Latest news with #Tilsen
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration ends civil rights agreement for Native students in South Dakota
Stewart HuntingtonICT The U.S. Department of Education has canceled a civil rights agreement with the Rapid City, South Dakota, school district that was designed to resolve disparities in the treatment of Native students. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. The department notified the school district in a letter dated March 27 that it 'hereby terminates the Resolution Agreement' the school district signed last year with the department's Office of Civil Rights. The voluntary agreement had been signed after a years-long federal probe of Rapid City Public Schools over unequal treatment of Native students in how they were disciplined and over a lack of access to advanced learning move by the Trump administration drew outrage from Nick Tilsen, founder and chief executive of NDN Collective, a nationwide advocacy group based in Rapid City that has been deeply involved with local equity issues. 'This decision to roll back a previous mandate to ensure the district complies with the implementation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it comes to the treatment of Native students is flat out racist, unjust, discriminatory and deprioritizes Native children in this community,' Tilsen told ICT. 'In this moment, we need leaders who will stand up for all the children in this community,' Tilsen said. 'This type of courage needs to be founded in justice, love and accountability. We must dig deep as a community and decide that racism has no place in our future.' Community leaders vowed they won't abandon efforts to improve the learning environment for Native students. 'I'm hoping (the district) will continue working to develop strategies to help our children,' said Amy Sazue, a parent who was named to the Stakeholder's Equity Group that was formed to implement the resolution agreement. 'They don't need a federal mandate to do that.' Scathing report The education department released a report last spring that raised 'concerns regarding the district's compliance with its nondiscrimination obligations' under Title VI of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. In response, on May 29, 2024, the district voluntarily granted open-ended federal oversight of the district as it implemented a 23-page plan to ensure that its policies, procedures, and practices do not discriminate against students on the basis of race, color, or national federal mandate for the district to comply with that agreement has now ended, apparently as it falls afoul of new guidelines issued by the Trump administration banning diversity efforts throughout the federal government. The education department 'has determined many of the terms and conditions of the Resolution Agreement conflict with the nondiscrimination requirements of Title VI, including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requirements that form the foundation of the Resolution Agreement,' the department wrote to the school district's Acting Superintendent Cory Strasser. The stark portrait of the school district painted by federal officials in the 2024 report affirmed what many local leaders already knew. 'We've known this for quite a long time here in our community,' Valeriah Big Eagle, who previously served as co-chair of the Rapid City Area Schools Indigenous Education Task Force, said at the time. Civil rights investigation The federal investigation was launched following a 2010 complaint filed by parents and community members with the Office of Civil Rights alleging Native students in Rapid City public schools were disciplined at higher rates than their peers and that Indigenous students encountered fewer advanced learning opportunities, such as enrollment in high school Advanced Placement classes. The resulting agreement, signed by then schools Superintendent Nicole Swigart, did not constitute an admission of noncompliance with federal civil rights laws by the district but spelled out steps it must take. The district agreed to: *Examine the root causes of racial disparities in the district's discipline and advanced learning programs and implement corresponding corrective action plans. *Employ a discipline equity supervisor to help the district implement corrective action. *Employ an advanced learning coordinator to address the underrepresentation of Native students in advanced learning programs. *Provide training to staff on the revised policies and practices. Last spring, the Resolution Agreement was accompanied by a letter to the district that included an account of interviews in 2023 with school district officials – including superintendent Swigart – about truancy rates that were higher for Native students compared to white students. Some of the statements made by Swigert ultimately resulted in her getting fired. 'The Superintendent reported that certain Native American tribes, such as the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Tribes, do not commonly value education and inform their students that they do not need to graduate,' the federal investigators wrote. 