_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' 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 019 O o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 31 July 1993 O o O ( N E W S ) O This issue contains articles from NATIVE_L/NATCHAT Lists and by members of the Invisible Band. <----<<<< >>>>----> 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. "For the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept the Lakota safe among them." -- Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! In the last issue of I asked you to consider the following questions regarding the size and contents of Wotanging Ikche: 1 - Too long, too short or about right. 2 - A good mixture, too involved with the serious, too involved with the frivolous. I have received but two responses. To those two sisters I say "Pilamaya". To others who read this offering, I ask again for you to share with me your views. Mitaquye Oyasin! Night Owl ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ----------- --------- "RE: Lakota Declaration" --------- From: shupe@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jim Shupe) Subj: Lakota Declaration Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ This article relayed from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup ] clgs17@vaxa.strath.ac.uk Wrote: =Ok, I understand your concern and agree that there will be a large =number of insincere 'New Agers'. = =However, I have a question........ = =Is it possible for a non-Lakota, say a Scotsman like me, to become a =genuine 'convert' to Lakota religion. If so, how? = =If the answer is no, then is Wakan Tanka only one God amongst many =depending on nationality? Your question relates to a thread we had earlier about sovereignty etc. Note that every answer you get will most likely be a personal opinion and you should take their answers that way... With that said here's my HO... Although I don't like the word "religion" being applied to native belief systems, I would answer your question by saying, "In traditional society, ALL people were welcome in the 'tribe', therefor, yes a Scotsman could conceivably become 'Indianized'." I need to qualify that statement by informing you that, unlike western cultures, native belief systems are PART OF OUR EVERYDAY LIFE. To become part of one of our "religions" you have to live our belief systems every day of your life (well, at least try to). We do not separate science from "religion" from society, they are all bound up together to create life as we know it. Mitak Oyasin, J.T. Waya Gola Shupe --------- "RE: sweat lodge question" --------- From: shupe@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jim Shupe) Subj: sweat lodge question Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ This article relayed from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup ] = =Dishonor. Now there's an interesting word. What does it mean, in this =context? =-- =Dave Hayes - Institutional Network & Communications - JPL/NASA - Pasadena CA =dave@elxr.jpl.nasa.gov dave@jato.jpl.nasa.gov ...usc!elroy!dxh = dishonour n. & v. (US dishonor) --n. 1 a state of shame or disgrace; discredit. 2 something that causes dishonour (a dishonour to his profession). --v.tr. 1 treat without honour or respect. 2 disgrace (dishonoured his name). 3 refuse to accept or pay (a cheque or a bill of exchange). 4 archaic violate the chastity of; rape. [ME f. OF deshonor, deshonorer f. med.L dishonorare (as DIS-, HONOUR)] You don't have a dictionary? In this context I would say that Joe might be trying to say that the "New Agers" who treat our spirituality in the way he (and the elders, and I, and...) described are (note I will keep this within the context of the def above and ignore current usage): 1) violating the chastity of our spiritual belief system 2) are causing disgrace to our belief system by creating an image of huxterism that eventually includes our own medicine/spirit folk 3) are creating an environment where real practicers of our spirituality are pooh poohed because they don't do it like the "New Agers" do it who got it from real medicine people (i.e. you can't be a real medicine person, you don't do that the right way!) Do I really need to go on? Mitak Oyasin, J.T. Waya Gola Shupe : Cherokee/Shawnee --------- "RE: protection plan for tribal sites" --------- From: J.CASTO James H. Casto Subj: protection plan for tribal sites GE Electronic Mail From the Portland, Oregon "Oregonian" for Thursday, July 29, 1993 CITY TO PREPARE PROTECTION PLAN FOR TRIBAL SITES The city of Portland, Oregon is going to look for American Indian camping and fishing sites along the Columbia River and come up with a plan to protect them according to a resolution by the Portland City Council. This will resolve a dispute between developers, archaeologists and American Indian tribes over how to protect the artifact-rich Columbia South Shore. The area contains some of the richest sources of information about life in the Pacific Northwest before contact. Unfortunately, it is also scheduled for industrial and commercial development. An archaeological team will be hired to conduct a survey and inventory of the two thousand eight hundred acre area. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and Grand Ronde will be invited to submit oral histories and other cultural information. The study will cost between $150,000 and $180,000. The City Council Resolution calls for adoption of the plan by December 30, 1994. Both tribal and development representatives were pleased with the plan. --------- "RE: Letter Writing/Clifford Dann" --------- From: milo@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Michele Lord) Subj: Letter Writing/Clifford Dann Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ This article relayed from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup ] [This is a re-post. Thank you to all of you who have responded. Letters are still needed. If possible, please, forward a copy of your letters to the Western Shoshone Defense Project. It's the only way they have of knowing how many letters have been sent. Thanks. -Michele] ****RELEASE CLIFFORD DANN**** *50,000 Letters to Clinton and Babbitt Campaign* ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ July 26-31, 1993 *URGENT* The Western Shoshone National Council (WSNC) is asking all supporters to help bring a stop to the injustice brought to Clifford Dann by the US government. Please write letters to President Clinton and Bruce Babbitt in support of Clifford during this week. These US leaders must accept responsibility and can no longer ignore the sovereignty of the Western Shoshone Nation. ONCE THESE OFFICIALS RECEIVE 50,000 LETTERS WITHIN THIS PERIOD OF TIME (July 26-31), THEY WILL THEN LOOK INTO THIS ISSUE. President Bill Clinton Bruce Babbitt The White House Secretary of the Interior Washington DC 20500 US Dept of the Interior email president@whitehouse.gov 18th & C St. NW Washington DC 20500 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAMPLE LETTER Dear ____________, I am writing to you on behalf of Clifford Dann, a Western Shoshone elder who has been wrongly imprisoned by the US court system, a system whose jurisdiction he is not under nor accountable to. For nearly twenty years, the Dann sisters have struggled to defend the territories of the Western Shoshone Nation, territories recognized by the US government in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. This treaty of "peace and friendship" has never been abrogated. Yet in November 1992, the situation climaxed when the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) invaded the Western Shoshone Nation and proceeded to round up both wild and Western Shoshone nationalized horses. On the first day of the round up, Clifford tried to block confiscation of the horses. In desperation, he doused himself gasoline and threatened to ignite himself, declaring: "By taking away our livelihood, and our lands, you are taking away our lives." He was subsequently blasted with fire extinguishers and knocked to the ground, then arrested and charged with assault of a federal officer. During his trial March 2-3, 1993, Clifford regardless of his innocence, refused to give in and participate in his trial. He felt that to do so would acknowledge the claim of US jurisdiction and deny the sovereignty of the Western Shoshone Nation. On May 17th, Clifford was sentenced to 9 months in prison, 2 years probation and a $5,000 fine. A harsh and unjust sentence for a case with insufficient evidence; once again it is an example of quieting leaders who defend themselves against the injustices of the US government. As a US leader who has already promised to work with the indigenous people, you must take responsibility for this person who has been so wrongly imprisoned. Please do not continue the genocide of your predecessors and respond to these three requests: 1. Honor the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley that was made between two nations. 2. Open a dialogue with the Western Shoshone Nation and begin meaningful negotiation. 3. Release Clifford Dann, not as a pardon, for no crime was committed on his part, but in realization that he was imprisoned by a court without jurisdiction. Sincerely, _____________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Western Shoshone Defense Project, General Delivery, Cresent Valley, NV 89821 Ph: 702/468-0230 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: update from canada available" --------- From: cfuv@web.apc.org Subj: update from canada available Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) THIS NOTE ABOUT AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF VIEWPOINTS FROM VARIOUS INDIGENOUS NATIONS ACROSS CANADA. PLEASE CONTACT CFUV RADIO FOR MORE INFORMATION. PO BOX 3035/VICTORIA BC/V8W 3P3//604-721-8702//CFUV@SOL.UVIC.CA ================================================================ July 27, 1993 Dear This being the Year of Indigenous PeopleS, and also a year of the continuing resistance to ongoing colonialism in the Americas, we have endeavoured to give voice to First Nations spokespeople in Canada so their words may be heard uncensored and unfiltered. Thus "Voices of Resistance." We offer you over four hours of high-powered presentations by various First Nations