_ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 05, ISSUE 001 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 4 January 1997 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 NATIVE-L listserver; UUCP & genie email; Newsgroups: apc.indig.info,soc.culture.native,alt.native Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination and/or permission for inclusion has been secured. Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A. I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people. <----<<<< >>>>----> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@netcom.com 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. "Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting a space of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and regardful of the rule that 'thought comes before speech.'" "And in the midst of sorrow, sickness, death, or misfortune of any kind, and in the presence of the notable and great, silence was the mark of respect. More powerful than words was silence with the Lakota. "His strict observance of this tenet of good behavior was the reason, no doubt, for his being given the false characterization by the white man of being a stoic. He has been judged to be dumb, stupid, indifferent, and unfeeling." "As a matter of truth, he was the most sympathetic of men, but his emotions of depth and sincerity were tempered with control. Silence meant to the Lakota what it meant to Disraeli when he said, 'Silence is the mother of truth,' for the silent man was ever to be trusted, while the man ever ready with speech was never taken seriously." __ Chief Luther Standing Bear, Teton Sioux +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! I imagine many of you, like us, celebrated the start of the new year with a Winter Solstice Ceremony that honored the beginning of rest of our Mother the Earth, a purification that will lead to the renewal of Spring. This week, all around us others are celebrating a "new" year depicted as an old, worn man making way for the vitality and promise of an infant year. This society tries to maintain the fiction it can "throw away" its problems each year and start with a fresh new world, unchanged by man's excesses. Is it an accident that this society presents the used up, discardable year as an elder? In a planet that is suffering from mans' greed it is difficult to understand why there is celebration. Where is the gratitude for a Mother that gives us so much? for the life we have been given? The prophesies handed down by our ancestors tell us time will soon be accelerating and those who have taken without giving will reap their just reward. For myself I will go to the place where we grow sweetgrass and tobacco and offer prayers of thanks for the many gifts granted my walk. For some time I have encouraged those wishing a free email account to use Juno. I will even send you a copy of the installation program if you will send me a pre-formatted 1.44 meg floppy and a self-addressed stamped (78 cents) envelope. Juno requires Windows, but will work even with the older Windows systems. As a result, there are now Juno email users subscribing to this newsletter. Juno does restrict incoming packets to 64K, though. This means for Juno users I will be splitting part a to accommodate this smaller packet requirement. I will be happy to move any other subscriptions to this three-way split for those who prefer to receive Wotanging Ikche/Kanoheda Aniyvwiya in more, but smaller chunks. Simply send a request to gars@netcom.com. 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 - Statement from Traditional Leaders - Web Page Now Exists - Return of Ghost Dance Shirt - Simon Fraser Univ. Professorship - New Year's Prayer - Canada's Shame - Wounded Knee Remembered - President Clinton/Leonard Peltier - Kanienkehaka Statement - BIA Fraud Settlement - Western Shoshone - Listening to Tobacco - Spirituality and My Ancestors - Indians of Mexico - Cheyenne & Arapaho Employment - Project Director Job - Honor the Earth - Poem: Trouble - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows - offline --------- "RE: Statement from Traditional Leaders" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Dec 1996 11:05:40, -0500 From: Joe Chasing Horses via Gary Night Owl Smith (gars@netcom.com) Subj: Statement from Traditional Leaders I have been granted the honor of passing on this message from Joe Chasing Horses, Lakota Elder. >From Joe Chasing Horse and the Dakota Traditional Territorial Council.... As Traditional Leaders, Ceremonial Chiefs and descendants of non-treaty Chiefs, such as Crazy Horse and other Chiefs who never signed into any treaty with the United States Government, we are a Nation whose voice was silenced by greed, oppression and genocide, 100 years ago. A voice who has returned to haunt the conscience of America and spark the fires of Justice, as we proclaim through inherited Rights of Traditional unwritten customary laws of the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota Nation, our allegiance to the Sacred pipe of Peace, to the Sacred Black Hills and as Citizens of the Sovereign Lakota Nation and to the total restoration of sacred land to the Lakota People, for ceremonial use of spiritual landscape which is the heart (Black Hills) of traditional Dakota Territory. As Traditional Leaders and Ceremonial Chiefs for the spiritual healing and prosperity of our Nation, we have continued the ongoing struggle for Religious Freedom and cultural revival of Sacred Ceremonies and culturally related educational activities on sacred lands within the Black Hills, whether they be on private, tribal, state, federal or church controlled properties within the traditional boundaries of the Lakota Nation, all with the goals and objectives of creating public, cultural and environmental awareness for the protection and return of sacred lands to the Lakota People. As Traditional Leaders and Ceremonial Chiefs, we declare that since the time of Creation, our unwavering allegiance to the exercising of our religious beliefs and the undisturbed access and the perpetual use of sacred ceremonial sites within the sacred Black Hills is for the spiritual well being of the Earth and all its inhabitants and future generations to come. As we prepare to enter into the next century let us do so without the chains of discriminatory policies and blind attitudes of hatred and prejudice. The sooner the ugly head of racism is dismantled once and for all, in South Dakota, the true American dream of equality and justice for all can become a reality for the First American Dreamers....the First American Nations. Joe Chasing Horse --------- "RE: Return of Ghost Dance Shirt" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Dec 1996 11:05:31, -0500 From: Joe Chasing Horses via Gary Night Owl Smith (gars@netcom.com) Subj: Return of Ghost Dance Shirt I have been granted the honor of passing on this message from Joe Chasing Horses, Lakota Elder. _Indian Country Today_ published an article on the Ghost Dance Shirt which is in a museum in Scotland (complete with blood stain and taken from a victim at Wounded Knee). There is movement on to return it to the State Museum at Pierre, SD. On the subject of the Ghost Dance Shirt being returned from Scotland to the state Cultural Center in Pierre, South Dakota or the museum in Chamberlin. The religious, spiritual significance of this sacred ceremonial item has brought to attention some very important questions. 1) Were traditional, ceremonial leaders consulted on this matter? If so, when, where? 2) Is Lakota protocol and repatriation laws being applied? 3) Do Lakota People want this sacred ceremonial object to be displayed in a museum? 4) What is repatriation? All the federally funded museums must return sacred remains and artifacts to it's rightful owners, descendants and tribes. Wasn't it the purpose of this law, in the first place, to keep museums and institutions from the displaying, stereotyping, exploiting of sacred remains and artifacts which have spiritual value, ceremonial use and in some cases, are national treasures to some Indian Nations of today? One experience in dealing with repatriated remains and artifacts from museums and institutions, such as the Smithsonian, was the return of a ancestral pipe from a museum in which a Sun Dance ceremonial way of life was revived, among the last living descendants, thus restoring the spiritual value and cultural significance in the community. It was an honor to assist Mr. Looking Horse, Spiritual Leader of the Lakota Nation, in the reburial ceremony of Chief Weeping Eyes of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, whose remains were returned from the Smithsonian. When this type of situation arises, especially when sacred remains are returned from some institution within the United States or abroad. And when living descendants still exist, National Protocol must be applied. It would only be appropriate that an escort of ceremonial valor should proceed along with these returns, or at least a letter of explanation or an apology to the descendants and relatives of the deceased for dishonorable acts of desecration and lack of respect for ancestral remains and the integrity of Indian People. No individuals or organizations can be blamed for what happened in the past, unless you are still robbing Indian graves or not in compliance with federal laws. This Ghost Dance shirt is one example that the Lakota People must look beyond then what only the public eye wishes to see, and know that we are not something out of the past but know that we still exist by the soothing of the bones of our dead who died a thousand deaths. The spirits of our ancestors have returned only to live again with the return of such sacredness to the Nation. We are at a critical state in the spiritual, cultural, economic and technological development as First Nations of America. Joe Chasing Horse --------- "RE: New Year's Prayer" --------- Date: Tue, 31 Dec 1996 03:44:01 -0800 From: "Joanna Nanake (Earth Girl) Soto Aviles" Subj: New Year's Prayer Mailing List: Taino-L Tau Natiaos (Hello Sisters & Brothers), Natiaos, it is my Hope and Prayer that All Our Sisters and Brothers will