Subject: nanews02.047 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 047 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 19 November 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, EIRP, NATIVE-L & NATCHAT Mailing Lists, UUCP & Genie (General Electric) e-mail, UseNet newsgroups alt.native & soc.culture.native. Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination and/or permission for inclusion has been secured. Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A. I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people. <----<<<< >>>>----> 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. "A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky" __ Crazy Horse, Oglala +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Even if that first Thanksgiving at Plymouth Colony was not what the myth taught in U. S. schools would have you believe, there is still this time to celebrate. Most First People give thanks throughout their entire lives for the gifts from Spirit and Mother Earth, so there is no need for a special day to do what is done as part of a way of being. Still, this is a time to look about you and give special thanks to Creator that among the gifts is the gift of loving and caring for one another. 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 - Four Eagles Monument Planned - Conferences and Powwows - online - Federal Census Re-definition - Adopt a Native Elder - Honor the Treaties - Music Profile: Walter Bonaise - Government Land Grab - Eagle Feathers - Eight Incinerators at Tooele Base, UT - They Look so White - Review: The Smithsonian and the - Indian Coalition Fights American Indian Toxic Sludge - Poem: Body is a Spirit - Stereotyping Indians - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline ----------------- clip here for news feature -- 8< ------------ --------- "RE: Four Eagles Monument Planned" --------- Date: Sun, 13 Nov 1994 09:57:39 -0800 From: pablob@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu Subj: Four Eagles Monument Planned Mailing List: EIRP =====================================* Thanks to Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota * Nation member, Elmer St John Brown, * for the following information. * =====================================* **** FOUR EAGLES MONUMENT PLANNED **** A monument is planned as a memorial honoring the three Indian Health Service physicians who lost their lives on February 24, 1994, in an airplane crash near Minot, North Dakota. The physicians, Ruggles Stah, Diabetes Control Office, Christopher Krogh, MCH Consultant, and Arvo Oopik, Cardiologist, were on a regular rotation of duty in which they routinely cared for the people of the 19 Aberdeen Area reservations. (The IHS medical doctors had just completed a visit to the Lake Traverse Reservation and were enroute to North Dakota when the accident occurred.) The memorial would be constructed on the grounds of the Sioux San Hospital at Rapid City. The name would be Four Eagles. The number four is significant in Lakota and Dakota cultures, while the eagle represents Grandfather's messenger. West River Monument Company will build the monument. Plans were developed and will be coordinated by John DuBray. The project has the approval of the three widows of the physicians and the administration and employees of IHS. Persons wishing to donate to help in this construction project may send their contributions to: Four Eagles Project, 1607 Mountain View Rd., Rapid City, SD 57702. Construction of the monument will begin after half of the funds have been received. Spring 1995 is the target date for the completion and dedication. ========================================================================= This information provided courtesy of the EIRP Telecommunication Project: eirp@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu pablob@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu ========================================================================= --------- "RE: Federal Census re-definition" --------- Date: Sat, 12 Nov 1994 02:46:16 GMT From: daholt@k12.ucs.umass.edu (David A. Holt (GCC/TEME)) Subj: Federal Census re-definition Newsgroup: soc.culture.native TO ALL THIS DOES CONCERN (I.E. EVERYBODY); This issue is an outrage! Not only does it affect Native Americans, but it involves everyone else as well. The broad sweeping generalities that can be brought upon Blacks, Whites, and everyone else as well as Native Americans is frightening. We should all respond to this by writing our congressmen or by writing directly to the Statistical Policy Office, the address of which is included in Mr. Berry's posting. This is an urgent matter requiring IMMEDIATE attention! This government has done a lot of ludicrous things in the past, but exactly what gives them the right to get THAT involved with anyones' life?!? In this I can see the possible dissolution of the Native American race on paper as well as other races. If this happens, who will be "Government Approved"? The CIA and the FBI?? TAKE ACTION NOW!!!!! -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Live In Peace...Honor All Creation...Walk In Balance On Mother Earth Date: Tue, 15 Nov 1994 16:13:28 -0500 From: daholt@k12.ucs.umass.edu (David A. Holt (GCC/TEME)) To: gars@netcom.com Subject: revision of last letter for publication. Gary; This morning while I was driving to college, I had an idea about another posting to put up in reply to the federal census thing. I am going to send it to you, I realize that it is quite idealistic, and perhaps even impossible. You can treat this as a personal letter, or put it into Wotanging Ikche if you wish. I need to say this to someone, but I am not sure that it is the right time to post it to the public. Perhaps your insight into this matter is clearer than mine, seeing as though I am not sure that my head was engaged when I wrote this, but I know my heart was. Brothers and Sisters; This new classification of races into a "multi-racial" category may well be the most disastrous event to happen to Indian people on this continent since the landing of the first settlers, many years ago. If it should become necessary to take the resistance of such an act to this degree, it is my opinion that if we, as Native American people pull together, and speak with one voice from many nations, forming a strong medicine shield with which to protect our identity for ourselves and more importantly future generations, it is possible that our medicine may be strong enough to stop this new category from happening. The implications of the "multi-racial" category are frightening. These words come from my heart, please listen to them as they are truly spoken. Dave -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Live In Peace-Honor All Creation-Walk In Balance On Mother Earth \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ --------- "RE: Honor the Treaties" --------- Date: 10 Nov 94 03:39:12 GMT From: milo@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Michele Lord) Subj: Honor the Treaties Newsgroup: alt.native With permission from the quarterly newspaper, On Indian Land. Summer 1994 Honor The Treaties by Mary McLaughlin Human society, in all times and places, has addressed the dilemma of conflict by two means: law and warfare. Every nation on earth has laws to promote justice and insure peaceful well-being within its jurisdiction. The world we live in does not have a universal code of law. Such international cooperation as exists today is codified in treaties. Treaties are undertaken to forestall or resolve conflict between nations. It follows, in logic and in life, that nations are thrown into crisis when treaties are violated. When lawful resolution of conflict fails, for