_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' 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 025 O o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 11 September 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. "When I was ten years of age I looked at the land and the rivers, the sky above, and the animals around me and could not fail to realize they were made by some great power." -- Tatanka-Ohitaka, Lakota O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! During a visit to the Morehead Planetarium at the University of North Carolina, the host spoke of many of our ancestor's interpretation of the Big Dipper. like the Greeks, they saw it as a large bear. The difference was the Native American bear was composed only of the four stars that outline the bowl of the dipper, and the three stars in the handle were seen as hunters. Like the ancients we must not forget to learn what we can from the stars and sky beings. Our quest for knowledge should include all Wakan Tanka has spread before us. Mitaquye Oyasin! Night Owl ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ----------- --------- "RE: Student Network" --------- From: immedia.ca!DIRKV-CASEC Subj: STUDENT NETWORK Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ---------- September 7, 1993 RE: Student Native Network Kativik School Board is responsible for schools located in the Arctic regions of Quebec in Canada. Our students are Inuit, whose first language is Inuktitut and who also study in either French or in English as their second language. The school board contains 14 schools and approximately 2500 students. Their settlements are accessible by plane, water or in winter by snowmobiles and are several hundred kilometers apart, spreading over some 5000 kilometers of coastline. In order to minimize the isolation of our students, one from another as well as from other students around the globe, Kativik has had an in-house Email system for some 8 years. Through it our students have had opportunity to make pen-pal links with students in southern Canada. In view of 1993 being the International Year for the World's Indigenous Peoples, we want to use the current school year to emphasize inter- indigenous student communications. Kativik School Board is currently trying to assess the most appropriate Email linkup with other aboriginal students in Canada and other parts of the world. Since NativeNet has a world-wide audience, it may prove to be the most interesting of the various possibilities. However it is necessary to also alert and involve other schools and students that such a conference would be available. Only if enough schools respond to this "interest" survey would we be prepared to open gateways for our students. School systems interested in participating in such a link-up should respond to this message and I will contact Gary S. Trujillo to see if such a conference could be arranged under Nat-Edu. Dirk Vermeulen ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From: shupe@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jim Shupe) Subj: STUDENT NETWORK Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ This article relayed from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup ] Have the interested parties tried contacting the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)? They have the AISES-net which connects university level students who are in engineering or science... They also have high school chapters for encouraging interest in these areas. More info could be available if requested. -- Mitakuye Oyasin, Waya Gola External Responses only to RCHVMW2 address, RCHLAND will not receive them ------------------------------------------------------------------------- J.T. Shupe (SHUPE@rchvmw2.vnet.ibm.com) | (SHUPE@rchland.vnet.ibm.com) | The Magics and Mysteries Associate Programmer, Juggler, Story-Teller| of the world are far simpler Department 45N, Performance Tools III | than we make them out to IBM Rochester, MN 55901 | be. 507/253-4318 t/l 553-4318 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- "RE: Research Center" --------- From: BOOTES.UNM.EDU!SCHWARTZ Subj: research center Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Regarding Lori Murphy's question about research centers: the American Indian Institute at the University of Oklahoma is a good place to start. Thier overall goals are to promote Indian education and research, training and career development opportunities, promote and support the development of human and natural resources, promote the perpetuation of tribal/band cultures and traditions and their histories, and to facilitate the utilization of University of Oklahoma resources by Indian tribes, bands, organizations and groups. (This information taken directly from the American Indian Institute brochure). They also have a Native American Research Information Service (NARIS) which is a computerized data base focusing on research of, and about Native Americans. It is an excellent resource for literature searches, on all kinds of subjects. The address of the Institute is: American Indian Institute College of Continuing Education University of Oklahoma 555 Constitution Street Norman, OK 73037-0005 Phone: 405-325-4127 --------- "RE: Executive Clemency for Peltier" --------- From: maraw@fs-gate.uchicago.edu (mara whitney) Subj: Executive Clemency for Peltier Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ This article relayed from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup ] Protest the outrageous breach of the constitutional and civil rights of an American citizen. Join in demanding executive clemency for Leonard Peltier on Sunday, November 21, 1993 in Washington, DC. For further info contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee 913-842-5774. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "E. Gaele Gillespie" Subj: Executive Clemency for Peltier Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) On Sept. 8, the following message from Mara Whitney was relayed to NATIVE-L from the Usenet "soc.culture.native" newsgroup: Protest the outrageous breach of the constitutional and civil rights of an American citizen. Join in demanding executive clemency for Leonard Peltier on Sunday, November 21, 1993 in Washington, DC. For further info contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee 913-842-5774. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee is located here in Lawrence, KS. Even though it's true that there are a few weeks between now and 11/21, there has been no information in the local newspaper about this. While this doesn't surprise me, given the very conservative stance of our local newspaper, it is still irksome. The Kansas University newspaper (_The University Daily Kansan_) might cover this before the city newspaper -- that is sometimes the pattern -- and even if the UDK doesn't cover it *before* the city newspaper does, the UDK's coverage will probably be more objective. In any case, I will watch for any local coverage and post it as it "breaks".For information on the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, to become a supporting member, or to receive a copy of the newsletter, write: Leonard Peltier Defense Committee c/o 3011 University Drive Lawrence, KS 66049 Phone number as above. Many thanks to Mara Whitney for posting the information. Isn't the NativeNet cooperative *great*?! Keep the faith -- Gaele E. Gaele Gillespie / University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045-2800 GGILLESP@UKANVM.BITNET GGILLESP@UKANVM.CC.UKANS.INTERNET --------- "RE: JOB: GL Indian F&W Commission" --------- From: Preston Hardison Subj: JOB: GL Indian F&W Commission To: Multiple recipients of INDKNOW VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT BOTANIST (permanent) for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) located on the Bad River Indian Reservation in Odanah, Wisconsin. GLIFWC serves 13 Chippewa Tribes in implementation and management of treaty harvesting rights. GLIFWC's Biological Services Division staffs biologists with expertise in fisheries, wildlife, wild plant, and environmental issues. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the supervision of the Wildlife Section Leader, the Botanist will provide technical assistance and advice to member tribes regarding management, protection, and enhancement of traditionally gathered wild plants and their habitats in the ceded territories of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota; maintain inventories and develop procedures for monitoring the status of wild plant resources in the ceded territories, incorporating information from other agencies as practicable; cooperate with land management agencies and tribes in developing systems for permitting and monitoring the treaty harvest of wild plant products in the ceded territories; act as a liaison with agencies involved in the management of wild plants and their habitats; serve as tribal coordinator for the Wisconsin State/Tribal Wild Plant Management and Policy Committee; cooperate with other Commission staff in developing and implementing strategies for education of tribal members and the general public regarding the wild plant resources in the Upper Great Lakes Region. QUALIFICATIONS: Advanced degree in botany, plant ecology, or related field required. Knowledge of plant species and habitats of the Upper Great Lakes Region required. Excellent communication skills required. Experience in curator skills, forestry, and land management skills preferred. All qualified applicants will be considered, but Indian Preference will be followed if all other qualifications are equal. SALARY: Salary range for this position is $22,700-$32,700, depending upon qualifications. Fringe benefits include health insurance and retirement program. TO APPLY: Send cover letter, resume, and three references to: Neil Kmiecik, Biological Services Director Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission P.O. Box 9 Odanah, WI 54861 CLOSING DATE: December 1, 1993 --------- "RE: Position at UCLA" --------- From: 125law1.law.ucla.edu!GOLDBERG Subj: Position at UCLA Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ANNOUNCING A JOB OPENING RESEARCHER/ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, UCLA AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES CENTER The UCLA American Indian Studies Center seeks an individual to attract research grants and carry out research projects for the Center. The American Indian Studies Center is an organized research unit of the University of California that conducts research on Native American issues in cooperation with faculty, students, and staff throughout the campus; supports an M.A. in American Indian Studies; publishes a research journal and monographs; operates a library; and provides assistance to students and to the community. The Researcher will be expected: 1) to carry out an individual research program in the field of American Indian Studies, which includes bringing in grants and publishing in academic as well as community fora; 2) to work with faculty, students, and staff in the development and execution of research projects and publications; 3) to secure grants to improve the M.A. program, undergraduate education in American Indian Studies, and the Center's publication program; 4) to work cooperatively with local and national American Indian communities; and 5) to assist the Director in performing administrative duties. The position is in UCLA's Professional Researcher Series, and the criteria and opportunities for appointment and advancement are the same, with respect to research, as for a professorial appointment. Teaching duties are not required, but opportunities for teaching may be available. The Researcher would be expected to conduct an active program of grant-writing, research, and publication in the area of American Indian Studies. A Ph.D. and a record of grant-writing and publication are preferred. UCLA is an equal opportunity employer, and welcomes applications from minority group members, women, and others whose varying backgrounds may contribute to the richness of its intellectual environment. Salary starts at $41,600, and may be negotiable depending on experience. Applicants should send a vita; name, address and phone numbers of three references; and copies of selected publications and grant applications to Director, UCLA American Indian Studies Center, 3220 Campbell Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1548. Applications are due November 1, 1993, and the appointment will commence no later than July 1, 1994. --------- "RE: Davis Inlet Deadline" --------- From: A.HOROVITCH Art Horovitch Subj: Davis Inlet Deadline GE Electronic Mail Montreal, Sept 8, 1993 Frustrated Innu leaders in the community of Davis Inlet, Newfoundland, have given the federal government one week to commit themselves in writing to move their village from it's present location on an island to a new site on the mainland. Peter Penashue, head of the Innu Nation says they will go to jail to make their point. They plan to set up a squatters camp on Parliament Hill in Ottawa or conduct other protests. (The Canadian government has just called an election, so this may be an opportune time to embarrass the government into action on this festering problem.) The government's chief negotiator, Ross Reid, says, "We have to insure that we're not relocating problems. We will not force them to go to a community they don't want to go to. The decision is the community's". Reid's mandate, set up last February after six Innu youths were found sniffing gasoline and close to death, is to discuss possible solutions with the Innu and the provincial government of Newfoundland. But Premier Clyde wells has flatly rejected the Sango Bay location on the mainland where the Innu want to be relocated to. He said it is still too isolated from economic opportunities and a waste of taxpayers' dollars. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Committee for Solidarity With Aboriginal People reports that the trial of Ellen Gabriel will resume on Sept 14 in Montreal. Gabriel, a Mohawk artist and activist during the Oka crisis of 1990, was charged with contempt of court last spring after she refused to identify several people in a photo shown to her during the inquest into events surrounding the death of Cpl Lemay of the Quebec Provincial Police on July 11, 1990. She claimed that to identify those people would be tantamount to treason under the constitution of the Iroquois confederacy , which she recognizes as the only pertinent law in the case. She was to have been charged with contempt in June, but the judge held over a decision until Sept 14. She has called for an INDEPENDENT inquiry into the entire context of events which led to the tragic death of Cpl Lemay. The committee plans to mount a demonstration outside the courthouse Sept 14 at 8:30 AM to show support for Ms. Gabriel as the trial resumes. --------- "RE: Hydro Quebec - No Deal Say the Cree" --------- From: A.HOROVITCH Art Horovitch Subj: Hydro Quebec - No Deal Say the Cree GE Electronic Mail NO DEAL SAY THE CREE "WE WANT THE LAND" Montreal, Sept 3, 1993 Hydro Quebec recently released a 5,000 page study which it claims cost $400 million and took eleven years to complete. The study looked at the impact of building new dams in the James Bay area. The study claims that the new dams will have only "moderate and manageable effects" on a small portion of the James Bay area. The company claims that the study conforms to the most "exhausting and demanding guidelines " ever issued for such an energy project. Critics immediately challenged the report, saying it does not clearly show that Quebec needs the 3200 mega watts that the Great whale dams would produce, nor does it sufficiently examine alternatives such as energy conservation. The report will be studied by the federal and provincial environmental review boards who will decide whether the project should go ahead. A spokesman for Hydro , Stella Leney, says the utility will accept the recommendations of the environmental boards. However, she added that even if the boards rule against the project, an order from the Quebec cabinet is all that is legally required for the utility to go ahead with the project. Some of the highlights of the report: 1. It is impossible to assess the cumulative impact of the Great Whale project with those of the La Grande complex and others in the James Bay area. 2. The project , which will flood about 3400 square kilometers, would not endanger or reduce the size of a single plant or animal species. 3. The project will cause mercury poisoning in fish for 20 to 30 years, but this problem can be mitigated if the Natives stop eating certain types of fish. 4. The project will create 6700 jobs per year for the next 10 years, including about 350 jobs directly and indirectly in Cree and Inuit communities. 5. The impact of the project will be both positive and negative, and will primarily impact the communities of Kujuarapik (450 Inuit) and Whapmagousti (500 Cree) Hydro officials complained that the study of impacts on the Cree community was hampered by the fact that the Cree themselves refused to take part in the study. However Cree leaders scoffed at the idea that there will be "minimal impact on the Cree way of life" and that Hydro claims only 5% of the land base of the Cree will be affected. Bill Namagoose of the Grand Council of the Cree, asked , "What is minimal impact? The 5% of the territory that will be impacted is our most productive land. We use the land along the rivers and that is what will be destroyed." He said that the Cree refused to participate in the study because the method of data collection was amateurish (multiple choice or yes and no questionnaires), while the Cree wanted state of the art methods of consultation. Namagoose rejected the idea that the Cree would be won over by offers of compensation which Hydro Quebec normally builds into the cost of its projects. Namagoose replied, "We don't want compensation. We don't want the project. We just want to save the land the way it is." He continued, "They (Hydro Quebec and the Quebec government) are not here of their own free will. We spent 3 years in court, going all the way to the supreme court. We forced them , kicking and screaming all the way, to do an environ- mental review." --------- "RE: What is AIM..." --------- From: RCHVMW2.VNET.IBM.COM!SHUPE Subj: What is AIM... Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) What is the American Indian Movement? Document from AIM 25th Anniversary Conference/International Peoples Summit September 1-6, 1993. Things will never be the same again and that is what the American Indian Movement is all about... They are respected by many, hated by some, but they are never ignored They are the catalyst for Indian Sovereignty... They intend to raise questions in the minds of all, questions that have gone to sleep in the minds of Indians and non-Indians alike... >From the outside AIM people are tough people, they had to be... AIM was born out of the dark violence of police brutality and the voiceless despair of Indian people in the courts of Minneapolis, MN... AIM was born because a few knew that it was enough, enough to endure for themselves and all others like them who were people without power or rights... AIM people have known the insides of jails; the long wait; the no appeal of the courts for Indians, because many of them were there... >From the inside, AIM people are cleansing themselves; many have returned to the old traditional religions of their tribes, away from the confused notions of a society that has made them slaves of their own unguided lives... AIM is first, a spiritual movement, a religious re-birth, and then the re-birth of dignity and pride in a people... AIM succeeds because they have beliefs to act upon... The American Indian Movement is attempting to connect the realities of the past with the promise of tomorrow... They are people in a hurry, because they know that the dignity of a person can be snuffed by despair and a belt in a cell of a city jail... They know that the deepest hopes of the old people could die with them... They know that the Indian way is not tolerated in White America, because it is not acknowledged as a decent way to be... Sovereignty, Land and Culture cannot endure if a people is not left in peace... The American Indian Movement is then, the Warrior Class of this Century, who are bound to the bond of the Drum, who vote with their bodies instead of their