Analyze | Disaster STS Network

BIA, Custodial Deaths & "A Black Hole for Accountability"

Kim Fortun

Annotation of

US Bureau of Indian Affairs

In response to

How is the organization perceived, internally and externally? How has this organization been represented in the media?

The Bridge: A Black Hole for Accountability

Missing data about deaths in BIA custody raises serious alarm — and emphasizes the many ways our federal government is still failing to protect tribal nations.

“When it comes to the way the federal government interacts with Indigenous communities, accountability is like a black hole,” Maren said. “This instance is not an anomaly.”

Lawyers informing Yunlin plaintiffs

tschuetz

In response to

MESO: Who are stakeholders in this quotidian Anthropocene and how do they relate to each other? What forms of political organization have emerged to address and weather the Anthropocene?

TS: In this picture, taken by Paul Jobin at the Yunlin County Court in Central Taiwan, a lawyer explains the details of a Formosa Plastics lawsuit to a group of plaintiffs. In our conversation, Paul Jobin said that this picture symbolizes the difficulties to mobilize and "prepare" plaintiffs. At best, many of them are unaware that they have a right to appear in court, but often they are intimidated and fear retaliation. According to Jobin, social scientists can at times help with political organizing, for example by not only interviewing residents, but also informing them about their rights. Likewise, it was Jobin who encouraged the lawyer to take a moment after the hearing to engage with the plaintiffs.