Subject: nanews02.037 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 037 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 10 September 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 FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference, UseNet newsgroups alt.native & soc.culture.native, NATIVE-L & NATCHAT Mailing Lists, and Genie (General Electric) e-mail. <----<<<< >>>>----> 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. "Let a man decide on his favorite animal and make a study of it, learning its innocent ways. Let him learn to understand its sounds and motions. The animals want to communicate with man. __ Brave Buffalo, Teton +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Know it is not a mistake I include two more stories of the birth of the white female buffalo calf. There is a message here. Listen to it. I will also tell you there is among the wasichu those who wish to buy her. These men "collect" rare animals. Remember the message of the fires and the floods. Dohiyi Oginalii Night Owl , , (*,*) Gary Night Owl gars@genie.geis.com (`-') P. O. Box 672168 gars@netcom.com ===w=w=== Marietta, GA 30067, U.S.A. gars@igc.apc.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- Part A: Usenet and e-mail Part B: NATCHAT and NATIVE-L lists - Political Hyphens - Conferences and Powwows - online - Destruction of An Ojibwa Community - Peigan Area Threatened - Canadian Native Leaders - White Buffalo Calf - Chief Homer Extremely Ill - Innu Resolve to Resist RCMP - Cree Referendum on Northern Quebec - British Columbia Treaty Commission - Duties of the First People - Prophecies - White Buffalo Named Miracle - Voice of the Turtle - Seneca Origins Legend - Statement by AIM at UN - Poem: Singing This Way - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline ------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< ------------ --------- "RE: Political Hyphens" --------- Date: Aug-30-94 10:18:10 From: Gary Krawec (gary.krawec@f36.n229.z1.fidonet.rog) Subj: Political Hyphens FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference -=> Quoting Jim Barchuk to All <=- Hello Jim... i have had ALOT of people asking (attacking?) my insistence on being called native (preferring not to be called native Canadian, i am NOT canadian other than by my place of birth....) or Ojibwe (which is my my heritage). A number of weeks ago a sadly misinformed columnist in the Toronto Star called the hue and cry for native self-government RACISM of all things. He said it was just another example of the fragmentation in our culture. I agree with what he said about the fragmentation....however...native self-government has nothing to do with that...COMPLETELY different ball of wax. Those people who are insisting on calling themselves German-Americans, Mexican-Americans...whatever. They CHOSE to come to this place, they CHOSE to leave Germany or Mexico or whatever behind for a various number of reasons. They pondered their choices and decided to live here instead of there. That was their choice. If they are not happy being Americans (or Canadians) then they should GO HOME...and i have said as much to people who have complained about this country. If their place of origin is so wonderful then they should GO HOME. If the choice was made by their forebears they can still GO HOME. However, when the first people from Europe found this place there were people already living here. They made treaties with these people because these people DID NOT want to live with and like the Europeans...they had their own society and they liked it very much, thank you. Trade being an integral part of the culture already in existence was entered into by these people with a few of the changes that come from trade with other nations. THAT DOES NOT DENY NATION STATUS ANYMORE THAN TRADING WITH THE JAPANESE MAKES AMERICA JAPAN. (although THAT analogy is dubious.... :>) 500 years ago those people did not want to be part of the "new world"...they had their own world, their own nations, their own governments and their own economies. 400 years ago, 300 years ago, 200 years ago, 100 years ago, up to this very moment those people and their descendants did not want to be part of the "new world". The simple fact that the nations are STILL IN EXISTENCE proves that they did not want any part of the "new country". We did not invite the Europeans to come and help us create a viable country...WE HAD ONE. Why is it that when new immigrants come to North America they are encouraged to "assimilate" and become "americans"? It is because they CHOSE to leave their place of origin and begin again in a NEW COUNTRY... WHY OH WHY did the first europeans to come here not come with that attitude? The immigration policies of our forefathers was far too lenient...they should have screened more carefully.... And if time and conquering states means anything...then why the fuss about giving Israel to the Jews in 194* when they had not existed as a nation for over 1000 years? and why the fuss about freeing Tibet from China? and why the fight against apartheid in South Africa? THAT list goes on and on and on. America feels the need to free everyone, except the people who let them live here 500 years ago. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, patty wesley ... I'm Buffy of Borg, you'll be like totally assimilated ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- FidoPCB v1.5 beta-'e' Origin: Westonia BBS Weston, Ontario, Canada (416)241-1981 (1:229/36) --------- "RE: Destruction of An Ojibwa Community" --------- Date: 94/09/03 12:03 From: Vivian Horovitch (v.horovitch1@genie.geis.com) Subj: Destruction of An Ojibwa Community GE Electronic Mail Following is an interesting essay I thought you might want to look at for Wotanging Ikche. Permission to pass it on to you for possible publication was asked of the original author. Permission granted with pleasure. So here it is! The Destruction of An Ojibwa Community Jane White August 25, 1994 Professor: Augie Fleras The Destruction of An Ojibwa Community "A Poison Stronger Than Love" by Anastasia M. Shkilnyk is a book about the tragic reality of what happened to an Ojibwa community in Northern Ontario when they are unwillingly relocated from their old way of life to a new way of life. "New" usually constitutes better but in the case of the Indians of Grassy Narrows this is not the case. The new life ended their way of life in which they thrived. Their traditions, beliefs, religion and culture were uprooted and destroyed in the government's belief that modernization for the Indian community was the answer to what they considered to be the Indian's poor, barbaric and uncivilized way of life. The book discusses what happened to the people of the Grassy Narrows Reserve that lead to the destruction of this Ojibwa community. Shkilnyk begins her story by describing the conditions of the Grassy Narrows Reserve when she arrived in November 7, 1976. What she describes is not a community as most people living in Canada would know it, but the condition she describes are horrific for a modern, civilized country as ours. Grassy Narrows is a community disrupted by violence. In a community of only 500 people the rate of violent deaths far exceeds that of the rest of non-native Canadian population. Children as young as twelve years old are committing suicide or at least attempting to take their own lives. What could be happening to make so many young people not want to live any more, not want to be with their families? The alcohol abuse among many members of the community has led to much of the disruptions. Family abuse and child neglect is rampant on the reserve where children are left alone for days without food or nurture while parents go on an alcohol binge. These children are the ones who take comfort from sniffing gas which ultimately leaves them neurologically damaged of life. Do they do it to escape the neglect and the crime they face on a day to day basis? These people of Grassy Narrows are not the Indians that once thrived off the land that gave them a strong traditional family life. It seems they have lost all will to care, to actually live as a community should. It is a very sad reality that they are living such a horrifying way. What was it that leads the Ojibwa Indians of Grassy Narrows to become such lost people? Many Canadians would say this is the way Indians are because they won't help themselves, but as the readers of the book learn they want to help themselves but they do not know how in this foreign world they have been placed into. In order to understand why the move was especially destructive to the Indians, Shkilnyk takes a look at the history of the Grassy Narrows people. The life on the "old reserve" was one that revolved around the land they lived on. Everything they knew religiously, culturally, socially and economically was at one with nature. They lived