From gars@netcom.com Thu Oct 16 13:30:02 1997 Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 20:37:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews05.042 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 05, ISSUE 042 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 18 October 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, Nat-Rel, Big Mountain & Minn-Ind lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; KOLA; UUCP email; NORTH AMERICAN SPIRIT LODGE; Newsgroup: alt.native Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination and/or permission for inclusion has been secured. Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A. I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people. <----<<<< >>>>----> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@netcom.com ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org 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. "You took our drum, the heartbeat of the people and called it a war drum. You took our knowledge bonnets worn by our leaders and called them war bonnets. You took our sacred horsed and belittled them by calling them war ponies. You ridiculed our death masks and called it war paint. And you refused to understand the power of the sacred pipe but you still called it the peace pipe." __ Harry Charger, Fool Soldiers of the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Nations +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! The welfare of our elders during the harsh winter months is an issue very near to my heart. Many will not survive this coming winter without help. Those of you who tire of this plea, and believe it is exaggeration have either not been on the Rez's mentioned here or are blind to the pain of others. I thank those who have written, asking for addresses to send food, funds to buy fuel, blankets and other help for the winter. New contacts have been sent. Thank to all who have answered this call so that we might all honor the circle and help those elders who kept alive the traditions and ceremonies we keep. I have the following addresses of Oglala who I _know_ will distribute your gifts fairly to all who have a need. For the Red Shirt Community: Marvin Helper P.O. Box 312 Hermosa, SD 57744 For Porcupine, Oglala and Wounded Knee: David Swallow or Gerald Ice % Gerald ice P.O. Box 199 Wounded Knee, SD 57794 Or... Joe Chasing Horse % P.O. Box 8392 Rapid City, S.D. 57709 For Truck loads & UPS Shipments: Joe Chasing Horse 714 Paha Sapa Drive Rapid City, SD 57701 Here are the new contacts and who sent them, along with a few comments. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: Lora Czarnowsky Subj: Another contact Here is another contact name and address: Adi Defender Project New Dawn PO Box 616 McLaughlin, SD 57642 This is for the various communities on the Standing Rock Reservation. Lora Dika-Ni Czarnowsky Subscription Coordinator Electronic Projects Johns Hopkins University Press http://muse.jhu.edu/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: tusweca Subj: need donations Darlene Cross PO Box 52 Kyle SD 577075 -- Mike Sims - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 21:05:03 +0000 Subj: toy drive From: yona@infi.net si-yo'.. I have been asked to let everyone know that there is a toy drive going on for the Cheyenne River Reservation in Eagle Butte. Joann Steele of Cheyenne River has been doing toy drives for several years and recently moved to Eagle Rock Virginia . She decided to continue with the toy drive with the assistance of Marianne Chavis (North Carolina Cherokee)..Marianne is organizing the drive since Joann is new to the area... What we are asking for are new toys (they do not have to be expensive) for kids from infant to teenagers... The toys will be delivered personally by Joann Steele and Marianne Chavis, they are leaving on Dec 22 to take the toys out to Cheyenne River.... If you would like to donate a toy or more information, you may contact me by email: yona@infi.net or phone me 757-425-7992..you may also drop off a toy if you are in the vicinity of our store Na-va'kee 618 Hilltop West. biah yazzie yona@infi.net Remember, we are responsible for the next seven generations.honor your childrens, childrens, children. honor the earth, and those not yet born. "Sometimes I go about in pity for myself, and all the while a great wind is bearing me across the sky." Ojibwe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: DORSEY.THOMAS_J+@ALBANY.VA.GOV Date: 10 Oct 97 08:56 EDT Hi Gary, I have an address to be added to your list of needy Nation contacts. After reading the plea for help in the last issue, I made a few calls and talked to the Nation Chair at Southern Brule. He recommended going through; Norma Grassrope Lower Brule Reservation Lower Brule, South Dakota 57028 (605) 473-5594 She is the chair of a charitable group called the Womens Support Group. Tom Dorsey - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: 10 Oct 97 08:56 EDT From: DORSEY.THOMAS_J+@ALBANY.VA.GOV Hi Gary, I have an address to be added to your list of needy Nation contacts. After reading the plea for help in the last issue, I made a few calls and talked to the Nation Chair at Southern Brule. He recommended going through; Norma Grassrope Lower Brule Reservation Lower Brule, South Dakota 57028 (605) 473-5594 She is the chair of a charitable group called the Womens Support Group. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: Pioquark@aol.com Gary, The following is a short list of needs for the reservations that I serve. They are fairly generic in that needs are similar. Donations can be designated for particular groups. I also serve Urban off Reservation Native Americans in the Cheyenne Area. Pioneer Industries is a Non-profit 501(c)(3) with one person. Me....My youngest 17 year old daughter helps occasionally. I am seeking operational, equipment, building and land acquisition grants. I am more than happy to submit requests to any organization interested. Due to shipping costs, I can not afford to pay for shipped goods. I pay for everything out of my Navy retirement. (not much as an enlisted retiree) WIND RIVER (Wyoming) PINE RIDGE & ROSEBUD (S. Dakota) Soup bowls Soup Spoons Blankets Warm Coats Snow Boots Beds Dishes Kitchenwares Housewares(pictures, decorations etc) Craft supplies Storm Doors Refrigerators Furniture Food (non-perishable) Just about anything useful to you is useful to someone on the reservation. Specifics: Christmas Committee Cheyenne Wy. Toys, Blankets, Christmas Decorations Christmas Committees Wind River Wy. Towns of Ethete, Arapaho, Ft. Washakie, Kinnear Toys, Blankets, Food for Feast, Cooking Pots, Gifts for Elders. Christmas for Senior Centers at all three Reservations. Board Games, Craft Supplies, Leather Craft Supplies, VCRs Tapes for VCRs, basic computers to write stories and personal histories (also lost story teller stories) Yarn, lap robes, any gift to share. Youth Organizations: Boys & Girls Clubs, Intra-religious groups Intergenerational Talking Circles, Clubs, Youth Oriented activities: Board Games, Sports Equipment (all types) VCRs &Tapes, (no drugs/alcohol) Snack Foods(Granola Bars Roll ups etc) , Computers for learning/Homework etc.... School Supplies(pencils, notebooks, rulers, Crayons 24-count, glu-sticks, Pens, folders, erasers, cheap calculators) Craft supplies, Leather work kits, Craft Kits, Warm Coats, Socks, Boots, Gloves, Camping equipment, Microwaves, Toaster Ovens, Refrigerators, Small Chest Freezers. Books, Coloring Books, Educational materials and Disks. Anything you feel would be youth orientated. Home Repair: All Reservations Roof Patching Materials, Paint, Plywood, Prefabricated Windows, Storm Doors, Paint Brushes, Paint Scrapers, Wood Filler, Caulking materials. Any Home repair materials. Automobiles, Four Wheel Drive Vehicles, Busses up to 60 passenger, and Pick-up Trucks. These are needed by schools, Senior Centers, Clubs, Programs, and agencies that are under funded. Title must be clear and vehicle must be in good running order. They can't afford to repair them, and no place to do the repairs if they could afford it. Buildings: When several tons of donations are taken to a community, the goods are usually laid out and people come and go through it. Many do not get the word and many have no way to get to the sites where the goods are. An ongoing organized display of goods would be preferable to a hap-hazard display. Thus a building is needed. Volunteers will sort and arrange. When donations come by the ton, there is no site to store the goods. Also needs are seasonal. All Three Reservations need about 18 buildings. The metal type which measure about 40' X30' would serve communities of 3000 population. If interested in this project, make contact. For Pioneer Industries: Trucks with 18' box or smaller GAS MONEY!!! Foundation Grants etc. Contact: Clay Watson Pioneer Industries 1100 E. 24th St. Cheyenne, Wy. 82001 (307)778-7860 pioquark@aol.com As you can see I'm on the road a lot, out back loading the truck etc. PLEASE leave a message if there is no answer.. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 16:30:58 -0400 (EDT) From: ALBERT SUN BUTLER Saw the list of addresses in Wotanging. Could you add one for Ti Ospaye. I am including a background article on them if you think it would be appropriate. Ti Ospaye represents an opportunity for supporters to develop personal relations with the community around Wanblee. Local families have come to depend on Ti Ospayes clothing storehouse, the Trading Post, and even for emergency shelter, transportation and financial support. A piece in Wotanging could really help their cause. Mi Takueye Oyasin Sun Ti Ospaye - The Extended Family For those who walk the Red Road, and those who honor he wisdom of indigenous peoples there is no concept more central than a sense of 'connectedness' . We are connected to our families, our communities, our people and to Grandmother herself. Whenever we meet one another we ask, "Who are your people?" In learning how we are 'connected', we can establish a common ground on the most basic of levels. 'This connectedness' is embodied in the Lakota idea of ti ospaye, or extended family. It also the purpose and mission of Ti Ospaye, a non-profit educational and community support organization based on a 10 acre farm in Wanblee South Dakota in the heart of the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation. For seven years Rev. Laura Star Wolfe has lived, worked and shared with families on Pine Ridge and a steady stream of visitors to Pine Ridge who come to learn more about traditional Native American life than can be found in books, museums and tourist shops. Originally founded as a non-denominational spiritual retreat devoted to the nurturing of traditional ways among native people, Ti Ospaye quickly became an interface between Lakota families and and non-Res people who come to learn in a respectful way and seeking a sense of connectedness in their own lives. As feelings of respect and friendship grew between these families so did the efforts of Ti Ospaye supporters to participate in the circle of giving that exists in many Native American cultures. Those who could began sending regular contributions to fund Ti Ospayes community support efforts. These include: *A Trading Post where local artisans could sell their work and profit directly. *An organic garden and seed saving project began to supplement the larder for Ti Ospayes growing network of families and visitors. *Ti Ospayes' farm equipment including a tractor, truck and woodsplitter acquired with grant funding are in constant use on surrounding farms and community efforts like Project Grow and the Elders Firewood project. *The Storehouse where donations of clothes, childrens and personal items are available to anyone who needs them. Ti Ospaye takes an active part in reservation life by providing a stay- over experience for Lakota kids to learn gardening skills, surf the net on Ti Ospayes' computer, and ride Tashi the horse. Star Wolfes' works tirelessly on behalf of Lakota people helping to organize last years Badlands Music Festival, co-ordinating legal support family members in trouble with the law, and providing transportation when elders need to get to town. On an isolated part of Pine Ridge, Ti Ospaye has become an important emergency stop when people have to phone for ambulance service or require simple first aid. During the summer camping is available in the shade of cottonwoods with water and privy nearby. Many visitors come to stay while attending Pow Wows and other festivals. Volunteers are always needed to stay for a few weeks or months and help out with the never-ending list of chores. In this way Ti Ospaye has become an important introduction to Reservation life for many native and non-native people and as such, a touchstone for a growing sense of 'connectedness' among us. In conclusion I have to tell you that the future of Ti Ospaye is far from certain. Ti Ospayes efforts have expanded beyond its small base of contributors ability to keep up. There is an immediate need for grant funds and monthly or quarterly cash donations. Plans are to redouble the efforts to provide legal support for the unjustly incarcerated. The septic field and road access must be entirely reworked to continue to provide child care and keep the craft store in operation. Working volunteers who can pay their own way as well as provide some support are needed to tend the store and the farm and help with the kids. Without the love and support of many more committed people, this rare window of opportunity for cooperation between Res and off-Res families will close. The Native American Community Support Network located in Raleigh NC is serving as an East Coast clearinghouse for information about and clothes donations to Ti Ospaye. Donations of childrens clothes, computers, new shoes, new toys and housewares are especially needed. We would be happy to talk or correspond with anyone interested in Ti Ospaye's mission. Please feel free to call Sun Butler at (919) 737-8478(lv msg.), (919) 755-1438, or email to abutler@ncsu.edu or snailmail to P.O.Box 5134 Raleigh NC 27650 Mitakueye Oyasin, Sun Butler. Donations may be sent to Ti Ospaye PO Box 200 Wanblee SD 57577 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AND a truckload of goodies looking for a home in the Northwest. A Tribal representative or someone who is truly helping the Northwest Peoples please contact D. Adkins directly: From: bj162@scn.org (SCN User) Subj: Donations,Northwest,(seattle) nightowl: Have about 1 1/2 picup load of good,usable stuff that was left at my place by a couple of howlies; since they don't want it (they gave it to me) I would like to donate to a local N.W. tribe (Lummi's have moved back into longhouse)... There is a heavy drafting-table 12-ft some mirrors, a heavy iron firebox and other lighter stuff...A steel tripod easle... and probably a lot of mox-nix crap...Could you connect me to Indian transfer? My Local address is D. Adkins, 1801 4th Ave. West; Seattle, WA 98119-3020... e-mail bj162@scn.org... Thanx... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If any of you have addresses/contacts to add to this list for other Rez's PLEASE email me with them soon. Winter winds have already brought snow. email to gars@netcom.com Thanks to Mike Wicks for the following reminder: In Memory (with Respect and Honor) 10.17.1973 Pedro Bissonette - Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) organizer and AIM supporter assassinated by BIA Police/Goons. Body removed from Pine Ridge jurisdiction prior to autopsy by government contract coroner. 