Subject: nanews02.031 From: gars@netcom.com (Gary Night Owl) To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Message-ID: _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 02, ISSUE 031 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 30 July 1994 O o O O o O K A N O H E D A A N I Y V W I Y A O ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) This issue contains articles from NATIVE-L and NATCHAT Mailing Lists, Usenet alt.native Newsgroup, FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference, UUCP e-mail, and by members of the Invisible Band. <----<<<< >>>>----> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters 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. "I was born upon the prairie where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures and where everything drew a free breath." "I want to die there, not within walls." __ Ten Bears, Yamparika Comanche +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! I have been asked by a brother to include the Tsalagi name for this newsletter in the banner. I am proud to do so. - Dohiyi oginalii I would welcome words of any other Native American tongue to say "News of The People" to also include in the banner. The English translation has been moved below, where it belongs. At one time buffalo filled the great plains as far as the eye could see. This great one gave food, shelter, tools and a great spirit to the lives of the northern and southern plains Nations. At one time antelope ran across desert sands faster than the wind. This fast one gave food, shelter, tools and a great spirit to all who lived well in a place the Europeans thought desolate. At one time all people of Turtle Island lived in harmony and balance with Mother Earth. The buffalo and antelope are slowly returning. We must all do what we can to return balance and harmony and make this a good place for these four leggeds to return to. 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 ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- Part A: FidoNet, Usenet and e-mail Part B: NATCHAT and NATIVE-L lists - AICAP Update - Conferences and Powwows - online - University of Oklahoma Incident - Indian Country Today/anti-AIM - Indigenous Peoples' Day - Peltier Article - News from Oneida - Anger over Peltier - White Man's Road - Comments on Peltier Case - No Respect for Democracy - Last Great Wilderness - Poem: Red-tipped White Feather - World Bank Policy - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ------------ --------- "RE: AICAP Update" --------- Date: 21 Jul 1994 19:46:51 -0500 From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Subj: AICAP Update Newsgroup: alt.native Greetings: THIS IS AN AICAP UPDATE I express my sincere sense of relationship to those of you who have sent your kind comments and support for the continuation of the various AICAP postings here. We hope so too. This is a good place to sing. A grand place to see if what is real is really here! For now, we cannot afford to receive alt.native, but apparently (if this gets through) we can POST to alt.native by way of a server utility in Texas, using e-mail messages only. We can still afford e-mail and will be calling in on SUNDAYS once to get and send mail and once (later) to send replies. I hope that the events which create these positive singings will allow us to continue. The elders who support this modest project have said all along that for it to succeed it must attract people who believe in it enough to share and to help; there is a spiritual and real world balance in seeing energy move in two directions, and so the feedback and support from a gracious and brave few of you is a precious confirmation and sincerely appreciated. Notice: I will be visiting some of these tribal elders from 7 july to 17 july. We were really hoping to somehow get a laptop for that trip, so that we could provide some hands on demonstrations to some very interested native peoples. If anyone out there can pull it off, we would gladly trade some very desirable and equal value art for a good 486-class ms-dos computer laptop!!!!!! Turtle Heart AICAP (20 July) -- Turtle Heart turtle@soft21.s21.com (Ahnishinabeg) American Indian Computer Art Project BBS 619-374-2100 Land of Kaw-ii-su ancestor: Land of Light --------- "RE: University of Oklahoma Incident" --------- Date: Jul-21-94 14:44:12 From: Saitmonte (saitmonte@f59.n147.z1.fidonet.org) Subj: INCIDENT AT OKLAHOMA UNIVERSITY FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma University of Oklahoma interim President J.R. Morris on Wednesday issued a public apology to American Indian students regarding a March 14 incident in which drunken, streaking white fraternity members urinated on a painted Kiowa Tipi during American Indian Heritage Week. But at least one Indian activist said the apology isn't enough. Morris said in his apology, "We do, indeed, deeply regret the unacceptable behavior of the students that evening and we do apologize to the American Indian students, particularly for the unfortunate impact that event had on American Indian Heritage Week." Six members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity have been reprimanded for violating student codes, but the university did not release their names or conditions of their punishment. American Indian Student Association President Stephen Selkirk, 24, a member of the Kiowa Tribe, is now in his 23rd day of fasting in protest of the OU administrative handling of the incident. Selkirk was one of five Indian students in the tipi when it was desecrated by the fraternity members. But American Indian activist Lee Hester, also a philosophy professor at Oklahoma City University, said Wednesday the blanket apologies "do not cut the mustard." Hester was one of about five American Indians who interrupted a closed meeting Tuesday afternoon at Evans Hall between nine Oklahoma tribal leaders and Morris. "We are committed to having a campus environment that enhances the learning and living experiences of all students, and I am prepared to begin the process of defining issues and addressing concerns," Morris said. But Hester said OU officials reached an agreement with the Indian students who had been in the tipi March 14 that the university would "vigorously pursue criminal actions against the fraternity." but his provision has not been acted on, he said. "American Indians view this as another broken treaty," Hester said. Hester said an American Indian rally is planned at noon today on the north oval outside Evans Hall. The original tipi in the incident will be erected on Parrington Oval, in the center of OU Campus. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=- [CyberZone]: TALK ABOUT BEING TIPI'D OFF! --- VFIDO 6.20.00 Gamma Candidate 10 Origin: -=} CyberZone {=- (1:147/59) --------- "RE: Indigenous Peoples' Day" --------- Date: 22 Jul 94 00:06:11 GMT From: milo@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Michele Lord) Subj: Indigenous Peoples' Day Newsgroup: alt.native PRESS RELEASE.....FOR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION ANNUAL COLUMBUS DAY ALTERNATIVE BUILDS SUPPORT This year, tribal cultural and activist groups from the coast of Virginia to the Hawaiian Islands have come out in support of a Columbus Day alternative, called "Indigenous Peoples Day, " (and suggest an "Italian Achievement Day" to replace the defunct "Day of Discovery." The International Indian Treaty Council, which got the city of Berkeley to Officially endorse the alternative celebration, represents over one hundred North and South American tribal groups. The Council of Energy Resource Tribes, based in Denver, represents over forty tribal groups and has declared their planning a celebration this October holiday weekend. The North American Information & Trade Center network, based in Arizona, has also joined the bandwagon. The All Indian Pueblo Council, one of the oldest unmoved civilizations in the Americas, based in New Mexico, also offers its encouragement and support in a demonstration of solid solidarity second to none. As a result of involvement in this action leaders of the Cree Nation have invited the promoter and founder of American Citizens Together, Barry Finnbar Keaveney, to speak to them for four days! THIS IS THE GREATEST UNITY OF AMERICAN INDIANS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS AND ALLIES SINCE BEFORE OR AFTER THE EUROPEAN INVASIONS. The Unitarian-Universalist Association is solidly working on this action, from coast to coast. The Quakers are buzzing all around it. Pax Christi, AIM magazine, and scores of other activist groups have rallied to this cause, including Amnesty International, who will be conducting an "Indigenous Peoples Day of Action." All this establishes a new cornerstone in our American history, that cannot be stopped and will do no good to deny. This is the leverage point that challenges the lies and rolls them away. This challenges and changes the roots of our American identities. WORDS CAN OFTEN GO IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER, OR PEOPLE JUST CHANGE THE CHANNELS AS THEY TRY TO HANG ONTO THEIR O.J. MYTHS: but this is not just words: CHALLENGING A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IS REAL AND DRAMATIC ACTION! American Citizens Together, which made international news about this in 1992, asks you to now give this new national unity the fair coverage and attention it deserves. This action challenges the charades of conquest, lies, and exploitation from where they began, from the day of discovery, and makes it clear they will no longer be tolerated, in the past or present, no more, never again. For more information contact: A.C.T. (American Citizens Together) P.O. Box 1036 Bisbee, AZ 885603 (602) 432-3660 [Alpha Institute has no e-mail connection with A.C.T. Please contact them at the address above. Thank you. -Michele] ~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*+ "When we walk upon Mother Earth, we always plant our feet carefully because we know the faces of our future generations are looking up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them." -Oren Lyons, Onondaga Nation ~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~* milo@scicom.alphacdc.com Michele Lord Alpha Institute +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ --------- "RE: News from Oneida" --------- Date: Wed, 27 Jul 1994 13:11:05 -0400 From: "Oneida Indian Nation of NY" Subj: News from the Oneida Nation of NY UUCP e-mail Please post this news release. Thank you. NEWS FROM THE ONEIDA INDIAN NATION OF NY IN THE NEWS: HALBRITTER TESTIFIES-Nation Representative Ray Halbritter testified at a hearing Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs concerning proposed amendments to the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. He was one of 13 tribal leaders heard by the Committee. He stressed themes of empowerment, sovereignty, and avoidance of unnecessary regulation where gaming run by Indian sovereigns is concerned. GROUNDBREAKING-The Nation's leadership broke ground for the new 250-room hotel at TURNING STONE CASINO Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after, they gathered into the casino lobby to cut the cake marking TURNING STONE'S one-year anniversary, joined by 300 or so casino and area guests and employees. CHILD SAFETY-The Nation Police Department finger-printed a record 487 children at last week's "Community Appreciation Day." The free program teaches children to avoid abduction, and also gives parents useful information they can present to law enforcement officials if an abduction takes place. --------- "RE: White Man's Road" --------- Date: Jul-22-94 17:36:54 From: Saitmonte (saitmonte@f59.n147.z1.fidonet.org) Subj: WHITE MAN'S ROAD FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference (An anecdote selected from Life Among the Indians, history written by Thomas Battey prior to 1875 about life on the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Reservation. Thomas Battey was a Quaker, and the First Indian Agent for the United States Government) In the summer of 1871, Caddo George, having had a field made, raised corn to sell. He accordingly went to Shirley, the trader, and contracted his corn, and was furnished with a corn-sheller to shell it, and sacks to put it in. In due time the corn was delivered, which from some cause weighed unusually heavy. George, however, was paid in goods, at a heavy price, corresponding with the weight of the corn. When the sacks were emptied - which was not done for some days - a large stone was found in the middle of each sack, fully accounting for the greater weight of the corn. George was called to account by the trader, when he acknowledged to putting stones in the sacks. He stated that, having started on the white man's road, he thought it a pretty good road, and was anxious to follow it up. He accordingly watched the white men in order to learn it well. The trader had cheated him a great deal, and he thought it was part of the white man's road, and he would try and cheat him just a little. The logic was good, and as George had been paid, the trader could recover nothing, and had to consider the explanation satisfactory. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=- [CyberZone]: INDIAN LOGIC HARD TO BEAT IN CORN DEAL! --- VFIDO 6.20.00 Gamma Candidate 10 Origin: -=} CyberZone {=- (1:147/59) --------- "RE: No Respect for Democracy" --------- Date: 20 Jul 1994 23:26:57 -0400 From: bouf@CAM.ORG (Louis Hamann) Subj: no respect for democracy Newsgroup: alt.native It is regrettable to see the lack of respect the Coalition Pour Nitassinan has shown for the basic principles of democracy. On June 13th 1994, the people of Uashat-Maliotenam were asked to vote on a compensation deal with regards to Hydro-Quebec's SMIII hydroelectric project. When the results were tallied, 53% of the people who voted had agreed to go ahead with the proposed project, in effect favoring $66 million and 900 jobs over the status quo of 75% unemployment. Much controversy preceded this referendum including a 17-day blockade of a road to the dam site and fifteen arrests. But in the end, the people of this Montagnais reserve 900 kilometres northeast of Montreal had, through a fair and democratic process, spoken their mind on this very delicate issue. Since the vote, however, the Coalition Pour Nitassinan, a group of Montagnais traditionalists comprising about 10% of the reserve's population, has continued to obstruct the project vowing not to stop fighting until it is cancelled. Among other things, this marginal coalition has failed to recognize the authority of elected chief Elie-Jacques Jourdain and his band council, and is planning to rely on U.S. environmental groups to finance their cause. This lack of respect for a perfectly fair and legal democratic procedure is, to say the least, very disturbing. Indeed, the Coalition's rhetoric is unfortunate considering the majority's decision to go ahead with the deal. -fairness --------- "RE: Poem: Red-tipped White Feather" --------- Date: 1 Jul 1994 14:57:10 -0400 From: karenle@aol.com (KarenLe) Subj: poem: Red-tipped White Feather Newsgroup: alt.native red-tipped white feather carefully placed rings of courage in jet black hair circle the neck of reflects the warrior. sister sun's his nation builds upon early morning greeting his gallantry... bold stroke of pride panther-like body reveals bravery; demonstrates lovingly demonstrated ebony prowness; upon fields of blood agility and strength flows fluently unwillingly provided from he by Mother Earth; who fights for she turns her freedom... sorrow inward... honor fuses passion reminders of and justice to soul; battles long ago won forever sealing or lost; opportunity to crown the fortunate few destiny for the fortunate few flushed tips bellow who wear the from the brilliant plume of snowiness; fearlessness...... "I am strong; I have seen death and survived" --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" --------- Date: 94/07/24 16:07 From: Kepola (dfsanders@genie.geis.com) Subj: A HAWAI'IAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of July 31-August 6. GE Electronic Mail A HAWAI'IAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of July 17-23. IULAI (July) (Hinaiaeleele) 31 The clouds lie upon the mountaintops like sleepy children. AUKAKE (August) (Mahoe-mua) August was the season when the ohia fruit ripened abundantly. 