whatever reasons, warfare ensues. When wars are ended, the terms of future relations between the combatants are spelled out in treaties. To all intents and purposes, treaties are international law. It goes without saying that such covenants are made only between sovereign nations. The United States of America does not make treaties with states or cities or minority populations. Although most people seem to understand these points most of the time, for some reason the so-called Indian treaties are held to be in a class apart. Several years ago, two SANE/FREEZE volunteers appeared at my door seeking signatures to a petition urging the U.S. government to sign an accord, the terms of which I do not recall, which they believed would nullify once and for all the Ever Present Nuclear Threat. I spoke to them about uranium mining on Indian land; how the federal government swindled the Oglala Lakota out of one-eighth of their remaining lands, on the very same day in 1975 as the fire-fight that precipitated the frame-up of Leonard Peltier. They agreed, it was a terrible situation. Of course, they knew about Leonard, but this accord would change everything, because the government wouldn't need the uranium anymore. I had to concede it was a charming prospect, but how could they be certain such a treaty would be honored? After all , America's arsenal might not exist at all had the Fort Laramie Treaty been upheld all along. Oh, well, they said, thats different. And that is supposed to be that. Their attitude is commonplace. For various reasons best summed up as "it's too bad--it's too late--it's too complicated" the most well-meaning people simply refused to take the treaties seriously. They are surprised and dismayed to find that this upsets us. They are so caught up in there own good intentions that they can not see that some of their underlying assumptions are the same as those of our enemies. Many matters of conflict between the rest of American society might never have arisen had the treaties been upheld to begin with. In theory, Congress is prohibited from enacting laws which circumvent or undermine treaty provisions. But throughout the foregoing century successive federal administrations have erected a Byzantine edifice of laws with an attendant bureaucracy designed to do exactly that. Consequently, misinformation abounds. Press and public alike are confused. Whenever Indians go to court to assert the right to fish or worship or simply leave everything alone, treaty opponents run wild with charges that everyone else's civil rights are at the mercy of some archaic affirmative action doomsday machine. The real issue -- the fact that, legally speaking, treaties are on a par with the Constitution and if the U.S. obeyed its own laws, none of this would be happening -- is never confronted. The treaties do not confer privilege or anything else on the Indians. They acknowledge Indian sovereignty. Furthermore, because they are made on behalf of the Nation, treaties have a legal standing superior to domestic law. Anti-treaty rhetoric ignores this point but the courts, no matter how many years it takes, always upholds it. They have to. The fundamental importance of these documents is hard to overstate. It does not matter that they have been routinely trivialized and disregarded. It does not matter that our numbers are few. The treaties are the legal anchor of 20th-century Indian America's claim to sovereignty. They attest to our standing in the world community. Supporting Indian sovereignty means, first and foremost, honoring the treaties. -30- ON INDIAN LAND is published quarterly by Support for Native Sovereignty (SNS). SNS is a Puget Sound area group working to support American land struggles, religious rights, political prisoners and other issues. Our support is guided by the type and extent of assistance asked for by Native groups. On Native Land may be contacted at: Support for Native Sovereignty, P.O. Box 2104, Seattle WA 98111. Ph: 206-545-9380 or 206-525-5089 E-mail: ggreenesns@igc.apc.org ~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*+ "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 alphai@scicom.alphacdc.com + P.O. Box 110998 milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + Aurora CO 80042 + Fax: 303-360-9118 +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ --------- "RE: Government Land Grab" --------- Date: Sun, 13 Nov 1994 14:56:22 -0500 From: daholt@k12.ucs.umass.edu (David A. Holt (GCC/TEME)) Subj: Government Land Grab UUCP email Gary; On the alt.native bbs, I found a message titled "Govt wants first choice on land". the issue is over a closing military base. A proposal has been made to build a cultural center/ Native American college on the grounds if the government would allow this. The # of the article is 6061, you may want to check into it. I posted a reply that I thought I would share with you: From: daholt@k12.ucs.umass.edu (David A. Holt (GCC/TEME)) Subject: Re: Govt wants first choice on land. Date: Sun Nov 13 14:44:33 1994 To whom it may concern; Why would the government rather have more prisons et.c., than having a cultural center/educational institute set up for people long denied proper treatment and acknowledgment by the government? In my opinion, the land should be utilized for the cultural center/education. There are enough prisons and not enough education in this country now. The United States has the largest prison population on the face of the Earth, according to all the statistics I have read. I believe it is time for the government to allow centers like this to be built and stop the trend of cultural suppression. David daholt@k12.ucs.umass.edu I hope that you will be interested in this and can use this for your newsletter. Dave. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Live In Peace-Honor All Creation-Walk In Balance On Mother Earth \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ --------- "RE: Eight Incinerators at Tooele Base, Utah" --------- Date: 10 Nov 94 03:56:12 GMT From: milo@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Michele Lord) Subj: Eight Incinerators at Tooele Base, Utah Newsgroup: soc.culture.native [We're posting this article here because the toxic impact of these incinerators will be to Indian lands and people. -Michele] With permission from America's Eagle, Vol. II Number 4, October, 1994. Army To Burn Germ Warfare Weapons At Tooele, Utah. Inspector Labels It A Failure. The Army is moving ahead with their plans to burn their stockpile of chemical weapons. The government has banned new commercial hazardous waste incinerators -- but the Army is building their own incinerators with which they will destroy lethal nerve gas, mustard agents and other chemical weapons, possibly in your backyard. The first of eight planned incinerators will soon be completed and in operation in Tooele, Utah. Test burns have been made and more will be done this year. Nearby residents are alarmed about the possibility of toxic emissions and the possibility of operating accidents. Forty-two percent of all chemical weapons will be burned here, so their concern is appreciated. Their fear may be justified. Recently a safety officer at the Tooele incinerator reported to his superiors that the incinerator's safety system was inadequate. The inspector, Steve Jones, says that he was fired after he refused to sign a paper saying that the risks were acceptable. "The plants safety programs are so deficient that they pose a risk of catastrophic release of nerve gas into the atmosphere," Jones said. Already, improper filters have allowed traces of nerve gas to be released. The incinerator is about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City. The DOD contractor, EG&G