From gars@netcom.com Wed Apr 1 22:52:27 1998 Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 19:39:47 -0800 (PST) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.014 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 014 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, April 4, 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 Chiapas-L, Minn-Ind & Nat-Film Lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; UUCP email; http://www.indiancountry.com; Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination and/or permission for inclusion has been secured. Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A. I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people. 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. "Finally the whole country, which the Cherokees and their fathers have so occupied, will be demanded, and the remnants of the Ani Yvwiya, the "Real People", once so great and formidable, will be compelled to seek refuge in some distant wilderness.....Should we not therefore run all risks and incur all consequences, rather than submit to further laceration of our country? Such treaties may be all right for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for me I have my young warriors about me. We will have our lands." __ Tsiyu Gansini (Dragging Canoe), Cherokee +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! This issue's quote (above) is no casual choice. This past weekend I had the honor of serving as emcee for a Powwow to raise funds for the legal defense of Little Cedar Mountain, one of the resting places of Cherokee, that is now coveted by the English developer Hines, Ltd. Here, in the very heart of the last stronghold of Dragging Canoe our people must fight in the Yonega's courts to let our People remain at rest. We did receive some good news while at the Powwow. The City of Nashville refused to issue a permit to Wal-Mart, Lowes and JDN Realty on their joint venture, also on a Cherokee gravesite "....until it has been demonstrated problems with the Native American community have been resolved." It is but one small victory, but each small victory is one more step in the right direction. Aho! =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Date: Fri, 27 Mar 98 08:51:39 -0600 From: berryj@okway.okstate.edu Subj: Mary Townsend Crow Milligan She was very proud of her Delaware-Cherokee-Shawnee heritage. Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise 26 March 1998 Mary Townsend Crow Milligan, 77, died at 7:35 PM Tuesday in Bartlesville. Funeral services will be held at First United Methodist Church in Bartlesville, 10:00 AM, Friday with Rev. Tim Byington officiating. Interment will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of the Stumpff Funeral Home. Donations may be made to the charity of the donor's choice. Mary was born August 19, 1920 in Delaware, Ok to Jesse Townsend and Ida Mae (Miller) Townsend. She was reared in Delaware. After graduating from Delaware High School in 1938, she attended Tulsa Business College, where she received an Associates Degree in Business. Mary came to Bartlesville in 1940, and went to work for Phillips Petroleum Company and worked there for 42 years. She retired as an executive secretary in the Executive Health Department. Mary married Joseph Jennings Crow April 30, 1967 and lived at the Lazy JO Ranch west of Bartlesville. Mr. Crow preceded her in death on February 9, 1981. Mary married Daymon Lloyd Milligan February 26, 1994. Mr. Milligan preceded her in death on January 26, 1998. Mary is survived by three brothers and their wives, Jess Edward and Ramona Townsend of Bartlesville, Blue Hill and Carrolyn Townsend of Bartlesville, and Bruce Miller and Annie Townsend of Tulsa. She was lovingly known as Aunt Mary to 9 nieces and nephews, 16 grand nieces and nephews, and numerous cousins and many, many friends. Mary was very active in civic activities and the arts. Mary Milligan was a long time active member of the Osage County Cowbelles, Osage County Cattlemen's Association, Bluestem Farm & Ranch Club, Jane Phillips Sorority, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of Union Veterans and the Republican National Committee. Mary Milligan received the Outstanding Indian Woman of Oklahoma from the Governor in 1974, received Historian of the year from the Washington County Historical Society in 1979, was past president and host of the 1989 General Federation of Women's Clubs National Convention, was past president of the Washington County Historical Society and Bartlesville Indian Women's Club. She also chaired the Indian Summer Intertribal Pow Wow in 1988, and initiated the first Spring Wild Onion Feast in 1952 that has become an annual Bartlesville event. Mary also sang at many functions such as opening ceremonies and Pow wows. She also staged and participated in Indian Style Shows around the USA. She was a Charter Member of the Oklahoma Federation of Indian Women. She sponsored the Mary Townsend Crow Award for Deserving Volunteer at the Miss Indian Oklahoma Pageant, and was Chairman of the lndian Heritage Pow-wow. She was listed in Who's Who of American Women. Mary was very proud of her Delaware-Cherokee-Shawnee heritage. Mary served on the Delaware Tribal Council for 45 years, and helped establish the Delaware Center in Bartlesville. She was active in the Delaware Cultural Committee, and made many trips to Washington D. C. on behalf of the Delawares. Funeral arrangements and interment are under the direction of the Stumpff Funeral Home. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= My editorial comments in the last issue struck a few nerves, and made people think. I received more comment on it than on many in a very long time. I am including two response, each written from a very different perspective. Learn from them. Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 20:38:41 -0700 From: "Reginald D. Atkins" To: "Gary Night Owl" Subj: Re: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.013 With reference to the below, I send the following. -> > "Learning how to be a white man is not learning. Learning our Native > 'way' and acquiring Native wisdom and knowledge, coupled with the best > instruction in the Western Cannon, is learning. And it is a must for > our survival." > __ Darryl Babe Wilson, Iss/Awte (Pit River Nation) > >O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! > > There is zero compunction about the >deaths of a few Natives, whether they be in Acteal or Stoney Point or >Wounded Knee. > > There is no accounting for these transgressions because these powers are >not held accountable. We continue to allow the manipulation of our People, >the truth and ages old agreements. > > Is it because Native Peoples like to be jerked around and pitted against >one another? Is it because Native Peoples have been oppressed so long that >any other way of living is frightening? Some one of you must know the >answer. Please share it with the rest of us. > Let me share the following with your readers and I point these thoughts at the Red Men and Warriors of the Red Nations. I am not Red, I am White; but I ask you to listen. Read the above quotes and let them strike you like a stone at the middle of your forehead. You, Red Men, are still loosing the battle. The warriors of ancient Rome would put you to shame. YOU must learn to stand together. The quibbling and fighting among your own people will bring the Red Man to the termination of his existence. Have you not learned the ways of European and western governments; it is very simple. DIVIDE and conquer. Complacency and inaction will kill us all. YOU MUST learn to be active and vote as a block. Where you can not win in local elections