_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 04, ISSUE 045 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 9 November 1996 O o O KANOHEDA ANIYVWIYA Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin O o O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse Aunchemokauhettittea O ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) This issue contains articles from AisesNet, NATIVELIT & NATIVE-L listservers; Newsgroups: apc.indig.info,soc.culture.native,alt.native; UUCP & genie 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. 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 Thanks to Borries Demeler all _Wotanging_Ikche_ (part a) submissions to AISESnet are archived under AISESnet and can be accessed easily by World Wide Web: 1994: http://bioc02.uthscsa.edu/94_dis.html 1995: http://bioc02.uthscsa.edu/95_dis.html 1996: http://bioc02.uthscsa.edu/96_dis.html This is a searchable index to the AISESnet Discussion mailing list database archive, and the keyword "Wotanging" will retrieve all issues for that year. "You tell us that baptism is absolutely necessary to go to heaven. If there were a man so good that he had never offended God, and if he died without baptism, would he go to hell, never having given offense to God? If he goes to hell, then God must not love all good people since He throws one into the fire." "You teach us that God existed before the creation of heaven and earth. If He did, where did He live since there was neither heaven nor earth?" "You say that the angels were created in the beginning of the world and that those who disobeyed were cast into hell. How can that be so, since you say the angels sinned before earth's creation and hell is in the depths of the earth?" "You declare that those who go to hell do not come out of it, and yet you relate stories of the damned who have appeared in the world -- how is that to be understood?" "Ah, how I would like to kill devils, since they do so much harm! But if they are made like men and some are even among men, do they still feel the fire of hell? Why is it that they do not repent for having offended God? If they did repent, would God be merciful to them? If our Lord has suffered for all sinners, why do not they receive pardon from Him?" "You say that the virgin mother of Jesus Christ is not God and that she never offended God. You also say that her son has redeemed all men and atoned for all, but if she has done nothing wrong, her Son could not redeem her nor atone for her." __ Young "savage" seminarians, 12 - 15 years old, to the Jesuit father Paul Le Jeune, late 1630s +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! We are entering a period when there will be many proclamations of good will and love, often wrapped around a plea for donations, an advertisement for an expensive gift, or a political agenda. We are entering a time when this land of religious freedom will, by action and word, make it clear there is a vastly preferred way of belief. We are entering a time when there will be many pretenders of good and few who walk the walk. Look about you. Help your elders and others in need, as you should have throughout your life; and know that Creator counts all deeds at all times. Peace! Night Owl , , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@juno.com (`-') Marietta, GA 30006, U .S.A. gars@igc.apc.org ===w=w=== gars@genie.com ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- Part A: Usenet and e-mail Part B: NATCHAT and NATIVE-L lists - Peltier Update - Conferences and Powwows - online - Indian's Concept of Time - Bkejwanong Stands Fast - Blockade in Quebec - Temagami Protesters Maced - Fight For Land Rights - Organization Discusses Government - First Nations Distribution Network Issues - UN walkout by AIM - IITC Letter/Shoshone - Thoughts on Unity - Oneida Leader is Re-elected - Mean Streets - TallMountain Awards 1996 - Ottawa Tries To Drive Wedge - Request for Data - Urgent Request: Halt Execution - Blood Quantum and Culture - Tribal Constitutions - 3rd Annual College Guide - Review: Child of the Sun - Prayer: A Farewell - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline --------- "RE: Peltier Update" --------- Date: Tue, 5 Nov 96 18:49:58 GMT From: lpdc@idir.net (Peltier Defense Committee) Subj: URGENT-Peltier Update 11-5-96 Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native URGENT UPDATE--November 5th, 1996 Harassment continues! Leonard Peltier, still suffering from unsuccessful surgery on his jaw performed months ago, has been assigned a job outside of his "light duty" health requirements. Leonard was transferred back to USP Leavenworth from the Medical Center at Springfield, MO where he refused additional medical treatment. Examining doctors at the facility had differing opinions regarding the problem with the jaw and which treatment would be best. Also, Leonard never received a copy of his medical records and therefore could not use the information within this document to formulate an educated decision as to which treatment would best suit his needs. Peltier filed a FOIA request in an attempt to secure his medical file but has not received them to this date. He continues to fight for this important information. Leonard continues to suffer severe soreness in his jaw, swelling along the side of his face, and watery eyes. These symptoms make his new job assignment extremely difficult. Leonard NEEDS access to his medical records and he NEEDS to be reassigned to a light duty job. Leonard's safety depends on YOU! Please help protect him! WRITE PHONE FAX Warden True, USP Leavenworth, Box 1000, LVN, KS 66048 (913) 682-8700 Kathleen Hawk, Bureau of Prisons, Holc Bldg, 320 1st St NW, Washington, DC 20534 (202)514-2000 fax (202)514-6878 Attorney General Janet Reno, Dept. Of Justice, 10th & Constitution, Washington, DC 20530 (202) 514-4371 fax (202)514-4371 --------- "RE: Indian's Concept of Time" --------- Date: Mon, 04 Nov 96 12:05:30 EST From: "Glen WELKER" Subj: To Live, Using the Indian's Concept of Time (fwd) UUCP email "On the vacant ground of today, perhaps there will be a flower of tomorrow?" "Only those who give up their history are consigned to oblivion." Source: gopher:// mundo.eco.utexas.edu:70/0R290387-296956-/mailing/chiapas95.archive/current The Calendar Waits for No one "There was once a man who always came late to everything. And it was not because he was lazy or slow, or that his watch was behind or that it was a bad habit. It happened because that man lived in another time before time. Not much, true, but enough. For example, when the calendar said it was September, that man walked a morning in April. That is why his Spring never coincided with its improbability. Death, on the other hand, remained obedient to the passage of time and would go spreading absences according to the completion of the days and nights of each. But since this man was always behind time, he would always arrive late for the hour of his death and would not find her, because death had to follow the calendar. Death knew he was pending, that that man who should already be dead was, due to his tardiness, still alive. That man grew tired of living and walking, which really is the same thing, and he began to look for death in order to die. And thus time and untimeliness passed. Death waiting for the man to arrive so she could kill him. The man waiting for death to arrive so he could die. There is no day on the calendar in which these two times can find one another. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The flower of the word will not die. The masked face which today has a name may die, but the word which came from the depth of history and the earth can no longer be cut by the ears with its cannons. Our fight is caused by hunger, and the gifts of the bad government are lead and paper for the stomachs of our children. Our fight is for a roof over our heads which has dignity, and the bad government destroys our homes and our history. Our fight is for knowledge, and the bad government distributes ignorance and disdain. Our fight is for the land, and the bad government gives us commentaries. Our fight is for a job which is just and dignified, and the bad government buys and sells our bodies and our shames. Our fight is for life, and the bad government offers death as our future. Our fight is for respect for our right to sovereignty and self-government, and the bad government imposes laws of the few on the many. Our fight is for liberty of thought and walk, and the bad government builds jails and graves. Our fight is for justice, and the bad government consists of criminals and assassins. Our fight is for history and the bad government proposes to erase history. Our fight is for the homeland, and the bad government dreams with the flag and the language of foreigners. Our fight is for peace, and the bad government announces war and destruction. >From the mountains of Numancia, Chiapas Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos Brothers and Sisters: Many words walk in the world. Many worlds are made. Many worlds are made for us. There are words and worlds which are lies and injustices. There are words and worlds which are truths and truthful. We make true words. We have been made from true words. In the world of the powerful there is no space for anyone but themselves and their servants. In the world we want everyone fits. In the world we want many worlds to fit. The Nation which we construct is one where all communities and languages fit, where all steps may walk, where all may have laughter, where all may live the dawn. We speak of unity even when we are silent. Softly and gently we speak the words which find the unity which will embrace us in history and which will discard the abandonment which confronts and destroys one another. Our word, our song and our cry, is so that the most dead will no longer die. So that we may live fighting, we may live singing. Long live the word. Long live Enough is Enough! Long live the night which becomes a soldier in order not to die in oblivion. In order to live the word dies, its seed germinating forever in the womb of the earth. By being born and living we die. We will always live. Only those who give up their history are consigned to oblivion. We are here. We do not surrender. Zapata is alive, and in spite of everything, the struggle continues. Posted here in compliance with the FAIR USE DOCTRINE for educational purposes. This is an educational forum. Not for commercial use. --------- "RE: Blockade in Quebec" --------- Date: 28 Oct 96 21:11:00 From: JOHN.WALTER@igloo.magicnet.com (JOHN WALTER) Subj: Blockade in Quebec Newsgroup: alt.native - More Clearcut of Indian lands - Cold blockade There is a peaceful walking-blockade/demonstration going on north of Montreal, on lands that are presently subject of land claim negotiation between the Attikamekw Nation and the immigrant-governments of Quebec/Canada. While the seemingly-eternal 'negotiations' are ongoing, the cash-starved IG of Quebec is handing out clearcut rights to dozens of timber harvesters in the areas around the last remaining Attikamekw communities of Manowan, Weymontachi and Obedjiwan. New logging roads have been put into the unceded First Nation lands in off the Mont-Laurier - Parent highways and another cut through towards Manouane. The Attikamekw were, until recently, known as the 'Tete de Boule Cree" ('Heads Like Balls") a name bestowed on them by the french missionaries. They say that they are not Cree but the eastern 'wing' of the great Ojibway (Nishnawbe) Nation. Their language and extended-family systems are still very strong and alive, but it is a struggle. There are close to 1000 Attikamekw in Weymontachi, about 2000 in Manowan & another 2000 in Obedjiwan. The majority of their population still relies on traditional food sources of hunting, fishing and gathering to maintain life. They had two other communities, both now under the waters of Hydro-Quebec dam reservoirs. There are a significant number of Attikameq already suffering from symptoms of mercury poisoning, but too few employment opportunities that would allow folks to cut down on the intake of mercury-laden fish. Red mercury is a natural pollutant discharged into the water by submerged trees. It is a cumulative poison. That is to say, when ingested by a living beings (aquatic life -> fish & animals -> men, women, children) it accumulates in the body. There is no way for any living thing to discharge it. In humans it attack the central nervous system, spinal cord, brain and..., the building-block of human life, the gene, resulting in horrible fetal deformities. Having had french beaten into them as second language instead of english has isolated the Attikamekw Nation (as well as the Montagnais/Innu in Quebec) even more than the rugged geography that is their home. They are virtually "out of the information loop" when it comes to knowing of developments in First Nation rights in the past 20-30 years. The immigrant-governments (IG's) that have recently been formed around them have been forced by their own courts to grudgingly admit that the Attikamekw (and all other First Nations in what is now Quebec, except signatories of the James Bay Agreement 1975) have NEVER ceded legal title to their territories to anyone. The new arrivals, however, just moved right in and started selling it all off for hydro-electric dams, mining and logging leases, highways, etc. Just like that. It's what they call "Christian Morality." (Apparently somebody told them stealing was OK about 2000 years ago as long as them gun used is blessed and duly authorized). Now the Attikamekw men, women and children are peacefully flagging down traffic on the Mont-Laurier - Parent highway. Entire families, including elders and infants are huddling around fires by the roadside and cramming into the cab of beat-up half-tons when the engines are turned on for 15 minutes every hour. The temperature is below freezing. Some motorists, especially logging trucks, actually step on the gas when the Attikamekw step out onto the highway to flag them down. Most motorists do stop, and after hearing an apology for the stop they are given an information sheet on the issue and allowed to continue. Meanwhile, the clear-cutting on Attikamekw-claimed lands continues to increase every week, building for the 24hr/day winter