mouths... THEIR BUSINESS IS HOPE. Words and thoughts by Birgil Kills Straight, Oglala Lakota Nation --------- "RE: Inuit Sovereignty & International Law" --------- From: John_Burrows@freemf.eskimo.com (John Burrows) Subj: Inuit Sovereignty & International Law Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: This file has been created under the loving care of :: :: -= THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT =- :: :: :: :: Questions and comments on FWDP can be addressed to: :: :: :: :: John Burrows John_Burrows@freemf.eskimo.com :: :: P.O. Box 2574 :: :: Olympia, Wa Fido Net 1:352/333 :: :: 98507-2574 206-786-9629 :: :: USA The Quarto Mundista BBS :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: S C I E N C E A N D T H E I N D I G E N O U S A R C T I C from Charles Etok Edwardsen, Jr 211 McCarrey #16 Anchorage, Alaska 99508 (907) 338-4930 June 15, 1993 I wish to thank the Polar Research Board and Dr. Loren Setlow for the privilege of sharing our views regarding our homeland and the impact of quantitative science. We, the Inuit, cannot really know what a contemporary experiment means unless we understand what materials and what instruments and what sciences are involved in its design. This is why the growing edge of science is so inaccessible to our common experience in Alaska and our Circumpolar Inuit homeland. The Inuit, of the Circumpolar Region, qualify as a nation state under international law. Therefore the Inuit of Canada, Denmark, United States, and Russia have met the criteria of Article I of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. Our inherent rights to sovereignty as defined by longest peaceful existence have never been extinguished by the claims of discovery by the Spanish, Russians, British, Portuguese, Danes, Americans, nor Canadians. Unlike the origins of the United States, France, and Russia, the Inuit call to freedom maintains our tradition of the longest peaceful occupation, co-existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Arctic since time immemorial. Based upon our self-determination and supported by International Law, we make this Declaration of Sovereignty which signifies Inuit Independence from all Anglo-european original or derivative states, and from any infringement of Inuit Sovereignty. And, therein lies the healing truth for the Inuit and for our homelands which have been threatened by quantitative science and selective enforcement of laws outside of the scope of the Constitutions of the United States, Canada, and Russia. Sovereign immunity for unrecognized regimes has been practiced by the United States Supreme Court and began with _The Schooner Exchange vs. M'Faddon_. In an opinion by Justice Marshall, the Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the libel because a warship "in the service of a foreign sovereign, with whom the government of the United States is at peace" should be exempt from U.S. jurisdiction. Marshall's analysis began with the premise that no sovereign would voluntarily subject itself to the jurisdiction of another. Marshall states that "all sovereigns have consented to a relaxation . . . of that absolute and complete jurisdiction within their respective territories which sovereignty confers." The act of state doctrine was adopted by the Supreme Court as a principal of judicial restraint to avoid the unseemliness and potential problems that might arise if the courts of one nation sat in judgment over a foreign sovereign. In the words of the Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the U.S., "[i]n the absence of a treaty or other unambiguous agreement regarding controlling legal principles, courts in the United States will generally refrain from . . . sitting in judgment on . . . acts of a governmental character done by a foreign state within its own territory and applicable there." Restatement (Third) of the Foreign Relations Law of the U.S. Section 443 comment a (1987). Most certainly the Treaty of Cession of 1867 and the Maritime Boundary Treaty of 1990 are flagrant examples of unconsented taking of indigenous lands in the Inuit Homeland. The United States government has been the sole benefactor of the largest illegal expropriation of Inuit Homelands. This empirical coordination of economic interests undermined the Constitution of the United States of America. However, the United States has elected to become civilized as a signature to the Convention of Genocide forty-years later than other countries. The Genocide Convention was submitted to the Senate by President Truman in June, 1949. On February 19, 1986, the Senate consented to ratification with the reservation that legislation be passed that conforms U.S. law to the precise terms of the Treaty. This enabling legislation was approved by Congress in October 1988, and signed by President Reagan on November 4, 1988. This legislation amends the U.S. Criminal Code to make genocide a federal offense. It also sets a maximum penalty of life imprisonment when death results from a criminal act defined by the law. The Genocide Convention proscribes conduct that is juristically distinct from other forms of