_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' 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 035 O o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 30 November 1993 O o O ( N E W S ) O This issue contains articles from NativeNet 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/newsletters; 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. "There is no 'better' or 'worse', only different. That difference must be respected." -- Kote Kotah, Chumash O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! I had originally planned to postpone distributing another issue of Wotanging Ikche until I had returned from a trip, but there is far too much that needs to be told that cannot wait another two weeks for the telling. Besides, as many of you know, Wotanging Ikche represents a pledge, and a pledge is not a "sometimes" thing. Monday, November 29, 1993 was a full moon with a total eclipse in most of northern Turtle Island. If you forgot to leave your wotai stone out, the next full moon is December 28. Mitaquye Oyasin! Night Owl ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ----------- --------- "RE: Hydro Quebec - again" --------- From: A.HOROVITCH Art Horovitch Subj: Hydro Quebec - again GE Electronic Mail Nov 28, 1993 Montreal, Canada An article in the Montreal Gazette yesterday indicates that Hydro Quebec has finally agreed to conduct a proper environmental assessment review to determine how the Great Whale dam project in Northern Quebec would affect the Cree. Hydro and Cree officials met recently in Montreal to discuss how they can fill a major gap in the impact study made last August. Bill Namagoose, diector of the Grand Council of the Cree said Hydro has agreed to let the Cree design a study which will really determine the effects of the project. The study , costing about $450,000 will be funded in principle by the utility, with researchers chosen by the Cree themselves. Great Whale's network of dams will flood 3300 square km and Namagoose said it is important to understand the social impact of the project. He said, " The ties to the land and the rivers are very important to Cree society. What is the impact on the community when these ties are severed? Hopefully we will demonstrate that there will be severe social impacts, and that's a reason not to build this project." In another development, Hydro is closing down the European office which it set up to counter negative publicity which was generated by the Cree and environmental groups. The office, run by George Finet in Brussels cost taxpayers $932,000. Almost half of that went to the public relations firm Burston Marstellar. Another $70,000 was spent monitoring the media and pressure groups. Brian Craik, an adviser to the Cree, said that Hydro's spending was a waste. "They're throwing their money away. They never get to the ecological community. They never get to the people who are supportive of aboriginal peoples." Craik said the Cree spent $50,000 in the past 2 years on their European campaign, and they do not have any permanent employees based in Europe. --------- "RE: What is an Indian" --------- From: R.FLYNN Robert J. Flynn (Grey Eagle) Subj: What is an Indian GE Electronic Mail O'siyo, Night Owl: I was given the following from Chief Two Trees and I was hoping you might be able to use it in your newsletter. Grey Eagle \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ What is an Indian? This question was asked of a group of American Indian children at Anderson Elementary School in Minneapolis. Their answers were quite interesting and very disturbing. In this circle of black, brown and blondish hair...of black, brown, green, blue and hazel eyes...of wiry, curly, kinky and straight hair...they were very percent-of-blood oriented. From 15/32 to 1/4 to 1/2 they were calling out their individual percents - that is until they began to laugh. Yes, it is ridiculous, especially when one child was asked to point to half of him that was Indian and the half that wasn't! Is this form of identifying our identity shared by other peoples? When did we ever hear a Jew state he was half Jewish? What makes a Jew a Jew is his religion. American Indian authors Walter Peck and Thomas Sanders explained it this way: To define the American Indian is as impossible as it is to define the Jew - for many of the same reasons. A Jew knows he is a Jew because he recognized himself within the framework of a historical-cultural setting that allows him identity. The Native American, the Indian, the Navajo - call him what you will - knows he is an Indian because of the mystic tie to the land, the dim memory of his people's literature that has been denied him, the awareness of his relationship to Sakoiatisan, Manicou, Auaca, Wakan Tanka (depending on his being Iroquois, Algonauian, Inca or Souix) somehow all manifest themselves within him and consistently call him back to his ancestors. Bill Charfield, elder teacher and historian, agrees with this philosophy. "My cultural identity makes me what I am. It is my beliefs that make me Indian." This brings up an interesting point. Can an individual be Jewish and Catholic at the same time? Can an Indian? According to Bell, an individual's sacred regard for language, his concept of the Creation and his desire to live in harmony with the natural world need be applied when seeking to define an Indian. While addressing a college audience, LaDonna Harris was asked to define an Indian. LaDonna replied, "I can't define the Indian anymore than you can define what you are. Different governmental agencies define him by the amount of blood. I had a Comanche mother and an Irish Father. But I am a Comanche, I'm not Irish. And I'm not Indian first, I'm Comanche first, Indian second. When a Comanche took in someone, he became Comanche. He wasn't part this, part that. He was all Comanche or he wasn't Comanche at all. Blood runs the heart, the heart knows what it is." Elizabeth Hallmark, an Ojibwa and director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center thinks along these traditional lines; "Just because an individual has a tribal enrollment number entitling him to certain services, does not in my mind, define his person as an Indian. It is the heart of the person that speaks to me. That's where my Indianness is - in my heart." One of the great Souix holy men of our time was John Fire-Lame Deer, he associated Indianness with the heart also. His beliefs in the concepts