_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N ) O o O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o o o o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 01, ISSUE 017 O o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 17 July 1993 O o O ( N E W S ) O ALL articles in this issue were extracted from NATIVE_L/NATCHAT Lists. <----<<<< >>>>----> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters of the Invisible Band and those who share our spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. It is hoped that our presence will be rewarded with a Native American RoundTable on GEnie. It is archived at the Native American FTP site ftp.cit.cornell.edu in the directory /pub/special/NativeProfs/newsletter; and is being sent to gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo) should he wish to include it in his NATIVE_L or NATCHAT lists. "If all would talk and then do as you have done, the sun of peace would shine forever." -- Satank, Kiowa O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! For the second week there have been no articles from the inner circle on GEnie. This is your right and choice, each of you. It is also mine to remind you Wotanging Ikche is far all who wish to know the truth and for all to contribute to. Please add to its contents as your heart and visions tell you to. Here's where to find Soaring Eagle's Cherokee Font sets, both the original distribution and the follow-up Mac (SIT.HQX) set. GENEALOGY Library (GEnie page 540) 5702 CHEROKEE.ZIP X GARS 930526 73728 18 Desc: The Cherokee (Tsalagi) font 5994 CHEROKEE.SIT.HQX X SARAH 930627 109356 18 Desc: Cherokee (Tsalagi) font upgrade INTERNET-RT Library (GEnie page 1405) 1041 CHEROKEE.ZIP1.1 X ANDY 930528 81536 7 Desc: Native American Tsalagi Font 1496 CHEROKEE.SIT.HQX X SARAH 930627 109356 7 Desc: Cherokee (Tsalagi) font upgrade UNIX Library (GEnie page 160) 7050 CHRKEE11.ZIP X GARS 930528 81536 11 Desc: Native American Tsalagi Font 7416 CHEROKEE.SIT.HQX X SARAH 930627 109356 11 Desc: Cherokee (Tsalagi) font upgrade Mitaquye Oyasin! Night Owl ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ----------- --------- "RE: Origin of the Constitution" --------- From: coyote@latrans.alphai.org (Scott Robert Ladd) Subj: Origin of the Constitution [ This article relayed from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup ] HEARING BEFORE THE SELECT COMMlTTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE, ONE HUNDREDTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION ON S. Con. Res. 76 DECEMBER 2, 1987 To acknowledge the contribution of the Iroquois Confederacy of Nation the development of the United States Constitution and to reaffirm the continuing government-to-government relationship between tribes and the United States established in the Constitution. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNlTED STATES September 16, 1987 Mr Inouye (for himself, Mr, Evans, Mr DeConcini, Mr. Burdick, Mr McCain, Mr. Adams, Mr Boren, Mr Conrad, Mr Cranston, Mr D'Amato, Mr Dole, Mr Ford, Mr Fowler, Mr Levin, Mr Pell, Mr Pryor, Mr Reid, Mr Riegle, and Mr Stafford) submitted the following conurrent resolution; which was referred to the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. CONCURRENT RESOLUTION To acknowledge the contribution of the Iroquois Confederacy of Nations to the development of the United States Constition and to reafirm the continuing government-to-gavernment relationship between Indian tribes and the United States established in the Constitution. Whereas the original famers of the Constitution, including most notably, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, are known to have, greatly admired the concepts, principles and government practices of the Six Nationa of the Iroquois Confederacy and, Whereas the contutition of the original Thirteen Colonies into one republic was explicitly modeled upon th Iroquois Confederacy as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the Constitution itself; and, Whereas since the formation of the United states, the Congress has recognized the sovereign status of Indian tribes, and has, through the exercise of powers reserved to the Federal Government in the Commerce Clause of the Connstitution (art. I s8, oI.9), dealt with Indian Tribes on a government to-government basis and has, through the treaty clause (art. 62, Cl.a) entered into three hundred and Seventy treaties with Indian tribal nations; and, Whereas from the first treaty entered into with an Indian nation, the treaty with the Delaware Indian of September 17, 1778, and thereafter in every Indain treaty until the cessation of treatymaking in 1871, the Congress has assumed a trust resonsiblity and obligation to Indian tribes and their members to "exercise the utmost good faith in dealings with the Indians" as provided for in tha Northwest Ordinance of 1787, (l Stat: 50); and, Whereas Congress has consistently reaffimed these fundamental polices over the past two hundred years througth legislation specifically designed to honor this special relatiodship; and, Whereas, the judicial system of the United