Indian Country Speaks Out

Having suggested the United States needs to have a native American Supreme Court justice, I decided to research the subject and found that "Indian Country Today" already editorialized on the subject a couple of weeks ago. Heather Dawn Thompson addressed her editorial to President Obama with the following words," For more than 200 years the United States Supreme Court has sat in judgment over us,over our lands, over our treaties, and over our families. Not one single day have we ever had a voice in those decisions".

She goes on to write that not only has a Native American never served on the Supreme Court but she says there is not a single Native on the federal bench in the entire country and there has never been a Native American Supreme Court clerk. There are 866 federal judgeships, 179 Courts of Appeals and 678 District Courts and not one Native American federal judge.

The newspaper Indian Country out of New Mexico actually claims that there are three American Indian judges or the equivalent of 2/10ths of one percent. This article goes on to claim that although some 2,953 individuals have served as federal judges for the United States since 1789, it was not until 1994 that the first American Indian, Billy Michael Burrage, was appointed to the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Western districts of Oklahoma in 1994. He later resigned to into private practice.The only one I could find was Frank Howell Seay, a senior district judge in Oklahoma.

Whether Heather Dawn Thompson missed a miniscule number, she is right to say that the Native bar,while small, excels in quality. Native attorneys must be excellent not only in their own field but also in tribal, state and federal law. She proposes for the Supreme Court John EchoHawk, whom she considers the Thurgood Marsahll of Indian Country, Larry EchoHawk and Kevin Grover.

The issue of more Indians on the federal court has been pressed by the leaders of California's politically powerful Indian tribes. Richard Milanovich, the chairman of the Aqua Caliente Band of the Cahuilla Indians, had contributed $50,000 to Obama's inaugural committee and has been forceful in speaking out for more federal Indian judges, who would understand issues such as tribal sovereignty. Most court observers simply miss the slew of Indian-related cases that are decided on during a court year. The fact there isn't even an Indian Supreme Court clerk is a national disgrace.

We applaud all those who keep raising this issue.