you can combine together as tribes and nations to vote in number in national elections. You must make your voices heard. You must be more active and be taken seriously by elected officials in the congress of the nation. You can not sit by and watch the Eagle die. You can not sit by and watch the lands that were once yours be stripped of trees and developed for the recreation of the so call hunter-sportsman. I am angry at the destruction of your heritage and your spiritual ways. I am angry that pollutants in the waterways bringing a new disease that threatens the Bald Eagle by destroying their brains. Where are you when the Eagle and the Forest and the Minerals of the Earth call upon you for help. You can not rise up with weapons and attack; you will loose again. >From the early days of white education I have been taught that the pen is mightier than the sword and it is proven true by that which you experience in today's world. You fight the lawyers and the courts with the word and the pen and block voting as a united NATION. Not all whites are your enemies and not all whites are our friends. Greed is a tough enemy to defeat and it is a sickness of humankind not just whites. We now fight battles to keep the loggers and developers from destroying the forest. We fight to keep the selfish ATV,s and snowmobile user from accessing remote wilderness areas and from building more roads into the forest. Were are your voices to protect the lands of your forefathers that the spirits of those long past may rest in peace without the roar of machines. The thought of the Custer memorial makes my blood boil. There is persistent urge to piss on his grave under the light of a full moon so that his soul may never rest. That maybe difficult for you Red Men to understand but the urge is real. I would like to see the day when the Crazy Horse monument stands tall and complete. It is not that I think the Red Man perfect for what I have learned did not come from you. What I have leaned has caused me to take a different view of you and your ways. I find beauty in your legends and in some cases a touch of truth lightly revealed. But that which as caused me to listen to your legends did not come from you; nor did it come from the white education and background of the world in which I live. "Learning to be a white man is not learning", I agree. Even the Christian God cries at the lack of your unity and your inaction as united Nation. You Red Men, are becoming so white you do not recognize the tears in the eye of the Eagle. You make a mistake in hiding your culture and your spiritual ways from whites for there are many who will at least listen. I'm not talking about pow-wow and dance competitions; its much deeper than that. The jackass on the snowmobile roaring across the plains stressing the Antelope and the Elk can not hear the spirit of the Earth speak. The nitwit in the 4X4 more interested in proving he won't get stuck cares little about the ruts and damage he leaves behind, nor do they care about you. They killed your buffalo then to starve you; they kill the buffalo now to starve your spirit. You let them divide you Navaho and Hopi when you should stand together. Other Nations fight over gambling rights; they divide you and take your money for political campaigns. Unite, Speak as one! let them new say the Indian vote made a difference in an election. Throw out the alcohol, throw out the drugs, pick up the political club. Make a difference. Use that money you would use to buy either of the previous to buy every piece of land owned by whites within or adjoining a reservation and return it to your ownership in the Whitman's way. NEVER GIVE UP!!! Singularium:One Omnibus! Reginald D. Atkins ratkins@trib.com ---------------------------- and this ............................ Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 09:32:18 -0700 From: "mel rasmussen" To: gars@netcom.com Subj: Editorial comment Boozhoo, Niijii: Interesting comments concerning treaties, the state of affairs, et.al. Just consider how many treaties have been written in this country alone. Some four hundred or so. Also consider how each and every one has been broken, violated, ignored stepped on, ad infinitum... Now consider how tribes, sovereign nations, have given up so much of their lands in order to survive during those days of yesteryear. Consider how many of our ancestors, grand fathers, great grandfathers, were placed in positions of destitution, starvation, threats of mass extermination by the dominant society at that time. I do believe that our ancestors, did sign these treaties knowing full well that it was required at that moment to ensure the survival of their families and communities. I further believe that our ancestors knew their descendants would pick up the gauntlet and continue the struggle for their people. Such is the case today. We are in essence, the extension of our ancestors, and the heart, muscle, and guiding strength that ensures that these documents, paid for in blood, will never be forgotten. We are in today's society, the Ogiitchida, the warriors, for our respective nations. I remember talking with a former U.S. Attorney, back in the Bush/Reagan era who made the following comments to me. He said, "You know, we have many volumes of case law in the federal courts, that we work with, criminal, torte, labor, civil law and others. We can handle these issues with this existing case law. But the biggest grey area existing today, is in Indian Law. We do not have the touchstones with which to decide these issues. It is our biggest nightmare in the courts. It is also the most exciting also. We don't know what to do." These are interesting times for Indigenous Nations and its people. Isn't it strange how so many states, and some of our illustrious leaders and corporations keep trying to hide these tribal documents, called treaties under the carpet, of simply say sometimes, that they no longer exist or are valid. Damm, I wish I could rewrite history and the current situation like they do. I think I would first start by eliminating Ellis Island, and enact stronger immigration laws for those poor lost souls who wandered over here. Maybe we could work on deporting these newcomers, who don't have a tribal ID or a entrance visa from those tribe on the east, south and west doors. It's just a thought. Let's face it, we are an expendable people, in today's society, or so they think. History shows this to us. We have had the history of extermination, assimilation, self sufficiency progroms, the list goes on. Yet we are still here sticking in the craw of the dominant society. We just don't disappear, or go away. We have always been the red caboose on that civil rights train. The tail end charlie, the last of the Mohican, and the receivers of what's left over. Isn't it strange that the 1964 Civil Rights Act kind of left us out. Why is it that we had to have our own separate Indian Civil Rights Act enacted some twelve years later. Must be because we were the wrong shade of color. Who knows? Now that we have started to educate our own kind and have learned how to use the existing system, we scare the hell our of the world around us. We flex our shoulders, stand tall, stand proud, and the system shakes. Here we are as sovereign nations, stuck on some of the worse pieces of land in this country and now it is becoming prime property because of the mineral, coal, oil, gas or whatever power source is available and needed to run this country. It seems strange that the Dawes Act didn't finish us off in the past, so there must be some other way to rid ourselves of these pests to the society. But we don't disappear so easily nowadays. We continue to endure, and grow stronger