From gars@netcom.com Wed Feb 11 12:53:52 1998 Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 19:29:04 -0800 (PST) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.007 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 007 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 14 February 1998 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 Big Mountain, Innu-L & Nat-Film Lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; North American Spirit Lodge; www.wintercount.org; Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native; UUCP email 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. IMPORTANT!! ----------- To all who send copywrite protected articles, make very sure you have permission from the copywrite holder (a newspaper, the AP, a magazine, an author) because a new law is now in effect that says you can be prosecuted even if there is no monetary gain. Just because a newspaper has a website where it posts some or all of its editions does not grant permission for their redistribution. Be careful and be sure you pass on the items you do with full permission. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <----<<<< >>>>----> 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. Downloading Wotanging Ikche on AOL From: MAANG1419@aol.com Just thought I would share some info. I could not download on to a .txt because I kept getting the message (when I tried to retrieve it) that the text editor could not handle the volume. This time I downloaded it on to a .doc and when I retrieved it out of file manager, IT WORKED. "After slavery, the greatest moral failing in this nation's history is its treatment of the American Indians. Critics regularly point to the modern consequences of that treatment in the form of alcoholism, poverty, and despair, emphasizing the neglect of a small and scattered group with little political power. But political and economic struggle, while important, can only do so much. Any nation that hopes to come clean must confront the evils of its past not only in the practical ream but also in the symbolic or mythological plane -- in effect, in its dream life" __ Mark Stevens, art critic _New York Magazine_, biographer and novelist. "Evaluate things and opportunities as you encounter them; don't be afraid, listen to the voices and act on them." "Believe in your culture, be confident, and attend to community" __ Jhon Goes in Center, Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! There is a possibility Leonard Peltier's illegal extradition from Canada will be the the key to the end of his imprisonment. This would surprise few Native Americans, for once again a circle would be made complete. Read the articles and do what you can to help make this possible. This issue also contains views and history from the turn of the century. It is eerie how little has really changed in the minds and attitudes of those who came to Turtle Island barely 500 years ago. Maybe there are some really do not learn from history. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 13:49:31 -0800 (PST) From: George Joe Subj: Navajo Nation Mailing List: NativeWeb TEESTO, Ariz. //February 4, 1998, 12:15 p.m. // The Navajo Nation grieves, yet again, the loss of another of its revered tribal members. On Sunday, February 1, 1998 at around 11 a.m. at his residence near Star Mountain in Teesto, Alvin Clinton, 74, passed away. The family has scheduled his funeral for Thursday Feb. 5. at 10 a.m. at the Catholic church in Winslow, Ariz. A reception and dinner will follow at Teesto Chapter at 2 p.m. Clinton was a traditional medicine man who aggressively blocked the fencing-off of a religious butte near his home in March 1991 by Hopi tribal rangers and the BIA. During a scuffle which ensued and captured on video, he was arrested and jailed by the BIA and later charged with malicious mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. Later, two of the charges were dropped. After the incident, he told the Navajo Times, "The federal government is beginning to understand what is happening to the Navajo people here. They are beginning to realize that we need some protection from the Hopi Tribe in order to continue our traditional religious practices." "Being a medicine man he understood the history and religious significance of Star Mountain, Finger Point Butte, Egloffestein, Horse Point, and many other sacred buttes near Teesto," said Elmer Clark, a close relative, and a member of the Navajo Nation Council representing the Teesto Navajo community. "He developed charts and illustrations to convey his knowledge and religious importance of Star Mountain. "To the very end, he never wavered on his religious beliefs or compromised them. He was the last of the Navajo warriors, in the tradition of Ganado Mucho and Manuelito," he continued. "He never accepted or considered any options offered by the Hopi Tribe which he believed would compromise his beliefs and values." In recent years, due to declining health, he became less active in the 24 year-old Navajo-Hopi land conflict. Last year, in March 1997, he was one of few who out- right refused to sign a 75-year Accommodation Agreement with the Hopi Tribe. When asked by a CNN reporter if he was going to sign the agreement, he told them, "When you sign [the agreement], you sign your life away." And recently in October, he was one of eight Navajos who filed a class action lawsuit against Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of Interior which "challenged" the Accommodation Agreement. The suit alleged, among others, that the agreement was faulty, contained no provisions for funding, and signatures were obtained by coercion. His resistance to Public Law 93-531, the Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act of 1974 began long before October 1988, but in that year he began testifying as a witness on sacred sites and Navajo customs during the Manybeads vs. United States hearings and during subsequent negotiations on behalf of the Navajo Nation. In the following years, he also testified during many other "land dispute" cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Federal District Court in Phoenix, Ariz. Upon learning of Clinton's passing, Navajo President Albert Hale said, "His humbleness, honesty and candor in refusing and sometimes challenging the federal government's Navajo/Hopi Relocation Act was well known to all. For many people across the country who sympathize with Navajos, he represented the struggle for resistance and bringing public awareness to the plight of Navajos facing relocation." A medicine man and veteran of World War II; he served in the U.S. Marines and was honorable discharged in 1944. He worked for the Indian Health Service in Winslow for 23 years before retiring in 1988. He leaves behind his wife Ida Mae, three daughters, four sons, 18 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. --------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 12:19:51 +0000 From: "Stevie de Saille" Subject: (Fwd) BIGMTLIST :Alvin Clinton Osiyo Gary- Could you please include this in this week's issue of WI for those who are not on the BMlist. Thank you. Stevie de Saille The world lost a great man Saturday night as Alvin Clinton passed on in his sleep. Luckily, most of his family was with him at the time and he did not suffer. Alvin Clinton was a well-respected medicine man and leader in the relocation resistance. His knowledge reached beyond cultural boundaries and taught us all how to be a good human being. He taught us how to stand for what we believe. He taught us to work hard and walk a beautiful path. He taught us how to give to others. How to love relatives and stick together through tough times. The world lost a great man. He spent his life taking care of his family and practicing the traditional ways. He worked for a time for the BIA as a tuberculosis worker, travelling the rez helping those who were sick. Alvin was not concerned with material possession. Frequently, he gave away valuables, let relatives borrow vehicles, chain saws, and his own labor. My heart is heavy as I write. I find it hard to believe that the stories and songs he knew are gone. Alvin should be honored as a great man. Unfortunately, his family does not have an insurance policy to pay for a funeral. We are his insurance policy. He taught us to give to others by example. He was never a rich man in terms of money, but everyone I ever spoke to about him, even his enemies, respected and loved him. He was rich indeed. I call on everyone who was touched by him or knew about him in some way to help out the family pay for the funeral. The family is still in shock and have not made funeral plans at this time. I was told, however, that his body sits in rest at a mortuary in Winslow, AZ. Please reach deep in your pockets and send whatever you can to: Greer Scott Mortuary 316 W. 2nd St. Winslow, AZ 86047 (520) 289-3335 Please earmark the checks to "Alvin Clinton." The family needs $5000 sent to the mortuary. If you feel more comfortable sending money directly to the family, please make checks out to Verna Clinton and send to: Verna Clinton Teesto Box 7041 CPU Winslow, AZ 86047 This is a great loss for all of us. If you cannot send any money, please at least send prayers for Ida his wife, and his children Rose, Verna, Naomie, Jordan, Jerry, Tony, and all his grandkids and relatives. Stay strong and keep the faith. For more information, please contact Andy Bessler (520)774-6686 Please forward this to anyone you know. avb@dana.ucc.nau.edu 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 ---------- - Peltier Day - The Truth in Mexico - Message about Peltier - Early Indian Policies - Peltier Statement & LPDC Info - Critique: - Big Mountain: In the Absence of the Sacred UN Human Rights Delegation - Ward Valley Update - Perspective on Amor Visit - U.S. Prison Population Soars - Letter from a Buffalo Nations - Action Alert for Standing Deer Warrior - Splitting the Sky Speaking - DOL Continues Reckless Behavior - Native Prisoner - Letter to the President - Indians, Antelope & Israel - Make Montana Accountable - A Hundred Years Ago - Churchill Falls - Poem: Home Place - Chiefs Lay Claim to Entire Province - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Gustafsen War-Criminal - Conferences and Powwows Named Queen's Counsel --------- "RE: Peltier Day" --------- Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 00:34:46 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Peltier Day: Support with faxes, email, calls :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: From: stoneby@ibm.net Date: Thu, 05 Feb 1998 10:57:30 -0800 Subject: Support Peltier with faxes, email, calls This is from the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee web site: http://www.lpsg-co.org/peltier.html Tomorrow is Leonard Peltier Day (Feb 6). A timely point to call, fax, write or email the President to ask for Executive Clemency. Below is a sample fax to the President from the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, which can also be used as text for an email or letter. White House Phone: (202) 456-1111 White House email page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Mail/html/Mail_President.html Postal address: President William J. Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 You can also write to the following: Honorable Eric Holder Deputy Attorney General 10th & Constitution Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Honorable Janet Reno Attorney General 10th & Constitution Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Margaret Colgate Love U.S. Pardon Attorney 500 First Street N.W. 7th Floor Washington, D.C. 20530 LPSN/Central Ohio 1543 Lincoln Road Columbus, Ohio 43212 (614) 488-6411 PH/FAX ------------------------------------------------------- Fax to President Clinton (202) 456-2461 President William J. Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 __/__/98 Dear President Clinton: The facts surrounding the Leonard Peltier case are now known world wide. There are over 25,000,000 people, including many world leaders, and 55 U.S. Congressmen that now call for Leonard's freedom. Please accept this request for Executive Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Let Leonard see his grandchildren grow up, as he missed the childhood of his own children due to this injustice. Please reunite him with his family and his people. Mr. President, please join other world leaders, millions of citizens and answer the call for freedom. Please grant Leonard Peltier Executive Clemency. Respectfully, ______________________ Signed Printed Name______________________________ Address___________________________________ City_____________ State _______ Zip Code ______ :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Message about Peltier" --------- Subj: Message about Peltier From: David Yohn Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 19:25:21 +0000 Newsgroup: alt.native Passing on a message from a friend to anyone interested. From: Tony Beebe Subject: Leonard Peltier Juli and I received a phone call from Leonard Peltier last night. He sounds in real good spirits (which is a miracle, considering where he is). Here is the good news. Leonard is waiting for a fax to confirm this news, but it sounds very promising. The Canadian Parliament has voted to investigate the extradition of Leonard. If they find that indeed it was illegal for the US to have removed him from Canada, or that the US used false information to extradite him, then the Canadian government will issue a formal request the Leonard be returned to Canada. And we all know that they lied and used false testimony to get him out of Canada, so this just may be Leonard's ticket out of prison. Anyway, like I said, he was in great spirits about this news. Not so good news is that the LPDC is out of money. They've got a phone bill of $750 that has to be paid or the phone will be cut off. Like always, every little bit helps. If you can, please send any amount to: LPDC P.O. Box 583, Lawrence, KS USA 66044 One of the saddest things that Leonard said about prison life was this; * If I knew prison was going to be this bad, I would rather have taken the death penalty* It's not a pretty place to be. He is surrounded by violence every day, and every day is a struggle to keep your sanity. Keep him in your prayers always, and if you can, send a little money. Thanks for reading this, and feel free to cross post this message to anywhere you feel it might help Leonard. take care, Tony (& Juli) ************************************** Keep up with the latest information about Marco Antonio Solis. Official Web Site: http://www.marcomusic.com ************************************** ***************************************************************** * Ableza, a Native American Arts and Film Institute * * 1279 Mildred Ave. (408) 267-4609 * * San Jose, CA 95125 fax: (408) 267-9609 * * David&Diane@ableza.org http://www.ableza.org * ***************************************************************** --------- "RE: Peltier Statement & LPDC Info" --------- From: Miketben@aol.com Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 05:23:16 EST Subj: N.A.S.L. - PELTIER STATEMENT AND L.P.D.C. INFO ************************************************************************* ** NORTH AMERICAN SPIRIT LODGE ** FOR YOUR INFO ************************************************************************* Subj: Peltier Statement and LPDC Info Date: 98-02-06 12:48:27 EST From: AIMAZ Leonard Peltier's Statement For February 6, 1998 "Lets continue working in the direction that we're going. I can't receive any justice in the courts so the only thing we have to deal with is the political, we can only go back into the political arena. We can win by building a powerful block of people who are willing to organize for the rights of indigenous people. We must demand that the government quit obstructing justice and start obeying their own laws. There are still current Indian issues that haven't been resolved. Just because a few casinos exist most Indians are still poor. This struggle continues and people need to become more active. " The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee would also like to welcome back Bobby Castillo. He will resume his work as one of Leonard's International Spokespersons at the February 6, 1998 rally in San Francisco. Its a great pleasure to have Bobby back on the team. We also want to announce the Leonard Peltier Food Drive for the People of Chiapas. Thousands of people are near starvation in Chiapas. Leonard thought we should start a food drive. We hope you will join Leonard in supporting this effort. Leonard would also like to encourage you to attend Jericho 98 in Washington DC March 27, 1998 and the Rally to Free Leonard Peltier on June 27, 1998 outside the White House. Leonard did not have a hearing in February and hopes to go before the board in May. Leonard also asked us to make a request for donations. His Defense Committee is about to lose its office and phone. He needs $750 by next Friday or the phone will be cut off. He also just found out that the lease on his office ends March 1, 1998. He has less then $300 in his account. Its important that everyone send as much as they can to the address below. Leonard Peltier Defense Committee P.O Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 (785) 842-5774 FAX: (785) 842-5796 Homepage: www.unicom.net/peltier/index.html --------- "RE: Big Mountain: UN Human Rights Delegation" --------- Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 22:13:30 -0800 From: Robert Dorman Subj: Amor Visit Media Coverage Mailing List: Big Mountain List The following article was sent in by Mauro Oliveira of SOL Communications. UN Human Rights Delegation Holds Hearings on Forced Relocation and Religious Persecution of the Dineh people by Shawn Ewald and Lyn Gerry for The A-Infos News Service BIG MOUNTAIN, NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA -- On February 2nd and 3rd, at the home of Glenna Begay, a traditional Dineh elder, hearings were held by Mr. Abdelfattah Amor of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and several UN affiliated NGO's, investigating charges of the forced relocation of traditional Dineh people from their homes, religious persecution against those who practice traditional Dineh beliefs, and environmental degradation of traditional Dineh lands by Peabody Coal Company. The hearings were the result of a complaint filed by the Dineh in 1997 charging the US Federal Government with human rights violations. The hearings are an attempt to pressure the US Federal Government to repeal Public Laws 93-531 and 104-301 which have legalized the denial of access to water, livestock confiscation, the denial of the right to gather firewood for the Dineh to heat their homes in winter -- even in cases of life threatening illness, and the denial of the right of the Dineh to make improvements in their housing. The Dineh filed the complaint because the US Federal Government has consistently blocked any attempt by the Dineh to address their grievances in a US court. The Dineh also hope that the United Nations will formally charge the United States with human rights violations. British-owned Peabody Coal Company (henceforth, PCC), the world's largest privately-held coal company, operates the Black Mesa/Kayenta strip mine in the heart of the Black Mesa region of the Dineh reservation. Over 4,000 burial and sacred sites have been destroyed as a result of strip mining. There is no protection given to Dineh burial grounds and sacred sites. Their religion, which is land based and site specific, is the foundation of their way of life. The Dineh state that Public Laws 93-531 and 104-301 were written specifically to promote PCC's interests in the region. Mr. Amor and the visiting NGO's heard the testimony of Dineh elders from all over the Black Mesa region of the Dineh reservation. They gave their accounts of their forced eviction or the eviction of their neighbors from their land, the demolition of theirs and their neighbors homes, as well as accounts of harassment by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs. The hearings for both days lasted well into the night. Elders from the neighboring Hopi reservation also gave their testimony. They verified many of the statements of the Dineh elders, especially the accounts of the increasing scarcity of water in the region. The Dineh and Hopi reservations sit on top of one of the largest aquifers in the South West. PCC has been using massive amounts of water from the aquifer to operate coal slurry pipelines that transport coal to Las Vegas and Southern California without replacing the water they use, which is a requirement of US mining regulation. The result of these mining violations has meant that well's are rapidly running dry all across the Dineh and Hopi reservations. The Hopi elders also came to publicly dispel the myth of a Dineh/Hopi land dispute, which the traditional Dineh and Hopi say has been manufactured by the Hopi and Dineh tribal councils in an effort to prevent solidarity among the Hopi and Dineh in this struggle. The traditional Dineh and Hopi regard their tribal councils as nothing more than puppets of the US Federal Government who merely rubber-stamp any proposal made by the Federal Government and its corporate backers. Well over one hundred Dineh supporters from all over the United States also came to attend the event, and donate food, clothing and their labor. Members of Free Radio Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) and Radio Clandestina (Los Angeles, CA) set up a temporary micropower radio station, Free Radio Dineh, for the UN visit. For three days, interviews and commentary from Dineh resistors as well as testimony from the hearings were broadcast to residents of the Black Mesa/Big Mountain region. The members of FRB and RC hope to set up a permanent micropower station for the traditional Dineh in the near future. The event was universally considered to be a success, and the Dineh are hopeful that they will see a positive result from the hearings. In his opening remarks, Mr. Amor told those in attendance at the hearings, "I will listen with an open mind and an open heart". Whether the UN General Assembly will listen with open minds and hearts and have the strength to charge the United States with human rights violations remains to be seen. For more information on the plight of the Dineh, go to: http://www.solcommunications.com __________________________ Radio4All: http://www.radio4all.org/ The A-Infos Radio Project: http://radio4all.web.net/ Public PGP Block: http://www.radio4all.org/pgp/ __________________________________________________________________________ SOL Communications is a 501c3 non-profit corporation. fax (818) 753-9675 sol@westworld.com PO Box 4024 Los Angeles, CA 90078 <http://www.solcommunications.com> ******************************************** You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email redorman@theofficenet.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing redorman@theofficenet.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 --------- "RE: Perspective on Amor Visit" --------- Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 16:41:29 -0800 From: Robert Dorman Subj: ONE SUPPORTER'S PERSPECTIVE on the Amor visit to Big Mountain Mailing List: Big Mountain List The following is ONE SUPPORTER'S PERSPECTIVE on the Amor visit to Big Mountain. I must caution the reader that there were many "goings-on" involving many different people and agendas during the several meetings and activities that took place as part of and concurrent with Mr. Amor's visit. Until more information is available, it may not be appropriate to to draw conclusions. The following information was sent in by Jon Norstog. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Navajo-Hopi "Land Dispute" Update: February 9, 1998 This has been a particularly hard winter here, with a long spell of harsh weather. The bucket of water I put out for the animals to drink from at night froze in early December and stayed frozen until late January. There was about a week of warm, sunny weather, then a return of freezing temperatures and wave after wave of storms. The people on the land are for the most part still waiting for the home repairs they were promised when the U.S., the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation went door-to-door this spring, trying to get people to sign the "Accommodation Agreement." A lot of elderly people are spending this tough winter as they have spent winters in the past, in drafty or damp houses and hooghaans. Added to the misery, the Hopi Tribe has denied woodcutting permits for those who did not sign the "Accommodation Agreement" and Hopi Rangers have reportedly been confiscating firewood and tools from people's homes. The Hopi Rangers are what is called a contract program - the tribe contracts (P.L. 93-638) with the United States to provide "resource enforcement" services on their reservation. In that way, the Rangers are acting as federal agents. This is your tax money at work. Through the fall and winter, Roman and I have been working mainly with the Cactus Valley-Red Willow Spring community. Most of that work belongs to the community, which will decide when or whether to circulate it on the internet. That's why I haven't been putting out the "Updates" recently. The United Nations Rapporteur's visit All last year, Dine' from the "disputed lands" have been working with the United Nations, in New York and in Europe. Kee Watchman, from Cactus Valley-Red Willow Spring worked especially hard, spending most of the year sleeping on couches and eating strange food in countries where he doesn't understand the language. With the help of European support groups and the International Indian Treaty Council he was able to line up a lot of political support in various countries and the European Parliament for action by the UN Commission for Human Rights. As a result the Commission sent its Special Rapporteur for Religious Intolerance, Mr. Amor, to the United States to investigate the possible violations of the rights of indigenous people in the US to practice and express their religions. The Rapporteur's mandate is to investigate clear instances of intentional religious discrimination or persecution by the United States government. For instance, Len Foster gave testimony about the prohibition or restrictions on religious expression by Native prisoners in the federal and state prison systems and testimony was taken on the intentional destruction or desecration of sacred sites such as Mt. Graham. The argument that "relocation" is a violation of the Dine' right to free religious expression can be found in the Manybeads case. We started work in early December, providing technical assistance to Cactus Valley and working on the logistics: lining up the tribal airplane to transport the Rapporteur, and making certain that Council was aware of the visit and supported it. At the other end, International Indian Treaty Council made arrangements for his visit to the Cactus Valley-Red Willow Spring community to hear testimony from community residents and any other Dine' that the community wanted to put on the agenda. In the weeks preceding Mr. Amor's visit, the event was widely publicized on the internet and a number of support groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) decided to come out to the Big Mountain area. A number of powerful religious NGOs such as the World Council of Churches decided to participate. The press was invited and several news organizations sent reporters. I was told that someone even had a portable FM radio broadcasting station. The support groups and NGOs set up their own camp at Teddy and Glenna Begay's place along the road to Cactus Valley and Red Willow Spring. A big tent was set up and a couple of hooghaans were built. No one bothered to get a building permit and as a result the Hopi Tribe for a while threatened to turn Mr. Amor back at the HPL boundary. Mr Amor then decided to cancel the Cactus Valley-Red Willow Spring meeting to avoid a confrontation. According to someone who was involved in the negotiations which followed this development, once it was made clear to the Hopi Tribe that the NGO-support group meeting had nothing to do with the Rapporteur's visit, the Hopis decided against blocking his arrival. The Hopi press office referred my inquiry on this matter to the Vice- Chairman who has not responded to my call. On Monday, Feb. 2 Intergovernmental Relations Committee passed a strong resolution supporting the Dine' families, affirming that the United States was violating their religious freedom, and addressing some of the arguments presented to the UN by the US. The next morning I carried a load of copies of this resolution along with a batch of Cactus Valley's documents which the Legislative Office copied for them out to Red Willow Spring area. Len Foster wanted a ride out so I took him too. There had been a few days of dry, sunny weather and the roads were pretty good all the way. We took a back road to Red Willow, passing a Hopi Ranger who just waved as we scraped by along the ditch. The meeting was held as scheduled at the home where Kee Watchman and Jack and Lucy Woody live. They have a "project hope" house, one of the 28 or so Peter MacDonald built one weekend in 1988 before the courts stopped him. The Woodys have a generator which they can run when electric power is needed. The Rapporteur came accompanied with a small caravan, including the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, his aides, and Elmer Milford. A lot of Dine' from the Big Mountain area showed up as well, including Roberta Blackgoat, Katherine Smith, Ruby and Colleen Biakeddy, Mae Washington. I thought I saw Sarah Begay and Mae Tso as well. It was a houseful. Clarence Blackrock gave the prayer, then Mr. Amor informed the group what the agenda was and asked them to stick to it. There were introductions, everything being translated between Dine', English and French. Roman was the Dine-English interpreter. At that point Mr. Amor asked everyone who wasn't giving testimony to leave the room. Most