symbolized in the Pipe identified him as an Indian. He recollected a time in his life when the meaning of the Pipe filled his senses. He stated that at the moment he realized that to truly understand what it meant to be an Indian was to understand the Pipe. He went on to say that even as an old man he was still learning. We must ask ourselves then: What bureaucrat has the right to say who is and who isn't an Indian? Or who is more of an Indian? To be an Indian is a way of live, a looking within and feeling a part of all life, an allegiance to, and love for, this earth. Historically, we did not judge individuals by the color of their eyes or the color of their hair, but how they conducted and lived their lives. To debase our identity by reducing us to percents of blood is another version of genocide. To deny our tribal nations the right to traditionally adopt and naturalize citizens is relinquishing our tribal sovereignty. The last time some of us were required to show papers for proof of blood was when we wanted to breed dogs or horses. The confusion of attempting to define what is Indian will persist in the governmental bureaucracies, but will not be shared by many American Indians who know what they are. For many of us, to be Indian is not a heritage granted by legislation, percents of blood of bureaucratic studies, or even by a community's consideration. It comes from the heart and the heart knows what it is. One of the ways it learned was listening to the oral and written nature literature of the past. Contained within this literature are the values, beliefs and concepts of true Indianness. It seems that if the traditional American is to remain at all visible and have a voice in the affairs of the People, then traditional thinking American Indians must challenge the bureaucratic system of identifying Indians - if for anyone, for their children. --------- "RE: Hawkfeather Eviction" --------- From: JANS Janet McNeely (Evening Star) Subj: Hawkfeather Eviction GE Electronic Mail During a special meeting held November 13, Chief Singing Waters sadly announced that the Snake Band has been evicted from the property, Hawkfeather, located at 2245 Litchfield Road. In April, Singing Waters had leased the 22 acre property with an option to buy. Her plan had been to relocate and expand her daycare center, The Learning Circle, and to eventually open a summer camp and Native American cultural center. Ceremonial grounds were also established for the Free Cherokees, and in September, the powwow held by the Native American Awareness Program proved successful in reaching the first stone in mending the Sacred Hoop. At the signing of the first lease, there had been a zoning meeting at which several neighbors protested the possible use of the land as a "sports club," in addition to the proposed daycare center and cultural center. Singing Waters stated emphatically that such a club was not planned, and the property owner's lawyer said that the inclusion "sports club" in the Public Notice had been an error. At the time Snake Band assumed that the owner, Ralph Barilla, had included the phrase to cover any possibility of default on the part of The Learning Circle. On June 23, during the final renovations and eight days' prior to TLC's official move-in date, the main structure went up in flames. The Fire Marshall labeled the blaze "suspicious," and subsequent investigation by the Travelers Insurance Co. allowed that arson was the cause. Arrests were pending, but mysteriously the matter was dropped, and the structure was released by mid-September. Within days following the fire, a witnessed oral agreement had been reached between Mr. Barilla and Singing Waters in which the original down payment of $10,000 would be applied to the new lease and that TLC would not be held liable for rent until October 1993. He also promised to rebuild the structure whether or not he was reimbursed by the insurance company. At the end of September, Snake Band members assisted in the clean up efforts, a few studs for new walls were put into place, but little else was done to finish until the week ending November 7, when trusses for the roof were installed. Shortly before the October Free Cherokee Gathering, Singing Waters was startled to receive an eviction notice from Mr. Barilla's lawyer, Franklin Pilicy, because of non-payment of four months' back rent. She had given Mr. Barilla a check for the October rent which was never presented to her bank for payment. On the day she received the papers, she deposited funds direct to Mr. Barilla's bank account, obtained a receipt, and went to Mr. Pilicy's office for a confrontation. The lawyer explained that the eviction process was an error, and that nothing further would be done and the matter would be dropped. Tensions were high during the Gathering as it became clear that the eviction process was ongoing. Shots were fired by Mr. Barilla's caretaker close to the sleeping areas Friday evening as well as in the area of the onikare during a dawn ceremony the following morning. Water had also been temporarily disconnected, attributed to the fear of having the pump damaged by excessive running. These problems disappeared after discussion with members of the Veterans' Band and their subsequent patrol of the property. It was subsequently discovered that Mr. Barilla and Mr. Pilicy both sit on the Board of Directors of Heritage Bank, the lending institution responsible for Mr. Barilla's property loan. Both men also have a vested interest in the local insurance agency connected with Travelers Insurance. The State Banking Commission has conducted an investigation of Heritage Bank, but will not release any information. And neighbors alerted Singing Waters that prior to her receipt of the eviction notice, the resurrected Sports Club had begun advertising and accepting memberships. Mr. Barilla is also involved with the sports club. Snake Band still has tenancy until the end of November. Singing Waters is considering a fraud suit against Mr. Barilla and has engaged one of the area's most reputable lawyers to investigate the mater more fully. Her Answer is required within the week. Singing Waters asks for everyone's prayers, especially for the land at Hawkfeather and the animals who had begun to return in peace. It is the hope that the land will not be damaged by those who have no thought of it except for their sporting enjoyment. Meanwhile, she is in the process of re-establishing