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MLPA Initiative: California Native Sovereignty for Casinos, Not for Cultural Survival
Everyone knows that the State of California negotiates with sovereign California Native Nations about casinos, including how to divide the profits. The MLPAI, to do justice, must also recognize the sovereignty of First Nations and tribal peoples, whose cultural health and survival depends on access to traditional ocean and intertidal food-gathering.
MLPA Initiative: California Native Sovereignty for Casinos, Not for Cultural Survival
by John Lewallen, Public Ocean Access Network
In an obscure document titled “Frequently Asked Questions for the Marine Life Protection Act North Coast Tribal Information Session, Revised August 26, 2009,” the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative(MLPAI) legal team makes clear that California Natives have no sovereignty in the MLPAI process. This suppressed document should immediately be supplied to every California Native Nation in Northern California.
The good-hearted citizens making Marine Protected Area (MPA) plans have been tricked into believing they can protect sovereign California Native ocean food access essential to health and cultural survival simply by adding the words: “these MPA closures will not affect tribal sovereignty or traditional tribal harvesting rights.”
No Native American Harvest Permitting
Item 7 makes clear that all the “tribal exemption clauses” written in to alternative closure plans made by North Coast citizens are a hoax. In any Marine Protected Area, “Any use or access that is granted cannot be discriminatory, meaning that use and access cannot be restricted to any one user group...the Department of Fish and Game does not have a permitting process directed specifically to Native Americans.”
California Native Sovereignty for Casinos, Not For Cultural Survival
Item 4 coldly denies that the First Nations of California have any sovereign status in dealing with the MLPAI. Here are the exact words:
“Unlike the federal government, the State of California has no legal authority to engage in formal, government-to-government consultation with California Natives.... For its part, the MLPA Initiative is a public-private partnership, which similarly cannot engage with tribes in a formal consultation process...”
Everyone knows that the State of California negotiates with sovereign California Native Nations about casinos, including how to divide the profits. The MLPAI, to do justice, must also recognize the sovereignty of First Nations and tribal peoples, whose cultural health and survival depends on access to traditional ocean and intertidal food-gathering.
Food sovereignty for cultures integrated in harmony with the ocean, the intertidal zone, all its creatures and spirits, is the basic sovereignty. What strange law and science comes to destroy this ancient harmony?
by John Lewallen, Public Ocean Access Network
In an obscure document titled “Frequently Asked Questions for the Marine Life Protection Act North Coast Tribal Information Session, Revised August 26, 2009,” the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative(MLPAI) legal team makes clear that California Natives have no sovereignty in the MLPAI process. This suppressed document should immediately be supplied to every California Native Nation in Northern California.
The good-hearted citizens making Marine Protected Area (MPA) plans have been tricked into believing they can protect sovereign California Native ocean food access essential to health and cultural survival simply by adding the words: “these MPA closures will not affect tribal sovereignty or traditional tribal harvesting rights.”
No Native American Harvest Permitting
Item 7 makes clear that all the “tribal exemption clauses” written in to alternative closure plans made by North Coast citizens are a hoax. In any Marine Protected Area, “Any use or access that is granted cannot be discriminatory, meaning that use and access cannot be restricted to any one user group...the Department of Fish and Game does not have a permitting process directed specifically to Native Americans.”
California Native Sovereignty for Casinos, Not For Cultural Survival
Item 4 coldly denies that the First Nations of California have any sovereign status in dealing with the MLPAI. Here are the exact words:
“Unlike the federal government, the State of California has no legal authority to engage in formal, government-to-government consultation with California Natives.... For its part, the MLPA Initiative is a public-private partnership, which similarly cannot engage with tribes in a formal consultation process...”
Everyone knows that the State of California negotiates with sovereign California Native Nations about casinos, including how to divide the profits. The MLPAI, to do justice, must also recognize the sovereignty of First Nations and tribal peoples, whose cultural health and survival depends on access to traditional ocean and intertidal food-gathering.
