Commentary

Peltier and Mikkanen: It Does Not Feel Like Christmas

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition. Discussion »

This past Sunday night, the large pillars of San Francisco City Hall were alternately illuminated with green and red lights as I rode by the august building. I had been on Alcatraz Island earlier in the day to report on the launch of the Leonard Peltier Walk for Human Rights. The green and red lights were a reminder it is Christmas time - though it did not feel like Christmas.

On Alcatraz Island, 200 American Indians and supporters listened to speech after speech about how Leonard Peltier is in prison for crimes he did not commit.

(l) Len Foster-Navajo

“As long as Leonard is in prison, we are all in prison,”

Navajo spiritual advisor Len Foster reminded those ready to walk from San Francisco to Washington DC. The long walkers will arrive in Washington on May 18. Since they will be out walking, they will not be home for Christmas. It goes without saying Leonard Peltier will not be home for Christmas either.

No wonder it did not feel like Christmas as I rode past San Francisco City Hall.

Two hours later, at my computer to write some stories for Monday's edition of the Native News Network, I immediately noticed two Google alerts in my email inbox about Arvo Mikkanen's nomination. He happens to be a tribal citizen of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma with outstanding legal credentials. A graduate of Dartmouth and Yale Law School and an Assistant US Attorney, he was nominated to be a federal district judge by President Barack Obama.

After reading the two alerts, it definitely did not feel like Christmas to me.

Imagine an American Indian a federal judge.

Had he been confirmed by the US Senate, Mikkanen would have become the only federal judge of 875 federal judges. He would have been only the third American Indian to be a federal judge in US history.

Sunday's emails told me how the US Senate sent the nomination back to the White House without even the benefit of a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It seems the Oklahoma Republican Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe felt slighted because President Obama had not adequately conferred with them prior to nominating Mikkanen. Subsequently, they put a major block on Mikkanen's nomination.

It reminds me of when Newt Gingrich decided to close down the federal government during a budget battle in the 1990s because he did not like his seating arrangement on Air Force One.

Who are these politicians Americans so freely elect to govern?

Sending the nomination back to the President without the courtesy of a formal hearing was a slap in the face of American Indians everywhere. American Indians living in Oklahoma should be angry enough to send these two packing as soon as possible. For your information, Inhofe's reelection year is 2014; Coburn's reelection is not until 2016.

With the increasing power of the Native vote, politicians need to be put on notice, American Indians expect more now - more than ever.

And, by the way, most American Indians I know, whether or not they are practicing Christians, they want to enjoy Christmas.

posted December 22, 2011 6:00 am est