GOVERNMENT
The other border In Maricopa, does watching a movie mean giving up your rights? BY JEFF CHEW
her injuries. Ron Tankamnerd, the father of the girl who was hospitalized July 20, still doesn’t know if anyone was arrested. Again, Ak-Chin PD did not reassure the community in any way, outright refusing to answer questions or even acknowledge the attack happened. Longtime Arizona State University Professor Robert J. Miller, an expert in Indian law, cites the 1981 case Montana v. U.S. in which the Crow Tribe of Montana sought to prohibit hunting and fishing on its reservation, citing its inherent power as a sovereign nation. The tribe claimed authority to prohibit hunting and fishing by non-tribal members, even on lands within the reservation owned by non-Indians. The Crow Tribe won that case. You’re probably in the 99.9% It’s an uneven fight for jurisdiction. Miller said high courts have long allowed a legal exception that a tribal nation has jurisdiction or control over a non-Indian, even for their conduct on non-Indian-owned lands within a reservation. It is an instance in which the non-Indian has entered some kind of contractual agreement with the tribe or one of its citizens — even something so simple as the verbal contract that comes with agreeing to the rules at a card game table or bowling alley. The second exception from the Montana case comes when the non-Indian’s activity at issue directly affects “the tribe’s political integrity, economic security, health or welfare.” “Non-Indians now voluntarily agree to rules and regulations once they step on native Indian-owned land within a reservation,” said Miller. “Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of people have no knowledge of how tribal laws work when they go shopping or gambling.” With Maricopa being the only city in the U.S. bordering two Indian reservations, the question of who has what rights is complex. The Ak-Chin Community Council generally agrees with Miller. The council in a statement from spokesman Matthew Benson to InMaricopa said Ak-Chin is “a federally recognized Indian tribe and, as such, is a separate sovereign possessing the jurisdiction and authority to regulate most of the activities of those individuals and entities located within the community’s boundaries.” In a joint statement, the Ak-Chin council said: “This is no difference than when someone travels to another state or another country. Thus, anyone within the community, whether
For most felony cases, the FBI steps in. “Native American reservations have their own tribal police, but they have limited resources,” John “FBI John” Iannarelli, a retired FBI agent who lives in Scottsdale, told InMaricopa . “As reservations are government land, the FBI has concurrent jurisdiction and will work significant investigative matters involving murder, rape, sexual abuse of children, et cetera. Other crimes are generally handled by the tribal police.” Miller said one example of a tribe’s legal authority over felony cases, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, allows tribes the legal right to criminally prosecute non-Indians who commit domestic violence against tribal members on Indian land. Tribes can prosecute such cases in their own courtrooms, he said. Other than that provision, tribal governments do not have criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians. Likewise, they have no obligation to charge their own members for crimes committed against non-Indians, nor are they compelled to release documents like police and crash reports, even in superior court. Tribes also have the power of taxation on their own lands. Both the Ak-Chin and Gila River Indian Communities impose a 7% sales tax. Ak-Chin also levies a 1% lease tax. Miller said another legal authority Indian communities have as part of their inherent sovereignty is civil action. “Tribal cops have civil power over a non- Indian,” Miller said. Miller said of 574 recognized tribes in the U.S., only one-fifth have their own jails. Ak- Chin and Gila River both do. When 99.9% of people don’t know the law, that’s dangerous. As reservations are government land, the FBI has concurrent jurisdiction and will work sig- nificant investigative matters involving murder, rape, sexual abuse of children, et cetera.” JOHN IANNARELLI, RETIRED FBI AGENT
An informational highway sign on John Wayne Parkway near White and Parker Road in Ak-Chin Village tells drivers the tribal government center is 4 miles to the west. Some in Maricopa wait for this government to release crucially important records, a date that may never come.
Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of people have no knowledge of how tribal laws work when they go shopping or gambling.” BOB MILLER, INDIAN LAW EXPERT
Ak-Chin Circle Entertainment Center Theater
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Hidden in plain sight Progressive, the insurance company famous for its mascot Flo, petitioned the Gila River Indian Community in Pinal County Superior Court Sept. 19 for an unredacted copy of a Gila River Police Department report of a car crash near Sacaton Road and Canal Street, about 12 miles east Maricopa. Five days later, Judge Joseph R. Georgini threw out the civil case because Phoenix law firm Schneider & Onofry, representing Progressive, was unable to serve the lawsuit to GRPD. Off the reservation, this would have resulted in a default judgment against the defendant — but on the reservation, the defendants were untouchable. Non-Indians are not allowed on GRIC land unless they are passing through on a main road, visiting a public business or have prior approval.
But even honest trips to tribal lands, like gamblers, diners and bowlers from Maricopa take every day when they drive south on John Wayne Parkway, can bring crime or accidents with few avenues by which to sue or even find answers in the aftermath. Ak-Chin Police Department refused to release any information or answer any questions about a massive brawl during a May 10 movie screening at the Ak-Chin cinema, even after a video surfaced showing one person curled up in the fetal position as he was mercilessly struck in the head. The video, first released by InMaricopa , was watched more than 25,000 times. Two months later, in July, two teenage girls from Tortosa were ambushed and beaten in front of the movie theater. One was beaten badly and transported to a local hospital for
MARICOPA MOVIEGOER WALKS into the Ak-Chin Indian Community cinema. This isn’t the setup for a bad
a member or non-member, does not ‘lose’ rights but, rather, must abide by the laws and regulations applicable to them while they are within the community’s jurisdiction. Further, these laws and regulations are not only those of the community but also include applicable federal and state laws and regulations.” Gila River Indian Community spokes- person Teaya Enos refused to answer questions for this story. Gila River police have a mutual aid agreement allowing Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputies to pursue suspects in chase situations that end up on the reservation. Deputies may detain captured tribal suspects, but must then turn them over to GRPD officers, the mutual aid agreement states.
joke, but rather an important question: What authority does the Ak-Chin Indian Community and its police department have over that moviegoer’s rights? The U.S. Supreme Court has concluded, generally, tribes do not have authority over non-Indians for their activities on non-Indian- owned lands on a reservation. But if a tribe owns all the land in a reservation, as is the case with both Ak- Chin and the Gila River Indian Community, which bound Maricopa, then a non-Indian is subject to much more tribal control — and less American transparency — once a person enters a reservation.
InMaricopa.com | November 2024
November 2024 | InMaricopa.com
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