stayed anyway (I left, as did a couple of White Ladies and a woman who was watching a bunch of children). I'd already done my work, so didn't need to hang around. After a while Len Foster came out too, and took a bunch of pictures of everyone. A lot of the Dine' had the idea that the NGO-support group meeting was the one where they were supposed to give their testimony. Mr. Amor had planned to visit Red Willow Spring, a sacred site which has been badly damaged by BIA range operations. Instead he decided to go to the NGO- support group meeting to hear a little more testimony. Len and I got some food, then followed the caravan. When we got there, we saw that the meetings organizers had decided to exclude a lot of people, including all Navajo Nation employees and Council delegates. There was the Speaker, Elmer Milford and a couple of ASO IV's sitting in their tribey. The place was jammed - a tall white man in a white turban walked by as Elmer Milford was telling the securities that Len and I were FBI agents. They got excited, taking notes and pictures and talking to each other on their walkie talkies. Len got all bent over that - he's a Wounded Knee veteran, and now he's getting the treatment from security! Roman came over and said the organizers weren't letting him in either, so we all drove back. Our work was done. Kee Watchman flew back to Phoenix with the Rapporteur. He could be anywhere, now. Mr. Amor gave a press conference in Phoenix. A storm moved in that evening and turned most of the reservation back into frozen mud. Some Conclusions The United States has lost a lot of leverage with the UN. It used to be that the US would tolerate any kind of statements or interventions made, but kept a pretty careful watch on resolutions or proposed actions. Any time the Commission for Human Rights, the Sub-Commission for Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, or the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples looked like they might take action on the "land dispute" the US would bully them. The US used to sit on the UN Budget Committee and was perfectly willing to cut funds for any UN bodies it had a disagreement with. That was the US' leverage. The US isn't on the Budget Committee any more. The US hasn't been paying its dues for a long time and the rest of the UN is getting tired of having Americans tell them how to spend their money. With the threat of US retaliation greatly diminished, the UN is now more willing to hold the US to the same standards on human rights as it does, say Cuba. The UN can't really do anything to the US in the short run, but an investigation like this can lead to problems I the long term. It certainly will reduce the US' ability to use the UN for its own purposes. The US position is that this whole thing is a dispute between two Indian Nations, and that the US is powerless to interfere. In the past the US has told the Sub-commission that the relocation program is voluntary, too. Anyone familiar with the issue will see through this argument, and the IGR Committee resolution (which I will send separately) addresses it squarely. Eventually the US will have to deal constructively with the problem, rather than continue denying it exists. If anyone can take credit for the Rapporteur's visit to Big Mountain, it is Kee Watchman. I've known him quite a few years, respect the man and hope to see him continue providing leadership on this issue. He had a lot of help. The Treaty Council and the European support groups should be praised for their support of leadership when it emerges on the land. The NGO-support group meeting was particularly useful in involving the mainstream NGOs. This raises the level of awareness of the issue. The Unitarian Universalist Church had a session on the violations of Dine' religious freedom at their general assembly last year. It would be marvelous if the World Council of Churches and some of the other main line religious NGOs also take a stand on this particular case. jn ******************************************** You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email redorman@theofficenet.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing redorman@theofficenet.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 --------- "RE: Letter from a Buffalo Nations Warrior" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 12:05:08 -0700 (MST) From: http://www.wintercount.org Subj: My Friend http://www.wintercount.org Letter from a Buffalo Nations Warrior at Yellowstone National Park My friend, A quiet night. I hear the fire gently burning in the woodstove. Most are asleep. I feel their weariness. There are still some of our people out there, on skis (2:30 AM) and how can I sleep? This is the rest of the story that needs to be told; the deep commitment of these buffalo guardians. In attempts to discredit them (by the Department of Livestock and the Bozeman Chronicle mostly), they have been called 20-year-old hippies and a non-Indian group. These people are young in years only; they are more disciplined than people twice their age. They have a purpose, to make a difference in that time between birth and death, that very few people have. They see beyond the "here and now" that many minds are confined to. They can see generations out and have that ability to "vision" that is so rare. In this tragedy, there are no racial distinctions. We walk the same path, are of the same mind. If this is what "hippie" is all about, I am honored and thankful to be in this camp. You and I know that people back home, especially the elders, feel so much grief and helplessness over this carnage. The volunteers here are their warriors, fighting their battle. I am awed and humbled by the depth of their commitment. They are the true relatives of the buffalo. On the day they killed the mothers and their babies, these people had to witness the slaying. They had been with them, watching over them for weeks. And then, because of the danger to the other buffalo, they stayed out there the entire day. Some stayed with them for the night. Not a whimper! They come in, eat, fall in bed, get up and go again. I cry for them when I see the pain and fatigue on their faces. And I thought this country was so lacking for heroes. I live with a houseful! When one falters, the others close in to support and comfort, just like buffalo. It really bothers me that when DOL rode in on snowmobiles (like choppers in "Apocalypse Now"), there was heavy, drifting fog and it wasn't quite daylight. Mike, Corey, or the other two skiers that came in could have been shot! On Tuesday, Dan, Adam, and Rodeo go to court. I'm not certain of the status of Corey's situation. (I close my eyes and see the image of a young man on a snowmobile, riding in between the buffalo and the guns.) And Mike, for the years he's had to see this and the months he worked so hard to set up this protection operation; I can't begin to imagine how it felt to lose five and then six. And then to be arrested for OBSTRUCTION (OF JUSTICE)?!?!?! His only crime? To be the reporter that he is, to film so the public could see the reality of what happened that day. Remember I told you about being told (in a ceremony) that if anyone came here in anger, that we would return home, one less person? Well, when they put him in the police vehicle, it took all of my will to subdue my anger! I was shaking and it wasn't from the cold. Why is it harder when it happens to someone else? The local sheriff, who protects the killers, called them "eco-terrorists", an empty echo. I told him terrorists were about violence and the violence was committed by the MT Dept. of Livestock. (The bodies of the mothers and calves lay nearby.) I only feel pity for him. It is only law enforcement and Scott McMillion of the Bozeman Chronicle that work at discrediting us though. But our neighborhood and many folks in West Yellowstone are kind and supportive. We are gifted with food, books, gloves, and encouragement. The slaughter has been hard for them too. I'm still waiting for the skiing warriors to come home. We need better and more radio equipment. Good communications is critical and it already has been a matter of life or death for the buffalo! The DOL will never admit that there were times that our people took buffalo away from them to safety. We went to town this evening and on the way home at 11:00 PM, we came upon a DOL truck pushing three buffalo north (towards the capture facility) on the dark highway. Two of our people jumped out and hollered (yes, we do holler sometimes) to the driver to leave the buffalo alone. One of our guys ran behind the buffalo, trying to get them turned off the highway. And suddenly, I saw him in front of the weaving truck that wasn't stopping! He managed to get out of the way after the truck bumped him, I think twice at least. It hit me then...an awful feeling of evil. To keep going when there is a human being in front of the vehicle? To be so intent on herding his prey towards capture and death, in the middle of the night? What is the urgency to kill?!? I am still shivering from that overwhelming sense of evil. We desperately need prayers for the safety of the buffalo and their protectors. Some extra prayers for Mike. He bears the burden of leadership that many will only glance at out of the corner of their eyes. The kids have learned to use my e-mail now. I know that this is not easy for them, but they won't complain. They are so caring to each other. Could you give them a call? I communicate with them often and they're OK, but I think a grandmother voice will be welcome. I miss them. Another favor: could you put out a radio call for volunteers on KILI and KINI (Rosebud)? The volunteers here need rest. The skiers are home. The buffalo are off the highway and safe in the darkness. The fire is out. Goodnight, my friend, and thank you for being there when I am at my weakest. --------- "RE: DOL Continues Reckless Behavior" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 12:05:35 -0500 From: buffalo@wildrockies.org (Buffalo Nations) Subj: DOL continues reckless behavior UUCP email Buffalo Nations P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, Mt. 59758 Phone (406)646-0070 Fax (406)646-0071 E-mail buffalo@wildrockies.org. Montana Department of Livestock Continues Reckless Attempts to Capture and Kill Buffalo: Buffalo Nations Volunteers Help Buffalo To Safety FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 1998 Media Contacts: Rosalie Little Thunder, Sue Nackoney, (406) 646-0070 At 11:30 P.M. the evening of Monday, February 2, the Montana Department of Livestock hazed three bison down the middle of Highway 191 north towards the capture facility on Duck Creek in West Yellowstone, Montana. One Buffalo Nations volunteer attempted to turn the buffalo off the highway and into the woods, and was bumped at least twice by a Department of Livestock vehicle. Earlier that day, Buffalo Nations volunteers witnessed the scattering of hay in and around the capture & testing facility. On January 22, nine bulls were baited with hay into the facility on Duck Creek and shipped five to a Sheridan, Montana slaughterhouse. Lakota activist Rosalie Little Thunder says she is disturbed by recent acts of recklessness by the Department of Livestock. "Last Thursday, DOL shot those calves and their mothers in the poor visibility of twilight and heavy fog. They very well aware of our presence in this area. What was the urgency to kill? I don't understand it and I don't think I want to," she said. Hazing on the highway is not necessarily dangerous to our volunteers, but to the general public. Mike Mease observed that, "The truck was weaving from one side of the road to the other, keeping the buffalo moving right down the center. It was an accident just waiting to happen," said Mease. Buffalo Nations volunteers found two calf heads and one hide in the dumpster at Eco-West Dump after the January 29th kill. Rosalie Little Thunder responds, "Not only is it wasteful, but if the buffalo posed such a disease risk as to be shot, then why were these remains left in an open container? Rosalie tells of a community project in South Dakota that wants to "restore buffalo back into our lives". They recently made personal loans to buy their first calf and are looking for a companion. Photo and video documentation of the calves in the dumpster available from Buffalo Nations, (406) 646-0070. Buffalo Nations PO Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 phone 406-646-0071 fax buffalo@wildrockies.org --------- "RE: Letter to the President" --------- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 12:24:48 -0700 (MST) From: Rosalie Little Thunder Subj: buffalo nations update ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: Rosalie Little Thunder To: president@whitehouse.gov UUCP email My name is Rosalie Little Thunder. I am of the Sicangu band of the Lakota Nation. I hold no position of power and I hold no wealth, but I do have an important message for you. Historically, the buffalo were critically essential to our survival and were the center of our culture. We hold them sacred (we, who hold fast to the laws and sacredness of the natural world). For many of our people, especially our elders, the slaughter was a horrendous tragedy, reminding us of similar massacres of our people in the not-so-distant past. I am a descendant-survivor of two massacres: the 1855 Little Thunder massacre in Nebraska (within the boundaries of the 1851 treaty territory) and the Sand Creek massacre ten years later. But that is not unique; all native people in this country have haunting massacre histories. In the late 1800's, 60 million or more buffalo were mindlessly slaughtered, in a very deliberate, calculated move to starve and conquer the native people. The buffalo were slaughtered, we were slaughtered, the buffalo are being slaughtered again.... Like the two sides of the buffalo/Indian-head nickel, we are synonymous; two sides of a single coin. We, and the buffalo, share a common history that we dare not forget. We may be generations and miles removed from the buffalo, but according to the wisdom of thousands of years of existence in the natural world and interdependence with the buffalo, we hold a belief; a prophecy of an inseparable destiny. Surely, as a leader, you must at least understand the challenge of being responsible for not only the people, here and now, but also for future generations. "In every deliberation, we must consider the impact upon the 7th generation" was the challenge of our traditional leadership. If the sacredness of the buffalo is so difficult a concept to understand, then consider this: science recognizes the buffalo as a keystone species of the ecosystem and like us, who serve as "miners' canaries" for humanity, the buffalo too serve as such for the natural world that sustains us all. If this land could support 60 million plus buffalo that were almost completely exterminated, save for those very few that sought refuge in Yellowstone, then we have yet to comprehend, to experience the full impact of their absence. It is happening all over again. Beneath the