_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' 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 02, ISSUE 022 O o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 28 May 1994 O o O ( N E W S ) O This issue contains articles from NATIVE-L and NATCHAT Mailing Lists, Usenet alt.native Newsgroup, FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference 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 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. "Once I was in Victoria, and I saw a very large house. They told me it was a bank and that the white men place their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by they got it back with interest. "We are Indians and we have no such bank; but when we have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs and people, and by and by they return them with interest, and our hearts feel good. Our way of giving is our bank." __ Chief Maquinna, Nootka +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! Return, if you have let your spirit wander, to the way of giving. Give that which no other may give. Give your heart, your skills, yourself. Give to see the smile of others. Give to mend the sacred hoop. Give to know you have healed the anger of one person, one time, in your special way. Mitakuye Oyasin! Night Owl , , (*,*) Gary Night Owl gars%owlstar.UUCP@mathcs.emory.edu (`-') P. O. Box 672168 gars@genie.geis.com ===w=w=== Marietta, GA 30067, U.S.A. gars@netcom.com ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ----------- --------- "RE: Longhouse Vandalized" --------- Date: May-07-94 03:27:00 From: Agondasha (agondasha@f502.n167.z1.fidonet.org) Subj: Longhouse FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference 7 MAY 1993. WENDAKE (HURON-VILLAGE) SUBJECT: White students A group of white students (around 14 to 17 years old) from Loretteville town came to the longhouse (spiritual house) land to destroy the longhouse. Two weeks ago they came during the time (lunch hour) that all the men were at work. They broke the windows and made holes in the walls with axes. They entered into the longhouse and broke almost everything. The Longhouse is situated just across the river St. Charles. This river is the natural border between our reserve and the white town. Most of these teenagers study at the " Polyvalente of Loretteville " and "Institut St-Louis ". Last Monday we started to have men at the longhouse to watch them. The first day, when the men arrived at the longhouse the white kids were already beside our spiritual house. They flew away as soon as they saw our men. The day after, they came with older students, but at that time with sticks in their hands. They provoked our men and told them that they can not hit or touch them because they are teenagers and the law protect them. The white students left and stayed just beside the longhouse land and they threw rocks and everything they found to the people. We had very hard time to retain our own teenagers. We explained to our teenagers that it was a kind of provocation from them. The whites told that we were savages and immigrants. (These white Quebecois kids believe really that they are the true native and then, the Quebec is their native land. We see the result of the brain washed education that they have received from the Quebecois nationalism). The days after they came but the white policemen stopped them. The policemen did not arrest no one. For thirty minutes, the kids were facing the policemen and stayed in front of them without leaving. In the afternoon, one of our kids heard at school that they want to came back with knives. (Last fall our Huron-Wyandotte kids had to leave this school because of racism.) We advised our men that they can not touch them. But if they attack with a knife we will react. Pretty soon, we want to see the School Director and we will try to identify their leaders. Our men are very upset and it is hard for us to control them. Right now, we have a preview of what may happened if Quebec succeed to have their so called "Separation". We think the native people will be in great danger and they will be like the Palestinian or the black population in South Africa before the election. Posted by the Agondachia for: The Longhouse Akiawenhrak Wendake Quebec, Canada GOA-4VO ... via DeltaMail v2.20 for SL (#216378) --- SLMAIL v3.0 (#1349) Origin: Igloo Station (514) 632-5556 (1:167/502) ------- "RE: Letter to President Clinton Regarding Columbus Statue" ------- Date: Sun, 22 May 1994 20:16:07 -0500 (CDT) From: Shawnee Reserve 206 Subj: Open letter to President Clinton Newsgroup: alt.native Posted by Shawnee Indian Jimmie D. Oyler, oylerjdo@tyrell.net, May 22, 1994, to the President and all the World. Jimmie D. Oyler P.O. Box 637 Shawnee Reserve 206, Indian Country De Soto, KS 66018, USA 913-583-3236 E-Mail oylerjdo@tyrell.net May 22, 1994 The Honorable William Clinton President of the United States The White House Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. President: Shawnee Indian Jimmie D. Oyler is one Shawnee Indian that does not want the 311 foot Russian statue of Christopher Columbus in the United States. Columbus was nothing more than the enslaver of the Indians of the Americas. To the Russian People, I, (Shawnee Indian Jimmie D. Oyler) say to you, keep your statue in Russia, melt it down, use the money to help the Russian people, but do not export a statute of an enslaver (Christopher Columbus) to the United States of America. ...As reported Kansas City Star, Sunday, May 22, 1994.... ...Russian artist creates huge $23 million statue and ships it to the U.S... ...A Colossal statue of Christopher Columbus by Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli begun five years ago as a Soviet gift of friendship to the American people, is soon to set sail from St. Petersburg to America. All 498 tons of it...The 311-foot behemoth---six feet taller than the Lady Liberty... ...I decided to create a man who would be searching for a new planet, new art, new science... Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli... ...Tsereteli, 60, is a sculptor to the superpowers. George Bush and Margaret Thatcher dropped in at his Moscow studio. The Lenin Prize winner even handed President Clinton a miniature of his Columbus... ...Tsereteli's sculptures, which tend to be gargantuan, were frequently donated to other countries by the Soviet Union, through his paintings, ...A 39-foot Tsereteli of St. George slaying a two- headed dragon, titled "Good Defeats Evil" and made of bits of Soviet and U.S. missiles, stands outside the United Nations... ...The Columbus statue, titled "Birth of a New World," is one of a pair originally intended to be presented to New York City and Seville, Spain, in time for the 500th anniversary of the explorer's voyage... To President Clinton, I ask of you, ship your copy of the miniature of the Columbus statue back to Russia. The Soviet Union is no more. Statues to communism, the enslaver Columbus and Lenin must come down. Mr. President, in your busy time if you could have a short answer posted on the Internet about what you are going to do about your copy of the Columbus statue, your answer would be much appreciated. Thank you. Respectfully submitted; Jimmie D. Oyler, oylerjdo@tyrell.net Just an old Shawnee Indian vet. --------- "RE: Oneida Letter to the President" --------- Date: May-17-94 18:08:00 From: Patrick Lucas (patrick.lucas@f513.n2613.z1.fidonet.org) Subj: Oneida Letter to the President FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference The following was a full page ad placed in USA Today, dated 4-29-94 " From the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin " ************** "AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT" ************** Sagoli (greetings) from the people of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin: We are pleased that you will meet today at the White House with our Tribal Chairwoman, the Honorable Deborah Doxtator, and the other 544 Indian leaders. When you meet with our leaders look closely. We will be standing proud among our brothers and sisters. Navajo, Kickapoo, Cherokee, Chippewa, Menominee, Oneida, and many others. We are all different Nations. But we all share the same dream: We want a better future. As an Indian Nation, we know that spending two hours today will not be enough to address 200 years of broken promises between our govern- ments. But we are encouraged by the prospects of building a new relationship between our nations. Our history tells us to be cautious. Our loyalty has been betrayed before. The Oneidas were one of your nation's first allies when we joined General George Washington and the colonists in the Revolutionary War. "Were it not for the Indians," Washington said, "the war would have been lost." Though later he ordered our villages and crops burned