1 All are strangers when they come here, until the spirit of this land claims their hearts. 2 Life is the only true magic. 3 The summer sunlight is rich honey poured upon the flowers. 4 To hear the bright laughter of even one child's joy is to hear the world. 5 Through music, we are most nearly ourselves. 6 Your spirit will lead you to those you were meant to know. (c) Copyright 1991 by D. F. Sanders Me ke aloha i ka nani, ... Moe'uhanekeanuenue (With love and beauty, ... Rainbow Dream) --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - offline" --------- Date: Thu, 28 July 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= From: BILL MARTELL Peshabestown Pow Wow Anishnabek Traditional August 20 & 21 Peshabestown, MI 20 miles north of Traverse City in beautiful Leelanau county info. (616) 271-5256 Camp Cadillac Pow Wow Anishnabek Traditional July 30 & 31 Cadillac, MI 2 Mi east of town on Boon Rd info. (616) 775-9724 From: murphy@warp6.cs.misu.NoDak.edu Please be informed of the following dates for pow wows in the state of North Dakota. I should have gotten these to you sooner, but just received the information this past week. August 11-14 Fort Yates Pow Wow, Ft Yates, ND August 12-14 Little Shell Pow wow, New Town,ND August 27 Sixth Annual Traditional Pow wow, Jamestown,ND September 1-4 Ni-Mi-Win Pow wow, Belcourt,ND September 8-11 United Tribes Pow wow, Bismarck,ND NOTE: This is the big one, folks!!!! This is the 25th Anniversary and will honor the founder of the tribes days. September 17-18 Harvest Pow wow, West Fargo,ND November 11 Veterans Day Pow wow, Belcourt,ND December 31 New Years Eve Sobriety Pow wow, Belcourt,ND July 30 - 31 2nd Annual Saginaw Valley Indian Assoc. Powwow Bay City, MI Info: 517-684-1399 July 30-Aug 1 34th Annual Wikwemikong Indian Day Powwow Manitoulin Island, ONTARIO, CANADA Info: 705-859-2385 July 29-31 3rd Annual Grand Celebration, Hinckley, MN (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe & Grand Casinos Inc.) Info: 1-800-472-6321 July 30-31 Queens, NY at the Queens County Farm Museum Info: 1-718-347-FARM July 30-31 Annual Apsqe Powwow Westford, MA Info: 1-617-88404227 July 30-31 3rd Annual Rising Water-Falling Water Powwow And Festival Richmond, VA Info: 1-804-769-1018 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, 28 July 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 listserv groups= Subject: Chehalis Pow-Wow, Aug. 5 Original Sender: Pablo Bellon ____________________________________________________________________ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CHEHALIS TRIBAL SUMMER YOUTH PROGRAM IS HOSTING THEIR 3rd ANNUAL MINI POW-WOW, AUGUST 5, '94 Chehalis Reservation, Oakville, WA Lunch - 11 am GRAND ENTRY - 1 pm For more information contact: Elaine Sutterlict 459-0825 home Karen Klatush 273-8177 home _____________________________________________________________________ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Original Sender: John Burrows Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Coalition in Solidarity with Indigenous People of Chiapas ITINERARY FOR CSIPC CHIAPAS CARAVAN updated 7/24/94 Contact Lucia Lopez for more information: Voice: 206-352-6342 Fax: 206-352-8526 July 24 Sun. 5:00 PM Leave Olympia -- Portland (3 hrs.) July 25 Mon. 9:00 AM Portland: Press Conference, Silent Auction and Lunch 1:00 PM Leave Portland -- Eugene (3 hrs.) 5:00 PM Eugene: Press Conference Reception Dinner Stay Night July 26 Tue. 5:00 AM Leave Eugene -- Ashland (3.5 hrs) 8:30 AM Ashland Breakfast Leave Ashland -- Sacramento Arrive late to Sacramento, Stay Night July 27 Wed. 9:00 AM Sacramento: Press Conference, Fund Raiser 1:00 PM Leave Sacramento -- San Francisco (3 hrs.) 4:00 PM Arrive San Francisco 6:00 PM Dinner and Fundraiser Stay night in San Francisco July 28 Thur. Time TBA San Fran Press Conference Donation Collection * Medicine pick-up in Santa Cruz (Contact Lucia Lopez for more information 206-352-6342) Stay night San Francisco July 29 Fri. 5:00 AM Leave San Francisco -- Albuquerque Drive Drive Drive! -- Goal: Albuquerque by late on 30th July 30 Sat. Stay night in Albuquerque July 31 Sun. Time TBA Albuquerque: Press Conference, Fundraiser Leave Albuquerque --Austin Aug. 1 Mon. Time TBA Austin -- Final Preparations in U.S. Aug. 2 Tue. Time TBA Austin -- Meal and Fund Raising Aug. 3 Wed. Afternoon leave Austin -- McAllen, Texas Aug. 4 Thur. *Border Crossing at McAllen* Aug. 5 Fri. Travel through Mexico to Ciudad Victoria, Mante, or Ciudad de Valles Aug. 6 Sat Mexico, D.F: Reception, Dinner Stay night Aug. 7 Sun Mexico, D.F: Press Conference Aug. 8 Mon Veracruz: Reception Stay night Aug. 9 Tue Matias Romero Aug. 10 Wed San Cristobal ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// John Burrows, Executive Director jburrows@halcyon.com Center For World Indigenous Studies The Quarto Mundista BBS Finger for more info on CWIS & FWDP Fido Net 1:352/333 206/786-9629 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ --------- "RE: Indian Country Today/anti-AIM" --------- Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 10:04:19 EDT From: iss1.com!owlmed (Sam Gentile) Subj: Indian Country Today/anti-AIM perspectives Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) As far as I am concerned he has every right to have any opinion he wants about AIM. That's his business. What I object very strongly about is the complete fantasy and lies he prints in his paper about the Wounded Knee paper. To sit there and claim that Dick Wilson was wonderful and did all these good things is to ignore the facts about his Goon Squads, his selling of a big part of the Reservation while the Peltier incident was going on, etc. To claim that they investigated AIM's statements about 300 traditionals being killed and saying that they can't find any except a few that dies from being drunk is a complete and utter lie. What about Annie Mae? What about the self-admitted statements by Duane Brewer and other Goons that they were outfitted with armor-piercing bullets given by the FBI (see In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse PBS special - his interview)? That's what I object to and why I terminated my subscription immediately after that fantasy issue. A paper has the responsibility to print the truth the best that I can. And that issue showed to me and many others who canceled their subscription that they are very biased and will not print the facts in certain matters. It's true that there are both types of opinions of AIM. I am not a member or affiliated with them, so maybe someone from AIM can comment? What I'd like to say is that the "trouble" on