ceremonial grounds at Young's Farm, off Route 6 in Watertown. The farm's owners have been gracious to allow Snake Band to continue with as little disruption as possible, and Singing Waters is surveying the property for a good site for the onikare. --------- "RE: Lumbee Bill Passes HR" --------- From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Lumbee Bill Passes HR GE Electronic Mail O'siyo, Night Owl! Here (and in some following messages) are some gleanings from NativeNet (not the Internet newgroup). Maybe there is something here you can use. This first one is an update on the Lumbee quest for tribal status. Mitaquye oyasin and aloha, Bev Genealogy & History G.HOLBACK [G.Holback] We did it group! The LUMBEE BILL PASSED THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 228- 184...THANKS FOR ALL OF THE HELP AND SUPPORT ON THIS BOARD FOR THE LUMBEE BILL HR334 The bill still has to pass Senate and that will be toughest part...Jessie Helms (R-N.C.) is dead set on keeping this bill from passing the U.S. Senate...The Lumbee tribe still needs all of the support and help they can get to see this bill pass the Senate...if any of you have even one person you know that you can convince to call their U.S. Representatives in the Senate....the Republicans are the ones that kept this bill from passing the senate the last time it went before them...it only missed by two votes....just two votes...so if we could convince just two of the Representatives in our United States Senate to vote in favor of the bill...it should pass....for those of you in Florida please call Connie Mack's office in Tampa....telephone #813-225-7683 1-202-224-5274 Bob Graham-813-228-2476 or 1-202-224-3041 (in wash. D.C.); Connie Mack voted against this bill the last time it came before him without a thorough understanding about the bill and what the Lumbee tribe is asking for...per a letter I received after his vote and his saying he would read up on it to see if it warrants passing...why didn't he read up on it before his vote...does not seem to me like that was a fair vote...seems he just voted the way most of his party members were voting that day...Just IMHO of course but thats the way I see it and I don't like the people I help put into office handling their jobs that way...seems like sloppy politics....we do our research don't we? Seems like people who make that much on salaries that we pay could sort of do a little more research before they say yea or nay.....Bright Morning* --------- "RE: Yurok Update" --------- From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Yurok Update GE Electronic Mail Writers' Ink JDILL [Wasichu] Just returned from San Francisco where I was lucky enough to encounter this latest Yurok data: Yurok- Down River People The largest and most powerful of the Yurok Clans are the McCovey(s). A core problem, as far as the BIA goes, is that the Yuroks don't want to"organize," to elect a council, to subordinate themselves to a "governing body," even if such a body would be comprised of their Clan and elected democratically. The Hoopa Valley Reservation was established in 1891 and, as a result of forced land sales by the BIA, the Simpson Timber Company (STC) has become the largest owner of ex-Yurok land. The STC now sprays cut timber plots with herbicides so as to kill acorn bearing trees and allow for the faster growth of cash timber. Acorn harvesting is/was a fundamental mainstay of Yurok tradition. BIA Agent Overstreet says that all Yurok problems are their own fault and that if they'd just do as they were supposed to (aka, as the BIA desires) they would have few problems. He has also stated that the BIA has done a poor job on their end. Yuroks are inspected twice each week by fisheries biologists so as to insure their gross tribal catch of 3,000 salmon (maximum allowed) does not intrude on the 74% of salmon allotted off-shore (Wasichu) fishermen. During peak catch seasons Yuroks are allowed to fish only at night so as not to disturb/antagonize Wasichu fishermen. The Yurok gross of 3,000 salmon per year translates into less than $200 per Yurok. The BIA has ruled that the Yurok can not sell their salmon to reservation fish shops/canneries run by the Wasichu-which of course, all of such are. In 1961, as a result of the Short v U.S. decision, $1,000,000 a year was awarded the Hoopa who organized as directed by the BIA. No Yurok resource's can be developed unless the Yurok knuckle under (organize). So...one thing lead to another and a Yurok referendum was held regarding "organization." 128 voted no. 95 voted yes. In effect, the BIA was told to take a hike. When Bosco proposed partition, ostensibly to "save the Indians lawyer's fees," the Hoopa-Yurok Reservation was partitioned. Now, where both tribes used to tread collectively, hunting/foraging rights are restricted depending on who belongs to what tribe. The BIA says that, as a result of the Bosco legislation, Yuroks who give up their tribal rights will be paid a one time fee of $21,000. Those who don't give up their rights will be paid a one time fee of $7,500. The BIA has, arbitrarily, established that only those with 1/4 or more Yurok blood will qualify as Yurok. Further, the BIA stipulates that in order to receive the $30,000,000 which belongs to the Yurok as a result of the partition-settlement act, the Yurok must agree never to sue the U.S. Government for such as lost fishing or timber rights. So far, they have not so agreed. Is there anyone on this board who has some good news? Sincerely, Jordan --------- "RE: Lubicon Letters" --------- From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Lubicon Letters GE Electronic Mail This one is the Lubicon Letters followed by a CBC interview with Bernard Ominayak, Chief of the Lubicon Cree, in which you might be interested. ----------------------- copy follows -------------------------------------- Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Little Buffalo Lake, AB 403-629-3945 FAX: 403-629-3939 Mailing address: 3536 - 106 Street Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4 403-436-5652 FAX: 403-437-0719 November 18, 1993 Enclosed for your information are copies of a couple of letters to new Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien regarding the continuing Lubicon tragedy. People concerned about the plight of the Lubicons are urged to write similar letters in order to ensure that the new Canadian Government knows that people haven't forgotten