because of it. Isn't it strange to see across Indian Country how the impact of the traditional ways of life and their understandings are being implemented within the current scheme of Tribal Government. Lets face it, the Indian Reorganization Act was developed to let the apples amongst us sell out the Tribes. This point, however, is changing as we, as Nations, come to understand the whys and wherefores of this program. Yes, there is still division out there. But on the whole, we are growing stronger, wiser, and understand why our ancestors did what they did. We are keeping the faith of their dreams, we are the keepers of this way of life that is necessary for the survival of our Nations and for the education of the other races. Endure, respect, listen, learn, share. These are the keys for our survival and for the survival of mankind. As frustrating as it gets, it is important to remember our roots. Maybe others out there will look at their roots again and see what is good. We may not have all of the answers, as some of our new agers think we do. But we do have a message for them. Once it is seen, then all of our lives will be better. All we can do is teach the other races. We are the keepers of the earth here on Turtle Island. We have that responsibility to show others. So keep on truckin' and don't let the bums wear you down. Grandpa =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= I believe most you will agree one more note sent this week is a good thing to share. Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 06:23:11 -0700 (MST) From: babyface@srv.net (Mhart) Subj: Red Lake Nation Interest item I have not seen in your wonderful paper. I was speaking with my sister in Colorado yesterday and she told me this. Her brother: Jack Desjarlait of Red Lake, Minnesota, last year was named coach of the year (basketball), as he took his team to the state tournament in Minneapolis. She is awaiting word of the same great fete this year. It happens at this time of the year. She told me last year that after the usual star spangled banner flag raising there at the tournament, the Red Lake Nation took the floor and had their own flag raising. I became so overcome with joy and emotions that I thought I would let you know. Do you know of this? What an accomplishment, do you not think? "SPIRIT OF THE WOLF.....we shall be known by the tracks we leave behind" =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Thanks to Mike Wicks for these reminders: In Memory (with Respect and Honor) AIM Casualties on Pine Ridge, 1973-1976 3.30.1975 Richard Eagle - grandson of AIM supporter Gladys Bissonette killed while playing with loaded gun kept in the house as protection from Goon attacks. 4.4.1975 Hilda R. Good Buffalo - AIM supporter stabbed to death at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 4.4.1975 Jancita Eagle Deer - AIM member beaten and run over with automobile. Last seen in the company of provocateur Douglass Durham. 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 ---------- - Gorton Takes Second Swing - San Carlos Apache ALERT - RCMP Shoot Native Mother and Child - Sen Burns/ - Murder by RCMP Great Falls Tribal Meeting - Conflicting Reports/ - Indian Homeland Tsuu T'ina Shooting - Windigo's Back - Justice Demanded - Windigo #1 - Women Seek Status for Grandchildren - Windigo #2 - Yellowstone Bison/Cattle Conflict - Windigo #3 - Paper Releases Info From DEA Report - `JAG' Extras Want Apology - Request from Mexico - Native Prisoner - Aerial Flights Threaten All - A Hundred Years Ago Aguascalientes - Poem: Silence - Western Shoshone - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Land Rights Dispute - Conferences and Powwows --------- "RE: Gorton Takes Second Swing" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 22:10:43 EST From: ErthAvengr Subj: Gorton Takes Second Swing to Curb Tribal Sovereignty http://www.indiancountry.com Permission given for non-commercial, non-web-site print GORTON TAKES SECOND SWING TO CURB TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY March 23-30 By Paul Richardson Indian Country Today Northern Plains Bureau Indian Country Today Online FORT YATES, N.D., --Tribes across the nation are expressing opposition to yet another bill, introduced by Senator Slade Gorton, R- Wash., that attacks tribal sovereignty. A summit was held on the Standing Rock Reservation to discuss the bill 1691 which would take away or limit tribal sovereignty. Called the " Strength Through Unity" summit, representatives from 11 Indian nations were present to voice their opposition to the proposed bill. "It is good to see our people come together in unity to stand up for our rights to be a sovereign people," said John Steele, chairman of the Oglala Lakota Nation. The bill is designed to take way sovereign status of Indian nations so they could be suited both in federal courts and state courts. The bill would also make them pay taxes on revenues made through their gaming operations. "Indian nations are governments. This bill promotes the notion that an American tribal government should be treated no differently than any private individual or organization and represents Senator Gorton's desire to extinguish hundred of years of federal Indian policy that protects the sovereign status of tribal governments," said W. Ron Allen, National Congress of American Indian president, and chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Nation in Washington state. "In brief, bill 1691 would waive tribal government immunity for court claims to the same extent a private organization, except for punitive damages, waive tribal government immunity for contract claims, waive tribal government immunity regarding the collection of state taxes, subject tribal governments to lawsuits in state courts under state laws for torts and contracts and waive tribal government immunity for purposes of the Indian civil Rights Act and create a cause of action under that act in federal district courts," Mr. Allen said. "Such a bill is only one of a number of bills proposed to come at the Indian people from many sides to destroy all we have worked for all these years," said Shirley Marvin, director of water and natural resources for Standing Rock. "If they (government) are allowed to take away our sovereignty, then what else do we have? There wouldn't be any sense to even having borders along our reservations. Indian governments wouldn't exist and all the good things our people have done all these years would be for nothing," Ms. Marvin said. Ms. Marvin also heads a committee that picks apart proposed bills introduced to the committee to see where it could hurt Indian people. She and her committee find nothing good about bill 1691 and have started measures to combat any effort to get the bill passed by uniting Indian nations and fighting the bill on the Senate floor. "Such a bill is harmful for all our people, not just on certain reservations. If such a bill is passed, we would have no need for tribal governments and therefore we would have no say as to the direction our people could go," Mr. Murphy said. "You know, this is nothing new. The government has been trying to take away our sovereignty for a long time now. What they do is flood the Senate and the committees with all these bills hoping to get one or two passed. Each year they manage to take something away from us, until the day will come that they have nothing else to take away and we are exactly were the government wants us, " Ms. Marvin said. "Centuries of tribal rights of self-government and self-determination should under no circumstances be abridged based on mere anecdotal evidence, " said Derril Jordan, Interior Department Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs. "This