Many of the cases
discussed on the site were related several legal decisions made in the tribal,
New York State and Federal courts involving taxes on cigarettes sold on the
reservations taxes. Other cases involved civil and ancestral land compensation
suits.
Most interesting to me were copies of the historical treaty
documents and the language that was used therein. In the “Treaty with the Six
Nations” signed in 1794, the boundaries of Indian land are defined and states
that the Six Nation League forfeits their rights to all other lands, while other
treaties spell out the penalties for stolen horses not returned and so forth. Examining the language used in these treaties
shed new light on how these documents were drawn up primarily for the benefit
of the white man with the Indian being promised little more than being allowed
to subsist among them.
I also enjoyed this website. The historical documents are particularly interesting because it is written proof of the injustice done in the name of establishing "peace and friendship." You correctly point out how the language of these treaties are worded to benefit the American Government. Moreover the language is confusing even for myself (a person educated in America) imagine how confusing it must have been for Native Americans. I often wonder why Indians would sign these documents. Did they not understand the implications they had? Were the threatened to sign? Did they feel that they had no other choice? I would suspect all of these reasons played a part in their decision to sign theses blatantly one sided documents.
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