NCJ Number
57559
Journal
AMERICAN INDIAN LAW REVIEW Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (1977) Pages: 343-367
Date Published
1977
Length
25 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY FOCUSES ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AS ONE ASPECT OF POVERTY AND CULTURAL DISLOCATION IN AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITIES, WITH EMPHASIS ON THE WARM SPRINGS RESERVATION IN OREGON.
Abstract
WARM SPRINGS RESERVATION WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE IT WAS NOT SUBJECTED TO OREGON PUBLIC LAW 83-28; THUS, SOVEREIGN TRIBES ARE RELATIVELY FREE TO DEAL WITH DELINQUENCY IN THEIR OWN FASHION. WARM SPRINGS HAS ALSO PROSPERED GREATLY IN RECENT YEARS DUE TO INCREASED EXPLOITATION OF FOREST RESERVES, WHICH SUGGESTS A HOPED-FOR ATTENUATION OF THE ECONOMIC ROOTS OF DELINQUENCY. PARADOXICALLY, EVIDENCE FROM THE ANNUAL REPORTS OF OREGON COUNTIES SHOWS THAT THE DELINQUENCY RATE THERE IS HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER OREGON COMMUNITY, WHETHER INDIAN OR NON-INDIAN, RURAL OR NON-RURAL. IMPROVED MATERIAL CONDITIONS, ACCOMPANIED BY A DEEPENING RIFT IN THE SOCIAL FABRIC OF THE TRIBE, WIDESPREAD ALCOHOLISM, AND INCREASED JUVENILE DELINQUENCY POINT TO THE FACT THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MAY INTENSIFY RATHER THAN ALLEVIATE THE ENDEMIC SOCIAL DISLOCATIONS OF TRIBAL LIFE ON THE RESERVATION. IN REVIEWING THE JURISDICTION OF BOTH THE TRIBAL COURT AT WARM SPRINGS AND THE WARM SPRINGS JUVENILE COURT, POTENTIAL AREAS OF TRIBAL-STATE CONFLICT ARE DISCUSSED AS WELL AS INTERCOURT REFERRALS AND HOW THEY ARE HANDLED, AND THE NUMBER AND NATURE OF OFFENSES TREATED. TABLES OF OFFENSE DATA SHOW THAT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AT WARM SPRINGS IS CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGH INCIDENCE OF STATUS OFFENSES AND OTHER VICTIMLESS CRIMES, AND A RELATIVE SCARCITY OF SERIOUS OR VIOLENT OFFENSES, WHICH MAY BE OF LESS CONCERN THAN THE MUCH HIGHER INCIDENCE OF SERIOUS AND VIOLENT CRIMES IN OREGON'S JUVENILE POPULATION. WARM SPRINGS HAS RESPONDED TO THE DELINQUENCY PROBLEM BY ATTEMPTING TO EXPAND ITS JUVENILE RESOURCES AND HAS ALREADY ACHIEVED ONE OF ITS MAJOR OBJECTIVES-A DRASTIC REDUCTION IN OFF-RESERVATION PLACEMENTS OF JUVENILES. THUS, DELINQUENCY IS PERCEIVED TO BE PRIMARILY AN INTERNAL PROBLEM WHICH CAN BEST BE REMEDIED THROUGH CREATIVE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-DETERMINATION AND TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY. EXTENSIVE FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (MHP)