States has consistently recognized and reaffirmed this special relationship: Now. therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives Concurring), That (1) the Congress, on the occasion of the two hundredreth anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution, acknowledges the historical debt which this Republic of the United States of America owes to the Iroquois Confedaracy and other Indian Nations for their demonstration of enlightened, democratic principals of Government and their example of a free association independent Indian Nations; (2) the Congrees also hereby reaffirms the constitutionship recognized government-to-government relationship with Indian tribes which has historically been the cornerstone of this Nation's Indian policy; (3) the Congress specifically acknowledges and reaffirms the responsiblity and obligation of the United States Governments to Indian tribes, including Alaskan Natives, for thier preservation, protection and enhancement, including the provision of health, education, social and economic assistance programs as necessary to assist tribes to perform their governmental reponsibility to provide for the social and economic wellbeing of their members and to preserve tribal cultural identity and heritage; and (4) the Congress also acknowledges the need to exercise the utmost good faith in upholding its treaties with the various tribes, as the tribes understood them to be, and the duty of a great Nation to uphold its legal and moral obligation for the benefit of all its citizens so that they and their posterity may also continue to enjoy the rights they have enshrined in the United States Consitution for time immemorial. <<<---------------------------()=()------------------------------->>> ** Scott Robert Ladd ** | internet: coyote@latrans.alphai.org Coyote Gulch Productions | fido: 1:128/112 nativenet: 90:80/3 423 North Cooper Avenue | bbs/modem: 719/578-1340 Colorado Springs, CO 80905-1120 | *** FREE CLIFFORD DANN! *** --------- "RE: Abolish Columbus Day" --------- From: anchor.esd.sgi.com!lyn (Lyn Dearborn) Subj: Abolish Columbus Day Hi Folks ..... I'm responding to a message regarding asking for an Apology to us Natives from Clinton, and I have to "sort-of" agree with Phil Menos ... However, I just returned from almost 4 weeks in the "Southwest" and my brain is definitely on "over-heated" mode .... us northerners just don't get along with high & dry desert environments .... What I would like to see you guys do, that would DEFINITELY improve our morale if not our "status", would be to write Clinton and request that he abolish "Columbus Day", permanently, in honor of the Year of the Indigenous People... If not because Columbus was a murdering, plundering bastard, considerably worse than most explorers, then it should be done because Columbus did NOT discover "America" .... and to continue celebrating the "pogrom" of 1492 as an alledged acknowledgement of "America's" first contact with another "more advanced" country only points to our lack of respect for history .... celebrate the Vikings, or the guy "America" is really named after, but Columbus? It's an insult to the "group intelligence" of historians everywhere. Good to be back ... my fingers twitched every time I passed a computer ... lyn Anything that is good and useful is made of chocolate. ^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^ "We did not weave the web of life. We | Lyn Dearborn are merely a strand in it. Whatever | Naturalist/Person we do to the web, we do to ourselves" | dearborn@anchor.esd.sgi.com ^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^+^ --------- "RE: Press Release- Leonard Peltier" --------- From: milo@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Michele Lord) Subj: Press Release- Leonard Peltier Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Leonard Peltier Defense Committee P.O. Box 583 Lawrence KS 66044 Ph: 913-842-5774 FAX 913-842-5796 ** PRESS RELEASE ** July 7, 1993 On July 7, 1993, Judge Daniel Friedman, writing for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, filed the decision of the Circuit on Leonard Peltier's third appeal. It is of no great shock to those of us familiar with the case that the three judge panel chose to ignore both facts and past circuit findings in reaffirming Leonard Peltier's conviction. Lost in the political mire were the words of the Senior Circuit Judge Gerald Heaney, affidavits proving gross FBI misconduct on the reservation, and the very real and total ADMISSION of prosecutor Lynn Crooks that the government does not know who killed the FBI agents. The Court claims that the government's theory of the case against Leonard Peltier did not change, and that the prosecutors argued it as both first degree murder and aiding and abetting both at close range OR at a distance of over two football fields away. One would think, in agreement with the words of Judge Heaney during Leonard's second appeal, that the case against Leonard Peltier would be "an entirely different case both in terms of the manner in which it was presented...and the sentence the judge