_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' 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 036 O o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 24 December 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/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. "No person among us desires any other reward for performing a brave and worthy action, but the consciousness of having served his nation." -- Thayendanegea, Mohawk O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! This is the first issue of Wotanging Ikche from where we now make our home, Marietta, Georgia. Much needs to be done before we are settled in and enter a circle here, but it is good to be able to touch Ina Maka and give thanks we have found a place among the tree beings, where we can be with the four leggeds and winged ones. Aho! Mitaquye Oyasin! Night Owl ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ----------- --------- "RE: WWF: Inuit Initiative" --------- From: susanodo@web.UUCP in igc:web.native Subj: WWF: Inuit Initiative By Lesa Griffith A landmark proposal by the Inuit people of Clyde River, on Canada's Baffin Island, to create a bowhead whale sanctuary is on the verge of becoming a reality. Ten years ago, local hunter Apak Qaqqasiq told WWF-sponsored biologist Kerry Finley something the Inuit have known for centuries: every year bowheads gather in uninhabited Isabella Bay, a traditional Inuit hunting ground. Bowheads are one of the world's most threatened whales and Finley immediately began a four-year study of the previously unknown feeding grounds, working closely with the Inuit. Something clicked: in 1987, the indigenous Clyde River Hunters and Trappers Association (HTA) wrote to various government agencies and WWF asking for advice on whale protection. Long a whaling people, the Inuit want to ban the practice temporarily to allow the bowhead population to recover. "This was a rare and timely invitation," says Arlin Hackman, director of WWF-Canada's Endangered Spaces campaign. "The Inuit's initiative is a first in Canada. And because Clyde River is not yet being exploited, for once we weren't locked into a natural resource conflict. It's pro active conservation." Hackman helped HTA develop conservation goals and management policies for Isabella Bay. HTA presented its whale sanctuary and biosphere reserve proposal to the government in February 1990 and the fisheries minister approved a steering committee on the issue four months later. At the same time, the Inuit, hard hit by the late 1970s European boycott on seal products, raised concerns about their future hunting and access rights in the proposed sanctuary. Most of Clyde River's 500 Inuit survive off welfare and the land. Reassured that they would retain traditional hunting rights, last spring the Inuit voted to renew sanctuary support. With the proposal back on track, Hackman hopes "the sanctuary will become legal within the next year". "To work, the sanctuary must give local people a sense of self-deter- mination and some jobs through participation and management roles," he adds. In August, WWF-Canada issued "Protected Areas and Aboriginal Interests in Canada". The paper is part of WWF-Canada's Endangered Spaces Campaign, which aims to establish a network of protected areas, representing the country's different habitats, by the year 2000. ---- WWF-World Wide Fund for Nature is the world's largest independent conservation organization with 28 Affiliate and Associate National Organizations around the world and over 5.2 million regular supporters. WWF aims to conserve nature and ecological processes by: preserving genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable both now and in the longer term; and promoting actions to reduce pollution and the wasteful consumption of resources and energy. WWF continues to be know as World Wildlife Fund in Canada and the United States of America. WWF News (ISSN 0254-3893) is published bimonthly by WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention the title, and credit WWF as the copyright owner. Copyright c1993 by WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund). Send all comments and queries to: Editor, WWF News, Av du Mont-Blanc, CH-1196, Switzerland. Fax: 41 22 364 53 58. E-mail: wwfpub@gn.apc.org or tracy.charaf@wwf-int.ch --------- "RE: Innu, Davis Inlet Emergency Alert" --------- From: J.Audlin James D. Audlin (Chief Distant Eagle) Subj: Innu, Davis Inlet Emergency Alert O'siyo, folks! I got an emergency call on Christmas Eve. The situation at the Innu Rez, in Labrador, is deteriorating rapidly. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) have said they will enter Davis Inlet in order to enforce Canadian law and tromp on the Natives' rights. There is an emergency request from the two chiefs of the Innu for $2000, which would enable Peace Brigades International to send third party observers, since it is expected that the RCMP are very likely to use whatever means, legal and otherwise, to enforce an unjust decision. For more information, call Bob Staley-Mays at (802) 885- 3327. I also have the phone numbers for the two Innu Chiefs, Peter Panashaway and Daniel Ashani, if anyone has legitimate reason to get detailed and up-to-the-minute information on what is happening there. If you have such reason, contact me by e-mail. Wado! James Audlin (Distant Eagle) --------- "RE: Medicine Wheel Action Alert" --------- From: milo@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM Subj: Medicine Wheel Action Alert Medicine Wheel Alliance/Associated with Northern Cheyenne Cultural Commission PO box 37, Huntley, MT 59037 406-348-2079-Nicol PO Box 763, Lame Deer, MT 59043 477-6215-Tallbull The Board of the Medicine Wheel Alliance Bill Tallbull, Chairman John Hill, Sr., Vice-Chairman Floyd Youngman Haman Wise, Sr. Phillip Underbaggage Pat