Subject: nanews03.022 From: gars@netcom.com (Gary Night Owl) To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Message-ID: _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 03, ISSUE 022 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 3 June 1995 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 IND-NET, EIRP, PNEWS & NATIVE-L Mailing Lists, Postal Service, UUCP & Genie (General Electric) email, 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 part A is being sent to the NATIVE-L mailing list, one of the NativeNet lists managed by Gary Trujillo (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us). It is also echoed on AISESnet, IND-NET, and EIRP listservers and archived by AISESnet. Thanks to Marc Becker, mbecker@uclink2.berkeley.edu, issues of Wotanging Ikche/Kanoheda Aniyvwiya are now being archived at a World-Wide-Web site. The URL is http://ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu/~marc/journals/nanews/ This is a test site, and at some point in the future the location of these files will change. Thanks to Phil Duran, duranp@wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu, issues are now being archived at the Washington State University gopher in the following directory: gopher.wsu.edu /WSU Campuses Info /Public Services /Native Peoples "I admit that there are good white men, but they bear no proportion to the bad; the bad must be the strongest, for they rule. They do what they please. They enslave those of us who are not of their color, although created by the same Great Spirit who created us. They would make slaves of us if they could, but as they cannot do it, they kill us! There is no faith to be placed in their words. They are not like the Indians who are only enemies while at war and are friends in peace. They will say to an Indian, 'my friend! my brother!' They will take him by the hand, and at the same moment destroy him. And so will you also be treated by them before long. Remember! that this day I have warned you to beware of such friends as these. I know the long knives; they are not to be trusted." __ Pachgantschilhilas, Head Warrior of all Deleware +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! The words of Pachgantschilhilas ring true. He spoke them in the eighteenth century, and they are as full of truth now as then. And we are asked why we do not view time as a linear progression. All life is a circle. I know that all must be brought into the Sacred Hoop for it to be mended. I often wonder how we will bring those who do not see even the simplest of Circles into the greatest Circle of all. Then I remember it is a thing that has been promised by Spirit. That is how I know it will come to be. Aho! Peace! Night Owl , , Gary Night Owl gars@genie.geis.com (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@netcom.com (`-') Marietta, GA 30067, U.S.A. gars@igc.apc.org ===w=w=== NativeNet Node 90:133/2501 FidoNet 1:133/2501 ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- Part A: Usenet and e-mail Part B: NATCHAT and NATIVE-L lists - Appeal to Free Leonard Peltier - Conferences and Powwows - online - Prisoner Rights Meeting - Lubicon Mailout - Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming - Thoughts on Two Worldviews - Penashue Interview - Tribal Meeting on Clean Water Act - Short Reviews of New and Recent Books on N. A.'s - Poem: Full Moon - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline --------- "RE: Appeal to Free Leonard Peltier" --------- Date: Wed, 31 May 1995 10:20 CST From: MUNOZP@dnr.state.wi.us (Peter Munoz, PE/5, \(608\) 267-0798) Subj: Appeal to Free Leonard Peltier Mailing List: PNEWS-L From: Prison Activist Resource Center Subject: Urgent alert: Leonard Peltier _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Alerts, News & Analysis forwarded by the PeaceNet Prison Issues Desk -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- \\\\\ACTION ALERT! +++++ FREE LEONARD PELTIER! +++++ ACTION ALERT!////// FINALLY A POSSIBLE BREAKTHROUGH! A legal motion is filed in a request to re-open Leonard Peltier's second appeal for habeas corpus. (note: a much longer posting which includes other press releases, legal documents, and a statement by Leonard can be found on the Prison Issues Gopher or in the PeaceNet conference "justice.prisons".) PRESS RELEASE FROM LPD-C-CANADA - May 22, 1995 On Monday, May 15, 1995 lawyers for Leonard Peltier filed an unprecedented legal motion in the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in a direct request for the re-opening of his appeal for a new trial. With all legal avenues seemingly exhausted since the dismissal of his third and latest appeal on July 7, 1993, it is extraordinary that his case is being re-introduced back into the United States judicial system on the grounds of a mistake that has sat on record and uncorrected for the past 10 years. In 1986 during Leonard's second appeal, the testimony of a government prosecution witness, Norman Brown, which placed Leonard at the agents' cars during the shoot-out, was erroneously taken into consideration by the three-panel judges and could likely have been a prime factor in the ruling against Leonard. Although Brown gave his testimony before a grand jury, he recanted at trial, testifying that he had been coerced by the FBI to lie. This misconception was neither corrected by Mr. Peltier's attorneys or the government. The court's final ruling dismissed the appeal by what judges determined was the distinction between a "possibility and a probability," as they required probable grounds to agree to the appeal and determined they found only "possible" grounds. Leonard was convicted on April 18, 1977 for the deaths of two FBI agents and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. The testimony of a government ballistics expert was later completely contradicted when Leonard's defense introduced previously suppressed evidence which stated that a rifle linked to him could not have shot the fatal bullets. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that key, exculpatory ballistics evidence had been "withheld from the defense." No eyewitness has ever placed Leonard near the bodies of the two agents. Government prosecutors have admitted in open court that they "don't know who killed the agents" and yet Leonard Peltier has served almost 20 years of false imprisonment. A decision to re-open the appeal will likely take several months, but could be as early as June. Meanwhile, Leonard's clemency request is still pending and we are asking people to phone, fax and send their letters to President Clinton and to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. Write to: President Bill Clinton, Executive Office of the President, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. U.S.A. 20500. Fax at (202) 456- 2461. To Janet Reno, Attorney General, Dept. of Justice, 10th & Constitution, Washington, D.C. U.S.A. 20530. Fax: (202) 514-4371. For more information, contact the LPDC, P.O. Box 583, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. 66044; (tel: (913) 842-5774; Fax: (913) 842-5796. ___________________________________________________________________________ Prison Activist Resource Center| PeaceNet Prison Issues Desk PO Box 3201 Berkeley CA 94703 | ph: 510/845.8813 fx: 845.8816 |http://www.igc.apc.org/prisons/prisondesk.html e-mail: parcer@igc.apc.org | ~~~ a resource for educators & activists ~~~ \|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|+|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/|/| For progressive & radical info on prison issues, e-mail the Issues Desk or for an auto-response w/ details on many resources. --------- "RE: Prisoner Rights Meeting" --------- Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 17:37:38 -0600 (MDT) From: HARRAGARRA DEANA Subj: Prisoner Rights Meeting UUCP email Hi Gary, The Prisoner Rights Meeting was held May 24, 1995 and co-hosted by the Navajo Nation Corrections Project and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). The facilitators were Walter Echo-Hawk, Senior Staff Attorney at NARF, and Len Foster, Spiritual Advisor Navajo Nation Corrections Project. The goal of the meeting was forming a Prisoner Rights Coalition. For more information on the Prisoner Rights Coalition please contact: Len Foster, Spiritual Advisor, The Navajo Nation Corrections Project, P.O. Drawer 709, Window Rock, AZ 86515, telephone 602/871-6244, telefax 602/871-2266. If you are aware of Native prisoners with free exercise of religion problems and/or would like to be a part of the Coalition, please write to Len Foster. His office is coordinating all Coalition information and mail-outs. deana harragarra waters National Indian Law Library Native American Rights Fund --------- "RE: Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming" --------- Date: March 1995 From: WEJOT 68 (Dee Smith) Subj: Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming! diskette via Postal Service So many times we hear of outrages in Indian Country, and shake our heads, things are getting so bad, what can we do? Not many of us are in a position to go the front lines, and some of us cannot even spare much money to help with relief. But there is something that just about anyone can do, and that is, write! It is said, the pen is mightier than the sword. And, as a partaker in many letter writing campaigns, I can vouch that this is true! A few victories off the top of my head -- letter writing campaigns figured prominently in stopping the sludge dumping at Torres-Martinez res, in halting the mining at Cortez gold, and in slowing down the rape of the land and the peoples of the earth which were carried out by such giants as Hydro-Quebec, Reynolds Aluminum, and Peabody Coal. We letter writers have helped halt further desecration of the Cherokee burial grounds in Tennesse's, and are working to save Mt. Shasta. We are helping to bring a dose of reason to the conflicts in Canada and Mexico, thus helping