ok, here's a novel idea for those in the Puzzle Palaces across the United States who are looking for something good to do. For those who are at the level to effect some of the detrimental "policies," ruminate over this idea. If you're a Tribal member who is just trying to live, take a listen, think it over and just think how much better some of the things discussed on this blog would be if the policies were construed to really help the average Indian. If you had five minutes with Yvette Roubideaux, newly appointed Director of the Indian Health Service, would you consider discussing this? In Rapid City, Sioux San hospital is in a different IHS world. I know, I've been there. You have to wait hours to get in sometimes. That, however, is better than the lot most of us are dealt away from Sioux San, where we may wait days to get in to see a doctor, or in a few sad instances, the rest of our lives. This is our Indian version of a discussion on Health Care Reform.
The Indian Health Service Problem: Contract Health Services
Let's put some Indians out of jobs. That's all that some people will hear so let's just put that out there up front so at least it's acknowledged. We need to re-evaluate the money that is spent on contract health administration. The ADMINISTRATION of those funds is an area where we can make the greatest, quickest impact. Will we lose jobs? Yes. But when it comes to surgery, treatment, emergency room treatment, medication, dental work, the average Indian will take the treatment over some highly paid administrator's jobs.
When we have to literally be dying on the front steps of a clinic to get a referral for services that are not offered at the IHS clinic, it's high time to shift some of the money to the areas where it's needed. When we have to be the first one to call in the morning to get an appointment, it's time to re-think what injury means to the administrators. When you have to call the day before to get an appointment the next day, it's time to figure out how you're supposed to know if you're going to be sick the next day. When you have to wait weeks to have a dental crown finished, or when you have to go several days with a cavity because you weren't the first to call in for a same-day appointment, it's time to start requiring these highly paid administrators to stand in line at the IHS clinic with the rest of us when their teeth get a cavity. When several million dollars are sitting in reserve at any given IHS clinic, at any regional office, it's insulting that the IHS administrator will deny you a referral, will let you suffer, will let the condition worsen.
So, what to do, what to do? Centralize the process. Issue an IHS insurance card. Re-vamp the rules. If you're an Indian, you already know the obstacles to getting treatment. There is a ton of paperwork that needs to be completed....before you become injured, before a doctor places healing hands on you. If its not, well, guess who gets the bill when you heal? If you don't call within 72 hours of treatment, you get the bill. If you live outside your reservation, you have to prove economic ties to the community where you live, despite the fact that back home, your ancestors signed away land and asked that you receive medical treatment in exchange for that. If you're 18 and nobody ever explained this to you before you got injured, then IHS just saved several thousand dollars because you didn't jump through their hoops. If you never lived off your reservation and nobody explained the rules before you got injured after you moved to another reservation, the IHS Contract health workers will attempt to look woeful when they deny payment because you didn't fill out their paperwork BEFORE you got injured, despite the fact that you have lived in the area much longer than the minimum required as part of the "economic ties theory."
The agreement (treaty) stipulated that we'd exchange part of our land base for several provisions, chief among them, education, and medical treatment. These provisions were sealed in the battle-blood of our ancestors. They never envisioned, nor did they sign provisions, that an Indian Health service would take over the oversight of this health provision and put all kinds of obstacles in the way of meeting the U.S. government's obligation. Look at any treatment today.
We, the infirmed, the injured, the elders, have to "prove" we are "eligible" for treatment.
That wasn't in the treaty.
My grandfather's grandfather didn't expect this to be the way things were. They signed away part of their Native Land in exchange for several key provisions to take care of their grandchildren. They didn't expect for the same Indian Health Service to hold literally millions of dollars in "reserve" year after year after year. The cannons of treaty construction would mean that "reserves" should be construed for a "season," not for years after years after years.
