Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews04.014 From: gars@netcom.com (Gary Night Owl) To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Message-ID: _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 04, ISSUE 014 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 6 April 1996 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 Peoples', NATCHAT, MINN-IND, NAT-WORK & NATIVE-L listservers; UUCP & Genie email; Newsgroups: apc.indig.info,bc.general,soc.culture.native,alt.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. 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 and David Cole 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 "Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Every seed is awakened, and all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land." __ Chief Sitting Bull, Unkpapa Sioux +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! It is spring. Despite a late, hard, killing frost here in the south, sweet grass, sage and many herbs we have been gifted with are making their appearances. This gladdens my heart, and gives me hope for many other promises we have been given. Even now, the gatherings we have attended this season have a stronger, healing spirit. A real effort is being made to bring more of our lost ones back into the Circle. Do what you can to make the dream happen. Believe in and pray for the People. Look for reasons to rejoice in our way. It is spring. 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 - Vision for First Nations Video - Conferences and Powwows - online - Peltier Clemency Campaign - Are They Laughing - Wilma Mankiller - Dineh Youth Resistance Protests - Innu Supporters' Trial - Medals of Dishonor - Wal-Mart to Build on Mohican Site - Klamath Protest Timber Sale - Stop the Monument to Custer - ICWA Amendment - Ft. Reno Update - Racism on Yale Campus - Cherokee Nation Industries - Nez Perce Call for Assistance - ALC Decision and Private Land - Ethnic Cleansing - Presidential Awards - Review: White Buffalo Calf - Poem: Eyez - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline --------- "RE: Vision for First Nations Video" --------- Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 07:07:56 EST From: BTRU93A@prodigy.com (MS BROOKIE M CRAIG) Subj: Vision for First Nations Video UUCP email Many winds ago our People lived upon Mother Earth in harmony and balance. We were a simple People who believed in sharing with those who came to us and joyfully we did this thing. Each Nation had their individual beliefs, rituals and unique qualities but connected with all other nations to form what we now call...First Nations. Not so very long ago, the invaders came...and as innocent children, we welcomed them , for we believed they came to learn of our ways and in peace. Sadly...we were wrong. Through the last Five Hundred Years we have been slowly exterminated...first through massacres, diseases we had no immunity to fight off, and deliberate acts of violence. Now...it is a legal extermination. But, the very worse of all was that we lost many of our individual cultural identities and in that we lost our spirits....our hopes...our dreams...and our hearts. And the word was called...assimilation. Looking back in my life, I see how we have not given up the fight...we struggle on as our People will do because we have always believed in a Dream....that someday we shall all join hearts and walk our road together. The Ghost Dancers believed it...our sacred leaders believed it...I believe it with all my heart. But, to do this thing we must find out roots...go back in our past...search the ways given to us to survive and share them with all who also wish to heal...not only themselves...but all who live on the breast of Mother. We must go back...to go forward...and when we stumble on our Journey and a hand is given to us so that we might rise again we must not look at the color of that hand...but take it in gratitude. Several of us, who are Dreamers, believe we have been given a sacred Vision to help this healing. With little money...but with great hearts...we embark now upon a Journey to go back to the roots...to find our old ways so we might have a future for our children and to heal scarred hearts who no longer believe the dreams. We begin this Journey now...to film the Nations...for a series we have named, "First Nations." We travel this week to Carlisle Indian School where a small 9 year old little girl, of mixed heritage...a tiny little Dreamer, who believes...will take my hand and walk those grounds with me and hear the story of children who were kidnapped from us...forced to wear military uniforms...trained as domestic servants for white families...and who, like tiny birds taken from their nests...often died. Then...we go to the Catawba Nation...to film this proud people who are forced to live on one square mile of reservation. A Nation of People who were Master Potters...where only 7 live now. A Nation of People who must trespass to get the clay for their works of sacred love. We go to the Sundance for the Children...of the Yaqui Nation. I was told the story of last year's Sundance honoring the children which I would share with you. It was held right after Easter and many candles had been lit on the graves there, as the graveyard is next to the sundance grounds. The children are buried in a separate section there. Twenty minutes before the Sundance was over, a strong whirlwind came, knocking over everything and blew out all of the candles...except...not a single candle on the children's graves went out. They realized it was acknowledgment that they had danced in honor... We want to travel to the Lumbee Nation...to tell of a people who have lost their identity, who recently told me..."We struggle so hard to find out who we are." We shall go to the Nez Perce Nation...where a courageous woman named Valarie Dunn spends her own money to defend her tribal rights of sovereignty against the state of Idaho. Where the tribal historian, Al Slickapoo told me the story of Chief Joseph who was buried in exile...never to come home. We shall walk the sacred grounds of Wounded Knee while my friend shows us the ravines and they tell the story of dreamers whose dreams were silenced before they were lived. Sand Creek...Washita...countless places whose sacred grounds were soaked with the blood of those whose voices must be heard so we might learn never again to allow this thing to happen. We want to go to speak with the elders of many nations...walk their sacred grounds as they tell you their history...their dreams...who share with you the many messages you have not heard and in the sharing of that they will preserve their People. The response to my requests to film has been astounding to me. We have been told over and over.."Come..Come.." And so...we shall come... We will tell the stories of those who love us...whose skins, as many of ours also are, are not dark...but whose spirits are of light...as they fight for the survival of First Nations. We wish to allow the stories to be told for all hearts to hear...and we know this will not be a commercial slickly produced documentary series...but shall be one from the hearts of the People...and that is how it should be told...from the heart. I ask all People to pray for this Journey...for the messages to be told in the winds...and for the hearts of the People to be united again as we sit around the fires and share our prayers for One World...One People...for we Believe the Dream.....Galunky'ti'yu Miaheyyun (Sacred total universe) cherokee@wolfenet.com --------- "RE: Peltier Clemency Campaign" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 14:23:09 -0600 (CST) From: freedom@prairienet.org (Freedom Heart Rising) Subj: Leonard Peltier Clemency Campaign: Take Action! UUCP email O'siyo: With the recent events, re: Leonard being denied Parole yet AGAIN, we are intensifying, more than ever before, the Clemency Campaign! PLEASE PARTICIPATE!!! Do not think others will do your part. We _each_ have to do our own part. You are needed. Leonard needs all of your letters sent, to support the Clemency Campaign. As I sit typing this, with the sun streaming through my windows, Leonard remains locked up! Alone. No family, no friends to talk to each day, to hear their voices, to touch them, to see their smiles. He has been separated from his loved ones for over 20 years! I know that you write and phone on his behalf and I thank you for caring to do this. PLEASE continue to. We really cannot stop, until he is free. Freedom: we take this word for granted, I think. I hear it every day of my life...my name. Freedom. Even though for the Indian People, none of us is ever really free, until we are _all_ free, we are not all behind bars, either. Please think of Leonard today. Really think about the last 20 years of your own life, and of all the things you have done in that time. He has been denied those things. It makes me heartsick to think of that. Thank you: Freedom Heart Rising +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Please write, phone, fax: President Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 (202) 456-2461 Email- (President@Whitehouse.gov) Be sure you put Leonard's name in the header of email +++++++ Attorney General Janet Reno Dept. of Justice 10th and Constitution Washington, DC 20530 (202) 514-2001 Fax: (202) 514-4371 +++++++ Honorable Jamie S. Gorelick Deputy Attorney General 10th and Constitution NW Washington, DC 20530 (202) 514-2101 Fax: (202) 514-4699 +++++++ U.S. Pardon Attorney Margaret Colgate Love 500 First Street NW 7th Floor Washington, DC 20530 +++++++ And write to Leonard: He likes and needs to hear from y'all: You can write, send softcover books, photographs (excluding Polaroids) and Postal Money Orders (he needs the money for phone calls, stamps, paper, etc.) to: Leonard Peltier #89637-132 Springfield Medical Facility 1900 W. Sunshine P.O. Box 4000 Springfield, MO 65808 Once again, my thanks! -FHR- ============================================================================ Freedom Heart Rising Tsalagi (Cherokee) Free-lance writer; Freedom/LPSG freedom@prairienet.org "...in the absence of love, there's nothing worth fighting for." Elijah Wood, (13 years old), when speaking of the message of the movie he is in, "The War" --------- "RE: Wilma Mankiller" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 10:47:10 CST From: "dborn@maroon.tc.umn.edu" Subj: Fwd: WILMA MANKILLER Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs ----- Forwarded message begins here ----- --- Forwarded Bulletin from Linda.M.Welch@Dartmouth.EDU (Linda M. Welch), Topic: Native American Studies Program --- Students, Colleagues, Friends: This message is sent to provide you with an update on the condition of our friend and colleague, Wilma Mankiller. Wilma is still at the Deaconess Hospital in Boston undergoing chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma. She will be in Boston for the next month, probably. She is in good spirits and is positive about her prognosis. Her husband, Charlie Soap, who is a Cherokee medicine man, is with her most of the time. Wilma wanted me to extend her thanks to you all for your prayers and good wishes. She thoroughly enjoyed her stay with us at Dartmouth and wished it could have been longer. The warm reception she received from all of us, especially the NADs, will always hold pleasant memories for her. She wants you all to know she will be back to visit campus as soon as she feels strong enough. If you would like to send Wilma a get well card, please do so. She appreciates all the cards and well wishes. The address is: Wilma Mankiller New England Deaconess Hospital 185 Pilgrim Road Boston, Massachusetts 02215-5399 Thanks. Linda Welch in NAS ( o o ) -----------------------oOO----- (_) -----OOo---------------------- A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another's. Jean Paul Richter _________________________________________ David O. Born Professor Also: Chair Division of Health Ecology Department of American Indian Studies 15-136 Moos Tower 102 Scott Hall University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 612 - 624-2556 or 625-9438 Voice 612 - 626-2654 Fax e:mail dborn@maroon.tc.umn.edu --------- "RE: Innu Supporters' Trial" --------- Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1996 08:08:18 -0400 From: Larry Innes Subj: Innu supporters' trial Mailing List: Innu People Forum list <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> << I N N U T O S P E A K A T >> << U P C O M I N G E V E N T >> << I N T O R O N T O >> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MOTHER EARTH IS ANGRY! INNU AND SUPPORTERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE CONTINUING THEFT PLUNDER AND POLLUTION OF INNU LAND Date and Location: Tuesday, April 2 7:30 pm Church of the Holy Trinity, Toronto (west of Eaton Centre, between Dundas & Queen) Speakers and Performers: --> Peter Penashue, Sheshatshit, President of Innu Nation --> Elizabeth Penashue, Sheshatshit --> Posawawakek First Nations Women's Singers --> Mel Watkins, Economist --> John Olthuis, Legal Counsel for the Innu Nation --> The Raging Grannies --> Lorraine Land (Citizens for Public Justice) and Nancy Sinclair (Voice of Women for Peace), defendants in the April 3 trial of Innu supporters in Toronto >>>>>>>>> ADMISSION BY DONATION <<<<<<<<<< For more information contact ICIE @ 531-5101 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| || T H E I N T E R N A T I O N A L C A M P A I G N || || F O R T H E I N N U A N D T H E E A R T H || || c/o occpehr * 148 Kerr Street * Oakville * L6K 3A7 || || Tel (905) 849-5501 * Fax (905) 849-5501 * icie@web.apc.org || ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| For Immediate Release March 26, 1996 I N N U A N D S U P P O R T E R S B A C K I N C O U R T S F O R P E A C E F U L P R O T E S T Toronto: Innu supporters appear in court here, again, on April 3 to argue that they peacefully occupied the Dutch and British consulates in November to prevent those countries from illegally trespassing on Innu lands in Labrador. The defendants in the trial will be arguing that Innu have never ceded their lands to any government, Canadian or European, and that the countries who continue destructive low level military flights over Innu territories are trespassing. The Innu have made it clear that the continuing export of military training to Innu lands, without their approval, is a clear violation of their Aboriginal rights and has had an extremely harmful impact on their people, on wildlife, and on the land. Elizabeth Penashue and Peter Penashue, representatives of the Innu Nation, will be testifying at the trial in support of the defendants in the case. "It is pure hypocrisy for European countries to export their flights to Innu land when they don't allow them at home. We care about our land as much as they care about theirs, but somehow we don't seem to count," says Peter Penashue, Innu Nation President. In November, ten Innu supporters initiated a peaceful occupation of the British and Dutch consulates in Toronto to protest those countries' continued illegal trespassing on Innu lands with their low-level military flight training. The Innu supporters were arrested for trespassing, and appear in court on April 3 (Courtroom N, Old City Hall courthouse, 9:00 am). "Ultimately, the Dutch, British, and other NATO governments have to decide if they will deliberately participate in the annihilation of the Innu's life and land, or not. We see this as a fundamental human rights question," says Lorraine Land, one of the Innu supporters who was arrested. In November, a number of Innu, including Innu Nation President Peter Penashue, served prison time in lieu of fines after being convicted last year on charges arising from their occupation of Dutch F-18's during a runway protest at the Goose Bay military base on September 8, 1993. The occupation coincided with the visit of the Dutch Minister of Defence. For more information, please contact: or Lorraine Land, Citizens for Public Justice Penote Michel Telephone (416) 979-2443 days Innu Nation Office Telephone (416) 461-5642 evening Telephone: (709) 497-8398 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE INNU AND THE EARTH (ICIE) represents over 200 endorsing and supporting organizations in 23 countries. ICIE's official co-sponsors are: The Innu Nation, ACT for Disarmament (Canada), Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (UK), Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Montreal Centre des Resources sur la Non-Violence, Citizens for Public Justice, Council of Canadians, Toronto Development Education Centre, Greenpeace Canada, Helping Activists Network During Strife (Guelph), Innu Support Group (Netherlands), International Peace Bureau (Switzerland), National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, Project Ploughshares, Society for Threatened Peoples (Germany), and others. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ --------- "RE: Wal-Mart to Build on Mohican Site" --------- Date: 29 Mar 1996 18:19:29 GMT From: nldd@msg.ti.com (LeAnne) Subj: Wal-Mart planning to build on ancient Mohican site, Leeds, NY Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Posted at request of Debra Winchell.... From: "Debra J. Winchell" To: nldd@mimi Subject: Re: Wal-Mart LeAnne, I got a fax today with newspaper articles saying Wal-Mart is building on George Washington's boyhood home (where the cherry tree was), a Chumash village, a 9000 year old site in Maine, and Leeds Flats. Soon as I get more information, I'm going to try to get newspeople to investigate. I couldn't post to rec.culture.native I guess I don't have access to it here. Could you please post the article for me? I have a better one I'm attaching. Can you handle it? Thank you very much for your interest and support. Debbie Winchell, winchd@rpi.edu ANCIENT MOHICAN SITE ENDANGERED BY WAL-MART Wal-Mart wants to build a store on an undisturbed Mohican site called Leeds Flat dating back over 1,000 years in the Town of Leeds in New York State. They do not want to permit a thorough archaeological dig, which would give the Mohicans (federally recognized as the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians) invaluable information on their history and culture, much of which has been lost since the coming of the Europeans. The remains of a child have been found at the site. This site would also provide information on the first years of European-native contact in the area, one of the first developed along the eastern seaboard. Wal-Mart advertises itself as being family-oriented, yet they want to stop Native Americans from learning more about their families. After being informed of the site late in the process, tribal members visited the site and staged a protest rally garnering much press coverage in December 1995. The Mohican Nation then agreed to join the Greene County group It's Not Easy Being Greene in a lawsuit against the Town of Leeds, claiming it illegally approved the environmental impact statement when it was not complete and rezoning the historic area. It is well-known that Leeds Flats was also a flood plain, and no plans were submitted for dealing with it. It flooded to 3 feet this winter. This unique historical site must be preserved. European-American capitalists must stop taking from Native Americans. Wal-Mart is anti- -family, anti-Native American, anti-history. WE MUST ACT NOW! TWO WAYS WE CAN FIGHT: WRITE WAL-MART Join us in protesting Wal-Mart's actions by sending e-mail protests to the Letters to the President at letters@wal-mart.com or letters to the people listed below. They only have an option to buy the property. If we apply pressure, maybe they will pull out. Key People at Wal-Mart S. Robson Walton, Chairman Donald G. Soderquist, VC and COO David D. Blass, President and CEO William R. Fields, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores Division Joseph S. Hardin, EVP, COO, Wal-Mart Stores Division John B. Menzer, EVP and CFO Nicholas J. White, EVP Supercenter Division Headquarters Address: Bentonville, AR 72716 Phone: 501-273-4000 Fax: 501-273-8650 WRITE THE U.S. ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must rule on the historic significance of this site and it has not yet issued a permit for the project, awaiting the outcome of further archaeological research and compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. However, I have it on excellent authority that there is no one on the committee qualified to rule on the site. Please write to: Colonel Gary Thomas District Engineer U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - NY District 26 Federal Plaza New York, New York 10278 explaining you are and ask for information regarding the status of the permit review. Close by saying that you have heard that although the Corps has archaeologists on staff, they are not involved in the review of this permit. Urge them to use qualified personnel when doing Section 106 compliance, especially when sites of such significance are involved and the situation is so politically charged. **Please post elsewhere and forward to interested persons.** **Thank you very much for your support.** Debra Winchell, Mohican descent, Melrose, NY http://www.rpi.edu/~winchd/mohicans.html The opinions expressed are solely my own. -- LeAnne Davis e-mail: nldd@msg.ti.com Configuration Management Texas Instruments 214-952-5386 Disclaimer: My opinions are not TI's except by coincidence! --------- "RE: Stop the Monument to Custer" --------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 06:29:17 GMT From: thompson@mind.net (Joseph Thompson) Subj: ALERT! Stop the Monument to Custer at Washita Newsgroups: apc.indig.info,soc.culture.native,alt.native !!!ALERT!!! Help Us Stop the Monument to Custer at Washita! Dear Friends, An e-mail campaign is now under way. Please lend your support to help: STOP THE MONUMENT TO CUSTER AT WASHITA On November 27, 1868, General Custer led his army on a pre-dawn raid on a peaceful Cheyenne encampment on the Washita which resulted in the massacre of hundreds of Cheyenne women, children and men. Governor Frank Keating and U. S. Representative Frank Lucas initiated a meeting of a western Oklahoma citizens group to discuss how to spend $250,000 which has been set aside in the Fiscal Year 1997 Oklahoma budget for the Washita Historic Battlefield. Because of the special significance of the Washita site to the Cheyenne Tribe, Tribal officials sought to be included in the meeting. After much stonewalling by the Oklahoma politicians, the Tribe was finally informed that they would not be invited to the meeting. The Elk City newspaper subsequently reported on this meeting, stating that the Oklahoma citizens group wanted to declare the Washita site as a Custer National Battlefield Site. It was discussed that George Custer would be the drawing card, not the Indians slain, and the monument should be in his name. Please forward this entire message far and wide. Please e-mail the following message to Oklahoma Governor Keating and to U. S. Senator Don Nickles. (Note: Rep. Lucas' has no public e-mail address) Please include a Cc to: cheyarap@mind.net Copy and Paste the Following --------------------------------------------------------------- To: Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating To: U. S. Senator Don Nickles To: U. S. Rep. Frank Lucas Dear Sirs, The proposed construction of a monument to General George A. Custer at the Washita Historic Site is a desecration of this solemn place and an affront to the entire Native American community. A state which takes pride in proclaiming itself "Native America" has the power to lead the way to a national reconciliation with the Native American community. This proposed action will only serve to further the divisions. Please rescind this action, immediately and publicly. Sincerely, ------------------------------------------------------------------------ End Copy and Paste HOW TO REGISTER YOUR SUPPORT To e-mail this letter of support to Keating and Lucas, please follow these steps: 1.) Type your name into the space provided in the above letter of support. 2.) "Copy" and "paste" this letter of support into your e-mail program as a "new message" (Please copy only the material between the dotted lines above. ) 3.) Add any additional words of support or leave as is. 4.) Write in the subject "Return Fort Reno" 5.) Write in Governor Keating's e-mail address which is: Frank.A.Keating@mhs1.oklaosf.state.ok.us 6.) Write in U. S. Senator Nickles' e-mail address which is: nickles@rpc.senate.gov 7.) Please include the following e-mail address as a "Cc". This will help us gauge the volume of support letters going out. cheyarap@mind.net 7.) "Send" the message. Thank you in advance for supporting this important cause. Sincerely, Joseph Thompson thompson@mind.net --------- "RE: Ft. Reno Update" --------- Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 23:10:41 -0500 From: DAKKASWAN@aol.com Subj: Ft. Reno update..... UUCP email Haleto Moma, I spoke with Franklin Harrison of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes this morning. He has informed me that the governor of Oklahoma, along with one congressman and one senator have moved the Durant Water Project from Durant, to Ft. Reno. This should take place by May. Please do not be discouraged by this news. I think it could be that the Oklahoma government is beginning to perceive that it is entirely possible for the President to give that land back to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people. I think that if they felt secure that this would not happen, they would leave things as they have been. But somehow, they are beginning to be afraid. I could be wrong. I may be wrong. This is simply one of my ideas. It could be that they are making their position toward Native Americans blatantly obvious, by making this move. I think they have already done that due to Washita. What they do not realize is that Native Americans are the fastest growing race in the United States today. They are jeopardizing their own political futures by what they are attempting to do in Oklahoma. I urge each and every one of you to continue to bombard the President, asking that Ft. Reno be returned to the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Please do not send any mail to the state government of Oklahoma on Ft. Reno. This is a federal government issue. I would also ask that you take the time this week to send snail mail to the Attorney General, Janet Reno. The address is: Attorney General Janet Reno Department of Justice 10th and Constitution NW Washington, DC 20530 Another letter to Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, would be helpful. That address is: Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt 1849 C Street NW Main Interior Building, Room 6151 Washington, DC 20240 And please remember to send cc's of your email to the president to cheyarap@mind.net They are making up packets of our email to forward to Babbitt, and J. Reno. Believe me, we are making an impact, and we should continue to do so! Thank you so much for all your cooperation. The Cheyenne and Arapaho people of Oklahoma wanted us to know that they really appreciate all of our effort on their behalf. Please do not give up now. Peace! Mary --------- "RE: Cherokee Nation Industries" --------- From: cwyob@mailhost.galstar.com (cherokee observer) Subj: Cherokee Nation Industries--88 Employees Cut Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1996 14:55:15 LOCAL Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Monday-March 25, 1996 Excerpts from a press conference called by Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's Principal Chief Joe Byrd "I have asked you here today as member of the press who I work closely with to discuss an issue that affects all of us. Early this morning at Cherokee Nation Industries 88 employees were placed on lay-off status...... I am unable to account for the management practices that CNI had in the past. I am however accountable for actions taken during my term. I feel that the day of reckoning is upon us, and the lay-off situation has become inevitable. Management agonized over this decision, but realized that this action was necessary for the betterment of the company." Tuesday-March 26, 1996 Facts from Statement released to press by Chief Byrd CNI has had a negative cash flow since 1992. During the last four years CNI has lost more that $2.4 billion. Quote from Delaware County Journal-March 27, 1996 Byrd said he was angry about the mismanagement under [Former Chief Ross O.] Swimmer, who also served as President of the company. "It was very difficult for us to lay off these people.........I just don't understand how anyone in the position they {management} were in could make the decisions they did which did not consider the workers." Quote from Tulsa World-March 27, 1996. Byrd said the company lost more that $2.4 million mainly due to unnecessary inventory purchases and inflated management salaries under former Cherokee Chief Ross Swimmer, who resigned in November as CNI's president and chief executive officer. "I think that the nature of the business at CNI is feast or famine.... I don't understand why the chief {Byrd} want to try to lay blame on somebody who hasn't even been there for six months," said Swimmer. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Posting brought to you courtesy of: THE CHEROKEE OBSERVER P.O. Box 1301 Jay, OK. 74346-1301 e-mail: cwyob@mailhost.galstar.com Read the rest of the story in the April 1996 issue. Snail-mail Subscriptions rates(within USA) are only $12.50 per year. --------- "RE: Nez Perce Call for Assistance" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 21:08:49 GMT From: benmarra@halcyon.com (Ben Marra) Subj: Nez Perce call for assistance Newsgroups: apc.indig.info,soc.culture.native,alt.native Nez Perce Tribe Seeks To Reclaim Their Past June 1st Deadline for Protecting Collection Approaches After 150 years of separation the Nez Perce Tribe is poised to retrieve a unique collection of its people's artifacts. This collection includes both the oldest and most extraordinary historic representatives of Plateau Indian culture in existence. BUT THERE IS A CATCH! The collection is owned by the Ohio Historical Society. After loaning the collection to the Nez Perce for years, OHS recently demanded its return. In a last ditch effort to save the collection, the Tribe entered into an agreement to purchase it at the appraised value of $608,100. However, funds must be raised by June 1st, 1996, or the collection will be returned to Ohio, possibly for sale to other parties. Without prompt action, this opportunity and the collection itself may be lost forever. We are calling upon all people who are touched by our situation to join the Heritage Quest Alliance in its fund-raising efforts. There are many ways you can help. Artists and art collectors are particularly asked to participate in a first-of-its kind art auction on the Internet. http://www.uidaho.edu/nezperce People, organizations, and businesses who would like to support the Tribe's fund-raising effort should contact: "Spalding-Allen Collection Fund" c/o Key Bank, P.O. Box 1208 Lewiston, Idaho 83501 or Tom Hudson, Nez Perce Heritage Quest Alliance (208) 883-2890 or thudson@moscow.com Linda Peterson Ben Marra Studios Seattle, WA --------- "RE: ALC Decision and Private Land" --------- Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 00:39:52 -0700 From: sky@indirect.com (Sky Crosby) Subj: ALC Decision and Private Land UUCP email NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 30, 1996 Please contact Marsha Montesersky / Leroy Teeasyatoh cellular 520-691-6199, c/o sky@indirect.com Dineh (Navajo) residents living on Hopi Partition Land (HPL) vie Judge Child's March 11, 1996 decision to revoke Peabody Western Coal Company's (PWCC) Kayenta mine permit application as a landmark decision critical of PWCC, the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and the Navajo Nation. In the decision Judge Child states: " the Indian land, even though held in trust by the Federal Government for the benefit of the tribe and its members, is nonetheless private land". Much of the land thereby protected in Peabody's lease hold is on HPL. This federal decision empowers HPL residents as private property owners no longer subject to the threats of forced relocation, livestock confiscations, no housing improvements and no home construction. As private property owners, HPL residents are now free to remain on their aboriginal land, rebuild their homes and protect their land for future generations and are no longer subject to Hopi Tribal Council jurisdiction. HPL residents view Sovereignty as resting with the individual family and not with the Navajo Nation or the Hopi Tribe. During the Administrative Law Court proceedings Judge Child stated: "If there was no coal mine would there be a land dispute? I think not!" The Navajo Nation and the Hopi tribe sold out their tribal members' rights when they negotiated leases with PWCC for short term monetary profits obtained by coal mining without their consent, allowed relocation of lease hold residents, allowed surface and ground water resources to become contaminated, livestock and air to become poisoned and allowed desecration of sacred sites and burial sites. Leroy Teeasyatoh, relocation resister and refugee states: "I stand in solidarity with Religious loyalty of traditional people. We inherited our Religious territory from the Holy peoples. We live according to sacred guidelines and live a Religious lifestyle. I cannot be loyal to any adopted system by the Navajo tribal government. Public law 93-531, the relocation Act requiring 10,000 traditional Dineh to be forcibly relocated from their homes and the court ordered Mediation arising from the Manybeads lawsuit filed by HPL residents for Religious freedom were conducted without the input of the religious leaders. Congress should consult with Religious leaders before laws are created so that the laws are blessed in a positive way. Only the Religious leaders have Jurisdiction." The proposed agreement would have allowed full Hopi Tribal Council jurisdiction, making Dineh residents on HPL subject to Hopi laws affecting their ability to practice Freedom of Religion, requiring permits to conduct religious ceremonies, and does not allow burial of the dead. And while payment of rent and exorbitant grazing fees are demanded by the Navajo Nation to the Hopi Tribe, HPL residents are denied any voice in Hopi laws created and enforced that effects their ability to survive, practice their religion and protect the land for future generations. HPL residents as private property owners will not accept taxation without representation any more than did people during the Boston Tea Party. --------- "RE: Ethnic Cleansing" --------- Date: Mon, 01 Apr 1996 16:33:27 +0000 From: CHARLES KAMINS Subj: Ethnic Cleansing? We have it here too! Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Ethnic Cleansing? We have it here too! "...the real aim of [the Dawes Act] is to get at the Indians' land and open it up for resettlement." Senator Henry M. Teller, 1881 The United States Government has been trying unsuccessfully to register Native American Indians for over a hundred years. The infamous Dawes Act of 1887 was the first such effort on a large-scale. The purported aim of the Act was to protect Indian property rights during the Oklahoma Land Rush. By registering, Indians were told, they would be allotted 160 acres of land per family in advance of the Land Rush and thus be restituted for 100 years of genocide against them. The purpose of the Dawes Act, ostensibly to protect Indian welfare, was viewed with suspicion by many Indians hurt by government's clumsy relocation efforts of the past. Indians who had refused to submit to previous relocations refused to register on the Dawes Rolls for fear that they would be caught and punished. To get on the Dawes Rolls, Native Americans had to "anglicize" their names. Rolling Thunder thus became Ron Thomas and so forth. This bit of "melting pot" chicanery allowed agents of the government, sent to the frontier to administer the Act, to slip the names of their relatives and friends onto the Dawes Rolls and thus reap millions of acres of land for their friends and cronies. The abuses of the Dawes Act were revealed and set forth in the Miriam Report of 1928. A `Group of 100' Native Americans and prominent citizens were charged by Congress to look into widespread allegations of corruption and abuse of the Dawes Act. The 800 page report documented massive fraud and misappropriation by the very government agents sent to administer the Act. It was found in one state alone that Indian held land, which totaled 138 million acres in 1887 at the time the Dawes Act was signed into law, had been reduced to 47 million acres of land by 1934 when the Act was repealed. The Miriam Report led to the repeal of the Dawes Act although repeal did not mean that land obtained thru fraud was restored. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, written specifically to indemnify Native Americans for the abuses of the Dawes Act simply "grandfathered in" the existing deeds and that was that. As compensation, Indians were to benefit from a credit fund designed to encourage small businesses and self-sufficiency. The government stepped up efforts to recruit Natives into posts in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, set up an Indian Court system to deal with non-federal crimes, and established a mechanism for Indians to pool their land, purchase new parcels and own land as a corporate entity. By 1954, it had become clear that the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was failing. Implementation of the Act was plagued by the same incompetence and corruption created by the Dawes Act. Ethnic Cleansing The Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1954, therefore, initiated the ominous sounding "Termination and Relocation" phase of the Reorganization Act. Funding for the programs of the IRA of 1934 was abruptly cut off causing thousands of bankruptcies and painful dislocation among the tribes. In addition, this new law removed government recognition of 61 tribes leaving hundreds of thousands of Native Americans unqualified for government assistance. Whether this was an administrative convenience or a design to eliminate pesky tribal property claims, the net result was yet another arbitrary appropriation of property inflicted on Native Americans, many of whom are fighting in the courts to this day to get their rights back. On February 20 President Clinton took a call on World News Tonight from a young Lumbee Indian girl who asked the President why she was still being denied her heritage. The President and Peter Jennings both looked dumb struck. Both confessed to being unaware of the problem and the President promised to "look into it." The Lumbee are a tribe of over 40,000 Indians located in North Carolina who were "erased" by the Termination and Relocation Act of 1954. "Sorry, the government says you no longer exist but, Have a Nice Day!" The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 "Legislators consistently vote on legislation without understanding what