From gars@netcom.com Sat Jul 26 05:02:06 1997 Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 20:41:21 -0700 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews05.029 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 05, ISSUE 029 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 19 July 1997 O o O KANOHEDA ANIYVWIYA Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin O o O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min 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 NAT-FILM, BIGMTLIST, Triballaw & Native-L lists;Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native,igc.indig.info; UUCP email; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty 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 ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org Thanks to Don Rayment ,don.rayment@uptowne.com, Wotanging Ikche/ Kanoheda Aniyvwiya is being redistributed via a listserver. If you would like to receive Wotanging Ikche via the listserver, you can send a message to listserv@uptowne.com and include, in the body of your message "sub wotanging.ikche " Thanks to 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://aises.uthscsa.edu/94_dis.html 1995: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/95_dis.html 1996: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/96_dis.html 1997: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/97_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. "By the time I was forty, I could see our country was changing fast, and that these changes were causing us to live very differently. Anybody could now see that soon there would be no buffalo on the plains and everybody was wondering how we could live after they were gone. There were few war parties, and almost no raids... White men with their spotted-buffalo (cattle) were on the plains about us. Their houses were near the water-holes, and their villages on the rivers. We made up our minds to be friendly with them, in spite of all the changes they were bringing. But we found this difficult, because the white men too often promised to do one thing and when they acted at all, did another." __ Chief Plenty Coups (Aleek-chea-ahoosh), Crow +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! I often use this space to offer personal opinion, but I make a sincere effort to avoid too much personal business. I must this time get more personal than I like, because it is necessary to inform those who have come to expect this newsletter to be emailed at a given time may not have those expectations realized for the next few weeks. Those who write and send articles may do so with a long delay before receiving a response. This is because my wife and I will be on a long journey. We will be leaving the homelands of my Cherokee and her Creek ancestors to travel to New Mexico, where much of my blood family lives and where I was born. I need to be with my brothers and their families, and I need to introduce my better-half to the desert and mountains I grew up with. From New Mexico we will go to South Dakota to join with friends and beloved elders who have invited us to visit and learn. It will be a long, tiring trip. It will also be one which will grant much personal growth if our hearts are in the right place. For the expected delays and disruptions I now apologize to all, and ask for your understanding. Bo writes that Bob Mannah (aka Tochoway/Totsawe) has passed on. He will be greatly missed at this weekend's Commanche Homecoming in Walters, Okla. His humor, his wisdom, his loyalty to his friends will be long missed by friends and loved ones who will feel the emptiness left with his crossing over. Thanks to Mike Wicks for the following reminders: In Memory (with Respect and Honor) 7.30.1973 Julius Bad Heart Bull - AIM supporter killed at Oglala by "person or persons unknown." No investigation. 7.31.1976 Sandra Wounded Foot - AIM supporter killed at Sharp's Corners by "unknown assailants." No investigation. Peace! Night Owl , , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@nanews.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30067, U.S.A. gars@igc.apc.org ===w=w=== gars@bellsouth.net Fax: 770-528-9643 gars@juno.com ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- Part A: Usenet and e-mail Part B: NATIVE-L list - RCMP Announces APC Purchase - Mailing List for Native Literature - Blackfoot Quest for Justice - Mexico: July 25th Action Alert - HPL Arrestee Goes to Trial - Voisey's Bay: Innu/Inuit in Court - Cherokee Nation Suit Filed - Cherokee BRIEF - Dudley George Inquiry - Gustafsen: EC Support Letter - UPDATE: Dudley George Shooting - Canada Guts Inquiry Process - Gustafsen: Waiting to see Justice - Native Land Rights - Menominee Nation Condemns Violation - Tribal Colleges & Welfare Reform - Catholic Church Sued for Genocide - Tribal Participation in ESA - California Ruling - Crazy Crow Trading Post - Documentary: In Whose Honor? - Oklahoma Indian Language Foundation - A Hundred Years Ago - Poem: In Their Eyes - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Conferences and Powwows --------- "RE: RCMP Announces APC Purchase" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 22:06:55 -0800 From: sisis@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: RCMP Announces APC Purchase :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: RCMP Buying APC Tanks from Mandela's South Africa for use against Natives in Canada CBC's 6:00 PM radio news out of Vancouver reported that the RCMP plans to purchase 8 Armoured Personnel Carriers. The 1995 month long siege of Shuswap traditionalists and their supporters on sacred, unceded sundance and burial grounds at Gustafsen Lake was cited by the police as proof the tanks were "necessary". At that time Canadian Forces personnel and APCs were requested by BC's NDP provincial government . The RCMP will now have their own. Two of the vehicles have already been ordered from South Africa. Six more will come later from unspecified sources. Canada and BC are waging a dirty war of surveillance, intimidation, harassment and murder against indigenous traditionalists seeking a recognition of their land rights, sovereignty and self-determination. Pressure is mounting for international observers and intervention in light of the refusal of the Canadian authorities to launch inquiries into the Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash attacks upon indigenous resistors. The police sniper who murdered an unarmed Dudley George was recently given a wrist slap of two years but will serve no jail time and will continue to work as a police officer. Meanwhile in BC, Shuswap elder Wolverine is facing up to 25 years imprisonment for allegedly shooting out the tires of a 14 ton APC that was attempting to crush the Shuswap elder. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 ==>>NEW EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: Blackfoot Quest for Justice" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 15:07:12 -0500 From: blkfoot4@3rivers.net (Long Standing Bear Chief) Subj: Blackfoot Quest for Justice UUCP email The Fourth Day of July,1997 The following statement and demand for decision is one based upon reason and established facts that calls on all people of good will and justice to carefully consider the evidence and then choose between justice or fraud and deceit. There is one simple fact: Glacier and Pondera Counties in the State of Montana are illegal, especially as they exist within the boarders of the Blackfoot Nation. Glacier and Pondera counties were created by an illegal act of the State of Montana in February of 1919. If the counties had not been created utilizing the land of our people then it would have been believable because it would have been non-Indians creating units of government for themselves. But, this was not their intent. It was, in fact, another means of non-Indian extending their illegal authority over us. The fact is that the State of Montana DID NOT have authority over Indian affairs then, or now! Article 1 of the 1889 Constitution of the State of Montana clearly states that the State of Montana shall have not authority or jurisdiction over Indians or Indian land. Period. It was not until 1972 that Montana enacted a revised constitution and even then the prohibition of jurisdiction over Indians was retained by vote of all the people of Montana. The established facts are that Indians were not declared to be citizens of the United States until 1924 when the Congress of the United States enacted the Indian citizenship Act. (As is the case with all so-called Indian law we Indians did not get a chance to vote to accept this non- Indian mandate either.) My personal inspection of the historical documents in the Glacier and Ponderal County Court Houses point ot the fact that the caucasians who "Fathered" these counties knew that Indians were not American citizens and could not vote in their Montana elections, which were conducted in Helena, Montana, and not on any reservation with Indians consenting or participating in their fraudulent and deceitful elections. The fact is the records in the Glacier County Court House at Cut Bank, Montana, clearly point out that the father's of these counties knew the Indian could not vote as a citizen until 1924. They even went so far as to vote 520 votes to zero (0). It established the county seat in Cut Bank, making careful note that the INDIANS COULD NOT VOTE!! So,this deceitful and fraudulent act was done as caucasian lawyers often say, "with malice and aforethought!!!! Thus it is and was that an evil deed was done in the name of white superiority, christianity, Manifest Destiny, Right of Discovery and the rest of the trivial slogans recited in the name of so-called civilization. No matter how you say it, our land was and is being stolen from us by evil means. Our people then and now do not understand that this "county system" is just another way of stealing land from us according to a means we do not understand. Think about it, for one thing, concepts of land ownership and retention of the land for ourselves and future generations of Indians IS NOT TAUGHT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS! Thus it is that fraud and deceit continues as the evil means of taking our land by omission and commission. Therefore, I am taking the following action and a member of the Blackfoot Nation and a human entitled to the definition of my own being. I hereby direct the "officials" of Glacier County to stop sending me tax claims and to cease functioning as an extension of Montana State Government on what is known as the Blackfeet Reservation since it too is illegal. Its action as a collector of taxes among and from the members of my tribe was a decision we had no voice in deciding on in the first instance back in 1919 when it created Glacier and Pondera County. My white brothers and sisters: please do not despair as to what is going to happen as a result of myself and my fellow tribal members deciding to claim our own destiny. Very shortly we will send you another communication telling you of our solution to our "white problem" and how it is going to benefit you. Long Standing Bear Chief --------- "RE: HPL Arrestee Goes to Trial" --------- Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 09:57:55 -0400 From: Ishgooda Subj: HPL arrestee goes to trial (fwd) ---------- FORWARDED MESSAGE ---------- >From BIGMTLIST I am forwarding the following information from Media Island International: Date sent: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 00:26:30 -0800 **Stay tuned for the news from the trial noted here:** On Wednesday, June 11, 1997, Hopi Rangers impounded 23 of Lawrence Altsisi's sheep and goats. Altsisi is a resident of Hopi Partition Land (HPL) and a resistor against forced relocation brought on in the wake of P. L. 93-531. Altsisi's nephew, Chris Interpreter and two non-Indian supporters were arrested. Chris Interpreter was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction. The two others were charged with disorderly conduct and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (one other 17 year old non- native supporter detained that day). This action taken by the Hopi Tribal Council preempted clarification of Altsisi's legal status, still "under review" by the HTC. *Altsisi and Interpreter have requested financial help to pay legal expenses- any help can be directed toward: Lawrence Altsisi, P.O. Box 838, Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039 They issued the following Press release July 2, 1997: ***************** PRESS RELEASE WE ARE HOLDING A DEMONSTRATION AT KEAMS CANYON, ARIZONA AT THE HOPI TRIBAL COURT ON JULY 9TH, 1997 AT 10 AM. CHRIS INTERPRETER IS HAVING HIS HEARING ON THIS DAY. THE YOUNG MAN THAT WAS ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING ON HIS ANCESTRAL LAND. Come and Join us to Stop Relocation!!!!!! *********************************** Navajo-Hopi Observer, July 2, 1997 ....Letters "I WILL PRAY WITH FAITH AND HOPE..." To whom it may concern: Last week I was outraged and disgusted by the random acts of stupidity shaped by both Dine' and Hopi governments. Their total lack of insight, and compromise is ridiculous and has left the people unamused. Greed closed the doors of communication and morality towards both tribes, as the U.S. government encourages the struggle between the tribes. They want us to fight. They need us to fight because the pulse of America and the American mainstream mindset depends on our downfall towards cultural genocide, to finally prove to us and themselves that we are a beaten people. The corruption of both tribal governments sickens me because they have tainted and shamed the names of both tribes. The day that I was forcefully torn from my home and way of life, I was told that it was an order from the Hopi chairman himself, and when my uncle who is a resistor talked to Lesile Deal, a chairperson of the Navajo Land Commission, he told my uncle that the young people had no voice. It is unmistakably obvious that both governments are corrupted. A representative of the Navajo Tribe also told my uncle that they would do everything in their power to help my family out with the livestock impoundment fees. They did nothing of the sort. Instead they only got a lawyer to defend my case and you know what? They can keep their lawyer and their false promises, because they've done nothing for the people but feed them lies and let their own pockets get fatter. I will apologize to the Navajo Tribe when they really do something to help my family and other families keep the sacred essence of our way of life. Until then I will pray with faith and hope that both tribes awaken from corruption and show the true beauty of tradition from their heart and soul. Chris Interpreter ******************************************** The Navajo-Hopi Observer, July 2, 1997 INTERPRETER TRIAL APPROACHES ATTORNEY JOE WASHINGTON COMMENTS Story by W.R. Young As the Navajo Hopi Land Commission continues its search for attorneys to represent the Dineh HPL resident, Chris Interpreter has found himself a Native American attorney to represent his case. Attorney Joe