_       __  _____  __   _ __    ___    ____  _ __    ___
   ' )   / / ')  /    /  ) ' )  )  /   )    /   ' )  )  /   )
    / / / /  /  /    /--/   /  /  / ___    /     /  /  / ___
   (_(_/ (__/  (    /  (_  /  (_ (___/ '__/_    /  (_ (___/ '       O
      ____   _    ,  ___   _    , ___                           O   o   O
       /    ' )  /  /   ) ' )  / /   '                        O     o     O
      /      /-<   /       /--/ /--    VOLUME 05, ISSUE 004  O o o     o o O
   __/_     /   ) (___/   /  ( (___,      25 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 NativeWeb, A-Info, & NATIVE-L listservers;
        UUCP & genie email;  Newsgroups: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 <your email address>"

    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.

    "At my age a blanket and a comfortable chair to sit in are the things I
     need most.  Time stretches and makes me mull over a lot of things.
     Some are not important; others will always carry weight, regardless of
     age.  Like thoughts about honest and vanity.  Just like oil and vinegar,
     the two don't mix; yet I ponder the vicissitudes they caused.  During
     my childhood, honesty was nurtured in every child.  Now vanity has
     taken on the disguise of honesty and tricks many a parent into teaching
     the wrong attitudes."
    "I fear for my grandchildren."
    "I fear for the earth."
    "Man's vanity has the power to do away with all life and cause the earth
     to shake the foundation of the universe.  Honesty, the kind that caries
     respect for life, is the only force to prevail over vanity."
    __ Chief Dan George, Coastal Salish

  +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
  |   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!

   Last week I wrote of the hardships visited on many traditionals by this
 hard winter.  I asked that you who value so much these good hearts keeping
 our traditions alive do something to keep our traditionals alive.

   I have not received permission to share a response I received, and give
 credit and honor to someone who stepped forward; but I will tell you that
 some did ask where blankets or funds could be sent.  One person who asked
 is without a place to live.  I share this with you now, because if you have
 been telling yourself how difficult it would be to participate in the
 office pool or buy that extra nice desert for lunch if you reached into your
 pocket to help others, maybe you need to reconsider what "need" really is.

 To help the Lakota this will work:

    PO Box 8392
    Rapid City, SD 57709
    Checks made out to Wapaha Canku Luta (a Lakota nonprofit organization)
    or to Joe Chasing Horses

 For the Blackfeet try one of the following:

 Blackfeet Tribal Business Council  Siksika Nation
 P.O. Box 850                       P.O. Box 249
 Browning                           Gleichen,Alberta CANADA
 MT                                 T0J 1N0
 59417                              ATTN: Siksika Cultural Dept.
 406-388-7276                       phone : (403) 264-7250

  I will post others as they are made available to me.
  I ask that all contacts be emailed to me for publication.  gars@netcom.com
  PLEASE help the elders!

   This next is abstracted from a REPORT FROM CBC - Jan/17/1996
   Premier Lucien Bouchard of Quebec has given the go-ahead for exploratory
 talks with Newfoundland on the Churchill Falls power contract. That word
 comes from Newfoundland's Premier, Brian Tobin. He and Bouchard and seven
 other Premiers were part of the Team Canada trade mission. Bouchard left -
 as scheduled - yesterday. Under the Churchill Falls deal, signed in the
 1960's, Hydro-Quebec buys Newfoundland power and sells it at a ten-fold
 profit.  --- end of abstract

   The power comes from dams that flooded hundreds of First Nations People
 from their homes and lands.  Lands that Hydro-Quebec has fought paying real
 value for, even if the People did want to move.  Of course, they did not
 and were forced from their roots.

   Greed becomes its own master.

 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
 - Barrier Lake in Need                - Conferences and Powwows - online
 - Message from Wilf Peltier           - Sacred Circle
 - Community is With Out Food          - Voisey's Bay Memo of Understanding
 - Manitoba                            - Native America Calling
 - Aberdeen Hope
 - Ward Valley Story
 - Wild Horses
 - Buffalo Rescue Newsletter
 - Over 500 Marked for Death
 - Why Indigenous Rights?
 - RCAP Access Report 2-2
 - American Indian Trust
 - Native Tobacco
 - Student Financial Aid
 - Poem: Questions of Life
 - Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days
 - Conferences and Powwows - offline

 --------- "RE: Barrier Lake in Need" ---------

 Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 20:21:14 -0800
 From: Mary C Knockwood <mcknckw@mailserv.mta.ca>
 Subj: Barrier lake, Que

 Mailing List:    NativeWeb <nativeweb@thecity.sfsu.edu>

 I would like to have some information posted in the native web concerning
 a First Nation community in the Barrier lake region in Quebec.  They have
 been without funding from the federal gov't since Aug or there about and
 it is due to Ron Erwin minister of indian and northern affairs cutting
 all funding to that community.  The issue I am not too clear on but they
 have contacted the First Nations Environmental Network for help.  I am
 emailing you for Sulian Herney, as his system is down at the moment.  He
 asks that this get posted as soon as possible.  that there is an urgent
 request for food and other donations for the people of this community.
 (donations such as Food, Childrens clothing, Feminine hygiene products,
 candles, matches, etc. or any other type of help they can get.)  We would
 greatly appreciate it as well if people would write letters of concern to
 the minister.  If anyone would like more information the contact number
 for these people is 819-449-7465 and ask for Hector Jerome or Michele.
 thank you for your time and I hope you will be kind enough to post this
 for me on behalf of the First Nations Environmental Network.
 May the Creator Guide and Protect you always.
 Mary

 --------- "RE: Message from Wilf Peltier" ---------

 Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 12:25:47 -0500
 From: Jane Scharf <dn701@freenet.carleton.ca>
 Subj: Wilf Peltier First Nations Elder
               A
              AA
            AAAA        The A-Infos News Service
          AA   AA
        AA       AA
      INFOSINFOSINFOS   http://www.tao.ca/wind/ainfos.html
    AAAA       AAAA
  AAAAA      AAAAA

   Take Back the Lebreton Flats for the Homeless>>>>>>>>Communique 6

   Wilf Peltier First Nations Elder has agreed to bless the land in a sweet
 grass celebration at Lebreton Flats on August 25/97.
   In this ancient First Nations potlatch celebration those attending will
 be sharing their good fortunes with others to heal the circle of humanity.
 Give what you have take what you need. We will be swapping everything from
 soup to gloves.
   There are now over 400 individuals and groups world wide who have
 confirmed their attendance on August 25/97. The responses have been from
 Canada, France, Italy, Mexico, UK, USA, Vienna. Transportation to the Flats
 from your port of entry will be arranged and if you arrive before August 25
 sleeping accommodations can also be arranged until the camp is open.
   For those who have not read earlier communiques:
   Take Back the Flats for the Homeless is going to be a tent city for the
 homeless on unoccupied land claimed to be owned by the Federal Government
 in the heart of downtown Ottawa Canada's capital city.
   We intend to continue this protest until the criminalization of
 homelessness has ceased or until our social programs are reestablished with
 eligibility based on need alone as it was from 1958 until 1996. We fear
 imprisonment,  boot camps, child abductions by Children's Aid Society for
 the massive numbers of new homeless persons cut off pensions, mothers
 allowance and welfare and workfare for thousands of others in the coming
 year. We recognize that withdrawal of social programs is a world wide
 trend.
 - When: the action commences on August 25, 1997 at 2:00 pm.
 - Where: on Lebreton Flats which is west of Booth Street and north of the
   transitway in downtown Ottawa.
 - Who: all children of the universe who want a place to stand against the
 tyranny of big business who have orchestrated the dismantling of our
 social programs without alternatives. We are claiming unoccupied land to
 use and create a community with an economy based on sharing in defiance of
 the world monetary economy based on hoarding and greed.
   There is no committee, no leader and no cash donations are sought or
 accepted and no endorsements are sought or accepted to avoid cooptation. We
 are however hard at work organizing.
   If you want copies of earlier communiques EMAIL Jane Scharf at:
 dn701@freenet.carleton.ca
 >>>>>Help Needed:
 donations of food, clothing and camping equipment dropped off at the Flats
 on or after August 25/97.
 Help in constructing out houses, a stage, tables and benches and solar
 generator would help to facilitate this action.
 >>OR
 Mail to 110-2604 Draper Ave. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2H 9B1.
 We hope to see you there as a visitor or camper but anonymous donations by
 mail are welcome also.
 If you like this action please forward, redirect, post or otherwise
 redistribute this communique as you see fit.
 Protest, Actively Resist, and Surpass, Jane Scharf

 --------- "RE: Community is With Out Food" ---------

 Date: 20 Jan 1997 13:32:11 GMT
 From: bp293@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Robert Matylewicz)
 Subj: A First Nations community is with out food - Help urgently needed

   Newsgroup: alt.native

                         HELP URGENTLY NEEDED
             A FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITY IS WITH OUT FOOD
   The Algonquin Barriere Lake people in northern Quebec are in a desperate
 situation. A community of 450 people are without electricity and food. As
 of Friday, January 17 they have gone 10 days without a food supply.
   They are caught in a political situation. No one is asked to take sides,
 but we ask your help in this humanitarian effort to help.
   The First Nations Environmental Network is organizing a food drive. A
 run from Atlantic Canada will leave Nova Scotia on Monday, January 20, as
 well as efforts being organized by the Native Friendship Centre in
 Montreal, and various other First Nations communities in the region. As
 Ottawa is one of the closest major centres to Barriere Lake, any help from
 the people of Ottawa would be an immediate contribution to the health and
 safety of a suffering community.
   Donations of non-perishable foods, as well as cash for chain-saw gas
 (for wood heat) may be dropped off at:
 - STONE ANGEL - 314 Lisgar Street, Ottawa - 236-7826
 - VICTORIA ISLAND, Ottawa - c/o Nick
 - ODAWA NATIVE FRIENDSHIP CENTRE - 12 Stirling Ave., Ottawa - 722-3811
   Specify 'FOR BARRIERE LAKE'
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Bob Matylewicz, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada    email: bp293@freenet.carleton.ca
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 --------- "RE: Manitoba" ---------

 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 06:44:50 -0800
 From: Manitoba Warrior <cordelia@intergate.bc.ca>
 Subj: Manitoba

   Newsgroup: soc.culture.native

 From the Aboriginal perspective, the criminal justice system is an alien
 one, imposed by the dominant white society.  Wherever they turn or are
 shuttled through the system, aboriginal offenders, victims or witnesses
 encounter a sea of white faces.  Not surprisingly, they regard the
 system as deeply insensitive to their traditions and values.  Many view
 it as extremely racist. (Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1991, pg. 5)
   This paper will attempt to examine the negative impact that the
 Canadian justice system has had on Aboriginal people. There will be much
 emphasis placed on the socialized reaction that has taken place towards
 the police, courts and corrections among many Native people in
 Manitoba.  Through the continued injustice that has taken place in
 Winnipeg, and by what some would argue is an approved, concentrated and
 systematic abuse of Aboriginal people by the justice system in  Manitoba
 many Aboriginal people have become socialized into an "us" and "them"
 mentality.

 The Police
   With respect to law enforcement, here again Indigenous people, rather
 than substantive law or police practices, are the object of analysis.
 Perhaps the most important facet of the relationship between Indigenous
 people and the substantive law is the absence of recognition of
 traditional or aboriginal common law.  The law itself is highly
 ethnocentric as are the sanctions it employs.  It is, therefore, little
 wonder that the law enforcement personnel are charged with the
 enforcement of inherently discriminatory laws and that law enforcement
 personnel do, in fact, enforce the law in discriminatory ways.
 (Law and Order For Canadian Indigenous People, Abstract, pg. xx)
   The first way that the Canadian Justice System fails Aboriginal people
 is through the policing system. Efforts to change the discrimination
 within law enforcement agencies have not been very successful.  Much of
 the effort to correct the policing system has involved placing more
 Aboriginal people within the law enforcement agencies.   Given the fact
 that the laws that they are charged to enforce do not always reflect
 traditional native values of harmony and healing, it would be more
 likely that the Aboriginal law enforcer would change with the system
 than change the system.  The officer may even in some cases take on the
 view that these Aboriginal offenders reflect a negative image of native
 people in general and chose to be harsher than other non-Aboriginal
 officers. This may not always be the case as many native officers have
 played an important role in maintaining order in Native communities.
 However to ignore flaws in the system would not be a full examination of
 this issue.
   Although racist attitudes are not always easy to study and prove within
 law enforcement agencies, racism is increasingly acknowledged.  Don
 Gilmour, a contributing editor for Saturday Night magazine, printed an
 article in the December 1988 issue.  This article discussed racism and
 Constable Robert Cross, the officer who killed native leader J.J.
 Harper. "Harper was the author of his own demise," said an officer of
 the Winnipeg force." The natives drink and they get in trouble.  Blaming
 the police for their troubles is like blaming the liquor store for being
 open late." (Report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, Vol.
 2, Sec. 2, pg. 95, 96)
   Winnipeg's Police Chief at the time of the J.J. Harper shooting was
 Chief Stephens and these were some of his comments to the inquiry.  "I hear
 jokes and I don't class them as racial jokes, The ones I've heard.
 They're ethnic jokes, not racial jokes."
 Under cross-examination on racism within his department, " I don't
 condone racism myself and I don't condone it within my people.  If
 something is brought to my attention, "I would do something about it...."
 Q. [H]ave you disciplined officers or cautioned officers in that
 regard?  A." No, sir...."
   The information brought out here surely reflects the ignorance on
 behalf of  the Winnipeg Police Chief of the time.  Also although
 Constable Cross later denied the remarks, my experience in Winnipeg
 supports  the argument that racism runs rampant among police officers.
   It will take much more than Aboriginal faces in blue suits to instill
 in Natives a sense of confidence in the law enforcement agencies.  There
 is a history of abuse that will not be resolved by more involvement in
 Canadian Law Enforcement Agencies.  Aboriginal people must be given the
 opportunity to enforce laws developed by Aboriginal people and the ways
 that they chose to do this should be respected.  This can only be done
 to the fullest extent with the implementation of Aboriginal self
 government.