to the ground. Since then Lah^takalyas "He who destroys the fields" has been our people's name for the Office of the U.S. President. Today we call upon you to restore trust between the United States and Indian Nations. For 200 years our people have served alongside the United States in it's victories but have been on the losing side with our dealings with the United States. We watched this country break our treaties. We have been forcibly removed from our homelands. We have endured federal policy that tried to terminate our rights to live as Indian Nations. Before you, Mr.Clinton, every president has failed to honor thee agreements and treaties between the United States and Indian Nations. It is time for change. Your words encourage us. That we are attending the first formal meeting between you and members of your cabinet and the leaders of the Indian Nations encourages us. You know of our concerns for health care, taxation, and continued recognition of the unique sovereign relationship with the United States. We call upon you to work with us-nation to nation- to resolve the issues which jointly face us. To help cement a positive beginning, we encourage you to undertake the following: * Send an Executive order directing U.S. governmental offices to work with the Indian Nations on a governmental to governmental basis. * Work with us in the preservation of tribal sovereignty. * Work with us as partners as we strive to determine our own futures. When you walk among our leaders, remember that you are among a people nearly extinguished by past federal policies. Despite this, we stand before you today as a proud people-people whose strength you will recognize. As Iroquoian people, our culture dictates that we must make our decisions based upon the impact upon those in seven generations. We are now at the threshold of the next seven generations of our relationship. Let it be one of honesty, integrity, and legitimate and mutual recognition. --- FastEcho 1.40+ Origin: CIRCUIT BREAKER,Canandaigua,NY (716)394-9164 14.4 (1:2613/513) --------- "RE: It's our Right" --------- Date: May-18-94 20:22:00 From: Frosty Deere (frosty.deere@f502.n167.z1.fidonet.org) Subj: It's our Right FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference When it comes to Quebec sovereignty, the Inuit agree with the Crees. It's their right to decide their future, and no one else's. "I think the Inuit certainly have the political and legal rapacity to decide for themselves, " said Paul Bussieres, coordinator of Quebec government relations for Makivik, the Inuit administrative body, The Inuit inhabit half of Quebec's North and are asking the same questions as Crees. Should they stay with a sovereign Quebec, stay with Canada or go it alone? "The Inuit are worried about this matter. But I think the Inuit would like to cross that bridge when it comes, Before that, we're hoping we will never get there. Even if the PQ wins the Election, they may lose the referendum," said Bussieres. "We would prefer not to cross the bridge, The Inuit consider themselves to be good citizens of Canada and Quebec. " Bussieres said Makivik has had contacts with David Cliche, the PQ liaison with First Nations. Cliche is going from First Nation to First Nation trying to sell his proposals on sovereignty. But the PQ claims aboriginal peoples have no right to leave a sovereign Quebec. Bussieres said he doesn't know which way the Inuit are leaning if they had to choose between Canada and Quebec and going solo. "It would be difficult to answer what would he their decision. We're quite integrated into Quebec institutions, and ruin several programs through different Quebec departments, But we're very integrated with the Inuit in other countries, and they probably have their own dream for their future. " But, he added, at the moment northern communities are dependent on subsidies from the South, "This makes them see reality in a more prudent fashion," he said. By Alex Roslin, Nation Crees are not cattle to be traded from one government to another, says Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come. If Canada is to split apart, it's up to the Crees determine their own future, he said. Cree lands would not automatically go with a sovereign Quebec. Crees have inhabited their lands for thousands of years, he said, whereas Quebec has only been in the North for 30 years. "It's not a question of Crees seceding from Quebec but rather Quebec seceding from Canada and the Crees," said Coon Come. "When you examine the right of self-determination, I think that we of all peoples have the strongest argument," he said in an interview with the Nation about Quebec sovereignty. Coon Come said Crees should start examining their rights and options at the grassroots level, and those discussions will continue at the Cree Gathering this summer. "We should not be participating in the debate after secession, nor during secession, but before it becomes a national or international mess," he said. Decisions will have to be made on protecting Cree rights." How concerned is the Grand Council over the possibility of Quebec separating? The debate on the possibility of Quebec seceding from Canada started a time ago with the Quiet Revolution with the coming into power of Rene Levesque. We have always kept a close eye on it, and considering the PQ's platform with elections coming up and with the Bloc Quebecois, it's a real issue that has to be dealt with. With all that, I feel that the government of Canada seems to be into another "alert neutrality." I think the position of a party like the Bloc as her Majesty's Loyal Opposition makes it dear that the possible secession of Quebec from Canada will dominate the political constitutional agenda. The problem is this is a grave matter and it's delicate, a matter that may inflame passions within Quebec. To me, none of these are legitimate reasons to avoid dealing with this issue. We've addressed this issue, and we've made presentations to the National Assembly committee established by Bill 150 (the Belanger-Campeau Commission). Since our presentation lo the United Nations, we have always maintained that as the Cree Nation, we are a people. We live on "Eenou Aslchee" and that we have the right to self-determination and other fundamental rights. Do you feel that the Crees have the same right to self-determination that parties within Quebec wish to take upon themselves? Let me put it this way. Let's go back a bit so you can realize where I'm coming from. First of all Cree rights, our rights as a people predate the existence of the Canadian state by several thousand years. So our basic rights could not have been abrogated by an act of European powers who have been here in the last few hundred years. To me, it is totally unacceptable that this active and ever growing separatist movement intends to dismantle the Canadian state and carry the Cree territory out of Canadian confederation with or without our consent. Do you Feel the Crees have the right of total choice? We, as a people, have the fundamental right of self-determination. We have the right to determine our own destiny. We are not discussing the Cree right to secede but rather the situation we are faced with in Quebec. The Cree people do not seek to oppose or interfere with the exercise of self- determination by the people of Quebec with respect to their own territories. It's not a question of Crees seceding form Quebec but rather Quebec that is seceding form Canada and the Crees. But if the entire Canadian landscape is to be unilaterally or bilaterally changed, it is the Cree people who have the right to determine our own political status. What about the fiduciary obligations and rights enjoyed by Crees under the present system? That's one of the things I feel we need to address. The government of Canada has a fiduciary responsibility over the native peoples. That means Canada would have to take a position on whether they're going to defend Cree interests and that of other First Nations. So far, we have been seeing only "alert neutrality." Canada has been keeping silent. Do you think Canada has upheld its end of the fiduciary rights and obligations? Canada has been bending over backwards to appease Quebec so they won't leave the Canadian family. That, to me, is very clear. If Quebec leaves Confederation, what do you think will be the status of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and the complimentary agreements, which were signed by the Crees, Canada and Quebec? We signed the agreement with Quebec within Canada and with the understanding that Quebec was within Confederation. If that changes, we ask the question of whether or not the rights to self-determination will be respected within a independent Quebec. Also, will the government of Canada honour and respect its constitutional fiduciary duty given to the native