off the land and they respected the land and the universe as it would in turn respect them and help them prosper in their simple lives. It is summed up very well as is stated "life on the old reserve mirrored much of what was life in the traditional culture". Trapping as a way of life, economic self-sufficiency, on the part of the clan-based family groups and close ties with the natural world (p. 63). Their lives were by no means modern by the eyes of Canadians in our advanced technological society. When the move was planned for the summer of 1963, the idea of both the Indians and government was not to disrupt their lives or strip them of their identity. It was thought it would bring the Indians some ease in their lives with modernization. Unfortunately when the new reserve was planned, no consideration was given to how their lives were lived before and how this was to their well-being. Everything about their traditional way of life was torn apart. The Indians are a very spiritual people. Their concept of time and order and how they relate to them are very different from the "White" people's thinking. The government had no idea the closeness they put their homes together on the new reserve was detrimental to their cultural ways. They had always respected each other's space on the old reserve. Each clan had its own territory and there was wide spaces between each of the family's places. They enjoyed "the spareness of their social interaction" and community life as the rest of society knows it was not preferred. Space on the reserve was just one issue that was not considered from the Indian tradition. In the schools that the children attended Indian culture was omitted from their education as well as use of their native language. They were discouraged from keeping their heritage alive. Instead of being an independent Indian community with an Indian culture they had become dependent people. In a "White" society their strong religious and cultural beliefs had no place. They are expected to assimilate with the rest of society but every aspect of their lives as they knew it was not accepted. The issues of Grassy Narrows are not isolated to this one Indian community. Similar problems are being faced all across Canada. The tragedy is that many members of society feel the problems the Indians are having to face on a daily basis of poverty, abuse and violence are problems they have created for themselves. There is a feeling the Indian problems are caused because of the Indian's unwillingness to participate and integrate with the rest of mainstream society. What they do not seem to understand is the disorder that has been created on the Reserves is not the problem itself but a symptom of the real problem, a lack of independence from the government. The Indians want to regain control of their communities, their traditions, cultures and beliefs. The Indians do not want to remain the burden of Canadian society as many Canadians seem them. The Indians have long fought for self reliance and self government for their people. The programs the government have developed do not seem to work and they want to bring in new programs that will take into consideration all aspects of Indian life as they themselves see important. To start, the Indians want restitution by gaining control of land and in turn a resource base from the land. They want to be able to control what is done with the land and have the power to generate new economics for their people so they are less dependent on income from the government. By gaining control of their own communities, they'll be able to gain control of their culture and bring back traditions that had bound them together for hundreds of years. In addition, the Indians want to be able to educate their own children about these tradition in their own language. It is the children that need to be educated in the Indian way in order that the Indians culture will be strongly supported for future generations. Educating their own people is not the only priority on the Indian's agenda for self-government; a strong issue for them to be addressed is social racism. Unless the rest of society fully understands the struggles the Indians have encountered and the injustices they have received people will continue to see the Indians as problem people. Instead of respecting the Native Indians in our country, they are being ridiculed and treated like foreigners in their own land. Self-government is not going to be an instant cure for all the problems the Indians are facing today but it is important for Canada to allow the Indians to take responsibility to regain their identity and pride back. If there is one thing I have learned and others I'm sure before me from Anastasia Shkilnyk's book is that the Indians did not choose to destroy the lives they knew but they are choosing to gain those lives back. They should be respected and supported by all people in their endeavour to regain their culture and rights. --------- "RE: Canadian Native Leaders" --------- Date: Sep-02-94 07:28:00 From: Frosty Deere (frosty.deere@f.n.z1.fidonet.org) Subj: Canadian Native Leaders FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference Canadian Native Leaders are speaking up. I could throw out a few names of those saying that Canadian Armed Forces should be used to protect native rights and lands if Quebec separates from Canada. The problem with that I would only be naming those on the front pages of the newspapers. The leader of this or that organization but in fact I know that its on the lips of just about every native person living in Quebec and the rest of Canada. The Quebec Liberal government is and the Parti Quebecois are trying to play it down and I would guess not to make either one look bad. But one must face the music and if Quebec separates their could be problems. Their could be some unrest and scuffles in some areas and I know some people are gear up for it to protect themselves. Lets face it if Quebec's police can move in on a city like they did yesterday and arrest all the police and city workers, then they believe they can do this to any native nation and area. The City of Chambly is in shock after 300 SQ police took over the city and today people are asking "was it legal for them to do this ?" If this province becomes a dictatorship it is quite possible that if its not, it is going to be. Already I hear people are making plans to move small companies out and I am sure larger ones will follow. Leaving behind many unemployed and that will mean people will begin to look at others as the reason they are not working or are the cause. The native people will be one such group that the blame will fall on. We will get blamed for selling with out tax, illegal bingos, political unrest, language, land claims, political and maybe even jobs if some of our people are working off the territory. Not to for get the education, and welfare. All these things will center on any race of people the Parti Quebecois feels is bleeding their movement. They have to heal the wounds or bury them. Sept 12 could become the being of political unrest in North America like it has never seen before. PEace ... via DeltaMail v2.20 for SL (#216378) --- SLMAIL v4.0 (#1349) Origin: Igloo Station (514) 632-5556 (1:167/502) --------- "RE: Chief Homer Extremely Ill" --------- Date: 94/09/02 18:03 From: James D. Audlin (Distant Eagle) (j.audlin@genie.geis.com) Subj: Chief Homer Extremely Ill GE Electronic Mail O'siyo, brother! This information is from Chief Homer's wife's cousin, who is a member of the church here. Principal Chief Homer St. Francis (who is now, as you published, the Principal Chief of \all\ the council fires of the Abenaki, thus becoming Chief of the largest Native American tribe in the eastern US and Canada [an amazing feat for a tribe which, according to the Vermont Supreme Court doesn't exist!]) is dying of cancer of the lymph nodes. He has refused any further (European style) medical treatment, and has accepted death, though he remains very much in charge of his chiefly office. There is already an upsurge of politicking between the various tribal factions for "their" candidate to succeed Chief Homer. There is one "dark horse" candidate who might possibly be elected as a kind of centrist. --------- "RE: Cree Referendum on Northern Quebec" --------- Date: 94/09/01 18:32 From: Art Horovitch (a.horovitch@genie.geis.com) Subj: Cree Referendum on Northern Quebec GE Electronic Mail Cree Referendum on Northern Quebec -------------------------------------- Aug 27/94 Montreal, Quebec The Cree of northern Quebec are planning to hold a referendum on the status of the future of the territory they inhabit in northern Quebec if the Parti Quebecois wins the provincial election on Sept 12. The Montreal Gazette reports that executive director of the Cree, Bill Namagoose, says that "We have to decide which way our territory