 The Courts
   The courts have also failed to provide justice to Aboriginal people.
 In 1991 the Aboriginal population in Manitoba was only 11.8%  while it's
 population in the various jails ran at anywhere from 40% to 78% (Report
 of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, 1991).  These figures
 presented are a reflection of the inequality the Aboriginal people face
 in sentencing when they come before the courts.  If one took these
 statistics at face value, one would have to argue that Aboriginal people
 are inherently criminal and are sentenced accordingly.
   The courts continue to remove Aboriginal people from their communities
 and place them within the custody of correctional institutions.  Not
 only have the courts played a role in the removal of Aboriginal
 offenders, they have also been there to support Social Services when it
 has come to take Aboriginal children from their homes.  Whether it was
 through the residential school system or through the mass adoptions of
 children to the states or the continued removal of Aboriginal children
 by social services ministries, the courts have always been there to
 support these actions.
   Given the relative poverty of Aboriginal families, the European values
 accenting material comforts in terms of purchasing power, and the
 general stereotyping of Aboriginal people, decisions are generally based
 on a negative attitude towards our families as an appropriate place for
 children.  As a result, the decision is far too often made to apprehend
 the Aboriginal children, place them in non-Aboriginal caretaker
 facility, and proceed to a permanent custody order and adoption.  These
 decisions are made on the basis of the caretakers' financial ability to
 meet the child's physical needs as opposed to meeting the child's
 cultural, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs.  These actions
 exemplify the negative effects of a colonial mind-set that can only be
 reversed by placing the decision-making on these issues in the hands of
 our people. (Liberating Our Children, Liberating Our Nation, 1992, pg. 63)
   Canadian courts are no place to decide the best interests of Aboriginal
 people and they are no better equipped to meet the needs of Aboriginal
 offenders.  They have for too many years removed our people from our
 homes. One day this must come to an end.
   When it comes to being there for Aboriginal victims there is a
 difference in actions by the courts.  Aboriginal people have been
 victimized by the Canadian Courts since their inception. From the
 hanging of Louis Reil to the Conviction of Donald Marshell, the Canadian
 courts have continued to victimize the victims of the Canadian Justice
 System.
   In the fall of 1994 Marilynn Hrychuk, a nineteen year old Native mother
 of two was viciously stabbed and murdered before my eyes.  When I was
 finally able to beat the man off, she was less than an hour away from
 taking her final breath: She later died in hospital from multiple stab
 wounds.  It took over a year before the case would come before the
 courts (R vs. Milton, 1995).  There was one judge and  twelve jury
 members who would hear this case, none of which were Native.  Three
 witnesses would testify before the court that they had seen the murder,
 and that the man accused had murdered this girl.
   It came out over the course of the trial that the man accused had been
 working as a police informant and had several contradicting stories to
 tell about what had transpired on that night.  After all the evidence
 had been heard, the jury brought forward its decision.  The verdict
 would be not guilty.  The fact that there had been five Native males
 within the vicinity was viewed by the jury as being enough of a threat
 to have his actions considered self defence.
   This case is just one example of racism and injustice that Aboriginal
 people face when they as victims come before the courts.  Not only is
 the murder of this Native girl justified by the courts, the family is
 been victimized by a system that places no value on the life of their
 mother, sister or daughter.  With incidents such as this, one can not
 help understanding the cynicism many Aboriginal people have towards
 whether the Canadian Courts are there to serve or inflict justice upon
 them.

 The Correctional Institution
   Prison is a place, where you exchange the dignity of your name, for the
 degradation of a number.  Prison is a place, where you live visit to
 visit, if your lucky to have one.  Prison is a place, where you learn
 the counting of life. You count the years, months, weeks, days, hours,
 and even seconds.  Prison is a place, where you pray not to die.  Prison
 is a place, where the word freedom, can bring tears of remembrance to
 the meanest of cons, thieves and killers.  Prison is a place, where you
 become mentally crippled, because responsibility is taken away from
 you.  Prison is a place, where you can hear the echo of family and
 friends, saying " I told you so".  So please don't come to prison, for a
 life means nothing here; Live.
   (A Poem sent to me by my younger brother while incarcerated in  the
 winter of 1996 at Brandon Regional Correctional Center, Brandon,
 Manitoba, Unknown Author)
   The correctional institutions in Canada house the results of the
 justice systems failure in providing justice to Native people.  The
 correctional institutions in Canada have been home to extremely large
 numbers of Aboriginal men and women. Anywhere from 40% to 78% of jail
 population is aboriginal in 1991( Aboriginal Justice Inquiry Report of
 Manitoba, 1991, Vol. 1).  The large amount of Aboriginal people who have
 gone through these institutions is bound to have an effect on how the
 community views the justice system.  Aboriginal people who have been
 affected know all too well the impact of this form of justice.  Many of
 these institutions are far away from their communities and this makes
 family support difficult to provide.  In some cases when the support is
 there and the inmate in seen to be doing too good, they (the case
 management officers) ship that person off to another institution to turn
 him or her into the inmate they wish him to be .  The institutionalizing
 policies of today have had a profound effect on Aboriginal communities
 just as residential school policies did in the early 1900's.
 Alternatives to incarceration and fairness in the system, such as
 determining eligibility for parole or early release, is also lacking for
 Aboriginal people.  Without a fair and just system of corrections that
 meets the needs of  Aboriginal communities, respect for the system can
 not be expected nor is it forthcoming.

 The Community
   The Aboriginal vision of justice gives to the interests of the
 collectivity [sic], its overall orientation being holistic and
 integrative.  Thus it is community based, stressing mediation and
 conciliation  while seeking an acknowledgment of responsibility from
 those who transgress the norms of their society.  While an Aboriginal
 justice system would pursue the larger objective of reintegrating the
 offender back into society.(Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1991, pg. 6)
   In doing this research assignment involving Aboriginal people and the
 criminal justice system, I could not ignore my biases when looking into
 research material and how it findings impact on my community.  As a
 MicMac/metis person living in the heart of Winnipeg's North End
 Aboriginal community, few days go by where you do not see the effects
 that the Canadian criminal justice system has had on this community.  In
 the young girl's eyes who sells her body behind the Northern Hotel you
 can feel the rage and sense of powerlessness she feels.  Taken by the
 courts from her family and placed in a foster home at the age of nine,
 she's been in and out of group homes and detention centers.  At
 fourteen, her life consists of turning tricks and getting high.
   The treatment of Aboriginal people, by the Canadian Justice System,
 goes against  the values that Aboriginal justice systems are based on.
 Harmony and interdependence are replaced with disharmony and government
 dependence.  The over representation of Aboriginal people in the
 criminal justice system is bound to affect the community in how it
 relates to the system.  It is our families, past, present and future
 that have and will be taken from our communities and damaged by the
 Canadian Justice System.

 Conclusion
   The Governments of Canada have, through the use of its laws, law
 enforcement agencies, courts, and correctional institution continued its
 paternalistic policies relating to Aboriginal people.  There have been
 commissions, task forces and studies into Aboriginal people and the
 Canadian Justice System.  These study groups have made many
 recommendations, mostly encouraging the governments to increase
 Aboriginal peoples involvement in the administration of Canadian
 justice.  This strategy could help in making the system run smoother,
 but if the aim of these committees is truly to improve justice in Canada
 there should be more encouragement for Aboriginal self government, as in
 the Manitoba Aboriginal Justice Inquiry.  Aboriginal people should have
 the right to have autonomous self government, with the power to create
 laws and legislation that meets the needs of Aboriginal peoples.
   Also, there must be the desire amongst native communities to take back
 control of  the administration of justice.  "Aboriginal communities
 identified by the legitimate representatives of aboriginal peoples as
 being willing and capable should have the authority to establish
 Aboriginal justice systems.  The federal and provincial governments
 should enter into negotiations to transfer that authority to those
 Aboriginal communities"  (Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1991, pg. 95).
   There is also a dependency that has been created in this country that
 must be broken.  The governments of this country have created a
 dependency by taking control of First Nations people. In law, through
 law, and with law the governments of Canada have tried since their
 inception, to assimilate Aboriginal people.  In order to break this
 socialized dependency on the governments of Canada we as aboriginal
 people must take back the control over how their communities are
 shaped.  Without Aboriginal people having control over their own justice
 systems and the ability to base this justice on Aboriginal customs,
 mores and values, the ability to shape our communities is not
 possible.   If this does not take place there will continue to be a
 Canadian system of "Just Us" and Injustice in the eyes of many
 Aboriginal people in this country.
 Paper on the Canadian Justice Systems failure in providing justice in
 Manitoba.  Welcome comments on accuracy in other areas of the world.
 Enjoy.

 --------- "RE: Aberdeen Hope" ---------

 Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 04:21:52 -0500
 From: Ishgooda <ishgooda@tdi.net>
 Subj: ABERDEEN HOPE for ish's friend and all of us

   UUCP email

 ---------- FORWARDED MESSAGE ----------
 Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 01:08:33 -0800
 From:   (Laura X)
 Subject: ABERDEEN HOPE for ish's friend and all of us

   Sally not only lives in Aberdeen she knows the co-founder of the National
 Coalition against Domestic Violence, Tillie BlackBear who has run and still
 may run the shelter on the Rosebud reservation.
 To:
 Subject: Native American women and white women and Thanksgiving

   The message below comes via Sally Roesch Wagner, author of many books
 about Native American women and white women in the Dakotas together,
 including the bio of Matilda Joslyn Gage, the most radical of the great
 triumvirate of herself,  Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B Anthony. Many
 of the ideas of the three of them come from the Iroquois Women in NY  whom
 they knew, and who had much better respected positions in their world than
 white women did in theirs. See her article in  "On The Issues," Is Equality
 Indigenous?

 Winter 1996
   Suggest that you send a large envelope stamped with 2 stamps, and a dollar
 for the article, to: SkyCarrier Press po box 2135, Aberdeen, SD 57402-2135.
 Super-suggest that folks ask for her book and article list, and her
 performance info as Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
 Jessie Benton Fremont. Absolutely riveting and delightfully engaging living
 history from a historian of great consequence and humanity. I have seen her
 perform at tiny feminist gatherings, huge conferences, a small park in the
 old area of San Jose, Ca and she had her own day at the Smithsonian
 Dangerous Women in America series in D.C..
   My dream is to see her at the Womens Right's National Historic  Park in
 Seneca Falls where she has done Elizabeth often. (Elizabeth's home is part
 of that park, as is the chapel where 300 women and men [including their
 friend Frederick Douglass] met for the first US women's rights convention
 in 1848)
 ++++++
 Thanks for sending me info, Laura.  Here's a Thanksgiving message I just got
 and pass on.  Sally R. Wagner.

 THANKSGIVING
 For our Mother Earth

 Closing Words at the Sacred Assembly
 (Given in Ottawa, December 9, 1995 by Elder Ernest Benedict, Mohawk)

 Our Mother Earth has given us birth, as she has for many centuries.
 She has given birth to all animal creatures and to all plants.
 For this we are constantly giving thanks.
 Other people have come across the water and sea.
 Our Mother on Turtle Island, has taken them into her home.
 She has treated all her family well.

 We are now all her children.
 She will continue to be the Mother of all.

 You, who have risen up in other lands, have decided to make your journey
 to this, our Turtle Island.
 You may have endured much pain in those other lands.
 Your journey may have been full of dangers and hardships.
 But here you have found a place four yourselves, and we have moved into
 small places to make room for you.

 Here you will find water to wash the bruises from your feet.
 There will be water to cool your face.
 There will be water to quench your thirst.
 There will be soft furs to rest upon.
 There will be soft doeskin to take away the dust that has obstructed
 your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
 You will now see clearly, the friendship and love of those who are
 before you.
 You will hear voices of comfort.
 You will speak without fear whatever is in your heart, and in your
 nostrils will be the aroma of freedom.
 You will acknowledge our Mother, the Earth as your adoptive Mother, for
 such will be your respectful relationship.
 You have the honour of giving her love and praise and gratitude.

 You will give thanks to the Creator for all the accomplishments of
 Mother Earth.