and still care about what happens to the Lubicons. * * * * * November 05, 1993, letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien from the Manitoba Oblate Justice and Peace Committee Dear Prime Minister Chretien: The Manitoba Oblate Justice and Peace Committee is a group of priests, brothers and lay people working for justice. We would like to draw your attention to a human tragedy which has brought shame to Canada around the world. I refer to the situation of the Lubicon Cree of Northwest Alberta. As you may know, the Government of Canada has never honoured the terms of treaty with the Lubicon Cree and the Lubicon have never legally ceded their traditional hunting and trapping lands. Yet, oil companies and the federal and provincial governments have pumped $8 billion worth of oil from their lands; trans-national resource companies such as Daishowa have been given permission by the Government of Alberta to clear cut massive areas of boreal forest which include nearly all of the Lubicon's traditional territory. The enormously disruptive economic activity that has taken place on Lubicon land over the last 20 years has all but destroyed the Lubicon as a people. Whereas 12 years ago, 95 per cent of the people lived independently, off the land, today 95 per cent of the people have been reduced to welfare. The Lubicon have prepared a proposal that would help them re-establish themselves as a viable community, with a new economic base. Throughout the last 9 years, the Conservative Government continually rejected this relatively modest proposal, despite the pleading of the mediator which they themselves appointed, Mr. Justice E. Davie Fulton. Earlier this year, a non-partisan commission of citizens from the churches, business, labour groups, and the academic community examined the positions of the Lubicon and the federal government and concluded that: "the Lubicon proposal, based on the need for community viability, represents a fairer basis for settlement than the proposals of the federal government". Furthermore, the commission found that "governments have not acted in good faith. They have (a) passed retroactive legislation to undermine legal claims, (b) appropriated royalties that, had a reserve been established at an appropriate time, would have been in Lubicon hands, and (c) been in conflict of interest because they act as an interested third party, beneficiary of royalties and the presumed judge of the validity of Lubicon claims." The previous federal government engaged in several highly questionable actions to undermine the current leadership and the strength of the Lubicon people, including engineering a split of the Lubicon people into several separate bands, through means such as paying people to vote in favour of division and then subsequently deducting those payments from their social assistance cheques. On May 27, 1993, you wrote a letter to the Toronto-based support group, the Friends of the Lubicon, in which you stated: "We believe that the government has reneged on its fiduciary responsibility to the Lubicon people. (...) As a start, we believe the government should proceed with recommendation number five of the Settlement commission report to hold all royalties in trust and withhold leases and permits on traditional Lubicon lands -- unless approved by the Lubicon. Moreover, future negotiations should reflect the intent of recommendation number eight, asserting that the extinguishment of Aboriginal rights must not be a condition for a settlement - - a position consistent with Liberal policy." This position was re-iterated by Ms. Ethel Blondin-Andrew, then your party's critic for Aboriginal Affairs, in a letter to Tom Siddon dated May 25, 1993 and in an Ottawa press conference on March 16, 1993. It is our profound hope that the new Government of Canada, elected on a wave of national hope on October 25, will not once again let down another generation of this much abused people. We ask you to give this matter your immediate attention, and to swiftly follow up your party's commitment to finally come negotiate a just settlement with the Lubicon people, a settlement which would be based on the final report of the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review. Finally, may we congratulate you and your party on your electoral success. We look forward to a new direction in government and a new relationship between the Government of Canada and the Aboriginal people of this land. Yours truly, Margot Lavoie, Coordinator, Manitoba Oblate Justice and Peace Committee November 10, 1993, letter to Jean Chretien from Sister Virginia Nelson, Archdiocese of Toronto Dear Mr. Chretien: My first intention in writing to you is to give you a resounding "well done". We all knew that you would do extremely well in the election but you surpassed our hopes. You, your wife and family will be remembered often in the days ahead as you work very hard to turn the economic climate around. In months gone by I wrote to you and to my surprise and joy I received a letter back, dated May 27, 1993. I had written to you about my concerns for the Lubicon Nation; a few years ago we met Chief Bern. Ominayak when we were in Edmonton and we were struck by his humility, gentleness and yet tenacity. In that same letter I had asked you to read over the Report which had been put out by the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review (Final Report) as I felt that this impartial group had zeroed in on the solutions which would work. Fr. Jacques Johnson, o.m.i. the provincial of the Grandin Province in Alberta, was one of the two co- chairs of that Commission. As far as I know the rest of the members were not clergy, so I do not feel there was any bias. Mr. Chretien, if the Final Report of the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review is no longer in your office I would be happy to send you my copy. I feel that your government has a strong sense of what is right and just and I know that you will do your best to settle the dispute that has hung over the heads of the Lubicon for more than fifty years; very often both the provincial and federal governments acted in untruthful ways and mixed up right and wrong and put in half-truths. Somehow I know that you will assign one of your competent persons, perhaps the Minister for the Dept. of Indian and Northern Affairs, to work this terrible injustice through. I am counting on you as are many other