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TRIBAL LAW
The Lincoln Theatre Fourth Annual Human Rights Film Festival
Lincoln Theatre, Mount Vernon, Washington
Thursday, March 29, 7:00 pm
Land Rights for Native Americans
Film: “Trudell”
Documentary on Indian Rights activist, John Trudell. Seattle Film Festival winner
Panel Discussion:
Patricia Paul, land rights lawyer (moderator)
Brian Cladoosby, Swinomish Tribal Community Chair
Jewell James, Policy Analyst, Lummi Nation Shelly Vendiola, Mediator
Pirjo Pasanen (standing). Jewell James, Patricia Paul, Brian Cladoosby, Shelly Vendiola Photo courtesy of Robin Careen.
Patricia Paul accepted an invitation by Jewell James, Lummi Nation Policy Analyst to be a guest speaker on "International Laws, Treaties and the American Indians" at the:
LUMMI NATION SOVEREIGNTY SYMPOSIUM-A MOVEMENT TO UNIFIY THE COAST SALISH OF PUGET SOUND AND BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA http://tribalselfgov.org/Symposium07.html April 3 and 4, 2007, Lummi Silver Reef Casino/Hotel This is a training for tribal staff and tribal leadership, hosted by the Lummi Nation. Ms. Paul will be joining guest speakers: Billy Frank, Ron Allen, Craig Bill, Alan Parker, Steve Point, David Bunton, Rudy Ryser, Maureen Kinley, Elizabeth Furst and Grand Chief Edward John. A training for tribal youth leadership is underdevelopment for a future date. “International Indigenous Law as a Right to Self-Determination”*
Presented by:
Patricia Christine Aqamuk Paul, Esq.**
Attorney-at-Law
Law Office of Patricia Paul, PLLC
http://patriciapauljd.com
April 4, 2007
Lummi Nation Sovereignty Symposium
A Movement to Unify the
Coast Salish of Puget Sound
And
British Columbia, CANADA
Recognizing the Right to Self-Determination
It’s staring us in the face, right before us, as we live and breath our indigenous rights, our rights to self-determination as Native Nations. We are nation-states, we have boundaries and jurisdictions. We have negotiating powers and we have laws.
Can We Stand Assured?
With a view to look upon the horizon and beyond what we can immediately sense, and yet, have an understanding of the innate and political rights to self-determination, is it safe to rely upon the established principles and policies in international law? Let’s examine this today.
What is Self-Determination?
It is more than self-identification. It is setting a course, creating a path, if you will. It is setting the standard. And, it is the role of our tribal leaders to continue the initiative and determine our future as sovereign tribal nations. Self-determination is the catalyst that creates healthy societies and healthy environments. We are the caretakers of the earth and it is with this very heavy responsibility, in our era of global climate change, that we not be followers, but leaders. The global climate changes anticipated by the year 2050 translate into global economic changes. It is distinct from a human rights issue.
The International Labour Organization’s, http://www.ilo.org/, mandate for self-determination is social and economic rights. The ILO determined that it was outside its competence to interpret the political concept of self-determination. The Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Populations in Independent Countries was called Convention 169, adopted in 1989, entered into force in 1991. Convention No. 169 does not place any limitations on the right to self-determination. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/62.htm. What Convention No. 169 does provide for is self-management, and the right of indigenous and tribal peoples to decide their own priorities.
Ahhh…the Policymakers
Stateside, statesman, Lyndon B. Johnson, addressed what we looking at, even here today, in his “Special Message to Congress on the Problems of the American Indian: The Forgotten American,” March 6, 1968:…The greatest hope for Indian progress lies in the emergency of Indian leadership and initiative in solving Indian problems. Indians must have a voice in making the plans and decisions in programs which are important to their daily life…”
The ever present voice of the United Nations addresses the principal of self-determination of peoples, as embodied in one central purpose of it’s 1945 Charter. ''The Purposes of the United Nations are... To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace...'' Charter of the United Nations, San Francisco, 26 June 1945. http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/preamble.htm.