 The treaties between our nations must be respected, protected and
 Honoured under the breath and protection of the Creator, for as long as
 the sun shines, the rivers flow and the grass grows.
 This... we will do together so that all our steps, from this day forth,
 will become the path of Peace for our future generations.
 Onen.
 ------------
 Laura X
 National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape
 Women's History Library
 S.F. Women's Centers Date/Marital Rape Education Project
 (510) 524-1582  Berkeley, Ca.
 WEB SITE: http://members.aol.com/ncmdr/index.html

 --------- "RE: Ward Valley Story" ---------

 Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 01:35:04 EST
 From: larry@salata.com
 Subj: Ward Valley Story

   Newsgroup: alt.native

 The Ward Valley Story
   A beautiful, pristine valley in California's Eastern Mojave Desert
 Desert Tortoise - Coyote - Yucca Just 20 miles away flows the Colorado
 River, a sparkling blue ribbon that brings life to the desert and
 drinking water to millions in Southern California, Arizona and Mexico.
   Living along the riverbanks are five Native American Tribes and a
 several small towns. Intimately connected to and inescapably dependent
 upon the River, these neighboring communities struggle to make ends
 meet. Along comes US Ecology, a corporation seeking to turn a large
 profit from dumping dangerous radioactive waste in the most
 irresponsible manner: in shallow unlined trenches leaving it only up to
 time for the waste to migrate down through the desert's soil and rock,
 into the aquifer, and make its way to the river through the several
 potential pathways. US Ecology dangles a few jobs and promises some
 money to the nearby reservations and cities. They know that their
 chances of building the dump are higher in a low-income rural area
 bordered by Indian Reservations.
   Meanwhile, Government agencies betray the public's trust, biased
 scientific studies claim that nothing can go wrong, the nuclear power
 industry continues to create more of the dangerous waste while lining
 politicians' pockets, and a corporation that has already left
 behind-for America's future- a trail of leaking radioactive waste dumps
 can't wait to build California's first radioactive waste dump. But the
 Ward Valley Story has not ended, yet..
   Activists, Indian Tribes and members of the local communities have
 stalled this project for 10 years. You are needed to stop this dump,
 once and for all.

 TAKE ACTION TO SAVE WARD VALLEY
 WHERE IS WARD VALLEY?
   Ward Valley is located 18 miles from the Colorado River west of
 Needles, CA just off of I-40. California Gov. Pete Wilson and the
 nuclear power industry hope to bury long-lived and deadly radioactive
 waste in unlined trenches above an aquifer connected to the River via
 five potential pathways.
   The Colorado River provides drinking water for 22 million people and
 irrigation for crops shipped worldwide. Surrounded by 8 designated
 Wilderness areas, Ward Valley is critical habitat for the desert
 tortoise, a 65-million-year-old species threatened with extinction.
   Ward Valley is considered sacred to the area's Native Americans and the
 River is respected as the very center of creation. The Reservations and
 communities located along the river depend on unpolluted water for
 their very survival.

 WARD VALLEY IS NOT ABOUT MEDICAL WASTE
   Shirley Ann Jackson - chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
 summed-up the issue when she stated that progress on Low Level
 Radioactive Waste (LLRW) dumps "...must continue in order for nuclear
 power to remain a part of this country's energy mix." In other words,
 Ward Valley is for waste from nuclear power plants, not hospitals.
 Proponents of the dump try to scare the public into thinking that
 stopping the Ward Valley dump threats the treatment of cancer and AIDS
 patients. In truth, over 85% of the waste slated for Ward Valley would
 be from nuclear power plants. According to the California Department of
 Health Services, which oversees the Ward Valley project, medical and
 academic radioactive waste from California didn't even exceed 1% of the
 total amount of waste placed in nuclear dumps from 1990 through 1994.
 (Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Low-Level Waste Management
 Program, 1992)
   Most of the waste generated by hospitals and research facilities decays
 in 3-5 years and can be stored at the site of generation, a less
 expensive option. The waste generated by power plants is misnamed
 "low-level" and includes such long-lived and toxic substances as
 plutonium-239, which remains deadly for 25,000 years!

 THE TRUTH ABOUT US ECOLOGY
   US Ecology, formerly known as Nuclear Engineering Co., is the
 corporation licensed to build the dump. This corporation stands to
 profit $millions from the cheapest most irresponsible method of
 disposing of radioactive waste.
   Due to financial difficulties, US Ecology desperately needs to begin
 construction of the Ward Valley dump. According to a June 10, 1996
 Business Week article, auditor review of US Ecology's annual report
 "raise substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a
 going concern".
   US Ecology has a long track record of building and operating leaking
 dumps. In each case, US Ecology promised that the dumps would not leak.
 Maxey Flats, KY-Closed and declared a US EPA Superfund site -- one of
 the worst environmental disasters in the country. Sheffield, IL-Closed:
 Illinois sued US Ecology after radioactive waste migrated off site
 contaminating a nearby lake. Beatty, NV-Closed: While covering up
 pertinent information that this 30 year old dump was contaminating the
 water table with radioactive waste, US and CA State officials continued
 to approve US Ecology's operating license for Ward Valley. US Ecology
 and scientists promised that the Beatty dump would not leak for
 thousands of years - just as they promise at Ward Valley which has an
 arid terrain and climate similar to Beatty.

 THE TRANSPORTATION ISSUE
   The danger of transporting radioactive waste across thousands of miles
 of road, and possibly over rail, brings the threat of Ward Valley into
 everyone's backyard. Current plans are to ship radioactive waste from
 California, Arizona, North and South Dakota, but Ward Valley is likely
 to become a national repository.

 WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
   FIRST, we must stop producing deadly radioactive waste! Think about
 it:  when the bathtub overflows, you turn off the faucet before
 grabbing a mop. As long as the nuclear industry is allowed to generate
 radioactive waste, there will be a growing string of these deadly dumps
 across our country. SECOND, we must conserve energy to eliminate the
 need for nuclear power plants and shift to development and promotion of
 clean, renewable sources of energy. THIRD, US Ecology's method of
 disposal -- shallow land burial in unlined dirt trenches -- must be
 outlawed as it has been in most developed countries and in most other
 states. In California, not even our household garbage can be legally
 disposed of in this manner!
   The alternative to dumping waste at Ward Valley is to store it at the
 site of generation (on-site) in above-ground, monitored, retrievable
 storage facilities. This alternative holds the generators responsible
 for their waste, promotes waste reduction/elimination, and eliminates
 the additional creation of "nuclear sacrifice zones". On-site
 facilities also eliminate dangers from transportation and are monitored
 and retrievable so that the wastes can be repackaged when containers
 leak.

 DON'T BE FOOLED...
   The real push behind Ward Valley is to allow industry to transfer
 liability for the waste while maintaining a high profit margin. It is
 not for the protection of the health and safety of the public. Consider
 this: never in the construction and operation of these facilities does
 industry complain that the radioactive material is too dangerous to
 store and handle. It is only when the material becomes "waste", and no
 longer profitable, that it becomes something too dangerous to keep
 around.
   The Ward Valley dump becomes the responsibility of the taxpayers of
 California in just 30 years! Ultimately, the burden for these poisons
 will fall upon the environment, the people who live nearby, and the
 California taxpayer.

 SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY (SEIS)
   Due to massive public uproar against the dump, the Clinton
 Administration has called for a Supplemental Environmental Impact
 Study.  The Dept. of Interior (DOI) states that these studies will only
 "determine the conditions for transferring" the land at Ward Valley. We
 insist that no transfer should happen at all!
   The DOI held three SEIS Scoping Workshops at which hundreds of people
 testified against the dump; not one dump proponent spoke. The draft
 SEIS is expected in December. In the meantime, Sen. Murkowski (R-LA) is
 trying to force legislation that will override the entire SEIS process
 and all existing environmental laws. Please make those phone calls
 TODAY!

 THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER NATIVE NATIONS ALLIANCE
   The Lower Colorado River Native Nations Alliance - Fort Mojave,
 Chemehuevi, Quechan and Cocopah First Nations, and Colorado River
 Indian Tribe - are strongly opposed to the dump and committed to
 preventing a radioactive waste facility from being constructed anywhere
 in Ward Valley.
   Since October 1995, the Fort Mojave Tribe has supported an encampment
 that serves as an ongoing presence and occupation of the proposed site
 and an outreach office in Needles. All are welcome and encouraged to
 visit the campsite and/or volunteer in the Save Ward Valley office.

 JOIN THE GROWING MOVEMENT TO SAVE WARD VALLEY!
 HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:
 1. The nuclear industry is making a last-ditch effort to push the dump
 through Congress. Call or write your Senators, Representatives and
 President Clinton. Tell them to do everything they can to oppose any
 bill that includes the Ward Valley land transfer. Please, do this
 today!  Every call and letter counts.
   Tell Senators Feinstein and Boxer to filibuster and do whatever they
 can to stop the Ward Valley dump:

 CA SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
 U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510
 Washington, D.C. 202-224-3841
 Los Angeles  310-914-7300
 e-mail: senator@feinstein.senate.gov

 CA SENATOR BARBARA BOXER
 U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510
 Washington, D.C. 202-224-3553
 San Francisco 415-403-0100
 email: senator@boxer.senate.gov

 Tell Rep Lewis to actively stop the dump in the House:
 REPRESENTATIVE JERRY LEWIS
 2112 Rayburn House Bldg, Washington, DC 20515
 Washington, DC 202-225-5861
 San Bernardino 909-792-5901

 Tell Senators Kyl and McCain to protect Arizona and
 oppose Ward Valley legislation:
 AZ SENATOR JON KYL
 702 Hart Senate Bldg, Washington DC, 20510
 Washington, D.C. 202-224-4521
 Phoenix 602-840-1891
 email: info@kyl.senate.gov

 AZ SENATOR JOHN McCAIN
 241 Russel Sen Conf Bldg,, Washington DC 20510
 Washington, D.C. 202-224-2235
 Phoenix 602-952-2410
 email: senator_mccain@mccain.senate.gov

 Tell the President to veto Ward Valley legislation
 and use his authority to stop the dump NOW!
 PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON
 The White House, Washington DC 20500
 Washington, D.C. 202-456-1111
 email: president@whitehouse.gov

 2. Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper/show a
 video presentation at your home/school/church etc.
 3. Join the Emergency Response Network to respond
 immediately if the dump is approved.
 4. Get involved in the local efforts to save Ward Valley.

 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
 Save Ward Valley Office
 107 F Street, Needles, CA 92363
 (619) 326-6267   (619) 326-6268-fax
 savewardvalley@rippers.com
 www.rippers.com/swv/valley.htm

 Greenpeace
 568 Howard Street, Suite 300
 San Francisco, CA 94105
 San Francisco: 415-512-9025 Los Angeles: 310-287-2210

 Bay Area Nuclear Waste Coalition
 2670 Golden Gate
 San Francisco, CA 94118
 415-752-8678
 >>>>>>> get involved-learn the truth-spread the truth<<<<<<<
 >>> JUSTICE FOR PELTIER-http://www.unicom.net/peltier/<<<

 --------- "RE: Wild Horses" ---------

 Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 11:30:20 -0800
 From: Barbara Johnson <barbarajohnson@midco.net>
 Subj: Wild Horses

   UUCP email

   There was a very long Associated Press article on the op-ed page of our
 local paper today about a multi-million dollar federal program created to
 save wild horses but instead is channelling them by the thousands to
 slaughterhouses where they are chopped into cuts of meat.
   The article reports that among those profiting from the slaughter are
 employees of the Bureau of Land Management.
   The program was intended to protect and manage wild horses on public
 lands, where they compete for resources with grazing cattle.
   The article reports the conclusion of an Associate Press Investigation
 of the U.S.  Wild Horse and Burro Program which has rounded up 165,000
 animals and spent $250 million since it was created by Congress.
   Using freeze brand numbers and computerized public record, the AP
 apparently traced more than 57 horses that have been sold to U.S. and
 Canadian slaughters houses.  Eighty per cent of the horses were less than
 10 years old and 25 per cent were less than 5 years old.
   The horses are being groced in slaughterhouses and being sent to places
 like Belgium for human consumption.
   The AP also matched computer records of horse adoptions allowed under the
 program and found that more than 200 BLM employees have adopted more than
 600 wild horses and burros.  Some of the BLM employees contacted by the AP
 could not account for the whereabouts of their animals and others
 admitted that some of their horses were sent to slaughterhouses.
 It is against the law for U.S. government employees to use public office
 for private gain.
   The Associated Press quotes Tom Pogacnik, director of the BLM $16 million
 a year Wild Horse and Burro Program as conceding that about 90 per cent
 of the horses rounded up.. go to slaughter.
   Evidently demand for horse meat is up in Europe because of fears of mad
 cow disease.  According to the AP study.. France and Belgium were the
 largest buyers, but sales of the horse products were also made to buyers
 in Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, New
 Zealand, Austria Russia, Bahrain, Argentina and China.
   This story appears to be a "feature" story that may have been sent out
 during the last week or so.  It was written by Martha Mendoza.
   Perhaps your local papers have run this story as well.  It was quite
 interesting.

 Barbara
 --
 Barbara Johnson, Ph.D.
 Dakota Interconnect Demonstration Site
 barbarajohnson@midco.net
 Aberdeen, South Dakota

 --------- "RE: Buffalo Rescue Newsletter" ---------

 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 97 12:44:51 -0600
 From: "J.D.K. Chipps  " <jdkc@eden.com>
 Subj: Buffalo Rescue Newsletter #1

   UUCP email

 OK, here we go.  This is the first "official" Buffalo Rescue post.
   I thank all of you that have subscribed and are interested in this effort
 to save the buffalo.  Here is an excerpt from The Fund for Animal pages.  I
 recommend that you go there and read the whole article:
    (http://www.envirolink.org:80/arrs/fund/alerts/index.html)

   I search for the latest information, but can't cover it all, so I am
 depending on those of you that want to help stop this deplorable act, to
 search with me, and find addresses we can write to and people we can
 contact that are in a position to stop this senseless slaughter.
   Again thank you for your interest in this matter.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT REACHED IN STATE OF MONTANA V. UNITED STATES
               The Fund for Animals Position Statement
 November 6, 1995
   In early November 1995, the State of Montana entered into a settlement
 agreement with the U.S. Government in response to a lawsuit filed by the
 State in January over the management of Yellowstone National Park (YNP)
 bison. The settlement mandates a revision in the existing interim bison
 management plan to permit, among other things, the capture, testing, and
 killing of Yellowstone bison near the western and northern borders of YNP.
   Specifically, near the northern boundary of YNP, practically all bison,
 irrespective of sex or testing results, will be killed. On the west side,
 all pregnant bison, regardless of test results, and all test positive
 bison, regardless of sex, will be killed. Test negative, non-pregnant
 bison will be marked and released and will not be killed unless they roam
 onto private land. The settlement also sets aside three public land areas
 outside of YNP -- only one of which is regularly used by bison -- on which
 bison will not be tested, captured, or killed.
   Bison who enter private land will be shot either by State and Federal
 officials or, as authorized by the State Legislature in 1994-95, by the
 landowner. On the northern border of YNP, where park land abuts land owned
 by the Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT), the capture facility will be
 established on YNP lands, theoretically eliminating bison use of CUT lands.