prohibited wartime killing (i.e., killing involving acts constituting crimes of war and crimes against humanity). Although crimes against humanity are linked to wartime actions, the crime of genocide can be committed in peacetime or during a war. According to article I of the Genocide Convention: "The contracting parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish." For the first time in history, the Inuit of the Circumpolar Region no longer fear the threats of standing armies of the allied occupation of the northern world. The higher-law obligations found in the American political tradition compel the United States to take the lead in the prosecution of the Iraqi war criminals. The principle of a higher law is one of the enduring and canonic principles in the history of the United States. Codified in both the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution, it rests upon the acceptance of certain notions of right and justice that obtain because of their own obvious merit. "Indian" law is race law and the history of indigenous peoples in international law is one of genocide and forced assimilations, motivated by racial prejudice such as the "forced incorporation" of the indigenous peoples of Alaska into the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The Arctic Slope Native Association voted "No" to ANCSA. They seem to have been the only representatives within the Alaska Federation of Natives with the ability to see into the future and to recognize a land robbery in the guise of a poor third world contract. A Universal Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples may help us to gain a more honest perspective on the claims settlement. When was the last time that any of you met a man or woman from elsewhere who understood the bowhead or the walrus better than Inupiat hunters and their families? Dr. Michael Tillman was a speaker at the recent Inuit Circumpolar Conference for Commerce. At an evening social event Dr. Tillman, Director of Protected Species, National Marine Fisheries, and his colleagues informally admitted that to this day the federal scientists have operated without the knowledge of the recruitment rate of the bowhead specie. Under the auspices of Dr. Tillman, science had been used to belittle the entire Inupiat whaling culture to achieve nationalistic goals of the Reagan/Bush administration for a quick fix for the oil industry. As a consequence, Dr. Tillman created a false polarization, in the name of science, to politically suppress the vital way of life of the Inupiat culture and turned the issue into a national display of force. The State of Alaska does not exist in a vacuum of itself. The State of Alaska is subject to a compact, within the Statehood Act, between the United States and the indigenous Tribes of Alaska. The State of Alaska is not a sovereign of itself and, therefore, cannot be a signature to any treaty by itself. This basic principle of federal law has been with us all this time. It is just that it is in the best interests of the State of Alaska to maintain this fraud. Read what the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published in 1976: "Furthermore, the Indian treaties were not a grant of rights to the Indians, but rather a grant of rights from them to the non-Indians, with the Indians reserving to themselves those rights not granted. The treaties specifically protect those reserved rights. These basic principles of Federal law, which undergird the decisions in Indian treaty rights cases, have been the subject of much misunderstanding and some non-Indians have found them difficult to accept." Someone may say that the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act precludes treaty rights. This statement is based upon another fraudulent assumption as it is important to realize that a treaty is not an act of Congress. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act as an act of congress was a forced incorporation of indigenous peoples and can now be reexamined within the context of the United States Genocide Treaty Convention. The legal basis of the United States within the territory of Alaska is not derived from within the United States Constitution First, there was never a treaty nor consensual relationship between Czarist Russia and the indigenous tribes of Alaska. Secondly, the Treaty of Cessions of 1867 between Russia and the United States is not a transfer of sovereignty nor a secession of lands from the indigenous population. Therefore, the United States government is an occupational force within Alaska. This occupation can now be challenged under international law, particularly in that the United States and Russia cannot manufacture, between themselves, sovereignty which they have not acquired nor can ever acquire either on March 30, 1867 nor through the ratification of the Maritime Boundary Treaty of September 16, 1991. For the last 250 years in Alaska, Russia and the United States, have been outside of civilized international law and outside of their own constitutions. The United States and Russia have been the benefactors of this unconstitutional occupation and have enjoyed