Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews03.042 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 042 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 21 October 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 INNU-L, ARCH-L, NATCHAT & NATIVE-L listservers; Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native; UUCP & Genie (General Electric) email 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 Don Rayment ,don.rayment@uptowne.com, Wotanging Ikche/ Kanoheda Aniyvwiya is being redistributed via a listserver. If you would like to receive Wotanging Ikche via the listserver, you can send a message to listserv@uptowne.com and include, in the body of your message "sub wotanging.ikche " Thanks to Marc Becker, mbecker@uclink2.berkeley.edu, issues of Wotanging Ikche/Kanoheda Aniyvwiya are being archived at a World-Wide-Web site. The URL is http://web.maxwell.syr.edu/nativeweb/journals/nanews 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 "O great expanse of the blue sky, see me roaming here again on the war-path, lonely; I trust in you, protect me." __ Coyote War Song, Pawnee +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! As this issue is distributed the Atlanta Braves have won the National League Championship Series, and their opponent in the 1995 World Series will be the Cleveland Indian. Cleveland, with their hideous mascot is the only team in baseball I find more reprehensible in their representation of "our honored ways" than Atlanta, with their sophomoric "tomahawk chop". Aside from the obvious arguments about stereotyping and misrepresentation, I can't but wonder how these people came to this place of lost spirit. How can the descendants of people who fled Europe to avoid persecution and intolerance be so intolerant of and callous toward the feelings and beliefs of others? It no longer makes me angry, this intolerance. It makes me sad. It makes me ever grateful my way and my path is not that of the dominant society. 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=== ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- Part A: Usenet and e-mail Part B: NATCHAT and NATIVE-L lists - Elders Plea for Help - Conferences and Powwows - online - Help Needed with Buffalo - Violence Prevention Assistance - More on Grandfather Thundercloud - Western Shoshone Urgent Alert - Armand McKenzie Speech - Mescalero/Nuke Waste Update, at Harbourfront pt. 1 & 2 - Desert Protection Act Puts - Native Americans Shoshone Back Into Park - Timbisha Shoshone Meet With Federal Officials - Shoshone Fight Mine On Ancestral Land Near Death Valley - Preservation Society - Bear Lincoln Indicted by Grand Jury - Poem: Little Gray Man - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline --------- "RE: Elders Plea for Help" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 00:29:13 -0400 From: Wanblisapa@aol.com Subj: a plea for help UUCP email Hau, Kola! The elders at Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Res. lost their Elderly Nutrition Center to fire (teenage arson). The center was burned to the slab and all was lost. However, the elders have been told that the center can be rebuilt on the existing slab and should be constructed in the next 2 mos.. Work on the inside might take a little while. In the meantime, they are using old, cramped, HUD, vacant housing. Unfortunately, the attendance has dropped off because the elders think the program has ended, but the word is getting out that the program is NOT over. The Elderly Nutrition Center was a place for the elders to meet, socialize, support one another, and to receive healthy meals. The elders have asked me to post a request to the Internet community asking for help and donations. They need: furniture (chairs, couches, tables), kitchen supplies, air conditioner, and a TV. Financial donations would also be welcomed. If anyone can help, please contact: Mr. Manson Garreaux (gah-roo') (head of the Bigfoot Claims Council) P.O. Box 362 Eagle Butte, SD 57625 (605) 964-6518 - evenings are best (6-10 pm Mountain time) Please distribute this request as widely as possible. Wopilatichelo (deepest appreciation)! Wanbli Sapa --------- "RE: Help Needed with Buffalo" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 00:29:17 -0400 From: Wanblisapa@aol.com Subj: a different plea for help UUCP email Hau, Kola! My brother has asked me to ask if anyone would be able to donate any buffalo feed, hay, fencing, posts, or any financial donations to help take care of the buffalo herd that my family has for the benefit of the people. Please contact me with your responses and I will pass them on to my brother. Feel free to distribute this request as widely as possible. Wopilatichelo! Wanbli Sapa Wanblisapa@aol.com --------- "RE: More on Grandfather Thundercloud" --------- Date: 95/10/16 23:34 From: James D. Audlin (j.audlin@genie.geis.com) Subj: More on Grandfather Thundercloud GE Electronic Mail NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF GRANDFATHER CHIEF THUNDERCLOUD Regular readers of this electronic newspaper know about the situation of Grandfather Chief Thundercloud, the Saponi Cherokee Medicine Man who has been kept against his will in a Trenton, N.J. nursing home by his sisters. Recently, hoping apparently to garner some public media attention they could work to their benefit against us who are working through the courts to get him freed, his sisters contacted \The Trentonian\, a newspaper in Trenton, and told their story. The reporter, Kim Haban, understandably wanted to talk with Grandfather Thundercloud as well, but Queen Esther Harris, one of his sisters, refused to allow that. She told the reporter, "I am the legal guardian of my brother," though this is in fact not true: no one has been given legal guardianship, or even power of attorney, over him. Queen Esther went on to say, also falsely, "He cannot have other visitors. I have authority to limit who he can see and who he can't see. So I definitely don't want you up there, neither no photographer, no tape recorder, or nothing." The reporter, wondering if perhaps special permission could be arranged, learned from legal sources that there was a court order a few months ago that said Grandfather is allowed visitors. Nursing home officials refused to let the reporter visit Grandfather until a copy of the court order was shown to them. The nursing home then allowed a very brief interview which was abruptly concluded when the reporter asked to take a photograph of Grandfather. Grandfather Thundercloud, according to the \Trentonian\ article, said, "I want to live in the country; I want to live in peace." He said he wants to leave the nursing home and live with Grandmother Twylah Nitsch at the Cattaraugus Reservation. The article also notes his sorrow that he cannot practice his medicine ways in the nursing home; it quotes him as saying nobody comes to see him there, as they would were he free. The article goes on to quote Marcia Smith-Brinton, who has been a wonderful support to Grandfather and has indefatigably sought his release, about his competency and dignity. It also quotes a doctor who examined him and found no signs of illness (such as Alzheimer's Disease), as his sisters have claimed he has. It is to be hoped that the positive nature of this article will encourage him to remain courageous, will possibly help us find professional help (for example, a psychotherapist or gerontologist who can examine him and speak in court), and will generate funds to help defray the mounting legal costs. Again I ask all readers please to keep Grandfather in their prayers. --Distant Eagle --------- "RE: Armand McKenzie Speech at Harbourfront" --------- Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 23:09:32 -0300 From: Larry Innes Subj: Armand McKenzie Speech at Harbourfront Mailing List: INNU-L April 20th,1995 Harbourfront Armand McKenzie is Innu, an Ottawa University Law School graduate and lawyer for Quebec Innu. He was a keynote speaker at a Public Forum on "First Nations and Quebec Sovereignty" at Toronto's Harbourfront on April 20, 1995. =========================================================================== Violations of fundamental human rights take place on a daily basis. Often it results in jailings with Innu leaders detained for what the constitution says it will protect. The judicial system does not protect those rights. Regarding Quebec separation from Canada, our position is similar to the two row wampum of the Mohawks. We are not trying to interfere in what Quebec wants to do, but we have our concerns as separation will have an impact on us. Who in Quebec is a people? One people or different peoples? There are different nations in Quebec, including eleven First Nations. Indigenous people then also have a right to self-determination. Quebec is presenting a double-standard role. Self-determination for Quebec and some collective rights for First Nations. We must react to such racist assumptions. There must not be a discriminatory position. We have a language, a common history, relationships with other Nations (Indigenous Treaties), definite territory. We have to oppose Quebec separatists who demand self-determination but not for the First Nations Peoples. The right to self-determination is the right to decide your own political future. There are rules that stem from international law that must be respected. The Parti Quebecois released its National Commission Report on April 19, 1995. The First Nations did not participate in these Public Hearings. Parizeau says he wants political association with Canada. What about this right for First Nation People? The PQ cannot even have a decent relationship with their own neighbours. Quebec wants to secede and take lands that do not belong to them. Preexisting territorial rights have been recognized by Canadian