people. These are the questions we put to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples back in November in Montreal. We are pressuring the government to come up with these answers. What role do you see the Crees playing in Quebec's possible secession? Will we be relegated to the role of pawns, or will we be a major player? This depends on the extent to which Crees are willing to defend or protect their rights. I think it's important that this issue be discussed at the grassroots level. That is going on right now and will continue. Decisions will have to be made on protecting Cree rights and we will probably be making visits to all the Cree communities. So the Grand Council will be visiting the Cree communities to discuss and gain a consensus on this issue? Yes, we've actually been concerned since the Charlottetown Accord failed. The Cree Gathering, as you know, will be coming up this summer and we will be discussing,that there too. Do you envision holding a referendum at the same time as Quebec? That's an interesting issue because we certainly don't want to be part of the referendum process, for our numbers to be included. But if Quebec was to hold one, I don't think the Crees should be lumped within the general referendum, where their wishes would be submerged by the Quebec majority. This isn't an approach Quebec would tolerate if proposed by Canada. Why should we? The Allaire report (Liberal proposals on sovereignty-association) says that an independent Quebec would share responsibility for natives jointly with Canada. Basically it means that an independent Quebec would take over Canada's control of Indians and their lands with or without the agreement of Canada or, more importantly, native peoples. Do you see this report as outdated ? I see that report as outdated. They're misunderstanding the political clout of the First Nations and our arguments, When you look at history, when you look at the concept of terra nulluis (the European idea that the lands were empty when they arrived), when you examine the right of self- determination, I think that we of all peoples have the strongest argument. For the Crees, the question of timing is very important. We should not be participating in the debate after secession, nor during secession, but before it becomes a national or international mess. We should be right in there now so we aren't coming at the in the hour waving a flag "what about us. " In the Allaire report, we're transferred like baggage from one government to the other. We need to prevent that from happening so we aren't treated like cattle. We have to keep pounding away on the Cree history of thousands of years. Our self-determination predates their arrival by thousands of years. We have to attack the terra nulluis concept. We have to get away from these concepts because this is framework of fiction the dominate society has erected to legitimize the taking of lands and resources from the First Nations. --- SLMAIL v3.0 (#1349) Origin: Igloo Station (514) 632-5556 (1:167/502) --------- "RE: Outside World Crowding Seneca" --------- Date: May-17-94 21:22:00 From: Patrick Lucas (patrick.lucas@f513.n2613.z1.fidonet.org) Subj: Outside World Crowding Seneca FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference ********** OUTSIDE WORLD CROWDING IN ON LANGUAGE, CULTURE ********** Allegany Reservation, N.Y. "The Seneca Nation has a rich language - one that is centuries old. And dying. Now, out of 6,482 Senecas, fewer than 100 - most of them elderly-are believed capable of conversing in their native tongue." "Language teacher Dianna Beaver is trying desperately to reverse that disturbing trend." "Should this language die, the world loses out, not just the Senecas," says Beaver, one of the language teachers on the Senecas' reservations in western New York state." But the battle to preserve Indian heritage is not unique to the Senecas. Throughout Native America, centuries of tradition and language are threatened by forces from inside and outside the reservation." "Intermarrying has blurred individual tribal customs and language. Within the tribe, elders say they have a tough time teaching the value of language and tradition to children who often are more interested in Nintendo and MTV." "We're being bombarded and compacted daily by society in general, so we have a greater fight everyday to survive, says Ray Apodaca, a Pueblo Ysleta del Fur and head of culture at the National Congress of American Indians." "But the battle to save a rich heritage has been engaged. Schools are offering courses that include Native cooking and dancing." "Indian linguists are putting oral languages on tapes and developing computerized dictionaries for words that until now had no written form." "Museums, including a new Smithsonian branch opening in New York City on October 30, have started showcasing Indian historical achievements as well as artifacts." "For a while there was hardly anybody that spoke the language, says Lyford Johnny-John,61, a Seneca religious elder and mentor in the language program. When an elder fell, that was one less, but now the kids are learning." "In upstate New York and parts of Canada, the Mohawks run a `Freedom School' to pass on language to kids as young as 4. Others with active programs include the Chippewa, Cree, Winnebago, Choctaw and the Yakimas." "The Kooteni-Salish at Montana's Flathead Reservation run a `language immersion' camp that gives students a thorough grounding in the native tongue. The Senecas operate a unique program that matches language interns with tribal elders in a weekly `mentoring' to pass along language skills and cultural insights." "We're in a race against time, says Rick Jemison, Seneca cultural director on the Cattaraugus Reservation. Every day you put off teaching the language, you're that much closer to the end. Its like watching sand slip through your fingers.'" "Students say they understand why it is important to study their tribal language and culture. `We do it so we won't lose the tradition and so nobody will forget', says Seneca 8th grader, an accomplished ceremonial dancer who has studied the language for 2 years and plans to continue through high school." "To the Senecas and others, their heritage suffered under educational systems that for generations punished Indians for using their language or customs." "Language is particularly crucial because all tribal ceremonies, from sun dances to fish harvests, are conducted in the naive tongue. If the words aren't understood, the ceremony may diminish in relevance, tribal officials fear." "`In boarding schools, the basic purpose was to wash out languages and culture', says BIA director Ada Deer, a Wisconsin Menominee. `All these policies of destroying the culture have had impacts across lives over the years, so several generations are not fluent in their own language" "That may be changing in some areas. In Oklahoma, for example, where nearly 1 out of every 10 residents is an Indian, public schools by law must offer tribal languages." "Congress is now considering new help for tribes through a bill guaranteeing protection for their sacred places and religious practices. For many, the tug of culture and tradition has become so strong that they are moving back to their ancestral lands." "Wasco Indian Warren Clements left the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon years ago to earn a master's degree and teach. Despite good job offers,`it wasn't much of a social life,' he says. `My wife is very traditional, and in a white world, its very uncomfortable. We decided to come home to work among and with our people who know the Indian way of things. That's not available on the outside." --- FastEcho 1.40+ Origin: CIRCUIT BREAKER,Canandaigua,NY (716)394-9164 14.4 (1:2613/513) --------- "RE: Cherokee & InterTribal Meeting" --------- Date: May-15-94 20:22:38 From: Tom Kunesh (tom.kunesh@f29.n122.z362.fidonet.org) Subj: Cherokee & InterTribal Meeting FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference - = P R E S S R E L E A S E = - - please cross-post - = Natives Meet to Determine Their Policy on Former Land and Burial Grounds = This saturday, 21 may 1994, at 1:00 pm, the Tennessee Indian Commission (office in Nashville) will be meeting in Chattanooga at the University of Tennessee- Chattanooga student center, hosted by the Chattanooga InterTribal Association (CITA). As part of new business, CITA will present its policy statement on the future of the 956-acre Moccasin Bend historical area to the TN Indian Commission for discussion. Representatives from the Eastern Band of Cherokee in Cherokee, North Carolina, and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma will be present to participate in the discussion. Currently there are four proposals for the Moccasin Bend area floating around the local political arena: 