imposed, if the only evidence...was that Leonard Peltier was participating on the periphery." They have completely ignored two separate findings by the same Circuit that state that Leonard Peltier's trial was for close-up, first degree murder. Period. As the Circuit wrote in it's 1986 decision, "We could have resolved this issue without much difficulty if the government had presented the case...on the theory that he was an aider and abettor...but this is not the government's theory." This time, blatantly going against the findings of the judges who make up their own Circuit, the Court has concluded that this "statement cannot overcome...that the government was asserting that Peltier either personally committed the murders or aided and abetted their commission." We have read the statement a thousand times and invite you to do the same. Could it have been written any clearer? They do admit that evidence was circumstantial at best. However, they use the disturbing lack of evidence to somehow validate the concession made by prosecutor Lynn Crooks, "We can't prove who shot those agents." During the November 9th oral arguments themselves, Judge Friedman asked prosecutor Lynn Crooks to better explain that statement. Mr. Crooks went on for quite some time, stating that there was no direct evidence, no eyewitnesses, and nothing substantial to tie Leonard Peltier to the actual deaths of those agents. Judge Friedman responded with, "That to me seems quite significant." He went on, however, to drag Crooks from the damaging waters into which he had fallen, by answering his own question, which he reiterates in the Court's decision, "the government did not present any direct evidence...since all the government's proof was circumstantial." It goes on to challenge the defense's assertions by calling this important admission, an "eight word comment," completely disregarding the fact that Mr. Crooks spent nearly a quarter of his time during argument attempting to explain it all away. By (mis)using the McClusky standard, which states that for cases in which Constitutional violations have "caused the conviction of one innocent of the crime" judicial intervention is called for, the Court dismissed each claim set forth by the defense as claims that were either litigated previously, or could or should have been litigated. This Catch 22 is clearly not applicable to Peltier's case because anyone with even the most rudimentary understanding of the circumstances surrounding the investigation, trial and subsequent appeals can see that evidence of innocence exists, and evidence of guilt has gone from substantial to circumstantial to apparently fabricated. Yet the court has ruled that because these claims "should have been" argued before, they cannot be made now. There is absolutely no reference as to whether or not these claims are valid, only that they have been made in an untimely fashion. This includes the Duane Brewer affadavit that clearly describes the full involvement of the FBI in illegally training, arming and encouraging the activities of the local Indian police known as the GOON Squad during the terrible reign of terror on the Pine Ridge Reservation. This information was a distinct example of misconduct on the part of the FBI. The Court writes that "Peltier gives no explanation...for his failure to obtain the evidence earlier." Are we to assume that the Court expected Leonard Peltier to somehow magically get a former GOON leader to freely give such information at his simple request? If and when documentation is available through a new Freedom of Information Act suit, would it be dismissed because we should have gone into the archives and had it stolen? In short, this argument is absurd in its entirety. We feel that this latest so-called judicial remedy is unacceptable. To purposely act as another prosecutor against a defendant, and/or to meet with FBI agents or other prejudicial law enforcement personnel is neither ethical nor legal, and that is what happened here. Leonard Peltier remains in prison despite the lack of direct evidence, the withholding of exculpatory evidence, witness coercion and a concession by the government that they did not and have not proven what part he may have played in the June 26, 1975 firefight. He has spent over seventeen years fighting for his freedom and, despite this setback, the fight will continue. This is only the beginning. From here on in, there will be no stone unturned, no police silence, only the rage against blatant injustice that will not cease until remedied. We are asking our supporters to write to the president, attorney general, and the judges on the Eighth Circuit to express their anger at this continued injustice and to demand a full and independent investigation into the FBI and judicial procedures responsible for Leonard's illegal incarceration, including allegations that Judges Morris Arnold, Daniel Friedman, and Theodore McMillian held secret meetings with FBI agents while considering this most recent appeal. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [My point of view is that the US government will not release Leonard through any judicial process. He is a political prisoner. The US government must be pressured to release him on that premise. It seems clear to me that the judges and courts so far in this case are taking direct orders from higher authority. No matter what the evidence or judicial reviews say, Leonard will remain in prison until WE DEMAND his release. - Michele] ~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~ Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. -Robert F. Kennedy, South Africa -1966 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michele Lord + If you have come here to help me, + you are wasting your time..... + But if you have come because + your liberation is bound up with mine, milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + then let us work together. Aboriginal Woman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --------- "RE: News from Newe Segobia" --------- From: coyote@latrans.alphai.org (Scott Robert Ladd) Subj: News from Newe Segobia Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) July 11, 1993 Here's the latest from Newe Segobia and the Western Shoshone Defense Project... Clifford Dann has been moved from Nevada to California. His new address is: Clifford Dann, Prisoner #283-69-048 3600 Guard Road Federal Correctional Institute Lompoc, CA 93436 PLEASE write to Clifford; he needs all the moral support we can give. If all goes well, he should be released in the first week of December. According to one source, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt will be meeting with the Western Shoshone National Council in the near future. As soon as possible, I'll contact Chief Raymond Yowell to get some details on this meeting. Otherwise, all goes as well as can be expected. Clinton backed off on resuming nuclear tests, and the Dept. of Interior is holding off action against the Shoshone until their policy review is in place. Keep the Shoshone in your prayers and hope for the best. <<<---------------------------()=()------------------------------->>> ** Scott Robert Ladd ** | internet: coyote@latrans.alphai.org Coyote Gulch Productions | fido: 1:128/112 nativenet: 90:80/3 423 North Cooper Avenue | bbs/modem: 719/578-1340 Colorado Springs, CO 80905-1120 | *** FREE CLIFFORD DANN! *** --------- "RE: Taking and Giving" --------- From: a-karenf@microsoft.com (Karen Fisher) Subject: Taking and Giving Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ This article relayed from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup ] This is a good discussion...I haven't gotten around to reading this group much, but I think I have a couple of cents to add... I notice a lot of discussion of non-native people adopting "native spirituality" or "indian spirituality." There are a lot of white people especially looking to practice "native religion." The problem is, in terms of traditions, rituals, stories, etc...there is no such thing. There are Lakota, Hopi, Haudeenoshaune, Inuit...etc, etc. Literally hundreds of distinct languages and cultures once flourished on this continent and many still do, although often with great diffi- culty and sacrifice on the part of the people who keep them alive. Myself, I am of various European dissent, the second generation on this land. I have had the privledge to meet and in some cases to know and sometimes to even have as friends traditional elders and spiritual people from a number of native nations -- Wampanoag, Micmac, Mohawk, and Lakota. I have learned much from them. What it comes down to though, in the end, are those values that are in common to all...and are in common I would venture to all spiritual paths worth really considering. That this earth is sacred. That the waters, the air, and all living things including the rocks and the trees are our relatives and should receive our respect. That all things coexist in a vast interconnected web. Feeling connection to all that is is something that has been denied to many people of European dissent. Unfortunately, having been raised in such a materialistic culture many times we look at the outer forms rather than the essence. We may see or even participate in a sweat lodge...and we want the thing, the exoticness of it and the fact it is something different, as if that will solve the problem. Afterall, white culture has taught us well to throw more toys and possessions into the holes in our being so as to fill them up. What we really need is to come back to the feeling of the water, the fire, the rocks....the basic elements of life that in our often urbanized awareness we lose contact with. So it is not a matter of learning or performing this or that ceremony or ritual...it is a matter of reopening one's heart to the wide earth and sky and to all that shares them with us. And it is carrying a sense of that connectedness into our daily lives. If you have the opportunity to participate in traditional ceremonies, do so, and take with you reminders of this connectedness....if you are able to get to the woods or desert or mountains, go there and sit quietly and listen...it is there too. What counts most is