If you read the CFR closely, Title 42 C.F.R 136.23, you will see that service will be provided to certain persons but the requirement for proof is not spelled out. In other words, it should, as any legal eagle will tell you, rest on the Federal government to prove that you are not eligible. There is no provision in the law that stipulates that the person will be penalized with a bill if they do not report their status prior to becoming injured within the boundaries of a service area other than their own service area, even though they have met the economic ties definition and have lived there long enough.
Or, Or, Or...§ 136.25 Reconsideration and appeals. (a) Any person to whom contract health services are denied shall be notifiedof the denial in writing together with a statement of the reason for the denial. ... and then:
(1) May obtain a reconsideration by the appropriate Service Unit Director of the original denial if the applicant submits additional supporting information not previously submitted...
That doesn't always happen, especially if you are dealing with a Contract Health Administrator who is charged with protecting a budget.
So, let's remove several highly paid administration offices, and centralize the process. Issue an IHS insurance card to every tribal member. Then pay the bills to meet the obligation that the United States signed on to in the treaty. The money follows the card, no matter where the tribal member lives. Even if they go to Haskell Indian Nations University, from an off-reservation address, their medical bills will be paid for by the United States in honor of our ancestors' wishes when they signed away some of their land base.
If Yvette Roubideaux was serious about "bringing reform to the IHS and improving the quality of and ACCESS to health care in the IHS," maybe this is a good starting place to generate some ideas about some out-of-the-box crazzzy version of change. Then again, if some crazy lunatic puts another rider on any congressional action, and somebody else is asleep at the wheel again, maybe nothing will change. Maybe Indians will continue to wait for surgeries, continue to wait for dental treatment, continue to wait to see specialists that the IHS doesn't have on staff. Maybe Contract health administrators will continue to get raises for going "under budget" and storing more away in the IHS reserves. Doesn't that seem strange? They do a "good job" by not expending funds that are set aside for our healthcare. Put it all on an IHS charge card and you will find out exactly how much it really costs to uphold the treaty provision. Something needs to change because at this rate we're not going to be getting any better all by ourselves.
"If we're not doing well in certain areas what can we do to make improvements..."
Shake the tree and see what fruit appears, I'm sure we'll all appreciate it.
Showing posts with label treaties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label treaties. Show all posts
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Larry Echo Hawk debated on Native America Calling
[Click here for most Recent article on Larry Echo Hawk's (Re)Confirmation hearing...]
Native America Calling had a recent interview with attorney Scott Crowell and Shoshone Bannock Tribal Chairman Alonzo Colby on Monday February 16, 2009 regarding Larry Echohawk's possible appointment to Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.
An informative, depending on who you are and what you're willing to accept, pod cast can be found at http://nac.unm.edu/archives/2009/feb/021609.mp3.
excerpts:
"Larry was clearly doing his job"
"I would opt for his brother Walter"
"not simply advising the governor...traveled the state advocating for the change in the constitution"
"You negotiate with Indian tribes in good faith based upon the laws of the book of the time"
Native America Calling had a recent interview with attorney Scott Crowell and Shoshone Bannock Tribal Chairman Alonzo Colby on Monday February 16, 2009 regarding Larry Echohawk's possible appointment to Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.
An informative, depending on who you are and what you're willing to accept, pod cast can be found at http://nac.unm.edu/archives/2009/feb/021609.mp3.
excerpts:
"Larry was clearly doing his job"
"I would opt for his brother Walter"
"not simply advising the governor...traveled the state advocating for the change in the constitution"
"You negotiate with Indian tribes in good faith based upon the laws of the book of the time"
What is sovereignty? The Hualapai Tribe has the correct answer
This is a case regarding the Hualapai Tribe's inherent assertion of sovereignty over its own airspace.
The Arizona Daily Sun has reported about an issue that is pertinent to the discussion about the current appointments to key Indian positions in the government. The story in the Feb 18 issue of the Arizona Daily Sun, Hualapai, pilot at stalemate is a prime example of what sovereignty should mean. This is where our key appointed officials work with the Federal Government to spell out what sovereignty means.
In this case a pilot flew through Hualapai Tribal airspace and was subsequently detained so he could be cited for trespassing.