   The settlement specifically authorizes these actions as an interim
 measure only until an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the long-
 -range management of Yellowstone bison emigrating into Montana is
 completed. The settlement mandates that the EIS, which has been under
 preparation since 1989, be completed by July 1997.
   The Fund for Animals believes that the settlement agreement, while
 preferred over a zero-tolerance policy which had been advocated by the
 Montana Department of Livestock, does not establish a bison management
 framework which is consistent with the scientific evidence regarding the
 potential transmission of Brucella abortus from bison to cattle under
 natural conditions. As a consequence, hundreds of bison will be killed
 with little to no scientific evidence to justify their slaughter. The Fund
 for Animals, therefore, opposes the settlement agreement in principle,
 while recognizing that the alternatives could have been worse.
   Moreover, in regard to the slaughter of bison on private land, The Fund
 believes that those who reside near YNP and who benefit in so many ways
 from the spectacular scenery and wildlife which inhabit the area, must
 recognize that wildlife is part of the landscape, must assume the risks
 associated with wildlife, and must accept responsibility for tolerating
 wildlife on private lands.
 --
   (\######/)             J.D.K. Chipps
     \ ~   o /        "Wokiksuye Canpe Opi"
       (^  ^)       (Remember Wounded Knee)
         \*/         http://www.eden.com/~jdkc

 --------- "RE: Over 500 Marked for Death" ---------

 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 97 16:23:31 -0600
 From: "J.D.K. Chipps  " <jdkc@eden.com>
 Subj: Over 500 Marked for Death, 166 Shot Already!

   UUCP email

   Just got off of the phone with Animals wildlife biologist D. J. Schubert.
 (He is one of the good guys).  I called him and he returned my call and
 talked to me for almost an hour on his dime and his time.  So Dr Schubert,
 I owe you one, thanks.
   He had some bad news though, On the north side of the park 347 buffalo
 have been rounded up for slaughter, 36 have been shot.  On the west side
 of the park, 23 have been captured and 130 shot.  So all total, as of this
 morning 536 buffalo have either been killed, or are going to be killed as
 a result of this "charade" that APHIS, and the USDA, and the cattle
 industry are perpetrating.
   Last year USDA was granted $40 million dollars for their research into
 brucellosis.  This was primarily done on domestic livestock.  But the end
 is in sight for brucellosis among domestic livestock, so USDA has to
 "branch out" in their campaign, or lose their funding.  And that is what
 the primary impetus is behind this "brucellosis scare", that has prompted
 this slaughter.
   That along with the fact that APHIS has threatened to pull the
 "Brucellosis Free Certification" from the states that don't  implement an
 "active" program to eradicate brucellosis, (translation= kill the buffalo).
   Dr Schubert is sending me "hard core" scientific proof that brucellosis
 is not spread by buffalo (bison) except under laboratory conditions where
 the cow was "massively overdosed" with the bacterium and kept confined in
 cramped quarters with a buffalo.
   It's a "stacked deck" from the get go, and I will keep you updated as I
 receive information, but I wanted to let you know that over 500 buffalo
 have been destroyed, or will be destroyed soon, as a result of this
 "farce".
    Write, call, Fax, e-mail whoever you can to stop this!  Dr Schubert has
 video evidence of the "horrors" that are occurring as these terrified
 animals gore each other and calves are trampled to death as they are being
 herded and confined in small pens.
    Help stop the Slaughter Now!  Please !!!
 --
   (\######/)             J.D.K. Chipps
     \ ~   o /        "Wokiksuye Canpe Opi"
       (^  ^)       (Remember Wounded Knee)
         \*/         http://www.eden.com/~jdkc

 --------- "RE: Why Indigenous Rights?" ---------

 Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 04:15:39 -0800 (PST)
 From: moonlight@igc.apc.org
 Subj: Why Indigenous Rights?

   UUCP email

 Why Indigenous Rights?
 By Adelfo Regino
 Procedural Commission-National Indigenous Congress
   To relate the injustices committed against our communities and our peoples
 does not cause us pity or compassion, but pain and sorrow because it is our
 own story.
   The reality of our communities, the integrity and effectiveness of our
 customs and radiations, are the reasons why we can argue to continue our
 legitimate rights which are not recognized by the laws of our nation. Once
 accomplished, this, in the best of cases can avoid serious interference in
 the life of our communities and persuade our indigenous authorities to apply
 a "norm" from our own culture.  Until today, there has not been a legal
 framework which recognizes our proceedings and our own way of life.
   For the authorities of the State the only "rights" are those which are
 discussed, sanctioned, and publicized by the State.  Our rights, even when
 they hold an obligatory significance and they are effective in resolving
 conflicts and achieving harmony in our communities, do not have value and
 cannot be applied by the state. They argue "authority can only do what is
 permitted by law" and obviously our rights do not exist within the  law.
   What can be done then so that these rights have value and can be fully
 applied?
   The answer is simple: convert our demands and grievances -manifest in
 indigenous rights-into legal concepts in the Constitution.  In order to make
 these proposal concrete, it has been necessary to expose and create
 consensus among the different indigenous peoples the contents which should
 be inserted into the Constitution.  This task has been given impetus by the
 State, through the national consultations of indigenous peoples promoted
 concretely by the legislative power, as well as by organizations, communities
 and peoples who make up the indigenous movement.
   The work developed by our organizations, communities and peoples has
 generated an entire process which becomes accelerated after January of 1994
 through public forums, assemblies and congresses. The activity of creating
 consensus was configured basically after listening to the voice of the
 communities and putting them  together with theoretical elaborations and
 international instruments which already contain some of our principal
 demands. At the present
 time we have gained considerable agreements which are acceptable to us all
 and which are the minimum agreements which should appear in the
 Constitution. Our diverse realities share common points and very similar
 aspirations.
   In this way, the concepts of autonomy, as expressed through
 self-determination, territory and community, remain as a triad of demands
 upon which should sit all the other indigenous rights. Complementing these
 were the rights of culture and  indigenous law, the latter understood as the
 present judicial system which now exists in each of our communities, all of
 which would not make sense if the first three did not exist.  This explains
 why the existing Article 4 of the Constitution, which has some cultural
 content, was rejected as an effective guardian of our rights.
   We present some theoretical details in terms of our concepts of community
 and autonomy; "There are fundamentally two ways of utilizing the concept of
 community.  In  its first definition it refers to the whole of citizens who
 make up a country [...] the second definition is that which refers to the
 whole of  traits which characterize a human gathering in territorial,
 historic, cultural, ethnic, terms which give it a sense of  identity.
 (Rodolfo Stavenhagen: "Indigenous rights; some conceptual problems".
 Magazine of the  IIDH, vol.15, Costa Rica, 1992, p:138).
   To some extent, legal instruments such as covenant  169 of the International
 Organization of Labor [OIT] say; "Art.1.b).-To the indigenous peoples in
 independent countries, considered indigenous because they descend from
 populations which inhabited the country or a geographical region belonging
 to the country during the era of the conquest or colonization and the
 establishment of the actual borders of the present  states and which,no
 matter their legal situation still preserve all their appropriate social,
 economic, cultural institutions or remnants of them."
   The International Pact on Civil and Political Rights and the International
 Pact of economic, social and cultural rights also say in their Article 1:
 1.-All the communities have the right to free determination. In virtue of
 this right they freely establish their political condition and provide
 therefore for their social, economic and cultural development.
 2.- In order to achieve their ends, all the communities can freely dispose
 of their natural wealth and resources, without jeopardy from the obligations
 derived from international economic cooperation."
   Given the previous, it should be pointed out that autonomy will be no
 more concrete than the one the indigenous peoples of Mexico are freely
 choosing...the right to self-determination of the peoples.
   We will now try to examine why the demands for indigenous autonomy have as
 their base the recognition of the community as a legal public entity and the
 possibility of association of the communities and municipalities which
 recognize that they belong to an indigenous community in order to coordinate
 their actions.
   The community is the most concrete and general expression of the indigenous
 peoples. Within it take place the most diverse activities to fulfill human
 needs and the specificity of our cultures. If we seek an example of how an
 indigenous norm is applied, of how it is expressed in the relationship with
 nature, of the means of participation as a collective member, of the
 conception of authority, the participation of the elderly, the process of
 creation of  norms, or even a document of collective property over the lands,
 we must necessarily look toward a community.
   It is in the community where we indigenous have a certain level of
 autonomy. It is in this environment where we elect our authorities according
 to our own procedures and without the intervention of political parties. We
 can also say with all confidence that the community is where, according to
 norms and procedures the conflicts and problems which occur within it are
 resolved.  The assembly is a collective organism, it is the primordial
 authority even in non-agrarian issues.  The responsibilities and  tasks
 which a member of the collective must carry out have reason only within the
 context of the community and for its own ends. In this way the community is
 the space where culture is created and re-created.
   It should be noted that the indigenous community, in its actions, is not
 limited to consider only the agrarian aspects. It goes beyond and covers
 those broad social aspects I have just described, such as politics, the
 meting out of justice, and cultural reproduction.
   That is why it is necessary to recognize in the Constitution what is
 already a reality; the community as an integral collective, and not just its
 agrarian aspect.
   Now it is important to emphasize that the entirety of communities with a
 common origin make possible the construction of indigenous communities as
 collective entities. To propose our reconstruction as peoples, we must
 necessarily contemplate the question of municipalities now seated in
 indigenous territories. The municipal  entity, as it has been  in the past,
 was imposed ignoring the social, cultural and geographic  reality of
 indigenous peoples. The municipality as an institution attempted to destroy
 it, by imposing its own ways of organization and election of authorities.
   At this point we do not attempt to destroy the municipality as an
 institution, but to adjust it to indigenous reality.  The experience of
 Oaxaca has shown us it  is possible to make compatible indigenous forms of
 organization within the municipal  entity, and with the general system of
 political parties We do not attempt to exclude one or  the other, but to
 make them compatible and fortify the municipality even more.
   The task of reconstituting our indigenous communities, will occur within
 the association of communities and municipalities which recognize that they
 belong to an indigenous people, in order to coordinate the common actions of
 so many peoples. With this we do not attack the structure of government of
 the Mexican State. We also do not attack the spirit of everyday life in our
 communities.
   We can affirm that the proposals for constitutional reforms which we are
 proposing  according to the Agreements of San Andres (gathered and reflected
 by the COCOPA) constitute a response to the recommendations emitted in 1987
 by the Special Report of the United Nations in its Study of the Problems of
 Discrimination against Indigenous peoples Vol. V. The content of said
 proposals can be synthesized in this way:
 1.  We present our demand to be recognized as peoples and as such, the right
 to self-determination. Nevertheless, our proposal does not use all the
 strength contained in those concepts in international  instruments. We
 accept the fact that we belong to the Mexican State.  At the same time we
 demand a new relationship with the state with our peoples, a need which each
 day grows more urgent in these times.
 2.  Autonomy is demanded as a means by which we can freely determine our
 existence within the Mexican state; as a collective right to be different
 and to have our diversity respected. Similarly, we say that it is an
 indispensable condition for enjoying the fundamental rights of our peoples
 and determining our future.
 3.  We take into account the reality of indigenous peoples so that;
   A. We seek recognition of the community as a public entity with a legal
       character.
   B. We propose to reinforce the municipality as an institution which must
      be adapted in a realistic manner to the particular situation of
      indigenous peoples.
   C. This opens the possibility that municipalities may become associated
      among themselves as indigenous communities in order to coordinate their
      actions.
 4. The intent of all reforms, at least those which are to have practical
 application, in other words, effective ones; make no sense  if it is known
 beforehand that they cannot be applied.
 5. To an extent the recognition of indigenous rights becomes a formal way
 of breaking with the traditional schemes of Western culture, it does not
 demand individualistic rights or norms at the service of the State.  It
 points out clearly to the recognition of a legal regime which reflects the
 plurality of the Mexican State.
   Our demands have been repeated individually and collectively. It is a fact
 that we preserve  them in every day life in our communities. It is also a
 fact that the lack of respect for many others is a constant reality in many
 tribunals and before certain state authorities. To continue to ignore these
 rights will result in hundreds of  jails filled with indigenous  people and
 will continue the genocide which began more than 500 years ago.