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 ---------- - Hotevilla Elder - Oglala Law Enforcement - 505 Years later - Freedom to Use Herbs at Risk - Navajo-Hopi Update - Aboriginal and Northern - Northern Coastal Tribal Wilderness Television - Revoke the Papal Bulls - Indian Ballerinas To Be Honored - Bear Lincoln - Demography - Gustafsen: Editorial on Media - Commemorating Columbus Apologies - Native Prisoner - Sechelt Ready to Blockade - A Hundred Years Ago - $$$$$$ Contributed by Indians - Poem: Winged Stone - Residential Schools Issue - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Honor Fort Laramie Treaty - Conferences and Powwows - Oglala Sioux Law Enforcement --------- "RE: Hotevilla Elder" --------- Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 01:29:11 PDT From: "Twin Cougars" To: rdorma@tincan.tincan.org Subj: BIGMTLIST-msg.from Bonnie Whitesinger Mailing List: Big Mountain List [my email server is having problems again; I can receive but can't send, so I am sending through Hotmail. I hope everyone gets this OK. It's nice to have a backup system. You wont see my usual signature at the end, as it is not implemented on my hotmail account. This %#$*!#$ server won't let me send to more than 50 recipients at a time, so I have to break the list into chunks] I spoke to Bonnie Whitesinger (one of the resistors) by phone yesterday. She told me there will be another 9th Circuit Court hearing later this month, apparently regarding the results of the accommodation agreement fairness hearings, but it will be in San Francisco. This will make it impossible for most of those directly involved to attend. Also, although many HPL residents were given 5-day livestock impoundment notices, these have been extended to one year. There is strong 'el nino' weather activity in her area, cold and windy and flash flooding around 3-4am. She will be moving to Tuba City to a trailer for the winter, because the people who give her rides to the hospital for her dialysis will not be able to get through the snow drifts. She desperately needs money to pay for gas for someone to take her to an area where she can gather some healing herbs. She asked if I could send $50, but I am having my own financial problems right now and could not help her out. Perhaps one of you might be able to. Her address is: Bonnie Whitesinger Box 1073 Hotevilla, AZ 86030 Also, I am sure she would appreciate any letters of encouragement. If you write, please let her know that word is getting out over the internet about the plight of the resistors. I told her, but it would be encouraging if she heard it from others, too. Thanks. BTW, the zipped postings to BIGMTLIST for Sept. are now archived on my web site. I may be switching to an automated list-server soon. I'll keep you informed. redorman@plix.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com --------- "RE: 505 Years later" --------- Date: Sun, 12 Oct 97 13:03:06 PDT From: KOLA International Campaign Office Subj: 505 years later: Mount Graham UUCP email Please publish as an opinion and/or open letter. Thank you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 12, 1997 To the partners of the Mt. Graham telescope Project U.S. Congress, President Bill Clinton To the U.S. Congress: in support of President Clinton's letter of July 16th, 1996, we urge you to repeal a rider passed earlier in Congress that has ill-served the American citizens and the environment. The "Mount Graham rider" or "Kolbe rider" passed in the 1996 Omnibus Appropriations Act should be repealed. To all: Dzil Nchaa Si An (a.k.a. Mount Graham) in the Arizona Pinaleno mountain range is the sole remaining habitat for the Mt. Graham red squirrel, a highly endangered species; and it is furthermore a site of extreme importance to American Indian people, more in particular to the San Carlos Apache. The rider's exemption of the application of the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws, as well as the Native American Freedom of Religion Act, has never been justified and is totally unacceptable. This rider is a grave insult to the San Carlos Apache people and their traditions and beliefs. It is a hard blow in the face of all those who fight for justice for all, and for the preservation of our one and only beautiful Earth Mother. It is not only an American scandal, it has also become an international outrage! The fact that astronomers have to destroy earth in order to understand what goes on in outer space is a sad statement. To not show respect for life on earth and to the sovereign nations -- read: original inhabitants -- that live within the boundaries of the U.S. is also telling the rest of the world a message about the United States of America. Must the astronomers have such a hunger for knowledge outside the earth and fail to recognize the needs of the earth and its people? The astronomers have acknowledged that another site can be secured that does not violate the dignity of a people and/or the habitat of endangered species. Another site that is far more appropriate and adequate for telescope viewing. If the astronomers are so curious about creation, they should take the telescopes on Mount Graham, turn them down towards Mother Earth and see what's right under their noses! The realization that man is the only creature which deliberately destroys its own environment will come far too late when all is dead, including mankind. To the American partners and politicians: the world has become cognizant of your wrong thinking and acting, and you have made your country weaker on the world stage. Your credibility as a nation to lead the world is fast disappearing because of your emphasis on technology, science and profit at the expense of nature, human rights, natural laws and natural justice. As for the Vatican and Arcetri's involvement in this project, we feel nothing but shame! Today, exactly 505 years after the Italian opportunist Christopher Columbus, started the colonization of the American continent and the genocide of the original inhabitants, condoned by the Roman Catholic Church, again a group of Italian opportunists are trying to conquer and trample upon the Native people of America. Today, exactly 505 years after the Roman Catholic Church sent out its missionaries with the Bible that covered the bloody swords, the Vatican deems it necessary to convert extraterrestrials by trampling upon the rights, cultures and beliefs of the Native people of Arizona. That the highly esteemed Max Planck Institute of Germany wants to participate in such a project, goes way beyond our understanding. That the Germans want to aid and abet in the destruction of Apache culture and beliefs, somehow reminds us of the atrocity that happened a little over 50 years ago in Germany (and the rest of Europe)... That the University of Ohio decided to join a project which was abandoned by all other American academic circles says enough about OSU: you are a disgrace to the university world and can be put on one line with that other opportunist, slave trader, thief and murderer... Christopher Columbus. That the University of Arizona obstinately continues this telescope project by all means possible, fills us with grief and pain. UofAz officials condoning and promoting this project are far worse that Columbus; he didn't know any better. You, as highly educated academics, should have learned from the mistakes of the future. The continuation of this unethical telescope project makes you aiders and abettors to genocide and ecocide. You are not ignorant medieval figures, but sheer psychopaths! To all American partners: stop signing "God Bless America". To the Vatican: stop being so sanctimonious. You can't look to your Creator for help when you destroy his Creation and offend, humiliate, and discriminate his Children! To all telescope partners: stop looking at the skies and stars... may you find balance, justice and truth... down here on Earth! NO TELESCOPES ON MOUNT GRAHAM!!! Remembering but NOT commemorating Columbus, Elsie Herten, executive director KOLA **************************** KOLA (International Campaign Office) Van Boeckel St. 20 B-1140 Brussels Belgium Tel&Fax +32-2-241-8322 Email : kolahq@skynet.be **************************** FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!! FREE WOLVERINE!!! NO SCOPES ON MT. GRAHAM!!! --------- "RE: Navajo-Hopi Update" --------- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 20:56:44 -0700 (MST) From: dh88691@goodnet.com (THURSDAY/Jon Norstog) Subj: Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute" Update: October 10, 1997 ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute" Update: Oct. 10, 1997 Counting the Livestock The latest crisis seems to have passed, at least for the time. On Sept 3, I had to go to Tuba City for a meeting on the "freeze" - Bitsuie, Joe and Norstog had been providing services to a community non-profit out there and we were wrapping up the contract. The meeting was supposed to be held in the non-profit's trailer, an old one vacated by the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission Office. When I got there, instead of Joe Dayzie, David Neztsosie, Harry Goldtooth and the rest of the gang, there was Lee Phillips, Betty Tso, Katherine Hazard and Gray Farrell, having lunch together. Mr. Farrell has been a range manager for the Navajo Nation for many years. I shook everyone's hand and split. Didn't take much brains to figure what the meeting was about. On the way back from Tuba City stopped at Mae Tso's place. She said that the livestock counters had already been by and showed me her "Kees'aani bi tsos". Actually it was federal, not Hopi paper, a five- day notice from the Hopi Agency BIA to impound livestock. The family said that Betty was going to get a letter written for the Phoenix Area Officer to sign, directing the Hopi Agency to back off. I understand the letter was sent and the five-day notices were withdrawn. The next day, Roman and I went out to Teesto to show a little support for the Clinton family. Their livestock was supposed to be counted that day. The rangers were nowhere in sight. We hung around and traded the news for a while, then went looking for the action. We must have gone the wrong way, because we never found the rangers. The Clintons said they had moved some livestock out, sold some as well. Other families are doing the same, so a lot of HPL livestock is ending up in the already-overgrazed Navajo Partitioned Lands (NPL), or is being sent to Nahat'a' Dziil Chapter (the so-called "New Lands") where it is liable to impoundment by Relocation Office range managers. Grazing Allocation After sitting on it all spring and summer, the Navajo Nation has put together some proposed allocations of the 2,800 sheep units allowed to the families under the "Accommodation Agreement." Two options have been proposed: the first is an equal distribution of 33 SU to each extended family that signed an "Accommodation Agreement"; the second is a base permit of 20 SU per family, with additional livestock for larger families. Under equal distribution, many extended families will be permitted less livestock than they are now under the existing P.L. 93-531 HPL permit system. Under the second option, no one's permit will be reduced. Neither of the two options provides enough livestock for the families to survive. Most of the families are making efforts to get their livestock off HPL one way or another. It is no secret that almost everyone is over their HPL permit level. The HPL permits, which are completely unrealistic, were issued after a 95% livestock reduction carried out in the 1970's. They have no relation to range condition, available forage or to people's needs for subsistence and survival. This has been the best grazing year I've seen in 13 years out here. All over the grass is shaggy, like a kid's head when he needs a haircut. Places where I have never seen grass growing are green. Western Wheatgrass, a beautiful, blue-green grass that grows in loamy wet areas, is growing back from its roots all over. It is a very nutritious grass and one that the livestock will eat to the roots if they get a chance. Most of the places it should be growing are choked with Russian Thistle and other junk. But the grass is there, it just doesn't usually get a chance to get very big. This year it did. One of the mainstay grasses out here is Blue Grama. It is a low-growing bunch grass, with a seed head that sticks out sideways from its stem, like a dog's tail. This year there was more of it than could be eaten and the seed heads were waving like little flags, thick as anything. This would be a good year to put some real time and effort into range restoration. There are areas where reseeding combined with burning or high-impact grazing could cut down the weeds and improve grazing permanently. This is particularly true in the NPL, where there have been no grazing regulations for 21 years and where so many relocatees and their livestock were moved by the U.S. government. The BIA is of course claiming that livestock need to be reduced, "because of the drought." Well, there was a drought last year, when they did their last range condition checks, so naturally there must be a great need to reduce livestock this year! Cactus Valley The Cactus Valley community asked Roman and me to come out to a meeting at Clarence Blackrock's place. They wanted to talk about land use, particularly grazing, with the U.S. and Hopi Tribe and wanted some technical support. Roma couldn't make it, so I drove out by myself, got there way early. People started coming around a little before noon, but the Hopis and the U.S. didn't show up. Mr. Blackrock started the meeting and we went over the community's testimony on customary use to the District Court in Phoenix this spring, and the efforts they had made to secure commitments from the Hopi Tribe on traditional use of lands. Who showed up for the meeting was Betty Tso and Roger Attakai, and Katherine Hazard from the U.S. DOJ. The Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation did not show at all. The community got to meet and put together a list of things to do for the next few months, but did not get any response to their concerns. Kee Watchman was at the meeting, back from Europe, He has been working with support groups over there, raising the "land dispute" issues with the European Parliament. The next step will probably involve the UN next summer. Mr. Watchman will be going back pretty soon. Mr. Blackrock has a llama. He told me they are very protective and will hang out with the sheep and kill coyotes or stray dogs. He hasn't put his in with is sheep yet. I spent some time at the corral watching the llama, along with a some of the grandchildren. This particular llama likes to flake out on its back with its feet up in the air. I wonder how many sheep units one of those things counts for? High Society Our old neighbor, Vivian Arviso, got married to Sam Deloria week before last. We went out to the Arviso ranch, about 18 miles west of Tohatchi for the wedding. There must have been 300 people there, most of them having jammed up the graded dirt road to get there. Vivian's son Greg is a master chef. He brought down a buffalo from South Dakota and cooked it on the spot, also ten or twenty sheep. It was a Navajo wedding but held in a tipi, there were so many people they set the tipi up flat and wide, the sides slanting maybe 45 degrees. Vivian was Miss Indian America in 1960, then she married Gerald One Feather, who became Chairman at Pine Ridge. She lived there a number of years, neighbor to the Jumping Bull family, and was in the middle of all the troubles of 1973-76. She's writing a book, I hear. The wedding guests were a real mix, including some relatives from the Tohatchi area who were real rez people, a lot of classy, prosperous- looking urban Indians, most of the Deloria clan, and some white people who looked like Santa Fe and Albuquerque society. I ran into an attorney there who works for the Navajo Nation. He told me he'd been going to strategy meetings for three years where the Attorney General and everyone else who could possibly be involved in Navajo-Hopi issues sit around and decide they need a strategy on Navajo-Hopi issues. Then, he said they all go home and no one develops a strategy. After a few months they bring in all the contract attorneys and have another strategy session. Lots of strategy sessions, never a strategy. jn --------- "RE: Northern Coastal Tribal Wilderness" --------- Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 11:00:44 -0400 (EDT) From: FirehairSS@aol.com Subj: Northern Coastal Tribal Wilderness UUCP email By CHRIS COURSEY Press Democrat staff writer A coalition of Northern California Indian tribes is set to celebrate the nation's first "intertribal wilderness park," 3,900 acres of upland forest along Mendocino's "Lost Coast." Eleven years in the making, the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Park will be dedicated with ceremonies beginning Friday and continuing through next weekend. "This heralds a physical and spiritual homecoming for 11 tribes whose ancestors were forced from their homeland more than 130 years ago," said Ted Harrison, vice president of the Trust for Public Land. "It will be a fun, touching event." The tribal council already is at work rehabilitating the impacts of historic logging on the land. The park eventually will be restored as a wild place where North Coast Indians can preserve and continue native customs. Public access will be limited to a few trails and a small number of hunting permits. Harrison's Santa Fe, N.M.