From gars@netcom.com Wed Dec 24 11:27:43 1997 Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 19:24:55 -0800 (PST) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews05.052 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 05, ISSUE 052 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 27 December 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 & Innu-L lists; NASC News; Wild Rockies InfoNet; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native,igc.indig.info UUCP email; Hawaii nation Info; North American Spirit Lodge 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. Last week's quote by Arvol Looking Horse included a typo "I am just a common person, ikte wicasa, should have read "I am just a common person, Ikce wicasa [Thanks to J.D.K. Chipps for pointing this out] "We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God, as Catholics and Protestants do. We do not want to learn that." "We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth. But we never quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that." __ Chief Joseph, Nez Perce +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 longest day of the year has come. Many have celebrated solstice and offered prayers our Mother will have a good winter rest. My wife and I send our greetings and prayers for well being. For those who celebrate Christmas we also send greetings. * . . . | . * \|/ -->*<-- . /|\ a-li-he-li-sdi da-ni-sda-yo-hi-hv a-le . ' | ' * i-je a-de-ti-yi-sgv-i | . | . ' , , X / (*,*) / / (`-') X / // ===w=w=== // * gary (Night Owl) * X janet (Evening Star) =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Providing a list of reliable contacts so that food and clothing can be sent to the Reservations with assurance that those who need it most will receive it is what this editorial space has been dedicated to throughout this winter. Knowing you can do something may not be the same as knowing you should, as in a sacred duty. There are empty cabinets and refrigerators on the Rez's and in nearby "Indian" housing (a topic I will get off my chest later - maybe when the spring thaw comes). I emcee some powwows and festivals and dance at others. I see a lot of men dancers answer to the call for warriors. At this time of the year I wish to remind the men who read this newsletter that it is the responsibility of the warriors to see that food is provided for the Grandmothers, widows and single mothers. I think this is a thing that is sometimes easy forget. Don't lay it aside, warriors. It is _your_ sacred duty. Word has been sent of two more possible contacts. I am still verifying some of the information provided by both, but am listing them now because I have found no reason to doubt either. Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 21:51:11 -0500 From: Janet S MORNING STAR OUTREACH c/o Cassada 320 N. 31st #13 Bismarck, North Dakota 58501 Charitable organization founded and directed by Dawn & Douglas Cassada. MORNING STAR OUTREACH chooses to offer direct as well as mediation assistance to the United States American Indian Reservations in the form of clothing, bedding, food provisions, toys for the children, scholarship funding and household provisions. This also includes craft items, fabrics, beads, patterns, yarns and notions. MORNING STAR OUTREACH chooses, because of the census reports, to support the reservations of the Native Lakota Sioux Nation within the United States, South and North Dakota. --------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 14:03:10 -0800 From: POP ACCOUNT For most people, this time of year has special meaning for one reason or another. Whether you and your family celebrates Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanza, Yule or some other holiday celebration, it is generally consider a time of year for giving, sharing and family. Since 1986, Night Walker Enterprises has been dedicating itself to making sure that children on reservations can experience these same feelings. Last year, in the 1996 pre-Christmas season, the volunteers of Night Walker delivered donated gifts and sweets to over 20,000 children in reservations throughout the United States. For many of those children, that was only gift they received that year. This year more reservations than ever before have requested Night Walker's aid for toys and candy. Unfortunately, this year has also seen the lowest number of cash and gift contributions yet. Our goal at Night Walker Enterprises is really very simple: we want to ensure that every child on every reservation has at least the opportunity to receive one gift and 4 ounces of treats for Christmas. We are still struggling, still have not reached our goal at this time. We are confident, however, that with the support of caring people like yourself we can accomplish our goals for this holiday season and perhaps even beyond. We would ask simply that you take a few minutes to visit our web site at http://www.nightwalker.org/holidays and review the information provided there. If you find it in yourself to help these children, there is a link on the site there to our SSL Secure server for online donations, or you can download and print out a form that can be mailed instead. If you do not have access to the World Wide Web, but would still like to help out, you can send an email to donate@nightwalker.org, and a donation form will be automatically sent back to you. Night Walker Enterprises is an all volunteer, 501(c)(3) non profit corporation, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by IRS regulations and current US tax law. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Those shipping large amounts of materials to reservations may have a great opportunity to facilitate your shipping. This arrived in this week's email, and I have not had an opportunity to pursue it further. I offer it now, in hopes it will help some in the contact list. A lot of reservations are near military facilities. PLEASE let me know how things go if you do attempt to use this service: Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 11:45:42 -0600 Subj: transportation of relief materials Senders name removed by request. FYI For transportation of relief materials by non-profit agencies or groups. Telephone all of your local congressman's offices and request in writing, their assistance in obtaining military transportation assistance. Then contact the nearest military base with an airfield, Public Affairs Office (PAO) and also a written letter to the Base Commander also requesting assistance. The military and in particular the USAF has many cargo aircraft (C-130 Hercules, KC-10, C-141, C-17 and C-5). The State Air National Guard's own C-130's and the US Marines owns a number of C-130 aircraft. Flying Aircrews require a number of training flight hours per quarter to maintain their Flight Proficiency. There is always some aircraft heading in the correct direction. The aircraft cannot deliver to the door but can deliver to within a few hundred miles at the most. Please consider that some of these aircraft weigh 140 Tons or more and will "sink" into concrete less than 18+ inches deep. Therefore they cannot land at just any airfield runway. The shipped materials must be shipped securely fastened on pallets (no loose material, everything sealed in boxes, some restrictions on flammables and no propellents (explosives)). The PAO will provide the necessary guidance. The local Flight Engineers, Loadmasters and even Boy Scouts will help with the inspection, boxing and palletizing. The USAF is always hauling materials (on a non-interference basis naturally) for charitable purposes. No one likes an empty cargo aircraft. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= The tragic plight of our elders on the various reservations is so great, their peril so real, their walk so close to the edge that I will continue to feature contact addresses where you can send donations of clothing, food, blankets, money to purchase fuel and repair throughout the winter. As new contacts are received they will be added to the list. PLEASE help the elders. PLEASE help grow this list and help ALL the elders. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For additional information or to make donations contact: For the Red Shirt Community: Marvin Helper P.O. Box 312 Hermosa, SD 57744 For Porcupine, Oglala and Wounded Knee: 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 From: Lora Czarnowsky Adi Defender Project New Dawn PO Box 616 McLaughlin, SD 57642 This is for the various communities on the Standing Rock Reservation. Another contact is actually two projects: One is Santa's Workshop and the other is called Wakanheja Tipi. They are both run by Liam Paterson and his wife. Liam Paterson 1434 Creek Road Manheim, PA 17545 717-665-2727 From: tusweca Darlene Cross PO Box 52 Kyle SD 577075 From: yona@infi.net Toy drive going on for the Cheyenne River Reservation in Eagle Butte 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 From: DORSEY.THOMAS_J+@ALBANY.VA.GOV 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 Clay Watson Pioneer Industries 1100 E. 24th St. Cheyenne, Wy. 82001 (307)778-7860 pioquark@aol.com These donations will be gifted to the Rose Bud and Pine Ridge Reservations in South Dakota and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. I'm on the road a lot, out back loading the truck etc. PLEASE leave a message if there is no answer.. ** EDITORIAL NOTE ** In the past couple of weeks, while returning from a circuit of delivering donated items to Pine Ridge and Rapid City Lakota, Clay Watson's old Ford truck broke down. For a week it sat on the side of a road 'til finally it could be towed in. The damage to the engine was beyond repair. I thought until this morning that I would be writing to ask that people help Clay find a new (or at least working) engine. This morning we received a note that his brother found one, and they *think* it will work. So I'm not asking for an engine today. What I am asking is that we recognize that Clay not only needs goods to carry to Natives in need -- he needs a working truck to carry them in and fuel. What he's driving is a 60s vintage Ford 600. They're tough old workhorses, but the fact is that something that age breaks from time to time and it costs to fix it. Let's consider sending Clay a few bucks to put in the truck repair and gas kitty to help keep him on the road. From: ALBERT SUN BUTLER Ti Ospaye PO Box 200 Wanblee SD 57577 Supporting the elders through personal contact: Adopt A Grandparent Mountain Light Center PO Box 241 Taos NM 87571 TEL: 505 776 8474 FAX: 505 776 8050 For information call 800 291-8474. email: agpmlc@aol.com For the Cherokee, NC Rez and South FL (Now taking one load/week): From: "lonewolf" Lone Wolf -or- Bob and Linda Crowe 1060 N. Bee St. 2800 West Highway 5 Deland, Fl 32720 Bowden, GA 30108 770-258-1536 From BIGMTLIST The Dineh could use some blankets to help with the cold winters. Bonnie Whitesinger Box 1073 Hotevilla, AZ 86030 Since UPS doesn't deliver to PO boxes, you would have to use parcel post. From: The Stones Another organization you might consider adding to your list is: Lakota Link http://rtt.colorado.edu/~cameron/LakxotaKxoyag.html Ellen Stone The following snailmail addresses are included for help to the Cherry Creek and Bridger communities on the Cheyenne River Rez: Craig and Ruth Cameron LakxotaKxoyag P O Box 176 Jamestown, CO 80455-0176 Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Marvin and Veronica Holy Town of Bridger Representatives P.O. Box 172 Howes, SD 57748 Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Keeler and Freidan Condon Town of Cherry Creek Representatives P.O. Box 181 Cherry Creek, SD 57622 UPS ADDRESS: Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Keeler Condon Town of Cherry Creek Representatives House #11 Cherry Creek, SD 57622. From: FNAIC@aol.com Walking Shield in Southern California regularly send truck loads of food, clothing and needed items to many reservations. They are located at 2472 Chambers Rd. Tustin, CA. 922680 telephone 714-573-1434 Hugh Stevens is the boss. they will only take fairly new and clean used items - any new items - and donations form large corps. They seem to be on the up and up and have helped many local reservations and native organizations. Carol --------------------------------------------- From: leslie@neca.com Pathways to Spirit in Fort Collins Colorado Contact: Carmeen Klausner Phone: 970 282 8573 email pathways@webaccess.net This group is non profit and takes tractor trailer loads of clothes and furniture to Pine Ridge several times each year. --------------------------------------------- From: "g hindsman" Subj: Help for Families on Rez Morning Star Fellowship Circle, Inc. All of the donations are sorted and packed for each family according to size, sex etc. This year we are in particular need of blankets, space heaters, fans and linens (towels and sheets). We have many toys and clothing of all sizes but good winter coats are always useful. We are registered as a private non profit, so receipts can be given for donations. We can always use money donations. We deliver in December, June and in August. We also do mail deliveries occasionally. Over the years, we have made many friends at Pine Ridge, Rosebud, the Crow Agency and others. We try to help with special requests when we can. Morning Star has also been a home away from home for students and elders who are temporarily on the East Coast. Our headquarters are located in Delaware but we have other circles in Virginia, New York, West Virginia, Maryland and soon in Florida. For information about Morning Star you can call or write our Outreach Coordinator at: Morning Star Fellowship Circle, Inc. 321 Beverly Place Wilmington, DE 19809 Phone: 302-764-1178 EMail - candy crow@aol.com -------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If any of you have addresses/contacts to add to this list for other Rez's PLEASE email me with them soon. Include some name/info for me to verify where gifts will be sent and how. Winter winds have already brought snow. I am especially concerned about the lack of contacts for the Montana Rez's. email to gars@netcom.com =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= 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 ---------- - Christmas/Leonard Peltier - 1,111 Volunteers Wanted - Judge Questions Tribe's Stance - Voisey's Bay Environmental - Dineh Denied Firewood Assessment - Gustafsen Clippings - Voisey's Update - Old Man Dancer - Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en - Protection of Intellectual Land Claims Properties - Hiawatha Insane Asylum Cemetery - Holiday Message - Governor's Gaming Threats - Buffalo Nations Alert - Rez Public Safety Crisis - Judge Won't Block Slaughter - Mattaponi Issue - Fight to Keep Wolves - Kahoolawe - Canadian Unity/ - History: Battle of Fallen Timbers Indigenous Genocide - Native Prisoner - The Showdown is Here - A Hundred Years Ago - Officer Cited for Snubbing - Poem: Dawning Sovereignty - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Tragedy of the Displaced - Conferences and Powwows --------- "RE: Christmas/Leonard Peltier" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 17:42:01 GMT From: Pbbmicmac@sedona.net (Robert Branscombe) Subj: Christmas-Leonard Newsgroup: alt.native To all Leonard Peltier Supporters, Why don't all of us send a Christmas Card to Leonard, show him our support, show the LPDC our support and put a donation in it. With a million supporters out there, a dollar apiece could make a major difference. No gift is too small. What if Leonard is getting ready to get out, we sure have all worked hard enough, let's remind him and the LPDC we are behind him. We should send cards to; Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, Kansas 66044-0583 Attn: Kathleen Christian LET'S DO IT, IN THE SPIRIT OF ANNA MAE, Robert A. Pictou-Branscombe --------- "RE: Judge Questions Tribe's Stance" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 14:33:45 -0600 From: Summerfield/Marvin&Linda Subj: Judge Questions Tribe's Stance on Indian Country-Muskogee Phoenix Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Posted courtesy of your only independent Cherokee newspaper, The CHEROKEE OBSERVER. http://www.cherokeeobserver.org The following article was published 12/16/97 in the Muskogee Daily Phoenix ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JUDGE QUESTIONS TRIBE'S STANCE ON INDIAN COUNTY Civil Rights Lawsuits Hinge On Whether Tribal Courthouse Is In Indian Country By Donna Hales, Phoenix Staff Writer A federal judge is questioning the Cherokee Nation's argument that its tribal courthouse in downtown Tahlequah doesn't sit in Indian country. "If that's true - pardon my colloquial statement on the subject - if that's true, the Cherokee Nation ain't much of a sovereign," Judge Tom Brett said in a November court hearing on two civil rights lawsuits. The lawsuits contend that county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies acted illegally when they aided with Chief Joe Byrd's takeover of the tribal courthouse in June, and again in August when his security force rebuffed an attempt by tribal marshals to retake it. The plaintiffs argue that the courthouse is on Indian country because it is land owned by an Indian tribe inside the former reservation boundaries and can't be sold without approval of the Secretary of the Interior. They say the non-tribal officers had no right to be there. The Byrd administration argues that the courthouse isn't Indian country and that the officers were within the law. But when challenged by Councilor Troy Poteete in a Monday night council meeting, Byrd said he wasn't aware that tribal attorney Janet Walters Purcell was arguing the courthouse square wasn't in Indian Country. During a break in the meeting, Byrd said he would like the whole state of Oklahoma declared Indian Country. When asked if in his heart he believed the courthouse was not in Indian country, Byrd replied, "I really can't say." The lawsuits have been combined and transferred to U.S. District Judge Michael Burrage in Muskogee federal court. The tribes argument that the state district attorney has jurisdiction over the tribal courthouse was an "interesting concept", Brett told Purcell in a Nov. 7 hearing. He said he understood why the tribe might want to call on the county sheriff for help, "but to say the principal tribunal of the Cherokee Nation is subservient to the district attorney for Cherokee County, Okla - you agree they are?" Purcell said she did, adding: "The (Oklahoma) Department of Public Safety had to provide Highway Patrol people so that people wouldn't cross the police line. It was more of a situation that was involved with public safety for all citizens, not just for the sovereign Cherokee Nation." Brett again asked Purcell if the Cherokee Nation Tribunal was subservient to the Cherokee County district attorney. "You're not prepared to say that, are you?" he asked. "I would say more there is an equal footing with a cross-deputization agreement and working hand-in-hand," Purcell answered. She then said the tribe's position is that the courthouse square is not Indian country and that the tribe had to call in state officers. The two civil rights suits pit a total of 25 plaintiffs against state, county and federal Bureau of Indian Affairs officials who took the chief's side in his predawn raid on the courthouse on June 20. The courthouse is the headquarters of the tribe's highest court, the Judicial Appeals Tribunal. The suit challenges the legality of actions by the non-tribal officers, who prevented Cherokee NAtion marshals from retaking the courthouse on Aug. 13. The Judicial Appeals Tribunal had ordered the marshals to retake the building. The plaintiffs claim the defendants deliberately prevented them from entering the courthouse, which they contend is a public building. They also contend Byrd's taking of the courthouse was an "illegal siege" and that the non-tribal officers defied an agreement to honor tribal court orders. One of the lawsuits involves 24 plaintiffs. More than a dozen of them claim they were tossed off a back porch of the courthouse by the defendants when the marshals tried to retake the building in August. The plaintiff in the other suit is attorney Chad Smith, a tribal member arrested when he tried to enter the courthouse a few hours after Byrd took control of the building on June 20. County, state and federal police officers wrestled Smith to the ground and hauled him off to jail. Smith named the same defendants in his suit, plus Byrd. The suits stem from a 10-month-old constitutional crisis that still splits the tribe. Under a peace agreement he signed in August, Byrd reopened the courthouse and allowed the tribunal justices and court personnel to return to their offices. He also agreed to recognize the justices after he led an unsuccessful attempt to impeach them. ------------------ EX-CHIEFS SAY IT'S INDIAN COUNTRY Former Cherokee chiefs Ross Swimmer and Wilma Mankiller have signed affidavits in two civil rights suits saying they believe the tribal courthouse sits on Indian country. Both said the city of Tahlequah and Cherokee County recognize the courthouse as Indian country. Mankiller said the state and the Bureau of Indian Affairs do also. Rennard Strickland, former director of the American Indian Law and Policy Center at the University of Oklahoma, filed a similar affidavit. Strickland is now dean of the University of Oregon law school. He has taught Indian law for 25 years, focusing on the legal, cultural and political history of the cherokee Nation. He edited the third edition of Felix Colven's "Handbook of Federal Indian Law." --------- "RE: Dineh Denied Firewood" --------- Date: 9:56 AM Dec 18, 1997 From: redorman@plix.com Subj: Dineh denied firewood Mailing List: Big Mountain List Dec. 19, !0am-11am PST my tincan email server will be down for maintenance. Please use the redorman@plix.com address if you have to email me during that timeframe. Thank you. ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 10:27:29 -0800 (PST) From: LisNa Red Bear Action Alert. Dinetah Big Mountain, Arizona. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS HAPPENING IN NORTHEAST ARIZONA. Stop the Human Rights Violations waged against the traditional Dineh elders and resisting families of Big Mountain Arizona. The traditional Dineh who have not signed the 75 year accommodation agreement can no longer gather wood "legally" on their own property. When Big Mountain residents went to apply for a wood permit the application was denied. They were then threatened by Hopi Tribal Rangers with arrest if caught gathering wood. They also were told that if wood was found at the homes of resisting families it would be confiscated and the residents would be arrested and taken to jail. This is an OUTRAGE, the 20 degree and below climate is a death sentence to these resisting families. The resisters are primarily Elder Grandmothers and their families. Some elders are alone or with little support. People must take action!!! ! The call has been made for people to come and bear witness to the human rights violations occurring right now at Big Mountain, Arizona. Internationally people must defend the Dineh's rights to live on their ancestral lands. This is the latest act (of a long list) of forcibly depriving residents with basic human needs. The multi-national corporations backed by the United States Government, Navajo, Hopi Tribal Governments are subjecting Elderly Women and Children to extreme injustice in order to secure the expansion of ecological devastation via strip mining coal. They are forcibly withholding vital life sustaining heat and cooking materials from these families. We must stop the harassment and forcible relocation, aka genocide of the traditional Dineh resisters. Let your voices be heard, Cry Out for Justice and Take Action!!!! Call Robert Caroline, Superintendent of the BIA and Hopi Tribal Rangers: 520 738 2225 (His men are making threats and enforcing genocidal confiscation of materials) For more information Contact: Olympia WA: LisaNa Red Bear 360 866 6000 ext 6105 e-mail address: redbearl@elwha.evergreen.edu Santa Barbara, CA: Wonono 805 884 0824 Berkeley, CA: Arlene Hamilton 707 823 6317 Oakland, CA: Paul Blumm 510 834 7208 PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL SUPPORTERS!!! ******************************************** You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing rdorma@tincan.tincan.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.plix.com/~users/redorman/ --------- "RE: Gustafsen Clippings" --------- Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 01:37:29 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Gustafsen: More clippings :-:-:-:-:-:-:-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.] ONE LAST STAND A Supreme Court decision adds more weight to calls for a Gustafsen Inquiry Monday Magazine, Dec. 18-24, 1997, Page 14, by Sherryl Yeager Two imprisoned Gustafsen Lake standoff participants hope to appeal their convictions on the grounds the BC government had no jurisdiction to pit the RCMP and military against their small band of native-rights activists. And in a small irony, a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last week in an unrelated case boosts their position. Jones Ignace and James Pitawanakwat presently face several years in prison. Ignace, also known as Wolverine, received the heftiest sentence of the 18 people charged after the armed standoff: four and a half years for mischief endangering life and discharging a firearm at police. He was acquitted of attempted murder. Ignace was seen by police and Crown lawyers as a ringleader for the Gustafsen Lake group, which was protecting sacred Sundance grounds on a cattle ranch just outside of 100 Mile House in the late summer of 1995. Four hundred RCMP officers and military personnel were brought against the small band that refused to leave the site. Pitawanakwat, also known as OJ, is serving three years for mischief endangering life and possession of a weapon. The majority of the protesters were convicted of mischief to private property and given much lighter sentences. Last week, Canada's highest court ruled that a decade-old land claims case brought by the Gixsan and Wet'suwet'en of northern BC must be retried or negotiated to a satisfactory resolution. A BC court had found that first nations' aboriginal title was extinguished at the time of colonization. The Supreme Court justices disagreed finding that aboriginal title can't be extinguished by any less than the federal government. The decision echoes the argument of Ignace, controversial lawyer Bruce Clark, and 20% of BC's first nations, who believe the province has no jurisdiction over aboriginal people where treaties have not been signed. But supporters of the imprisoned standoff participants see the Supreme Court decision as a small victory, and even as further proof of the judicial system's efforts to stymie the cause of native people. "In the last 10 years, we have been raising the issue of jurisdiction so many times in different arenas - with the justice of the peace, in provincial court, in international courts. [Ignace] and I were making plans on how to raise it again in Supreme Court before Gustafsen Lake," says Harold Pascal. Pascal is a gravekeeper for the LiL'Wat first nation, which has traditional territories in the Whistler-Pemberton area. Like Ignace, Pascal has argued worldwide for native sovereignty, often working with Clark. "We as indigenous people came to a conclusion about our rights and the priority for getting them entered in international law long before Clark," says Pascal. "He came along and was someone who agreed with us, and he has been smeared into oblivion." In court, Clark has challenged BC's jurisdiction over first nations' land more than 30 times, and was repeatedly told the question had been decided by the Gixsan-Wet'suwet'en case. With the Supreme Court's ruling last week, the argument must start at the beginning and aboriginal people are caught in the legal loop, says Pascal. "It's an obvious conspiracy on behalf of the judicial community on the issue of jurisdiction," says sovereigntist Bill Lightbown. Meanwhile, the sovereigntists are optimistic a public inquiry into the Gustafsen Lake standoff will eventually be called. "There is so much stuff, that is so dirty, it IS going to happen. It has to happen. From the Prime Minister all the way down - it involves the media and its campaign of hate propaganda, to the amazing disappearance of the media in the trial, to the denial of counsel of choice, to the amount of firepower that was discharged, to shooting an unarmed woman," lists Victoria-based activist John Shafer. Key among the issues supporters want an inquiry to address: Why did RCMP sharpshooters fire on unarmed camp inhabitants who were in an agreed-upon safety zone? (This was captured on police surveillance tape.) Why were powerful plastic explosives used to blow up a camp truck that was heading out to meet a negotiating group? (Also captured on tape.) What was the extent of the involvement of the military, and why was military force condoned by the federal government? Why were 400 police officers and the military called in to arrest less than 20 people? Why did police not correct erroneous releases to the press, such as claims camp inhabitants stalked them through the night after shooting out a truck mirror, when their own investigation revealed the mirror was broken by a tree branch? While there is international support for an inquiry, Shafer and his fellow members of Settlers in Support of Indigenous Sovereignty (S.I.S.I.S.) are barely being heard in the halls of BC's legislature. Along with thousands of signatures on petitions, S.I.S.I.S. has received letters of support for an inquiry from indigenous rights groups in Switzerland and Belgium, the Green Party of the European parliament, the Centre for Constitutional Rights in Munich, and the Mayan people in Guatemala. And