corporation has of course said "there is no truth to Jone's charges." There is as yet no official response to the charges from the DOD, although Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah is looking into the matter. F.Y.I. The nerve gas weapons contain agents known as Tabun, Sarin, Soman and VX. They are very lethal. Colorless, tasteless and odorless, they interrupt the flow of nerve system impulses, shutting down the bodies vital system causing suffocation and muscle contractions. When inhaled or absorbed through the skin, death will occur in 15 minutes. One drop of Sarin will kill immediately. Tabun also kills quickly. VX is an oily liquid which penetrates the skin and is extremely toxic. It causes distorted vision, blindness, severe headaches and death. Nervegas was developed prior to WW II and was used in the German Nazi death camps. Chemical and biological weapons of war were first developed from insecticides. Disease and germ-carrying weapons are almost as old as man. They were once described as 'insecticide for people.' These weapons have caused terror among military and civilian populations for centuries. Today, it is no different. Treaty after treaty has been signed by world powers in efforts to ban the use of chemical weapons. But the treaties didn't prevent the research and production of these 'weapons from Hell.' Chemicals, when used as weapons, have a great destructive effect on animals, humans and vegetation. Example: Agent Orange, used during the war in Vietnam. Veteran's have had to fight their own government in efforts to establish that Agent Orange was the cause of their cancers and other illnesses. Only recently did the U.S. admit that dioxins in the substance could have caused problems. Since at least World War I, the U.S. has researched, developed and tested chemical and biological agents for containment in bombs and shells. The bombs or shells may contain a solid, a liquid, or it may be in gas form. WW I saw the use of mustard gas and phosgene. Todays weapons are more sophisticated. The U.S. is said to have traded immunity for war crimes to enemy scientists in return for their secrets, even though they have branded those experiments as 'inhuman' in nature. There is documentation that after WW II, the U.S. acquired such secrets from Japanese laboratories. Dr. Ken Yuasa of Tokyo, Japan, has admitted that he used healthy Chinese prisoners for surgical practice and experiments during World War II. In one such experiment, prisoner's limbs and intestines would be cut into pieces and doctors would try to sew them back together. Dr. Yuasa has said that mass experiments on thousands of healthy captives were performed, including one top-secret experiment where injections of various germs, such as anthrax, typhus and dysentery were performed. Officially, the Japanese government has denied that the experiments took place but they admitted the existence of the unit named by Yuasa. From 1940 through 1990, the U.S. had stockpiled so much deadly chemical and biological weapons that in early 1993 the Department of Defense was ordered by Congress to destroy all stored stockpiles of such weapons in order to comply with a newly-signed treaty called the Chemical Weapons Convention and it required all signatories to destroy all of their chemical warfare material. For 40 years, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps secretly built and operated laboratories where they developed stronger strains of known diseases to make them difficult to diagnose and untreatable before death would occur. Some of these chemicals and biological specimens were actually tested on unsuspecting citizens in a dozen cities, including San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago and in the subways of New York City. Strains of anthrax were released into the air of several mid-West locations. One biological lab was located in Frederick, Maryland. Insects, mice and monkeys were used to test their products. An infected mouse once escaped during the 1960s and created pandemonium among the scientists who were fearful of spreading the disease in the civilian population nearby. The Frederick lab created another incident when in 1953, a germ warfare scientist, Frank R. Olson was secretly given LSD during an experiment by the CIA in a secret program called MK-ULTRA which studied the use of LSD and other drugs for intelligence work. After he was told that he had been given LSD, Olson told his wife that he had made a terrible mistake and wanted to quit his job as one of the top researchers of germ warfare. Because of this, his family thinks he may have been pushed out of his hotel room window. A CIA agent put the LSD into Olson's drink to "see what would happen." Olson became severely depressed and behaved erratically. He died nine days later after jumping out of a hotel room in New York City. President Ford later apologized to the Olson family and paid them $750,000 to settle their claim against the CIA. As only one result of the years of development, research, production and storage of chemical and germ warfare weapons,. there are now over 17,500 sites which are contaminated, the DOD has said. The worst sites are at military bases, where poisonous weapons have polluted the environment. Dangerous substances have penetrated deep into underground currents of water, threatening nearby streams and drinking water. Army officials say that their furnaces will be the cleanest and safest that can be designed and will exceed the pollution controls of commercial incinerators. But Utah residents are not yet convinced. "We're the guinea pigs," said one resident who lives 10 miles downwind from the incinerator. In reality, there is good precedence for their fear. Civilian populations have already served as test subjects in many parts of the country. Other locations where incinerators are planned for construction are Anniston, Alabama; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Umatilla, Oregon; Pueblo, Colorado; Aberdeen, Maryland; Lexington, Kentucky and Newport, Indiana. Readers, you have been warned. It's time to say NIMBY! (Not In My Backyard). -30- America's Eagle: A Magazine for Environmentalists P.O. Box 292, Mt. Vernon VA 22121 Ph: 703-550-2375 Fx: 703-550-2473 Editor: Elmer M. Savilla America's Eagle is published monthly by Partners in the Environment, a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Letters to the Editor are encouraged. The writer must provide their full name and address. Letters may be edited to fit available space. Letters considered offensive or libelous will not be printed. All letters must be signed by the writer. The submission of articles on community health problems caused by environmental contamination, environmental racism or related issues and the effect on community residents, government denial of civil or human rights, upcoming environmental events and conferences is encouraged. Articles for submission should be kept to a maximum of three 8 1/2"x11', double-spaced pages. However, there is no guarantee of printing of unsolicited articles unless prior arrangements are made with the Editor. ~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*+ "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 alphai@scicom.alphacdc.com + P.O. Box 110998 milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + Aurora CO 80042 + Fax: 303-360-9118 +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ +*+ --------- "RE: Review: The Smithsonian and the American Indian" --------- Date: 11 Nov 1994 17:24:26 GMT From: brock@ucsub.Colorado.EDU (BROCK STEVEN GARY) Subj: Review of The Smithsonian and the American Indian (Hist/Anthro) Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native THE SMITHSONIAN AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN: MAKING A MORAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN VICTORIAN AMERICA by Curtis M. Hinsley. Smithsonian Institution Press, 470 L'Enfant Plaza, Suite 7100, Washington, D.C., 20560, (800) 927-7377, (202) 287-3184 FAX. Illustrated, index, notes, bibliography. 