Native American Law

John “Sam” Sapiel gets an uneasy feeling when he steps over Boston
city limits. There are no warrants out for his arrest and he hasn’t committed
any crime, but he still could be put behind bars — just because he’s an
American Indian.

Sapiel, a 74-year-old full-blooded Penobscot Indian who lives in Falmouth, is
technically a persona non grata in the city of Boston, where an archaic law
forbids American Indians from setting foot since 1675, when settlers were at
war with area tribes.

Truth and reconciliation commissions seek to uncover facts and distinguish truth from lies. The process allows for acknowledgement, appropriate public mourning, forgiveness and healing. And if the US House of Representatives passes their version of Brownback’s apology bill and President Bush signs it Congress should then be pressed to launch a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And each state should also debate the need for its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission and then to fund it.”

Canada was cast Thursday as a bad actor that aggressively
campaigned alongside countries with tarnished human-rights records in its
failed bid to derail the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.

The non-binding declaration is expected to be adopted Sept. 13 by the UN
General Assembly.