save countless lives. Also we bring solace and a hope of justice to prisoners such as Leonard Peltier, Eddie Hatcher, Grandfather Thundercloud, and many others. In fact, between an earlier draft of this article and the current one I got some great news -- Eddie Hatcher is paroled! We can console the elders and prisoners who are left alone, help bring justice and healing. We can comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable, merely for the cost of a little time, energy, stationery, and a postage stamp! And as we give, we receive. And our strength grows, and our numbers grow, and our voices grow, and the flowers grow on the tree. So please, keep those cards and letters coming! When you see something that moves you, take a moment to write. Write to the bigwigs, let them know that we know what's going on. Maybe awaken their consciences, or at least their sense of public decency! Write to those at the front of the struggle, let them know that they have support out there. Just say what's on your mind and heart. It doesn't have to be long or fancy, sometimes a few words on a postcard can work wonders. But it is best if written from your heart, and the heart speaks when it is ready! So keep stamps and stationery handy when you read your newsletters or online messages, within easy reach for when your heart speaks. What's going thru your mind and heart as you read about this stuff? What is the ranter inside you saying? Type it up or write it down, and send it off! Make yourself heard! Don't worry about getting on some kind of list. We're all already on it. (Although please do try, for safety's sake, to avoid anything that could be construed as a threat or an obscenity.) Don't worry that you're not an elder or a medicine person. It's not only elders and medicine people we need to hear from; we also need to hear from the warriors! And no less than Rand Corp. has acknowledged us as such! The time will come when anyone who gives a d... will be a warrior of one sort or another, as it was in the past it will be again. Soon a mighty tree will spring up into full sight, a tree of justice and healing, to make things good again. Its branches and roots will spread far and wide, and it will be covered with leaves and fruit and flowers. It will be a source of life for many peoples and other living things. Everyone will look at it and wonder, this great tree looks like it has grown for hundreds of years but we did not see it before, it seems to have sprung up overnight. But it didn't spring up overnight. It's been forming under the ground and in the world of Spirit for a very very long time. We are the tree. We are the people. Everyone who understands, everyone who cares, regardless of tribe, race, color, gender, age, language, religion, whatever, we're all part of the tree. Our numbers are growing. Our voices are growing. It's time to make ourselves heard. --------- "RE: Penashue Interview" --------- Date: 95/05/26 22:10 From: James D. Audlin (j.audlin@genie.geis.com) Subj: Penashue Interview GE Electronic Mail O'siyo, folks! The following is an interview with Peter Penashue, President of the Innu Nation, in Labrador. It is from the \Peace Brigades International Bulletin\, May 1995. Republication is allowed of the following. I have corrected several punctuational, spelling, and grammatical mistakes in order to improve the clarity. --Distant Eagle ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PBI What is the impact of the Canadian judicial system on the Innu? PP: The Canadian judicial system has failed the Innu. The European colonizers set up institutions and laws which came from a foreign European perspective. They didn't consider the economic, cultural, or social needs. They set up an adversarial system with officials from outside the area, non- Innu. They chose to implement a system designed by and for Europeans, and developed over many years in the European system based on old traditions, which are conservative. This was planted in the heart of Innu land. The cultural clash produces outbreaks of chaos which are dealt with in the Canadian system. The Innu people had never dealt with Europeans; they came straight out of the bush where they had only answered to themselves and their families. In the last forty years, Innu have no longer had any responsibility for their own decisions. Someone who has committed a crime already feels inferior, and then finds himself in a place where he has little understanding of the system or the language. People plead guilty because they feel intimidated. This is the system that has operated on the Innu. We have no input and no control. When the six kids died in the fire [six children from Davis died in a house fire while their parents were out drinking], it shocked the Innu community. It led us to have a community enquiry. People who were watching the chaos in our community wanted other Innu to understand what was happening. The enquiry terrified the government, who wouldn't pay for it. They didn't want to know what the Innu people were thinking.* To change our chaotic life and bring stability and order, we needed to look at the problem and look at ways to proceed. We decided we couldn't separate welfare dependency and country life from the judicial system. We needed to look at the whole; we needed holistic healing. Family violence, sexual abuse, breaking and entering, and drinking, are symptoms of much deeper hurt, pain, and confusion. The judicial system is not outside of counselling, healing, and social reconstruction. We've said that the institutions are either working for us or against us. We advocate courts and institutions be more humane. For example, the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] only deals with the facts, then the crown takes it to court. The crime is compartmentalized and moves away from the community. The judge looks at the previous decisions on similar sentences; he is afraid to do anything radical. More emphasis should be placed on healing individuals so that the same problems are not recycled over and over again. It needs to be kept in mind that each case is going to be different and has to be judged by its own merits.** Our approach is that the federal and provincial governments aren't going to disappear, and we would wait forever for them to give us some power. So we say: "Work with us, and help us look at this process in the context of community living." Some people won't want to go through the healing process, but no one wants to hurt people. People have become as they are because of internalized anger and hatred. Community healing and counselling needs to be available to people. The Canadian system produces monsters. People in Canada are reactive, not proactive. People in power should put programs in place for young people in school to help deal with personal problems. There are children who are going through personal and family crises who aren't sure how to get help. Because children are unable to deal with such crises as sexual abuse and family violence, they will be hyper, will not listen, will act out, lash out, and display violent behaviour. These are the same people who will end up in prison ten years from now with charges such as murder. But no one is dealing with them right now; they just wait until they are criminals, and then lock them up. We can't deal with people in isolation. Problem families create problem families. People don't start out bad. PBI: Do you think there is a difference in the way Native and non-Native people view basic human nature? PP: I don't want to say this is a Native way of seeing people. It's more like a human way of seeing people. Some people have gone beyond humanity to individualism, and that's what society teaches. There is no sense of community or togetherness in Canada. People close off and stop feeling. They become like machines. Then they either become drunks, or they stay sober and get competitive. PBI: Will you be able to carry your community with you in your vision of a new justice system? PP: My own people can be just as reactionary. But I think that some day soon people are going to say "yes, this is the way we need to go forward." Every case is different, and some will still go to court because they are in denial. We will have to compromise and go through the courts, but eventually we hope to opt out of the courts. People in pain feel that no one understands them. We have to carry on with what we are doing. There is no other option for us, because otherwise we are going to end up with a large proportion of our community in jail. called \Gathering Voices\. (footnote by PBI North America Team) one titled "Justice" for amplification of the preceding three paragraphs. (footnote by Distant Eagle) --------- "RE: Tribal Meeting on Clean Water Act" --------- Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 13:42:09 -0500 From: berryj@Okway.okstate.edu (John Berry) Subj: Tribal Meeting on Clean Water Act Mailing List: IND-NET Mailing List: EIRP Important please read, forgive duplicate posts. John Berry _________________________ Forward Header __________________________________ Subject: Tribal Meeting on Clean Water Act Author: Denise Bambi Kraus at SMTP Date: 5/25/95 11:46 AM Tribal Clean Water Act Meeting in Washington, DC From: The National Tribal Environmental Council 2221 Rio Grande, NW Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104 505/242-2175 fax: 505/242-2654 NTEC is concerned about H.R. 961, particularly House amendments to Sec. 518 that will seriously affect tribal authority to regulate water quality programs in Indian country. In response to these actions, NTEC is facilitating a three-day meeting in Washington, DC for tribes to mobilize and express their tribal positions regarding H.R. 961. H.R. 961 contradicts tribal sovereignty and the federal Indian policies of self-governance and intergovernmental cooperation. EPA established the treatment as a state (TAS) program, with approval by Congress, to