Chief Stick Curley Bear Wagner Liisa Ellis "Sam" Hartley Jo Smith Coordinator, Nicol Price *******ACTION ALERT**********ACTION ALERT******* The Big Horn Forest in Wyoming has opened up a comment period of 30 days (December 1-31, 1993) for input from the general public on management of the Medicine Wheel and Medicine Mountain; towards the putting together of a Programmatic Agreement (PA) which will include measure to manage the site next summer and development of an Historic Properties Management Plan (HPMP) in the future. The PA will be drafted at a three-day January meeting (Jan 21-23, 1994) in Billings, MT. The Medicine Wheel Alliance, being one of the signatories to this summers Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA), will be participating in the drafting of the PA and also the HPMP in the future. Your comments are needed. If you were at the Wheel this summer, we would like you to send your comments in on how you felt about the 3-mile walk, the interpreters that were there, the talks given you by the interpreters, and anything else you would like to comment on. If you weren't there, the Medicine Wheel Alliance would like your letters of support for: 1) 24 days being set aside for ceremonial use of the site and the mountain and requesting that the site be closed to through traffic and disturbance by other people than ceremonial people, whether there has been request made for ceremonial time or not; 2) that the road remain closed to thru traffic unless for the elderly or handicapped or those with livestock interests to the west of the site; 3) at least 8 interpreters be hired for the entire summer, with preference given to Native American from the tribal reservations surroundings the Big Horn Mtns. 4) hours be from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, seven days a week from July 1 thru Oct. 15. 5) that all development, such as mining, timbering, snowmobiling, be restricted within the temporary boundary of 2-1/2 mile radius of the Wheel. 6) the ethnographic work now taking place and urge the Forest Service to fund phase Phase 3 of this study in 1995 so an official boundary can be projected in the future. Your comments at this time will be important as they will help direct the provisions of the Programmatic Agreement. the Medicine Wheel Alliance has worked long and hard on this so please take time in this busy season to get your thoughts on paper and sent to: Bighorn National Forest Attn: Medicine Wheel 1969 S. Sheridan Ave. Sheridan WY 82801 Thank you from the board of the Medicine Wheel Alliance. --------- "RE: Anthropologists and Native Americans" --------- From: CUBLDR.Colorado.EDU!leeson_k Subj: Anthropologists and Native Americans Mailing List: NATIVE-L With the recent discussion regarding anthropologists, I would like to pass on to the net a recent article I read in the CSERA NEWS (Center for the Studies of Ethnicity and Race in America) here at CU-Boulder regarding anthropologists. It is being printed with the permission of Dr. Deward E. Walker Jr., the author. Anthropologists and Native Americans At the beginning of the twentieth century, Native Americans were largely unaware of the research and writing of a handful of anthropologists practicing at the time. In the late twentieth century, however, they are acutely aware of anthropology's role in molding public opinion about Native Americans in the United States, and increasingly in Mexico, Canada and other regions. In 1900, the number of university trained anthropologists working with Native Americans was fewer than fifty individuals. With the arrival of John Collier on the national scene, especially after 1934, anthropologists began to enter government service in growing numbers, particularly in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Their influence became even more evident among the tribes after World War II as anthropologists came to play a significant role in the Indian Claims Commission cases as expert witnesses, both for the tribes and for their adversary, the federal government. While the majority of anthropologists studied Native Americans through Boas's four-field, natural science approach as a comparative study of man, tribes were being brutally decimated by federal policies of forced assimilation. Few informed Native Americans will forgive the general failure of anthropology to combat these destructive actions. For confirmation, they point to anthropology's similar failure to combat the termination legislation of the 1950's. From their perspective, anthropology fiddled while the tribes burned. Instead of joining the tribes in common opposition to such programs of wholesale cultural extermination, most anthropologists retreated into scientism, objectivism and a relativistic morality. The Society for Applied Anthropology, founded in 1940, was an outgrowth of the involvement of anthropologists in government, a tendency reinforced during WWII when anthropologists applied their discipline at home and abroad. Prominent figures in the emerging field of applied anthropology following 1940 included Homer Barnett, Edward Spicer, Omer Stewart, George Foster, Margaret Mead among others. By 1960, the field of applied anthropology had become a firmly established part of the discipline. Simultaneously, a related development was emerging among Native American scholars. This was a growing intellectual resistance to anthropologists and their research, writing, and influence in Native American affairs, which quickly put those in the field on the defensive. Renowned scholar Vine Deloria, Jr. was a principal figure in articulating this critique of anthropologist in such works as Custer Died for Your Sins. A major Native American objection to anthropology concerns its elitist association with conquest and assimilationist philosophies applied in the governance of Native peoples here and