have Love, Peace, Good Health, and Abundance in the coming calendar year. Tonight I will humbly and gratefully Pray for All Our Sisters and Brothers (Two-legged, Four-legged, Winged, Finned, Crawling, Rooted, Standing, Solid and Spirit). Natiaos, May We Never Forget To Be Thankful for All We Are, Know and Have, and May We Never Forget To Be Generous, Patient and Honorable in All Things. As always, Pray for Guidance, Wisdom and Understanding so that we can go forth on our Path with Confidence to achieve Balance, to Create and Grow, and to know Truth and Wisdom in order to attain the Absolute Perfection, Purity and Clarity of Wholeness of Self and Unity. May our Prayers go out to the Four Directions, to Mother Earth and Father Sky, and, above all, to the Great Mystery that Is All, Provides All and Was, Is and Always Will Be, Without Beginning or End, The Sacred Circle of Life that We Are All Part Of. As is often heard or said in Lakota, *Mitakuye Oyasin*, We Are All Related. May We All, therefore, Come Together in Love and Respect to be One in Spirit and to Pray that All Will Awaken and come to Know, Accept and Live this Universal Truth. I humbly ask that you include me (Joanna 'Nanake' Soto Aviles) in your Prayers tonight along with my husband, Emilio Aviles, and my two teenaged sons, Solimar Jose Aviles (age 16) and Juan Carlos Aviles (age 14). I also ask that you Pray that our Prayers continue to be heard on the behalf of All for whom we Pray. Always and Forever, Natiaos, You Are All In My Thoughts and Prayers. Taino-Ti! (Good Spirits Be With You!) Nanake (Earth Girl) --------- "RE: Canada's Shame" --------- Date: 9:31 AM Nov 20, 1996 Subj: Canada's Shame (part 5) From: jwalenci@acc.jbu.edu Newsgroup: igc.indig.education Part 1 of this series appeared in issue 04.049, Part 2 in issue 04.050, Part 3 in issue 04.051, Part 4 in issue 04.52 Dear Mr. Smith, You have the Ottawa Sun's permission to include "Canada's Shame" in a future issue of your Internet publication, Wotanging Ikche; all we require is that you credit it to us. Thanks. Yours, Andrew Carver editorial assistant The Ottawa Sun | "The Little Paper That Grew" 380 Hunt Club Rd., | e-mail ottsun@ottawa.net Ottawa, Ontario, | 613-739-7000- main switchboard Canada. K1G 5H7 | 613-739-7200- for home delivery | 613-739-3333- advertising [This article has been excerpted.] Canada's Shame By JACKIE LEROUX MISHKEEGOGAMANG RESERVE, Ontario, 25 Oct. 1996 (Ottawa Sun): Not all traffic on the highway...is regarded with dread here. It is, after all, one of the reserve's few links with the rest of the world. Early...Tuesday morning, people line up outside the Mishkeegogamang convenience store, anxiously awaiting the delivery truck that comes once, sometimes twice, a week with their ration of food. The truck arrives, and no sooner are the meagre items placed on the grocery store shelves than they're snatched up. There are often fights because there is not enough to go around. "If that's not poverty I don't know what is," observes Gray. When the store was opened about five years ago, the band council contracted out its operations to three non-Natives. By the time they left three years later, the store was $600,000 in debt and no one knew where the money had gone. The former owners disappeared and were not pursued. Since then, the new storekeepers can only afford to purchase a limited amount of food each week as they struggle to make monthly payments on the previous owners' debt. Ultimately, it means children here cannot get enough to eat. "They're going hungry," Charles Bottle says bluntly. There is a grocery store in Pickle Lake, but it's 50 km away and many who live here don't own vehicles. As well, much of the food that is delivered to Mishkeegogamang is useless to the people. There is usually plenty of milk, for instance, but with no refrigerators in most homes, it is simply viewed as a health hazard. A half dozen large freezers...line one wall, stocked with buckets of ice cream and boxes of frozen dinners. Fruit and vegetables are nowhere in sight. This, says Wassaykeesic, is one reason why people here go to bed hungry at night, why kids show obvious signs of malnutrition, and why the band council recently got federal funding for a school breakfast program. ...there is another reason. Often, a parent's addiction takes priority over a child's empty stomach. "They don't always spend their money on exactly what they need," Wassaykeesic says. In the middle of a group of homes on the main part of the reserve sits a cement foundation, covered in rubble. "That was the community centre," says Wassaykeesic, pointing. "It was torched in '95 by a bunch of sniffers. " Six years ago, a national television crew visited the reserve and aired a scathing report about residents destroying their own property. The government invests hundreds of thousands of dollars in housing, the story went, and high and drunken Indians burn it to the ground. Tom admits about 10 houses have burned down this year alone. Not all the fires were deliberately set, but some were. ...what the TV piece failed to articulate -- and why people are still stinging from it to this day -- was the reason behind the destruction. Outsiders looking at these poor, hungry kids often scratch their heads in frustrated wonder, notes Charlie Hill, housing coordinator with the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa. Why, after all, would they choose to demolish something they so desperately need? "Logically, you'd think that," says Hill. "But some of these people aren't thinking logically. "It's a sign of the social malaise of first nations communities. It's a collective post-traumatic stress. There's buried, generational animosity about being forced into the situation in which they live." It's easy to see why some outsiders point fingers. The Indian Affairs and Northern Development ministry has given $894,600 to Mishkeegogamang for housing since 1994, and has allocated another $446,400 this year to build two new homes and renovate 10 others. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp....also helped fund renovations, although Mishkeegogamang was recently deemed not remote enough -- the nearest full-service town had to be at least 200 km away -- to qualify for CMHC's remote housing program. According to the band council, it's not enough, and never has been. "It's so easy for government to dictate from Ottawa while they're getting their shoes polished," complains band councillor Liz Panacheese, echoing Chief Ronald Roundhead, who has called the level of federal assistance a "slap in the face" to his people. Coun. Charles Bottle says the funding barely scratches the surface of the housing crisis, which should be seen as a national -- or even international -- embarrassment. "If any other society in Canada had our problem they'd have funding thrown at them within a week, " he says. And yet, there's no denying...more than 100 buildings have been lost through the years to vandalism or fire. The remnants of the community centre -- which had to be renovated twice in its six-year existence due to vandalism -- remain as a harsh reminder...Mishkeegogamang is in crisis. "Arson is one reason we're in our present predicament," says Wassaykeesic. "It's true some people are on a self-destructive course... but you have to look at the history of why they do it. It's a symptom of their hopelessness, powerlessness and despair. You don't get self-pride from being on welfare. "They're not hurting the government. They're hurting their own people." The funding tug-of-war leaves people like Dr. Sarsfield outraged -- just another example of what he sees as the federal government's inept handling of the problems of Native people. "I've heard the same discussions from government for 22 years -- 'the money is not available,' 'it'll come,' 'this is just a temporary measure.' It's nonsense,'' he says. "We have a country that has extreme ambivalence about aboriginal people. It knows what has to be done but is unwilling to do it. "You look at these kids on these reserves, you look at their lives, and then you wonder why they're throwing bricks through windows. "If I was a young man living at Mishkeegogamang, a brick would be very tempting," he says. For its part, the federal government says it is working to deal with a delicate situation. It has earmarked $352 million for Native housing this year in conjunction with CMHC. And Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Ron Irwin says he's committed to returning land and resources to aboriginal people. "They have to have reasonable access to land and resources," he says. "We're settling about 30 specific land claims a year. There are about 100 pending. It's going to take a long time. It's taken us 100 years to get to this point. "We're putting a lot of time into self- sufficiency," he says. Irwin's multi-year plan, unveiled this past July, involves the participation of Native communities in developing their own housing projects, ...providing jobs and community pride, Irwin says. "(It's in response) to what communities identified they needed: More flexibility and job training to expand and improve their housing through greater local control over their housing programs." That, Irwin hopes, is where people like Wassaykeesic, Gray and the rest of the band council will come in. Using their education and knowledge of outside governments, it is they who will try to make the most of such programs in order to tackle the immense infrastructure problems on their reserves. Only then can the community move on to fight the bigger social issues. "Before you can fix all the other problems, you have to have a roof over your head and food in your stomach," says Gray. She is in the process of drafting up a contract for homeowners to sign following any renovations claiming full responsibility for damages. "They need to be educated," she says. "They have to know how much everything in a house costs. They need to know how much a window costs, so if they break it they know how much it will cost them to replace it." Even with the bleak winter ahead, things are looking up for Mishkeegogamang's future generations, Tom Hawke believes. There is now an adult training