1) develop the Bend into a second major tourist attraction area, with an amphitheater, museum, environmental conference center/hotel, marina, condominiums, retail stores, 18th-century working farm, open archaeological digs, etc., supported by the local civic and financial development agencies; 2) give or sell the land to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, a non-profit land trust organization, for safe-keeping and preservation; 3) request that the National Park Service obtain the land to create the Moccasin Bend National Park, with appropriate legislation protecting the native american burial sites and giving special access to native americans for ceremonial/ visitation purposes (supported by other local organizations including Civil War, environmental and archaeological interests) 4) give or sell the land to the Cherokee of North Carolina and Oklahoma, or to the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole), or to an association of tribes, to preserve the ancient native american burial grounds, to create an n.a. grave repository for other n.a. bones currently warehoused in museums, and an n.a. cultural museum and working village. CITA is leaning toward the latter option. We would appreciate hearing comments from Native Americans on this issue, and we also encourage you to notify the Tennessee Indian Commission of your interest and concern for the preservation of Moccasin Bend. The -= Tennessee Indian Commission's =- address and phone : 401 Church Street L & C Tower, 10th Floor Nashville TN 37243 attn: Luvenia Butler, Director, TN Commission of Indian Affairs 615/ 532-0745 CITA's voice mail phone (Chattanooga) is 615/ 954-2376. fidomail to CITA c/o tom kunesh at 1:362/122.29@fidonet. Please send letters, telegrams, and phone calls their way prior to the meeting so they can feel the outside concern. Also, if you have contacts with the Cherokee of North Carolina and Oklahoma, or the other members of the Five Civilized Tribes, please let their elders know of this situation and our need for their input and support. All other tribes and native organizations and individuals are also invited to respond. --- MacWoof Eval:06Mar94 Origin: ... think radically, act logically ... (1:362/122.29@fidonet) --------- "RE: Urgent-HELP Innu vs. Hydro quebec" --------- Date: 23 May 94 10:04 PDT From: Meryl Nass Subj: Urgent-HELP Innu vs. Hydro quebec Newsgroup: alt.native Contact: Native Forest Network PO Box 57, Burlington, VT 05402 (802) 863-0571 FAX (802) 863-2532 email: peacejustice@igc.apc.org or: Innu Support Committee 100 Cave Hill Road Leverett, MA 01054 (413) 367-9352 (413) 549-4008 fax On May 27, 1994, the Innu Traditional People will hold non-violent actions to block a hydro-electric dam project on the Saint Marguerite River in Nitassinan, our homeland. The Innu and their supporters will set up a Peace Camp, as well as traditional camps, along the access road that Hydro-Quebec uses to join the main construction sites. Hydro-Quebec started to cut the woods along this logging access road, and at that place we will block them. This St. Marguerite III (known as "SM-3") project will destroy our hunting grounds, our cemeteries, our historic sites, and all the eco-system and natural resources on which the traditional Innu depend for their cultural survival, their well-being and their own sustainable development. As People, we have never ceded any rights or responsibilities over Nitassinan by treaties or accord to the Canadian or Quebec governments. In leading these actions to block Hydro-Quebec, we are simply exercising our right to self-determination under the natural laws issued by the Creator. Already there are 13 dams in our homeland and it is enough. If Hydro-Quebec wants to pass and reach the main construction sites, it has to pass over us. We need your help and your support. We need to publicize these actions because we fear a media blackout on this issue. We are isolated and any kind of support is welcome. Please contact us at (413) 367-9352 and ask for Don Ogden of the Innu Support Committee in Massachusetts, or the Native Forest Network at (802) 863-0571, or me, Gilbert Pilot, until May 27 at (418) 927-2554. Thank you. With a strong hope for your support, Gilbert Pilot, for The Coalition for Nitassinan The Sainte Marguerite (SM-3) Hydro Development: A Contemptuous Decision SM-3 = Buying Votes As a means of buying votes in the upcoming elections, the Quebec Government recently gave the go-ahead to a $3 billion hydro electric project on the Sainte Marguerite River (SM-3). That same day, Hydro-Quebec finally admitted that it had overestimated its future energy needs. Since then, New York State has officially cancelled its purchase of 800 MW of power from Quebec, exactly the same quantity of energy that SM-3 would produce. Yet another export contract was cancelled at the end of March. The energy from SM-3 is not needed. SM-3 = Wasting Public Money and Adding to the Debt Burden Hydro-Quebec is already burdened by a $34 billion debt, making it one of the most indebted corporations in the industrial world (according to the Wall Street Journal). Because Hydro-Quebec is a public utility it is the people of Quebec who are ultimately responsible for this worrisome debt! Hydro-Quebec has consistently overestimated future energy needs, as a result creating large surpluses. To get rid of the surpluses, Hydro-Quebec has entered into 13 secret contracts with metal smelters and various other transnational corporations. The contracts involve selling electricity to these corporations at one-fifth of what you as a Quebec citizen pay for your electricity. In order to pay for the loss (estimated by Hydro-Quebec at $5 billion), every household will have to pay an extra $100 per year over the next two decades. In other words, Hydro's surpluses will cost Quebec bill payers $2000 each. SM-3 = Unemployment creation project The Quebec government announced that the Sainte Marguerite-3 project would create 4500 new jobs. This is false. According to Hydro-Quebec, the project will only create 950 jobs for 6 months per year over a 10 year period. Workers will be on Unemployment Insurance for the other 6 months of the year. Each of these jobs will cost approximately $350,000 per job per year. For the same money, significantly more jobs (according to Hydro-Quebec's own studies) could be created by investing in energy efficiency. Moreover, jobs in energy efficiency are higher quality, less concentrated on one single region and more stabilizing than a boom-and-bust project. These jobs would be long-term and less environmentally destructive. SM3 = Deception According to the findings of the Bureau d'Audience Publique sur l'Environnement (BAPE), the second phase of the project, the diversion of two tributaries of the Moisie River should not be undertaken. To do so might endanger the salmon of the Moisie River. Hydro-Quebec has already said that it would not undertake the project without these diversions, because the energy would be too expensive. To give more time to study the impact of the diversions, the government has delayed the decision to go ahead with the diversions until the completion of phase one. Do they really think we Quebecers are so naive that we believe that once phase one is completed they would not go ahead with phase two? SM-3 = ANOTHER BLATANT EXAMPLE OF OUR GOVERNMENT'S DISRESPECT FOR US, THE CITIZENS OF QUEBEC. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HYDRO-QUEBEC'S DESTRUCTIVE SM-3 PROJECT, PLEASE CONTACT: LUMIERE SUR L'ENERGIE (514) 345-5411 L'ENNVIRONNEMENT JEUNESSE (514) 252-3016 CENTRE DE RESSOURCES SUR LA NON-VIOLENCE (514) 844-0484 REGROUPEMENT DE SOLIDARITE AVEC LES AUTOCHTONES (514) 982-6606 WILDERNESS DEFENSE COMMITTEE QPIRG CONCORDIA (514) 848-7585 ALL CHARGED UP A native activist gets set to stop Hydro-Quebec's northern conquest by Lyle Stewart (This article appeared in the Montreal Mirror, April 28, 1994) Gilbert Pilot was feeling liberated Saturday and wanted people to know it. "I'm happy," he told a couple of hundred people huddling against gale-force winds in St. Louis Square, who had gathered to denounce Hydro-Quebec's Ste. Marguerite 3 hydro project near Sept-Iles. "I have nothing more to do with governments or Hydro-Quebec," Pilot explained. "After a lifetime of no health services, no education services, after being put in prison, I have no fear anymore. I feel free!" Part of this new sense of liberty could come from the recognition that there's no going back for Pilot. "I still have an arrest warrant on my head," he later says in a casual aside. His time in prison last year for ignoring court injunctions against his anti-SM-3 protests and the giving up of his home in Miliotenam have certainly contributed to his rootlessness. It's a situation that could lead to an interesting season in Quebec's northern