courts. I believe that we have never given our territorial rights to Quebec nor Canada. Quebec cannot claim territorial integrity. They are trying to make the public believe this. They claim extinguishment of Native peoples but these are but "legal fantasies" not consistent with international law and norms. For indigenous peoples, Parliamentary supremacy is "we're going to make a law and you must obey it". This will not be the case. First Nations in Quebec will oppose any unilateral declaration of independence imposed on us. Innu have had discussions with Mohawk and Cree leaders. We are looking at peaceful ways to prevent Quebec occupation of our lands and Quebec's passing of unilateral laws. We will have an operational strategy. We are calling upon you to react to this propaganda in Quebec versus indigenous peoples in Quebec and oppose the double standard rule. For Quebec Innu, there are two fundamental issues:low level military flight training and hydro projects. There is a link here with Quebec separation being the law enforcement agencies. The separatists are ready to send the army. Recall that the Bloc Quebecois called for using the army versus the Mohawks. In the past, there have been fundamental violations of our human rights. People have been put in jail - mothers, elders and leaders. This is what we experience. Regarding the low level military flight training, Innu have often occupied the runways at the Canadian Forces Base at Goose Bay, Labrador. We were jailed for having the courage to exercise our constitutional rights. The Canadian government has allowed foreign air forces use of Indian territories for military purposes. Now, Canada wants to renew its obligations to NATO. The Department of National Defence (DND) plans to sign new agreements with Belgium, Italy and France and extend the current agreement with Britain, Germany and the Netherlands for another ten years. They want an increase in Innu lands used, an increase in the number of flights from 7000 to 15,000 a year, and an increase in the military presence. All should be concerned about rights and liberties. Elizabeth Penashue, who has led the resistance on the runways, is not a criminal. They are occupying our land that we cherish a lot. Resources that stem from our territory have permitted our people to survive. We have met DND, the Environment Ministry and Native Affairs. They say they are concerned about their relations with NATO and not at all about Innu rights. We consider this position as a message that Innu are enemies to them. Regarding hydro dams and particularly Hydro Quebec, our struggle has not been well publicized because of the attention given the Great Whale dam project. Quebec Hydro developed the 800 megawatt dam at Maliotenam. For lack of support to our calls, people have been put in jail again for protesting peacefully. The only thing they did was disrupt the economic benefits of these dams. Support for the dam came from the courts, union leaders, MNA's, people of that region, and even one of our Indian Chiefs under the Indian Act. We will need the support of our indigenous brothers and sisters and other people concerned about our rights. I thank you on behalf of the Innu Chiefs, leaders and Innu community. Innu means "human being". --------- "RE: Desert Protection Act Puts Shoshone Back Into Park" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 07:51:05 -0700 From: Robert J Paton Subj: California Desert Protection Act Puts Shoshone Back Into Park UUCP email May 1994 The recent passage of the California Desert Protection Act has paved the way for the creation of Death Valley National Park. This was heralded by mainstream environmentalists as a victory for the protection of "wilderness." In press reports, the only mention of Indians was with regard to archaeological sites-in other words, dead Indians. This is not the whole story. The Act is not merely a victory because it creates a national park. It is a potential victory because it may lead the way for the long overdue return of ancestral territory to the Timbisha Shoshone. An amendment to the Act mandates a one- year study to find a suitable land base for the Timbisha Shoshone within, adjacent to, or outside the new Death Valley National Park. The Timbisha, whose ancestral territory lies within Death Valley, have been landless since 1933. Although their tribal status was recognized by the U.S. government in 1982, the tribe's struggle for a land base continues. The passage of the California Desert Protection Act is another step towards returning the millions of acres that the U.S. government has taken illegally from native nations. As the case of the Timbisha spells out, the national park process-ever since Yosemite was designated a park in 1864-has been to ignore or relocate native people, call their land a "pristine natural area" in need of protection, and then create a park, wilderness area, or preserve. The historical existence, land use, and territorial rights of the indigenous inhabitants have been considered irrelevant. When President Herbert Hoover created Death Valley National Monument by executive order in 1933, no one consulted the Timbisha Shoshone. With the stroke of a pen, they were landless. While they were not forcibly relocated, most of the Timbisha were so frustrated by the National Park Service controlling their lives that they left to live on the outskirts of the Monument. Only about fifty members resisted, until the Park Service finally gave them a dilapidated settlement area. Frederick Marr, managing attorney for California Indian Legal Services and attorney for the Timbisha, criticizes this situation as making the tribe "squatters on National Park Service land." The Timbisha have a strong religious and cultural heritage, even living under dismal conditions. There are still active basketweavers, and the tribe's language is alive. Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Administrator Richard Boland points out that the Timbisha have continued their traditional use of and relationship with the land in spite of restrictive Park Service regulations. "Many elders would rather get arrested than be degraded by going to the Park Service and asking for a special use permit." Marr echoes this: "Indeed, many of the conservation uses of the land, such as prescribed burning, have been prohibited by the National Park Service." This campaign for a recognized homeland within Death Valley has created a stronger presence for the tribe. They have found allies and support, which after sixty years of dispossession, does raise hopes. Indeed, perhaps the Timbisha will set the precedent for cooperative relationships between tribes and federal land management agencies. Linda Greene, resources manager for the Park Service at Death Valley and coordinator with the Timbisha, is very optimistic about the growing relationship with the tribe. "It is a two-way effort, and I have high hopes. There certainly are common interests, as far as natural and cultural resources are concerned. With open exchange and communication, I would hope that we can integrate their needs into management practices." But according to the Timbisha, there are grounds for skepticism. In the past, ongoing discussions with the Park Service about getting a land base have been unsuccessful. Although the Park Service now appears to support the outcome of the amendment requiring a land base study, they initially opposed it, according to the tribe. At bottom is an unwillingness on the part of the Park Service to relinquish authority and control over the management of federal lands. Boland is cautious about whether the study will lead to the securing of a land base for his tribe. He has expressed concern that the Park Service considers the study to be a way of shutting them up, and that they might not approve a reservation. "It seems the 1800s thinking that the government knows what is best for Indians still reigns." Linda Greene, while encouraged about her relationship with the Timbisha, expresses caution about the location of a reservation, explaining that "the Park Service has concerns about uses that might be contrary to Park philosophy." Elden Hughes, the Chair of the Sierra Club's California Desert Committee, supports the study. But like Greene, Hughes clarified that if the Timbisha were to propose amendments to the Desert Protection Act claiming a greater portion of Death Valley for themselves, "we would consider that a hostile amendment." Boland, of the Timbisha, replied, "Who's hostile?!" It would seem that there is support for the tribe as long as there is no threat to political control over these lands. The bitter irony is that indigenous people throughout the world have sophisticated knowledge of the intricacies of nature, but are all too often the first victims of programs that propose to protect the land. Gradually, conservationists are beginning to recognize indigenous people's knowledge and skill. Conservationist Alan Durning has pointed out that "environmentalists must understand the needs and rights of indigenous peoples and the priority for the sake of our collective future to support indigenous land claims." In that regard, Durning said that "within a decade there is the potential to get environmentalists to think about public lands in the United States being co-managed by native tribes." Attorney Marr reacts to co-management ideas positively. "This is what we have been talking about. The tribe is not interested in building a casino, they want their land back. The Timbisha want compatible uses, they want the land preserved. Native people were the first conservationists." Tribal Administrator Boland agrees when he says, "We can do a lot of great things with the Park Service. But this will happen only if they are willing to share power." Boland continues, "We want to drive this point home: there have been embarrassing land management decisions the Park Service has made at Death Valley, because the Timbisha were not included." The Timbisha have organized the Timbisha Shoshone Land Restoration Project to push the agenda for a land transfer. Without funding appropriated by Congress for the study, the Timbisha are using their own funding for much of the work . The tribe is presently completing their research on the twelve possible sites for a reservation. Meanwhile the Department of Interior has began the transition to National Park status and have 30 working groups looking into various aspects of the transfer. Attorney Marr said that by the Timbisha doing much of the work themselves the tribe could plug into the transition system, which has already begun, and create a working group on the reservation site. The Timbisha are working on a documentary film to be released in the next few months to bring their story to a wider audience. Ultimately the tribe's goal is to have a bipartisan land transfer bill in Congress in early 1996. --------- "RE: Timbisha Shoshone Meet With Federal Officials" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 07:51:05 -0700 From: Robert J Paton Subj: Timbisha Shoshone Meet With Federal Officials to Initiate Restoration of Tribal Lands UUCP email July 1995 The Timbisha Shoshone tribe and Federal resource management agencies, including the National Park Service, had an historic meeting last month in Death Valley. It was the first time the Timbisha and the United States have met on a formal government to government level. The meeting begins implementation of an amendment to the California Desert Protection Act which mandates a one year study to find suitable lands for a reservation for the Timbisha. The outcome of the meeting was to create four working groups to report back by October with recommendations for the Secretary of Interior. The Secretary will review the recommendations and make a reporting in early 1996. The meeting was characterized by consultation and cooperation. Frederick Marr, managing attorney for California Indian Legal Services and attorney for the Timbisha, described the meeting as "a positive step forward." Marr felt that a study could be completed now that the process is in place. "We are pleased," continued Marr, "that there was agency participation at all levels who were interested in the process." The Park Service agreed. Ann Titus, public affairs officer for Death Valley National Park said: "We feel that both sides were very happy. Both sides learned some things, and will continue to be educated." It was clear, though, that the Park Service has to broaden its work. Titus pointed out that "the mission of the Park Service is to preserve and protect natural areas. We do not have much experience with native groups in the outer parts of the park." The California Desert Protection Act was amended to address the continuing ignorance of the Timbisha's treatment by the Park Service. Indeed it was the express intent of the amendment to right an historic wrong against the Timbisha, who were made landless with the creation of Death Valley National Monument in 1933. When the Tribe won federal recognition in 1982, no land was reserved for their use and occupancy, leaving them one of two federally recognized tribes in the US without a land base. A one year study is to be conducted to "identify lands suitable for a reservation for the Timbisha Shoshone tribe that are located within the Tribe's aboriginal homeland area.", within or outside of the current boundaries of Death Valley National Park. Catherine Vandemoer, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs characterized the meeting as continuing an evolution of government policy toward tribes. That evolution should lead to the Park Service fulfilling the trust responsibility with the tribe. Vandemoer elaborated on the mission of the Park Service. "The Park Service's mission to preserve and protect nature is not necessarily contradictory with meeting the needs of Native Americans. They do have a lot to do. But as they have obligations to birds, animals, and places, they have a trust responsibility to people. Practically speaking they have a dual obligation. These can meld." The various parties do echo this perspective by stressing the common goals and interests that can be found in this process. Marr points out that "a resolution is in everybody's interest, including the National Park Service." Common goals include resolving the claim that the Timbisha have to the Death Valley area, intersecting agendas for protecting the fragile ecosystem and specific cultural and natural resource management issues. There was support from national representatives of federal agencies to find a local solution in the interest of all the parties. Given that no funds were appropriated by Congress to conduct the study, the Timbisha have taken on organizing much of the work themselves. Indeed it was felt that the tribes degree of organization helped make the meeting possible. By the same token federal agencies also showed a willingness to carry out this process the best they could without initial funding. Rather than simply wanting to have a reservation restored, though, the tribe is viewing this process as an opportunity to establish themselves as a key player in the process of land management decisions in their aboriginal homeland. The tribe's goals, including lands suitable for a reservation, cooperative agreements with the Park, and continuing a government to government relationship with Federal agencies makes this process that much more unique. This demands the Federal government transform its past relations with tribes. Titus explained that the Park hoped to work things out from the past and be partners. "We definitely moved," she continued, "a big step that day. We remember that there were past differences. Now all the parties are willing to try for a new era." As recently as a decade ago the Park Service was opposed to transferring land to the tribe. But Vandemoer pointed out that agencies are mindful of the law out of which this process developed. "I hope," concluded Vandemoer, "that we can foster an environment that restores tribal lands." ------ "RE: Shoshone Fight Mine On Ancestral Land Near Death Valley " ------ Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 07:51:05 -0700 From: Robert J Paton Subj: Shoshone Fight Mine On Ancestral Land Near Death Valley UUCP email August 1995 Californians may think that the Gold Rush is over, but for the Timbisha Shoshone of the Death Valley area, it has never ended. Canyon Resources, of Golden, Colorado has proposed a cyanide heap-leach gold mine for the Panamint Mountains and Valley west of Death Valley National Park. According to documents filed by the Tribe's attorneys the CR Briggs Project has violated numerous laws requiring consultation with the tribe about the impact of the mine. The Federal agency coordinating the environmental review process, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has violated its trust responsibility to the Tribe because BLM failed to adequately notify the Tribe about the proposed mine. Inyo County also has not meet the standards of consultation with the tribe, under state and county regulations. The Timbisha feel that the spirit of the California Desert Protection Act is being violated as well. It was through the Act that the tribe hoped they would finally stop being ignored by finally winning a reservation landbase. Indeed, empowered with a specific amendment in the Act, the tribe is currently conducting a study with "relevant federal agencies", including the BLM and National Park Service (NPS), to "identify lands suitable for a reservation for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe that are located within the Tribe's aboriginal homeland area" While having occupied the Death Valley area for generations, once Death Valley National Monument was created in 1933 the Timbisha became squatters on Park Service land, and only received federal recognition in 1983. The Briggs Project only worsens the tribe's landlessness because its location is one of the most important areas that they are seeking in their land restoration process. The mine severely impacts the tribe's land restoration efforts as mandated under the Desert Protection Act. The location of the proposed mine is among the highest priority places for restoration by the tribe. Yet according to Jo Simpson of the BLM the "Panamint Mountains are currently designated public land for multiple use and therefore would not be one of the options open to them." Further, when members of the tribe have spoken out at public hearings about the mine project there has been hostility from Inyo county residents. According to Dick Anderson, Natural Resources Manager at Death Valley National Park, the Park was very concerned about the mine, but had to cooperate within the constraints of the 1872 mining law, which allows a claim holder to develop their claim with little cost or oversight. The Park Service was invited to be a cooperating agency in the environmental review process. The Park Service expressed various concerns in the EIS/EIR process, some of which were agreed to by the BLM and Canyon Resources. Anderson said that there was concern about the "protection of resources of the Monument [now Park]." The park was concerned about water use, where the "naturally functioning system is all screwed up" and that the "cone of depression from water use will go much further along than they say, vegetation and even open springs will be significantly effected." Also there will be a lot of lights affecting the night sky, and they wanted a specific lighting plan. Many concerns were not agreed to. It is the position of the BLM that there will be no significant impact on the bighorn sheep