Pine Ridge happened long (years) before AIM got there. Traditionals got awful sick of having their houses shot up and people killed and Wilson's goons. So, in desperation, Frank Fool's Crow and traditional Grandmothers asked for AIM's assistance out of sheer desperation and fear. It was becoming an oppressive and fearful place to live. Now, if you were a "hang around the fort", non-traditional you wanted to keep the status quo. Only those in Pine Ridge, there were mixed-bloods got all the jobs and aid money under his leadership. Those traditionals in the outlying districts got nothing. Many of the traditionals and even non-traditionals on Pine Ridge are very thankful to AIM for helping to save the community while many others are still very angry and call them trouble-makers. For me, my statements were more about the lies and denials of reality printed in that issue. Young Owl Hatching --------- "RE: Peltier Article" --------- Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 19:12:00 EDT From: infi.net!jsd (Jordan S. Dill) Subj: Peltier Article (by Peter Matthiessen) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) I've been looking for this transcript for some time. Am thinking that others might find it relevant: Matthiessen, Peter. Who really killed the F.B.I. men; new light on Peltier's case. (Leonard Peltier, American Indian Movement leader) Nation v252, n18 (May 13, 1991):613 (4 pages). COPYRIGHT The Nation Company Inc. 1991 In the spring of 1983, two months after the publication of my book In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, the publisher, Viking Press, and I-and also some South Dakota booksellers-were sued for libel by former Governor William Janklow for $24 million. In January 1984, the publisher, attorney Bruce Ellison and I were sued by Special Agent David Price of the F.B.I.for $25 million, or $49 million in all. Since Price had assured me in our lengthy interview for the book that he never made a move without the approval of his superiors, and since an F.B.I. agent's salary could never pay for the very expensive attorneys he retained, it was assumed that the F.B.I. itself had sponsored his suit in order to lend some sort of credibility to the suit by Janklow (who was already suing Newsweek on related grounds), and that both suits were intended mainly as chastisement and harassment as well as a means of keeping the book out of circulation. Eight years of litigation and eight court decisions, all the way to the United States Supreme Court, have borne out the original opinion of Viking's attorneys that the book was free of libel. The main victim of these intimidation suits has been Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement leader and the subject of the book, who was deprived of his main organizing tool in his fight for justice. Peltier is still in prison,convicted of murdering two F.B.I. agents in a shoot-out near Wounded Knee,South Dakota, in 1975. He has yet to be granted a new trial, despite court findings that the government withheld evidence favorable to him that casts a strong doubt on the government's case." * In the past year, my own belief that Peltier is innocent has been strengthened by different evidence altogether. In February 17, 1990, in a small house in the Pacific Northwest, I was talking with Peltier's cousin Bob Robideau when he lifted his gaze to acknowledge someone behind me who had quietly entered the room. A small, husky figure passed us without a word and slipped into a chair against the wall. The man was faceless in a dark blue woolen hood pulled all the way down to the collar of a black windbreaker. Opaque black glasses covered his eyes and black gloves hid his hands; excepting a long strand of raven hair that fell from beneath the hood, the only parts of him that were exposed were his nose and a small line of brown-olive skin bared at the wrist. It was this man who, on June 26, 1975, killed F.B.I. agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler on the Pine Ridge Reservation. In the summer of 1988, disturbed that Leonard Peltier had already spent thirteen years in prison for the agents' killings, with no end in sight, "X" had come to Robideau and offered the latter permission to name him as the killer to the F.B.I. However, he said, he felt no guilt and did not believe he deserved to go to prison, and if subpoenaed would deny that he had done it. Robideau might have agreed to this proposal if he'd thought it would help Peltier, but he knew that Leonard's conviction for "aiding and abetting" would not be overturned even if the authorities could be convinced that another man had pulled the trigger. I asked Bob how he could be so sure that this man was not lying, and Bob said simply,"I saw him do it'" Robideau, Peltier and Darrelle (Dino) Butler had known for fifteen years who killed the agents, but because X had been on a mission for the AIM group on that hot June day, and because the F.B.I.agents had provoked the fatal shootout, they agreed with X that no crime had been committed. (Robideau and Butler were acquitted in a separate trial.) In a deep whispery voice-the hood looked bulked by something wrapped around his mouth-X told me how Peltier and Butler had requested that he bring explosives from Rapid City to their camp for use in making hand grenades and other weapons. ("We learned at Wounded Knee," he said, referring to the armed standoff between AIM and the government two years earlier, "that explosives keep 'em at a respectful distance.") On the morning of June 26, with the explosives loaded into a friend's, pickup truck, he headed south, then east across the reservation. As the* passed the large water tank at Oglala Housing, they noticed two late-model cars that turned onto the country road and followed them eastward toward the Jumping Bull farm. X and his partner turned off into the westernmost of the several long dirt roads onto the property, and as they neared June Little's cabin, they saw the two strange cars turn off and follow them onto the farm-no longer a working farm but a group of shacks and cabins strung out along a bluff that overlooks a lower pasture and corral and thick woods leading down to White Clay Creek. Seeing the cars, X and his partner waved to June Little and kept going, following a grass track over the bluff and down the hill into the pasture and uphill again to a Y fork in the farm road. There they stopped, not wishing to lead the unknown cars down to the AIM camp in the river woods or back uphill into the Jumping Bull community off to the east of the Little cabin. "We were naturally apprehensive because we could have received a ten-year sentence for illegal possession and/or transport of explosives-I usually made these deliveries at night-and we couldn't be certain who these people were." Since Indian autos are rarely new, they already supposed that these were white men, whether law-men or rancher vigilantes they did not know. The pursuing cars came down the long and muddy farm road from the highway and paused at the Little cabin, where one driver was seen to speak briefly to June Little, after which, a little faster now, they came lurching down the hill and across the pasture. "We decided to stop and confront the situation; we had to deal with them." X and the driver got out of the red pickup, holding semiautomatic rifles. "There were AR-15s all over the Res, after Wounded Knee," he said. "We never raised those guns-I been around enough to know that pointing a gun is considered to be assault-but we wanted 'em to see weapons, as a warning, cause we were on Indian property now, and we weren't going to let'em chase us around. Anyway, when they saw those guns, they