“What
stereotyping does”
By Charmaine
White Face
2.29.20
If you take
out the words “tribal” and “Indian” all you have left are a group of patients
fighting a federal government agency for the right to health care. That’s what
stereotyping does. It blinds people to getting to the heart of the matter. It
puts an extra burden on the people, and lets a government agency get away with
violations of federal laws.
This is
exactly what is happening to Donna Gilbert, Julie Mohney, and the author as we
happen to be Native American Indians fighting the United States Indian Health
Service and their illegal contract with an information agency that carries the
lofty name “Great Plains Tribal Chairmens’ Health Board.” No one seems to
remember that tribal chairmen have no authority, jurisdiction, or sovereign
immunity off of the reservations. A tribal chairman can get a speeding ticket
off the reservation just like everyone else. Sioux San Hospital and our health
care for which we are fighting is located OFF of the reservations.
Surely the federal agency, the IHS, is aware of that fact. Surely a federal judge should have been aware of that fact. It was brought out many times in the court documents. But no. Stereotyping won out and the federal judge went against the people in the Gilbert v. Weahkee case. Instead Federal Judge Jeffrey Viken said that the information agency, which is under the jurisdiction of the state of South Dakota and the federal Internal Revenue Service, has “tribal sovereign immunity.”
For those of
you who are not sure what this is about: a federal agency, the Indian Health
Service, gave a contract to manage and administer a health facility, the Sioux San Hospital (yes it still has hospital designation), to an information agency,
the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board, which is a SD non-profit corporation
with no health management credentials. Take out the words “Indian” and “Tribal”
and “Sioux” and you have: a federal agency gave an illegal federal contract to
manage a hospital to an information agency.
Why is the
contract “illegal”? Because under the law, Public Law 93-638, a federal agency
can only give an Indian Self Determination contract to a Tribe or Tribal
Organization. Even though “Great Plains Tribal Chairmens’ Health Board” has the
word “tribal” in there, it is just an information agency to provide information
to the 17 area tribes AND was established by the federal agency, the Indian
Health Service! It is NOT a Tribal Organization!
So the
contract went from the right hand to the left hand of the same federal agency!
Who is really getting the hundreds of millions of dollars that are to provide
health care for patients who have to be Native American Indian? Shouldn’t the
FBI be looking into the bank accounts of all the ‘top dogs’ involved in this
hundreds of millions of dollars scam?
The illegal
contract went into effect in July, 2019. Since that time, from only the
author’s knowledge, there have been three deaths, two maimings, a mentally ill
woman incarcerated after taken off her medication and losing it, and a
terminally ill man’s disease activated after his refill request was not given
to the right pharmacy in time so he was without medication for four days. This
is not to mention all of the bills that are being sent to collection agencies
against individuals because the information agency doesn’t know how to pay the
bills, or the many other patients that have been harmed.
Some of these
reports have been given to Senator John Thune’s office as the U.S. Senate is
supposed to be the overseers of all federal agencies. Some have been sent to
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee asking for an investigation. A report was
also sent to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, with a
copy of the federal fraud conviction of the federal IHS contract signer, James
Driving Hawk. And some of these reports from patients were included as
affidavits in the federal case, Gilbert v. Weahkee, which was recently denied
by Federal Judge Viken who ruled the information agency had “tribal sovereign
immunity”.
What all this
stereotyping does is provide a convenient screen to conduct genocide. That’s
what this is: genocide. That’s what happens when health care is denied to a
certain group of people, and that is what the federal government has been doing
to Native American Indians since first contact, trying to impose genocide.
Health care
for Native Americans was written as a provision in many of the Treaties our
great-great grandparents concluded with the United States. A Treaty is an
agreement and the United States agreed to pay for our health care. So by the U.
S. government putting health care in the hands of people who don’t know what
they are doing is a great way to insure that Native American people will
receive no health care at all. It is the same as giving small pox infected
blankets to the Tribes. We need to watch out lest they give us the Coronavirus
next. This is genocide.
What can you
do?
First, we need an attorney to help us with an Appeal on the case. I’m sure the U.S. Justice system doesn’t want 150 plus independent cases all appealing the same thing. Second, write a letter to Senator Jon Tester from Montana who is on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Send him a copy of this editorial if you don’t want to write anything with a note that this is affecting all of the Tribes in the U.S. including the ones in Montana. Third, if you are a patient receiving bills, keep a copy then take your bills to the IHS Sioux San CEO as IHS is still responsible. Finally, pray for all the patients at Sioux San that we will receive adequate health care and have good health, and all Native American people in the U.S. as this case will affect everyone.