abroad. Some assert that anthropologists practice their discipline primarily for the benefit, amusement, and enrichment of non-Native peoples. They suggest that anthropologists have been predatory, seeking data for their science, and "taking with no return" from the communities and tribes where they conduct research and derive their data. While recognizing that both applied and other anthropologists have made valuable contributions in the court, classrooms, media, and legislatures, a growing number of Native American scholars are calling for a reorientation of the discipline and its traditional approaches. They stress that the historic distaste most anthropologists have for contemporary problem-solving and direct participation in the Native American struggles for survival must be abandoned in favor of research that is committed to the Native American struggle for survival and to acceptance of Native American control of the research process. This requires that anthropologists abandon their primary preoccupation with defining and researching problems in favor of actually doing something about them. A common complaint by Native Americans is that anthropologists reinforce cultural stereotypes by emphasizing the abnormal and bizarre, or the unfortunate effects of conquest and programs to forced assimilation. These ethnocentric stereotypes contribute to the perpetuation of images of Native Americans as "savage, "primitive," "preliterate," pre industrial," "poverty stricken," "under educated," and otherwise "uncivilized." Ironically, Native Americans are often evaluated for their cultural authenticity as Indians by reference to these stereotypes. Active involvement by anthropologists in molding the public's perceptions is needed to counter the misinformation being fed to the general public by popular commentators. Omer Stewart's defense of the Native American Church is often cited as an example of how anthropologists may become engaged in the Native American struggle for survival. Some Native American scholars also suggest that anthropologists possess few conceptual tools for the study of a recovering, rapidly increasing, politically sophisticated population of educated tribal members who are both reestablishing their sovereignty and influence among the dominate Euro americans and retaining their tribal affiliations and identities. It appears to some that anthropologists are deliberately silent on important, contemporary issues in Native American life, while expending millions of dollars in describing and interpreting remote and ancient aspects of their culture and history. This tendency reflects a common anthropological conviction that Native Americans are not as important for what they are as for what they were. An unfortunate recent development has been the active opposition of the American Anthropological Association to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. (NAGPRA), an opposition promoted by the leadership of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA). The additional failure of most anthropologists to support the current drive to amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1979 (Native American Free-Exercise of Religion Act of 1993 (NAFERA) is also viewed by some Native Americans as further evidence of anthropology's historic disinterest in contemporary survival issues. Native American Studies programs, which emerged in United States and Canadian universities beginning in the 1960's, advocate a new curricula and new paradigms that include an increasingly strident critique of anthropology and anthropologists. This curricula of liberation and empowerment represents a major reorientation of the study of Native Americans. While sometimes relying on the research of anthropologists, advocates of the emerging curricula of liberation reject the antiquarian and "scientific" aspirations of anthropology in favor of a developmental, humanistic, holistic, action/applied, and tribally and community based approach to research and teaching about their cultures. Anthropologists generally have not embraced this new curriculum, viewing it with increasing suspicion and opposition. Dr. Walker would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a healthy and prosperous new year. He also welcomes all comments. For myself I want to wish each and everyone of you a wonderful holiday too. Karen --------- "RE: Action Alert ... Indian Fellowship Program" --------- From: uclink.berkeley.edu!ibis (Mary Carol Randall) Subj: Action Alert ... Indian Fellowship Program Mailing List: NATIVE-L Michael Garrow, the President of the American Indian Graduate Students Association at UC Berkeley asked me to post the following item. (He does not yet have a NativeNet account.) Michael's number, should you have more questions, is 510-649-9565. The letter itself explains that a program which has been important in funding education for Native students is being suspended. Please take time to write a letter to your representative. - Mary Carol (letter follows) Attn: All American Indian Students and Educators Re: Indian Fellowship Program Public Law 100-297 34-CFR Part 263 ~From: uclink.berkeley.edu!ibis (Mary Carol Randall) Assoc., U.C. Berkely I am writing in regards to the Indian Fellowship Program. As President of the American Indian Graduate Students Association, I represent over 60 American Indian graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley. Congress has appropriate funds for this program through fiscal year 1995. The Secretary of Education is currently suspending the program and has done so without consulting Indian Country. This is currently viewed as fraud by the Indian Students and has been reported to the U.S. Department of Eductaion's Inspector General's Fraud Hotline. Students have been promised applications for this program but no one has been able to get a straight answer as to why they haven't been sent out. I spoke with Bob Arrnold, staff member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and he told me of his attempt to find out what is going on with the program. I AM REQUESTING THAT AS STUDENTS, YOU CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN SEEING THAT THIS PROGRAM IS CARRIED OUT AND THAT THE PROGRAM IS ANNOUNCED AND APPLICATIONS ARE SENT OUT AS PROMISED. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me at (510) 649-9565 or the American Indian Graduate Program office at (510) 843-8661 and as for Director Felicia Hodge. Bob Arnold may also answer any questions you may have concerning this issue. His number is (202) 224-2251. Thank you for your time and consideration. --------- "RE: Louis Hall, Mohawk Activist, Dies" --------- From: A.HOROVITCH Art Horovitch Subj: Louis Hall, Mohawk Activist, Dies Montreal, Canada Dec 11, 1993. Louis Hall, Mohawk Activist, Dies at age 77 ------------------------------------------- The Montreal Gazette in an article by Irwin Block, reported yesterday that Louis Hall, considered by many to be the ideological father of the Mohawk Warrior Society, died at Kahnewake this week at the age of 77 from natural causes. Kahn-Tineta Horn, another activist from the said community, said she found Hall's body on the floor of his apartment adjacent to Horn's home. He had just finished the last page of his autobiography, "A Tale of One Mohawk", a 180 page document that he had typed out on his old Olympia typewriter. Thirteen years ago, the same typewriter had been used to write the document that led to the militant resurgence of the Iroquois Nation and eventually the Warrior Movement in Canada and the US. That document reinterpreted the "Great Law of Peace", which is the constitution of the Iroquois Nation, to say that Natives had the right to carry and use weapons. He rejected the the peaceful teachings of the traditional chiefs; instead he advocated the use of force to back up what he felt were legitimate claims to land after the natives were dispossessed. Hall's detractors felt his message was violent and racist. He designed the warrior's flag which has an image of a warrior with long hair, a single feather and blue eyes like Hall's. He was also a former body builder and a prolific painter. He left behind hundreds of canvasses. His brightly colored paintings showed males with sculpted muscles and females with strong features showing quiet strength. Funeral arrangements will be made when relatives arrive from the U.S. --------- "RE: Indian Electronic Network" --------- From: holly.hsu.edu!BALDWIN Subj: Indian Electronic Network Mailing List: NATIVE-L The INDIANnettm Census Information and Computer Network Center About INDIANnet The INDIANnet Census Information and Computer Network Center is the first national computer network to provide civic information useful to American Indian and Alaskan Natives. This information is provided as a service to anyone with a computer, modem, and telephone. INDIANnet services are also available for those who are connected to the Internet. INDIANnet is a computer communication network similar to an Indian radio station, television station, or Indian newspaper. We are an Indian owned and operated nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing and developing free, public access, computerized information and communication services for American Indians and Alaskan Natives. INDIANnet creates many firsts. For the first time Indians are creating and sharing electronic information about themselves, rather than having others (non-Indians) create that information. And for the first time, a computer network of information about Native Americans for Native Americans is owned and operated by Native Americans. Indians are joining the information revolution as equal partners. We are seeking out and determining for ourselves how technology will be used by Native peoples and how tribes will be affected by the information age. INDIANnet is multipurpose, acting as a clearinghouse for federal information and opportunities that pertain to Indians, as well as creating a setting for tribes to develop profiles on themselves. Anyone wishing information pertinent to Indian communities can easily access INDIANnet at the cost of a long distance phone call. INDIANnet is also accessible through the Internet. INDIANnet has three objectives: 1. To help American Indians and Alaskan Natives in cities, rural area reservations throughout the U.S. and across the continent to establish free, open access, to information about themselves and other tribes. 2. To provide this information through community computer systems linked together into a common network similar to National Public Radio or PBS on TV. 3. To help supplement what the local systems are able to produce for their communities by providing them with high quality network-wide services and information resources. These objectives are accomplished by having the information on our computers shared with our affiliate's computers. Periodically our network of machines call each other on the telephone and exchange e-mail, files, databases, and other electronic resources. These exchanges are often at night when rates are cheap and the affiliates' computer is not being used for other purposes. Current Network Information Services: INDIANnet services include computer conferences and private electronic mail for Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations and individuals. We have federal information such as the Federal Registrar, Employment Opportunities, Environmental Protection Agency data, U.S. Census data and Geographic Information System (TIGER) files. You will also find a specialized collection of American Indian and Alaskan Native research reports extracted from the Educational Research Information Clearinghouse (ERIC). There are also a number of public domain software programs useful for you and your organization that can be down loaded for free. There is an amazing collection of authentic electronic Indian artwork and graphics. The most ambitious project is the Tribal Profiles Database. Our services will continue to grow as new affiliates contribute to our growing "electronic community" of users. To Connect via Modem/telephone The INDIANnet BBS can be connected by setting your computer's tele- communication package to N/8/1. The INDIANnet BBS network will automatically adjust modem settings up to baud rates of 14.4. Or if you would prefer, a graphics terminal interface for either Macintosh and Windows computers may be down loaded from our network and installed on your computer. We also support VT100 and ANSI terminal emulation! Dial 605-393-0468 To Connect via the Internet: INDIANnet supports two Internet services: a listserv and a FTP site. To subscribe to our listserv, send an e-mail message addressed to: LISTSERV@spruce.hsu.edu In the message area of your e-mail, include the command: sub INDIANnet-L "your name" The INDIANnet FTP site may be accessed by typing: ftp pines.hsu.edu (or) ftp 198.16.16.10 Login Name: anonymous Password: Your e-mail address Our Telnet site is under development and will be available soon. For more information call or write: Dr. George Baldwin, Chair and Professor of Sociology at Henderson State University is the Director of INDIANnet. He can be reach for more information at Box 7573, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, AR 71923. E-mail: BALDWIN@HOLLY.HSU.EDU. Voice telephone is (501)246-5511 x3292 (day) or (501)865-4422 Fax: (501)246-3199. INDIANnet is a project of Americans for Indian Opportunity, a national Indian organization dedicated to enhancing the cultural, social, political and economic self-sufficiency of tribes. It is headquartered on the Santa Ana Indian Reservation in New Mexico. For more information about AIO's work, contact LaDonna Harris, President and Founder, Americans for Indian Opportunity, 681 Juniper Hill Road, Bernalillo, NM 87004. Telephone 505-867-0278 (voice) or 505-867-0441 (fax). --------- "RE: Navajo-Hopi Update 12-23-93" --------- From: Navajo Nation Subj: NAVAJO-HOPI UPDATE 12-23-93 NAVAJO-HOPI "LAND DISPUTE" UPDATE: 12-23-93 LEE PHILLIPS & KATHERINE HAZARD FILE REPORT TO MEDIATOR This report results from a negotiating session in Phoenix, AZ on Sept 16, 1993. At that meeting, Dine' families from the HPL expressed the concern that their religious issues were not addressed by the 1992 Agreement in Principle (AIP) and the proposed Hopi lease. In response federal Mediator McCue asked Lee Phillips (MANYBEADS plaintiffs' attorney) and katherine Hazard, and attorney for the U.S., to convene meetings at which the Dine' families could make explicit suggestions, other than land exchanges, as to how these concerns could be satisfied. The meetings which were reported in previous "UPDATES" (Nov. 22 and Dec. 7) were aimed at setting up a group of representatives who would produce the actual documents requested by the judge. The working meetings were held Dec. 13-14 and on Dec. 16. in Flagstaff. I was not there but have talked to Larry Nez, Elmer Clark, Patsy Yazzie and Betty Tso, who were all there. Each of these people has a different viewpoint of what happened. Betty Tso, I talked to her yesterday, was really happy about it. Some others felt that the Big Mountain and Teesto people "took over" and left them without a voice. I read the document yesterday. It is very convincing and makes specific points about religious use of the land. It covers objections to both the AIP and the hopi lease. These are the topic headings: 1. The draft lease proposal has no express guarantee for respect or protection of Dine' religion 2. Religious sites, structures and ceremonies (outlines how specific ceremonies take place, the land and resources they use.) 3. The hogan (why Dine' homes are sacred) 4. Sacred sites on the HPL (a representative list of the different types of sacred sites, and how the Hopi lease doesn't protect access to or use of them) 5. Construction of religious structures 6.Gathering of herbs 7. Water 8. Protection of burial sites 9. Homesites (the practical needs of the families; all the things that make up a household; the way a 3-acre homesite will not work) 10. Livestock - the meaning, sacredness, various types 11. Eviction 12. Rent 13. 75 year lease term The report makes a number of recommendations and promises that the families will identify ceremonies that require the use of areas outside of the homesite; map sacred sites at Teesto and Mosquito Springs by 1/21/94 and other communities by 2/18/94; develop a 'counterproposal' to the Hopi Tribe; more meetings between the Dine' families and the Hopi Tribe; ratification of a preliminary draft agreement, mainly on religious issues, by 3/1/94; community meetings between Hopi Tribe and Dine' communities to work out other details. Betty Tso was really happy about the direction things are taking. She feels, and I agree, that it was a mistake for the mediator to structure mediation so that the Dine' families were excluded. I sure got tired of going back and forth, all over the HPL, trying to report what was going on to people who by rights should have been in the room doing the negotiating. Betty told me that the families did a sort of charette, first writing down all their various ideas and concerns on big sheets of paper, then pinning them up all over the room so everyone could see everything. This was all written up, Irene Begay did a lot of typing on a computer. Katherine Hazard offered to edit the report (!!) but was told in a nice way that the families wanted their own words on the paper, not someone else's. I have been asking Lee Phillips for copies of these documents on disk