authorize tribes with the primary authority to develop and implement water quality programs to protect the health and welfare of the reservation populations. The current language of H.R. 961 will effectively eliminate tribal authority over lands owned in part or whole by non-members. Tribes will also be subject to overly burdensome administrative review and face greater challenges in federal district court over tribal authority. Several tribes have sent letters to Congress to urge the elimination of amendments to Sec. 518; however, the House leadership has continued to march toward the destruction of Sec. 518. Tribes need to work with the Senate to deter any efforts to include similar language in a Senate Clean Water Act bill. NTEC proposes to accomplish this purpose by convening a forum for tribes to receive a briefing and to strategize for Congressional meetings. A one-day session will be held on June 20 with all invitees. The briefing will assist tribes with scheduled meetings on June 21-22 on the Hill. NTEC is also considering scheduled meetings with other national environmental organizations for the attending representatives from tribal organizations. NOW is the time for tribes to work together and prevent any potential amendments to Sec. 518. NTEC will develop an agenda for June 20 and distribute at a later time, however, a draft plan is attached for your consideration. If your tribe/organization will be attending, please fax the attached confirmation form to NTEC as soon as possible. We look forward to working with you and seeing you in D.C. If you have any questions, please contact Jerry Pardilla (Penobscot), Executive Director, NTEC, or Jill Peters, NTEC, at 505-242-2175. PLAN FOR TRIBAL CLEAN WATER ACT MEETING Hosted by the NTEC Proposed Dates: June 20-22 Purpose: Host one-day strategy meeting for Tribes regarding recent activity on Clean Water Act Amendments. Two-day lobbying activities for Tribes to visit congressional delegation. INVITED PARTICIPANTS TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS: National Congress of American Indians; Council of Energy Resource Tribes; All Indian Pueblo Council; Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona; Nevada Indian Environmental Coalition; Native American Fish & Wildlife Society; United South and Eastern Tribes; Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission; Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians; Tribal Operations Committee TRIBES: Member Tribes of NTEC (64 Tribes) Other Tribes as determined PARTICIPANTS: Don Wharton, Native American Rights Fund Kevin Gover, Gover, Stetson & Williams Sam Deloria, American Indian Law Center Dean Suagee, Hobbs, Strauss, Dean & Walker George Waters, Consulting Services Eric Eberhard, LynDee Wells, Dorsey & Whitney Bob Pelcyger, Fredericks & Pelcyger CONGRESSIONAL STAFF: Steve Heeley, Staff Director, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Loretta Tuell, Minority Counsel, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chris Stearns, Subcommittee on Native American and Insular Affairs ARRANGEMENTS: All participants will be responsible for own travel and lodging arrangements. --------- "RE: Short Reviews of New and Recent Books on N. A.'s" --------- Date: 1 May 1995 18:38:29 GMT From: Steve Brock (brock@colorado.edu) Subj: Short reviews of new and recent books on Native Americans Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Here are several short reviews of new and recent books by, and about, Native Americans. All are written by Steve Brock: GHOST SINGER by Anna Lee Walters. University of New Mexico Press, 1720 Lomas Blvd. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87131-1591, (505) 277-2346, (505) 277-9270 FAX. 248 pp., $17.95 paper. 0-8263-1545-3 This is the novel the Smithsonian Institution doesn't want you to read. Walters has written a thrilling and complex story (now out in a paperback edition) about Navajo ghosts, the bodies they once inhabited stored in cardboard boxes at the Smithsonian, who haunt and murder the anthropologists studying them, as well as members of their own tribe. Grade: A. SUNDANCE: THE ROBERT SUNDANCE STORY by Robert Sundance with Marc Gaede. Chaco Press, 5218 Donna Maria Ln., La Canada, CA 91011, (818) 952-0108, FAX: (818) 952-7267. Illustrated, afterword. 300 pp., $12.95 paper. 0-9616019-8-1 Robert Sundance (Rupert Sibley McLaughlan), born on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, roamed all over the West, was arrested over 500 times, and spent most of his adult life in an alcoholic daze. In 1975, however, he sued the city and county of Los Angeles and won his case, bringing wide-ranging reforms to the way street alcoholics were treated. Sundance's memoir vividly documents his relentless bid to be heard. Grade: B. DREAMKEEPERS: A SPIRIT-JOURNEY INTO ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIA by Harvey Arden. HarperPerennial, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 E. 53rd St., N.Y., NY 10022-5299, (800) 242-7737, (800) 822-4090 FAX. Illustrated, maps. 219 pp., $14.00 paper. 0-06- 092580-9 Arden, a writer for National Geographic magazine, toured the Australian outback and recorded recollections, contemplations, and speculations of Aboriginal holymen, tribal healers, and lawmen, who constantly directed him to "get his own Dreamtime," i.e., do not co-opt their religion. Overly sentimental in places, "Dreamtime" is better used as a travel guide than a spiritual primer. Grade: B-. Also by Arden: "Wisdomkeepers" (1991). OCEAN POWER: POEMS FROM THE DESERT by Ofelia Zepeda. University of Arizona Press, 1230 N. Park, #102, Tucson, AZ 85719, (800) 426- 3797, (602) 882-3065 in Arizona, (602) 621-8899 FAX. The Universi- ty of Arizona Press online catalogue and order form may be accessed from the Internet by telneting to INFO.CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU. Login as INFO. From the Main Menu choose 5 (On-line Information Services), 3 (University of Arizona Information), 1 (Campus Services), and 4 (University of Arizona Press). Afterword. 91 pp., $19.95 cloth (0-8165-1517-4), $9.95 paper (0-8165-1541-7). Zepeda, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona, reflects on her life as a Tohono O'odham woman: stirring clouds with a harvesting stick, growing hair so long it can be worn as a dress (to be used as a pillow when laid to rest), possessing a body in rhythm with oceans and moons. Not so somber is her frolicsome version of "Under the Sea," ("It's so much better, down where it's wetter"). Many of the poems are printed in both English and O'odham, and one is entirely in O'odham. Intensely personal, remarkably accessible. Grade: A-. "Ocean Power" is volume 32 in the "Sun Tracks" American Indian Literary Series. INDIANS, FRANCISCANS, AND SPANISH COLONIZATION: THE IMPACT OF THE MISSION SYSTEM ON CALIFORNIA INDIANS by Robert H. Jackson and Edward Castillo. University of New Mexico Press, 1720 Lomas Blvd. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87131-1591, (505) 277-2346, (505) 277-9270 FAX. Illustrated, index, bibliography, notes, three appendices. 214 pp., $32.50 cloth. 0-8263-1570-4 When Spanish colonists erected 21 missions along the coast of California, they persuaded (and on several occasions, forced) the members of many California Indian tribes to provide labor, as well as being ripe for conversion to Catholicism. Jackson and Castillo document attempts to modify the social and religious lives of the tribes, and tribal efforts to maintain a separate identity. Grade: B. MESSENGERS OF THE WIND: NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN TELL THEIR LIFE STORIES, edited by Jane Katz. Ballantine Books, 201 E. 50th St., N.Y., NY 10022, (800) 726-0600, FAX: (212) 572-8700. Illustrated, index, selected bibliography, notes, map. 331 pp., $23.00 cloth. 0-345-39060-1 Katz introduces twenty-five Native American women who relate, in their own words, what life means to them, what has shaped it so far, and what the future seems to hold for them and their loved ones. Divided into themes such as "Mending the Tears, Weaving the Strands" and "Look Little Ones, All the Places are Holy," these inspirational narratives contain a common vision: preservation of culture and language are mandatory for tribes to continue to exist. Highly recommended as a supplemental text for undergraduate classes in Women's Studies. Grade: A. NATIVE AMERICAN LIVES: PERFORMERS, edited by Liz Sonneborn. Facts on File, Inc., 460 Park Avenue South, N.Y., NY 10016, (800) 322- 8755, FAX: (212) 213-4578. Illustrated, index, selected annotated bibliography. 128 pp., $17.95 cloth. 0-8160-3045-6. For ages 10 and up. From Emily Pauline Johnson and Iron Eyes Cody to Graham Greene and John Trudell, Sonneborn profiles eight of the most famous American Indian performers: musicians, actors, a humorist (Will Rogers), and a ballerina (Maria Tallchief). Included are a short history of each performer's birthplace, a biography, and a discussion of their body of work. Noticeably missing from the volume are Floyd Crow Westerman and Carlos Nakai. Grade: B. Also in the "Native American Lives" series: Spiritual Leaders; Scholars, Writers, and Professionals; Political Leaders and Peacemakers; Artists and Craftspeople; and Athletes. THE PHOTOGRAPH AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN by Alfred L. Bush and Lee Clark Mitchell. Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, NJ 08540, (800) 777-4726, FAX: (609) 258-1335. Illustrated (more than 300 black-and-white and color photographs), bibliography, biographies of photographers. 360 pp., $79.50 cloth. 