will go in the event of Quebec separation." Chiefs from nine Cree communities unanimously approved a formal declaration calling for the referendum.. This echoes the PQ plan which calls for a "solemn declaration" committing the province to move toward becoming a separate nation and thereby breaking Canada apart. Namagoose said, "The Cree choice would be to remain part of Canada, go with a separate Quebec or become independent." He suggested that if the PQ wins and goes ahead with its plans for separation, the Cree would not feel at home. At the meeting in Eastmain, some Cree said they did not want to go "on an adventure with Quebec. There's no Quebec up here. It's Cree country. The Quebecers go up to blow up mountains or block rivers. " The Natives of the area have been locked in a battle with Hydro Quebec and the Quebec government over the $13 billion Great Whale project which has been in the planning and review stages for a number of years. This spring work began on the access roads to the site. Namagoose said that outright independence is an unlikely prospect for the Cree, but the Canada option looks interesting. (re-joining Canada with all the northern territory after Quebec separates). However both major parties in Quebec have said the borders of Quebec are inviolate. Such a move by the Cree might spark a civil war or at least an armed insurrection by the Natives. --------- "RE: Duties of the First People" --------- Date: Sat Sep 03, 1994 06:54 EDT From: [Art/Pris] (a.barrett2@genie.geis.com) Subj: Duties of the First People GE Electronic Mail ======= To: All Interested Parties ======= We received the following letter from a friend of ours who is involved in Native American tradition and ceremony. However, this particular event is _not limited_ to Native American people, as its purpose is to provide more healing for Mother Earth. Art & Pris -- Enjoy the Adventure! (might as well, considering the alternative!) The letter: Post Office Box 43 Rogersville, AL 35652 August 5, 1994 Greetings Keepers of Your Clan: The intent of this letter is to bring to your attention the duties of the indigenous people of the Four Directions. Many of us have forgotten about our duties we must carry out in This Day and Time. The Clans have become weak. Our _Clan Mothers must take back_ their responsibilities _THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO THEM._ They must make their Nations strong again and come together with other Red Nations' Chiefs, Elders, Medicine Peoples, Faith Keepers and all others who carry the spiritual ways of the Creator. So peoples of the Four Directions need to be in unison as _Care Takers of Mother Earth_ and ask for guidance through these difficult times. We need to come together as one mind - _To Reach Our Sisters and Brothers,_ for we are relatives and we need to care for one another. It is our duty as Red Nations people, no matter what Nation. There are various Medicine People who have had dreams and received _Serious Spiritual_ messages ... let's reach out to our _children_ and show them. They are our next generations. That is our responsibility. The greeting we speak of will be done in unison in your own language and _in your own way,_ wherever you may be. The appointed time is a unified time for all Nations within their own territories. The chosen Spiritual people of each Nation - Must remember when sending their greetings, to take into _Heart and Mind_ ... Mother Earth, the Four Directions and the Sky World. Also, the connection with the Spirit of the Fire when burning the Sacred Tobacco. We have our ways, but our Nations _have_ to come together under Spiritual and Ceremonial ways as Indigenous peoples of _this land_ once again. We feel the time between the new moon and the full moon cycles to be a neutral time where both powers can be used in unison. This neutral time is in consideration of the different time zones so that all "Greetings" can be done at one time. Please use Standard Time _only,_ not Daylight Saving Time. The scheduled date and times are: DATE: October 11, 1994 TIME: 12:00 AM (midnight) Atlantic; 11:00 PM (night) Eastern; (Standard) 10:00 PM Central; 9:00 PM Mountain; 8:00 PM Pacific; 7:00 PM Alaska; 6:00 PM Hawaii. For the security and protection of the Medicine People, please use the post office box listed above and Betty Reed as contact person. This post office box is available to Walter and Marie also, to keep close check on all responding mail. We will appreciate your kindness if you will make copies of this letter and help us to notify as many people as possible. Ohna, Robert Tsikahentiio Walter Shakoieta Rakeh Rahkeeskeh Toni Tsolagiu --------- "RE: White Buffalo Named Miracle" --------- Date: 3 Sep 94 22:38:10 GMT From: milo@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Michele Lord) Subj: White Buffalo Named Miracle Newsgroup: alt.native Originally by Vern Jordan, 88:509/0@mtnet.org Originally dated 2 Sep 1994, 22:51 Taken from the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, front page Friday, September 2, 1994. Native Americans make pilgrimage to honor white buffalo "Miracle" JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) - News of the birth of a rare white buffalo is spreading among American Indians, inspiring pilgrimages to what many tribes believe is a sacred, apocalyptic animal. "This is like the second coming of Christ on this island of North America," said Floyd Hand, a Sioux medicine man from Pine Ridge, S.D. "The legend is she would return and unify the nations of the four colors - the black, red, yellow and white." The white calf named Miracle was born two weeks ago at the southern Wisconsin farm where Dave Heider raises a herd of 14 buffalo and other animals. He plans to have it tested to see if it is a true albino. The white buffalo is particularly sacred to the Cheyenne, Sioux and other nomadic tribes of the Northern Plains that once relied on the buffalo for subsistence, said Matthew Snipp, a University of Wisconsin sociology and Indian studies professor. The white buffalo's spiritual significance stems from its rarity. In the 1800s, when up to 80 million of the huge animals roamed the Plains, the odds against having an albino calf were estimated at one in 10 million, according to the National Buffalo Association. Relentless hunting reduced the buffalo population to about 500 in the late 1800s; there are about 130,000 today. "The impact of this and enormity of it to the Red Nation is immense," said Harry Brown Bear of Wlsconsin's Oneida tribe. "This was meant to be because the teachings of our people and elders say there would be a time the Anglo nation and American Indian would come together in goodness." As of Wednesday, about 30 people from the Oneida, Cherokee, Sioux and a half dozen other tribes had visited the calf, Heider said. Visitors have held ceremonies involving prayers, burning incense or smoking a ceremonial pipe. To help protect the calf, they have left medicine bags, turquoise, alabaster and a medicine ring made of sage and red, yellow, blue and green ribbons. Heider said Miracle has brown eyes and is probably not a pure Albino, characterized by pinkish skin and eyes. He said there was a chance she would grow a dark or reddish-brown coat after shedding her first coat. The American Bison Association says the last known albino buffalo was born in the 1933 and died in 1959. Do hi yi. Quv (na) -- ~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*+ "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 ~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~* Michele Lord + Alpha Institute + Tel: 303-343-4114 + P.O. Box 110998 milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + Aurora CO 80042 + Fax: 303-360-9118 +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ --------- "RE: Seneca Origins Legend" --------- Date: Fri Aug 26, 1994 at 02:18 EDT From: [KAY/MAW] (k.newman9@genie.geis.com) Subj: Seneca Origins Legend GE Electronic Mail Origin Myths, Data Sheet #4 No discussion of origin of a people would be complete without examining the people's own beliefs on where and how they began. Among the Seneca, there are two major versions of their origin. One version tells of the original existence of a heaven inhabited by man. A great tree grew in front of the long house of the Chief of the men, a symbol of his power. One day, in a dream, the Chief was told to uproot the great tree causing light to shine through the hole made by the roots. The Chief's pregnant wife curiously peeked through the hole and in, so doing fell or was pushed into the hole and fell from heaven. The animals below saw the woman falling, and while the birds flew up to make a blanket of their interlaced wings to float her down, the water animals (for earth was then covered with water) tried to get earth from the bottom on which she could stand. The muskrat was successful in bring up the wet earth