319 pp., $17.95 paper. 1-56098-409-0 REVIEW "When the Caciques of the Americans sit on our decapitated heads, then they can dress our bodies in their clothes, feed our bodies with their victuals; then, too they can have our things to take with them to the houses of their fathers." Hopi elders, 1882 The Smithsonian Institution has reprinted Hinsley's 1981 history of early governmental approaches to anthropology, originally titled "Savages and Scientists." In this book, Hinsley, a well-known historian, outlines the guiding vision that controlled the U.S. government's involvement (primarily by the Bureau of American Ethnology and the Smithsonian) in collecting the artifacts of a dying race, while other governmental agencies formulated policies that ensured its demise. A one-and-a-half page preface to this edition specifies the Smithsonian's new policies in light of the 1990 Native American Graves and Repatriation Act and the recent opening of its National Museum of the American Indian. Otherwise, there is no new information. For those desiring a history of the Smithsonian and its reasons for entering into Native American affairs ("to inquire into the history of the people we have dispossessed"), this is a credible piece. As a reflection of the agency's present priorities and direction, it's as dated as the above quote is timely. Grade: B --------- "RE: Poem: Body is a Spirit" --------- Date: 11 Nov 1994 16:15:48 -0600 From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Subj: Body is a Spirit Newsgroup: alt.native I have carried my life from the shadows my body is a spirit i was carried down from the trees i was a bird a little bird at that time you might have heard me singing i have changed my looks i have seen thunder thunder carried by the bear and it has all hit my body and gone inside my skin so now I am going around in a circle here inside the mountain Tobacco Indian -- _________________________________________________________________ AICAP Pages copyright 1994 (c)AICAP http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/aises/aicap/archive/aicap.html 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: 94/11/11 21:18 From: Kepola (dfsanders@genie.geis.com) Subj:A HAWAI'IAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of November 13-19 GE Electronic Mail A HAWAI'IAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of November 20-26 NOWEMAPA (November) (Welehu) 20 The fairy terns are pale ghosts against the night sky. 21 The pueo's haunting call invokes the spirit of the wind. 22 The full moon is rosy with the glow of the setting sun, and the clouds surrounding it are royal purple. 23 Heed well the cycles of your life. 24 Let your dreams be a source of inspiration. 25 Be grateful for the ancestors who helped shape your life. 26 In every conversation, it is important to learn to listen. (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, 17 November 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= Got a new online resource folks. Native.Net is a special U.S./Canadian network focusing on Native American news, life, and culture. The following two items were taken from their "Events" newsgroups. From: Veronica Maynard To: All Msg #16, 11-06-94 19:40:06 Subject: Jack Gladstone JACK GLADSTONE UPCOMING PUBLIC APPEARANCES November 1994 8 Union County College Eliãbeth NJ 7:30 pm 9 Union County College Elizabeth NJ Noon 10-12 University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse LaCrosse WI 14 Moorhead State University Moorhead MN Evening 16 Elgin Community College Elgin IL 18 Fundraiser for Bedford Historical Bedford TX Committee 19 House Concert Austin TX Call for reservations 837-2333 21 University of Colorado Colorado Noon & 7pm Springs CO February 1995 11 Cutter Theater Metaline Falls evening WA 21 Brewery Arts Center Carson City NV 23 Cal State Sacramento CA March 1995 9 Washington DC (private function) Washington DC evening 28 Aquinas College Grand Rapids noon MI April 1995 4 Loyola University Chicago IL evening Engagements are being added almost daily... as I get an updated schedule I will repost with the appropriate changes. Hope those interested can make it to the performances as Jack Gladstone is a fabulous singer and storyteller of Native America. Jammie --- GEcho 1.01+ Origin: "Bottom" of the Potomac - Jammie Party (804) 851-1384 (90:275/25) From: Jacob Eagle Eyes To: All Msg #21, 11-11-94 01:50:10 Subject: Chamber's Farm Chamber's Farm Thanksgiving Gathering November 24-26 Orange Springs, Florida NO FEES Covered dish dinner nightly Primitive camping Cold showers for more info call (904)625-2279 (in Silver Springs, FL) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- From the Internet: Newsgroups: soc.culture.native Subject: Thanksgiving Fest. at college in NY...Iroquois artists wanted The Native American Studies and Students Association (N.A.S.S.A.) at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York has organized a Native American Thanksgiving for this coming Sat., November 18. It is an all day event, and open to the public. We are also looking for Iroquois artists that are interested in selling art and jewelry. If interest, please contact me. The events are as follows: 2:00 p.m.: Iroquois Dancing Vicky Shenandoah will present, "Iroquois Social Dancing, a Woman's Perspective." [audience participation] 4:00 p.m.: Speaker Doug George-Kanentiio, "Iroquois in the Twenty-first Century, and Thanksgiving Rites of the Iroquois." 7:30 p.m.: Special concert Joanne and Diane Shenandoah IROQUOIS ARTS SALE ALL DAY!! Send responses to: emerkin@hamilton.edu Thank you, Emily =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==- From the print media (=News from Indian Country= and =The Spike=) Thanksgiving Weekend Powwow Reminders: Nov 25-27 American Indian OIC Thanksgiving Minneapolis, MN Info: 612-341-3358 Nov 25-26 5th Prairie Band Potawatomi, Topeka, KS Info: 913-966-2255 Nov 25-27 Indian America, South Tucson, AZ Info: 602-622-4900 Nov 24-25 24th Thanksgiving Homecoming, Atmore, AL Info: 205-368-9186 Nov 24-26 5th Annual Contest Pow Wow, Denver, CO Info: 303-576-0890 Nov 24-26 Orange Springs Florida Powwow Info: 904-669-4605 Nov 24-26 Thanksgiving at the Chicopee National Native American Festival and Powwow Gainesville, GA Info: 404-822-1180 Nov 25-26 29th Annual LIHA Fall Powwow, Folsom, LA Info: 504-588-5181 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- Notice of Copyright Clearance by Contributors: The following have granted permission for their original articles to be reposted in order to help mend the Sacred Hoop: Pablo Bellon, Steven Gary Brock, David Holt, Kepola, Janet Smith, Michele Lord/Alpha Institute, Turtle Heart(mending the Sacred Hoop with Song) Nancy Otter via Paul Bristol, Freedom Spirit Rising, Michael Patterson, Shadow (Shadows and Magic), John Stroebel, Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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, 17 November 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: Florida Powwows Original Sender: acasun.eckerd.edu!alarcold (Louis D. Alarcon) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Enclosed is information on Thanksgiving activities to be presented in Florida. Nov 15-20 8th Annual Thanksgiving Festival & Pow-Wow Bobby's Seminole Indian Village Tampa, Florida Info call: 813-620-3077 Nov 25-27 1st Annual Thanksgiving Pow-Wow and Native Art Festival Riviera Beach