spokespeople across Canada. Each tape is one hour in length, averaging two speakers per side. Again, the programs are produced so as to convey the speakers' own message and words. The following pages offer direct examples of some of the speakers' words. This project has taken many long days to complete, and is the combined work of two CFUV volunteers. We have received absolutely no funding for our work. In order to promote the widest circulation possible, we offer each tape for the cost price of $2.00 per cassette, plus postage. If you can afford more, please donate to one of the organizations listed on the following pages. Please write back to us (enclosing a cheque, of course) indicating how many tapes you would like, and, if possible, when you will broadcast/publish them. If you can honestly not afford this minimal price, we will attempt to send the tapes at no cost. A full transcript is also available for $4.00, plus postage. Due to limited time and resources, we were limited in the extent of our interviews. We do welcome contacts with more First Nations groups, if you care to let us know. As a Haida Gwaii Elder said to us, "I really don't know what one does unless the people of Canada become aware and support the changes. We really need a lot of people to speak out." In solidarity, John Shafer and Chris Vance, Project Co-ordinators Spokesperson for the Indigenous League of Sovereign Nations, 280 Broadway, Room 316, New York, New York, 10007. On the UN: "We see it as a social club for fascist-imperial powers from 179 member states from around the world ...I can tell you 80-100 million indigenous peoples throughout the western hemisphere allied into one great confederation will be a power that they will be unable to dominate any longer." Bernard Ominayak, Lubicon Lake Indian Nation, 3586-106 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6S 1A4 "With the kind of damage that's been taking place to the environment, to the wildlife, and everything and the way of life, to have clear cut logging, that's disastrous under any circumstances. For our people we really don't see any way out of it if things continue the way they're going. I don't see how we can survive clear cut logging after the damage that's already been done." Daniel Ashini, Innu Nation, PO Box 119 North West River, Labrador, A0P 1M0. "We're basically in the same situation as a lot of people are in. We were apathetic, we felt that we were incapable of doing a lot of damage to NATO, which is a big alliance out there. We didn't think we'd put a big dent in this monster. We actually did it with our own community of 1,000 people. I think it comes to show that if you have it in yourself to fight back and to try to assert what you believe is right, to be able to lend a helping hand to who you feel is right. I think the more people who join hands, the bigger the circle will be, the stronger the people will be. This is the message we're trying to give people." Peter Knighton, Qwa-Ba-Diwa, Independent State of Qwa-Ba-Diwa Information Office, PO Box 35015, Victoria, BC, V8T 5G2 "I should say, perhaps, a thanks to the environmentalists who have at least put the name "Carmanah" in print, for some people to perhaps read about it, and maybe wonder about the issues that go beyond the concern for trees, the ecosystem, and the rain forest, because generally what's missing out of those concerns voiced to the man in the street is the involvement of the native people that are in that area." Francis Laceese, Toosey-Chilcotin Nation, General Delivery, Riske Creek, BC, V0L 1T0 "The military has been coming...into our back yard and playing their war games... One of the biggest effects that it's having is on the land itself, where they bring in all kinds of explosives. It's really having a big impact on the wildlife there also. And all our berries and medicinal plants. We have a lot of old... sites in that area, some sacred sites, probably a lot of graveyards and a lot of those places are getting damaged." Bill Lightbown, Kootnai Nation, Traditional Court Elders' Association, #202, 1766 Francis Street, Vancouver, BC, V5L 1Z6 "Our people ...[are] going to have to deal with that whole question of whether they are going to continue to adopt a colonization process and attempt to exercise their responsibility and authority on the basis of foreign law or whether in fact they are going to form it on the basis of their own law from their own nation." Lavina White, Haida Nation, also Traditional Elders' Court Association "I believe that Haida-Gwaii belongs to the Haida people and will always belong to the Haida people--that we can't compromise even an inch of it. We can talk about how we can live together from there. ...I'm quite angry about what I'm seeing at home. We've got nothing but stumps on our land. And they're still apprehending our children..." John Williams, Lil'Wat, Box 155, Mount Currie, BC, V0N 1K0 "We have never signed over our land, we have never signed an agreement, we have never consented, we have never been conquered, therefore we are sovereign nations. "They want to log off all the old growth forest...They're spraying them with