population in the area of Redlands Canyon, where the mine will be located. The Park disagreed and while the mine is going ahead, Canyon agreed to fund a study of the impacts of the mine on the sheep in the area. But according to the Tribe's appeal, the California Department of Fish and Game found that "insufficient data exist to substantiate a finding of no significant impact to bighorn sheep in Redlands Canyon" There is nothing about this disagreement in the BLM record, which is one of the grounds for the appeal. Process Faulty A major focus of the appeal however is regarding the lack of actual and direct consultation with the Tribe as required by Federal law, regulations and policies. According to Frederick Marr, California Indian Legal Services attorney representing the Timbisha, he has had many discussions with people in Congress, the BLM and the Park Service about the tribe's goals and plans with details of possible locations of interest, including the proposed Briggs mine site. Yet there has never been a word about the mine project. "I mention Briggs gold and alarms sound." Ironically, the Timbisha have been hired on many occasions by the Park Service as cultural resource consultants because of their expertise in this and other Tribal areas. Yet, the Park Service never once consulted with the tribe regarding cultural resources in the area of the mine. Though not required to formally consult with the Tribe, the Park Service has frequently mentioned themselves as "good neighbors" of the Timbisha. "This does not reflect a commitment to being a good neighbor," reflected Marr. Much of the area surrounding the proposed mine site had been under wilderness study areas designation, prohibiting "mineral development." However these areas were released from that status, explicitly to benefit Canyon Resources, and the mine site was carved out of the expanded boundaries of Death Valley National Park as negotiated in the California Desert Protection Act. Public Affairs Officer for California Senator Diane Feinstein, Colleen Hagerty, said that she thought Senator Feinstein negotiated those arrangements because "Senator Feinstein dealt with all the miners." Indeed on 5 May 1994 Senator Feinstein spoke on the floor of the Senate on behalf of the Briggs project: "The principal beneficiary of this reduction in wilderness designation is a proposed gold mine-- the Briggs Mine--that is now in the final stages of permitting." Further, according to the Annual Report of Canyon Resources, "prior to October 1994 most of the claim block was inaccessible due to its designation as a Wilderness Study Area. Passage of the California Desert Wilderness [sic] Act in late 1994 removed such designation and opened Canyon's other gold target areas in the Range to further exploration and potential development. The company plans to conduct exploration, including drilling, on several targets during 1995." "This is a major cover up from my perspective," concluded Marr. Yet the BLM defends its efforts at consultation, stating that all of the consultation requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) were met. The tone has been that the tribe and others opposed to the mine are too late in the process. But Roger Flynn, attorney for co-appellant Desert Citizens Against Pollution, responds: "They say we are just being obstructionists, but our voices can never be heard until the 11th hour, it is the only time that our voices carry any weight. The process is only open now." Indeed the claim that the tribe is being obstructionist is made hollow by the fact that the BLM and Park Service were aware of the tribes efforts at restoration in the area. Furthermore, the Historic Preservation Committee of the tribe has been hired by the Department of Interior in the past to document cultural and historic resources. As has been the pattern for generations, the tribe's role and knowledge of the area was ignored to the detriment of everyone involved. And when a gold mine will tear apart the tribe's aboriginal homeland Federal agencies turn a blind eye. --------- "RE: Preservation Society" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 12:58:21 -0700 From: Larry Kibbey Subj: Preservation Society Mailing List: ARCH-L It is estimated that there are more than 150,000 archaeological sites yet to be recorded in the county of Elko, Nevada, lands considered to be the traditional territory of the Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada,lands that do have a cultural and religious value. However, there are historic trails, mining camps and ghost towns. Many of these historic and prehistoric have valuable information and meet eligibility requirements for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. In our endeavors to assure a manner of preservation and protection of those sites having a value to the Native American Indian, 106 consultation must be established per se the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966(i.e. Fowler Bill-1992/P.L.102-575). Through this consultation effort, our organization begins a research utilizing past archaeological data as a tool, which has been very helpful, and talking with Tribal Elder's who do have knowledge of the area and have been very helpful in our establishing regards of the area in question at the time. In the consultation process, we do not try to do this alone, in that we request the archaeologist from the Elko District Office and the Forest Service to participate and in this, we have also managed to sit down with recorder's and cam corder's and tape the whole session. Our regards for this process is to enhance the educational factor that is needed for our present day youth as well as for future generations. As well, tours with youth were put together so that they could go out into that territory which is now being used for ranching, mining and recreation, to view such sites as the 17 Antelope Traps, various Rock Shelter's and Gathering areas. The preservation and protection of such sites is to allow people of today and tomorrow with a look at past prehistory and history that is often not found in school text and if so, with very little regard. People understand that yes, the Indian was here first, they lost the war, the land, what more is there. It's not so much how or when, because for the most part the stories have been somewhat one sided, and when the past is brought out per se the Indian side, then there seems to be a little bit of drama. Most of the Indian population wasn't wiped out by war, but by diseases, which were, in some cases purposely imposed on the people and this is an historical fact. War did caused the death of many but not as much as disease. It is not so much as to drag out the dirty laundry of the past, but to install our regards of the past pertaining to our Ancestor's. Learning how they conducted their ceremonies, how they hunted or gathered roots, berries and pinenuts, and how they may have buried their people, in which we have discovered, many different ways. When I first became involved with trying to understand archaeological work, I had a very serious problem, in that the common regard has always been;"you came across the land bridge, this isn't really your land, you don't have a right to the prehistory or history and the artifacts." "Scientific research needs to be concluded." This is an old story, and my reply always was, " Well, I can't tell the Elder's they are lying, I have too much respect for them." "They tell me we Indians have been here for time immemorial upon this our mother Earth." After we got through that time period we began to understand each other and what really needed to be done as far as preserving and protecting these sites. It is to know and understand the value of archaeology and what it can do as far as educating people about the past. The scientific knowledge such as carbon dating which has taken those seriously interested and concerned into a part of the past that contains some very interesting theory, though we must remember, that in some cases there are descendants of that past who are willing to share a story if anyone is willing to listen for it does contain evidence and facts not often found recorded in text. Some contemporary Indians know that the flag, christianity, disease, war, government and the presidents from Washington to T.Roosevelt all played a major role in bringing down the Indian Nations, but when someone comes to me and ask; "What do these 11 rock circles I found mean?" Or "How did our people use these antelope traps to hunt?" Or how did our people bury their dead?" It tells me that the work of archaeology in unity with the Native American Indian is working, because I can tell people just what those areas are all about. Archaeology is a value and is not just about digging up the past, but compiling data and information that will be useful for future generations. Preserving and protecting the prehistory and history of America's Past is something that everyone should be involved in. Something people should view with understanding. I'm not an archaeologist, I am an Eel River, Bear River Mattole Indian of the Wiyot Nation of California, though I have lived here for most of my life. My interest in preserving and protecting these sites comes from a recording session I did with an Elder. Two weeks before his passing, Frank Temoke Sr.