stopped immediately." The two cars halted in the middle of the lower pasture, one behind the other, and two white men got out and took weapons from their trunks. "Then one of 'em raised his weapon to his shoulder, and we jumped behind the truck, and when he fired, we responded with a burst over their heads." I asked X if he was certain the strangers had fired first, since the rumor was that the Indians had opened fire with a warning shot. He shook his head. "There was no reason for us to fire first. We had a truck full of explosives. The very last thing we wanted was a firefight." He acknowledged that the white man might not have fired toward the pickup, and that the shot might have been some sort of signal. At the racketing of gunfire, armed Indians appeared out of the cabins. "There was others got into it, I don't know who. At first it was just covering fire so people in the cabins could get away, just like Wounded Knee. We could have killed lawmen at Wounded Knee if we had wanted to." While this first exchange was taking place, the men at the AIM camp by the White River were grabbing their guns and running uphill, still some distance away. With bullets flying, X and his partner jumped back into the pickup and drove it up behind the cabins, where they quickly unloaded the boxes of explosives from the bed. By this time, though they didn't know it, the men and young boys from the AIM camp had joined the fight, having taken up positions on the bluff, whereas most of the Indians living in the Sabins had fled into the woods and across the fields. X and is partner drove the red pickup back toward June Little's cabin, planning to head out, but about that time, another car came onto the farm from the country road, and "we fired a few rounds at its tires to stop it where it was:' "Agent Adams," I said, and X just shrugged.) "We hung around a little while, trying to see what we could do to help. It was us those men had followed in here, and we thought we ought to 4#lp to get them out. At that point, we looked down at their cars and saw that both of 'em were out of commission." By now, both agents had been wounded. Their fire had subsided, as had the Indians, though sporadic shooting was taking place between the Indians behind the cabins and the lawmen beginning to gather on the country road. X decided that the only hope was to take hostages. "We wanted to stop the shooting quick, trade our way out of there:' Bob Robideau nodded, still mystified as to why the strangers, hopelessly outnumbered, had not retreated, or at least sought cover in the nearby woods that descended from the pasture to the river. The only conclusion seemed to be that they were expecting reinforcements, and, in fact, those reinforcements gathered swiftly. Within ten minutes, the lonely country road a half mile to the north was lined with cars, and soon the farm would be surrounded. "There was a terrific sense of hurry," X said. "The situation had to be resolved quickly." A few weeks earlier, when we met in Seattle, Bob had wondered why the two men in the red pickup came down the hill to take the agents hostage, since he and his partners were doing the same thing. "We had left the woods and were coming up on those cars from behind:' The next thing they knew, the red pickup was coming down the hill. He saw the man in the passenger seat and an AR-15 sticking out the window. Neither X nor his partner recalled seeing the three men sneaking across the pasture from the woods; they were concentrated on the two men by the cars. "Both of 'em looked like they were out of it"' X was saying. "I sure didn't expect any resistance." The red pickup drew up almost alongside and X jumped out with his AR-15. "One of 'em was sitting on the ground, leaning back against the car door with his rifle across his lap. He never moved but he didn't look dead, his eyes were open. The other was kneeling in the pasture grass a few feel away, bent over with both hands between his legs, rocking in pain, like he'd been kicked in the groin. I was about to say, Don't move and-you won't get hurt, something like that, but I never had time, because when he seen me, he made some kind of a grunt-maybe he cussed-and raised both hands, holding a handgun, and he fired at kind of an angle, down into the ground. Later I wondered if he fired prematurely, or even by mistake, but there wasn't time to figure things out because after he fired, he kept on coming up with that damned gun." And he never said anything?" "If he did, his voice was drowned out by his gun, and anything further was drowned out by mine. I only fired two or three rounds-him once and the other feller twice." X said after a pause, "I'm not a person who gets rattled easily. Just the opposite, in fact:' (Here I glanced at Robideau, who told me later, "What he said was true. He's not the kind to lose his head. This man was committed to our Indian struggle a long time before that, and he's still committed. He has really sacrificed for his beliefs.") "But I have quick reactions:' X was saying, "and I've always been good with a rifle, and, I wasn't going to give that guy a second shot. I never even raised my gun, I fired from the hip, because he was only a few feet away, it was point-blank range. The other one was armed and might be shooting, for all I knew, but I didn't even have time to think: I can't afford to take a chance. I swung around in the same motion, shot him, too:' It was revealed in the trials that the second man, Jack Coler, was already near death from loss of blood, but all X saw was a man sitting up, and the man was armed. "I didn't shoot those men because I was angry or nervous. I wasn't mad at them. I wasn't! If I'd wanted to kill them, I could have done that easily, from a safe distance, without risking danger in any way." In his distress, X was breathing heavily behind his hood. "I fired because I couldn't afford to wait for a second shot, from either one of them. If our positions had been reversed, he would have shot me, I know that much:' "So the other guy's eyes were open?" "Yes" "Was he looking at you?" "Yes." "But he never made a move of any kind." "No." X shifted unhappily. "I thought the first one was incapacitated, too, and he'd just shown he had the capacity to kill me. Shooting them was just fear and quick reaction, all in one motion- instantaneous, a split-second response." " It was self-defense, then. There was no element of anger? "I'm absolutely sure it was self-defense, though I understand why others might question that. Sure, I was apprehensive-partly apprehensive, partly calm, the way you are in combat. But I wasn't angry. We weren't fighting because we hated white people but because we loved our own. It was only later I felt angry. I thought, You stupid bastards, coming in there where you were warned there would be trouble, then starting a shoot-out with women and children in those cabins, and then not getting the hell out while you still could-you got yourselves killed, and got Joe Stuntz [an Indian] killed, and you spoiled the lives of so many good people!" X ran back to the red pickup, where his partner was "freaking" Remembering the man's terror, X shook his head. "The poor guy wasn't one of us, he wasn't a longtime AIMer or anything, he was just drawn into helping us by my enthusiasm. And here he was, mixed up with two dead bodies!" "I stayed over there by the green cabin till we went down to take hostages"' Bob reflected. "I never saw that red pickup at all until it was coming down the hill while we were sneaking up across the pasture." In Seattle he'd told me they were blocked by the agents' cars and couldn't see just what was happening: All we knew was, a few shots