Legal Rights
Lannan Foundation recognizes that the U.S. legal system can be an important means to advance the rights of indigenous peoples who are fighting to protect their traditional ways of life. The foundation supports legal efforts that benefit Native issues and causes, particularly in the area of environmental protection.
Grants have been awarded to support various legal rights cases, and to provide general support for Native-led law and advocacy organizations.
Ponca Tribe, Oklahoma, launches legal case against the Continental Carbon Company
The Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma has launched a legal case against the Continental Carbon Company, a Taiwanese corporation that operates a carbon black plant on original allotted land of the Ponca people near Ponca City, 90 miles from Tulsa. For many years, the plant has polluted Ponca land with black soot, the residue from creating carbon black, a reinforcement product used in automobile tires and hoses as well as printing inks and resins.
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Mattaponi Heritage Foundation, West Point, VA
The Mattaponi Heritage Foundation was established in December 1995, although the tribe inhabits one of the two oldest reservations in the nation. Non-federally recognized, but state recognized, the tribe traces its history back to Chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas, who ruled most of Tidewater Virginia when Europeans arrived in 1607. The reservation encompasses 150 acres in King William County, Virginia, near Richmond. The reservation today sits on the banks of the Mattaponi River, one of the last pristine rivers in the eastern United States.
The tribe is currently trying to stop the construction of a reservoir in King William County, adjacent to the reservation.
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Indian Law Resource Center, Helena, MT
The Indian Law Resource Center is a non-profit law and advocacy organization established and directed by American Indians. It provides legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations working to protect their land, resources, human rights, environment, and cultural integrity. The principal goal of the Center is the preservation and security of Indian and other Native nations and tribes. The organization also helps indigenous leaders and Indian communities to develop the capacity to advocate for and protect their own interests.
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Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, Crownpoint, NM
Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining _blank (ENDAUM) is working to stop the construction and operation of three new uranium solution mines in Navajo communities in northwestern New Mexico.
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Picuris Pueblo Files Aboriginal Title Claim to Protect Cultural Site
February 20, 2004—The Picuris Pueblo, which received a grant from Lannan Foundation for legal expenses, announced that it has filed an aboriginal title claim in order to stop destruction of a sensitive cultural site by industrial mica mining companies.
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Subhankar Banerjee awarded 2003 Cultural Freedom Fellowship
Santa Fe, NM—Lannan Foundation announced that it has awarded its first Cultural Freedom Fellowship to Subhankar Banerjee, a wilderness photographer based in Bellevue, Washington, who is working to increase public awareness about issues that threaten the health and well-being of…
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From Cultural Freedom