Washington will be defending Interpreter next week in Hopi court on criminal charges of trespass and resisting arrest. On June 11, Interpreter was arrested while attempting to block Hopi Rangers from confiscating his grandmothers sheep from his uncle's corral on Hopi Partition Land. He claimed he was defending his family's livelihood and ancestral homesite. Hopi Tribal Chairman Secakuku had directed the officers to impound Altsisi's livestock. Interpreter's uncle, Lawrence Altsisi, has sought grazing permits from the Hopi Tribe in the past and has been denied. The Hopi Tribe is currently considering Altsisi's eligibility to sign a lease agreement (Accommodation Agreement) with the tribe which would also give him a grazing right. Washington says that the Hopi Tribe is acting in bad faith by impounding Altsisi's livestock after denying him grazing permits and while they're still considering his residency status on HPL. "Before they've made a determination, they've taken actions against him," Washington comments. Washington says that the Hopi Rangers originally intended to arrest Interpreter for interfering with the livestock impoundment because he was blocking the gate to the sheep corral. "Mr. [Interpreter] was placed under arrest by Sgt. Poocha when attempts to have Mr. [Interpreter] move aside were unsuccessful," Hopi Ranger Melody Dyer stated in the police report. According to Hopi Ordinance 43, interfering with livestock impoundment is a civil offense and not a criminal offense. One may be arrested for a criminal offense, but one cannot be arrested for civil offense, says Washington. He concludes that one cannot be charged with resisting arrest if the arrest was not legal. Washington explains that Interpreter was arrested for trespassing while visiting at his uncle Lawrence Altsisi's residence. The location was also the homesite where Interpreter was raised and where his relatives are buried. "Any person living on the reservation has the right to be visited by friends and relatives. Now they're threatened with arrest," Washington says. "I don't believe that [the Hopi Tribe] could lawfully arrest [Interpreter] for trespass because the arrest conflicts with the Exclusion Ordinance," says Washington. According to the Hopi Tribe's Exclusion Ordinance, Washington says, the Tribe is supposed to first give notice of the proposed exclusion and the person has a right to request a hearing on the proposed exclusion. Instead of going through the legal exclusion process of notification and possibly a hearing, the Hopi Rangers "just physically remove them and take them to jail," claims Washington. "Trespassing of Person," statute 3.3.77 of Hopi Tribal Ordinance 21 states, "Any Indian who shall, without authorization from the Hopi Tribe or from the lawful assignee or tenant, trespass or go upon any cultivated, fenced, or enclosed Tribal land, shall be deemed guilty of an offense." Washington claims that the statues have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court from being unlawfully vague. He explains that the Supreme Court case Oliphant vs. Suquamish Indian Tribe ruled that tribes do not have jurisdiction over non-Indians. The supreme Court felt that the U.S. is responsible for the rights of its citizens. Therefore, the Trespass Statute in Hopi Tribal Ordinance 21 applies only to Indians, "It has a racist result," Washington says. As Indians are subject to whatever level of sophistication the courts have, non-Indians are afforded all the rights of U.S. citizens. Hence, "only Indians can be charged by Hopi ordinance with trespass on the Indian Reservation," says Washington. As shown in a Hopi law enforcement report about the incident, the Hopi Tribe honors this federal policy. After officials placed the three supporters who were guests of Altsisi under arrest that day, the report says, "We looked over the charges that we were going to file against the individuals that we had arrested. We found that we could not charge them with trespassing, but that we could charge them with disorderly conduct, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor." Washington says that the Hopi court cannot compel production of documents and testimony. In other courts, a lawyer can request that the judge require the release of discovery (evidence or documents pertinent to a case). By the Hopi rules of criminal and civil procedure, Washington explains that discovery is voluntary and not mandatory. "I need to do some depositions (Interviews) of officers that were out there. They could refuse to provide those depositions," says Washington. Already, the Hopi Tribe provided certain police documents to a reporter that day after the incident, but Washington says he has waited a week to receive them. "I cannot prepare for trial as well as I could if this were in state or Navajo Court," Washington says. "That's unfair- to deny counsel for the accused documents that they freely give to other people." "The Bar requires us to represent our clients zealously. We are theoretically officers of the Hopi court. Our job is to make sure that the Hopi court has all the information it needs to make a fair decision. If we don't do that, we're not doing our job. "I have a real concern whether Chris Interpreter can get a fair trial in the Hopi courts," says Washington. The decision may be appealed to the Hopi appeals court and then to federal court. Washington, of Choctaw and Shawnee descent, grew up in the Navajo Nation capital of Window Rock and graduated from Window Rock High School. From 1982-89, Washington was a judge for the Flagstaff City court. He resigned as judge to serve on the Flagstaff City Court from 1990-94. He has practiced law for the Hopi and Navajo courts for over ten years. posted by Media Island International mii@olywa.net ************************************************** Bob Dorman redorman@plix.com "The Activist Page" http://www.plix.com/~users/redorman/ posted by Media Island International mii@olywa.net ************************************************** Bob Dorman redorman@plix.com "The Activist Page" http://www.plix.com/~users/redorman/ --------- "RE: Cherokee Nation Suit Filed" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 18:43:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Glenn Gehring Subj: *Cherokee Nation* suit filed to end BIA occupation Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu) The following press release was obtained at the Cherokee Observer's web site. For detailed information on the Cherokee Constitutional crisis, please visit their site regularly at: http://www.YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net/Cherokee/Observer.shtml July 9, 1997 PRESS RELEASE >From Charles W. Shipley Attorney for the Justices of the Cherokee Nation Judicial Appeals Tribunal Last Thursday we received a letter sent by the BIA to a Cherokee Tribal Council member (attached). The letter is a great disappointment because we had been led to believe that there was a specific Compromise Plan being brokered by the United States Department of Justice and the BIA. We had been told that Chief Joe Byrd and his supporters had agreed to implement this Plan. The Justices and the Marshals had correspondingly agreed to support it as well. The Plan in essence calls for a minimum of ten of the 15-member Tribal Council to pass a resolution which would request that the Judicial Appeals Tribunal and the Cherokee Marshal Service stay any further action, including serving the outstanding arrest warrants for the Chief, until the outcome of the investigation presently being begun by the Council under Tony Massad, an attorney of Frederick, Oklahoma. The resolution by the Council would also request that the Chief reinstate the Justices and the Marshals with back pay and restore them to their offices, their operating budgets and their official equipment so that they could continue the other work of their offices pending the outcome of the Council's investigation led by Mr. Massad. The letter from the Department of Justice and the BIA was to have outlined this Compromise Plan. It is our understanding that due to the prejudicial alignment of certain influential members of the BIA advance this Plan. Presumably this has occurred since the Chief, having once agreed to the Plan, has now reconsidered and recognized the danger to him of even allowing the Council's investigation to go forward and has, therefore, instructed his BIA contacts to reverse their earlier support of this Compromise Plan. The result is the useless verbiage in the July 2, 1997 letter that we have received from Ada Deer to Bill Baker. The Justices in an effort to keep the peace so that a compromise could be worked out, with the federal government as a broker, have withheld taking any legal action until now. It has been difficult to continue to show this restraint since the intermeddling of the BIA in this intra-tribal dispute has destroyed the checks and balances of power which are set up in the Cherokee Constitution. The BIA police have chosen to back up the Chief's untrained personal security force and to neutralize the Cherokee Marshal service by illegally confiscating the weapons and the equipment of the only trained Cherokee law enforcement personnel. Further, the BIA has shown their complete disregard for the Constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation by their aggressive assistance to the rogue executive and his personal security guards in forcibly taking over the Cherokee Courthouse on June 20th, forcibly ejecting the Cherokee Marshal Service personnel from the Courthouse, illegally confiscating the court files, working papers, robes and personal effects of the Justices and other court personnel; and in openly suppressing the Cherokee people by denying them the right of assembly and preventing their entering the Cherokee Courthouse, a public governmental building. BIA officers have further assisted the Chief in manhandling and arresting Cherokee citizens for "trespassing" on the grounds of the Cherokee Courthouse. The claim of the BIA that it is "not involving itself in the tribal conflict" and is being "even harder" in its treatment of the situation is simply ludicrous in the face of local news cameras having captured pictures of Perry Proctor, head of the BIA police, tackling Chad Smith, attorney for the Marshal Service, on the Courthouse grounds the morning that the Courthouse was stormed. Ms. Lynn Cutler of the White House has refused the Cherokee appeal to withdraw the BIA's support for Chief Byrd inexplicably saying that such a move "really flies in the face of tribal sovereignty." Washington Post, P. A6, July 5, 1997. The Justices today have filed an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to force the BIA's "occupying army" to withdraw their support of the dictatorial government of Joe Byrd. It is my firm belief that once the armed BIA occupying army is withdrawn, and the Cherokee Marshal Service is reinstated to their lawful position, Chief Byrd's rag-tag "security guards" will flee and the Chief will be brought to justice. Except for the BIA's actions in occupying Indian country for the last month, the Cherokee Constitutional government would have peacefully resolved this problem by now. ____________________________________________________________________________ For further information regarding this Press Release, you may contact Charles W. Shipley of the Shipley, Jennings & Champlin firm at (918) 582-1720. --------- "RE: Cherokee BRIEF" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 13:20:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Glenn Gehring Subj: COPY of Cherokee lawsuit "BRIEF" Filed in U.S. District Court From the Cherokee Observer web site http://www.YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net/Cherokee/ObserverWebBBS/index.cgi?read3D597 CASE NUMBER 1 : 97CVO1565 JUDGE: Coleen Kollar-Kotelly JUSTICE DWIGHT W. BIRDWELL 217 N. Harvey DECK TYPE: Civil General Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102 DATE STAMP: 07/09/97 individually, and as the JUDICIAL APPEALS TRIBUNAL OF THE CHEROKEE NATION OF OKLAHOMA IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CHIEF JUSTICE RALPH F. KEEN 602 Magnolia Drive Tahlequah, Oklahoma 74464, JUSTICE PHILIP H. VILES JR. 3534 E. 74th Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136 Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY ADA DEER, in her capacity as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, HILDA MANUEL, in her capacity as Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and JAMES FIELDS, Muskogee Area Director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in his capacity as Area Director, Defendants. COMPLAINT FOR DECLATORY JUDGMENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION BASED UPON A REVIEW OF FINAL AGENCY ACTION The Plaintiffs, Chief Justice Ralph F. Keen, Justice Phillip H. Viles Jr., and Justice Dwight W. Birdwell, individually and as the Judicial Appeals Tribunal of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "Tribunal"), for their Complaint seeking a declaratory judgement and a permanent injunction, and for their application for a preliminary injunction state as follows: I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Cherokee Nation is recognized by the federal government as an Indian Nation with the right of self-determination and the authority to govern the affairs of the Cherokee Nation and the Cherokee people. See 61 Fed. Reg. 58211 (Nov. 13, 1996). The Cherokee Nation has formed a democratic government, with the will of the members of the Cherokee Nation articulated in the Cherokee Nation constitution (hereinafter, the "Constitution"). That Constitution creates a government with executive, legislative, and judicial branches and was approved by the Secretary of the Interior in 1975. 2. The balance of powers among the three branches of the Cherokee Nation's constitutional government has been destroyed by the unlawful interference in tribal affairs by the conduct of the Dependents to this action, the United States of America, the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the individuals who are the agents of those governmental agencies, Ada Deer, Hilda Manuel, and James Fields (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "BIA"). As a result of the BIA's misguided armed-intervention in support of the Cherokee Nation Principal Chief, Joe Byrd, he now exercises, in effect, unchecked power over the Cherokee people. 3. Repeated requests for the BIA to cease its interference with tribal affairs have gone unheeded. the BIA has been advised, in person, by letter, by public outcry, and by orders issued by the Tribunal, that the Chief acted outside his constitutional authority in inviting the BIA to take over the enforcement of tribal ______ 1 The Plaintiffs intend to file a separate Motion for Preliminary Injunction within the next week. ________ laws in the Cherokee Nation. The BIA's armed presence in support of the Chief's actions prevents a return a return to normality by the Cherokee Constitutionally-prescribed process. 