'Additionally,' they wrote, 'she said that the district struggles with what she termed 'Indian Time.' The superintendent explained her meaning by stating that 'Native Americans view time differently' than other community members so that for instance, 'arriving two hours late' is common and results in being marked absent.''Swigert was placed on administrative leave in July and fired in August. To oversee the resolution agreement's implementation, the district empanelled the Stakeholder Equity Committee, which includes members of the Indigenous Education Task Force. The new body was supposed to meet last fall but did not convene until February. Its fate is now up in the air following the federal withdrawal from the process. Looking ahead The school district said on Thursday that it has invested substantial resources in complying with the terms of the resolution agreement and will continue its efforts to support all students, ensuring that discipline policies remain fair, truancy interventions are effective, and advanced learning opportunities are accessible to students. 'While political priorities may shift, our core educational values remain steadfast. Our mission remains to provide a safe, positive, and nondiscriminatory learning environment where all students can achieve their full potential,' said Strasser, the acting superintendent. 'As the district adjusts to the latest directive from the [education department] we ask for patience and collaboration as we navigate the next steps," Strasser said. "Our work will continue to focus on the foundational pillars of our Strategic Plan — Students, Community, Communication, Facilities, and Staff — ensuring that all stakeholders remain informed, engaged, and supported throughout this transition.' Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Witness: Most tribal nations at Dakota Access Pipeline protest ‘didn't know who Greenpeace was'
Representatives of several tribal nations demonstrate in August 2016 in Bismarck against the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor) MANDAN, N.D. — A Lakota organizer said in a video deposition played to jurors Monday that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe led the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, not Greenpeace. Nick Tilsen, an Oglala Sioux Tribe citizen and activist, called the notion that Greenpeace orchestrated the protests 'paternalistic.' 'I think that people underestimate the complexity and the sophistication of tribal nations,' Tilsen said. Tilsen's deposition was the latest testimony heard by the nine-person jury in the marathon trial between pipeline developer Energy Transfer and Greenpeace. Energy Transfer claims Greenpeace secretly aided and abetted destructive and violent behavior by protesters during the demonstrations, which took place in south central North Dakota near the Standing Rock Reservation in 2016 and 2017. It also claims that Greenpeace orchestrated a misinformation campaign to defame the company, leading a group of banks to back out of financing the project. Energy Transfer seeks roughly $300 million from the environmental organization. Greenpeace denies Energy Transfer's allegations. The group says it has never condoned violence, and only played a supporting role during the protests. Tilsen said he got involved in the protests before Greenpeace. He was invited to join the cause by former Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault and his sister, Jodi Archambault, he said. 'They called me and said, 'Hey, we need your help at Standing Rock,'' Tilsen said. Standing Rock has long opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline, stating the project poses a pollution threat, infringes on tribal sovereignty and has disrupted sacred cultural sites. It was Standing Rock leadership that laid the groundwork for the protests against the pipeline's construction in 2016, Tilsen said. He said organizers later invited Greenpeace to support the camps, including by providing supplies and nonviolent direct action training. Tilsen said he only felt comfortable reaching out to Greenpeace because a friend of his, Cy Wagoner, worked there. He said since Wagoner is from the Navajo nation, he trusted that Greenpeace would respect Standing Rock's leadership of the camps. Indigenous communities are often reluctant to invite outside nonprofits to help with Native rights issues, Tilsen added. He said they often don't understand Native nations' unique relationship with the U.S. government. Greenpeace wasn't a big part of the protests, Tilsen said. 'To be honest, most of the tribal nations didn't know who Greenpeace was,' he said. Countless other groups — including representatives from more than 300 Native nations — came to the protest camps in solidarity with Standing Rock, said Tilsen. 'Quite frankly, our list of allies was hundreds,' he said. Greenpeace gave intel, supplies, training to Dakota Access Pipeline protests, testimony shows Tilsen said he was involved in several protest actions against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017, including those that involved marching on the pipeline easement, jumping in front of equipment and using lockboxes — also known as 'sleeping dragons' — to disable construction machinery. None of the protest actions were coordinated by Greenpeace, he said. Tilsen said he never saw or endorsed any destruction of property or acts of violence toward construction workers or law enforcement. He also pushed back on the assertion that any of the protest activities he participated in qualified as trespassing. The pipeline passes through land recognized as belonging to the Sioux Nation under treaties signed by the U.S. government in 1851 and 1868. The U.S. government later annexed that land in violation of those treaties. Tilsen asked how Lakota citizens could be trespassing on land that was unlawfully taken from them. 'This is the conundrum we find ourselves in,' he said. Employees of Greenpeace said during video depositions played last week that the environmental organization brought 20 to 30 lockboxes to the camps. Tilsen said while he saw many lockboxes during protests, he wasn't sure where any of them came from. He also said he never heard anyone from Greenpeace tell demonstrators to use the devices. Tilsen said that David Khoury, an employee for Greenpeace, helped identify potential sites for protest actions. Tilsen added that while Wagoner — another Greenpeace employee — didn't plan protest activities, he trained people on how to conduct them. The trial, which is before Southwest Central Judicial District Judge James Gion, is expected to last roughly four more weeks. This story was originally published by the North Dakota Monitor. Like South Dakota Searchlight, it's part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Witness: Most tribal nations at Dakota Access Pipeline protest ‘didn't know who Greenpeace was'