spirit and that belongs to no one culture or tradition...it is given freely to all. for the benefit of all my relations and the well being of all beings. --------- "RE: Help Hawaiian Sovereignty Tribunal" --------- From: Dale McMillen Subj: Help Hawaiian Sovereignty Tribunal Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Dear International Green friends, We bring you a plea from the "kanaka maoli", the indigenous peoples of Hawai'i. They are sponsoring an international tribunal in August to highlight the oppression and exploitation of Hawaiian native culture, traditions, land and religious beliefs and practices by the United States over the last 200 years. A grassroots Hawaiian Sovereignty movement has arisen in the last decade in response to these abuses. They are the ones sponsoring the tribunal. Although participation is expected from indigenous peoples from around the world, the Hawaiian press, pressured by Hawai'i's mafioso-like political machine, is refusing to publicize the event. IN ORDER TO OPEN UP THIS PROCESS AND FOCUS PUBLIC ATTENTION ON THE TRIBUNAL, IT IS EXTREMELY CRUCIAL THAT VOICES OF SUPPORT FOR THE TRIBUNAL ARE HEARD, PARTICULARLY VOICES FROM OUTSIDE THE ISLANDS AND FROM OUTSIDE OF THE US As Greens we are also asking support from other Green Parties from around the world because Greens share a natural kinship with the Kanaka Maoli. Their approach to life is very Green, including in their commitments to ecology, social justice, grassroots democracy and non-violence. What is particularly relevant to the 1990's is the way they are approaching the sovereignty question for the Hawaiian Islands. Instead of distinguishing among people by ethnic origin, they are approaching the question of self-determination by saying they want to include everyone who will choose to live in Hawai'i and commit themselves to the land and each other in a cooperative, respectful way. It is also important for U.S. Greens to make connections with various "communities of color" or what in other countries you may call "minorities". The more U.S. Greens can connect with these communities, the better chance we have at making a breakthrough in the regressive U.S. political system. (We already introduced a resolution of support in Helsinki at the meeting of the European Green Coordination, but the resolution was misplaced and didn't end up in the resolution pack in time to be voted on in time. Rather it was left up to the individual parties at home and so far we've received support from the Green Parties of Austria and Scotland). After reading the material below (which is drawn from some of the official brochures publicizing the tribunal) please consider faxing (and/or mailing) a letter of endorsement and support for the tribunal and/or sending a member of your organization to the tribunal. Because the tribunal begins August 12th and because the press is being uncooperative, it is important to communicate your support and bring pressure upon the press as soon as possible! Thank you for your support, Mike Feinstein, International Working Group, Green Party of California Linda Martin, Media Chair and former Co-Chair, Hawai'i Green Party Please communicate your support to: PRO-HAWAIIAN SOVEREIGNTY WORKING GROUP 3333 Ka'ohinani Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817 phone (1) 808-595-6691 or (1) 808-956-8049 Tribunal Committee (Wed-Fri) fax (1) 808-595-0303 attn.: Lela Hubbard and send a hard copy (if possible) to Hawai'i Green Party c/o Linda Martin 45-995 Wailele Rd. #13, Kane'ohe, Hawai'i 96744 and Green Party of California c/o Mike Feinstein 142 Hollister Ave., Santa Monica, California 90405 If you plan on visiting the tribunal, there is a Hawai'i-based travel agency handling some of the arrangements. Their name is Panda Travel 1017 Kapahulu Ave., 2nd floor , Honolulu, Hawai'i 96816 phone (1) 808-734-1961 fax (1) 808-732-4136 The tribunal will take place on three of the Hawaiian Islands: Oahu (Honolulu) August 12th-13th Maui, August 14th-16th and the island of Hawai'i, August 17-19th If you cannot afford accommodations, contact the Hawai'i Green Party at (1) 808-528-1225 to stay with local Greens. Please bring a sleeping bag if possible as many people from all over the world will be staying with local Greens. Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION TRIBUNAL GOALS TRIBUNAL PURPOSES PLANNED FEATURES OF THE TRIBUNAL AUTHORITY FOR THE TRIBUNAL BACKGROUND HISTORY ON US ROLE IN HAWAII INTRODUCTION: KA HO'OKOLOKOLONUI KANAKA MAOLI THE PEOPLES' INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL HAWAI'I 1993 The year 1993 has been declared the United Nations International Year for World's Indigenous Peoples, and the 1990s the Decade of Decolonization. It is in this world setting that a major event, the Peoples' International Tribunal Hawai'i 1993, proposed by the late Kawaipuna Prejean, will convene. TRIBUNAL GOALS The Peoples' International Tribunal Hawai'i 1993 will bring together people from the northern and southern hemispheres, Africa, Asia and Europe. During August 12th-21st, this unique gathering will hear testimony and hold