(93) the Traditional Chief of the Western Shoshone, sat in front of our video camera's and that of the BLM archaeologist and when asked; "What do you see for the future of the Indian people?" He said; " I think they will phase their self out, no more Indian, it is already happening." So, from there, and since, my task has been to preserve and protect what I can, areas having a significant value to the culture and religion. Just recently an area where Frank's grandfather is buried has been set aside by BLM and future regards are being promoted to include this area into tribal property or something of that nature. The educational factor is important in archaeology, so that the future will contain information regarding a people and their way of life, not only the Indian but all people. Help preserve and protect you Heritage. Traces of the past belong to you, don't wipe them away, for the Heritage of America and the Native American Indian is unique. Larry Kibby, Consultant/Director Western Shoshone Historic Preservation Society Elko Indian Colony 1581 Pinenut Circle Elko, Nevada 89801 (702) 738-7070 kibbey@sierra.net --------- "RE: Bear Lincoln Indicted by Grand Jury" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 18:28:23 -0700 From: nwilson@mcn.org (Nicholas Wilson) Subj: ROUND VALLEY: BEAR LINCOLN INDICTED BY GRAND JURY UUCP email UKIAH --In a surprise move, a specially convened secret grand jury indicted Bear Lincoln for the April 14 murders of Sheriff's Deputy Bob Davis and Lincoln's friend Leonard Peters who was killed by deputies. The indictment skips the preliminary hearing in municipal court where the prosecution would have had to reveal its case publicly, and the defense would have been able to challenge the prosecution evidence and present evidence of innocence. Because the case is now in superior court, Lincoln must start over again, entering pleas to the charges and seeking court reappointment of his local attorney Philip De Jong. Lincoln's lead attorney is well-known San Francisco lawyer J. Tony Serra, who was unable to be present when Lincoln was brought to superior court for the first time yesterday. Serra is representing Lincoln "pro bono," free of charge. The previously scheduled bail hearing in municipal court on Tuesday, October 17 has now been replaced by an arraignment hearing in Mendocino County Superior Court in Ukiah at 1 pm on the same date. Judge James Luther, who will preside over the case, was unavailable for yesterday's hearing. The hearing was before Judge King, who temporarily appointed De Jong as Lincoln's attorney. Because his lead attorney was not present Lincoln did not enter a plea, but is expected to plead not guilty to all charges when the arraignment continues at the October 17 hearing. Lincoln is charged with first and second degree murder and attempted murder. There also are special allegations which could result in the death penalty. In a statement made when he turned himself in to police Lincoln said he and his friend Peters were ambushed by police who were lying in wait on a remote mountain road near Lincoln's home. The deputies were looking for a suspect in an earlier shooting on the Round Valley Indian Reservation. Over defense objections, Judge King also temporarily granted a prosecution request for a gag order prohibiting lawyers from discussing the case with the press. Both temporary orders last only until next Tuesday's hearing before Judge Luther. Luther will then decide whether to continue the attorney appointment and the gag order. The rationale behind the gag order is to prevent "pollution of the jury pool," meaning prejudicing the public in a way that would make it impossible to find an unbiased jury, and making a change of venue necessary. Defense lawyer De Jong argued that law enforcement had six months of unlimited access to the media, conducted a military style memorial parade through Ukiah, and had gone on America's Most Wanted on national TV to say that Lincoln was a convicted felon and was armed and dangerous. The defense said that, now that the prosecution side had been thoroughly covered by the press, that the DA wanted to silence the defense. District Attorney Susan Massini argued that even if it was wrong for the law enforcement to try the case in the media, it would also be wrong for the defense case to be similarly released, and "two wrongs don't make a right." According to a Ukiah Daily Journal story, an expert retained by the defense says the damage has already been done. Chico State University Professor Edward Bronson said Lincoln has little hope of a fair trial in Mendocino County. In his report Bronson said the media had portrayed Lincoln and other Indians in the case as "tribal, not quite civilized, and beset by alcohol and their own violence." The media had described Lincoln as an armed and dangerous felon. The media portrayed the slain deputy as a war hero and defender of the community. Bronson wrote, "It is good versus evil; John Wayne against the brutish red men." Bronson cited the massive manhunt, the $100,000 reward offered by Gov. Pete Wilson, and the America's Most Wanted coverage. The defense sent Bronson 142 newspaper articles published from April 15 to June 15 in local papers. The defense has not yet said whether it will seek a change of venue. There will be a support event sponsored by the California Native Circle on Saturday, October 14 from 7-11 p.m. at the Ukiah Grange Hall, 740 S. State St., Ukiah California. There will be speakers, live music entertainment and food. Donation of $6.00 per person is requested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. For further information contact: Round Valley Indians for Justice Cora Lee Simmons, (707) 983-8098 P.O. Box 814, Covelo, CA 95428 Cyndi Pickett, (707) 983-8033 Round Valley Community Support Coalition Betty or Gary Ball, (707) 468-1660 --------- "RE: Poem: Little Gray Man" --------- Date: 13 Aug 1995 12:26:35 -0500 From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Subj: Little Gray Man Newsgroup: alt.native i carry my heart around my skin i have seen my relatives inside their medicine it has been passed around it is a good thing it is a round thing it is carried around here and there Tobacco Indian _________________________________________________________________ AICAP Pages copyright 1995 (c)AICAP http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/aises/aicap/archive/aicap.html Turtle Heart turtle@aicap.s21.com (Ahnishinabeg) American Indian Computer Art Project Voice 619-374-2208 PO Box 111 315 Broadway Johannesburg CA 93528-0111 Land of Kaw-ii-su ancestor: Land of Light -------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" --------- Date: 95/10/14 18:35 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 October 22-28 OKAKOPA (October) (Ikuwa) 22 Pele builds and re-builds the land until she is satisfied with her creation. 23 Teach me the magic of the night. 24 Those we love are near to us in spirit. 25 Tread gently upon the dew-pearled grass of morning. 26 It is never too late to change, to learn, to grow. 27 The sunlight weaves dappled patterns of leaves upon the grass. 28 Only the wind can speak my true name. (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, 19 Oct 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: TomWheaton@aol.com Subject: ACRA National Conference To the Internet Community On October 7 and 8, the American Cultural Resources Association had its first national conference in Washington D.C. Over 80 attendees participated in six workshops and panel discussions on topics ranging from governmental affairs, to Section 106 compliance, to meeting insurance needs, marketing and business management. Speakers included the heads of various national preservation lobbying organizations and federal agencies such as the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places and the National Council of State Historic Preservation Officers. Two results of the conference should be of particular interest to members of the Internet community. The first is that ACRA will shortly announce a new listserv dealing with CRM where persons interested in cultural resource and business issues, such as our recent lobbying efforts, can keep up with current issues without disturbing the other lists. Brief announcements will be made to the Net from time to time with directions on how to download more in depth files on particular issues. This should cut down on long postings, and provide readily accessible background data and a discussion forum for those who desire it without unduly disturbing those who do not. The second is that of the 80 attendees at the conference, only two were students. One was a graduate student in history and the other a graduate student in archaeology. Of the remaining attendees over 60 were owners or officers of firms who have the power to hire such students. These two students were, needless to say, the center of much attention as many firms scramble to find ambitious, hard working, imaginative and well-qualified entry level staff. Where else could those seeking employment in the private sector make such contacts? Food for thought. Next year the conference will be in Sacramento, California. The exact date has not been set, but it will be in October. Tom Wheaton Executive Director ACRA Drop by our Web Site and tell us what you think http://www.mindspring.com/~wheaton/ACRA.