 Translation by; NCDM-USA
 ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS
 Accompanying this are important documents.  The first is written by Adelfo
 Regino of the National Indigenous Congress.  In it he explains the rationale
 behind the agreements of San Andres.  The second is a an overview of the
 contents of the San Andres agreements written by Javier Elorriaga, (a former
 political prisoner accused of membership in the EZLN and released for lack
 of evidence after 16 months in prison).  If you have time to read these
 documents, it will become apparent to all of you that indigenous people in
 Mexico, because of their political
 system, their culture, and their relationship to the land are an
 "abomination" to the predominant economic policies in the world today.
 Their very existence is intolerable to an economic system whose driving
 force are  exorbitant profits.  The third document is a statement of
 solidarity which is to go to  the EZLN on February 9th.
 Please feel free to disseminate, summarize, re-print and publicize these
 documents and to write your own statement of solidarity as well.

 --------- "RE: RCAP Access Report 2-2" ---------

 Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 04:59:00 +0000
 From: don.rayment@uptowne.com (Don Rayment)
 Subj: Royal Commission Forward 2-2

 Mailing List:    UpTowne Online Services <uptowne@yak.nstn.ns.ca>
                  [Editorial note:  This is a continuing series of a
                   public release of a Royal Commission Report.  Paul
                   Antone<paul_antone@pch.gc.ca> posted it to the
                   UpTowne listserver maintained by Don Rayment.]

 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
 Looking Forward, Looking Back
 The Royal Proclamation
   The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was a defining document in the
 relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in North
 America. Issued in the name of the king, the proclamation summarized
 the rules that were to govern British dealings with Aboriginal people,
 especially in relation to the key question of land.
   It is a complex legal document, but the central messages of the
 proclamation are clear in its preamble. Aboriginal people were not to
 be Molested or disturbed on their lands. Transactions involving
 Aboriginal land were to be negotiated properly between the Crown and
 Assemblies of Indians. Aboriginal lands were to be acquired only by
 fair dealing: treaty, or purchase by the Crown. The proclamation
 portrays Indian nations as autonomous political entities, living under
 the protection of the Crown but retaining their own internal political
 authority. It walks a fine line between safeguarding the rights of
 Aboriginal peoples and establishing a process to permit British
 settlement. It finds a balance in an arrangement allowing Aboriginal and
 non-Aboriginal people to divide and share sovereign rights to the lands
 that are now Canada..
   More than a hundred years later, in 1867, the arrangement we know
 as Confederation would also allow for power sharing among diverse
 peoples and governments. But the first confederal bargain was with
 First Peoples.

 Stage 3: Respect Gives Way to Domination
   In the 1800s, the relationship between Aboriginal and non-
 Aboriginal people began to tilt on its foundation of rough equality. The
 number of settlers was swelling, and so was their power. As they
 dominated the land, so they came to dominate its original inhabitants.
 They gained power as a result of four changes that were transforming
 the country:
 1. The population mix was shifting to favour the settlers.
 Immigration continued to add to their numbers, while disease and
 poverty continued to diminish Aboriginal nations. By 1812,
 immigrants outnumbered Indigenous people in Upper Canada by a
 factor of ten to one.
 2. The fur trade was dying, and with it the old economic partnership
 between traders and trappers. The new economy was based on timber,
 minerals, agriculture. It needed land, not labour, from Aboriginal
 people, who began to be seen as impediments to progress' instead of
 valued partners.
 3. Colonial governments in Upper and Lower Canada no longer
 needed Aboriginal nations as military allies. The British had defeated
 all competitors north of the 49th parallel. South of it, the United States
 had fought for self-government and won. The continent was at peace.
 4. An ideology proclaiming European superiority over all other
 peoples of the earth was taking hold. It provided a rationale for policies
 of domination and assimilation, which slowly replaced partnership in
 the North American colonies. These policies increased in number and
 bitter effect on Aboriginal people over many years and several
 generations.
   Ironically, the transformation from respectful coexistence to
 domination by non-Aboriginal laws and institutions began with the
 main instruments of the partnership: the treaties and the Royal
 Proclamation of 1763. These documents offered Aboriginal people
 not only peace and friendship, respect and rough equality, but also
 protection'.
   Protection was the leading edge of domination. At first, it meant
 preservation of Aboriginal lands and cultural integrity from
 encroachment by settlers. Later, it meant assistance', a code word
 implying encouragement to stop being Aboriginal and merge into the
 settler society.
   Protection took the form of compulsory education, economic
 adjustment programs, social and political control by federal agents, and
 much more. These policies, combined with missionary efforts to
 civilize and convert Indigenous people, tore wide holes in Aboriginal
 cultures, autonomy and feelings of self-worth.

 Policies of Domination and Assimilation
   No Canadian acquainted with the policies of domination and
 assimilation wonders why Aboriginal people distrust the good
 intentions of non-Aboriginal people and their governments today.
   Colonial and Canadian governments established reserves of land for
 Aboriginal people usually of inadequate size and resources
 &quot; with or without treaty agreements. The system began in 1637,
 with a Jesuit settlement at Sillery in New France. Reserves were
 designed to protect Aboriginal people and preserve their ways, but
 operated instead to isolate and impoverish them.
   In 1857, the Province of Canada passed an act to Encourage the
 Gradual Civilization of the Indian Tribes. It provided the means for
 Indians of good character (as determined by a board of non-
 Aboriginal examiners) to be declared, for all practical purposes, non-
 Indian. As non-Indians, they were invited to join Canadian society,
 bringing a portion of tribal land with them. Only one man, Elias Hill, a
 Mohawk from the Six Nations, is known to have accepted the
 invitation.
   By the beginning of the nineteenth century, significant numbers of
 Metis people were living in almost all parts of Canada. Their heritage
 of Aboriginal, French and British cultures, combined with their
 experience as intermediaries between the factions competing for trade
 and territory, resulted in their emergence as distinct peoples with their
 own culture, institutions and lifeways.
   But British and Canadian policy toward Metis people was
 dismissive. They were not Indians', and they were not legitimate
 settlers. The usual practice was to declare them squatters' and edge
 them off the land they were farming when preferred settlers moved in.
   Under Louis Riel, the Metis of the Red River Valley struggled for
 their own land and government. They were promised both in the
 Manitoba Act of 1870, but those promises were later denied. Many
 moved further west and north, where they again fought for land and
 political recognition. In the spring of 1885 their forces were crushed
 at Batoche by a military expedition sent by Ottawa. The people were
 dispersed again, and to this day, their claims for a secure land base and
 their own forms of government have not been settled.
   Confederation, declared in 1867, was a new partnership between
 English and French colonists to manage lands and resources north of
 the 49th parallel. It was negotiated without reference to Aboriginal
 nations, the first partners of both the French and the English. Indeed,
 newly elected Prime Minister John A. Macdonald announced that it
 would be his government's goal to away with the tribal
 system, and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the
 inhabitants of the Dominion.;
   The British North America Act, young Canada's new constitution,
 made Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians a subject for
 government regulation, like mines or roads. Parliament took on the job
 with vigour, passing laws to replace traditional Aboriginal governments
 with band councils with insignificant powers, taking control of valuable
 resources located on reserves, taking charge of reserve finances,
 imposing an unfamiliar system of land tenure, and applying non-
 Aboriginal concepts of marriage and parenting.
   These laws, and others, were codified in the Indian Acts of 1876,
 1880, 1884 and later. The Department of the Interior (later, Indian
 Affairs) sent Indian agents to every region to see that the laws were
 obeyed.
   In 1884, the potlatch ceremony, central to the cultures of west coast
 Aboriginal nations, was outlawed. In 1885, the sun dance, central to the
 cultures of prairie Aboriginal nations, was outlawed. Participation was
 a criminal offence.
   In 1885, the Department of Indian Affairs instituted a pass system.
 No outsider could come onto a reserve to do business with an
 Aboriginal resident without permission from the Indian agent. In many
 places, the directives were interpreted to mean that no Aboriginal
 person could leave the reserve without permission from the Indian
 agent. Reserves were beginning to resemble prisons.
   In 1849, the first of what would become a network of residential
 schools for Aboriginal children was opened in Alderville, Ontario.
 Church and government leaders had come to the conclusion that the
 problem (as they saw it) of Aboriginal independence and 'savagery'
 could be solved by taking children from their families at an early age
 and instilling the ways of the dominant society during eight or nine
 years of residential schooling far from home.
   Attendance was compulsory. Aboriginal languages, customs and
 habits of mind were suppressed. The bonds between many hundreds of
 Aboriginal children and their families and nations were bent and
 broken, with disastrous results.
   During this stage in the changing relationship, Canadian governments
 moved Aboriginal communities from one place to another at will. If
 Aboriginal people were thought to have too little food, they could be
 relocated where game was more plentiful or jobs might be found. If
 they were suffering from illness, they could be relocated to new
 communities where health services, sanitary facilities and permanent
 housing might be provided. If they were in the way of expanding
 agricultural frontiers, or in possession of land needed for settlement,
 they could be relocated 'for their own protection'. If their lands
 contained minerals to be mined, forests to be cut, or rivers to be
 dammed, they could be relocated in the national interest'.
   In each world war, more than 3,000 registered Indians and
 unrecorded numbers of Inuit, Metis and non-status Indian people
 volunteered for the Canadian Armed Forces. Their contributions of
 life, limb and money were appreciated at home, and most of the
 volunteers found acceptance on the battlefield. Hundreds lost their
 lives there or were wounded.
   Those who survived asked for no special honours, but they expected
 to be treated as other war veterans were on their return to Canada. They
 were not. They were denied many of the benefits awarded to other vets.
 Land was taken from their reserves and used for military purposes' or
 awarded to non-Aboriginal veterans. Those left alive today are still
 seeking recognition for their part in the war effort and compensation
 for their later losses.
   Treaties were still the chosen means of managing the relationship.
 But the treaty process was increasingly strained by conflicting
 interpretations of their purpose.
   The purpose of the treaties, in Aboriginal eyes, was to work out ways
 of sharing lands and resources with settlers, without any loss of their
 own independence. But the representatives of the Crown had come to
 see the treaties merely as a tool for clearing Aboriginal people off
 desirable land.
   To induce First Nations to sign, colonial negotiators continued to
 assure them that treaty provisions were not simply agreed, but
 guaranteed to them, for as long as the sun shone and the rivers flowed.

 Stage 4: Renewal and Renegotiation
   Policies of domination and assimilation battered Aboriginal
 institutions, sometimes to the point of collapse. Poverty, ill health and
 social disorganization grew worse. Aboriginal people struggled for
 survival as individuals, their nationhood erased from the public mind
 and almost forgotten by themselves.
   Resistance to assimilation grew weak, but it never died away. In the
 fourth stage of the relationship, it caught fire and began to grow into a
 political movement. One stimulus was the federal government's White
 Paper on Indian policy, issued in 1969.
   The White Paper proposed to abolish the Indian Act and all that
 remained of the special relationship between Aboriginal people and
 Canada, offering instead what it termed equality. First Nations were
 nearly unanimous in their rejection. They saw this imposed form of
 'equality' as a coffin for their collective identities, the end of their
 existence as distinct peoples. Together with with Inuit and Metis, they
 began realize the full significance of their survival in the face of
 sustained efforts to assimilate them. They began to see their struggle
 as part of a worldwide human rights movement of Indigenous peoples.
 They began to piece together the legal case for their continuity as
 peoples; nations within Canada and to speak out about it.
   They studied their history and found evidence confirming that they
 have rights arising from the spirit and intent of their treaties and the
 Royal Proclamation of 1763. They took heart from decisions of
 Canadian courts, most since 1971, affirming their special relationship
 with the Crown and their unique interest in their traditional lands. They
 set about beginning to rebuild their communities and their nations with
 new-found purpose.
   The strong opposition of Aboriginal people to the White Paper's
 invitation to join mainstream society took non-Aboriginal people by
 surprise. The question of who Aboriginal people are and what their
 place is in Canada became central to national debate.
   A dozen years of intense political struggle by Aboriginal people,
 including appeals to the Queen and the British Parliament, produced an
 historic breakthrough. Existing Aboriginal and treaty rights were
 recognized in the Constitution Act, 1982.
   This set the stage for profound change in the relationship among the
 peoples of Canada, a change that most governments have nevertheless
 found difficult to embrace.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Internet: don.rayment@uptowne.com (Don Rayment)
 This message was processed by NetXpress from Merlin Systems Inc.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   This multi-part series will be presented over the next several issues.
   My thanks to Don and Paul for bringing this to my attention.  gary

 --------- "RE: American Indian Trust" ---------

 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 16:02:26 GMT
 From: 101537.113@compuserve.com (CARLISLE ANTONIO)
 Subj: American Indian Trust - info + Ride Across the Nations '98

   UUCP email

 THE AMERICAN  INDIAN TRUST
 BACKGROUND
 The American Indian Trust is a non -profit organisation based in the city
 of Bristol in the United Kingdom. The Trust is also a grantee of Charities
 Aid Foundation - America ( CAF-AMERICA) and therefore eligible for
 donations and aid giving in the United States under the 501(C)(3)
 statute.
   The Trust has a Native Board of advisors and management, from many
 different nations. They are:
 (1) Dr William Moreau Goins - Lumbee / Cherokee
 (2) Lucy Martin  - Northern Cheyenne
 (3) Ann Medicine - Oneida
 (4) Sulian Stone Eagle Herney - Mi'kmaq
 (5) CL Henson - Cherokee
 (6) Carlisle Antonio - President and founder - ( Northern Cheyenne )
 (7) Dr. Hugo Garcia Valencia - (Mexico)

 In addition we have the assistance of:
 Keith Colston ( Tuscarora - Lumbee )
 John Toineeta ( Cherokee )
 Joanne Thomas - ( Seneca - Mohawk )
 Ernest Grant - ( Dine - Cherokee )
 Lillian Sparks ( Lakota )
 James Gillen - (NY)
 Ronald Haynes ( Mass)

