A Place Called Poarch: Tribal Land Rights: Part Three

Continuing our conversation about land and its importance to Native Americans, Attorney General Laurie Stinson and VP of Compliance Venus McGhee Prince join host Megan Zamora to talk about how complicated land can be. Laurie and Venus discuss the political aspect of land and land rights. They also explain the differences between fee, trust and reservation land.

[1:07] - Venus discusses what it was like to work for the Interior.

[3:00] - Revenue, money, taxes, fire and police jurisdictions all play a role in land.

[5:05] - There are three types of land: fee, trust and reservation.

[6:30] - Congress or the Secretary of State sets up reservations.

[8:07] - Trust land can't be used for gaming if it was trusted after 1988.

[10:04] - It's unlikely for a casino to be built in Alabama.

[14:00] - Land is important to exercise our sovereignty.

[17:20] - Hunting and fishing rights don't affect the Poarch tribe like other tribes do.

[21:35] - Mineral rights are a complex issue to navigate.

[25:05] - Venus explains what Friends of the Court means.

[27:25] - In some ways, tribes are treated like states and, in other ways, are treated like less than states.

[32:30] - The biggest hurdle is trying to expand land bases.

[36:50] - Opponents have been using the legal system to chip away at our sovereignty.

[41:22] - There are many things tribal citizens can do to protect land.