and co-operative education program on reserve, a new health clinic is being built next year and a new school is not far behind, he points out. And the band council is working with Queen's University on a teacher training program that would see reserve residents teaching kids after two years. "Mishkeegogamang has seen some remarkable changes...over the last five to six months," he says. "These young people have gotten together and said they've had enough." Facts and figures By JACKIE LEROUX THE TRUE NORTH 25 Oct. 1996 (Ottawa Sun): After examining the plight of children in Africa, Asia and Central America, the sixth and final part of the Sun's series looks at kids here at home. Last month, reporter Jacki Leroux and photographer Errol McGihon travelled to the Mishkeegogamang reserve, more than 500 km north of Thunder Bay -- a community where one-third of the population are children under the age of 15. There, they found children living in shacks, more than a dozen people to a household, with no electricity or water and precious little food. Residents told them generations of desolation and poverty have left children on the reserve without hope, and many turn to sniffing solvents or drinking alcohol to ease their pain. It is a surprising story, with deep roots in Canadian history. And, the team learned, Mishkeegogamang is far from unique. LIVES LIVED IN POVERTY AND DANGER The facts of life for Native Canadian children on reserves: + The proportion of Native dwellings without central heating is more than six times greater than the Canadian rate. Six times more dwellings are considered overcrowded. + 17% of 15- to 49-year-old Natives have less than nine years of schooling. Only half complete high school. + 57% of Natives work, compared to 68% of Canadians overall. Natives living on-reserve have the highest rate of unemployment, at 31%. + 24% of Native families are headed by a single parent, compared to 13% for Canadians overall. + About 4% of Native children are currently in the care of child welfare authorities, compared to 0.8% of all Canadian children. + Three-quarters of Natives living on reserves have witnessed alcohol abuse; 40% have seen family violence; 25% have seen sexual abuse. + Some 14 out of 1,000 Native babies will die within their first year of life, compared to 7 out of 1,000 Canadian babies overall. + The rate of sudden, unexplained death for Native babies is three times the national rate. Prematurity and low birth weight is twice as high in Native babies. + The injury death rate for Native preschoolers (ages 1-4) is more than five times greater than the national rate. + Natives aged 10 to 19 are five times more likely to commit suicide than other Canadians their age. Source: The Canadian Institute of Child Health (1991) A CHANCE TO HELP KIDS The Sun's six-part series on the plight of children examined the lives of kids in five countries around the world, but it just scratches the surface of the problem. Everywhere in the world, including Canada, children are suffering. The causes of poverty, war, child labor and child prostitution are many, but dozens of organizations and agencies are working to make things better. Here are some of their suggestions for people who want to help children here and abroad: + Volunteer with a group that helps children locally, eg.:The Snowsuit Fund, the Boys and Girls Club, Girl Guides or Boy Scouts. + Become a Big Brother or a Big Sister + Join Amnesty International and participate in their upcoming special action for International Children's Day Nov. 20. + Write to your MP, the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and/or Indian and Northern Affairs. + Hold a fundraiser like a car wash, bake sale, garage sale or other event on behalf of a local charity or an international relief group. This concludes this series. My sincere thanks to the Ottawa Sun for granting permission for this article to be shared. --------- "RE: Wounded Knee Remembered" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Dec 1996 11:28:16, -0500 From: Anonymous Subj: Wounded Knee remembered UUCP email [It is my custom to NEVER post an anonymous letter. This is _the_ exception. This is a message about our ancestors. It is dedicated to them, and those who came to honor them are right to make this moment theirs.] Wounded Knee Remembered We stood there in the cemetery, four of us, representing three generations who remembered, who came with many others there, to remember and cry in the memories given to us by that mass snow covered grave. Grandmother stood - tall, proud, wrapped in her blanket as a Traditional, touching the shoulder of her small grandson who stood at attention while the buffalo headdress Medicine Man walked to all four corners, smudging, chanting prayers, while the drums beat, the singers sang the Sacred songs and the People prayed. The silence, the silence of it all. Dozens of people there who had walked the frozen miles, along with young men on horseback, as they took sacred vows to honor the Ancestors slain there. I looked into the faces of the People there crying, and heard the Traditional Trill of a woman who howled out her grief in honor, breaking the silence. Horses standing by the fence, quiet, in respect. The silence of over a hundred years howled with the South Dakota winds as we all stood on that hill, remembering it all. I watched the television crew filming, the reporter from Indian Country Today snapping photos of it all and I wondered how they could possibly capture the grief felt in the hearts of those silently standing there, remembering. I looked at Grandmother and saw silent tears falling into the snow, as she remembered. I watched the Sacred Traditional Spiritual leaders offering prayers of forgiveness to Grandfathers, asking healing, and I thought, can hearts ever forgive this thing? I looked over the barren wasteland there and saw in my heart, bodies still laying there as they did that morning so many years ago...left to rot for days...and I could not at that time find inside any way to forgive... I knew they were not all buried in that mass grave for I had been told there were other secret places many of the others had been taken and buried without the knowledge of the washichu. I looked out at those places and knew we would never know all of their names, but knew that the greatest memorial to them was not the granite one standing in front of us; but in the hearts of all of us who would always remember. Grandmother looked at me, with a sadness and I whispered to her, "We shall remember, we shall remember.", and she nodded a silent sad smile. The world may never fully know what they have done to the Lakota Nation. They may never see the hearts broken who stood there in the freezing South Dakota winds. But I say to you this thing...we shall remember...we shall remember. --------- "RE: President Clinton/Leonard Peltier" --------- Date: 26 Dec 1996 11:48:53 GMT From: kyletlucas@aol.com (KyleTLucas) Subj: President Clinton/Leonard Peltier Newsgroup: alt.native Dear Mr. President: One of a great multitude of Native American supporters, I am writing to beg your pardon of Leonard Peltier. We First Peoples have helplessly witnessed one travesty of justice after another this past two hundred years or so. Please do not let this injustice speak for your administration, too. Every Native American I know, including myself and each member of my family, has supported you wholeheartedly as a man of conscience, high ideals, and most of all--a great leader. Certainly, Sir, you can see the overwhelming evidence supporting Leonard Peltier's innocence. Daily, you receive mail appealing to your sense of justice and morality. You know of the worldwide support for Mr. Peltier--from the individual to the internationally respected human-rights groups. I wish to add my small voice to the resonant universal voice calling for justice, humanity, for the United States to step up to the plate and do the right thing. Thank you for your time. And, thank you for the good work that you do. P.S., may I please also add how grateful I am for your strong stand on environmental protection--particularly of old growth, and your call for a cease to logging of our remaining old growth. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And, dear Sir, may we keep alive, free, and well, one of the last remaining of our "old growth" traditional Native American leaders, Leonard Peltier. Merry Christmas! and........Sincerely yours with the Great Spirit, Kyle, Tulalip Tribes. --------- "RE: Kanienkehaka Statement" --------- Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 15:09:20 -0500 From: Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch Subj: Kanienkehaka Statement Concerning Royal Commission Report This statement was passed in Council at Kahnawake Mohawk Territory December 18, 1996 Iowennakon ***************************************************** * Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch * * http://www.axess.com/users/mnation/ * ***************************************************** Statement Concerning The Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples We are Kanienkehaka Peoples, occupying the Kahnawake Territory and part of the Kanie held throughout our long history with Great Britain (and with Canada as one of its Dominions). (Please see Statement Attached) Any effort to include or subjugate our people under the renegotiation process is a direct violation of our inherent right to self-determination under international law, for which we hold Canada responsible within the world community. We will resist any attempts to force jurisdiction of a new Royal Proclamation or new treaties upon us with all the means at our disposal. Statement Concerning The Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples We are Kanienkehaka Peoples, occupying the Kahnawake Territory and part of the Kanienkehaka Nation of the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy. We are not Native peoples as defined in the Canadian Constitution, but a Nation. Neither are we Canadian citizens but Kanienkehhaka. At this time we must remind Canada of the long-standing commitments made to the Haudenosaunee People over several centuries, exemplified