4. The Justices and the Tribunal have exhausted all other avenues to which they can turn for relief in this matter, and have come to this Court for a ruling as to whether the BIA had a lawful basis for intervening in the tribal conflict and taking over enforcement of tribal law. If it did not, the BIA should be ordered to withdraw; and if it did, the BIA should be required to enforce tribal law including all outstanding Orders of the Tribunal, not just those that the Chief allows it to enforce. II. THE PARTIES 5. The Plaintiffs appear individually and as the Justices of the Cherokee Nation Judicial Appeals Tribunal, the highest court of the Cherokee Nation. 6. This is an action for the review of final agency action and for declaratory and temporary and permanent injunctive relief to restrain the Defendants, the United States of America, the United States of America's Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and various officials of that Department, acting through their agents, Ada Deer, Hilda Manuel, and James Fields from taking actions in excess of their legal authority and contrary to federal and tribal law. III. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 7. This is an action seeking review of a final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. /702 et seq., and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C.//1361, 2201 and 2202. Jurisdiction over this action arises out of 28 U.S.C. //1331, and 1346 and venue is proper in this Court under 28 U.S.C. /1391(e). IV. FACTUAL BACKGROUND 8. The Cherokee Nation is recognized by the federal government as an Indian Nation with the right of self-determination and the authority to govern the affairs of the Cherokee Nation and the Cherokee people. 9. Pursuant to the Constitution, the Justices of the Tribunal, the highest court in the Cherokee Nation, are vested with the final and supreme authority to interpret the Constitution and statutes. 10. Pursuant to a Compact of Self-Governance executed between the Cherokee Nation and the United States, dated July 2, 1990, as authorized by the Indian Self-Determination Act, 25 U.S.C. /450 et seq., the Dependents are required to comply with the laws of the Cherokee Nation, including that law as pronounced by the Tribunal. Article I, Section 3 of the Compact states as follows: Applicable Law and Forums... the powers and decisions of the Nation's Court shall be respected, to the extent that federal law... is not inconsistent. 11. Pursuant to the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, 25 U.S.C.//2801 et seq., the Cherokee Nation had assumed from the Defendants the responsibility for law enforcement authority and has accordingly created the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service (hereinafter referred to as the "Marshal Service") to implement and exercise that authority. 12. The duties of the Marshal Service under the Cherokee Nation Code, 51 CNCA 62, 63, and 64, are as follows "... to attend upon the courts, to serve summons... and take all lawful measures in the execution of judgement, and to arrest; and be tried, all persons who may be charged {T}o provide service and process of the courts." 13. In 1996 and continuing into 1997, the Marshal Service conducted an investigation regarding the possible misappropriation or misapplication of Cherokee Nation funds. Allegations had been made that federal program dollars and/or funds of Cherokee Nation Industries, Inc., a wholly-owned corporation of the Cherokee Nation, had been directed to pay attorneys fees and that large amounts of money had been improperly paid as attorney fees to Terry J. Barker, and attorney with the Tulsa, Oklahoma law firm of Pezold, Richey, Caruso & Barker, P.C., and brother-in-law to the wife of Principal Chief, Joe Byrd. It was widely reported that Chief Byrd authorized a change in the attorney fee arrangement from an hourly fee to a contingent fee on the eve of a court-sponsored settlement conference, which did in fact settle during conference for nearly two million dollars, netting an estimated attorney fee of $700,000. It had also been alleged that federal and/or Cherokee Nation funds or services had been improperly provided to the Democratic National Committee. 14. Based on information that the documents pertaining to possible misappropriation of funds for the payment of legal fees and documents pertaining to alleged illegal campaign contributions were in danger of being destroyed, on February 24, 1997 the Marshal Service sought and obtained a tribal court issued Search Warrant authorizing the Marshal Service to seize copies of the imperiled documents. 15. On the following day, February 25, 1997, the Marshal Service executed the Search Warrant and removed copies of documents whose description fell within the scope of that Warrant. 16. Immediately following the execution of the Search Warrant, also on February 25, 1997, Chief Byrd unilaterally terminated the employment of the Marshal Service's lead investigator on the misappropriation inquiry, William Patrick Ragsdale, and Mr. Ragsdale's second-in-command, Sharon Wright. 17. By Tribunal Order dated February 25, 1997, these individuals were reinstated to their former positions, and in that Order the Tribunal further directed that to "terminate or interfere with the performance of the duties of W.P. Ragsdale, and/or Sharon Wright and/or any other Cherokee Nation Marshal {sic.} or Marshalls {sic.} such individual shall be in contempt of this Court, charged with the crime of obstruction of justice, and will be judged accordingly." 18. Chief Byrd subsequently attempted to fire all of the remaining members of the Marshal Service by executive order of March 20, 1997 and the Marshal Service's pay has been withheld since that date. The Chief's action is in direct violation of the Tribunal's February 25, 1997 Order. 19. On April 15, 1997, eight of fifteen members of the Cherokee Nation Council held a meeting called by Principal Chief Byrd which resulted in a request to the BIA for a replacement contingent of law enforcement officers for a period of up to eight weeks. 20. On that same date, certain members of the Cherokee Nation filed suit in the Tribunal regarding the actions of the Chief and certain members of the Tribal Council, contending that the Council's meeting was held without proper notice as required under the provisions of the Constitution, and that the actions taken at that meeting were not voted upon by a quorum as required under the provisions of the Constitution. 21. Article V, /5 of the Constitution provides: No business shall be conducted by the Council, unless at least 2/3rd of the members thereof regularly elected and qualified shall be in attendance, which members constitute a quorum. 22. On April 24, 1997 the Tribunal ruled as follows: .. Inasmuch as the required 10 day notice was not published for the Council meeting of April 15, 1997, and having further determined that a quorum was not present, THIS COURT HAS, AT THIS TIME, NO CHOICE, BUT TO FIND THAT ALL DECISIONS RENDERED AT SUCH MEETING ARE VOID AND ILLEGAL... The circumstances of the instant case most definitely warrant injunctive relief. The issue is not money, but whether the elected officials, who, by oath, have sworn to uphold the Constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation, can conduct business without the required notice and the Constitutionally mandated quorum... Holder v. Byrd, JAT-97-14 23 Finding that the constitutionally required two-thirds (or ten members) were not present for the meeting, the Tribunal went on (1) to enjoin the council members from taking any action pursuant to the illegal meeting, and (2) to declare that the purported council meeting was unconstitutional and its resulting resolutions null and void. 24. Nevertheless, previously on April 18, and then subsequently on or about May 2, 1997, the Defendants, through their agents James Fields and Ada E. Deer notified Chief Byrd that the BIA would assume the enforcement authority for all "tribal laws, ordinances, and court orders." 25. The BIA similarly began notifying members of the Marshal Service that their law enforcement commissions had been suspended, and that all law enforcement equipment was to be returned to the BIA. 26. On May 3, 1997, eight members of the Cherokee Tribal Council formed what they called a Court of Removal, a meeting which once again did not satisfy the quorum requirements of the Constitution, wherein the council members present voted to remove the Justices from office. Although the Justices have continued to perform their duties under the Constitution since that date, they have not received compensation from the Cherokee Nation for those services. 27. In the pre-dawn hours of June 20, 1997, the Chief's hastily-assembled and largely untrained personal security force, with assistance from BIA police officers, took physical control of the Cherokee Nation Courthouse. The Justices have not been permitted to enter that building since that date, and despite promises to the contrary from Chief Byrd, the Justices have not even been able to enter the building to recover their personal belongings. 28. In almost nine weeks since the purported "Court of Removal" was formed, no justices have been appointed to replace Justices Keen, Viles, and Birdwell. The Tribunal's courthouse has been closed to the Cherokee people. Without justices, there can be no judicial review of executive and legislative action within the Cherokee Nation. 29. Likewise, and notwithstanding the BIA's apparent and stated intentions to supplant the Marshal Service and perform its law enforcement function, the BIA has failed to enforce any of the orders of the Tribunal and thus has failed to exercise the authority it announced it has assumed over tribal laws. In particular, the BIa has failed to serve Chief Byrd or Deputy Chief Eagle with bench warrants and orders of detention issued by the Tribunal because of their failures to appear at a May 27, 1997 hearing at which they were commanded to appear (2), nor has it recognized the other orders issued by the Tribunal with regard to the constitutionality of the Chief's actions. 30. The BIA continues to take action in derogation of the Constitution and statutes of the Cherokee Nation by refusing to enforce the Tribunal's orders and by demobilizing the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service. In fact, the BIA actively and aggressively participated with the Chief's personal security forces in physically ejecting Marshal Service personnel from the Cherokee Courthouse and in unlawfully seizing the Marshal Services' weapons and equipment. 31. The BIA's actions directly interfere with lawful tribal processes and are clearly contrary to the laws of the Cherokee Nation as well as the laws of the United States, including but __________ 2 The Judicial Appeals Tribunal, on May 2, 1997, issued a show cause order on the Chief and Deputy Chief commanding their appearance at hearing on May 27, 1997. When the two failed to appear, the Tribunal issued bench warrants on May 27, 1997 for their arrest. These warrants reportedly were taken "under advisement" by the BIA officers and have not been served or executed. _________ not limited to, the 1993 Indian Tribal Justice Act and the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act of 1990. 32. By refusing to recognize the authority of the Tribunal, the Defendants have tied the hands of the Cherokee Nation's judicial branch and have granted the Chief unchecked power to run the Nation as he sees fit. The people of the Cherokee Nation must look to the federal court system to remove the BIA's occupying army so that the Cherokee Nation can restore its constitutional government. V. REQUEST FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION 33. The Plaintiffs incorporate herein by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs 1-32 of this Complaint. 34. The Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable injury if injunctive relief is not granted and that injury is not fully compensable in damages. 35. The BIA will suffer no injury if injunctive relief is granted. In fact, enjoining the BIA from taking action which is contrary to law will prevent the BIA from expending federal resources in pursuit of a decision which must ultimately be rendered invalid. 36. The Plaintiffs have a likelihood of success on the merits but no adequate remedy at law. 37. The issuance of injunction would result in no adverse public policy. 38. The Plaintiffs are entitled to permanent injunction without the requirement of a bond for the reason that the BIA will not suffer compensable injury by being prohibited from taking such actions. WHEREFORE, and given the critical nature of this action, the Plaintiffs request the following: 1. that this Court enter an order declaring that the actions taken by the Defendants are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and beyond their lawful authority; 2. that this Court issue a permanent injunction ordering the Defendants to withdraw as law enforcement officers in the Cherokee Nation until such time as they are legally requested to assume that role, and that the BIA be enjoined from preventing the Marshal Service from performing its law enforcement duties, including but not limited to the service pending bench warrants and orders of detention; 3. or, alternatively, that this Court issue a permanent injunction ordering the BIA to enforce the Tribunal's Orders, including, but not limited to, the service of warrants and orders issued by the Tribunal; 4. that this Court issue a permanent injunction ordering the Defendants to refrain from interfering with tribal governmental processes; and 5. for such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and appropriate, including costs and attorneys fees. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 9th day of July, 1997 SHIPLEY, JENNINGS & CHAMPLIN, P.C. Charles W. Shipley, D.C. Bar No. 169359 201 West Fifth Street, Suite 201 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103 Phone: (918) 582-1720 Fax: (918)584-7681 and HOBBS, STRAUS, DEAN & WALKER By Judith A. Shapiro, D.C. Bar No. 376153 1819 H. Street, N.W., Suite 800 Washington, DC 30007 Phone: (202) 783-5100 Fax: (202) 296-8834 ATTORNEYS FOR THE PLAINTIFFS Chief Justice Ralph F. Keen, Justice Philip H. Viles, Jr., and Justice Dwight W. Birdwell and the Judicial Appeals Tribunal of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma --------- "RE: Dudley George Inquiry" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 19:21:55 -0800 From: sisis@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: OCCUPATION IN PROGRESS: Dudley George Inquiry (fwd) :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: CASNP Canadian Alliance in Solidarity With The Native Peoples. 39 Spadina Ave. Toronto Canada M5R 2S9. 416-972-1573 Fax 416-972-6232 web: http://www.pathcom.com/~casnp email: casnp@pathcom.com PROTESTERS DEMANDING INQUIRY INTO ABORIGINAL'S MURDER BY OPP SNIPER ARE IMPRISONED IN ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL HARNICK'S OFFICE CASNP. 