Representatives of several tribal nations demonstrate in August 2016 in Bismarck against the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor) A Lakota organizer said in a video deposition played to jurors Monday that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe led the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, not Greenpeace. Nick Tilsen, an Oglala Sioux Tribe citizen and activist, called the notion that Greenpeace orchestrated the protests 'paternalistic.' 'I think that people underestimate the complexity and the sophistication of tribal nations,' Tilsen said. Tilsen's deposition was the latest testimony heard by the nine-person jury in the marathon trial between pipeline developer Energy Transfer and Greenpeace. Energy Transfer claims Greenpeace secretly aided and abetted destructive and violent behavior by protesters during the demonstrations, which took place in south central North Dakota near the Standing Rock Reservation in 2016 and 2017. It also claims that Greenpeace orchestrated a misinformation campaign to defame the company, leading a group of banks to back out of financing the project. Energy Transfer seeks roughly $300 million from the environmental organization. Greenpeace denies Energy Transfer's allegations. The group says it has never condoned violence, and only played a supporting role during the protests. Tilsen said he got involved in the protests before Greenpeace. He was invited to join the cause by former Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault and his sister, Jodi Archambault, he said. 'They called me and said, 'Hey, we need your help at Standing Rock,'' Tilsen said. Standing Rock has long opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline, stating the project poses a pollution threat, infringes on tribal sovereignty and has disrupted sacred cultural sites. It was Standing Rock leadership that laid the groundwork for the protests against the pipeline's construction in 2016, Tilsen said. He said organizers later invited Greenpeace to support the camps, including by providing supplies and nonviolent direct action training. Tilsen said he only felt comfortable reaching out to Greenpeace because a friend of his, Cy Wagoner, worked there. He said since Wagoner is from the Navajo nation, he trusted that Greenpeace would respect Standing Rock's leadership of the camps. Indigenous communities are often reluctant to invite outside nonprofits to help with Native rights issues, Tilsen added. He said they often don't understand Native nations' unique relationship with the U.S. government. Greenpeace wasn't a big part of the protests, Tilsen said. 'To be honest, most of the tribal nations didn't know who Greenpeace was,' he said. Countless other groups — including representatives from more than 300 Native nations — came to the protest camps in solidarity with Standing Rock, said Tilsen. 'Quite frankly, our list of allies was hundreds,' he said. Tilsen said he was involved in several protest actions against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017, including those that involved marching on the pipeline easement, jumping in front of equipment and using lockboxes — also known as 'sleeping dragons' — to disable construction machinery. None of the protest actions were coordinated by Greenpeace, he said. Tilsen said he never saw or endorsed any destruction of property or acts of violence toward construction workers or law enforcement. He also pushed back on the assertion that any of the protest activities he participated in qualified as trespassing. The pipeline passes through land recognized as belonging to the Sioux Nation under treaties signed by the U.S. government in 1851 and 1868. The U.S. government later annexed that land in violation of those treaties. Tilsen asked how Lakota citizens could be trespassing on land that was unlawfully taken from them. 'This is the conundrum we find ourselves in,' he said. Greenpeace gave intel, supplies, training to Dakota Access Pipeline protests, testimony shows Employees of Greenpeace said during video depositions played last week that the environmental organization brought 20 to 30 lockboxes to the camps. Tilsen said while he saw many lockboxes during protests, he wasn't sure where any of them came from. He also said he never heard anyone from Greenpeace tell demonstrators to use the devices. Tilsen said that David Khoury, an employee for Greenpeace, helped identify potential sites for protest actions. Tilsen added that while Wagoner — another Greenpeace employee — didn't plan protest activities, he trained people on how to conduct them. The trial, which is before Southwest Central Judicial District Judge James Gion, is expected to last roughly four more weeks. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Leonard Peltier welcomed back to tribal homeland by Native American community: ‘I am not broken'
