From gars@netcom.com Wed Feb 18 12:27:40 1998 Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 19:47:10 -0800 (PST) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.008 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 008 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, 21 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 AISESnet, NativeWeb & Nat-Film Lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; UUCP email; BINDLESTIF WORLD WIDE; Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native; Third World Network Features; COLORADO RIVER NATIVE NATIONS ALLIANCE 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. "If I had an army, I would yet fight and contend to the last; but I have none, my people are all gone. I can do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation. Once I could animate my warriors to battle; but I cannot animate the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice; their bones are at Talladega, Tallushatches, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka." "I have not surrendered myself thoughtlessly. While there were chances of success I never left my post, nor supplicated peace; but my people are now gone, and I ask it for my Nation and for myself." __ Chief Red Eagle, Creek +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Normally, I use this space to share my personal thoughts; but nothing I can say surpasses these words sent to me by an elder. - - - - - - - - One hundred and fifty years ago the policy of the United States Government was to instill fear and intimidation into the People of First Nations in order to defeat them. While they galloped through peaceful villages, riding down anything in their paths, they knew that by making the People afraid of them, they would exercise control, thus gain dominance. Threats, intimidations were used along with the psychological tactic of making the people "prove" they were loyal to government agents. These are the same tactics used in world wars by foreign military dictators. Times have not changed much in 150 years. Nor have evil people. It is good for all of us to remember that Traditional, honorable people do not threaten others, force them to agree and bow down, nor belittle them. Those are the tactics of government agents and men (and women) of evil who desire to dominate others by the same instillation of fear. There are groups of people who feed their egos by hurting others. It is because of their low self esteem and self worth that these bullies will act like any abuser, belittling others, and trying to enforce their will. They will not work towards positive changes for First Nations, nor will they help those who are. Instead, they will, as with all wife beaters, or child molesters, try to destroy good by inflicting their evil and dominance. Hitler rose to power on deluding enough people into believing he was a charismatic leader whose sole purpose in life was to save the German people. After murdering millions of innocent Jewish People, he was seen for what he had always been, a evil, self serving, dictator who manipulated those around him as he rose to power. You would think that we would learn. Look around you. Those who profess to love First Nations do not use gestapo tactics of fear and intimidation as they climb over bodies in their quest for power. No person of honor will harm others, under any rationalizations. Those that do, are evil abusers who should be avoided. There are many who claim to be the demi gods of first nations, but I can assure you that none of those who are of honor, are making that claim. Remember back in our history. Not so long ago many came to us, claiming to be our friends, only to betray us and assist in the planned extermination of our People. Those today, who do the same, are the enemy of First People. Look around you. They shout loud enough for you to see who they are. They are the cancers eating through the heart of First Nations, under the guise of curing all our ills. By remaining silent you give implication of approval of their anger. And as with a cancer, they should be removed, before they destroy the heart. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 12:14:21 -0500 From: GrayDeer@aol.com (by way of ishgooda ) Subj: Death of great great uncle Joseph Martin 1902 (?) - 1998 Deer Clan - Onondaga/Mohawk - Akwesasne Mohawk Nation I got the sad news this morning that my tota Great Uncle Joe Martin has passed away. I just spoke to him a few weeks ago, and I was looking forward to seeing him when I return to the reservation in 15 months. There was so much I wanted to ask him. Because of his health (being on oxygen) and his hearing problem, phone conversations made it very hard to actually communicate. The last time we spoke, he told me about how he was sent to Spanish River (a boarding/trade? school) when he was just a boy. It was part of the U.S. assimilation policy to take children from their families and place them in environments where they could be taught to be civilized citizens of the U.S.. He did not like it there- He missed his family very much- he did not tell me too much about it-like my grandmother, he always tried to tell me a positive side of the story. But every now and then some of the facts came through, and he would tell me of the abuse. He told me how he and others would meet in secrecy to talk Mohawk-to talk about home- to just be Onkwehonwe "Indians". Tota Sose I dedicate this poem to you: Grandmother Moon's Gift "Realization" by Kanatiyosh Grandmother moon, in all your fullness I sit upon the sand captured by your wisdom Shining seemingly only upon me Intensity of the outside world no longer matters You fill me with strengths, hopes, and desires Images of the past flood my senses Moon madness mystifies memories Past relatives and friends surrendered, lost Angrily I search you for answers Why do we concentrate on the past? Why do we not all have vision to the future? Sitting beneath you, wolves begin to howl Magical omens sent by ancestral moon With clarity I understand your wisdom sign Man and nature would rather cry Than to realize someday he too will die. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Thanks to Mike Wicks for the following reminder: In Memory (with Respect and Honor) 2.27.1974 Edward Standing Soldier - AIM member killed near Pine Ridge by "party or parties unknown." No investigation. Peace! Night Owl , , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@nanews.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30067, U.S.A. gars@igc.apc.org ===w=w=== gars@bellsouth.net Fax: 770-528-9643 gars@juno.com ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Leonard Peltier News - Canada's Modus Operandi - Showdown in the Desert - Interior Bands Reject BC Authority - Fort Mojave Hires Native - Kickapoo and Willie Nelson Coordinators Start Network - Ward Valley Showdown Escalates - AISES Announcement - Byrd Announces Hiring/ - The Real Foreign Debt Spending Freeze - Dawn Of The Imperialist System - Byrd Alerted to - New Age Mis-Appropriation Questionable Transfers - Newager Article - A letter to the People - Native Prisoner - New Uranium Mine Near - NA Prisoners Denied Navajo Schools Religious Rights - Sacred Mountain Unity Appeal Part 1 - A Hundred Years Ago - Sacred Mountain Unity Appeal Part 2 - Poem: Easy Way Out - Marcos to the Media - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Reserve School Genocide - Conferences and Powwows - BC's Strictly Confidential Action Plan --------- "RE: Leonard Peltier News" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 11:38:57 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: Leonard Peltier news Newsgroup: alt.native d'laan'te friends, As I promised, here is news of my mtg w/ the Member of Parliament that will be raising the Issue of Leonard's illegal extradition from Canada on the floor of the House of Commons (Canada's Parliament). (Met w/ 2 other MP's afterwards too). I met first w/ "Mr. Peter Mancini, MP, Sydney-Victoria". He is the Justice Critic in the House for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He gave me copies of the Order Paper (agenda) with the notice to Canada's Minister of Justice ("The Honourable Anne McLellan") that she'd better be able to answer. He doesn't foresee being able to table the question to the Minister in the House until the first half of April. This will dovetail perfect w/ the parole hearing for Leonard scheduled for first week in May. I working now at getting USA media to cover this. Video clips of the question by Mancini & & McLellan's response will be available through the Parliamentary television network that televises all House proceedings. I once more ask readers to encourage Mr. Mancini to make sure to ask that question by emailing your thanks & encouragement to his office, as well as emailing the Minister of Justice to encourage her to answer. For their email addresses dial http://www.parl.gc.ca (or for anything else you might be interested in regarding Canada's Parliament & how it works, Standing Committee mtgs [including the Indian Affairs Committee, etc] use the same website..). btw, no need to thank McLellan for anything; she is from ALberta (cowboy country) & has no love for Indians, much less for a "convicted felon" like Leonard. So just urge her to... "... immediately release the Internal Review of the Minister of Justice into the Matter of the Extradition of Mr. Leonard Peltier, as announced by her predecessor, Mr. Allan Rock, in June 1995..." That official govt review has long-since been completed but never released to the Canadian public who paid for it. Remind her that over 35,000,000 people around the world, including the European Parliament, many other state governments & International Human Rights Organizations, and people such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum & 1000's of other persons w/ international respect are waiting for her to get off her butt... (but don't use my words..; that's what got me tossed out of her office.) (;-) will keep you all posted as things develop... masi:cho to all of you for listening & for ACTING on this... Keep phoning Whitehouse comments line for Executive Clemency too!! --------- "RE: Showdown in the Desert" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 14:40:25 -0800 (PST) From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley) Subj: SHOWDOWN IN THE DESERT Mailing List: NativeWeb FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Steve Lopez, Ft. Mojave Tribe 760/629-4591 Save Ward Valley 760/326-6267 SHOWDOWN IN THE DESERT: INDIAN NATIONS VOW TO DEFEND WARD VALLEY FROM FURTHER DESECRATION AND NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP. U.S. DEPT. OF INTERIOR THREATENS TO EVICT OCCUPATION. PRESS CONFERENCE AND SPIRITUAL CEREMONIAL ACTION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1998, 12 NOON AT WARD VALLEY. Needles, CA -- On Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 12 noon, the five Indian Nations of the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance and many supporters will gather at Ward Valley to announce their determination to defend sacred Indian land against further desecration and the proposed nuclear waste dump. The Tribes and supporters will gather hours before the expiration of a fifteen day "closure order" issued January 29th by the U.S. Department of the Interior. A face-off is expected Friday, February 13th as the Indian Nations and supporters will defend Ward Valley with peaceful, dignified and direct protest. The Colorado River Native Nations Alliance of the Fort Mojave, Chemehuevi, Quechan, Cocopah and Colorado River Indian Tribes, along with environmental activists, are assembling on the site of a proposed nuclear dump at Ward Valley in anticipation of the attempt by the Department of the Interior to close the area and commence test drilling. Testing by state and federal governments would desecrate sacred Indian lands and destroy critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise. The Indian Nations are furious the Interior Department totally ignored tribal and environmental concerns and breached its fiduciary responsibility to protect their environmental and trust resources. "The Tribes have opposed the dump since the beginning, and we can tolerate no further damage to Ward Valley," said Steve Lopez, spokesperson for the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance. "We demand that President Clinton uphold Environmental Justice Executive Orders and stop the dump now and for all." Governor Pete Wilson and the nuclear industry hope to bury long-lived and highly dangerous radioactive wastes, mostly from nuclear power plants, in shallow unlined dirt trenches above an aquifer, eighteen miles from the Colorado River. U.S. Ecology's similar nuclear waste dump in Beatty, Nevada has already been found to be severely leaking. Ward Valley is 22 miles west of Needles, California, off the Water Road exit on Interstate 40. 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: Fort Mojave Hires Native Coordinators" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 14:42:01 -0800 (PST) From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley) Subj: Fort Mojave Announces Hiring of Native American Coordinators for Save Ward Valley Campaign Mailing List: NativeWeb Fort Mojave Indian Tribe Nora Helton, Chairperson Steve Lopez, Save Ward Valley Coordinator 500 Merriman Avenue, Needles 92363 ph. 760/629-4591 fax 760/629-2468 Release date: February 9, 1998 To further enhance the capacity of the Save Ward Office, the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe is pleased to announce that they have hired Jeff Wood, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, and Wally Antone, Quechan Indian Nation, to act as Native American Coordinators in the Save Ward Valley campaign. The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe is issuing this official notice to members of the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance and Save Ward Valley Coalition that both Jeff Wood and Wally Antone are duly authorized to deal with issues in the Save Ward Valley office and will report to the Fort Mojave Tribe's council to apprise the Alliance regarding current issues and activities relating to the Ward Valley situation. Fort Mojave is honored and enthusiastic that these Tribal members are looking forward to being involved with this campaign and wish to do all they can to work with the five Tribes of the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance to win this very important battle to save our sacred land at Ward Valley. 