bush, where Hydro-Quebec's megaproject plans have been met by entirely opposing reactions from natives. Along with some of the 800 other members of the Coalition for Nitassinan, Pilot will be practicing "non-violent direct action" against the construction of the $3-billion Hydro complex on the Ste. Marguerite River. What that means, exactly, is establishing hunting and fishing camps in the path of the bulldozers that began their work last week; in short, doing the same thing his Montagnais (Innu) ancestors have done for centuries. "We will occupy the territory and wait for Hydro-Quebec," Pilot warned. "They will not pass, and if they do, they pass over us." The potential for conflict is high, Pilot acknowledged in an interview after demonstrators had marched up Boul. St-Laurent to a small park on Rachel. And some of that conflict is going to come from members of Pilot's own Montagnais band council, which two weeks ago signed the Uashat Mak maniUtenam accord with Hydro-Quebec, agreeing to the SM-3 project in return for some native work contracts and about $20 million in cash for community development over 50 years. Announced the day after a $100-million pact with Quebec's Inuit over the Great Whale project, the two accords were publicity coups for Hydro- Quebec. Hydro-Quebec has succeeded in cracking the solidarity of natives opposing the degradation of the ecosystems that many of them depend on for subsistence. The 2,500 members of the Montagnais band will vote on the SM-3 deal in a referendum June 13, but Pilot decried the process as a "false democracy" bought and paid for by Hydro-Quebec, which will pay for the plebiscite. The agreement itself, Pilot added, is a further extension of Hydro-Quebec's "total control" - a reading of the text makes clear that the corporation will have an effective veto over how the band's community development funds are spent! Grand Council of the Cree executive director Bill Namagoose has similar words for Hydro-Quebec's agreement with Makivik Corp., which represents Quebec's 7,000 Inuit. "Hydro-Quebec's biggest weapon against native people is a combination of fear and money," Namagoose said. "They say that if you don't agree, you'll get no compensation and they'll go ahead and build it anyway. Money is no object to them." Saying the agreement on Great Whale undermines the ongoing environmental review of the project, Namagoose expressed disappointment in Makivik's approval since many Inuit had spoken out against the project during assessment hearings. "Even [former Makivik president] Charlie Watt was defeated mainly because of this agreement," Namagoose observed. "I thought Makivik would hold off on signing it." But Namagoose reserved his harshest criticism for Hydro-Quebec, pointing to the use of public relations giant Burson-Marsteller as evidence of the crown corporation's intent to "smear" natives. Burson-Marsteller has become notorious for its defense of companies like Union Carbide after the disaster at Bhopal, India, its image-spinning on Macmillan-Bloedel's clear-cutting forestry practices in British Columbia and its work for dictatorships accused of human rights abuses. "When Hydro-Quebec deals with native people, the whole might of the PR machine is put to work," Namagoose said. And it's hard to miss Burson-Marsteller's influence with the Coalition for the Development of HydroElectric Potential, a grouping of business and unions that were cheer leading SM-3 when it was announced last month. The coalition resembles the instant pro-industry "citizen's groups" that have sprung up in places of environmental conflict, such as Share B.C. and the Forest Alliance on the west coast, which Burson-Marsteller - the master of soft-focus PR - advised and organized. Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Marie-Pierre Bonnassieux countered that the contract with Burson-Marsteller was simply to "let the facts be known. At the time we needed help in the United States." Bonnassieux also said that while Hydro-Quebec is financing the referendum on SM-3, that would have no bearing on the results since it is being organized by the Montagnais themselves. But she admitted a negative result wouldn't stop the bulldozers: "If you look [at the Le Grande-2] in James Bay, we signed an agreement with the Cree after the project had begun. According to the federal government's response to Quebec's environmental assessment of SM-3, flooding from the project will "lead to fish being contaminated by mercury," from accumulation of methyl mercury in the food chain. "The federal government is concerned about the health of the residents near the project," the March 28 report continues, "in particular native people, who are known to be major consumers of products obtained from subsistence hunting and fishing." As the Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam agreement for SM-3 indicates, Hydro-Quebec is proceeding with the assumption that diverting the headwaters of the salmon-rich Moisie River will be approved. With federalist ally Daniel Johnson facing job-starved voters later this year, Pilot doesn't expect Ottawa to make any noise about its own recommendations and risk embarrassing the provincial Liberals in their attempt to overtake the surging Parti Quebecois. Pilot has other allies, though. Working from his new base in Massachusetts, he has arranged to have international observers in the north to monitor expected run-ins with Hydro-Quebec and, probably, the police. In spite of his international connections and his know-how when it comes to taking on one of North America's largest crown corporations, Pilot considers himself a traditionalist. His eyes light up when he talks about hunting and fishing in the northern bush. It's obvious that's what he fears losing the most. "Why we are really opposed to this project is that the territory will be opened up for development," he said at St. Louis Square. "The development that comes with the access roads is going to eat, eat, eat all the forest." END For more information on how you can support the traditional Innu people of the Coalition for Nitassinan, please contact us at (413) 367-9352 and ask for Don Ogden of the Innu Support Committee in Massachusetts, or the Native Forest Network at (802) 863-0571, or Gilbert Pilot (until May 27) at (418) 927-2554. INDIGENOUS GROUPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD CONDEMN SAINTE-MARGUERITE 3 PROJECT For Immediate Release URGENT ACTION ALERT!!! HELP NEEDED FOR HYDRO-QUEBEC BLOCKADE In mid-April of this year, Hydro-Quebec (H-Q) began the first phase of the Saint Marguerite River Dam Project (SM-3), which involves road construction into sovereign Innu territory. The traditional Innu people of Nitassinan, whose ancestral home lies in the sub-arctic forest of the North Shore region on the St. Lawrence seaway, are asking for your help in maintaining their way of life and protecting the rivers and forests from destruction by Hydro-Quebec's (H-Q) disastrous Saint Marguerite-3 dam project (SM-3). Innu traditionalists have drawn the line at SM-3, calling it "one dam too many." They plan to block construction this spring with a non-violent barricade. What you can do: The traditional communities of the area to be impacted by the SM-3 project have requested activists to participate with them in the non- violent blockades. If you would like to join this direct action attempt to help the Innu people protect their culture and the earth from Hydro-Quebec and the SM-3 project, Non-Violent Civil Disobedience (NVCD) training sessions in Montreal, PQ - To be announced - contact Native Forest Network for details (see number above) SOLIDARITY ACTIONS: FOR THOSE UNABLE TO ATTEND THE BLOCKADE, BUT WHO WISH TO SHOW SOLIDARITY THROUGH OTHER NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTIONS THAT WILL OCCUR, PLEASE CONTACT THE NATIVE FOREST NETWORK AT: Eastern North American Native Forest Network PO Box 57, Burlington, VT 05402 (802) 863-0571 FAX (802) 863-2532 email: peacejustice@igc.apc.org --------- "RE: Poetry: Hearts Never Beat Silently" --------- Date: Sun, 22 May 94 05:18:58 GMT From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Subj: Hearts never beat silently Newsgroup: alt.native Hearts like drums do not speak in silence Feathers like spirits do not fly alone Sitting on the warm earth my heart speaks and my spirit flys beyond the thunder higher than the shadows of time Kaw-ii-su, land of light. Turtle Heart turtle@aicap.s21.com American Indian Computer Art Project BBS 619-374-2100 Land of Kaw-ii-su ancestor: Land of Light --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - offline" --------- Date: Thu, 26 May 94 08:00 -0500 From: Janet Smith (Evening Star) (jans@genie.geis.com) Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows not previously posted to Mailing Lists NATCHAT or NATIVE-L GE Electronic