After 49 years in prison, Native American activist Leonard Peltier was released on Feb. 18. And now his Indigenous community is celebrating with a 'welcome home' event. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians citizen and former American Indian Movement (AIM) activist had been serving two life sentences for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents during a shootout involving more than 30 people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The shootout also left one Native activist dead. Peltier's trial, however, had been criticized for alleged misconduct, drawing rebuke from not only Native activists but also world leaders. For decades, supporters campaigned for his release, but the remainder of Peltier's sentence was commuted on Jan. 20 by former President Joe Biden. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'Today I am finally free! They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!' Peltier said in a statement on Tuesday. 'Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom. I am finally going home. I look forward to seeing my friends, my family and my community. It's a good day today.' Peltier was released from a Coleman federal prison in Florida and will spend the rest of his life in home confinement in his tribal homeland in North Dakota. NDN Collective, a Native American-led organization led by its Oglala Lakota founder and CEO, Nick Tilsen, facilitated his move back to his family home. For Tilsen, seeing Peltier released was 'powerful.' 'He came walking out through those doors, and he was confident. He shook the hands of all of the corrections officers and the transition staff, and they were all supportive of him leaving,' Tilsen said. 'He was dignified, and he was respected by all of them. And they were all happy to see him go home.' In a strange coincidence that Tilsen saw as symbolic, 'The front doors of Coleman PS1, they wouldn't shut. They were broken,' he said. 'They had a maintenance guy and then a corrections officer come up, come over. And it was so crazy that literally the front door of Coleman PS1 was broken open,' he continued. 'It was broken open literally until Leonard came walking through those doors.' After arriving in North Dakota, Peltier said, "I am not broken." Since his imprisonment, the 80-year-old activist has served as a symbol for many of the continued oppression of Native American people in the U.S., because his trial was reportedly marked by instances of witness coercion, withheld evidence and juror bias, Indigenous activists as well as notable figures including Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders had called for clemency for Peltier. While the activist admitted to being present at the shootout, he has maintained his innocence in the killings of the officers, who were shot at close range, according to the FBI. Even a former U.S. attorney whose predecessor prosecuted the case noted that Peltier's presence at the shootout with a weapon was what ultimately led to his conviction rather than any evidence that he fired the fatal shots. Notably, the other two activists who were also tried were acquitted. The death of the Native activist involved in the shootout was never investigated. 'How Leonard Peltier was treated was emblematic of how Indigenous people have been treated by the United States government since the founding of this country,' Tilsen said, arguing that this explained was why world leaders had come to Peltier's defense. 'The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States government was waging a war, and they were violating Indigenous people's human rights in the process, and they violated his human rights.' The FBI has consistently opposed Peltier's release, which had come up during several presidential administrations. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray even sent a private letter to Biden, saying, 'Granting Peltier any relief from his conviction or sentence is wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law,' according to the Associated Press. The reaction from the Native community itself has been mixed, due to Peltier's rumored connection to the murder of fellow AIM member Annie Mae Aquash, whose life was detailed in the 2024 Hulu documentary series Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae. Peltier has denied any involvement in her death. Only a week after Biden commuted Peltier's sentence, the Indigenous-produced documentary Free Leonard Peltier, directed by Jesse Short Bull and David France, about his time in prison and the decades-long effort to free him, debuted on Jan. 27 at the Sundance Film Festival. Filmmakers had to scramble to adjust the ending, although as the Comanche-Blackfeet producer Jhane Myers previously told Yahoo, 'This is something that we always prepared for, because we had hoped that this would happen.' Wednesday's ceremony in Belcourt, N.D., is expected to attract between 400-500 people, according to Tilsen. There will be elders and spiritual leaders offering prayers, along with singers and dancers. '[Peltier is] going to address the community and the people and Indian country,' Tilsen explained. 'The ceremony and the celebration is really the most important thing for that day and to welcome him back here, back into his homelands and back to the community and to the people.' As for what comes next, Tilsen said he hopes Peltier's release and return home helps illuminate 'what has happened to Indian people, so that it doesn't continue to happen.' 'Justice for Indigenous people is justice for people everywhere,' he added. 'We have to be able to enter into an era of building a culture of repair and acknowledgment in this country, rather than one of erasure and ignorance.'