0-691-03489-3 By the mid-1800s, the had camera became another instrument for exploiting American Indians. In 1985, a conference and exhibition at Princeton looked back at the changing agendas of Indians, photographers, and Indian photographers, and this catalog documents the 150-year-history, with many famous stereotypes set alongside recent photomontages. The result is a visually rich, wide-ranging, and at times disturbing record, essential for photographers, scholars of American Indians, and fine arts libraries. Grade: A. THE CIRCLE IS SACRED: A MEDICINE BOOK FOR WOMEN by Scout Cloud Lee, Ed.D. Council Oaks Books, 1350 E. 15th St., Tulsa, OK 74120, (800) 247-8850, (918) 583-4995 FAX. Illustrated. 272 pp., 17.95 paper. 0-933031-97-1 This is the type of book that makes Indians cringe. Scout Cloud Lee advertises herself as a "recreation therapist" and a "pioneer in the field of experiential learning technologies." It says nowhere that she has one drop of Indian blood, yet her new book of women's rituals and ceremonies incorporates many sacred Native American ceremonies, some even using eagle feathers. I'm all in favor of gender-based consciousness-raising, but not at the expense of another culture, and especially not at a ranch in Oklahoma that's a "sacred ceremonial playground." Grade: D-. CHIEF: THE LIFE HISTORY OF EUGENE DELORME, IMPRISONED SANTEE SIOUX, edited by Inez Cardozo-Freeman. University of Nebraska Press 901 N. 17th St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0520, (800) 755-1105, (402) 472-6214 FAX. The University of Nebraska Press online catalog is available on the Internet by telneting to CRCVMS.UNL.EDU, username INFO, choosing UNIVERSITY PRESS, and ONLINE CATALOG. Illustrated, chronology, selected bibliography. 250 pp., $26.00 cloth. 0-8032- 1469-3 Delorme, who collaborated with Cardozo-Freeman in writing "The Joint," is now the subject of her new biography, which relates Delorme's youth in Aberdeen, Washington as part of a "dissolving family," spending most of his fifty-five years in reformatories, detention centers, and penitentiaries, and now residing in a psychiatric hospital, suffering from alcoholism and depression. Delorme has experienced several lifetimes of adversity, and his story should be required reading by Indian healthcare administra- tors and practitioners. Grade: B. THE AMERICAN WEST by Dee Brown. Charles Scribner's Sons, 866 Third Ave., N.Y., NY 10022, (800) 223-2336, (800) 445-6991 FAX. Illustrated, index, bibliography, maps, selected chronology. 460 pp., $25.00 cloth. 0-02-517421-5 The publicity material says this is the "best single-volume history of the Old West," but it forgot to insert one word: it's the best- promoted single-volume history of the Old West. Brown, unfortu- nately, sits on his laurels and plunders his other works for material on the Native Americans, settlers, and ranchers and cowboys who battled over who got to live where. The book, with its solid collection of archival photographs, is well-written and readable. Most of us, however, have read it before. Grade: C+. LANGUAGE OF THE ROBE: AMERICAN INDIAN TRADE BLANKETS by Robert W. Kapoun with Charles J. Lohrmann. Gibbs Smith, Publisher, P.O. Box 667, Layton, UT 84041, (801) 544-9800, FAX: (801) 544-5582. Illustrated (more than 300 black-and-white and color photographs), bibliography, notes. 191 pp., $34.95 cloth. 0-87905-468-9 From clothing staple to currency used in negotiating business deals to gift of deep friendship to collectible work of art, the trade blanket has become popular once again. Kapoun traces the history of trade blankets, robes, and other articles of clothing produced by Capps, Oregon City, Buell, Racine, and Pendleton prior to World War II. With numerous color plates, and a section on modern collecting (don't miss those designed by Hopi weaver Ramona Sakiestewa), this book is a beauty. Grade: A-. WORDS OF POWER: VOICES FROM INDIAN AMERICA, edited by Norbert S. Hill, Jr. (Oneida). Fulcrum Publishing, 350 Indiana St., Suite 350, Golden, CO 80401, (800) 992-2908, (303) 279-7111 FAX. Index of speakers, list of sources. 68 pp., $9.95 cloth. 1-55591-189-7 Native Americans from the past and present voice their thoughts on subjects such as educating children, preserving natural resources, traditional values, friendship, and leadership. Inspirational and insightful, "Words of Power" is an appropriate gift for any occasion. Grade: B. Hill is the executive director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society at the University of Colorado at Boulder. COLUMBIA RIVER BASKETRY: GIFT OF THE ANCESTORS, GIFT OF THE EARTH by Mary Dodds Schlick. University of Washington Press, P.O. Box 50096, Seattle, WA 98145-5096, (800) 441-4115, (206) 543-3932 FAX. Illustrated (191 total, 56 in color), index, list of sources, glossary, notes, map. 248 pp., $60.00 cloth (0-295-97249-1), $35.00 paper (0-295-97289-0). Schlick provides information on the wide variety of textiles made by mid-Columbia River Indians (from Richland to Vancouver, Washington) and their ancestors, as well as their cultural significance. Included are many archival photographs and close-up examples, accumulated from the author's relationship with tribes that has lasted for over 40 years. The book won an award for best book of 1994 from the Pacific Northwest Bookseller's Association. Grade: A-. THIS PATH WE TRAVEL: CELEBRATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN CREATIVITY. Fulcrum Publishing, 350 Indiana St., Suite 350, Golden, CO 80401, (800) 992-2908, (303) 279-7111 FAX, in associa- tion with the National Museum of the American Indian. Illustrated (60 total, 40 in color), appendix, notes, lists of exhibitions. 128 pp., $24.95 cloth (1-55591-205-2), $18.95 paper (1-55591-208-7). Published in conjunction with one of the three current exhibitions of the National Museum of the American Indian, "This Path We Travel" profiles fifteen artists and their works, most of it in their own words. Also included are several essays on the project. Though the actual exhibit, a collaborative effort created specifi- cally for the museum, is confusing and unfocused, the book does well in describing the perspective of each artist. Grade: B. The exhibition runs through July, 1995. HAIDA MONUMENTAL ART: VILLAGES OF THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS, by George F. MacDonald. University of Washington Press, P.O. Box 50096, Seattle, WA 98145-5096, (800) 441-4115, (206) 543-3932 FAX. Illustrated (296 total, 18 in color), selected bibliography, notes, maps. 248 pp., $29.95 cloth. 0-295-97362-5 This paperback edition of the 1983 original which was published by the University of British Columbia, presents MacDonald's thirty- year exploration of Haida villages. The book is divided into two parts: an introduction to Haida culture and dwellings, and an inspection of over twenty individual villages. Especially interesting is the author's photography and mapping of Haida structures and carved sculptures, popularly-known as "totem poles," most of which are still in place. Grade: A. NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN ANTHROPOLOGY: ESSAYS ON SOCIETY AND CULTURE, edited by Raymond J. DeMallie and Alfonso Ortiz. University of New Mexico Press, 1720 Lomas Blvd. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87131-1591, (505) 277-2346, (505) 277-9270 FAX. Illustrated, index, referenc- es. 442 pp., $32.95 cloth. 0-8263-2614-0 The fifteen essays on kinship, social organization, and culture history in this new text provide current interpretations while combining structural and historical approaches. The volume is dedicated to anthropologist Fred Eggen (1906-1991), and all of the contributors are former students. Highly recommended as a textbook in introductory classes on American Indian Anthropology. Grade: A-. --------- "RE: Poem: Full Moon" --------- Date: 23 Jul 1994 18:09:03 -0500 From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Subj: Full Moon Newsgroup: alt.native (Full Moon) Light and wind upon the flowering earth gathered like a song gathered like names of all my relations gathered with a knife sharp knife made of old stone i slice dreams from the sky and cook them on my belly Tobacco Indian Ahnishinabe -- Turtle Heart turtle@soft21.s21.com (Ahnishinabeg) American Indian Computer Art Project BBS 619-374-2100 Land of Kaw-ii-su ancestor: Land of Light --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" --------- Date: 95/05/27 17:18 From: Debra F. Sanders (dfsanders@genie.geis.com) Subj: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days GE Electronic Mail A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of June 4-10 IUNE (June) (Kaaona) 4 The lullabies of night creatures sing me to my dreams. 5 To the youthful heart, the whole world is filled with wonder. 6 The fragrance of summer blossoms pervades my dreams. 7 Waste nothing -- use every gift the land gives you. 8 Swim with the dolphins, and learn the magic of their world. 