- based group acquired 7,100 acres of coastal timber land from Georgia-Pacific Corp. in 1986. California eventually bought 3,200 acres, including the Sally Bell Grove of old-growth redwoods, for addition to Sinkyone Wilderness State Park. The trust has held onto the remaining acreage with the intent of selling it to a private entity "with substantial conservation protections," Harrison said. But during those 11 years, he said, the vision for the property's use has shifted substantially. "In 1986, we thought some type of continued -- though restricted -- logging was not only possible on this land, but what the community wanted," Harrison said. "But in the past 11 years, the economy and the consciousness of Mendocino County has changed a lot. Tourism and conservation are much more important now." In a rancorous meeting in Fort Bragg in 1995, the state Coastal Conservancy turned aside pleas to allow continued logging on the land and approved its sale to the Intertribal Council. The council is comprised of 11 North Coast tribes that absorbed surviving members of the Sinkyone band following massacres and resettlement in the mid-1800s, Harrison said. The council bought the property in August for $1.4 million, largely with the help of a $1.3 million grant from the Santa Fe-based Lannan Foundation. "The people at the foundation were touched by the idea of reconnecting Native American people with their homeland," Harrison said. Hawk Rosales, executive director of the Intertribal Council, wasn't available for comment this week but said in a press release that the group already has begun restoration of the land, which was heavily logged for several decades. "The council plans to preserve the land for local, traditional Indian use and to restore it to a pre-industrial ecological balance that sustained one of America's largest populations of native peoples," the statement said. The state park is largely coastal forest, including the old-growth redwood groves that first sparked conservationists' interest in the land. The intertribal park is rugged upland property, Harrison said. "It's gorgeous; it's so spectacular," he said. Under the arrangement that created the park, the Pacific Forest Trust will hold a conservation easement over the land. The easement prevents a variety of activities and ensures the land will be used for "furthering Native American culture," preserving public access and minimizing impacts on the adjacent state park, according to the Forest Trust. The Intertribal Wilderness Park will be a place where area tribes can re-establish native uses, such as gathering plants for cultural arts and foods and holding spiritual or community celebrations. The first such event is set for next weekend. The gathering starts at 1 p.m. Friday with statements from council members, the Lannan Foundation, the Trust for Public Land, the Coastal Conservancy and environmental organizations. The rest of the weekend is billed as a "California Indian cultural gathering." "Although anyone may attend and camp with us, respect must be shown at all times during this event," organizers said in a press release. "If you bring cameras, you must obtain permission for who or what you want to photograph before you take pictures." The park is about 45 miles north of Fort Bragg; take Highway 1 to Usal Road and follow signs to Sinkyone Wilderness. --------- "RE: Revoke the Papal Bulls" --------- From: FirehairSS@aol.com Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 08:40:25 -0400 (EDT) Subj: Please forward-Revoke the Papal Bulls UUCP email On request we forward this message. We do not support or in any other way recommend participation, that is something we leave for each induvidual and/or organization to decide. Aanta. IYN. __________________________________________________________ Forwarded message: Subject: Papal Bulls Burning! Please Forward Forward Message Forward Message "Columbus Day" or "Discoverer's Day"?? DAY of INFAMY and RESOLUTION for Indigenous Peoples Worldwide A CALL FOR NON-VIOLENT ACTION Aloha mai kakou, A recent discussion on the kanakamaoliallies listserv in colony Hawai'i has stimulated a global call for indigenous peoples and supporters to symbolically burn duplicates of the 1493 Papal Bulls. These Bulls legally sanctioned Columbus' genocide campaign against indigenous peoples of the Americas. The colonial Spanish claimed "the bulls gave them the right to use just war to convert local populations who had refused to immediately accept Christianity" (note: Bartolome' de Las Casas, "The Devastation of the Indies," 1552). Those who refused to conform were considered inhuman, incapable of reaching "heaven," and, therefore, better off dead! The use of "dominion," "conquest," and "discovery" as a means to justify the theft of indigenous lands was sanctioned in the name of Christianity. The Bulls of 1493 have yet to be revoked and help allow for the continual GENOCIDE against indigenous peoples TODAY. A movement to revoke the Papal Bulls has already been undertaken by indigenous peoples. In 1992, a delegation led by Steven Newcomb and Bergil Killstraight of the Indigenous Law Institute presented an an open letter to Pope John Paul II calling upon the Vatican to formally revoke the documents "to demonstrate solidarity with indigenous nations and to show willingness to honor and respect (Native) inherent rights to liberty, justice, and peace" (qtd. in Valerie Taliman, "Revoke the Inter Cetera Bull," Turtle Quarterly, 1994). No action was taken by the Pope. In 1994 Newcomb, a Shawnee/Lenape legal scholar who has spent over a decade researching the origins of U.S. federal "Indian" law, spoke on a panel at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago attended by over 7,700 spiritual leaders and participants. A "Declaration of Vision" drafted by over 60 indigenous delegates at the Parliament reads, in part: "We call upon the people of conscience in the Roman Catholic hier- archy to persuade Pope John II to formally revoke the Inter Cetera Bull of 1493, which will restore our fundamental human rights. That Papal document called for our Nations and Peoples to be subjugated so the Christian Empire and its doctrines would be propagated. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Johnson v. McIntosh 8 Wheat 543 (in 1823) adopted the same principle of subjugation expressed in the Inter Cetera Bull. This Papal Bull has been, and continues to be, devasting to our religions, our cultures, and the survival of our populations." A Call For Action Indigenous peoples and supporters are asked to have Roman Catholic churches and leaders around the world persuade the Vatican hierarchy in ROME to revoke these racist and inhumane documents (note: there were four Bulls issued on the Americas in 1493). In the Lili'uokalani- Gandhian-King tradition of non-violent action/resistance indigenous peoples and supporters are asked to symbolically burn copies (or tear them up if you wish) of the Bulls, specifically the second Bull "Inter Caetera" of May 4 provided below. An annual demonstration could be pursued until the original Bulls are destroyed. In Honolulu, the event will take place at the Catholic Diocese Office of the Bishop (the Cathedral), 1184 Bishop St. (at the top of Fort St. mall adjacent to Beretania St.), on Sunday, October 12 at 1 pm. Instructions? It's easy! Simply print out this message and clip off the Bull where it says "cut here." Then, make copies, distribute and burn (or tear) them at your local Catholic church. Contact persons: Tony Castanha Professor Francis Boyle University of Hawai'i University of Illinois Law School castanha@hawaii.edu fboyle@law.uiuc.edu Lynette Cruz Joshua Cooper University of Hawai'i University of Hawai'i lcruz@hawaii.edu joshua@hawaii.edu *************************** A brief history of the early conquest, a look at the "Doctrine of Discovery" as related to U.S. federal "Indian" law and, finally, the "Inter Caetera Bull of May 4, 1493 will be presented with historical introduction. The Taino-Arawak people inhabited the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean at the time of Columbus' encounter there in 1492. On Hispaniola alone the Taino population numbered between 7-8 million (Tyler 1988; Keegan 1992). Taino originally migrated out of the Orinocco region of Amazonia, settling in the so-called "West Indies" over 2,000 years ago (Wilson 1990). Described as the "peaceable Arawaks," they welcomed the white man carrying a cross and sword, only to be nearly exterminated shortly afterwards on sanction of Rome. The immense brutality carried out by the Spanish against Taino was nothing less than INSANE. One must ask, "Who really were the 'savage barbarians' in 1492?" Spanish priest Las Casas observed first hand many of the atrocities carried out in the name of Christianity: "And the Christians, with their horses and swords and pikes began to carry out massacres and strange cruelties against them. They attacked the towns and spared neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed, not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them to pieces as if dealing with sheep in the slaughter house. They laid bets as to who, with one stroke of the sword, could split a man in two or could cut off his head or spill out his entrails with a single stroke of the pike. They took infants from their mothers' breasts, snatching them by the legs and pitching them headfirst against the crags or snatched them by the arms and threw them into the rivers, roaring with laughter and saying as the babies fell into the water, 'Boil there, you offspring of the devil!' ... They made some low wide gallows on which the hanged victim's feet almost touched the ground, stringing up their victims in lots of thirteen, in memory of Our Redeemer and His twelve Apostles, then set burning wood at their feet and thus burned them alive. To others they attached straw or wrapped their whole bodies in straw and set them afire. With still others, all those they wanted to capture alive, they cut off their hands and hung them round the victim's neck, saying, 'Go now, carry the message,' meaning, Take the news to the Indians who have fled to the mountains. They usually dealt with the chieftains and nobles in the following way: they made a grid of rods which they placed on forked sticks, then lashed the victims to the grid and lighted a smoldering fire underneath, so that little by little, as those captives screamed in despair and torment, their souls would leave them." Christian mythology, greed for gold, and racism were the basis of the diaspora throughout the Americas at the time of Colon and well into the sixteenth century. Of course, the genocide against indigenous peoples today usually takes on much subtler forms, but not always as suffered by Maya of Chiapas in 1994. For Kanaka Maoli in Hawai'i it means continual evictions from homelands in the name of PROGRESS, DEVELOPMENT and MATERIALISM, along with the indiscriminate desecration of sacred sites and burial grounds. For Yanomami of northern Brasil it means illegal gold mining and indiscriminate shootings in Yanomami territory, and death from Western introduced diseases. Yanomami just want to be left alone! "The root problem that indigenous nations and peoples face is that they are still being deemed irrelevant by nation-states, based on having been historically nullified under Christian international law," writes Steve Newcomb. In a paper titled, "The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law: The Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. McIntosh, and Plenary Power," published in the New York University "Review of Law and Social Change," 1993, Newcomb links up the doctrine of "dis- covery" with the Johnson case and applies its plenary powers to American law today. The central questions Newcomb ask are: "Should the United States continue to assert a plenary dominion over Indians and an underlying vested property right in Indian lands based on the historical fact that Indian people were not Christians at the time of European arrival? Should Indian nations and peoples be denied under United States law their rights to 'complete sovereignty' and an exclusive right of territory in their lands on the basis of Christianity?" He answers, in part, that federal "Indian" law today: "rests upon the Law of Christian Nations or the doctrine of discovery, which in turn rests upon the Papal Bulls of 1452 and 1493. If this is not enough evidence to convince you that this arrogance of Manifest Destiny continues today, there is now the infamous decision on 1991: Gitksan v. Canada, where the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the Gitksan Indians had no standing because of the Law of Nations, better known as the Doctrine of Discovery. In this doctrine, religious triumphalism and the seizure of lands are intrinsically connected. Five hundred years of domination, exploitation, and self-serving law historically based upon these ideas are alive and well today." The Papal Bulls The "historical introduction" below is taken from Paul Gottschalk, "The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas Reproduced and Translated," 1927. The second Bull "Inter Caetera" of May 4, 1493 is provided by Henry Steele Commager (ed.), "Documents of American History," 1963. This voluminous 746 page documentation of "U.S" history somehow begins in 1492. Both sources are copied verbatim. Historical Introduction Returning from his first voyage, Columbus landed on the Portuguese coast and was at once invited to Court. He reached Lisbon March 4, 1493, upon the invitation of the King of Portugal. On hearing his report, King John II claimed the newly discovered lands for Portugal by virtue of the Treaty of Alcacovas of 1479, sanctioned by the Bulls of Pope Sixtus IV, dated June 21, 1481. The text of the Treaty and the Bull contain some slight variations and thereby allow of different interpretations. It is difficult to decide, therefore, whether this claim of the Portuguese King was justified. Contemporary as well as modern historians have always differed widely in their opinions. It is generally believed that, with his famous message on his discoveries, Columbus dispatched to the Spanish Kings, who were at Barcelona, a report on the difficulties raised by the Portuguese King, but it is questioned whether this was sent from Lisbon by land or from Palos after having reached the latter port, March 14, 1493. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain reported the great news at once to Pope Alexander VI. It is again doubtful whether this was done by a special messenger or by a courier sent to Cardinal Bernardin de Carvajal and to Ruiz de Medina, then Spanish ambassadors at the Holy See, and whether this was done in consequence of the Portuguese claims or according to a general custom of that period. Pope Alexander VI, himself a Spaniard, granted the request to confer the lately discovered lands on the Crown of Spain by three Bulls issued on May 3 and May 4 1493 (all much in favor of Spain, and depriving Portugal of nearly all privileges bestowed upon it by the Bulls of 1452 and 1454, issued bu Nicholas V, and by that of 1481 of Sixtus IV and one of 1484 of Innocentius VIII). Some months later, on September 26, 1493, a fourth Bull was issued granting to Spain almost unlimited rights. But this act remained without consequence; for in the meantime, at the suggestion of the King of Spain, it was agreed that, to avoid complications already threatening, a conference should be held. Portuguese ambassadors were sent to Barcelona and, after many negotiations and some interruptions, a settlement was finally reached at the small Spanish town of Tordesillas and a treaty was signed on June 7, 1494. Obviously inspired by the corresponding passage in the second Bull "Inter caetera", but not referring to this or any other bulls or treaties, it was provided that there should be drawn a line running from North to South, 370 leagues west from Cape Verde Islands, and that everything west of this line should belong to Spain, everything east of it to Portugal. The sanction, which by the terms of the Treaty was to be asked, was never given by Alexander VI and not before the 24th of January, 1506, was a Bull to such effect issued by Pope Julius II. Although much disputed and very differently interpreted, this Treaty remained in force until January 13, 1750, when the Treaty of Madrid annulled the boundary line. It would seem, however, that this boundary line, first provided for in the second Bull "Inter caetera" and later corrected in the Treaty of Tordesillas, decided what parts of the western hemisphere as well as which regions of the eastern hemisphere were discovered, possessed and civilized by Spain and by Portugal respectively, and which still speak the language and show the influence of the culture of their first dis- coverers. CUT HERE CUT HERE CUT HERE CUT HERE CUT HERE CUT HERE CUT HERE The Papal Bull "Inter Caetera" of May 4, 1493 Alexander, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the illustrious sovereigns, our very dear son in Christ, Ferdinand, king, and our very dear daughter in Christ, Isabella, queen of Castile. . . . We have indeed learned that you, who for a long time had intended to seek out and dis- cover certain islands and mainlands remote and unknown and not hitherto discovered by others, to the end that you might bring to the worship of our Redeemer and the profession of the Catholic faith their residents and inhabitants, having been up to the present time greatly engaged in the siege and recovery of the kingdom itself of Granada were unable to accomplish this holy and praiseworthy purpose; but the said kingdom having at length been regained, as was pleasing to the Lord, with a wish to fulfill your desire, chose our beloved son, Christopher Columbus . . . whom you furnished with ships and men equipped for like designs, not without the greatest hardships, dangers, and expenses, to make diligent quest for these remote and unknown mainlands and islands through the sea, where hitherto no one had sailed; and they at length with divine aid and with the utmost diligence sailing in the ocean sea, discovered certain very remote islands and even mainlands that hitherto had not been discovered by others; wherein dwell very many peoples living in peace, and, as reported, going unclothed, and not eating flesh. . . . Wherefore, as becomes Catholic kings and princes . . . you have purposed . . . to bring under your sway the said mainlands and islands. . . . And in order that you may enter upon so great an undertaking with greater readiness and heartiness endowed with benefit of our apostolic favor, we, of our own accord, not at your instance nor the request of anyone else in your regard, but out of our own sole largess and certain knowl- edge and out of the fullness of our apostolic power, by the authority of Almighty God conferred upon us in blessed Peter and of the vicarship of Jesus Christ, which we hold on earth, do by tenor of these presents, should any of said islands have been found by your envoys and captains, give, grant, and assign to you and your heirs and successors, kings of Castile and Leon, forever, together with all their dominions, cities, camps, places, and villages, and all rights, jurisdictions, and appur- tenances, all islands and mainlands found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west and the south, by drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole, namely the north, to the Antartic pole, namely the south, no matter whether the said mainlands and islands are found and to be found in the direction of India or towards any other quarter, the said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards the west and south from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores and Cape Verde. With this proviso, however, that none of the islands and mainlands, found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered, beyond that said line towards the west and south, be in the actual possession of any Christian king or prince up to the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ just past from which the present year 1493 begins. . . . Furthermore, under penalty of excommunication LATE SENTENTIE to be incurred IPSO FACTO, should anyone thus contravene, we strictly forbid all persons of whatsoever rank, even imperial and royal, or of whatsoever estate, degree, order, or condition, to dare without your special permit or that of your aforesaid heirs and suc- cessors, to go for the purpose of trade or any other reason to the islands or mainlands . . . apostolic constitutions and ordinances and other decrees whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. . . . Let no one therefore, infringe, or with rash boldness contravene, this our recommendation, exhortation, requisition, gift, grant, assignment, constitution, deputation, decree, mandate, prohibition, and will. Should anyone presume to attempt this, be it known to him that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the incarnation of our lord 1493, the fourth of May, and the first year of our pontificate. REVOKE THE BULLS! INDIGENOUS PEOPLES HAVE MUCH TO OFFER HUMANITY! --------- "RE: Bear Lincoln" --------- Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 23:39:37 -0700 From: Nicholas Wilson Subj: BEAR LINCOLN FREE Newsgroup: alt.native BEAR LINCOLN ACQUITTED OF MURDERING COP (Summary article available by e-mail request) An all-white jury found Bear Lincoln NOT GUILTY of murdering deputy sheriff Bob Davis on the Round Valley Indian Reservation in Mendocino County, California. Ten of the jurors felt it was a clear case of self-defense, and favored acquitting Bear of all charges. But two jurors hung the jury with a vote of 10-2 for acquittal on manslaughter. The two holdouts felt Bear shot the deputy in the heat of passion after seeing the deputy shoot and kill his lifelong friend right in front of him. The D.A. is deciding whether to retry Bear on that charge alone. Meanwhile Bear was freed on bail after over two years in jail since turning himself in 8/16/95. He was immediately threatened by an off-duty deputy, even though he was surrounded by over 70 people including lawyers, family, supporters and media with cameras. Bear took it as a death threat. If there had not been witnesses he might have been shot right there in the jail parking lot. The prosecutor and county sheriff can't believe the not guilty verdicts from the all-white jury. They thought the case was a slam dunk for the prosecution and that Bear would be on death row for killing a cop. They are making statements to the media calling the verdict a miscarriage of justice. This puts Bear's life in danger. The jury felt that Bear was only protecting himself from a surprise attack by the cops. Over half of the jurors felt so strongly that they have come out publicly against any retrial on the manslaughter. Five of them came and spoke at a press conference called by the Lincoln legal team to celebrate the acquittal. The jurors said they were outraged that the prosecution charged the death penalty and first degree murder with such a weak case. They believed Bear spoke the truth and the deputy lied on the stand to cover up what really happened. A new summary article about the just completed Bear Lincoln trial is available by request. If you want it just send me an e-mail and ask for the Lincoln summary article. Please tell me where you're writing from. (It's NOT for reposting on the net; it's copyrighted because I'm a freelance writer and still trying to sell it to newspapers and magazines.) If you have World Wide Web access the complete detailed coverage of the two-month trial, the verdict, the reaction, and all the articles about the case published over the last two years are available free of charge to the reader in the Albion Monitor at: http://www.monitor.net/monitor --------- "RE: Gustafsen: Editorial on Media Apologies" --------- Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 08:08:22 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Gustafsen: Editorial on Media Apologies :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT The Martlet, University of Victoria Student Newspaper, Editorial Oct.9, 1997 In case you missed it. In a buried article in the Sept 26 Province, Joey Thompson suggests the media should apologize for the way it reported and didn't report the Gustafsen Lake standoff. Too little too late. Joey Thompson wrote: "When it came to covering the events clouding the 1995 Gustafsen Lake fiasco, the RCMP took reporters for a ride. We bought the Mounties' take on what was going down during that tense month-long summer siege. A lot of what we got^ืand dutifully reported^ื was crock. It's time we conceded that and apologized to the natives and citizens of B.C." Sweet sentiments, but like sugar, they are meant to cause decay -- memory decay -- by attempting to cleanse the media for its supposed nonaction. The reality is that the media's actions actually reveal an agenda of collaboration with the RCMP. In the 50-plus hours of RCMP videotape, there is evidence that shows some of the "cherry -picked" media as Thompson calls them, were actually spying for the RCMP by handing over information before releasing it to the public. So why the apology? Because the trial yielded evidence of the RCMP's lies and tactics, the media collusion, and the reality of international law as pertaining to unceded Indian lands, it looks bad for the BC media to stay silent like they were during the trial. So they slip in this little article which absolves them of their collusion and at the same time report some truth: "The fact is camp members weren't the terrorists RCMP made them out to be. Nor did they invite the shootouts the police press releases claimed." No kidding. The reality of the Gustafsen Lake standoff still eludes everyone in this "province". Eighteen people risked their lives to show the world that settler governments have no jurisdiction over sovereign Indian nations. In resource-rich "BC", resistance doesn't go over well with the settler state. It was that simple. "The CO commented and I agreed that we need to clean them out entirely and not have any hanging issues similar to what occurred at Oka." - notes of RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brown August 10,'95 "Have you found someone that can help us with a disinformation or smear campaign?" Dennis Ryan RCMP 'Crisis Management Team' on RCMP videotape. "It was necessary to ensure that the public perceived a continued threat from the people in the camp." RCMP Commander Len Olfert, court testimony, Jan. 6, 1997. August 26th 2130 hrs "We have to get the Ministers in line to ensure that they have the proper perspective. Stephen Owen called and I briefed him on Mercredi feedback. He will advise the Attorney General and the Premier to ensure that politically they are in line." Notes of Assistant Commissioner Brown August 26, 1995 2140hrs. Notes disclosed during trial. "The coverage reminded me of CNN's handling of the Gulf War, with the reporters locked up in steady contact with the generals and the military's spin doctors...The rush to sweep the Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash affairs out of the news the moment the physical standoffs were removed, shows all the signs of a classic coverup." Dr. Tony Hall, in Canadian Dimension, Dec.'95 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: We Demand a Full and Comprehensive Public Inquiry into Gustafsen Lake! Letters to the Ts'peten (Gustafsen Lake) POWs: Wolverine (William Jones Ignace) Political Prisoner Box 4000 Abbotsford, BC V2S 5X8 James (OJ) Pitawanakwat Political Prisoner (same address as Wolverine) Free The Wolverine Campaign Spokespersons: Splitting the Sky - Phone/Fax: (604) 543-9661 Bill Lightbown - Phone: (604) 251-4949 Visit the Ts'peten Support Page: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html Letters to The Martlet: martlet@uvic.