layers of pathological politics, once that smokescreen of disease is blown away, you will find that same brutal violence that this country was built upon. Mr. President, that violence is not just a faint memory in family history, I've been in Yellowstone, I have seen it. You have signed an executive order, directing your agencies and departments to consult with tribes in matters that affect them. The buffalo are of historic, cultural, and religious significance and we have not been consulted in a meaningful manner. We have not even been participants on the Environment Impact Study team. As the leader who affixed his name on that Executive Order, you must honor Government to Government Relations and tribal consultation in determining the fate of the sacred buffalo; your national symbol. We remain in Yellowstone with many friends; peaceful but determined guardians of the buffalo. Ho, hecetu! Buffalo Nations Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 14:49:05 -0500 From: Buffalo Nations Subject: buffalo nations update- more saved E-MAIL UPDATE--WEEK OF JANUARY 8, 1998 Volunteers from the group Buffalo Nations declared victory Sunday after successfully defending bison all week from Dept. of Livestock (DOL) agents. On late Monday afternoon the DOL was spotted outside the town of West Yellowstone. Several members of Buffalo Nations were standing with a small group of bison by a housing development when the DOL drove up. The DOL quickly left the scene after spotting us and was subsequently followed through the area by half a dozen vehicles before the state agents went "home" for the night to the private residence of the individual who maintains the capture facility. The next day BN was in position and ready to go. More than a half dozen people took a stand next to nine bison resting on private land a half mile beyond the capture facility. During the course of the day BN was bolstered by news from a park service employee who was able to contact the owner of the land where the bison rested and who reported that the owner didn't want bison killed on his land. When the DOL showed up on snowmobiles they were confronted by 8 people who refused to leave the bison and who carried the message of the landowner to the DOL. The DOL left, threatening to come back and haze the bison into the capture facility with the landowners permission. Fortunately, the DOL never returned and, we assume, never got the needed permission. While standing with the bison, dozens of locals and tourists with camera's stopped by the side of the road and offered support. Over the next several days the DOL showed their vehicles but not their faces. Buffalo Nations declared victory for the week. The situation in W. Yellowstone is getting more urgent by the day. Snow continues to accumulate hourly; more than 250 bison are now inside the park a few miles from the boundary; the DOL has made its intentions clear and continues to stay in the area. Buffalo Nations expects serious confrontations when these 250 leave the park, perhaps this week. They are calling on concerned people everywhere to join them in protecting the bison. Also donations are greatly appreciated. Buffalo Nations PO Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 phone 406-646-0071 fax buffalo@wildrockies.org --------- "RE: Make Montana Accountable" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 12:30:43 -0700 From: buffalo folks Subj: Action Alert for the Buffalo..to archive...thanks for a moment of your time! UUCP email ACTION ALERT Please Call the Department of Livestock about the bison they have killed. So far the state of Montana has killed with no accountability for their actions. It is time to hold them responsible. Call often (especially when you hear about another death!), and spread the word to others. Let them know you are an interested taxpayer. Call 1-800-523-3162 (ask them to transfer you or leave a message to call you back. OR Call 1-406-444-2043. Ask the DOL any and all of these questions: 1. How many bison were killed yesterday/today/whatever day? 2. When were they killed? 3. Did DOL staff kill them or did someone else. If someone else, who? Were they contracted by the DOL to kill bison? If so, are they being paid either in cash or with carcass or by any other means? 4. What was the sex and age of each animal killed? If calves were killed, what was the sex of each calf? 5. Were they tested for brucellosis before they were killed? If so, when and by whom? Were their tissues tested for brucellosis after they were killed? (The most positive way to determine if a buffalo is infectious, is with a tissue test) 6. What were the test results? 7. Where were they killed? 8. Was the landowner informed if they were killed on private land? 9. Who were the carcasses given to? What about the skulls? What about the hides? 10. Was there any payment involved? 11. If the animals were taken to slaughter, which slaughterhouse did they go to, who collected them, when, what price did they pay for them? 12. Who gutted the animals? Who supervised the gutting to ensure human safety? 13. What was done with the guts? The hides? The heads? 14. How long had these animals been outside the Park before they were shot? 15. How much of our tax money has the DOL spent to date on implementing the interim bison management plan? 16. How many shots did it take to kill each animal? 17. How many hours were they on trucks on their way to the slaughterhouse? AND ASK AS MANY OTHER QUESTIONS AS YOU WANT TO. ************************************* The Montana Department of Livestock has killed 11 of Yellowstone's bison so far this year. They are prepared to kill more, and it is apparent that no lessons have been learned after last year's slaughter of nearly 1,100 bison. Every time Montana kills buffalo, call the state and demand to know how many buffalo they killed, where, and why. Did the buffalo test positive for brucellosis? Voice your opinion about their actions. Mt. Department of Livestock, Veterinary-406/444-2043 Tourism Bureau- 1-800- 548-3390 Governor Marc Raciot- 406/444-3111 or email momholt-mason@mt.gov THANK YOU!!! Buffalo Nations PO Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 phone 406-646-0071 fax buffalo@wildrockies.org --------- "RE: Churchill Falls" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 10:51:29 -0400 From: Larry Innes Subj: G&M - Churchill Falls Mailing List: Innu People Forum list GLOBE AND MAIL ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 980190213 MON JAN.19,1998 PAGE: A6 BYLINE: Hugh Winsor CLASS: Column DATELINE: WORDS: 735 MEMO: National Edition ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ** The Power Game ** ** Tapping into Churchill Falls' power potential ** Hugh Winsor IN mainland politics, it may seem a stretch to link one of the "last grand colonial projects," as the initial Churchill Falls hydroelectric power development in remotest Labrador was called, to the stirrings over Liberal Leadership 2001. But when a wily tactician such as Brian Tobin is involved, and when the man to beat holds the purse strings, one should not be surprised at anything. So here is a scenario for some interesting behind-the-scenes manoeuvring. The dramatis personae include the Newfoundland Premier, federal Finance Minister Paul Martin and Ron Bilodeau. Ron Bilodeau? Unless you are an inner-sanctum Ottawa type, you haven't heard of him, but he is associate clerk of the Privy Council. In this play, consider him a surrogate for Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The plot revolves around the huge reservoir of untapped hydroelectric power in the Lower Churchill Falls - 3,500 megawatts, or about twice the production of the nuclear plant in Pickering, Ont., if all its reactors were working. When the late Newfoundland premier Joey Smallwood and his British backers developed the "grand colonial project" at Churchill Falls, they struck a terribly short-sighted deal committing operating company Brinco to sell power to Hydro-Quebec at three-tenths of a cent per kilowatt hour for six decades. Hydro-Quebec is now reselling that power for about 5 cents a kilowatt hour, about 15 times more than it costs. Now we have a politically savvy and very pro-active Premier of Newfoundland, Mr. Tobin, who is already on a high with Hibernia and the proposed*Voisey's*Bay*megaprojects. To take full advantage of*Voisey's* Bay,*however, Newfoundland will need a lot more power for smelting and so on. Thus Mr. Tobin is pushing development of the Lower Churchill, packaging it as a solution to federal-provincial relations, unemployment and greenhouse gases, for starters. If the deal comes off, it would showcase Mr. Tobin as a man of vision with the interests of the whole country at heart. Couple that with the French lessons he is taking three times a week, and we have national leadership material. The $12-billion project would become one of the largest construction jobs in the world, producing thousands of jobs. Because most of the power produced would go to Hydro-Quebec for transmission to New England, Hydro- Quebec could pay enough for the new power to offset some of the unfairness of the original Churchill Falls arrangement. The deal-breaker, however, is the $2-billion required to build a link across Labrador to bring some of the power to Newfoundland. Hence the pitch to Ottawa for the $2-billion as a long-term soft loan. Mr. Chretien apparently likes the politics of it, and Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard believes it could show that partnership works. Mr. Martin apparently has doubts, not so much because of the money, but because he fears making a one-off deal with one or two provinces could open the floodgate for similar demands from other provinces. The managers of Mr. Tobin's would-be leadership campaign think Mr. Martin's lack of enthusiasm reflects a desire to not make a rival look good. That notion is dismissed by the Finance Minister's seconds as "silly." They say Mr. Martin would not stoop to that level. Mr. Tobin is advised to redirect his attention to Energy Minister Ralph Goodale and Environment Minister Christine Stewart to sell the scheme as a way to reduce greenhouse gases, because the hydro power will displace fossil-fuel electrical generation. This is where Mr. Bilodeau comes into the picture, under the direction of Mr. Chretien, to get all the players together at the Privy Council Office and come up with recommendations to be given directly to him (and not to the Finance Minister, the Newfoundlanders note.) The Bilodeau group, with a representative from Finance, has been beavering away for a couple of months, and the outcome will test the PCO's ability to walk the line between politics and dollars. If Mr. Chretien is persuaded, he has the power to make the deal happen. If it helps his buddy, Brian, so much the better. As for the Martin people, they say they are not worried about Mr. Tobin. If they were, the Finance Minister wouldn't have gone to Newfoundland recently to speak at a Tobin fund-raising dinner. --------- "RE: Chiefs Lay Claim to Entire Province" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 01:55:39 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: BC Indian Chiefs Lay Claim to Entire Province :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: BC INDIAN CHIEFS LAY CLAIM TO ENTIRE PROVINCE, RESOURCES The Provincial government is reviewing a demand by the First Nations Summit for an immediate freeze on any development of land resources anywhere in British Columbia. Vancouver Sun, Feb. 2, 1998, page A1, by Rick Ouston [S.I.S.I.S. 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.] BC's native Indians are laying claim to every tree, every rock, every fish and every animal in the province. In an unprecedented set of demands, the province's reserve Indians are brandishing a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision they say grants them unfettered control of the entire BC land mass, including forests, mines and fish. The First Nations Summit laid out its list of demands to federal Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart and provincial Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Cashore in a meeting Saturday. Neither minister would comment at the end of the meeting. Peter Smith, manager of media relations for the provincial aboriginal affairs ministry, said Sunday the BC government is reviewing the demands "and will respond at some point but it's a bit early at this point to say when and how we will respond." Various native groups have staked their claims t portions of BC over the years. The borders of individual claims representing areas where native bands historically fished, hunted, gathered or traded - overlap, covering the entire province. But the natives have, until now, never demanded land or profit from land in private hands. And for the first time they are speaking in a united voice to demand, simply, legal title to BC. The natives want an immediate freeze on development, anywhere in the province, of land or resources. The natives said they understand the enormity of their claims, and what they could mean to the financial lifeblood of BC. "It is not First Nations' intention to bankrupt the economy of the province," they said in a written statement. "Rather, it is our objective to assume our rightful place and to fully participate in the economy and the future of this province. As long as treaties are left unresolved there can be no legal or economic certainty in British Columbia," he said. The natives say proof of aboriginal title lies in the ruling by the Supreme Court in a case called Delgamuukw, in which the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Indians laid claim to a huge parcel of north-central BC. While the BC Supreme Court ruled against the natives, the Supreme Court of Canada determined the lower court erred in law by not allowing important evidence proving longstanding native habitation and unextinguished rights. The ruling agreed with the natives' position that they still have ownership of land they once controlled, including the right to have a veto in Crown land-use decisions. Since the Dec. 11 ruling, all sides in the case have remained silent, figuring out what the binding decision means. The natives were first off the mark Saturday, softening their position of strength by offering a "cooling off period" to allow natives and government to fully consider the implications of Delgamuukw on the BC economy and people. But warned Grand Chief Edward John of the Tl'atzen Nation near Fort St. James, northwest of Prince George: "The BC and federal governments cannot continue with a business as usual approach." To that end, the natives say anything they consider an "alienation of lands and resources" must be suspended until natives give informed consent. All actions, including licenses, leases and permits - would constitute "unlawful infringements" of native rights, they say. "Where First Nations consent to infringement, fair compensation must be provided," the natives said, adding that compensation could include "revenue sharing" such as stumpage rates, the amount of money the government charges forestry companies to harvest trees on Crown land. And unlike the current treaty system in which bands are loaned millions of dollars to pay the legal bills of lawyers engaged in negotiations - with the understanding that the money will be repaid out of the final settlement - the natives now say they should receive outright cash contributions to meet their legal bills, and that all existing loans should be forgiven. If the governments do not accede to the demands, the natives say they will pursue their interests in the courts. Armed with the high court ruling as legal precedent, the natives say any court fight over the issue would surely result in their favor. "The Supreme Court said aboriginal people have aboriginal title, which is a legal interest in land and a right to the land itself," the statement said. "The court has also acknowledged that aboriginal title is on equal legal footing with Crown title." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to the Vancouver Sun: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: Gustafsen War-Criminal Named Queen's Counsel" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 01:56:38 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Gustafsen war-criminal named "Queen's Counsel" :-:-:-:S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty:-:-:-: February 4, 1998 No Copyright; Reproduce Freely BC'S AG DOSANJH APPOINTS MAUREEN MALONEY "QUEEN'S COUNSEL" British Columbia's New Democratic Government has named Maureen Maloney Queen's Council. Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh characterized the "QC" recipients as "highly respected representatives of the legal profession [who] have made outstanding contributions to British Columbia." Maloney is deputy minister and deputy attorney general for the province of BC. She is a former dean and professor of the University of Victoria law school. In 1995, Maloney acted as one of the main liaison people between AG Dosanjh, then deputy AG Stephen Owen, and the paramilitary forces besieging sacred Sundance grounds at Ts'peten near Gustafsen Lake. Dosanjh, Owen, and Maloney and other unindicted war-criminals involved in the infamous assault against Shuswap traditionalists committed serious state crimes in the mounting of the operation on unceded territories in south central BC. According to binding constitutional and international law, these actions constituted acts of war against a sovereign indigenous nation. The demands for independent, impartial, international adjudication of the dispute was peremptorily rejected by BC's Attorney General. "There shall be no alien intervention in the affairs of this state," said Dosanjh at the time. Thousands of rounds of internationally prohibited hollow-point ammunition was fired at the Sundance camp occupants, a land mine was used to blow up a camp vehicle, and Canadian Forces and Armoured Personnel Carriers were employed by the authorities during the month long siege. As well, revelations emerged of a "smear and disinformation campaign" conducted by the RCMP with the complicity of the domestic media. Calls from at home and abroad for a public inquiry into the incident have thus far been ignored, as have the calls to release the Ts'peten Defenders OJ Pitawanakwat and the 67 year old elder Wolverine, being held as political prisoners by the BC and Canadian governments. Attorney-General Dosanjh, who is simultaneously the Province's Human Rights Minister, masterminded the Gustafsen operation, and is credited in achieving political gains from the "tough stand" taken. Dosanjh's constituency account was the richest in the province following the standoff, shortly before the NDP successfully won re-election. Other appointments to Queen's Counsel named by Mr. Dosanjh include Allan McDonnell. McDonnell is the nephew of BC's notorious Chief Justice Allan McEachern, who referred to life in the pre-contact Gitxsan Nation as "nasty brutish and short," when he rejected their claims as trial judge on the Delgamuukw land-claims case. McDonnell was himself a former senior partner of the powerful law partnership of Russel & DuMoulin, as was his uncle. The firm is often engaged to battle Indian sovereignty cases on behalf of the BC Attorney-General's Ministry such as in the pending appeals of Wolverine, OJ Pitawanakwat and LiL'Wat national Harold Pascal. McDonnel is past chair of The Law Foundation of British Columbia and is executive director of BC Wild - The Conservation Alliance of BC - a coalition of the province's leading environmentalists. Michael A Fitch, a managing partner in Russel & DuMoulin, was also appointed Queen's Counsel. A government press release on the thirty appointments states: "In recommending Queen's counsel designations, the attorney general, all levels of the judiciary, and the Law Society on behalf of the legal profession, arrive at a consensus. The appointments are then made by the lieutenant-governor." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: For information on Gustafsen Lake: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/gustmain.html To support a public inquiry into Gustafsen Lake: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html FREE WOLVERINE! FREE OJ PITAWANAKWAT! BRING THE REAL CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE! :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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 Truth in Mexico" --------- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 10:47:00 -0800 (PST) From: NCDM Subj: EZ Communique UUCP email ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION MEXICO JANUARY 29, 1998 TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY: TO HONEST SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS IN MEXICO AND THE WORLD: BROTHERS AND SISTERS: We had thought it would be enough to issue a communique where we could respond to what is being said and done by the Mexican government in Chiapas. We had thought it would be sufficient to write something which reflected our discontent about the government's persistence in using double language, something which once again will disrobe the inconsistencies between their discourse of "peace" and the harassment and military advancement again the communities and mountains of the Mexican Southeast. That is what we had thought, but then we saw the military airplane and the war tanks rambling ostentatiously and arrogantly through our villages, as though to say "this is the answer to your demands, look at me, hear me, you are trapped, surrender." We saw the airplane and the tanks and we understood that that is what they want. They want us to speak only to them, that we forget you, that we get into their game of "give and take". They want only bitter answers to their mockery, answers which allow them to say: "you see, the EZLN does not want dialogue, it is using the conflict to its advantage, they are intransigent, do not believe them when they say they struggle for democracy, liberty and justice, all they want is Power and to continue to provoke instability." So the airplane and the tanks made us understand that they wanted us to strip our word of value and quality, that we exchange epithets, that we tire you with our accusations and repeated warnings that the government is deceiving you. They do not want us to explain ourselves nor to make ourselves heard. That is why we decided to let you know our thinking and our position through this letter. As you can see, this letter is not only for civil society, now it also includes political society. We know that there are many political organizations in Mexico and in the world, some of which are now governments, which have an honest approach, respectful and accountable to the significance of the Zapatista demands. So we salute all those who try to give politics the renovation which it needs. At any rate now that it is clear why we address you, we give you our word. The strategy of the government attempts to make public opinion transpose the illegitimacy and lack of credibility of the government to everyone else. The actual strategy seeks the skepticism of all the actors and positions, neutralizes intellectuals and artists, independent politicians, social organizations, organized civil society, and the "ordinary" citizen. The speech of Mister Ernesto Zedillo in Yucatan for example was, above all the point of departure of a new flood of declarations and ultimatums. There are three basic spokes of this government line. 1. The re-negotiation of the San Andres Agreements - The government position towards the San Andres Agreements is very clear: they will not fulfill them. The discussion about whether the first or the second Cocopa initiative will be the "basis of negotiation" (Didn't the Cocopa swear and declare that it would not negotiate the agreements because it was not appropriate to their coadjutant role?), is only a government sophistry. To carry out what has been signed and acknowledge the indigenous right to be different, are some of the things to which "the federal government does not agree" and which, of course, do not even appear in the Yucatan speech, nor in the paid full-page ads. Behind the strategy in which Labastida wants to enmesh the Cocopa and the Conai, is the attempt to delay a solution to the conflict. It pretends for example, that the Cocopa serve as a messenger for communication with the EZLN through the Conai. Isn't it excessive to pretend that a legislative commission from the Mexican Congress (which represents 5 national political parties) serve only as a messenger between the government and the Conai? Is that the role of the coadjutant now? Our position in terms of the Agreements is the same. We do not want "everything", all we want is that the government fulfill what it has signed and is public knowledge. All we want is for the Cocopa to keep its word and defend its initiative. All we want is that indigenous rights become law and reality. Thousands of voices in Mexico and the world have supported, throughout an entire year, the legal initiative of the Cocopa. This proposal no longer just belongs to the legislators. Today there are thousands who are willing to defend it. 2. The use of force to resolve the conflict - Zedillo says that the government has not used nor will it use force to attempt to resolve the conflict in Chiapas. What about the treachery of February 9th of 1995? Wasn't it the use of force which broke the dialogue it sustained with us ? (through then-Justice Minister Esteban Moctezuma Barragan). Weren't there thousands of soldiers who attacked indigenous communities in their attempt to capture the leadership of the EZLN? Is it not true, that even today the indigenous of Guadalupe Tepeyac live in exile because their village is a mix of barracks, whorehouse and bar for federal troops? Was it not the use of force that took dozens of citizens prisoners because their crime was that they were Zapatistas? The government "has not used nor will it use force" to resolve the conflict in Chiapas? What is all the preparation, training and activation of paramilitary squads for then? (At least 12 says the PGR). Wasn't the massacre of Acteal a demonstration of the will for dialogue and negotiation of the Mexican government? And what about the persecution of Zapatistas since January 1 of 1998 sustained by the federal army which "carries out orders of the commander in chief" (Zedillo)? Is this another act of military distension? When all is done, the history of the regime of Zedillo is the history of the word which was not kept. Those military planes which conduct "diving" maneuvers over indigenous communities in the jungle, what is their word? Without any legitimacy, the government has at its side only the power of force. On our side is history, reason and truth. The demands of the Indian peoples are supported by these three forces, only the law is missing to do justice to them, but it is clear that force will do all that is possible to scam away the cover of law to rights demanded by history, based in reason and animated by truth. The law, if not accompanied by history, if not constructed by reason and fortified by the truth, finally provokes that which it seeks to avoid: violent rebellion. 3. The attack against different national and international actors who seek a peaceful solution with justice and dignity.- Using the conflict in Chiapas for his political whims, Zedillo attempts to renew his dispute with the PRD, with national and international NGO's, and with all those who no longer believe nor support (in other words, the immense majority of Mexicans). With words and applause bought beforehand, the government tries to hide, once again, its responsibility in the massacre of Acteal. There will be an attempt to bury the blood of 45 indigenous under the "re-negotiation" of the Cocopa initiative. Meanwhile, on the ground of Acteal, 45 crosses warn that today's amnesia will renew itself in worse sorrow tomorrow. "In order to cover a scandalous crime, another scandal must be perpetrated" is the fascist slogan which is now religious creed in the Mexican federal cabinet. Zedillo also takes advantage of Yucatan to spew a nationalism which sounds false and hollow, especially on him and whoever accompanies him. He who dedicates himself to squandering in the exterior the rich lands of the Mexican southeast, he who continues with an authentic campaign of extermination of indigenous people because they "have no place in modern globalization" and will "end up disappearing anyway": he who has not stopped attacking entities of mediation and intercession, and who complains about foreign intervention and whomever tries international mediation in the conflict. Zedillo should abandon his paternalistic and authoritarian tone and recognize, and accept, that the immense majority of Mexicans still want the San Andres agreements to be fulfilled (without any scam) and do not agree that force be used to resolve the conflict. The government discourse has perhaps managed to confuse some. But, for how long? This new lie which they pile up in the national consciousness, how long will it last? What other crime or tragedy will bring it down again? The most serious problem is not Chiapas, or San Andres, or Acteal, or the fall of oil prices, or the devaluation, or the financial crisis in Asia. The fundamental problem is a government without legitimacy, without credibility. It would be unjust to say that Chiapas alone has contributed to the government's discredit. It is enough to review, with a minimum of independence and critical spirit, the three years of Zedillo's administration in order to conclude that the regime has not only provoked and revived political, economic and social crises even religious ones, but it also lies so repeatedly it borders on stupidity. And he who lies and lies again, can only expect to lose credibility. We, the Zapatistas, do not believe the government when it speaks of peace. We know that millions of human beings, in Mexico and in the world, do not believe it either. It has earned its discredit, and obviously it can only