and it was placed on the back of the Great Snapping Turtle since he had volunteered to act as a base for the earth. More earth was brought up and added, but the earth also grew miraculously to become earth as we know it today. The woman was, indeed, pregnant when she fell from heaven and soon gave birth to a girl. This girl grew up to become miraculously pregnant with twin boys. One twin, the Father of all Good on earth, was born normally, but the other twin, the Father of all Evil on earth, chose to be born through her armpit, thus killing his mother with his birth. This is how the contest between Good and Evil began here on earth, and it has continued ever since. Meanwhile, the Chief in heaven was instructed in a dream to replace the great tree, which he did do. The great tree was never removed again, so man only entered the earth once from heaven. Second version: The other version of Seneca origin looks to Bare Hill on Lake Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes for the beginnings. It is said that the Great Spirit caused the mountain ( now known as Bara Hill) to open and the first Senecas to emerge and begin to build their villages. Soon they began to plant corn on the sides of the mountain. As time passed, population pressures on the available land and food resources made the Senecas increasingly desperate for room to expand as they were at the time limited to the land they already occupied. The reason they could not expand their territory was that the mountain was surrounded by a huge two-headed serpent whose poisonous breath would kill any Seneca who attempted to escape. As the press for land and food became worse, the Seneca were killed and devoured by the serpent except two children, a boy and a girl who managed to escape and returned to the village. In great dispair, the children grieved for their dead and called on the Great Spirit for help. The Great Spirit transformed Himself into the form of an owl and appeared to the children to instruct them in how to defeat the serpent. Following His instruction, the boy constructed a bow and arrow, placed a special poison on the arrow tip, and together the children approached the serpent. The boy shot the arrow into the serpent so that it entered between the scales and the serpent began to writhe in his death throes. In the process, he slid down the hill thus uprooting the trees and vomiting out the skulls of the Seneca dead. As the skulls fell into the waters of Canandaigua Lake, they turned into rocks that are seen on the Lake bottom today. When the serpent hit water, he was revived and still lives today on the bottom of the lake. The children grew to adulthood and became the ancestors of the contemporary Seneca living in a much expanded territory. --------- "RE: Poem: Singing This Way" --------- Date: 1 Sep 1994 11:57:18 -0500 From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Subj: Singing this way Newsgroup: alt.native It may happen that one place you may be you may be there and something might happen right there if your heart is not open you will not see it you will not feel it you will not touch it you never know when you might be there right there where some moment may happen I have heard them sing this they sang it just this way Tobacco Indian -- Turtle Heart turtle@soft21.s21.com (Ahnishinabeg) American Indian Computer Art Project BBS 619-374-2100 PO Box 111 Johannesburg CA 93528-0111 Land of Kaw-ii-su ancestor: Land of Light --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" --------- Date: 94/09/04 21:08 From: Kepola (dfsanders@genie.geis.com) Subj: A HAWAI'IAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of September 11-17 GE Electronic Mail A HAWAI'IAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of September 11-17 KEPEKEMAPA (September) (Mahoe-hope) 11 You can see your true self reflected in a still pond. 12 Solitude feeds the spirit. 13 Look to the lessons of the past to solve the problems of the present. 14 It is in the secluded valleys that the rarest of treasures are found. 15 See the dance of the rain upon the leaves; hear the laughter of the waves upon the shore. 16 Be like the mountain stream -- if something blocks your path, flow around it. 17 To walk upon black sands is to feel the touch of Pele. (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, 8 September 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: bethhouck@aol.com (Beth Houck) Subject: Mesa, AZ Pow Wow Oct.15-16 11th Annual Mesa Pow Wow. Location: Mesa Southwest Museum, 53 N. Macdonald, downtown Mesa, Arizona. Co-sponsored by 21st Century Native American and Mesa Southwest Museum. Traditional pow wow, open to public, free admission. Grand entries at 12:00 noon and 7:30 PM on Saturday, 12:00 noon on Sunday. Craft vendor spaces and food vendor booths available. Contact: Mesa Southwest Museum, (602) 644-2230, or write: 53 N. Macdonald, Mesa, AZ 85201-7325. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: News from Indian Country Sept 15-17 Schemitzun '94 Powwow, Hartford, CT Info: 800-203-CORN Sept 16-18 North Ute Powwow, Ignacio, CO Info: 303-563-9443 Sept 16-18 GLICA Powwow, Bedford MA Info: 508-453-7182 Sept 16-18 Warrior Powwow, Neillsville, WI Info: 715-743-4224 Sept 16-18 Mah-Kato Wachipi, Mankato, MI Info: 507-931-9149 Sept 16-18 Earth Spirit Powwow, Ft. Scott, KS Info: 405-794-9359 Sept 17-18 3rd Kentuckian Powwow, Louisville, KY Info: 502-637-2592 Sept 17-18 Brighten the Vision, Henrietta, NY Info: 716-482-1100 Sept 17 Keepers of the Dream, Crown Point, IN Info: 219-663-4889 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, Jay Brummett, via the NATIVE-L or NATCHAT mailing lists. --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - online" --------- Date: Thu, 8 September 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= From: NativeNet@gnosys.svle.ma.us Subject: Healing Global Wounds Pow Wow, Washington DC Original Sender: scicom.alphacdc.com!milo (Michele Lord) NATIVE YOUTH ALLIANCE'S HEALING GLOBAL WOUNDS 3rd ANNUAL POW WOW September 30 & October 1 On The Mall in Washington, D.C. (next to the Washington Monument) AND AT The Mellon Auditorium -In conjunction with- ONE MIND, ONE VOICE, ONE HEART, ONE PRAYER 1994 Prayer Vigil for Future Generations Sunrise, October 1 - Noon, October 2 CAMPING INFORMATION GREENBELT CAMPING STATE PARK GREENBELT, MD (5 miles N. of DC) 301-344-3944 (mention From The Circle) There is some space but NO FACILITIES (no restrooms, hook-ups, etc) and Tayac's Territory. Call: 301-932-0808 POW WOW GRAND ENTRY: FRIDAY, SEPT 30 7PM From The Circle is collaborating with Native American Youth Alliance of Washington, D.C. and other organizations to create a living prayer for the healing of ourselves, our community, and our relationship with Mother Earth. Activities begin with Grand Entry for "Healing Global Wounds Pow Wow" on Friday evening, Sept. 30. On Sat., Oct. 1, we start with a Sunrise Pipe Ceremony on the Mall followed by continuous prayer for the next 30 hours. As part of the vigil, we will hold a special ceremony, "Bless The Eagle-Prayers Around Congress", on Sat., Oct. 1 at 10 AM. Everyone is invited to create this Sacred Hoop. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ From: hkoehler@web.UUCP Subject: First Nations Art Exhibition INTERNAL RECALL - First Nations exhibition opens September 13, 1994 Centre for the Arts, Brock University and Woodlands Cultural Centre of Brantford, Ontario present INTERNAL RECALL, a collaborative exhibition of First Nations artists in the Gallery, Centre for the Arts, Brock University, St Catharines, Ontario. The exhibition is open to the public from September 13th to October 7th. Gallery hours are 10 AM to 7 PM, Monday through Friday and noon to 4 PM, Saturday. Admission is free. Please note that the gallery is closed during performances in the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre. INTERNAL RECALL examines a variety of political, historical, and cultural concepts which form a contrast to the histories and symbols that are presented by Western society. The works integrate First Nations cosmologies and examine contemporary issues as well as their evolution from the perspective of First Nations. The title INTERNAL RECALL, is taken from the centrepiece in the exhibition by EDWARD POITRAS. It sets the pace for the remaining artists: CARL BEAM, THERESA MARSHALL, BILL POWLESS, TOM HILL, DANIEL DAVID MOSES, PATRICIA DEADMAN and VERNA PARDEAHTAN - who challenge established boundaries as they present multimedia works that examine these issues through post-modernist satire. The public is invited to attend the opening of the exhibition on Tuesday, September 13th from 7:30 PM to 10 PM. TOM HILL, Museum Director of the Woodlands Cultural Centre, will be the guest speaker. To complement the exhibition, Centre for the Arts, Brock University, with the sponsorship of Embassy Suites, is presenting Inuit singer/songwriter Susan Aglukark and the Arctic Rose Band in concert on Saturday, September 17th at 8 PM. For information and tickets, call The Box Office, Centre for the Arts at (905)688-5550 ext 3257. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Original Sender: SAIIC Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' WORKING GROUP ON CULTURAL INTEGRITY WORKSHOP ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, CUSTOMARY LAWS AND "INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS" OAKLAND, CA. SEPTEMBER 15-16 Indigenous advocates and leaders from South, Meso and North America will be gathering for a "Workshop on Customary Law and Intellectual Property Rights" to develop an Indigenous people's strategy to address international and local issues relating to "intellectual property rights" ("IPR"), indigenous Customary Law, and indigenous peoples' inherent rights. The meeting will take place in Oakland, CA, at the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center--SAIIC--the 14-15 of September 1994. The Indigenous Peoples' Biodiversity Network (IPBN), and the ABYA YALA FUND are organizing the workshop, which will be hosted by SAIIC. Workshop objectives are to analyze "IPR" issues as well as to define and develop strategic responses from an indigenous perspective. Accelerating demand for biogenetic materials, indigenous knowledge and tribal wisdom -- all useful in development of new pharmaceutical and agricultural products -- seriously threatens Indigenous bio-cultural resources as well as spiritual and cultural values. This new demand is causing an invasion of biologically-rich indigenous territories similar to the European invasion of the Americas 500 years ago. This invasion is supported by the neo-liberal establishment's renewed confidence in the legitimacy of Western paradigms, and ambitions of global "development" (GATT, NAFTA, etc.). This new framework dangerously threatens aboriginal culture's chances for continuity as peoples of the land. The new bio-conquistadores are imposing "agreements" on indigenous communities consecrated by their own legal systems. These agreements reflect the "developer" nations understanding of "intellectual", "property" and "rights"--which is far removed from the understanding of these concepts in indigenous law. In the absence of an adequate protective framework at the regional or international level, indigenous peoples urgently need to develop strategies to strengthen their customary laws, to protect their rights, and protect from alien views on Mother Earth that are being forced on indigenous communities through the imposition of Western IPR regimes. As aboriginal nations, indigenous peoples have customary laws which are judicial-cultural norms and practices predating those imposed by colonial and national judiciary systems. These laws regulate traditional access to and use of indigenous territories. Indigenous peoples' involvement in the IPR debate and development of strategic approaches to empowering indigenous communities to protect their knowledge and biological resources are crucial to safeguard their inherent rights and survival as cultures of the land. However, in spite of the importance of biodiversity and "IPR" issues for indigenous peoples' survival, there is a surprising lacuna of information, analysis and practical strategies developed by indigenous peoples themselves. This workshop will provide an important opportunity for indigenous peoples to develop policy and strategies to enhance their struggles for advancing inherent rights, bio-cultural resource protection and development, as well as conservation of cultural and spiritual values. We are appealing for your help to make this gathering a success. We need: Sponsors for indigenous participants from the South (individuals or institutions who can providing AIRFARE, FOOD, AND LODGING costs for one designed participant) Office supplies (notebooks, pens, markers, etc.) "IPR" papers, documents, and other materials in Spanish and English (preferable with focus on indigenous peoples and customary laws) FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WORKSHOP CONTACT: Alejandro Argumedo Indigenous Peoples Biodiversity Network 620, 1 Nicholas Street Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7 Canada Tel: (613) 241-4500 Fax: (613) 241-2292 e-mail: ipbn@web.apc.org --------- "RE: Peigan Area Threatened" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Sep 1994 10:58:00 PDT From: nsen@web.apc.org Subj: Peigan Area Threatened Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Watchdog Rumour Sparks Alarm: (Article from Calgary Herald, August 19th, 1994. Reprinted without permission) Environmental group fears boss at Amoco to be named head of new oil patch regulatory agency. The Northern Light Society has learned that Sherrold Moore will soon be hired to head the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board - the newly created body formed by the merger of the Energy Resources Conservation Board and the Public Utilities Board. The society is concerned Moore's appointment will influence upcoming deliberations by the board over the controversial license application by the Amoco to drill natural gas wells in the sensitive Whaleback region of southwest Alberta. "The ERCB has never denied a well licence on environmental grounds, " said Sean Harrison, president of the society. "Our immediate concern is that having a former (executive) of Amoco being named chairman of the board will result in an immediate decision in favour of Amoco. (end of article) =============================================================== Canada's Next Clayoquot Sound Stand-Off The Battle for the Whaleback Wildland in the Canadian Rockies The Whaleback Wildland - a 91 square mile wilderness landscape at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, 75 miles southwest of Calgary, AB. - recommended in 1977 for "stringent protective status" by the Alberta Government assessments. - a stunning wilderness landscape nestled beside on of Alberta's oldest ranching communities. - long known as one of Alberta's two largest critical wintering ranges for elk. - Canada's only remaining example of the Montane Natural Region - low elevation lands in the mountainous regions characterized by warm, dry winter winds named Chinooks; intermittently snow-free during the winter; a mosaic of grasslands, exposed ridges and open forests of Douglas fir, limber pine and white spruce. - a very rich diversity of wildlife, including rare and uncommon plants, prairie falcons, golden eagles, cougars and grizzly bears. The Threat - head-quartered in Chicago, Amoco is anticipation building roads and drilling a total of 20 wells to locate the pool of poisonous (sour) gas they hope lies under the Wildland. - Amoco plans to get approval for its first road and well into the heart of the Wildland and its associated elk winter range and spring grizzly bear habitant. - if the first well is approved, there will be an irreparable loss of Canada's last sizable remnant of the Montane, and the loss of the numerous wilderness, wildlife and cultural values of the Whaleback Wildland. - approval of Amoco's application would pre-empt Alberta's ability to meet national commitments it made in 1992 to protect representative examples of Alberta's natural landscapes. In Alberta, The Deck is Stacked Against Protection - unlike other jurisdictions where Amoco operates, in Alberta: - there is no opportunity for the public to have a say when their lands and mineral rights are put up for lease to oil and gas companies; - there is no requirement for an environmental impact assessment of the proposed road and drilling program. - only at the final step in the government process, when the company has all other permits in place and applies to the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) for the sub-surface licence to drill the well, does the public have any opportunity for a hearing. - of the tens of thousands of drilling licences applies for in Alberta, less than a dozen wells and their associated developments have made it to public hearings in front of the ERCB and the ERCB has yet to refuse approval of a single one of these. - the Alberta Government refused to allow any public servants to appear and be questioned at the ERCB public hearings on Amoco's application; the ERCB would not subpoena any public servants to appear; this included the Regional Wildlife Biologist who has been responsible for the area for the past 18 years. - no environmental impact assessment was required of Amoco, and it has refused to do one. Booming Gas Industry - No Need to Sacrifice the Whaleback - the Whaleback Wildland is not the only potential or existing deposit of poisonous (sour) gas, nor is it the multi-national's only mineral rights lease in Alberta. - a total of 7,000 oil and gas wells were drilled in Alberta during 