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org 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: Sechelt Ready to Blockade" --------- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 23:52:09 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Sechelt Ready to blockade over BC Treaty talks :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [Please note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. It is provided for reference only. -- S.I.S.I.S.] ANGRY INDIANS SEEK MEETING WITH PREMIER Vancouver Sun, Friday, October 10, 1997, by David Hogben, Sun Legislature Bureau Victoria - Sechelt Indians are demanding a meeting with Premier Glen Clark after treaty talks reached an impasse on the Sunshine Coast. "The response they gave us today was very pathetic. It was the same response they gave us six weeks ago," Chief Gary Feschuk said after negotiations in the Sechelt Longhouse broke down after four hours of fruitless talks Thursday. "I am frustrated to the point where I wonder if there is any political will to complete [a treaty]," Feschuk said. He said some band members were so angry they had to be persuaded not to blockade the highway running through the community. The Sechelt Indians have suspended all talks for at least two weeks, and will decide their next step after learning whether Clark will agree to meet them. Clark could not be reached for comment. But Peter Smith, manager of media affairs in the aboriginal affairs ministry, said senior ministry staff need to be briefed by provincial negotiator Bill Valentine before any recommendations are made. Canada's chief negotiator said it is unlikely the federal government will be altering its position on any of the four key issues the Sechelt are rejecting. "I don't expect my instructions to change in the next 14 days," Robin Dodson said in a telephone interview. Negotiators from the two levels of senior government have offered the Sechelt band of 990 people $48 million and 350 hectares of land in addition to the 1,000 hectares the band already holds in fee-simple title. But Feschuk said the Sechelt cannot accept four key elements of the proposal. They oppose: - a transfer of Sechelt existing and treaty lands from federal jurisdiction to provincial jurisdiction - The transition period of eight years for paying transaction taxes, such as sales taxes and GST, and 12 years for personal income taxes, _Ottawa and BC's refusal to transfer a parcel of land that the Sechelt people would like to use for housing, even if they have to wait until 2039, when gravel is mined and the timber is cut, - Ottawa's and BC's refusal to put gravel royalties (for another parcel of land) in trust until an agreement is reached on whether it will be included in the land package. Dodson said the outstanding issues were not only put to the Sechelt in the written offer made in August, but were on the table when negotiations suffered a similar breakdown in February. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to the Vancouver Sun: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca More information on the BC Treaty Commission: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Clark/BCgovt.html :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org 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: $$$$$$ Contributed by Indians" --------- Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:07:14 -0400 (EDT) From: FrehairSS@aol.com Subj: $$$$$$ contributed to Politicos by Indians Thanks, NASC ********** Oklahoma's Indian tribes and tribal officials have contributed more than $270,000 to political candidates and parties since Jan. 1, 1995, campaign finance reports show. Indians turned on the money spigot -- just like other special interest groups -- after learning that the Legislature was about to directly affect their lives. The Oklahoma Legislature in recent years has considered Indian-related legislation on such issues as smoke shops and motor fuel taxes. At the same time, a budget-cutting Congress has raised concerns among leaders of Oklahoma tribes that receive an estimated $1 billion a year in federal funds. Many have fought back by forming political action committees -- commonly referred to as PACs -- to raise money and contribute it to campaigns most likely to help them. A $107,671 contribution of soft money to the Democratic National Committee by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes has drawn the most controversy. The Democrats refunded the tribe's money, and a congressional committee is looking into the circumstances of the 1996 donation. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes PAC contributed $4,750 to the legislators' campaigns and the Oklahoma Democratic Party. The Chickasaw Nation, based in Ada, donated $10,000 in soft money to the Democratic National Committee last year. In addition, the Chickasaws gave more than $35,000 to 10 legislative candidates, one congressional candidate and four Democratic Party-related political action groups. More than $25,000 in political contributions has flowed from the Choctaw Nation, including $5,000 to Republican Gov. Frank Keating's campaign a few days after he took office in 1995. Otherwise, Choctaw contributions have gone to Democrats. Also, Choctaw officials have contributed more than $20,000 to Democratic candidates and causes. Some have donated as much as $1,000 each to a candidate, all on the same day. Several tribes have created the Five Civilized Tribes Political Action Committee. The PAC's giving has reached $29,000. Marilyn Hughes, state Ethics Commission's executive director, is concerned that many tribes have not registered a political action committee. Normally, a group that receives or spends $500 in a year to support causes or candidates is required to register. "The assumption under the law is that if you're not excluded (from registering), you're included. It's different when you're dealing with Indians," she said. Hughes said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that with Indian tribes "you need to include them rather than assume they're included." In January, the commission tabled an effort to specifically include tribes in the ethics rules. One important aspect of registering a PAC is that it must file periodic reports disclosing the source of the contributions and to whom the money was donated. Officials with the Choctaw Nation and the Cherokee Tribe both said the money for campaign contributions came from the tribe's businesses. Kay-Taylor Colbert, Chickasaw Nation press secretary, said, "We give contributions to those people that support Indian issues." "We're not a PAC organization; we're just an organization. ... We're a business enterprise." Joe Byrd, Cherokee principal chief, said the decision to give depends on the candidate's ability to "convince us that they have the interest of the tribes at heart." "I know they have their own constituents, they're not all tribal members, but if they just show an interest and a concern that they'd be willing to support our cause or give us an opportunity for consultation, that's good enough for us." Byrd said Indians are just beginning to learn "how the game is played." Tribes must become more bipartisan as they get "more active in the political process," he said. "We need to look at who could most likely fight for our issues, regardless of what party they belong to." The Cherokee PAC contributed $412 to one Republican candidate in 1996. "We didn't really distinguish between any party, but of course, this part of (Oklahoma), a lot of them are Democrats," he said. "But I come from a hard-core Republican family -- my wife being Republican, my mother, my in-laws." Byrd said the tribe's directors recently decided to dissolve its PAC because "of all the scrutiny on the national scene." Byrd said the PAC had been created because "Native Americans have always been charged with not being active in voting." "What we want to do is just be a part of the voting process and not stand on the sidelines ." The Legislature should not pass legislation affecting Indians without first communicating with the tribes, he said. "All we ask is to keep us informed and (for) consultation before anybody passes legislation that would have an ill effect on the tribe," Byrd said. Staff writer Anthony Thornton contributed to this report. --------- "RE: Residential Schools Issue" --------- Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 12:09:50 -0400 (EDT) From: FirehairSS@aol.com Subj: Rev.Arnett--FAX to SISS-Residential Schls Issue S.I.S.I.S. received the following by fax from the Rev. Annett. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: New Witnesses, New Questions about the Residential School Atrocities by (Rev. ) Kevin Annett September 27, 1997 I. This past week, a new eyewitness to a death at the Alberni Residential School came forward: Harry Wilson, who found the body of a "dead, naked girl all covered in blood" behind the school in the spring of 1967, when he was a student there. In a written statement, Harry claims that he told the Principal, a J. Andrews, about the body, but neither the police nor the RCMP ever questioned him about the incident. The girl's body simply "vanished". But soon after this, Harry was sent away from the school, and was eventually hospitalized against his will in Bella Bella by the RCMP "after they talked to my parents". Harry also states that, in the same year, another student named Frank Williams was found dead, hanged in the school lunchroom. The Victoria Times-Colonist carried an article on Harry's statement, and the RCMP immediately denied any knowledge of the girl who died. But the same time that the article appeared, I received a phone call from Constable Gerry Peters, of "E Division" who investigates "abuse allegations" at the Residential Schools. I was surprised to hear from Peters, since Harriett Nahanee, whose public testimony about a murder she witnessed at the Alberni school was never taken by the RCMP, had been told by a Corporal McGark that the RCMP investigation into the schools was officially over as of January, 1997. According to Peters, however, the investigation was still on. Paul Willms, who once headed it, was now "transferred elsewhere", although no-one had officially replaced him. It all seemed very muddled, and reminded me of the way the church kept changing the goalposts, re-writing history and denying responsibility in the course of their firing and "delisting" of me as a minister. The method of subterfuge was identical. Peters immediately said to me that "It was never the mandate of the Task Force to investigate reports of homicide at the schools. We decided that before the investigation began."I was astounded, since this fact was never made public or admitted by RCMP officials before now. "Why wouldn't you look into homicide in the schools? Doesn't that qualify as 'abuse'?". "No" said Peters. "That would be under the authority of local RCMP detachments." "Then why did your Task Force comment on the death of Maisie Shaw and Albert Gray, and state publically that they did not die of foul play? How could you do so knowledgeably, if it wasn't your mandate to investigate homicides?" A long pause followed. Peters then fumbled for words, saying, "The Courtenay RCMP concurred with our findings about those deaths." I didn't see how this comment clarified anything; on the contrary, Peters seemed to confirm that his group was investigating homicides by his use of the term "our findings". But I pressed on: "Then you did investigate those reports of homicide, when it wasn't your mandate to do so?" I had caught him in the big contradiction. Peters said nothing to this, and quickly changed the subject. He urged me to tell Harry to report his story to the Alberni RCMP, and said to contact him if I heard any more such reports. Once again Peters was contradicting himself: was his Task Force responsible for investigating homicides or not? At the same time that Peters was giving me this convoluted and contradictory argument, his office was telling the Victoria Times-Colonist that Albert Gray had died of "diphtheria" in Port Alberni, and that Maisie Shaw, too, had died of a bronchial ailment. The newspaper did not report that no death certificate or burial permit existed for either child, and that two eyewitnesses had told the Vancouver Sun in December 1995 that Albert had been beaten to death by A.E. Caldwell, school Principal, and that Maisie had been kicked down a flight of stairs to her death by the same church official. If these children died of the "natural causes" claimed by the RCMP Task Force "not mandated to investigate homicide reports", then why can no burial permit be found for either child? However, if they were murdered in the manner described by the eyewitnesses, then there would certainly be no such burial permit issued. My impression is that the RCMP are creating a fog of deception around these, and other deaths at the residential schools. Their argument about the deaths, and their own mandate regarding the schools, makes no sense, and seems to be made up as they go along. This lack of clarity and consistency suggests that the RCMP have had to quickly devise a response to something that they weren't prepared for: namely, the revelation of murder at the residential schools, through living eyewitnesses. Why weren't the Mounties prepared for this? Some possibilities: 1. The RCMP never knew about the murders. This is very unlikely, since at least elements in both the church and native communities knew that Maisie, Albert and other children had been killed. The RCMP had close relations with the church, as the "truant officers" who seized children and brought them to the schools. How could they have not known about killings done by church officials? 2. The RCMP knew, made an investigation of the deaths, but their reports were buried by higher government authorities or senior RCMP officials, because of the political fallout of murdered Indians. This would have required the present day "Task Force": a hurried "window dressing" investigation into certain abuses, which steered clear of any probing of murders. Such a probe of deaths might have revealed the suppressed reports of earlier investigations, and implicate senior Mountie, Church and government officials in cover-up of murder at the schools. 