CILS Plays Critical Role in Winning Protection for
California Indian Trust Lands
For Immediate Release
November 1, 2004
Washington, D.C. – After three years of effort on the part of California Indian Legal Services (CILS), important protections for Indian trust lands in California have been won. On Wednesday, October 27, 2004, the President signed into law the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004, which amends the Indian Land Consolidation Act (ILCA). As a result of an earlier change to ILCA, passed with little fanfare in 2000, up to one-fifth of all the trust land in California was at grave risk of being taken out of trust, and many California Indians and Indian families were in danger of having their trust relationship with the federal government terminated. Although the new law will still have that effect on Indians and trust lands outside of California, CILS was able to secure special protection for California Indians and their trust holdings in the new law.
Beyond restoring protection for California Indians and California trust lands, the new Act dramatically reforms Indian probate law and expands the reach of trial sovereignty significantly. Representative Richard Pombo (R-Cal.) heralded the passage of the American Indian Probate Reform Act as “one of the largest achievements for Native Americans in this Congress.”
“Finally, after many years of hard work, relief is at hand for individual Indian landholders and the tribes so obviously I am pleased this bill is heading to the President,” Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Col.) said in a press release. “Getting to this point has been a group effort and I want to acknowledge the hard work of Secretary Norton and her staff, Indian tribes and Indian organizations like the National Congress of American Indians, California Indian Legal Services and others and of course individual Indian land owners all of whom came together and were able to develop a consensus bill that really does what we need to have done.”
Protecting our precious land has been among the highest priorities of CILS since our founding by California Indians nearly forty years ago. Three years ago, in response to Congress stripping protection from our trust lands, CILS’ Board of Indian Trustees and program management decided to open an office in Washington, D.C. so that laws such as these could no longer pass without input and expert comment from California Indian interests. Passage of the Probate Reform Act validates the wisdom of this decision. As always, tribal financial support is needed so that we can continue our work in DC. This spring we will see great changes in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and our expertise will be needed more than ever to educate the new leadership and their staff about the unique history and needs of California Indians. Contributions to CILS are fully tax deductible and can be sent to the address listed above.
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