were fired, and the red pickup took off back up the hill and went on out of there:' But now he acknowledged he had recognized X as the man in the passenger seat. The red pickup went out past the Little cabin and left the property by the east road past Jumping Bull Hall. "There were already roadblocks on the paved road:' X said, but they weren't set up right. We were ready to shoot our way out, but nobody tried to stop us, and we went back to Rapid [City). I don't mean it was over for me. It isn't over for me even today. I stayed visible and I stayed active, and tried to avoid seeming paranoid." "Here you are in a friend's house, with another man who is in sympathy with your predicament, having to hide behind a hood like some sort of terrorist- how does that make you feel?"He shifted in his chair, and barely nodded. He said he had never gone underground- "I am hiding in the light"- but one way or another, since those few shattering seconds in that hot noontime sixteen years ago, he has been condemned for life to wear a mask. --------- "RE: Anger over Peltier" --------- Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 00:10:00 -0300 From: (anonymous) Subj: Anger over Peltier Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ I have been asked by the author of this article, for what seem to me to be "good reasons" to relay it without attribution, which I am doing. I don't in general want to encourage people to make requests to relay anonymous articles, but in this case I am doing so because I feel that it is important that we be able to get the perspective of someone who knows about some of these matters first hand. --Gary ] There have been several postings recently dealing with Leonard Peltier, including the Washington Post "FBI" ad, Peter Matthiessen's article - which pretty much seems to be an excerpt from the epilogue of the 1991 edition of his book _In the Spirit of Crazy Horse_ - and, now, James Roper's posting, to which I guess I am formally replying. I have asked Gary to post this anonymously because, well, a lot of my beliefs, understanding and feelings on this matter all began when I went to Wounded Knee in 1973. Needless to say, there were serious repercussions in my life, as there were in the lives of all people who fought there and/or continued in the struggle afterwards. Before launching into my tirade, I'd simply like to add a thought here. In focussing on Peltier's conviction for murder, people seem to have let the memory of Joe Stuntz Killsright, who was also killed during the Oglala firefight, slip by the wayside, as well as the murders of a lot of other people. AND IT IS PRECISELY THOSE MURDERS THAT MAKE IT CLEAR TO ME THAT LEONARD PELTIER AND THE OTHERS INVOLVED DID, IN FACT, ACT IN SELF-DEFENSE! Period! After reading the Washington Post article, though I was gritting my teeth, I wasn't not really shocked by what is in it. Maybe I'm getting cynical in my "old age," but this is the type of thing I've come to expect from the FBI. And this includes the supposed lack of reliable transcripts of FBI radio transmissions and their "misidentification" of a "Suburban-van-pickup truck" that was either "red" or "red and white" or "orange and white" or even rainbow colored, considering how reliable they are. Those [expletive deleted] KNEW then and still know what they're doing. During the mid- and late 70s, well, I don't know. Too many friends died, too many brothers and sisters went to jail, etc. for me to expect anything even slightly resembling the truth from the Federal Bureau of Intimidation. I guess what bothers me the most is that the majority of the American public still seems to regard the FBI as saints and heroes - which many of us know is simply not the case. And the very mention of targeting and death squad activity, either directly or promoted by a federal agency, is met with an incredulous "but that doesn't happen here." It does. When I mention these things to people in Latin America, they believe me - it has been part of their everyday experiences under military dictatorships of every stripe and color. In the States, no. Americans are naive. They want to believe that we are the "good guys" so badly that they refuse to recognize the truth when it slaps them in the face - or is staring up at them from the ground in the form of a body. And they ask me, us, "But they had guns, didn't they?" - as if we had relinquished the right to self defense. "But AIM was a violent group, wasn't it?" - as if we WANTED to go out and get shot at, wanted to bury our brothers and sisters, as if we had any alternative, other than to accept rolling over and dying or forgetting that we, like everyone else, were supposedly guaranteed basic rights by the Constitution, etc. The real tragedy is that Americans as a rule don't question official sources of information. People will read things like the Washington Post ad and swallow them hook, line and sinker. And where does that leave us? What do we do? I'd ask you, fellow NATCHAT subscribers to forgive me if I sound bitter but the Washington Post article made me angry and I've spent the last 20 years trying to deal with this very anger. Mitakuye oyasin. --------- "RE: Comments on Peltier Case" --------- Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 23:42:27 -0400 From: delphi.com!LHELLWI Subj: Comments on Peltier Case Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Couple comments on Leonard's case: The FBI doesn't archive the actual recordings of radio transmissions, the transmissions are transcribed and the transcriptions are archived. The radio transmissions between Coler and Williams were transcribed by Linda Price (wife of SA David Price). In the transcriptions regarding the description of the vehicle they were following, the transcription read "Red pickup truck". The FBI insisted that Ms Price had made a typographical error, or simply misheard the transmission. (Sure, a woman who helps support her family with her job is going to accidentally type "red pickup truck" instead of "red and white Scout." I make that mistake all the time.) In addition, the radio transmission s from the point the shooting started record either Coler or Williams as saying, "I'm hit!", in addition to saying that they were being fired upon. However, just because neither Agents Coler or Williams transmitted that they had fired on the vehicle doesn't mean that they didn't fire first. I'm not sure the agents would have radioed that information in if they did in fact shoot first. (The LPDC, and Leonard Peltier, generally state that no one knows who fired first. In truth, Leonard wasn't there to see the shootout start, so he has no first hand knowledge. X says the agents shot first. My own opinion is that, given the FBI's behavior during this time period, it's not too farfetched to believe that the agents shot first.) As for why X doesn't come forward...after Leonard's last appeal, the government did a major flip-flop. They admitted that they had no idea who killed those agents, nor did they have any evidence to prove that it was Leonard who did it. They went on to say that Leonard had been convicted of "aiding and abetting", both a short range and long range. This aiding and abetting stuff only surfaced after Leonard's 2nd appeal; prior to that the Government insisted, and the 8th Circuit Appellate Court concurred, that Leonard had been convicted of two counts first degree murder, NOT aiding and abetting. Since the government is now claiming that Leonard was guilty of aiding and abetting, there is nothing X can say or do that will get Leonard out of prison. He could stand on the steps of the Supreme Court and make a confession, and Leonard will still be in Leavenworth. Also, X believes that he was not guilty of first degree murder, but self-defense, and therefore no crime was committed. It's my impression, based on writings and conversations, that Leonard agrees with X. The fact that Bob Robideau and Dino Butler were found not guilty by reason of self defense is a fluke, and there's no way that X would receive the same verdict. Also, you can email the President at "PRESIDENT@WHITEHOUSE.GOV". Hope this helps! Lisa Hellwig, LPSG/McHenry County, IL --------- "RE: Last Great Wilderness" --------- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 21:25:00 GMT From: Last Great Wilderness Subj: ARCTIC REFUGE/LAST GREAT WILDERNESS Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ Please note the reference to the Gwich'in people of northern Alaska and Canada in this article. --Gary ] THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE-OUR LAST GREAT WILDERNESS The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is one of the last remnants of true wilderness left in America. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service points to the Arctic Refuge as "the only conservation system unit in North America that protects, in an undisturbed condition, the complete spectrum of arctic and subarctic ecosystems." Covering the northeastern corner of Alaska, the Arctic Refuge stretches from the Beaufort Sea, south across the coastal plain to the forests and peaks of the Brooks Range. The wildlife here is unique and abundant. Polar bears den on the arctic plains, musk-ox roam along glacial rivers, and wolves prowl the foothills. Grizzly bears stalk the open tundra. Dall sheep scale the mountain tops, and moose range in the Taiga Forest south of the mountains. Most notable of all, is a herd of 160,000 caribou known as the Porcupine herd, named after the Porcupine River. The caribou of the Porcupine herd migrate hundreds of miles annually between their wintering grounds and the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, where they give birth to their young every spring. Such a mass migration of animals has not been seen since the days when the buffalo roamed the Great Plains. This natural wonder deserves protection for future generations. THE HISTORY In 1960, President Eisenhower established the Arctic Wildlife Range, in recognition of the area's unparalleled scenic, wildlife, and recreational values. In 1980, Congress renamed the Arctic Wildlife Range the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and enlarged the Refuge to 19 million acres, most of the former Range a part of the Wilderness Preservation System. The only area left unprotected was the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service calls this stretch the heart of the Arctic Refuge because it is "the center of wildlife activity." Activists from all political persuasions are working to secure permanent protection for the coastal plain by encouraging Congress to designate the coastal plain as a wilderness area. H.R.39, a House bill, and S.39, a Senate bill, would grant wilderness protection to the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST - PUTTING THE FIRST PEOPLE FIRST Near the northern Yukon village of Old Crow, at Bluefish Cave, is the oldest evidence of human occupation in North America. For more than 20,000 years the Gwich'in people of northern Alaska and Canada have lived off the land. Countless generations have raised their children, and sustained themselves from their single most important resource-the Porcupine caribou herd. Their continued survival is a testament to their knowledge and ability to live in harmony with nature. Today the Gwich'in people in Alaska and northern Canada still follow a subsistence lifestyle. They live as their ancestors have, measuring their lives with the caribou. The Porcupine caribou herd sustains some 7,000 aboriginal people in northern Canada and Alaska. They rely on caribou meat for food and on the herd for learning the ways of their culture. For the Gwich'in, which means "caribou people," this animal is the spiritual center of life. Young men learn from their fathers and uncles how to hunt wisely and use all parts of the animal. Young women learn from their mothers and aunts how to preserve the meat and take care of the hides. Elders share their knowledge with their people, teaching them how to make valuable medicines and clothing from the caribou. Today the essentials of life, the values and social order of the Gwich'in depends upon nature's natural cycle, and the return of the caribou. For these people, the caribou must return each year forever. If the Porcupine caribou herd is disrupted, even for a few years, many people may have to leave their communities to survive, but skills that are invaluable on the land often do not translate into jobs in the city or in the oil fields. If this herd is at risk, an ancient culture is at risk. A way of life these people must pass on so their children and grandchildren may follow the ancestors of their cousins to the pages of history if the proposed oil and gas development places it's huge footprint on the Porcupine caribou herd's calving grounds. The clash over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge finds the Gwich'in people face to face with the consumptive demands of modern American society. The threat comes not from nature, but from a handful of people a world away. Decisions made in corporate boardrooms of the petroleum industry, and decisions pending in the chambers of Congress may have a devastating effect on these people. What is at stake is a way of life thousands of years old. Nonetheless, the lives, culture, and future of the Gwich'in people in this remote corner of the world are at risk for a possible 200 days of oil. THE THREAT The 125-mile-long coastal plain is the only remaining stretch of Arctic coastline spared from oil and gas leasing. More than 600 square miles of the oil-rich Prudhoe Bay region supports massive industrial infrastructure, and suffers from air and water pollution and hazardous waste problems. The wildlife habitat there is destroyed and polluted beyond repair. The oil industry believes that oil also lies underneath the Arctic Refuge's coastal plain and is urging Congress to allow them to drill there. However, there is less than a one-in-five chance that any economically recoverable oil exists on the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. Despite these odds, the oil industry and its supporters tout the Arctic Refuge as "another Prudhoe Bay." In actuality, according to Interior Department figures, there is only a 1-in-100 chance of a find that size in the Arctic Refuge. THE ALTERNATIVES We wouldn't flood the Grand Canyon to build a hydroelectric dam. We wouldn't plug Yellowstone's Old Faithful to tap its geothermal energy. Why should we irreparably harm this unique wilderness for a short-term supply of oil that wouldn't be available for another 10 years? There are other options and resources that can permanently reduce this country's dependence on oil. Rather than follow the oil industry's "drain America first" philosophy, concerned Americans support the safer and more long-lasting alternative of energy conservation. Greater energy efficiency and the increased use of renewable, non-polluting energy alternatives, such as solar power, wind power, will save this country much more oil than could ever be taken from the Arctic. Increased auto fuel efficiency alone would save enough oil to make drilling in the Arctic and other environmentally sensitive areas unnecessary. Simply raising the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for American car manufacturers from the current 