DDT. They're spraying all around the lake where we're picking berries...the animals have growths on them...and we've stopped hunting..." Milton Born-With-A-Tooth, Lonefighter National Communications Network, Peigan, 2705 5th Ave. NE Bay B, Calgary, Alta, T2A 2L6 "This is the final leg of the position that the government wants us to be in, that is to finally exterminate us once and for all. ...We have an enemy that has a billion dollar budget, and the budget we have is our blood and guts." Hariett Nahani, Pacheedaht On Residential Schools: "They taught us a little ABC, a little of that, but they trained us for servitude, to serve the white people. We weren't trained for anything but servitude. This was to make us dependent on the DIA...Churches came hand in hand with genocide on their mind. ...Tourists are drawn here with the notion that we're still living in teepees... ...Let's reclaim our backbone, our culture and put some pride in our children." Also, you can send cheques to: The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, PO Box 583, Lawrence County, Kansas, 6604 --------- "RE: approaching native spirituality" --------- From: Maureen Brucker Subj: approaching native spirituality Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) It is possible to actually approach the experience of native spirituality in many places. When you are ready, a teacher will appear. That is NOT a flame. It is a reality. Time spent in DAILY morning and night prayer. This is the bedrock. (Perfection is NOT expected immediately). Read as lead through prayer. Most Lakota books will give you the directions -- study them and you will be shown the words. Understand that, to some extent -- different spirits are in differ- ent lands. Rather like the little people. This is NOT a western religion with 'cookbook' formulas and required dogmas. This is much more in the line of an EASTERN WAY. An important element of an eastern way is a commitment to the PEOPLE. It means that the practice is not in the abstract but inexorably bound to the fight for Indigenous rights or writing letters to free individuals like Clifford Dann or Leonard Peltier. It is the intent that is everything. May raven steal the sun to illuminate the darkest recesses of your journey. Maureen --------- "RE: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES EMERGING ON THE WORLD STAGE" --------- From: Human Rights Coordinator Subj: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES EMERGING ON THE WORLD STAGE Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) INDIGENOUS PEOPLES EMERGING ON THE WORLD STAGE For some time indigenous peoples were denied recognition and a role in international fora. This has changed with the ILO Convention on Tribal and Indigenous Peoples and the UN Commission on Human Rights' establishment of a Working Group on Indigenous Populations. (Second article in a series of three on the UN-designated Year of Indigenous Peoples) By Marcus Colchester The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has led the way among intergovernmental agencies in defining indigenous peoples' rights and in setting standards for governments towards them. The ILO's involvement with indigenous peoples dates back to 1921 when the organisation carried out a study of indigenous labour. The concern was maintained during the 1920s and 1930s by focusing special attention on the problems of native labour in colonial countries. This work led to several ILO Conventions designed to protect native labour from exploitation. In the 1950s, the ILO revived its concern with indigenous peoples and embarked on an ambitious programme, later to include other United Nations agencies, to provide assistance to the Indian peoples of the Andes. Then, in 1957, the ILO passed ILO Convention 107, for long the only piece of international law which explicitly acknowledged the rights of tribal and indigenous peoples to own their lands. The Convention was precedent-setting for its time. For, it not only recognised that indigenous peoples had rights to their lands, but recognised this right as being based on 'immemorial possession', that is as on 'aboriginal title', thus dispensing with the requirement that native title be traced to implied consent or acknowledgement by the State. Crucially important also was its recognition that 'land' under the law is generic and included the woods, waters and other surface notion, then widely prevalent in developing countries, that the best hope for indigenous peoples was for them to become integrated into the national majority of the newly independent countries within whose borders they now found themselves. The Convention was designed to smooth this transitional process by insisting on certain standards to protect indigenous rights, while they were absorbed into the national mainstream. Subsequent changes in international thinking about tribal and indigenous peoples rendered these paternalistic notions obsolete. In 1986 a committee of experts convened by the ILO called for the Convention's revision and this was undertaken in 1988 and 1989. The revised Convention 169 on Tribal and Indigenous Peoples has proved somewhat