so I can send them out over the wire. Unfortunately he is gone until Jan. 3. Roman Bitsuie talked with Judge McCue a couple days ago. The Judge said his report would urge continued mediation, that the 3- judge panel of the 9th Circt. Ct. which had heard the MANYBEADS case was in favor of more mediation as well, and that only the supervising judge needed convincing. Roman did say to the Judge that some communities were willing to work with the Hopi Tribe on a modified lease proposal, but that Teesto and Big Mountain were not ready to do that. According to Roman, the Judge indicated that if SOME communities were talking with the Hopis, that would be enough to keep the mediation alive. I had been planning to go to Dine'Bikeya Committee's Christmas dinner today, but they had it yesterday. There had been some discussion at the last Dine'Bikeya meeting about moving it to the 23rd, but I guess they did not. So I missed a good dinner with good friends. THE ROLE OF THE NAVAJO NATION At this time, the mediation if it continues, will consist of direct talks between the Dine' families and the Hopi Tribe. It is very unlikely that the Hopi Tribe will allow the participation of the traditional Hopi, or any other Hopi who are not tribal officials. The Navajo Nation's role is going to be pretty much limited to providing technical and logistic support of the Dine' families. We will continue to provide information in the UPDATES, and will also relay anything the Dine' families want put out on the NET. Someone has to work with Washington, as the Hopi Tribe is lobbying hard and having a lot of success with both Congress and the Administration (witness the recent Janet Reno letters, or Sen. McCain's letter to Nelson Gorman). No matter who negotiates a final agreement, the Hopi tribe will want a LOT of compensation. Again, the Navajo Nation will have to provide many of those things which the Hopi Tribe asks for. The Nation's offer of settlement of Aug 5, 1993 is still open. It includes 3 acres of land to the Hopi Tribe for every acre they give up; it includes the Lake Powell water pipeline they want, so that Peabody can quit pumping water out of the ground on Black Mesa. And many other things. --------- "RE: Leonard Peltier Denied Parole" --------- From: LHELLWI@delphi.com in igc:alt.native Subj: Leonard Peltier Denied Parole ***PRESS RELEASE**** December 14, 1993 marks a sad day for Native American history. Again, justice was ignored as internationally known political prisoner Leonard Peltier was given a negative parole recommendation by members of the United States Parole Board. The testimony took four hours and included statements by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Resolutions, Proclamtations and Declarations passed by Tribal Councils, Community and Church organizations; messages of support from Senators, Congressmen and celebrities including Richard Gere, Harry Belafonte and Princess Marie Christine of Belgium; corporate papers explaining Leonard's ability to support himself and his family; and a lease proving he has a place to reside upon release. Although testimony took hours, the deliberation period was less than 30 30 minutes. The concenus of all involved is that the Parole Board member's decision was made long before they entered the hearing. Not at all suprising was the interference of an FBI agent sent to the hearing. Upon questioning, the agent admitted to being sent by the Minneapolis FBI agent Nicholas O'Hara who took on this responsibility himself. Prior to any testimony, Ramsey had the agent removed. Unfortunately the Parole Board members were unable to fairly consider parole for Leonard Peltier. the recommendation from the Parole Board to the Parole Commission will consist of their perception of the 'nature of the offense' regarding the death of the two FBI agents, coupled with a previous offense for which the Parole Board members blatantly ignored the fact that Leonard was acquitted. They decided that Parole could not be granted at this time and suggested that he return after and additional fifteen years before a possible parole recommendation could be considered. Leonard Peltier has served 18 years already for a crime that evidence proves he did not commit. Such injustice is frightening and action is necessary. Phoning, faxing and writing the President will assure that the White House does not forget executive clemency. We need to show Native Americans that 1993 is the 'YEAR OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES!' For information on local support groups, or what you can do to help, please contact Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDC), National Office, P.O. Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044. Thanks, Lisa in LITH --------- "RE: Job Opening - Native Philosopher" --------- From: susanodo@web.UUCP Subj: Job Opening - Native Philosopher Native Philosophy Project Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowship Program The Lakehead University Native Philosophy Project is a cross-cultural interdisciplinary research program committed to further understanding of the manner in which the world is viewed by the Aboriginal peoples of the Americas. Rockefeller Foundation Visiting Humanities Fellows are encouraged to explore any aspect of Native Philosophy, including such concepts as 'person,' 'self,' 'individual,' 'community,' 'self-government,' 'environment,' 'value,' and 'spirit,' as well as possible interrelationships between such concepts, and methodological issues arising from this unique interdisciplinary area of research. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the Project, research proposals are invited from senior and emerging scholars with a humanities background in Native Studies, Native Art History, History, Language, Literature or Philosophy. Lakehead University will host up to three Visiting Fellows each year (depending on length of stay). The fellowship stipend is between $30,000 and $35,000 (CDN) for the regular academic term, and pro-rated for shorter residences. Although local Ojibwa communities and Elders are the wellspring nourishing the Native Philosophy Project, the Project is particularly interested in the underlying philosophical assumptions (if any) common to all, or almost all, Native world views. Applications for Visiting Fellowships are therefore invited from Native and non-native scholars interested in the philosophies of any of the Native peoples of North, Central or South America. Deadline for applications is January 15, 1994 (similarly in 1995 and 1996) for residencies beginning in September of that year. For further information, contact: Dr. Connie Nelson Director of Research and Graduate Studies Lakehead University Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada P7B 5E1 --------- "RE: Prairie Island Coalition Update" --------- From: bdrew in igc:gen.nativeam Subj: Prairie Island Coalition Update These are slightly edited extracts from our hotline (612/927-5087) which we hope will serve to update our supporters around the world. On May 28, 1993 a three judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals voted unanimously to reverse the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission decision to allow the Northern States Power Company to move highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel from its Prairie Island Plant into "dry casks" a few hundred feet from the homes of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota People. The judges decided that the dump would be for all practical purposes permanent, since there was no credible evidence that the waste could be removed at any definite time. Therefore the waste cannot be stored on the island unless and until the Minnesota Legislature passes a special law approving the facility. The decision was appealed by NSP to the Minnesota Supreme Court which declined to hear the case. The battle then began in the legislature. At the NSP stockholders' meeting on April 28 1983 Scott Elkins and Henry Fieldseth were arrested. Scott was charged with disorderly conduct. Henry was arrested because he wanted to take his briefcase into the meeting. He was released without being charged. NSP quickly filed a request with the Minnesota Supreme Court asking them to review the decision. Attorneys acting for the Coalition and the Tribe requested the Court to allow the ruling to stand. They were joined in this request by the Prairie Island Religious Task Force and by the group of Legislators who opposed the dump before the Court of Appeals. Both of these declared their intention to intervene if the Supreme Court decided to review the case. The Coalition and the Tribe requested NSP to stop work on the dump since the law prohibits the construction of a permanent dump without legislative approval. NSP took the position that the dump is not illegal until the Supreme Court rules or refuses to accept the case. 7/12/93 Today we received word that the Minnesota Supreme Court has denied NSP's petition for review of the decision of the Appeals Court. This is a great victory for the people of Minnesota. However it is just one more step on the journey whose goal is to stop the continuing pileup of nuclear waste in general and, in particular, to stop the building of a radioactive dump on Prairie Island. The Coalition and the Tribe had requested NSP to stop work on the dump since the law prohibits the construction of a permanent dump without legislative approval. NSP had replied that they did not consider the dump to be illegal since the Supreme Court had not ruled. It will be interesting to see what their answer will be now. Presumably, NSP will now lobby state lawmakers to introduce a bill into the next session of the legislature to give approval for the dump. They may try to disguise it, to slip it in as an amendment to some other bill, in a special session called for some other purpose or at the last minute before adjournment, when the members are not paying attention. We need to be alert for all these and other stratagems which they may try. 9/08/93(4) NSP filed suit last month against Westinghouse, the builder of the Prairie Island reactors, claiming fraud in that the equipment is not lasting as long as Westinghouse guaranteed it. In this claim they appear to be casting doubt on the testimony they gave during the hearings on the dump. At that time they testified that the only thing that might keep the Prairie Island plant from running well into the next century was the lack of a place to store the spent fuel. NSP can't have it both ways. The question whether they were lying then or are lying now is being looked into by the staff of the Public Utilities Commission. It is difficult to see how the company can restore their credibility in time for the legislative session when they must try to get approval for the dump. 10/3/93(5) A rally was held on October 12 to celebrate solidarity with native Americans on Columbus day. It was combined with a protest at a meeting of the Minnesota Environmental Coalition on that day. This coalition is composed of the major polluting corporations in the state and has as its goal the protection of its members from the consequences of environmental laws. Ed Smeloff, who headed the Sacramento Municipal Utility District when they voted to close the Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant visited the Twin Cities during the week of November 8. He met with legislators and other decision makers to tell how Sacramento replaced the nuclear energy with efficiency and renewable resources. On October 20 Senator Novak, chairman of the Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee of the Minnesota Senate, held a hearing on the proposed Prairie