9 The earth drinks the blessing of the summer rain. 10 Sorrow abides not in this place. (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, 1 Jun 95 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 From: "Roger Ironcloud" To: IND-NET@listproc.wsu.edu The Child Care Bureau of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families is pleased to invite you to attend the National Tribal Child Care Conference at the Red Lion Hotel, Seattle, Washington, July 31 - August 3, 1995. The theme of the conference is "GUARDIANS OF OUR SACRED TRUST - TRIBAL LEADERSHIP IN CHILD CARE." The conference will provide an opportunity for Tribal leaders and administrators of child care programs to share the vision of child care. It will also serve as a forum for discussion of new implementation strategies and common challenges that face Indian and Alaska Native communities, families and children. In accordance with this year's theme and the focus on leadership, we encourage administrators to invite elected Tribal officials to attend this exciting conference. Special tracks for Tribal officials to plan the delivery of comprehensive services to children and families in local communities have been incorporated into the framework of this conference. The hotel has extended its conference rate to the weekends before and after the Tribal Child Care Conference on a space available basis. The cutoff date to secure the hotel conference rate is July 8, 1995. Please direct inquiries to: Elina N. Gross, Logistics Coordinator Child Care Technical Assistance 1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 610 Washington, D.C. 20005 telephone: (202) 639-4465; fax (202) 628-2903 ================================================ From: FROSTY.DEERE@igloo.magicnet.com (FROSTY DEERE) Just a few Pow-wow's that I know of in Canada this summer... Echo's Of a Proud Nation. Mohawk 5th Annual Pow-wow July 8 - 9, 1995 Call 514-632-8667 NOTE.. This pow-wow is 10 miles from Montreal Canada. Loads of places to stay, camp, and meet people. Free Parking and cost is $5.00 per day. Pine Creek Pow-wow June 16, 17, 18, 1995 Call 204-524-2478 White Earth 127th Pow-wow June 9, 10, 11, 1995 Call 218-983-3285 Hannaville Pow-wow June 24, 25, 1995 Call 906-466-2342 Alexis 17th Pow-wow July 7, 8, 9, 1995 Call 403-967-2225 ============================================== From: berryj@Okway.okstate.edu (John Berry) SOVEREIGNTY SYMPOSIUM VIII June 5,6,7 and 8, 1995 Doubletree Hotel, Warren Place, 6110 S. Yale, Tulsa, Oklahoma (918)495-1000 Presented by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, The Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission and the Sovereignty Symposium, Inc. The sovereignty symposium was established to provide a forum for the exchange of common legal issues in a scholarly, non-adversarial environment. The Supreme Court espouses no view on any of the issues, and the positions taken by the participants are not endorsed by the Supreme Court. 20.5 Hours CLE credit for lawyers will be awareded including four hours of ethics. Registration fee: $125.00 if made by 5/25/95, after that date, registration is $150.00. The symposium will provide a limited number of scholarships to law students and to other qualified candidates based on interest and financial need. Please send scholarship applications to Vice Chief Justice Yvonne Kauger of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Rm 204, State Capitol Building, Oklahoma City, OK 73105 Registration after 5/25/9 $150.00 Registration for Federal, State or Tribal Judges within the 9th or 10th Circuits is $75.00 Registration for Oklahoma State Judges is $50.00 Luncheon Ticket for June 7th $12.50 per person Language Preservation Seminar June 6-7 $20.00 (not included in Symposium registration. Educator's Luncheon Ticket June 5 $11.00 per person Symposium registration for persons attending only the June 6 afternoon and evening Oklahoma Bar Association-Indian Law Section program, $100.00 per person. Send registration to: The Sovereignty Symposium, Inc. 1915 N. Stiles, Suite 305 Oklahoma City, OK 73105 Payment check or money order in U.S. dollars. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- 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: Debra F. Sanders(Kepola), Janet Smith, Tristine Lee Smart, Turtle Heart(Mending the Sacred Hoop with song poems) Announcement from Denise Bambi Kraus via John Berry, Deana Harragarra Waters, Schwarzbauer Peter(Lubicon Lake Indian Nation), James D. Audlin, Prison Activist Resource Center (Press Release), --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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, 1 Jun 95 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 = ============================================ Original Sender: cmilda@ccit.arizona.edu Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ________________________________________________________________ | /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ | |\+------------------------------------------------------------+/| |\| ** NIEA ** |/| |/| * Benefit Dance * |\| |/| Friday, June 2, 1995 |\| |\| Music by Friends |/| |/| Friday, June 9, 1995 |\| |\| Music by Santa Rosa |/| |/| 8:00 P.M. - 1:00 A.M. |\| |/| Stardust Ballroom |\| |\| 2225 East 26th, Tucson, Arizona |/| |/| $ 4.00 per person @ door |\| |\| No advance tickets |/| |/| *Proceeds will benefit the* |\| |\| *1995 National Indian Education Association Conference,* |/| |/| *to be held November 11 - 15, 1995* |/| |/| *Tucson, ARIZONA* |\| |/| For more information call 520\294 5727 |\| |\|____________________________________________________________|/| | \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Original Sender: vanhall@snycorva.cortland.edu (Dawn Van Hall) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Pueblo Pottery June 7-11 Barbara and Robert Gonzales from the pueblo of San Ildefonso, near Santa Fe, will present a five day workshop in traditional black-on- black pottery. Using native clays from New Mexico, each participant will learn the traditional methods of forming, polishing and decorating three clay pieces. The pieces will be fired outdoors on the last day of class. Contact the Waterman Center, P.O. Box 288, Apalachin, NY 13732 607-625-2221 for details on tuition fees and registration. =============================== From: Nlthomas@cris.com (THOMAS) Subject: Pow Wows Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) "Great Lakes" Pow Wow Schedule ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ JUNE 4 - 5 Day of the Eagle East Jordan, Michigan (616) 536-3465 or (616) 536-7583 10 - 11 Homecoming of the Three Fires Grand Rapids, Michigan (616) 774-8331 10 - 11 4th "Honoring Our Veterans" Brimley, Michigan (906) 248-3354 or (906) 248-3208 17 - 18 3rd Traditional Holton, Michigan (616) 861-6516 or (616) 348-5875 23 - 25 18th Great Lakes Area Wilson, Michigan Potawatomi Reservation (906) 466-2342 24 - 25 First Nation Chippewas of Sarnia, 34th Ontario, Canada (519) 336-8410 or (519) 332-1831 24 - 25 Four Winds Indian Cultural Assn Hartford City, IN (317) 348-1223 24 - 25 Pine River Gathering, Traditional St. Clair, Michigan (616) 281-3640 or (616) 878-9443 30 - 2 Sault Ste Marie 13th Traditional Spiritual Conference Sault Ste Marie, Michigan Chippewa Reservation (906) 635-6050 =============================== Original Sender: crowley@selp.ultranet.com (Edward Crowley) Mailing List: indig.info@gnosys.svle.ma.us Eastern Delaware Nations POW-WOW - June 16, 17, 18, 1995 Held at the Sullivan County Fairgrounds, Forksville, PA. 18616 For information call (717) 924-9082 Admission: $4.00, under 12 free call for group rates * Cedar Tree Singers * Dancers * Eastern Delaware Singers Friday - June 16 - 10AM - 8:30PM Traders & craftsmen, jewelry, art, knives, furs, blankets, food Opening ceremony 7:30 PM Saturday - June 17 - 10AM - 8:30PM Traditional Grand Entry : 12 noon Native American Drumming And Dancing: 12-2, 4-5, 7-8 Sunday - June 18 - 10AM - 6PM Native American Drumming And Dancing: Competition 12-2, 4-5 Closing Ceremony 5:30 PM --------- "RE: Lubicon Mailout" --------- Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 00:58:24 -0500 From: h440t4@star1.boku.ac.at (Schwarzbauer Peter) Subj: Lubicon Mailout Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Little Buffalo Lake, Alberta Phone: 403-629-3945 Fax: 403-629-3939 Mailing address: 3536 - 106 Street Edmonton, Alberta T6J 1A4 Phone: 403-436-5652 Fax: 403-437-0719 On February 23rd the Provincial agency charged with supposedly regulating the energy industry in Alberta -- the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) -- reaffirmed its earlier decision to approve construction and operation of Unocal's sour gas processing plant at Lubicon Lake. The new Unocal sour gas processing plant is located less than 3 kms. from the area where the Lubicons have been seeking for over 50 years to establish a Lubicon reserve. Enclosed for your information is a copy of a "news release" and "executive summary" on the ERCB decision which, among other things, incorrectly states that the Unocal plant is located "about 4 kilometres" from the proposed Lubicon reserve. (A copy of the full 28 page ERCB decision plus attachments can be obtained by contacting either the Lubicon office in Edmonton or the new Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) at the address indicated on the back page of the attached "news release".) Although informed of Lubicon opposition to the Unocal sour gas processing plant before commencement of plant construction, the ERCB didn't decide to reconsider its earlier approval of the plant until after the plant had already been built -- significantly biasing the eventual decision. Similarly reaffirmation of its earlier decision was then announced after the ERCB had already been amalgamated into a new and even more political super Provincial "regulatory" agency called the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB). In other words you can't complain to ERCB about its decision. Conveniently by the time the decision was issued the ERCB no longer existed. The new AEUB was created in the midst of considerable controversy last fall when Alberta Premier Ralph Klein simultaneously dumped Deputy Premier Ken Kowalski from the Provincial Cabinet and appointed him head of the soon to be established AEUB. At the time Kowalski was arguably the second most powerful man in the Provincial government and was widely regarded to be reigning Provincial pork barrel king. One of Kowalski's claims to fame came from calling environmentalists "pot smoking anarchists". Another of Mr. Kowalski's claims to fame came from saying people who support pay equity for women are communists since, he explained, it "means everyone in society will get the same amount of money". Those are of course not normally the kind of credentials or public persona one would expect in the head of a supposedly "independent, non-partisan, quasi-judicial Provincial regulatory body". Kowalski's appointment as head of the new AEUB predictably triggered widespread protest from opposition political parties and environmentalists. Not so predictable was criticism by the Calgary-based Alberta oil industry -- especially since Premier Klein is acutely attuned to the views of the Calgary-based Alberta oil industry and it's most improbable that he would have appointed Kowalski to head the new Provincial oil and gas "regulatory" super agency without first seeking and obtaining oil industry approval of the appointment. Oil industry criticism of the appointment was therefore likely an integral part of Kowalski's carefully orchestrated political assassination specifically intended to undercut Kowalski's considerable political support among Conservative back-benchers who predictably would be little inclined to challenge the views of the powerful Calgary-based oil industry. Normally publicity-shy oil industry spokesmen came out of the woodwork and publicly charged that Kowalski's appointment threatened the ERCB's "worldwide reputation...