discussions about the massive, systematic violations of human rights and international law against the formerly sovereign nations of Hawai'i and its indigenous inhabitants- the Kanaka Maoli. During the Peoples' International Tribunal Hawai'i, a distinguished panel of jurists and activists will hear evidence developed from an indictment according to international law, charging the US government with genocide, colonialism and racism as a result of the imposition of a eurocentric model of development that includes standards and norms for culture, politics, government, economy and language, while trying to destroy the culture and traditions of the indigenous people of these islands. January 1893 marks 100 years of the illegal taking of the independent Kanaka Maoli nation by US military forces. As we have seen, there is intense and widespread interest in the US and international community about this history. Our objective is to provide the link between the events surrounding the 1893 US-supported, illegal takeover, and our present status and future options. Ka Ho'okolokolonui Kanaka Maoli will provide a politico-historical window to educate people and governments on the crimes committed against the Kanaka Maoli. Designed to have a long-lasting impact upon the peoples and institutions of Hawai'i and the United States, the Tribunal will involve a wide range of people in Hawai'i and in other parts of the world Jurists are being invited from several countries. Kanaka Maoli from all walks of life will give testimony. The proceedings of the Tribunal will be a record of our people's history, plight and experiences. It is intended for distribution among the indigenous population, others in our homeland and the international community, thus contributing to education and motivation for redress. The work of the Tribunal will accelerate progress toward the restoration of the sovereign nation of Hawai'i. The Peoples' International conference is the only conference of its kind taking place in 1893-anywhere-and it will bring together individuals, activists and leaders from a majority of the sovereignty organizations. PURPOSES OF THE TRIBUNAL Five interrelated purposes and goals have been identified: 1) Elicit and assemble a comprehensive record of the crimes committed by the US government and its subsidiaries, such as the state of Hawai'i, against of kanaka maoli people and nation; 2) Educate our people, the US and the world of these crimes; 3) Analyze the causes, consequences and implications of these crimes; 4) Establish an historical, moral and legal basis for remedies and to propose effective strategies for redress; and 5) Build unity among kanaka maoli and solidarity with other indigenous peoples and oppressed nations through this key event in the United Nations' 1993 International Year for the World's Indigenous Peoples and the 1990s Decade of Decolonization. PLANNED FEATURES OF THE TRIBUNAL * Prepared testimony in support of the indictment against the United States for crimes committed against our kanaka maoli people and nation will be heard on three major islands. The highest United States government officials will be served the indictment and summons to defend their government and constituent parts. * Distinguished jurist, observers, analysts, commentators and spokespersons of other indigenous peoples, who were also subjugated by the United States during its imperialistic expansion of the 1890's, are being invited to participate. A panel of world renowned judges will hear testimonies.[ * The verdict of the panel of judges, with their recommendations for implementation, will be announced and later published with a summary of the proceedings. * The collection and preparation of educational, legal and historical materials used in the Tribunal will be developed as a permanent reference resource for public education and redress. * Workshops will focus on land, social and cultural kanaka maoli issues and on the struggles of other indigenous and peoples colonized by the United States in the 1890s. For these sessions, we are inviting spokespersons from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Guam and American-occupied Samoa. There will also be workshops on redress strategies, international law and institutions, and indigenous healing, conflict-resolution and reconciliation methods. * Evening cultural events will be presented by local island hosts and by indigenous guests from abroad. WHY A TRIBUNAL? Rising in vivid contrast to the official portrait of the US invasion as part of the forward march of "progress", is the historical experience of the kanaka maoli, who lived in these islands for two thousand years before "progress" arrived. For us, the US invasions, occupation and annexation represent a brutal new era, a reality of conquest and deprivation that has been endured for over 100 years. Today, Kanaka Maoli and their supporters, indigenous people from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego, from Africa to the Caribbean, are demanding that the truth about the US invasion and its genocidal consequences finally be told. It is against this