9-Jul-97. Twelve people from a Coalition Against Racist Police Violence are locked behind government doors. They are waiting to meet with Ontario Attorney General Charles Harnick to ask for an inquiry into government involvement in the events leading up to Dudley George's murder. Among the protesters are Pierre George, brother of Dudley George, Maogosha Pajor of CASNP, Joanne Bender of the Coalition, Dudley Laws of the Black Action Defense Committee, Ethel LeValley, Secretary Treasurer of the Ontario Federation of Labour, Roger Obonsawin of the OI Group, among others. Protesters are also outside the building and are asking others to join them. The protesters arrived at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, July 9th, in front of the Attorney Generalís Office at 720 Bay St. and proceeded into the building. After 12 people went in, the guards closed and locked the doors of the building disallowing the protesters and workers to enter or leave the building for most of the day. When a door opened to let someone out, a protester would rush in to join the others. At this point the protesters are still inside the building. Background: The Stoney Point People peacefully re-occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park after it had closed for the season in 1995. They were protecting sacred burial grounds located there. None were armed. On the night of September 6th, after a meeting of government officials, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) opened fire on the Stoney Pointers, gunning down and killing Dudley George. Why do Ontario Premier Mike Harris, AG Charles Harnick and Solicitor General Robert Runciman refusing to call a public inquiry? Judge Hugh Fraser found OPP Officer Kenneth Deane guilty of criminal negligence causing death on April 28th 1997. He found that Deane had "concocted a story... in an ill-fated attempt to deny the fact that an unarmed man was shot. (Deane was) not honest in (his) statements to police investigators, to the SIU (Special Investigations Unit) and to this court". Yet Deane faces no prison term, only 180 hours of community work. Will he be sent to an Aboriginal community? He is even allowed to keep his job. This sentence makes a mockery of Canada's justice system. This sentence sends a message that to the Canadian elite Indian life is cheap, that the establishment condones attacks on defenseless elders, men, women and children, and that there are two judicial systems operating in Canada, one for themselves and another for Aboriginals and people of colour. In contrast Wolverine, the 66 year old Shuswap traditionalist, organic gardener and old age pensioner has already served almost 2 years in prison and the BC Attorney General is seeking a harsh 25 year sentence for "mischief endangering life". This conviction comes from Wolverine's attempt to stop a 14 ton military APC from running him down, by shooting at the tires [during the Gustafsen Lake standoff -- S.I.S.I.S.]. There is blatant racism within the police forces, especially the OPP and RCMP. The Somalia scandal has revealed a culture of white supremacy and racism within the Canadian Forces who were behind the scenes in Ipperwash and Gustafsen Lake. In all confrontations Aboriginal sovereignty and title to North America is the issue. Canada has decided to deal harshly with those who question their sovereignty and jurisdiction on Aboriginal lands. Good people everywhere must demand to know the ugly truth, with involvement of international impartial observers to prevent a Canadian cover-up. Contact: Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Rm 309-S Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0A6 Canada Ph. 613-992-4211 Fax 613-941-6900 email: remote-printer.Jean-Chretien@16139416900.iddd.tpc.int email:pm@pm.gc.ca WWW comments: http://pm.gc.ca/english/pmo/e-corres.htm. Ontario Premier Michael Harris, Rm 281, Legislative Bldg., Toronto ON M7A 1A1 Canada Ph: 416-325-1941 Fax: 416-325-3745 Contact: CASNP(above); Anti-Racist Action 416-631-8835; Black Action Defense Committee 416-656-2232; OPIRG York 416-732-2100; Toronto Coalition Against Racism 416-530-0262. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:End forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: More Addresses: Charles Harnick, Attorney-General/Minister of Native Affairs, 11th Floor, 720 Bay St, Toronto ON M5G 2K1 Ph: 416-326-4000 Fax: 416-326-4016 Faxing by email: Robert Runciman, Solicitor-General/Minister of Correctional Services, Suite 400, 175 Floor St E, Toronto ON M4W 3R8 Ph: 416-326-5075 Fax: 416-326-5085 Faxing by email: !FULL PUBLIC INQUIRIES INTO IPPERWASH AND GUSTAFSEN LAKE! =++=FREE WOLVERINE=+=+= FREE THE TS'PETEN DEFENDERS=++= >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>REMEMBER DUDLEY GEORGE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< For links to politicians' emails, sample letters and more ideas on how to help visit: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Ipperwash/letter.html http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html The petitions posted on the S.I.S.I.S. site demanding inquiries can be signed by email: send a message to reading "I support the Stoney Point petition" and/or "I support the petition demanding an inquiry into Gustafsen Lake" along with your name and city/province of residence. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 ==>>NEW EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: Gustafsen: EC Support Letter" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 04:06:00 -0800 From: sisis@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Gustafsen: EC Support Letter :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: EP-PE : EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES - EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT To: Prime Minister of Canada Mr. Jean Chretien From: Per Gahrton Member of the Green Group of the European Parliament Head of the delegation of the Swedish Green Party Brussels, 4th of July 1997 Dear Prime Minister Chretien, We are writing to you to express our deep concern on the ongoing court case against the members of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation and their supporters who refused to abandon Secwepemc sundance and burial grounds at Gustafsen Lake on traditional Secwepemc territory. This land has never been sold or ceded by the Secwepemc Nation to the British Crown or the Canadian Government. However the traditional Secwepemcs and their allies have been inter-alia convicted of "mischief to private property" for not leaving their traditional territory on demand of the Euro-Canadian "owner" of the lands. Their protest developed into one of the largest police operations in Canadian history. The RCMP used Armoured Personnel Carriers, land mines and thousands of rounds of hollow point ammunition. Again, landrights issues were attempted to be solved by military operations and not by peaceful means of negotiation. What was the background of the protest? With few exceptions no treaties have been concluded so far between First Nations and the Crown within the Province of British Columbia. Therefore most territory within Province boundaries is considered to be "non-ceded". This includes traditional Secwepemc territory. However since 1993 the provincial government of British Columbia and the federal government have entered into trilateral negotiations with many of the Band Councils across the Province to settle landrights by the conclusion of treaties. Nevertheless, several First Nations are not willing to participate in this treaty process. The current treaty policy of the Canadian government towards Indian Nations seems to mainly focus on the definite extinguishment of Aboriginal title. From an Aboriginal perspective, treaties should accomplish not the extinguishment but the recognition of Aboriginal title, the historic position of Aboriginal Peoples and their future relationship with Canada. Many First Nations have repeatedly asked for alternative procedures for solving the issue of unceded indigenous territory. One of the proposals, namely of the protestors of Gustafsen Lake, was to attorn the dispute about jurisdiction over unsurrendered aboriginal territory to an independent, impartial, third-party tribunal. In any case, landrights issues between First Nations and the Canadian Federal Government are subject to a political solution and not to Provincial court jurisdiction. Even Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Cashore has pointed out that supreme courts have taken the position that aboriginal landrights are subject to politically negotiated solutions and not to litigation. Therefore, we urge you to 1. Do everything possible for an immediate release of the Secwepemc and their allies who are currently convicted in the BC court system and instead negotiate a political solution to Secwepemc land rights issues. 2. Allow a full and comprehensive public inquiry into all aspects of the Gustafsen Lake operation, with international observers present to monitor the process. 3. Respect the opinion of the First Nations within the Province of British Columbia that the Treaty Process in their view is not an appropriate frame to negotiate agreements on their unceded territory and provide in close cooperation and consultation with the Aboriginal Peoples concerned for an alternative frame for solving these issues. Sincerely, Per Gahrton :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:End forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters of support are urgently needed as sentencing approaches. They should be emailed to: or or faxed to 604-251-1986, marked attn: Bill Lightbown. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 ==>>NEW EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: UPDATE: Dudley George Shooting" --------- Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 05:56:18 -0800 From: sisis@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: UPDATE: Meeting with Ontario Attorney General re: Dudley George shooting :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: On Wednesday, July 9, the Coalition Against Racist Police Violence held a press conference outside of Ontario Attorney General Charles Harnick's office. The Coalition, along with Pierre George of Stoney Point and the Ontario Federation of Labour, demanded that the sentence given to Acting OPP Sergeant Kenneth Deane be appealed. A full public inquiry into the shooting death of Anthony O'Brien "Dudley" George, of Stoney Point First Nation was also demanded at the press conference. On July 3, Deane was given a sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community for criminal negligence causing death. Deane shot and killed Dudley George on September 6, 1995. The press conference turned into an occupation of the Ministry of the Attorney General when individuals present entered the building to book an appointment with Attorney General Charles Harnick. Police Officers and private security were immediately on hand to block the entrance to Harnick's offices. Eight demonstrators then stayed inside the building until 5:30 p.m. demanding a written commitment from the Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat (ONAS) that they would speak with the Attorney General's office about setting up a meeting. Demonstrators were shuffled to ONAS because, AG Harnick, the Deputy Minister, and any assistant or secretary capable of booking a tentative appointment were all on holidays... uh-huh! Yet the head of ONAS was in the building and refused to speak with demonstrators. By 5:30 on Wednesday Bruce Malloch, Communications Director for ONAS, promised to speak with the Attorney General's office about setting up a meeting and to call the demonstrators back the next day, Thursday. At approximately 4:30 on Thursday afternoon, one of the people who had been inside the Ministry of the Attorney General received a call from Malloch. He stated that a meeting with the Attorney General was impossible because the matters were still before the courts. Yet, no appeal has been filed and until there is an appeal, the matter is no longer before the courts. Malloch also said that Murray Seguel, Senior Officer in the Crown Law Office- Criminal is responsible for appeals and that a meeting should be set with him. An appeal of the sentencing can be filed up to 30 days after sentencing. Those involved with the press conference and occupation on Wednesday will take further action on the demand that Deane's sentence be appealed. Anti-Racist Action (Toronto) P.O. Box 291 Station B Toronto, ON M5T 2T2 by phone: (416) 631-8835 web-site: http://www.web.net/~ara In Toronto, tune into to "Radio Antifa", around 7:30 every other Monday night on CKLN 88.1 FM. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 ==>>NEW EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: Canada Guts Inquiry Process" --------- Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 22:57:57 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Canada Guts Inquiry Process :-:S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty:-: July 14, 1997 Bulletin Keeping The Lid On - Canada Moves to Gut Public Inquiries Canada has quietly begun a campaign to compromise the process of public inquiries. It is believed the moves are in response to the political damage sustained during the abruptly terminated Somalia Inquiry, and to the domestic and international pressure mounting for public inquiries into the actions of the authorities at Ts'peten (Gustafsen Lake) and Stoney Point (Ipperwash). In the summer of 1995 Native people defending sacred sites were viciously attacked by armed police and paramilitary forces upon the instructions of the governments of British Columbia and Ontario. Two unarmed protestors were gunned down by police. Stoney Pointer Dudley George was killed. At Gustafsen Lake a woman with her hands up was shot with internationally prohibited hollow-point ammunition. She survived, but harsh sentences up to twenty-three years are being sought by the BC Attorney General for the now criminalized Ts'peten Defenders. By contrast Dudley George's killer, police sniper Kenneth Deane, was given a "conditional" sentence of two years less a day, will not go to jail and continues working as a police officer. 'Reforming Commissions of Inquiry' suggests procedural reforms including closed-door hearings, publication bans, and in many cases abolishing inquiries altogether. According to an article running today in Trilateral Commission member Conrad Black's Southam Newspaper chain, "experts say the government can avoid the difficulties that have plagued recent inquiries by carefully considering, when faced with a problem, whether a commission is really needed..." "'We can avoid a lot of public inquiries,' said Bryan Schwartz, a University of Manitoba Law professor. 