one trillion dollars of ill-gotten gains. And, what of the indigenous peoples of Hawaii? Just as the State of Israel did not exist at the time of the commission of the crimes in question, the Inuit have adopted the Inuit Code of Offenses Against the Peace and Security of Mankind. -- Via DLG Pro v1.0 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / John Burrows John_Burrows@freemf.eskimo.com / / Fido Net 1:352/333 206-786-9629 / / Director Center For World Indigenous Studies / / The Fourth World P.O. Box 2574 / / Documentation Project Olympia, Washington 98507-2574 / / Fax 206-956-1087 / ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --------- "RE: New respect for Old Ways" --------- From: LLester Subj: Albuquerque Journal news article "New respect for Old Ways". Monday morning, September 6th, Albuquerque Journal, Sec. A, pp.1,10 "New respect for Old Ways". -- "Modern, Ancient Medicine Unite in Goal to Heal" Journal staff writer: Leslie Linthicum relates the healing of Mescalero Apache 56 year old medicine woman, Meredith Begay with the cooperation of a Western physician: Dr. Verlyn Corbett from a bone infection in her leg that was leading to amputation by physicians at the Indian Health Services Hospital in Mescalero New Mexico. This was a program item in August, 1993, at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Indian Physicians in Scottsdale, Ariz. as well. Excerpted from the article: "The Indian Health Service, the federal agency that provides health care for Native Americans, now employs a medicine man to act as a liaison with doctors, nurses and medical students. Paul Ortega, a Mescalero Apache medicine man who works out of the IHS office in Albuquerque, spends a good deal of his time explaining the different approach to sickness taken by traditional healers." "At Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital, the only New Mexico hospital with a ritual room, medicine men can work with patients in a private room styled like a kiva" and "We encourage the use of traditional medicine, says Dr. Kevin Rand, Chief of Medicine at the Indian Health Service Hospital in Chinle, Arizona. Nearly all the hospitals patients are Navajos who live on the surrounding reservation and the hospital's design includes a hogan styled room where healing ceremonies may be held. The article also makes reference to the Hantavirus and the part the Native American Elders played in "cracking" the case. --------- "RE: Technology Saving Tribal Language" --------- From: M.POSO (lea) Melinda L. Poso Subj: Technology Saving Tribal Language GE Electronic Mail "Lawrence Nicodemus, an 83-year-old Couer d'Alene Indian and a dozen computers have teamed up to save the Couer d'Alene language from extinction." (Susan Drumheller, _Spokesman-Review_, Spokane WA, Sept. 9, 1993, p.B-3) A $38,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education allowed the Couer d'Alene tribal school system to purchase 12 MacIntosh Computers and consulting services. The software and computers allow tribal elders to record songs, language and tales, entering the words with their proper pronunciation into the computer's database. The Couer d'Alene school children practice their dying native language by listening to the elders' computer-recorded voices, pronouncing the words, and using them in songs, prayers and stories, then repeating them, trying to emulate the proper pronunciation. The Couer d'Alene tribe had only a few remaining members who spoke the language. In their own tradition, they have a saying "without language, you have an empty tepee." Yet year by year, the remaining elders who knew the language were dying out. This technological enterprise will, the elders hope, reverse the process and bring their language back into use by the tribe's young. Other endangered languages, including the Sioux, Chippewa, Hidatsa, Pawnee, and Arikara tribes in the U.S. and the Palau islanders north of Australia, are being preserved in this manner as well. --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows" --------- From: JANS Janet McNeely Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows GE Electronic Mail = Powwows = This week, we're featuring primarily Free Cherokee and New England N.A. events: September 11-12, Hede Heweche Moon Band Powwow, Baltic CT Sponsor: Hede Heweche Band Information (203) 445-1923 September 11-12. Native American Community Powwow, Hawkfeather (near Watertown, CT) Information: (203) 720-1685 September 16-19, Schemitzun II, Hartford, CT Sponsor: Mashantucket Pequot Nation Information: (203) 536-2681 Friday, September 17, "No Tongue Will Live to Speak/No Ears Will Yearn to Hear," a play written by Distant Eagle, will be staged in New Haven. One night only. Information: (203) 732-7000. September 25-26, 8th Annual Powwow, Watertown CT Sponsor: Eagle Wing Press Information: (203) 729-0035 October 21-24, Annual Fall Gathering of the Free Cherkees/Good Medicine Society at Hawkfeather Sponsor: Snake Band Information: (203) 945-6379 Send notices of forthcoming powwows, conferences and gatherings to: jans@genie.geis.com jans%glsdk@wolves.durham.nc.us ....duke!wolves!glsdk!jans