 Objectives and Principles
 The main objectives of the Trust are to ;
 (1) Provide Native American education and information, from a Native
 perspective to educational institutions in Europe, Canada and the United
 States.
 (2) To develop educational exchange programs with tribal colleges, schools and
 others, with host institutions in Europe.
 (3) To create an international employment sector for Native Americans, through
 the development of Native arts and crafts, music, literature, dance, language
 and to provide an international forum in Europe for Native artists /
 craftpersons within the Native community.
 (4) To develop a World Cultural Museum and Cultural Center that will represent
 the cultures of Asia, Africa, Australasia, North and South America - from an
 indigenous perspective.
 FUNDING
 The American Indian Trust does not receive any governmental support and relies
 heavily on fundraising, corporate and individual sponsors.
 STAFF
 Director - Full Time. Unfunded post. Voluntary
 Volunteer Support.
 PUBLICATION
 A quarterly publication called ' Indian Country ' - Talking Circles .
 LINKS SOUGHT/ ASSISTANCE NEEDED
 Native schools / colleges and other institutions who wish to establish
 networks with European partners, for the purposes of student / staff
 exchanges, educational reference and sharing.
 Native American commercial / private enterprises, wishing to advertise
 within Indian Country.
 Volunteer support.
 Native writers for Indian Country - submit articles via e-mail, snail mail.
 Support / assistance from Native educators wishing to develop a Native
 curriculum.
 Much needed sponsorship / funds, help in kind, donations of Native videos,
 music, art, crafts, anything that would assist the Trust in providing a
 Native perspective in Europe.
 Please contact : The Director - E-Mail: 101537.113@compuserve.com
 Snail Mail : 66, Gloucester Road , Bishopston, Bristol BS7 8BH.
 Tel /Fax: +44 (0) 117 942 -6437
 RIDE ACROSS THE NATIONS '98    * FOR ALL OUR RELATIONS *
 PURPOSE
   To raise funds and support for select Native American  non - profit
 organisations related to education, and preservation of culture and heritage.

 The Ride:
 Riders on horseback will start a journey from Eastern Canada into the United
 States along the mid- west, plains, southwestern states, central regions
 culminating in New York.
 This is still in the planning stage and we need assistance to develop this ride
 further.

 ASSISTANCE NEEDED
 Volunteers ; Riders; Horses; Transport;Funds; Sponsors; Specialists;
 Volunteers:  We need volunteers to assist with fundraising, publicity
 drives,public relations, advertising,  organisation of  food and shelter.
 HORSES:  We need horse sponsors to loan / assist / manage  horses for the
 entirety of the ride.
 RIDERS:  Volunteer riders needed to take part in the ride, especially Native
 peoples, though this is not exclusive.
 TRANSPORTATION: Trailers for horses, Van to carry a support team. + other
 transportation as deemed necessary.
 FUNDS: Funds will be needed to pay for the upkeep of the horses, gas,
 provisions, accommodation and other necessities.
 SPONSORS:  Needed to assist with funding, publicity materials, film and video,
 transportation, gas, food, clothing, tents, sleeping bags, horses etc.
 SPECIALISTS :  Doctors, wranglers, vets, public relations specialists,
 fundraisers, cooks, etc..
 Please help us make this ride a success. We need your help and assistance. If
 you have any suggestions  comments, advice or ideas, please get in touch
 a.s.a.p.
 We can be contacted at : E-MAIL: 101537.113@compuserve.com
 Snail Mail :  THE AMERICAN INDIAN TRUST -  1, Hampton Court, Hampton Road,
 Redland, Bristol BS6 6JN. UK
 Voice Mail / Fax  : + 44 (0) 117 942 6437
 NB: ANYTHING YOU CAN DO WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

 --------- "RE: Native Tobacco" ---------

 Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 14:49:18 -0700 (MST)
 From: lawrence anthony shorty <lshorty@unm.edu>
 Subj: native tobacco

   UUCP email

 Press Release
 Natural Native Tobacco Farm
   Tobacco, used to make smoke, is one of the most sacred of plants for
 Native people.  Lawrence Shorty, a Navajo and Choctaw, has dedicated his
 life to bringing Native grown tobaccos back to American Indian people.
 Mr. Shorty has been supplying his family's tobacco to American Indian
 ceremonialists since 1979 when he was eight years old.  Mr. Shorty's
 grandfather asked for tobacco, "nat'oh" in Navajo, for his use in Native
 American Church ceremonies.  Since then, Mr. Shorty has been developing
 his knowledge about the use and growing of tobacco with guidance from his
 grandparents and other Native tobacco people.
   The result is Tionantati: Native Tobacco People Farm, a 100% owned Native
 enterprise.  This enterprise has made available a product that is
 specific for Native uses.  Utilizing no federal, state, or tribal funds,
 Mr. Shorty established Tionantati: Native Tobacco People Farm to grow
 tobacco in a sacred way, re-establishing the bonds between himself and
 the earth, sky, plants, and animals.  Traditional, sacred methods are
 utilized in preparing the earth and the seeds.  Tionantati: Native
 Tobacco People Farm raises its tobacco on family land and produces
 different species that are indigenous to the Americas.
   None of the tobacco raised  by Tionantati: Native Tobacco People Farm is
 used in the production of commercial products like cigarettes, cigars,
 pipe tobacco, or dip tobacco.  Mr. Shorty asserts that Native people need
 to provide for themselves, especially where ceremonial items are concerned.
   "Purification and working with a clear mind and heart are essential in
 asking the land to provide for people,"  Mr. Shorty says.  He says this
 is keeping with the Native belief that if you do things in a good way,
 good things will follow.  "If careful attention is not established, the
 result will not be as good."

 For correspondence:
 TIONANTATI:  NATIVE TOBACCO PEOPLE FARM
 P.O. BOX 40744
 ALBUQUERQUE, NM  87106

 --------- "RE: Student Financial Aid" ---------

 Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 21:54:50 -0700
 From: "Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_)" <cmilda@GOODNET.COM>
 Subj: Student Financial Aid  (Fwd)

 Sender> edinfo@inet.ed.gov
 From> pkickbus@inet.ed.gov (Peter Kickbush)
 Subject> Student Financial Aid

 DO YOU KNOW A STUDENT PLANNING TO ATTEND COLLEGE?  Chances are
 good he or she is also seeking financial aid.  Several
 booklets from the Department of Education can help:

   *  "The 1997-1998 Student Guide: Financial Aid from the U.S.
      Department of Education" provides information about
      student financial assistance for the 1997-98 award year.

   *  "Funding Your Education 1997-98" is designed for high
      school students & others considering entering a
      post secondary school for the first time.

   *  "Looking for Student Aid" helps find sources of free
      information about student aid & scholarship search
      services.

   *  "Instructions for Completing the 1996-97 Free Application
      for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)" & "FAFSA Express" make
      the paperless financial aid application a reality.  FAFSA
      Express is software you can download & transmit
      electronic forms to the Department of Education.
      Questions on FAFSA can be addressed FAFSA_ADMIN@ed.gov or
      FAFSA Express Customer Service Line at 1-(800)-801-0576.

 These booklets tell *who to call* to learn more student
 financial aid.  They also offer suggestions on how to...

      choose a college or university.
      ^^^^^^

      receive federal grants, loans, & work-study funds.
      ^^^^^^^

      apply to a college, & when (the deadline).
      ^^^^^

 These booklets (& more) are available on the Office of
 Post secondary Education's homepage:

               http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/

 Free paper copies can be ordered by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID.

 --------- "RE: Poem: Questions of Life" ---------

 Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 12:14:29 -0800 (PST)
 From: Larry Kibbey <kibbey@sierra.net>
 Subj: Questions of Life

   UUCP email

 December 1, 1996
 QUESTIONS OF LIFE
 by:
 Larry Kibby, Wiyot(Weott) Nation, California

 Grandfather,
 I stand before you in a sacred manner,
 For I seek answers in a ceremonial way.
 To you I ask to forgive me in my quest,
 For I am without understanding.
 In these modern times I know confusion,
 And to you I turn for the
 Questions of life?

 Grandfather,
 My heart is sad and full of grief,
 While in a museum I saw my ancestors,
 Here they are called bones and remains,
 Yet I know them as my relatives.
 They are small, they are big,
 Men, Women and children,
 And I do not understand why they are here,
 And to you I turn for the
 Questions of life?

 Grandfather,
 My people they are called prehistoric,
 Indigenous, aboriginal and yet they are my ancestors.
 These non-Indians claim my people as their property,
 Because they were found on public lands.
 They say they have scientific value of importance,
 And yet they were found in traditional burial grounds.
 And to you I turn for the
 Question of life?

 Grandfather,
 I looked into a life and saw the death of my people,
 Evidence of a crushed skull, or a bullet hole,
 Scars of an ugly death, by a proud American.
 And the history of my people is told in lies,
 To cover up the reason why.
 I try to repatriate my ancestors,
 Take them home where they belong,
 And I am met with challenges,
 >From a people whose heart does not understand,
 Who can not feel the grief or hear the screams and
 Cries of my people coming from the common graves,
 The huge fire pits, the endless tortures, beatings,
 And murder of my people as they struggled in vain,
 Who only wanted to be left alone in their home.
 And to you I turn for the
 Questions of life and death?
 Grandfather hear my words,
 For they are of life.

 --------- "RE: Verse: Hawai'ian Book of Days" ---------

 Date: 97/01/14        03:12
 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 26-February 1

                             IANUALI
                            (January)
                             (Kaelo)
                                26
 I am the wild spirit that greets the dawning of this day.
                                27
 I see the thread of mana which passes from me to all those I hold dear --
 we are family -- we are ohana.
                                28
 If I feel hunger or thirst, the land will provide; if my spirit is troubled,
 the wind and the sea will comfort me; if I am afraid, Pele will protect me.
                                29
 Each morning is a celebration of beginnings.
                                30
 The stars, na hoku, guide me at night -- they show me the way to my destiny.
                                31
 The will of my ancestral spirit, my 'aumakua, speaks in all that I say or do.

                            PEPELUALI
                            (February)
                            (Kau-lua)
 February was the time when the anae, the mullet, spawned.
                                 1
 If you want to see the stars, you have to look up!

                (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, 23 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

 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 08:48:46 -0800
 From: berryj@okway.okstate.edu (John Berry)
 Subj: (FWD) AZ Pow Wow
 Original Sender: University of Arizona AISES Chapter <aises@engr.
   arizona.edu>
 The University of Arizona Tribal People United presents the fourth annual
                        ***************************
                             Wildcat Pow Wow
                              Tucson, AZ
                             February 22-23 1997
                        ****************************
 Headstaff:
 Master of ceremonies: Arnold Chee, Steamboat, AZ
 Arena director: Jim Red Eagle, Costa Mesa, CA
 Head Director:
 Head Gourd Dancer: Ernest H. Begay, Rock Point, AZ
 Head Man Dancer: Steve Street, Tama, Iowa
 Head Woman Dancer: Lynn Roanhorse, Dulce, NM
 Host Drums:
 Canadian Host Drum: Fly In Eagle Cutknife, Saskatchewan
 United States Host Drums: White Ridge Juniors, Lukachukai, AZ
 Southern Host Drums: Yellow Jacket, Ignacio, CO
 Invited Drum: Star Blanet Juniors, Balcarres, CA
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 For more information call Geneva A. Johnson or Antoinette Davis at
 (520) 621-7989 or (520) 621-621-3835. Arts and craft table available for
 $75, $25 late fee after Feb. 04, 1997. Please contact Natalie Saldana at
 (520) 621-3835 for more information. TPU and the University of Arizona are
 not responsible for accidents, thefts, injury, and travel expenses.
 Dancers and singers please provide your own chairs. Schedule is subject to
 change. Alcohol and drugs will not be tolerated. All dancers and drummers
 are welcome to attend.
 ---------------------------------------------------------------
 Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 08:33:18 -0800
 From: berryj@okway.okstate.edu (John Berry)
 Subj: NSU Powwow, Tahlequah, OK

                   BENEFIT POW-WOW
                Northeastern State U.
            Native American Student Assoc.
        Tahlequah Community Bld., Tahlequah, OK
                 Saturday, February 1, 1997
 HEAD STAFF:
 Lead Singer:      Mike Gahwhega    Ponca City, OK
 MC:               Kelly Anquoe     Tahlequah, OK
 Head Man:         RedCloud Anquoe  Tulsa, OK
 Head Lady:        Tesa Good Eagle  Hominy, OK
 Arena Director:   Steve Campbell   Tahlequah, OK
                   Neil Lawhead     Kansas City, MO
 Gourd Dance:          TBA
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
                        SCHEDULE
 1-5pm  Gourd Dancing               Cake Walk
 5-7pm  Supper Break                Raffles
 7:00pm Grand Entry                 Fifty-Fifty
 12:00  Close                       Games
    There is limited booth space for arts/crafts
    Please apply by Jan. 15, 1997
 Contact Charles Sisk (918)456-5511 ext. 6886
 For more info. please contact: Gary Martine (918)456-5511 ext. 7642
                                Harvey Johnson (918)456-5233
 N.A.S.A. is not responsible for thefts or accidents.
 No Alcohol or Drugs allowed.
 ---------------------------------------------------------
 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 12:13:50 -0800
 From: John Berry <berryj@OKWAY.OKSTATE.EDU>
 Subj: Native Circle Pow-Wow, Stillwater, OK