wipe-out of timber stands that shelter and nurture the animals and fish that the lives of the Attikamekw Nation depend upon. The Canadian Member of Parliament for the Mauricie Constituency where much of the clear-cutting is taking place is called Jean Chretien. He is also Prime Minister of Canada, the same person that praised Canada's "progressive lead in sustainable development..." at the recent Montreal Global Convention on Conservation. Why not send your expression of support (appreciated in any language) to the Attikamekw Nation. The coordinates of the Attikamekw Nation communities are: - Attikamekw de Monowan Monowan, Quebec J0K 1M0 Ph: (819) 971-8813 Fax: (819) 971-8848 - Attikamekw de Weymontachi Weymontachi, Quebec, Canada, G0X 3R0 Ph: (819) 666-2237 Fax: (819) 666-2209 - Attikamekw d' Obedjiwan Obedjiwan (via Roberval), Quebec, Canada, G0W 3B0 Ph: (819) 974-8837 Fax: (819) 974-8828 In Br... --------- "RE: Fight For Land Rights" --------- Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 18:39:09 -0700 From: Brian Hauk Subject: Native Canadians Fight For Land Rights UUCP email from the Militant, vol.60/no.32 September 16, 1996 BY ROGER ANDREWS SURREY, British Columbia -Eighteen people are on trial in this Vancouver suburb following a government and police assault last summer on Native Indian rights at Gustafsen Lake in north central British Columbia. The defendants, 14 of whom are Native, face charges ranging from trespass and public mischief to possession of firearms dangerous to the public peace. Two defendants, Jones (Wolverine) Ignace and his son JoJo, are also charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing on police. Ignace has been imprisoned since his arrest last year and his repeated requests for release on bail have been denied by the courts. The police assault was the latest chapter in a decades-long government campaign against the Shuswap Indian people's struggle for land rights. Ottawa and the provincial government of British Columbia back the claim of a rancher to several tens of thousands of acres of Shuswap land, including the shoreline of Gustafsen Lake. But the Shuswap have never signed a treaty nor recognized anyone's purchase or claim to this land. "Here's a rancher with tens of thousands of acres," defendant Suniva Bronson said during a break in the trial on August 19, "while the entire Shuswap people have hardly any land. Yet they are criticized for being poor and collecting welfare." What led to confrontation Every spring for seven years, Native residents and friends have camped on the shore of Gustafsen Lake for religious and cultural ceremonies called sundance. In May 1995, they built a fence to prevent cattle from despoiling the site. The rancher demanded their eviction. Several weeks later, the British Columbia government approved a massive Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) operation to violently break up the Native encampment. Hundreds of heavily armed police were mobilized and began threats and provocations. Units of the Canadian army joined the buildup in August 1995. By the middle of that month a siege was in place. The besieged Natives were painted as heavily armed and were falsely accused of firing on police. "What do you do with people who defy the laws of the country and shoot at you?" an RCMP SWAT team member told a television journalist in July. "You kill them." Authorities tried to exploit alleged support from government-funded tribal councils of the Shuswap people. But despite media claims repeated by RCMP cops at the trial, only a few members of the councils supported the police operation. Testimony by police at the trial has contradicted the government claim that the encampment was an illegal occupation. Several cops who had been assigned to the dispute in its early stage and who are Native testified that their investigations in June and early July 1995 concluded that there was a decades-long land claim dispute in question and the rancher's complaint should be handled through a political process. They said their superiors concurred. The staff commander, however, of the RCMP detachment in the nearby town of 100 Mile House, one of dozens of cops testifying, offered the official line at the trial on August 19 this year. Under cross- examination, he said he backed the rancher's claim from the start and based his decision on "hearsay evidence" gathered from some non-Native residents. He acknowledged the rancher did not possess a survey nor other documentation to prove his claim to the land surrounding the lake. The cop also shed light on a public relations frame-up he orchestrated, one of many staged by the force. He admitted that police had no proof that a cache of weapons allegedly smuggled out of the encampment and intercepted on August 19, 1995, originated there. A much-publicized press conference and display of weaponry was staged on that day, aimed at fanning the flames of fear among local residents and justifying an eventual armed assault on the encampment. He surprised many in the courtroom when he admitted that there were no fingerprint tests ever conducted on the weapons, saying it was "overlooked." The most serious police assault on the encampment occurred on September 11 last year. Suniva Bronson and two other occupants of a truck set out to fetch water and miraculously escaped injury when their vehicle was blown up by a remote-controlled land mine detonated by cops. Police sharpshooters then opened fire, showering the camp with thousands of rounds. Bronson was shot in the arm even though she had moved back in an area the police had earlier declared a "safe zone." The occupation ended peacefully on September 17 with the arrests of the 18. Trial, defense effort unfold Jones Ignace is pursuing his fight for release from prison. He has been denied bail since his arrest. "Maybe because I stand up and speak my rights, is that why they keep me in?" Ignace asked the court on July 15 during another bail release hearing. "It's not only us on trial," he told the judge. "This court is also on trial." The trial is expected to continue for many months. The big-business media in British Columbia and across Canada have maintained a virtual news blackout of the proceedings. "The government campaign at Gustafsen Lake was a murder operation to crush a legitimate protest," Bill Lightbown, one of the participants in the encampment, said in an interview. "If we let them get away with such things then we will eventually be overwhelmed by a police state with no justice." "That's why we must speak up and organize to defend the Gustafsen 18." The committee organizing the defense is asking that letters of support and funds be sent to: Ts'peten (Gustafsen) Trust Fund, Box 6475, Hinton AB T7W 1X7, British Columbia, Canada. To get an introductory 12-week subscription to the Militant in the U.S., send $10 US to: The Militant, 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014. For subscription rates to other countries, send e-mail to themilitant@igc.apc.org or write to the above address. --------- "RE: First Nations Distribution Network" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 10:15:31 -0400 From: "Jordan S. Dill" Subj: First Nations Distribution Network UUCP email Good day all... A member of this list and her daughter have recently been responsible for the assembly/packing/shipping of approximately 4,130 lbs. worth of clean clothing/assorted goods to the Pine Ridge Reservation...cost to ship this material was approximately $700. The clothing and $'s were assembled via donations. 107 separate boxes are now enroute to South Dakota. It has been suggested that a "network" be established so as to help those Nations which might benefit as soon will the Lakota at Pine Ridge - for want of a different phrase I'll call the venture the "First Nations Distribution Network" (FNDN). Obviously there will have to be "collection/drop-off" points, individuals who will agree to be responsible for these "nodes" (to use computer jargon), and "solicitors" who will do the field work...perhaps collecting and making plans to get material/money to the nodes. From these nodes we can arrange for shipping. I intend to set-up a site through which interested parties will be able to apprise us of what material is available for donation. What I am wondering at this point is whether there are any on this List who would like to be involved in this new project? I am open to suggestions as to how the organization might be handled and would appreciate advice as to what you think about the proposal. I'd like to see public responses to the above (cause then all can see what you're saying) but am, of course, open to private advice. I am setting up this site now.. . Jordan Ayatohihi... First Nations/First Peoples Issues (4 Star Magellan site) Wounded Knee Home Page American Indian Movement PGP public key available upon request... --------- "RE: UN walkout by AIM" --------- Date: Sun, 03 Nov 1996 18:00:35 -0800 (PST) From: American Indian Movement Subj: UN walkout by AIM Newsgroup: alt.native AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT AUTONOMOUS CONFEDERATION GENEVA, SWITZERLAND OCTOBER 24, 1996 ON THE OCCASION OF THE MEETING OF THE UNITED NATIONS OPEN-ENDED INTERSESSIONAL WORKING GROUP CONSIDERING THE DRAFT DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The American Indian Movement is a legitimate National Liberation Organization in the original indigenous territories of North America now claimed by the United States. We have been active at the United Nations since before there was a Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and before there was a Draft Declaration. It is because of our long-standing work in this forum that we feel compelled to inform you why we are leaving this process today. When Indigenous Peoples first arrived at the UN in 1977 the world was a different place. The possibilities for a genuine and respectful expansion of fundamental human rights, especially the right for all peoples to be free from colonial domination, seemed great. We took seriously, as we thought the members of the United Nations did, high-sounding principles such as the self-determination of peoples, and ideals such as the promotion of world peace and cooperation. We came here, with our other indigenous sisters and brothers, to bring revolutionary vision and change to a narrow and moribund United Nations system, not to acquiesce in it, or to accept it fatalistically. We brought the goodwill and the dignity of our peoples and nations to this foreign place in a optimistic attempt to vindicate the rights of our future generations. Now that has neither the need nor the desire to assist us in the de colonization of our peoples and our homelands. What we have been met with here in Geneva is the all too familiar atmosphere of duplicity, deceit, and disrespect that we receive from the invader states in our homelands. In 1492, the year that our territories were first invaded by European colonialism, the Spanish scholar Nebrija stated that language is the perfect instrument of empire. Over the centuries, we as indigenous peoples have come to realize the truth of Nebrija's forthrightness in describing the methods by which language is used in the legal and political processes of the settler states to suppress us. We are now shocked and dismayed that the process of considering the Draft Declaration is being captured by a similar imperial ideological perspective, and is itself becoming a tool of continuing colonization, empire, and genocide against indigenous peoples. Specifically, hollow pronouncements that the working group will proceed on the grounds that indigenous peoples will be allowed full and effective participation along with state governments, have meant that indigenous peoples are allowed to comment on the draft, but that states alone will retain the sole right to determine the ultimate complexion and content of the Draft that will impact us. Such an arrangement cannot honestly be construed as the genuine partnership with indigenous peoples that the United Nations has claimed to desire. When asked to respond to the three reasonable request of the indigenous caucus, namely: 1. That the Draft Declaration be accepted at this session of the Working Group without negotiation, changes, amendments or deletions; 2. That the proposed agenda be altered to provide an opportunity for substantive debate on the most critical aspects of the Draft, such as the right of indigenous peoples to exercise self-determination, indigenous territorial rights, treaty rights, and other collective rights. Articles of the draft should not be re-grouped or otherwise subject to suggestion for alteration or revision; 3. That the rules of procedure for the Working Group be suspended to allow for the genuine, full, effective and co-equal participation of both states and indigenous peoples. Participation is meaningless without the consensus of the Working Group also including the decision-making contribution of indigenous peoples and nations on an equal level with states. In reaction to the indigenous caucus request, only six states availed themselves of the opportunity to respond, and they in relatively mild or couched language. It was only our indigenous relatives from Fiji who had the good will to address and support our reasonable request fully. Other states made high-sounding statements about how indigenous "input (as opposed to genuine participation) will be indispensable," or that indigenous participation is "absolutely fundamental," to the discussion of the Draft. Yet, when almost all indigenous peoples withdrew from the session in frustration, the states proceeded with the regrouping and suggested text changes in the Draft. On the third point, absolutely no states responded to the need to adopt structural changes that would provide for co-equal indigenous participation in the operation of the Working Group. It is clear that the Draft is already an expression of compromised aspirations of indigenous peoples. Virtually all indigenous peoples acknowledge that the Draft is an imperfect document that represents, at most a minimum standard of the rights of indigenous peoples. At this session of the open-ended working group, indigenous delegates made it clear that no changes that would serve to weaken the document would be acceptable. Despite