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: berryj@Okway.okstate.edu (John Berry) Subject: Re: Red Ribbon Campaign RED RIBBON DRUG FREE POWWOW Oct. 28, 1995 Ponca Tribal Cultural Center Schedule 2:00pm Gourd Dance 5:30pm Supper Break 6:30pm Gourd Dance 7:30pm Parade In 8-12pm Round Dance, Youth Contests, War Dancing Dancers of all ages invited. Head Staff MC: ..................Rev. Thomas Roughface HS:...................Jim Kemble HMD:..................Garland Kent, Jr. HLD:..................Carol LittleCook LeClair AD:...................Jeff Little Walker WB:...................Danny Page Cooks:................Tyrone & Donna Poore Co-Hosts:.............To be announced Red Ribbon Powwow sponsored by Title IX Indian Education Program of Ponca City Schools. Powwow committee members: Byron Tribble, Lucy Kent, Nellie Roughface, Lauretta Tulley, Pat Miller, Jeana Rush, Phyllis Rush, Belvin Hill, and Jo A. Lessart. Invited Princesses: Oo-Kee-Hee - Emily Smith, Ponca - Lucy McClellan, Tonkawa - Jeana C.Rush, Kaw - Whitney Kramer, Pawnee - Francis Kent, Post 38 - Candice Cornell, Otoe-Missouria - Regan McDonald. All Specials will be in the Afternoon. ========================================================================= -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- 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: Janet Smith, Debra F. Sanders, Wanbli Sapa, Tony Cohen(Urgent Request), Turtle Heart(Mending the Sacred Hoop with song poems), Nora Bunce, Robert J Paton, Larry Kibbey, Carol Liu, Nicholas Wilson, Preston Hardison(Urgent Request) --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Part B of this newsletter (not included) has already been distributed via the NATIVE-L or NATCHAT mailing lists. --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - online" --------- Date: Thu, 19 Oct 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: icie@web.apc.org Mailing List: NATIVE-L First Nations Festival - Toronto Four benefit concerts at The 360, located at 326 Queen St. West Friday, October 13 Saturday, October 14 Friday, October 20 Saturday, October 21 Native and non-Native performers include: Derek Miller and Universal Light, Mad Love, Dave West Transit Trio, Dennis Stark, Downriver Blues Band, Bobby Wiseman, Angelene Jeanette, Jaime Leah Wren, Lloyd Noganosh, Frank Prather, Hard Done By, and surprise guests! Nightly fashion show by The Seventh Sign In support of Aboriginal Defence League, Friends of the Lubicon, International campaign for the Innu and the Earth, Turtle Island Support Group, Unocal Information Campaign For more information: 466-6503, Continent Productions ------------------------------------------------ Subject: Youth Powwow OKC Original Sender: berryj@okway.okstate.edu (John Berry) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) "LEADERS OF TOMORROW" YOUTH POW-WOW Nov. 4th, 1995 State Fair Grounds - Oklahoma City Kitchens of American Bldg. Free and Open to the Public Sponsored by Education and Cultural Association for Indian Youth, Title V Indian Education & JOM Programs from Oklahoma City, Edmond, Lawton, Putnam City, Mid Del, Walters, Western Heights, Jones and Wynnewood Schools Head Staff MC:........................Thomas Chibitty Head Singer................Jim Anquoe Male Youth Dancer:.........Junior Jaquez Female Youth Dancer:.......Nicole Plumley - Jr. Miss Indian OKC Co-Host:...................All Nation's Indian Youth Arena Directors:...........Cricket Shields, Alan Shemayme Contests: Tiny Tots - Boys Combined - Girls Combined Jr. Boys - Fancy - Traditional - Grass - Straight Jr. Girls - Buckskin - Cloth - Fancy - Jingle Teen Boys - Fancy - Traditional - Grass - Straight Teen Girls - Buckskin - Cloth - Fancy - Jingle Ages: Tiny tots 1 - 6, JR. 7-12 Teen 13-19 PROGRAM: 1:30pm - 12:00pm 1:30pm Gourd Dance, 4:45pm Supper, 6:00pm Gourd Dance 7:00pm Grand Entry (All Dance Contestants must be registered & in Grand Entry) Must be in Indian Regalia to receive Prize awards. Indian Arts & Crafts - Fee (BYT&C) All Dancers Welcome - come and support our youth. NO Drugs or Alcohol allowed - Not responsible for theft or accidents. INFO: Committee Shirley Wapskineh (405)632-5227 Sydna Yellowfish W 340-2916 Jacob Tsotigh 360-1163 Franklin Akoneto 248-8556 and many others... ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: berryj@Okway.okstate.edu (John Berry) Subject: OSU Fall Pow Wow (fwd) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) To all, If you happen to be in OK this coming weekend - y'all drop by y'hear. Best, John Berry ____________________________________________________________________ Oklahoma State University Natives invite you to the Oklahoma State University Benefit Pow Wow. The benefit Pow Wow proceeds go to the Spring Contest Pow Wow. When: 21 October 1995 Where: Center for International Trade and Development Bldg. The Corner of Washington St. and Hall of Fame Stillwater, OK Times: 2 p.m.- Gourd Dancing 5 p.m.- Supper Served 6 p.m.- Gourd Dancing 7 p.m.- Grand Entry Head Staff: Head Singer - Kinsel Lieb (Ponca City, OK) Headman Dancer - George Alexander (Ponca City, OK) HeadLady Dancer - Renee Hamilton (Pawnee, OK) Host Gourd Clan - Red Rock Creek (Red Rock, OK) M.C. - Dean Whitebreast (Cushing, OK) Arena Director - Gary Gover (Pawnee, OK) Please bring your own dishes and chairs, all drums and vendors welcomed. --------- "RE: Violence Prevention Assistance" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 11:17:55 -0700 From: acohen@cfk.com (Tony Cohen) Subj: URGENT REQUEST - Violence Prevention Assistance Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) URGENT REQUEST! Violence Prevention Assistance I an a lawyer who represents a small (80 member) tribe in northern California. The Tribe is embroiled in a dispute which includes matters pertaining to gaming, a lawsuit by the tribe against its chairman in federal court, a federal grand jury investigation, and now, extreme violence between trial members. Two people have been shot in the last two days, and many people's homes, and the tribal office have been shot up. A state of total terror dominates the reservation. There seems to be no agency or group able or willing to take action to stop the violence -- local law enforcement, included. I would appreciate any leads to resources which the people could use to defuse the immediate crisis, or to work towards a long term resolution of the many difficult problems which led to this situation. Thank you! Tony Cohen --------- "RE: Western Shoshone Urgent Alert" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 21:08:30 -0700 From: pdh@u.washington.edu (Preston Hardison) Subj: Western Shoshone Urgent Alert - Need Fax/Phone Support Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) THE WESTERN SHOSHONE DEFENSE PROJECT CALL TO ACTION! FIGHT THE FIRES OF GENOCIDE! VOICE YOUR OUTRAGE BY CALLING OR FAXING THE NUMBERS BELOW IN SUPPORT OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE, OCTOBER 10th and 11th, 1995 Five hundred and three years after history books proclaimed Christopher Columbus discovered America, Tim Dann a Western Shoshone person, will be challenging the jurisdiction of the Beowawe Justice Court on October 11, 1995 at 11am. This is yet another day in the survival and resistance of the genocide of First Nation peoples which began with the arrival of Columbus. Throughout history Native peoples have taken a stand in defending their land. July 20-23,1995 a fire raged a quarter of a mile from the Dann Ranch. Tim Dann along with the Western Shoshone Defense Project and other locals attempted to extinguish unnecessary backfires set by the U.S Bureau of Land Management. Tim Dann was charged with impeding an officer by Eureka Chief Deputy District Attorney, Zane Miles. Tim stood "mute" on the charge September 13, 1995. During the incident when Tim was asked by a fire fighter what he was trying to save, Tim replied, "the whole mountain!" Western Shoshone advocates declared this was a ruse to threaten, coerce and frighten the Dann family and supporters into submission. The Dann family, along with other Shoshone people in the Great Basin, have been in controversial litigation challenging federal and state land claims. This struggle has encompassed over 20 years of legal battles. A standing camp of Shoshone and supporters remains year round to protect the land, wildlife, and people. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Your support is needed in this struggle. If you can not attend the hearing and demonstration on October 11 at 11am in Crescent Valley then please voice your outrage by... PAPER-JAMMING THE COURT! Write the Court! Beowawe Justice Court 520 5th St. Crescent Valley, NV 89821 Phone and FAX Blockade! Call on October 10th and 11th before the 11am trial: . Telephone (702) 468-0244 FAX: (702) 468-0323 For more Information Contact: The Western Shoshone Defense Project 242 2nd St. Crescent Valley, NV 89821 Tel: (702) 468-0230 503 YEARS OF RESISTANCE! --------- "RE: Mescalero/Nuke Waste Update, pt. 1" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 17:26:02 EDT From: cliu@queens.lib.ny.us (Carol Liu) Subj: Mescalero/Nuke Waste Update, pt. 1 Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) I am posting this message, in two parts, for Rufina M. Laws, the Mescalero Apache activist (founder and Director of Humans Against Nuclear Waste Dumps - HANDs), who is fighting the proposed nuclear waste repository on her reservation. Rufina needs support for her efforts to broadcast the message of the dangers of nuclear waste to the Mescaleros and to all who live near and/or use the national highways and rail systems which will be used to move radioactive debris from power plants around the country to New Mexico. This trio of HANDs Newsletters will provide the (horrifying) facts you need to participate effectively in the struggle. Earlier newsletters and related postings can be found in the NATIVE-L archives, or I can e-mail them to you on request. Please feel free to redistribute this message (unedited, please) to other lists, newsgroups, media outlets, individuals, organizations, etc. I have recent information about the legislation Ms. Laws refers to that I will be happy to e-mail anyone who requests it. Carol Liu cliu@queens.lib.ny.us 718-880-0890; fax 718-291-8936 ############################################ HUMANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WASTE DUMPS HANDS NEWSLETTER JUNE 1995 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This is the seventh edition of the HANDS Newsletter. As promised, this edition and the following issues will focus upon the nuclear waste transportation issue. It is given to create a deeper appreciation for and commitment to our fragile environment for our children's children's