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: Ward Valley Showdown Escalates" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 16:19:30 -0700 (MST) From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley) Subj: PROTESTERS BLOCKADE ROADS TO "GROUND ZERO" COLORADO RIVER NATIVE NATIONS ALLIANCE Fort Mojave * Chemehuevi * Quechan * Cocopah * Colorado River Indian Tribes BREAKING NEWS...SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1998 CONTACT: On-site cell phones 310/977-7870, 520/669-0705 Save Ward Valley 760-326-6267, 760/326-4305, 714/649-2641 SHOWDOWN AT WARD VALLEY ESCALATES: ALL-NIGHT INDIAN RELIGIOUS CEREMONY HALTS U.S. GOVERNMENT'S PLANNED CLOSURE OF SITE GOVERNMENT AGAIN UNABLE TO REMOVE OCCUPATION PROTESTERS BLOCKADE ROADS TO GROUND ZERO BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT ISSUES EVICTION NOTICE Needles, CA -- Elders of the five Colorado River Indian Nations and traditional Quechan singers held an all-night religious ceremony at the site where federal officials had planned to close off Ward Valley to public use at midnight. Hundreds of Indian people and supporters continued to dig in, blocking the roads to the proposed nuclear dump site in order to protect the ongoing Indian religious ceremonies and prevent any further desecration to the land. The BLM has been unable to enforce the now expired 15 day closure order. As Bureau of Land Management rangers parked on a hill overlooking the ceremony and protest, Quechan spiritual leaders and young warriors sang their sacred cycle of songs. "We sang the Lightening Songs based upon creation stories that took place on our Spirit Mountain," said Preston Arrow-weed of the Quechan Indian Nation. "These songs call on our creator to protect the land that we are here in Ward Valley to defend. We also sang the Pipa songs of being daring, challenging, intimidating and protecting the land of the people. We are trying to stop death from coming to Ward Valley." "We are proud of our young Mohave men representing all the river Tribes who tonight carried the sacred Staffs signifying the spirituality of Indian people," said Mamie Harper, Mohave Elder of the Colorado River Indian Tribes. On Saturday morning BLM rangers were blocked from entering the site in their vehicles in order to prevent interference with the ongoing religious ceremony. Young environmental activists joined hands with tribal members, the American Indian Movement and other supporters to protect the area. Wally Antone of the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance informed the BLM officials Saturday morning "Our ceremonies will continue here and our elders will not move. You will have to drag us out, and I say these words with honor". BLM officials were allowed onto the site with escorts this morning to speak with tribal leaders. BLM officials presented a five day eviction notice to tribal leaders, stating that the encampment at ground zero needed to be removed by Thursday, February 19th. Earlier police action is possible to enforce the 15 day closure order which was supposed to go into effect on February 13th. 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 http://banwaste.environlink.org --------- "RE: Byrd Announces Hiring/Spending Freeze" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 07:54:58 -0600 From: Summerfield/Marvin&Linda Subj: 2/10-Chief Byrd Announces Hiring, Spending Freeze- Muskogee Phoenix-By Donna Hales Newsgroup: alt.native,soc.culture.native The following article was published 2/10/98 in the Muskogee Daily Phoenix. Copyright 1998 Gannett Co., Inc. Reprinted with permission. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chief Byrd announced hiring. spending freeze Problems blamed on software By Donna Hales, Phoenix Staff Writer TAHLEQUAH - Chief Joe Byrd announced a two-week hiring and indirect spending freeze Monday and said he had a group working on the Cherokee Nation's cash flow problems. Byrd also defended his signing a transfer of $2.4 million from Indian Health Service funds to the tribe's operational account in October by saying it never went through. Byrd said motor fuels tax money was used instead. But his explanation didn't sit well with a lot of Cherokees attending the monthly meeting of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council. "Mr. Byrd's signature on an illegal transfer of federal funds is a sad state of affairs - even if the transfer was not made," said Jess Bryant, former chairman of the Cherokee Nation Enterprises board. "It's really a sorry example to set for our children that an illegal act is even an option. It should be unconscionable anything illegal even be considered by anyone at the Cherokee Nation." Councilor Barbara Starr Scott said it is illegal to use health funds for any purpose other than health without council approval. And the administration knew the council has never approved such funds be used for anything but health, she added. "I would say when we have people dying of cancer and we can't even get them pain medication that we wouldn't authorize health funds for anything but health," Scott added. When Councilor Paula Holder asked Byrd about the $783,000 to health funds that did get transferred into the tribe's operating account, Byrd first said the matter was involved in a lawsuit and he couldn't discuss it. Holder challenged that the suit Byrd referred to was filed by her and that the transfer wasn't involved in the suit. Byrd then referred Holder's questions to tribal accounting employee Don Vaughn, who said the tribe's analysis of the transfer was not complete. He said an analysis is not complete, but the preliminary analysis "is that one piece of the money was owed by the IHS programs." Holder reminded Vaughn that Friday he told her health services did not owe the money: "It wasn't owed - it was just pulled out and used. Days later you thought it was OK to use $733,000 out of IHS." Byrd didn't take further questions and left the meeting. Deputy Chief Garland Eagle said Byrd had been ill. Holder asked tribal Secretary-Treasurer Jennie Battles about the accuracy of a document that Battles and Vaughn had recommended be destroyed on Jan. 29. It shows the tribe's expenses and encumbrances total $6.4 million than its revenues. Battles said she doesn't believe the document reflects accurate revenues. "I don't know on expenditures," she said. Battles said bank statements and books haven't been reconciled for "a number of months." She said the tribe's computer software problems prevent the true financial condition of the tribe from being known. When Holder questioned Battles about Battles' contract with the tribe, Eagle cut off the discussion, saying Holder has used up her allotted time to question Battles. "We have tribal business to do," Eagle, president of the council, stated. Councilor Troy Poteete countered the council is denied information and has to use the council meeting to try to get information from the administration. Poteete asked Battles about contracts Byrd had signed in relation to the budget. He told Battles the council "can't find out not only what the money is going for - but do we have the money to pay for it." He cited the administration's continual use of fuel tax money for the operating fund, saying, "We've got to get a grip sometime." Battles said there is no accounting code for contracts. She said the issue would be addressed in a Wednesday night council committee meeting. "It just concerns me we keep spending money we don't have," Poteete told Battles. Battles said she would discuss the tribe's cash flow problems in a Feb. 19th meeting of the executive and finance committee. Scott asked what Battles had in mind to control attorney fees, adding that "somebody has to control them." When Scott asked if Battles was sitting on $400,000 in attorney bills that hadn't been paid, Battles said she didn't know the amount. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted courtesy of your only independent Cherokee newspaper, The CHEROKEE OBSERVER. For the latest in the on-going Cherokee Constitutional Crisis, check out our web pages... http://www.cherokeeobserver.org --------- "RE: Byrd Alerted to Questionable Transfers" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 12:53:14 -0600 From: Summerfield/Marvin&Linda Subj: Cherokee Chief Byrd was Alerted to Questionable Transfers Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native The following article was published 2/15/98 in the Muskogee Daily Phoenix. Copyright 1998 Gannett Co., Inc. Reprinted with permission ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Byrd alerted to questionable transfers, Cherokees' former controller testifies By Donna Hales, Phoenix Staff Writer The Cherokee Nation's former controller said he informed the tribe's top two officials that money from the federal Indian Health Service had been improperly labeled and eventually transferred to the tribe's general fund. About $733,000 in Indian Health Service interest money had been diverted to the tribe's general fund in October to cover checks, John Uzzo testified in a deposition last week. The money was labeled a "payback" of money owed to the general fund, Uzzo testified. But in fact, the programs didn't owe any money to the general fund, he said. Employees of the tribe's accounting department told him earlier transfers also had been improperly labeled and transferred to cover expenses, he said. Uzzo testified he wrote to Chief Joe Byrd about the problem in late December but that Byrd didn't respond. Uzzo said he and another accounting official, Don Vaughn, then met in mid-January with Deputy Chief Garland Eagle, who expressed concern about the transfers. Vaughn explained to Eagle exactly how the $733,000 transaction occurred, Uzzo testified. The council had passed a resolution to spend IHS interest money for construction of a tribal health clinic in Muskogee, Uzzo testified. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FOR THE LATEST IN THE ONGOING CHEROKEE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS, CHECK OUT YOUR ONLY INDEPENDENT CHEROKEE NEWSPAPER, THE CHEROKEE OBSERVER http://www.cherokeeobserver.org OR COME JOIN IN THE DISCUSSIONS WITH OTHER CHEROKEES ON THE CHEROKEE OBSERVER'S WEB BOARD http://www.cherokeewoods.com/preconf.HTML --------- "RE: A letter to the People" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 23:16:52 -0800 From: "James M. MacDougall" Subj: A letter to the People BINDLESTIF WORLD WIDE February 11, 1998 The President of the United States William J. Clinton President@whitehouse.gov 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC. 20500-0001 Telephone: (202) 456-1414 Fax: (202) 456-2461 Dear Mr. President, Please correct me if I am wrong, although I do not believe that to be. It seems an unmistakable conclusion, that the unnecessary slaughter of the last "wild" Bison in Montana (Yellowstone) is just a continuation of the United State's incredibly shortsighted and immoral occupational policies of the lands of the First Nations. The actions of Montana's Department of livestock are inexcusable. To use killing as a first resort option to this supposed Bison problem is fanatical. The hysteria of a hypothetical plague of Brucellosis wiping out cattle in this area is paranoiac at best. The other reasoning behind the spread of these fabrications seems much more diabolical. The inconsistencies with this theory as an excuse to kill any and all Bison leaving Federal protection in Yellowstone National Park are apparent, even to a novice of the situation. 1. Brucellosis can only be transmitted through contact with an infected aborted fetus. Yet Bulls and Calves, as well as cows are slaughtered regardless of their inability to spread the disease. 2. If the prevention of the spread of Brucellosis is the goal of this "theory of the kill", why are the Elk of the same region allowed free range, when they too carry this disease? 3. It is my understanding that to date, there has been no infection of Brucellosis spread from Bison to cattle, other than a forced contamination produced at a Texas University lab. The (very) apparent lies, and means of disposal of Bison killed (dragged off to the dump as so much trash) by the DOL, shows the underling disrespect for the Bison itself, and all who hold this marvel of The Creator sacred. One has to wonder, with all the inconsistencies, whether the motivations of the DOL are what they say, or are just greed and a private agenda in progress. There are other options open; they just take a little more character to follow through. America is becoming known around the world as "the land of senseless violence", this is just one more example to prove this label true. Our ancestors took, by force, this "land of the free". And in doing so initiated policies that include some of the most atrocious Human Rights violations ever recorded together with some of the most appalling human induced environmental destruction this planet has ever know. Policies that when held in the light of true justice will condemn us eternally. Unfortunately these policies are not only part of our past, but walk blatantly beside us on our journey forward. Where we cannot change our past, we can however, change our path to the future. We must start to examine our policies towards the land and all it's original inhabitants. We need desperately to do a "reality check" of our motivations. Greed may help the bank, but it burns a hole in the Soul. The path of The People and the Bison has been intertwined in this land since the beginning. In that partnership, there is balance and respect. We must learn to respect the ecosystem The Creator has provided. The balance inherent is there for all. Who are we to think our plans better? The arrogance of our greed will be our downfall. I believe the Creator has put such "keystone" species in the plan as a litmus test of our reason and worthiness to continue as part of the mystery of life. If we as a people destroy (or permit others to destroy) the "keystones", the great Circle of Life will collapse in upon us. The great tragedy being not that we will eliminate The People from this paradise, but that we will bring the innocents of the four legged and the winged down with us. It is long proven that any living thing will only take so much abuse, then it will retaliate or die, why do you think our Mother Earth is an exception to this rule? The past is written, the future is not, Balance or destruction, it is our choice. Sincerely, James M. Macdougall "Bindlestif" Cc: The Vice President, Al Gore Vice.president@Whitehouse.gov The First Lady, Hillary Clinton First.Lady@Whitehouse.gov Wotanging Ikche (Native American News) gars@nanews.org Buffalo Nations buffalo@wildrockies.org Governor Marc Racicot (Montana) momholt-mason@mt.gov House Committee on Resources resources.committee@mail.house.gov Subcommittee on National Parks & Public Lands parks.subcommittee@mail.house.gov Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife & Oceans Fishery.subcommittee@mail.house.gov Subcommittee on Forests & Forest Health resources.committee@mail.house.gov Bureau of Indian Affairs thomas_sweeney@ios.doi.gov Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation jibond@mt.gov Yellowstone Superintendent, Mike Finley