this clear indigenous position, states have taken great liberty in suggesting changes and alterations to the Draft, designed to destroy most of the positive content of an admittedly imperfect document. Several states have made it clear that the Draft, after twelve years of debate in which every state in this Working Group had an opportunity to participate, will not be passed in its current form. To ask indigenous peoples after twelve years of work on the Draft, as the chairman of the Working Group asked, to expect the current discussions to continue for an additional seven to ten years, is both unnecessary and intolerable. Indigenous peoples are confronted on a daily basis with matters of life and death, of invasion, theft and survival. To expect us to devote critical time, resources and energy to a process that does not genuinely respect or welcome our legitimate, co-equal, decision-making participation, is unreasonable. To expect us to devote another several years to an unequal and confining process that may, in the end, harm us more than assist us, is unacceptable. It is also clear that powerful states, such as the United States, will not allow a genuine expression of self-determination, collective rights, or territorial rights to be embodied in the Draft. It is apparent that such state positions, and these United Nations processes which legitimize them, are clearly intended to effect the further "domestication" of all indigenous peoples. We will not consent to be part of such oppressive processes. We will not allow our presence or our participation in this forum, a forum which is organized in a manner that is contrary and hostile to our own understanding of respect and participation, to be construed as lending either tacit or active consent to this process. We leave this statement as an expression of active opposition to any and all processes that seek to address matters of fundamental concern to us, but that marginalize our authority to affect the ultimate articulation of your rights and our interests. This statement, however, should not be judged as a mere complaint or nay saying. In the continuing spirit of mutual respect, and in the hope that we might again sit in dialogue with each other, either in your territories or ours, to discuss our mutual concerns, we provide the following recommendations: 1. That the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, after twelve years of consideration, discussion and debate in the working Group on Indigenous Peoples, with the extensive participation of indigenous delegates, and with full opportunity of states to contribute to the discussion, should be adopted at this session of the Working Group as the minimum international standard of the rights of indigenous peoples and nations. If states are unwilling to accept this reasonable, albeit flawed, version of the Draft, then we as indigenous peoples and nations should assert our right to strengthen the articles that have already been diluted, and/or to meet independently of the United Nations to revive our own Declaration to stand as an alternative to the ultimate state version that will almost inevitably result from the current process. 2. That any and all future sessions of United Nations bodies concerned with the Draft Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples have the conventional rules of procedure suspended so as to allow the full, effective and co-equal, decision-making (including consensus making and/or voting) participation of indigenous peoples/nations and member states concerned. 3. That indigenous nations and peoples, including and especially traditional representation, and not simply those tribal or indigenous governments whose legitimacy is defined or recognized by the states, be seated within and among states, on the basis of co-equality and in the spirit of the partnership described in the proclamation of the UN Decade for Indigenous Peoples 4. That sessions of future meetings discussing the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples convene in United Nations regional centers, such as in Bangkok, Thailand or Santiago, Chile to afford indigenous peoples a greater opportunity to participate in the deliberations on a more affordable, and a more participatory, basis. In conclusion, we have come to the realization that the processes in this body have become too arbitrary, oppressive and disrespectful of our status as indigenous nations and peoples to continue our participation. some states will delight in our departure, but we put them on notice that they have not seen the last of us. We will continue to advance the battle for indigenous peoples' rights wherever we are, and we will continue to support, in every spiritual and physical way available to us, our indigenous brothers and sisters who remain here, and wherever they struggle. Despite all attempts by our enemies to divide us, we as the original peoples of the earth remain steadfast and strong. Perhaps, when we believe that a sufficient level of mutual respect and cooperation has developed in these halls, we may even return here to the United Nations, In the meanwhile, we will return to our homelands to assert our rights where the terrain is a bit more familiar and where the battleground is a little more level. AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT International Confederation of Autonomous Chapters Russell Means - Spokesperson Glenn Morris Phyliss Young Sharon Venne Bobby Castillo Susana Sleeping Bear Josh Dillabaugh Mona Roy Dillabaugh Lori Pourier Crystal Echohawk --------- "RE: Thoughts on Unity" --------- Date: Tue, 05 Nov 1996 10:14:53 -0400 (EDT) From: "Robert B. Bancroft 475-2584 fax: 475-6730" Subj: Tuesday thoughts on Unity UUCP email Sge'no to our village people, I was speaking with an Elder last night and gleaning some insights and teachings. One thought that he expressed was as follows. "Sometimes I get very frustrated with my own people. They allow stupid things to detract and divide them. While the People are arguing over who is pre-eminent, who is in charge, who has the power, etc., the government and the BIA and others are standing on the sidelines of the argument clapping their hands, saying YES! Push them some more, keep them arguing between themselves. Soon they will self distruct." These thoughts keep running through my mind and I keep asking myself, what will it take? What will bring the people together? Some of the answers I have found within myself as I look at what caused the change in my life. I was content within the wasichu world when my mind was ignorant of my Native heritage. As I became aware of my Native roots, I began to look at the cultures around me. The more I learned about the culture and the People among whom I lived, the more that my spirit responded. It was drawing me more and more toward the Native way of thinking and responding to the natural world. Thus began my personal change. But, as Sister Raven says, that is another story. So, what were the keys to unlock my spirit and change my perspective? First was learning about the culture of the people among whom I lived. Next was living in the culture of the people, because experience is the greatest teacher. Another key is the language of the culture and people with whom I live. The language unlocks a great deal more of the culture. In the wasichu society, one knows who your neighbors are but most do not know their neighbors. There is no real sense of community. As I became involved with the life of our Native community, my Native neighbors became my Native friends and my sense of community began to grow. As I gave to the community, the community gave to me and my Native friends became my extended family and my sense of belonging to the community grew again. As I began to study and learn the Seneca language from an Elder, my sense of community increased even more. The community has given me a knowledge of and a sense of belonging that extends into the spiritual realm. As a person, I am now regaining a lost sense or knowledge of my connection to the universe and the natural world. I believe that unity will come when all Native People, especially the young, move in a like direction. Language, community, spiritual belonging are keys that we must find again. How to teach this to the young escapes me. But I know that they must see the sense of pride that we must have as Native People before they will surrender their involvement with the wasichu culture which is not theirs. I share this with you, my sisters and brothers in this village, so that you may understand a little of my journey. It is through many of your thoughts that I move in directions that help me find the answers that I seek. It is through this village that my sense of community also grows, so I consider myself doubly blessed by our Creator. I offer sage and tobacco for you all. These are the words of Grey Wolf, that is all that I have to say. Nay:weh. Grey Wolf --------- "RE: Mean Streets" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 05:42:15 GMT From: scottrobertladd@juno.com (Scott Robert Ladd) Subj: "Mean Streets" (article on Native American social problems) Newsgroups: apc.indig.info,soc.culture.native,alt.native Three years ago, I wrote an article about urban Native American poverty, for the September-October issue of the now-defunct magazine NATIVE AMERICAN SMOKE SIGNALS. In returning to my old haunts recently, I discovered that little, if anything, had changed. The magazine returned rights to my articles when it died. This is not a pretty story; frankly, it's downright depressing because what my wife and I experienced WAS depressing. But our experience taught us much about reality, and I think we've been able to move on an accomplish something in other ways. I would be very interested in suggestions as to what can be done about this dreadful problem. ============ Mean Streets ============ by Scott Robert Ladd Copyright 1993, 1996 Scott Robert Ladd The place is known as Indian Park -- three trees, a city-owned utility dome, and a park bench adorning a tiny triangle of ground at the crossing of three inner city streets. To the north, the steel and glass towers of downtown Denver rise above the liquor stores, bars, and homeless shelters that surround the park. My companion at Indian Park was David, a Native American with the dream of creating a tradition-based treatment center at an abandoned ranch in rural Eastern Colorado. By converting the remote ranch into a place of spiritual and cultural healing for Native Americans, David hoped to heal people in a place far away from poverty and hopelessness. David has -- and continues -- to fight his personal battles with drink and drugs; he knows intimately the life people live on Denver's skid row. I was nauseated by Indian Park's stench of liquor and human waste. On the bench, amid a scattering of empty liquor bottles, three unkempt Native men sat and shared a bottle of Wild Turkey. After David introduced me, and the oldest man, probably in his late fifties, shook uncontrollably as he gave me a hug. The younger men give me the "Indian handshake," and ask if I have money to "loan" them. David tells the men about his healing community, explaining how they might benefit if only they would be willing to swear off drink. None of the men seem interested -- or even completely coherent -- and we leave soon to drive around the area. People lie under bus benches, lounge in doorways, or simply stand staring at nothing. Alcohol is an equal opportunity killer, but it is especially fond of Native Americans. Recent medical studies have shown that Native Americans do not produce an enzyme that removes liquor from the blood stream, making Indians particularly vulnerable to alcoholism. "The bars aren't open yet," said David, as we drove. "So they've got nothing to do." David explained how liquor stores blatantly exploit alcoholic Natives, and I later watched one of these transactions take place. At least one establishment in Denver provides "post office boxes" for its Native clients. When the monthly tribal or federal checks arrive, the store cashes them to cover the previous month's credit for alcohol. Many liquor stores illegally convert food stamps to credit on booze, at fifty cents on the dollar. Welfare is no "benefit" for the people I saw -- government support only supports drug and alcohol habits. The problems are not isolated to large cities. In Colorado Springs -- pop. 300,000 -- a network of bridges marks the intersection of several major thoroughfares, highways, and Fountain Creek. I once lived less than a half-mile from the site, but it's an world away economically and culturally from the experience of most Americans. Beneath the bridges and along the stream live Native Americans. One bridge houses seven Dineh? (Navajo); across the street, several Apaches have made their homes. "It's a good place!" said Freeman, a young Dineh? acquaintance of mine. "The road keeps us warm and dry. And the police don't bother us; they know we're here." A week later, the city police rousted the residents from beneath the bridges and out of the shanty towns. Makeshift shacks were torn down, and residents vanished to other areas of the city. Two days before the police raid, I gave Freeman and his friend Pete a ride to Walgreens so they could buy mouthwash. They expected to be hired the next day for some construction work; the two men had been drinking, and the mouthwash would remove the stench of alcohol from their breath. When asked why they drank, Pete said "What else do we have to do?" Pete later forced a dollar bill into my shirt pocket -- a show of pride from a man who saw no future for himself. Jonah isn't homeless or uneducated, but he ended up on the streets. This young Dineh? man is articulate, intelligent, and educated; when we met him, he was hitchhiking cross-country to his family home on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Once in Colorado Springs, Jonah's backpack was stolen. I gave him some old clothes and 5 bucks; he asked for corn pollen, but we had none. He prayed in our front yard, and he promised to send some pollen to my wife once he reached Arizona. The next morning, a friend called to tell me that Jonah had been hurt. While hitchhiking, Jake was attacked and beaten by several men who screamed racial slurs at him. The hospital