(for)... competent and impartial regulation of the Province's energy resources". Phooey. That's a self-serving deception carefully fashioned and maintained by the Alberta government and the Calgary-based oil industry about an agency which essentially provides a facade of regulation and public sanction for just about anything the oil industry wants to do in Alberta. Before Kowalski's appointment was cynically used to discredit and knock him off politically the person considered to have an inside track on the job was man named Sherrold Moore. Mr. Moore is a close associate of Premier Klein, a bag man for the ruling Provincial Conservative Party and an ex-senior vice president of Amoco Canada Petroleum Company -- which is a wholly owned subsidiary of a major, multi-national oil company headquartered in Chicago called Amoco Corporation. At last notice Mr. Moore was still a member of the Amoco Board of Directors. The possibility of Mr. Moore's equally questionable appointment wasn't criticized by the Calgary-based oil industry but was heralded as being in the fine tradition of the supposedly "independent, non-partisan, quasi-judicial ERCB". The Lubicons of course knew about all of these cosy relationships in advance and therefore didn't expect a fair and impartial hearing before the ERCB. What they did hope to achieve was full public disclosure of Unocal's slick dealing and vetting of the issues -- something which they only partially achieved due to a notable lack of media coverage. The concluding remarks of those attending the hearing made clear that they were not deceived by Unocal's elaborate efforts to convince people that Unocal had not deliberately misled the Lubicons. Unfortunately those not attending the hearing missed Unocal's enlightening explanation of why Unocal officials didn't mention sour gas in any of the written materials they gave the Lubicons because they were supposedly relying upon predictably disputed verbal communications. (One would have thought mention of sour gas would have snuck into the written materials at least once -- if only by accident.) Why the media didn't cover the hearing is an interesting question. It was not for lack of interest on the part of the working press -- several of whom specifically asked to cover the hearing and were not allowed to do so. The media situation in Alberta, historically always problematic, has taken an even more disturbing turn since the election of the media-wise Klein government. And not only with regard to coverage of the Lubicon issue but with regard to news coverage in Alberta generally - - the masterful job of publicly setting-up and discrediting the high-flying Kowalski in a brief ten day flurry of obviously planted media stories being only one case in point. Reporters sympathetic to the Provincial government are regularly fed pre-digested "inside" information which they use to promote both the government's agenda and their own careers. Reporters who've historically covered the Lubicon issue have been squeezed out, transferred to other beats or variously censored. The Calgary Herald, which in the past has provided good coverage of the Lubicon issue despite continuing howls of protest from powerful Calgary interests, has now made a policy decision not to cover anything north of a town in central Alberta called Red Deer -- even when the story involves a generic environmental issue like sour gas and a major Calgary-based company like Unocal. Taken together these things have resulted in a situation where reporters in Alberta essentially serving as conduits for government propaganda get the vast majority of newspaper space and air time -- to the point where almost nothing else is covered (and anything else which is covered is effectively buried and its significance lost or at least obscured.) The ERCB hearing lasted 10 ten days over a three week period in November and December and was the scene of almost continuous high drama. A number of prominent personalities made submissions and gave evidence. Unocal was charged with defrauding and deceiving not only the Lubicons but also the ERCB. Tension was high and sparks flew from the first day of the hearing when Unocal unsuccessfully tried to disqualify all intervenors but the Lubicons to the last day of the hearing when Unocal lawyer Brian O'Ferrell -- who is coincidentally a law partner of ex-Alberta Provincial Premier Peter Lougheed -- threatened that an adverse ERCB decision would "negatively affect the way Unocal views Alberta as a place to invest". The reaction of those attending the hearing to the evidence presented and to Unocal tactics at the hearing was made crystal clear during the last day of the hearing when speaker after speaker indicated that the more they saw and heard from Unocal the more they believed Lubicon charges of duplicity, deceit, fraud and deception. The President of Unocal Canada Fritz Perschon attended the hearing throughout glad-handing anybody who'd listen to him -- very much like an eternally optimistic and endlessly persistent shoe salesman trying to sell "one size fits everybody" shoes to increasingly dubious customers. Mr. Perschon was supported by several other senior Unocal officials, an ex- senior Provincial government native affairs official hired by Unocal on contract, current senior Provincial government native affairs officials backing up Unocal lawyers and the ex-senior Provincial government official hired by Unocal on contract, an ex-Provincial government wildlife officer hired by Unocal on contract and representatives of a so-called environmental consulting firm hired by Unocal which is coincidentally partners with the Provincial government in a controversial toxic waste disposal plant where the Province guarantees the company a profit costing $25 million a year in public funds. (If there seems to be an inordinate amount of overlap between Unocal and the Alberta government it's because there's an inordinate amount of overlap between Unocal and the Alberta government. To paraphrase a comment made by satirist Lenny Bruce about the forces of good and evil in Chicago, in most places there's continual tension between the private and public sectors; in Alberta, it's nice, the oil companies and the Provincial government all get along and you can't tell the difference.) The Lubicons including Chief Ominayak and his Council also attended the hearing throughout. They were supported by a variety of local, Provincial, national and international environmental organizations; by Indian Nations and organizations; by organized labour; by human rights organizations; by civil rights organizations; by aboriginal rights organizations; by church representatives; by concerned individuals; by the Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review and by both Provincial opposition political parties. Regarding Lubicon charges of fraud the ERCB concluded that there "was a misunderstanding between the parties in the discussion of this project prior to the issuance of the plant approval". That wasn't the evidence. The Lubicon evidence was that Unocal did not tell them about plans to build a sour gas processing plant. Unocal evidence was that Unocal did tell the Lubicons about plans to build a sour gas processing plant. That was the evidence. One party or the other is lying. There is no basis for a conclusion of "misunderstanding" based on the evidence. The ERCB decision goes on to say "While there is some onus on the applicant (Unocal) to present the proposed development in a fair way there is also an obligation on the affected parties (the Lubicons) to make efforts to understand the implications of a project". It says "It is not evident that such efforts were made by the Lubicons in securing advice from those that may be in a position to provide it". The decision does not say how one exercises one's responsibility to "understand the implications of a project" which one has no way of knowing is being planned. Moreover the evidence is that the Lubicons did in fact seek advise "from those that may be in a position to provide it" immediately upon learning from others that Unocal was planning to build a sour gas processing plant -- they just weren't interested in hearing the views of people bought and paid for by Unocal to try and convince them that sour gas is good for children and other living things. On the question of whether the Lubicons retain unceded aboriginal land rights over traditional Lubicon territory, and consequently whether the ERCB as an agency of the Alberta Provincial government legally had the right to approve construction of a sour gas processing plant on unceded Lubicon territory, the ERCB concluded both that "the Board...has no authority to enter into such issues" (as aboriginal land rights) and also that "The Board believes it has full statutory authority to regulate energy related activities on this disputed land and holds the view that the mineral and land surface leases were properly obtained by Unocal from the (Provincial) Crown". You can't have it both ways. By proclaiming that it has "full statutory authority to regulate energy related activities on this disputed land and...that the mineral and land surface leases were properly obtained by Unocal from