mike_finley@nps.gov Mike Cooney Secretary of State (Montana) mcooney@mt.gov Sen. Max Baucus(D) (Montana) max@baucus.senate.gov Sen. Conrad Burns(R)(Montana) conrad_burns@burns.senate.gov Representative Rick Hill ( At-Large, Montana) Rick.Hill@mail.house.gov MAIL(PO BOX 342 MARINA, CA. 93933 PHONE((408) 753-2145 EMAIL( bindlestif@sprynet.com HTTP://WWW.GEOCITIES.COM/SOHO/LOFTS/2457 --------- "RE: New Uranium Mine Near Navajo Schools" --------- Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 23:05:07 -0500 From: Carol Liu (fwd) ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: Mark Graffis Subj: NEW URANIUM MINE NEAR NAVAJO SCHOOLS UUCP email Posted to the web: Thu Feb 12 17:15:12 EST 1998 GALLUP, New Mexico, February 12, 1998 (ENS) - On January 6 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a five-year license to Hydro Resources, Inc. (HRI) to construct and operate the Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining Project in New Mexico. The Navajo people who live near the mine sites are dreading their new neighbor. Processing of radioactive material will be done next door to and across the street from churches and homes. There are four schools less than a mile from the Crownpoint processing plant. Claiming any impacts of the project can be mitigated, the Commission recommended that HRI be allowed to build and operate three uranium solution mines and a uranium processing plant near the Navajo communities of Church Rock and Crownpoint. Uranium mining has never occurred in the town of Crownpoint, but previous uranium mining and milling in the Church Rock area had devastating effects on water resources, land and many local people. The project will involve the extraction of uranium at three sites, located near Church Rock and Crownpoint, in McKinley County northeast of Gallup, New Mexico. HRI will use a process known as in-situ leach uranium mining, or solution mining. In the in-situ mining process, wells are drilled into rock formations containing uranium ore. Water, with added oxygen and sodium bicarbonate, is injected down the wells to mobilize the uranium in the rock so that it can be pumped to the surface, where a processing plant separates the uranium from the solution. Once it is dried, the resulting uranium, known as "yellowcake," is packaged in drums and transported off- site to other processing plants for conversion into fuel for nuclear reactors. Billy Martin of ENDAUM (Eastern Navajo Dine' Against Uranium Mining) who raises sheep near Crownpoint says, "When we say water, we mean a long and everlasting life." He asks, "How will we live if our water, which is precious, is destroyed?" In Crownpoint there are five water wells, serving an estimated 10,000 people, that take water from the uranium bearing aquifer HRI proposes to mine. The wells are between half a mile and one and a half miles from the Crownpoint mine. Mitchell Capitan, president of ENDAUM who lives less than half a mile north of the uranium processing plant at Crownpoint asks, "For more than 20 years, we will be exposed to 'acceptable' levels of additional radiation to which we are not now exposed, in places where we live, pray, hold ceremonies, work, buy food, haul water, educate our children, and seek medical care and wellness. In the face of this clear and unjust risk, why should anyone expect us to sit by quietly and happily embrace our new neighbor, the uranium processing plant?" The license was issued to HRI subject to certain conditions, including the requirements that, before HRI begins mining uranium, it must: * obtain necessary permits, including permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of New Mexico, and reach agreements for emergency incident response with local authorities, the fire department, medical facilities, and other emergency services; * replace the existing water supply wells of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and the Bureau of Indian Affairs near Crownpoint,to relocate the whole Crownpoint water system - drilling new wells and connecting up the existing system. Some scientists claim, however, that there may be no available water source uncontaminated by past mining; * complete designs for wastewater management ponds; * establish an NRC-approved financial surety arrangement to ensure adequate funds for site decommissioning, reclamation and groundwater restoration at the end of the project's life. In December the NRC issued a safety evaluation report in which it concluded that, if specified conditions are met, "issuance of the license will not be inimical to public health and safety or to the common defense and security," and will meet the requirements of NRC regulations and the Atomic Energy Act. But the Navajo do not believe that for one minute. In an article about the mine in the Winter 1997/98 issue of On the Land Newspaper Marsha Shaiman wrote, "The proposed mining and processing will be done, not in outlying areas, but within existing Navajo communities of the Eastern Navajo Agency and radioactive materials will be transported through these communities over heavily traveled, narrow, winding roads often in poor condition." The Navajo worry that the small community lacks the personnel and facilities to handle possible accidents. "HRI's parent company, Uranium Resources Inc. (URI), has a history of contamination at other ISL mines in Texas - leaking of radioactive materials outside the mining area, spills from holding ponds, and alleged license violations, including unauthorized disposal and transporting of radioactive materials. HRI and the NRC claim accidents would be rare," Shaiman wrote. Engineers describe in-situ leach (ISL) mining as relatively benign. Explaining the process on its website, the New Mexico and Arizona Land Company wrote, "In-situ leach mining has multiple advantages over conventional mining. They include: 1) no radioactive mill tailings created (in fact, most of the gamma ray emitting daughter products of uranium disintegration which build up in rock formations over geologic time and which make conventional uranium tailings radioactive, are not even liberated in the ISL process), 2) no personnel underground, nor exposed to radioactive working places, 3) less capital costs (no mill required) and typically lower operating costs per pound of product recovered, 4) less water use (wet conventional mines require de-watering before mining), 5) only minor, and temporary at that, surface disturbances. Reclamation involves re-vegetation of the well fields and geochemical restoration of the formational waters to pre-mine base lines as established by public regulators." But the Navajo say there is no need for new uranium mines anywhere in the United States, and especially in Navajo communities, because there is plenty of uranium available to fuel existing plants for at least the next 20 years. They say the current price of uranium is below the costs of production at Church Rock. ENDAUM says that HRI's parent company, URI, does not have supply contracts beyond 1998 for its current production capability in Texas, so there is no need for new uranium mines in Crownpoint and Church Rock. The Navajo want tribal jurisdiction to apply to the new uranium mines. Last July the EPA ruled the Church Rock mining site is under federal and Navajo Nation jurisdiction. The mining company HRI as well as the state of New Mexico have sued the EPA challenging this decision. "ENDAUM and Southwest Resource and Information Center (SRIC) filed petitions with the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (ASLBP), in 1994 and 1995, seeking an evidentiary hearing on the proposed mining and processing," Shaiman wrote "ASLBP Judge B. Paul Cotter, Jr. refused to rule on the hearing requests until after the NRC issued its Safety Evaluation Report, released on December 4. If he approves an evidentiary hearing, the proposed mining will be scrutinized far more stringently than has occurred so far." Most deeply, the Navajo people fear the uranium mining and processing because it threatens to contaminate with radioactivity a pristine water supply. The NRC mandates "groundwater restoration," but the Navajo fear it will not be possible to clean up the contaminated water after the mines close. The Environment News Service is exclusively hosted by the [7]EnviroLink Network. Copyright =A9 1997 ENS, Inc. --------- "RE: Sacred Mountain Unity Appeal Part 1" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 11:47:16 -0500 From: austin Subj: Sacred Mountain Unity Appeal UUCP email URGENT...............................URGENT........................URGENT YOU CAN HELP.........................URGENT..................YOU CAN HELP PART 1 OF 2 MESSAGES...................................................... Dear Friends: Our most sacred mountain of NUVATUKA'OVI/DOKO'OOSLIID is at dire risk of desecration. Known locally in Flagstaff, Arizona, as the San Francisco Peaks, this mountain is considered the spiritual center of HOPI and NAVAJO lands, indeed for all Native Brothers and Sisters of Turtle Island. The United States Forest Service is currently reviewing an application by Snowlbowl Inc., a ski resort developer, to expand their already damaging and intrusive operations onto these most sacred lands. In direct violation of the Native American Religious Freedom Act, this would include clear-cutting of timber used for the manufacture of sacred KACHINA dolls, as well as limiting access for religious ceremonies and threatening already endangered medicinal plants and wildlife. HOPI Elders have long told of this specific event in their prophecies and they now pray in their KIVAS for the world's assistance in preventing this atrocity. YOU CAN HELP: 1. An in-coming letter, written by gkisedtanamoogk, of the WABANAKI, is addressed to Senators Kennedy from Massachusetts and McCain from Arizona, as well as Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, charged with enforcing Native American Religious Freedom laws. When you receive the letter,please redirect it to these three men. 2. We hope that you will resend this cover letter and gkisedtanamoogk's to your mailing list and urge your friends, allies, and contacts to join us and resend to their mailing lists. We believe we can alter the course of history. The HOPI have also prophesied that if harm comes to NUVATUKA'OVI, their version of the end of the world will begin. Please help save KACHINA Mountain. In Thanksgiving and Peace, The Sacred Mountain Unity Appeal Senator Edward Kennedy(ma)...senator@kennedy.senate.gov Senator John McCain(az)......senator mccain@mccain.senate.gov Bruce Babbitt................bruce_babbitt@ios.doi.gov -- Miigam'agan gkisedtanamoogk Esgenoopotitjotan Gespegeoag Mi'kma'kik 'Oapna'gig via: "Burnt Church Reserve, PO Box 150, Lagaceville, nb, canada, E0C 1K0 506 776-8016/-5137 (fax); url: http:/brooks.simplenet.com/gkis.html --------- "RE: Sacred Mountain Unity Appeal Part 2" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 11:54:10 -0500 From: austin Subj: The Letter: Sacred Mountain Unity Appeal (Part 2 of 2) UUCP email To the Honorable Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain. Mr. Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior of the United States of America Greetings on the Behalf of our Peoples We are disturbed and gravely concerned over the impending development of NUVATUKA'OVI(KACHINA Mountain), in the area known as "the San Francisco Peaks" near Flagstaff, Arizona. The United States Forest Service of this region is considering an application by private lease-holders to clear-cut and develop a certain portion of land in order to expand the facilities of the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort. Our opposition to this proposed expansion centers on the obvious violation of HOPI and other American Indian Nations' Spirituality. This clear-cut would significantly intrude into NUVATUKA'OVI which is the Home of the KACHINA Spirit-Beings. These Beings are paramount to HOPI Spirituality and every significant aspect of their Way of Life. The HOPI continually maintain and rely on this deeply spiritual relationship and interdependency with the KACHINA. Although we come from many American Indian Cultures and Spiritual Practices throughout Turtle Island, joined by members of recognized congregate Religions of the World, and by People of conscience, we, the undersigned, hold that this purposeful and willful violation of Indigenous Spirituality is the violation of all Spirituality, be it Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, Jewish...This also violates the Conscience and the Heart; it is a violation of the HOLY SPIRIT. We are all bound by our unique Faiths to respect one another and ought to understand the significance of systemic violation is desecration to sacred place, time, and matter affecting us all in a irreparable manner. There is simply no excuse and absolutely no justification for such abomination of a People's Spirituality. How timely the visit of ABDELFATTAH AMOR, a representative of the United Nations Human Rights Commission to the Black Mesa investigating complaints of such profound religious intolerance by peoples, corporations, and government agencies of the United States towards Indigenous Peoples. In American Indian Cosmology, place, movement, direction, time, are integral to our Ceremonial Life; the southwest is known to many, if not all, American Indian Nations as the Spiritual Center of our World. By example, to the DINEH(NAVAJO) who also live in this area, this sacred place is known as DOKO'OOSLIID; in the northeast, the Peoples of Southern New England, the WAMPANOAG, NIPMUC, NARRAGANSETT, hold that the southwest is the Place where our People, upon their Death, embark on their Spiritual Journey to return Home to KI'E'TAN/KAUTANITOWIT, the Great Creator. Additionally, many of the Nations of the Plains, traditionally face their Homes and Ceremonial Lodges in the direction of the south, in order to open themselves to the Great Mystery. The spiritual man, Black Elk, described this as "the direction we always face." In proximity to the Plains, this would be the area of HOPILAND. Senators and Mr. Babbitt, as the HOPI, and the other Nations of the southwest, have maintained their responsibilities to the KACHINA/Spirit- Beings, our mutual Life on the Earth has continued. We understand that our ceremonies do not only impact on the lives of our communities, but as well extends out to Turtle Island, all parts of the World, and the Universe. As we give Thanksgivings to the Great Mystery, we give Thanksgivings to All the Created and our Responsibilities encompass All Living Beings. The HOPI have also shared their knowledge to many American Indian Nations, and indeed, to many religious leaders and peoples of the World. On these occasions, they have indicated and confirmed the spiritual links and bonds to American Indian Peoples, the origins of our People and our World Relations as emanating from