put sixteen stitches in his head, and the Colorado Springs police department bought him a bus ticket home. I was shocked by the number and condition of Natives on the street. Most had moved to the cities hoping to find an economic opportunity that does not exist in their homelands. What they found was a harsh life of disappointment and racism. They've exchanged the hopelessness of the reservation for the hopelessness of the city. Medical care for urban Native Americans is appallingly non-existent at worst and demeaning at best. In many cases, alcohol provides an anesthetic for Natives who cannot obtain needed medical care. I've been surprised at the number of Natives who have severe dental problems. One man, who had lost an arm, was told by social services that he couldn't receive help unless a doctor certified that the arm was, indeed, missing! Stacy suffered an allergic reaction to drugs given her by the local alcohol treatment center. My wife, Maria, took Stacy to the county hospital. In the same hospital where Maria had been recently treated with care and concern, Stacy met with indifference and disdain. Stacy's tribal insurance eliminated finances as the cause of the hospital's attitude. The difference seemed to stem from Stacy's homelessness and her dark Dakota features. Maria is also Native -- but her skin is lighter and she is more often classified as "Hispanic." Of course, society does not restrict homelessness, substance abuse, and poverty to Native Americans. I find it disturbing, though, how pervasive problems are in the Native community. Nearly every urban Native I've met has had a drinking problem at one time or another. Families seem made to be broken. Natives on the street are utterly, completely, and fundamentally abandoned by their peoples. If the dominant society does little for Native people, the Native community itself does even less. When a Lakota friend recently began drinking, I found few resources and little family or societal support. He wasn't dangerous; he was depressed and in need of help. I see virtue in the theory that an alcoholic cannot recover until they want to -- yet I wonder where these people can recover to? Many Natives return to substance abuse because they go from treatment programs back to the same sense of despondency. Pride in being Indian is absent, drummed out of them by a dominant society that belittles their history, beliefs, and culture. Their lives are a vicious cycle of reform and relapse. I've spoken with elders about traditional Native values, including the importance of family and spirituality. The elders, unfortunately, lack the resources to help their people. In most cases, the struggle to survive keeps families and friends from helping. Only a handful of Native activists seem to be building resources to help their brothers and sisters. While many Native leaders talk about grand political issues and the atrocities of the past, they ignore the genocide occurring on city streets. Sovereignty is freedom from external control -- it is the right of a people to control their destiny. Sovereignty is taken, not given. How can the Native Nations be free when so many of their people are controlled by drugs, desperation, and poverty? David's attempt to create a community failed. He found little support from other parts of the Native community for his initiative; in some cases, his efforts were undermined by other Native Americans who refused to help unless they could be in control of the project. Everyone expressed interest, but few provided aid. In the end, David was unable to make the lease payments on the ranch. A dozen men, women, and children were once again homeless. And my friend turned to alcohol and cocaine in assuaging his massive disappointment; I've now lost track of him. The residents of Indian Park have no hope, no future, and no reason to climb out of their alcoholic hazes. "Where are all the Indian leaders?" an Indian friend recently asked me. I didn't have an answer. ======================================================================== Scott Robert Ladd 957 Empire Street voice: +1 970 387 0271 ScottRobertLadd@juno.com P.O. Box 617 fax: +1 970 387 0277 Silverton, CO 81433 USA "Seeking Creative Solutions to Intractable Problems" ======================================================================== --------- "RE: Ottawa Tries To Drive Wedge" --------- Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 18:40:56 -0700 From: Brian Hauk Subj: Ottawa Tries To Drive Wedge Between Quebecois Patriots UUCP email from the Militant, vol.60/no.9 March 4, 1996 BY ROBERT SIMMS TORONTO-Federalist politicians in Ottawa are pursuing their reactionary, chauvinist campaign of threats to carve up Quebec as a weapon to beat into submission the Quebecois struggling for independence. Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin launched into inflammatory remarks February 9 when he told reporters the independence struggle of Quebec could generate violence against Natives. "We're not advocating force, but [Quebec Premier Lucien] Bouchard has to explain to those people who vote yes in any referendum [on Quebec sovereignty] if they are giving him the right to ... use force on aboriginal peoples." "There are a lot of crazy people around this country and when you appeal to the dark side of people, as the separatists do, then you are going to get violence," he stated. A few days later, Irwin went on to claim that aboriginal territory within Quebec's borders does not belong to Quebec. For several weeks Canada's capitalist rulers have been campaigning for the idea that the Canadian government is entitled to "partition Quebec," with the implied use of armed force, to keep Natives in the north and English-speaking communities in Montreal and other regions of Quebec within Canada in the event of an independent Quebec. Canada's prime minister Jean Chre'tien made it official policy by stating January 29, "If Canada is divisible, then Quebec is divisible." French-speaking Quebecois constitute some 80 percent of the province's population. The Liberal government in Ottawa has taken over completely the iron-fist program of the right-wing Reform Party, whose leader, Preston Manning, had long advocated the partition of Quebec. On January 29, Manning stated that Ottawa needs to instill "fear" among Quebecois about the consequences of separation, including partition. "You don't want to use fear exclusively, but fear is an emotion that does motivate people," he said. Threats to use military force In a February 13 article the Toronto Globe and Mail reported that the new chief of defense staff of Canada's armed forces, General Jean Boyle, said that "the Prime Minister talked privately with him about scenarios in which the military might be needed in an internal crisis" - including "the dicey issue of Quebec." On Quebec, the Globe went on, Boyle would not reveal what contingency plans existed but "he confirmed that they `discussed all of the issues vis-a-vis providing Canadian forces in support of the government's mandate [including] aid to the civil power and contingency powers overseas.' " One of the aims of the "partition Quebec" campaign is to build a movement among privileged English-speakers and among oppressed Natives inside Quebec against the Quebecois' struggle for independence. Rallies of these forces have been taking place, the latest on February 16, when up to 1,400 English-speakers, most of them middle-class and older, turned out in Montreal in a cheering pro-partition rally. Nearly all Native officials across Canada support Ottawa's national unity campaign and oppose Quebec independence. Cree and Inuit officials in northern Quebec have taken the most openly pro-Ottawa positions. On October 26, four days before the referendum on Quebec sovereignty, Cree officials paid for a full-page ad that ran in several newspapers. It read in part, "We ask Canadians to uphold the Canadian Constitution, our treaty and fundamental human rights, and the rule of law. We ask Canadians to support our right to remain... in Canada." Some Natives distant from Ottawa Ottawa knows that many working people and youth understand that Native people face deep oppression in Canada and have sympathy for their demands. They are cynically using Native people to win new support for their reactionary campaigns against the Quebecois, who are also an oppressed nation. Quebecois and other French-speaking people in Canada face inferior incomes, wages, education, and health facilities as a result of both historic and current discrimination. Some Native officials have started to distance themselves from Ottawa's violence-baiting against the Quebecois using Native peoples as fodder for their campaign. "We don't want to be used as pawns by the federal government," said Ovide Mercredi, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, the main body representing Native band councils across Canada. Konrad Sioui, former leader of the Quebec Assembly of First Nations, opposes the partition campaign. "We are neither provincial Indians nor federal Indians," he said. "We should let [the politicians] have the monopoly on demagogy." In another development in which supporters of Quebec independence were targeted, Prime Minister Chre'tien waded into a crowd of people protesting cuts to unemployment insurance during a ceremony to honor the Canadian flag in Hull, Quebec, February 15. With a look of hatred on his face, Chre'tien grabbed a protester by the throat and back of the neck, twisted him around and flung him to the ground. Vice Prime Minister Sheila Copps tried to justify this violent assault against a demonstrator who had made no move toward Chre'tien by saying that the protesters at the event were "just a bunch of separatists disguised as unemployed workers." Much of the big-business media outside Quebec backed this excuse. The Toronto Globe and Mail wrote that the demonstrators "marred a ceremony that was intended to build up Quebecois' attachment to Canadian symbols." "Now, bring on Bouchard," was the headline in the Toronto Sun, as it ran a full-page photo of Chre'tien's chokehold on the demonstrator. As it turned out, Chre'tien's target was William Clennett, an English- speaker born in a Montreal working-class neighborhood who supported the yes vote in last fall's referendum on Quebec's sovereignty. Clennett also recently added his name to a letter signed by some 60 English-speaking residents of Quebec protesting Ottawa's chauvinist campaign for the partition of an independent Quebec. In a letter to the Ottawa Citizen last October, Clennett wrote, "With a yes vote, the question of national unity will no longer serve as a justification for cutting essential social programs and the fight for social justice will thereby be enhanced." To get an introductory 12-week subscription to the Militant in the U.S., send $10 US to: The Militant, 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014. For subscription rates to other countries, send e-mail to themilitant@igc.apc.org or write to the above address. --------- "RE: Request for Data" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 15:44:14 -0500 From: Frye@SMTPLINK.IPFW.INDIANA.EDU Subj: Important request for data UUCP email Dear friends, On 10/31/96 I was contacted by an official, from a particular reservation, with a request for some information. I have promised to keep certain information confidential (ie; names of individuals, location, reservation, etc. ) since the subject of the requested information is in much dispute and has a lot of emotional sensitivity connected to it. The info needed is of vital importance to the cultural integrity of this community and to the determination of a new communal membership law. At present, the membership laws do not conform to the traditional laws and ethics of this nation and certain contemporary individuals are pushing for stricter and more untraditional membership laws. This community is, perhaps, in danger of losing existing members as well as the cohesion of the nation itself. I'm sure that many of you are familiar with the "blood-quantum" guidelines that have been in use, over the years, by various Native American nations as a means by which to determine membership. "Blood-quantum" is, by all means, the subject of the vital data which is sought. It is our hope to locate and retrieve existing unbiased data on the social and cultural impact of "blood-quantum" utilization, past, present, and future. Below is a copy of the request in the requestor's own words: (Note: Where indicated by "...", information has been left out to protect the identity of individuals, locations, etc.) "The ... people ... are presently in ... consultation of an overall process to legislate a membership law ... Like other Native communities we have a movement ... to support a "blood quantum calculation" as part of the criteria for eligibility of membership. On the other hand we have a more traditional movement that identifies lineage and culture as integral... These two approaches are currently identified as inclusionary and exclusionary in nature. Inclusionary is supported by traditional law . Exclusionary is supported by various interpretations but none as clear or as focussed as some of the customs and euro-style traditions our people have picked up on as a result of contact. In my opinion it comes down to a question of confidence in the message and original instructions we have inherited... " "A scientific analysis on the impact of blood quantum calculations to determine a persons eligibility and rights is what we are looking for. ... Someone somewhere must have done a study. For example; should a First Nation community choose 50% and over in determining a person's status and rely on family history over three generations to calculate an individuals blood quantum. What would be the estimated population of a present community of 7000 members in the year 2050? As a consequence of these type of calculations ...