Food sovereignty for cultures integrated in harmony with the ocean, the intertidal zone, all its creatures and spirits, is the basic sovereignty. What strange law and science comes to destroy this ancient harmony?
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Coastal organisms are not the only species or minerals relevant to tribes. There are many historical areas which were not included inside tribal boundaries under the (shoddy) treaty process. Many people might want access to trees, grasses, and medical plants.
The state of California (rather than the federal government) manages a lot of forest and park land, and a lot of the rest of it has been distributed to private forest owners etc. Some case law exists allowing tribes to collect eagle feathers and peyote, except I believe this was a religious exemption??
Is there any analogous law for terrestrial land that California manages? It isn't like the marine reserves are the first time spatial application of rules has been applies. In fact, we're sort of lucky that there is a rule that land below the high tide mark is considered public. I always assumed that was universal until I visited the Chesapeake bay area and it turns out that nearly all the coastline is privately owned with just a few tiny parks. very inaccessible.
The state of California (rather than the federal government) manages a lot of forest and park land, and a lot of the rest of it has been distributed to private forest owners etc. Some case law exists allowing tribes to collect eagle feathers and peyote, except I believe this was a religious exemption??
Is there any analogous law for terrestrial land that California manages? It isn't like the marine reserves are the first time spatial application of rules has been applies. In fact, we're sort of lucky that there is a rule that land below the high tide mark is considered public. I always assumed that was universal until I visited the Chesapeake bay area and it turns out that nearly all the coastline is privately owned with just a few tiny parks. very inaccessible.
Some anthropologists say that California used to have 57,000 sacred sites. Now sacred sites can be counted using the fingers on ones hands. The laws of the dominant culture usually have a capitalistic fail safe in them. For example the Religous Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 was supposed to protect indigenous peoples rights to exercise their "religion". However there are always counter-measures installed in these "Acts" to protect the sacred cow of capitalism.
EG: "The government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except as provided in subsection (b).
(b) Exception: government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person-
1. is in futherance of a compelling governmental interest; and
2. is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.
In the recent San Francisco peaks case, the compelling interest was that the US Forest Servise felt it had an obligation to allow private enterprise(s) to use contaminated water to make artificial snow for commercial ski operations. Furthermore the US Forest Service allows; livestock grazing, timber harvest, road building, mining, motorcross racing, mountain biking, horseback riding, hiking, gas and electric tranmission lines, water lines, and microwave transmission towers on 'public' lands. All these functions have a capitalistic counter-part. The people ( judges etc) that make these decisions do not have the necessary training and experience in indigenous cultural ,spiritual (meditative/ceremonial) techiques to know what they are destroying through activating their "compelling interests". So the destruction continues. The fourth failure of mankind, as the Hopi prohpets say.
EG: "The government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except as provided in subsection (b).
(b) Exception: government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person-
1. is in futherance of a compelling governmental interest; and
2. is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.
In the recent San Francisco peaks case, the compelling interest was that the US Forest Servise felt it had an obligation to allow private enterprise(s) to use contaminated water to make artificial snow for commercial ski operations. Furthermore the US Forest Service allows; livestock grazing, timber harvest, road building, mining, motorcross racing, mountain biking, horseback riding, hiking, gas and electric tranmission lines, water lines, and microwave transmission towers on 'public' lands. All these functions have a capitalistic counter-part. The people ( judges etc) that make these decisions do not have the necessary training and experience in indigenous cultural ,spiritual (meditative/ceremonial) techiques to know what they are destroying through activating their "compelling interests". So the destruction continues. The fourth failure of mankind, as the Hopi prohpets say.
I FEEL THE STATE NEEDS TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING FOR US TO BE ABLE TO KEEP HARVESTING OUR NATIVE FOODS AND RECOGNISE ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THIS SO CALLED AMERICA LAND OF THE FREE. WE NEED TO ALL COME TOGETHER AND STAND UP FOR OUR RIGHTS.
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