is in it, especially when the final vote is taken." Senator H.L. Richardson,'What Makes You Think We Read The Bills?' It is not commonly known that it was only in 1924 that the U.S. Congress generously extended citizenship to all Native American Indians, a privilege, they had never enjoyed up until that point. The Orwellian absurdity of government handling of Indian affairs has now reached a new height. Public Law 101-644, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, was passed on the hectic last day of the congressional session, a Saturday and signed by President Bush on November 29, 1990. The purpose of the law, in addition to attempting to rectify the mess created by 100 years of incompetent legislation, was to protect Native American craftsmen and women from the flood of counterfeit Native American arts & crafts from Taiwan and beyond. This perfectly plausible objective was expanded beyond the realm of jewelry and other native crafts to include all art produced by those who are certifiably Indian. Under the 1990 Act, Indian Artisans may not use the words "Native American Artisan" to sell crafts they produce unless they are certified as genuine Indians by the Federal Government. The language of the 1990 Act defines an Indian as "any individual who is a member of an Indian tribe or is certified as an Indian artisan by an Indian tribe." Sounds harmless enough doesn't it? The problems begin in the certification process. It's not enough that you were born to Indian parents. Nor is it enough for a Native American to trace his lineage back to the time of Christ. First of all, the applicant must be able to prove he was born in a tribe that is officially recognized by the U.S. Government. As I mentioned above, the 1954 Termination and Relocation Act of 1954 arbitrarily erased 61 tribes. Secondly, an applicant must prove he or she was born to officially recognized Indian parents. This also sounds simple enough, on the surface. The problem is that many Native Americans cannot obtain the necessary documents thanks to relocations going back to the early 1800s, the confusion created by the Dawes Act, the compounded confusion created by the Termination and Relocation Act, and the prevailing 3rd world conditions existing in the majority of tribal homelands. The real effect of the law The point is, many genuine Indian artists cannot obtain certification under the Act. Their ancestral tribes may have been dissolved long ago. No authority remains by which they can obtain certification even if they wanted to. Thousands of Kickapoos, Potawatamis, Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapahos, Blackfeet, Lumbees and others have been legislated out of artistic existence. Thousands of Indian families whose livelihoods depend on selling arts and crafts have just had those livelihoods arbitrarily confiscated, courtesy of the U.S. Government. Indian artisans who defy the new law risk fines of up to $1,000,000, and up to 15 years in prison. Corporations or groups who defy the new regulations face up to $5,000,000 in fines. Indian artisans are already being turned away from art competitions and trade meets. Jeanne Walker Rorex is a well known Oklahoma artist whose work has won all kinds of regional awards. She is descended from Cherokee sculptor Willard Stone whose sculptures are displayed in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Ms Rorex was recently barred from participating in the major American Indian Heritage competition at the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa. She refuses to register because of the principle of the matter. The law implies that her family, relatives and ancestors were all frauds. Apartheid in America There is another element of this whole business that many Indian artisans find intolerable and that is registering themselves based on their ethnic heritage. The process smells too much of the bad old days in the South when the census counted mulattoes, quadroons and octoroons and doled out rights based on quantities of blood. Even the CDIB cards (Certification of Degree of Indian Blood) bear an eerie resemblance to the pass-books used to control non-whites in South Africa. Indians are fed up with being registered, un-registered, administratively erased and so on by an incompetent and often corrupt bureaucracy. The very idea smacks of ethnic cleansing and divides Native Americans, certified vs. non-certified, against each other. Civil Disobedience, a responsibility as an American Citizen Numerous non-registered Native Americans are deliberately defying this latest piece of legislation by continuing to practice their ancestral arts. They are not doing this as American Indians but as American Citizens exercising their painfully earned constitutional rights. They are acting as American Citizens, not just Indians. That the Indian Arts & Crafts Act of 1990 should be repealed goes without saying. An arts and crafts act should protect Native American Crafts, not disenfranchise ethnic individuals from their heritage. Sky Walkinstik Man-alone / skyflute@aol.com Charles Kamins / reader@community.net Napa, California Reprinted with permission from the International Journal on World Peace. --------- "RE: Presidential Awards" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 18:11:49 CST From: Daniel Minchew Subj: Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Math, et al Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs Some members of this list may wish to honor an outstanding teacher or program by making a nomination for the PRESIDENTIAL AWARD for EXCELLENCE in SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, and ENGINEERING MENTORING. The White House has established the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. The Program seeks to identify outstanding mentoring efforts or programs designed to enhance the participation of groups under represented in science, mathematics, and engineering, including minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. A grant in the amount of $10,000 will accompany the award along with a commemorative Presidential certificate. Each awardee will be invited to Washington, DC, for an awards ceremony and will be honored at a White House ceremony in May 1996. INDIVIDUAL awardees must have demonstrated outstanding and sustained mentoring and effective guidance to a significant number of students at the K-12, undergraduate, or graduate education level; INSTITUTIONAL or ORGANIZATIONAL awardees will have programming that has enabled a substantial number of students under represented in science, mathematics, and engineering to successfully pursue and complete the relevant degree or enhancement programs. Nominees must have mentored for at least five years. To get the nomination package, send an e-mail to stisinfo@nsf.gov and in the body of the message enter get nsf9679.txt You will receive the package (about 7000 bytes) by auto-reply. DEADLINE for making nominations: Monday, April 15, 1996. ========== This grant is not an ACT program; however, ACT is supportive of all efforts to honor outstanding teachers and programs that are mentoring students in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering. ========== Daniel ----------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Minchew minchew@act.org Director ACT * American College Testing 202 223-2318 - Telephone One Dupont Circle, NW, # 340 Washington, DC 20036-1170 202 293-2223 - Fax --------- "RE: Review: White Buffalo Calf" --------- Path: netcom.com!mosa From: mosa@netcom.com (Michele Lord) Subj: New Children's Book/White Buffalo Calf Newsgroups: alt.native Fwd From: "David Yarrow" Organization: Turtle EyeLand Big Mama Buffalo and the Gift of the Great Mystery This charming new book about the demise and return of the American Buffalo, or Bison, takes you on a historic journey into the past to offer a mysterious gift of hope for the beautiful future of life on Earth. written by Sandy Maine: mother, writer, founder of SunFeather Herbal Soap Company, co-founder of Mountain Tree Community School, Potsdam, NY. watercolors by Ray Whalen: artist and co-owner of Main Street Sign & Frame, Potsdam, NY. This treasury of words and watercolors was inspired by Miracle -- the white buffalo calf born near Janesville, Wisconsin on August 8, 1994 -- featured in a heartwarming cover watercolor. This tribute to the Bison is a high quality reproduction presented as a children's storybook of "the buffalo nation and the two legged, red- faced people" seen through the mind of Big Mama Buffalo on Healy Farm in Canton, NY. Adults, too, are touched by the tale and awed by the illustrations. Simple, elegant text complemented by brilliant, full page watercolors capture the earthy, mystic spirit of the past and promise of the American Bison. available from: Mountain Tree Community School 362 Outer Main Street, Potsdam, NY 13676 315-265-0621 Retail: $9.95 each Wholesale: $5.00 each (minimum 12) Shipping: $3.00 send check to MTCS Proceeds from sales benefit Mountain Tree Community School a non-profit society dedicated to development and education of sustainable lifeways, offering classes from kindergarten through eighth grade. Library of Congress Card Catalog No. 9581486 ISBN 0-964-9620-0-4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | for a green and peaceful planet for the Seventh Generation | | David Yarrow at Turtle EyeLand | | c/o Broeckx, P.O. Box 6034, Albany, NY 12206 | | dyarrow@igc.apc.org 518-426-0563 | |Eve, the earthworm sez: "If yer not forest, yer against us."| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --------- "RE: Poem: Eyez" --------- Date: Fri, 15 Mar 96 18:04 PST From: turtle@aicap.s21.com (Turtle Heart) Subj: eyez Newsgroups: alt.native through a ring of smoke i passed a feather i knew i should sing it sing it that cross the sky song touching the tip of my eye i could see where the wind had carried that one that one crossing the sky in a ring of smoke (Ring of Smoke #1) (c)Copyright 1995,AICAP Turtle Heart. Ahnishinabeg Artist. turtle@aicap.s21.com http://aicap.s21.com American Indian Computer Art Project (AICAP) 619-374-2208 PO Box 111, Johannesburg California 93528-0111 Land of Kaw-ii-Su Ancestor. Land of Light. --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" --------- Date: 96/03/28 21:58 From: Debra F. Sanders (dfsanders@genie.geis.com) Subj: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days Genie email A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of April 7-13 APELILA (April) (Welo) 7 Alone, we are restored; with others, we are fulfilled. 8 This land is the gathering place of the winds. 9 Time lays no claim upon the earth's spell of wonder. 10 Earth's seasons are like the tides of the sea, ke kai, -- timeless and everlasting. 11 When man has come and gone, the land will remain. 12 Pele makes the land which is shaped by the ocean. 13 If you want to hear the secret voice of the wind, ka makani, you must first learn to listen. (c) Copyright 1991 by D. F. Sanders Me ke aloha i ka nani, ... Moe'uhanekeanuenue (With love and beauty, ... Rainbow Dream) --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - offline" --------- Date: Thu, 4 Apr 96 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 Genie email From: mproct1@umbc.edu (Wise Eagle) Subj: University of Maryland College Park Pow Wow Newsgroups: alt.native Terrapin Society Native American Student Union and Indigenous Americans Student, Alumni, Faculty, Staff Association presents 7th Annual University of Maryland Spring Pow Wow April 13-14, 1996 Preinkert Field House College Park, Maryland Host Drum: Mandaree Singers Lead Singers: Sidrick "Mister" Baker Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Nation New Town, North Dakota Master of Ceremonies: Bob Tenequer, Comanche-Pueblo, Arlington, Virginia Arena Director: Clayton Old Elk, Crow Crow Agency, Montana Head Dancers: Joe White Eagle, Ho-Chunk Baraboo, Wisconsin Toni Fitzpatrick, Kiowa-Crow Falls Church, Virginia Kenji Konishi, Comanche-Choctaw Germantown, Maryland Justine Hill, Lakota Falls Church, Virginia ----------------------------------- From: apayment@lakers.lssu.edu Subject: LSSU NATIVE STUDIES CONF. ITINERARY 5th Biennial International Lake Superior State University NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES CONFERENCE Friday, Saturday - April 12 & 13 Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Call (906) 635-2185 or (800) 682-4800 ext. 2185 to Register KEYNOTES: 4/12 @ 8:00 am Eddie Benton-Banai: "Conference Opening" 4/12 @ 7:30 pm John Mohawk: "Indian Sovereignty & Economic Dev." 4/12 @ 12:45 pm Rick St. Germaine: "Creating Sacred Places for Indian Children" 4/13 @ 12:15 pm George Cornell: "Images of American Indians In Written Form" 4/13 @ 6:30 pm * * * * * POW WOW * * * * * [See More Below] 6:30-10:00 POW WOW 10:00 ONEIDA COMEDIAN CHARLIE HILL Vegas Kewadin Casinos Regular Rate (receive journal) $85 Graduate Students/Community Rate (no journal) $40 Students (not LSSU) $40 LSSU Students (with meals) $20 LSSU Students (without meals) $20 Variable Rates Arranged for Select Sessions. Air Travel: Call Passageways Carlson Travel Network at (800) 632-9521. Vegas Kewadin Casinos Programming Casino Shuttlebus to and from hotel to conference site and casino (gratis) Free Casino Packets worth up to $30 redeemable at casino (gratis) Modest Fee to see Oneida Comedian Charlie Hill on Friday and Saturday night Call (800) 682-4800 ext. 2185 or (906) 635-2223 or (906) 635-2112 for more information and to register. -------------------------------------------------- From: Gayle Swanson Newsgroups: alt.native Open to the Public 5th Annual Metrolina Native American Association P O W W O W May 4th & 5th, 1996 at 2601-A East 7th Street (Old Fireman's Hall) Native American Dance Competition Native American Arts & Crafts Authentic Native American Foods Grand Entry at Noon on Saturday (May 4th) For additional information, please call 1-704-331-4818 For information about the Metrolina Native American Association, http://www.charweb.org/neighbors/na/na-metro.htm PS.. I don't have final information on the Head Man and Head Lady, or the Drum. As soon as I have that, I will update this information, and set up a web page for the Pow Wow itself. When I was at the MNAI this morning, this hadn't been finalized. Gayle ------------------------------------------------------------ From The Spike (probably the best offline sources of east-coast Powwow information) 1-908-654-0074 for subscription/ad rate information April 12-13 Sault Ste. Marie, MI - Native American Studies Conference. Keynote speakers: Ward Churchill and John Mohawk. Info: 800-682-4800 ext 2185 or e-mail apayment@lakers.llsu.edu April 12-14 Steele, AL - 1st Native American Festival. Info: 205-570-0002 April 12-14 Dalton, GA - 2nd Annual American Indian Powwow and Festival Info: 706-377-5358 April 12-14 Hollister, NC - 30th Annual Haliwa-Saponi Powwow Info: 939-586-4017 April 12-14 Hickory, NC - Salute to the Woodlands Nations Info: R.T.E. at 770-735-6275 April 13 New York, NY - Unity Powwow at the American Indian Community House. Info: 212-598-0100 ex 224 April 13-14 Mt. Pleasant, MI - CMU Saginaw/Chippewa Powwow. Info: 517-774-2508 April 13-14 Childersburg, AL - 21st Annual Indian Dance and Crafts Festival. Info: 205-378-7252 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- 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, Debra Winchell via LeAnne Davis, Brooke Craig, Sky Crosby, Mary(DAKKASWAN), Freedom Heart Rising, Turtle Heart(Healing the Sacred Hoop with Song Poems), Les Tate, David Yarrow via Michele Lord, Joseph Thompson, Linda Welch via David Born, Marvin and Linda Summerfield, Linda Peterson, Charles Kamins, Frosty Deere, Shane Jimerfield, Erik Vanlennep, Mark D. Fiddler, Marilyn Phelps --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 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, 4 Apr 96 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 Genie email Original Sender: ishgooda@tdi.net (Ishgooda) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) American Indian Services of Detroit will be sponsoring an exhibition dance to benefit their First American Youth Program WHAT: CREATOR'S CHOICE : Arts and Crafts Exhibition WHEN: Saturday, May 11, 1996 - 11:00AM - 6:00PM WHERE: Arthur Lesow Community Center 120 Eastchester Monroe, Michigan ADMISSION: 18 and under free 55 and older free All others $1.00 APPLICATION FOR VENDOR SPACE 1) Please send information on previous pow wows at which you have vended 2)Tribal affiliation (if any) 3)What items do you plan to vendor (general) Vendors Contact Linda at (313) 243-5695 or e-mail ishgooda@tdi.net OR Ken at (313)388-4100 (authentic crafts only no imports or ripoffs) space is limited DIRECTIONS: EXIT I-75 at # 13 (Front St.) west on Front to First St. Right on First ST. 2 blocks (past railroad tracks) Left on Eastchester tan brick building on the right <<<<=-=-=-=-=-{{{{}}}}-=-=-=-=-=>>>> Maori saying "The trees, speaking one to the other said' Watch out for the axe handle, he is one of us, you know.'" <<<<=-=-=-=-=-{{{{}}}}-=-=-=-=-=>>>> ---------------------------------------------------- Original Sender: berryj@okway.okstate.edu (John Berry) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) The Stillwater Parent Committee for Indian Education Presents a Cultural Event The Ninth Annual Benefit SPRING DANCE Saturday, April 13, 1996 Stillwater High School Gym N. Boomer Rd. Stillwater, Oklahoma Health Fair, Gourd Dance: 2:00pm Traditional Dinner: 5:30pm Gourd Dance: 6:30pm War Dance: 7:30pm Head Singer: Joe Moore Head Man Dancer: Jeff Goodfox Head Lady Dancer: Melissa Hall Youth Honor Dancers: Clark Pepper, Regan McDonald MC: Ted Bravescout Arena Director: Tim Fields Gourd Clan: Kickapoo Gourd Clan SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS: Teenage Dance Contest, ages 14-17, boys and girls. Door Prizes, Health Fair All youth groups, Indian clubs, students and interested community members are invited to join us. Native American Artist and Craftsman are invited. A $5 donation and an item requested, call to reserve your space. For information call Dorna Harjo, Coordinator, Indian Education Program. (405)743-6300. Proceeds to benefit the Stillwater Indian Education Programs. EVERYONE WELCOME!!! --------- "RE: Are They Laughing" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Mar 1996 11:25:24 -0500 From: frosty.deere@igloo.magicnet.com (FROSTY DEERE) Subj: Are they laughing? Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) She:kon kwe kwe. ALL. I have been reading this echo for, I don't know how long. I was sitting here today and was going over many messages and I wonder if they are not laughing as us. You do I mean ? I mean the BIA, DIAND, city, state, national governments and single employee of any of them. Here we are each one of us living our lives and always debating things like, blood, skin, land, rights, treaties, war, names, and anything else. When will we wake up? When will we do the right thing? I mean when are each of us, each clan, each band, each tribe, each nation and each confederacy stop debating about who and what we are and get down to being what we know we are? Is it not time to stop the laughing and get them to open there eyes and to give us what belongs to us according to the laws of the land ? Is it not time for the debate over who we are, blood, rights, citizenship, membership, lists, treaties, what names we are called, who is and who is not come to stop ? Is it not time that all clans, bands, tribes, longhouse, councils, nations come together as one strong force of people and stand together? Come together and make the world see the truth about what has been taken, stolen, and broken? The time has come to stop talking about what they are laughing at, and take charge of not just a few of us but all of us. We all support some group defending our rights but all we do is give then lip service. It is time we awake up the world as a UNITED PEOPLE and open the books, files and get what belongs to all of us back in some manner. Be it money, land, or respect that we deserve as a PEOPLE. Let's do some damn thing to stop the laughing by them as we sit and fight among ourselves over what is and what is not the truth about ourselves. Let's stop the talk and walk the walk. If we are NATIONS, then let's act as NATIONS. Let us trade as NATIONS and get other nations to trade with us, we have that right. We have the right not to collect or pay tax to other nations. But we do not enforce our rights. It's time we did this. Sken:nen Kowa --------- "RE: Dineh Youth Resistance Protests" --------- Date: 26 Mar 1996 22:36:32 +0100 From: sjimerfield@igc.apc.org (shane jimerfield) Subj: Dineh Youth Resistance protests "accommodation agreement" Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) please respond to the people who wrote this. they have no email, you will have to call them. please do. DINEH YOUTH RESISTANCE POB 210 HOTEVILIA, AZ 86030 For Media Advisory: For Immediate Release: March 23, 1996 For More Information Please Contact: Lisa Tso (520) 774-3645 "ACCOMMODATION AGREEMENT" SAID TO BE CULTURAL GENOCIDE ETHNIC CLEANSING IN ARIZONA On March 28 The Senate will review the "Accommodation Agreement" concerning the "Navajo - Hopi Land Dispute." Word of the hearing was given to the families residing in the "disputed lands" on March l8, only ten days prior to the date set; therefore most of the people affected by the "Agreement" are unable to attend these hearings. One Dineh (Navajo) elder, and resistor, Mae Tso, will be able to be in attendance; she is directly affected by the agreement and is the only one of the 250 families able to go to voice her opposition. The "Accommodation Agreement" is set to be the end solution to the "Manybeads" first amendment law suit, and the twenty-two year resistance to forced relocation by the families in concern. However the majority of the families do not agree with it; "The 'Agreement' is forced relocation, whether we sign, or refuse, the end result is forced relocation. This is the first time in history that we are aware of one Native American tribe being authorized by the United states Government to forcibly relocate another. This 'Agreement' is authorized ethnic cleansing, cultural genocide," stated the Tso family of Mosquito springs. PLEASE REFER TO FOLLOWING LETTER. -------begin------- To Whom it may Concern: March 20, 1996 We are residents of the land currently titled "Hopi Partition Land," we know it as Mosquito Springs. We art Dineh (Navajo), we were born on this land, and have spent our whole lives here, as our ancestors have done before us. Seventeen Generations of our family can be easily documented as residing on this very land we at discussing; we believe out ties to this land go back even much further. Our ancestral homeland, the only home we have ever known, and where we currently reside, was given to the Hopi tribe in 1974 by PL 93-531, this is why it is called "Hopi Partition Land. " The "Navajo - Hopi Land Dispute" has stemmed out of this, as well as a 100 year old treaty which deemed our land as "Joint Use Area." This is a letter in response, and in opposition to the "Accommodation Agreement" concerning the "Navajo - Hopi Land Dispute." The current date set for The Senate Hearing to review the Accommodation Agreement and Hopi/ U.S. Agreement is March 28,1996. We would like to be there to meet with Congress in person to discuss this issue and a possible permanent solution. However the date of this hearing was not released to us until March 18, 1996, two days ago, merely 10 days before the hearing. As you can imagine, we live a modest, traditional lifestyle, and are completely unable to manage a trip to Washington, D.C., especially with only ten days notice. However we are encouraged that this letter will reach you, and we thank you in advance for your attention. We, the people directly affected by this unjust "Agreement," are making our response to it. The "Agreement" is forced relocation, whether we sign, or refuse, the end result is forced relocation. This is the first time in history that we are aware of one Native American tribe being authorized by the United States Government to forcibly relocate another. The "Agreement" is authorized ethnic cleansing, cultural genocide. We would like a permanent solution, a lease is not acceptable to us. We do not want to leave this for our future generations to have to deal with. Frankly, we will not give up, or lose, our ancestral homeland now, nor in seventy-five years. A better solution would be to properly assess who lives where, and uses what land, and use that information to deal with this appropriately. An example of an appropriate decision would be the repeal of PL 93-531, the 1974 law which redefined our ancestral homeland and gave it to the Hopi tribe, hence this "land dispute." We have not ever abandoned our land, not even a century ago, back in the time of Kit Carson and what is known as the "Long Walk," nor did we abandon it when the 1974 law was passed, nor will we abandon it now or in the future. If we were to agree to this lease, we would not even be allowed to go away to school, due to the provision that if you leave for two years you automatically lose your home site. Not to mention the provision restricting us from any sort of self - employment. We at restricted by the lease, due to these provisions, and the meager amount of livestock they allow us in the lease, to becoming solely dependent on welfare. Three acres is too small for a family living traditionally on this sort of terrain, we need room for our outhouses, corrals, sweat lodge space etc. .. Our religion law, and the land, which is one in the same, force us to be semi- migratory, we can not be expected to survive "fenced in." For example, Our religion requires us to move from an area if it has been struck by lightning, or there has been a death, or in order to not over graze an area, or to look for watersheds for our gardens. The lease directly impedes our religious law. The farming area is to small, the watersheds are different from year to year, if you use one area year after year it becomes useless and infertile, it becomes a desert. Why do we have to designate our land to particular uses? Sometimes we need to put out cattle in the cornfields, this is a part of our lifestyle, sometimes there is drought and we have to move our animals to different areas, we need to have access to a lot of area to continue our traditional life ways. The annual reallocation of permits is a hassle, we live isolated in a remote area, and are lacking in transportation. It is too easy to lose a permit, and there's too many permits, for every little thing. Why do we have to report our ceremonies, and run around and get permits for them? Religion and politics should not mix, it is abusive to our religion. We don't want the stress of wondering if our ceremony and all its aspects will be allowed? Does any other religion in the United States have to get their ceremonial aspects approved? Imagine if the Catholics had to get permit for each communion. The termination provisions written into the "Agreement" are completely unreasonable, and there is no protection for us from any maliciousness from the Hopi tribe. The Hopi tribe has worked diligently and maliciously for the last twenty-two years to force us off of our land. We do not trust being left into their hands, for them to decide our future and make the laws as they see fit. It is even written into the "Agreement" that the Navajo Nation can not provide us with legal counsel. We are intentionally being left unable to obtain a lawyer, purposely left unable to defend ourselves. We are humble people, how are we to pay for legal counsel, to defend ourselves against their unjust decisions? Are we supposed to barter for a lawyer with our meager amount of sheep? The Hopi Rangers could label anything we do as "malicious mischief," three violations could be accumulated easily by anybody. Having to live under these rules and regulations is unconstitutional and frankly frightening. We don't want to be under Hopi law, or mixed jurisdiction. An example of what has occurred due to the current mixed jurisdiction is when a relative of ours died in his home two years ago. We went to the Hopi tribe, who told us they did not have jurisdiction, then we went to the Navajo, who also told us they did not have jurisdiction. We finally had to haul our deceased relative in the back of our own pickup truck to the Tuba City Morgue, and by that time he was all swelled up. We want to be under one law, our law, Navajo Law, not a confusing tangle of who to go to and for what. What is this Hopi Comprehensive Land Use plan? We don't want any destruction on our homeland!! We do not trust the Hopi's to take good care of our land, we suspect their only real interest in it, and why they are putting so much time and effort into this "dispute," is really for the rich coal and mineral deposits underneath our land. We don't want any mining on our land, that would be desecrating our church, comparable to the bombing of a church in Bethlehem for the Judeo - Christian Religions. We do not want Lee Phillips as the individual who receives notice of government fencing and construction etc. on our land. He does not represent us, we have no trust that he will relay these messages to us, let alone do something about tern. Look at the predicament he's put us in by agreeing to this agreement "on our behalf." We do not trust his