although many sovereigntists view the Assembly of First Nations as a collection of puppet-governments toadying to the feds, they're pleased the assembly's delegates have passed a resolution calling on their leadership to lobby for an inquiry. Lightbown says the media isn't pursuing the story about the need for an inquiry because it doesn't want the extent to which it was suckered and complicit in the police operation exposed. Asked why the media would come to the inquiry when reporters rarely appeared at the months long Gustafsen Lake trial, Shafer replied, "I don't care if the media come. They are pathologically inclined to lie on this issue. One of the things that is going to come out is to what degree members of the media were actively involved in information gathering for the RCMP." Those demanding an inquiry believe a conspiracy to suppress the Gustafsen Lake camp inhabitants reached as high as the prime minister, who authorized the Canadian army's role in the standoff. They believe the purpose of the all-out armed show with police and military was to prove the NDP government was not soft on native activists and to raise the party's standing in the polls. The underlying motivation uniting the police and various political parties around the standoff is racism, Shafer says plainly. He and Lightbown argue racism is also the reason the provincial Liberal and Reform parties are not calling the NDP to account. Since the New Democrats are the traditional supporters of human rights, when they trample them, the Liberals and Reformers become their allies rather than opponents. "It's not just the government, it's the state that's feeling threatened. The state is academia, the business community," [etc.] says Shafer. S.I.S.I.S. members even hope an inquiry will answer such small "p" political questions such as why non-natives with links to environmental groups were in the camp. Shafer argues that environmentalists don't want aboriginal people to regain control over their land, because that could mean resource extraction. And while the sovereigntists insist the camp inhabitants were united during the police siege, they are suspicious that the environmentalists were not with them from the outset. On Dec. 4, Monday reported on a group of prominent standoff participants who say there is now a rift between those who stood at Gustafsen Lake to defend native religious freedom, and sovereigntists like Ignace and Pitawanakwat. "It's amazing how people changed - these now peaceful and spiritual people were some of the most aggressive proponents of other methods. Let's just leave it at that," Shafer says. The lobbyists for an inquiry are gathering little support from other official agencies. Although they want human rights abuses surrounding Gustafsen Lake exposed, the Human Rights Commission has not accepted their complaint. Lightbown says just one example of the disregard for human rights was the removal of evidence. During the trial, police officers admitted firing 22,000 rounds of ammunition, but could not account for an additional 77,000 rounds that were ordered. Lightbown believes the shots were fired into a grove of trees near the activists' encampment during a firefight between Ignace and police in armoured personnel carriers. "They clearcut all the trees after the standoff, but before the media tour. All the small trees were mowed down. They cut out that evidence and burned the cabin down to keep hidden how many rounds they fired." Lightbown adds that supporters combed the camp area with a metal detector and recovered only 108 shells fired by the inhabitants. He believes only a higher spirit prevented the standoff participants from being injured or killed by the superior firepower of the police or the military. It is perhaps the greatest irony that while first nations people call into the wind for an inquiry into Gustafsen Lake, a dose of pepper-spray on university students protesting the APEC conference at UBC last month is bringing heat on police and Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Lawyers, politicians and the media are alleging excessive force. At APEC, though, the weapon was cayenne, and the silencing was taking away signs. At Gustafsen Lake, it was snipers' bullets and a legal argument that has yet to be heard. Letters to Monday Magazine: letters@monday.com editorial@monday.com Please cc to: sisis@envirolink.org :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Old Man Dancer" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 10:47:23 -0600 From: "William Brandon" Subj: old man dancer Newsgroup: alt.native This past summer I had the privilege of attending a Sundance in the Northern Plains as a supporter of an honoree. I had checked with the organizer and others to make sure that my attendance would be ok (I am an euro-celtic-american). Everyone assured me that my presence would not be a problem. When I got to the site it was easy to understand this assurance - 1/2 of the people were NA, 1/2 were white (dyed reddish yellow with iodine), and 1/2 were whatever. The whites were there on summer vacation and seemed to be having a good time (roughing it "Indian" style). The NAs were trying to prepare themselves for this holy time - you could see it in their faces. Around the Circle sat vehicles from all over the US, including some vans marked for a Unitarian/Universalist church. As time neared for the Tree of Life to enter you could see the dancers under the arbor anticipating the arrival. The wonderful old cottonwood was lowered to the ground gently as if putting a baby to bed, the words and prayers were said. Then came the rope tying. The whites ran out first (as if it were a contest) followed by young and middle-aged NAs and finally the elders. There was one old man with the scars of many ceremonies that was the last to come out. Such a wonderful look on his face - bold and determined. He seemed to be in pain judging by the way he walked; but, he had arrived at the tree only to find that there was no room for him to tie on. I knew that he had a pledge to fulfill but he was totally frustrated by the situation. I could see his face and his eyes. Those dark eyes were ringed with tears as in utter despair he walked away with his rope in hand. I had never really understood the cultural conflict until that day. My host and I left greatly saddened by what had occurred. I do not know if it was a red/white thing or if it was a case of lack of knowledge. Either way I knew that I could not attend another Sundance. That memory will always haunt me. Close the ceremonies to non-NAs; until the day (if it ever comes) that we as non-indigenous persons can learn the ways and honor the traditions. Sorry for the long discourse but this has been stuck in my throat for a long time. >From an observer on this NG for a long time. William --------- "RE: Protection of Intellectual Properties" --------- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 16:08:55 -0500 From: "Mohawk Nation Office" Subj: Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake Position on the Protection of Intellectual Properties From Commercial Misuse UUCP email Shekon, Women, men, Rotianer, Iotianer and children of the Longhouse at Kahnawake extend to you a greeting and thanksgiving. We are hopeful that this communication finds all of you in good held in mind and body. This is to inform you that the Kahnawake Mohawk Band Council is embarking on a trade project that affects all Haudenosaunee. We have been made aware that a trade agreement is to be signed January 18, 1998 in Mexico City. All negotiations have been done behind closed doors. This project is named "Project OK" and will be using Haudenosaunee symbols and sacred Wampum belts which will be mass-produced by Mexico and sent back to the Americas for distribution and sale. We urge all Haudenosaunee and supporters to help stop this exploitation of our intellectual properties that belong to the Haudenosaunee and not to Canadian citizens. We have attached the "Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake Position on the Protection of Intellectual Properties From Commercial Misuse." We need to act quickly, as there is little time left. We ask that all the communities and supporters send out letters to the Kahnawake Mohawk Band Council, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Mexican Government voicing concern and opposition to this Agreement. Nia:wen. Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton Mohawk Council of Kahnawake - Office of the Council of Chiefs P.O. Box 720 Kahnawake Mohawk Territory J0L 1B0 Honorable Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 ***An address for the Mexican Government is to follow*** **************************************************** Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake Position on the Protection of Intellectual Properties From Commercial Misuse The Mohawk Band Council of Kahnawake, calling themselves the 'Mohawks of Kahnawake', will be signing an international trade agreement January 18, 1998; the Band Council has drafted regulations and is taking patents or ownership on cultural symbols and intellectual property which belongs to all Haudenosaunee Peoples without the knowledge or consent of the owners. For centuries the Indigenous people of the Americas have been losing our cultural property and today we are left struggling to preserve what is left of our cultural identity and to maintain our collective and individual traditional practices. Cultural or Intellectual Property refers to a design, product or technical process, such as wampum belts, which is protected by means of copyright, trademark or patent. This protection grants the inventor, an individual or corporation, the exclusive right to use the property or to earn royalties by renting or selling its use. Exclusive rights to intellectual property are legally granted as a reward for developing it. The preamble of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) "Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property" adopted at its sixteenth session in Paris on November 14, 1970 reads as follows: "Considering that cultural property constitutes one of the basic elements of civilization and national culture, and that its true value can be appreciated only in relation to the fullest possible information regarding its origin, history, and traditional setting." This UNESCO convention is meant to stop the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property and was the first major step taken by the United Nations to address centuries of plunder of Indigenous cultural property. However, misuse or outright theft continues today. The Kahnawake Mohawk Band Council has no authority from the Confederacy to represent the sovereign Mohawk Nation. The "Oaxaca-Kahnawake Trade and Commerce Convention" or "Project OK" to be signed on January 18, 1998; between the Government of the Republic of Mexico, the Canadian Government, the State of Oaxaca, the Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca and the Kahnawake Mohawk Band Council representing themselves as the 'Mohawks of Kahnawake'; is an international trade project that affects all Haudenosaunee. The Band Council is an arm of the Canadian Government. In actuality, the Mohawk Nation consists of seven different communities on both sides of the so-called Canada/United States border (Kahnawake, Wahta, Akwesasne, Kanienkeh, Tyendinega, Six Nations Reserve and Kahnesatake) with the ability to make Treaties and international agreements as affirmed by natural, constitutional and international law. The Kanienkehaka constitution is the Kaianerekowa, or Great Law of Peace. Those who uphold the Canadian Constitution through the Indian Act system are legally not Haudenosaunee. Therefore, any trade agreements made on behalf of the Mohawk Nation by the Band Council are not valid. This Agreement is "to establish necessary agreements and support structures to market and sell primary and manufactured products (both from Oaxaca and Canada) throughout North America and eventually to European and other markets under an 'Indians of the Americas' Label." Essentially, this is supposed to curb the flow of non-Indian imitation arts and crafts manufactured elsewhere and sold around the world, except that it has the effect of limiting ownership of Iroquois symbols and their use. Within three months of the signing, an Indigenous Trade and Commerce Commission will be set up to mediate and arbitrate all matters relating making and marketing of Iroquois arts and crafts. This Commission will oversee the research, negotiation and completion of all trade-mark, patent and other intellectual property right protection systems not only regarding Mohawks but other indigenous trade in products or services. In effect, this agreement subordinates ancient Mohawk sovereignty under Canada and Mexico and sets up a non-Indigenous commission to certify and regulate the use of Mohawk/Iroquois cultural property which belongs to all Haudenosaunee Peoples. This Agreement will decide who can and cannot manufacture Mohawk/Iroquois goods in trade and commerce between Canada and Mexico or "other markets" and involves the regulation of all labels, trade-marks, patents or other intellectual property protection by the Commission. Those who wish to be included under the Agreement have to agree to be regulated by the Commission. The Haudenosaunee Council of Chiefs have already taken steps to protect the Haudenosaunee People against such violations and theft of cultural property as set out in a February 2, 1986 Communique': "The Haudenosaunee(also known as the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy), and, each member nation (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora) separately and collectively claim all sacred objects, human remains, and traditional territory as our cultural patrimony, and our national cultural treasures 'The chiefs, clanmothers, faithkeepers, and members of our contemporary traditional medicine societies and the people that they serve are the rightful owners and authorities of our cultural patrimony and our national cultural treasures.' It is the obligation and trust responsibility of each succeeding generation of chiefs, clanmothers, faithkeepers, and members of the Haudenosaunee to preserve our patrimony and national cultural treasures for the seventh generation to come - Therefore, the disturbance, destruction, and theft of our patrimony is a violation of our human rights; a violation of our group rights; and a violation of the religious and spiritual welfare of our people - Therefore, all other entities are secondary and must give way to the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee and our people as the ultimate and final title holder of our patrimony." This includes the theft of ownership as proposed in the Agreement. In the past we have had to pressure museums and wealthy entrepreneurs to not exploit our sacred treasures for profit and without our free and informed consent or permission. Today it is Mohawks governed by the Canadian Government Indian Act who are taking advantage of the political gains Haudenosaunee nationalists have made internationally. This foreign entity "Mohawk Council of Kahnawake" is violating Haudenosaunee Law for profit. The main result of the Kahnawake Mohawk Band Council entering into any international agreement is the subordination of national Mohawk sovereignty which the Haudenosaunee Peoples as a collective have been defending for centuries. Also because the Agreement will be regulated by foreign entities this will result in a change in the jurisdiction of the Mohawk Nation which will ultimately affect basic Mohawk rights in self-determination, return of lands and resources which make up our identity. Patenting of our intellectual property by outsiders is being promoted by the Kahnawake Mohawk Band Council's entry into an agreement with the Mexican and Canadian governments and is not supported by the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake. Passed and Sealed by the People's Council, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory December 21, 1997 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch Visit our new site! http://www.cyberglobe.net/users/mnation --------- "RE: Holiday Message" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 97 12:32:07 PST From: Wild Rockies InfoNet Subj: Holiday Message UUCP email Holiday Message To: All who care about our National Forests Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, the New Year, or the druidic calendar: Please take the time to send U.S. Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck a holiday card. We are serious. Right now, the Clinton Administration is pondering a very important decision affecting our National Forests. They are considering a plan that could end logging and new road building in forest areas that don't t have logging roads yet. This is very important because it would help protect many of our National Forests' most significant remaining natural habitats, safeguard potential new wilderness areas, and stop damage to many pristine forest streams. A strong nation-wide roadless policy is a possible outcome of the current deliberations inside the Forest Service. Never before has a Chief of the Forest Service dare raised the specter of protecting roadless areas nation-wide. Chief Dombeck should be encouraged in his current endeavor to adopt the strongest policy. In your holiday card to Chief Dombeck, please ask him to protect all roadless areas over 1,000 acres from new roadbuilding and logging. Also ask him not to exclude any forests -- particularly those in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest from these important protections (FYI-- opponents to the roadless policy are pushing for exemptions in these areas, not unlike the Grinch who stole the Who's Christmas Tree). You can give a gift back to the earth this holiday season by sending a Holiday Card to Chief Dombeck-- it's fun for the whole family, especially the children. Tell your friends, relatives, colleagues, and members of your community to join in the fun. Oh, don't forget to wish the Chief a Happy Holiday and successful Roadless New Year. Address: Chief Michael Dombeck U.S. Forest Service Auditors Building 201 14th Street, SW Washington, DC 20090 PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY --------- "RE: Buffalo Nations Alert" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 13:37:47 -0500 From: Buffalo Nations Subject: buffalo nations update UUCP email *********Buffalo Nations Alert******** Department of Livestock "inspectors" came to West Yellowstone yesterday and were immediately greeted in the field by three of our volunteers. Within 10 minutes a dozen backup volunteers, including members of the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative, were on the scene to ensure the bison's protection. Two of the members of our response team came into the field with a video camera and attempted to haze the bison away from the DOL, whose motives were as yet unclear. The DOL brandished guns loaded with apparent blanks and chased the bison in pick-up trucks. They later claimed their only intention was to haze the bison. The bison eventually crossed over into the park. Volunteers have been canvassing the local community and have put up over 40 bright pink signs on people's land which say "Bison Safe Zone: No Shooting or Harassing Bison Permitted by Order of Landowner". We are constantly heartened by the positive response of people who love the bison and want to help us. Some of our best support comes from our neighbors around our cabin, six of whom regularly go out on patrols with us. Their help allows us to have an effective presence in the field. In a lawsuit filed by the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative on Dec.16th, U. S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell (notoriously pro-cattle industry) announced that he would only allow 100 bison to be killed this year before they must return to court for more slaughter approval. As writer and grizzly bear expert Doug Peacock says, "That's 100 too many." The other complication with this "solution" is that the D.O.L. would still be able to capture and hold the bison in unnatural confinement for 5 months or more. Buffalo Nations is concerned that this is a public relations ploy which will make little positive difference in the long run for the future of the bison and may lead to their domestication. Before the hearing, Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative Executive Director Mark Heckert, Vice President Carl Tsosie, and Spiritual Advisor Rocky Afraid of Hawk visited our office. The ITBC represents over 44 tribes and advocates that buffalo in excess of the Yellowstone ecosystem carrying capacity be sent to reservations instead of being shot or shipped to slaughter. The visitors from ITBC shared prayers and honored us with a pipe ceremony. They expressed their solidarity and support for our work here. We are still feeling strong here, and everyone feels very positive about our commitment to ensure that not one buffalo is killed this winter. Buffalo Nations PO Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 phone 406-646-0071 fax buffalo@wildrockies.org --------- "RE: Judge Won't Block Slaughter" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 23:53:20 -0500 From: Sonja Keohane Subj: Judge Won't Block Bison Slaughter UUCP email 'So...they can "only" kill 100 bison without a court hearing..?...and you can imagine in Montana and Wyoming how hard it would be to get "permission" to kill more......might be able to get the permission by phone........ yup......"they", the cattlemen, and their paid for politicians, want all of the bison dead.... December 16, 1997 Judge Won't Block Bison Slaughter Filed at 2:13 p.m. EST By The Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- A judge today refused to block government agencies from killing bison that wander out of Yellowstone National Park, although he limited the number that can be shot in a program to prevent the animals from spreading disease to cattle herds. No more than 100 bison can be killed without a court hearing, U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell said. He said he does not want a repeat of last winter, when almost 1,100 bison were shot or shipped to slaughter. Lovell ruled in a lawsuit filed by several conservation groups and the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative challenging an interim management plan aimed at blocking bison from leaving the park. The plan is designed to keep the animals from spreading brucellosis to cattle. The disease causes cows to abort their calves. In humans, it causes undulant fever. Montana ranchers fear that if infected bison are allowed out of the park, they could be required to spend millions to test their cattle and certify them disease-free before shipment to other states. In a report last week, the National Academy of Sciences said the risk of infection to cattle was small, but real, and that the result of infection could be catastrophic. The conservation and tribal groups argued that state and federal agencies should be required to do another environmental analysis of the program to better measure the potential impacts on the Yellowstone bison herd, which numbers about 2,000 animals. In the meantime, the management plan should be shelved, said Jim Angell of Bozeman, attorney for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. Justice Department lawyer Martin LaLonde said state and federal officials had agreed on changes to the plan that are intended to reduce the slaughter of bison. Increased use of hazing to keep bison in the park, allowing more disease-free bison to remain outside the park in one area and a new location for a trapping facility near West Yellowstone will make a difference, he told Lovell. --------- "RE: Fight to Keep Wolves" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 20:13:36 -0500 From: ishgooda Subj: Environmental groups vow fight to keep wolves Idaho Falls Post Register 12/16/97 - Post Register Environmental groups vow fight to keep wolves By Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Environmental groups that challenged a portion of the federal wolf reintroduction program never intended their actions to lead to the removal of wolves from Yellowstone and central Idaho, an attorney said Monday. The environmental groups represented by the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund are outraged by Judge William Downes' order that the Canadian wolves transplanted in the northern Rockies in 1995 and 1996 be removed, said Doug Honnold, the managing attorney for the fund's northern Rockies office. Although the groups including the National Audubon Society and Predator Project were part of the legal action that led to Downes' decision on Friday, they do not want to see the wolves removed, Honnold said in a telephone news conference from his Bozeman, Mont., office. "We and our clients want the wolves to stay," he said. "We have fought hard to protect the wolves in the northern Rockies. We want all the wolves to stay." He added he recommended to the groups that they appeal the ruling to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But a representative of the National Wildlife Federation said by challenging what became a successful reintroduction program, the Legal Defense Fund made a strategic error that resulted in a ruling that pleased no one. "They were playing a very close game with the law," said Tom France. "To complain about a program that everybody admits has been successful is what is so odd." Downes on Friday said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf reintroduction program was illegal and ordered the Canadian wolves and their offspring removed from the park and Idaho. Under the program, the transplanted wolves are considered an "experimental, non-essential" species. The designation means they can be shot if they are caught preying on livestock. It was developed to ease the concerns of ranchers who were worried about losing livestock to the predators. Wolves now found in Montana and Canada are considered endangered species with full protection of the Endangered Species Act. But once they reach the area covered by the "experimental, non-essential" designation, they lose full protection and can be shot as well. --------- "RE: Canadian Unity/Indigenous Genocide" --------- Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 01:36:46 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Canadian Unity - Indigenous Genocide :-:-:-:S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty:-:-:-: December 19, 1997 Bulletin NO "UNITY" WITH INDIGENOUS GENOCIDE: BC PREMIER PUSHES NATIONAL UNITY A month long, cross-country unity panel set up by BC's NDP Premier Glen Clark has ended its tour and is expected to make a final report to the provincial government by February 15. The tour was set up by Clark after Canada's first ministers, excluding Quebec's, agreed in September to the "Calgary Declaration on Canadian Unity" to foster "Canadian Unity". The seven principles contained in the Calgary Declaration are intended to guide the Canadian federation and each province agreed to consult with their residents followed by official acceptance or rejection. BC's panel will advise the legislature of their findings. Given that the Canadian settler-state is founded and maintained upon the basis of indigenous genocide and colonialism, the "Unity" initiative is a further fresh step in the ongoing racist suppression of this fundamental fact. British Columbia, erected upon unceded indigenous territories over which it has no lawful jurisdiction, is particularly objectionable. A fraudulent and genocidal BC Treaty Commission, and a steadfast refusal in the face of international outrage to conduct an inquiry into the paramilitary attack upon Shuswap traditionalists at Gustafsen Lake, is another case in point. The seven principles of the Calgary declaration include the following: 1. All Canadians are equal and have rights protected by law. 2. All provinces, while diverse in their characteristics, have equality of status. 3. Canada is graced by a diversity, tolerance, compassion and an equality of opportunity that is without rival in the world. 4. Canada's gift of diversity includes Aboriginal peoples and cultures, the vitality of the English and French languages and a multicultural citizenry drawn from all parts of the world. 5. In Canada's federal system, where respect for diversity and equality underlies unity, the unique character of Quebec society, including its French speaking majority, its culture and its tradition of civil law, is fundamental to the well being of Canada. Consequently, the legislature and government of Quebec have a role to protect and develop the unique character of Quebec society within Canada. 6. If any future constitutional amendment confers powers on one province, these powers must be available to all provinces. 