(the community) has many classes ... each with their own level of blood quantum. Those that don't meet the required percentage face the lose of many rights even though they were born and raised in ... Today the community is attempting to resolve the question by recording the social impact of the current membership code and building towards a consensus for a new communal law on membership. I think it is true that a scientific approach in calculating ones status requires a scientific analysis on the impact. Since there are so many variables I believe it wise to seek a qualified opinion." "My question and request to you Will is should you come across any studies that have been done already or any other information that you believe can help can you forward the documents to us. I am also requesting a certain degree of confidentiality on this matter since , as you have encountered, there is a lot of emotion attached to this issue by many people." Anyone with info and/or data in regard to this or where I may find the needed info can e-mail me at: frye@smtplink.ipfw.indiana.edu Thank you for your time. Nia:wen, Will Frye --------- "RE: Urgent Request: Halt Execution" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 15:44:14 -0500 From: pamb@efn.org (Pam Venn) Subj: URGENT ALERT - Ronald Running Bear (due to be executed) Newsgroups: apc.indig.info,soc.culture.native,alt.native I just found the following in the most unlikely of places: http://www.pres96.com/games1/nwi39s1.html The full text of the news release is available on this Web page. California State Pardon Board has recommended against clemency for Native American political activist Ronald Running Bear, age 42. He will face death by lethal injection at San Quentin (California) within ONE WEEK. In 1990, Stephen O'Donaghue, one of the Lodi (California) police officers who found the gun, recanted his original testimony and swore under oath that the gun was planted by the Lodi Police force. Running Bear, who had been active in the group, Native Nation, which advocates the return of large land tracts and sovereignty to Native Americans, claims his gun had been stolen and that he was framed by local police, which felt threatened by Native Nations' claim to several valuable pieces of agricultural land near Lodi. With less than one week until his scheduled execution, there is very little time to take any action. Call, phone, or fax California governor Pete Wilson at: Governor Pete Wilson 1st Floor, State Capitol Sacramento, CA 95814 phone: 916/445-2841 fax: 916/445-4633 to urge a stay of execution, a new trial in view of the testimony of the Lodi police officer, and executive clemency. Time is very short! --------- "RE: Blood Quantum and Culture" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 18:38:14 -0600 (CST) From: cdm@azstarnet.com (CDM) Subj: blood quantum and culture Mailing List: NATIVELIT I don't know if I've missed these points before--if so, bear with me. I don't read my mail as often as I should! But I wanted to discuss the Nations in which even if you're 100 percent "Native," but one of your two "halves" are not of the Nation into which you enroll, you become "half" Indian, in the eyes of the governmental agencies, and your children become a quarter and soon, there's not enough "blood" left, for anyone to enroll. Clearly, this was the real intent behind enrollment in the first place. As times changed, the government knew there would be more intermarriage between Nations and between non-Natives and Natives. So, if all else failed, the People would "marry" themselves into extinction, they hoped. (And I shouldn't throw stones here, since I'm contributing to the trend, as you'll see later on in this missive. But I still think that was the motive.) This is happening, or will, to many of my in laws' children, and most notably a Navajo/Pima friend, who discovered, upon trying to enroll, that she would be only half "Native" as far as the Navajo Nation is concerned. Given this, she opted not to enroll at all, and is part of a movement to "rethink" enrollment, period. Another quarrel I have with enrollment is that many of those who are culturally grounded, at least on Hopi where my in laws and adoptive family live, meaning our most beloved and worthy elders and strict traditionalists, are unable to share in the benefits to which the enrolled are entitled. Lots of really essential services and rights are tied to that damned card. So, it's almost like the more devoutly Hopi you are, the less you get. And then, there are people who were born at grandpa's sheep camp "the summer they had that big old storm over there by Moencopi" and never DID get around to the paperwork. I mean, the people who don't see the point until their kids tell them they should--and then can't get any documentation to help out. OR they discover their ancestors aren't on any of the census rolls, and they can't enroll, period. This just gets really complicated and frustrating for them. And they're less likely to be tenacious about the run around, since all this is contrary to everything they believe. Whereas, if you're kinda savvy about all this stuff, and have family in tribal government to help you out if your own savvy doesn't get you through...You're in. And the people who are, tend, in our case, to be people who've been elsewhere, people who've lived in both worlds, know red tape better than they know the local traditions, usually. So THEY get the jobs, THEY get to run for office, THEY get on the school board and set curriculum and everything else, and there's less and less "official" input from the people who once would have had the MOST say in all this. In the end, you get craziness like this: my half African daughter, has cousins who have Native parents on both sides, but their enrollment cards say that they are half, just like hers does. Her father enrolled her mostly to be sure that there'd be no official "problems" if she decided to live on Hopi as an adult. And her relations up there found it amusing, actually--no hard feelin's. She's their baby, after all, and they wanted her to be counted, any way we could finagle it. In HER case, the card carries an interesting message. That's another story entirely. But...there's somethin' kinda strange about it, generally, if you ask me. Clearly, this is a "foreign" concept, that is really very divisive, unbelieveably complicated, emotionally charged, and potentially dangerous. Mi'wi cdm@azstarnet.com --------- "RE: Tribal Constitutions" --------- Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 12:13:19 -0800 (PST) From: Larry Kibbey Subj: Tribal Constitutions Mailing List: NATIVELIT October 27, 1996 7:27 p.m. Tribal Membership: Deciding tribal membership is not a matter of choosing between popular and unpopular applicants. Membership criteria is decided by the whole tribe and established in the tribe's governing document, which is normally the tribal constitution in which many tribes established after the enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act. Membership is a very sincere protected right, therefore it is protected by law, tribal law. When tribal officials insist that these membership criteria be consistently applied, and that good membership rolls be kept, they are guaranteeing that the tribe's identity will be preserved for the future. Tribal members are united by a common language, common experiences, and common cultural traditions. The Tribal constitution, ordinance, or resolution will also list other necessary requirements for membership or describe various requirements that future members must meet. In this, the requirements for future membership vary considerably from tribe to tribe. For the most part the requirement of having an ancestor on the basic membership roll is probably a universal requirement for tribal membership. Other such tribal requirement include having a minimum degree of tribal blood; meeting residency requirements; having parents or guardians file an enrollment application for a child within a specific time after the childs birth; finding a declaration of intent to maintain membership. Tribal Membership, was the first real movement against the New Age. Here the tribes could hinder and deny a persons application for membership based on the fact, that a person did not bring any manner of proof as so stipulated by that tribe reviewing the application. Back during the 30's when the IRA became law, it was basically being directed to allow the tribes to govern their own affairs, set up their own governments, etc., a means of tribal Sovereignty, although highly contested today for various reasons, the IRA has allowed the tribes to keep unwanted people from being enrolled, people who just need to be Indian for royalty payments, or to have something that is not offered to them within the American Society. In this, tribes are maintaining their identity and for the most part, when people say, "Why should the government say who is Indian and who is not, the tribes should be allowed to govern their own affairs and decide who is Indian!" And as far as I know, most tribes maintain very unique rolls, traditional and other-wise, and it has helped keep such people as the New Age out, but not from other activity. Every person, claiming to have a degree of blood, who can provide ancestry, has a culture, tradition and heritage and all it takes is for a person to sit down write a letter or even pick up the phone and call a source, and most of the time a person can begin to piece together the past of their family. Yes, this does take time, but if a person has a real desire to enhance their cultural respects, then this is what it takes and what makes this valid, is that any one in this country, can go anywhere, in the U.S.A., and find Indian people living somewhere, and ask for directions, seriously, a person will discover amazing regards, especially if it involves ancestry. Tribal Elder's kept a very unique filing system.... The history, culture, tradition and heritage is there. All one has to do, is make an effort to go and get it..... --------- "RE: 3rd Annual College Guide" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 16:34:59 -0700 From: Dick Pierce Subj: The 3rd Annual College Guide for American Indians Mailing List: AISESnet Discussion List (aisesnet@victor.umt.edu) TO: AISES Friends on AISESnet Esp., Teachers, Counsellors, Librarians, Parents FROM: Dick Pierce, AISES SUBJECT: The 3rd Annual College Guide for American Indians We are as excited about this third edition as we were about the the first two issues in 1994 and 1995....especially with all the great feedback and the input and support that we have received from so many of you. The student role models and the featured colleges are all new and the data on 200 colleges has been updated. Much of the new content is the direct result of reader/member suggestions and contributions. In addition to American Indian students, their families and advisors, this Guide should be of interest to education professionals, college admissions and multi-cultural programs, libraries, and the equal opportunity programs and recruiting departments in corporations and government agencies. Please help us pass the news around. If you have or write for a newsletter or magazine, please mention the Guide if its's appropriate. Also, we would request that individuals, tribes, schools, corporations and agencies consider purchasing a quantity for distribution in their area. (Quantity prices are: $5.00 each for 10+, $4.00 for 20+, $3.50 for 30+ with $5.00 shipping per order). A single copy is $7.50 plus $2.50 for postage. Thank you for your help. You can view the cover and table of contents (samples of student role models and featured colleges in process) on the AISES Web site - http://www.colorado.edu/AISES. **Please forward this note on to friends on other Email nets; thanks** PRESS RELEASE: [450 words] ...from AISES - the American Indian Science & Engineering Society AISES announces the availability of its 3rd Annual College Guide for American Indians. The 96 page guide, in an exciting, easy-to-read magazine format, is a special edition of the AISES award-winning quarterly publication, Winds of Change. "Our goal at AISES is to increase the number of American Indian college graduates", says Norbert S. Hill, Jr. (Oneida), Executive Director, "and the Guide is becoming an important factor in influencing more Indian students to start early and try for college." "It is full of data and information specifically for American Indians and emphasizes those schools that have significant Indian communities and support programs; this hopefully means more good students attending the right schools and, staying on to graduate." The College Guide has valuable information for all who are concerned with American Indian students and their decisions regarding a college education. For students, there are descriptions of top colleges and why they work for Indians; there are short articles by students who have been through the preparation, application and entry process. There is a great section on writing the application essay, with hints especially for Indian students. For parents and students there is a factual, but simple, guide to financial aid, the sources and the process. For high school college counsellors, there are success stories and comments. There is an extensive data section that is the only one of its kind. AISES has selected 200 schools by unique criteria: the size of the American Indian community at the school, the specific Indian support programs available and, a key factor, the number of American Indian graduates. This means data that focuses on "retention" or graduation rates - one can see the percentage of Indian students in the freshman/sophomore classes and compare it to the percentage of graduates. These are very elusive numbers for the population as a whole, and rare to unheard-of for American Indians. This guide is a one-of-a-kind publication. It is focused - focused only on American Indians. The needs are different so the selected schools are different and the articles are different than any other college guide. It was written solely to motivate more good students to aspire to and apply to college and, to help them pick the right college to maximize their chances of graduation. A copy belongs in the hands of every Indian high school student, every Indian family with teenagers, and every rural high school counsellor. Single copies are $7.50 plus $2.50 for mailing. Please send order and check to: AISES-Books, 5661 Airport Blvd., Boulder CO, 80301; you can see the cover and table of contents on our Web site (http://www.colorado.edu/AISES) or call AISES-Books at 303-939-0023 for information on