First, we need an attorney to help us with an Appeal on the case. I’m sure the U.S. Justice system doesn’t want 150 plus independent cases all appealing the same thing. Second, write a letter to Senator Jon Tester from Montana who is on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Send him a copy of this editorial if you don’t want to write anything with a note that this is affecting all of the Tribes in the U.S. including the ones in Montana. Third, if you are a patient receiving bills, keep a copy then take your bills to the IHS Sioux San CEO as IHS is still responsible. Finally, pray for all the patients at Sioux San that we will receive adequate health care and have good health, and all Native American people in the U.S. as this case will affect everyone.
Thank you.
###
Charmaine
White Face is an Oglala Tituwan Oceti Sakowin elder, great-grandmother, writer,
and scientist. She can be reached at:
cwhiteface@gmail.com
December 10, 2019
Sioux Nation Treaty Council
A Summary of the 1851 and 1868 Treaties
*******************
Native Sun News TodayDecember 10, 2019
Violating our civil rights and right to privacy
***************
The Defendants, RADM Michael D. Weahkee, Principal Deputy Director Indian Health Service, James Driving Hawk, Great Plains IHS Area Director, and William Barr, United States Attorney General by entering into a plan to contract the Sioux San Rapid City Service Unit Health Facility under a Public Law 93-638 compact did violate our Civil and Treaty Rights in the following manner:
Under Section 900.3 Policy Statements (a)(l)(2): At no time were members of the American Indian Community of Rapid City afforded any "Participation" regarding the Defendants entering into a "638 contract" with the United States Indian Health Service. Also the majority of members of the Rapid City American Indian Community and employees oppose the transfer, and were NOT afforded any participation in any portion of this particular plan.
Regarding Section 900.3(b) Secretarial Policy(3)(4) of the Amended Regulations, at no time were members of the Rapid City American Indian Community afforded any "information" or "discretion" with this particular "contractible" program being the Sioux San IHS Health Facility, "to meet the needs of their communities" which is the Rapid City American Indian Community of which we are members, nor were we involved in the selection of any Advisory Board members, some of whom are convicted felons.
Subpart B- Definitions Section 900.6 Indian/Tribal Organization: All the individual people utilizing Sioux San IHS Health Facility are members of an American Indian Tribe. A majority of the patients are in fact enrolled in one tribe which is part of the Sioux Nation. However, as employees and members of the Rapid City American Indian Community and residing in Rapid City, I am NOT allowed to vote in elections on my Reservation.
Furthermore it is the United States Indian Health Service that is responsible to provide adequate health care to the Indian people as listed in Article 13 of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, not the Defendant, the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board. According to the "Mission Statement" of the Defendant, Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, they are "to provide quality public health support and health care advocacy to the tribal nations of the Great Plains...."
A vast majority of Rapid City IHS employees are not in favor of an Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement as they chose to work for the federal government, not a tribal organization. As members of the Rapid City American Indian community, they also had the right to know ahead of time of this contractual agreement made between the GPTCHB and their employer, the Indian Health Service. As they did not, their stress levels affect their relationships with their patients such as myself.
STATEMENT OF CLAIM:
The Defendants, RADM Michael D. Weahkee, Principal Deputy Director Indian Health Service, James Driving Hawk, Great Plains IHS Area Director, and William Barr, United States Attorney General by entering into a plan to contract the Sioux San Rapid City Service Unit Health Facility under a Public Law 93-638 compact did violate our Civil and Treaty Rights in the following manner:
1. Under Article 13 of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, the
United States agreed to provide health care for members of the Great Sioux
Nation. By allowing the Defendants to enter into a contract under PL 93-638,
the responsibility of the-United States to provide that health care is
considerably diminished by transferring the responsibility to the Great Plains
Tribal Chairmen's Health Board.
As employees and patients of the Sioux San Health Facility and as a member of the Great Sioux Nation, this constitutes a violation of our rights under the Treaty as we did not agree that the United States should transfer its responsibilities for health care to another entity. The Treaty was made between our nation and the United States and cannot be arbitrarily changed.