7. Canada is a federal system where federal, provincial and territorial governments work in partnership while respecting each other's jurisdictions. Canadians want their governments to work co-operatively and with flexibility to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the federation. Canadians want their governments to work together particularly in the delivery of their social programs. Provinces and territories renew their commitment to work in partnership with the government of Canada to best serve the needs of Canadians. The "Unity" panel is accepting written submissions until December 31, 1997 It is strongly urged that all concerned register their outrage at the denial of indigenous jurisdiction and sovereignty, demand that the authorities conduct independent inquiries into the paramilitary attacks upon indigenous peoples at Stoney Point and Gustafsen Lake, and that the Ts'peten political prisoners Wolverine and OJ Pitawanakwat be released immediately. NO "UNITY" with GENOCIDE and COLONIALISM! Canadian "UNITY" website: www.unity.gov.bc.ca Toll free phone line to "UNITY" Panel: (1-888-709-7799) Canadian Unity Panel: Suite 630, 999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC. V6C 3E1 DOWN WITH CANADIAN COLONIALISM! AN END TO INDIGENOUS GENOCIDE! FREEDOM! :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: The Showdown is Here" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 14:56:44 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Tsilhqot'in: The Showdown is Here :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: The following editorial is from the Tsilhqot'in Nation journal Wolf Howls: THE SHOWDOWN IS HERE It has become crystal clear that the Government of British Columbia is not taking us seriously. For months now our Chiefs and Deputy National Chief Ray Hance have been telling every cabinet Minister and senior policy level bureaucrat we meet with that we are on a collision course with outright confrontation if they don't start really paying attention and acting on our outstanding grievances. Instead, the government has sent us a pack of spin doctors - both to probe us and to gloss over our concerns. We find that attitude despicable. It echoes the hangings of 1864 when our Nation's negotiators and front line warriors were deliberately entrapped, chained up, run through a kangaroo court and publicly hanged as common criminals. Our leaders had been invited to a peace parley to resolve the issue of illegal invasion of our traditional territory by alien intruders. We will never forget that betrayal of honour and trust. How can we? Exactly the same methods are still being used by the latter day version of that colonial regime backed by its militia. As we've said before, they think they can get away with it now by using paper instead of gun powder. But we know that ultimately they will back up that paper war with guns and tanks just like they did at Gustafsen Lake. It's the same way they dealt with Louis Riel in Manitoba, the Mohawks at Oka in Quebec, and is leading to the way they dealt with the Beothuks in Newfoundland. They killed them all off. Yes, we do consider paper-generated resource theft and cultural genocide to be just as potent as front-on military confrontation or the intimidation of the constant threat of it. The Tsilhqot'in Nation and the rest of the tough native nations who will never surrender their rightful ownership of our lands and resources are standing by to back us if the going gets nasty. But the leaders of this government that has directly authorized its insidious bureaucrats to steal our resources and try to buy us off with patronizing crumbs and PR slogans had better get real busy undoing the damage their trifling with us has caused THEM. Because the Tsilhqot'in Nation is poised to exercise its jurisdictional muscle backed by a formidable force quite capable of wreaking havoc on a badly tarnished Crown... :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [S.I.S.I.S note: A subsequent report from Wolf Howls informs that the Tsilhqot'ins "definitely got the attention of the Cabinet of the Government of BC. They dodged the arrow of coordinated disruptions" and assigned "a special envoy to work directly with the Tsilhqot'in National Government... authorized to present our grievances directly to ultimate decision makers, and by pass the line bureaucracy people who have been trifling with us for too long." Solidarity with the TNG has been expressed by other "native nations from the sensible groups who have not sold out their aboriginal rights to the phony BCTC." (BC Treaty Commission)] SOVEREIGNTY IS THE ISSUE, CANADA IS THE PROBLEM. Tsilhqot'in National Government 102-383 Oliver St., Williams Lake BC. V2G 1M4 More information on the BC Treaty Commission (BCTC): http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Clark/BCgovt.html --------- "RE: Officer Cited for Snubbing Sovereignty" --------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 20:01:42 -0500 From: ishgooda Subj: Officer Cited For Snubbing Spokane Tribe's Sovereignty(excerpt) <><><><><><><>NASC NEWS<><><><><><><> My Midori Baer Indian Country Today December 8-15 SPOKANE, Washington--Disciplinary action was taken against Washington State Patrol Officer David Fenn and Officer Fenn's former supervisor Sergeant David McMillan after Spokane Tribal officials wrote a letter to U. S. Attorney General Janet Reno. Both Officer Fenn and Sergeant McMillan have been transferred after violating Spokane tribal sovereignty by issuing citations on reservation roads. Examples of civil citations issued to Spokane Tribal members include, speeding tickets, and cracked windshields. Criminal citations include Driving While Intoxicated and vehicular assaults. One out of every five D. W.I's issued in that area is to an American Indian. According to Spokane Tribal officials, Officer Fenn admitted to investigators that he recorded civil citations as if they originated on state highways, when in fact, they originated on the reservation, where he lacks authority to do so. Tribal officials had twice met with Officer Fenn's superiors regarding the violations. It was confirmed that the Washington State Patrol has no jurisdiction to issue civil citations to American Indians driving within Indian reservations in the state of Washington. According to tribal officials, illegal citations issued by Officer Fenn continued with active support from Sergeant McMillan, despite Washington State Patrol Officials' assurances that the violations would cease. Spokane Tribal officials also said that Officer Fenn acknowledged that he ignored direct orders to curtail his patrol of reservation roads. The investigation began late last year and has received criticism for it's length by Bill Hanson, Washington State Patrol Association President. " Going through one of these investigations for a trooper is one of the most traumatic times in their life," Mr. Hanson said to a Spokane newspaper. "Some liken it to going through a divorce, and some say it's even worse." --------- "RE: Tragedy of the Displaced" --------- Date: 3:45 PM Dec 17, 1997 From: moonlight Subj: THE TRAGEDY OF THE DISPLACED Newsgroup: igc.indig.info Blanche Petrich The low intensity war has arrived in the highlands of Chiapas. The experiment that in 1995 and 1996 quietly bloodied the northern municipalities in that entity, reproduces again this past month of September the same formula: paramilitary commandos protected by the Army and the caciques murder, steal, burn homes and ransack fields. The Zapatistas, after four years of peaceful resistance betting on the path of dialogue, see themselves obligated to respond with weapons. This Thursday, Priistas and Zapatistas decided to place a definitive end to the aggressions on both sides". But to fixing this torn social weaving will not be easy. This war, without adjectives, has returned for its fueros. Xoyeb is a village halfway between Polh and Yabteclum, next to a shady pitch-pine, in a valley between hills. There are 13 family homes - boards and zinc roofs- among maize fields and banana trees. All have opened their doors and their poverty to share the little they have with the wave of recent arrivals, their neighbors. These - 488, counting two new borns- are from Yibeljoj and are in two "camps", that are nothing more than roof made of banana leaves. Those who are most sick are placed inside the houses or under the few plastics that are available, because it is winter and it constantly rains. Displaced, internal refugees, expelled form their ancestral land, it has now been two months in this place. A diagnosis by the health promoter estimates that 80 per cent of the children and 60 per cent of the adults have a fever. There is dysentery, respiratory and gastric ailments, typhoid, and high risk of cholera. In one these minuscule coverings is Zenaida. She is 16 years old. Her first son, with sleepy eyes caused by the fever and stomach inflammation caused by insects, crawls on the mud floor. He still cannot eat tortilla and wants to be breast fed. But his mother looks at him without seeing, she hugs her knees, she complains: her womb also hurts and her blue skirt is soaked in blood. Her second son will not be born. There are no more antibiotics, not even an aspirin, to help withstand the consequences of the abortion. Her aunt, kneeling by her side, speaks quickly in Tzotzil. Her husband remains silent. He can do nothing for Zenaida. Not even tea. When the sun rises in the camps, no women can be found under the palapas. Smoke comes out of all the chimneys. Every house is a collective kitchen. There are hundreds of hands that cooperate to stir up the fire in the hearths, chop wood, cook maize, grind it, and make tortillas. Two or three for each person. For the entire day until tomorrow. At midday everyone has finished a task. Taking advantage of the bit of sun the men hang their wet shirts. The women dry their Huipiles on their body. They mutually take lice from their hair and talk. And the children, in the middle of the drama, laugh. The heads of the families of Yibeljoj place themselves in a semi-circle to tell, also in a collective, their story and reflections. Lorenzo Vazquez interprets from Tzotzil to Spanish, the host of Xoyeb. - In a neighborhood of Los Chorros there is a group of Priistas with weapons. I believe about 60 weapons, only cuerno de chivo (AK 47). They came to our community to demand 330 pesos from every family to buy more weapons, with threats of being shot. For those who did not have enough to pay, they lowered their white flags with bullets. - We as Chiapanecos are civil society and as a religion Las Abejas. The neighborhood of Los Chorros is against civil society. We are also a Zapatista support base but we do not want war. What we do not support is the government because it does not give justice, it does not give peace. We no longer ask the government for anything, they don't give anything anyway. -The Priistas asked the people for cooperation in buying weapons. And those who did not give support, were persecuted. They said it was cooperation for the solution of the problem. -Before we were tied to our town of Chenalho. All together in a government, all together in the PRI party. But the government always says that its people are calm, happy, that they lack nothing because the government provides everything. But it is not true. They were lying because there is need and suffering. They said we had housing, drainage, food. They said all of this to be able to borrow money from other governments. We found out about these lies. That is why we became civil society, organizing with the diocese, group by group. -Now our town of Chenalho is divided in three. One is the Zapatista who is fighting to say directly that the people are not happy, they are dying of hunger and diseases. Also divided into Priistas among the priistas divided into civil society. -Once our town Chenalho was divided the Priista party did not want it divided, it wanted unity even if by force. They say the EZLN is crazy. They say: it is better to be together as before. But we no longer want that. -No, we don't want it because civil society has been born. We do not want weapons in order to kill. -We are civil society organizing in a group but not part of the Zapatista Army. They are in one struggle, but we see that we are on the same path. -We want to return to Yibeljoj. A place is not left just like that. But we want to continue apart from the PRI. And so, in order to find a solution they need to take the weapons away from the Priistas. With weapons there is fear, there is threat. The PRI together with the security police stole our horses, the animals, the maize, and the coffee, everything. -When they take the weapons from the Priistas we can live together. We are brothers. We are relatives. -We have fear and we do not have weapons. If danger returns we have to defend ourselves because there is no place left for our families to go. I can not find another road. Lorenzo the interpreter, finishes the narration of the many voices overwhelmed by so much suffering. "Come and see our well", he suggests. It is a small hole of turbid water a few meters from the latrine. There is no way of boiling water. There are no containers to put the water in. There are not very many chlorine tablets anyway. There the people of Xoyeb and Yibeljoj share destiny and risk of cholera. Lorenzo looks inside the well and concludes: "Our only weapon is God". In the afternoon the youth come down from another hill. They come with tree trunks. They are chapeando a place. At the foot of the hill, the displaced rebuild their homes, to rebuild themselves in them, to continue their lives. --------- "RE: 1,111 Volunteers Wanted" --------- Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 20:43:47 -0800 (PST) From: National Commission for Democracy in Mexico Subj: WANTED 1,111 VOLUNTEERS TO SUPPORT THE ZAPATISTAS UUCP email WANTED 1,111 VOLUNTEERS TO SUPPORT THE ZAPATISTAS SIGN UP NOW TO HELP BREAK THE BLOCKADE OF SILENCE COLLECT 100 POPULAR BALLOTS FOR THE RIGHT TO LIVE IN PEACE The National Commission for Democracy in Mexico is launching a Popular Ballot for the Right to Live in Peace and we are seeking 1,111 volunteers willing to collect 100 ballots each by January 1, 1998. The ballot is 6 public opinion questions regarding conditions in Mexico and US-Mexico relations, and is intended to serve as an expression of our will for peace in Chiapas and Mexico. The search for volunteers and the collection of ballots begins Thursday, November 20th, Mexican Revolution Day. A public announcement of the volunteers and their progress will be made on December 10th, the anniversary of the U. N. Declaration on Human Rights, and on January 1st the tally of the ballots will be announced as well as a decision on whether the balloting will be continued. Serving as one of the 1,111 volunteers is a statement of support for the struggle for peace, democracy, liberty and justice of the 1,111 Zapatista communities in Chiapas. To register as a volunteer, please send your name and a means of communicating with you by phone, fax, electronic or postal mail to: NCDM 2001 Montana, Suite B El Paso, Texas 79902 phone/fax: 915-532-8382 email: moonlight@igc.apc.org. You can also register as a volunteer or submit a ballot through our web page (http://www.igc.apc.org/ncdm). As a registered volunteer, you also will receive a pin identifying you as one of the 1,111 volunteers. Please join us in breaking the information and military blockade being imposed on the Zapatistas. Register today! --------- "RE: Voisey's Bay Environmental Assessment" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 12:04:07 -0330 From: Larry Innes Subj: 75-day review for Voisey's Bay EIS begins... Mailing List: Innu People Forum list Voisey's Bay Joint Environmental Assessment Panel VOISEY'S BAY MINE AND MILL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PANEL RELEASES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT PANEL ANNOUNCES START OF 75-DAY REVIEW PERIOD NAIN, Labrador, December 