discounts on quantities of 10 or more. --------- "RE: Review: Child of the Sun" --------- Date: Mon, 04 Nov 96 10:49:18 EST From: "Glen WELKER" Subj: Child of the Sun - "Legends of the Columbia" UUCP email A friend of mine, Ed Berwick, has written a new book entitled: "Child of the Sun" at: http://www.indians.org/welker/sunchild.htm Below I have included an excerpt from it for your perusal. The setting of it takes place near the Wilamette River in Oregon. Please write to Ed at his address below for more information. I hope you enjoy this passage from his book. Many thanks, Glenn ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stories/Poems of the Snake River/Shoshone Indians "To awaken in a forest in Oregon is a sensation never to be forgotten. There is the spicy fragrance of the pines, the drumming of the pheasants, the murmur of the mountain stream, where tender green ferns and trailing vines swing and nod gently to the nibbling, silvery trout." Eda-co-cha's Spirit Smiles In Oregon, land of the rain and sun, Where rivers flow And snowy mountains glow In summer's sunset light, Lived Tuala, Chief of all the sunny plains, Where grass is plenty And sweet berries hide And redden in the sun, Until their blood like water runs And stains the hoofs of deer And feet of men. Tuala wearied of summer's heat, And with his tribe Sought the forest shade. His braves speared salmon In waters where Cool, rocky walls look down. And here the old chief's daughter came And brought her grasses, And on yon rock sat down to weave. As morning sun rose up Each day she came. Down with the waters came Pa-hoo-ly, Son of the rocky river gorge, Guiding his light canoe. His spear was long And ever in his hand. His sight was keen, And on his spear The writhing salmon hung. Tall was his form And strong his arm. Brave and undaunted, great river's son, Speed on thy way! With morning light Eda-coo-cha came To the high rocky wall Where the fast flowing waters Sang to her a wild wailing song. And on the rushing river, Where fishes played, Pa-hoo-ly, with his spear upraised, Rode in his canoe. Then down from where the rocks are bare A branch of berries fell Into his boat. Pa-hoo-ly looked and saw the maid. He frowned and turned away, And the currents of the river Bore him along his rippling way To where deep waters, darkening, Received, on their cool floods, Pa-hoo-ly, in his own swift, light canoe, Without one murmur at the load Upon their surface calm. Other suns arose, And to the river came Each morn the dark-eyed Indian girl. Then once again The tall strong man Like an arrow flew Down the stream In his light canoe. And from where the maiden sat Some camas, sweet, Were thrown into his boat. In morrow's mist The chieftain's daughter stood And watched for the river brave's return. And like a flash he came; And heeded Eda-coo-cha not, As o'er the rocks was flung, A fishing net, Of woven grass roots, Young and strong and light. Tuala wearied of mountain glen And spoke of his sunny Tualitan plains. He called his braves. His daughter heard her chief's commands And sighed and murmured not, But once more sought the river bank And waited long For the light canoe. When like the fish hawk Down the stream The fearless boatman flew along, Down from rocky heights Tualitan chieftain's daughter fell. The waters opened wide their arms To receive her in her flight. Yon misty cloud arose, remains! And in its soft, swelling bosom, Touched by light, Eda-coo-cha's spirit smiles Legend of the Spirit of the Mountains and the Spirit of the Great Waters Ka-ou-whit-can (Tualitan) "Nanage okoe moos moos! Hiuc mammuck tillicum! Wake, nica six." (Snake River Indians - Willamette and Tualitan) "From Legends of the Columbia" The trees that rise above us Were only slender then, Not half as high as these That cast their cones And prickly leaves Down on the mountainside. In illa-hee a spirit dwelt, Great and wide and tall, With antlers, on his tawny head, That towered above the tallest trees. Long hung his hair, like moss. His arms were long, And in his hand he held a bow Whose arrows flew above the trees And mountain snow And were lost above the glistening stars, Above the moon and rolling clouds. When he called the forest shook And trembled with his breath. Old Ty-hee ruled the mountain men Who camped within his glens. Far within the rushing waters That flow through illa-hee A spirit lives who rules all waters. As they flow through rocky walls, He bids them murmur softly And creep around the rocks, Or dash and foam and madly rush Through the canyons misty gloom. And the waters all obey him; And the salmon in great shoals Go rushing up the river, To leap the rapid's foam And stem the river's flow. They go on through waters deep and shallow Old Scoo-cum to obey. To Great River Indians He is a chief and friend. Scoo-cum never left his waters To roam through forest shade, But received with loud rejoicing Each musical cascade That rushed down from the mountains To swell his river's flood. But once when the sun was setting There came from illa-hee, With the tramp of a mighty chieftain, Down to the river's brink, Ty-hee. Now, called the old wood spirit, Rush down, old Scoo-cum's floods, That I may reach your waters At their own chief's command Rippled and laughed in their ebb and flow And with the salmon played. Who is chieftain of these waters, And whom do they obey? Called old Scoo-cum of the river. Then Ty-hees spirit burned. He called upon the mountain fire, Where it rose in leaping flames, He bade the forest bow its head. He called upon the rocks To help fill up the channel Where old Scoo-cum laughed at him. Down rolled the mighty boulders Into the river bed; Then down came half the mountain Upon old Ty-hee's head! In vain were all his struggles; His voice no longer rolled >From his home upon the summit Down the mountain gorge. Where the waters had laughed and rippled A deeper channel flowed, Claiming as new heritage Old Ty-hees mountain gorge. Then Scoo-cum called ice-spirit, And cold and white it came To cut from the great old forest trees Limbs, needles and the cones. And Scoo-cums waters bore away And cleared old Ty-hees vast domain To claim it for their own. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Legend of the Boiling Springs (Snake River Indians - Willamette and Tualitan) "From Legends of the Columbia" Mo-sho-ne's Medicine Sho-sho-ne land was scorched with heat >From rising of the summer sun Until the sun went down. No cooling cloud sailed in the sky Between the earth and sun, No cooling breeze swept o'er the land With healing on its wings. The waters in the river bed Sank down into the sand, And heat and drought reigned everywhere Throughout Sho-sho-ne land. The brave who hunted on the plain Grew faint and ne'er returned, And he who sought the river bank Grew dizzy and fell down. Within Sho-sho-ne lodges Sho-sho-ne women lay; Hot arrows pierced their burning heads. There was no draught to quench or stay The children's raging thirst. More swiftly whirled the medicine men No clouds appeared that day. Then up rose from her sleeping-mat Mo-sho-ne, from whose thinning hair The snows of many winters Would never melt away. She wrapped no robe about her form; She took no meat nor fish. To the temple rock she went alone To cry to Him who heals the sick. For seven days and nights she stood Or fainting lay Upon sun-heated stone. For seven days and nights she cried, Great Spirit, hear Sho-sho-ne's cry: Send down thy cooling rain! Then at her feet the rock gave way Pure waters bubbled up. She stopped to drink, but not of them For they were boiling hot. To the stream she brought the sick And bade them bathe therein. They bathed and drank And all were cured By Mo-sho-ne's medicine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Union of Two Tribes - Willamette and Tualitan (Snake River Indians) "From Legends of the Columbia" Pe-noc-ene-towus (The Man Who Sees Your Thoughts), the Tualitan chief, was a wise man. In his lodge lived his son Scocum-tum-tum (Brave Heart) and Tenis-mowich (Startled Fawn) his daughter. Pe-noc-ene-towus had sent Brave Heart as a scout to see that no hunter of the Willamette tribe was killing the deer on our hunting ground or catching fish from our streams. Following up a deep ravine, looking for enemies or game, Brave Heart grew thirsty. He started down along the ravine to find water. Hearing a sound of breaking brush, he looked up and saw, on the opposite side of the ravine, two objects, a Willamette brave with an arrow aimed at him and a great black bear. Brave Heart sprang with a whoop down into the bushes. The arrow from the enemy's bow grazed his head. His leap and whoop frightened the bear, which turned and started up the mountainside. A moment more and she met the Willamette brave, who was fitting another arrow to his bow. With wide open mouth the bear rushed upon the Indian. He raised his bow and struck her, breaking the bow and rendering it useless. As the bear seized him, he drew his long knife and struck out, but his foot caught on a protruding root of a tree and he fell. Bear and brave, fighting with teeth, claws and deadly knife, rolled down the mountainside. Brave Heart, watching the struggle, soon saw that the bear would be the victor unless he interposed. He raised his bow and took careful aim. His arrow pierced the bear's brain. He then dispatched her with a knife and dragged his wounded and bleeding enemy from underneath her. Now take Was-co-pum's (Strong Man's) scalp. It will hang in your chief's lodge and make glad his heart. Was-co-pum is brave! Brave Heart would feel no joy to scalp him now. Brave Heart bathed and bound up the deep, bleeding wounds of his enemy, made a couch for him of leaves and grass and sat down beside him. Does Was-co-pum remember? Moons and moons have rolled since Brave Heart, a little brave, wandered away from his lodge on the mountainside, crossed the ridge and was found by Was-co-pum, then a little brave who led Brave Heart away to the chief's lodge. Your chief told you I should not be a prisoner, neither should my scalp hang in his lodge. When you had given me berries and fish, you led me back in sight of my father's lodge. Now I shall give you bear's meat and cool water. You will rest and return to your tribe. Another day Brave Heart will take your scalp to hand in his father's lodge. Suns rose and set and Brave Heart still watched beside Was-co-pum. Each had a sister, Startled Fawn and Caninr-charoo (Gliding Canoe). The two braves talked; they formed a scheme for uniting the tribes: Strong Man should have Startled Fawn for a wife and Brave Heart the Gliding Canoe. They buried their hatchets and smoked the pipe of peace. The sun was low. As dark shadows crept out, there was heard the howl of a wolf. An owl hooted: Strong Man had answered. Nearer came the Howling Wolf. Where is the chief's son? Where the shadows lie dark and heavy. A friend has bound up his wounds, made by black man of the mountains, whose teeth were long and sharp. Raise not your arrow nor unsheathe your knife. A third Indian brave sat in the darkness. The pipe of peace was passed to him. Roasted meat refreshed him. Then the young chiefs told him of their plans. Howling Wolf meditated. Then he spoke: My friends, he said, Howling Wolf joins in the wish of your hearts. Why should our tribes keep their hatchets sharp for Willamette and Tualitan braves? Let them smoke the pipe of peace. Our braves can fight the big chiefs and the black men of the mountains. Our women can gather berries on either side of the mountain; there are plenty for all. Our children can fish in any stream. There is, in Tualitan tribe, a woman who pleases the heart of Howling Wolf. Once when the sun was low, O-lal-la was far in the woods. Her basket was full of berries. A black man came out of the brush to take them from her. She fled and climbed a tree. Black man sat down to eat from her basket. An arrow from Howling Wolf's bow found his heart. Now his skin is in O-lal-la's lodge. Why should our hatchets be sharp for Willamette and Tualitan braves? Strong Man's wounds were healed. When the moon was full and round, Willamette and Tualitan chiefs met in council. There was a big feast. Gliding Canoe, Startled Dove, O-lal-la and many other women prepared it. The hatchet was buried, the pipe of peace went round, the tribes were united. Excerpted from the book: "Child of the Sun" sunreach@pacbell.net (reprinted with permission of the author:) ED BERWICK P.O. Box 1466 Los Altos, CA 94023 (415) 948-7449 opticolor1@aol.com --------- "RE: Prayer: A Farewell" --------- Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 08:36:40 -0800 (PST) From: Larry Kibbey Subj: Prayer Request UUCP email A Farewell Standing in the twilight hours of a new day, long before the dawn of morning, ready to blow on an Eagle Whistle, to send on a final journey, one who has gone before us. Four times the sound of an Eagle Whistle will echo across the land, awaking the shadows of life as the four winds carry a matter of death to our ancestor's who await the arrival of another who will soon know the answers of life and death. As the whistle is blown into the four directions, the songs of long ago are heard amongst the tree tops, across the valley floors and through the mountains bringing clouds filled with tears of our ancestor's who know that a life filled with love is coming before them in a matter of death that will live within the universe of life. Today a tear falls across the land and in the early morning twilight we say farewell for now and know that in time, they will join those who now stand over us and guide us along the path we travel. For all of life, we live and die, and the Eagle Whistle blows. Larry Kibby - kibbey@sierra.net --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" --------- Date: 96/10/31 00:32 From: Debra F. Sanders (dfsanders@genie.geis.com) Subj: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days genie email A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of November 10-16 NOWEMAPA (November) (Welehu) 10 Take time to enjoy the world around you. 11 The blue of the sky perfectly mirrors the blue of the ocean. 12 The reef fish dart in and out of shadows like restless dancers. 13 In the sunlit ocean, you can barely see the translucent beauty of the Portuguese man of war. 14 Children can see a world which we have forgotten. 