From the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, a Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, adopted by General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960: “All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/c_coloni.htm
Report of the Human Rights Council, June 2006, UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The Human Rights Council, http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/A.61.53.pdf. ANNEX UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The Human Rights Council, Article 18. Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions. Further, under Article 3, Indigenous peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Under Article 4, Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to self-determination, have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for financing their autonomous functions.
What Makes It International Law?
It is (1) an inward view that goes out, or (2) an outward view that goes in, and (3) how many borders must it cross to become universal? It is a body of laws that governs relations between nations. These international laws are the results of treaties, agreements, customs or rules.
A nation-state identity or a sovereign tribal nation can reach out regionally or trans-nationally or globally. One example of a collective body of 73 sovereign nations working together in global policy is the International Whaling Commission, which established an international system of regulation. http://www.iwcoffice.org/. Another is the World Bank, made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries. http://www.worldbank.org/. Yet another is the Kyoto Protocol whereby in 1997 more than 160 nations met in Kyoto, Japan to negotiate binding limitations on greenhouse gases for the developed nations. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.html.
Additional Resources
RESEARCHING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW by Steven C. Perkins.
http://intelligent-internet.info/law/ipr2.html#Indigenous%20Peoples
As international legal scholar Patrick Thornberry explains, “[S]elf-determination is a right….” Patrick Thornberry, Self-Determination and Indigenous Peoples: Objections and Responses, in Operationalizing the Right of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determination 56 (Pekka Aikio & Martin Scheinin eds., 2000)._________________________________
* This material may be freely referenced.
** Patricia Paul is Qikiktagrukmuit Inupiaq (Northern Alaskan Eskimo), received her J.D. from Seattle University School of Law in 1998, a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Antioch University in 1993. She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association with a private law practice in La Conner, Washington. She is published nationwide and lectures internationally.
http://www.law.seattleu.edu/news/archive/2007/trinagrilloprogram.pdf Patricia Paul accepted an invitation by Dean Annette Clark of Seattle University School of Law to speak on a panel at the 9th Annual Trina Grillo Public Interest and Social Justice Law Retreat “Justice Across Borders” in Seattle, Washington. Ms. Paul will be joining Millie Kennedy, an attorney and Native American Advocacy Coordinator of the Northwest Justice Project and John Sledd, a Seattle attorney with Kanji and Katzen, PLLC. This annual retreat is a joint project of the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) and our eight consortium law schools – Golden Gate, Oregon, Santa Clara, Seattle, Stanford, USF, UCLA, and UNLV (Boyd). The retreat honors the memory of Professor Trina Grillo (1948-96), who was a source of inspiration to many students, professors, and lawyers dedicated to social justice, and serves as a forum for practitioners, academics, and students to discuss the challenges and opportunities in social justice lawyering today. Ms. Paul, Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Sledd will share the “Native American Perspective” and discuss some of the issues that attorneys face in representing the rights and interests of individuals who are part of a sovereign nation within US borders, at a concurrent panel the second and final day of the conference, on March 10, 2007. Other panel topics: human rights, immigrant rights, farm worker advocacy, with the keynote address being “How Law Students Shut Down the First Guantanamo Detention Camp, keynote speaker Brandt Goldstein. See: http://www.law.seattleu.edu/accesstojustice
La Conner attorney, Patricia Paul, accepted an invitation by Professor Allen Sanders to be a guest lecturer at Seattle University School of Law’s Federal Indian Law class of January 18, 2007. From Professor Sander’s notes: Federal Indian law is Federal Indian law; it is the body of laws developed by the federal courts, Congress, and the federal executive branch to determine the legal status, the governmental authority, the rights, and the immunities of Indians. Ms. Paul’s lectures included the history of Federal Indian Law and policy; early international law and colonization; and allotment.