backdrop that a Peoples' International Tribunal Hawai'i will take place in August, 1993. TRIBUNAL IMPACT: AUTHORITY FOR THE TRIBUNAL The established judiciary systems of the United States and other nation-states have not moved to correct the injustices of the United States toward the kanaka maoli people to relieve their plight. Nor will the International Court of Justice at the Hague hear cases of non-member states, such as Hawai'i. A Peoples' International Tribunal serves as a suitable instrument for revealing the United States' offenses as a beginning step toward redress. Thus, the people themselves on behalf of international civil society outside of the nation-states structure, organize a Tribunal calling upon diverse, internationally respected moral and legal authorities to sit in judgment of an offending nation-state, for its crimes against a people not officially recognized as a fellow member nation-state. Guided by normative moral and legal standards, including indigenous traditions, as well as formally documented international legal principles, such a panel of appointed jurists then renders a judgment. The goal is to educate the local and international community. Such is the case of the kanaka maoli people against the United States government and its subsidiaries in Ka Ho'okolokolonui Kanaka Maoli 1993. THUS, the tribunal plays a key role in realizing the three main purposes for the kanaka maoli independence movement: 1) Relieve the worsening pain of the kanaka maoli people; 2) Correct the historical, moral, and legal injustices committed by the United States against the kanaka maoli people; 3) Begin the reversal of the United States self-destructive, political and military domination, economic exploitation and cultural homogenization of others and especially indigenous peoples, and the wasteful consumption, pollution and contamination of the global environment. By placing the Tribunal in the context of International Law, including natural and customary law, two main legal avenues may be pursued by the kanaka maoli people to re-establish their independent nation: 1) Application of United Nations principles of self-determination with special rights of indigenous peoples under settler nations, as stated in the evolving Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva. 2) Replacement of Hawai'i on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories eligible for decolonization under Article 73 of the United Nations Charter and the 1960 United Nations Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Key paragraphs of the Draft Declaration are: Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, in accordance with international law by virtue of which they may freely determine their political status and institutions and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. An integral part of this is the right to autonomy and self- government. Indigenous people have the collective and individual right to be protected from cultural genocide, including the prevention of and redress for...(b) Any form of forced assimilation or integration by imposition of other cultures or ways of life; (c) Dispossession of their lands, territories or resources... Indigenous peoples have the right to recognition of their distinctive and profound relationship with the total environment of the lands, territories and resources which they traditionally occupied or otherwise used... BACKGROUND HISTORY: UNCOVER THE TRUTH For nearly a thousand years, we "Kanaka Maoli" (indigenous Hawaiians) have inhabited the Ka Pae aina (the Hawaiian Archipelago). We had a thriving culture, a distinctive language, religion, customs, social organization, and political structure. We farmed the land and fished the ocean. We shared the fruits of our labor and paid homage to nature's gods for bountiful harvests. "Malama aina", and "malama kai" (care for the land, care for the sea) were the guiding principles of Kanaka Maoli life. >From the first contact with Western society in 1778 to the present, we have experienced death from guns, and foreign diseases; many have died and few lived to replace them. Our islands, small in land area, were well populated by Kanaka Maoli, but we were only relatively few when compared to the millions of people who populated the continents of the world in the 1770's and 80's. Ka Pae aina constituted a central provisioning station for foreign fur trading ships sailing between the northwest coast of North America and China. While reaping great profit for themselves, foreign traders imposed heavy demands upon us for fresh food, water, and firewood. Hawai'i was a primary center for the whaling industry and a recreation center for the rest of the whaling ships in their off seasons. As many as 200 or more ships laid over in the winter months, again placing great strain on the Islands' resources. ALREADY WEAKENED, our nation was invaded in 1820 by US missionaries. They came to colonize our Islands, destroy our religion, language and culture, and as their foreign predecessors did, they also exploited our people Few kanaka maoli survived the holocaust that had