committee is keenly aware of the conditions that exist on most reservations. Tribal infrastructure for roads, community water and sewer systems, and other amenities that most non-Indian communities take for granted are either absent or woefully inadequate," Mr. Jordan said. He advised committee members that abridgement of sovereign immunity can only make matters worse on reservations. "Any problems between states and tribes can be resolved through government-to-government negotiations. The best way to resolve conflicts between governments is to sit down together and find a solution. Government-to-government negotiations are the proven and just way to resolve conflicts," said Kevin Gover, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. There were over fifty speakers at the summit and none spoke in support of the bill. "It was one of the first times I can remember that all of our people were united on a subject that concerned all our people and it was nice to see. I hope this is a sign of things to come. It can only be good for our people as a whole. Unity is the one thing we have been lacking for sometime now and perhaps it is coming around and we can stop arguing against each other and fight for what is ours," Ms. Marvin said. The bill will move along to committee unless there is a negative vote which could stop it in its tracks Senate Bill 1691 References to this bill in the Congressional RecordLink to the Bill Summary & Status file. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ S.1691 American Indian Equal Justice Act (Introduced in the Senate) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents: Beginning February 27, 1998 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSE. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. SEC. 3. COLLECTION OF STATE TAXES. SEC. 4. INDIAN TRIBES AS DEFENDANTS. SEC. 5. TORT CLAIMS PROCEDURE. `CHAPTER 171A--INDIAN TORT CLAIMS PROCEDURE `Sec. 2691. Definitions `Sec. 2692. Liability of Indian tribes `Sec. 2693. Compromise `Sec. 2694. Exceptions; waiver SEC. 6. INDIAN TRIBES AS DEFENDANTS IN STATE COURTS. SEC. 7. INDIAN CIVIL RIGHTS. `SEC. 204. ENFORCEMENT. SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY. --------- "RE: RCMP Shoot Native Mother and Child" --------- Date: Tue, 24 Mar 98 01:49:37 PST From: S.I.S.I.S. Subj: RCMP shoot native mother and child :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: RESERVE RESIDENTS ANGRY OVER DEATHS IN POLICE SHOOTOUT RCMP Cpl. Mike O'Reilly answers questions Monday on the shooting of Connie Jacobs and her son. Canadian Press, March 23, 1998, by Jeff McIntosh [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.| TSUU T'INA RESERVE, Alta. (CP) - The blood of a woman and her nine-year- old son is on the hands of police, child welfare officials and band leaders, says a relative grieving the loss of the two in a police shootout. Connie Jacobs and her son Ty died Sunday night as the RCMP, tribal police and a band social worker tried to seize six children from their isolated home on the sprawling Tsuu T'ina (pronounced Soo Teena) reserve at the southwestern edge of Calgary. On Monday everyone had questions about how such a tragedy could happen. There were few solid answers. "I feel hurt, angry," said Beatrice Onespot, 50, a cousin to Jacobs. "I don't have much use now for the ones running our nation. The chief and council, I blame them. The Mounties jumped the gun, I think; they came out against a woman with five little kids in the house. This woman was a kind-hearted woman, she was only protecting herself and her kids." Onespot was one of the few residents who would speak to reporters who converged on the community of 1,100 after the shooting. "They were all trigger-happy," said Onespot, describing Jacobs as a soft-spoken, happy and bright person. She said Jacobs was fighting with the band's child and family services and planned to write a letter to Chief Roy Whitney trying to get rid of the social worker involved in seizing her children. The social worker is related to the chief through marriage. Flags flew at half-mast in front of the band administration office at the reserve, which overlooks a Calgary neighborhood. Whitney had no public statement, but Peter Manywounds, a spokesman for the Sarcee band, said many Tsuu T'ina residents were angry and upset. "The nation's concerned that emotions are running high," he said. "It was a tragic incident . . . We hope that everyone in this circumstance will remain as calm as possible." Police could not explain why an RCMP officer fired at Jacobs when he knew there were children in the house. RCMP in Calgary and Edmonton are investigating the shooting, while the Tsuu T'ina police commission is looking at how its officers performed. Just before the shooting, a social worker and tribal police Const. Tammy Dodginghorse went to remove the children from the home. Police said Jacobs, 33, threatened Dodginghorse. There had been a dispute between Jacobs and her husband Hardy earlier in the day, said Okotoks RCMP Cpl. Mike O'Reilly. Dodginghorse called for help and Const. Dave Voller from Okotoks RCMP came out. Voller apparently warned Jacobs three times to drop the rifle she was holding before opening fire with his shotgun from about 15 metres away. A shotgun shell is loaded with 12 pellets that spray across a wide area. O'Reilly said Voller was forced to shoot in self-defence and said it was possible the falling snow hampered his vision. "She was armed with a rifle, she fired shots at the RCMP member and the member was forced to return fire in self defence." But Onespot questioned the urgency of Sunday's situation, adding the children weren't starving or being abused in any way. "She would have been all right to talk things over. How was she going to run away with five little ones." Despite angry comments Monday from band members, O'Reilly said he didn't anticipate any backlash from the community over the shooting. "The people there are good people, they understand situations like this," said O'Reilly. Police discovered the two bodies outside the house, which has been condemned, after a four-hour standoff that followed the 7 p.m. shooting. O'Reilly said the four-hour delay in entering the house was a result of emergency response team members having to drive in from several areas of southern Alberta through a snowstorm. Officers who entered the home discovered five children as young as seven months. Police believe Jacobs and her son were hit by the same shot. "He (Voller) is quite shaken up by this," said O'Reilly. Jacobs's friend, Vera Starlight, sobbed when she learned the two were killed. She said Jacobs was about two months pregnant. "This is really awful, it just hurts me so much," Starlight said. The family struggled to make ends meet on welfare and lived in a "horrid" dilapidated house, she said. Drinking and fighting were common for the couple. "When she wasn't drinking she was the nicest person. She's a good mother." Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said he was saddened by the deaths. "My heart goes out to these victims and their families," Fontaine said. Alberta Justice Minister Jon Havelock was also upset by the shootings. "It's a tragic incident, no question," Havelock said. "It causes me some concern. I'm sure the individual officers involved are very concerned about what occurred as are the RCMP." He said the RCMP will bring in individuals from outside the area to conduct an investigation. A provincial fatality inquiry will also be held into the shooting deaths. RCMP SHOOTOUT QUOTES: "(Ty) was friendly and for him to get killed by a bunch of adults that should've used their brains instead of their guns. It's a sad situation." - Beatrice Onespot, a cousin of Connie Jacob's. -- "Emotions are running high (on the reserve) and emotions are running high here. Any time a child is killed in any situation, emotions are going to run high." - Okotoks RCMP Cpl. Mike O'Reilly. -- "The time bomb is the apprehension of those kids, especially when you bring in a police force." - Roy Little Chief of the Committee Against Injustices to Natives on the fact the shooting came after officials tried to seize children from the home. -- "The violent and apparently senseless nature of these deaths make it even more tragic and I hope that the details will be made public in the very near future." - Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: CANADIAN COLONIALISM IS MURDER. MURDER IS CANADIAN COLONIALISM. RCMP Public Complaints Commission Phone: 1-800-665-6878 Solicitor General Andy Scott, Federal Minister responsible for RCMP Faxing by email: remote-printer.Andy_Scott@16139969955.iddd.tpc.int 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: Murder by RCMP" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 18:13:43 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: MURDER by RCMP - Fatal errors.. Newsgroup: alt.native d'laan'te'h... About the murder of Connie Jacobs & her son, Ty, (& her unborn child also) by that trigger-happy RCMP pig, David Voller, at T'suu T'ina First nation last Sunday, I have ben getting calls from friends & relations that live there; two of whom watched the horror unfold, others who are family members.... Your prayers for the dead & the survivors are appreciated... The RCMP is investigating... which is pretty well a guarantee of a WHITEwash, as usual. ("Just-us", anyone?) Don't forget that this is Canada, where the uniformed murderer of Kettle Point "nishnawbe, Dudley George, an unarmed Indian at Ipperwash last year, resulted in the Ontario Provincial Police pig that murdered him getting a "sentence" of two (2) years of community work..., & is still in uniform pending his appeal... Connie, mother of four, pregnant with her fifth & babysitting two grandchildren, was drunk. She'd just whacked her husband, Hardy, (also drunk) in the forehead with a frying pan, then called the Nation para-medics to come & patch him up. They came in, bandaged up his head & then called the SS (social services) because they were worried about the kids being witness to a drunken fight between Connie & Hardy. That was the first mistake. They could have & should have just gone next door to ask the person that they KNEW was Connie's best friend to go over & ask Connie to let the kids come spend the night at her place. That's what community is about. But no, these para-medics were programmed to "the system" instead of to the community. Enter the SS... and the second mistake occurred... In the typical, insensitive, stupid, ineffective, non-Indian-imposed "procedural process," the city-trained "social worker" pounds on the door, cop at her side & screaming about the "Order to Apprehend the Children Into Custody" she's holding in her hand... She's not there to help those kids, or to help Connie; she's there to enforce "The Law"... (who's law? Not that of the Nation, that's for sure...). This to a mother who's drunk, whom EVERYONE knows loves & cherishes her children, & is fiercely protective of them... Even the most basic of "crisis intervention" courses teaches that this is NOT the way to intervene in a situation of drunken violence. Connie was, by all accounts, a good & caring mother... with an alcohol abuse problem. In Canada the law states that someone with a drug abuse or alcohol abuse problem is suffering from a disability, not a dangerous "flaw in character". (Which is why no one in Canada can be fired from a job or have their kids taken away permanently for the fact that they have such a disability, although they can be suspended from such duties TEMPORARILY until they secure effective treatment for their condition.) Connie & her husband were NOT "evil people". They NEVER abused those children physically or verbally, although the quarrels & fights symptomatic of their disability undoubtedly wounded the children who witnessed such outbursts emotionally & spiritually. In every single one of the dozen or so community services organizations that I worked with Nation communities to set up, the FACT that the FAMILY is the heart of the Nation, the community, the FAMILY is/was the biggest strength from which the helpers could draw from; was/is central element in EVERY "community intervention". The family was totally ignored in this case. No one gave the slightest thought to calling up Connie's family, no grandmother was brought into the situation, and who better to deal with it, to get those kids out of the home until Connie & Hardy were sober enough to deal with? In my own life, in my early days as parent & husband, I was a drunk, and so was my wife. Just like Connie & Hardy. The pigs were at our door on a regular basis, usually ending up hauling either myself or my wife off to the drunk tank for the night. Both my wife & myself had stuck a rifle muzzle into the faces of social workers who'd come & try to "lay down the law..." No one was going to take our kids away. Guns at home are a fact of life, given the lack of employment & super-high cost of store-bought food in most communities. It was/is extremely rare, (especially in comparison with "urban civilized areas") that guns are turned against anyone but themselves by participants in the habitual, "parties turned sour" that is the common pattern in such situations in Nation communities. Kids are rarely, if ever, the victims of shooting by either of the "belligerents." So when Connie grabbed that rifle & fired a round through her ceiling to get the SS & reserve cop out of her house, why did the SS worker call the RCMP saying that they had, "...a hostage situation, with an armed, drunken woman holding 6 kids hostage.."?? It is ABSURD to think that Connie would harm the children in any way, shape or form. No. The SS worker's reaction was more one of hurt pride & having been forced to fill her panties by a "drunken woman" than as professional community service worker...; an "irate mother.." was not the phrase that, in the mind of this SS worker, fit the truth. And besides, "The law" had to be enforced. There are two correct reactions to such a situation, both proven effective in thousands, if not tens of thousands of times this type of situation has occurred in every community of every Nation for at least the past 300 years. The first would have been to keep Connie's home under hidden, quiet surveillance, call a close relative who is stable & respected by Connie to go into the home &, by way of quiet talk, allow her (the intervenor) to take trust of the children until Connie had worked things out with the community, with "The Law," with the SS, with her husband & with let her own disability. The second option would begin with immediate & close consultation with those who knew Connie well, such as her family, in order to ascertain that her attitudes towards the children, her reactive history to similar stress & inebriation would constitute, in the opinions of the only "Connie Experts" on the planet (ie, her family), that she was not in danger of shooting anything but ceilings & of swinging a frying pan. If that was the FAMILY's "expert opinion," the "authorities could then keep Connie's home under hidden, quiet surveillance, let her sleep it off, & then send a grandmother or respected intervenor the next morning, as Connie's mind cleared. NOTE: In either option, the children should & MUST then be left with the person that CONNIE, NOT the SS, entrusted them to until the parents' problems were dealt with effectively. In my own life, as a young wino, it's only when y'et'soone, my family grandmother came down from our home community & "laid down her law", that I stopped drinking & truly began to realize what a sacred duty being a parent really is. (And a certain then-young woman from AIM who happened by, a MicMac whose memory is sacred to me, also helped me find the backbone I'd almost lost. My wife, unfortunately, is still in the bottle on some skid-row, where she's been for close to 50 years now). The last, fatal error in this case was the trigger-happy attitude of the RCMP constable, David Voller. In a reaction with disgusting similarity to the development of the situation for which Leonard Peltier is serving 2 life sentences for murders he didn't commit, and as is similarly played out all too often by too many cops who watch too many tv cop-shows on tv, Voller showed up with a screech of tires, lights flashing, siren waling..., & shotgun in hand. Connie came to the door & opened it about 10 inches. She still had her ceiling-shooting rifle in her hands. It was dark & snowing, the kind of visibility in which it is illegal to even shoot at a deer, since precision is almost impossible. Besides which, Voller had decided to use his .12-gauge shotgun, not his handgun. Further, he knew that the shotgun was loaded with .00-buckshot shells instead of the less-lethal birdshot used in riot control. Precision is impossible with such a weapon, nor is it desirable with this type of shell, which is meant to kill, not simply disable. It is specifically designed to scatter 12 steel-jacketed pellets, each about a quarter-inch wide, in a wide, lethal swath. Voller started to yell, "Drop the gun!" three times in quick succession, (on this ng, we're all familiar with the script). After the first yell Connie started to raise her rifle to her shoulder. Her 9-year old son, Ty, was peeking between the partially open door & his mother's body. By Voller's third yell Connie had her rifle up & put 3 quick shots over Voller's head, so high that it was UNDOUBTEDLY meant more as a "F*ck you!" answer than ANY attempt to hit, harm or kill Voller. And Connie was drunk, hardly able to stand let alone aim; unable hit the side of a barn if she'd been inside it. And Voller, standing about 30 feet from the doorway, his view obscured, KNOWING THERE WERE CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE BEHIND CONNIE, pulled the trigger on his shotgun, instantly killing Connie & her son, Ty. Voller then hid behind his cruiser & called in the SWAT team. Thirty heavily-armed RCMP rushed to the scene, surrounded Commie's home, and promptly started screaming "Come out with your hands up on top of your head!" to a house containing 2 dead bodies and 5 terrified, crying, screaming children, huddled around their mother & brother's dead bodies.... FOUR HOURS LATER, one of these brave baby-butchers rushed the door, his own shotgun ready to blast anybody that had looked threatening (ie, anyone standing up inside the home). Fortunately for the kids, they were all still down, trying to revive their mother's cold, blood-soaked remains, so mom could save them from the terror. Ironically, the SS proclaimed that, "... the remaining five children were then safely removed from the home..." Safe from the trigger-happy RCMP, they forgot to add, as they were NEVER in any danger of being shot by their mother. No one who ever knew Connie believes she EVER could have or remotely would have hurt any of the kids. And Connie was 2 months pregnant. Instead of reliance on common sense, cultural sensitivity, and the barest modicum of trust in the family & the community involved, the SS, the reserve police and ESPECIALLY the RCMP went "by the book", & "by the tv-cop show". The RCMP certainly did NOT act within,"The Law"... (excerpt) "The Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials" as Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations Resolution 34/169 of 17 December, 1979 (Canada & the USA voting in favor, with the majority) Article 3(c) The use of firearms is considered an extreme measure. Every effort should be made to exclude the use of firearms, especially against children.... David Voller is a murderer. The SS worker and the paramedics were negligent in their duties, and that negligence resulted in death. Both murder and criminal negligence causing death are indictable crimes. But..., "... the RCMP is investigating...", equals "Just-us", equals "WHITEwash"... --------- "RE: Conflicting Reports/Tsuu T'ina Shooting" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 07:06:40 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Conflicting reports: Tsuu T'ina shooting :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: The brutal shooting last week of Sarcee woman Connie Jacobs and her son Ty by Canadian police intent on seizing Jacobs' children needs to be viewed in a larger context. The Canadian government recently apologized for their long-time practice of abducting aboriginal children from their homes for placement in the infamously abusive residential schools. This apology is hollow: though the residential schools are now closed, Social Services seems to have taken over their role of removing indigenous children from their families and their nations, all too often placing them outside their communities and effectively alienating them from their culture and their indigenous identity. Connie and Ty Jacobs deaths are only one indication of the extremity of this practice. In the Carrier-Chilcotin nation, these seizures have become so numerous that the tribal council has closed the reserve to strangers. According to the Canadian Press, BC social workers took about 70 children from this community between December 1997 and February 1998. "They've gone to some pretty drastic measures, so we have to do the same," Chief Roger Jimmie told the media. "We will seize all vehicles that enter the reserve, including helicopters." Social Services' seizure of children is the continuation of the residential schools' legacy. Both were established ostensibly for the children's welfare, yet are in direct contravention of Article II(e) of the UN 1948 Convention on Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, which specifically prohibits the forcible transfer of children from one racial, national, ethnic or religious group to another. The UN Human Rights Commission sponsored a forum yesterday in Port Alberni investigating the allegations of abuse of native children by staff in the United Church run residential school there, including a number of murders. It is alleged that RCMP and coroners colluded in concealing the true causes of these deaths, in which the RCMP were complicit as they had brought the children to the schools in the first place. It is in this context that S.I.S.I.S. invites you to read the following two mainstream media articles regarding last week's shooting. The second story attempts to settle the alarming report that the shot mother and child were left lying for four hours in a snowstorm with the hasty coroner's conclusion that they "died instantly." "The time bomb is the apprehension of those kids, especially when you bring in a police force." -- Roy Little Chief of the Committee Against Injustices to Natives RCMP Public Complaints Commission Phone: 1-800-665-6878 Solicitor General Andy Scott, Federal Minister responsible for RCMP Faxing by email: remote-printer.Andy_Scott@16139969955.iddd.tpc.int :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: MOTHER, SON DEAD IN RCMP SHOOTOUT 'Ugly situation' on Calgary reserve Globe and Mail, March 24, 1998, by Alanna Mitchell TSUU T'INA NATION, Alta. -- A 36-year-old woman and her nine-year-old son are dead after lying unattended for four hours during a snowstorm following a nighttime shootout with RCMP on this native reserve south of Calgary. The RCMP officer who was involved in the shooting Sunday did not realize that the child was standing either beside or behind his mother when the shots were fired, said Corporal Mike O'Rielly of the Okotoks RCMP detachment. A police reconstruction suggests that the boy was beside his mother at the ramshackle house on this sparsely populated reserve about the time she fired at police. He was killed after the RCMP officer returned fire. The incident took place after social workers from the reserve tried to seize some of the six children at the house. Cpl. O'Rielly could not say whether Connie Jacobs and her son Ty were killed by the same bullet, although he said it appears the RCMP officer fired only one bullet. However, news photographs showed five bullet holes in the house. He could not confirm reports that Ms. Jacobs was two months pregnant when she was shot. The results of autopsies are to be ready today and ought to answer some of these questions. "It's an ugly situation all around," Cpl. O'Rielly said. "The truth has to come out." Many on the reserve of 1,100 people that abuts the south end of Calgary were incensed at the shooting yesterday. A resident who would not give her name said it smacks of the bad old days when the cavalry rode in and "cleared out our people." Several residents were especially hostile to reporters, saying the incident was a tragedy for the natives and they wanted to deal with it privately. The Tsuu T'ina Nation immediately ordered an inquiry into the part its officials played in the drama. Chief Roy Whitney pleaded for his people to be left to grieve in peace. Other members of the nation administration would not answer telephone calls yesterday. The provincial medical examiner's office has already launched an inquiry into the deaths. The major crimes unit of the RCMP from Calgary and Edmonton is also spearheading an investigation. The drama began Sunday after a domestic dispute at the Jacobs house. It is one of seven homes on a tract of land in the middle of a vast, deserted field off Highway 8. Five of the rickety two-tone beige houses are boarded up and abandoned. Just two are still inhabited. They are painted green and appear dilapidated. Details of the events are sketchy, but RCMP said that Ms. Jacobs and her husband Hardy had been fighting on Sunday. Cpl. O'Rielly said police were called to the home earlier in the day. By early evening, an officer from the Tsuu T'ina Nation Police Service and some members of the nation's family and social services had gone to the house to seize some of the six children there. The children ranged in age from seven months to nine years. Not all were the children of Ms. Jacobs. Police would not say how many children she had or whether the others were relatives. Cpl. O'Rielly said that Mr. Jacobs had left by that time. Police would not confirm media reports that he had gone to hospital as a result of the earlier fight at the home. But when the social workers and native police officer tried to take the children, Ms. Jacobs became unco-operative, and a Tsuu T'ina officer called the Okotoks RCMP for backup. By about 7 p.m. an RCMP officer arrived. The snow was falling thickly and it was dark. When he and the Tsuu T'ina officer approached the house, a woman emerged armed with a rifle and began firing. Police could not say how many shots she fired. The RCMP officer fired back. He was perhaps 30 to 50 feet (10 to 15 metres) away from the house, Cpl. O'Rielly said. The woman disappeared from view. The officers thought at the time that she had gone back into the house.The RCMP officer called for more backup and officers arrived from Calgary, Okotoks, Cochrane and Turner Valley as soon as the storm allowed. Emergency response teams from Red Deer and Calgary arrived. By about 11 p.m., the assembled officers approached the house again. They found Ms. Jacobs and her son lying near the entry to the house. It is thought they had been there for about four hours. The other five children were inside. They were not hurt. Ms. Jacobs had an older daughter who was not at home at the time of the shooting. The five children who were at the house were taken into the care of the Tsuu T'ina Nation Family and Social Services Department after the shooting. Mr. Jacobs's sister-in-law told The Canadian Press that the family is angry that Ms. Jacobs and Ty were left unattended for hours. She would not give her name, but said Mr. Jacobs in is shock. The RCMP officer involved in the shooting is getting support from peers and from professionals trained to deal with such incidents, Cpl. O'Rielly said. Ms. Jacobs's friend, Vera Starlight, sobbed when she learned the two were killed. She said Ms. Jacobs was about two months pregnant. "This is really awful, it just hurts me so much," Ms. Starlight said. The family struggled to make ends meet on welfare and lived in a "horrid" dilapidated house, she said. Drinking and fighting were common for the couple. "When she wasn't drinking she was the nicest person. She's a good mother." Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said he was saddened by the deaths. "My heart goes out to these victims and their families," Mr. Fontaine said. Alberta Justice Minister Jon Havelock was also upset by the shootings. "It's a tragic incident, no question," he said. Letters to the Globe and Mail: letters@GlobeAndMail.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: DEATH CAME INSTANTLY TO MOTHER AND SON Canadian Press, March 26, 1998. TSUU T'INA RESERVE, Alta. (CP)-- A woman and her nine-year-old son died within seconds of being shot by an RCMP at their front door, Alberta's deputy chief medical examiner said Wednesday. "Even if this had happened outside an operating room, nobody would have been able to do anything to save lives," Lloyd Denmark told a Calgary news conference. Connie Jacobs, 37, and her son Ty died Sunday evening from a single gunshot blast that sent a swath of 12 to 15 one-centimetre pellets toward the mother, the boy and the house behind them. Denmark's findings contradicted the report of one relative, who said he believed Jacobs spoke to her son as they lay bleeding. The two were shot at their ramshackle home on the Tsuu T'ina reserve southwest of Calgary. Police said Jacobs shot first at an RCMP officer who was called to help a social worker and tribal police officer remove children from the home. Const. Dave Voller, a 22-year veteran, told the mother three times to drop her rifle and then fired back with the shotgun, police said. Ambulance attendants, who had earlier treated Jacobs' husband Hardy for a gash on the head, had asked for the help of band social workers because they were concerned about the children being gin the middle of a violent domestic dispute. Six kids were in the house at the time -- four of Jacobs' offspring and two grandchildren. The five remaining children were eventually removed safely. Alberta Justice Minister Jon Havelock announced that a provincial fatality inquiry will be held once a criminal investigation is finished. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Justice Demanded" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 22:29:13 GMT From: Pbbmicmac@sedona.net (Robert Branscombe) Subj: JUSTICE DEMANDED Newsgroup: soc.culture.native http://www.dickshovel.com/bra5.html [Image] FOR THE SPIRIT OF ANNIE MAE -------------------------------------- United States Senate Washington, DC 20510-4103 January 8, 1998 I have recently been contacted by Robert A. Pictou-Branscombe of Rimrock, Arizona in reference to his efforts to have the murder of his cousin Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, properly addressed by federal officials. I have enclosed a copy of that correspondence for your review. Mr. Branscombe provides articles summarizing the violent death his cousin endured. He reports that highly questionable tactics were used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in pursuing a resolution to this crime, including removing her hands from her body and sending them to the FBI crime lab....