persons. Sincerely, Sr. Virginia Nelson, c.s.j. Subj: Morningside interview wit Hi All... Transcript of CBC Morningside Radio Program (11:30 A.M.) Monday, November 1, 1993 CBC Morningside: The Lubicon Indian Nation has been waiting for about 50 years for a resolution of their claim for reserve land and a treaty settlement. Negotiations with the former Conservative Government reached an impasse again last year. Bernard Ominayak is Chief of the Lubicon Cree. He's on the line from his home in Little Buffalo Lake. Good morning, Chief Ominayak. Bernard Ominayak, Chief, Lubicon Lake Indian Nation: Good morning. CBC: I think the last time you and I talked was during the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, and it seems to me that there was a lot more momentum at that time to get this thing solved. The Alberta Government had agreed to a reserve. What happened? Where did all that energy and momentum go? Ominayak: At that time, when Premier Getty set aside those lands to transfer back to the Federal Government, the Federal Government stated that it was fine and dandy for the Provincial Government to make an agreement and send the bill to somebody else. That was the attitude of the Federal Government and they never really changed that attitude. They then proposed an unacceptable "take-it-or-leave-it" offer and tried to force us into accepting it. CBC: We're going to talk about what's going to happen in the future, or at least what you're working towards. Let's just go over a bit of history here. Why did the Lubicon Cree never get a reserve or a treaty in the first place? Ominayak: From the documentation that's available, it's clear that the Treaty Commissioners back in the late 1800s and early 1900s used the waterways in and around northern Alberta -- like the Peace River and the Athabasca River. We're inland. They dealt with people to the south of us and to the north of us, all around us but they never came into our area. So we were completely missed, even though people knew that we were here and the Treaty Commissioners were notified that we were here. They had many reasons, I guess, which led to the Lubicons not being dealt with. CBC: But surely no one today is arguing about the Lubicons' right to a certain parcel of land there, that it is your home? Ominayak: No, there's no question about that. CBC: So where does the question lie now? What's the problem? How big of a piece of land are you living on now? Ominayak: We're living in a small community located approximately 5 miles from where we originally lived around Lubicon Lake. That's because of a missionary that came into our area back in the 50s, early 50s, and built a little mission, a school -- he wasn't allowed to build where we were, so he had to build outside of the area where the people lived. There were no roads or anything of that nature. All we had were horses, a team of horses and dogs, dog sleds in the winter. So it was hard for us to go to school. Our parents started moving closer to the school. That's how we ended up in the community of Little Buffalo. At the time this missionary wanted to build the school where we were at Lubicon Lake but the Provincial Government wouldn't let him because he was supposedly trying to build a school inside an Indian reserve. So we had to come outside of that. And that's where we are at today. CBC: How large were those traditional lands? How much property is involved? Ominayak: The traditional area is probably -- we don't have the exact miles -- but we're probably looking at close to 5,000 square miles, 4,000, somewhere in there. CBC: Now does the Federal Government recognize that area? Ominayak: The Federal Government -- I guess it depends on what time of the day you talk to them. In the past they've changed positions just about any time the weather changed. But in essence I think both levels of Government recognize that we have to get this matter resolved. Sadly so far they've tried to resolve it by undermining our rights to the area. They make great efforts to try to undermine our legal rights to this area. CBC: But in the Federal Government's "take-it-or-leave-it" offer, as you described it, it would provide for about $45 million for the Band plus the territory? Ominayak: The $45 million wouldn't be enough even if it had been there - - which it wasn't. A lot of that $45 million they talked about was subject to conditions. For example, we proposed a little community health unit. From the estimates that we got, we were looking at a building that would cost about $350,000 to build. So what the Federal Government proposed to us was to go to Health and Welfare and if we fit into their guidelines and policies, and to see if they had that money in that fiscal year, that then we could apply and hopefully get it. Now that's not exactly an offer of a health unit as claimed by the Federal Government. So these are the kinds of things that were going on. It's clear that they were never serious. They wanted to paint a certain picture to the public, while not being prepared to deal with us in a manner that would resolve this situation. CBC: It seems that you must feel that you are buried in red tape and bureaucracy, and yet there's now another special review commission which has come out with some recommendations. It appears to me that this is a bit of a victory for you, their recommendation that all royalties are held in trust until the thing gets settled. Does it seem like a victory for you? Ominayak: I think it was nice from a number of points to get those recommendations that were made by the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review. One of the nice things about it was that there were a lot of different kinds of people involved in the Commission. For example there were people from the Peace River area, people from Edmonton, people from Calgary, all over: they came from different backgrounds, different professions, and together they reviewed all the documentation from the Lubicon people and also from the Governments. Invitations were made to all parties to participate in the hearings. So it was very interesting to watch and see how people from different backgrounds felt about what was going on. I think overall this was a process worth doing. CBC: But do you think that withholding royalties will do the trick? Will that get it settled? Ominayak: What is happening right now is everybody else is benefitting from the natural resources taken from our traditional area while