Island spent fuel dump at which only those who favor the dump were allowed to testify. He also sponsored a trip to the dry cask nuclear waste dump at Surrey, Virginia to which the only ones invited other than legislators were lobbyists for NSP. On November 22 the Prairie Island Coalition was slated to get a chance to express their views. As late as the Friday before the meeting it was understood that our supporters would be allowed to testify immediately after the tribe. However, on the day of the meeting we found that so many other organizations had been put on the agenda before us that all the time was used up before we got to testify. Senator Novak said that we would have to wait until the December 13 hearing. Now we find that we are at the end of the agenda again and it seems likely that we will be frozen out once more. The hearing is scheduled on Monday December 13 at the Capitol in room 15 from 12:30 to 3:30. On the agenda before us are Red Wing City officials and workers at the Prairie Island plant. Come with as many friends as you can muster. Come early so you can get a seat in the hearing room. At the last hearing there was an overflow crowd and the late comers had to stand in the aisles. We need all the help we can get since Senator Novak is doing his best to keep us out of the process. If you want to be on our mailing list call the communications committee at 612/927-5087,the hotline at 612/920-5943 or e-mail to bdrew@igc.apc.org. Money is urgently needed. Send donations to the Prairie Island Coalition at Post Office Box 174, Lake Elmo, Minnesota 55042. Please consider sponsoring parties, teach-ins, benefits and other events to raise funds for the coalition. Call Leah Foushee at 612/777-3629 for information. Information about committees can be obtained at the following numbers. The area code is 612 unless otherwise specified. Steering Committee George Crocker 777-3629. Mobilization Committee Ken Pentel 333-5807. Research Committee John Oughton 647-0175. Communications Committee Bruce Drew 927-5087. Finance-Fundraising Committee Lea Foushee 770-3861. Down River Alliance Susan Johnson 388-7510. Wisconsin State Group Diane Rother 715/792-2890. The Coalition mailing address is Post Office Box 174, Lake Elmo, Minnesota, 55042. E-mail may be addressed to: bdrew@igc.apc.org or to: selkins@igc.apc.org --------- "RE: Legends Project" --------- From: cmarshal@ccit.arizona.edu Subj: Legends Project Mailing List: NAT-EDU As one working on the theoretical issues behind the "collection" of legends, specifically looking at the early work, Legends of Vancouver, by Mohawk writer, Pauline Johnson (1910), I am curious as to whether the students are given any background on the actual process of "legend collecting." For example, there is a broad dialectic swing between Franz Boas painstakingly taking down phonic texts of Northwest Coast tribes, essentially word for word, thereby destroying the poetic beauty of the tales, and Jerome Rothenberg's poetic renditions, very beautiful, which capture the essence, but not the literal words, of native stories. It seems there would be wonderful opportunities, not only to collect and value the stories, but to examine the nature of "truth" or information - how it is perceived, and how it is transmitted, and how it is repeated. Chris Marshall University of Arizona --------- "RE: 2 Little Girls and a Lesson" --------- From: Sheila M Shigley Subj: 2 Little Girls and a Lesson Mailing List: Native Languages Hello everyone... I'm sure those of you out there involved in language revival efforts have experienced moments of despair, the feeling that this thing which is so important to you just might not succeed, whether due to lack of personnel, lack of funding, or lack of interest. I've been having a lot of those thoughts lately as we at the Winnebago project struggle to keep our project alive. The other day I had a very humbling experience, one that made me ashamed of my "gloom and doom" attitude of late. I was sitting on the living room floor working away on designing a little Winnebago picture book for preschoolers. We don't have much funding yet, so this book is simply hand-drawn pictures accompanied by a hand-printed word in Winnebago for each picture. I was feeling pretty bad, thinking of the "inelegance" of this booklet and of the problems plaguing our project, when my boyfriend's little girl and her cousin (5 and 6 yrs old) came over and sat down, asking what I was doing. "Just what I need," I thought, "more interruptions!" I showed them the pictures and hoped it would end at that. "But what IS that?" said Kristen, the 5 yr. old. "Remember, I told you that it was a horse?" I replied, chagrined at my apparently poor artistry. "No, no, I mean THAT," said Kristen, pointing at the "shunkxete," the Winnebago word for horse beside the picture. "That's 'shunkxete'," I said, "it means horse in Winnebago. Winnebago is the language that Carly's (a Winnebago friend) Grandpa and Grandma speak." At that, the little girls proceeded to devour my stack of papers and pictures, not satisfied until they had heard and said every Winnebago word at least twice--and colored every picture (so much for the first edition!) It was a humbling and uplifting experience. I was ashamed of myself for doubting the one precious resource that, above all others, has the power to make this project succeed--the children. I realized that our success in passing on the Winnebago language to the next generation is not necessarily dependant on obtaining money for state-of-the-art computer programs, nor on the cooperation, or lack thereof, of the white school system in allowing Winnebago classes. Success can come just as fully in little stacks of paper and the little girls who color them. Something to be thankful for in this season of challenge and Hope... Best Wishes, Sheila shigley@macc.wisc.edu