~Patricia Paul, Esq.~ is pleased to announce she has accepted an invitation to join, as an alumni of Seattle University School of Law, the Working Group on Federal Indian Law Curriculum at Seattle University School of Law. Our working group is comprised of law students, several law professors and two deans of the law school. Patricia adds the dimension of being an alumnus of Seattle University School of Law and of their Federal Indian Law coursework. Our working group was formed by Academic Dean Annette Clark to help the law school determine how best to make adjustments to the curriculum to meet the new challenges presented by the Washington State Bar Association’s decision to include Federal Indian Law on the bar exam and to begin to address the need for greater Federal Indian Law education opportunities at the law school. Professor Allen Sanders serves as our Committee Chair. Patricia’s task will include general and specific recommendations to integrate Federal Indian Law into the law school’s substantive curriculum.
http://www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/indianlaw/wkg1766813v1tribalreferrallistjanuary20062ndedition.pdf Tribal Referral List January 2006 (2nd Edition) Patricia Christine Aqiimuk Paul, JD (Inupiaq) Area(s) of Expertise: Tribal Mediation (Traditional Methods of Confict Resolution) in Government-to-Government, Environmental, Natural Resources, Land Use, Shoreline Management, and Economic Development Projects
Tribal Court Bar Admissions Swinomish Tribal Court, admitted 1996 http://www.swinomish.org/court/court_main.html Sauk-Suiattle Tribal Court, admitted 2000
Tribal mediator since year 2000. Negotiated business development with Alaska native corporation owned subsidiary. Traditional methods of conflict resolution recognized in tribal courts.
NATIVE AMERICAN LAW (yahoo groups) Discussion and posting of current issues in Canadian Aboriginal law, Alaska Native law, Federal Indian law, and global indigenous issues. To further the academic and educational development in these areas of law. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nativeamericanlaw/
Member, Northwest Indian Bar Association, http://www.nwiba.org
Moot Court Judge, National Native American Law Student Association, 2006 annual competition, brief judge and oral argument judge. 2006
TRIBAL JUDGE, PRO TEMPORE Presides as a tribal judge (pro tem) in Western Washington with the Northwest Intertribal Court System. (1999 - 2003, 2005 - 2007). http://www.narf.org/nill/resources/washington.pdf http://www.nics.ws Pro Tem Tribal Judge/Appellate Justice, Northwest Intertribal Court System, 1999 – 2002 and current since 2005. Traveled throughout Western Washington as a circuit judge, pro tempore. Civil and criminal law matters, including tribal fishing violations, administrative appeals, juvenile, Indian Child Welfare, and domestic violence. Presided at: Chehalis Tribal Court, Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribal Court, Nooksack Tribal Court, Tulalip Tribal Court, Suquamish Tribal Court.
Judge Paul received a certificate in 2001 at the National Judicial College in “Essential Skills for Tribal Appellate Judges”. The National Judicial College is located in Reno, Nevada.
The Newsletter of the National Tribal Justice Resource Center Summer 2001 http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org/aboutus/tribaljustice.pdfmer 2001 Hon. Pat on. Patricia Christine Aqiimuk Paul, J.D. has been appointed as a Pro Tem Tribal Judge by the Law and Order Division of the Lummi Nation for the Lummi Tribal Court in Bellingham, Washington. Patricia is Inupiaq (Northern Alaskan Eskimo) and also sits as a pro tem tribal judge with the Northwest Tribal Court System. She serves as an Executive Board Member with the Northwest Tribal Judges Association.
2000 National Tribal Judicial Conference “Wisdom for the Future from Lessons of the Past”, panelist speaker on Peacemaking, Traditional Methods of Dispute Resolution and ‘Modern Day Tribal Courts’: How Can They Strengthen Each Other?” Seattle, Washington. 2000
Board Member (elected), Northwest Tribal Court Judges Association, 2000 – 2002
LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS Treaty Rights and Sovereignty", Martin Luther King Jr. Day Conference, Whatcom Community Human Rights Task Force, Bellingham, Washington. 2002
"Protecting the Earth and Developing Tribal Environmental Codes," Tribal Environmental Natural Resource Management (TENRM), Northwest Indian College, Bellingham, Washington. 2002 "Treaty Day." Fourth Grade. LaConner Elementary School, LaConner, Washington. 1999
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