we're subject to welfare. I think it would only make sense to start looking at and considering how best to deal with the resources that other people are stealing. I think it certainly would put greater pressure on the people who've been benefitting from stealing our resources. There's been billions of dollars in resources taken out of our area. CBC: Are you hopeful with Jean Chretien's election -- I think he told you before the election that he supported the recommendations? Ominayak: Yes, we certainly feel that there's at least another opportunity to sit down with a new Government and hopefully we have enough people within the Liberal Party who are aware of the situation and who have been involved to some degree in the past that we can come to terms and reach a settlement which will allow our people to start building our own future. I would hope that Chretien continues to support the recommendations that he supported in the past. I would say that there's hope and I hope a positive change in the attitude of the Federal Government. CBC: Chief, thank you very much. Ominayak: Thank you. CBC: Bernard Ominayak is the Chief of the Lubicon Cree in northern Alberta. --------- "RE: Kahnawake and Non-Natives" --------- From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Kahnawake and Non-Natives GE Electronic Mail Last week in the Eastern Door Mohawk newspaper there was this ad put out by the Mohawk Band Council. The ad requested that 12 non-natives living with Native men or women had to move out of Kahnawake within 48 hours, I believe (not sure about the hours). Now remember this is the Band Council and not the Traditional Longhouse People that did this. Sometime back in 1981 the Band put out a paper telling all Mohawk people that if anyone was to marry or live with a non-native they could not live in Kahnawaka. Since the Traditional people do not abide by the Band Council laws and had no voice in the paper it was considered non-valid. Some people with deep roots of hate for the non-native voted for the paper and the vote was something like 300 people out of 7000. But the band council passed the law. Most Traditional Longhouse People find the paper racist and goes against the Great Law. One leader of the LongHouse told me we need more "Mohawks not Less." In the case of some of these people, they are so old that the possibility of have any children is far been removed. Below is what was printed in a Montreal News Paper. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- By Michelle Laonde Montreal Gazette Nov 16, 1993 Effort by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake to persuade non-Indians to leave the South Shore reservation are prompting calls of racism and violation of privacy rights from both Mohawks and white Kahnawake Residents. The most recent issue of the community newspaper, The Eastern Door, published a council-sponsored advertisement listing the names of 13 non-Indians who are living with Mohawks in the community and demanding that the non-natives leave immediately. "The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has sent the following letters to those Kahnawake members found to be cohabitating with totally non-natives individuals ( i.e. those with no valid ties whatsoever to Kahanwake )," the ad said. A copy of the letter and a list of Mohawks, their band numbers and the names of their non-Indians cohabitants followed. The letter said the non-Indians were violating a bylaw passed by the council in 1981, which says only Mohawks should live on the reserve and threatened them with fines and imprisonment if they did not leave immediately. "We brought this property and we are not leaving," said one woman whose name is on the list beside the name and band number of her common law husband. She has lived in Kahnawake for nine years. "At first when I got the letter, I didn't worry to much, but when I saw the list of names in the newspaper, that was the most upsetting," the women said. She said other people who were named, especially those with children, are very upset at the tone of the ad, which she said makes those listed sound like criminals. She and her husband are to get an injunction to prevent further publication of names. Council Chief Joe Norton did not return calls yesterday. Council members have said they intend to tell more than 30 non-Indians to leave the reserve, because they fear their presence will erode Mohawk Culture. Councilors have also argued there is a shortage of housing space on the reserve. But some Mohawks worry about the image the council move will give Kahnawake. "The last time something like this occurred was in Nazi Germany," said Carl (BO) Curotte. He said the council seems to be picking on a few non-Indians community members and trying to embarrass them, instead of dealing with the issue in a manner the respects traditional Mohawk values. Newspaper editor Kenneth Deer said he received four complaints, all from people named in the advertisement. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The action taken by the council has not been approved by the Longhouse people and there are those that defended this land in 1990 that are on that list. Some of those calling for these people to leave are the ones that left Kahnawake to stay in Dorval in 1990. Strange when you want to kick out those that defended your rights when they where hiding in Dorval. Anyway, more to be said when the time comes, and as for the term Nazi being used, I have no problem with it being used. You see if the shoe fits, wear it, and in this case the shoe fits. But the real problem comes when government rules the people and the people no longer rule the government. This is a case of Ottawa and the Band Council ruling the people when it should be the other way around. --------- "RE: Longhouse: An Explanation" --------- From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Longhouse: An Explanation GE Electronic Mail >Can you explain the Longhouse for me? The longhouse. It's a way of life going back to the beginning of ime, it's government, religion, culture, and a way of life all as one. Many see it as a religion of the past and think that it is outdated. Many see it as a culture that is only kept alive by a few. Many see it as a government that has no power. All of the above are not true. Members of the Longhouse have faith in all of these things and more. The one thing that puts them apart is the fact they are in touch with the Mother