As employees and patients of the Sioux San Health Facility and as a member of the Great Sioux Nation, this constitutes a violation of our rights under the Treaty as we did not agree that the United States should transfer its responsibilities for health care to another entity. The Treaty was made between our nation and the United States and cannot be arbitrarily changed.
2. Under Public Law 93-638, Indian Self Determination Act,
my Civil Rights were violated in the following ways:
25CFR450(c) "Community Support for the
contract": At no time has the Defendants asked or received support for
the contract from the Rapid City Indian Community except for a select few. No
proper consultation was afforded to the whole Rapid City American Indian
Community by Defendants, RADM Michael D. Weahkee, Principal Deputy Director
Indian Health Service, and James Driving Hawk as the Ai*ea Director of the Great
Plains Area Indian Health Service. We are also members of the Rapid City American
Indian Community and this violated our rights to have a voice in who will be responsible
for my health care services. This also holds true within 25CFR450 Section103
(D) "Community Support for the contract."
3. Our Civil Rights were further violated under the Amended
Regulations 25CFR900.
Under Section 900.3 Policy Statements (a)(l)(2): At no time were members of the American Indian Community of Rapid City afforded any "Participation" regarding the Defendants entering into a "638 contract" with the United States Indian Health Service. Also the majority of members of the Rapid City American Indian Community and employees oppose the transfer, and were NOT afforded any participation in any portion of this particular plan.
Regarding Section 900.3(b) Secretarial Policy(3)(4) of the Amended Regulations, at no time were members of the Rapid City American Indian Community afforded any "information" or "discretion" with this particular "contractible" program being the Sioux San IHS Health Facility, "to meet the needs of their communities" which is the Rapid City American Indian Community of which we are members, nor were we involved in the selection of any Advisory Board members, some of whom are convicted felons.
Subpart B- Definitions Section 900.6 Indian/Tribal Organization: All the individual people utilizing Sioux San IHS Health Facility are members of an American Indian Tribe. A majority of the patients are in fact enrolled in one tribe which is part of the Sioux Nation. However, as employees and members of the Rapid City American Indian Community and residing in Rapid City, I am NOT allowed to vote in elections on my Reservation.
Furthermore it is the United States Indian Health Service that is responsible to provide adequate health care to the Indian people as listed in Article 13 of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, not the Defendant, the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board. According to the "Mission Statement" of the Defendant, Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, they are "to provide quality public health support and health care advocacy to the tribal nations of the Great Plains...."
A vast majority of Rapid City IHS employees are not in favor of an Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement as they chose to work for the federal government, not a tribal organization. As members of the Rapid City American Indian community, they also had the right to know ahead of time of this contractual agreement made between the GPTCHB and their employer, the Indian Health Service. As they did not, their stress levels affect their relationships with their patients such as myself.
V. RELIEF
We respectfully ask the Court to issue an IMMEDIATE
INJUNCTION to cease all actions of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health
Board and the United States Indian Health Service from contracting the Sioux
San IHS Rapid City Service Unit under PL 93'638. Until a formal hearing can be
held on the issues.
We also ask that the Court order the previous plans for the Sioux San IHS Rapid City Service Unit to be resumed and the construction of the new buildings be located on the current site on 3200 Canyon Lake Drive including the reconstruction and refurbishment of existing buildings as previously planned by the Indian Health Service and the Rapid City Indian Community.
We also ask that the Court order the current administration of the Sioux San IHS Rapid City Service Unit and all employees resume their work in their positions as Federal Employees.
Finally, we ask the Court to declare that all "IPA" contracts with Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board and the current employees of the Sioux San IHS Rapid City Service Unit be declared "Null and Void" in order that all employees may remain as Federal Employees with their accumulated benefits.
We also ask that the Court order the previous plans for the Sioux San IHS Rapid City Service Unit to be resumed and the construction of the new buildings be located on the current site on 3200 Canyon Lake Drive including the reconstruction and refurbishment of existing buildings as previously planned by the Indian Health Service and the Rapid City Indian Community.
We also ask that the Court order the current administration of the Sioux San IHS Rapid City Service Unit and all employees resume their work in their positions as Federal Employees.
Finally, we ask the Court to declare that all "IPA" contracts with Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board and the current employees of the Sioux San IHS Rapid City Service Unit be declared "Null and Void" in order that all employees may remain as Federal Employees with their accumulated benefits.
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