this Holy Spiritual Center. Without doubt, the development and proposed expansion of a ski resort facility onto these sacred lands of the HOPI is baneful. Immeasurable harm to the relationship of these Spirit-Beings to the HOPI and all Humanity now threatens our Lives; Humanity throughout history has often thoughtlessly wrought great havoc upon itself and to the Harmony and Balance of Creation's Life Cycles. This action further vandalizes the intent and spirit of the American Indian Religious Freedom law passed and maintained by the United States government and usurps access to the purity and sacredness of our Holy Places. We are calling upon You and Your colleagues in Congress and government to intervene to safeguard and protect the integrity of Spiritual Life and Practice of the HOPI, Indian Country, and all Humanity; to end this destructive and mindless cycle of irreparable harm, process of abuse, and disturbing violence to American Indian Peoples' Lives and Spirituality. In closing we offer this message from the voices of many Elders of Turtle Island: Brothers and Sisters: The Natural Law is the final and absolute authority governing E TE NO HA, this earth we call our Mother. This law is absolute with retribution in direct ratio to violations. This law has no mercy. It will exact what is necessary to maintain the Balance of Life. This law is timeless, and cannot be measured by the standards of mankind. All Life is subject absolutely to this authority. Water is our bodies; water is Life. Fresh water is maintained by the Thundering Grandfathers who bring rain to renew the springs, streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. We are nourished by our Mother, the Earth, from whom all Life springs. We must understand our dependence, and protect Her with our love, respect, and ceremonies. The faces of our future generations are looking up at us from the earth, and we step with great care not to disturb our Grandchildren. We are part of the great cycle of Life with four seasons and endless renewal as long as we abide by this absolute law. When we disturb this cycle by interfering with elements, changing or destroying species of life, the effects may be immediate or may fall upon our children who will suffer and pay for our ignorance and greed. The Natural Law says that earth belongs to our children seven generations into the future, and we are the caretakers who must understand, respect, and protect E TE NO HA for all Life. The law is that all Life is equal in the Great Creation and we, the Human Beings, are charged with responsibility, each in our generation, to work for the continuation of Life. We, the Human Beings, have been given the Original Instructions on how to live in harmony with the Natural Law. It now seems that Natural World People are the ones who have kept to this law. The Elders Circle of Indigenous People of Turtle Island, charged with keeping the first law of Life, Spirituality, are concerned that the validity of this law no longer is recognized in today's Life. We are convinced that the basic principals of the law are no longer being passed on to the next generation. This could be fatal to Life as we know it. The Natural Law will prevail regardless of man-made laws, tribunals, and governments. People and nations who understand the Natural Law are self-governing, following the principals of love and respect that insure freedom and peace. We come have together because we are alarmed by the destruction of vital Life structures. Our fate is intertwined with one another, what affects one affects all. Water is primary to Life, corn is next. Poisoned water will poison all Life. Lack of water cause drought, deserts, and death. The nations that sit in the Great Council of the United Nations must re-learn the Natural Law, and govern themselves accordingly or face the consequences of their actions. There are people and nations among you who understand this message, and we ask you to stand with us and support our songs and ceremonies in defence of E TE NO HA, Mother Earth. Traditional Circle of Elders Dove Waterflow, Arizona Message to the United Nations General Assembly August 29, 1982 Sincerely, We are for the People -- Miigam'agan gkisedtanamoogk Esgenoopotitjotan Gespegeoag Mi'kma'kik 'Oapna'gig via: "Burnt Church Reserve, PO Box 150, Lagaceville, nb, canada, E0C 1K0 506 776-8016/-5137 (fax); url: http:/brooks.simplenet.com/gkis.html --------- "RE: Marcos to the Media" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 02:34:12 -0800 From: moonlight Subj: Marcos to the media UUCP email photo by ANGRY PLANET Statement of Subcomandante Marcos to the Freeing the Media Teach-In organized by the Learning Alliance, Paper Tiger TV, and FAIR in cooperation with the Media & Democracy Congress, Jan.31/Feb.1 1997,NYC. web site at: http://artcon.rutgers.edu/papertiger/freemedia.html We're in the mountains of Southeast Mexico in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas and we want to use this medium with the help of the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, to send a greeting to the Free the Media Conference that is taking place in New York, where there are brothers and sisters of independent communication media from the US and Canada. At the Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism we said: A global decomposition is taking place, we call it the Fourth World War-- neoliberalism: the global economic process to eliminate that multitude of people who are not useful to the powerful-- the groups called "minorities" in the mathematics of power, but who happen to be the majority population in the world. We find ourselves in a world system of globalization willing to sacrifice millions of human beings. The giant communication media: the great monsters of the television industry, the communication satellites, magazines, and newspapers seem determined to present a virtual world, created in the image of what the globalization process requires. In this sense, the world of contemporary news is a world that exists for the VIP's-- the very important people. Their everyday lives are what is important: if they get married, if they divorce, if they eat, what clothes they wear and what clothes they take off-- these major movie stars and big politicians. But common people only appear for a moment-- when they kill someone, or when they die. For the communication giants and the neoliberal powers, the others, the excluded, only exist when they are dead, or when they are in jail or court. This can't go on. Sooner or later this virtual world clashes with the real world. And that is actually happening: this clash produces results of rebellion and war throughout the entire world, or what is left of the world to even have war. We have a choice: we can have a cynical attitude in the face of the media, to say that nothing can be done about the dollar power that creates itself in images, words, digital communication, and computer systems that invades not just with an invasion of power, but with a way of seeing that world, of how they think the world should look. We could say, well, "that's the way it is" and do nothing. Or we can simply assume incredulity: we can say that any communication by the media monopolies is a total lie. We can ignore it and go about our lives. But there is a third option that is neither conformity, nor skepticism, nor distrust: that is to construct a different way-- to show the world what is really happening-- to have a critical world view and to become interested in the truth of what happens to the people who inhabit every corner of this world. The work of independent media is to tell the history of social struggle in the world, and here in North America-- the US, Canada and Mexico, independent media has, on occasion, been able to open spaces even within the mass media monopolies: to force them to acknowledge news of other social movements. The problem is not only to know what is occurring in the world, but to understand it and to derive lessons from it-- just as if we were studying history-- a history not of the past, but a history of what is happening at any given moment in whatever part of the world. This is the way to learn who we are, what it is we want, who we can be and what we can do or not do. By not having to answer to the monster media monopolies, the independent media has a life work, a political project and purpose: to let the truth be known. This is more and more important in the globalization process. This truth becomes a knot of resistance against the lie. It is our only possibility to save the truth, to maintain it, and distribute it, little by little, just as the books were saved in Fahrenheit 451--in which a group of people dedicated themselves to memorize books, to save them from being destroyed, so that the ideas would not be lost. This same way, independent media tries to save history: the present history-- saving it and trying to share it, so it will not disappear, moreover to distribute it to other places, so that this history is not limited to one country, to one region, to one city or social group. It is necessary not only for independent voices to exchange information and to broaden the channels, but to resist the spreading lies of the monopolies. The truth that we build in our groups, our cities, our regions, our countries, will reach full potential if we join with other truths and realize that what is occurring in other parts of the world also is part of human history. In August 1996, we called for the creation of a network of independent media, a network of information. We mean a network to resist the power of the lie that sells us this war that we call the Fourth World War. We need this network not only as a tool for our social movements, but for our lives: this is a project of life, of humanity, humanity which has a right to critical and truthful information. We greet all of you, recognizing the work you have done so that the struggle of indigenous people is known, and that other struggles are known, so that the great events of this world are seen in a critical form. We hope your meeting is a success and that it results in concrete plans for this network, these exchanges, this mutual support that should exist between cultural workers and independent media makers. We hope that one day we can personally attend your meeting, or perhaps that one day you can have your conference in our territory, so we can listen to your words and you can hear ours in person. For now, well, we take advantage of the help of the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico (NCDMUSA) to use this video to send a greeting. This section in English: I don't know if my English is OK but good luck and so long. Cut. - Forwarded by Paper Tiger TV --------- "RE: Reserve School Genocide" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 23:39:18 -0700 From: "S.I.S.I.S." Subj: Forum on res school genocide :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: OVERFLOW CROWD HEARS EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY OF MURDER IN PORT ALBERNI RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL Over 300 people attended a forum in downtown Vancouver Monday night to hear four former students at the Alberni residential school describe their discovery of dead bodies at the school and their witnessing of the murder of fellow students at the hands of United Church officials. More than 100 people were turned away because of the enormous response to the forum. Prominent at the forum was the Native Youth Movement, representatives of the United Native Nations, Stolo, Squamish and Burrard Nations, and a range of local activists. "The RCMP and United Church got away with murder for decades" said Harriett Nahanee, one of the speakers. "They protected 'Reverend' Caldwell after he killed two children, Albert Gray and Maisie Shaw. But now the truth is coming out." Two of the speakers, Harry Wilson and Dennis Tallio, from Bella Bella, described their present efforts to sue the church and government after they discovered dead bodies at the Alberni school in the 1960's. "We had to fire our lawyer since he wouldn't raise the murders as part of our defense" said Dennis Tallio to the forum. "So now we're representing ourselves at the residential school trials in Nanaimo. That's a first for us, and natives everywhere." A follow-up organizing meeting will be held this Friday, February 13 at 7 pm in the Main Hall, Carnegie Centre, Main and Hastings, Vancouver. Direct public actions are being planned to expose the truth behind the residential school atrocities and the church/RCMP coverup. For more information, contact Kevin Annett at 604-251-2542 or kdannett@unixg.ubc.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. --------- "RE: BC's Strictly Confidential Action Plan" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 02:12:31 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Delgamuukw: BC's "Strictly Confidential" Action Plan :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [S.I.S.I.S. note: Following is the full text of a leaked report by BC's NDP provincial government regarding the implications of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision on the Delgamuukw (Gitxsan & Wet'suwet'en) land claims case.] February, 10, 1998 LEAKED BC NDP REPORT REVEALS POST-DELGAMUUKW STRATEGY: "ACHIEVE CERTAINTY" Strictly Confidential The First Nations Summit is seeking a meeting with the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and the Premier early in 1998. The Summit will expect discussion of the results of the overload report, the Delgamuukw decision, and the need to revitalize the treaty process. Resource Industries have expressed their concerns surrounding the treaty process and its ability to achieve the certainty required in the Province. The Delgamuukw decision has further emphasized the need for certainty. The resource industries have requested from government a reaction to the decision, both in terms of current consultation policies and in terms of the treaty process. The oil and gas industry in particular has expressed concern about their ability to continue to do business in the Province absent a clear direction from government on how it will address the implications of the Delgamuukw decision. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs met with the Treaty Negotiation Advisory Committee on December 12, 1997 to discuss certainty and the impacts of the Delgamuukw decision. Members expressed serious concern surrounding the lack of certainty in light of the decision. The Minister sent the following preliminary messages to TNAC: - The Province will be consulting with third parties and First Nations about what the consultation obligation means and how to best implement it. - The Delgamuukw decision clearly calls for a balancing of third party interests and aboriginal interests. The Premier is scheduled to meet with TNAC on February 2, 1998. TNAC will expect the Premier to respond to their concerns more fully. Page 2 Strictly Confidential Consultation Processes + Action Plan Objectives: To coordinate the development of new consultation practices and policies which may be required as a result of Delgamuukw, including consideration of the implications of the Court's statements surrounding compensation. Project Managers: Jack Ebbels, Deputy Minister, Aboriginal Affairs Maureen Maloney, Deputy Attorney General Participations: Ministries of: Aboriginal Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Attorney General, Employment and Investment, Environment, Lands and Parks, Forests, Small Business, Tourism and Culture, Transportation and Highways, Treasury Board Staff, Cabinet Planning and Coordination Secretariat. Approach: 1. Analysis by the Ministry of Attorney General regarding the Delgamuukw decision with respect to the impact on: - the current status of the law surrounding aboriginal rights and title - the Province's duty to consult with respect to aboriginal rights and title in making land and resource use decisions -line ministry consultation practices and recommended changes to current consultation policies and practices - federal/provincial obligations for compensation for infringement of title and rights Due: December 24, 1997. Responsibility: Rob Lapper, Senior Solicitor, Ministry of Attorney General. Page 3 Strictly Confidential 2. Appoint a cross-government committee to develop a report to Cabinet which will: - review the results of the legal analysis - review the current approach to consultation undertaken by line agencies - identify policy requirements to meet any new obligations - identify financial obligations on the part of Canada to address compensation for infringement. The proposed committee will be appointed by DMCAA and will be drawn from the following agencies: Ministries of: Aboriginal Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Attorney General, Employment and Investment, Environment, Lands and Parks, Forests, Small Business, Tourism and Culture, Transportation and Highways, Treasury Board Staff, Cabinet Planning and Coordination Secretariat. Due: January 20, 1998. Responsibility: Jack Ebbels, Deputy Minister, Aboriginal Affairs John Allan, Deputy Minister, Forests 3. Develop a broad-based communications strategy with respect to government's response to Delgamuukw which will position the government as: - meeting its legal obligations with respect to land and resource use decision-making. - protecting the interests of economic development of the Province - supporting continued negotiations to resolve claims to aboriginal rights and title through the treaty process. - continuing to focus on certainty as the key goal of negotiations ++The communications strategy will focus on third parties and First Nations++ Due January 9, 1998. Responsibility: Gloria Williams, Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs Page 4 Strictly Confidential II TREATY PROCESS - ACTION PLAN Objective: To identify changes required to the treaty negotiation process following the Delgamuukw decision. Project Managers: Jack Ebbels, Deputy Minister, Aboriginal Affairs. Maureen Maloney, Deputy Attorney General Participation: DMCAA, Ministry of Attorney General, Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, Treasury Board Staff, Cabinet Planning and Coordination Secretariat, Line Agencies as required Approach: 1. Analysis by the Ministry of Attorney General regarding the Delgamuukw decision with respect to the impact on: - the current status of the law surrounding aboriginal rights - the Province's duty to consult with respect to aboriginal rights and title in making land and resource use decisions - federal/provincial obligations for compensation for infringement of title and rights Due: December 24, 1997. Responsibility: Rob Lapper, Senior Solicitor, Ministry of Attorney General. 2. Prepare a report to Cabinet on the implications of the Delgamuukw decision regarding: - existing treaty mandates and negotiating instructions - the current process for negotiating treaties, including First Nations funding and capacity building -the current approach to interim measures in treaty negotiations, including cost sharing with Canada Page 5 Strictly Confidential - recommendations to change current negotiating instructions and mandates, the process of negotiations and the approach to interim measures. Due: January 21, 1998. Responsibility: Jack Ebbels, Deputy Minister, Aboriginal Affairs. 3. Discuss with Canada: - implications of Delgamuukw decision on Canada's responsibilities with respect to aboriginal title, surrender requirements and certainty - implications of Delgamuukw decision on federal and provincial positions regarding overlap - cost-sharing of interim measures - cost-sharing for compensation as a result of infringement of aboriginal rights and title - necessary changes to the treaty negotiation process to address the system overload report - the possibility of some form of Province-wide or regional negotiations Due: February 13, 1998. Responsibility: Jack Ebbels, Deputy Minister, Aboriginal Affairs 4. Negotiate changes to the treaty process, including interim measures, with Canada and the First Nations Summit which will address: - current problems with the negotiating process identified in the BCTC "System Overload Report", including problems associated with negotiation funding [BCTC=BC Treaty Commission -- S.I.S.I.S.] - changes required to the process as a result of the Delgamuukw decision -the capacity of individual First Nations to effectively participate in treaty negotiations Due: March 31, 1998. Responsibility: John Cashore, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. 5. With the assistance of the BCTC, develop a tripartite strategy for implementation of recommended changes to the treaty negotiation process, including: - changes to the stages of negotiations, such as inclusion of a capacity building stage, Interim measures, negotiations surrounding resource management and land selection Page 7 Strictly Confidential - Implementation of changes to the system of negotiation support funding, funding for interim measures, and funding for capacity building - development of a communications plan Due: April 15, 1998. Responsibility: Principals to the British Columbia Treaty Commission (Honourable John Cashore for the Province) December 22, 1997. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: For more information: The full text of Supreme Court of Canada Delgamuukw decision: http://www.droit.umontreal.ca/doc/csc-scc/en/rec/html/delgamuu.en.html Background on Delgamuukw: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Clark/scchoax.html http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Clark/gitksan.html The BC Treaty Commission: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Clark/BCgovt.html "Canada does not recognize the right of self-determination to be right of self-determination as that term is understood in international law" - Canada, 1992 UN Working Group - :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Canada's Modus Operandi" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 10:55:19 EST From: "S.I.S.I.S." Subj: Canada's M.O. abroad-Corporate business as usual-yuk!! :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [S.I.S.I.S. note: Canadian colonialism and the rapacious resource-rape of indigenous nations, backed up with legal and political chicanery, complicit collaborators or coercion and naked force has gone relatively unnoticed by the international community. However, Oka, Davis Inlet, Dudley George and Gustafsen Lake are names that increasingly have alerted the world to this hidden holocaust of forced occupation, ecocide and genocide. What is less well known is the extent to which corporate Canadian Conquistadores also prey upon the peoples and countries of the so-called Third World. According to a recent article by writer Ian Mulgrew, two thirds of global mining projects are financed out of Toronto or Vancouver. Furthermore, "private armies, coups, bribery - just another day at the office for Canadian companies operating in Third World countries, where armies of mercenaries protect mineral concessions and the outcomes of small wars can sway profit margins for penny stock players...."] GUNNING FOR BUSINESS Vancouver Sun, Jan. 31, 1998, page C1, by Ian Mulgrew Kinshasa is bustling with a casbah of investors offering cash for mineral, oil and gas rights. The big French oil firm, Elf, is purportedly carpeting the country in green to ensure its oil leases are maintained. Just returned, Toronto-based security consultant Alan Bell shakes his head over the sordid scenes he witnessed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire. "Typical African politicians," said the ex-British SAS officer of Laurent Kabila's newly installed administration. You know, 'I'm the president, I'm the minister, I don't know how long I'm going to be in power so let's start looking at my pension right now and not worry about it in four years time." Bell provides advice as well as military training for companies investing in the nations plagued by political instability but blessed with a treasure trove of natural resources. Most of his clients are Canadian firms with interests in Africa and South America. Two thirds of global mining projects are financed out of Toronto or Vancouver, according to estimates by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. From the blue-chip firms such as Barrick Gold Corp. to penny-stocks such as Global Explorations, there are as many as 500 Canadian firms grubbing for precious metals and gems, and drilling for oil and gas from Argentina to Zaire. And, as they move into more and more troubled countries, their business practices are attracting more and more attention. Today the focus is on the Congo. With the smoke from the civil war dissipated, the bidding war has begun between companies granted mining concessions under the previous regime of Mobutu Sese Seko and those who helped Kabila overthrow it. Tenke Mining Corp.of Vancouver, for instance, held fast rather than abandon a planned $1.8 Billion copper and cobalt mine in Congo's Shaba province. It later cut a deal with Kabila, who even flew to Toronto to reassure wary investors that his was a "free enterprise- oriented" revolution, if you'd contributed to his movement. The situation is the same as it was last year in Sierra Leone when a coup toppled that country's government, "maybe worse," said Bell. "If you ingratiate yourself with the government in power and make certain agreements with them, you end up getting the concessions. The company that makes the best concessions to the man who runs the country wins. That's part and parcel of the African way of doing business." Liberia is the butt of current jokes. Recently elected president Charles G Taylor is known as "Superglue" because everything he touches, he keeps. On a more serious tone, keeping and protecting corporate assets - everything from the raw rocks and logs to the mining or gas leases - is a major issue. And the concern is not armed versus unarmed security guards but rather, if necessary, how much military aid you are prepared to give the government? Last year at this time, Canadian companies were involved in mercenary operations aimed at stabilizing two regimes so they could exploit stands of exotic timber and coffers of precious resources. In Papua New Guinea, a military assault by a South African based private army with Toronto-Vancouver connections, Executive Outcomes, was secretly hired by the government to quell local resistance to mining. The raid was aborted after a rival, London-based company paid for the New Guinea army to intervene. In spite of that setback, within weeks, a key organizer for Executive Outcomes was in Vancouver pitching another military operation to subdue rebel activity in Sierra Leone and so facilitate bauxite mining. (Executive Outcomes was instrumental in 1995 in Toronto-listed Diamond Works acquiring mineral properties. Tony Buckingham and Michael Grunberg, two directors of Diamond Works are also senior managers with the Executive Outcomes group of companies.) Fugitive Thai financier Rakesh Saxena said that when his investments in Sierra Leone were threatened he turned to Executive Outcomes on the advice of Financier Robert Friedland, the man behind the colossal Voisey's Bay nickel find, and his brother Eric, who also is a director of Diamond Works. Although he faces extradition to Thailand for his putative role in a massive embezzlement, Saxena has been a major player in the West African mining industry since the early 1990s. In an interview before his recent arrest in Vancouver, Saxena provided a rare glimpse inside the world of such exploration company financiers. He paints it as a world where bribing officials, lending a plane without question, providing needed supplies or contributing a quick infusion of cash are surer ways of obtaining rights than staking a property. "This is what is very difficult for you to understand in Canada," Saxena said. "It's done all the time. You're walking down the street and you have to bribe a cop. It's that common. I'm not talking judgment. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. I'm not passing judgment. All I'm saying is that if you are doing business in that country that is what you have to do." In the case of Sierra Leone, he paid EO $70,000 US for an assessment and battle plan, called "Operation Castle," whose aim was to "reinstate the exiled leaders of Sierra Leone," and get his mine back in production. Before it could be launched, however, news of the military operation was leaked to the media, and it was cancelled. But in Saxena's opinion such decisions are common for executives who must operate in an often truly lawless wilderness. "It's the kind of protection that local governments can't provide on their own," Saxena said. "They don't have the money, they don't have the skills in many places." The more unstable a country, the more military hardware a resource company must commandeer. While Bell provides only training and consulting services, other firms, such as Executive Outcomes, offer well-armed brigades and battle tanks to those who covet Third World diamonds, gold and lumber. Angola demands oil and gas firms have their own protection and as a result there are some 80 private armies in the southern African nation. And while they may be soldiers of fortune rather than soldiers of state, they belie the enduring image of unruly privateer. Executive Outcomes and its competitors offer pocket-sized armies that are better trained, better equipped and better paid than many national forces. Everyone agreed it did a great job restoring law and order during an earlier mission in Sierra Leone, Saxena said. "While they were there, while they had the contract, Sierra Leone was one of the most stable states in West Africa," Saxena said. (Even the United Nations concedes that.) "Every Canadian company operating in certain parts of Africa will confirm to you the need for some kind of security," Saxena insisted. For mining, oil and gas firms, he added, it is the reality of operating in the developing world, and the security is always done with the approval of the host government. "The companies who are operating there appreciate the need for these services, and the brokers appreciate it," Saxena said. "They understand that you have to protect your assets and it's not fair to raise money in a public market if you can't secure the assets." To some it's a pricey pact with the devil, to others it's cold-eyed pragmatism: you can't do business in an unstable country. When the UN can't or won't intervene - which is often the case in Africa, where national armies are riddled with ethnic, religious and personal differences - who are you going to call? Fortunately , for those in need, there may soon be a section in the Yellow Pages for "Dogs of War." In Russia, there are now 9,800 such "security" firms registered: in Africa,there are 90 private military forces. Others are listed in Hong Kong, London and the US. The Virginia-based Military Professional Resources Incorporated, for example, boasts a number of retired US generals on its staff and has received numerous government contracts. One western intelligence source recently summed up the bull market for soldiers of fortune: "Unlimited potential for expansion and self-enrichment. Certainly, within Africa, there is little evidence of the bandwagon slowing down." A study by the US Army War College said such firms pose serious questions: Should governments sign non-aggression pacts with powerful transnationals? Should there be laws to prevent the accumulation of non-economic power by companies? What about human rights and the laws of war - international conventions bind states, not corporations? "Instead of organizing clandestinely, they now operate out of office suites, have public affairs staff and Web sites, and offer marketing literature," said David Isenberg, a senior research analyst for the US Center for Defense Information, a non-profit, non-partisan Washington think-tank. Part of the problem is that these nations are already the world's "geological scandals" - home to embarrassments of riches and shameful administrations. In the name of international business, the unscrupulous exploit the structural weaknesses in developing economies and the character weaknesses of Third World politicians. Poorly established institutions, high rates of illiteracy and few checks and balances on leaders encourage rather than hinder monumental avarice. Roads, factories, houses, all go unbuilt because it is too great a temptation to line one's pockets or fill a Swiss bank account. As Isenberg concluded in a recent monograph he authored on the new mercenaries: "Clearly, if power continues to accrue to transnational corporations, the US will have to rethink some of the basic tenets of its approach to security and world politics." As the botched coup in Sierra Leone and the current scramble for concessions in the Congo illustrate, so will Canada. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to the Vancouver Sun: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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 --------- "RE: Interior Bands Reject BC Authority" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 10:51:46 EST From: "S.I.S.I.S." Subj: Government's authority rejected by BC Interior Bands :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [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.] INTERIOR BANDS REJECT BC GOVERNMENT'S AUTHORITY Globe & Mail, Feb.5, 1998, page A8, by Robert Matas, BC Bureau Vancouver - Chiefs of six British Columbia Indian bands have warned the province they consider all new provincial programs, licenses and land sales granted in their traditional territory since Dec. 11 to be worthless. Asserting rights they believe were given them under a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision [Delgamuukw], the governing council of the Interior BC bands, which calls itself the Tsilhqot'in National Government, has in recent days taken the following steps: - BC Agriculture Minister Corky Evans was told he should not give $7,000 to help local ranchers because he did not first ask their permission; - Forestry and environment ministries were informed their procedures for selling and leasing Crown land and dealing with environmental assessments were obsolete and invalid; - members of the aboriginal community were urged to prepare to repopulate land this summer their ancestors historically lived on, which could mean, for instance, reclaiming land now used by non-aboriginal ranchers for cattle grazing. The Tsilhqot'in National Government, which demands nation-to-nation negotiations with Ottawa without the province's involvement, represents about 3,500 people spread over forested areas and marshland in the BC Interior east of Williams Lake. Less than 1,000 non-aboriginal people live in the territory but significant areas are used by ranchers, mining and logging operations. The Tsilhqot'in's approach to aboriginal claims reflects the most strident response to a Supreme Court of Canada decision. The ruling issued Dec. 11 recognized the constitutional right of aboriginal title to land that has not been given away by treaty. Most of the aboriginal peoples of BC never signed treaties. The judges also stated that native bands must be consulted about the use of land, water and resources in their territories, and that they are entitled to be compensated for their use by others. Several aboriginal communities have become increasingly frustrated because neither Ottawa not the BC government have changed their positions on aboriginal rights as a result of the court ruling. Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart said last weekend Ottawa would develop its new position in partnership with native bands. She agreed to a new round of talks to set out a foundation for treaty negotiations which reflects the court ruling. BC Premier Glen Clark has agreed to meet with Indian leaders, but the government otherwise has given no indication what it will do. Nevertheless, most aboriginal groups in BC are considerably more moderate than the Tsilhqot'in. Although the court decision has strengthened their claims, most still want the current process of treaty negotiations to continue. The First Nations Summit, which speaks for 70 per cent of BC's aboriginal bands, is expected to meet with federal and BC governments later this month to discuss how the government could accommodate the court ruling. The summit also asked for a temporary moratorium on new licenses, leases and the sale of Crown land until agreement is reached. "The BC and federal government cannot continue with a business-as-usual approach," said summit spokesman Edward John. At the same time, treaty negotiations are continuing with 51 native bands under the old rules. At least eight bands are holding meetings within the next few days. Two bands have scheduled public information sessions to share the substance of their negotiations so far. Meanwhile, the Nisga'a First Nation in northwestern BC which is close to signing the first treaty in more than a century in the province, will meet with government negotiators Monday in Prince Rupert. "We're prepared to continue to negotiate on the basis of the agreement in principle that was reached on March 22, 1996," Nisga'a Chief Joe Gosnell said in an interview. "Our position has not changed at all." The Tsilhqot'in, though reject the current treaty process. They are holding a two-day conference starting today to decide on a strategy to protect their rights. Ray Hance, deputy chief of the Tsilhqot'in National Government, said the chiefs expect to hold all government bureaucrats personally responsible for decisions made since the court ruling. They will also talk about claiming the revenue from the extraction of natural resources in their territory, and the need to reduce the region's annual timber cut by up to half. BC Forest Minister David Zirnhelt, who represents the area, took a measured approach. "On one level there's a lot of rhetoric, and on another level there's a lot of co-operation," he said in an interview. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to the Globe and Mail: letters@GlobeAndMail.ca [Zirnhelt, himself a Cariboo ranch owner, was the NDP Agriculture Minister at the time of the Gustafsen Lake standoff. In a letter to the NDP cabinet at the time, he advised that "Crown land may be involved". -- S.I.S.I.S.] In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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 --------- "RE: Kickapoo and Willie Nelson Start Network" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 12:01:56 -0800 From: "D. English" Subj: Kickapoo Tribe and Willie Nelson start TV Network Newsgroup: alt.native,soc.culture.native Our friends, the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas are starting a cable network. I would like to offer our congratulations to the Kickapoo and take this opportunity to thank them for their unwavering determination and continued support in the battle to preserve Huron Cemetery from becoming a commercial site. Anyone in the area Feb. 14th (Valentines Day) is invited to attend a press conference to be held at the Golden Eagle Casino Wah-Na-Ko-Quah Entertainment Center at 10 a.m. Willie Nelson will perform at the end of the press conference and refreshments will be served. -------------------- Kickapoo Tribe and Willie Nelson Start TV network Indian Country Today Feb 9-16 1998 Cowboys and Indians ride again By Avis Little Eagle Northern Plains Bureau Horton Kans. The Cowboys and Indians will ride once again, this time not on the plains of the west but on satellite TV- both in the U.S. and internationally. The Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas and Country legend Willie Nelson have teamed up to form a new television network called "CNI, Inc. The network will operate one channel called the "Outlaw Music Channel." For years, Nelson had a dream of starting a television network which would have a two-pronged focus. First to build a venue where country music entertainers would always be able to play, where fans would always be able to tune in, and where the legacy of those who created this uniquely American Musical form could be honored. And secondly, to preserve the heritage of Native Americans by presenting their music, culture, history and legends. Nelson's dream became a reality when he became acquainted with Black Hawk S.D. attorney Mario Gonzalez. On Dec. 4. 1997, Mr. Gonzalez met with Nelson at his Luck, Texas ranch near Austin Texas to discuss this proposal to team up with an Indian tribe and create a television network. Gonzalez asked Nelson how soon he would like to get the network on the air and he replied "by Valentine's Day." Nelson picked out the name CNI network which stands for "Cowboys and Indians" network. After his return from Texas, Gonzales talked one of his clients, the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas into financing the start-up of the business venture. The new network is expected to catapult the Kickapoo Tribe in the international limelight and history books as the first American Indian tribe to become involved in big time television networking. The new network began operations on Jan. 24 by broadcasting promotional on Galaxy 9 transponder 2 satellite. The new network was incorporated in the state of Delaware on Dec. 29, 1997. Nelson and Gonzales will serve as co-chairman of the Board of Directors. The management team will consist of Harold Brown of Milford Delaware (General Manager), Leroy Ketel of Rapid City, S.D. (Chief Financial Officer) and Frank Oakley of Nashville Tenn. Library Director. Members of the Kickapoo Tribal Council are: Tribal Chairperson Nancy Bear; Tribal Vice-chairperson Fred Thomas; Treasurer Noreen Negonscott, Tribal Secretary Bobbi Darnell, and tribal council members, John Thomas, Dave Masqueand Ken Cadue. The Outlaw Music Channel will air 24 hours a day beginning on Feb. 14 on GE Americom GE-1 Satellite and will feature not only the Porter Wagoner Shwo, Pop Goes the Country and the Wilburn Brothers Show, but also over 1400 hours of "old time" country music. It will feature virtually every country music artist that performed from the 1960's to the 1980's including Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Robert Miller, the Judds, Williams and Rev. Bobby Bare, Bobby Goldsboro, Don Williams, Dolly Parton, Janie Frickie and of curse Willie, Waylon and the Boys. The Outlaw Music Channel will feature up and coming new stars in its programming, which will be under the supervision of Nelson. The Outlaw Music Channel is presently negotiating contracts with several cable systems and plans to be broadcasting on its April 14th target date to both cable patrons and satellite dish owners in North America, Hawaii, Central America and northern South America. Eventually the networks plans to up-link worldwide. Those wishing to subscribe to the new network can call toll free at 1-888-884-7468. Kickapoo Tribal member Leslie "Chick" Hale, said he is excited about the venture. "Opportunity knocks once. We have to put aside the deaf ear and be cognizant of these kind of opportunities. We have something marketable. It is a good sound investment. "We have to let it mature into something more lucrative and monitor it like a prudent businessman. "I would like to encourage other Indian tribes to look at us as an example of what can be done. "It is an exercise in self-determination to show that we have the capability, the knowledge and the ..." --------- "RE: AISES Announcement" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 07:49:09 -0700 From: "Tommie Lee" Subj: AISES ANNOUNCEMENT 2/13/98 Mailing List: AISESnet General List American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES) ANNOUNCEMENT (February 13, 1998) The American Indian Science and Engineering Society Board of Directors announces major changes within the AISES organization. Norbert Hill, Jr. has stepped down from his position as Executive Director after 15 years to attend personal and other professional interests. He will continue with AISES as a Senior Advisor. Norbert Hill's name has been synonymous with the AISES name for many years. AISES grew and developed as a national American Indian organization under Norbert Hill's leadership. The impact of AISES extends from students, communities and foundations. We extend deeply felt gratitude and appreciation for his years of service to the AISES Mission. Chuck McAfee Serving as Deputy Director is leaving AISES. Chuck has served as a Hewlett Packard loan executive to AISES and recently, he has volunteered his time