legal counsel, and he's stated publicly that he's tired of this case, and would like to move on. His heart is not in this, he is not looking out for our best interests. We want the information of what is planned for our land to come to us, and we want a direct say in it. The lease itself is setup to expire on its own terms if the Navajo Nation does not keep up timely, and the very expensive payments to the Hopi Tribe. Why does the Navajo Nation have to pay the Hopi Tribe to allow people to live on their own ancestral land? Why do we, the traditional Dineh families, as well as the Navajo Nation, have to pay for the mistakes of arbitrarily, and falsely drawn lines. We have paid with twenty-two years of suffering and untold hardships; for example we have been living for years in sub-standard housing with fifteen people to one small two room house, due to the Bennett Freeze. Another good example is that we have our food, as well as our only sources of income, our livestock, impounded, stolen, from us by the Hopi tribe on a regular basis. Haven't we paid enough already? We are, again, being denied our own culture, our own religion, our own life ways. We would finally appreciate some justice. To sign the "Accommodation Agreement" would be to sign away our individual rights and our religion. It is forced relocation; it is cultural genocide, it is ethnic cleansing. We beg of you to stop it and its repercussions right now. Thank you and Sincerely, Calvin Tso, Esperanza Tso, Francis Tso, Juanita Tso, Rachel Tso, Tirnothy Tso PO Box 210 Hotevilla, Arizona 86030 --------- "RE: Medals of Dishonor" --------- Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 23:22:15 -0600 From: ltate@hiwaay.net (Les Tate) Subj: Medals of Dishonor Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) We occasionally see postings mentioning the medals of dishonor given to a few white soldiers who participated in the Massacre at Wounded Knee. The Code of Federal Regulation reveals there were many more medals of dishonor than that. I thought you should know. Les Tate ---------------- 32 CFR Sec. 578.29 Title 32 Subtitle A CHAPTER V SUBCHAPTER F PART 578 Sec. 578.29 Indian Campaign Medal. (a) Description. The medal of bronze is 1 1/4 inches in diameter. On the obverse is a mounted Indian facing sinister, wearing a war bonnet, and carrying a spear in his right hand. Above the horseman are the words 'Indian Wars,' and below, on either side of a buffalo skull, the circle is completed by arrowheads, conventionally arranged. On the reverse is a trophy, composed of an eagle perched on a cannon supported by crossed flags, rifles, an Indian shield, spear, and quiver of arrows, a Cuban machete, and a Sulu kriss. Below the trophy are the words 'For Service.' The whole is surrounded by a circle composed of the words 'United States Army' in the upper half and thirteen stars in the lower half. The medal is suspended by a ring from a silk moire ribbon 1 3/8 inches in length and 1 3/8 inches in width composed of a red stripe ( 1/4 inch), black stripe ( 3/16 inch), red band ( 1/2 inch), black stripe ( 3/16 inch), and red stripe ( 1/4 inch). Established by WD General Orders 12, 1907. (b) Requirements. Service in any of the following campaigns: (1) Southern Oregon, Idaho, northern California, and Nevada between 1865 and 1868. (2) Against the Comanches and confederate tribes in Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, and Indian Territory between 1867 and 1875. (3) Modoc War between 1872 and 1873. (4) Against the Apaches in Arizona in 1873. (5) Against the Northern Cheyennes and Sioux between 1876 and 1877. (6) Nez Perce War in 1877. (7) Bannock War in 1878. (8) Against the Northern Cheyennes between 1878 and 1879. (9) Against the Sheep-Eaters, Piautes, and Bannocks between June and October, 1879. (10) Against the Utes in Colorado and Utah between September 1879 and November 1880. (11) Against the Apaches in Arizona and New Mexico between 1885 and 1886. (12) Against the Sioux in South Dakota between November 1890 and January 1891. (13) Against hostile Indians in any other action in which United States troops were killed or wounded between 1865 and 1891. (13 FR 6798, Nov. 19, 1948) --------- "RE: Klamath Protest Timber Sale" --------- Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 12:07:46 EST From: erik.vanlennep@dartmouth.edu (Erik Vanlennep) Subj: Klamath protest timber sale treaty violations Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) --- Forwarded Message from mw@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us --- IN THE COURTS -- If U.S. Laws Don't Apply, Maybe Treaty Obligations? Claiming their treaty rights are being violated, Oregon's Klamath tribes on have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland seeking to block eight timber sales revived under the lawless logging rider. The Winema Forest was the tribes' reservation before they lost their tribal status and it was deeded back to the federal government. However, an 1864 treaty let the tribes retain hunting and fishing rights on the land, making them perhaps some of the few citizens who can still have say under the logging without laws rider. Their suit charges that in awarding the sales, the U.S. Forest Service disregarded treaty rights designed to protect hunting and fishing grounds. The sales were originally offered from 1991 and 1992 and were blocked by lawsuits and administrative appeals. But they have been reoffered as "salvage" sales, even though the sales total more than 34 million board feet of *GREEN* timber. But the Portland Oregonian reports that Winema National Forest Supervisor Bob Castaneda said the sales will not cause long-term damage to wildlife habitat. --------- "RE: ICWA Amendment" --------- Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 17:30:53 -0600 From: icwalaw@maroon.tc.umn.edu (Mark D. Fiddler) Subj: ICWA amendment Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Indian Child Welfare Law Center Memo to Indian Country Our office recently came across the following proposed amendment to the Indian Child Welfare Act (thanks to our friends at the law firm of Dorsey and Whitney). THIS IS A NEW AMENDMENT that was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 22, 1996. This amendment totally removes voluntary adoptive placements from the scope of the ICWA. Under this bill, called the "Voluntary Adoption Project Act", H.R. 3156, the ICWA would not apply to any voluntary adoptive placements of Indian children. Parental consent to placement would be irrevocable under the ICWA, jurisdiction would not be governed by the ICWA, consents would not need to be certified by a court, and the placement preferences would not apply. In sum, the ICWA would not apply at all to an Indian adoption proceedings once a parent signs a written consent under state law. I would urge you to read this amendment and contact your Congressional Representative. The bill has been referred to the House Resources Committee, and it will also likely be heard in the Native American and Insular Affairs Sub-Committee. As of today's date, a companion bill has not been introduced in the U.S. Senate. For those of you with web access, info on this bill is available on the on "THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet" (http://thomas.loc.gov). Then go to the bill search engine and type in H.R. 3156. +++++++++++++++++ Mark D. Fiddler, Esq. Executive Director Indian Child Welfare Law Center 1433 East Franklin Ave. 18A Minneapolis, Minn. 55404 tel: 612-879-9165 fax: 612-879-0323 icwalaw@maroon.tc.umn.edu --------- "RE: Racism on Yale Campus" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 18:23:56 -0500 From: marilyn.phelps@yale.edu (ikwe) Subj: Acts of Ignorance and Racism on Yale campus Mailing List: NATCHAT (natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us) I wanted people in the Native Community to know what has happened at Yale because the Lacrosse team and the POwers that Be are determined to keep this inside of Yale and un-controversial. Please write to me personally regarding comments about the incident, suggestions, etc, because I am not subscribed to NatChat. Thanks -- Marilyn Phelps, Co-Chair of the Association of Native Americans at Yale marilyn.phelps@yale.edu ++++++ PLEASE READ THIS VERY IMPORTANT NEWS::: On Saturday night after the dinner, the Yale Women's Lacrosse team had its "Initiation." Their "Initiation" consisted of dressing up in Native Headdresses, "War paint," and imitation Buckskin clothing while screaming and whooping down Lynwood Street. This group of 20 lacrosse players circled the area and passed down the street again. Each time they passed, they were begged to rethink their actions but no woman stopped. One woman said to her teammates: "this is wrong, they're right, this is wrong," but kept walking, another woman of the group wiped her War paint off but refused to leave the team or disclose their identity. This is especially despicable because it happened during the week of Action for Equality and Affirmative Action. This is a time for those of us who are affected by and oppose racism to join together in solidarity against these acts of racism and ignorance. The Yale Womens' Lacrosse Team's Captain has refused to issue a public apology, stating that this incident is a private matter. To people of color, this is not a private matter. Please join us and ask all your friends that are people of CONSCIENCE to join us in a walk to show our opposition to these racist acts. This Solidarity Walk will be held TODAY, MONDAY, APRIL 1 at 10:30pm (the same time that the Women's Lacrosse Team had their March). We will meet at the women's table at 10:30pm. The walk should only last about 20 minutes, so we need everyone and their friends to show up at the Women's Table and make a show of our solidarity. Thanks, Ananda & Marilyn