in treaties established with first the Dutch, French, and then English. These agreements are symbolized by the Two Row Wampum and the Silver Covenant Chain, and are recognized as international law. We see that the three main recommendations contained within the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples are yet another attempt by the Canadian Government to ignore these established treaties. They are: (1) to dissolve the Royal Proclamation of 1763 enacted by Great Britain which affirmed Aboriginal nationhood, sovereignty and ownership of land in North America, and to replace it with new treaties established under Canadian laws and jurisdiction with the Aboriginal nations; (2) to set up a United States model of "nations within a nation" rather than affirm internationally recognized separate nations; (3) establish an "aboriginal order of government" based on existing structures implemented by the Indian Act system, which will place control of limited resources into the hands of a few individuals, augmenting the inequality that already exists. We remind Canada of the principles of the Two Row Wampum and the Silver Covenant Chain. The "Gus-Wen-Tah" or Two Row Wampum, defines how the two peoples relate to each other and coexist. The two rows symbolize the 'river of life.' The Haudenosaunee and the European nations would travel in two vessels side by side in parallel paths which would never cross or meet. Each nation's vessel contains the government, culture, laws, ways and knowledge of the respective nations, with neither imposing their ways on the other. The fundamental principles of the Two Row Wampum became the basis for the agreements made between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch in 1645; with the French in 1701; and with the English in 1763. Another symbol of this relationship is the Covenant Chain, pure, strong and untarnished, which binds nations together without causing them to lose their individual characters, or their independence. Those who 'took hold' of this chain were responsible for keeping the relationship bright and to prevent it from breaking. The Covenant Chain binds the Haudenosaunee People and the European colonial powers in a relationship of friendship and mutual coexistence as separate independent nations. Since the formation of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, before the Europeans came to North America, the member nations - Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora, have functioned as a single Confederacy with regards to all matters of national importance. Each nation has maintained its own government, or council fire, and each community within each nation has its own council fire. Since contact, relations between the Haudenosaunee and Europeans have been the responsibility of the Haudenosaunee as a Confederacy. The Haudenosaunee has carried on formal diplomatic and trade relations with Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and other nations for more than 250 years before the colony of Canada was created. Sovereignty of the Confederacy was affirmed with the enactment of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The Haudenosaunee and all of its allied nations have continued to exist and function as governments up to the present time. The nations, communities and people that make up the Haudenosaunee are still living in our original territory. Any change to treaties, specifically the treaties of peace and the Two Row Wampum Treaty, requires the consent of both parties, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy representing the Kanienkehaka Nation and the Crown represented by the Canadian Government. The Canadian Government is a third party and has no legal jurisdiction to initiate any changes. Canada has merely been entrusted to fulfill the responsibilities of these Treaties and , therefore cannot initiate, alter or abrogate in part or whole any of these Treaties. The Kanienkehaka has observed the confusion that is evident among the Canadian People and the Canadian Government, over the issues of sovereignty, government and nationhood with regards to Aboriginal peoples. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is sovereign in the international community, not within the Canadian (or American) context, therefore we can never be a nation within a nation as proposed by the Royal Commission. Also, there is no need for an "aboriginal order of government", the Haudenosaunee Confederacy already is an established government. The Haudenosaunee have been, and continue to be firmly resolved not to allow themselves, or their nations, to be involved in any process of renegotiation or implementation of "new" treaties. Therefore any new Royal Proclamation or treaties will have no jurisdictional authority within our territories or over our peoples. Again, we remind Canada that this is not a new position, but is one we have Passed in Council. Kahnawake Mohawk Territory December 18, 1996 __________________________ Turtle Clan __________________________ Wolf Clan __________________________ Bear Clan --------- "RE: BIA Fraud Settlement" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Dec 1996 10:24:14 -0400 From: tpkunesh@chattanooga.net (Tom Kunesh) Subj: BIA Fraud Settlement Newsgroup: alt.native Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 11:27:08 -0500 (EST) From: "Cluney, Jerry" To: Multiple recipients of list From: whistler@imt.net (Dave Henry, a fellow UU) Subject: BIA Fraud Settlement. You are requested to sign this petition and forward it to the President and Secretary Babbitt. Thanks for your kindness on this human rights matter. You may post to other religious groups and civil rights supporters as you see fit. Petition to President Clinton (President@whitehouse.gov) Interior Secretary Babbitt (exsec@ios.doi.gov) (Your TO line: President@whitehouse.gov,exsec@ios.doi.gov Copy to: whistler@imt.net Subject: More Stealing From Indians Petition: A century ago the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) assumed the involuntary trust care of the personal cash accounts of American Indians, in a banking system known as IIM (the Individual Indian Money system.) This system is a source of endless fraud and theft from Indians. As a BIA Auditor (CPA) in 1986, I first reported substantial fraud and missing money, and was immediately fired by BIA as a whistleblower, a title I am not ashamed to own. Since then there have been countless studies and audits, all agreeing with the basic facts and conclusion, that more or less $2.4 billion dollars in Indian Trust accounts is missing or unaccounted for. A class action law suit has been filed against BIA in the name of 300,000 account holders by the Native American Rights Fund. An Associated Press article on 12/12/96 describes that a settlement in compromise may be coming from BIA, not to exceed $600 million dollars. Settlements generally require the recipient to sign a release, in this situation it would release BIA from any additional liability for the "trust care" due from collecting and holding these trust fund accounts. This would fully cover-up and whitewash the largest fraud in the history of the United States, at the expense of our much abused and impoverished (for obvious reasons) Native American citizens. I demand that this continued stealing from Indians must stop now and forever more! Our Constitution states that private property can not be taken without "just compensation", and it is time to apply this protection equally to all citizens, including Indians. Any lesser treatment would continue the institutional (BIA) racism that our Indian citizens have been subject to since they were first "discovered" living in this land, as free, proud, prosperous self governing nations. To provide a just solution, a Court of Claims must be empowered to hear the claims of Indians against BIA for: 1.) Missing trust funds. 2.) Lands leased by BIA at less than market value. 3.) Oil, gas, coal and timber sold by BIA for less than market value. 4.) Indian land sales at less than market value. 5.) All similar financial frauds and abuses. 6.) Interest to date on these losses and thefts. While you're at it, please restore this whistleblower to his BIA position in accordance with our much abused whistleblower laws. BIA simply can not be reformed while honesty is suppressed and those who keep silent about fraud remain as BIA officials!! ...................................................................... Signed: David L. Henry, aka Whistleblower, December 13, 1996 Address: Billings, Montana Email whistler@imt.net This petition may be copied and forwarded. Please add your name and address in support of this petition, and forward to the President and Secretary of the Interior, and also send a copy to whistler@imt.net. Thank you for caring about our brothers and sisters who are Indian !! Signature:__________________________________ Address ____________________________________ --------- "RE: Western Shoshone" --------- Date: 8:44 PM Dec 21, 1996 From: scottrobertladd@juno.com Subj: Western Shoshone Newsgroup: igc.indig.info On Thu, 19 Dec 1996, kibbey@sierra.net (Larry Kibbey) wrote: > The following explains historical respects about the Western Shoshone > Indians of Nevada..... On the evening of 20 December 1996, I spoke with Carrie Dann in regard to this article written by Larry Kibbey. Carrie told me the following: 1) Larry Kibbey has never visited the Dann family ranch. 2) Larry Kibbey has never visited the Western Shoshone Defense Project. 