and services to AISES during his retirement. The AISES Board of Directors recognizes the commitment and service that Chuck has given to American Indian education and to AISES. We extend our gratitude and appreciation to Chuck McAfee. The AISES headquarters will begin a process of re-organization in management and programming. Suzanne Benally will serve as an Interim Executive Director immediately and Arvin Trujillo will join Suzanne Benally in April as a Co-Interim Executive Director. Suzanne Benally is Navajo/Santa Clara Tewa and currently serves as Education Programs Director. Arvin Trujillo is Navajo and currently serves as an AISES Board member and works for BHP Minerals. Both people bring extensive experience and expertise in Indian education and management/development to AISES. A search will begin for a new Executive Director. AISES looks forward to many new challenges and new directions while building upon the strengths of the years past. We look forward to the continued support from our constituencies and seek to strengthen our role in providing services and programs to American Indian education, American Indian communities, and to our constituencies. As Chairman of the Board, I know these changes will strengthen the organization. I am confident that our staff members will continue to work as a team during the interim period and when a new Executive Director comes on board. Thank you for your continued support. Regards, Tommie N. Lee AISES Chairman http://www.novia.net/~tnlee --------- "RE: The Real Foreign Debt" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 01:52:58 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: The Real 'Foreign Debt' :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Date: January 26, 1998 Posted by: twn@igc.org /* Written 5:26 PM Jan 26, 1998 by twn@igc.org in twn.features */ THE REAL FOREIGN DEBT A letter from an Indian chief to all European governments to repay the gold and silver they borrowed between 1503 and 1660. By Guaicaipuro Cuautemoc Here am I, Guaicaipuro Cuautemoc, who have come to discover those who are celebrating the discovery. Here am I, a descendant of those who colonised America 40,000 years ago, who have come to discover those who discovered it 500 years ago. My European brother at his border asks me for a written document with a visa in order to discover those who discovered me. The European moneylender asks me to pay a debt contracted by Judas which I never authorised to be sold to me. The European pettifogger explains to me that all debts must be paid with interest, even if it means selling human beings and whole countries without their consent. I am gradually discovering them. I also have payments to claim. I can also claim interest. The evidence is in the Archivo de Indias. Paper after paper, receipt after receipt, signature after signature show that between 1503 and 1660 alone, 185,000 kilos of gold and 16 million kilos of silver were shipped into San Lucar de Barrameda from America. Plunder? I wouldn't say so. Because that would mean that our Christian brothers are violating their seventh commandment. Pillage? May Tanatzin have mercy on me for thinking that the Europeans, like Cain, kill and then deny their brother's blood! Genocide? That would mean giving credit to slanderers like Bartolome de las Casa who equated the discovery of the Indies with its destruction, or to extremists such as Dr Arturo Pietri, who states that the outburst of capitalism and of the current European civilisation was due to the flood of precious metals! No way! Those 185,000 kilos of gold and 16 million kilos of silver must be considered as the first of several friendly loans granted by America for Europe's development. The contrary would presuppose war crimes, which would mean not only demanding immediate return, but also compensation for damages. I prefer to believe in the least offensive hypothesis. Such fabulous capital exports were nothing short of the beginning of a Marshalltezuma Plan to guarantee the reconstruction of a barbarian Europe, ruined by deplorable wars against the Muslim foe. For this reason, as we approach the Fifth Centennial of the Loan, we must ask ourselves: What have our European brothers done in a rational, responsible or at least productive way with the resources so generously advanced by the International Indoamerican Fund? The answer is: unfortunately nothing. Strategically, they squandered it on battles such as Lepanto, invincible armies, Third Reichs and other forms of mutual extermination, only to end up being occupied by the Yankee troops of NATO, like Panama (but without a canal). Financially, they were incapable - even after a moratorium of 500 years - of either paying back capital with interest or of becoming independent from net returns, raw material and cheap energy that they import from the Third World. This disgusting picture corroborates Milton Friedman's assertion that a subsidised economy can never function properly, and compels us to claim - for their own good - the repayment of capital and interest which we have so generously delayed all these centuries. Stating this, we want to make clear that we will refrain from charging our European brothers the despicable and blood-thirsty floating rates of 20 or even 30% that they charge to Third World countries. We shall only demand the devolution of all precious metals advanced, plus a modest fixed annum accumulated over 300 years. On this basis, and applying the European formula of compound interest, we inform our discoverers that they only owe us, as a first payment against the debt, a mass of 185,000 kilos of gold and 16 million kilos of silver, both raised to the power of 300. This equals a figure that would need over 300 digits to put it down on paper and whose weight fully exceeds that of the planet Earth. What huge piles of gold and silver! How much would they weigh when calculated in blood? To say that in half a millennium Europe has not been able to produce sufficient wealth to pay back this modest interest is as much as admitting to the total financial failure of capitalism. The pessimists of the Old World state that their civilisation is already so bankrupt that they cannot fulfil their financial or moral commitments. If this is the case, we shall be happy if they pay us with the bullet that killed the poet. But that is not possible, because that bullet is the very heart of Europe. - Third World Network Features Reprinted from Revista, Renancer Indianista, No. 7. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Dawn Of The Imperialist System" --------- Date: 8 Feb 1998 07:59:05 GMT From: bghauk@berlin.infomatch.com (Brian Hauk) Subj: The Dawn Of The Imperialist System Newsgroup: soc.culture.native The Dawn Of The Imperialist System {'Discussion With Our Readers' column} +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ from the Militant, vol.62/no.5 February 9, 1998 In a letter published in the February 2 Militant, reader Steve Halpern questioned a statement that appeared in the January 12 issue in an article reporting on a regional socialist conference in Birmingham. "[Mary-Alice] Waters, editor of the magazine New International, said that Washington rose as an imperialist power 100 years ago with the Spanish-American war," the article said. "The question I have is what about the numerous imperialist wars that Washington waged against Native Americans?" Halpern asked. He added, "If the Roman Empire was an imperialist power, it seems that the wars against Native Americans were a classic example of imperialism." In opening his pamphlet Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin pointed out, "During the last fifteen to twenty years, especially since the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), the economic and political literature of the two hemispheres has more and more often adopted the term `imperialism' to describe the present era." Those wars, the first imperialist wars in the Marxist sense of the term, marked the dawn of a new stage of the capitalist system - imperialism. The main features of the imperialist system that Lenin outlined aptly describe the epoch we live in today. Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital, born of the merging of banking and industrial capital, is established; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance, as distinguished from the export of commodities; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun; and in which the division of the territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed. At the dawn of the 20th century, Lenin explained, "Capitalism had been transformed into imperialism." For most of this century, Marxists have used the term "imperialist war" to describe a particular kind of event: a war waged by finance capital. It's a war over domination and control of a piece of the semicolonial world; a war against other propertied classes in other countries for the domination of raw materials, markets, and access to the superexploitation of low-wage labor; a war to redivide world power and influence among rival capitalist classes. In 1898, the U.S. capitalist rulers went to war against their declining rivals in Spain, who had been exhausted by the three-decades-long wars of independence by Cuban patriots against Spanish colonialism. U.S. troops invaded Cuba, after Washington fabricated the blowing up of the U.S. warship Maine in the Havana harbor to justify U.S. intervention and block Cuban patriots from freeing their country. U.S. forces also seized Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, which were colonies of Spain as well. The Roman empire existed long before the advent of the imperialist system Lenin described. The term imperialist is often popularly used to describe wars like those waged by Rome and its legions - aimed at economically draining, politically oppressing, and militarily subjugating another people. But the Roman empire was based on a different social system - slavery, which preceded feudalism - than the domination of finance capital that prevailed on the entire globe about a century ago. In his pamphlet on imperialism, Lenin said, "Colonial policy and imperialism existed before the latest stage of capitalism, and even before capitalism. Rome, founded on slavery, pursued a colonial policy and practised imperialism. But `general' disquisitions on imperialism, which ignore, or put into the background, the fundamental difference between socio-economic formations, inevitably turn into the vapid banality or bragging, like the comparison: `Greater Rome and Greater Britain.' Even the capitalist colonial policy of previous stages of capitalism is essentially different from the colonial policy of finance capital." This is not a debate over semantics. The tasks of the toilers in the United States and other countries were different after 1898 than three decades earlier. During the U.S. Civil War, the last progressive war of the U.S. capitalist class, workers and small farmers joined in an alliance with the northern industrialists and the freed slaves to overthrow the slavocracy in the south. Ever since the advent of imperialism, the task of the working class in each country has been to wrest power from the bourgeoisie in order to rescue humanity from capitalist barbarism. In Genocide Against the Indians, longtime Socialist Workers Party leader George Novak explained that modern capitalism in the United States "arose from the disintegration and ruin of two ancient societies: European feudalism and primitive American communism." Towards the end of his pamphlet, Novak says, "When the pioneers of bourgeois society confronted their precapitalist foes, they had both the power and the historical mission to conquer. Their plutocratic heirs of the twentieth century have neither. In our time the workers are the pioneers and builders of the new world, the bearers of a higher culture... The `liberty, equality, and fraternity' known in America's infancy, which the bourgeoisie blasphemed and buried, will be regenerated and enjoyed in its finest forms through the socialist revolution of working people." - ARGIRIS MALAPANIS ---------------------------------------------------------- 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: New Age Mis-Appropriation" --------- Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 14:17:07 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: 'Old words" that still apply Newsgroup: alt.native Khwe friends... (long but worth the effort) I had found this when I was a newbie on Frosty's Igloo bbs, & given some of our discussions here on the mis-appropriation (ie, theft) of "Indian-ness" by some who do not see their crime, I thought it might be of use in opening some eyes. I have used it many times to remind 'mis-appropriators' of why trying to 'be Indian' just because of an "I have an Indian attitude" is more than folly..., it is malicious... The following article appeared in the "Cultural Survival Quarterly", Winter 1994. It was written by Andrea Smith, who is a member of "Women Of All Red Nations" in Chicago, and she is the Chairperson for Women of Color for the "National Coalition Against Sexual Assault". For All Those Who Were Indian In A Former Life The New Age movement has sparked a new interest in Native American traditional spirituality among white women who claim to be feminists. Indian spirituality, with its respect for nature and the interconnectedness of all things, is often presented as the panacea for all individual and global problems. Not surprisingly, many white "feminists" see the opportunity to make a great profit from this new craze. They sell sweat lodges or sacred pipe ceremonies, which promise to bring individual and global healing. Or they sell books and records that supposedly describe Indian traditional practices so that you too, can be Indian. On the surface, it may appear that this new craze is based on a respect for Indian spirituality. In fact, however, the New Age movement is part of a very old story of white racism and genocide against the Indian people. The "Indian" ways that the white, New Age "feminists" are practicing have little grounding in reality. True spiritual leaders do not make a profit from their teachings, whether it's through selling books, workshops, sweat lodges, or otherwise. Spiritual leaders teach the people because it is their responsibility to pass what they have learned from their elders to the youngest generations. They do not charge for their services. Furthermore, the idea that an Indian medicine woman would instruct a white woman to preach the "true path" of Indian spirituality sounds more reminiscent of evangelical Christianity than traditional Indian spirituality. Indian religions are community-based, not proselytizing religions. For this reason, there is not ONE Indian religion, as many New Agers would have you believe. Indian spiritual practices reflect the needs of a particular community. Indians