                   NATIVE CIRCLE POWWOW
                   Jan. 25 & 26, 1997
                Payne County Expo Center
                     Stillwater, OK
 HEAD STAFF:
    MC:             Dean Whitebreast        Tama, IA
                    Russel Standingrock     Rocky Boy, MT
    Head Man:       John "Ponch" Brady      Newtown, ND
    Head Lady:      Jackie Whitebuffalo     Anadarko, OK
    Host Gourd:     Red Rock Creek          Red Rock, OK
    Co-Host:        Broken Arrow Indian Club
    AC:             Ralph Haymond           Pawnee, OK
                    Joe Lafferty            Shakopee, MN
    Host Drums:     Eyabay                  Red Lake, MN
                    Rosehill                Pawnee, OK
    Invited Drums:  Blackstone              Sweetgrass, Sask, Canada
                    Eagle Feather           Tama, IA
                    The Boyz                Minneapolis, MN
                    Cozad                   Hominy, OK
                    Southern Thunder        Pawnee, OK
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Categories:
 Mens Traditional                           Womens Buckskin
      Straight                                     Cloth
      Fancy                                        Fancy Shawl
      Grass                                        Jingle
                            Juniors (7-17)
 Boys                                       Girls
    Traditional/Straight                           Buckskin/Cloth
    Fancy/Grass                                    Fancy Shawl/Jingle

                            PRIZE MONEY
            ADULTS                                  JUNIORS
 1st $1,000.00 + Jacket                     $300.00 + Jacket
 2nd $  700.00                              $200.00
 3rd $  400.00                              $100.00
 4th $  200.00                              $ 50.00
                    ** Tiny Tots paid daily
            --TINY TOTS GIRLS SPECIAL CONTEST--
               IN HONOR OF CHEYENNE DAE GWIN
 0-6 1st $200.00; 2nd $150.00; 3rd $100.00; 4th $50.00
  ***Grand Entry & Points begin Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1:00pm
  ** Registration Fee $5.00
  ** Protest Fee      $100.00
 For more information contact: Rebecca Gwin  (918)762-3859
                               Lori Phoenix  (619)443-6612
                               June Hamilton (918)762-2193
 Arts & Crafts contact:        Austin Realrider (918)762-2722
                                                (918)762-2733
  *Grand Entries: Saturday 1:00 & 7:00 pm
                  Sunday   1:00pm
  *Gourd Dancing: Saturday & Sunday 11:00am - 12:30pm

 Not Responsible for accidents or theft.
 Host Hotels: Best Western (405)377-7010
              Days Inn     (405)743-2570
              Motel 6      (405)624-0433
              Holiday Inn  (405)372-0800
 ------------------------------------------------------------
 Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 15:38:36 -0800 (PST)
 From: Chris Caskey Russell <caskey@darkwing.uoregon.edu>
 Subj: NA Conf. at UofO
 Mailing List:    NATIVELIT <NATIVELIT-L@cornell.edu>

 Hello everyone, Caskey here--I thought I'd mention an upcoming conference
 on Native American Literature we are having here at the Univ. of Oregon.
 The Conference runs from May 15th thru the 17th.
 Our keynote speakers include:
  N. Scott Momaday, Leslie M. Silko, Arnold Krupat, Gerald
  Vizenor, and we've received a tentative "yes" from James Welch.
 Many others (James Ruppert, for instance) will be presenting as well.
 Quite a group.  We are accepting abstracts (not over 2 pages, typed
 double spaced,) through the 25th of January--although that
 deadline is not set in stone.  Mail abstracts to:
    Call For Papers
    Oregon Humanities Center
    5211 University of Oregon
    Eugene, OR  97403-5211

 Of course, include name, institution, address, phone/email numbers and
 all that with the abstracts.  I know I've forgotten something, so for more
 info, contact our website at
   http://darkwing.uoregon.edu~slarson
 or call Sid Larson at: 541-346-1311
 or feel free to email me at: caskey@darkwing.uoregon.edu
 thanks,
 Caskey
 University of Oregon
 --------------------------------------------------------------
 Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 14:23:05 -0800 (PST)
 From: Rio Lara-Bellon <larabell@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu>
 Subj: Rare Plant Conferences
 Mailing List:    EIRP <EIRP%WSUVM1.BITNET@cmsa.Berkeley.EDU>

 The following meeting information was taken from newsletters of Native
 Plant Societies of  Oregon & Montana :

 IDAHO RARE PLANT CONFERENCE - The 13th annual Idaho Rare Plant Conference
 will be held in Boise February 11-12, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Idaho
 Power Companies corporate headquarters.  Registration is $12 prior to
 February 1 and $17 thereafter.  For registration information, contact
 conference chair Nancy Cole (208) 388-2351 or write Idaho Native Plant
 Society, P.O. Box 9451, Boise, ID 83707.

 MONTANA RARE PLANT CONFERENCE - Scheduled to take place in April 1997 in
 Missoula.  Specific dates, speakers, and location will be announced.  No
 contact information was listed; Linda Iverson of Big Timber, 932-5840, is
 the MNPS President.

 OREGON RARE PLANT CONFERENCE - Will be held March 7-8 in Bend, Oregon at
 Central Oregon Community College.  Registration is $15 by mail or at the
 door.  To register by mail by February 21: Stu Garrett, 21663 Paloma Dr.,
 Bend OR 97701.  Questions?  Call Stu Garrett evenings 541-389-6981 or Lisa
 Croft days 541-416-6571

 WYOMING RARE PLANT WORKSHOP - The 4th Wyoming Interagency Rare Plant
 Information Workshop is scheduled for March 4-5 at the Holiday Inn at
 Riverton.  Sponsored by the Wyoming Rare Plant Technical Committee it is
 open to anyone interested in the states rare flora.  For additional
 information contact Walt Fertig (307) 745-5026.
 ------------------------------------------------------
 Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 15:20:15 -0800
 From: "M. Sinclair" <sinclair@TRACKNET.COM>
 Subj: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
 Mailing List:    NAT-WORK <NAT-WORK@VM1.CC.UAKRON.EDU>

 Canadian Conference:  "Calling People Together: Beyond the RCAP
    Report"
 This three-day conference will explore the implications of the report by
 the Royal Commission  on Aboriginal Peoples, particularly at the community
 level. The conference is premised on the belief that the most important
 implications of the report will be manifest in the actual effect they have
 on people's lives. Issues to be examined: the implications of the report
 for aboriginal peoples; the building of responsible, respectful
 relationships between aboriginal peoples and other people in Canada; and
 the future of aboriginal governance in Canada.

 Presenters include Hereditary Chiefs and other aboriginal leaders,
 academics, and lawyers. Conference participants will be urged to reach
 consensus about some of the key implications of the report.

 The conference is co-sponsored by the First Nations Summit, Department of
 Canadian Heritage, Department of Indian Affairs and the B.C. Ministry of
 Aboriginal Affairs.

 Further information:  vemery@uvcs.uvic.ca
 Phone: (250) 721-8703
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Please accept apologies if this was accidentally posted to an
 inappropriate list.  Thanks in advance.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 =======================================================================
 From News From Indian Country:

 Jan 23-26       Discover Native America '97, Vinoy Park
                 St. Petersburg, FL
 Info:           800-683-7800 Ext 1467

 Jan 24-26       Winter Benefit, Montgomery County Fair Grounds,
                 Dayton, OH
 Info:           513-275-9500

 Jan 30-Feb 2    Seminole, Pow-Wow Grounds, Immokalee, FL
 Info:           941-657-3400 800-685-7800

 Feb 1           Mason School, Mason Middle School, Tacoma, WA
 Info:           206-596-1139

 Feb 1-2         3rd Iron Eyes Cody, Two Bunch Palms Trail, Desert
                 Hot Springs, CA
 Info:           619-251-1677

 Feb 1-2         World Championship Hoop Dance, The Heard Museum
                 Phoenix, AZ
 Info:           602-252-6640
 =====================================================================
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--
 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:
 Mary C. Knockwood, Robert Matylewicz(Urgent Appeal), Laura X via Ishgooda,
 D. Donovan, Paul Antone via Don Rayment, Barbara Johnson,  John Berry,
 Dave Chief via Elaine Flattery, Larry Kibby, Janet Smith, Debra F. Sanders,
 Carlisle Antonio(Appeal), Lawrence Shorty, Peter Kickbush via Chris Milda,
 Jane Scharf, Joe Don Chipps, Larry Innes via Gary Trujillo, Bernadette Chato
  -//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
   ~ Part B of this newsletter has already been distributed
     via the NATIVE-L or NATCHAT mailing lists.

 --------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - online" ---------

 Date: Thu, 23 January 97 08:00 -0500
 From: Janet Smith (evestar@juno.com)
 Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows already posted
       to Mailing Lists NATCHAT or NATIVE-L

   UUCP email

 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 13:48:34 -0700
 From: cmilda@goodnet.com (Chris Milda (_Akimel O`odham_))
 Subj: congratulations reception and farewell (U of Arizona, 29 Jan.)
 Mailing List:    NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us)

  You are cordially invited to attend a
      congratulations reception for
     Glenn Johnson (Director of AIGC)
             and farewell to
        Chris Milda (Student Rep)
     to the National Indian Education
      Association Board of Directors
      WHEN:   Wed., January 29, 1997
              3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
      WHERE:  American Indian
              Graduate Center (AIGC)
              1610 E. 7th Street
              University of Arizona
              Tucson, Arizona
 Questions ?  Call American Indian Studies at
                 621-7108
  http://w3.arizona.edu/~aisp/aigc.htm
 -----------------------------------------------------
 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 10:09:09 -0500
 From: carmel@glen-net.ca (Carmel Vivier)
 Subj: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Conference (Montreal)
 Mailing List:    NATIVE-L <NATIVE-L@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU>

 For those on the east coast of Canada wanting to attend one of the
 Conferences being held by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples,
 here is the information for the Montreal Conference:
  "Forging A New Relationship"
 Place:  McGill Institute for the Study of Canada - McGill University,
 Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
 Dates: January 31, 1997 - February 2, 1997
 Topics of discussions and reports:

 Like other conferences being held across Canada, this one will look at the
 objectives of the Royal Commission's Report.  Some of the other issues
 being discussed include, Aboriginal Governance topics, lands and resources
 topics,economic development in Aboriginal communities, and justice reform.

 Speakers/Presentors:
 Co-Chairs of the RCAP Commission
 Hereditary Chiefs
 Aboriginal Leaders
 Academics
 Lawyers
 Leaders from Aboriginal Organizations
 Bank representatives

 This conference will pay specific attention to central and eastern Canada,
 and the north.
 Simultaneous translation service (English-French) is provided on
   request.

 For further information on this conference contact:
 Jose Cadorette, Conference Coordinator
 McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
 3463 Peel Street
 Montreal, Quebec Canada
 H3A 1W7
 Tel: (514) 398-2658
 Fax: (514) 398-7336
 E-mail: jcadoret@heps.lan.mcgill.ca
 --------------------------------------------------------
 Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 14:38:30 -0500
 From: nlclark1@aol.com
 Subj: Prophetstown Winter Storytelling Gathering (14-15 Feb. - Indiana)
 Mailing List:    NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us)

 The Prophetstown Council for Great Lakes Native American Studies, a
 cultural preservation consortium of 23 Great Lakes Tribes, will
 hold its annual Winter Storytelling Gathering at Lafayette, Indiana
 on February 14 and 15, 1997. The featured storyteller will be Jesse
 Bruchac (Abenaki), youngest son of  Joseph Bruchac.  Jesse Bruchac
 and his older brother Jim, were first place winners at the 1996
 Indian Summer Festival in Milwaukee.
        Jesse Bruchac is a speaker of the Abenaki language, having
 learned from elder Cecile Wawanolet.  The knowledge of Abenaki (an
 Algonquian base language) is key to understanding the cultural
 context and meaning of oral tradition.  In 1994, he was hired to
 coordinate a language curriculum for the entire state of Vermont.
 He also taught Abenaki at Burlington College in 1995.
        Jesse is also a traditional musician, and has learned that
 music and language go hand-in-hand with Native American culture.
 He began learning and recording traditional Abenaki drum songs and
 lyrics several years ago. He is a member of the Awassos Sigan group
 of Odanak, Canada and the Missiquoi Drummers of Swanton, Vermont.
 Much of the music he composed is sung by the Dawnland Singers, made
 up of Joseph Bruchac, his sister Marge Bruchac, Jesse and Jim
 Bruchac.  They have two CD recordings available.
        Jim and Jesse founded The Ndakinna Wilderness Project in
 1994.  The endeavor is dedicated to educating the public about
 age-old philosophies and survival skills developed by the
 indigenous peoples of America and the world. Ndakinna means
 "Our Land" and refers to the traditional lands of the Abenaki.
        The gathering will be held at Ross Camp, seven miles west of
 Lafayette, Indiana, in the George Jones Lodge.  The lodge will
 accommodate 65 people.  The gathering will begin on Friday evening,
 February 14, with a 6:30pm feast, followed by an evening of
 storytelling and music.  On Saturday, February 15, Jesse Bruchac
 will talk about the tradition of Native American Storytelling and
 Music. The program will begin at 9:30am and continue until 3:00pm.
 The fee is $75 per person and includes both days of the gathering
 and all meals.  You must register in advance.  Lodging in the
 George Jones Lodge is $10 per night, dormitory style.  Other motels
 are nearby.  On Saturday evening, February 15, Jesse Bruchac will
 give a presentation of storytelling and music open to the public.
 This will be held at University Church on the Purdue University
 Campus, 325 North Street, and is open to the public.  There will be
 a $2 admission.
     The Prophetstown Council for Great Lakes Native American
 Studies is a division of The Museums At Prophetstown.  For more
 information or to register, write Nick Clark, Museums At
 Prophetstown, 22 N. Second Street,Lafayette, IN  47901 or call
 317-423-4617.