the (Provincial) Crown", the ERCB -- a Provincial government "regulatory" agency which clearly "has no authority to enter into such issues" under Canadian law -- is effectively denying the existence of Lubicon land rights over the unceded traditional Lubicon territory and is forcibly asserting Provincial government jurisdiction over "this disputed land". (The question of course again becomes one of effective redress given that Lubicon experience with the Canadian courts is no different than Lubicon experience with the ERCB; i.e. , judges who are ex-head oil company lawyers, judges who are ex-partners of head oil company lawyers on the case, judges who retire from the bench and are appointed to oil company boards and so on.) Going beyond the issue of the Unocal sour gas processing plant the ERCB also decided to cancel a "notification agreement" negotiated between the Lubicons and the ERCB in 1986 after several serious disputes -- one of which involved Unocal. At that time the ERCB was taking the position that aboriginal land rights weren't an interest they needed to take into account. The Lubicons threatened to tie up ERCB approvals by taking the ERCB to court over interpretation of its very general mandate. In this context the ERCB agreed to ask companies to check with the Lubicons before making application to the ERCB and to hopefully obtain Lubicon agreement not to oppose an application to the ERCB. The primary purpose of the 1986 "notification" agreement between the Lubicons and the ERCB was to protect particularly sensitive sites like burial grounds from resource exploitation activity. As long as the proposed project didn't threaten such a sensitive site, and the company agreed to respect Lubicon wildlife and environmental concerns, the Lubicons typically agreed not to oppose an application by the company to the ERCB for approval of the project. It was in the context of this "notification agreement" with the ERCB that Unocal first contacted the Lubicons to discuss expansion of their existing battery station. In retrospect it's clear that Unocal knew the Lubicons would never in hell agree to construction of a sour gas plant adjacent to the area where the Lubicons have been planning for over 50 years to establish their reserve. So Unocal officials misrepresented their plans to the Lubicons and deliberately created an ambiguous paper trail enabling them to tell the Lubicons that they were talking about expanding an existing oil battery station and to tell the ERCB that the Lubicons had agreed not to oppose a sour gas processing plant. (Unocal officials undoubtedly believed that they could build their sour gas plant at the site of the existing battery station and the Lubicons would be none the wiser. They might have pulled it off too had others with knowledge of their plans to build a sour gas processing plant not alerted the Lubicons.) After Unocal got caught trying to slip their sour gas processing plant past the Lubicons they first tried to argue that they didn't need to obtain Lubicon agreement not to oppose their application to the ERCB because, they said, their plant was located outside of the 95 square mile proposed reserve area around Lubicon Lake and was therefore supposedly outside of the so-called ERCB "notification area". They knew better and were bluffing -- as is made clear from their original letter to the Lubicons on this matter which states explicitly "We have been advised by the Energy Resources Conservation Board that the consent of the Lubicon Lake Nation must be obtained in support of the referenced plant expansion". It was just that denying that they were required to consult with the Lubicons was the best they could do when they were first charged with not consulting the Lubicons. (It's also a typical Unocal bully boy tactic when challenged or questioned about anything.) Told that their sour gas plant was well within a much larger 900 square mile ERCB "notification area" Unocal officials reacted indignantly that the "notification area" shouldn't be any bigger than the 95 square mile proposed reserve area. They then carried this argument into the hearing asking that the "notification area" be unilaterally defined by the ERCB to include only the 95 square mile proposed reserve area because, according to Unocal, the original agreement provided for a larger area only because nobody knew in 1986 how big an eventual Lubicon reserve would be or where it would be located. The ERCB adopted this Unocal argument holus-bolus and unilaterally redefined the so-called "notification area" as demanded by Unocal despite the fact that the original agreement had nothing at all to do with an eventual reserve area but rather with protecting particularly sensitive sites scattered throughout the traditional Lubicon territory like 19 burial grounds. (Redefining the "notification area" likely serves a bigger oil company/ERCB/AEUB/Provincial government purpose as well. Natural gas has become the fuel of choice for the huge U.S. utilities. It has therefore become an attractive natural resource to exploit -- after oil in the late 70s and timber in the mid-80s. There is apparently abundant natural gas in the unceded Lubicon territory. The natural gas in the immediate vicinity of Lubicon Lake is apparently sour gas. It's clear that the Lubicons will oppose a proliferation of sour gas plants ringing the area where they raise their children. By re-defining the size of the "notification area" the oil companies/ERCB/AEUB/Provincial government are largely relieving themselves of the negotiated requirement to give the Lubicons advance notice of their plans to exploit the sour gas resources in the immediate vicinity of Lubicon Lake. Needless to say effectively pushing things back to before the hard-won 1986 "notification agreement" -- especially at a time when it appears that the oil companies are gearing-up for another massive and particularly worrisome run at Lubicon natural resources -- doesn't bode well for the embattled and already seriously damaged Lubicon society.) Regarding the impact of resource exploitation activity upon the traditional Lubicon society and way of life the ERCB decision says "The Board recognized there has been some social impacts brought about by industry, but it must also be cognizant of its responsibility to regulate the energy industry in the overall provincial public interest". What we're of course taking about here is a euphemistic way of referring to destruction of the traditional Lubicon economy and way of life resulting in what many knowledgeable independent observers have concluded is genocide of the Lubicon people in the name of oil company profits and related Provincial government royalty payments. The ERCB decision says "The Board concluded that the plant would have no undue impact on the people or the environment of the area" -- primarily because the plant has been built "adjacent to an existing oil battery site" and consequently would not disrupt anything that hasn't already been disrupted. This is an argument which the Lubicons have been hearing from the Provincial government and the oil companies for years. Basically the way the argument goes is don't worry about this project -- it's small and won't disturb very much. The argument for the next project is then that the area has already been disturbed by the first project and so on. Often the individual projects do seem relatively innocuous in the context of the relatively vast traditional Lubicon territory. However the cumulative impact of all of these projects has been devastating upon the traditional Lubicon economy and way of life to the point where the very survival of the Lubicon people as a distinct society is now seriously imperiled. The ERCB decision says "The Board believes that considerable economic benefit could be gained and the social structure of the band stabilized if a measure of co-existence could be mediated" -- whatever the hell that means. All of the available evidence is that massive resource exploitation activity in the unceded traditional Lubicon territory is in fact tearing Lubicon society to pieces. At best the Unocal plant is expected to produce only one or perhaps two technical jobs -- neither of which any Lubicon would likely qualify for even if one were interested in working at a plant considered by most Lubicons to represent a deadly threat to the health and well-being of their children. As for a "so- called measure of co-existence being mediated" -- well that's what the notification agreement which the ERCB has now effectively cancelled was all about. On the question of Lubicon health and environmental concerns the ERCB essentially discounts the evidence of the Lubicons and others living in the vicinity of existing sour gas plants as unscientific, undocumented and unsubstantiated choosing instead to rely on the self-serving charts, graphs and statistics produced by an environmental consulting firm hired by Unocal called Bovar-Concord. The ERCB decision describes Bovar-Concord stuff as "compelling evidence that this sour gas plant is no threat to any community". The Board makes no mention or comment about the well known fact that Bovar-Concord is a division of company called Bovar Inc., or that Bovar Inc. is a partner of the Alberta provincial government in ownership of a highly controversial toxic waste disposal plant, or that Bovar Inc. has a sweetheart deal with the Alberta Provincial government which guarantees it a profit on a plant which has lost money every year since its construction, or that this sweetheart deal between Bovar Inc. and the Alberta government has cost Alberta taxpayers $250 million in construction and operating costs since 1987, or that this sweetheart deal between Bovar Inc. and the Alberta government is currently costing $25 million a year in public funds, or that it is estimated that this sweetheart deal between Bovar Inc. and the Alberta government will cost Alberta taxpayers $800 million by the year 