already begun. The American missionaries worked their way into top government offices over our protests. Laws written by the missionary advisors during the Mahele resulted in making 70% of our people landless vagrants who were then jailed and forced into hard labor. BY 1878, one hundred years after the arrival of Captain James Cook, our indigenous population was reduced from an estimated 800,000 at the time of the first Western contact to 48,500- the result of contagious infections, cultural genocide and despair. In 1887, with our indigenous population at a low ebb and the foreign-born population increasing rapidly, members of the American missionary families and foreign business men forced a new Constitution (the Bayonet Constitution of 1887) on our people. This Constitution disfranchised the majority of kanaka maoli by requiring property ownership or money to qualify as voters. This put control of the legislature of the Government and the cabinet into foreign hands, as the legislature was now required to approve the monarch's appointment and dismissal of members of the cabinet. After the death of King Kalakaua in 1891, his sister, Lili'uokalani became Queen. In 1892, she announced her intention to proclaim a new constitution, one that would return control of the cabinet to the throne and re-enfranchise the kanaka maoli, empowering their full participation as citizens of their nation. The United States, long desirous of taking over our homeland, seized upon the Queen's plan as an excuse to throw its support to thirteen resident US-dominated businessmen. On January 17th, 1893, they declared themselves the new Provisional Government (PG), and supported by the US Marines, replaced the Queen. The US backed the PG and robbed us of our government, lands, ocean resources and treasury in direct violation of international law, four treaties between the two nations, and the US Constitution. In 1898, the US Congress completed the unilateral and forced annexation of Hawai'i. Unable to gather support for annexation by treaty, it did so by a mere joint resolution of both Houses, in start deviating from US Constitutional practice. In an attempt to cover up the injustice of this act, the Congress also provided that a "ceded" (stolen kanaka maoli) lands trust be set up, with the US as trustee, and "the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands" as "sole" beneficiaries. To date, no pledged benefits have been rewarded. Continuing the cover-up in 1921, the US unilaterally and illegally passed the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, created a second land trust. This "trust" pitted kanaka maoli against each other by promising land only to those of 50% or more blood quantum. Of the approximately 180,000 acres set aside, less than 30% have been distributed to beneficiaries. The great majority of potential beneficiaries have received nothing; over 25,000 are on the waiting list and many have died while on the list. In 1959, the US imposed the Statehood Admission Act, also without the expressed consent of our people. In the same year, the US intentionally misinformed the United Nations to effect Hawai'i's removal from the United Nations' List of Non-Self-Governing Territories eligible for decolonization, in violation of UN Charter Article 73. US crimes against the kanaka maoli nation continue. As a result, today, we are the most socially and economically deprived ethnic group in our homeland. We "lead" every index of human misery in the Islands. Kanaka Maoli have the lowest educational level of any group in the islands the highest rate of single-parent households, as well as the lowest rate of employment and the highest death rate. --------- "RE: Unity of Tribes, Alaska, Aug 2-8" --------- From: Eleanor G. Viereck Subj: Unity of Tribes, Alaska, Aug 2-8 Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Spiritual Unity Of The Tribes Gathering In Alaska ------------------------------------------------- The Spiritual Unity of the Tribes Gathering VII will be held in Tanacross, whch is 12 miles north of Tok, on August 2nd-8th. For more information on this gathering contact: Spiritual Unity of the Tribes, P.O. Box 75298, Fairbanks, Alaska 99707, or Mary Stachelrodt, Gathering Coordinator, HC01-6217 A, Palmer, AK 99654, or Susan Christianson, 19181 Randall Road, Juneau, AK 99801, (907) 789-3079. --------- "RE: Alabama Pow Wow" --------- From: "Gary L. Williams" Subject: Alabama Pow Wow Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) An announcement of an upcoming pow wow, posted for a friend without Internet access: "A Coming Home" -- Fifth Annual Cherokee Pow Wow & Green Corn Festival August 21-22, 1993 Turkeytown Ceremonial Grounds (5.5 miles N of Gadsden, Alabama on US HWY 411 North) For more information write: TACI P.O. Box 1517 Gadsden, Alabama 35902 or call: (205) 549-0351 (205) 492-4331 __________________________________________________________________________ Gary L. Williams demt002@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu or demt002@uabdpo.bitnet __________________________________________________________________________