Mail =Powwows= May 27-29 18th Annual Odawa Native Friendship Center Powwow Ottawa, Canada Info: 1-613-238-8591 May 28-30 18th Annual Memorial Day Weekend Powwow Cherokee, NC Info: 1-704-497-3928 May 28-30 4th Annual Giss I Was Creek Indian Powwow Marion, MI Info: 1-616-281-3640 June 4-5 13th Annual Day of the Eagle Powwow E. Jordan, MI Info: 1-616-536-7583 June 4-5 12th Annual Festival and Powwow Brandywine, MD Info: 1-301-372-1932 June 8-12 Chief Kemper's Annual Smoky Mountain National American Indian Powwow, Sevierville, TN Info: 1-800-826-2401 June 17-19 Choctaw Indian Reservation Mowa Choctaw Indian Powwow, Mt. Vernon, AL Info: 1-205-829-5500 Send notices of forthcoming powwows, conferences and gatherings to: jans@genie.geis.com gars@netcom.com ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ all items below this line have already been distributed by our brother, Gary Trujillo, via the NATIVE-L or NATCHAT mailing lists. --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - online" --------- Date: Thu, 26 May 94 08:00 -0500 From: Janet Smith (Evening Star) (jans@genie.geis.com) Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows already posted to Mailing Lists NATCHAT or NATIVE-L = Powwows and Gatherings from the Internet = ====================================================================== From: maraw@fs-gate.uchicago.edu (mara whitney) Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Subject: Leonard Peltier Benefit Concert June 8th Please come to a benefit concert for political prisoner Leonard Peltier When: Wednesday, June 8th from 5:00 PM til ? Where: Buddy Guy's Legends 754 S. Wabash Chicago, IL What's Happening: Howard and the White Boys, great blues and much more How Much: $10 Join us early for free hor's-doeurves and to view Robert Redford's documentary film 'Incident at Oglala', followed by a discussion with Leonard Peltier Defense Committee spokesperson and author Ward Churchill. Stay and enjoy music with improvisational jazz percussionists, Primal Connection, followed by great blues with Howard and the White Boys. All proceeds from this concert go to the organizational efforts around Leonard Peltier Freedom Weekend in Washington D.C., June 25-26, 1994. Join us in Washington, D.C., on June 25-26 for the Leonard Peltier Freedom Weekend. Join with our effort to free an innocent man - which is an effort to preserve freedom for everyone! Sponsored by: Leonard Peltier Support Group/Chicago, 312-427-4457 Send inquiries to Leonard Peltier Support Group/Chicago or email Mara Whitney at maraw@fs-gate.uchicago.edu Original Sender: Rio Lara-Bellon Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ===================================================================== = TIINOWIT = YAKAMA NATION 20th Annual International Pow-wow When: June 10th, 11th, and 12th, 1994 Where: Sundome, Central Washington Fairgrounds Yakima, Washington Seeking Miss Native America Contestants: Please Call Gaileen Bill at (509) 865-5121 x347 or (509) 848-2701 For more Tiinowit information call Fred Ike, Jr. (509) 865-2390 ======================================================================== Original Sender: Pablo Bellon Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) +++++++ COWLITZ POTLUCK +++++++ WHERE: Cowlitz tribal property - near Toledo, exit 59 of I-5 WHEN: August 13, 1994, 2:00pm (Camping space available) This event is sponsored by the Cowlitz people and hosted by decedents of the Laude family. "Bring some food and let's eat together again." For more information call: (206) 534-9594 or (206) 754-7664. More details are forthcoming. --No alcohol or drugs allowed-- ========================================================================= Original Sender: Rio Lara-Bellon Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) PI-UME-SHA Treaty Days (Treaty of 1855, Warm Springs Nation, June 25, 1855) June 24th, 25th, 26th, 1994 Friday, June 24th: New Joiners & Rejoiners at 6PM, Grand Entry at 7PM. Little Girls Open Dance, Little Boys War Dance, Little Girls Round Dance. Saturday, June 25th: Traditional Dress Parade, Teen Girls Fancy War and Teen Boys Fancy War. Kussa Round Dance (60 yrs and older in full dress. Honorarium in appreciation) Ol' Warriors War Dance (60 yrs and older. Honorarium in appreciation) Native American Veterans Honor Dance. Open Give-Away Will Follow Immediately After Last Contest Of The Afternoon Session Evening Session: Girls Traditional War Dance, Boys Straight War Dance, Women's Team Round Dance, Men's Team Dance Open Contest, Liz Tewee Memorial Contest, Ada Sooksoit Memorial Contest, Idella Yahtin Memorial Contest. Sunday, June 26th: Men's Straight Dance, Women's Individual Straight Dance, Men's Individual Fancy War Dance, Women's Fancy War Dance. Indian Stick Games Start Friday (No Dice or Card Games) All-Indian Rodeo - Info: 553-1311 Endurance Horse Race - Info: 53-3257 Men's & Women's Slo-Pitch Tournament - Info: 553-1227 Pow-Wow will be held in the recreation area behind the Community Center. Nathan (Eight-Ball) Jim, M.C. For more information call: Art Mitchell, 553-1883 or write P.O. Box 124, Warm Springs, Oregon 97761 ======================================================================= 1994 NATIONAL MILTON ACORN FESTIVAL AUGUST 19 - 23 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA The National Milton Acorn Festival offers a unique Living and Learning Vacation of fun with poetry, stories and music taking place in the Maritime province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. It has a great lineup of poets, authors, storytellers and musicians for the eighth annual Festival which will take place from Friday, August 19 to Tuesday, August 23. Cedric Smith (Alec King on CBC TV's The Road To Avonlea) and Terry Jones will emcee the Friday Festival Warm-up Concert at the Charlottetown Yacht Club. You can join Island fiddler, Roy Johnstone; The Rose Vaughan Trio and Laura Smith by reading your favorite Milton Acorn poem during the Open Stage set. The Main twelve hour Festival event will begin Saturday at 1:01 p.m. at Peake's Quay, Charlottetown. During the afternoon program the winners of the Students Against Racism Poetry Competition will be awarded a prize and read their poem. The 1994 Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award will be presented to Paulette Dub, winner and Betsy Struthers, runner-up during the evening program. Twelve events will take place across the Island from the fishing village of Souris at the east end of the Island to the West Point Lighthouse. There is a new twist to the event at Orwell Corner Historic Village on Monday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. There will be the Milton A Corn Roast . . . there will be a family Corn Boil and hot dog sale; or bring your own picnic. There will be a Speaker's Corner for anyone to air their pet peeve and there will be a Children's Circle of stories. The evening program begins at 8p.m. --------- "RE: Joke: Disco" --------- Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 12:16:01 -0600 (MDT) From: Judith M Gobert Subj: Joke: Disco Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Oki again, I remembered a few more chuckles and would like to share them. I told this one to a Blood relative from Canada last night so, I'll use her name in the telling. You can substitute any tribes' name in place of Blood. "Hey Rebecca Many Grey Horses. I hear your people revived an old dance. Some of my Blackfoot elders told me about it last time I was home. They told me the "old" name for it but I can't remember how to say it. Gigi and Melinda Kipp said they saw it when they were in Canada last month. Have you heard about this?" "No, I don't remember this. No one told me anything when I was home." "Well, Gigi couldn't remember the name either but he called it the Blood disco. He showed me how to do it. Maybe if I showed you, you might know what it's called." "Yeah, show me how it's done." I then stood up and grabbed my right knee, picked up each leg one at a time and placed each foot carefully in front of the other and said "Dis go here, dis go there, dis go here, dis go there." --------- "RE: Mixed Blood" --------- Date: Sun, 22 May 1994 18:28 MST From: BOOTES.UNM.EDU!JGREY Subj: Mixed Blood Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) "who are your people?" she asked - and when I spoke of parents and grandparents whose lineage traced from the rugged hills of scotland or the green valleys of Ireland and the brown and golden plains of the western U.S. --- she looked at me and said "oh, you're a mixed blood". Flatly, without intonation, shielding her thoughts in a cultivated blandness. Mixed Blood. What does that mean I wonder? If I could open my veins, would I see blood which matched the clan McDonald tartan, or the clan O'Donnel colours? Blood of hill people rich in legend and tradition, who