 --------- "RE: Sacred Circle" ---------

 Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 15:52:14 -0500
 From: flattery@primeline.com (Elaine Flattery)
 Subj: Sacred Circle (by Dave Chief)

 Mailing List:    NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us)

 Hocoka Wakan (sacred circle)
   The circle has healing power.  In a circle,  we are all equal.  When in a
 circle, no one is in front of you, no one is behind you,  no one is above
 you, no one is below you.  A prayer circle is designed to create unity.
   The Hoop of Life is also a circle.  On this hoop, there is a place for
 every species, for every race, for every tree, and for every plant.  It is
 this completeness of life that must be respected in order to bring about
 health on this planet with our prayer (all my relations).
   To understand each other, as the ripples when a stone is tossed into the
 waters, the circle starts small and grows .... until it fills the whole
 lake.
 Dave Chief
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
 Dave Chief
   Oglala Lakota (Sioux) elder, spiritual leader, and cultural teacher, was
 born June 25, 1928, delivered by midwife, at Rapid Creek on Pine Ridge
 Reservation in South Dakota.  A descendant of Crazy Horse and many Lakota
 warriors, he was raised in the traditional Lakota way.
   Dave was involved in the "Trail of Broken Treaties" in 1972.  That caravan
 journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. was to ensure Native
 American spiritual and cultural survival in the Western hemisphere, and to
 put an end to the termination movement that the Indian Nation had been
 enduring since the 1950's.
   Dave was involved in the "Longest Walk", which repeated the journey from
 San Francisco to D.C. in 1978.  This walk resulted in the Native American
 Freedom of Religion Act of 1978, which was sponsored by Senator Ted
 Kennedy.  Although granted "quasi" citizenship in the U.S.A. in 1924,
 Indians were not allowed to have the benefits of the "Bill of Rights" with
 that citizenship.  Freedom of religion was not granted until 1978.
   In 1984, Dave ran in and led ceremonies for the "Jim Thorpe Longest Run,"
 a relay run from the "Six Nations" (Iroquois), from New York to Los Angeles.
 The run took 54 days and resulted in the reinstatement of Jim Thorpe's nine
 gold medals, which were returned to Jim Thorpe's family.
   Dave's great grandfather, Red Dog, was a signer of the 1868 treaty with
 the U.S. government.  Dave, who is fluent in Lakota, has inheritance rights
 to talk about the treaties, the Black Hills, and Lakota traditions and
 spirituality.
   Dr. Arvol Looking Horse, the Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe,
 in Green Grass, South Dakota, encouraged Dave to "Vision Quest."  As a
 result, Dave went to Green Grass to seek a Vision each year for four years.
 After his Vision Quest, the fourth year, Stanley Looking Horse, Arvol's
 father, interpreted Dave's vision as permission from the spirit world for
 Dave to be a Ceremonial Leader of the Lakota, and even to do Yuweepi
 Ceremony, if he felt to do so.
   Dave Chief has Sun Danced for four years, at Green Grass, at Arvol Looking
 Horse's Sun Dance.
   In 1994, at the request of Arvol Looking Horse, Dave led a ceremony for
 Unity and Balance, at the White House in Washington, D.C.
   Dave Chief, Lakota Elder and Spiritual Leader (as ordained by Dr. Arvol
 Looking Horse, Keeper of the Original White Buffalo Calf Pipe), established
 a unifiied prayer time to be held starting the first New Moon of this
 calendar and solar year, January 8, 1997 at 5am PST. (8am eastern, 7am
 central, 6am mountain, etc.).  This time is being set to coincide with
 his ceremony for Unity & Balance that he will be conducting every New Moon
 for the rest of 1997, to address these concerns.
   All are asked to join in this prayer time, and share this information with
 others in your local communites as we hope this will be a growing prayer
 circle for the sake of the Sacred Hoop and all our Relations.
   The additional focus of our prayer this month, will be the Elders at Big
 Mountain.  The forced eviction from their aboriginal homelands has begun.

 For further information on this, see SDN at:
 http://www.primenet.com/~sdn/

 or Native American Support Group at:
 http://members.aol.com/waya94/index.htm

 We hope you will join us, this and every month.
 In Unity and Spirit,
 Elaine Flattery, posting for Dave Chief
            _________
     ___/  /   /   /  /    \_
          \ _\__\__/\__ /

 --------- "RE: Voisey's Bay Memo of Understanding" ---------

 Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 23:41:48 -0800
 From: gtrujillo@igc.apc.org (Gary S. Trujillo)
 Subj: Key Features and Deficiencies in Voisey's Bay Memo of Understanding

 Mailing List:    NATIVE-L (native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us)

 /* Written  Jan  5, 1997 by DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.org in igc:hrnet.indigen */
 Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 ## author     : es051322@ORION.YORKU.CA
 ## date       : 22.12.96
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

 This memo is a draft only, intended to provide some background for those
 individuals or organizations who would like to comment on the draft MOU on
 the Environmental Assessment of the Proposed Voisey's Bay Mining
 Development.  I hope that it is helpful, and I regret the delay in
 circulating it.
 - Larry Innes

   Key Features and Deficiencies in the MOU on the Environmental Assessment
 of the Proposed Voisey's Bay Mining Development
   On November 22, 1996, after more than five months of negotiations, the
 Innu Nation, the Labrador Inuit Association, Canada and Newfoundland
 initialed a draft agreement on how a single, comprehensive environmental
 assessment of the Voisey's Bay mine-mill project will be carried out. In
 essence, the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a harmonization
 agreement between the parties, and for the purposes of the the Voisey's
 Bay review, supercedes the application of the Canadian Environmental
 Assessment Act and the Newfoundland Environmental Assessment Act.
   The draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the four parties is
 still significant step forward, but it fell far short of Innu expectations
 in several key areas. The purpose of this memo is to outline the key
 features and deficiencies of the agreement as a guide to groups and
 individuals who would like to make supportive interventions in the public
 review phase of the MOU. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is
 receiving written comments on the draft MOU until December 23, 1996.
 Parties wishing to submit comments can do so at:
   Mr. Brian Torrie Manager, Public Review Canadian Environmental Assessment
 Agency 200 Sacre-Coeur Blvd.  Hull, Quebec K1A 0H3 Tel: (819) 997-6364
 Fax:(819) 994-1469 Internet e-mail: torrie@fox.nstn.ca

 The English version of the draft MOU may be obtained on the internet at:
 http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/english/con_docs/voisey/voisey/voisymou.html

 French, Innu-aimun and Inuktitut versions are also available from the
 Agency.

 Key Features of the MOU
 Single, Comprehensive Panel Review of Whole Project
 ---------------------------------------------------
   The MOU provides for a four-party assessment of the environmental effects
 of the proposed mine, mill and associated infrastructure at the place
 known to the Innu as Kapukuanipant-kauashat, the Inuit as Tasiujatsoak,
 and to Canada and Newfoundland as Voisey's Bay. In itself, this represents
 a minor victory for the Innu and Inuit, who successfully opposed several
 earlier attempts by the company to build an access road, airstrip and dock
 facility at the site as "advanced exploration infrastructure".
   Recognition of Ongoing Negotiations and Responsibilities of Aboriginal
 Groups
   Although the MOU is silent on the issue of aboriginal rights, it does
 recognize that both the Innu and Inuit are involved in "comprehensive
 claims negotiations" with respect to the land and waters affected by the
 project, and are included as parties to the MOU by virtue of this fact.
   The MOU also recognizes that the Presidents of the Innu Nation and the LIA
 have responsibilities on behalf of the Innu and Inuit to ensure that the
 project is fully assessed.
   Finally, the MOU allows for amendment to reflect the ongoing nature of
 comprehensive rights negotiations, such as may occur through
 agreements-in-principle or through interim measures provisions. (2.2)

 Exemption of NEAA and Harmonization under CEAA
 ----------------------------------------------
 Newfoundland intends to exempt the project from the application of the
 Newfoundland Environmental Assessment Act (NEAA) subject to terms and
 conditions which include the assessment of the project under the terms of
 the MOU. Canada intends to view the MOU as a joint review pursuant to
 Sections 40-42 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA).

 Definition of Environment
 -------------------------
 One small departure from CEAA of significance to Aboriginal people is the
 inclusion of 'spiritual conditions and factors' in the definition of
 environment. This will permit the Panel to hear evidence and make
 recommendations in relation to the effects of the project on the spiritual
 values of the Innu and Inuit.

 Definition of Environmental Effect
 ----------------------------------
 In the view of the Innu Nation, the definition of Environmental Effect is
 still deficient in that it only considers the current effects of the
 project on Aboriginal use of lands and resources, and omits consideration
 of historic use, even though such historic use remains important to Innu
 and Inuit people.

 Definition of Follow-Up Program
 -------------------------------
 In a positive departure from CEAA, Follow-up Programs are defined in the
 MOU to require that measures be implemented to mitigate any adverse
 environmental effects identified.

 Definition of Undertaking
 -------------------------
 The undertaking or project is defined in Schedule 2 of the MOU in terms of
 its entire lifecycle: from construction through to the reclamation,
 rehabilitation and surrender of the mining lease to the landowner.
   Significantly, if the proponent proposes to change or modify the project,
 the MOU provides for reconsideration and amendments to the MOU and
 direction to the Panel with respect to the review process. (6.2)

 Panel Budget
 ------------
 The MOU does not specify a Panel budget, but requires that the Parties
 consult with each other to ensure that the Panel has 'adequate financial
 resources' to conduct the Review.  (2.4)
   The absence of a specific dollar figure is partially offset by the wording
 "ensure", however, the Innu Nation still remains extremely concerned about
 this issue, given the precedents set in the BHP review.

 Participant Funding
 -------------------
 The MOU only provides for participant funding in accord with the Agency's
 Participant Funding program. (2.5) This was a major area of disagreement
 between the Aboriginal and government sides of the table during the
 negotiation of the MOU. The Innu and Inuit sought to achieve a Participant
 Funding Committee which would have the power to award funds to qualified
 participants and participant organizations on the basis of applications
 submitted by the participants to the Funding Committee. These awards would
 not be limited to a pre-determined global figure, but would be on the
 basis of applications received. The proponent would be responsible for the
 costs of the participant funding program.
   The Innu and Inuit were not able to negotiate such provisions, and the
 issue of participant funding remains as a major deficiency in the MOU.

 Panel Offices
 --------------
 In a departure from Agency practice, the Panel Office for this review will
 be established in Nain, not Ottawa.  Information centres will be
 established in Utshimassit (Davis Inlet) and in Nain, and in other
 locations in Newfoundland and Labrador as deemed appropriate by the Panel.
 This is viewed favourably by the Innu Nation and the LIA, who see
 increased presence and access to the Panel and Secretariat staff as a
 benefit to the communities most affected by the project. (2.6-2.7)

 Panel Appointments
 ------------------
 The members of the Panel will be jointly appointed by Canada,
 Newfoundland, the Innu Nation and the LIA. This is seen by the Innu and
 Inuit to be in the spirit of the nation-to-nation relationship. Up to five
 members of the Panel will be chosen from lists of at least three nominees
 supplied by each of the four parties to the MOU. (3.1-3.7)

 Panel Reporting
 ---------------
 The Panel will report to the Ministers and to the Presidents of the Innu
 Nation and LIA. This is also viewed by the Innu and Inuit to be in the
 spirit of the nation-to-nation relationship. (4.1) Provisions for making
 the report available to the public in a respectful fashion are also
 contained in the MOU, which provides for embargoed copies of the Panel
 report to be available in Innu and Inuit communities for release at the
 time of the public announcement of its release. (4.2)

 Amendments to the MOU
 ---------------------
 The MOU can only be amended by the written consent of all four parties.
 (5.1)

 Without Prejudice
 -----------------
 In keeping with the practice of governments, the agreement is without
 prejudice to the aboriginal rights of the Innu and Inuit and does not
 constitute an agreement or treaty under S. 35 of the Constitution Act
 (1982). Similarly, it does not imply Innu or Inuit consent for any
 activity done in connection with the proposed project. (6.1)

 Terms of Reference for the Scope and Conduct of the Review
    As provided in Schedule 1, the Terms of Reference for the Panel have
 been negotiated as part of the MOU. This provided the Innu and Inuit an
 opportunity to negotiate a process which would mindful of Aboriginal
 concerns and be accessible to people in their communities. Innu and Inuit
 objectives in this area were only partially successful. The key
 deficiencies, in our view, are:
         1) timelines,
         2) aboriginal rights
     and 3) translation.
 Some success was achieved with respect to the way in which Innu and Inuit
 environmental knowledge would be dealt with by the Panel, and in the
 inclusion of certain factors to be considered by the Panel.

 Traditional Ecological Knowledge
 --------------------------------
 The Panel is required to give 'full consideration' to traditional
 knowledge, whether presented orally or in writing. The Innu and Inuit
 argued for 'full and equal' consideration, as was the requirement in the
 BHP process, but given the problems encountered by that Panel in meeting
 that requirement, we were not able to incorporate it into the MOU.
 Achieving 'Full and equal' consideration remains an Innu objective.

 Aboriginal Rights
 -----------------
 While all parties agreed that the specific scope, substance or definition
 of Aborig