3) Larry Kibbey has never attended a meeting of the Western Shoshone National Council. Carrie asked me to correct errors of fact in Mr. Kibbey's message. In compiling the information below, I also contacted Chief Raymond Yowell of the Western Shoshone National Council. Larry writes: > Currently, there are four non-profit organizations that are > political factions that use the title of the Western Shoshone. > > (1) The Western Shoshone National Council(WSNC) - Non-Profit > Established: 1984 > Jerry Millet of the Duck Water Indian Reservation was > the Chairman for the WSNC until 1988. During the '80's > most of the tribes and the Te-Moak Tribal Council were > under the umbrella of the WSNC. > > In 1988, Raymond Yowell of the South Fork Indian Reservation > became the Chairman for the WSNC, who is also the Chairman > for the Cattleman's Association and enrolled under the > Te-Moak Tribe. During this time, most of the Te-Moak Bands > pulled out from the WSNC, leaving Duck Water, Ely, Battle > Mountain and the WSDP. Raymond Yowell serves as the Chief (not Chairman) of the Western Shoshone National Council (WSNC), at the discretion of its members. He is also the elected President (not Chairman) of the Western Shoshone Traditional Cattlemen's Association. The Western Shoshone National Council is the same entity that signed the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley with the United States. The WSNC represents any Shoshones who wish to participate in it, including tribal governments and members of unregistered clans. The WSNC is the sovereign government of the Shoshone Nation; it is not a federally-sanctioned entity. No Shoshone is forced to participate in the WSNC, and no Shoshone is banned from it. Some Shoshone tribal governments, as organized under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), can and do participate in the WSNC. At this time, the National Council includes representatives of the Ely and Timbisha IRA governments. While the Yomba Tribal government withdrew from the WSNC, the citizens of Yomba signed a petition giving them independent representation on the Council. The Duckwater and Te-Moak tribal governments have formally withdrawn from the WSNC. The Duck Valley IRA government does not participate in the WSNC, although it has never officially withdrawn. > To date, the Western Shoshone National Council, operates out > of Las Vegas or in that area and is a political organization. The Western Shoshone National Council does not operate out of Las Vegas. Its contact information is: The Western Shoshone National Council c/o Corporation of Newe Sogobia P.O. 21479 Reno, NV 89515-1479 702/324-5899 phone/fax The WSNC also maintains an office at Cactus Springs, Nevada. > (2) Western Shoshone Defense Project is operated out of Crescent > Valley on the Dann's Ranch, is also a Non-Profit Organization. According to Chief Yowell: "The WSDP is an arm of the Western Shoshone government, authorized by the National Council. Their instructions are to peacefully aid the Shoshone Indians in Crescent Valley." The WSDP has an office in the town of Crescent Valley, and it maintains a permanent camp on Shoshone land a few miles away from the Dann ranch. No WSDP facilities are located on the Dann ranch. Their address is: P. O. Box 211106 Crescent Valley, NV 89821 702/468-0230 voice 702/468-0237 fax > (3) Citizens Alert - Nonprofit - Reno, Nevada. > Political organization. Addresses Western Shoshone issues. Citizens Alert has been very helpful in supporting the Shoshone cause through its Native American Program, but it does not represent or claim to represent the Western Shoshone. > (4) Western Shoshone Historic Preservation Society > Non-Profit - Established: May, 1993 > Endorsed by the Te-Moak Tribal Council June 8, 1993. > Program Director, Larry Kibby. > > Established to preserve and protect the ceremonial and > burial areas, as well as other issues of cultural and > religious regards of the Native American Indian This is Mr. Kibbey's organization. I will not comment on it, since it has no connection to the WSNC. > In 1934, Congress endorsed the Indian Reorganization Act. > In 1938, the Te-Moak Tribal Council was established. > > The Te-Moak Tribal Council is the oldest and largest representative > of, and Executive Governing Body of the Western Shoshone Indians > of Nevada and is located on the Elko Indian Colony, Elko, Nevada. The Te-Moak Tribal Council does NOT represent all Western Shoshones, or even a majority of them. The Te-Moaks are just one of several federally- chartered IRA governments with Shoshone citizens. The Te-Moaks DO NOT speak for the Dann family, the Western Shoshone National Council, the Western Shoshone Defense Project, or any of the other IRA governments. The Te-Moak Tribe includes several "band councils" located throughout northeastern Nevada. > Other Western Shoshone Indian Reservations in Nevada, having their > own Tribal Council and are not a part of the Te-Moak Tribal Council > are: > > (5) Goshute Reservation, Utah/Nevada Border. Established 1914. > IRA Tribal Government The Goshutes are cousins of the Western Shoshone, but their reservation and territory are outside the traditional Shoshone lands known as Newe Sogobia. They are not part of the Western Shoshone Nation today, although they may have been so before colonization. I have faxed a copy of this message, and Mr. Kibbey's original, to the WSNC offices. While I have discussed this message with the Shoshone, I take full responsibility for its content. DISCLAIMER: I do not represent the Western Shoshone. I work directly for Carrie Dann, Chief Raymond Yowell, and the Western Shoshone National Council. While I support the Western Shoshone Defense Project, I am not one of its members. I do not receive any compensation for my work. However, I value my friendship with Carrie Dann, Raymond Yowell, and their people. --- Scott Robert Ladd ScottRobertLadd@juno.com 957 Empire Street voice: +1 970 387 0271 P.O. Box 617 fax: +1 970 387 0277 Silverton, CO 81433 USA --------- "RE: Listening to Tobacco" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Dec 1996 19:03:43 -0700 (MST) From: joseph c winter Subj: Re: things i make talk to me UUCP email Tobacco is like that also -- it talks to you if you listen. Also, it will only grow for you if it wants to, if it lets you grow it. There are some types that I can never get to grow, while other people can take seeds from the same harvest and grow it easily. Or they will grow for a awhile, then they will die. Over and over it happens, some times the seeds will grow OK and the next year they won't. Some people can't get any tobacco to grow, others can only grow a few types and then only when the tobacco lets them. And I don't think that it necessarily has to do with what kind of a person you are -- good, bad, or whatever, since most of us have both good and bad in us, or at least we are capable of acting both good and bad, or of using the power in tobacco and other sacred objects in both good and bad ways. Sometimes tobacco will let you use it for bad purposes, or let you use it the wrong way-- thus the millions of deaths each year around the world, with at least .5 million here in the states and Canada. I think that power in any form is in some ways neutral -- it is there, we can use it any way we want, and unfortunately we often use it for bad or even evil things. Mostly we use it with ignorance, not understanding how dangerous and deadly it can be (or not understanding how glorious and beautiful it can be), which I think is what happens with most "recreational" tobacco users -- they don't really understand the power it has, they use it without respect in inappropriate ways, and it addicts them and eventually kills them. And tobacco is only one of the many wondrous plants that are able to tap into the very power of the sun, there are many others and also many sacred objects and places and animals that contain power that we can use if we want to, for good or bad or in ignorance or with knowledge. And I guess we have that power in ourselves, we are that sacred power if we let it be, but most of us need the help of the plants and animals and special places to use even a tiny bit of that power, in a positive way so that its danger is controlled and harnessed. I haven't the foggiest idea how I reached this point in this message, I guess it's something I have wanted to say a long time and the earlier message about things that we make talking to us sparked it. ????? I imagine a lot of you want to talk about things like this, but maybe it's not appropriate, and obviously there are many things about power and its proper and improper uses that should not be discussed. Since I was not raised in a traditional family and have never received the right kind of training, I will leave it up to those of you who do have the training and knowledge to guide us in our discussions. But one thing I am absolutely certain of -- that power is there, in us and in other creatures and things, and it is very very dangerous when it is used in ignorance or with malice. Tobacco is only the tip of the iceberg, the most obvious way that this power is expressed and misused and used for both killing and healing. But there are a lot of other ways that the power is expressed, most often it isn't even visible or we are so used to it that we take it for granted, like the sun and the weather, and eventually we pay a price for that ignorance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Joseph C. Winter Phone: 505-277-5853 Director, Traditional Native American Tobacco FAX: 505-277-6726 Seed Bank and Education Program email:jwinter@unm.edu University of New Mexico 1717 Lomas Blvd NE Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA http://www.treaty7.org/friends/tnat/tnat.htm --------- "RE: Spirituality and My Ancestors" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Dec 1996 18:17:31 -0500 (EST) From: jeagles@bangornews.infi.net (John Eagle Smith) Subj: Spirituality and My Ancestors UUCP email I listen with great interest as I am told how my ancestors thought, how they believed and how they conducted ceremonies....and I wonder how people know these things? Some say it is from the written history of the first settlers....and I wonder aren't these the same people who burned their women for being witches? Aren't these the same people who wrote the books of history which tell lies to our children in their schools? Aren't these the same people who fled to escape religious persecution only to immediately inflict it upon others? I wonder if they could write anything without inserting some of their bias, prejudice and/or religious conditioning? Some say it has been passed down by their relations over the past centuries....I wonder how much has been taken away from, added to or just plain misunderstood? I am sure you've tried this before; put