do not generally believe that their way is "the" way, and consequently, they have no desire to tell outsiders about their practices. Also, considering how many Indians there are who do not know the traditions, why would a medicine woman spend so much time teaching a white woman? A medicine woman would be more likely to advise a white woman to look into her OWN culture and find what is liberating in it. However, some white women seem determined NOT to look into their own cultures for sources of strength. This is puzzling, since pre-Christian European cultures are also earth-based and contain many of the same elements that white women are ostensibly looking for in Native American cultures. This phenomenon leads me to suspect that there is a more insidious motive for latching onto Indian spirituality. When white "feminists" see how white people have historically oppressed others and how they are coming very close to destroying the earth, they often want to disassociate themselves from their whiteness. They do this by opting to "become Indian." In this way, they can escape responsibility and accountability for white racism. Of course, white "feminists" want to become only partly Indian. They do not want to be part of our struggles for survival against genocide, and they do not want to fight for treaty rights or an end to substance abuse or sterilization abuse. They do not want to do anything that would tarnish their romanticized notions of what it means to be an Indian. Moreover, they want to become Indian without holding themselves accountable to Indian communities. If they did they would have to listen to Indians telling them to stop carrying around sacred pipes, stop doing their own sweat lodges and stop appropriating our spiritual practices. Rather, these New Agers see Indians as romanticized gurus who exist only to meet their consumerist needs. Consequently, they do not understand our struggles for survival and thus they can have no genuine understanding of Indian spiritual practices. While New Agers may think that they are escaping white racism by becoming "Indian," they are in fact continuing the same genocidal practices of their forebears. The one thing that has maintained the survival of Indian people through 500 years of colonialism has been the spiritual bonds that keep us together. When the colonizers saw the strength of our spirituality, they tried to destroy Indian religion by making them illegal. They forced Indian children into white missionary schools and cut their tongues if they spoke their Native languages. Sundances were made illegal, and Indian participation in the Ghost Dance precipitated the Wounded Knee massacre. The colonizers recognized that it was our spirituality that maintained our spirit of resistance and sense of community. Even today, Indians do not have religious freedom. In a recent ruling the Supreme Court has determined that American Indians do not have the right to sue under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. They have also determined that if Indian religious freedom conflicts with any "compelling" United States interest, the government always supersedes Indian peoples' freedom of religion. Many white New Agers continue this practice of destroying Indian spirituality. They trivialize Native American practices so that these practices lose their spiritual force, and they have the white privilege and power to make themselves heard at the expense of Native Americans. Our voices are silenced, and consequently the younger generation of Indians who are trying to find their way back to the Old Ways becomes hopelessly lost in this morass of consumerist spirituality. These practices also promote the subordination of Indian women to white women. We are told that we are greedy if we do not choose to share our spirituality. Apparently, it is our burden to service white women's needs rather than to spend time organizing within our own communities. Their perceived need for warm and fuzzy mysticism takes precedence over our need to survive. The New Age movement completely trivializes the oppression we as Indian women face: Indian women are suddenly no longer the women who are forcibly sterilized and tested with unsafe drugs such as Depo Provera; we are no longer the women who have a life expectancy of 47 years; and we are no longer the women who generally live below the poverty level and face a 75 percent unemployment rate. No, we're too busy being cool and spiritual. This trivialization of our oppression is compounded by the fact that nowadays anyone can be Indian if s/he wants to. All that is required is that one be Indian in a former life, or take part in a sweat lodge, or be monitored by a "medicine woman," or read a how-to book. Since, according to this theory, anyone can now be "Indian," then the term Indians no longer refers specifically to those people who have survived five hundred years of colonization and genocide. This furthers the goals of white supremacists to abrogate treaty rights and to take away what little we have left. When everyone becomes "Indian," then it is easy to lose sight of the specificity of oppression faced by those who are REALLY Indian in THIS life. It is no wonder we have such a difficult time finding non-Indians to support our struggles when the New Age movement has completely disguised our oppression. The most disturbing aspect about these racist practices is that they are promoted in the name of feminism. Sometimes it seems that I can't open a feminist periodical without seeing ads promoting white "feminist" practices with little medicine wheel designs. I can't seem to go to a feminist conference without the woman who begins the conference with a ceremony being the only Indian presenter. Participants then feel so "spiritual" after this opening that they fail to notice the absence of Indian women in the rest of the conference or Native American issues in the discussions. And I certainly can't go to a feminist bookstore without seeing books by Lynn Andrews and other people who exploit Indian spirituality all over the place. It seems that, while feminism is supposed to signify the empowerment of all women, it obviously does not include Indian women. If white feminists are going to act in solidarity with their Indian sisters, they must take a stand against Indian spiritual abuse. Feminist book and record stores should stop selling these products, and feminist periodicals should stop advertising these products. Women who call themselves feminists should denounce exploitative practices wherever they see them. Many have claimed that Indians are not respecting "freedom of speech" when they demand that whites stop promoting and selling books that exploit Indian spirituality. But promotion of this material is destroying freedom of speech for Native Americans by ensuring that our voices will never be heard. Feminists have already made choices about what they will promote (I haven't seen many books by right-wing, fundamentalist women sold in feminist bookstores, since feminists recognize that these books are oppressive to women.) The issue is not censorship; the issue is racism. Feminists must make a choice either to respect Indian political and spiritual autonomy, or to promote materials that are fundamentally racist under the guise of "freedom of speech." Respecting the integrity of Native people and their spirituality does not mean that there can never be cross-cultural sharing. However, such a sharing should take place in a way that is respectful to Indian people. The way to be respectful is for non-Indians to become involved in our political struggles and to develop an on-going relation with Indian COMMUNITIES based on trust and mutual respect. When this happens, Indian people may invite a non-Indian to take part in a ceremony, but it will be on Indian terms. I hesitate to say this much about cross-cultural sharing however, because many white people take this to mean that they can join in our struggles solely for the purpose of being invited to ceremonies. If this does not occur, they feel that Indians have somehow unfairly withheld spiritual teachings from them. We are expected to pay the price in spiritual exploitation in order to gain allies in our political struggles. When non-Indians say they will help us, but only on their terms, that is not help - that is blackmail. We are not obligated to teach anyone about our spirituality. It is our choice if we want to share with people who we think will be respectful. It is white people who owe it to us to fight for our survival, since they are living on the land for which our people were murdered. It is also important for non-Indians to build relationships with Indian communities, rather than with specific individuals. Many non-Indians express their confusion about knowing who is and who is not a legitimate spiritual teacher. The only way for non-Indians to know who legitimate teachers are is to develop ongoing relationships with Indian COMMUNITIES. When they know the community, they will learn who the community respects as its spiritual leaders. This is a process that takes time. Unfortunately, many white feminists do not want to take this time in their quest for instant spirituality. Profit-making often gets in the way of true sisterhood. However, white feminists should know that as long as they take part in Indian spiritual abuse, either by being consumers of it or by refusing to take a stand on it, Indian women will consider white "feminists" to be nothing more than agents in the genocide of their people. OUR SPIRITUALITY IS NOT FOR SALE! --------- "RE: Newager Article" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 02:04:23 -0800 From: dAVe burlingame Subj: Newager article... Mailing List: NAT-FILM Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 22:19:48 -0800 (PST) > Now I feel like I should jump in, I'm also 26, but a newbee, and a little > lost in the jargon. What is the New Ager. I have tried to decipher this > through the posts but...... Hopefully, you've been reading what we've had to say about the Wannabes. Well, they are not the worst of the lot. NewAgers are far more dangerous. Instead of being ignorantly curious, the NAger seeks to keep the NA under his thumb. It is a whole new kind of racism, and it works a little like this... NewAgers are referred to as a collective not because they all share the same beliefs (they don't), but because their crimes all fit an all-too-familiar pattern, easily identifiable, yet constantly frustrating. What happens is that the NAger finds different things in different NA "systems" appealing, and tries to incorporate these different things into something new, something bastardized and hideous. We are treated as one homogeneous (sp) amalgamation: One Indian Did It, So They All Must Have. Gone are the idiosyncrasies that make one Tribe unique from all others. Gone is the respect for the Indian as individual, as thinking, breathing, living, unconquered Human Being. Gone is the honest respect and regard for the self, the land. It is absolutely genocidal in its utter disrespect for the people who regarded these stolen objects, artifacts, and ceremonies as sacred. All we are, all we ever were, all our that Elders fought for, all that our Grandmothers and Grandfathers died for, have become mere curiosities to a group of seriously misguided people who want things for themselves, who believe that trodding upon the bodies and beliefs of others will somehow provide them with personal salvation. There is NOTHING in any NA "system" that is meant to be taken by others. Ever. The reason such common things exist across our Tribes and our Land is we had received these gift from our Creator, and the Grandfathers who had received these gifts saw fit to pass them to their families, and across Tribal "boundaries." They didn't set up shops and sell crystals, they didn't build such a thing as a dreamcatcher out of metal and attach a tag to it reading "Crafted by Moonflower." NAs (and I'm awful close to romanticizing here) labored for their people and their land, because they realized that in doing so they would themselves be taken care of. More than any modern system, it was a society that worked, that thrived, that knew its place and harbored no illusions of global conquest. After they have stolen from us (if they ever do STOP stealing), they step further into the abyss by telling us what our ceremonies mean, and treating those ceremonies (and objects, artifacts, etc.) as commodities, charging admission fees. Lately on this list, we've all had to endure postings regarding "real Native American" dance classes and "Authentic Injun Peace Pipes ($150)" and other unspeakable atrocities. We are bought, sold, and traded as antiquities, as noble warriors, as anachronistic savages. The bottom line is this: the "religion" of NAgers is nothing but an illusion, a dangerous lie built on the bones of the Grandfathers. By taking a piece from the Lakota, another from the Cherokee, etc., the NAgers show they have no regard for the people, cultures, or lands from which they steal. The first outsiders tried to kill us by taking our land and usurping our resources; NewAgers seek to kill us by stealing our spirituality in hopes that doing so will provide them with a sense of purpose. There is no honor in what they do, they have no sense of history regarding whatever they choose to steal. They are grave robbers, they are rapists, they are murderers. And sometimes, even these words are not strong enough. Please understand, there is much anger in our communities because of the neverending threats to the Ways we try to live. This anger will not go away because "there will always be someone who does these kinds of things." The attitude of NewAgers is not something we choose to live with and ignore. It is something that will always pain us as long as it exists, and we will not be at peace with them until they cease their practices. NOTE: I do not pretend to speak for anyone but myself, so I do apologize if I appear to be doing otherwise. I hope I have begun to answer your question... These are my words. All My Relations, dAVe \\|// ________________________________________________________________________ New files: access these files from: Type these words exactly as shown in message body: GET NAT-FILM.MENU Website Always under construction |/////////////| Nat-Film Posts are "c" copyright original author/sender |\\\Role'em\\\| --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Thu, 19 Feb 98 08:00 -0500 From: Janet Smith (evestar@juno.com) Subj: Contacting those in the Ironhouse UUCP email Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 09:15:08 -0600 From: Ilze A Choi Subj: Native American prisoner Dear Janet, At the request of a Native American prisoner with whom I have been corresponding, I would like to add his cousin to your penpal list. I 'm not sure of his tribal affiliation. My friend, since released (thankfu