1993, including five times more gas wells than in 1992. From January 1993 through March 1994, more than 10,000 wells have been approved by the ERCB. - along with company profits, gas production hit record levels in 1993, with a 17 per cent increase over the highly productive year of 1992. - under questioning at the ERCB hearing, Amoco admitted that the dollars they have been promoting as the economic benefit to Alberta of allowing them to drill in the Whaleback are totally speculative; it could be $0.00. An Alternative - seven of the nine families residing in the adjacent ranching community of Maycroft have stood firm in their opposition to Amoco's proposed roads and drilling. - Alberta's conservation organizations have likewise maintained their opposition to any industrial activity in the Whaleback Wildland, including Amoco's proposal. - public interest groups and individual Albertan's have challenged Amoco to enter into negotiations to return their leased mineral rights to Albertan's in order to: - clear the road for legal protection of the Whaleback Wildland; - leave the Whaleback Wildland in association with the Maycroft ranching community and the Peigan People's traditional use as a functioning example of environmentally sustainable development --------- "RE: White Buffalo Calf" --------- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 18:53:15 EST From: sage.cc.purdue.edu!cfblack (Carol Black) Subj: White Buffalo Calf Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) "With visible breath I am walking this nation (the buffalo nation) I walk toward and my voice is heard I am walking with visible breath I am walking this scarlet relic (for it) I am walking" It is said that Pte San Win, White Buffalo Woman, sang these words as she entered the camp of the long ago Lakota. This she sang while carrying the bundle containing the most Sacred Pipe -- that scarlet relic which was to become the central instrument and manifestation of sacredness for a people, the Lakota. The pipe and the traditions surrounding it have become the spiritual legacy of the people who still own it and celebrate the significance of all that is. One may ponder the meaning of 'visible breath', but only for a short time as we realize that the sacred pipe is the axis mundi, the central axis of the world. It is also synonymous with the sacred tree of the world that is still planted at the center of the world ....." quotes from the book: THE GIFT OF THE SACRED PIPE; written in the foreword, by Arthur Amiotte, great-grandson of Standing Bear. -- "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." *** Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. *** --------- "RE: Innu Resolve to Resist RCMP" --------- Date: Sat, 3 Sep 1994 15:48:38 -0400 From: Orion.YorkU.CA!es051322 (Larry Innes) Subj: ACTION ALERT: SUPPORT INNU RESISTANCE Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3 September 1994 "Innu Resolve to Resist RCMP" UTSHIMASSIT (Davis Inlet) - Innu leaders and elders are gathering in Utshimassit this weekend to prepare for Tuesday's expected invasion by RCMP and military forces. The community is under intensified pressure after Newfoundland Justice Minister Ed Roberts refused to attend a meeting with Innu leaders in St. John's yesterday. "We were willing to talk, but Roberts was unwilling to listen. Instead of attending the meeting, he sent us a letter which confirmed that he was still planning to send in the RCMP.", stated Utshimassit Chief Simeon Tshakapesh. "It didn't have to come down to a confrontation, but it seems that the Newfoundland government has chosen that course. Over the next few days, we will spend time in the sweat lodge with our elders and draw on the strength and wisdom of our traditions. I am confident that we will take the right path." The island community of 500 people expelled the Provincial Court and RCMP in December 1993. Innu peacekeepers and a healing circle assumed responsibility for justice and policing in the community. "Roberts has created a crisis where no such situation existed. Our people are learning to heal their own community, free of an alien system of punishment and incarceration. Our people will not allow the progress we have made in healing our communities to be derailed by the re-imposition of the Provincial Court system and the RCMP." stated Tshakapesh. The Innu are receiving support both nationally and internationally for their position. "It seems that Roberts is out of step with world opinion on this issue. The Newfoundland government needs to recognize that the Innu have rights to self-determination that must be respected.", concluded Tshakapesh. FOR MORE INFORMATION or FAX MESSAGES OF SUPPORT: Chief Simeon Tshakapesh tel: (709) 478-8827/8902 fax: (709) 478-8936 TAKE ACTION: Call or fax Newfoundland Justice Minister ED ROBERTS tel: (709) 729-2869 fax: (709) 729-2129. Tell him to respect Innu rights. Condemn the RCMP and military invasion of Utshimassit. Ask your local Chief and Council, Member of Parliament, Congressperson, Member of the Legislative Assembly, etc. to do the same. --------- "RE: British Columbia Treaty Commission" --------- Date: Fri, 2 Sep 1994 11:52:00 PDT From: wimsey.com!margots (Margot Sinclair) Subj: British Columbia Treaty Commission Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Original Sender: hkoehler@web.UUCP Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) >My thesis is concerned with the negotiated settlement of indigenous >peoples' claims primarily in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Further to my earlier posting about the new modern-day treaty process in British Columbia, the following information has just been released by the B.C. Treaty Commission: ---- September 1, 1994 FROM: Chief Commissioner C.J. Connaghan Chuck Connaghan Executive Director Paul Kariya BRITISH COLUMBIA TREATY COMMISSION 203 - 1155 West Pender Street Vancouver, B.C. V6E 2P4 1-800-665-8330 or (604) 775-2078; fax: 604-775-2092 The Treaty Commission's Annual Report is available by request in writing or by phone _____________________________________________________________ TREATY COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT SAYS PROCESS IS WORKABLE AND CAN ACHIEVE FAIR AND DURABLE TREATIES VANCOUVER -- The British Columbia Treaty Commission, in its first annual report on a unique, made-in-British Columbia process designed to address 140 years of neglect in treaty-making with B.C.'s First Nations, says that after 14 months of experience, the Commission "is confident that the process is workable and can achieve fair and durable treaties." The Commission, appointed April 15, 1993, notes that it is early in the process but says "the Commissioners believe an honourable start has been made at building the new relationship envisaged by" the 1991 Report of the British Columbia Task Force, which led to the B.C. Treaty Commission agreement signed by Canada, British Columbia and the First Nations Summit. The Task Force called for "a new relationship which recognizes the unique place of aboriginal people and First Nations in Canada" to be developed and nurtured and added: "Whatever the issues may be, it is crystal clear that any new relationship must be achieved through voluntary negotiations, fairly conducted, in which the First Nations, Canada and British Columbia are equal participants." In its report, the Treaty Commission says the process thus far has dealt with preliminary matters essential to the treaty negotiations. "Full-fledged negotiations of substantive issues have not yet begun" but "the Commissioners are confident that several First Nations will be ready to start Framework Agreement negotiations by the end of 1994." By June 15, 1994, the Commission had accepted 41 Statements of Intent, filed by B.C. First Nations, and had organized and chaired 38 initial meetings, most held within the traditional territory of the First Nation involved. The initial meetings bring negotiators from the First Nation, Canada and B.C. together for the first time to exchange information and address procedural matters to facilitate future discussions. The Treaty Commission annual report, signed by Chief Commissioner C.J. Connaghan and the four Commissioners, Carole E. Corcoran, Barbara L. Fisher, Dr. Lorne E. Greenaway and Arthur W. Sterritt, was filed with Canada, British Columbia and the First Nations Summit. Its financial statements cover the Commission's $1.7 million budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year and projections showing a similar amount for 1994-95. They show the Commission had a surplus of $197,754, after 1993-94 fiscal-year operating and net capital expenditures. Based on agreements with Canada and British Columbia, these funds will be used to fund First Nations' meetings, public education, training seminars and other related expenses dealing with treaty making. In addition to its role to "facilitate the process of negotiations," the Treaty Commission has responsibilities for allocation of funds to First Nations to help ensure that they are able to prepare for, and participate in, negotiations on an equal footing with Canada and B.C. The Commission says it has been frank in "bringing matters of importance to the attention of the Principals" -- Canada, B.C., and the First Nations Summit -- including the fact that "there is a strong sentiment among First Nations, that insufficient funding has been provided to them to negotiate on an equal footing." "The Commission also has a concern about the response of the Principals to their obligation to inform the public about the historic need for treaty making in British Columbia and about the ways in which this need is being addressed. In the view of the Commission, the three Principals have been slow to proceed in this regard. It is clear that the absence of accurate information from the Principals has led, and will continue to lead, to apprehension and resistance from interest groups and the public." The annual report is available for public review at the Treaty Commission office in Vancouver. Copies may be obtained by calling, writing or faxing the Commission at: (604) 775-2078 in the Vancouver B.C. calling area, or, 1-800-665-8330 elsewhere within B.C., toll-free or by fax: (604) 775-2092 -- Hope this helps! Margot Sinclair Marclaire Communications margots@wimsey.com --------- "RE: Prophecies" --------- Date: Sat, 27 Aug 1994 20:24:33 -0400 From: delphi.com!FOURCIRCLES Subj: Prophecies Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) kim> too! That is something that could change, maybe even a little faster kim> than genetic evolution. It makes me wonder, well, have we been here kim> almost long enough, now, that we can start to hear the spirits? kim> Because the land is becoming part of our bodies? Is this why so many kim> of us lately are petitioning for acceptance? kim> kim You said many good things. Thank you. I see many reasons why many people of all colors are petitioning for acceptance. I think it's necessary now for the survival of humanity. The other day a note from an opponent of open spirituality hit a nerve with me, and i started ranting -- if the "US-Govt.-recognized-natives-only" folks think they can bring the changes thru all by themselves -- fine!!! Let them try!!!! Then there will be a fifth world full of spoilers, and I would want no part of it!! But I had let things get to me. I'm ok now. :) I think the return of the spirit to peoples of the earth of all colors is a fulfilment of several famous prophecies. The Iroquois have a prophecy that after the battle between the snakes, only the "peoples of the earth of all colors" would be left. The way this prophecy is usually interpreted is, "the Indians of all colors would inherit the earth", but a friend who has made a lifelong study of native cultures assures me that the former is more accurate. The Hopi have a prophecy that, at the end of time, the "pale brother" and the "red brother" would be reunited, and sit down in council to exchange gifts and correct each others' errors. Then there would be a time when all life and all spirituality would be renewed, and everyone would be Hopi, ie, peaceful people. Black Elk has a vision and a prophecy that a plant with four colors of flowers growing on one stem would carry the power of Spirit to the world, and by this power all the peoples would live again. I feel that it is not a just literal plant; it is also a metaphor for the many hues of humanity. Black Elk did not tell his vision to anyone else for a long time, and became sick from keeping it secret. Finally he told it to another medicine man, who advised him, you must make this vision so all can see, and do it quickly, or bad things will befall you. But if you make it so all can see, we will indeed all live again. I feel that what happened with Black Elk is a microcosm of what is happening to all of humanity. Time is running very short, and we are becoming sick from keeping the vision unexpressed. So we must make this vision so all can see, so that nothing bad will befall us, and we can all live again. So now is the time for the fulfilment of prophecy. Now is the time to build the rainbow, so that we can all live again. Dee @ 4C --------- "RE: Voice of the Turtle" --------- Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 02:37:24 GMT From: catalina m reyes Subj: "Voice of the Turtle" Anthology Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Hi. Here's another radio piece that might be of interest. It's an interview with Paula Gunn Allen, editor of a new anthology of native american fiction. Best, c.m.reyes ________________________________ High Plains News Service: Paula Gunn Allen: "Voice of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1900-1970" DATE TO AIR: Wed. 07 Sept. 1994 (you "heard" it here first!) By Catalina Reyes TAPE: 3:36 ANNOUNCER'S INTRO: LAGUNA/SIOUX WRITER AND SCHOLAR PAULA GUNN ALLEN IS KNOWN FOR HER POETRY, ESSAYS AND BOOKS. HER EARLIER TITLES INCLUDE THE SACRED HOOP: RECOVERING THE FEMININE IN AMERICAN INDIAN TRADITION, AND GRANDMOTHERS OF THE LIGHT: A MEDICINE WOMAN'S SOURCEBOOK. NOW GUNN ALLEN HAS TURNED EDITOR WITH THE PUBLICATION OF VOICE OF THE TURTLE; AMERICAN INDIAN LITERATURE 1900 TO 1970. IT'S A COLLECTION OF THE EARLIEST PUBLISHED WRITING BY AMERICAN INDIANS. GUNN ALLEN LIVES IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, WHERE SHE SPOKE WITH REPORTER CATALINA REYES ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY: PAULA GUNN ALLEN: What this book is, is the first volume of a collection that I wanted to subtitle a century of American Indian fiction. BUT PAULA GUNN ALLEN EMPHASIZES THAT JUST BECAUSE INDIANS DIDN'T RECEIVE PUBLICATION 'TIL THIS CENTURY DOESN'T MEAN THAT'S WHEN NATIVE NARRATIVE STARTED. SHE SAYS YOU CAN SEE EVIDENCE OF IT IN ANCIENT ROCK DRAWINGS, OR PETROGLYPHS, LIKE THE EXAMPLES UP TO THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD IN ALBUQUERQUE'S PETROGLYPH PARK NEARBY: PAULA GUNN ALLEN: I've sort of redefined fiction a bit to fit into a more native literary way of making genres, rather than the western way. So our way is the narrative tradition; and the narrative tradition of course is extremely old. If you know how to read the rocks out here there's a lot of them that are narratives; of course, that only works if you know how to read, if you're literate in that language. GUNN ALLEN OUGHT TO KNOW. HER OWN LAGUNA PUEBLO PEOPLE LIVE NEAR THOSE PETROGLYPHS. SHE POINTS TO OTHER SOUTHWEST NATIVE WRITERS WHO SHARE SUCH SOURCES: PAULA GUNN ALLEN: Even the most modern of writers -- Simon Ortiz from Acoma, is the last writer in this book, or Momaday, who was raised at Jemez; Greg Cojo, who is Navajo -- and what happens in all of them is they're using elements from the most ancient of the narrative traditions, this forever-ongoing narrative tradition that never ends. BUT GUNN ALLEN SAYS THAT IN THE FIRST SEVENTY YEARS OF NATIVE FICTION, WRITERS WHO WANTED TO SEE PRINT HAD TO SHAPE THEIR STORIES NOT IN THEIR OWN WAY, BUT IN THE EURO-ANGLO WAY: PAULA GUNN ALLEN: And their storytelling structure is always about conflict. Adversaryness. And the story has got to end up with the hero dying -- that's called tragedy -- or with the hero triumphing -- that's called comedy. So, in the early part of publishing there was no way you could tell that never-ending story. WHAT MAINSTREAM PUBLISHERS EXPECTED FROM INDIAN WRITERS WAS STORIES ABOUT INDIANS DYING OR GOING EXTINCT: PAULA GUNN ALLEN: Given that they've got this long tradition of the dying Gaul -- the dead warrior fits right into it. You can't do anything but tell stories that end in the devastation and the destruction of the people, somehow. AND IT'S TRUE INDIAN WRITERS DID HAVE A LOT OF DESTRUCTION TO TALK ABOUT: PAULA GUNN ALLEN: There's that terrible period of absolute devastation that goes on and on. So this particular period is almost like a retelling of, like: ok, this is what happened to us, what happened to you? So we hear voices from a variety of native nations, filling in the gaps of this long, horrifying story. And as we come to the end of that period -- which is 1969 -- this sense of: maybe we made it. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN ALL THE STORIES IN THE BOOK END IN DISASTER. NATIVE AUTHORS COULD GO BEYOND THE NEGATIVE PATTERN EXPECTED OF THEM WHEN THEY WROTE COMEDY, SAYS GUNN ALLEN: PAULA GUNN ALLEN: Charles Eastman has a story, "The Singing Spirit," that is one of the funniest stories I ever read. Here come these strangers and we think that they're trolls, or something. But it turns out it's a Frenchman from up north, and he's got a violin and he's singing. He's trying to make the Buffalo go away 'cause they almost stampeded him. You see that oral tradition of humor, that sense of the supernatural, the sense that we're all on an adventure that never ends, and it's fraught with all kinds of mysteriousness. And it characterizes native fiction. PAULA GUNN ALLEN IS THE EDITOR OF VOICE OF THE TURTLE: AMERICAN INDIAN LITERATURE 1900 TO 1970, PUBLISHED BY BALLANTINE BOOKS. LATER THIS YEAR GUNN ALLEN WILL LAUNCH A SECOND VOLUME THAT'LL REPRESENT INDIAN WRITERS FROM 1970 TIL TODAY. FOR THE HIGH PLAINS NEWS SERVICE, I'M CATALINA REYES IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm |Catalina Reyes | Onate Hall | internet: | | Public Radio Producer | University of New Mexico | catrey@unm.edu | |KUNM 89.9 FM | Albuquerque, NM 87131 | bitnet: | |(505) 277-8016 | USA | catrey@unmb | mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm --------- "RE: Statement by AIM at UN" --------- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 21:30:39 GMT From: John Burrows Subj: FWDP: Statement by AIM at UN Working Group - 27 July 1994 Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: This file has been created under the loving care of :: :: -= THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT =- :: :: :: :: Questions and comments on FWDP may be addressed to: :: :: :: :: John Burrows jburrows@halcyon.com :: :: P.O. Box 2574 :: :: Olympia, Wa Fido Net 1:352/333 :: :: 98507-2574 206-786-9629 :: :: USA The Quarto Mundista BBS :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: UNITED NATIONS WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 12th Session, 27 July 1994 Geneva, Switzerland AGENDA ITEM #5 - Recent Developments STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF AUTONOMOUS CHAPTERS OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT Madame Chair: On behalf of the Confederation of Autonomous Chapters of the American Indian Movement, I bring congratulations to you on your re-election as Chair of the Working Group, and greetings to our indigenous relatives and allies. Madame Chair, and esteemed members of the Working Group, as we review developments affecting indigenous peoples from this past year, especially United States indigenous policy, I am reminded of the adage, "some people rob you with a gun, and some rob you with a fountain pen." Unlike the outrageous and unforgivable brutality of the physical atrocities that continue against indigenous peoples worldwide, of similar gravity are those policies and developments that serve to destroy indigenous peoples through the subtleties and nuances of law and semantics. United States indigenous policy continues to cause tangible and verifiable physical harms to indigenous peoples, as in the case of treaty violations against the Lakota and Western Shoshone nations, and as with land theft and violence against the Kanaka Maoli and Apache. In the U.S., Indigenous Peoples continue to suffer the highest prison incarceration rate, the highest teen suicide rate, and the worst health, education, housing and economic conditions of anyone in the U.S. Yet, it is the certain, methodical, daily operation of U.S. policy and law towards indigenous peoples where the most insidious danger lies. Two examples illustrate this point. The first example is the policy consideration of the United States Department of Interior, formulated this past year, to separate indigenous peoples into two legal/political categories - that of "historic" and "no -historic" nations consisting of those peoples who were virtually destroyed through U.S. military Indian policy and who were then forcibly relocated from their traditional territories. Now, the U.S. seeks to blame these victims of the forced removal policy by impairing their legal personality and sovereign territorial rights. Administratively, and through the operation of what ostensibly is a series of lawful and peaceful acts -- indigenous peoples can be destroyed and reduced to historical footnotes through the enforcement of U.S. law. It is because of this kind of manipulation of law and language that many of us have developed a caution and vigilance about legal instruments that affect us -- including the Draft Declaration. Which now brings us, Madame Chair, to the most recent development in U.S. indigenous policy, the statement of the United States delegation at this session of the Working Group. It is disturbing indeed that the United States, even with a change of presidential administrations, continues with a short-sighted and failed interpretation of indigenous aspirations and of its responsibilities to address those aspirations. In its self-congratulatory statement, the U.S. insinuated that it has supported the right of indigenous self-determination since the 1975 passage of the Indian Self-Determination Act. The cruel reality is that the manipulation of the term self-determination by the U.S. means little more to indigenous peoples than the opportunity to oversee colonial government programs that do nothing to advance the rights of indigenous peoples to make free and unimpaired decisions about their political and economic destinies. The U.S. policy distorts and perverts the fundamental intent of self- determination -- a time-honored and respected international legal right -- by attempting to contort it into an exclusively domestic context -- an interpretation that no serious student of international law could abide. Madame Chair, I request your understanding of our frustration to this most recent development and policy statement of the U.S. We mean no undue disrespect, but time grows shorter, and our future generations require us to speak with truth and integrity. Our frustration is that after twelve sessions of this esteemed body, after numerous international conferences, and drafts of the Declaration, after countless overtures to U.S. administrative agencies and departments, the U.S. still cannot bring itself to afford us the simple dignity of calling us by the name that we choose. Through this deliberate affront, the U.S. reveals a profound disrespect for indigenous peoples and reveals its true intentions despite its attempts to mask them in superficial rhetoric. Our frustration is that twice in yesterday's statement the U.S. called us populations, nine times it called us People (with no "s"), and four times called us tribes or tribal. We are not populations, people or tribes or bands. We are not gaggles of geese or packs of wild dogs. We are peoples and nations, a reality that is confirmed in the over 400 treaties signed between indigenous peoples and the U.S., and we are demanding our rightful exercise of self-determination. The U.S. uses the non-sequitur "government to government relationship, " to avoid the reality of the international nation-to-nation relationship that emanates from those over 400 treaties. In conclusion, Madame Chair, we know that you will be sensitive to our frustration that, at this historic juncture in the acknowledgement of indigenous rights, the country that could take the lead and forge a path of greater understanding and expanded human rights between states and indigenous peoples, the country that could send out a beacon for a truly progressive and far-reaching acknowledgement of indigenous peoples' rights has, instead, chosen to follow the failed and self-serving policies of the past. Despite these troubling recent developments, we are confident in the strength and dedication of indigenous peoples and governments of goodwill to construct a new, irreversible respectful relationship for the benefit of our future generations. Finally, Madame Chair, we all find ourselves at a monumental, historic crossroads, and, for us, well, we have chosen the path of freedom. Now, the United States must choose to decide whether its path will be that of leadership and vision that endorses human rights in an expansive and inclusive way, or whether it will choose a bankrupt path of exclusion and subordination of indigenous peoples. If it chooses the first, then we will welcome dialogue and negotiation, and perhaps someday we will grow to respect them. But, if they choose the second course, and expect us to forget the examples of our ancestors, to relinquish our international right to self-determination, or to surrender to them, then our response to them is simple and clear: NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- have a current Center For World Indigenous Studies Publication Catalogue sent to you via e-mail, send a request to jburrows@halcyon.com FTP ftp.halcyon.com /pub/FWDP/CWIS Center For World Indigenous Studies P.O. Box 2574 Olympia, WA U.S.A. 98507-2574 BBS: 206-786-9629 FAX: 206-956-1087 OCR Provided by Caere Corporation's OmniPage Professional /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// John Burrows, Executive Director jburrows@halcyon.com Center For World Indigenous Studies The Quarto Mundista BBS ftp://ftp.halcyon.com/pub/FWDP/WWW/fwdp.html FidoNet 1:352/333 206-786-9629 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\