27.5 mpg to 45 mpg (with a corresponding increase for light trucks) would save America 2.9 million barrels of oil a day. That's more oil than we import from the entire Persian Gulf. This would significantly reduce our country's reliance on foreign oil, thereby bolstering our economy and our national security. Raising auto fuel economy also would reduce air pollution and global warming pollution. Every gallon of gasoline burned pumps 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and cars and light trucks account for roughly 20% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing fuel economy is the biggest single step we can take to curbing global warming and saving oil. Saving energy, through increased fuel efficiency and the use of renewable energy resources would: * Provide a safe, clean, permanent way to increase national security. * Boost the nation's economy. * Reduce air pollution. * Slow global warming. * Protect the Arctic Refuge and other valuable wilderness areas that are part of our national heritage. THE COST OF INFLATION We don't normally think of tire inflation as an environmental issue, but it is. Keeping tires properly inflated preserves the life of the tires (preventing premature wear from over-flexing and overheating), and burns less gas. Right now, there are more than half a billion tires in use in the U.S. Estimates are that an inconceivable 50% to 80% of them are under-inflated. Since under-inflation can waste up to 5% of a car's fuel by increasing "rolling resistance," this means that more than 65 million car owners could significantly boost their cars' fuel efficiency by simply putting more air in their tires. How much gas could we save with this simple step, up to 2 billion gallons a year. It takes.one hundred five million barrels of crude oil per year to produce this much gasoline. The American Petroleum Institute claims the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge might produce as much as 250 thousand barrels of crude oil per day, that is about 105 million barrels per year, the same amount we could save annually by properly inflating our tires. So, the question is: Are, we willing to destroy the last complete ecosystem in North America, and risk yet another valuable native culture because we are too lazy to check the air in our tires? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To help protect the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or for more information contact: Lenny Kohm c/o The Last Great Wilderness P.O. Box 102 Todd, NC 28684 (910)877-1551 (voice & fax) EcoNet/Internet; lgw@igc.apc.org Doug Urquhart c/o Porcupine Caribou Management Board of Canada 61 13th. Ave. Whitehorse, Yukon Territory Canada Y1A 4K6 (403)633-4780 (voice & fax) --------- "RE: World Bank Policy" --------- Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 00:37:00 GMT From: Pratap Chatterjee Subj: ifc new info policy "dinosaur" like Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ENVIRONMENT: World Bank private sector policy to be reviewed by Pratap Chatterjee WASHINGTON, Jul 13 (IPS) - The World Bank has asked its private sector arm to review its regulations in a year to make sure a good balance exists between corporate and environment interests. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Bank arm that lends to the private sector, proposes to release assessments of loans with major environmental impacts two months before the loan is approved, if the borrowing government agrees. But activists and a number of the Bank's executive directors say the arrangement is out of step with Bank rules. The IFC, which presented its information policy to the Bank's board Thursday, argues that its work requires different policies because of the sensitive relationship it has with the private sector. Larry Williams, director of the international programme for the environmental group, Sierra Club, opposes the regulations. "It's a policy that is a throwback to the age of dinosaurs," he said. "Even the other parts of the World Bank itself have policies that allow for the release of these documents four months in advance," he told IPS. The Sierra Club wrote to the U.S. government requesting that it raise the matter at Thursday's meeting. The National Wildlife F ederation and a prominent U.S. lawmaker also sent letters of concern. The United States and a number of the Bank's executive directors agreed to allow the policy to go ahead if the IFC agreed to review it in a year's time to see if they had achieved the "right balance" between corporate interests and environmental concerns. Environment groups were outraged in 1992 when the IFC approved a 70-million-dollar loan to the Chilean government for the Pangue dam on the Bio-Bio river. The National Ecological Action Network in Chile claims the project will destroy Pehuenches indigenous communities in the region , flood forests and farmlands, and kill aquatic species. But none of this information is available in advance. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the Ban k's main lending facility, publishes a monthly summary of all its proposed loans. By contrast, Williams says the IFC does not even let the public know what loans it is considering. Instead it is proposing that a Summary of Project Information should be made available one month before the loan is approved. And if the loan is really sensitive, it will not be available at all. According to Mark Constantine, the IFC's external affairs officer, "There is an absolute commitment to provide information as early as possible." "In practice, our environmental assessments have been available 95 days in advance on an average here in Washington and for longer in the borrowing country," he said. Constantine acknowledged that the monthly operations summary would not be made available. "We have always said that because our client base is the private sector, we have to be careful because of the sensitivity of their loan applications for competition reasons," he added. Typically, Bank task managers decide in secret whether the loans should receive an 'A' -- the Bank's top rating for environment sensitivity which requires a full environmental assessment -- or a 'B', which would only require an environmental review. The IFC's new policy, a copy of which was obtained by IPS, says that the reviews of the B-rated projects would only be available when the loan was being voted on. A copy of the IFC's confidential summary of its projects for January shows that this document would not have helped Williams ei ther because it only gives environmental categories after projects have been approved. The IFC, one of the Bank's newer arms, has been growing apace. In 1993, it approved 2.1 billion dollars in loans, a 17 percent increase over the 1.8 billion dollars it approved the year before. It has also taken on more environmentally sensitive loans. In June, the IFC approved a 118-million-dollar investment in a 235- megawatt power plant in Andhra Pradesh, India, that will be built and operated by the Swiss-Swedish conglomerate Asea Brown Boveri and the U.S. producer CMS. This is India's first privately operated power plant. A number of other deals are to follow. For instance, Enron of the United States has a contract to build a plant in Dhabol, Maharashtra. The IFC last month approved a loan to Namibia for the Spanish company Pescanova to set up operations for fish to be sold exclusively to Spain. Critics fear this project could play havoc with the local fisheries, decreasing the local population's food stocks and endanger ing species. Yet, the IFC's monthly operations summary carries no indication of this project's environmental category. (END/IPS/PC/YJC/94)