2008, or that the ubiquitous ex-Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed is a consultant to Bovar Inc., or that all of these relationships and vast sums of money raise a very real question about whether Bovar-Concord's shiny charts should be given more weight and credibility than the evidence of an otherwise disinterested Alberta dairy farmer whose cattle have sickened, died, had spontaneous abortions, delivered calves with birth defects and so on since construction of a sour gas processing plant in his area. During the ERCB hearing, and as a result of the controversy generated by the hearing, a Catholic religious order with shares in Unocal called the School Sisters of St. Francis became concerned about Unocal's sour gas processing plant at Lubicon Lake and attempted to have a resolution asking Unocal management for information on the situation included on the agenda of Unocal's Annual Shareholders Meeting. Unocal management responded by asking for a meeting with the School Sisters to try and talk the School Sisters out of pursuing the matter at Unocal's AGM. The School Sisters agreed to a meeting but only if representatives of the Lubicons could also be involved. After some discussion a meeting was agreed in Little Buffalo on January 21st. Notes on that meeting are attached and are recommended reading for anyone seeking to understand the dispute between Unocal and the Lubicons. After Sister Laurie Michelowski of the School Sisters of St. Francis left Chicago on her way to Little Buffalo for the January 21st meeting Unocal management challenged the School Sisters resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sister Michelowski was not informed about the Unocal challenge until after the January 21st meeting. Normally such meetings are held to discuss proposed resolutions and the School Sisters don't agree to meet if a challenge has already been filed. Typical Unocal tactics. The School Sisters subsequently successfully argued their resolution with the Securities Exchange Commission and won the right to have it included on the proxy statement provided to all Unocal shareholders. Unocal responded by moving the AGM from Los Angeles where concerned environmental groups were gearing-up to lobby Unocal shareholders to Houston, Texas, where there are fewer environmentalists to worry about. In a replay of rushing construction of the plant to completion before the ERCB hearing, Unocal put its new sour gas processing plant at Lubicon Lake into operation in mid-April -- effectively preempting prior shareholder consideration of the matter. Putting the plant into operation was accompanied by a show of force by the RCMP in the Lubicon area presumably intended to let Lubicon parents know that there's nothing they can do to protect their children from the feared consequences of Unocal's sour gas processing plant. How the Lubicons will respond to this RCMP- delivered message and the fact that the plant has now been put into operation isn't yet known. The Unocal AGM is scheduled for Houston on May 22nd. Letters sent to the Alberta Provincial government protesting the ERCB decision will only elicit a form response indicating that the AEUB/ERCB is "an independent, quasi-judicial body" and that it would therefore be "inappropriate for the Alberta Government to attempt to interfere with the recent decision of the AEUB to approve the Unocal plant". Letters to Unocal protesting operation of the plant will only elicit a form response summarizing the ERCB decision and expressing willingness to work with the Lubicons "if allowed to do so by Chief Ominayak". Concerned people should therefore write to the School Sisters of St. Francis letting them know that people across Canada and around the world oppose the operation of Unocal's sour gas processing plant at its current location, are monitoring the situation, are monitoring how Unocal shareholders respond to the situation and are prepared to participate in a boycott of Unocal products if the Unocal sour gas processing plant at Lubicon Lake isn't shut down. Having Unocal shareholders decide that operation of the Unocal sour gas processing plant at Lubicon Lake is a bad idea is the easy way to do it. If Unocal shuts down the plant other oil companies will think twice about moving into the controversial Lubicon territory at least over Lubicon objections this fall. If the Unocal sour gas processing plant at Lubicon Lake continues to operate over Lubicon protests it's likely that the other oil companies will conclude that they can basically do what they please in the Lubicon territory without concern for adverse Lubicon reaction. The mailing address for the School Sisters of St. Francis is: Sister Laurie Michalowski, SSSF Chair, SSSF Corporate Responsibility Committee 4127 N. Central Park Chicago, Illinois USA 60618 Fax: 312-463-6806 --------- "RE: Thoughts on Two Worldviews" --------- Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 22:34:23 -0400 From: tristine@t.imap.itd.umich.edu (Tristine Lee Smart) Subj: Thoughts on Two Worldviews Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Source: Federal Archeology 7(3):16 (1995) (In the public domain) THOUGHTS ON TWO WORLDVIEWS By Tessie Naranjo One fall day in 1991, I received an unexpected phone call from Dr. Francis P. McManamon, chief of the archaeological assistance division at the National Park Service. Dr. McManamon introduced himself and began to ask a few questions. Given the reason for this call, I responded in detail. Several weeks before, the governor of Santa Clara Pueblo had received a letter requesting applications for a position on the review committee for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This letter was forwarded to my office--the Santa Clara cultural preservation program- -along with a request from the governor that I respond. I sent the necessary paperwork and was surprised when Dr. McManamon called requesting additional information. After several questions about my role in the community, he asked if I would be willing to serve a five-year term on the committee. I said yes. My world has changed dramatically since that day. In the course of my involvement with NAGPRA, I have read the statute many, many times. I have had the opportunity to discuss its meaning with a wide range of both traditional Native Americans and non-tribal people. One thing that has struck me is how differently these two groups define relationships. Traditional Native Americans believe that everyone and everything exist in an integrated and pervasive system of relationships. One resident of Santa Clara Pueblo puts it this way: "We are part of an organic world in which interrelationships at all levels of life are honored. Our relations to the place we live--the land, water, sky, mountains, rocks, animals, plants--is tangible. Our sense of social relationships leads us to respect all who have gone before and all who will follow, our elders as well as our youth." Traditional Native Americans see an essential relationship between humans and the objects they create. A pot is not just a pot. In our community, the pots we create are seen as vital, breathing entities that must be respected as all other living beings. Respect of all life elements--rocks, trees, clay--is necessary because we understand our inseparable relationship with every part of our world. This is why we honor our ancestors and the objects they created. This honoring allows us to remember our past and the natural process of transformation--of breathing, living, dying, and becoming one with the natural world. Not even in death are we unrelated. My understanding of relationships has been hard to reconcile with the non-tribal view. Consider museums. Human remains and cultural items are treated as non-living entities. Unacknowledged are the enduring relationships that traditional Native Americans maintain with their ancestors and their world. I have come to realize that the staffs of most museums and agencies do not share our basic values and philosophic views. Museums certainly have had a great impact on traditional Native Americans and perceptions of who we are. But we do not share the assumptions underlying what museums do: collection, preservation, documentation, and exhibition. This difference in view surfaces in most of the activities surrounding NAGPRA. Encouragingly, this has led to a growing awareness among all those with a stake in repatriation. Nowhere is this more apparent than at meetings of the committee. From the very first one--when six members were asked to nominate a seventh-- decisions have been by consensus. This is the way of my people and the one with which I am most comfortable. The meetings are often more like open discussions than formal get-togethers. Decisions are made only after all members, as well as the public, get a chance to air their views. Thus far, all of our decisions have been unanimous. When the committee held hearings in Hawaii on the remains of Pacific islanders, member Dr. Martin Sullivan, head of the Heard Museum, asked Indians in the group to talk about accepting spiritual testimony [see article by Edward Halealoha Ayau]. Dr. Sullivan was sincerely trying to understand how we should assess this evidence. During our Phoenix meeting last year there was animated discussion in which the public questioned the validity of scientific study. Leigh Jenkins, cultural preservation officer for the Hopi, stood up and in a gentle but certain voice talked about how his program works with the archaeological community to clarify issues about the past. NAGPRA has brought together two completely different worldviews in a forum where people freely discuss their differences. This relationship, like any human relationship, is sometimes awkward, sometimes caring, and sometimes difficult. But it is a relationship that will continue. ---------- For more information, contact Tessie Naranjo, P.O. Box 1807, Espanola, NM 87523, (505) 753-7326, fax (505) 753-8988.