a group of people in a circle and whisper a sentence to the person next to you and ask them to pass it on....when it gets back to you is it even close to what you said? And I wonder how many can tell a story with the exact feelings, gestures, nuances and words that their Grandfathers or Grandmothers used? I wonder how much the concepts themselves have changed over the decades? Some say that their ancestors speak to them from the world beyond and tell them these things....I wonder how much of what a person "hears" is vain imagining or ego and how much is from the ancestors? And, how do they know for sure that what they're hearing is not from those spirits caught between the worlds instead of those in the world beyond? And how do they know, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that they are doing someone a favor or any good by telling them what they "hear"?? Let me relate to you a very true story that's happening even as I write this...A lady I know went to a "seer" because she worries about her future...The "seer" told her that she would meet a NA man and gave her a description of him...said they would marry and that they would live happily ever after.... Sure enough, the woman meets a NA man who fits the description the "seer" had given her..they dated briefly and married...now comes the happily ever after... The man raped her, beat her, stole all her belongings and left....of course the police became involved, the man went to prison and now he writes to her saying that when he is released he is going to kill her.... I wonder which spirit was speaking to that "seer"? Is this happily ever after? And what if all this happened only because the "seer" planted a thought in the woman's mind? (thoughts and words are very powerful) When I hear talk of rather my ancestors believed in reincarnation or not I ask my self....were my children born all knowing or did they have to learn a bit at a time? I remember both my son and my daughter's first steps and first words...I remember watching in amazement as they learned of the world around them...and, yes I guided them..but, I didn't impose my beliefs upon them... I taught them to be responsible for their actions and to look through the eyes of another before saying any thing and then I let them make their own choices... I wonder if we are not children in the eyes of Great Spirit and if we are told everything all at once or if we are not as our own little children...being guided and allowed to make our own choices ....gaining a bit at a time as we can understand it? I wonder if the Native American people are any different than any other people when it comes to this learning and growing process? I don't believe that my great,great, (and ten more times), grandfather or grandmother were born with total wisdom.. I believe that Great Spirit revealed to them, through their life experiences, that which they needed and that which they could understand and has repeated this for all generations...and will continue to do so for all the generations to come....each receiving a bit more of the puzzle that it is being put together one piece at a time - so that when it is completed we will know it in our hearts rather than in our minds.... And isn't that how we learn best; one piece at a time? I know that I would certainly become overwhelmed if someone were to tell me the complete workings of a computer, (for instance), in one sitting.....I can't even begin to imagine what would happen if instead of a computer it was Wakan Tanka, (Great Mystery) which contains all things known and unknown, being revealed to me in one sitting.... Was not the Cannupa only revealed some nineteen generations ago? And what would you do if the White Buffalo Calf Woman returned this very day with a new bundle containing something even more powerful than the Cannupa? Would you turn Her away saying, "This is not the way of my ancestors? I will not go and listen to Her!" Or would you be one of those saying, "How can this be for there is nothing more powerful than the Cannupa? Stone Her and kill Her!" Or would you be one of those who listened to Her and when you felt the truth of Her words, you would welcome Her into your heart and give thanks for Her new gift? My Grandpa, (who is in his eighties and has been a spiritual leader of his tribe for many years), tells me that "Great Spirit is so vast and so powerful that if we human beings were to see as much of Him as a few grains of sand are to a beach..it would blind us, drive us crazy or kill us.....that is why Great Spirit has never revealed Himself/Herself to us except through the prophets and through the creation"...Why is it then that we humans try so desperately to put limitations upon something this vast and powerful? Could it be fear? And if so, I wonder why we so fear the very Essence that loves us so unconditionally? The regalia I wear is not that of my ancestors, even though it may be very similar in many ways, it is mine...I have either made or had given to me each piece...and it has come one piece at a time...over the last eight or ten years...and is still not complete and may never be....it doesn't have any meaning for my ancestors and won't have the same meaning for my children... its meaning resides in my heart because I have taken the time to be with and understand each piece..... I feel the same way about my spirituality...it does not belong to my ancestors, even though it may be similar in many ways... and the spirituality of my children will belong to them as mine does to me... I only hope and pray that my children will take the time to be with and understand even more of Great Spirit than I have.... I have one more question for those who say that they believe exactly as their ancestors and that nothing should be added to or taken away from that;....do you also believe their superstitions? If not, than you have taken away a great part of their spirituality.....I personally have chosen to leave behind many of the superstitions which I found were not true of the world in which I live.... And I wonder also how those who profess to live tradition, can light their smudges, their Cannupa or their Sacred Fire with a match or a lighter instead of an ember from a fire which is kept burning or perhaps by rubbing two sticks together? Or how can they never sing, in their ceremonies, a song which is less than five-hundred or a thousand years old? Saying that one lives as closely as possible to traditions doesn't cut it....either one lives them or they don't....the second you deviate the tiniest bit you have CHANGED (added to or taken from) tradition ... (and, some say, the only thing that is constant is change) I don't want to live history...I want to help make it....so that one day; a few hundred years from now, children somewhere will sit and read about their ancestors of the 1900's...and hopefully hear of us in terms other than savage and barbaric.... I intend in no way to offend anyone and ask forgiveness if I have....and I am not asking or implying that you should believe as I do....these are only the ponderings of one who is trying to understand as much as possible of that which is beyond total comprehension....Wakan Tanka..... and my connection to that Great Mystery.....I only ask that you read and ponder these thoughts for a while.... and that, if you respond, you do so constructively so that perhaps we both can learn more... All My Relations, John Eagle Smith Mi'KMaq P.S. I have stated only that which I believe and I neither speak for, nor represent, anyone else..... ................and keep your flames for I already have a sacred fire burning .......................... --------- "RE: Indians of Mexico" --------- Date: 11:20 PM Dec 30 From: jhoward@vvm.com Subj: Indians of Mexico - not "native american" Newsgroup: soc.culture.native Why is it that whenever you see a map of the Indian tribes of North America, it always is cut off at the Southern Border of the United States, or at the Rio Grande? Even if the map goes all the way up to the top of Canada, it still winds up cutting some Indian lands up right in two - like the Apaches, Papago, Pima, Yaqui, who originally live in Northern Mexico and Southwestern US. As if native americans only live on English speaking lands. And Mexico has much more Native Americans than the US does, anyway. In fact, the majority of the population in Mexico comes from original Native Americans. If Native Americans are suffering and being discriminated against in the US, what about the ones in Mexico who can't even cross the borders between Mexico and the US? Wouldn't it be better for the Native Americans in the US, if their brothers from the south of the border could come across freely? What an influence it could have on the US native american population. Also, the Mexican native americans had the largest and most developed cultural centers of North America, including writing systems and great pyramids. Look at the native american cultural things available in the US. Even there, while the native american culture (recordings, for example), come from Canada and the US, they stop at the southern border. Its as if the only native american in the US is the "Anglo-Saxon" native american, while in reality the most suppressed and rejected native american in the United States is the most authentic native american of all - the Mexican native american, who, in the US, is treated as if they don't exist. --------- "RE: Cheyenne & Arapaho Employment" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 15:07:19 -0600 From: Pre-installed User Subj: Employment Opportunity Newsgroup: alt.native The Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma are advertising the following employment opportunity. Please contact the Personnel Department (Joyce Martinez)directly at (405) 262-0345 or (800) 247-4612 for more information and a Tribal Application. Position: Controller, Finance Department Location: Tribal Administration Office, Concho, OK Issue Date: 12/20/96 Closing Date: 01/17/97 Statement of Responsibility: Under the direct supervision of the Business Manager, the Controller has overall responsibility for the administration of the financial affairs of the C & A Tribes and prepares the