Marina Riviera Beach, FL (near Palm Beach Gardens) Info call: 813-853-4997 (Proceeds to benefit Riviera Beach Boys' and Girls' Club) --------- "RE: Adopt a Native Elder" --------- Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 18:17:05 -0600 From: ksu.ksu.edu!shadows (Shadows and Magic) Subj: adopt-a-native-elder Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Adopt-an-elder out of Park City is also 100% legit. It supports Navajo elders. In addition to adoption of individual elder families they also do Spring and Fall "food runs" to hundreds of elder families and assists with utility bills. They also support the rug weaving and sponsor shows to help the elders sell their rugs. I have adopted an elder family in AZ (both Grandma, daughter, and grandkids) and enjoy personal letters. My donations (in the form of grocery store certificates) go directly to the family, so I know they get 100% of my donation. Admin costs for the program are kept separate from donated funds. I highly recommend the program!! (contact: Linda Myers ADOPT-AN-ELDER Program PO Box 3401 Park City, UT 84060 Another excellent program for the Lakota elders run in a similar fashion is ADOPT-A-GRANDPARENT C/O Mountain Light Center PO BOX 241 Taos NM 87571 This program has a "membership fee" (about $20) to cover the costs of administration and postage. ALl donations go directly to the elders and personal letters etc are encouraged. The program also assists with utility bills either by "general donations" or you may donate funds to be used for a specific elder. The program will send you a short biographical list of 12-15 elders currently waiting for adoption and you may choose. The Navajo program will send you a single bio sheet on the next elder on the waiting list along with specific needs (i.e. shoes, blankets, winter coat, diabetic diet etc). I have adopted a grandparent from both programs and have found them to be VERY rewarding. I would encourage EVERYONE to remember the elders even if your gifts are small. I have been able to meet individual needs such as seeds for gardens and nice winter coats purchased in garage sales. I clean them and UPS them to the elders for less than $20 and I know it is meeting a need. I'm not rich, but it is the least I can do and it keeps me thankful for my blessings. Please remember to send CLEAN items in GOOD REPAIR...not junk. think of what you would send you OWN grandma. For the cost of a large pizza, you can make a real difference in someone's life. Besides, the letters we exchange are worth FAR MORE to me than what I spend each month ( I try to send something once a month but there are no limits on the program...just do what you can!) shadow. --------- "RE: Music Profile - Walter Bonaise" --------- Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 05:37:13 -0500 From: aj096@freenet.carleton.ca Subj: Aboriginal VOICES: Music Profile - Walter Bonaise Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Thanks to those who responded to our notice re the magazine, Aboriginal VOICES. New subscribers and other interested people should be getting their issue in the mail in 2-3 weeks. Let us know what you think. We have received over 50 responses from cyberspace so far, meaning there is an interest in a magazine on "Evolving Native American Culture." Gary Farmer took some 3,000 copies down to the U.S., a Canadian distributor picked up another 3,000 copies, and many of us have been busy taking Aboriginal VOICES to the reserves, to the urban communities, to libraries, Native organizations and government offices. Next issue, we will have to print more than 12,000 copies, I think... In the meantime, here is a story I wrote for the current issue: Music Profile - Walter Bonaise By Michael Patterson Walter Bonaise is a Cree singer and elder from Little Pine, Saskatchewan (originally from Poundmaker reserve). A young 52 today, he started travelling across the country with his father Alec in 1973, singing at gatherings, assisting at sweats, and translating for his father, who spoke mainly Cree. His father died four years ago, and Walter is now travelling with his wife Doris, who makes handicrafts and teaches young people how to make their own. This summer Walter has visited the University of Manitoba (where he has been asked to teach a course called "Music in Traditional Native Culture" this winter), the KUMIK (elder's lodge) in Ottawa, and Restigouche reserve in New Brunswick. He is respected as a singer and teacher of songs, and as a pipe carrier. He has been singing for 40 years, and 20 years ago he and his father began attending Youth and Elder gatherings, where Alec would speak and Walter would "pick up drum songs here and there." Walter still likes to work with the youth, and with elders. He will sometimes play a powwow with the group Fly In Eagle (his nephew Allan Bonaise also sings with the drum). Walter has his own songs, and many of his father's songs, which go back to 1915. He was the one who would ask his father where his songs came from, when and how he made them. Many of the old songs are "just straight singing... in those days there was no such thing as a grass dance song or whatever, not like today with the grass dance or sneak-up or whatever... it was just straight singing, with no words." He saw the songs with words completely take over around 1985, and "now all the singers are putting words together, and they think that's the traditional way of singing. It's not right." "In my early days, there was no such thing as 'word songs' at the powwow. And it used to sound much much better. And you can dance to those old songs... I was a dancer for 11 years in Canada and the States, but when they started competition, that's when I quit. You can't compare a powwow today with a traditional powwow back in, say, '45. I don't go to powwows anymore, because I miss my old traditional singing, the real Indian singing." The traditional powwow Walter grew up with ended around 1960 in his area. "Traditional powwow was a sacred dance, more or less. The only ones who used to dress up were the elders. There were no women dancers, only the men. The women would only dance at a Victory song, and they would dance in the back. "And you have to eat a dog... the dog is a sacred animal. The dog is like the "musqua," same thing like the bear, we say "musqua" to a dog because it gives us strength and the way to see things as an Indian. You see, that dog is so sacred... when you have a dog at home, some night... he may start barking from a certain area, and he will go all around your house, running around in a complete circle. That means he sees some badness coming to your house, and the loudness of that dog protects your house so you can sleep and relax. That's why the most sacred thing we have is the dog. The dog is a medicine, they used to use that in a medicine." Today the ceremonies and the songs have changed. Walter says that the various types of modern powwow songs heard today originated with the Sioux people, including the idea of love songs in English ("...although I made some myself... because when I met my wife, she didn't understand Cree"). Walter began making his own songs in 1956. "You have to see something, an object or a moving object, or the sound of something... that's how I make a song." Songs also come to him when he's out driving his tractor, or taking a break at lunch hour. Sometimes Walter takes bits from powwow songs and puts them together to make new songs. Most of his songs are social dance songs. "I look at the people, and when I see they're restless, that's when I have to come up with a song to get them moving, feeling better." He describes the old Cree round or circle dance (where people are side by side) as being a healing