'We use them far too frequently.'" The paper prepared by the Privy Council Office, an advisory body to the Prime Minister, says "in all cases, the decision of whether to appoint an inquiry is ultimately political." But University of Ottawa law professor Edward Ratushny believes changes contemplated would "effectively emasculate an inquiry." The article "Report on public inquiries says they should be strictly a last resort" by Southam's Jim Bronskill (Vancouver Sun, July 14, 1997 P.A3) also includes recommendations by David Scott, the lawyer for Brigadier- General Ernest Beno at the Somalia inquiry. Scott characterizes inquiries as long, expensive, highly legalistic exercises which should "get to the bottom of it without selectively finding fault with individuals..." However Professor Ratushny said this means "you'd never get answers to the questions that have to be answered." The NDP government of British Columbia, the Conservative Mike Harris government of Ontario, as well as the federal government continue to refuse all demands for inquiries into the Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash incidents. Shuswap elder Wolverine, imprisoned since the Gustafsen Lake standoff, commented, "The government doesn't want an inquiry into Gustafsen Lake because the corruption runs from the RCMP through the Attorney General and the Solicitor General all the way to the Prime Minister's door. They don't want the truth to come out." FULL PUBLIC INQUIRIES INTO IPPERWASH AND GUSTAFSEN LAKE =++=FREE WOLVERINE=+=+=FREE THE TS'PETEN DEFENDERS=++= -->>>>>>>>>>>>>REMEMBER DUDLEY GEORGE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<-- For links to politicians' emails, sample letters, petitions and more ideas on how to help, visit: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Ipperwash/letter.html The petitions posted on the S.I.S.I.S. site demanding inquiries can be signed by email: send a message to reading "I support the Stoney Point petition" and/or "I support the petition demanding an inquiry into Gustafsen Lake" along with your name and your city and province/state of residence. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 ==>>NEW EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: Gustafsen: Waiting to see Justice" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 19:15:12 -0800 From: sisis@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Gustafsen: Waiting to see Justice :-:-S.I.S.I.S./Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-: July 11, 1997 Court Notes The Ts'peten (Gustafsen Lake) trial in Surrey heard sentencing submissions July 10th from self-representing defendant OJ Pitawanakwat and from defence lawyers representing Grant Archie, Trond Halle and Rob Fleming. The sentencing process has been exceedingly lengthy, with dates for submissions spaced weeks apart. Yesterday, Judge Josephson indicated that he likely delay the sentencing itself until late August, four full months after the verdicts were handed down on May 20. The sentencing period will be nearly half the length of the trial, already the longest criminal trial in Canadian history. Josephson ignores defendants' repeated requests for a speedy sentencing. Wolverine again protested yesterday: "Seems like people are deliberately dragging their feet. I'd like to get on with sentencing so I can appeal this conviction. We didn't do anything wrong - we stood on unceded Shuswap territory. Again today we hear that we were on rancher Lyle James' land. Until you can prove how the land was transferred, whether through theft, fraud or genocide, how do you have jurisdiction? "We've already served notice. We can't get justice here in Canada. That is what we are still seeking. That's why we're appealing to the international community. This is fraud. When you people came here on boats, you had nothing - yet you say you own the land. We want proof in law." OJ Pitawanakwat gave a passionate, meticulous and deeply moving analysis of the Gustafsen Lake incident and the colonial agonies of an indigenous prisoner in Canada. "We are peoples that are supposed to be protected. Instead, we were assaulted by the supposed guardians of the rule of law. It seems that the RCMP and the Crown were instructed to smear us. The Crown is still treating us as terrorists... "The Crown's case is one-sided and on the other side is the protection of a way of life and a call for an impartial tribunal. Our ways need to be protected for the Native youth... "You can be the first to address these issues. You have witnessed the perjury and dirty little deeds. You heard RCMP witnesses state that the Crown told them to doctor their notes. It was the RCMP who stated to the media that the police were on the warpath... "The RCMP acted as tormentors - no wonder people in the camp wouldn't come out. These are the aggravating circumstances the Crown won't talk about. Every time we point out the solution to a province that is illegally transferring title - look what happens. "I think Canada will very soon have to face its legacy of genocide. We now have international bodies waiting." Mr. Pitawanakwat reminded Josephson of the 1948 Genocide Convention and the fact that judges are also subject to it. He also spoke of the death of "brother Dudley George," the Stoney Point man shot to death by Ontario Provincial Police officer Kenneth Deane during the standoff at Ipperwash simultaneous to the Gustafsen siege. Pitawanakwat cited as precedent Deane's 2 year conditional sentence, which means the killer won't see a day in jail. He contrasted this to the time he and Wolverine have already been imprisoned and reminded the judge that the Native youth are waiting to see justice. OJ reiterated the need for public inquiries into both incidents. "The people were asserting their rights - they are members of a collective of people who have never given up their land. Canada has repeatedly broken its word. We must settle this. This cannot happen if you put me in jail." Defence lawyer George Wool also spoke yesterday on behalf of Shuswap Grant Archie and non-native environmentalist and film-maker Trond Halle, calling for absolute discharges for both of them. He outlined evidence at trial which he said indicated the Gustafsen Lake dispute was simmering as early as 1990."This is known as a redneck area ... Native and non-native people live separate and apart." Wool reminded the court that in June 1995, RCMP Sergeant Martin Sarich wrote about the Sundance at Ts'peten in terms of "ending this yearly headache once and for all." A few days later, ranch "owner" Lyle James went into what Wool characterized as "this unsurveyed area which he believed was part of his land." Ignoring advice from his high-powered Russel and Dumoulin lawyers to get a survey and court order because it was "too expensive," James brought into a peaceful encampment 13 cowboys armed with rifles and cracking a bull-whip, who threatened to "string up a red nigger." "This in my view started the whole process," said Wool. "Seeds of fear began to develop." Wool reviewed testimony of further incidents of harassment and threats by white cowhands, who even fired shots into the camp. He pointed out that a large cache of arms attributed to white supremacists had been seized in the area not long before. It was in this context, said Wool, that "Ottawa career officer Len Olfert" made the disastrous decision to send in RCMP officers, armed with M16 assault rifles and dressed in camouflage with no police markings, to penetrate the camp at dawn on August 18. Despite several frightened phone calls from the camp, RCMP did not respond or reveal the gunmen's identity, and a shot was fired. Wool reminded the court that the RCMP used their own aircraft to transport Vancouver media to Williams Lake for the ensuing press conference. At this point, RCMP demonized camp members as "terrorists" yet continued to "let anybody and everybody enter the camp," and as BCTV journalist John Daly testified, "encouraged and facilitated media entry into the camp, even giving out the phone number to the camp before cutting off the area on August 24." This, noted Wool, was not consistent. >From that point on, all aggression was by police, said Wool; the alleged "incidents" attributed to the camp were all defensive in nature, and evidence also suggests police were recipients of their own 'friendly fire'. The "smear and disinformation campaign" by police calculated to "put stress on the natives" is uncontradicted evidence, Wool told Judge Josephson. Nevertheless, Wool attempted to distance his clients from the spiritual and sovereigntist stances taken by other defendants, depicting Halle as a mere journalist with "no agenda" and Archie as a victim of circumstance, who simply went to visit a friend and found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. David Gibbons, recently retained by non-native Bearwatch environmentalist Rob Fleming, took a similar tack, characterizing his client as "idealistic but somewhat naive." Gibbons said Fleming stayed in the camp because he thought that as a non-native, "if he left the police would kill the native people," but that he now recognized "the futility and foolishness of his actions." Support letters by family and friends such as environmentalists Valerie Langer and Julie Draper were also read. Gibbons called for a conditional sentence for his client. OJ Pitawanakwat will conclude today, and self-representing non-native defendant Shelagh Franklin will begin speaking to sentencing. She will be reading letters of support for the Ts'peten Defenders and their stand, received between 1995 and 1997 from individuals, nations and organizations, including AIM, the Haudenosaunee confederacy, CASNP, the Green Group of the European parliament and Ramsey Clark, lawyer to Leonard Peltier and former US Attorney General. ++FREE WOLVERINE+FREE OJ+FREE THE TS'PETEN DEFENDERS++ >>FULL PUBLIC INQUIRIES INTO IPPERWASH AND GUSTAFSEN<< Free the Wolverine Campaign: Spokespersons: Splitting the Sky - Phone/Fax (604) 543-9661 Bill Lightbown - (604) 251-4949 Box 13-2147 Commercial Dr. Vancouver, "BC" V5N 4B3 "Canada" :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 ==>>NEW EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: Native Land Rights" --------- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 06:52:14 -0500 From: blkfoot4@3rivers.net (Long Standing Bear Chief) Subj: Native Land Rights, special reference to Gustafsen Lake. UUCP email July 8, 1997 Prime Minister of Canada Mr. Jean Chretien Dear Prime Minister Chretien, It has become abundantly clear to me and the world that the Canadian government is without any authority to prosecute First Nations people involved in your British Columbia governments attack on the people in the Secwepemc Territory. The people there are guilty of nothing more than exercising there rights to practice their beliefs and traditions in the Sun Dance. Since when did you and your government take the position it had the right to prosecute native people in its courts over issues and rights it does not understand, appreciate, or have the right to dictate. Your Canadian actions smack at nothing more than police state tactics and the perverted idea that military might makes right. Yours is a shameful and repugnant act!!!! If your course of action is so right then why do you and your people fear the appointment of a third party tribunal to hear the facts of the matter?!?!?!?!? Let the world remind you that your own Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Cashmore has pointed out that your supreme courts have decided that aboriginal land rights are not subject to litigation in your courts but must be settled by means of politically negotiated solutions. So why do you fear the treaty process???? Your actions with regard to native land rights seem clear, your government is now acting and seems to have decided on the role of an international bully. Therefore, we the people of the world urge you to: 1. Immediately release the Secwepemc and their allies who are currently in your BC jail system so they and their nations members can negotiate a political solution to Secwepemc land rights with non-native Canadians. 2. Allow a full and comprehensive public inquiry into all aspects of the Gustafsen Lake operation, with international observers present to monitor the process. 3. Respect the rights of the First Nations within the Province of British Columbia that the Treaty Process is an appropriate framework to negotiate agreements with regard to Aboriginal Peoples rights. There is no other alternative. Sincerely yours, Long Standing Bear Chief --------- "RE: Menominee Nation Condemns Violation" --------- Date: 10:58 AM Jul 8, 1997 From: amccombs Subj: MENOMINEE NATION CONDEMNS VIOLATION Newsgroup: igc.indig.info For Immediate Release July 8, 1997 For Wide Distribution Menominee Nation Condemns Violation of Peaceful Protesters' Civil Rights (Keshena, WI) Upon hearing about the arrests yesterday of peaceful demonstrators who participated in protesting Exxon's proposed Wolf River mine in Crandon, Wisconsin, Apesanahkwat, Chairman of the Menominee Nation stated, "Although I believe this is an isolated incident, I hope this is not the calm before the storm." According to information received from Representative Robert Lorge, Forest County law enforcement officials arrested 30-60 people yesterday. Representative Lorge stated the charges of unlawful assembly by the protesters met only one of the four required tests for the unlawful assembly charges to be correctly applied (see enclosed statement by Lorge). The protesters were held on $250 bond, not released immediately as is the normal legal procedure in non-violent charges. No magistrate was present so those arrested could make an initial appearance/plea and be released. The prisoners are being held in six county jails: Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Oneida, Wood, and Vilas Counties. Outraged by the apparent violation of the protesters' civil rights, Ken Fish, Director of the Menominee Nation Treaty Rights & Mining Impacts office stated, "Thanks to Exxon, are the days of Freedom of Speech and the Right to Assemble over in Wisconsin? For five centuries Native Americans have been looked upon as second-class citizens. Now, it looks like anyone who works for peace or the environment is going to get the same treatment. Is Exxon's money and power destroying democracy in Wisconsin?" Fish stated that given the poor and inadequate quality of data submitted in the EIR by Exxon/Rio Algom's Crandon Mining Company to date, and the review by Wisconsin's DNR, if a decision was made today regarding the approval or disapproval of CMC's permit application, Exxon's proposed Wolf River mine would be denied. "It is beyond a shadow of a doubt this mine would be denied. Exxon's current permit application has been active for three years. Originally the Final Environmental Impact Statement was due by the end of this year. Now it's been extended until 1999." Fish is highly critical of a DNR he sees as being highly politicized and is frustrated by continual delays in the permitting process due to Exxon's inability to produce factual data proving the company can mine safely without contaminating the Wolf River. "Secretary George Meyer and the DNR are acting as cheerleaders for Exxon. Every delay they get means their Department continues to get indirect funding from Exxon. Now because the Master Hearing date has been pushed back to 1999, the state's Department of Natural Resources can look forward to two more years of indirect funding