The Local Crank

Musings & Sardonic Commentary on Politics, Religion, Culture & Native American Issues. Bringing you the finest in radioactive screeds since 2002! "The Local Crank" newspaper column is distributed by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.

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Location: Cleburne, Texas, United States

Just a simple Cherokee trial lawyer, Barkman has been forcing his opinions on others in print since, for reasons that passeth understanding, he was an unsuccessful candidate for state representative in 2002. His philosophy: "If people had wanted me to be nice, they should've voted for me."

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Caucus Strikes Back

Cong. Mel Watt of North Carolina has successfully attached an amendment to H.R. 3002, the "Native American Economic Development and Infrastructure for Housing Act of 2007," which will cut off all funds to the Cherokee Nation until or unless the Secretary of the Interior confirms that CN is in compliance with the Treaty of 1866 and recognized Freedmen citizenship.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Eric said...

A little off subject, but NPR has been running more stories about the rape of Native American women this week. If you get a chance and have the stomach to hear more, you can listen to the stories on their website. These go into a lot more detail than the last one you mentioned a while back. Appalling stuff, but kudos to NPR for sheding more light on it.

7/26/2007 9:17 PM  
Blogger The Local Crank said...

I listened to the same story, and it affected me so much I had to sit out in my truck in the parking lot for awhile, shaking with rage, until I could compose myself. Every single one of those women whose lives were shattered can lay the blame at the institutionalized racism of Congress and the Supreme Court in systematically gutting tribal sovereignty, particular the Major Crimes Act (removing felonies from tribal court jurisdiction) and a Supreme Court decision that granted white people extra-territoriality in Indian Country, allowing them to rape, cook dope and otherwise plunder with absolute impunity. It's just another example of government policies that the white majority would never, not in a million years, tolerate if directed at any other racial or ethnic group. I'm currently reading a book on the 15 Supreme Court cases that most affected tribal sovereignty and I'll likely blog on this issue more when I finish it.

7/26/2007 10:45 PM  

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