dance, for the people. "The sound of the beat of a drum is a medicine to us singers... the same thing as the song, it's a medicine. Healing medicine. That's why we used to have healing dances years ago (an Indian two-step)." Walter does a lot of "entertaining," his drum hardly rests, because he still uses it to heal. His father's first song in 1915 was a round dance song. "Some days we wouldn't feel good, in the winter, that's when we would have these healing dances, that's where these round dance songs came in. We offered food to our forefathers first, to give us strength, to give us our strength back through this dance. Lots of people used to walk out from the powwow, from this dance, feeling healed." One of his father's best songs from the 1930s was a grass dance song. Today, he says, some of the old guys still sing it, and other of his father's songs. In the early 40s, Walter remembers waiting at home for his father to come back from hauling wood to town, and hearing a song from miles away as his father approached at night in the wagon. He still has that travelling song. Walter also makes popular songs - one he made in 1975 was sung across Canada and the States for at least five years. It has no name, a straight beat, no words, and is a love song. He also has a travelling song to call the thunder, made by his father, which is used before going to a powwow so that the people will be "..shook up and feel different..." when he starts singing. He sometimes sings with drum groups, but says it is hard keeping a group together these days. Too many people drink, and this is not part of the sweat. The sweat is "the only way a young person can understand what his singing is all about." They should sweat "at least once a month, or twice, or every week." Walter's style of singing comes from his father. "The voice is always pitched above the drum, so the harder you hit the drum, the higher you have to sing. The young singers, they sing too low, sometimes lower than the drum. All you hear is drum. That's why they use loudspeakers... in the old days we didn't use loudspeakers, the people used to be able to hear us. They could tell from across the field who was singing." He uses the round hand drum. He gets a bounce out of the sound by touching a finger of his left hand to the centre of the drum after every beat, a kind of springing sound. "The drum is alive. That is the most important thing, to have our drum alive. We are carrying a message to our creator, our god or whatever you're calling... and also the whole creation.It's entirely up to us, how we love the drum. If you were drinkin' two days, four days or three days before and you went and hit the drum, you will ruin your mind, or your heart, whatever... it's not to touch until after the fourth day or even forget about singing. That's how sacred the drum is, even this little hand drum. It's because the beat of the drum is the most sacred thing on earth." His drum gives young people a lift, to help them find their spiritual identity. Many people are travelling to new places today in search of their spirituality, but Walter says: "For me, since I was brought up and raised with spirituality, it's very very easy for me, to find what I'm searching for. I don't need to go out there and search for anything, because it's there, in my community. All I have to do is use my brain, and my eyes, my heart, to identify what I want." He says spirituality must be in the community, it can't be copied from somewhere else. "Sure, I can talk about it, but that's all. I can not teach anybody about spirituality. I can talk about the spirituality, all kinds of various important things, important steps of that spirituality. But, that's all. I can't tell you your spirituality. That's up to you." What about people who have lost their own rituals and ceremonies? Walter went to Roman Catholic boarding school, he was hit for speaking his own language, or sent off to say his prayers, "which I never did anyway, I used to pretend." He was "pushed into" Christianity by the missionaries, but "it's not in me. I studied the Bible very carefully. It's not in me. What I learned, from the Bible, it's to be a hypocrite. I always reject that." He says that communities suffering from a loss of tradition should start by building up their own language. "If you lose your Native tongue, you will never find anything. A lot of young people today surprise me, because they talk their own Native language. And that's the most important thing. That is part of the spirituality." People learn from their grandfathers and grandmothers, by sitting with elders. "My father, I used to sit with him for so many hours. All I would hear from him were three things: 'Come in... How is it outside ?... Goodbye...' the rest of the time, he was doing something with his hands... he was always moving, and I studied that, the movements he made... that's how I learned a lot of my spirituality. It comes from there. "It takes you your lifetime. First of all you have to learn one most important thing in your life, is to be able to relax your life, yourself. Before you start asking your spiritual things to an elder... if you don't relax, you will never learn anything. That's what I find because I used to go out and visit my elders, they would tell me a story, from centuries and centuries ago, and that story was passed down from generation to generation. And in between the story, they would pitch in their spiritual things, so I could click that spiritual meaning in my mind - what does that object mean to me ? That's how you're supposed to learn about your spirituality, by listening. A good listener can go a heck of a long ways. But if you're trying to learn it very fast, it will never work. Because you will be so confused, because you're only looking at today. You have to learn it word for word from an elder." Walter can see the bridge between Cree traditions and that of other cultures. Irish, Spanish or East Indian peoples have their own music, words and dances to identify their culture. Walter wants to share his own music and teachings with others, and so has begun a project to record and transcribe his music, so that it can be taught to children in reserve or public schools. And he will be teaching at the University of Manitoba. He says races, and nations, are fighting each other because they don't know who they are. They lose their way through money. "Money is the devil - if you are so crazy with money, you are working for the devil. That's the name of the game. My Indian people believe in protecting nature. I want my children to live properly. If you're thinking the white man's way, then you might as well go and live in France or Europe, forget about trying to live on the reserve, you reject the reserve. So you go and try to find your identity outside of the reserve. That's the game you play. "Indian people are supposed to be the most important thing to nature. Indian people are supposed to be the most important to all creation, they're supposed to learn, they're supposed to know, better than anybody else. That's the Indian people. And also, they're supposed to be teaching the young people the importance of life, how important it is to be able to eat, and share food on a table... which we don't have today. And I think we are going into another world, if we continue to do the wrong things. The whole Western hemisphere is changing, is changing our way of life. If I'm driving a car, it's like an exchange with the creator, you know? But the young people, they're driving past 90. We are losing our spiritual identity and our Native land. Anything you find growing up from nature, like a flower - you look at it, how beautiful it is, that's how you want yourself and your