controversial. It has been openly criticised by many indigenous people for its failure to secure some of the fundamental rights that they claim. In particular, it has been criticised for the way that it subordinates customary law to national law; for explicitly avoiding recognition of their right of self-determination; and, critically, for the ambiguous way it distinguishes between 'lands' and 'territories'. Probably the most distressing aspect of the revision of the convention was the way the issues went to the vote. Indeed nothing more clearly illustrated the hypocrisy of the entire process than the very seating arrangements at the Conference. While the rhetoric in the Convention was all of 'recognising the aspirations of these peoples to control their destinies' and 'of seeking to obtain the consent of these peoples, as expressed through their own representative institutions, in decisions affecting their future', the reality was that the indigenous peoples sat against the wall of the conference hall looking on powerlessly while their rights were negotiated away before their very eyes. On the other hand, in certain respects the new Convention has created new international standards which are far above those accepted by law and actually applied in most countries. In the first place, the new Convention is based on the notion that indigenous and tribal identities are there to stay and should be respected and promoted. The Convention recognises the aspirations of tribal and indigenous peoples to control their own destinies. The new Convention goes further than any other piece of international law in recognising collective as opposed to individual rights. It provides strong measures to secure indigenous rights to land and natural resources. It regards indigenous self- identification as a 'fundamental criterion' for determining who falls within the definition of indigenous and tribal peoples. States that are party to the convention are thus prevented from making arbitrary decisions as to whether or not a group of people qualify for the description of tribal or indigenous. To date the revised Convention has been adopted by five countries -- Norway, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico and Costa Rica -- and it became law in 1992. Many indigenous peoples' organisations in countries as far apart as the Philippines, Brazil and Argentina have been pressing their governments to ratify the Convention, while NGOs in the North have also been asking their governments to ratify it and thereby set standards for their development assistance projects on indigenous lands. In 1977, North American Indians converged on the United Nations to demand that they be included among the subject people being considered by the UN's Committee on Decolonisation. Asserting their rights to self-determination, indigenous peoples demanded a complete re-evaluation of their position in international law and the right to negotiate with nation states on the basis of equality. The Indian peoples referred to the fact that they had signed treaties with the British Crown and other forces colonising their lands, which often explicitly recognised them as 'allies' and as 'nations'. The Indians' attempts to be included in the UN's decolonisation process were not successful. However, they were not rebuffed as curiosities in quite the same way as the Haudenoshonee representatives who had visited the League of Nations in the 1920s. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights appointed a Special Rapporteur to look into the rights of indigenous 'populations' and in 1982, on the basis of his report's broadly sympathetic and influential recommendations, the Commission established a Working Group on Indigenous Populations with the mandate of reviewing developments pertaining to the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples' rights and evolving appropriate standards to ensure respect for their fundamental human rights. The Working Group has met annually (with one exception) in Geneva ever since and has been attended by hundreds of indigenous peoples' representatives from all over the world. Substantively, the Working Group has made rapid progress in drafting an International Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the secretariat hopes to have finalised by the end of August 1993. What then happens to this draft is a source of much concern to indigenous peoples. Whereas some indigenous groups, particularly those from the 'developed' world, feel that the draft itself does not secure them clear enough rights to their territories and to self- determination and should be amended before being presented to the Human Rights Commission, others feel that rapid acceptance of the Declaration as it stands would provide them with a useful tool for securing their positions nationally, where their human rights are daily abused. The secretariat apparently favours sending the text to the UN Human Rights Commission for consideration at its 1994 session, from whence under ideal circumstances it could be forwarded for acceptance by the UN's General Assembly. But the chances of the draft declaration emerging