17, 1997 - The joint environmental assessment panel reviewing the proposal for the Voisey's Bay mine and mill announced today that it has received the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by the Voisey's Bay Nickel Company in response to the Guidelines issued by the panel in June 1997. The EIS is now available for public review. A 75-day review period begins today, December 17, 1997, and ends on March 1, 1998 as required by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) established by the Labrador Inuit Association, the Innu Nation, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Government of Canada. The panel is inviting the public, government agencies and technical specialists to study the EIS and comment on whether the document adequately addresses each requirement of the Guidelines by providing sufficient information to support meaningful discussion at public hearings. Written and/or oral comments must be received by the end of the day on March 2, 1998. Those making oral comments are asked to submit a quality recording. At this stage of the review, the panel is not inviting comments on the merits of the opinions and conclusions of the studies, nor on the overall proposal as put forth by the proponent. Such comments should be made at the time of the public hearings. After reviewing the comments received, the panel will determine if the ElS is sufficient to proceed to public hearings. The panel will announce its adequacy determination by April 1, 1998. If the EIS is deemed to be sufficient, the schedule for hearings will be announced by April 8, 1998. If further information is required, the panel will request the information from the proponent by April 1, 1998. When received, this additional information will then be subject to a further 45-day public review period. Copies of the written EIS summary in English, Innu-aimun, and Inuktituk are available upon request. Audio and video versions of the summary in all three languages are also available. An English electronic version of the complete EIS can be found on the proponent's Internet site at www.incoltd.com. Paper copies of the complete EIS are available for review at the information centres on the attached list. A CD-ROM version of the EIS is also available. Please send written and oral submissions to Mr. Brian Torrie, Panel Manager, at the mailing address, electronic mail address or fax numbers listed below. Submissions will also be accepted by Ms. Mary Webb at the panel's Information Office fax number and address listed below. If you have any questions about the review process, please contact Mr. Torrie or Ms. Webb. To facilitate distribution, submissions made electronically or on computer disk would be appreciated. For more information or for a copy of the written EIS summary (English, Innu-aimun or Inuktituk version) please contact : Brian Torrie Panel Manager Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency 200 Sacre-Coeur Blvd Hull, Quebec K1A 0H3 Tel.: (819) 997-6364 or (819) 953-6727 (call collect) Fax: (819) 994-1469 or (819) 997-4931 e-mail: brian.torrie@ceaa.gc.ca Ms. Mary Webb Information Officer Environmental Assessment Office P.O. Box 416 Nain, Labrador Tel: (709) 922-2407 Fax: (709) 922-2409 (Also available in Innu-aimun and Inuktituk) (Aussi disponible en francais) --------- "RE: Voisey's Update" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 21:06:54 -0330 From: Larry Innes Subj: Voisey's Update (Financial Post) Mailing List: Innu People Forum list PUBLICATION The Financial Post DATE Thu 18 Dec 1997 EDITION Daily BYLINE Paul Bagnell, Mining Reporter Inco willing to curb Voisey's shipments Inco Ltd. says it is willing to limit winter shipments of nickel concentrate from its Voisey's Bay nickel project in Labrador to ease disruption to hunting and travel by natives. The company said it will not ship through "landfast ice" near the project during the freeze-up in early winter or in early spring, when most seal hunting occurs. The pledge is contained in the impact statement Inco has submitted to the environmental panel studying the giant Voisey's Bay project. For the two native groups living near Voisey's Bay, ice breakers clearing routes for ships could hamper winter travel and hunting. Natives often use snowmobiles to travel along the ice from community to community, or to hunting grounds. Inco says it will also study the effects of the shipping activity on caribou movement in the area and develop a way to keep residents up to date on shipping activities. The company, which has had a difficult time winning the support of natives for its plans at Voisey's Bay, says the effect of winter shipping will be "negligible." Its submission is about 2,000 pages long, plus 4,000 pages in technical background documents, said Brian Torrie, manager of the environmental panel studying the project. It deals with numerous environmental and social questions. The federal and provincial governments and the two native groups concerned -- the Labrador Inuit Association and the Innu Nation -- have agreed to have a single panel evaluate the project. The panel is now giving the public 75 days to comment on whether Inco has provided enough information in its statement. If the information is considered adequate, the panel will schedule public hearings in which the merits of Inco's opinions and conclusions will be debated, Torrie said. If the company is not required to provide more information, public hearings would probably begin in May or June. --------- "RE: Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Land Claims" --------- Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 09:33:29 -0800 From: Patience Pederson Subj: Land Claims - Vanc. Sun Opinion Last Updated: Friday 19 December 1997 OPINION -------------------------------------------------------------------- Land claim ruling dispels an old notion Since the first whites arrived, native Indians have been treated as inferior. One former governor called them uncivilized savages. Stewart Bell Vancouver Sun -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LAND CLAIMANTS: Kispiox- Gitxsan hereditary chief Art Wilson beside the grave of Albert Tait of the Delgamuukw first nation. Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun -------------------------------------------------------------------- On the morning the Supreme Court of Canada released its historic judgment on Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en land claim last week, hereditary chiefs from both tribes stood inside a gymnasium on East Hastings and observed a moment of silence. Although they were exuberant at having won a substantial victory in the long struggle for recognition of their aboriginal land rights, elder Roy Jones asked for the silent vigil "for those who died with broken hearts." He was referring to those Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en people who never lived to see the crushing 1991 ruling of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan McEachern largely reversed on Dec. 11 by Canada's highest court. On March 8, 1991, a day that became known in B.C. aboriginal communities as Black Friday, McEachern dismissed the Gitxsan-Wet'suwet'en land claim, refused to accept the "oral histories" of tribal elders as factual and characterized historical Indian life as "nasty, brutish and short." McEachern's ruling was disheartening to First Nations because it sounded so much like what they had been told for more than a century: that their culture was primitive and therefore they had no rights on the lands their families had occupied for up to 10,000 years. Since the first white settlers arrived on the West Coast in the 1800s, native Indians have been treated as inferior. Missionaries tried to convert them, B.C. denied them the vote and the federal government outlawed their customs and sent their children to residential schools to be assimilated. The underlying assumption was that Indians were, in the words of former B.C. governor Joseph Trutch, "uncivilized savages," who were "lawless and violent." The 1991 ruling suggested to tribal leaders that, over 100 years after Trutch, that view had not changed. In fact, in a rebuke of the ruling, former MLA and Nisga'a leader Frank Calder referred to McEachern as "Trutch revisited." B.C.'s first governor, James Douglas, began the process of negotiating treaties in the late 1800s. But he didn't get far, completing only a handful of deals on Vancouver Island. Douglas' work was never continued; he was succeeded in 1864 by Trutch, who once called Indians "bestial rather than human." Failing to settle treaties across B.C. would become Douglas' legacy. "To all British Columbians, he left the Indian land question," University of B. C. professor Paul Tennant wrote in his 1990 book Aboriginal People and Politics. "Douglas is indeed the father of British Columbia." Whenever they had the opportunity, tribal leaders reminded government officials that they had never surrendered their lands and that it was unjust for them to be confined to small reserves. But B.C. and Canada wouldn't listen. In 1927, the federal government passed a law that effectively outlawed land claims. It was only in the '70s, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on the Nisga'a land claim, that things began to change. Shaken by the near-victory by the Nisga'a, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau reversed federal policy and ordered his government to begin land claim talks in B.C. Negotiations began with the Nisga'a, but made little headway because the B.C. government refused to participate. Provincial stubbornness lasted until 1990, the year of a national uprising by native Indians that saw a military siege at Oka and dozens of smaller roadblocks throughout B.C. After visiting a blockade on the BC Rail mainline near Lillooet, Premier Bill Vander Zalm and his aboriginal affairs minister, Jack Weisgerber, finally agreed to settle treaties. A task force was set up to create a mechanism for resolving the issue, resulting in the B.C. Treaty Commission. With the court's limited definition of aboriginal rights in the background, negotiations began in 1993. There are now 44 tribes in treaty talks, and last year the first "agreement-in-principle" was signed, with the Nisga'a Tribal Council. The perception of Indians as savages has largely vanished from public perception. In poll after poll, the vast majority of British Columbians have supported the need for land claim settlements. But paradoxically, the unflattering, colonial view of Indians persisted in B.C. law -- until McEachern's decision on the Delgamuukw case was tempered by the B.C. Court of Appeal and then thrown out last week. The court said McEachern erred by not taking into account the oral histories of tribal elders. A new trial was ordered. The justices also broadened the definition of aboriginal land rights, ruling that bands must be involved in the management of their traditional lands and are owed "fair compensation" for the loss of lands. While it's still not clear what effect the judgment will have, both government and tribal officials have suggested native Indians can now expect more from treaties. But, perhaps more importantly, it has restored aboriginal confidence in the courts by putting to rest the notion that Indian society was inferior. --------- "RE: Hiawatha Insane Asylum Cemetery" --------- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 21:32:21 EST From: Miketben Subj: N.A.S.L. - Native American Reburial Restoration Committee ************************************************************************** ** NORTH AMERICAN SPIRIT LODGE ** Seeking To Have Hiawatha Insane Asylum Cemetery Designated A National Historical Site FOR YOUR INFO ************************************************************************** Special Thanks To GrayDeer@aol.com For Researching & Finding The Following Information ================================================== The Native American Reburial Restoration Committee seeks to have the Hiawatha Insane Asylum Cemetery, located in Canton, South Dakota, to be designated as a National Historic Site. In 1902 the U.S. Government opened the Hiawatha Insane Asylum for American Indians. The purpose was to care for those members of tribes who were allegedly insane. The asylum was operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Indians who made up [most of] the population of the asylum were Indians seen by the Government as "troublemakers"--spiritual leaders, medicine men, vision quest seekers, those who resisted reservation boundaries, and boarding school students who did not conform to school policies. These individuals were termed "idiot indians" for what they believed and continued to believe. During the years that the asylum was in existence, tribes or tribal members were clearly a relatively powerless political group who were unable to demand anything of their interest. The young women from the boarding schools were raped by white male workers and to this date no charges were ever brought against these predators. Today, many of the family members still are living in pain and grief over this unjust situation. Harold Iron Shield Native American Reburial Restoration Committee ------------------------------------------------------------------------ July 7, 1997 Call to Action - Urgent!! Letter Writing and Faxing Campaign A letter writing campaign is needed to support the efforts of establishing the Hiawatha Insane Asylum Cemetery as a National Historical Site. On February 23, 1993, I nominated the Hiawatha Insane Asylum Cemetery, located in Canton, South Dakota, to be designated as a National Historic Site. The nomination of the cemetery as a National Historic Site will bring honor to the 121 intertribal members [who are buried there] of tribes nationwide. On December 12, 1997, the South Dakota State Historical Society review board will be meeting to review the cemetery nomination to determine a National Historic Site destination before of is referred to the National Park Service for the final decision. Letters are important and I ask for your support on this important issue. Letters can be addressed to: South Dakota State Historical Society 900 Governors Drive Pierre, South Dakota 57501 Attn.: Michelle Saxman-Rogers or fax your letters to : (605) 773-6041 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Native American Reburial Restoration Committee For more information, email Harold Iron Shield at harold@pepp.org or Lee Bruce at clendaniel@earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~clendaniel/index.html, last revised 12/07/97 Native American Reburial Restoration Committee http://home.earthlink.net/~clendaniel/ --------- "RE: Governor's Gaming Threats" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 08:29:28 -0600 From: MIDWEST TREATY NETWORK Subj: ALERT: Contact WI Governor on gaming/environment link!!! UUCP email ***PLEASE CIRCULATE*** For immediate release-- Contact: Walter Bresette (715) 779-5071 ALLIANCE CALLS FOR GOVERNOR TO DROP GAMING