Cyndy Cole reports that the FAA said that the FAA has not given the [Hualapai] tribe any airspace rights.
In 1871 the U.S. stopped making treaties. In 1874 they moved the Hualapai (one could argue illegally) for the benefit of the Santa Fe Railroad. In 1883 they created the Hualapai Reservation by Executive Order. The FAA has never been given rights from the Hualapai Tribe. If the Hualapai had not stipulated what rights the United States had by 1871, then basically the United States cannot come in and say what they "think" the Hualapai Tribe meant to bestow on the States. And since the U.S. Government gave up making treaties in 1871, we should assume that the United States were never given rights from the Hualapai Tribe.
Treaties between the United States and Indian Tribes, are stipulations for what rights the Tribes gave up, and what the United States gave to the Tribes in exchange. I seriously doubt that the Hualapai gave up the right to govern their airspace. In other words they have a reserved right to everything that they didn't give up. Right? Right? There are a few ways to express that concept but for purposes of this conversation, we'll keep it simple.
Bravo to the Hualapai Tribe for exercising Sovereignty. Let's hope the Federal Officials learn about sovereignty from the Hualapai action.
Just so it's clear, THE FAA has no airspace rights to give to anyone over the Hualapai Reservation because the Hualapai Tribe never gave up that right.
hmmmm......what's Spectrum?
The Arizona Daily Sun has reported about an issue that is pertinent to the discussion about the current appointments to key Indian positions in the government. The story in the Feb 18 issue of the Arizona Daily Sun, Hualapai, pilot at stalemate is a prime example of what sovereignty should mean. This is where our key appointed officials work with the Federal Government to spell out what sovereignty means.
In this case a pilot flew through Hualapai Tribal airspace and was subsequently detained so he could be cited for trespassing.
Cyndy Cole reports that the FAA said that the FAA has not given the [Hualapai] tribe any airspace rights.
In 1871 the U.S. stopped making treaties. In 1874 they moved the Hualapai (one could argue illegally) for the benefit of the Santa Fe Railroad. In 1883 they created the Hualapai Reservation by Executive Order. The FAA has never been given rights from the Hualapai Tribe. If the Hualapai had not stipulated what rights the United States had by 1871, then basically the United States cannot come in and say what they "think" the Hualapai Tribe meant to bestow on the States. And since the U.S. Government gave up making treaties in 1871, we should assume that the United States were never given rights from the Hualapai Tribe.
Treaties between the United States and Indian Tribes, are stipulations for what rights the Tribes gave up, and what the United States gave to the Tribes in exchange. I seriously doubt that the Hualapai gave up the right to govern their airspace. In other words they have a reserved right to everything that they didn't give up. Right? Right? There are a few ways to express that concept but for purposes of this conversation, we'll keep it simple.
Bravo to the Hualapai Tribe for exercising Sovereignty. Let's hope the Federal Officials learn about sovereignty from the Hualapai action.
Just so it's clear, THE FAA has no airspace rights to give to anyone over the Hualapai Reservation because the Hualapai Tribe never gave up that right.
hmmmm......what's Spectrum?
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Sovereign masses
In part of his introduction to the book Sovereign Bones titled Rolling Those Sovereign Bones, Eric Gansworth wrote:
those people from indigenous communities who have chosen the artist's life understand that theirs is a gamble for survival. Their subversive acts, keeping their cultures alive, by necessity, use the tools of the oppressors: the English language, written forms of communication, Western publishing models, digital technology, film, the blog, installation, and myriad other forms of current information transmission. The risk inherent in learning to use the oppressors' tools so fluently and naturally...is that often our own people become suspicious of our motivations.
And I believe it. There is a point where if you argue with Native Americans in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, you're seen as the rabble-rouser. There is a point where if you say a person in a position who just happens to be an Elder did something wrong, you are the person who is wrong. Let me tell you there are Elders who were not doing good things when they were young, so what is the difference if they do that now?