children to look. That's our Indian way of life." This profile was created through talks with Walter at the KUMIK in Ottawa in July and August 1994, and from interviews on CKCU's Spirit Voice (28/7 and 4/8) and CHRQ Restigouche (11/8). In addition, I taped his appearance at Ottawa's Stone Angel Institute on August 4, and referred to the following articles from the North Battleford Telegraph: "1st Cree Sheet Music," Dec. 29 1993, and "Walter Bonaise to instruct at U of M," June 3 1994, p. 1. -- Michael Patterson spirit voice radio 93.1 FM 3-137 Columbus Ave. aboriginal voices magazine Ottawa Ontario Canada K1K 1P9 email aj096@freenet.carleton.ca fax and phone (613) 748 1636 algonguin territory --------- "RE: Eagle Feathers" --------- Date: Wed, 2 Nov 1994 01:47:35 -0500 From: John Stroebel Subj: Eagle Feathers Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) We might be the last defenders and lovers of the Earth. Our traditions have always been ones of respect and admiration for all life, even the live in air, water, sky, ground, the 4 directions (really, 7 directions); all life has traditionally been sacred to us. Others see it as "scenery" or "resources" or "recreational areas"; used it as "sport" and killed for the thrill of it. The harder it was to kill it, the better the "trophy". Eagle flies high, and places the knowledge of awe in the hearts of all; and "Europeans" (for lack of a better word) desired to possess her spirit by killing her and showing the body off. We desire to share her spirit by honoring her, using her body in the most sacred ceremonies, and bringing honor to her by this. We would fly with her, hunt with her, live in the highest places with her and thrill in the same spirit as her. "Euro's" would kill her and stuff her. As wrong and ugly as this is, I feel a sadness for the "Euro" too, as they are blind and insane children (oh, yes, powerful and destructive children!) I feel sadness, but not compassion or sympathy. We have traditionally honored Eagle and others in our most private and beautiful ceremonies, and asked her help. We have asked for her to give her skills and courage and wisdom to us through the physical presence of her body. Always, Eagle has done this. In these times, she does not have the strength to do as much, she needs to bread and reproduce, to grow strong in numbers and in power again. It is our time to honor her by giving strength and protection to her, while her numbers grow. Is this not more important than having "enough" parts of her body, for now? If there were all the buffalo put in one place, on the northern plains, would it be good for the nations there to hunt her for food just as when she was plenty and strong? All we would do would be to kill her faster, and add our power to that of the "Euro's". Those nations know the meaning of honor and respect through living with the buffalo. I know they love to see the day that those mighty herds would cover the plains again and cover the earth. They would gladly for go the head dresses and teepee skins and eat other meat so that it could happen. At this point in time, the animals need our protection so that they can grow strong in power and in numbers. We who honor the Eagle can help to do this, or can move to push her to the edge of extinction again (not far away!) just like Mr. Euro does. The ceremony does not *need* the sacred Eagle parts to continue. The sacred Eagle does need us to continue. Each person does what is good in their heart, some will take what isn't theirs, sometimes out of pride, some will protect what isn't theirs, out of pride. You will choose what is right. Walk in Beauty; John --------- "RE: They Look so White" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 20:00:13 -0600 From: Subj: They Look so White Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) > Original Sender: sage.cc.purdue.edu!jcdem (James Derringer) > > I too saw the CNN production about Native Americans. I have seen many > posts where people were wondering who the Miami of Indiana were, and > why they look so "white". While I have not been signed on to Nat-Chat When I read that "they look so white" post, I did not reply to it, for the reason that you stated above..."no matter what I say..." But now since it has been addressed, (and I have addressed this issue first, on many occasions, believe me!), I felt very insulted by that original post. I am Tsalagi, mixed-blood. I can pass as white if I choose; although I have fairly dark eyes, my hair is a reddish brown, and my skin is fair. I do not choose to pass. Never have. I am an Indian...always have been, and will be until the day I die. (and beyond...) My son is Indian...he has blond hair and grey eyes. He has fought many times for the right to his heritage, and has been a great teacher for the other children, as well as for his teachers. He is 10, and in 4th grade. Our children are our hope for the future. How can we expect them to be proud of their heritage, and to carry on our traditions, if every time they speak of these things, they are told they cannot be Indian, because they "look" white? We are falling right into the wasichu's plan...let us get them fighting one another, impose blood-quantum, (by common reason, we would eventually breed ourselves right out of existence), and on and on. If I cannot be accepted by my Indian brothers and sisters because I am not Indian "looking" enough, or my son cannot get people to understand that just because he doesn't have black hair and black eyes, that this does not make him less Indian, we as a People are in worse trouble than we could ever have imagined. Indian is Indian. I do not judge at all...but if I did, I would certainly not base that judgement on someone's appearance...their "outsides". Any elder will tell you that it is the Spirit that counts. In this Spirit, I send this: In Peace: Freedom Spirit Rising Tsalagi __________________________________________________________________________ "We make art out of our loss" Linda Hogan __________________________________________________________________________ --------- "RE: Indian Coalition Fights Toxic Sludge" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 16:35:26 EST From: mail.lmi.org!gwelker Subj: Indian Coalition Fights Toxic Sludge Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) INDIAN COALITION FIGHTS TOXIC SLUDGE By Paul Ahuja Torres Martinez Reservation Southern California "Everywhere you go, the companies and government officials tell you the same thing: 'Everything's fine, it's perfectly safe.'" But Milton Campbell of California Indians for Cultural and Environmental Preservation (CICEP) says it isn't fine. Campbell told Workers World of his recent dealings with several waste-disposal companies and with U.S. government officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Campbell is a member of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. He is fighting alongside his 500-member nation to rid their reservation of an illegal sludge dump. The Cahuilla, joined by several other Native nations, the American Indian Movement, Greenpeace, United Farm Workers and others, recently blockaded the dump. Using wood, scrap metal and their bodies to barricade the entrance, they denied access to dozens of trucks carrying tons of toxic sludge to the reservation. SLUDGE SEEPS INTO WATER George Auclair, a spokesperson for the Cahuilla, told WW: "We had to build this blockade around the dump because it is killing us. The sludge is seeping into the water table and affecting our drinking water. "The smell is terrible and disease-carrying flies are everywhere." The blockade began Oct. 17. It has lasted more than a week despite searing desert heat, threats of arrest by local and federal