for centuries defined the elements and wrested life from stoney and unforgiving ground? Would I see evidence of the men and women who warred with bitter stubbornness for their right of sovereignty, and let the skirling of the pipes match the singing of their soul? Perhaps, if I opened another vein, there I would see blood the colour of copper, or brown, to match the Star People, the cherokee clan of my father, or the Kiowa people, those of my mother...the blood of those who lived within the land, nurturing and being nourished by it, and all the beings which shared the earth and sky with them. Those people of mine, who persisted, with endless tenacity, their claim to the right of sovereignty? Would I see evidence of the songs echoing from the high places, or the drums, beating out the rhythm of life? Where is my blood mixed? What part of me should hate the other I wonder? Should my scottish hand strike my irish foot? Should my anglo fingers gouge out my Indian eyes? How do you deny your own being? And why do people say "mixed blood" as if they had tasted excrement? Mixed Blood? Yes, I guess its true - mixed blood I am...but what, please tell me, are you? --------- "RE: IFMAT Report on Tribal Lands Released" --------- Date: Tue, 10 May 1994 16:21:00 GMT From: Western Ancient Forest Campaign Subj: IFMAT Report on Tribal Lands Released Mailing List: NATIVE-L Indian Forest Management Report Released In late February, 1994, a distinguished team of scientists, tribal leaders and foresters released An Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States. The report was written in response to concerns that the Indian forestry program, largely carried out by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), was seriously understaffed and under financed, and thus unable to provide necessary forest-management services. The IFMAT report was written after the Secretary of the Interior contracted with the Intertribal Timber Council (ITC), which selected seven nationally recognized forestry experts to serve as the IFMAT team. Led by John Gordon, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry, the IFMAT team visited 33 reservations with timber programs, surveyed tribal communities and BIA staffs, and conducted focus groups during the reservation visits to assess tribal perspectives about Indian forestry. The team was also charged with comparing management of tribal lands with that practiced on federal and private lands. The study found that tribal members value resource protection as the highest priority, but indicate that BIA management has focused primarily on the forests' economic benefits. Tribal members endorse an integrative, holistic approach to managing all forest resources. The survey also found that Indian forestry is seriously under funded and understaffed compared with forestry on similar federal and private lands, and is inadequate for biodiversity assessments and for coordinated resource planning and management. Similarly, the report found that the management of roads, water, fisheries, wildlife and grazing is seriously deficient compared with that on National Forests. The report recommends that the federal government redefine its trust responsibility so that tribes will be given primary responsibility for directing Indian forestry. Another recommendation is to increase the budget for Indian forestry to levels comparable to National Forests. The report calls for the protection of the health and productivity of Indian forests through ecosystem management, including monitoring, watershed protection and restoration and an adaptive management strategy. WAFC would like to thank Tom Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, for calling our attention to the IFMAT report. You can contact the Indigenous Environmental Network at 218/679-3959 for more information on the Network. For a copy of the IFMAT report, contact the Program Manager, Intertribal Timber Council, 4370 NW Halsey St., Portland, OR 97213 (phone: 503/282-4926; fax: 503/282-1274). --------- "RE: Indian Caravan En Route to Chiapas" --------- Date: Wed, 18 May 1994 23:55:07 -0500 (EDT) From: gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo) Subj: Indian caravan en route to Chiapas Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) /* Written 3:52 pm May 15, 1994 by nsn@igc.apc.org in reg.mexico */ PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY INDIAN PEACE CARAVAN TO CHIAPAS PO BOX 73 * REDWOOD VALLEY, CA 95470 (707)485-8723/(707)485-1247(fax) May 14, 1994 For immediate and continuous release Contact: Catalina Spenser (602)325-5668 Betty Ball (707)468-1660 On Monday, May 9, 1994, northern California Pomo Indians, led by Pomo elder Delma Eyle of the Coyote Valley Indian Reservation, Maidu- Pomo elder Norma Knight of the Round Valley Indian Reservation, and Pomo Indian Priscilla Hunter, tribal administrator of the Coyote Valley Indian Reservation, Commissioner with the Native American Heritage Commission of California, and Board member of the International Indian Treaty Council, began their 4,300 mile journey to Chiapas Mexico. The Indian Peace Caravan to Chiapas is carrying humanitarian aid and prayers to be delivered to the Mayan Indian people, Indian nation to Indian nation. "During this caravan it has been shown to me that this is not only about bringing aid from one Indian nation to another, but that the Creator has opened a spiritual path that we travel from the north to the south, and from the west to the east, through Indian country," says Priscilla Hunter. "The bond that exists among Indian people is strengthened by prayers and spiritual ceremonies we share as we travel this path. When we arrive in Chiapas, we will meet and pray with the Mayan elders and deliver the prayers and traditional offerings from many Indian nations." We are scheduled to cross the border into Mexico on Tuesday, May 17th at Nogales, Arizona. The caravan has obtained advance approval for the passage of our medical supplies and computers into Mexico, and we had received assurance that our vehicles would be able to cross without incident into Mexico. Recent communications from the Mexican Embassy offices in Tucson, Arizona and the customs immigration office in Nogales indicate that despite this advance approval, there may be last minute interference with our passage. We are currently negotiating with the Mexican Embassy in Tucson to ensure our safe passage without impedance. The caravan is travelling at the invitation of the State Council of Indigenous and Campesino Organizations of the State of Chiapas, Mexico, a recently established coalition of over 280 indigenous and campesino organizations. Since the conflict began in that region in January of this year, over 20,000 Mayan Indians have become refugees, without shelter, adequate food or medical care. The caravan has collected over 700 pounds of medical supplies and clothing and blankets, which we will distribute to the Mayan people of Chiapas in villages and refugee camps. We have also collected eleven computers which we will distribute to indigenous organizations for use in their organizing for sovereignty and human rights for Indian people. Financial donations are being used to purchase food in Mexico which we will deliver to Mayan Indian villages in Chiapas. The caravan also includes Mel Lavato "Peshenaxii," member of the Pomo/Cupaneo nations, human rights attorneys Polly Montoya-Girvin and Carolyn Fershtman, videographer CheChe Martinez, mechanic Sal Eggleston, and activist Ronnie Solomon. We hope to be joined in Tucson by Joseph Leon, independent radio producer and host of Native Voices Radio. We said goodbye to our families and left from Coyote Valley Indian Reservation in Mendocino, California on Monday morning, May 9th. Our first stop was in San Francisco, where we were welcomed by the International Indian Treaty Council and the local community. Prayers and songs were offered for the success of the caravan and for peace for the Mayan Indians of Chiapas. That evening, we were hosted in Santa Cruz by the Central California Coast Indigenous Council and their supporters, who offered songs and prayers from the Indian people of that region. On Tuesday morning we continued on to Santa Barbara, where we picked up 600 pounds of medical supplies which were generously donated by Direct Relief International, a charitable organization which donates medical relief to areas where people are suffering. The caravan will deliver the medical supplies to the people of Chiapas. On Tuesday night, we visited with the Chumash nation on their land overlooking the Pacific Ocean. "Our prayers are strong and travel far," said Mona Sespe of the Chumash nation. "We pray for our brothers and sisters, the Mayan people." On Wednesday afternoon, we were welcomed by Native American students at Santa Monica College. That evening, we