3. The RCMP knew, made an investigation of the deaths, but issued no reports, keeping the events secret. This would have required what Harry Wilson states occurred: the removal of bodies in secret without interviewing witnesses, and the removal, too, of these witnesses to other locations, as happened to Harry. False "cover stories" would also be invented to explain the deaths, citing bronchial problems as the cause of death, since such ailments are so common among native children and would seem plausible, particularly in the poor health environment of the schools. All of this has in fact occurred, in both cases of Maisie Shaw and Albert Gray. Therefore, this third option is, I believe, the most likely. The likelihood of "Option Three" does not suggest that senior Mounties, church and government officials did not know of the murders. On the contrary, a combination of Options Two and Three is quite probable: the murders were kept secret and suppressed at the local level, but higher authorities knew. The completeness of the local cover-up would explain the ad-hoc and amateurish nature of the present cover-up by the RCMP and church: both have been taken by surprise by the exposure of the deaths by witnesses who were believed to have been "taken care of" in various ways, primarily by fear of retribution. I also believe that the RCMP and United Church have been working together to conceal this history, and respond to critics. At my de-listing hearing, it was admitted by church lawyers that John Siebert, national church officer responsible for the residential schools and land claims, was in direct communication with the RCMP in Ottawa concerning my case and the allegations I had made about the deaths in the coastal residential schools. Siebert had even faxed a copy of his press statement concerning me to the RCMP head office. In addition, local church officer Win Stokes, who had been in charge of negotiations with me after my firing without cause, stated during my de-listing hearing, in October, 1996, that "Senior government officials told me not to upset the applecart on the Lot 363 land claim issue." (The church's sale of Ahousaht ancestral land on Lot 363 to white business interests had triggered my objection and subsequent, rapid removal from my pulpit by Stokes and others.) Only the continued surfacing of eyewitnesses can counter this latest campaign of disinformation and cover-up by the RCMP and church. A small step in this direction started last night in downtown Vancouver... II. Harriett Nahanee and I called a meeting at the Carnegie Centre for anyone who had been through a native residential school. From only one small notice in a local publication, over 20 people showed up. In our circle, we heard new testimonies for nearly three hours. "L", a middle-aged woman, described how she and her schoolmates were held incommunicado for long periods at her residential school. They were not allowed to phone any relatives, their mail was kept from them, and the letters they wrote home were edited and censored by school authorities. As she cried, she recounted how she and nine other students had defied the school by all of them standing up and taking whatever punishment was given to any one of them. "My friend was crying one night, and she said 'I miss my mommy." I told her that I did too, but she had to be quiet or the matron would hear. And then the matron was there, and she made me stand next to my bed and receive ten lashes. But my friends then all stood up and so they too were lashed." We agreed to begin holding weekly circles in the downtown eastside to surface more stories and build our strength together, like "L"'s friends had done when they all stood as one, even against an overwhelming force. If six year olds can know and practice such solidarity and love, why can't we? III. A new hypocrisy and issue needs to be confronted: the fact that MacMillan-Bloedel is demanding compensation of tens of millions of dollars from the provincial government for "its" trees "lost" to park land. This corporation is sitting on stolen land, not only in general but by way of the illegal sale of Lot 363 by the United Church to those who eventually sold the same land to MacMillan Bloedel in 1994. MacMillan-Bloedel should be forced to give this stolen land back to the Ahousahts in its entirety and the United Church should be compelled to buy Lot 363 back and present it to the Ahousahts as a concrete "apology" for their torture by the church. It is important to point out the strong link between this corporation and the United Church, how they have helped each other, and their financial connections through the Vancouver School of Theology, and elsewhere. Good researchers are needed now... Spread the word and contact me directly. We need as much publicity on these things as we can get, before the "church-state-corporate cabal" buries it all even more. In truth, Kevin Annett Phone: 604-462-1086 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 --------- "RE: Honor Fort Laramie Treaty" --------- Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 11:46:39 -0600 From: Rebecca Lord Subj: Honor Fort Laramie Treaty Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs For Oct. 13, 1997 - after 507 years Forwarded with permission from the author. Published in the Rapid City Journal, Wed. Oct. 2, 1997. Honor Fort Laramie Treaty by Charmaine White Face There are a great many good people in South Dakota who truly want to begin healing the wounds of the past between the tribes and the white people. Efforts are always being made to have discussions on racism, or to increase cultural understanding by bringing in dancers and sharing meals. But, there is always something that is unspoken, that is seldom, if ever, mentioned. There will never be any true reconciliation until this one topic is settled, and that is the legal ramifications of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 which was reaffirmed by the US Supreme Court decision of 1980. (There I said it. The big taboo in any discussion about reconciliation between the Native American people of this area with the rest of the Americans who also live in South Dakota.) Whenever any mention is made of the 1868 treaty, the efforts at the return of the Black Hills are what pop into most people's heads. But if we truly talked about the 1868 treaty, the return of all of western South Dakota should be what pops to mind. (Now that is a huge chunk of real estate.) I can hear the outrage already, people muttering, and some hollering as they're drinking their morning coffee. "You're getting paid for that land already with all the money the federal government give you for this and that!" Whoa! That is precisely why there needs to be many discussions about this one topic. This is what happens when misinformation or no information is given. The usual reaction that most people have when learning about the time when Hitler ordered all the books in Germany be wiped clean of any information about the Jews is outrage. He was tampering with history and leaving out a major part of the truth. How many Americans would ever think such a thing would happen in "the land of the free and the home of the brave"? Yet that is precisely what has happened, and continues to happen with the lack of information about Native Americans. How many people know that 80 million Native American people were killed in less than 100 years by Americans. Eighty million. Hitler killed six million Jews in about 10 years. At the rate he was killing people, he would have killed only 60 million in 100 years. Kind of gives you a different perspective of America. And, for some, if they are still reading this, they are going to be asking themselves, "Why didn't we learn about this in school...in history class?" Same,same. For those people living in South Dakota, and particularly western South Dakota, why were you not taught about the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and the 1980 Supreme Court decision? Let's try to put this in another perspective. If a child is kidnapped, how much money is a child's life worth? How much money should be paid for the return of the child? What if the police found the kidnapper, and the baby was alive, but the court said, rather than return the baby, we are awarding the parents $5 million? (I realize in this crazy day and age there are some people who would consider taking the money.) What would you think of those kinds of parents? What kind of parents would trade a child for money? Many people believe that a child is a gift from God. What if you were given a gift from God that you were to take care of just as if it were a precious child? What is someone stole that gift and the courts said to you that you were to take money instead of having the gift returned? What if there was no other court to go to? What if there was no other way to appeal the decision? How much money could pay for a gift from God? Could you accept the money? What would God say to you when you were face to face? Moral questions. Moral questions and in this case, legal questions. In the place of the words, "gift from God," in the previous example, replace them with the name that the actual "gift from God" was called by the Lakota and many other Native American people, "the Black Hills." Now we have a base, a foundation, a point from which to start talking about the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and the US Supreme Court decision of 1980. True reconciliation between the white people and Native American people can only begin when the paramount concept and issue is understood and settled. Choosing not to talk about it will not make it go away. The moral and spiritual implications are too important for anyone to ignore. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Briefly, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 stated that all the land in western South Dakota and huge portions of Wyoming and Montana would be Indian Land forever. The Supreme Court decision of 1980 upheld this treaty as valid but also awarded "just compensation" in the form of money for the subsequent stealing of the Lakota Lands. The Lakota Nation has refused to accept the money maintaining that their Land was not and never will be for sale. -Rebecca Michele Lord ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following websites are recommended by me. Charmaine White Feather does not (necessarily) endorse them. I honor her words and thank her for them. For additional information about the Fort Laramie Treat of 1868 and the Supreme Court decision of 1980, please visit the following sites. They contain the original text of the treaty and the decision: http://www.msmisp.com/wicu/BHINFO.htm http://www.dickshovel.com/1868.html http://www.mt.net/~oldwest/LBH/FtLarTre.htm For other people's commentary on the Fort Laramie Treat issues, please visit the following: http://www.halcyon.com/pub/FWDP/Americas/selfgovt.txt http://www.halcyon.com/pub/FWDP/Resolutions/Tribal/lakota74.txt +*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~+*~+*~+*~+*+ "When we walk upon Mother Earth, we always plant our feet carefully because we know the faces of our future generations are looking up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them." -Oren Lyons, Onondaga Nation *~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+*~+~* Rebecca Michele Lord * http://www.ratical.com/ * mosa@rapidnet.com --------- "RE: Oglala Sioux Law Enforcement" --------- Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 13:38:03 +0000 From: abenaki@usa.net Subj: Oglala Sioux/Law Enforcement Mailing List: NAT-REL The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council recently revoked the charter of the Oglala Sioux Tribe's Public Safety Commission several weeks ago. The reasons had nothing to do with service delivery of the Commission but had to do with questionable expenditures and suspected overexpenditures. A representative of the Dept. of Justice gave a presentation to the Tribal Council in which she (Karen Shrier?) informed the Council that all law enforcement services currently in the BIA would be transferred to the Dept of Justice by the end of this year. Services to be transferred would include law enforcement, detention, and judicial services. My thinking on the matter is to suspect an eventual erosion of jurisdiction in Indian Country by Tribal government and an end to Tribal Sovereignty. People who are used to exercising white privilege have voiced their concerns that it's not safe to be in Indian Country at night. If they don't feel safe then obviously they don't belong and should stay out. --------- "RE: Oglala Law Enforcement" --------- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 17:20:53 +0000 From: abenaki@usa.net Subj: Commentary on Oglala Law Enforcement Mailing List: NAT-REL It's that "six weeks" again! "People who are used to exercising white privilege have voiced their concerns that it's not safe to be in Indian Country at night. If they don't feel safe then obviously they don't belong and should stay out." I have been to Pine Ridge, SD. My sons, their wives, my grandchildren all spend a great deal of time on Pine Ridge. I have felt threatened only once there. That's when the planes, horseback riders and helicopters "observed" the Sun Dance. It wasn't the Oglala that caused that threat. Read the memoriums and "uninvestigated" murders, beatings and thefts. It's the people that are suffering and threatened. Tribal Council homes are comparable to any where else in the US. And yet, the elders and children starve and freeze to death during the bitter winters. I ask why? Who threatens them? Not their neighbors that live in the same third world conditions. Speak out gainst the government (federal or tribal, doesn't matter)? You may end up dead or missing with "no investigation". Where do THEY go when they don't feel "SAFE?": MaryAnn -------- "RE: Stoney Pointe Trials" --------- Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 12:44:52 -0400 (EDT) From: FirehairSS@aol.com Subj: Updates on Stoney Pointe Trials--#1 of 5 Subject: Stoney Point trials- first of five updates Ipperwash trial won't pursue firearm charges by Julie Carl, London Free Press Free Press Sarnia Bureau Monday, September 30, 1997 Sarnia- Firearms charges at the last trial of native protesters arrested after a clash with police at Ipperwash in 1995 were withdrawn Monday because there is "no reasonable prospect of prosecution," Crown attorney said. Warren Anthony George, 24, faced five charges, including possession of a firearm dangerous to the public peace and use of a firearm during an indictable offense. But Crown attorney Henry Van Drunen asked the charges be withdrawn at the beginning of George's trial here Monday. Defense lawyer Jeffry House said outside court he's "glad to see it's finally being recognized there's no reasonable chance of proving" the natives at Ipperwash were armed. "Overall, it's significant in the Ipperwash incident that after the OPP announced they were responding to firearms, it turns out its not only unproven, but the crown isn't going to attempt to prove it," he said. The issue of native protesters at Ipperwash having firearms has been hotly debated since police and native battled outside Ipperwash Provincial Park, the site of the native protest, on Sept. 6, 1995. A judge ruled at the trial of an officer convicted of shooting and killing a protester the natives were unarmed and officers who said the natives were armed had fabricated their testimony. Van Drunen outside court declined to discuss his reasons for withdrawing the charges. "As a result of my continuing assessment... (there is) no reasonable prospect of conviction on counts four and five," Van Drunen told Judge Greg Poekele on Ontario court, provincial division during the trial. The trial is proceeding on three other charges George faces: dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon, a car. He is accused of driving the car out of the park and hitting police officers. The trial of David Abraham George, 26, is also proceeding. He is charged with assaulting a peace officer and assault with a weapon, a piece of wood. In Monday's testimony, court heard from Staff Sgt. Wade LaCroix, leader of a 32-member crown management unit wearing riot gear which marched down a road late at night that September 6 and confronted about 15 natives who were standing in a parking lot outside the park. Two days earlier, about 24 natives, mostly Stoney Pointers, had walked into the park as it closed for the season to protest the desecration of a burial ground when the park was developed in the 1930s. La LaCroix said he saw the car drive at a group of officers who were leaving the scene after battling natives and strike at least three of them. One officer fell onto the car on top of his riot shield, another rolled off the right side and one fell backwards, his legs ending up under the bumper of the car, LaCroix said. The car then backed up and stopped in the road, he said. The officer saw three muzzle flashes- the light of gunfire- in the area of the car's windshield and rearview mirror and fired two rounds into the driver's side, he said. The defense begins cross examining LaCroix today. Insp. John Carson also took the stand and testified about his decision to send the crowd management unit into the park. He described the unit's strategy of rushing the crown of natives in the parking lot outside the park and arresting anyone who was "overrun" by officer. The judge asked if he could ask a question. "For what? Arrested for what?" Poekele asked. Carson said officers were being pelted by rocks and burning sticks thrown form the park. To which Poekele asked, if someone had not thrown a rock, "what would they be arrested for?" The trial is expected to last until Friday. 