agents, and an attack on the barricade by what the Cahuilla describe as "company goons." These thugs threatened an armed attack on the blockade the night of Oct. 21. But they backed down after members of AIM showed they were capable of resisting in kind. Bradley Angel of Greenpeace described the various toxins and heavy metals in the sludge: "We know for sure there are cadmium, arsenic, chromium and lead. We expect that on further analysis materials equally or even more harmful to humans will be detected." Earlier in October a fire had burned in the sludge pit for more than a week. Native people living downwind complained of difficulty breathing, nausea and diarrhea. Children on the reservation were the most seriously affected. CORPORATE DOUBLE-DEALING Pima Gro, Kellards and Chino-Corona are the three companies dumping at the site, which is owned by Terra Farms. The sewage and industrial waste come from Los Angeles and Orange Counties, as well as the city of San Diego. Terra Farms leased the dump site in 1990 from a bankrupt company that had originally leased it from Geraldine Iba$ez. Iba$ez had moved off the reservation before signing the contract. The Cahuilla say the dump, regardless of any contract, is illegal because it's on their land without tribal consent. The question of tribal sovereignty dominated the discussion at the blockade site. Marina Ortega of the Native tribal coalition CICEP said: "The BIA dodges the question of environmental racism by saying it's a question of sovereignty. But Geraldine Iba$ez is only one person, not the whole tribe. "The people here obviously don't want this dump on the reservation. The people should have absolute say on what's going on in their community." "The government only sees us as sovereign on paper," said Mervyn Tilden, a Native activist. "They twist this around and use it as a cover when they don't want to get involved." "The upper aquifer is already contaminated," declared Ortega. "The aquifer is used for irrigation. The Coachella valley [where the dump is located] is the bread basket of California. "This dump affects everyone who eats food grown here." Campbell of CICEP says: "Alfalfa and other grains, citrus, dates, tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, lettuce and many other fruits and vegetable are grown here. The pollution from this dump gets into that food and gets shipped all across the U.S. and the world." NATIVE SOLIDARITY VS. BIA, EPA The Dine' CARE--Citizens Against Ruining our Environment-- a Navajo group, also came to support the blockade. "The big corporations want to use Native land as their dumping ground. We've fought the BIA, the EPA. We've filed lawsuits and we see that things like this blockade are the only effective ways to fight and win," said Ann Frazier, a Dine' CARE spokesperson. Frazier says Native solidarity with other groups is needed to effectively fight the government. "We need to join together to sing the same song against the EPA and the government." The blockade of the illegal sludge dump continues. "The solidarity of people locally and nationally who are standing with the tribe has resulted in a serious defeat for the sludge companies trespassing on our land," said Joe Loya, the tribal clerk. The struggle is not over. The dump remains. Even if closed, the chemicals must be removed. [The Torres Martinez Tribe can be contacted at the On-Site Blockade cell phone (415) 699-3256 or faxed at (619) 399-5012.] -30- (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@blythe.org.) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit --------- "RE: Stereotyping Indians" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 21:04:36 -0500 From: Paul Bristol Subj: Stereotyping Indians........ Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Reproduced from the Op-Ed page of The Hartford Courant Tuesday November 8th, 1994 with permission of the author, Nancy C. Otter: STEREOTYPING INDIANS FOSTERS RACISM My 5-year-old son, who still accepts adult words and ideas as unfailingly pure and honorable, came home from kindergarten the other day and asked me to make him an "Indian" hat. He explained that an Indian hat was a string or band tied around his head with a feather in it, and lots of feathers designated a chief. I told my son that I had met a fair number of Indians, from a variety of tribal backgrounds, and that, like everyone else, they wore all kinds of hats - or no hats - but never headbands with feathers unless they were acting in a play about hunters and fighters from the old days. It's a conversation we've had before. Almost certainly, we'll have it again. Teachers, toys, cartoons, movies and books persent my children with a cultural taxonomy in which pink brown and tan people are truck drivers, mothers, cooks, dental hygienists, firefighters and doctors. But Indians are always, well, Indians. Undifferentiated by cultural group or historical period, Indian images drift around us on everything from bank logos to car names to holiday centerpieces, eliciting barely a murmer of recognition, let alone protest. It grieves me. The concrete, lived racism these images reflect grieves me. The ease with which people lock a group of humans into the airless box of an ahistorical stereotype grieves and frightens me. (Once we cut one group out of the magic circle of those we see as human, how hard can it be to excise others?) The effort my children and I will expend unlearning damaging, dehumanizing inaccuracies grieves me. The presentation of Indian images intensifies in the fall with Columbus Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Parents who would be at a loss to produce a costume for a child who wanted to trick or treat as a European (What country? they would ask) have no trouble outfitting their little ones as Indians. Teachers who would never think of presenting all the women they mention dressed in 18th century styles, don't question lesson plans that do just this to Indians. A box of toys identifies all the characters inside by job - captain, magician, wizard, detective - except one that is just called Indian. The trusting minds of children drink in these images. The distancing, dehumanizing stereotypes are reconstructed in a new generation. I don't romanticize Indians. Their cultures and individuals within them are not inherently better or worse than others. Nor is their suffering as a minority group measurably greater or less than any other group. But the directness and intensity of stereotyping about Indians is shocking. It is an affront to their humanity, and it eats away at the humanity of all of us who live with it unblinking, unprotesting. Our acceptance of it makes it easier to swallow other stereotypes, other acts and words and beliefs that distance us from other groups of people. Acceptance of racism makes all racism easier for the racist to accept and even defend. So what did I say to my son? I told him I would make him a hunter hat, and I told him that we would learn together about all the different kinds of hats worn by different kinds of hunters and fighters throughout history. He agreed to that, but he is 5 and he also wanted to dress up as something right then and there. So we transformed the string he had brought for his headband into a cast on his arm. He became both doctor and patient simultaneously, and then turned into a character from a recently read book and was off into his own world. It's his own world, but a world constructed of images we have given him. In so many ways, we adults shape the future in which our children will live, both concretely and philosophically. We must take great care. The author has given permission to reproduce this piece in part or totally. You may EMail in care of pbristol@pcnet.com