15 In this land, it is always spring. 16 The path of self-knowledge is different for every person. (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, 7 November 96 08:00 -0500 From: Janet Smith (Evening Star) (jans@genie.com) Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows not previously posted to Mailing Lists NATCHAT or NATIVE-L genie email Date: Fri, 1 Nov 96 20:15:55 GMT From: Peltier Defense Committee Subj: Peltier 11/1/96 Newsgroups: alt.native, soc.culture.native NOVEMBER 19, 1996 All Peoples of All Religions, Around the World, - A Day of Prayer, Reflection, and Concentration- Please join us in a WORLD DAY OF PRAYER, Preceded by a week of action for freedom for Leonard Peltier. President Clinton is now considering Leonard's Freedom. We ask for YOUR HELP IN THE EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY PROCESS Beginning on November 12th and continuing through November 19th, Leonard Peltier, his family, Defense Committee, and legal council ask you to write, phone, fax and e-mail the President directly. We ask anyone who has ever wanted Leonard released to re-affirm their commitment to freedom. Please write, phone, fax, and e-mail the President EVERY DAY during this time. President William Jefferson Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20500 phone (202)456-1111 fax (202)456-2461 e-mail president@whitehouse.gov Peoples of the World - Please join in solidarity to pray in your own way for Leonard Peltier and President Clinton. Join World Religious Leaders in Prayer and Ceremony to provide the delicate light of freedom as we recognize those lost in the struggle, including Joseph Stuntz, Jack R. Coler, and Ronald Williams. We pray for the loss of life as we respectfully honor all victims and families that have suffered and are hurting from denied relationships with their loved ones. We especially pray for President William Jefferson Clinton and seek to help him make the right decision on clemency for Leonard Peltier, a process initiated on November 19, 1993. We pray that after twenty years the healing will begin. Please plan respectful events in your local communities November 19, 1996 or join us in: Washington, DC at the White House sidewalk For more information contact LPFC-(202)783-2512 ----------------------------------- From WJJZ52A@prodigy.com Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 21:48:43, -0500 Subject: Pow Wow to Honor all Veterans of all war The Rapid City Indian Community is sponsoring a Feast and Pow Wow to honor all veterans of all wars and all campaigns.... November 11, 1996 at Mother Butler Center 201 Wright St. Rapid City, SD 5-7PM Feast 7-11 P Pow Wow All Drums Groups Invited...All Dancers Invited... Blanket Dance to Finance Drum Groups... Information call: 605 394-9438 Volunteer help is needed and welcomed Black Hills American Indian Center PO Box 538 Rapid City, SD 57709-0538 605 394-9438 ----------------------------------- =================================== From News From Indian Country: Nov. 15-16 Silver Springs Native American Festival, Silver Springs, FL Info: 352-236-2121 Nov. 16 4th Native American Fest, Novi, MI Info: 810-352-0990 Nov. 16 NA Heritage Day, Concord, MA Info: 617-884-4227 Nov. 16 1st Wookland Reunion, Joliet, IL Info. 815-729-9020, ext 2566 Nov. 21-24 10th Thanksgiving, Tampa, FL Info: 813-620-3077 Nov. 22-24 Sacred Lands, Lakeland, FL Info: 941-688-3404 Nov. 22-24 Morristown, Armory, Morristown, NJ Info: 919-257-5383 Nov. 22-24 NAIA Harvest, The Big One, Memphis TN Info: 901-725-6869 Nov. 23 American Indian Heritage, Chicago, IL Info: 312-996-4515 Nov. 23 2nd Fox Valley, Oshkosh, WI Info: 414-424-0896 ----------------------------------- From "The Spike" Nov. 15-17 1st annual NA-GA-THA-THI-KI Native American Cultural Festival, Naples, FL Info: 904-422-0565 Nov. 15-17 2nd Annual Powwow at Barber Co. Farm, Clayton, AL Info: 334-775-1115 Nov. 15-17 Second Annual Midlands Intertribal Powwow, Columbia, SC Info: 803-772-9132 Nov. 16 M.C.N.A.A. Inc. Powwow, Concord, MA Info: 617-884-4227 ----------------------------------- Date: 5 Nov 1996 21:05:36 GMT From: toj@alice.net Subj: The Trail of Joy, The Return from DeSoto's Path Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native O SI YO', Greetings Just a update. We are in Macon, GA and will planting our 7th tree here in the next few days. We are staying at Holiday Inn on Chambers Rd. 912-788-0120 Rm. 159 Our Prayers are with you. Thanks for all of your support. Your Friend, James ps: check out our website ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was posted to Usenet via the Posting Service at Deja News: http://www.dejanews.com/ [Search, Post, and Read Usenet News!] ========================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- 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: LPDC, Brian Hauk, Janet Smith, John Walter, Jordan Dill, American Indian Movement, Pam Venn, Scott Robert Ladd, Larry Kibby, Will Frye, Robert B. Bancroft, Debra F. Sanders, Dan Umstead, Glenn Welker, Ben Clarke (Press Release), Marcia Peters via Susan O'Donnel, Cynthia M. Dagnal-Myron, Dick Pierce -//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Part B of this newsletter has already been distributed via the NATIVE-L or NATCHAT mailing lists. --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - online" --------- Date: Thu, 7 November 96 08:00 -0500 From: Janet Smith (Evening Star) (jans@genie.com) Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows already posted to Mailing Lists NATCHAT or NATIVE-L genie email Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 23:41:38 -0700 From: cmilda@goodnet.com (Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)) Subj: American Indian Scholarship Fund benefit art auction Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Please Join us for our third Auction of American Indian Fine Arts and Crafts to benefit The University of Arizona Graduate College AMERICAN INDIAN SCHOLARSHIP FUND SILENT AND VOICE AUCTION Sunday, November 10, 1996 3:00 p.m to 6:00 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel Grand Ballroom 445 South Alvernon Way Tucson Arizona FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED R.S.V.P. By November 5, 1996 For ticket prices and other information, call 520-621-7989 Strength Through Learning For Indian Nations for America CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE: R E Barstow Phillip Beaumont Lorenzo Clayton Gerald Dawavendewa Lawrence Edge R C Gorman Gene Barett Haynes Edgar Hachivi Heap of Birds Truman Lowe Duke Sine Roy M Walters Larry Yazzie Special Thanks to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Major Underwriter of the AISF Auction ----------------------------------- Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 15:31:36 -0800 From: berryj@okway.okstate.edu (John Berry) Subj: Oklahoma State University - POW WOW (16 November) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) Oklahoma State U. Stillwater, OK Benefit Pow Wow November 16, 1996 Center for International Trade Development Corner of Washington & Hall of Fame Head Singer: John Kemble Head Man Dancer: Matt Henneha Head Lady Dancer: Welana Fields MC: Tom Roughface Arena Director: Tony Kills Crow Co-Host: TBA 2:00PM Gourd Dance 5:30PM Supper 7:00PM Gourd Dance 8:00 - 11:30PM Evening Program Sponsored by the Native American Student Association For further information, feel free to call (405)744-5481 Arts & Crafts Welcome! No Drugs or Alcohol. --------- "RE: Bkejwanong Stands Fast" --------- Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1996 08:30:28 -0500 From: susanodo@web.apc.org Subj: Bkejwanong Stands Fast! (on toxics in St. Clair River) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) BKEJWANONG STANDS FAST! Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation) is going to stand firm in its resolve to promote zero discharge of any toxic material into the St. Clair River. This follows the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE) decision to allow International Chemical Industries (ICI) to dump 750 million gallons of "pond water" into the St. Clair River. The pond water is what is left over from ICI's fertilizer production plant which has not functioned since the 1980's. ICI claims that the pond water is safe and will not effect people or animals. Walpole Island claims that any discharge of any materials is in violation of a "zero discharge" policy. MOEE and the Michigan Department of Environment Quality (MDEQ) agree with ICI's findings in that the controlled release will not harm the environment. The discharge will take place over a period of 4.5 years. An Action Group has been formed to continue to fight against the ICI discharge. It is known as "PURE - People United for River Ecosystems". Some fellow American communities will be working with PURE. The focus for PURE is to take the focus from Walpole Island and include other down river communities along the banks of the St. Clair River on BOTH sides of the border. For more information, please contact Darren Wrightman at the Department of Economic Development, Walpole Island First Nation at 519-627-0746 or evenings at 519-627-7227. (NOTE: this article provided by Marcia Peters - petersmk@web.net) --------- "RE: Temagami Protesters Maced" --------- Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1996 08:29:48 -0500 From: susanodo@web.apc.org Subj: Temagami protesters maced in Peterboro, Ontario Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) [ Please refer to articles in the NATIVE-L archives for more information on this subject. Those articles go into more detail about the issue and explain its relevance to aboriginal people in Canada. (See the NativeNet Web page for details on searching the archives - use the URL "http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/natnet/") Note also that this article is more than two weeks old, so the urgent situation it describes has long passed. If anyone has an update on this subject, please post it as an update. --Gary (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ] From: act@web.net (ACT for Disarmament) Subject: Temagami protesters maced in Peterboro Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 16:08:55 -0400 (EDT) From: thassan@TrentU.ca Subject: Temagami Demo at MNR in Peterborough COPY AND DISTRIBUTE News Release Temagami Action Group-Peterborough, Ont. For Immediate Release- Tuesday October 15, 1996 - 4:00 pm 3 PEOPLE CHARGED, 6 PEOPLE MACED, 12 PEOPLE OCCUPYING MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES HEADQUARTERS IN PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO Over 100 demonstrators gathered outside Ministry of Natural Resources head office in Peterborough today to protest the continued logging of Northern Ontario's Temagami region. 15 people managed to enter the lobby of the MNR. During a confrontation with the police inside the MNR 3 people were charged with assault police. One person was released two were taken to the police station. Later on one protestor outside the building was chased by police officers. He was arrested for an unknown reason. 6 outside protesters supporting the people inside the building were maced by the police without warning. According to one woman maced " they (the police) gave no warning, we were pushing on the revolving door one of the police officers reached around from behind me and maced me. The police officer then prevented me from leaving the front of the protest to get medical attention." Citizens of Peterborough were joined by people from Kingston, Guelph, and Toronto in expressing their outrage at the prospect of the destruction of the unique Temagami region. Temagami's Owain Lake region, home of North America's third largest old growth red and white pine stand, will be completely logged by December of this year, if logging is not stopped now. The MNR, under the Harris government, currently threaten s 48% of North America's remaining old growth red and white pine forests, all of them on unceded Native land. This summer, Chris Hodgson (Minister of Natural Resources) rejected the recommendations of the Comprehensive Planning Council and unilaterally withdrew from treaty negotiations with the Teme-Augama Anishnabai. The MNR has now approved 77% of Temagami for mining and 71% for logging. Only 24% of the old growth forest is protected. Presently, Ontario's old growth forests cover less than 1% of their original range. The police have given a warning that they will be arresting the protestors occupying the MNR lobby. For more information contact the Temagami Action Group Media Liaison at (705) 749-3120 --------- "RE: Organization Discusses Government Issues" --------- Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 02:55:38 +0000 From: umstead@oneida-nation.org (Dan Umstead) Subj: National Indian Organization Discusses Government Issues Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) National Indian Organization Discusses Government Issues ONEIDA INDIAN NATION TERRITORY, via Oneida, NY -- A piece of federal legislation passed in the waning days of the last Congress has deprived one Indian tribe of its rights to establish gaming operations and has some Indian leaders concerned for the sovereign status of their governments. Officials of a major Indian organization called the rider attached to a last minute appropriations bill a threat to all tribes and nations. This and other legislation were discussed as part of the United South and Eastern Tribes' (USET) annual meeting Wednesday. Leaders of 23 tribes and Indian nations were briefed by members of several congressional staffs and the Department of the Interior. But, it was the comments of leaders of one eastern tribe which caused the most concern among those at the meeting. Randy Noka, first councilman of the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, told USET delegates a rider added to an appropriations bill in September violated his tribe's rights under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Noka said the rider, attached to the bill by Sen. John Chafee of Rhode Island, claims the tribe's federal trust lands are not Indian land for the purposes of gaming under IGRA. This was an attack not just on our gaming rights, but also on our sovereignty rights and our civil rights, said Noka. What Senator Chafee did to us, another senator could do to you. Next year in the next Congress, there could be more of the same. These are dangerous times for Indian Country. Noka appealed to USET to support the Narragansetts' efforts to undo the consequences of Chafee's bill. The tribe, which has about 2,300 members living on its 2,500-acre reservation in southwest Rhode Island, also is seeking the assistance of all Indians, asking them to attend a rally to be held at the Rhode Island State House at 9 a.m. on November 16. Tim Glidden, majority counsel for the House Subcommittee on Native American and Insular Affairs, said the leading legislative concern for Indian Country when the 105th Congress convenes next January must be the repeal of the Chafee rider. He called it a direct attack on the sovereignty of all Indian tribes and nations. Raho Ortiz, deputy counsel for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, said Sen. Chafee is not the only member of Congress who is not supportive of Indian tribes and nations and their efforts to obtain economic security for their people. Because of this, he urged USET delegates to become more involved politically. He said this is made more serious by the fact that many members of Congress who were friends of Indian Country have left office. Their replacements, said Ortiz, need to be educated about the concerns and needs of Indian people. For more information send email to umstead@oneida-nation.org, contact Ken Zeszutko, media coordinator, Oneida Nation Communications Department at (315) 361-7896. For media advisories, other news, and further background information, visit the Oneida Nation's site on the World Wide Web at http://one-web.org/oneida/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Daniel Umstead The Oneida Indian Nation Internet Coordinator "A Sovereign Nation Oneida Indian Nation in http://one-web.org/oneida/ Cyber-space!" 