from Exxon." "Despite the fact that Exxon has been trying for twenty years to get their mine permitted without producing any scientifically valid proof they can do it safely, the DNR allows the permit process to go on," stated Fish. "Enough is enough. As Secretary Meyer's direct supervisor, the Governor has to intervene to stop this insanity. But will he, given the Governor's track record which includes the appointment of a former Exxon lobbyist to be his first Administrative Secretary, prior to the current Secretary Mark Bugher? Will a Governor who came into office in 1987 pledging his support for mining, and who supported the progressive weakening of Wisconsin's formerly strong laws regulating mining, be willing to take effective action to protect the Wolf River?" Menominee Chairman Apesanahkwat criticized the double standard applied by officials to the demonstrators, "Vernon Kincaid, the Mayor of Crandon was quoted as criticizing yesterday's demonstration because the protesters were from out of state. But Crandon Mining Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Exxon, which is from Texas, and Rio Algom which is a Canadian company. "The people who were arrested in North Wisconsin yesterday came from hundreds and thousands of miles to help the people of Wisconsin fight to protect the Wolf River, an Outstanding Resource Water and the fifth most endangered river in North America. Those people were arrested because they were singing? What's next, tear gas and billy clubs for wearing the wrong t-shirt?" Apesanahkwat asked. "When law enforcement officials feel they have the right to violate the U.S. and Wisconsin Constitutions in support of multinational mining companies, things have just gone too far. It is time that the people of the Menominee Nation and Wisconsin citizens are freed from Exxon's siege on our environment and our civil rights." -- end -- >PEACEFUL PROTESTERS JAILED AT EXXON CRANDON MINE > >Date: Mon, 07 Jul 1997 23:01:22 -0500 >From: "Attorney Robert G. Lorge" >Organization: Lorge & Lorge Law Firm 608-244-0608 > >Our telephone has been ringing off the hook today, as 30-60 estimated arrests have been made and are being made >up in North-Northeast Wisconsin's Forest County by peaceful protesters, who were not given the opportunity to disperse by law enforcement agencies ordering them to disperse what was a peaceful protest protected under the Free Speech constitutional protections guaranteed under the First Amendment of the United States, as well as Wisconsin State Constitutions. of the United States, as well as Wisconsin State Constitutions. > >They were or are apparently being charged with unlawful assembly, in violation of section 947.06 Wisconsin Statutes, which statute sections the arresting law enforcement officials were not aware of, which led many callers to question were the arrest orders were coming from. This unlawful assembly (s. 947.06) requires Four tests be proven: > >1st: That there is reasonable belief that damage or injury to person or property will be caused; >2nd: That the protesters are blocking or obstructing either thoroughfares (roads/sidewalks etc) or exits and entrances to private or public property; AND >3rd: That they were ordered to disperse, AND >4th: That they failed to disperse. As we have been informed, only the third test (3) was met. > These peaceful demonstrators are in need of legal representation. > >They are being held on $250.00 bond, not being released immediately on a personal signature bond, as is the normal legal procedure in non-violent charges. There has been no magistrate present to bring them before so that they can make an initial appearance/plea and be released on signature bond. Apparently Judge R. Kenndy Sr., or Court Commissioners Leon Stenz and Wayne Vantassel were not available to process these citizens, and get them released today, so that they could return home and to their normal week day jobs tomorrow. > >The Forest County jail apparently only holds 15 prisoners, so more serious criminals were released or removed or moved from the jail or make room for these peaceful protestors. In addition, they have been sent to five surrounding county jails, by surrounding, you must realize that northern Wisconsin is a big place, so these people are being carted around like war refugees, and are being held overnight in county jails, including Langlade County (Antigo), Forest County (Crandon), Lincoln County (Merrill near Wausau), Oneida County (Rhinelander), and Wood County (Wisconsin Rapids). They are there because they are rightly concerned that the Crandon Mine/Exxon iron/zinc sulfide mine will pollute the wolf river basin, which dumps into the Wisconsin River, Lake Winnebago, The Fox River, and into Green bay and Lake Michigan, forever poisoning Wisconsin main fresh water rivers and environment, because the now politically appointed Department of Natural Resources DNR has given a green light to the mining plan. > > These peaceful protestors, which includes republicans, democrats and independent citizens from all over Wisconsin are supposed to be brought before the Court at least by tomorrow morning. They are being told by various attorneys to plead not guilty and to request release under signature bonds, rather than needing post a cash bond of $250.00. It would be proper, and constitutional admirable if the Forest County District Attorneys' office used their inherent right of Prosecutorial Discretion and dismissed the charges or refused to prosecute these political prisoners. > >Also, under Wisconsin's rules of Criminal and Civil Procedure, attorneys interested in assisting these defendants tomorrow morning Tuesday, July 8, 1997 sometime between 8:00 and 11:00 a.m. ARE ALLOWED TO APPEAR >ON THEIR BEHALF BY TELEPHONE pursuant to Section 807.13 Wisconsin Statutes, which does provide broad enough applicability for appearances by attorneys at this stage of the proceeding by telephone, for oral >arguments and conferences and the like. > >The Address of the Forest County Courthouse is: > >Honorable Robert A. Kennedy, Sr. >Circuit Court Judge, Branch I, Presiding >c/o Clerk of Circuit Courts >FOREST COUNTY COURTHOUSE >200 EAST MADISON STREET >CRANDON, WISCONSIN 54520 >TELEPHONE: 715-478-2329 >OR FAX: 715-478-2430 > >Request more information on Ben Manski, >Mark Olsen, Judy Gump, Susan Sierra, and any other persons >who may be present. --------- "RE: Tribal Colleges & Welfare Reform" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 12:21:29 EDT From: 75107.3710@compuserve.com (marjane ambler) Subj: tribal colleges & welfare reform Mailing List: NAT-EDU (nat-edu@gnosys.svle.ma.us) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 10, 1997 For more information, contact Felicity Kurth at 970-533-9170 (phone) or tcj@sisna.com (e-mail) Welfare reform puts new pressures on tribal colleges TRIBAL COLLEGE JOURNAL FEATURES WELFARE REFORM, RACISM MANCOS, Colo.--In the latest issue of Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education, Dr. James Shanley, president of Fort Peck Community College, examines some of the potentially devastating effects of the recent welfare reform act. His article ("Welfare Reform and the Tribal Colleges; Who's Left Holding the Bag?") describes the role tribal colleges will play as more people turn to the colleges for training and education. For example, his college in Poplar, Montana, faces a 160 percent increase in student enrollment, based upon the local welfare numbers and the lack of other local educational and training facilities. However, Congress provided no new resources for the chronically underfunded tribal colleges to deal with their new responsibilities. Also in this issue are a variety of articles that confront racism both inside and outside of an educational setting. While American Indians are confronted with racism just as other minority groups, their experiences differ from other groups for many reasons. Articles in this issue address the role of scholars and of educational institutions in dealing with racism. Michael Marker (Arapaho), teacher education director at Northwest Indian College, says in his article, "The problem is not what researchers do, it is what they don't do." Marker challenges researchers in academia to encourage cross-cultural research that reflects on the economic, political, and cultural dynamics of a region or community. He believes academia has a legacy of being too conservative, resulting in what he describes as "fragmented knowledge in safe, pre-formulated studies which helps maintain the status quo." In his article "Cultural Brokers: Explaining 'Them' and 'Us' in Indian Country," Gregory Gagnon discusses the increasingly important role of cultural brokers throughout history. Gagnon says, "Cultural brokers try to promote effective, mutually beneficial contact at best and understanding of differences at least - Respect for the other culture is crucial to brokering." Other stories in this issue of Tribal College Journal show how some of the tribal colleges are serving as cultural brokers. For example, an article about the College of the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin ("Where neighbors first meet") explains that at tribal colleges, Natives and non-Native students learn side by side. Small classes encourage dialogue among the students who share knowledge about each other's cultural traditions. Leech Lake Tribal College in Minnesota sponsors a training program on "Undoing Racism." Other tribal college instructors discuss stereotyping and racial bias in their classrooms, as exemplified in a story about Dull Knife Memorial College in Montana. As with every issue, the Spring Journal includes the Land Grant Department. Robert Bigart walks readers through the history of the land grant college movement and how it revolutionized education for Black and women students during its first 100 years. With legislation in 1994 designating tribal colleges as land grant institutions, the movement is now finally helping to revolutionize American Indian education. Each issue of the Tribal College Journal includes recent news from the tribal colleges, a resource guide, student profile, and book reviews. Find TCJ online at http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/tcj/ This homepage is the only website providing links to all tribal colleges that have their own homepages. Tribal College Journal is a quarterly journal published by American Indian Higher Education Consortium, a group of 31 Indian-controlled colleges in the United States and Canada with offices in Alexandria, Virginia. For more information, call Felicity Kurth at 970-533-9170, or write to: TCJ, P.O. Box 720, Mancos CO 81328. --------- "RE: Catholic Church Sued for Genocide" --------- Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 03:30:19 -0800 From: sisis@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Catholic Church sued for genocide :-:-:S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty:-:-: July 11, 1997 Bulletin Alkali Lake Natives Sue Catholic Church A number of Alkali Lake residential school survivors have filed a law suit in BC Supreme Court. According to BC Report magazine (July 7, 1997) the natives are suing the Roman Catholic Church, the Oblate order of priests as well as the federal government of Canada. Bishop Hubert O'Connor was convicted of sexually assaulting young native people at the St. Joseph's Residential School in the 1960's. The plaintiffs are alleging that the defendants were responsible for coercing natives into the genocidal residential schools. O'Connor, who fathered a child with one of his young victims, is free pending an appeal. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 ==>>NEW EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: Tribal Participation in ESA" --------- Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 21:44:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Larry Kibbey Subj: Tribal Participation in ESA (fwd) Mailing List: Paths-L ============================================================ June 5, 1997 Ken Burton 202-208-5634 Kelly Lees 202-452-4883 NEW ENDANGERED SPECIES POLICY IS DESIGNED TO ENHANCE NATIVE AMERICAN PARTICIPATION Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Commerce Secretary William Daley today signed a joint Secretarial Order designed to clarify the responsibilities of both Departments when actions taken under authority of the Endangered Species Act involve Tribal land, Tribal trust resources, or Tribal rights. The order acknowledges the trust and treaty responsibilities and obligations of the United States to Native Americans and its government-to-government relationship with Tribes. "This Secretarial Order is another important example of the ways the Clinton Administration is committed to making the Endangered Species Act more responsive to those it affects," said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. "For too long, we have not explored or clarified the trust and treaty relations with sovereign Indian Tribes and endangered species and we have failed to take advantage of the deep and sacred relationship with the land that Tribal governments can share. This Order will not only give Tribes a seat at the table in the planning and consultation process, but an ability to lend their expertise and traditional knowledge to conserve and improve recovery for species with habitat on Indian lands." The purpose of the order is to harmonize the Federal trust responsibility to Tribes, Tribal sovereignty, and statutory missions of the Departments. The order strives to ensure that Indian Tribes do not bear a disproportionate burden for the conservation of listed species on their lands. The joint Secretarial order was developed with Tribal and Federal representatives over a period of approximately 6 months. Representatives from various Tribal entities chosen by the Native American community, and from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other Federal agencies participated in the negotiations to develop the order. "The Commerce Department is committed to strengthening its relationships with Native American Tribes. Through this Order, the Department's National Marine Fisheries Service will work to enhance Native American involvement in endangered species recovery by bringing them into the process and utilizing their knowledge of the wildlife resources that exist on their lands," Commerce Secretary William M. Daley said. The joint order calls for both Departments to: o Work together to restore ecosystems and enhance Tribal management plans that affect listed species; o Work together to conserve and recover declining species; o Work together to create an environment of trust and respect for the missions of both the Departments and the Tribes for the ultimate benefit of sensitive species; o Consult with and use the expertise of affected Native American Tribal governments, including the use of traditional knowledge, when determining which species should be listed, conducting surveys on species populations, and implementing conservation measures; o Provide notification to, use the expertise of, and solicit information from affected Tribal