THREATS (THOMPSON E-MAIL AND PHONE AT END) An alliance supporting Native American sovereignty called for Wisconsin citizens to flood the Governor's Office with calls, to oppose his linkage of tribal environmental regulations and treaty rights to the renewal of Indian casino compacts. The Midwest Treaty Network, an alliance of grassroots Indian and non- Indian groups, was founded in 1989 to support Chippewa treaty rights and the Witness for Nonviolence program. It has since played a key role in building statewide coalitions of Native Americans, environmentalists, and sportfishing groups against sulfide mining plans--such as Exxon's proposed Crandon mine affecting the Mole Lake, Potawatomi, and Menominee Reservations near the Wolf River. "Governor Thompson is trying to play the race card like he did a decade ago over treaty rights," said Red Cliff Chippewa tribal member Walter Bresette of the Midwest Treaty Network and Lake Superior Greens, "But I'm ready to place my bets on the good people of Wisconsin; I don't think they are ready to buy into his gamble. Many sportsmen now work with the tribes to protect the fish from mining, and tens of thousands of non- Indians benefit from tribal gaming. Our state is a different place than it was ten years ago." Debra McNutt of the Midwest Treaty Network asked,"Why is it that Indian people are bashed for accepting welfare, and then bashed for developing their economies to get off welfare? Gaming has reduced welfare caseloads and unemployment, but now our 'welfare reform' Governor wants to pull the plug." McNutt added, "This is also an issue of local rights. If a sovereign nation's economy can he held hostage as a way to weaken its recognized rights and environmental regulations, then what other Wisconsin communities are safe? A recent poll showed that most Wisconsinites support any community keeping tough laws to protect the environment." Rick Whaley, spokesperson for the Milwaukee Greens, said, "By targeting the tribes' federal clean air and water standards, the Governor is clearly trying to pave the way for the Crandon mine. He seems to want to trade tens of thousands of gaming-related jobs, and part of our $6 billion tourism industry, for the 400 high-tech miner jobs promised by Exxon. Non-Indian voices need to be heard now to stop this self- defeating scam." "The tribes are the largest employers in at least seven counties, with 20,000 people directly employed and many secondary benefits in neighboring towns," said Bresette, "What other industry with that number of employees has even been intentionally threatened by state policy? State citizens need to become engaged, to contact the Governor and tell him to back off on Native sovereignty." He added, "Native people--like other people--have diverse opinions about gaming, but we all agree it should be our sovereign decision, not the State's. Thompson is using the issue to establish more control over the reservations, and abrogate basic rights that we recently risked our lives to protect. We are glad to discuss real concerns over gaming, but not with a gun to our heads." Sierra Powers of WATER/Anishinaabe Niijii said: "The Thompson Administration for years has attempted to coerce the tribes to give up their treaty rights, or to prevent them from enacting federal air and water quality standards for their lands. The threat to close casinos is just one more attempt to weaken environmental standards in favor of polluters like Exxon." ***Please immediately contact Governor Thompson at the State Capitol, Madison WI 53702, call (608) 266-1212, or e-mail wisgov@mail.state.wi.us For updates, contact the Midwest Treaty Network , Box 1350, Bayfield WI 54814; call (715) 779-5071, e-mail mtn@igc.apc.org, call the Hotline at toll-free (800) 445-8615, or log on the web site at http://www.alphacdc. com/treaty For statistics on gaming, welfare, and employment, log on http://www. .wisconsinindiangaming.com --------- "RE: Rez Public Safety Crisis" --------- Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 16:37:48 -0500 From: Sonja Keohane Subj: "Public Safety Crisis" on reservations..... UUCP email Prepared for the Web: Thursday, December 18, 1997, 5:01:28 PM Report finds 'public safety crisis' on reservations WASHINGTON (AP) - American Indians receive less than half the police protection provided to other rural communities and face a "public safety crisis" because of soaring reservation crime rates, according to a Clinton administration report. The report proposes doubling the size of reservation police forces and suggests that a Justice Department takeover of Bureau of Indian Affairs police functions could improve safety. President Clinton has given the Interior and Justice departments until the end of the year to recommend a plan for dealing with reservation crime so he can put it in his 1999 budget. The report was prepared by a team of federal officials, U.S. attorneys and tribal leaders. "Simply put, many American citizens living on Indian reservations do not receive even the minimum level of law enforcement services taken for granted in non-Indian communities," the report said. The report stopped short of endorsing a Justice Department takeover of reservation law enforcement, but said that would ensure better congressional funding and higher standards. It also would bring "the full array of all DOJ resources to bear on the deplorable condition of Indian country law enforcement," the report said. Tribes are deeply divided over the idea, however, and it is losing momentum within the administration, according to a Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has "effectively deferred this matter" to his new assistant secretary for Indian affairs, Kevin Gover, who oversees the BIA, the source said. Gover, who has expressed concerns about dismantling the BIA, hasn't been convinced the Justice Department could obtain more money for law enforcement, said spokesman Thomas Sweeney. Major tribes have come down on either side. Two of the largest, the Navajo Nation and the Oklahoma Cherokees, want the BIA to stay in control of law enforcement, while the Oglala Sioux and many other tribes favor the Justice Department takeover. Many tribes took no position at all. "We have 2.3 million acres throughout the reservation," said Charles Murphy, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, who favor the Justice Department plan. "It would be so much easier for us to get additional law enforcement people." Nationwide, there are 1,600 BIA and tribal officers patrolling 56 million acres of Indian land, or 1.3 officers for every 1,000 residents, according to the report. That compares to an average of 2.9 officers per 1, 000 residents in small non-Indian communities. On the Navajo reservation, there is fewer than one officer per 1,000 residents. The report calls for adding 2,047 officers to reservations and increasing the number of criminal investigators from 270 to 496. The homicide rate on Indian lands has soared 87 percent over the past five years, even as it has dropped 22 percent nationwide. In 1995, the murder rate on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana was more than twice that of New Orleans, one of the nation's most violent cities, the report said. --------- "RE: Mattaponi Issue" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 04:28:38 EST From: Miketben Subj: N.A.S.L. - MATTAPONI DAMN ISSUE - More Info ************************************************************************** ** NORTH AMERICAN SPIRIT LODGE ** MATTAPONI DAMN ISSUE MORE INFO ************************************************************************** Date: 97-12-10 03:14:53 EST From: mbarany@vt.edu (Marc Barany) Subj: Mattaponi Friends! I am amazed by the response and it has reinforced my optimism in a brighter day. I have made this a mass emailing since you all are concerned with: 1. Information on the breached treaty and 2. How to express your heart. The King William Reservoir will not flood any of the 150 acre land currently resided on by the Mattaponi, however, the 1677 Treaty created a three mile buffer zone around the reservation, a portion of which will be flooded. Beneath the waters of the proposed reservoir would be 92 drowned archaeological sites spanning more than 8,000 years. These were detected in phase I of the cultural resource management process required under the National Historic Preservation Act. Phase II researchers evaluate archaeological sites and seek info to interpret: a sites cultural affiliation affiliation its overall function its temporal span of occupation boundaries and anticipated cultural content The developers justification for any impacts or destruction of "archaeological resources", is their commitment to mitigating these sites. If you ask me sacred remnants of ancestral lives are being treated like coal deposits. Phase II is not even required by law until the federal permit to construct the reservoir is issued. In short, National Register status (governments attempt to honor historical cultures) can only be achieved after their destruction is legislatively allowed. Something to ponder. Burial sites will also be impacted. The developers don't understand the true impacts of spiritual violations (This is obvious with the cultural resource management process.) They have not located any, and of course this is withheld. Also effecting the Mattaponi Reservation, is the 75 million gallons per day withdrawal from the Mattaponi River to feed this reservoir. Their are fears that salt will move up this tidal river and affect the anadromous shad who spawn in freshwater. The Mattaponi maintain a shad hatchery on the river. And of course, like all reservoirs in Va, development will soon follow which will bring increased pollution. This can be detrimental in a state which fines polluting industries only if they agree to (this is why the federal govt stepped in to sue Smithfield). Dioxin, considered one of the highest toxic chemicals by the EPA was also found in groundwater upstream where the Chesapeake paper company dumped waste. Dioxin bioconcentrates in fish 10,000 times. This means the fish act as collecting nets for this chemical. The Mattaponi still fish the river. Even more disturbing, the County Administrator David Whitlow, would not allow the Sierra Club to test the groundwater near the dump. They informed the EPA of their suspicions and the EPA has provided the truth. This same County Administrator is the creator of this reservoir project, which could also be tainted. All this effects obviously justifies the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Tribes opposition to the reservoir. So why weren't they considered when the land was sold by the King William County? Their rights were neglected then and were denied this past summer when Attorney General Gilmore declared that the Treaty of 1677 is void. The developers newsletter states the treaty has "no relevance to life in Virginia at the threshold of the 21st Century". Gilmore was just elected Va State Governor. So what can we do? We have been urging the State Water Control Board (which does not address cultural issues) to vote against the project. If they do, the project is stopped and we can seek justice culturally. If they issue the state permit the Army Corp of Engineers issues the fed permit. Both permits deal strictly with water quality. The vote by the SWCB is on the 16, next Tuesday. If you live in close proximity to the members their addresses are listed on the web page: http://www.vt.edu:10021/M/mbarany/mattaponi/ I will be talking with Jeff Corntassel, a Political Science professor here about pushing some buttons in the name of justice, so I will get back to you. It's great to hear from so many, greater is the one love. Expect to hear from me soon! "Do not follow for miles with that secret; Do not hold onto the years regretting; Do not pardon your own shyness as an excuse; say it" Matt Barany "To unite all the governed, to protect persons and their property and to serve ALL of them equally, with a view of resolving their diverse and complex interests into one harmonious, working entity, should be the ultimate goal of every government" Chief Melford Okilo "Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it." Lao-tzu --------- "RE: Kahoolawe" --------- Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 18:48:43 -1000 From: Hawaii Nation Info Subj: Kahoolawe - Rain Ceremony & PKO T-Shirts UUCP email Ceremony hopes to bring nourishment to parched Kahoolawe The Maui News Thursday, December 4, 1997 By VALERIE MONSON Staff Writer ULUPALAKUA -- An ancient bridge of life broken by modern man was rededicated Wednesday with the hope that the rains of old would again flow between the rolling hills of Ulupalakua and the parched lands of Kahoolawe. "We want to bring back the clouds, we want to bring back the rains to re-green Kahoolawe," said Keoni Fairbanks, executive director of the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission, standing on the edge of a slope that once served as the Maui fountainhead for the famous rain cloud that spanned the channel to link the two islands. And so in a ceremony that honored the gods of Hawaii and paid tribute to those who gave their sweat -- or even their lives -- in the struggle to reclaim Kahoolawe, more than 100 people who often don't walk the same path came together to ask the heavens to bless the area again with a new string of clouds. "We'll see a bridge that will go across to Kahoolawe and bring back the historic naulu rains," said Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli, the KIRC chairman who was one of the early leaders in the fight to get back Kahoolawe from U.S. military control. "It's going to take a lot of work, a lot of effort, but it's going to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences." U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye joined Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chairwoman Frenchy DeSoto, Protect Kahoolawe Ohana representative Leslie Kuloloio, Ulupalakua Ranch owner Pardee Erdman, officials from the U.S. Navy and a host of others who presented offerings or planted seedlings to coax the clouds to come. "It began as a demand over 20 years ago that the island of Kahoolawe be returned to the people of Hawaii, and a dream that it be healed and restored to a serene and cultural state," said Inouye. "We are one step closer to making this dream a reality." After the island was returned to state control in 1993, Congress authorized a total of no more than $400 million of federal appropriations over a 10-year period to clean up the mess caused by decades of bombing. But KIRC leaders realized the success of the entire project depended upon something that money can't buy: rain. "It was Auntie Frenchy who said we needed a way to start off the restoration," said Fairbanks. "But where would we do it? It would have been hard on Kahoolawe so we were looking at places over here and when we heard about the legend of the rain cloud, we knew this was where it should be." The cowboys of Ulupalakua Ranch had passed along the legend of the rain cloud that began at Pu`u Mahoe (The Twin Hills) and arched over the channel, producing showers nearly every afternoon. But extensive cattle ranching on Kahoolawe, followed by a wild population of goats wreaking more havoc and then the barrage of bombing runs left the island eroded and the cloud chain shattered. When KIRC leaders went searching for a ceremonial site to call back the clouds, Mahealani Kaiaokamalie, who works to preserve Native Hawaiian forests, and Sumner Erdman, president of the ranch, knew exactly where it should be. "The first place out of my mind was Pu`u Mahoe," said Kaiaokamalie, familiar with what the cowboys had remembered. Those at Ulupalakua Ranch, who also like their pastures green, were just as thrilled at restoring the rain clouds and granted quick permission for the ceremony as well as public access to their land. Once everything was set, Kaiaokamalie helped construct the rain ahu (altar) on the slope where Wednesday's offerings were delivered with reverence and reflection. Across the channel on the highest point of Kahoolawe, a similar -- although temporary -- ahu had also been erected to receive the outpouring of chants, prayers and gifts. A permanent structure will replace it when the cleanup has been made complete. Although the event focused on the possibilities of a greener future, many of those who fought for Kahoolawe but didn't live to see this day were memorialized, either in the speeches or later during private conversations: the five kupuna of Molokai -- Auntie Clara Ku, Auntie Mary Lee, Auntie Lani Kupuni, Auntie Rose Wainui and Uncle Bill Wainui; Edith Kanakaole of the Big Island and her son, Parley, who lived in Hana; Molokai kahuna Emma De Fries; and, of course, George Helm of Molokai and Kimo Mitchell of Keanae, the two young men who mysteriously died at sea 20 years ago during the early struggle. "This is George's thing, he would always say, `Let's green Kahoolawe,' " said Aluli. "He would talk about that and now, a whole generation later, we're doing it." Before the reforestation can begin in earnest, however, the unexploded ordnance must be swept up and hauled away. On Tuesday, informational meetings about the cleanup project's possible job opportunities were held on Molokai and Maui, according to Stanton Enomoto, KIRC remediation program manager. More sessions will be held, but the work is expected to begin in April. Plantings will follow. DeSoto reminded the crowd to nourish the land, but to never lose the spirit that got it back. "There shall be a message for the world and that message is aloha," she said. ____________________________________________________________________________ Protect Kaho`olawe `Ohana t-shirt order form is now available on the website: http://www.kahoolawe.org Order it now and beat the Christmas rush :) ____________________________________________________________________________ For more information on Kaho`olawe see: Protect Kaho`olawe `Ohana http://www.kahoolawe.org Kaho`olawe Island Reserve Commission http://www.hawaii.gov/kirc/home.htm More Kaho`olawe Links http://hawaiianculture.miningco.com/msub16.htm ___________________________________________________________ | Hawai`i - Independent & Sovereign | | info@hawaii-nation.org http://hawaii-nation.org | |___________________________________________________________| "The cause of Hawaii and independence is larger and dearer than the life of any man connected with it. Love of country is deep- seated in the breast of every Hawaiian, whatever his station." - Queen Lili`uokalani --------- "RE: History: Battle of Fallen Timbers" --------- Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 14:03:28 -0500 From: Ishgooda ) ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: "Holly R. Zane" Subject: Battle of Fallen Timbers: Tarhe's Final Battle The Battle of Fallen Timbers: An Historical Perspective ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. G. Michael Pratt, Heidelberg College professor of anthropology, delivered the keynote address for the bicentennial commemoration of the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August, 1994. The ceremony took place at the Fallen Timbers State Memorial, along the banks of the Maumee River. The following article is the text of Pratt's speech. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ At this moment two hundred years ago, the Battle of Fallen Timbers was over. Two miles from here General Anthony Wayne and the Legion of the United States still stood in their battle formation. Four miles away the British garrison at Fort Miamis, now located in Maumee, awaited Wayne's next move. Beyond the Fort, the retreating Indian warriors congregated at the Mouth of Swan Creek, near Toledo's middlegrounds. At this moment two hundred years ago, all of them were just beginning to assess what we, two centuries later, are here to recognize and commemorate - the significance of the Fallen Timbers Campaign. Two hundred years ago the United States, a Confederation of Indian tribes and Great Britain all sought control of the land known as the Northwest Territory, a vast area north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi rivers. For the young United States, the control of this area was vital to its survival. The addition of the Northwest Territory would permit the US. to grow beyond its original thirteen colonies. Monies gained through the sale of this land would pay the Revolutionary War debts that threatened to bankrupt the national government. For the United States there was also an issue of military credibility. During the previous four years, the U.S. army had been severely beaten twice by the Ohio Indian tribes and the army was ridiculed at home and abroad. In 1794 its newly reorganized army prepared to face the Ohio tribes for the last time. If the campaign ended in defeat, the U.S. would reconsider proposals for an Indian Buffer State in the lands north of the Ohio River. For Great Britain, the loss of the Northwest Territory meant a loss of fur trade profits and a further reduction of her empire. The English had left their Indian allies out in the cold by the treaty that ended the American Revolution and secretly feared that angry Indians might turn on the Canadian frontier. Great Britain voiced support for continued war and hoped to regain control of the Northwest Territory following an Indian victory. In the spring of 1794, the British built Fort Miamis in a show of strength and solidarity with their Indian allies, but no one knew if these British actions were more than just a show. For the Indian peoples of the area, there was only one issue. They faced the loss of their lands and their lives in the continuation of a long and bloody war between themselves and the frontier settlers. It was a war that had been fought almost constantly for fifty years and by three generations. It was a war fueled by hatred and intolerance of cultural and racial differences. It was a war in which no quarter was expected or given by either side. Because the issues were vital to all concerned, the outcome of this battle was destined to be significant. Fallen Timbers was not an event that burst on the scene suddenly, leaving an indelible memory. It was not like the explosion of Challenger. Rather, a significant outcome was anticipated, but none could be certain of what that outcome would be. Fallen Timbers was like the Apollo moon landing. Many of the participants realized they would be a part of history, and therefore recorded the events leading to the Battle and its aftermath. These accounts tell us of the course of the Battle of Fallen Timbers. About 8 am. the one hundred-fifty mounted Kentucky volunteers that were leading Wayne's army downstream bumped into the center of an ambush line of about 1,100 Indian warriors and 100 British volunteers. Overwhelmed by a heavy fire the Kentuckians fled towards the main army some 500 yards behind. They were pursued by 300-400 warriors who, anticipating a quick victory, gave up their prepared positions and rushed forward. A front guard of army regulars was also overwhelmed, but the Indian attack stalled when it encountered a skirmish line of several hundred Light Infantry and riflemen that were covering the deployment of the main body of the Legion infantry. Here, in a jumble of trees felled by a tornado, the warriors and the Legion skirmishers traded gunfire for fifteen to twenty minutes while the main army completed its battle line and then opened fire with its light cannon. Once in position, the Legion battle line charged into the fallen timber, supported by its Dragoons and some militia. The 400 or so warriors who had become thinly dispersed across a broad front were overwhelmed by over 1,000 infantry and cavalry. In this instant the tide of battle was reversed. Driven back to their original position, the retreating warriors created disorganization and panic among the Indians who had remained behind. Only on the extreme right of the battlefield, out near Monclova Road, was there an organized attempt to defeat the Legion's charge. Here 100 Wyandots led by Chief Tarhe, 100 British militia and some Odawas retreated slowly and fired rapidly into the left side of the advancing army. Here, Lt. Henry Towles, whose descendants are here today and Little Otter, an Odawa Chief who is also represented here today, met their deaths. Outnumbered and driven from the battlefield, the warriors fled downstream past Fort Miamis whose silent cannon loudly proclaimed that the British had once again failed their Indian allies. The Battle of Fallen Timbers was over. At this hour, 200 years ago everyone was wondering where the events of the day would lead. Two hundred years later the United States stretches across an entire continent and is the richest and most powerful nation in the world. Much of the size, population and wealth of our country developed from the resources and industrial might of the territory that was won here two centuries ago. In the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the United States won Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. For two hundred years, Canada has been overshadowed by that same population and industrial power that developed in areas that were once under the control of British Canada. For two hundred years the descendants of the warriors who fought here have been viewed as a beaten and captive people by the majority of Americans. They have been moved from reservation to reservation in response to the desires of their conquerors. Only recently have the voices of these original Americans again been heard in their homeland. Viewed from the perspective of history, the Fallen Timbers Campaign was a turning point in the development, not only of the United States, but of all of North America. Because of the significance of its outcome, the Battle of Fallen Timbers passed into legend and now, two centuries later, the events loom larger than life. For the U.S. army it is the final scene from the movie Rocky -- almost knocked out twice, but refusing to yield, the legend says, the army rose from the mat and marched into glory under Mad Anthony Wayne. But in reality, General Wayne was ill, he was ambushed, and his orders went unheeded. Captain MisCampbell, just before he was killed, said of the battle, "all is confusion." The Indians of the legend are described as savages blocking the course of civilization, but in reality, the dead they left on the Fallen Timbers battlefield were scalped and mutilated by the civilized Americans. The British role in the battle is usually ignored, but the British participants were all volunteers; they were some of the last to retreat and their unit suffered a greater percentage of death than either Wayne's Legion or the Indian Confederacy. The final irony of the legend is Chief Turkeyfoot. The legendary Indian leader is the only individual from either side to have his own monument, Turkeyfoot Rock. Today, Turkeyfoot appears to be a total fiction. Viewed from the perspective of history, the Battle of Fallen Timbers, like all other battles, was a messy and a desperate affair. Like all other battles, it was a gamble among political leaders that was wagered with human lives. For those who lives were bet, this battle, like all battles, had personal significance. On August 20, 1794 Sergeant Eli Edmonson of the 4th Sub-Legion laid his life on the line. Eli Edmonson fought for nearly two hours until he was struck down by a bullet near the end of the battle. Too badly wounded to move, Eli Edmonson lay on the field, alone and suffering, for two days and two nights. During that time General Wayne gave no orders to search for the wounded or to bury the dead. On August 22, Eli Edmonson died just minutes before his body was found by the first burial detail. Like all of the individual Indian warriors and all of the British militia who were killed here and like at least 13 of his fellow Legionnaires, Sergeant Eli Edmonson was buried in an unmarked grave and his name appears on no monument. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright G. Michael Pratt, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Heidelberg College / Office of College Relations / webmaster@heidelberg.edu Thank you . . . Holly R. Zane --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Thu, 25 Dec 97 08:00 -0500 From: Janet Smith (evestar@juno.com) Subj: Contacting those in the Ironhouse UUCP email I encourage correspondents to be cautious when corresponding with anyone in prison. Especially be aware that some things we take for granted as a part of our ceremonies are very much contraband in the prison system. Always ask what is permitted before you send anything. In most prisons, the chaplain can be a conduit for ceremonial items a prisoner cannot receive directly. --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Laura Brook's Pen Pal website: http://www.brooks.simplenet.com/penpal.html Tell a Native American Prisoner someone cares! The following is a portion of the list of Native American Prisoners incarcerated in prisons throughout the United States. The full list is found at the Native Prisoners Pen Pal list at the following web site: http://www.brooks.simplenet.com/penpal.html (note that this is a new address -- Laura Brooks, the owner of this site recently moved it from the previous geocities server). The list is a compilation of the efforts of many different people. Wotanging Ikche readers and friends including River and Sunhawk provided the bulk of my resources. The other lists came about as a result of Laura Brooks' research on Native American Spiritual Freedom in Prison. If you know of a Native prisoner who would like to be included here, please e-mail Janet Smith at jans@atlcom.net. My thanks to Laura Brooks for giving this list a home on the web. Reminder and Caution: It is common for prisoners to be moved abruptly. If your correspondent suddenly quits writing, don't assume it's by choice. Inquire about his or her location and situation -- often the pri