change this with acts of peace and not with useless and senseless words which fill columns and screens on the media, but continue to leave the hearts and mind of Mexicans empty. It doesn't matter whether these Mexicans matter to this government. In any case, it is they who matter to us and we count every man and every woman. Our acts are of peace and a disposition to a political solution. We continue to wait for real demonstrations of political will, but we continue to see the inclination to ignore what has been signed, and we continue to suffer assassinations, persecution and jail. We are not asking for anything the government has not signed. The San Andres Agreements are only a part of what justly belongs to the Indian peoples of this country called Mexico, which has a history of a struggle with dignity, and because of such, will conquer its democracy, its liberty and its independence which appear easy, but which, reality has shown, are quite costly. It doesn't matter the cost will be paid with punctuality. Vale. Health and do not allow cynicism to make you a prisoner, after that will come, inevitably, a faltering. >From the still-besieged mountains of the Mexican southeast. By the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee General Command Zapatista Army of National Liberation Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos Mexico, January of 1998. --------- "RE: Early Indian Policies" --------- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 20:07:11 -0500 From: yaelg@juno.com (Yael Grauer) Subj: Fwd: Early Fed Indian Policies UUCP email Federal Indian Policies have been marked by the common view of the Native Americans. Europeans and Anglo-Americans believed that Indians were uncivilized pagans, heathens, savages..and that a standardized "civilization" program would work for all of them. Many countries forced Natives to relocate, attend civilization programs and some were exterminated. The so-called "savages" had functioning societies and probably about 50,000 years of history when the European nations colonized North America, appropriated the land and it's resources and all but ignored aboriginal rights. The designs for exploitation frequently included a demeaning role for Native Americans. The curiosity, hospitality, generosity and Native American's willingness to assist the Europeans was displaced with disillusionment, resentment and sometimes hate. Spain's philosophy was based on mercantilism, and owning gold and silver to determine wealth and power. Spain expanded bases on the Caribbean Islands, to Mexico, Central and South America, part of Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Competitive missionaries evangelized different Native Americans. They viewed the natives as "filthy devil worshipers, sodomites, liars, public fornicators, naked cannibals, depraved and fit only to be slaves." The Arawaks in the Caribbean were captured and sent to Spain to be sold as slaves. Others were impressed into work gangs, forced to labor in mines and plantations. Thousands died from disease because of the crowded, unsanitary conditions in labor camps as well as cruel working conditions. Many clergy inspected the conditions and reported these abuses to the monarch, but little was done. The Natives, according to Spain, had no rights. They were to recognize the sovereignty of the Spanish ruler and the Pope. The people and the land were at the disposal of the monarch. The Indians were to be "subjects" of the crown (i.e. convert) and be instructed in "civilization." Civilization here means "Hispanicization" - the Indians were to speak Castilian Spanish, live in adobe and stone houses, wear European dress, and be loyal and obedient to the king and Roman Catholicism. They were also to perform labor such as mining, plantation and agriculture. These who submitted to the rule, converted and performed labor were distinguished from the resistors, who were also enslaved and required to perform labor, but under different circumstances. The Requiremento was to be read by a conquistador, in Spanish, to any Native American leaders the Spanish made contact with. It specified the "reasonable demands" of the Spaniards: if the Indians accepted Spanish Rule, conversion and "civilization" they would be free, but if not, the Spanish would feel justified in war, slavery and theft. This was untrue, as everybody was enslaved indiscriminately. It was also never read to Native American leaders, but rather whispered in the dead of night to Indian villages The encomienda made Indians labor for 9 months. They in turn were taught Christianity, Spanish civilization and vocational arts. Those who embraced Christianity and European life were exempt from encomienda. The repartmiento took a percentage of the male population for labor for a stated number of weeks in rotation. This was legal enslavement. When the Spanish Empire moved into North America, they took the program with them. Missionaries instructed Indians in vocational arts and husbandry, gave orders, and prepared them for conversion. The military post maintained "order and control" over Indian tribes. Resistors were enslaved. Pioneers were allowed to settle on the land, and could request workers from Indian towns. Indian families in Texas were forced to abandon their lifestyle of hunting, gathering and agriculture for a sedentary life of labor at the missions. Churches, schools, dwellings, and roads were constructed by Native American slaves. Forced labor by missionaries and labor levies by Mexican settlers and imported diseases such as smallpox and measles caused a severe decline in the populations. The survivors were thoroughly Hispanicized. In New Mexico, Indians were relocated and pueblos were moved ostensibly and consolidated Indians. Their land was granted to colonists, and they were forced to work in fields, sowing, cultivating and harvesting, tending cattle, sheep and horses, working in blacksmith shops and at looms, erecting public buildings and building roads. Women were forced to do domestic housework. In accordance with the repartiemento, Pueblos were to build churches and chapels, labor on church's farms and orchards, and herd church livestock. They were little more than serfs serving colonists and missionaries. The regula was the process used to convert Indians from their native religions. Punishment was used to enforce conformity. Many were hung by their arms at public whipping posts and lashed. Some were forced to stand in small circles for hours at a time on public display. Others were hung. A common punishment was to cut the "religious rebel"'s hair, ,which was an important symbol of personal worth. Many fled to escape the shame of public haircut. In 1661, 1,600 katchina masks, the most sacred objects of the Native American's religious paraphernalia, were burned. Many Native Americans were continuously persecuted for their religious beliefs. In 1680, Pope, an Indian from San Juan pueblo, organized a secret resistance movement against the cruel and unlawful repartiemento, taxes, tribute exactions, missionary padres, labor levies and the suppression of religion. Over 400 Spaniards were killed and every settlement north of El Paso was cleared. From 1680-1688, the settlements were free of Spanish officials, troops colonists and priests. However, in 1689, El Paso troops captured and destroyed a Zia pueblo settlement. 600 Indians were killed and 70 survivors were sold as slaves. In 1691, Don Diego de Vargas became the royal governor of New Mexico and restored Spanish dominion. Any pueblos that resisted were destroyed, and survivors were enslaved and divided among colonists. The Navajos and Apaches were forced to become farmers and stock raisers. In California, missionaries attempted to convert the Indians, most of which submitted peacefully. They were taught Christian doctrine, agriculture and vocational arts. Any who refused to work were deprived of food and punished in other ways. If they were late to worship or work, absent from church or slow, they were lashed on their bare back in public or confined. The crops and livestock were considered the property of the Indians, held in trust by the Franciscan padres. 90,000 Indians were baptized between 1769 and 1822, France was also influenced by a system of mercantilism. The French came to dominate the territory between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River, the upper Mississippi Valley, the lands west along the Missouri River into the Rocky Mountains and the lower Mississippi River all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The French had the most humane relationship with the Native Americans, but they used coercion and cruelty, at times to the point of genocide. At first the French wanted to transform the lifestyle of the Indians, convert them to Christianity and help them adopt French civilization. Indians were forced to relocate to French settlements to observe "enlightened European Christian living". The failure of this policy was due to the greed of the French, and the fur trade which distracted them and diverted their attention. Tribal sovereignty was recognized and diplomacy was used to keep tribes friendly, loyal and committed. The French saw the Indians as fellow human beings. The governors traveled and visited many tribes to maintain harmonious relationships. Each May the governor met with the leaders of the Western tribes in Montreal and the governor of Louisiana met with the southern tribes at Mobile. Although there was a genuine friendship between the French and the Indians, many tribes were relocated from one hunting territory to another. Resistors were punished. Some were enslaved and others were sent to labor on plantations in the W est Indies. The Native American culture was destroyed when hunters were forced to move away from their clan and tribe in order to get more furs. This resulted in a neglect of family, clan, tribal duties and observances. The ecology was destroyed, and the Indians became accustomed to brandy and other trade goods. Thus, their self-sufficiency was destroyed. The wild creatures that had provided the Indian with food, shelter and clothing were gone. He and his tribe were reduced to a state of poverty not of his making. Many Indians also died from epidemic diseases. The Natchez, who resisted the French appropriation of their land, were destroyed. The Dutch tried to maintain neutrality with the Indians. Holland recognized their tribal sovereignty and negotiated treaties with their leaders. However, in many instances, the Indians sold their land thinking they had given the right to SHARE their land with others. Kieft became the governor general of the Netherlands and land was taken from the Indians. Kieft taxed their cornfields and the Dutch livestock destroyed cornfields. Indians killed the livestock and were shot. In 1643, Kieft sent 80 soldiers to kill the Indians. Women, children and men were all killed. 80 heads were placed on the street on display. The Indians fought back. Dutch and English troops captured more Indians, placed them in chains and sent them to labor on plantations in the West Indies. These troops torched the Indian's corn and destroyed their shelters. The Indians were reduced in size by disease and debauched by brandy. Although every European empire debauched, exploited and destroyed the Native People's people and culture, the Russians surpassed all in their barbarity, cruelty and mindless destruction of Native culture. They deported many Indians to desert islands, mixed up the tribes, took away their means of getting together and enslaved them. From 1745-1765, Indian men were enslaved and hostages (wives and daughters of principal men) were captured. The men were given fox traps and forced to go out for furs. The promyshenniki did nothing all winter. In the spring, they received furs from the Natives. If there were not enough, the Russians killed the Indians. The traps were taken in, a few beads were given to the women... and this continued, year after year. If the men were uncooperative, they were tortured in the center of the village, or the hostages were killed.. When torture and punishment didn't work, the Russians butchered plundered and burned the villages. Men, women and children were systematically massacred to reduce their threat to Russian dominion. Only 1/10th survived. Many women were taken as concubines. British Indian policy was exploitive, destructive, and demeaning. Indians were considered unfortunate heathens in service of Satan who need to be Christianized and civilized by the law. On one occasion, Pequots were killed and sold as slaves as Puritan minister rejoiced that they had "sent 600 heathen souls to hell." The Puritans believed that the land was theirs by "God's law." When the Native Americans resisted, it was considered blasphemy, and against God's law, so the land was taken by force or conquest. Native Americans felt that the reservations were destructive, and King Philip, a Native American, led a protest for which he was arrested and fined and his followers were disarmed. The Indians were concentrated on a military reservation and Philip was defeated and slain. His wife and son and hundreds of insurgents were sold into slavery. Pope continued to consolidate the Indians, who the ministers described as "bloodthirsty savages", the "accursed seed of Canaan". They also stated that it was the duty of good Christians to exterminate them. In the Mid Atlantic, a 1682 pact ensured that Indians were dealt with kindly and fairly. However, in 1726, the Quakers were no longer in charge of the area. $130 was given for each male adult Indian scalp, and $50 for each adult females. 8 years later, the bounty law was changed to include any Indian 10 years or older. As agents and missionaries from Montreal asked Indians to resettle in Canada, the NY colonial governor attempted to counter these appeals by urging the scattered tribal remnants to settle on large tracts along the upper Hudson. Thus began the reservation system in the 1700's. In the Southern colonies, Indians who refused to accept Christianity and European civilizations were considered an obstacle to the advancement of "superior civilization", who should be destroyed. They were harassed and exterminated. The Virginia militia regularly marched through tribal settlements killing Indians, seizing property and destroying crops. In 1644, the Indians killed around 500 settlers. Retaliatory efforts killed at least twice as many Indians. In 1646, colonial officials and Powhatan confederacies negotiated a treaty. It included a boundary to separate the land, which led to the reservation system in that area. Traders in South Carolina furnished guns to Yamasee hunters and sent them to kill deer and capture other Indians for sale in the slave market. 