Title
A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE INTER TRIBAL COUNCIL OF ARIZONA AND THE TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION IN THEIR OPPOSITION TO ARIZONA SB 1070
Body
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation since time immemorial has exercised the sovereign rights of self-government in behalf of the Cherokee people;
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation is a federally recognized Indian Nation with a historic and continual government to government relationship with the United States of America;
WHEREAS, tribal governments and their citizens have aboriginal interests in historic homelands that may extend beyond their reservation boundaries and across international borders;
WHEREAS, those tribes whose families and communities exist on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have frequently experienced extreme hardship in being able to cross their aboriginal lands freely to visit their families and participate in ceremonial activities with their tribespeople;
WHEREAS, one such tribe, the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, has worked closely for many years with the U.S. Border Patrol to ensure safe and easy passage of their citizens across the border for social and ceremonial activities;
WHEREAS, the Tohono O’odham Nation also has interests in border security and spends over $3 million of their own tribal funds each year so that tribal law enforcement may assist the efforts of federal agencies and receives no reimbursement from the federal government;
WHEREAS, under the United States Constitution, the exclusive regulatory relationships of tribes is with the federal government and jurisdiction on reservations is reserved to federal and tribal authorities;
WHEREAS, Arizona Senate Bill 1070 empowers state and county law enforcement to the same level as federal law enforcement on the matter of border security, which is of grave concern to tribes in Arizona;
WHEREAS, many Native Americans in Arizona do not speak English or do not speak it as a first language, were not issued birth certificates or other document...
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