governments when considering impacts to Tribal trust resources and Tribal lands; o Encourage and facilitate Tribal participation in ESA activities that may affect Tribal interests; and o Provide deference to Tribal conservation plans for Indian lands that address the conservation needs of listed species. The Departments and the Tribes recognize that the Secretarial Order does not change the legal mandates of the Endangered Species Act. As administrators of the act, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service are further directed within the Appendix of the Order to recognize their special responsibility to include the Indian community in activities that may impact Tribal lands or Tribal trust resources. This effort was begun, in large part, as a follow-up to the government-to-government relationship that the late Mollie Beattie, former Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, developed with Chairman Ronnie Lupe of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. "The cooperative agreement concerning Endangered Species Act activities on Tribal land that Mollie worked out with Chairman Lupe served as a template and a catalyst for developing this order," said Babbitt. "In some measure, this order is a result of her legacy to us to be mindful of our responsibilities to Indian people. I think she would be proud of our accomplishment here today." Alaska Natives were not included in the order due to concerns about potential impacts to their subsistence exemption under the Endangered Species Act. The order does, however, commit both Departments to address that issue and report their findings within 12 months. The Secretaries of Interior and Commerce signed the order in today's ceremony, with Tribal leaders and representatives of both Departments and Native American interest groups in attendance. -FWS- ============================================================ News releases are also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.fws.gov/~r9extaff/pubaff.html They can be reviewed in chronological order or searched by keyword. Questions concerning a particular news release or item of information should be directed to the person listed as the contact. General comments or observations concerning the content of the information should be directed to Craig Rieben (craig_rieben@mail.fws.gov) in the Office of Public Affairs. ============================================================ To unsubscribe from the fws-news listserver, send e-mail to majordomo@www.fws.gov with "unsubscribe fws-news" (and omit the "quotes") in the **body** of the message. You should not include anything on the Subject: line. For additional information about listserver commands, send a message to majordomo@www.fws.gov with "info fws-news" (and no "quotes") in the body of the message. --------- "RE: California Ruling" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 13:22:07 -0400 From: Ishgooda Subj: California Ruling UUCP email As this ruling reads...any who wear common identifying garb indicating membership in a particular organization, who have gathered (or gather) for the purposes of illegal activity can be identified under this case law as a gang... This could have profound effects upon our people if spiritual activity is deemed illegal or these rights superseded by local ordinance or a state's overriding interest...Ish ........................................................................ Guilt by Association by Peri H. Pakroo The California Supreme Court has quietly issued a ruling that promises to have a dramatic effect on law enforcement in California, if not nationwide. The court ruled that gang members, who needn't be identified by name, can be prohibited from a number of lawful activities, including standing, sitting, driving or appearing with another gang member. The judges ruled 4 to 3 that the public interest in tranquility, security and protection outweighed the alledged gang members' right to peacefully gather in groups-a right explicitly protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. At issue in the case was an injunction (court order) that prohibited members of a gang, known as the Varrio Sureo Treces or Varrio Sureo Locos, from a number of legal activities, including gathering in public, talking to people in cars, and possessing items such as marking pens, marbles, or spark plugs. The injunction was to be enforced in a neighborhood of San Jose known as Rocksprings, an area characterized as an "urban war zone." Violators could be punished by up to six months in jail, a $5,000 fine or both. Arguing that prohibiting such conduct violates the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of assembly, the alledged gang members and the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the injunction in court. An appeals court agreed that it was unconstitutional, but California's Supreme Court ruled otherwise. "LIBERTY UNRESTRAINED IS AN INVITATION TO ANARCHY," the court warned. The ruling is being warmly received by many communities that see this type of injunction a valuable tool against gang violence. At least ten cities in California have used anti-gang injunctions, and more are planned. Whether or not the injunctions prevent crime, the fact remains that a broad exception to Constitutional freedoms has been sanctioned by California's highest court. Those who oppose the ruling point out that each citizen's freedom to walk down the public streets and to gather with others in public is at the very core of the liberty that our Constitution protects. As Ed Chen, staff attorney for the Northern California ACLU put it, "Illegal searches may also work [in fighting crime], but our Constitution doesn't permit them, lest we were to allow the government to impose a complete police state." - End of Article - For you legals buffs like me the ruling is People ex rel. Gallo v. Acuna. You can find the written opinion in a law library or on the web at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/opinions.cgi --------- "RE: Crazy Crow Trading Post" --------- Subj: Request Date: Fri, 11 Jul 97 09:57:30 -0600 From: "J.D.K. Chipps " UUCP email Gary, help me get the word out on Crazy Crow, Thanks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Last year I tried to tell people that the Crazy Crow Trading Post also dealt in SkinHead, Nazi regalia. Several people as much as accused me of not knowing what I was talking about because they had ordered from Crazy Crow and one "lady" had even been there. Well, the other day while I was searching the web for something else I accidentally found their URL. So I wrote them and asked if they had "SkinHead, Nazi regalia" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is their reply to me: Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:53:35 -0500 (CDT) From: Crazy Crow Trading Post To: ikce@geocities.com At 11:42 AM 7/2/97 -0500, you wrote: >Last year while I was in the area, I stopped by and picked up a few >things I needed. > >I noticed that adjoining your space was a space that handled "Skinhead" >materials, and German nazi regalia. > >Do you have and address where I can order from them? > >Thank you in advance. Crazy Crow Trading Post wrote: The catalog you are asking about is our Reddick Enterprises Military Catalog ... If you will email me your name and address I will be happy to send you one. Please specify in the email Reddick Enterprises Military Catalog to avoid getting the wrong one. Thanks, Cliff Crazy Crow Trading Post Visit our Web site: http://www.texoma.com/cctp/ We accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover Toll Free 1-800-786-6210 I would appreciate it if everyone would help me spread the word about this Native American/SkinHead Nazi Trading Post. To me, this is something tangible and real to get upset about, and boycott, if not shut down completely. And please, if anyone is going to "question me" about the validity of this, order the damn catalog from them first, and see for yourself if they sell SkinHead Nazi materials or not. I am not going to debate it. I know, because I have been there and seen it with my own eyes. (\######/) J.D.K. Chipps \ o ~ / "Wokiksuye Canpe Opi" (^ ^) (Remember Wounded Knee) \*/ http://www.eden.com/~jdkc --------- "RE: Documentary: In Whose Honor?" --------- Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 00:10:06 -0500 (CDT) From: jayr@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Jay Rosenstein) Subj: "In Whose Honor?" documentary UUCP email I'd like to let you know that "In Whose Honor?", the documentary on American Indian mascots and nicknames in sports will be airing nationally on the PBS series P.O.V. on Tuesday, July 15th at 10PM. Some local dates and times vary, so call your PBS station to find out. Also, "In Whose Honor?" is reviewed in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated magazine, where it received a strong positive endorsement. It was also mentioned in last Sunday's USA Weekend, today's Chicago Sun-Times, and is slated for reviews in the Chicago Tribune and Indian Country Today. The national radio program Native America Calling will also dedicate an hour segment about the program on Monday from 12-1 Central Time. WJFK, the flagship radio station for the Washington football team will also talk about the documentary this Sunday, as will KTRS radio in St. Louis next Friday. For more information on the program, including a broadcast schedule for some selected cities, as well as purchasing information for educational institutions, please consult our web site at http://fantasia.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~jayr/honor.html For viewers in Canada, I'm afraid there are no Canadian broadcasts scheduled as of yet. Please spread the word about the broadcast, and I hope you can tune in. Sincerely, Jay Rosenstein __________________________________________________________________ Producer, "In Whose Honor?" * see it on PBS, Tuesday, July 15th, 10PM * a co-presentation of Native American Public Telecommunications http://fantasia.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~jayr/honor.html --------- "RE: Oklahoma Indian Language Foundation" --------- Date: Thu, 10 Jul 97 09:47:16 -0600 From: "John Berry" Subj: Oklahoma Indian Language Foundation started UUCP email OKLAHOMA - INTERTRIBAL WORDPATH SOCIETY by John Berry A new non-profit educational corporation call Intertribal Wordpath Society has been started in Oklahoma, dedicated to tribal language preservation. The languages of approximately 37 Oklahoma Tribes has already been lost. Oklahoma tribes still speak 27 other languages. Most of these languages are endangered, even Cherokee which has several thousand speakers. In many tribes the remaining speakers are elders, some above 80 years old. Few children are growing up fluent in their tribal language. The Intertribal Wordpath Society can provide technical and financial support towards language preservation efforts, with activities such as fund raising, public speaking, media programming, exhibits and other educational programming, teacher training and many other topics relevant to language preservation. The Intertribal Wordpath Society says that it's name demonstrates it's belief that they must be warriors fighting for Indian languages. The group seeks financial donors, and a logo competition from an Oklahoma Indian Artist. The logo deadline for sketches is Aug. 1, 1997. For more information write them at: Intertribal Wordpath Society, 1506 Barkley St., Norman, OK 73071 --------- "RE: A Hundred Years Ago" --------- Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 22:22:39 -0700 From: Landis Subj: A Hundred Years Ago - Week 11 Mailing List: NAT-FILM [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ==================================== PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY --AT THE-- Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa., BY INDIAN BOYS. ---> THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The man-on-the band-stand who is NOT an Indian. --------------------------------------------- P R I C E: --10 C E N T S A Y E A R ============================================= Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ============================================= Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Manager. ============================================= Do not hesitate to take the HELPER from the Post Office for if you have not paid for it some one else has. It is paid for in advance. ============================================== VOL. XII. FRIDAY, July 16, 1897 NUMBER 40 ============================================== SECOND AND THIRD NIGHTS OUT. _____________________________________ Yes, Indians are Nomads! They love to wander from place to place, but why this particular race should have such a distinctive reputation over and above the other races is something I cannot understand. If the travel to California during the past week indicates anything, it certainly does that people other than Indians are very fond of going. I was told last evening in Chicago by a railroad man that twenty-five sections left that city over the Chicago and Northwestern route on the evening of June 29, and it is safe to say they were not Indians. It is estimated that the Union Pacific alone carried over 3,000 people to California during the Christian Endeavor Excursion and other roads, no doubt transported as many, in proportion. The train we boarded in Chicago was a very long one and every berth and seat were taken; even more than taken, for by the time the personal baggage was heaped around its respective owners, passage from coach to coach was difficult. The night was intensely hot, and the perspiration rolled down the faces of people called white, but who were strikingly more red than I ever saw Indians. Portly gentlemen, hesitated not to take off their coats and vests, as they walked to and fro in search of a breath, or stirred faint breezes by vigorously flourishing palm leaf fans. Children fretted as their tired and careworn mothers sighed, and everybody felt wretchedly. And why all this? Why were they not at home attending quietly to business? Because it is human nature to be going somewhere, and it is all right, but let us keep silent about Indians having a disposition to roam as though they were the only people who spent their time wandering over the face of the earth. The train out of Omaha was made up of two sections, the first consisting of fifteen coaches, while the section we are in has a line of twenty-five coaches, requiring almost a telescope to see the last car from the engine. As I write now, 7 P.M., Saturday, July 3, we are passing from Columbus to Grand Island and viewing Nebraska at her best. The sun is setting perfectly clear, the air delightfully cool and bracing, full of that peculiar life-giving ozone found nowhere else in such richness and bounty as in Nebraska, the Dakotas and States between them and the Rockies, weather conditions being at their best. It is hardly fair in this connection to speak of the disagreeable hot winds which sweep over this country for three days at a time in summer, blighting vegetation