Jul 14, 2015 - Nooksack 306 Obtain Big Win From Washington, DC Tribunal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2015

Statement of Nooksack 306 Spokesperson Michelle Roberts Re: U.S. Interior Board’s Decision Against the BIA and Nooksack Tribe

“Late last week, two Judges with the United States Department of the Interior’s Board of Indian Appeals issued a decision vacating decisions made by the BIA on behalf of the Interior Secretary in January 2015 to approve the latest Nooksack disenrollment ordinance.

The Judges remanded the matter to the BIA for proper consideration of the Nooksack 306’s federal legal challenges to that ordinance.

The Judges acknowledged that BIA officials simply ignored our repeated written objections to the ordinance and requests for consultation dating back to October 2014, before rubber-stamping the ordinance in January 2015.

In doing so, the Judges acknowledged our position that the ordinance illegally targets us, and rejected arguments made by Bob Kelly’s Tribal Council Faction that we lack standing to challenge any approval of the ordinance.

Meanwhile, under a February 23, 2015 ruling by Nooksack Tribal Court Judge Pro Tem Randy Doucet, any disenrollment actions against us are enjoined pending any final approval of the disenrollment ordinance by the Secretary.

We are gratified that the courts clearly see the grave injustice that we have faced since 2013, and are holding tribal and federal officials accountable under applicable laws and due process standards.

More generally, people are beginning to fully understand that disenrollment is not our way as indigenous peoples and never has been; it is instead a practice designed by the United States to exterminate us all.

We thank all of our allies throughout the world for standing with us. We belong, always and forever.”