1400 Yamasee and Catawba Indians were sold as slaves, subject to exploitation and callous treatment. They were treated so badly that they rose in revolt and nearly annihilated the Carolina settlements. Men were required to carry 70 pound packs for 300 to 500 miles and their wives and daughters were raped. The white men gave the Indians rum and extended generous credit to them, which in turn led to their debt. Then the men would seize the Indian's wives and children into the slave marked to consolidate the debt. 75% of the colonial officials were killed, and only 20 of 5,000 Yamasees survived. Less than 100 Catawbas were left. The children were forced into boarding schools. Under Spanish law, the Native Americans were exploited but had some legal, recognizable rights. The Russians placed Native Americans in a caste system below the serfs and subjected them to great inhumanity. The Dutch gave them some rights, and considered them colonial laborers. The French considered the Native Americans "subjects", and generally treated them well. The British response was varied. However, the Native Americans were never treated fairly or equally and their culture and population has suffered severely because of the inhumanity of Europeans. "They drew a circle that shut me out, called me a rebel and a heretic, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win, we drew a circle that took them in." Markham _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] --------- "RE: Critique: In the Absence of the Sacred" --------- Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 15:46:48 -0500 From: Louis Proyect Subj: Jerry Mander's "In the Absence of the Sacred": a critique UUCP email Jerry Mander's "In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations" represents a very important but misguided tendency in the world-wide movement for indigenous peoples' rights. Along with Kirkpatrick Sale and Vandana Shiva, Mander argues that the only way forward for land-based peoples is to live the simple life that their ancestors lived. Politics consists of turning the clock backwards. The computer is a symbol of evil in their eyes and Sale went so far as to defend the Unabomber in public. He also begins each of his highly paid lectures by smashing a personal computer. Before presenting a counter-argument to Jerry Mander's, it would be fair to give some credit to him for presenting some valuable information about American Indian history and society. Mander has been studying these issues for many years and is often good at presenting the other side of the story, which is essential in such a racist country as the United States. In the chapter "The Gift of Democracy," he makes the case that the Iroquois confederation had a big influence on the authors of the American constitution. The colonists wanted to make sure that a central government did not trample on the rights of individual states. The Iroquois confederation included the Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga and Tuscarora nations and stretched from Ontario to Georgia. The Great Law, which was oral, served as its constitution. The anthropologist Lewis Morgan wrote extensively about the Iroquois and Frederic Engels leaned heavily on these writings in the Marxist classic "Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State." Engels thought that the Iroquois were a prime example of a successful classless, egalitarian, noncoercive society. While most leftists are familiar with Engels' respect for Iroquois government, far fewer are aware that people such as Benjamin Franklin held similar views. Citing Donald Grinde's groundbreaking "The Iroquois and the Founding of the American Nation," Mander makes the following point: "Grinde points out that James Madison made frequent forays to study and speak with Iroquois leaders. William Livingston [first governor of New Jersey] was fluent in Mohawk, and stayed with Indians over extended periods. John Adams and his family socialized with Cayuga chiefs on numerous occasions. Thomas Jefferson's personal papers show specific reference to the forms of Iroquois governance, and, says Grinde, 'Benjamin Franklin's work is resplendent with stories about Indians and Indian ideas of personal freedom and structures of government.'" The chapter titled "Lessons in Stone-Age Economics" refutes the claim that people living off the land through hunting and gathering were worse off than people living under capitalism. Making extensive use of Marshall Sahlin's "Stone Age Economics", Mander argues that so-called primitive societies enjoyed a great deal of leisure time, satisfied all their material desires and survival needs with little difficulty, did not work very hard, and consciously chose 'subsistence economies.' And, most critically, they "deliberately did not accumulate surpluses." Sahlins cites a 1960 study which finds that in a representative hunting and gathering society, after adding up all the time spent in all economic activities (plant collecting, food preparation, and weapon repair), the average male worked three hours and forty-five minutes a day, while females worked on average just five minutes longer. Sahlins concluded that such peoples did not work hard, nor did they work continuously. No wonder nomadic hunter-gatherers such as the Lakota, the Navajo, the Apache and the Seminole fiercely resisted capitalist assimilation. When given a choice of living a life of freedom close to the abundance of nature or becoming wage-slaves or farmers, they inevitably chose the former. The real "primitives" would seem to be the average overworked American who sits at a desk or stands on an assembly line for 50 to 60 hours a week for the sole purpose of making high wages to satisfy an addiction for consumer goods. Hence it is easy to understand why Mander would defend such an existence. It is also easy to understand why big business and the corporate state are so eager to get the Indian off the land and open it up for commercial exploitation. If it can not persuade the Indian to adopt the white world's ways, it will use chicanery or violence to move the Indian off their ancestral lands. In the nineteenth century, such conflicts took place across the Plains states. Today, they are even taking place on the reservation, where Indians struggle to retain traditional ways. Mander's advice to the Indian is simply to resist the encroachments of the outside world. This does not only mean resisting the uranium mining company's rape of sacred land, such as occurred in New Mexico. It also means resisting the tools of the outside world, such as the computer. In the chapter "Seven Negative Points About Computers," Mander takes exception to the Canadian government's attempt to provide computer training to Indians for the purpose of resource management. Mander challenges the notion that trees, grizzly bears, water, etc., are "resources." They are rather part of mother nature and Indians should use traditional methods of keeping track of them, which is much more intuitive than a computer can hope to achieve. This is bad advice. The Indians of the United States are facing a fundamental challenge with respect to resources like oil, coal, gas and uranium. There is no "traditional" way of keeping track of them since traditional society had no particular use for them. Meanwhile, there are vicious, greedy corporations who want to avoid paying royalties to the tribes, while polluting the water and soil on their land. How can one prevent this? Clearly, this involves keeping accurate records of the quantity of such resources and accounting exactly for royalties. There are estimates that billions of dollars have been stolen from the Indian because of shady bookkeeping practices by the government and the corporations. The only way that this can be prevented is if Indians develop their own expertise and know for sure what they own and how much it is worth. Mander cites an article in the October 1984 issue of "Development Forum" titled "Worshipping a False God," by Ken Darrow and Michael Saxenian. The authors, who have been involved in developing small-scale technology in third world countries, reject the use of computers. They do not think that computers can provide low-cost communications and information processing needs to primarily agrarian societies. This is "dangerous nonsense" and Mander agrees with them. They say, "In a poor country, using a microcomputer linked by satellite to an information system half-way round the world...is absurd." To the contrary, it is "dangerous nonsense" for indigenous peoples to avoid using computers in this manner. Anybody who has been following the Zapatista struggle for the past few years understands how crucial the Internet has been. Not only has it served to educate people all around the world about what these Mayan peoples are fighting for, it has also provided an emergency response mechanism when the Mexican government has attempted to repress the movement. Immediately after the massacre in Chiapas last month that took the lives of 44 people, the Internet became a beehive of activity as word circulated. Demonstrations, picket-lines and other forms of protest forced the Mexican government to open up an investigation and public awareness will surely make it more difficult to repress the movement in the future. Furthermore, the World Wide Web is replete with pages devoted to struggles of land-based peoples all around the world, including the American Indian. The information originates with the tribes themselves and provides an accurate source of information in contrast to the misinformation contained in the daily newspaper or television and radio. For somebody to tell Indians not to use computers is not only arrogant, it is stupid. Another big problem is that Mander oversimplifies the fight between the Indian and the forces arrayed against him. The only sort of Indians that Mander seems interested in are those who are completely untainted by the outside world. If an Indian lives in a city or makes a living as a miner on the reservation, Mander ignores him. He only pays attention to the "pure" Indian who survives by hunting or fishing the way that he did a hundred or a thousand years ago. Hence, he devotes an entire chapter to the Dene Indians in Canada, who live in the Northwest Territories where the traditional economy revolves around caribou hunting and ice fishing. In the 1970s, they discovered oil on Dene land and pretty soon all the usual culprits descended upon them: oil corporations, lawyers and real- estate developers. What is Mander's biggest concern, however? It is that television, of all things, will disrupt the Dene's simple life. He worries that televised soap operas will replace traditional story-telling. This is astonishing. When the Dene's traditional way of life is being challenged by the outside world, he focuses in on the threat of television. Television, as everybody knows, is a means of escape just like alcohol or drugs. If you want to remove the temptation of such things, you have to give people an alternative. In the case of the Dene, the alternative was there to begin with, namely their traditional way of life. Mander has never really considered the question of POLITICS, since it is only political struggle that can block corporations. Mander's approach is that of the good missionary who wants to paternalistically plead the case of the Indian. His message seems directed toward the corporations: "Please leave these defenseless people alone." He has functioned on the boards of various corporate backed environmental groups and had a career in the world of advertising beforehand, so it easy to understand why he would try to act as the Indian's representative to this world. He reminds me of the Franciscan priests who used to intercede on behalf of the Indian during the 1500s when they asked the crown or the church to be more merciful. Paternalistic intercession is less useful than self- -organization and self-defense of the Indian peoples. That is something the Indian can only do for himself. Mander has nothing to say about this. In his 400 page book, he never once mentions, for example, the American Indian Movement. Ward Churchill's review of Mander's book, titled "Another Dry White Season," (contained in "From a Native Son"), contains the astonishing observation that of 305 bibliographic entries in the book, only seventeen are by Indian authors. Not one of Vine Deloria Jr.'s dozen books is cited, nor any by Churchill himself, nor any by any other American Indian political leaders. The only conclusion you can draw is that Mander thinks the fight is between poor, defenseless, "pure" traditional peoples and the government and corporations. And whom can they count on in their hour of need? Superman himself: Jerry Mander. This brings us to the final question of Mander's prejudice against anything that is not primitive and local. If it was up to him, Indians would exist in triblets just as they did 500 years ago. They would not live in cities, drive cars, wear clothes purchased at Walmarts, watch television, use computers or go to college. This precludes hundreds of thousands of Indians, including the men and women who founded AIM. People like Leonard Peltier, Dennis Banks, Russell Means and John Trudelle were not traditionals. The civil rights movement or the black nationalist movement of the 1960s inspired them. They lived in the cities and made their living as auto mechanics or other blue-collar jobs. They often did not even speak Lakota or their tribal language. Their sole agenda was defending Indian rights, on or off the reservation. This meant challenging the government, not pleading to it to be kinder and gentler. And so we must ask what and who is the American Indian that is much more complex than the one described by Mander? Furthermore, do we have a litmus test that says only people who speak the language and subsist off the land are worth defending? No, of course not. The American Indian, more than any other people living in this country, is a product of various clashing economic, cultural and social forces. Ever since the colonists came to America, Indians have adopted defense strategies that in essence contradict the sort of highly localized, traditional identity that Mander privileges. There is a very interesting paper titled "From Peripheral Domination to Internal Colonialism: Socio-Political Change of the Lakota on Standing Rock" by James V. Fenelon, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at John Carroll University. It is at 'csf.colorado.edu/wsystems/jwsr/vol3/v3n2a3. htm,' the online version of the Journal of World-Systems Research. Unfortunately, Fenelon uses a lot of academic jargon but his research is fascinating. Basically, he argues that American capitalism has forced the Lakota at the Standing Rock reservation in South Dakota to think of itself both as a nationality and as a tribe. Their complex self-identification shows how limited Mander's categories are. Fenelon has interviewed people on the reservation and here are seven examples of the rather diverse forms of tribal and national identity: 1. "I'm a Sioux woman, Yanktonai, and it (the group) should be called the Sioux club. I've lived here for almost forty years, so this is my home, but I am from Standing Rock, and so is my daughter... We speak Dakota, and of course English... Some of these people don't even know where they are from, and so they're from