Earth, they are real and think about all things. Over the years what was once the most powerful government in North America has become very small. The same goes for the culture and religion part of the Longhouse way of life. You might say the Longhouse is the Iroquois Confederacy and so in that respect it's also a Nation. You find a book on the Confederacy, you will also find the Longhouse. The term Longhouse came from the fact the Iroquois People lived in what was a longhouse. Living in these houses there had to be a set of rules and faith. So to explain the word Longhouse is not easy since it is a place for all things. It's also a meeting place, a place for children to play, a place to lay out those that have gone on to the next world, a dancing place, a place to thank the Creator and all the creatures of Turtle Island. Anyway that is the best I can do without going overboard. --------- "RE: Hantavirus Update" --------- From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Hantavirus Update GE Electronic Mail From the Sunday Times, Herald, Record, Middletown, NY 21 Nov 93 Hantavirus Isolated, Grown In Laboratory The New York Times The virus that causes a fatal illness that was first reported among Navajo Indians in New Mexico and was later found in other parts of the Western United States has been isolated and grown in a laboratory for the first time by two teams of federal researchers. The development improves prospects for eventually developing a simple diagnostic test to detect infection, drug therapy and possibly even a vaccine. In the six months since the first cases were reported, the virus has produced flu-like symptoms in at least 45 people in 12 states. In 27 of those cases it was fatal. The virus struck many previously healthy young adults. The ability to grow the entire virus in the laboratory is expected to improve ways to detect its presence in humans and in the deer mice that spread it. Detection, in turn, would help determine how prevalent the virus is and what circumstances allow it to spread. Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the Army Medical Research Institute in Fort Detrick, MD, reported the advance Saturday in separate papers at a scientific meeting in Albuquerque. The Centers for Disease Control found evidence of success in isolating and growing the virus only last week, days before the scheduled meeting on Hantavirus, and the Army's findings were made public shortly before that, the scientists, Dr. Clarence J. Peters and Dr. Connie Schmaljohn of the Army, said in interviews. Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a news release, "This is a major step forward in our efforts to prevent this devastating disease." The newly isolated virus belongs to the Hantavirus group, which takes its name from the Hantaan River in Korea. A different Hantavirus caused thousands of cases among U.N. troops during the Korean War in the 1950's. It took scientists until the late 1970's to isolate that virus. The newly isolated virus often produces a respiratory illness that can be difficult to distinguish from influenza. Those infected may suffer fever, muscle aches and pains, coughs and other respiratory symptoms for a few days. But then the illness leads to a condition known as acute respiratory distress syndrome. Breathing becomes labored as fluid accumulates in the lungs. This condition, known as pulmonary edema, is usually caused by heart disease. But those infected with the Hantavirus "literally drown to death in blood plasma," said Dr. Clarence J. Peters, the scientist who delivered CDC's report. "I have never seen anything like it." --------- "RE: Walter Northway" --------- From: B.HUNGERFORD Beverly Hungerford Subj: Walter Northway GE Electronic Mail From The Tampa Tribune, 11/26/93: Athabascan elder Walter Northway, traditional chief of the American Indian village of Northway, died Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska. He was believed to be 117. Tribal archives listed Northway's birthday as June 10, 1876, but documentation to support it was poor. The Guinness Book of Record lists the oldest living person as a French woman born February 21, 1875. --------- "RE: Nationwide Clemency Campaign for Peltier" --------- From: J.AUDLIN James D. Audlin (Distant Eagle) Subj: Nationwide Clemency Campaign for Peltier GE Electronic Mail O'siyo, This article came to me from Ben Siepmann, over at Delphi. INET# Document Id: UX00f.BUX0958983 From SIEPMANN@delphi.com Sun Nov 28 03:52:49 1993 From: nyt@blythe.org (NY Transfer News) Subject: Nationwide Clemency Campaign for Peltier Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN DEMANDS CLEMENCY FOR PELTIER NEW YORK, Nov 23 -- Pressure is mounting for President Bill Clinton to issue a Christmas clemency for Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Convicted for allegedly killing two FBI agents during a government raid at the Pine Ridge, S.D., Indian Reservation in June 1975, Peltier has steadfastly maintained his innocence during 17 years of imprisonment. He is serving two life sentences at Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. The human rights group Amnesty International, which has repeatedly demanded a new trial, suggests that Peltier was unjustly "targeted by the FBI because of his role in the activist American Indian Movement." Over 20 million people worldwide have supported the demand that the U.S. government free the Native American activist on the grounds that he is the victim of an FBI frameup. Indeed, government prosecutor Lynn Crooks even admitted last year, "We do not know who shot the agents." A mass campaign to free Leonard Peltier is taking place Nov. 21 to Dec. 24. The centerpiece will be the collection of a million new signatures from citizens throughout the U.S. urging President Clinton to free Peltier. The campaign --sponsored by the Leonard Peltier Freedom Campaign and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee--is also expected to stimulate 10,000 phone and fax messages to the White House and 1,000 resolutions, proclamations and declarations from various Tribal Councils, unions, churches, city councils, schools and community groups. Delegations of prominent citizens are slated to bring shipments of petitions and documents to the White House during the campaign. One of the delegations will attempt to meet with President Clinton to press the plea for clemency. The petition to the White House reads, in part: "We