children's.... R.M. Laws, Editor ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NUCLEAR WASTE COMING THROUGH YOUR BACK YARD!! The NUCLEAR WASTE TRANSPORTATION IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS report was compiled by the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, whose key issues (along with findings of the State of Nevada's studies on High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation) were released to the general public. This report contains the very detailed findings and analysis of the Agency for Nuclear Projects and addresses the impact of the federal government's high-level radioactive waste transportation program on the proposed Yucca Mountain (NV) repository. Nuclear waste transportation remains very important to the State and to local communities and may well be the most visible and dramatic "driver" of potential repository impacts for Nevada. This issue plays a central role in nuclear waste disposal, yet LITTLE progress has been made by the Department of Energy (DoE) or the federal government in addressing key transportation matters. Furthermore, Congressional budget "cutbacks" will have an adverse impact on key aspects of nuclear waste transportation planning. **Findings and Issues** The transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the proposed Yucca Mountain site in southern NV will impact directly 43 states ( and thousands of communities) in this nation. The Agency concluded that there could be between 3500 and 61,500 truck shipments and between 1800 and 10,400 rail shipments over the 25-year loading phase of repository operations. The repository would receive approximately 6,200 truck shipments and 9,400 rail cask shipments of spent fuel from civilian nuclear power plants, in addition to hundreds, possibly thousands, of shipments of high-level radioactive waste from DoE weapons facilities. In addition, this repository could receive an unknown number of shipments of waste accepted by the U.S. government from other nations; by law, this waste must be accepted by the plant that provided the source material. [After decades of the transportation system working and decades of continuous use of nuclear energy, by whom, when, and how will this MONSTER be dismantled? - my thought on reading the material. - Ed.] **Unresolved safety issues** 1) Rail transportation: The DoT (Dept. of Transportation) believes it would be safer to transport waste by rail, as the shipments would be larger and thus fewer. There are a number of reactor sites which produce waste but do ot have rail access. Also, there is no rail access to Yucca Mountain, and to build same would require up to 400 miles of new rail construction -- trains carrying 3 to 5 casks and no other cargo) which would have early identification across the board -- at federal, state, & local levels. 2) Highway Transport Risks and Issues Without rail access to Yucca Mountain, all waste would have to be shipped by truck along the nation's interstate highways and alternate routes. This creates the possibility that 35,000 or more shipments will be required during the 25-year emplacement phase of the proposed repository. TRUCK SHIPMENTS IN THE NUMBER NEEDED FOR MOVING HIGH-LEVEL WASTES TO A REPOSITORY FROM REACTOR SITES AROUND THE NATION WOULD IMPACT MAJOR POPULATION CENTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND PUT NUCLEAR WASTE ON THE COUNTRY'S INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS IN LARGE NUMBERS FOR ALMOST THREE DECADES. If there is an accident, even a small one, how many communities (or even the federal government itself) would be prepared to shoulder the costs, which could be astronomical depending on the cleanup standards? 3) Radiological effects of routine shipments The piercing of a cask would emit dangerous levels of gamma and neutron radiation (even after 10 or more years of 'cooling'), CAUSING A LETHAL DOSE OF RADIATION (ABOUT 500 REMs) IN LESS THAN 3 MINUTES TO A PERSON STANDING 1 YARD AWAY from and unshielded spent-fuel assembly. Exposure would significantly increase the risk of cancer and/or genetic damage with a 30-second exposure at the same distance. The surface dose rate of spent fuel is so great that SHIPPING CONTAINERS WITH ENOUGH SHIELDING TO COMPLETELY CONTAIN ALL EMISSIONS WOULD BE TOO HEAVY TO TRANSPORT ECONOMICALLY. Therefore, federal regulations allow shipping casks which emit 10 millirems/hour at 2 meters from the cask surface, about the equivalent of one chest X-ray per hour of exposure. WOULD YOU WANT TO BE CAUGHT NEXT TO THAT SHIPMENT IN A TRAFFIC JAM??? HOW ABOUT BEING THE DRIVER OF THAT CARGO??? Partial reprint of Nuclear Waste Transportation Impact Assessment and Analysis - NNWCC, (702) 248- 1127 - Ms. Treichel +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In coming issues of the HANDs Newsletter, reprints of parts of the report of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects will be made available in an effort to make clear the concepts found in the original documents. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HUMANS AGAINST NUCLEAR WASTE DUMPS HANDs NEWSLETTER JULY 1995 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This is the eighth edition of the HANDS Newsletter. The nuclear waste transportation issue will continue to be the focus in this edition, as it is taken from the State of Nevada's recent studies. R.M. Laws, Editor +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NUCLEAR WASTE COMING THROUGH YOUR BACK YARD!! The NUCLEAR WASTE TRANSPORTATION IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS report was compiled by the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects (tel. 702-248-1127), whose key issues (along with findings of the State of Nevada's studies on High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation) were released to the general public. Unresolved Safety Issues were the focus of the June' 95 HANDs Newsletter. We continue with... 4) Probability of Serious Accidents Between 1957 and 1964 there were 11 transportation incidents and accidents involving spent fuel shipments by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and its contractors. Several of the incidents resulted in radioactive releases requiring cleanup -- for certain, 1 from a rail cask in 1960 and 1 from a truck cask in 1962. Between 1964 and 1970, there are no comparable data as utility shipments to fuel processing facilities began. Between 1970 and 1990, there were accidents and 47 incidents: 3 accidents (2 trucks, 1 rail) involved casks loaded with spent fuel. No radioactivity was released in these accidents. Based on the accident data between 1971 and 1990, the DoE calculates accident and incident rates for commercial spent fuel shipments to a repository as follows: --Truck shipments: 0.7 accidents and 10.5 incidents per million shipment miles --Rail shipments: 9.7 accidents and 19.4 incidents per million shipment miles The DoE figures used to calculate these rates were based on analysis of the general accident rates for large commercial trucks and general rail freight records. Accordingly, DoE recommended use of projected accident risk rates as follows: --Truck shipments: 0.7 - 3.0 accidents per million shipment miles --Rail shipments: 11.9 accidents per million shipment miles Using these rates, an estimated number of accidents and incidents likely to occur during spent fuel shipments to a repository can be obtained by multiplying the anticipated accident rates by the anticipated cumulative shipment miles. If all spent fuel were to be shipped by truck in large-capacity (GA 4/9) casks, requiring 46,000 shipments and over 100 million shipment miles, between 70 and 310 accidents and over 1000 incidents would be expected over the operating life of the repository. Under the Multiple Purpose Canister (MPC) as case (88% rail, 12% truck), about 50 to 260 accidents and 250 to 590 incidents would be expected. While accidents severe enough to cause a failure to the transport cask and a resulting release of radioactive material are likely to be rare, the potential exists for serious accidents to occur. Both DoE and NV researchers have looked at the potential for a worst-case accident to occur, and both agree that such an accident would involve the release of some radioactive material INSIDE the shipping cask. Spent fuel is both highly radioactive and thermally hot. Fission products such as strontium-90 and cesium-137 that account for most of the radioactivity in spent fuel during the first 100 years after removal from a reactor emit both beta and gamma radiation. A typical 10-year-old spent fuel assembly from a Pressurized Water Reactor contains about **26,000** curies of strontium-90 (& many thousand curies of other dangerous matter -- uranium, plutonium, & other transuranic elements) and would be sufficient to contaminate twice the volume of water in Lake Mead (23 trillion gallons). Strontium-90 & other dangerous material that make up a solid fuel pellet are not easily dispersed, but a series of human errors or a severe accident could cause the release of fuel and/or particles mixed with the smoke of an accompanying fire.The radioactive material would be inhaled, enter the soil & water, and contaminate the food chain, resulting in cancer, radiation illness, and death. A 1985 DoE contractor report concluded that one maximum severe accident could release radioactive materials in the environment. Assuming the accident occurred with a massive fire fed by quantities of fuel, the study says, a release of only a small fraction (1380 curies) of the casks's contents would be ENOUGH to a) contaminate a 42-square-mile area b) require more than $642 million to clean up c) require 460 days of clean-up effort in a RURAL area An alternative analysis of the same accident by an Agency contractor estimated: a) cost