unscathed from this process are minimal. Some governments of North and South have been openly hostile to the declaration already -- notably India, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Japan, and Canada -- so that a final agreement on a Declaration that is both acceptable to UN member governments and indigenous peoples seems a long way off. More likely is the promulgation of an ambiguous piece of international law which will further delay the effective recognition of indigenous peoples' rights and may even set standards below those already established by the ILO. This would be a serious setback. A parallel process is also under way through the Organisation of American States (OAS), which announced at the end of 1990 that it was planning to come out with a Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas in time for the quincentenary of the 'discovery' of the Americas in 1992. Many indigenous groups were very sceptical of the process, when it was announced, because it had no clear process for indigenous representation. But the OAS has responded to these concerns by slowing down the process and opening it up to indigenous input. A first regional consultation was held in March 1993 and it now seems that progress towards a Declaration will be a complex but hopefully balanced process. -- Third World Network Features - ends - About the writer: Marcus Colchester is an anthropologist and human rights advocate who works as Forest Peoples Programme Director for the World Rain forest Movement. 1092/93 --------- "RE: AIM CONFERENCE POWWOW & CONCERT" --------- From: hkoehler@web.apc.org Subj: AIM CONFERENCE POWWOW & CONCERT Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) AIM CONFERENCE, POWWOW & CONCERT (from Press release dated July 17,1993.) You are cordially invited to attend the 25th Anniversary of the American Indian Movement Celebration/Reunion Sept 1-6, 1993 at the Fort Snelling State Park, St.Paul Minnesota. The theme of this historic gathering is the International Indigenous Peoples Summit 1993. The 25th Anniversary National American Indian Movement Conference will gather AIM chapters from around the United States and Kanata (Canada). also participating are: the League of Independent Sovereign nations (LISN), the National Coalition On Racism in Sports and Media (NCRSM), the National Indian Prisoners Support Network (NIPSN), the Heart of the Earth Survival School (HOTESS), with reports from the International Indian treaty Council (IITC) from its 1993 conference at Kualoa, Hawaii (Aug 24-29, 1993). All movements, organizations, tribal governments leaders, indigenous peoples, as well as friends and supporters, solidarity groups, from North , Central and South America and worldwide are encouraged to attend the International Indigenous Peoples Summit of 1993. The Celebration/Reunion follows the 3rd Annual Sundance at Pipestone, Minnesota Aug 22-29. HOTESS is also hosting a Youth and Elder Conference on Sep 1-2 at Fort Snelling State Park. Further details, agenda etc of these exciting events may be obtained from: National American Indian Movement, Inc., P.O. Box 13521, Dinkytown Station, Minneapolis, MN 55414. (612)724-3129/331-3380/Fax (612)331-1747, Clyde Bellecourt. Or: IITC President William A. Means (612)341-3358. HOTESS Executive Director Eddie Benton Banai (612)331-8862. NIPSN Chairperson Ted Means (605)867-5655. NCRSM Founding National Chairperson Vernon Bellecourt (612)721-3914. --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows" --------- From: JANS Janet McNeely Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows GE Electronic Mail = Conferences = "Celebration of Life Stories of American Indian Women" = A National American Indian Women's Conference = September 16, 17, & 18, at the KwaTakNuk Resort, Flathead Reservation, Polson Montana. For more info, call (406) 726-4054. Speakers include Cecelia Fire Thunder (Health Educator), Debra Earling (Poet), Jeanne Eder (Historian), Phyliss "Old Dog" Cross (Counselor), Theda New Breast Ramos (Community Organizer), Angela Russell (Illustrator), Luciana Ross (Sociologist), LeeAnn Bruised Head (Health Educator), Ken Ryan (Spiritual Healer), Vera Manual (Dance Theater), Nora Garcia (Tribal Chairman). = Powwows = August 27-28-29, Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community, at Mystic Lake Casino, Prior Lake, Minnesota. For info call (612) 445-8900 or the Pow Wow Hotline (612) 445-9058. August 20-22, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Contest Pow Wow, Ft. Thompson, SD. Call (605) 245-2304 or 245-2478, or 245-2107, or 852-2455 or 245-2346. August 13-15, 1993 Lower Brule Fair and Pow Wow, Lower Brule Fairgrounds and Golden Buffalo Casino, Lower Bruke, SD. Includes a Slowpitch Softball Tournament, Rodeo, Fair and Pow Wow. For more info, call (605) 473-5565. August 5-8, Oglala Lakota Nation Pow Wow and Rodeo, Pine Ridge, SD, also horsemanship, races, rodeo, other sports events. For more info, call (605) 867-5821, ext 222 or 251. August 5-8, Rocky Boy's Annual Grassdance Pow Wow, Rocky Boy, Montana. Sponsored by various families of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy.