_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' 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 028 O o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 2 October 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. "The old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power." -- Chief Luther Standing Bear, Teton O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! For this issue's editorial comments I will pass the talking stick to my sister, Janet Lehman. My people are all my relations. My blood is the blood which flows in all life, and in the rivers and streams of Mother Earth. My spirituality is that which joins me in the unity of life with all my relations. It may be expressed by, but is not contained in ceremonies and rituals. It is not for sale because it is available to everyone, for free. The only requirement is to listen. Grandmothers and Grandfathers do not take blood samples or scan DNA molecular configurations before they choose to speak to an individual. They look only into hearts and minds. Those who would cut themselves off from all their relations and attempt to hoard spirituality as though it were a commodity to which only they have a right, are performing a spiritual amputation on themselves, in addition to perpetuating bigotry and hatred. The hoarding is really no different from the selling; both are the result of possessiveness and greed, and display a great lack of respect. There are many different traditions and customs which have been remembered and practiced by indigenous peoples across this broad continent, all of which can rightfully be called Native American. Some are being preserved; some have already died out. If there are those which do not include tolerance of others, perhaps it is only fitting that they should be among the moribund. Intolerance and "mitaquye oyasin" can be merged only by hypocrisy. Perhaps if the keepers of valid traditions were just a little more willing to share them, and even to tolerate those who might stumble in learning, there would be no market for those labelled "plastic", and they would simply disappear. Each individual has a choice -- to live life, every minute of every day including all activity from prayer to excretory functions, in harmony with and respect for all of creation, or to back away from life, holding it at arm's length with anger and hatred, building a wall so thick and so high that even the voices of the Grandmothers and Grandfathers can't penetrate it. Anger and hatred do far more damage to the person feeling them than to their object. Take heed, for your own sake, and for the sake of your people, whomever you may count among their number. Pilamaya Janet! Mitaquye Oyasin! Night Owl ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ----------- --------- "RE: Child abuse/rez help" --------- From: Dartmouth.EDU!Jacqueline.F.Keeler (Jacqueline F. Keeler) Subj: Child abuse/rez help Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) --- You wrote: Even the childrens voice has to be respected, or you end up feeling like a nobody by the time you grow up. --- end of quoted material --- I think this is very true. It has also been noted to be a very Lakota thing to do. My dad always treated our ideas like they were important and held long discussions with us even when we were really small. His cousin Bea Medicine, also noted this in her research on Lakota child-rearing habits. (I used the quote in an earlier post so I will not repeat it here.) I'm not trying to perpetuate a "perfect" image of Lakota people, but I think in a society where there was more cultural stability and more balance, the people had developed a very keen sense of respect not only for the animals and the other "peoples" but also for each other. The Lakota concept of respect was not based on power, money, greed, cruelty, or even kindness, but on simply the aspect of EXISTING. Everything that existed deserved respect. --Jake --------- "RE: Clayoquot blockade; JUDGE JAILS GRANNY" --------- From: MAILER-DAEMON@web.apc.org Subj: Clayoquot blockade Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 29/93 WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? JUDGE JAILS GRANNY; REFUSES VIDEO DEFENSE Betty Krawczyk found herself unexpectedly back behind bars yesterday after the judge hearing her Clayoquot defense refused to specify whether she was being tried under the civil or criminal code. The distinction is crucial in determining which witnesses can be called by defendants making a final plea to influence their sentencing. With her interrupted defense in shambles, the 65 year-old grandmother stood up and shouted, "This is outrageous. I want justice in this court!" Judge Bouck immediately ordered her back to jail. Along with 72 year-old Judith Robinson, Krawczyk has already been imprisoned 85 days without being convicted of any crime. The BC injustice system next steamrollered Dan Maher. The Crown had promised the Kennedy bridge blockader that he would be allowed to show unedited video tape of his "good behavior" on the morning of his arrest. But when Maher attempted to introduce that taped evidence in court, the Crown double-crossed him by objecting vociferously. The judge who had allowed Crown prosecutors to enter carefully edited video of Maher 's blockade actions upheld their objection, denying Maher's use of the tape's full context to refute this distorted picture. "Whenever truth is spoken, the judge closes the court," Friends of Clayoquot Sound director Jan Bate said outside the courtroom today. "It's impossible to get a fair trial because large groups of defendants wear the judge down, making him impatient and unable to make good decisions." With sentencing imminent for the first 52 people arrested while defending Clayoquot Sound, the court docket continues to swell. Two Hornby and Lasqueti Island mothers were arrested this morning with "babes in arms," as 85 supporters stood in silent protest. For more information call Will Thomas 725-4218 --------- "RE: Iroquois Influence on the Constitution" --------- From: mwilson@convex.csd.uwm.edu (Michael Wilson) Subj: Interesting Commentary on Iroquois Influence on the Constitution Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) While I was browsing around gopher, I saw this interesting commentary on the influence of the Iroquois Great Law of Peace on the US Constitution. If you want the text of the Iroquois Great Law, you can get it at the FTP site: ftp.cit.cornell.edu (/special/nativeprofs/general) Mike --------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE IROQUOIS CONSTITUTION: During the bi-centennial year of The Constitution of the United States, a number of books were written concerning the origin of that long-revered document. One of these, The Genius of the People, alleged that after the many weeks of debate a committee sat to combine the many agreements into one formal document. The chairman of the committee was John Rutledge of South Carolina. He had served in an earlier time, along with Ben Franklin and others, at the Stamp Act Congress, held in Albany, New York. This Committee of Detail was having trouble deciding just how to formalize the many items of discussion into one document that would satisfy one and all. Rutledge proposed they model the new government they were forming into something along the lines of the Iroquois League of Nations, which had been functioning as a democratic government for hundreds of years, and which he had observed in Albany. While there were many desirable, as well as undesirable, models from ancient and modern histories in Europe and what we know now as the Middle East, only the Iroquois had a system that seemed to meet most of the demands espoused by the many parties to the debates. The Genius of the People alleged that the Iroquois had a Constitution which began: "We the people, to form a union. . ." That one sentence was enough to light a fire under me, and cause me to do some deep research into ancient Iroquoian lore. I never did find that one sentence backed up in what writings there are concerning the ancient Iroquois. But I DID find sufficient data and evidence to convince me that the Iroquois most certainly did have a considerable influence on the drafting of our own Constitution, and we present-day Americans owe them a very large debt. At the time of the founding of the Iroquois League of Nations, no written language existed; we have only the early stories which were passed down from generation to generation, until such time as there was a written language, and interpreters available, to record that early history. One such document is listed below. There are several other documents now available in various places which refer to the original founding of the Iroquois, and they seem to substantiate this document as probably truthful and accurate. This version was prepared by Arthur C. Parker, Archaeologist of the State Museum in New York in 1915, and published by the University of the State of New York as Bulletin 184 on April 1, 1916. It is entitled: The Constitution of the Five Nations - or - The Iroquois Book of the Great Law. In it, you will find close parallels to our Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches of government as originally described in our U. S. Constitution. You will find it very difficult to keep in mind that it survives after some 500 or 600 years, and was originated by people that our ancestors mistakenly considered as "savages". Some sources place the origin of the Five Nation Confederacy as early as 1390 AD, but others insist it was prepared about 1450-1500 AD; in any case, it was well before any possible contamination by European invaders. Early explorers and colonists found the Iroquois well established, as they had been for many generations: with a democratic government; with a form of religion that acknowledged a Creator in heaven; with a strong sense of family which was based on, and controlled by, their women; and many other surprises you will soon discover. It must also be pointed out that this document refers to to the "Five" Nations, while other references to the Confederacy speak of the "Six" nations. From the inception, there were the Five Nations discussed in this Constitution. In about 1715, the Tuscarora Nation, once part of the Iroquois peoples in a much earlier period of their history, moved up from North Carolina to avoid warfare with the invading white settlers, and were adopted into the Confederacy. At this point in time, the Iroquois controlled many parts of our now eastern states from their homelands in what is now New York state. The original Five Nations were: Mohawk: People Possessors of the Flint Onondaga: People on the Hills Seneca: Great Hill People Oneida: Granite People Cayuga: People at the Mucky Land Tuscarora: Shirt Wearing People became the Sixth Nation. The founder of the Confederacy of the Five Nations is generally acknowledged to be Dekanawida, born near the Bay of Quinte, in southeastern Ontario, Canada. During his travels, he associated himself with a Mohawk tribal lord in what is now New York, and named him Hahyonhwatha (Hiawatha) (He who has misplaced something, but knows where to find it). Hiawatha left his family and friends, and joined Dekanawida in his travels, becoming his chief spokesman. One legend has it that Dekanawida, while brilliant, had a speech impediment, and depended on Hiawatha to do his public speaking for him. Together, they traveled the length and breadth of the lands on the south shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario, as well as the river to the sea, now known as the St. Lawrence. These were the homelands of tribes with a common heritage, but who had been warring with one another for many years. Dekanawida united them into a League of Nations that we now call the Iroquois League. Centuries later, Longfellow "borrowed" the name of Hiawatha to be his hero in a fictional legend; there is no other connection between the two Hiawathas nor their stories. Here is their original Constitution, as best it can be reconstructed from legend and spoken history. Read it and be amazed...keep in mind it is over 500 years old! ------------------------------------ Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net - aa300) Distributed by the Cybercasting Services Division of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN). Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this file, provided appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer(s) and the National Public Telecomputing Network. --------- "RE: Native Seeks Home for His Soul" --------- From: From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Native Seeks Home for His Soul GE Electronic Mail From: FRED TOWNER BBS: Mercury Opus (813) 321-0734 Subj: Native Seeks Home for His Soul Hi All... From the Calgary Herald, September 19, 1993 NATIVE SEEKS HOME FOR HIS SOUL By WENDY DUDLEY Calgary Herald WEST BRAGG CREEK Fred Fraser leaned back in his chair, chipping at a soapstone carving while talking quietly about his family. Here, in his tent, sitting next to his teenage daughter, he was at home. His son James sat close by, making a medicine pipe bag, while his brother George was fishing in a nearby beaver pond. This evening, they would eat meat from a moose shot one week ago. "This is all we need. We don't need a lot of money. There's plenty to eat in the bush, and there are fish," said Fraser, who turned 49 last Sunday. It's a calmer world than the one in which he grew up. Tired of being the butt of racist jokes, he quit James Short Elementary School in Grade 7. "I was embarrassed because I couldn't read. And they'd make me stand and put my nose in the middle of a circle on the chalk board." After spending his youth in pool halls, he became a carpet layer, then moved on and bought farmland in northern Alberta and B.C. His battle for native rights began in the late '70s, when he travelled to Ottawa, fighting for natives who had lost their status through marriage. His artistic talents as a soapstone carver helped keep meals on the table. Today, Fraser is fighting another battle. He is trying to lay claim to the forested region at the entrance to Kananaskis Country near West Bragg Creek, his ancestors' traditional hunting grounds. Three years ago, Fraser fought a black bear for this land. On Friday, he fought the provincial government for the same piece of Land - and lost. Fraser and supporters were arrested and charged for obstructing a roadway on which they had built a blockade. The log blockade was next to their tent which forestry officials dismantled quickly. Learning earlier in the week that their camp was to be raided, Fraser and supporters spent the night removing personal articles. Animal skulls painted with native symbols were packed up, and their guns used for hunting were taken away by friends. Standing under a sea of stars, Fraser and his brother Bill talked about their past - a youth spent on the move, working at various manual labor jobs. But the conversation always came back to family, a love for their father and mother, and a sense of pride about their grandfather, a minor chief of the Sarcee tribe, now known as the Tsuu T'ina Nation. Fraser's battle, stretched over three years, is rooted deeply in family. This land, lush with forests, creeks, meadows and wildlife, is his soul, he said. Here is where his father, Samuel Fraser, hunted for deer. A Metis trapper from northern Alberta who married the daughter of a Sarcee hereditary chief, Sam Fraser would head off into the woods with his horse. After he'd shoot a deer, he would pack it onto the horse, sending it home ahead of him. His wife would have the deer dressed by the time he arrived at the front door. Sam also had an ear for music, recalled Bill. "If I close my eyes, I can still hear him playing the fiddle." Sam Fraser died many years back, and is buried with two other sons in Calgary's Queens Park cemetery. Fred Fraser's mother, Ruby, 84, is in a Calgary nursing home. "I went to visit her the other day. I didn't know if I wouldn't be seeing her for awhile," he said. If the surviving Fraser clam is successful in winning back land, they would like their father and brothers to be buried there. "It would be like bringing them home," said Fraser, who vows to continue his battle. His promise to rebuild the barricade, and arm it, is not the talk of a radical, or some wing-nut, he said. "I love that land. It is all I've got. I'd rather die fighting for it for my children, than to live in squalor in Calgary." His battle for a homeland is being fought by other natives across the country who won back there status in 1985 when the Indian Act was amended to remove discriminatory sections, but have been refused back on their reserves because of lack of funds. Fraser has tried to negotiate with Ottawa, seeking finds to establish a new band and to buy land, but he's been told the money pot is empty. Through archival research, the Fraser clan discovered they are members of the Old Sarcee Uterus clan. A photo of Fraser's grandfather - hereditary chief James Starlight who operated a large ranch on the reserve - hangs in the sports centre on the Tsuu T'ina Nation, one of the bands which has excluded reinstated natives from its membership. "I was hurt" when Tsuu T'ina Chief Roy Whitney did not show support for the blockade, said Fraser "But I cry silently. Crying is buried in my soul." In an interview following his release from RCMP headquarters in Cochrane Friday, Fraser said he would soon return to where he has camped for the last three summers and winters. "I have to go back and collect my mind and soul. I left it there, at home, and I have to get it back." Fred, VE6XX --- GoldED 2.41+ * Origin: The Messhall BBS (1:134/73) --------- "RE: Prayer & Candlelight Vigil" --------- From: maraw@fs-gate.uchicago.edu (mara whitney) Subj: Prayer & Candlelight Vigil Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) *******FROM THE CIRCLE******* Native American Assistance Fund 56 Joaquin Miller Ct. Oakland, CA 94611 Ph: 510-531-7527 FAX: 510-531-7478 ++++++++++ PRAYER & CANDLELIGHT VIGIL ++++++++++ For Future Generations of Indigenous and All People Sunrise October 9 - Sunrise October 10, 1993 The Mall in Washington, DC (Between the Washington Monument and The White House) At Sunrise on October 9, 1993, we will begin a Prayer Vigil to honor the preservation of indigenous spirituality. Avrol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Sacred Buffalo Calf Pipe, his wife Carole Anne Looking Horse, Sequoia True Blood and others will be joining us. We invite all those who have worked for and believe in the preservation of Indigenous spirituality throughout the world. This is year ONE of the next 500 years and together we can plant a prayerful seed for future generations. Teepees will be erected to honor the Seventh Generation. We invite elders and traditional people to help us. Please bring your drum group, runners, walkers and all those who have contributed to the preservation of indigenous spirituality. All people who believe in this prayer are invited. Please bring your own candles and a paper plate to go underneath the candle. This vigil will be held every year for four years. Proposed dates are Oct 8-9, 1994; Oct. 7-8, 1995 and Oct.12-13, 1996. If you are unable to join us in Washington, you can create your own Vigil wherever you are. Bev Archibald of The Four Worlds Institute is organizing one in Canada. One is being organized in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Please let us know if you do this so we can share with each other. Cheap airfare to Washington, DC round trip from most large cities west of the Mississippi is $330.00. Contact this travel agency and ask for Natalie. Departures (Travel Agency): 1-800-654-1130 (In California): 1-800-660-4797 For more information contact: FROM THE CIRCLE at the above address or e-mail ddalcorso@igc.apc.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: "Watershed:" Benefit for Norma Jean Croy" --------- From: uclink.berkeley.edu!ibis (Mary Carol Randall) Subj: "Watershed:" Benefit for Norma Jean Croy Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Talespinners Theater presents "WATERSHED," by Stephen Most Directed by Paul Hellyer This is "The untold story of the Salmon War of 1978 inspired by the real struggles of the Yuroks to defend their aboriginal rights to fish (and live by!) the Klamath River. This production is endorsed by the Yurok Interim Tribal Council. Tale Spinners Theater is dedicated to creating and producing plays inspired by the oral histories of Californians." (end of material quoted from flyer) There are several performances. The one on October 15 is a benefit for Norma Jean Croy, Shasta woman and prisoner for the past 15 years for a crime she did not commit. The cost of tickets on the 15 is $6.00 to $28.00 sliding scale. All other performances are $12, and $6 for students and seniors. Times and places are: Oct 14 & 15 - Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon Street, Oakland, CA Oct 6, 8, and 9 Florence Schwimley Little Theater 1930 Allson Way, Berkeley All Performances at 8:00 p.m. For reservations, call (510) 526-7624 Additional note from the Norma Jean Croy Defense Committee: The money raised at benefits DOES NOT go to Norma's attorneys (in other words, we don't have artists work for free just so lawyers can get paid.) Money raised goes to things like postage for mass mailings to educate folks around her case, and also to things she personally may need, such as clothing and other personal items. Please tell your Bay Area friends about this event. Thank you. - Mary Carol --------- "RE: Catawba Cultural Heritage Preservation" --------- From: um.cc.umich.edu!Tristine.Lee.Smart Subj: Catawba Cultural Heritage Preservation Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Source: Federal Archeology Report 6(2):1,6-7 (Summer 1993) (Public domain) TRADITION AND INNOVATION: PRESERVING THE CATAWBA'S CULTURAL HERITAGE By V. Ann Tippitt and Wenonah Haire Many centuries ago, along the river that still bears their name, the Catawba lived in a large expanse of land that straddled both states of the Carolinas. Today their tribal home, located outside Rock Hill, SC, is a one-mile-square reservation. Yet the size of their home has not constrained the size of their spirit. During the 1970s, the Catawba revitalized their cultural identity. They began compiling historical accounts, holding pottery and language classes, and taking action to reclaim their tribal lands and gain Federal recognition. In 1989 the Catawba Nation, a small community in north-central South Carolina, formed the Catawba Cultural Committee to protect and promote the tribe's history and arts. Since then, the committee has carried out many projects in cooperation with nearby universities and museums, from renovating an old school building as a cultural center to working with South Carolina's Winthrop University on educational packets about the Catawba for public schools. One of the most mutually beneficial collaborations has been with the Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC. In 1975, the museum initiated relation- ships with several Native American groups in the Carolinas by adding southeastern ethnographic materials to its collections, promoting local Native American exhibits, providing school and public programs, sharing research, and supplying meeting space and staff assistance. During this time, a special relationship grew between the Catawba Nation and the museum. In 1984, under the direction of Dr. Alan May, the museum began a county- wide archaeological survey of the Carolina Piedmont. A major focus of the survey has been the late prehistoric occupation of the middle Catawba River Valley, using archaeological and ethnohistoric research to identify and better understand prehistoric Catawba sites. Several Catawba participated, and the findings have been presented to the Nation. This year, a new survey will identify historic and prehistoric sites on the reservation. European expansion into the Piedmont brought many changes to the tribe but one thing remains constant: the making of pottery. The pottery making tradition is strong and dynamic, says Catawba bibliographer Dr. Tom Blumer, because it gracefully balances the contradictory themes of tradition and innovation. At the museum, a permanent Catawba pottery exhibit illustrates the continuity of surface treatment, manufacturing techniques, and vessel forms that still inspires Catawba potters. On the museum grounds, a Catawba Indian village exhibit was built as part of the 400th Anniversary Celebration of the Roanoke Voyages. This "village" does not merely replicate a prehistoric site, but rather features several structures from different historic and prehistoric periods, illustrating social and technological changes among the Catawba specifically and among southeastern native groups generally. A number of Catawba were involved in the planning of the village including Chief Gilbert Blue, Assistant Chief Fred Sanders, and Francis Wade of the pottery committee. The North Carolina Indian Commission, the Metrolina Native American Association, and Arnold Richardson of the Haliwa-Saponi (a North Carolina tribe) also provided assistance. The exhibit further solidified the relationship between the museum and the Catawba Nation, stimulating more research. Steve Watts, director of the museum's Southeastern Native American Studies Program, began a decade of intensive study on the Catawba, focusing on aboriginal technologies. This research, along with ethnographic descriptions of hunters and gatherers, serves as background for a series of adult and teachers' workshops at the museum's Catawba village. The school program "Indians of North Carolina" also draws heavily on this information, combining the region's natural history with Native American adaptations to it. The program, which mixes in elements of the tribe's material culture, serves to introduce students to their Catawba neighbors. Each fall, at "Fap-Fe-Iswa"--a Catawba-hosted outdoor festival on the reservation--the museum staff has a chance to participate outside their normal setting, by setting up exhibits, demonstrating crafts and skills like flintknapping, providing transportation, and most importantly, sharing the spirit of the Catawba. Right now, the museum is renovating the pottery exhibit and building another structure in its Catawba village. The renovated exhibit will include interviews with potters and a video of the pottery manufacturing process. The video will also incorporate footage of noted potter Doris Blue, filmed by the museum in 1975. And this June, participants in a workshop on prehistoric house building constructed a bent-pole, bark-covered house perhaps typical of those used by the peoples of the lower Catawba River Valley. For more information about the Schiele Museum, contact curator Ann Tippitt or Steve Watts, Schiele Museum, 1500 East Garrison Blvd., P.O. Box 953, Gastonia, NC 28053. Phone (704) 866-6900. For more information about the Catawba, contact Dr. Wenonah Haire, Chairwoman, Catawba Cultural Preservation Project, 611 East Main, Rock Hill, SC 29730. --------- "RE: Hydro-Quebec Blockade" --------- From: wsdp@rahul.net (Western Shoshone Defense Project) Subj: Hydro-Quebec Blockade Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Found on misc.activism.progressive: ------------------------------------------------- People's Blockade of Hydro-Quebec's Head Office SM-3: DAM THE DAM BUILDERS! Montreal, Oct. 12 1993, 7:30 am ------------------------------------------------- Come resist Hydro's crimes against the environment! All groups and individuals from out of town are invited to join us. There will be dinner, non-violence training and a place for all to stay the night before, Oct. 11. Call (514)-525-0765 (514)-871-9473 ------------ SM-3: NO DAM WAY! -------------------- -SM-3 is a $3-billion megaproject on the Sainte-Marguerite river, which flows 300km into the St Laurence river, near Sept-Isles on the North Shore of Quebec. -The project will divert two tributaries of the Moisie river, leading to disastrous consequences for one of the most beautiful salmon rivers in Quebec. -Construction of SM-3 is but a new push for colonization within a territory that does not belong to us: The Innu nation's Nitassinan. At the end of 10 years of construction, the project will only create about twenty permanent jobs. -This new white elephant megaproject will only increase Hydro-Quebec's accumulated debt which, at the $33-billion mark, is already sizably larger than the national debt of Peru. -The project entails such dire environmental consequences that even the province's environmental assessment board (BAPE) came out clearly against it. The Quebec government has stated that nonetheless, it could go ahead with the dam. -The Innu nation is determined to put up a fierce resistance to the project, which will be the 14th dam on their ancestral territory and the 486th dam in Quebec! -Come and take part in a non-violent, people's blockade of Hydro-Quebec or the support demo on October 12. Together, we will shut down the utility's headquarters and state our opposition loud and clear to Hydro's butchering of the North. All groups and individuals from out of town are invited to join us. There will be dinner, non-violence training and a place for all to stay the night before, Oct. 11. -Montreal Call (514)-525-0765 (514)-871-9473 (This action is organized by the "Regroupement de solidarite avec les Autochtones" , with the participation of the Alliance for Non-Violent Action (ANVA).) -- Western Shoshone Defense Project --------- "RE: Benefit for Innu re Hydro Dam" --------- From: chernos@web.apc.org Subj: benefit for Innu re hydro dam Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (NEWS) INNU PROTEST MASSIVE HYDRO-DEVELOPMENT PROJECT The Innu musical group, Uashau Stone, will perform in Toronto Saturday, October 16. Uashau Stone are from Maliotenam, a community on the eastern north shore of the St. Lawrence River. Their performance, at the Bickford Centre, 777 Bloor St. W. at 7 p.m., is a benefit for the Innu, who are trying to stop a massive hydro-electric dam. The Innu say the proposed $4.4-million Sainte Marguerite III dam will have disastrous effects on the area's ecology and will also harm the traditional Innu lifestyle. "For food, the Innu must choose between mercury-poisoned fish and junk food supplied by the welfare society," said Gilbert Pilot, a spokesperson for the Innu group Coalition Pour Nitassinan, which is organizing resistance to the dam. In June, the Bureau d"audiences Publiques sur l'Environment (Quebec's environmental review board) condemned the proposed dam as "extremely risky and controversial." The report concluded that the Moisie River, one of the waterways affected by the proposed dam, "is the wrong place for an experiment of this magnitude." Construction of the dam has already started even though the environmental review board recommended the project be abandoned and even though the provincial cabinet in Quebec has yet to announce a decision about the fate of the dam. "As far as the Coalition is concerned, Sainte Marguerite III is another dam too many. We intend to oppose Hydro-Quebec, at the cost of our lives if necessary," Pilot said. For more information, please contact: Charlie Huisken - Turtle Island Support Group - 966-8546 / 537-3520 Lorraine Land - Aboriginal Rights Coalition - 979-2443 / 461-5642 --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows" --------- From: JANS Janet McNeely Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows GE Electronic Mail =Gatherings and Powwows= This week I'm featuring Powwows in the Ohio area for the month of October! Information was passed on to me by a co-worker located in Cleveland via interoffice e-mail. October 11/Monday Native American Day Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Dance, Theatre, Crafts, Music, Food, More October 16 & 17/Sat & Sun Powwow - Cleveland, Ohio Cudell Recreation Center 1910 W. Blvd & Detroit Cleveland, Ohio October 23 & 24/Sat & Sun Powwow - Toledo, Ohio Summit Hall, Summit Street, Toledo, Ohio Grand Entry: 1:00 & 7:00 p.m. Sat 1:00 p.m. Sun Also: October 8-9 Second Annual Roanoke Valley Native American Heritage Festival and Pow Wow. Sponsors: Science Museum of Western Virginia, The Virginia Explore Park, Roanoke County Parks and Recreation. Info: (703) 342-5710 October 8-9 Cumberland County Native American 13th Annual Pow Wow Info: (919) 483-8442 Send notices of forthcoming powwows, conferences and gatherings to: jans@genie.geis.com jans%glsdk@wolves.durham.nc.us ....duke!wolves!glsdk!jans