in their path. Nor of those not quite so bad, but which use up the nervous energy of people. It was such a wind that was blowing at Council Bluffs at 3 P.M. this afternoon when we reached there and the prospects for an unbearable night were foreboding. I never experienced greater heat at The Needles. The wind was almost a gale from the South while the sky was clear and the sun was pouring down scorching rays. Hats were blown out (continued on last page.) -------------------------------------------------------- Mrs. Berry, formerly music teacher here, is spending the summer at Ft. Schuyler, N.Y. The Swift Company, of Chicago, have the contract for the meat supply for this school for the ensuing year. $40,000 has been appropriated for the establishment of new schools at the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Agencies. People may wonder how it is that while the chief editor is away still the HELPER comes out as usual. Well, the office is in luck, for it has three "bachelors" in it and of course they hustle things and manage to get some thing in it that will interest all its readers. Cards to hand from Colony, Oklahoma, announce the marriage of Miss L.E. Dittes to Mr. Chas. L. Davis, of that place on the 7th inst. Miss Dittes has many friends at Carlisle, whose best wishes follow her as Mrs. Davis. May long life and happiness be her lot in wedded life. What's the use of saying "I am so sorry that I can't go to see the largest Government Indian School in the United States, because it costs so much to travel." Just think! You can see this school for ONLY 25 cents. Send the money and receive in return our neatly printed souvenir. It contains 60 views and has been a satisfaction to those who have purchased it. Some of the boys and girls no doubt do not realize the responsibility which rests upon them towards making this school a happy home. When you were a new student were you not lonely? That was probably the time when you wanted to have a friend. It is the same now. New students come and some of us do not even speak to them. After your experiences don't you think that it is your duty to try and make them happy? They will then be more contented and our school will be more of a home. A private letter from one of our girls gives us pleasant glimpses of the happy side of "Outing Life." It says: "I must not forget to tell you about the party we had on the 4th of July at Alida Johnson's country home. This party we had was given by Mrs. Herr. I think she is such a lovely lady. She always gives a party to the Indian girls every 4th of July. We have refreshments and we all had a very good time. Before we started for our homes, we all went to Mrs. Herr and thanked her for her kindness and sang a song to her, "My country 'tis of thee." I must tell you about our picnic we had about a week ago last Friday. Our Sunday School had a very fine picnic just above the city. We took a boat at Riverton and went across the Delaware River to Penn., and there we had our picnic. The boat that took us across the river was called "Twilight." All of us girls got together and we had our lunches under a long tree by ourselves. We couldn't eat all the things we had so some of the girls took them home. While we were eating our dinner, our minister Mr. Snyder came and took our picture. We have seen the picture since and it is not very good though. At the picnic ground they have swings, merry-go-round, and every thing they want. After dinner we went down to the river and we all had a boat ride free. The little boat we had a ride in was called "The Whale" because it was made just like a whale. We came very near upset. One of the girls came on our side and of course it made it heavy on one side and we almost turn over right into the water. We were so scare that we just screamed, but we got back safely to the picnic ground again. We girls had so much fun all day that we were all tired when we got home. I think we had the nicest picnic this summer and we all had such a delightful time and we all wished for another picnic the day, I guess. There were twelve of us girls went to the picnic." In our issue for February 26th, we stated that Joseph Spanish was building himself a new stone house. This information came to us, as we supposed, from a reliable source. Now we are advised by a former pupil, who is at the same agency with Joseph, that Joseph is not building, but is rather doing badly, joining in the old Indian dances and other customs. Carlisle, however has not lost faith in Joseph and still expects that he may fulfill the first report. Carlisle never had faith that the influence of the reservation would help, and these examples of its degradation only emphasize the necessity to place young Indians among the progressive influences of our American life. Did we remand our grammar grade white pupils from the public schools to the slums of our large cities, could we expect anything but retrogression? No doubt the printers on farms, or at home, would be interested to know who are left to hold the fort in the Man-on-the-band-stand's office. The following printers are present; Dahnola Jessan, Simon Standingdeer, George Northrop, Samuel Paul, Jack Standing, Harold Parker, Frank Thomas and Stewart Hazlett. We frequently hear from the boys and girls who are out in the country, that they are having good times as well as hard work. ____________________________________________________ Oats. Midges. Lemonade. A cool wave. Good picnic weather. Boating at the cave is fine. Carriage rides are the latest. Isn't it time for new potatoes? Miss Simmons is pianist for chapel services. Wasn't the rain on Tuesday evening delightful? More lemonade! For it is so refreshing, these hot days. The tailors are busy making summer coats for the small boys. All the school rooms have been kalsomined ready for next year's work. Several from our school attended the Episcopal picnic on Wednesday. The painters are busy painting the new rooms above the old laundry. The wheat harvest on both farms is completed and the crops safely housed. James Flannery played his cornet at the Biddle Mission last Sunday afternoon. The smallest boys of the school are occupying the baseball "diamonds" these days. Jacob Jamison is in charge of the painting department during Mr. Norman's absence. On Wednesday Captain went to New York city on business connected with the school. Mervin Bushman of Harrisburg, is visiting his uncle, Mr. Bushman of our school farm. Very hot weather for the past week but fortunately none of us seem any the worse for it. Miss Ericson started Friday evening for Omaha, Nebr., to attend the Institute of Indian Workers. Fanny Jackson, a little girl 9 years old, came all the way from Friendsville, Tenn, to enter our school. Capt. and Mrs. Pratt and Miss Nana spent Sunday at Doubling Gap Springs, in the endeavor to find a cool place. Linnie Thompson has gone to Ocean City where she will spend the summer with a family, under the Outing System. Miss Linney, who has been visiting her sister Mrs. Hendren, left this week for Washington where she will stay with her father. A neatly printed programme of the Chemawa Commencement was received. Judging from the programme the exercises were interesting. Misses Cochran, Weekley, Carter, of the faculty, left last Monday for the Summer School at Martha's Vineyard, and Miss Hill for Boston. The pupils at the school number now about 160, enough for a good sized school yet, but here seem almost lost in rooms capable of holding five times that number. Perfect weather, this. ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S ENIGMA: The Summer School. Watermelons now occupy a large portion of the bachelors' thoughts. Mr. Preston Heffelfinger, of Mechanicsburg, was a guest of Mr. Weber one day last week. Several of the faculty and pupils attended the play given by the Lilliputians at Cave Hill Park, this week. The health of our school is in good condition. Only two are in the hospital. They are getting along very well. James Wheelock, '96, is one of the new appointees in the Indian service at Carlisle. He is the band manager. The band boys are in hopes of receiving a copy of Chemawa Indian School March, composed by Josiah George, formerly of Carlisle. Some alterations are being made in the school dining room and kitchen for the purpose of making more room all around. Beware of eating green apples. They always avenge themselves and ever will as long as the careless small boy is in existence. There is no kicking on the football grounds as yet, but that must have its time before long or Capt. Pierce and his warriors will not be in it, next Fall. The population of the school is so small now, that the pupils who are here are getting anxious to see some new pupils come and fill the vacant places. Good advice was given last Sunday evening when we were told to make good use of our time during vacation. No better time can be had for strengthening our weak points. Extensive repairs and alterations are being made to the heating boilers which have served us for the past six years. The purpose of the alterations being greater economy in fuel. A little robin built its nest in sight of hundreds of passers by. She was not molested and has raised a whole family of little ones. Does not that speak well for our band of so-called savages? The following pupils went to their respective homes in the West since the last issue of the HELPER: John Arquette, James Arquette, Ralph Taylor, Clay Domeah, Vincent Nahtailsh and Mary Couture. David McFarland, who went to C.E. Convention at San Francisco, writes to a Carlisle friend that he is enjoying the convention immensely. The meeting at Salt Lake City he thought was grand. Returning from the convention he will visit his home in Idaho and will then spin to Carlisle. Charles Lowcloud had a run-away last Thursday. While he was taking the milk out of the wagon the horse started. He ran and got in from behind but before he could get hold of the lines, the wagon struck the hay scales and threw him in front, the wheels running over him. He was not seriously hurt, however, and is at his work again. _____________________________________________________________ (Continued from first page) ______________________________________________________________ of car windows, while heat straightened bangs and stubbly scolding locks whipped the red cheeks of maidens whose efforts to keep snug and trim were in vain. But we are out of that and in the beautiful beyond, and consider ourselves extremely fortunate to find Dame Nature father west in holiday dress. The shades of dark, velvety green on the splendid fields of corn, the grasses of various and more delicate tints, the small groves of cotton-wood of a semi-between hue, all freshly washed by cooling rains, made us glad we were living to enjoy it all, on this the Nation's Independence Day of 1897. For an hour after sunset our train ran a race over the plains with the moon which hung in crescent beauty quietly beckoning us on, while Mr. Locomotive, our captain and power, puffed, and perspired great drops of condensed steam, in the vain effort to pass, until finally, as if disgusted with such unequal tug, fair luna dropped to rest below the western horizon. To rest? Ah, no; for on the morrow she will grace the same position in the heavens, with reference to our train, and can say as she floats in space: "I've been clear around the world since I saw you. Come along! Come along!" And she will thus pass us six nights before our destination is reached. M.B. ================================== NORTHFIELD AGAIN. ___________ (continued from last week.) Dr. Schauffler talked on "City Missions and Choosing a Calling." "There is no uncertain note in God's call to us." He ran through history sacred and secular and cited many cases where God's call was clear and unmistakable. "What is the cause of the success of great men? It is prompt obedience. The human ear is filled with outcries against the calls to duty. These thwart God's purpose. Listen! listen when the call comes. March as God commands, and fill life with usefulness." At the close, Mr. Moody said "If God calls you, leap to his service. No heaven sent man ever failed yet. Dr. McKenzie of Cambridge gave two addresses both of which will ring in the minds and hearts of the young men who heard them forever. The key-note of the first was, "Be guided in all things secular and sacred by what you know not by what you don't know, by what you understand, not by what you don't understand. Isn't that simple common-sense? Critics and scoffers and doubters of religion, just turn over a page and live up to the light you have, and the world will grow better quickly. His second theme was "Not Luck in the World, but Christ and the divine law of God." There is no such thing as luck. We reap as we sow. You can't live wrong and come out right. Mr. Moody on Thursday gave a talk on Bible study that was most helpful. And why don't we know the old book better? Why don't we live up to its teachings more closely? We must not attempt to mention all the good things presented. The missionary meetings on Round Top can only be referred to. Among all the nationalities represented here Alex. Upshaw spoke for the Red Race. We must not close without referring to the athletic sports. Our boys did not fail to enter the sports, and did creditably in baseball and other events. The patriotic exercises commemorative of our Independence, held for convenience on Friday, July 2nd, were most inspiring. Pandemonium it is when 600 or 800 college boys get together, but, we rather glory in such a pandemonium, of bright, jolly, Christian men, who appreciate the blessings under which they live. Patriotic speeches, college yells, college songs made up the evening. It was inspiring. Not least taking was the entrance of the British delegation carrying the British lion, surmounted by a Britania represented by a little girl beautiful with flaxen curls, and all singing "Britania rules the waves." Later in the evening came the climax, when the British delegates sang one stanza of "God save the Queen," the American delegates took up the strain, and sang America, the Germans stepped forward and sand the same air, and then a lone Chinese delegate went to the platform and sang to the same air a Chinese song. It impressed one with the smallness, and oneness of this great world. The international good feelings manifested between the foreign and home delegates as cheer after cheer went up for England, France, Germany, China, Japan, Corea and all the other nations represented, and united cheers for "America land of Liberty" brought home the thought, "so we being many are one body in Christ." A word as to camp life. Fellows, we will camp again. It was pleasant, crowded, and jolly. the Cooking experiences were fine. We will not give away the receipts for puddings and other concoctions called coffee and cocoa. Every boy "was in honor preferring one another." No delegation was so quiet, so orderly, so ready to do the kindly thing. We never felt so proud of Carlisle discipline. We have been helped beyond the power of words to express, and we know that Northfield influence