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.
Mattaponi Heritage Foundation, West Point, VA
Mattaponi River Saved - Lannan Foundation expresses its solidarity with the Mattaponi Tribe of Virginia in its courageous struggle to protect its ecological, historical and cultural resources for future generations.
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Ponca Tribe, Oklahoma, launches legal case against the Continental Carbon Company
UPDATE: The Ponca Tribe recently celebrated a $10.5 million dollar settlement it reached with the Continental Carbon Company, which the tribe and individual tribal members had sued for damages caused by black dust created during years of the company’s carbon black plant operations in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
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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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Bobby Byrd and Lee Merrill Byrd each awarded 2005 Cultural Freedom Fellowship
Lee Merrill Byrd and Bobby Byrd are the founders of Cinco Puntos Press, a publisher of nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and children’s literature, based in El Paso, Texas.
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From Cultural Freedom