are deeply concerned about human rights and we are heartened that many prominent individuals and groups have supported Leonard Peltier, including [over 50] members of Congress, Amnesty Intl., the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Christians and Jews, 78 world religious leaders, human rights leaders including Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, the Archbishop of Centerbury, Jesse Jackson and Rigoberta Menchu [who was awarded the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize]. Proven FBI misconduct in Peltier's trial, including suppression of key evidence and perjury, make continued imprisonment a national disgrace and an international outrage." A small sampling of other well-known people who have come to Peltier's aid includes NAACP leader Ben Chavis, South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandella (winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize), Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, Congresspeople Ronald Dellums and Don Edwards, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, entertainers Jackson Brown, Buffy St. Marie, Willie Nelson and Steven Van Zandt, among many others. In a statement released just before the new campaign began, entertainer/human rights activist Harry Belafonte declared: "After long inquiry about this case, I had occasion to visit with this young man in prison and I am convinced of his innocence. It is time for the government to recognize this grave injustice and put a stop to its continuation. The President of the United States must give Leonard Peltier a presidential pardon." Actor/director Robert Redford is so convinced that Peltier is the victim a of grave injustice that he has produced an extraordinary documentary film--"Incident at Oglala"--to draw public attention to the case. "It is my hope," Redford stated, "that this film will enable public examination of the facts in Mr. Peltier's case and that the public will find a voice that the justice system never found. If we as a nation do not speak out on this, Mr. Peltier will never get a fair hearing." Another documentary film, released to coincide with the clemency campaign, is titled, "Warrior--The Life of Leonard Peltier." Director Suzie Baer announced that the one-hour documentary will soon be aired on many PBS stations. (The New York City premiere, to be attended by the director, will take place Nov. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the International Action Center, 39 W. 14 St.; telephone 212-633-6646.) In addition, Peltier is the subject of a recent national best-seller by author Peter Mathiessen called, "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse." What are the facts behind the Peltier case? The events which lead to the 1975 shootings started more than two years earlier when members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), supporters and traditional Indians occupied the town of Wounded Knee, S.D., for over three months--an event which electrified the world, inspired the poverty-stricken and oppressed Native American community and caused consternation at FBI headquarters in Washington. Peltier was an active supporter of AIM and its goals. During the next two years, according to former Attorney General Clark, a defense lawyer, Peltier "participated in the defense of the Oglala Sioux people following more than 40 violent deaths of Indian people and a pervasive pattern of beatings, assaults, threats and psychological violence." The Defense Committee reports that the "incident at Oglala" took place "on June 26, 1975, when two FBI agents drove onto a family's land on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in pursuit of an Indian accused of stealing some cowboy boots. Their behavior precipitated a shoot-out in which the agents an Indian man were killed. Within hours of the shoot-out...hundreds of paramilitary-equipped, combat-clad FBI agents and U.S. Marshalls staged a dragnet through the reservation in a fever of revenge in which men, women and children were terrified and properties and homes were ransacked.... Peltier had been previously identified as an AIM leader by the FBI. Fearing no possibility of a fair trial, he fled to Canada where he was arrested and extradited by affidavits manufactured by the FBI that the government now concedes were false. Three men were initially accused of these murders. Two were acquitted and the government dropped all charges against the third to concentrate on prosecuting Peltier. After his conviction in 1977, the government has subsequently changed it's theory on who killed the agents and today admits it has no idea who killed them." Peltier remains in prison, however. Amnesty International argues that "new evidence since 1975 has raised disturbing questions about the case and Peltier must be granted a retrial.... A 1975 telex from an FBI ballistics expert stating that the gun allegedly belonging to Peltier had a 'different firing pin' from the gun used in the killings was not disclosed at the trial. And it is now known that other evidence that would have been favorable to Peltier was withheld from testimony. Evidence of a pattern of FBI misconduct in other cases was also excluded from the trial.... Questions about the weapons used in the killings, the false affidavits to extradite Peltier from Canada, and the known pattern of FBI fabricating evidence all point to the need for a retrial." In a statement from prison, Peltier writes: "What will free me...is the will and prayers of the people. I am counting on you." In another declaration, signed "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," he writes, "I pray for the day that I can rejoin my people and work with them toward a brighter future, including job training, home improvement daycare, counseling, education and community centers. No children--red, white, yellow or black--should ever grow up ashamed of their blood and their culture. We can work together to insure a brighter future." Peltier's supporters urge that petitions, resolutions, proclamations and letters be sent immediately to: Leonard Peltier Freedom Campaign c/o International Action Center 39 West 14th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011 and/or to: Leonard Peltier Defense Committee P.O. Box 583, Lawrence, Kan. 66044. -30- + NEW NUMBERS! NY Transfer News Collective SAME ADDRESS + + Guests: Members Only: Internet: + + 212-675-9690 212-675-9663 nyt@blythe.org +