There are always people who will say that people just point their fingers just to be pointing fingers. If you are pointing at a Tribal member in the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is really doing something disastrous to Tribal members' rights, are you really the bad guy?
When realty staff tell tribal members "just sign the lease, stop being so difficult," I have an issue with that. When OST staff misquote 25 CFR (their guiding bible) I have an issue with that. When the Regional Directors of Bureau of Indian Affairs do not budget for a superintendent for every reservation, I have an issue with that. When tribes are submitted to a process with obvious blind spots such as the Cadastral Surveyor process which would put people with political conflicts of interest on our reservation surveying and acquiring sensitive information, I have an issue with that. When the Office of Appraisal Services neglects to protect tribes' appraisal contracts from being sub-contracted to two levels away from the contractor, I have an issue with that. When the same appraisal office neglects to identify how an appraisal firm came to a appraisal decision in a State of non-discolsure I have an issue with that. When tribes everywhere are not included on appraisal contracts as clients, I have an issue with that.
When the Federal Government loses all original surveys for three reservations, a Trust duty, and then require Tribes to pay for re-surveys, I have an issue with that.
When the Federal Government requires the Tribes to gain comments on Fee to Trust from local lower governments (mainly states and counties and towns) I have a problem with that because nobody asked us the impact that moving from Trust to Fee would have on us when they took our land.
When they continually put people into the office of the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs who have never worked at the ground level I have an issue with that.
These are Native Issues. If you are on the government side of the Native Issues, you had better be prepared to actually defend your stance with a proper citation of Title 25 the Code of Federal Regulations. If you are the realty specialist who told a land owner to just sign an agricultural lease without being difficult, the shame should be on you. If you are the person who could change the surveying scheme, and you don't do anything about it, you are the problem.
In the Army Drill sergeants tell new privates, "if you see a piece of garbage on the ground, it is now your garbage." In Native issues if you see something and don't do anything about it, it is your fault.
If you are a land owner who will sign a lease and then later complain because of what is in the lease, you need to start reading your lease. If you are not going to read your lease, then don't point a finger at the people who would warn you when your farmer takes full advantage of you on the lease you signed.
Am I confrontational? You had best bet that I am just as confrontational as the obstacle to change is toward me.
The risk in learning to use the oppresors' tools so fluently and naturally...is that often our own people become suspicious of our motivations.
Well know this, we should all be confrontational to the processes undertaken by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Office of Special Trustee with the right balance of confrontation just to sway the effect to justice.
I would hope that the Native Issues that are problems would be addressed. I would hope that if you are part of the problem in a Native Issue, you would read your bible, 25 CFR whether you're a land owner, or a Federal employee in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or Office of Special Trustee or any of their supposedly beneficial Contractors.
Do you want to know the quickest way to shut up a "finger-pointer?" Give them the responsibility. They'll either take the responsibility with the thought that their name is on it or they will fail miserably and then they won't complain.
Well, it would seem....ready for this?....that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Special Trustee have stopped complaining....because they are failing miserably. Understand, there are a multitude of people who are trying and looking out for their fellow tribal people. But the people who need to admit that many of the tasks carried out by Bureau of Indian Affairs and Office of Special Trustee are not beneficial, are not working, and are failing miserably, have stopped complaining.
Even if it was to complain that there is too much work to be done, those leaders need to be complaining and stop labeling. Quite to the opposite, your whining and labeling come back to you in the way of medicine, self administered. It is good to advocate for Native Issues. It is not good to fail to admit that the Native Issues exist.
The truth just keeps coming back to you no matter how many times you deny it.
If it wasn't true, you should just say so.
those people from indigenous communities who have chosen the artist's life understand that theirs is a gamble for survival. Their subversive acts, keeping their cultures alive, by necessity, use the tools of the oppressors: the English language, written forms of communication, Western publishing models, digital technology, film, the blog, installation, and myriad other forms of current information transmission. The risk inherent in learning to use the oppressors' tools so fluently and naturally...is that often our own people become suspicious of our motivations.
