{"id":20709,"date":"2022-02-03T17:44:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T22:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=20709"},"modified":"2022-02-03T17:52:29","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T22:52:29","slug":"evictions-from-nooksack-tribe-housing-draw-international-rebuke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/02\/03\/evictions-from-nooksack-tribe-housing-draw-international-rebuke\/","title":{"rendered":"Evictions from Nooksack Tribe housing draw international rebuke"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Nooksack<\/a>
The Nooksack Tribe is preparing to evict former citizens and family members, including those pictured here, from federally-funded housing in Washington. Courtesy photo<\/figcaption>\r\n
Evictions from Nooksack Tribe housing draw international rebuke<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, February 3, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nHuman rights experts from the United Nations<\/a> are calling on the United States to prevent the evictions of former citizens of the Nooksack Tribe<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn a statement on Thursday, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing<\/a>, and Francisco Cal\u00ed Tzay, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples<\/a>, drew further attention to the plight of The Nooksack 63<\/a>. Through the unusual public rebuke, they urged the U.S. to respect the rights of indigenous peoples, as enshrined in international law.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe appeal to the US Government to respect the right to adequate housing, which is enshrined under article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a> and article 21 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples<\/a>, and to ensure that it abides by its international obligations, including with respect to the rights of indigenous peoples,\u201d Rajagopal and Cal\u00ed Tzay said in a statement issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"Nooksack<\/a>

This home in Deming, Washington, is among those occupied by former citizens of the Nooksack Tribe. The occupants face eviction after being removed from the tribal rolls. Courtesy photo<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nOn a number of occasions, UN experts have addressed the mistreatment of American Indian and Alaska Native people. Recent human rights statements have focused on actions taken by governmental and private entities, such as the arrest of a Lakota citizen<\/a> on his own treaty territory, the dismantling of the Bears Ears National Monument<\/a> over the objections of tribal nations, the construction<\/a> of the Dakota Access Pipeline<\/a> without tribal consent<\/a> and even the legacy of racist mascots<\/a> in professional sports. \r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe new statement from Rajagopal and Cal\u00ed Tzay, in comparison, appears to be the first to touch on the controversial issue of tribal disenrollment. The two officials noted that the people being evicted are no longer accepted as citizens by the Nooksack Tribe.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe experts also pointed out that the affected families are slated to be removed from housing that was funded by federal dollars. Several of those being evicted are elderly, including an 85-year-old grandmother.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe are also concerned that the forced evictions will deny them the possibility of enjoying their own culture and of using their own language in community with others,\u201d said Rajagopal and Cal\u00ed Tzay, who added that they have been in contact with the Biden administration about the issue.\r\n

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