travelled to the ancestral land of the Tongva (Gabrieleno) people of Long Beach, located on the campus of California State University at Long Beach. Tongva Indians have been occupying the site of their ancient Puvungna village on the campus for over a year, and currently have obtained a court injunction to keep the University from unearthing the sacred burial sites of their ancestors. A ceremony was held at Puvungna, and Indian people from the Tongva nation, the Mayan nation, the Lakota nation, the Kogi nation of Bolivia, and the Onondaga nation, among others, offered their prayers for our safety, and for the Mayan people of Chiapas in this time of great suffering. We travelled on to the Pala Indian Reservation on Thursday, and on Friday the Peace and Dignity Coalition of San Diego held a gathering for the caravan at the historic Chicano Park location in that city. On Saturday, the caravan continues on to the Salt River Pima Maricopa Reservation outside Phoenix, and then to Tucson where we will be hosted by the Tucson Indian Alliance and the Southwest Film Institute. On Tuesday, May 17, the caravan will cross into Mexico at Nogales, Arizona. We will travel through Mexico, where we will be meeting with indigenous people and organizations, and accepting their prayers and gifts to carry to the Mayan people in Chiapas. We expect to arrive in Chiapas on May 24. The indigenous organizations there are planning a festival to welcome the caravan. We will spend a week meeting with organizations and learning about their work, and will travel to the villages and refugee camps to deliver the aid, and to pray with the elders of the Mayan nation. The caravan continues to accept financial donations, which will be wired ahead to us as we travel. All money raised will be used to cover expenses for the caravan, and to purchase food to deliver to villages and refugee camps. Donations are tax-deductible and should be made payable to "Rural Institute-IPCC" and mailed to Indian Peace Caravan to Chiapas, PO Box 73, Redwood Valley, CA 95470. --------- "RE: The Trail of Broken Dreams" --------- Date: Mon, 23 May 94 17:46:36 CDT From: astro.as.utexas.edu!curran (Dian Curran) Subj: The Trail of Broken Dreams Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) I may not speak for everyone here but I do not subscribe to NATNET to get preached at by someone who wants to cram their religion down our throats. We (I speak for my family and friends) have struggled hard to maintain our culture and the parts of our religion which haven't been snuffed out by the church. My family speak of times where the preachers would come to our villages with disease infected blankets in order to kill off the adults and then seize our children and raise them in a foreign culture. My father was taken from his parents (I know this story is familiar to many of you- this message is directed at that idiot who preached at all of us) and put into a "Christian" home where he was severely abused. I am quite happy to reclaim my heritage and practice the religion of my ancestors and have no intention of cramming it down anyone else's throat. My friends and family have been oppressed many years by Christians who have been a major source of the genocide of my people. Many of us have alcoholic families and a history of suicidal tendencies but are now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It angers me intensely to hear someone who thinks the only way out of the oppression which has been put on us is to deny our hearts and join the group who is most responsible for our pain. I am not saying that we should leave the cities and live as we did (although I have heard some people on this NET who feel this is a good thing to do-I wish the best to you) but I do feel that there is something very important in our culture and religions that are worth preserving. --------- "RE: D-Q University" --------- Date: Sun, 22 May 1994 22:14:26 -0700 (PDT) From: "Jose M. Prado" Subject: D-Q University Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- | Date: Fri, 20 May 1994 09:38:00 MST | From: Teresa Marquez | To: Multiple recipients of list CHICLE | Subject: D-Q University | | Date: Thu, 19 May 94 18:29:56 PDT | From: Jeff Paul D-Q University, the Indian & Chicano university located near Davis, Ca. is in peril. The Acting President of the University recently called upon the sheriff to arrest students for having a meeting... The Student Committee of the Coalition for the Preservation of D-QU had been invited to meet with D-Q U's American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). Fortunately no students were arrested. The deputy arrived on campus, met with the students and politely asked, "What can we do to resolve this situation?" The deputy was informed that the meeting would adjourn in five minutes as the students had to return to classes at 1 p.m. He quickly left and thanked the students and wished them good luck. Why did the Acting President feel compelled to call the sheriff to arrest the students? The previous week D-Q U's Student Body Government hosted an informational forum to ask the D-Q U Board of Trustees about the crisis at university. Please encourage the State Attorney General to reinstate former President Carlos Cordero and remove the Board of Trustees. Send your support to: The Coalition for the Preservation of D-Q University 1411 W. Covell Blvd. #106 Box 221 Davis, Ca. 95617 Fax only: 916 756 - 0227 --------- "RE: Gambling Clayoquot's Fate" --------- Date: Sat, 21 May 1994 23:17:02 -0600 (MDT) From: Gary Armstrong Subj: B.C. Natives GAMBLING CLAYOQUOT'S FATE! Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) I believe this article will have some interest to aboriginal and non-aboriginal readers/writers on the internet. If you have any questions concerning this article you can email to: gary@intlan.ampr.ab.ca or snail mail to: NUXALK NATION GOVERNMENT P.O. BOX 8, BELLA COOLA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA V0T-1C0 Telephone:(604) 799-5376 ================================================================== PERMISSION GRANTED FROM ALBERTA NATIVE NEWS PAPER TO REPRODUCE =================== THIS ARTICLE. FROM VOL.11, #4, APRIL, 1994. ================================================================== Message from the Hereditary Chiefs of the Nuxalk Nation, Nuximlayc, Quatsinos, Slicxwliqw, Liciwlmutusayc GAMBLING CLAYOQUOT'S FATE! ========================== On Dec, 10, 1993; the Nuu-Nulth Tribal Council somehow talked their Hereditary Chiefs into signing a 1.2 million dollar agreement with the British Columbia Provincial government. This allows MacBlo to continue logging in Clayoquot sound. This is understandable yet heart wrenching to see the fight, to protect this rainforest, dwindle. It seems the unestablished government is being successful at pacifying the voice of the "INDIAN." Especially in an area that has gained International Respect and Recognition. In this agreement they've decided that they want to use "sustainable" logging practices!! This term is so general that it leaves it vulnerable to change. It seems to us, that any development for financial economical gain is both self-destructive and suicidal. This Harcourt government is in a major Conflict of Interest!! Not only because they have jumped in bed and secured 50 million dollars worth of shares with MacBlo, but also because of the Interim agreement with the Nuu-chah-nulth People. This agreement, we see, is more to protect their regimes own self-interest in Clayoquot Sound. This leaves the dedicated environmentalists in such a delicate position to protect this special wilderness. We give them all our support and confidence to win, in this battle against the Eco- Industrial Movement. NOW the Nuu-chah-nulth realize they didn't get all they wanted through this agreement. What they wanted was to take part in the management of the area. Now they are only an ADVISORY COMMITTEE to this process!! There will be an international movement to get the Province to shed a little light on all the good they are doing for the "INDIAN." Telling people around the world they have now resolved the issue in Clayoquot Sound and that they plan to proceed with logging plans. Can everyone not see that the land is going to provide for all we need to survive inn the future? If so, then let's look at Clayoquot Sound with a different perception. A positive view that the land will provide all of our children with the nourishment of water, air, wildlife, vegetation and all we need. This is all we need and NOTHING MORE!! If other individuals would like to forward this article to other groups on the internet feel free to do so. ________________________________________________ Regards, Gary gary@itnlan.ampr.ab.ca or garmstro@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca ________________________________________________