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 --------- "RE: Freedom to Use Herbs at Risk" --------- Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 06:16:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Miketben@aol.com Subj: N.A.S.L. - FREEDOM TO USE HERBS AT RISK ************************************************************************* * NORTH AMERICAN SPIRIT LODGE * FOR YOUR INFO ************************************************************************* From: DAKKASWAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATTENTION THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOUR RIGHTS ARE SLOWLY BEING TAKEN AWAY. NOW CONGRESS IS TRYING TO PASS BILLS THAT WILL TAKE AWAY YOUR RIGHTS TO PURCHASE HERBS WITHOUT A DOCTORS SCRIPT.......PLEASE READ.....AND PASS ON TO ALL YOU KNOW..........INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO LET CONGRESS KNOW WHAT YOU FEEL ARE BELOW.......THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS IMPORTANT LETTER, IF YOU ALLOW THIS, WHO KNOW'S WHAT THEY MAY TAKE NEXT.......JHS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date:____________________ The Honorable: ____________________________________ Washington, DC 20510 Dear Member of Congress: I request that you sponsor and support an amendment to the House companion bill to S.830, the FDA Reform Bill, which was recently passed in the Senate. This amendment is needed to address a clause in the bill that calls for the harmonization of U.S. Food and Drug law with the European Union (EU). If the FDA reform bill is not changed to eliminate the call for harmonization with food and drug laws in Europe, it will give the FDA a legal mandate to regulate dietary supplements as "drugs", which will rob Americans of free access to vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs and other nutrients, and will lead to much higher prices for these supplements. The reason for this is that access to dietary supplements is highly restricted in Europe. In Norway, for example, it is illegal to buy vitamin C in doses higher than 200 mg. without a doctor's prescription. In the United Kingdom (UK), there is a move to make it illegal to purchase doses of vitamin B-6 higher than 10 mg. without a doctor's prescription. Thus, it is clearly not in the best interests of Americans for our food and drug laws to be "harmonized" with the laws in Europe. You may have heard that the harmonization language in S.830 just pertains to medical devices, but that is not the case. It applies to the entire food, drug, and cosmetic act, which includes dietary supplements. If you have any doubts about this, please read section 202 of the bill, which I have reproduced below: "Sense of the Committee Regarding Mutual Recognition Agreements and Global Harmonization Efforts: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should support the Office of the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, in efforts to move towards the regulation of drugs, biological products, devices, foods, [which includes dietary supplements] food additives, and color additives, and the regulation of good manufacturing practices between the European Union and the United States. "(2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should regularly participate in meetings with representatives of other foreign governments to discuss and reach agreement on methods and approaches to harmonize regulatory requirements, and; (3) the Office of International Relations of the Department of Health and Human Services (as established under section 803 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 USC 383)) should have the responsibility of ensuring that the process of harmonizing international regulatory requirements is continuous." The FDA reform bill is on a very fast track through Congress. The Senate ignored citizens' efforts to remove the above harmonization clause, so we are now appealing to members of the house, to keep Americans from losing their right to free access to dietary supplements. (As of Oct. 1, 1997, the House companion bill to S.830 did not yet have a number.) If you are a member of the Senate, please support your colleagues in the House in their efforts to amend the bill. HR 1411 is one of three bills currently being combined to form the House companion bill to S.830. What follows is the language I would like you to sponsor, as an amendment to the bill. "(C) The secretary shall participate in meetings with representatives of other countries to discuss methods and approaches to reduce the burden of regulation and harmonize regulatory requirements if the secretary determines that such harmonization will continue consumer protections consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Secretary shall report to the Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives of the Senate at least 120 (instead of 60) days before executing any bilateral or multilateral agreements, and all harmonization agreements entered into must be approved by Congress following an open public hearing, in which citizens are given adequate notice and time to comment on all aspects of the bill." This amendment would provide Americans with badly needed oversight that doesn't exist in the bill at present. If this change is not made, I will lobby to veto the bill and will encourage others to do so as well. Your Constituent, Constituent ________________________________________ Address:____________________________________________ City_________________________________ST________ZIP____________ Date:_____________________ ACTION PLAN- DON'T SEND THIS PART TO CONGRESS- PLEASE NETWORK THIS INFORMATION VITAMINS TO BE MADE INTO "DRUGS" US FOOD AND DRUG LAW TO BE "HARMONIZED" WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION UNLESS YOU ACT NOW! NOTE: Don't send this part to your congressman- this is an action plan for you to use when lobbying Congress in order to amend the FDA reform bill discussed above. You MUST use this action plan! We are fighting an uphill battle here, if you don't follow these instructions, you WILL lose your access to high potency vitamins, and many supplements will disappear forever as a pharmaceutical takeover of the whole industry will occur world wide unless WE stop it! We are in great danger. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act does not protect us from what is happening. The FDA Reform Bill contains harmonization language which threatens to make our food and drug laws the same as the European Union's where dietary supplements are regulated as drugs, and restrictions are getting much tighter. When you receive this, you MUST take immediate action: Here is the situation: S.830 was fast tracked through the Senate by a vote of 98-2. We were given almost no time to react. Those of you who receive my email alerts found out about it, the rest of you had no way to and I had no way to tell you. We are now at the llth hour, desperately trying to amend the house companion bill, which doesn't yet have a bill number. (A trick they sometimes use to thwart opposition is to not announce a bill number until just before they go to the floor for a vote.) They could go to the floor as soon as next week (week of Oct.6). WHAT YOU MUST DO: You must immediately call as many members of Congress as possible via 800-972-3524 (or see your congressman's number in your phonebook). In addition to your own Congressman (if you don't know their name the switchboard can tell you if you give your zipcode) Get their fax numbers from them. Especially call these Congressmen: 1. James Traficant, Ohio, 202-225-5261, fax 202-225-3719, email telljim@hr.house.gov 2. Helen Chenoweth, Idaho, 202-225-6611, fax 202-225-3029, email askhelen@hr.house.gov 3. Joe Scarborough, Florida, 202-225-4136, fax 202-225-3414, no email unless new 4. Jack Metcalf, Washington, 202-225-2605, 202-225-4420, no email unless new 5. Ron Paul, Texas, 202-225-2831, fax 202-225-5785, email rep.paul@mail.house.gov 6. Joe Skeen, New Mexico, 202-225-2365, fax 202-225-9599, no email unless new Ask them to sponsor an amendment to the House companion bill to S.830 (FDA Reform Bill). The harmonization language must be amended. Given that the Senate bill passed by a vote of 98-2, we don't have the clout needed to remove the harmonization language, which is what we REALLY need. The best we can hope for is to amend it. Tell members of congress we want it to read as follows: (my changes are in bold) On HR 1411 (one of the 3 bills being combined to form a companion): Section 18-Harmonization: (My amendment is in bold.) "Section 803 (21 USC 383) is amended by adding at the end the following: (C ) The secretary shall participate in meetings with representatives of other countries to discuss methods and approaches to reduce the burden of regulation and harmonize regulatory requirements if the secretary determines that such harmonization continues consumer protections consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Secretary shall report to the Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives of the Senate at least 120 (instead of 60) days before executing any bilateral or multilateral agreement under this paragraph, and all harmonization agreements entered into must be approved by Congress following public following a public comments period so that the public can be involved in this decision making. Members of Congress will try to tell you that this legislation does not effect dietary supplements. If they tell you that, inform them that they are incorrect, because the language of the Senate bill effects the entire food, drug, and cosmetic act, including foods, which includes dietary supplements. Its too late to change the Senate bill. They fast tracked it on us right after they returned from summer recess. We are forced to amend the house bill, and then try to get changes made in the conference committee to the combined bill which goes to the President. If we don't get the amendment we need, we must try to get Clinton to veto the bill by calling the White House comments line at 202-456-1111,202-395-1232, email President@whitehouse.gov Distribute this information to others. Set up a table in front of your local health food store to pass it out, and exhort people to take action. If you don't, you will lose your access to supplements. --------- "RE: Aboriginal and Northern Television" --------- Date: 11 Oct 1997 00:55:12 GMT From: "Perry Shepherd" Subj: Aboriginal and northern television Newsgroup: alt.native The following may be of interest to the "alt.native" newsgroup: NEWS RELEASE Increase in southern aboriginal programs part of TVNC Fall Schedule Oct. 10, 1997. YELLOWKNIFE, NWT. -- Television Northern Canada (TVNC) will launch its fall/winter broadcast season today with a lineup that includes several new programs from southern aboriginal producers and exciting new documentaries as well as its regular line up of diverse northern programming. "This season promises to offer some of the most diverse programs that we've ever offered," said Abraham Tagalik, Chairman of TVNC. TVNC recently acquired Indigenous Circle, a popular news and current affairs program produced by CFQC TV in Saskatchewan as well as several programs from Native Communications Inc., from Manitoba. Later this year, TVNC will broadcast Qatuwas: People Gathering Together; a stunning documentary about the revival of the West Coast canoe societies, and winner of the first-ever Telefilm Canada/Television Northern Canada aboriginal production award. And live programs are in the works including two days of coverage from the National Aboriginal Career Symposium in November, produced by Inuit Communications stems Ltd. (ICSL) These new southern-based programs will become more and more common as TVNC begins to expand the network into southern Canada. "TVNC's goal is to establish a truly national aboriginal television network." said Abraham Tagalik. "There are exceptional aboriginal producers in southern Canada who have no access to a dedicated distribution service such as TVNC. TVNC is already licensed nationally and our goal is to allow all Canadians to see the talent that exists within aboriginal communities and encourage everyone to watch programs that support aboriginal culture." TVNC will be broadcasting several new programs this fall by TVNC members. Inuit Broadcasting Corporation is producing Makkuttunut Nijjausijarniq (Youth Concert Series) which will feature young Inuit performers. The series will run for 13 weeks and will profile young talent from across Nunavut as they perform in music, drama and other forms of entertainment. This new series has received support from Telefilm Canada. A college-level course called Introduction to Business is in the works from Native Communications Society of the western NWT. The one hour weekly program is designed for distance education and is to assist aboriginal entrepreneurs or others wanting a basic business education. Vignettes are also being produced by ICSL for the Nunavut Planning Commission as well as preliminary work for a live broadcast from Ottawa when Nunavut officially becomes Canada's newest territory on April 1, 1999. TVNC members continue to provide a wide variety of weekly programs on TVNC including: children's programs, general interest educational programming, cultural and current affairs, documentary features; phone-in and community discussion programs, and live and special events. TVNC is also the only network where viewers can watch proceedings of the NWT Legislature in eight languages and the only place to watch the Lebret Eagles, an aboriginal junior A hockey team in Saskatchewan. TVNC is pleased to support aboriginal producers and currently coordinates a number of awards including the Telefilm Canada/TVNC aboriginal production award and participation in the Ross Charles Award as well as distributing funds, including the administration of the NCI/ACL aboriginal fund to assist producers gain access to public and private funding for their productions. TVNC is also committed to broadcasting new programming. In the past three months, TVNC has signed letters of interest to broadcast nearly a dozen new works by both independent aboriginal producers and TVNC members which are currently in production. Television Northern Canada is a nationally-licensed aboriginal television network that broadcasts nearly 100 hours per week of original aboriginal programming in English, French and nearly 15 different aboriginal languages. TVNC has become a first level of service in the North since it began broadcasting in 1992. The majority of TVNC programming is provided by TVNC programming members: Inuit Broadcasting Corporation; Inuvialuit Communications Society; ; Native Communications Society of the Western NWT; Northern Native Broadcasting, Yukon; OKalaKatiget Society; Taqramiut Nipingat Inc., Government of the Northwest Territories; Yukon College. Associate member programmers include: CBC North; Kativik School Board; Labrador College; and WaWatay Native Communications