of clean-up to range from $176 million to $19.4 billion,depending on permissible post-accident soil concentrations of cobalt-60, cesium-234, and cesium-137, according to regulatory requirements or standards. Clean up after a similar accident in a typical URBAN area would be considerably more expensive; estimates start at $9.5 billion just to raze and rebuild the most heavily-contaminated square mile or so. Rebuild? For whom? The projected figures are base on release of only a small fraction of curies. Imagine the release of a larger amount from that cask! --------- "RE: Mescalero/Nuke Waste Update, pt. 2" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 17:26:02 EDT From: cliu@queens.lib.ny.us (Carol Liu) Subj: Mescalero/Nuke Waste Update, pt. 2 Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) The NUCLEAR WASTE TRANSPORTATION IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS report was compiled by the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects (tel. 702-248-1127). Unresolved Safety Issues were the focus of the June and July '95 HANDs Newsletters. Shipping Cask Performance and state maps will be dealt with in this issue. Each HANDs member received a copy of her/his own state's map [with the print version of this newsletter]. The U.S. map was provided in the May 1995 newsletter; please consult it regarding the national highway/rail transportation plan. 5) Shipping Cask Performance The first line of defense (in the DoE's plans) against an accident involving the release of radioactive material is the shipping container. The casks are intended to assure adequate isolation of spent fuel and nuclear wastes from the reactor to the repository. The DoE and industry point to a good but not flawless record of shipping spent fuel since 1964. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires casks to be licensed, yet there is NO requirement of any kind for the actual testing of casks to determine how they perform. A cask is required to withstand, in succession, 4 tests: a) a drop from 50 feet onto an unyielding surface b) a drop of 6 feet onto a spike (puncture test) c) a 30-minute fire at 1425 degrees Fahrenheit d) a 30-minute submersion in 3 feet of water Additionally, the NRC performance standards are base upon hypothetical accident scenarios supported by a technical study (the Modal Study) prepared by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. These tests DO NOT reflect real-world accident conditions. NONE of the spent fuel casks currently in use have been tested full-scale. These tests were NOT INTENDED to simulate worst-case accidents or to prove the overall safety of spent fuel shipments. DoE's misuse of the test films can be fairly labelled as PROPAGANDA. The *new* designs proposed by DoE would hold MORE fuel assemblies and be LESS heavily shielded (due to the age of the fuel to be shipped). The DoE's top-of-the-line model called Multiple Purpose Canister (MPC) is being designed for: a) storing spent fuel onsite at reactors b) shipping waste to a repository or an MRS-type site c) disposing of the waste in a repository [underground?] The idea behind the MPC is that spent fuel assemblies would have to be handled only once - at the time they are sealed in the container at the reactor. By using a series of overpacks for radiation shielding and containment, the same inner canister could be used for onsite storage, transportation, and ultimate disposal. The MPC comes in two models, 75 and 125 tons, holding between 12 and 24 pressurized water reactor assemblies or between 24 and 40 boiling water reactor assemblies. MPCs would be shipped by rail. A new high-capacity truck cask designed by General Atomics (the GA 4/9) would carry about 4 times as much spent fuel as present designs. Plans are to have 3 to 5 truck shipments per week, every week for 25-30 years -- this in addition to thousands of rail shipments of MPCs. There are issues to be addressed concerning the potential use of MPCs. One of the most important is that the larger, 125-ton MPC has the potential (if not properly loaded) TO GO CRITICAL under certain conditions -- i.e. START A NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION that would cause a catastrophic temperature rise inside the canister. The need for accurate, verified reading calculations increases the potential for human error and adds to the risks and uncertainties of waste transportation. **Full- scale testing has been recommended by the State of Nevada. To date, the DoE HAS NOT formally accepted any of Nevada's recommendations for full-scale testing either in principle or in practice.** (to be continued...) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++WHAT YOU CAN DO+++++++ +Get the word out among your friends, neighbors, colleagues +Nuclear Information & Resource Center (Washington, DC) has free information packets. Call 202-328-0002 to request. +Write to your federal, state, and local officials and demand to know their position on radioactive waste transportation. Ask them to oppose HR1020 and any similar legislation which would establish a centralized "interim" waste site. + Write letters to the editor and op-eds explaining why you do not want waste transported through your community. +Ordinary citizens are powerful. Get organized! Be adamant! +Join other environmental groups that are fighting the war to keep high-level radioactive waste from being transported. (Reprinted from "Radioactive Waste Trains and Trucks are Headed Your Way" (Nuclear Information & Resource Center [NIRS], 202-328-0002 --------------------------------------------- Join HANDs! Join HANDs! Join HANDs! HUMANS AGAINST NUCLEAR-WASTE DUMPS is dedicated to the truth about the Nuclear Industry and its by-product, Nuclear Waste. HANDs NEEDS SUPPORT in the effort to continue the search for reliable, valid information so that good, sound judgments can be established as the Nuclear Waste topic progresses. HANDs was founded by Rufina Marie Laws, M. Ed. She brings to her work a professional background of educational and counseling experience that includes practical as well as theoretical research in obtaining knowledge. Ms. Laws is an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico. Please help and JOIN HANDs TODAY! All contributions are tax-deductible. Write to the address below for membership/subscription information and for details about the special CD and HANDs T-shirts available. Or e-mail Carol Liu at cliu@queens.lib.ny.us. HUMANS AGAINST NUCLEAR-WASTE DUMPS c/o Rufina M. Laws, Director P.O. Box 2170 Ruidoso, NM 88345 Tel: 505-257-3823 Fax: 505-257-2882 --------- "RE: Native Americans" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 05:28:50 -0800 From: ftneb@aurora.alaska.edu (BUNCE NORA E) Subj: Native Americans Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) In my experience I have found that there is a certain segment of people who are against some of us "breeds" attempting to get in touch with our heritage. I spent my earlier years on my grandmothers farm with my grandmother. My grandmother was half Native and practiced some of the traditional ways to live and she taught me many things about how to live as Native. I was taken from her when it was time for me to go to school and she died before i could get back. I have spent my life trying to live as my Grandmother taught me, at least those things that I remember. I am still learning and remembering as much as I can. Most of the Elders, when they get to know me and why I seek knowledge are very open and share with me, but there are those who, because I do not look Native, assume that I am just one more white person wanting something from the Indian and vent their personal prejudices toward white people on me. There is a bitter resentment toward white people rooted deep in the hearts of some of our people. If we are to heal we cannot whitewash it and pretend that it doesn't exist. A lot of people want to idealize the Native way and no one wants to talk about this imbedded mistrust, and if we do see it we have a tendency to allow for it and consider it justifiable. Truth is we die from the results of these negative feelings. Truth is, we are forever chained to the ones we hate, and unless we make an effort to heal from the hatred, in the end we become like the very ones we hate. To deny that mistrust, greed, hate, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, does not exist among our people is to do our people a great harm. By making allowances for these things is to continue the damage done our people that started when Columbus hit the shores of Turtle Island. Our people are people, just like people anywhere- and those seeking their roots among the First Nations of this land will run into opposition, resentments, hatred, and mistrust. I have been seeking to learn of my Grandmothers people for 15 years and I consider myself traditional. That is because I am going back to what I had been taught as a child by my relatives who were traditional people. But it has not always been easy nor good feeling. At times, This journey has been difficult, painful, and lonely. but wonderfully rewarding, for you see, this way of my grandmother fits me. It is what I know and I find the longer I am on this "red road" the more I am becoming who Creator intended me to be.But, I have had to remain committed to this walk sometimes in the face of generations of hatred, bitterness, resentment,mistrust that are the results of genocide. I LOVE MY PEOPLE, AND I am brokenhearted at what has happened, and is still happening to to us, but our Elders are saying the we can no longer live our lives as victims. To be truly free, we have to break the chains of bad feelings. Thank you for your time. I am Noqua, daughter of Noqua, who was daughter of Sarah, a full blood Tsalagi and member of the Wolf Clan of the Eastern Nation.