315-361-6300 http://one-web.org/oneida/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ --------- "RE: IITC Letter/Shoshone" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 16:42:15 PST From: scottrobertladd@juno.com (Scott Robert Ladd) Subj: IITC Letter / Web article about Shoshone Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) 54 Mint Street, Suite #400 San Francisco, California 94103 Telephone: (415) 512-1501 Fax: (415) 512-1507 E-mail: iitc@igc.apc.org Administrative Office 456 N. Alaska Street Palmer, Alaska 99645 Telephone: (907) 745-4482 Fax: (970) 745-4484 E-mail: iitcak@corcom.com September 15, 1996 To: Mr. Abdelfattah Amor United Nations Special Rapportuer on Religious Intolerance c/o Mr. Julian Berger, U.N. Center for Human Rights, Geneva via FAX cc: United States Department of the Interior United States Bureau of Land Management United States Department of State United States Department of Justice President Bill Clinton United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali Oro Nevada Mining Company Western Shoshone National Council Greetings. The International Indian Treaty Council, in its capacity as a Non-governmental Organization with Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, wishes to bring an urgent matter to your attention in which the activities of the United States Bureau of Land Management and the Oro Nevada Mining Company directly threaten the religious freedom and practice of the Western Shoshone Indian Nation through proposed mining and drilling activities at the site of a sacred hot springs near Elko Nevada. This hot springs has had a deep and profound spiritual significance for the Western Shoshone People since time immemorial. Mining or drilling activities at or near the vicinity of that site (in the area referred to as Section 10, Township 28 North, Range 49 East) constitutes a direct and irrevocable assault on the Western Shoshone religion. As you know, at the recent session of the United Nations Subcommission for the Protection of Minorities and Prevention of Discrimination the Subcommission passed an historic resolution recognizing and emphasizing the "spiritual connection that indigenous peoples have with the land and the relationship of traditional lands with the practice of indigenous religion" (E/CN.4/Sub.2/L.39). The proposed desecration of this sacred site is in direct violation of the right to freedom of religious belief and practice of the Western Shoshone Nation, recognized by both international and U.S. federal laws. We thank you for any attention or investigation you can initiate to address this urgent matter in a manner that upholds the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized for all Peoples, including the Western Shoshone and other Indigenous Peoples. Sincerely, Andrea Carmen Executive Director, IITC See also "http://web.maxwell.syr.edu/nativeweb/subject/shoshone/" for legal documents and other papers related to the Shoshone intervention in US v. Nye assembled by Prof. Peter d'Errico. --SRL -- Scott Robert Ladd 957 Empire Street voice: +1 970 387 0271 ScottRobertLadd@juno.com P.O. Box 617 fax: +1 970 387 0277 Silverton, CO 81433 USA --------- "RE: Oneida Leader is Re-elected" --------- Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 22:57:50 +0000 From: umstead@oneida-nation.org (Dan Umstead) Subj: Oneida Nation Leader is Re-elected to Top National Post Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) NEWS -- NEWS -- NEWS -- NEWS October 30, 1996 ONEIDA INDIAN NATION TERRITORY, via Oneida, NY -- A member of the Oneida Indian Nation's government has been selected today (Wednesday, Oct. 30) for a second two-year term as president of one of the leading Native American organizations in the United States. Keller George, a member of the Oneida Nation's Men's Council and special assistant to the Nation Representative and head of the Oneida Nation Gaming Commission, has been re-elected president of the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET). The election was held during the organization's annual meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "I look forward to moving this organization ahead in the next two years," said George. "The purpose of this organization has always been strength through unity. We will go forward in unity and push forward the issues that are important in all of Indian Country," he said. Elected vice president of the organization was Eddie Tullis, chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, from Alabama. Beverly Wright, chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, located in Massachusetts, was elected secretary. Elected to the post of treasurer was Cliv Dore, governor of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, of Maine. With 23 federally recognized member tribes and Indian governments located east of the Mississippi River from Maine to Florida, USET is one of the leading Indian organizations in the United States. USET is dedicated to enhancing the development of Indian tribes and nations, improving the capabilities of their governments, and assisting member tribes and nations in dealing with public policy issues to meet the needs of Indian people across the United States. These are important times for Indian nations and tribes and a variety of issues and challenges are demanding the attention of our peoples, said George. USET can play an important leadership role, especially as an advocate for Indian governments which are looking to improve the lives of their members. Our other main objective is to foster greater unity among all Indian people. George formerly served as secretary of USET. He also is the treasurer of USET's Gaming Association, and is the alternate representative to the Northeastern area vice president of the National Congress of American Indians. George also is a member of the board of directors of the National Indian Gaming Association. In his capacity as special assistant to the Nation Representative, George represents the Oneida Nation at the local, state and national levels as the Nation's only full-time diplomat. He represents the Wolf Clan on the Nation's Men's Council, and also serves as first representative and treasurer for the Oneida Indian Nation Gaming Commission, which oversees gaming and licensing at the Oneidas' Turning Stone Casino. He also has been involved with the management of the Nation's earlier enterprises. For more information contact Ken Zeszutko, media coordinator, Oneida Nation Communications Department at (315) 361-7896. For media advisories, other news, and further background information, visit the Oneida Nation's site on the World Wide Web at http://one-web.org/oneida/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Daniel Umstead The Oneida Indian Nation Internet Coordinator "A Sovereign Nation Oneida Indian Nation in http://one-web.org/oneida/ Cyber-space!" 315-361-6300 http://one-web.org/oneida/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ --------- "RE: TallMountain Awards 1996" --------- Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 13:42:05 -0800 From: bclarke@igc.apc.org (Ben Clarke) Subj: TallMountain Awards 1996 (ceremony in San Francisco, 23 November) Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) THE TALLMOUNTAIN CIRCLE A Project of the Tenderloin Reflection and Education Center (TREC) P.O. Box 423115, San Francisco, CA 94142 (510) 535-2020 e-mail address: bclarke@igc.apc.org Advisory Board: Paula Gunn Allen Ben Clarke Kitty Costello Judith St. George Beth Saunders Yvonne Yarber November 1, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The advisory board of the TallMountain Circle is pleased to announce the 1996 recipients of the Mary TallMountain award for creative writing and community service: Abena Songbird, a Missisquoi Abenaki poet and songwriter from Swanton, Vermont and Kali Grosberg for the Tenderloin Older Writers Network, a group which promotes workshop and publishing opportunities for elders in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The awards ceremony will kick off the Tenderloin Reflection and Education Center's Spirit of the Streets celebration on Saturday, November 23, 1996 at 1 p.m. at 135 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA. The public is invited to join us for the awards as well as readings and workshops which will follow. The awards are part of the TallMountain Circle's goal of supporting those who give voice to the experience of Native Americans and the dispossessed of society. Writers interested in applying for the 1997 awards may write for guidelines from TallMountain Circle. P.O. Box 423115, San Francisco, CA. 94142 Award winners will receive an honorarium of $100-$300 and be featured readers in public events of the TallMountain Circle throughout the year. The TallMountain Circle produces, promotes and distributes Mary TallMountain's literary works. Established as a project of the Tenderloin Reflection and Education Center (TREC), the Circle carries on the work that Mary TallMountain embodied by supporting those who give voice to the experience of Native Americans and the dispossessed in this society. Each year the Advisory Board selects recipients of the TallMountain Award for Creative Writing and Community Service and conducts public readings of award winners work. All of TallMountain's book length works are distributed by the Circle as well as broadsides, chapbooks and anthologies in which she is prominently featured. Since her death in September of 1994 the TallMountain Circle has reprinted her 1991 collection A Quick Brush of Wings (Freedom Voices 1991) published the Posthumous collection Listen to the Night (Freedom Voices 1995) and issued a chapbook of previously unpublished poems of Haiku and other poetic forms. Biographical Information Mary TallMountain Athabaskan Poet "Her spirit and her ability to connect the different worlds of her experience teach us much about how to live our lives properly." Barry Lopez "Her poetry is a permanent testament to the rich tapestry of experience that was her life." Bill Moyers "Mary TallMountain was a poet who listened to the night. She listened for the voices of ancestors and to dreams. She knew the whispers of the powerless ones, the endangered ones, the vanished ones, and she knew the survivors, too." Kitty Costello Mary TallMountain was a Native Alaskan of Koyukon-Athabaskan, Russian and Celtic descent. She was born in Nulato village on the Yukon River in 1918. When her mother contracted tuberculosis, she became the first child in her village ever to be adopted out by an Anglo couple. At age fourteen she moved with her adoptive family to Central California, and did not return to her homeland for more than fifty years. She was a long- time resident of San Francisco, yet the Yukon River colored her mindset early; it provided a rich source for much of her writing and is her "spirit's home." She died on September 2, 1994 in Petaluma, California. For more than 20 years, TallMountain was active in the Native American literature renaissance. Her poems and stories have been published in dozens of anthologies and periodicals nationwide, including The Language of Life, The Harpers Anthology of Twentieth Century Native American Poetry, The Alaska Quarterly, and Animals Agenda. She read for audiences throughout California and Alaska, and her work is used in teaching Native American Studies at many colleges and universities throughout the United States. In 1989 TallMountain read and was interviewed by Bill Moyers for his PBS poetry series called The Power of the Word. Her work has been collected in book form in The Light on the Tent Wall, (UCLA Press, 1990) and A Quick Brush of Wings (Freedom Voices, 1991) as well as the posthumous collection Listen To the Night (Freedom Voices, 1995). The Rasmussen Library at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks houses an archival collection of TallMountain's published and unpublished works. Mary TallMountain was a powerful presence in the Tenderloin community of San Francisco. She was Poet-in-Residence at the Tenderloin Reflection and Education Center (TREC) and for many years published a column called "Meditations for Wayfarers" in the Franciscan publication The Way. To receive a copy of the TallMountain Circle merchandise catalogue, please contact Ben Clarke (bclarke@igc.apc.org) or write to the TallMountain Circle at the postal address given at the beginning of this article.