Society. For more information: Communications Coordinator (613) 567-1550 e-mail: tvnc@sonetis.com Scheduling Manager (403) 669-7299 The electronic version of this press release is available on TVNC's web site at: www.tvnc.ca --------- "RE: Indian Ballerinas To Be Honored" --------- From: FirehairSS@aol.com Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:27:40 -0400 (EDT) Subj: Ballerina's in OK to be Honored ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Subj: NEWS:Oklahoma's Indian Ballerinas To Be Honored as Treasures Date: 97-10-08 13:22:48 EDT From: FireSpeak To: NASC Swan Newsworks News (Keyword to: http://www.newsworks.com/NewsWorks/jump/1,1199,,00.html?dest_url=www%2Enewswor ks%2Ecom%2FNewsWorks%2Fnews%2Ffront%2F1%2C1112%2Ccapital%2D6657%2C00%2Ehtml) Oklahoma's Indian Ballerinas To Be Honored as Treasures By James D. Watts Jr. World Entertainment Writer 10/8/97 Five of this state's most famous artists -- the women collectively known as the Oklahoma Indian Ballerinas -- will be awarded a unique honor Wednesday, when they are named as Oklahoma Treasures. The five women -- Tulsan Moscelyne Larkin (Shawnee-Peoria), Yvonne Chouteau (Shawnee- Cherokee), Rosella Hightower (Choctaw), Maria Tallchief (Osage) and Marjorie Tallchief (Osage) -- each earned international fame in the dance world, while never forsaking their Oklahoma roots. The ceremony will take place as part of the 1997 Governor's Arts Awards, presented at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Wednesday's events mark the first time these women have come together since the 1991 Governor's Arts Awards, when the mural "Flight of Spirit," created by artist Mike Larsen in honor of the Oklahoma Indian Ballerinas, was unveiled. This is only the third time the Oklahoma Treasure designation has been bestowed. The first artist so honored was Chickasaw storyteller Te Ata Fisher in 1987. Comanche painter, musician and flute-maker Doc Tate Nevaquaya was selected an Oklahoma Treasure in 1995. The idea for Oklahoma Treasures came from the Japanese Living Treasures program. To be designated an Oklahoma Treasure an artist must "have been born or practiced their skill, talent or knowledge as a citizen of Oklahoma; be a bearer of intangible cultural assets; have received prior recognition for their skills, talent or knowledge; and have outstanding artistic or historical worth." "We all feel very honored, and very surprised, at this," Miss Larkin said. "It is wonderful that our state remembers us, and the things that we have done. Dance is the way Native American people express themselves, and for Oklahoma to honor that is a very special thing for Native Americans. "But Oklahoma has always been aware and appreciative of its Native American heritage, and of the arts," she said. "Something like the Summer Arts Institute (held at Quartz Mountain) is really an incredible concept, something that represents not only all the arts but also all people. That says something good about Oklahoma." Each of the women will be presented with traditional dance shawls, handcrafted by Adeline Dubois, with designs that are representative of each woman's tribe. The past year has seen renewed interest in the five women's lives and career. Former Tulsa Tribune dance critic Lili C. Livingston chronicled the lives of the Tallchief sisters, Hightower and Chouteau in the acclaimed book "American Indian Ballerinas," published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Maria Tallchief in December was one of the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, and published her autobiography earlier this year. Miss Larkin, who serves as artistic director emerita of Tulsa Ballet, the company she founded with her husband, the late Roman Jasinski, returned to the stage last month, portraying the Nurse in the company's season opening performance of "Romeo and Juliet." The Governor's Arts Awards will cap a full day of arts-related activities at the State Capitol. The biennial Congress on the Arts and Humanities will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. in the chamber of the House of Representatives. The Congress is sponsored by the Oklahoma Cultural Commission. Governor and Mrs. Frank Keating will also host the Gala Arts Benefit honoring this year's recipients of the awards, beginning at 6:45 p.m. in the Medallion Hotel. Tulsan Linda Frazier, chair of the Oklahoma Arts Council, and Betty Price, the council's executive director, will officiate at the awards ceremony, where Gov. Keating will present awards for outstanding contributions and commitment to the arts and culture in Oklahoma. Among those to receive awards this year are Tulsan Walter H. Helmerich III and the Tulsa- based Citgo Petroleum Company, Muskogee native W. Richard West, director of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution, will be named Cultural Ambassador for the State of Oklahoma. The 1997 Governor's Arts Awards are dedicated to the memory of Eleanor Kirkpatrick, longtime Oklahoma City civic and community business leader. --------- "RE: Demography" --------- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 97 08:18:48 -0600 From: "John Berry" Subj: Demography - U.S. News and World Report From U.S. News and World Report Aug 18-25, 1997 One of the few certainties: The Indian population of North and South America suffered a catastrophic collapse after 1492 George Catlin, the 19th-century artist, revered the American Indians-"a numerous and noble race of HUMAN BEINGS," he called them, "fast passing to extinction." In the 1830s, he traveled among four dozen tribes to paint nearly 600 portraits and scenes of Indian life; most now hang in the Smithsonian. During his visits, his hosts extolled the blissful age before the settlers came, a time when tribes were much larger. "The Indians of North America," Catlin would speculate in his diary, "were 16 millions in numbers, and sent that number of daily prayers to the Almighty." Few contemporaries agreed with Catlin's lofty estimate of the Indian population before contact with the white man. "Twaddle about imaginary millions," scoffed one Smithsonian expert, reflecting the prevailing view that Indians were too incompetent to have ever reached large numbers. Alexis de Tocqueville's cheery assertion that America before Columbus was an "empty continent . . . awaiting its inhabitants" was endorsed by no less than the U.S. Census Bureau, which in 1894 warned against accepting Indian "legends" as facts. "Investigation shows," the bureau said, "that the aboriginal population within the present United States at the beginning of the Columbian period could not have exceeded much over 500,000." A century later the question remains far from settled. But modern scholarship tends to side with the painter. Some experts believe that perhaps l0 million people lived above the Rio Grande in 1492-twice as many as may have inhabited the British Isles at that time. The population of the Western Hemisphere may have exceeded l5th-century Europe's 70 million. Driving the higher estimates is the relatively new view that most of America's Indians were wiped out by smallpox, measles, and other Old World diseases that swept across the hemisphere far faster than the Europeans that brought them. "Population decay was catastrophic," concluded historian William McNeill in his 1976 book, Plagues and Peoples. But that still leaves unsolved the question of how many Indians inhabited the continent when the first Europeans arrived. No one, in fact, knows how many people lived anywhere in those days, except for perhaps a city or two in Europe. The first national censuses occurred centuries later: 1749 in Sweden, 1790 in the fledgling United States, 1801 in France and Britain; it was 1953 when China took a complete count. George Catlin's means of counting Indians-the guesstimate-was the only method in his day. It was the same method the Census Bureau used in 1894 when it haughtily dismissed his idea that millions of Indians once inhabited the country. The expert whose figures would dominate scholarly thought for the first half of this century, Smithsonian ethnologist James Mooney, did his share of guessing, too. Mooney pored through historical documents for accounts of tribal populations made by soldiers, missionaries, and others. But he suspected that his sources routinely exaggerated-soldiers to paint their conquests as more heroic, missionaries to pad their tallies of souls saved. So he often took the lowest count he could find and, to be safe, reduced it. His ultimate tribe-by-tribe estimate, published in 1928, showed an Indian population of 1,150,000 north of the Rio Grande. Mooney was estimating the population not in 1492 but in periods that followed initial contacts with white men-including encounters in the American West as late as the 19th century. The common assumption in his day was that the Indians the whites came upon were probably as numerous as the Indians of 1492. That's what anthropologist Alfred Kroeber believed in 1934 when he produced an estimate of the entire hemisphere's pre-Columbian population that dominated academic thought into the 1960s. Kroeber took Mooney's tally, shrank it a bit, and extrapolated the figures to the rest of North and South America. With a map and a device called a planimeter, he measured off various cultural areas and assigned each a population density. For the eastern United States, he averaged fewer than 1 person per square mile. For the many regions below the Rio Grande-the lands of the Incas and Aztecs and others that obviously had been much more populous-he assigned much higher densities. He multiplied the densities by the square miles in each region and concluded that 8.4 million people inhabited the Americas in 1492. They were neatly divided: 4.2 million in North America and 4.2 million in South America and the Caribbean. No one since Kroeber has made an estimate so low. In the past 40 years, scholars have sifted through thousands of volumes-from 16th-century Spanish reports of baptisms, marriages, and tax collections in Mexico to 17th-century accounts of epidemics in New England. Where the data failed to provide direct answers, the experts devised ingenious ways to draw inferences from them. Explorers, for instance, rarely estimated total populations; they tended to report only the number of warriors. Scholars now multiply the warrior counts by a correction factor such as 5 to come up with a total that includes women, children, and old men. Multiples likewise are applied to baptisms, Indian buildings, even canoes and acres of beans and corn. Archaeological sites containing heaps of oyster shells have been used to estimate how many oysters were eaten and thus how many Indians ate them. By the 1960s, scholars were concluding that just one spot-central Mexico-once had three times as many Indians as Kroeber had estimated in the whole hemisphere. The highest estimate ever, made in 1966, was supported by a provocative theory. Anthropologist Henry Dobyns argued that disease reduced the Indian population by 95 percent or more throughout the hemisphere - a "depopulation ratio" that, he said, has commonly occurred even in modern times when epidemics strike peoples with no immunity. Dobyns took Indian populations at their nadirs-their lowest levels and multiplied the numbers by 20 or 25. In America above the Rio Grande, for instance, the Indian population hit bottom early in this century when census figures reported 490,000; by Dobyns's calculation that means between 9.8 million and 12.2 million Indians once inhabited what's now the United States and Canada. For the hemisphere, he estimated a 1492 population of 90 million to 112.5 million. Critics suspect Dobyns assumed too much. Epidemics, they say, were probably not as frequent or lethal as he claimed. Dobyns, who retired without revising his count, agrees that his method is simplistic; he proposed it "for lack of something better," he says, and localized studies, if thorough, can be more accurate. A colleague's on-the-scene research in Peru, for instance, convinced Dobyns that his Inca empire estimate of 30 million to 37 million Indians was perhaps 20 million too high. But in the 31 years since his Current Anthropology article, Dobyns has measured other regional populations with tools that other scholars use-warrior counts, food availability, and the like-and "fairly consistently" found that his 1966 assumptions were too low. He now believes that Florida in 1492 had perhaps 700,000 Indians - several times what he concluded in 1966. His article estimated the Caribbean's 1492 population at a half million; he now agrees with other scholars that it was 5 million or more. How close will scholars ever come to the real numbers? A recent effort by geographer William Denevan to reconcile the many conflicting estimates, by using the best findings of various scholars, concludes that 54 million people inhabited the Americas in 1492, including 3.8 million above the Rio Grande. But how meaningful such numbers are is the question. With decades of careful research, historian Woodrow Borah once predicted, scholars eventually may produce an estimate with a margin of error of 30 to 50 percent. "If I had to pick the most unanswerable question in the world to get into heaven, that would be a good choice," says David Henige, a historian at the University of Wisconsin Madison and author of the forthcoming book Numbers From Nowhere. "It is absolutely impossible to answer. Yet people have written tens of thousands of pages on it." Even if the absolute total is forever unknowable, there are other numbers that tell a haunting tale. In the 1960s, a Berkeley geographer, Carl Sauer, cited evidence of a 1496 census that Columbus's brother Bartholomew ordered for tax purposes on Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The Spanish counted 1.1 million Indians. Since that sum covered only Hispaniola's Spanish-controlled half and excluded children, Sauer concluded that 3 million Indians once inhabited the island. But a generation after 1492, a Spanish resident reported Hispaniola's Indian population had shrunk below 11,000. The island's collapse was only a preview. By 1650, records suggest that only 6 million Indians remained in all of North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Subtract 6 million from even a conservative estimate of the 1492 population-like Denevan's consensus count of 54 million-and one dreadful conclusion is inescapable: The 150 years after Columbus's arrival brought a toll on human life in this hemisphere comparable to all of the world's losses in World War II. --------- "RE: Commemorating Columbus" --------- Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 18:03:50 -0700 From: "Karen J. Gould" Subj: Re: Columbus Day... ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- This came thru another list just now, thought you'd find it "interesting" Historical Note: COMMEMORATING COLUMBUS The day Columbus departed from Spain was the same day as the deadline for the Jews to leave Spain, his ships had to wait in line to leave the harbor behind the dozens of ships loaded with Jews being exiled. The first item given to the natives met by the lost Spanish were little brass bells. Those little bells distributed to the Indians as the first gift a short time later became the measure of tribute in gold that had to be paid to the Spanish. Each adult was required to pay a bell full of gold each week or lose a finger, toe, hand, arm, foot, leg,