nowhere..." (Earth-Powers, 1995) 2. "I am from (a particular Lakota) Sioux reservation - I don't like that word Sioux, but for means of identification I suppose it's OK. ...that's what I consider home, although I'm living out here, I guess I feel expatriated..." (Yonder, 1994) 3. "I felt it was an insult to the wisdom of my ancestors that the knowledge passed on to me should be valued so lowly... When I began teaching, I was amazed how many (Indian people) didn't have any (knowledge of their) background as a people." (Defender, 1993) 4. "When I first came to (the city) I thought 'Good I can relax here' because I had come from South Dakota where you can cut discrimination with a knife it's so thick. But that's not true. Here you find discrimination trying to get our needs met with city and state systems, because the Indian community doesn't have group strength." (Blue Weather, 1992) 5. "When you get cornered, boxed in, with nowhere to go, and your people are attacked... you resist... They take your land, your traditional ways, and then they want to start education their way, and all that is a continuation of their system. It's hard to be an Indian. They embargo your people, your ways, your nationhood. I had to expose this system that is used to destroy us, what is why I talked to the U.N., because we are a nation... They say "we acquired the land, we conquered this land, but we, the Sioux nation were never conquered. We will take our sovereignty..." (Grass-man, 1993) 6. "...when you know, you learn your language, your traditional ways... your whole outlook on life will change, your whole value system will change - you will be proud when someone calls you a traditional - you will become proud of your identity, and you will see the beauty of life,,,, and walk the good road." (Big-Horse, 1993) 7. "(The) colonial powers, coming in and re-naming us, ... naming us... (the)...military never gave the people, my grandmother, then chance to go back to their emergent, sacred places... (to re-new their identity)... People have been separated from their emergent places, and are not educated in their language." (Defender-Wilson, 1996) Obviously, this level of complexity would frustrate Mander's model of analysis so he does just what you would expect. He ignores peoples like the Lakota, who have been at the forefront of American Indian struggles for the past 25 years. It seems pointless to place traditional hunting-and-gathering societies on a pedestal at this point in history. While activists must defend the right of the Dene or any other peoples to live a traditional life, we have to be aware that the threat to their existence is not because of ill-will. Private enterprise does not represent an alternative "life-style" to that of traditional society that one can accept or reject as a matter of taste, like sugar in one's coffee. What is driving the Canadian and American governments and corporations to batter down the doors of the Dene and Inuit peoples is the need for profit. Oil, coal and uranium corporations will not listen to somebody like Jerry Mander,even if he is the most sincere and well-meaning person on the planet. Demonstrations and picket- lines speak louder. They will only respond to political action, the more militant the better. As the cabal of corporations, the FBI and other defenders of private property lay siege to reservations and ancestral lands, the Indian must develop his own united front. Tribes will have to build coalitions both nationally and internationally. The need to communicate both within the United States and internationally will become ever more important. The Chiapas Indians will have paved the way for the use of computers in a liberation movement. Indians need not only computers, but faxes, cell telephones and cable TV. As Malcolm X once said, "By any means necessary." While he was speaking of guns, it is obvious that a much more effective tool for the time being is one that plugs into a wall. In my next two posts, I will be taking a very close look at the intersection of Marxism and Indians. In the first of these, I will review the mistakes and the corrections made by the Sandinistas in Nicaragua vis- a-vis the Miskitu Indians. As part of this, I will examine Russell Means' role in the contra war. Following that I will examine the political philosophy of Juan Carlos Mariategui, a Peruvian Communist who tried to synthesize Incan communalism--embodied by the "ayllus"-- and 20th century Marxism. Louis Proyect --------- "RE: Ward Valley Update" --------- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 18:09:18 -0700 (MST) From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley) Subj: Ward Valley Update UUCP email WARD VALLEY UPDATE - WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! The time is getting near for people to begin to gather at Ward Valley to stand with the Tribes of the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance and others to help defend this sacred land, critical habitat and the Colorado River against contamination by a proposed nuclear waste dump. We have been very busy preparing for this action and we need the help of everyone out there to be successful. If you can help or provide any of the items listed below please give us a call 760/326-6267 or e-mail swv1@ctaz.com PEOPLE - of course, we want everyone that can possibly come out to Ward Valley to do so. Just being there to show your support is very important. There are also some specific jobs that people can do while they are here. The first two items on this list are essential and need to know ASAP if any one can volunteer for these positions. !!!BUSDRIVERS - people with Class 2 driver's licenses that can drive buses--mostly school buses--to shuttle people to & from Ward Valley. !!!MEDICAL PEOPLE - Doctors, nurses, EMT's--anyone with first-aid training. We also need someone to bottom-line medical. Non-violence trainers Peacekeepers Legal Observers Kitchen - We need many people willing to help prepare and serve meals. Making sure people are fed is extremely important! ELDER CARE: There are many elders from the 5 Colorado River Native Nations that have made the commitment to take a stand in defense of their sacred land. In order to make sure all of their needs are met we need the following: Tents (cabin-type canvas tents would be best) Sleeping pads Cots Sleeping bags (not mummy bags) Gloves, scarves, hats, etc. FOOD & SUPPLIES: Fresh fruits & vegetables (preferably organic) Cooking oil Soy and/or rice drinks Canned goods (vegetables, tomato sauce, milk, etc.) Pasta Jams & Jellies Trail Mix, power bars, nutritious snack food Breads - bagels, sandwich bread, pita bread - all kinds! Stuff for sandwiches Milk Containers for kitchen supplies and food - 5 gal. buckets w/ lids, lrg. storage containers Silverware - check out the local thrift shop (or your garage or attic) for used knives, forks, spoons, etc. Large cooking pots THE LOAN OF LARGE ARMY TENTS TO USE FOR KITCHENS AND MEETING AREAS!! And, last but not least, MONEY. Whether you can be here or not you can help to Save Ward Valley. Together we can stop this radioactive waste dump!!! IF YOU CAN'T COME TO THE ACTION: 1) Call Dianne Feinstein at 202/224-3841 or e-mail her at senator@feinstein.senate.gov and tell her to oppose the dump now. 2) Call President Clinton at 202/456-1111 or e-mail him at president@whitehouse.gov and demand this project be stopped now--once and for all. 3) Write a letter to the editor or call in to a radio talk show and spread the word. 4) Encourage your church, City Council, Chamber of Commerce or civic group to pass a resolution against the construction of any radioactive facility at Ward Valley. 5) Write a letter of support of the 5 Tribes of the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance--Fort Mojave, Chemehuevi, Cocopah, Quechan, and Colorado River Indian Tribes to President Clinton and your senators and representatives. Tell them you support the Tribes struggle to save sacred land from further desecration, believe the U.S. government has not fully honored requests for nation to nation consultation on the issue of Ward Valley, and demand that this project be stopped now--once and for all! Please send a copy to Steve Lopez, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, 500 Merriman, Needles, CA 92363. Save Ward Valley 107 F St. Needles, CA 92363 ph. 760/326-6267 fax 760/326-6268 http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1 --------- "RE: U.S. Prison Population Soars" --------- Date: 8 Feb 1998 08:17:17 GMT From: bghauk@berlin.infomatch.com (Brian Hauk) Subj: U.S. prison population soars Newsgroup: soc.culture.native U.S. prison population soars +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ from the Militant, vol.62/no.5 February 9, 1998 According to U.S. Justice Department figures, as of last June the number of people behind bars in the United States exceeded 1.7 million - more than double the amount locked up since 1985. Some 9.4 percent more people are being held in city or county jails, which generally confine those awaiting trial or serving terms of a year or less. Contributing factors to the increase include longer prison sentences, more mandatory sentencing laws, and less willingness by the courts to grant paroles. Los Angeles has the largest jail population with 21,962 prisoners, and New York comes in a close second with 17,528. On January 23 a federal judge ruled against an inmate's law suit, claiming that double celling - that is stuffing two inmates into a cell made for one - is not a violation of human rights. Meanwhile, the Federal Prison Industries (FPI), which puts prisoners to work for $1 an hour in 72 federal prisons around the country, made more than $600 million in 1997 gross sales income. Ira Kirschbaum, general counsel for FPI, praised the prison labor program for "teaching a work ethic -get up on time, work all day long, do a good job." ---------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Militant and other communist net resources: The Militant gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:/11/pubs/militant Granma International http://www.granma.cu/ The Young Socialists http://pages.prodigy.com/AHSG60C/index.html Pathfinder Press gopher://ftp.std.com/11/Book%20Sellers/Pathfinder%20Press --------- "RE: Urgent Action Alert for Standing Deer" --------- Date: Wed, 04 Feb 1998 18:07:32 From: Marpessa Kupendua Subj: !*Urgent Action Alert for Standing Deer! UUCP email !! URGENT ACTION ALERT FOR STANDING DEER!! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service Committee, who stated, "This is the worst time for prisoners in my 20 years as a prison activist." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ STANDING DEER, 640289 (Ellis 1, Huntsville, TX 77343) has been falsely accused of writing "When I Get Out," which was a poem that appeared in "Hauling Up The Morning." The poem was written by James Red Dog. Standing Deer sent this poem to a local newspaper trying to illustrate how prison impacts on people. As a result, he has received charges as a terrorist and is being investigated by the FBI. Standing Deer is in the hole and is being denied his medication. Please fax, call and send letters demanding that the harassment of this elder man be stopped and that he be given his medicine: Warden Figuroa Estelle Unit Huntsville, Texas 77340 Phone: 409-291-4200 Fax: 409-295-5407 Alan Pulansky Director, Texas Dept. Of Criminal Justice Fax: 210-349-5468 Please send copies of letters to Anna Standing Deer, P.O. Box 690, Mohegan Lake, NY 10547. IT WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW MOMENTS FOR YOU TO GIVE YOUR SUPPORT, AND IT WILL MEAN A GREAT DEAL FOR THESE GOONS TO KNOW THAT STANDING DEER HAS SUPPORT OUTSIDE OF THE WALLS! ============================== "Any movement that fails to support it's political internees is a sham movement!" - Ojore N. Lutalo --------------------------------------------- The following information comes from "CAN'T JAIL THE SPIRIT", Third Edition, October, 1992; Editorial El Coqui, Publishers - 1671 N. Claremont, Chicago, IL 60647, 312-342-8027. Cost $12.00. VERY WELL worth the money! ============================== STANDING DEER - NATIVE AMERICAN POLITICAL PRISONER In 1978, Standing Deer, a 65-year-old Oneida/Choctaw, exposed a government plot to assassinate American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Leonard Peltier in Marion prison. This bizarre case has been documented in several books, including "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" by Peter Matthiessen. In 1984, Standing Deer, Leonard Peltier, and Albert Garza fasted for 42 days to draw worldwide attention to the deplorable conditions at USP Marion, the maximum security federal prison. In retaliation, the government held these three men in total solitary isolation for 15 months with nothing in their cages except a steel bunk and a toilet. Standing Deer continues to fight for human dignity despite failing health and reprisals from his captors. In his Marion Death Fast Statement, Standing Deer wrote, in part: "All of the above things I could probably learn to live with because I realize that Marion is america's #1 gulag for political prisoners, and I know that my brothers, friends, comrades in here are suffering the same indignities. But there is one outrage that I can no longer tolerate. I will no longer allow the united states to continue to deny me the right to practice my religion. For 491 years the religion of my people has been trampled on and disrespected by the sea pirates and many of their descendants who invaded my land so long ago. For those of us who today wish to follow the religion and teachings of our grandfathers, the road is rocky and the struggle is hard, even under conditions in the so-called 'free world.' But for American Indians in Marion, we have been cast into a spiritual wastebasket where every aspect of our religion is denied. Leonard and me enter into this fast not out of despair or depression but with a joyful commitment of total love and dedication to our people." ============================= PLEASE CALL, FAX OR WRITE TODAY! HANDS OFF STANDING DEER! Build and Support Jericho '98 March on the White House! Demand Amnesty for Political Prisoners/POW's! http://www.jericho98.togdog.com --------- "RE: Splitting the Sky Speaking" --------- Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 00:34:48 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Splitting the Sky speaking in Ontario and Quebec :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: From: James_Dumaine@babylon.montreal.qc.ca (James Dumaine) Subject: Fwd: Splitting the Sky speaking in Ontario and Quebec Date: 07 Feb 1998 04:02:49 GMT News Release Thursday February 5, 1998 Splitting the Sky speaking in Ontario and Quebec Splitting The Sky (John Hill), spokesperson for the Free the Wolverine Campaign, will be speaking in Ontario and Quebec from February 7 to 14, 1998 to raise awareness about the1995 Gustafsen Lake crisis . The speaking tour will be going to Windsor, Guelph, Waterloo, Hamilton, Toronto, Peterborough and Montreal. Splitti