And I believe it. There is a point where if you argue with Native Americans in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, you're seen as the rabble-rouser. There is a point where if you say a person in a position who just happens to be an Elder did something wrong, you are the person who is wrong. Let me tell you there are Elders who were not doing good things when they were young, so what is the difference if they do that now?
There are always people who will say that people just point their fingers just to be pointing fingers. If you are pointing at a Tribal member in the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is really doing something disastrous to Tribal members' rights, are you really the bad guy?
When realty staff tell tribal members "just sign the lease, stop being so difficult," I have an issue with that. When OST staff misquote 25 CFR (their guiding bible) I have an issue with that. When the Regional Directors of Bureau of Indian Affairs do not budget for a superintendent for every reservation, I have an issue with that. When tribes are submitted to a process with obvious blind spots such as the Cadastral Surveyor process which would put people with political conflicts of interest on our reservation surveying and acquiring sensitive information, I have an issue with that. When the Office of Appraisal Services neglects to protect tribes' appraisal contracts from being sub-contracted to two levels away from the contractor, I have an issue with that. When the same appraisal office neglects to identify how an appraisal firm came to a appraisal decision in a State of non-discolsure I have an issue with that. When tribes everywhere are not included on appraisal contracts as clients, I have an issue with that.
When the Federal Government loses all original surveys for three reservations, a Trust duty, and then require Tribes to pay for re-surveys, I have an issue with that.
When the Federal Government requires the Tribes to gain comments on Fee to Trust from local lower governments (mainly states and counties and towns) I have a problem with that because nobody asked us the impact that moving from Trust to Fee would have on us when they took our land.
When they continually put people into the office of the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs who have never worked at the ground level I have an issue with that.
These are Native Issues. If you are on the government side of the Native Issues, you had better be prepared to actually defend your stance with a proper citation of Title 25 the Code of Federal Regulations. If you are the realty specialist who told a land owner to just sign an agricultural lease without being difficult, the shame should be on you. If you are the person who could change the surveying scheme, and you don't do anything about it, you are the problem.
In the Army Drill sergeants tell new privates, "if you see a piece of garbage on the ground, it is now your garbage." In Native issues if you see something and don't do anything about it, it is your fault.
If you are a land owner who will sign a lease and then later complain because of what is in the lease, you need to start reading your lease. If you are not going to read your lease, then don't point a finger at the people who would warn you when your farmer takes full advantage of you on the lease you signed.
Am I confrontational? You had best bet that I am just as confrontational as the obstacle to change is toward me.
The risk in learning to use the oppresors' tools so fluently and naturally...is that often our own people become suspicious of our motivations.
Well know this, we should all be confrontational to the processes undertaken by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Office of Special Trustee with the right balance of confrontation just to sway the effect to justice.
I would hope that the Native Issues that are problems would be addressed. I would hope that if you are part of the problem in a Native Issue, you would read your bible, 25 CFR whether you're a land owner, or a Federal employee in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or Office of Special Trustee or any of their supposedly beneficial Contractors.
Do you want to know the quickest way to shut up a "finger-pointer?" Give them the responsibility. They'll either take the responsibility with the thought that their name is on it or they will fail miserably and then they won't complain.
Well, it would seem....ready for this?....that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Special Trustee have stopped complaining....because they are failing miserably. Understand, there are a multitude of people who are trying and looking out for their fellow tribal people. But the people who need to admit that many of the tasks carried out by Bureau of Indian Affairs and Office of Special Trustee are not beneficial, are not working, and are failing miserably, have stopped complaining.
Even if it was to complain that there is too much work to be done, those leaders need to be complaining and stop labeling. Quite to the opposite, your whining and labeling come back to you in the way of medicine, self administered. It is good to advocate for Native Issues. It is not good to fail to admit that the Native Issues exist.
The truth just keeps coming back to you no matter how many times you deny it.
If it wasn't true, you should just say so.
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