financial analysis of the Tribal Operations. Description of Duties: Maintains & coordinates the accounting functions in accordance with GAAP and with governmental cost principles (i.e. OMB Circular A-87 and A-102) Directs and coordinates the financial operation of the Tribes'; Examines and reviews contracts for proper completion and compliance with grant terms and conditions; Establishes major financial goals, economic objectives, and policies of the Tribes; Directs the preparation and accuracy of reports outlining the Tribes' financial status, including the completion of all necessary federal and state financial reports to the granting agencies; Prepares financial analysis of Tribal Operations and makes recommendations to the Business Committee and Business Manager; Arranges for audits or other necessary contractual services of Tribal accounts; Must have prior experience in developing and negotiating Indirect Cost Agreements; Directs, controls, and coordinates the function of inventory; Develops and coordinates necessary and appropriate accounting data for all departments; Supervises the employees of the Finance Department; Directly supervises the Payroll Department; Assures that all payroll taxes are paid on a timely basis and is responsible for preparation of all federal and state tax reports; Maintains communications with private and governmental agencies in reference to financial matters of the Tribes. Qualifications: Master's degree in Finance with courses in management or Master's degree in Business Administration with supplementary courses in finance, accounting, and computers. CPA Preferred; Two (2) year's experience in computerized accounting and payroll software, preferably the MIP System; Excellent writing skill and oral communication skills a must; Professional demeanor with a flexible attitude and strong organizational skills; Skilled in management procedures and skilled in diplomacy toward dealing with people and staff in maintaining high morale and productivity. Cheyenne-Arapaho preference Salary: Negotiable, depending upon qualifications. --------- "RE: Project Director Job" --------- Date: Thu, 26 December 96 08:00 -0500 From: Zona Seca Subj: Pro-Youth Coalition Project Director Position Opening Transcribed Snail-mail Pro-Youth Coalition Santa Barbara, California Project Director ---------------- The Project Director of the Pro-Youth Coalition of Santa Barbara is responsible for coordinating the implementation and management of the Pro-Youth Coalition Implementation Plan. The Project Director will be directly supervised by the Executive Director of Zona Seca, the Administrative Agency of the Pro-Youth Coalition, meet regularly with the Executive Committee, and receive policy direction from the Pro-Youth Coalition Steering Committee. The salary range is $40,000 to $46,000 per year depending on experience. The following benefits are provided: vacation accrued per month determined by years of employment, sick leave accrued per month determined by years of employment, twelve holidays per year or as determined by the board of directors of the Administrative Agency, medical, dental, life insurance and employee retirement program. Qualifications and Characteristics ---------------------------------- Minimum of five years experience working in a non-profit organization including supervising staff and working with community based organizations, public agencies and private sector. Understanding of the bi-cultural Latino community necessary. Knowledge and experience in youth violence prevention programs necessary. Masters degree in Human Services Administration or related experience desirable and/or eight years extensive experience related to the mission of the Pro-Youth Coalition. Bi-lingual skills desirable. Working knowledge of non-profit fiscal management, including fund administration and budgeting a must. Experience in Fund Development will be considered a plus. Demonstrated ability in public speaking, written and oral communications and strong interpersonal relations a must. Responsibilities ---------------- The Project Director will be responsible for the oversight of the entire implementation plan. Developing memorandums of agreements with subcontractors; coordinating and developing the bidding process for the selection of subcontractors and overseeing these contracts; providing direct supervision of clerical assistance; organizing the domain specific collaborative; providing staff support and leadership in the long range planning, advocacy, and capacity building efforts of the Coalition; conducting outreach and public relations efforts on behalf of the Coalition; overseeing data collection and evaluation efforts. Send Resume to: Zona Seca c/o Executive Director 119 N. Milpas Street Santa Barbara, CA 93103 Phone (805) 963-8961 --------- "RE: Honor the Earth" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 22:32:17 -0800 From: Candice Gohn Subj: Honor the Earth Newsgroup: soc.culture.native Hey y'all... I just wanted to let everybody know about an awesome organization called Honor the Earth. Its a campaign organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Indigenous Women's Network, the Seventh Generation Fund, and everyone's favorite musical activists, the Indigo Girls. Honor the Earth creates awareness and support for Indigenous environmental issues and leverages needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Indigenous communities. The campaign utilizes music, the arts, media, and Indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth, and create a voice for those who are not heard. The latest HTE project was the August release of a double CD set called Honor. The album was put out on Daemon Records (an independent label owned and operated by Indigo Girl Amy Ray), and features never-before-released tracks by artists such as Soul Asylum, Bonnie Raitt, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Matthew Sweet, Ulali, Indigo Girls, Bruce Cockburn, Victoria Williams, Rusted Root, Exene Cervenka, Luka Bloom, Jane Siberry, Latin Playboys, Indigenous, John Trudell, Keith Secola, Joy Harjo and Peotic Justice, Sherman Alexie, Frank Hyde, and Reversing Hour. All of the proceeds for Honor will benefit the HTE campaign and directly support Indigenous groups working to protect their communities from environmental threats. Its an awesome compilation of intense yet enjoyable music and spoken word. Call up your local radio station and put in a request for some tracks to be played, if you're interested. It's a good way to check out the material and spread some awareness at the same time. If you want more information about Honor the Earth or any of its effects or goals you can write to me at "cgohn@olympus.net" and I'll send you some information, or you can contact the actual network center by posting to "honor@dexmn.com". You can also check out the HTE website at "http://www.honorearth.com". Thanks so much for your support and happy holidays. Greta Gohn "Honor the Earth is not just another environmental cause. The basic issues of human rights, justice and our own survival are at stake...this campaign is a way to become part of the solution to the environmental threats facing our planet." -Amy Ray --------- "RE: Poem: Trouble" --------- Date: 22 Apr 1996 16:53:09 GMT From: JHB4450@utalrg.uta.edu(Joseph Sky Turtle) Subj: Trouble UUCP email Great Spirit I'm troubled >From every side, Do you know where I can hide? Go to the Coyote, Great Spirit replied, >From your trouble He'll Teach you to hide. So off I went Feeling just fine Until I met Coyote Tangled in a vine. How did you get there Coyote my friend? And why do I smell Trouble in the wind? Great Spirit how do I Get free from this vine? You should have heard That Coyote's smooth line! Ha! said Great Spirit, Coyote did just fine. When the vine sets you free You'll know Coyote is but me. Don't hide from your trouble, Or how will you see, That like Coyote The vine is just me. There's much trouble In this universe of mine, Stay where your at And we'll both solve it in time. JST --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" --------- Date: 96/12/22 22:55 From: Debra F. Sanders (dfsanders@genie.geis.com) Subj: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days genie email A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of January 5-11 IANUALI (January) (Kaelo) 5 I am a part of the land, ka aina. The soil is my flesh, the mountains my bones. 6 My voice is the voice of the wind, ka makani; my dance is the dance of the waves. 7 I am reborn in the image of my fathers and mothers. 8 The spirit of the land guides me in every choice that I must make. 9 This land is born of fire and ocean and wind. In my mind is the fire of knowledge; in my blood run the currents of the ocean; in the wind do I hear the song of my spirit. 10 The rumble of the volcano is like the beating of a great heart. 11 The gift of knowledge is never diminished. (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, 2 January 97 08:00 -0500 From: Janet Smith (evestar@juno.com) Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows not previously posted to Mailing Lists NATCHAT or NATIVE-L UUCP email >From News From Indian Country's Pow-wow Directory, Late Dec. 1996 Jan 4 Mason School Pow-wow, Mason Middle School, Tacoma, WA Info: 206-596-1139 Jan 17-19 Indian River Native American Festival, Municipal Stadium New Smyrna Beach, FL Info: 904-424-0660 Jan 19 Mid-Winter Pow-wow, Thayer Academy, Braintree, MA Info: 617-884-4227 Jan 23-27 Discover N.A. '97, Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg, FL Info: 800-683-7800, Ext. 1467 Jan 24-26 Winter Benefit, Dayton, OH Info: 513-275-8599 Jan 30-Feb 2 Seminole Pow-Wow, Pow-wow Grounds, Immokalee, FL Info: 941-657-3400 or 800-683-7800 From: News from Native California, P.O. Box 9145, Berkeley, CA 94709, Fall 96 Dec. 6 - Jan. 17 "Ancestral Memories: A Tribute to Native American Survival, CN Gorman Museum, Hart Hall, UC Davis, Tue.-Fri, noon-5 p.m., works by various Native American artists. Info: 916-752-6567 Jan. 9 "California Indian Mission Baskets: Gifts from the Past Give Meaning to Today's Culture. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Fleischmann Auditorium, 2559 Puesta del Sol Rd., Santa Barbara, 7:30 p.m. Free Admission Info: 805-682-4711 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- 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: Joe Chasing Horses via Gary Smith, Jackie Leroux/Ottawa Sun, Janet Smith, Debra F. Sanders, Joseph Sky Turtle, John Eagle Smith, Kyle T. Lucas, Joseph C. Winter, Dave Henry via Jerry Cluney via Tom Kunesh, Zona Seca, Mohawk Nation, Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, Candice Gohn, Scott Robert Ladd, Dr. Thomas A. Perry via atn, Joanna Nanake (Earth Girl) Soto Aviles -//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Part B of this newsletter has already been distributed via the NATIVE-L or NATCHAT mailing lists. --------- "RE: Web Page Now Exists" --------- Date: 11:59 PM Dec 10, 1996 From: gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us Subj: research questions Web page now exists Mailing List: NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us) I have just created a page at the NativeNet World Wide Web archive site to deal with research questions which have been submitted either to the NATIVE-L list or to myself personally. As I think most of you know (at least you'll know if you've been on the list for a while and/or you've read the article that you received when you first subscribed), I have not been accepting most questions on the NATIVE-L list for this calendar year. The reason for excluding questions from the list is so that it can be used for important bulletins. As I announced in an article I posted on 17 January ("NativeNet: temporary slowdown necessary"), the reduction in traffic was mainly to make it possible for me to spend less time in managing the mailing list so that I could spend that time improving the lists and the Web site, which I have done to the best of my ability since that time. It has troubled me every time I have declined to relay a question to the list, particularly in cases where the question being asked represented what seemed like an important topic of research. As those of you know who were on the NATIVE-L mailing list prior to this year, there used to be some interesting questions and answers posted to the list which provided a learning experience for all of us. But I also felt, as I have each time I've created a new list to make it possible to voluntarily participate in a dialogue on some particular subject (education, language, health, Columbus Quincentenary), the greater good was being served, because it seemed better to let people decide for themselves what discussions and exchanges of information to subscribe to. I feel it is so in the matter of questions and answers. I know that some people are very busy and would prefer to be able to see only the news bulletins and skip the questions and answers. Also, particularly since the commercialization of the Internet, many questions have been submitted which are of a very informal nature, including those of people who are seeking to trace what they feel to be their Native ancestry and people wanting information about such things as arts and crafts and touring. There have also been many questions from parents whose children have school papers due in a couple of days who are looking for a quick and easy way to get information that doesn't involve going to the library (and even university students have been known to make similar inquiries!). I feel quite comfortable with my decision to exclude questions from this mailing list, despite occasional misgivings. The main problem has been that there has been nowhere (except perhaps Usenet newsgroups, which are fraught with their own unique problems) to send people who want to ask even serious questions for which searches through libraries often turn up little information. Well, now I'm working toward implementing a scheme whereby I hope it will be possible to accept various kinds of questions and to have them read only by those who decide they want to try to help those asking these questions. I hope to have a new mailing list devoted to this purpose before much longer. Meanwhile, my solution will be to vector such items to one of a number of Web pages I am setting up. My plan is to have several Web pages, one for each of several types of questions: 1. serious research 2. informal research 3. miscellaneous information request 4. project information 5. project misc. (e.g. sources of funding) 6. misc. (non-information) request Perhaps other categories will suggest themselves over time. The initial page is for the first ("serious research") category mentioned above. The URL is "http://bioc09.uthscsa.edu/natnet/archive/qa/sr/96/" Here is a list of entries in this list at present (sorted by reverse time of receipt - most recent article first): + Ecuador expedition studies indigenous perceptions + Indian source of American democracy? + Navajo Women in Navajo Politics + need ideas for Native women training program in Alaska + Red Roots of White Feminism? (re Paula Gunn Allen) + Lummi, Salmon, & Culture? + Santa Clara v. Martinez + Pomo question + Taxation Status of First Nations + water/soil testing regulations on reserves? + talking stick? + need documents on asian logging in Brazil + Tupinamba tribe of Brazil? + Sac & Fox / Shoshone environmental issue research + Looking for Namatjira + need help in structuring major in study of Cherokee people + need information on Chitamacha tribe + contact info for Robert Williams, Jim Anaya, Vine Deloria? + need source of documents pertaining to NAGPRA (New York state) + Guarina? (in Cuba during Spanish conquest) + Accuracy in NA depictions - need info for screenplay on Ute incident + Information Search for Construction Contract + policy/practice of Indian child education? + Ontario aboriginal demographics? + Jam Sams? (author of _Cards of the Holy Way_) + Australian Aboriginal theatre + affirmative action benefits for Native Americans? + info on Stephen Cornell / Joseph Kalt (Harvard)? + use of Indian names/images in sports teams / non-Native businesses? + need info on N.A. involvement with criminal justice system + U.S. federal recognition harder for black/N.A. mixed-bloods? + publications on sustainable development in N.A./rural communities? + Historic Sites and Monuments Act - Canada + Native American Studies Department mailing lists? + need references on aboriginal understanding of justice + request assistance for lobbying Congress through e-mail + need into on sterilization of Native American women + risk assessment and indigenous/folk knowledge? (I again apologize to each of the people submitting these questions, as I did at the time I declined to relay them, for the fact that I was not able to get them out sooner.) I haven't yet entirely decided whether to do anything about the informal questions any time soon. One problem is that I don't have time myself to handle such things, so it will probably be necessary to recruit a volunteer to manage the system (which just means deciding which articles to accept). And, since there is at present no mailing list, I am not yet committing myself to accept new questions, but I hope to be able to do so before too much longer. I'll make an announcement via this list once there is any change in this policy. For now, I'd just like to encourage those of you who would like to try to help your fellow netizens to take a look at this Web page and write directly to those asking the questions (you can just select the address link embedded in each message to reply, so it should be fairly easy to do so). Please let me know what you think of this idea and/or if you have any problems in using this system. Thanks. Gary -- Gary S. Trujillo gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us Somerville, Massachusetts {bu.edu,spdcc,cdp}!gnosys!gst --------- "RE: Simon Fraser Univ. Professorship" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 15:22:06 -0600 From: atn@web.apc.org Subj: First Nations Studies professor opening at Simon Fraser University This is passed on from a postings bulletin received from Simon Fraser University. Please direct any inquiries or responses to the address given with the posting; we're just the messenger. Happy Holidays ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simon Fraser University -- First Nations Studies. Applications are being accepted for a tenure-track position in First Nations Studies starting September 1, 1997. Appointment will be made at the assistant professor rank. First Nations Studies is an interdisciplinary program; a joint appointment will be made between this program and an academic department suited to the background of the successful candidate. Candidates must hold or expect a Ph. D, or demonstrate equivalent background and experience in First Nations studies or a related discipline by the time of appointment. A prospective appointee should show strong promise as a researcher, with expertise in one or more areas of interest within First Nations studies, and be prepared to become active in the development of a new First Nations studies program on SFU's main campus. Acquaintance with First Nations in B. C, community-based teaching, and/or program development are desirable assets. Teaching duties will include courses in First Nations studies and related disciplines, according to the background of the appointee. Send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, the names of three referees, and sample publications (by February 28, 1997) to: Dr. T. Perry, Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B. C. V5A 1S6, Canada [phone: (604) 291-3913, FAX: (604) 291-3033, e-mail:perry@sfu.ca]. In accordance with Canadian Immigration requirements, this advertisement is directed to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. SFU is committed to the principle of employment equity, and offers equal employment opportunities to qualified applicants. SFU is actively seeking applications from persons of First Nations origin for this position. Thomas A. Perry Associate Dean of Arts Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby, B. C. V5A 1S6 Phone:(604) 291-3913 Dean of Arts General Office: (604) 291-4414 Dean of Arts Office Fax: (604) 291-3033 E-mail: perry@sfu.ca