"Federal interference in tribal affairs is a tricky business. On one hand, the feds risk overreaching. Hence, this week's decision by a U.S. District Court judge to dismiss cases concerning a nasty Snoqualmie Tribe feud. On the other hand, federal neglect can have dangerous consequences. Such has been the case when it comes to the prosecution of rape and domestic-violence cases in Indian country, says Theresa Pouley, chief judge of Tulalip Tribal Court.
Pouley, a Colville tribal member, is one of two Washingtonians appointed to a new federal task force that aims to step up the prosecution of cases involving violence against Native American women. U.S. Assistant Attorney Susan Roe is also serving on the task force, announced on Friday by the Department of Justice.
The statistics are bleak. A 2005 Congressional report found that one in three Native American women were raped during their lifetimes, and tribal women suffered domestic violence at three times the rate that Caucasians did.
The feds have the authority to prosecute assaults and other so-called "major crimes" on Indian reservations. Yet they have largely left it to tribal authorities to handle such cases, despite the fact that the law hampers the ability of Indian courts to bring perpetrators to justice. Tribal courts can only prosecute Native Americans--often not the assailants in cases involving violence against Indian women, according to Pouley. "
Get the Story:
Violence Against Native American Women, Once Ignored by the Feds, Gets a New Look
(The Seattle Weekly 1/27)
Also Today:
President Barack Obama appoints UCLA professor for Indian Law and Order Commission (The Daily Bruin 1/27)
Related Stories
DOJ creates task force to address violence
against Native women (1/25)
Join the Conversation