[the balance of this letter can be found here.] W. Lee Rawls Assistant Attorney General Office of Legislative Affairs Room 1603 U.S. Department of Justice Washington, D. C. 20530 Sincerely, Tom Daschle United States Senate --------------------------------------------------------- And, now...we have a reply from the FBI... US. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington, D.C. 20535 January 27, 1998 Honorable Tom Daschle United States Senator Sioux Falls, SD 57101-1274 Dear Mr. Rawls: Your January 8th correspondence to the Department of Justice on behalf of Mr. Robert A. Pictou-Branscombe was referred to the FBI for reply. According to your letter, Mr. Pictou-Branscombe alleges that the FBI used questionable tactics in the investigation of the murder of his cousin, Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, and that her case has not been properly addressed federally. The FBI's investigation of the murder was initiated in February, 1976, upon the discovery of a partially decomposed female corpse on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There was no identification on the body, and the cause of death was not immediately apparent. In an effort to determine the identity of the decedent, the hands were removed and forwarded to the FBI Laboratory's Latent Fingerprint Section, which did, in fact, lead to the identification of Ms. Pictou-Aquash. Decomposition was to such an extent that no normal field-level lifting procedures for inked impressions were possible. Removal of hands in such a case is a routine procedure accepted as a standard practice throughout the law enforcement community. Additionally, the local pathologist who initially examined the corpse did not perform a full forensic autopsy and, based on a cursory external examination, concluded the cause of death was due to exposure. When the FBI discovered a full forensic autopsy had not been performed, we vigorously pursued a court order to have the body exhumed to have a full forensic autopsy done. This was accomplished, and the subsequent cause of death was determined to be a single gunshot wound to the head. We do sympathize with Mr. Pictou-Branscombe over the violent death of his cousin, and our Minneapolis Office has assured me that in view of the circumstances surrounding this crime, the Agents assigned to this investigation have worked exhaustively for over 20 years to gather sufficient evidence to obtain a successful prosecution of the person(s) responsible. Every logical course of investigation was pursued, and all of the facts were presented to the United States Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota, for prosecutive opinion. By letter of September 27, 1996, prosecution was declined; however, the decision is subject to review at any time in the event facts are developed in addition to what has already come to light. If Mr. Pictou-Branscombe has any credible information which would support further investigation into this heinous crime, we would very much like to talk to him. He can contact our office located in Room 303, Federal Building, 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, South Dakota 57501-1233, telephone (605) 224-1331. In addition to the FBI, many other law enforcement agencies have participated or assisted in this investigation over the years, including the Law Enforcement Branch of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I hope this information will demonstrate to you and to Mr. Pictou-Branscombe law enforcement's desire to bring this heinous crime to a successful resolution. Sincerely yours, John E. Collingwood Assistant Director Office of Public and Congressional Affairs -------------------------------------- By My Signature I Support The Call For Justice For Anna Mae My name: My e-mail address: City of Residence: State of Residence: Comments to Senator Daschle et al: --------------------------------------------------------- Daschle agrees to help... The net closes... Anna Mae Timeline Anna Mae Archive AIM Site First Nation Cumulative Index ------------------- This site is maintained by JS Dill Comments regarding this site will be appreciated... --------- "RE: Women Seek Status for Grandchildren" --------- Date: Thu, Mar 26, 1998 3:23 AM EDT From: SISIS@envirolink.org Subj: Seeking Status for the Grandchildren :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: INDIAN WOMEN SEEK STATUS FOR GRANDCHILDREN Canadian Press, March 23, 1998, by Janice Tibbetts [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.] OTTAWA (CP) - Hundreds of aboriginal women, many of them grandmothers, met Monday to figure out how to fight a federal law they say will turn their grandchildren into a lost generation. The Native Women's Association of Canada says a 13-year-old piece of legislation ensures that eventual eradication of status Indians in Canada. "It's part of the assimilationist policies that have been perpetuated over the last 200 years," said association president Marilyn Buffalo. The 1985 law, known still as Bill C-31, corrected decades of discrimination against native women by reinstating the Indian status of those who married white men. But the legislation also contained a second-generation cut off, which means the offspring of Bill C-31 women are also eligible for Indian status, but it is not extended to grandchildren. The women say that is creating a generation of second-class children on reserves, who live with their status-Indian mother but do not qualify for the same benefits as children who have status, including everything from dental care to Christmas presents from the band. Gina Russell, a Chippewa Indian from Cold Lake, Alta., appealed to women to step up their attack against Bill C-31. Russell, who married a non-native in 1987, said she still does not feel welcome on her reserve and she fears for the future generations. "They tell me I don't belong there because my last name is Russell and there aren't any Russells there but me," she said. "We have grandchildren who will live that unless we stop it." But the status of future generations has taken a back seat to the high-profile court battle involving aging women who want to go home. A lot of attention has been paid to Bill C-31 women who had their status restored but their bands refused to accept them, saying they have the right to determine membership. The law is currently being challenged by three Alberta bands. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Yellowstone Bison/Cattle Conflict" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 20:40:32 -0500 From: buffalo@wildrockies.org (Buffalo Nations) Subj: The Yellowstone Bison-Cattle Conflict UUCP email The Yellowstone Bison - Cattle Conflict 1. There are about 1.3 billion cattle on Earth (almost 100 million of these are in the U.S.). They take up almost one fourth of the landmass of the planet. There are approximately 250,000 North American Bison on Earth. Most of these are ranched bison confined behind fences. 2. Yellowstone bison are one of only 3 bison herds in the country not confined by fences. They have roamed freely for longer than any others. 3. Yellowstone Park bison have lived with the disease, brucellosis, for 80 years. The disease has no effect on the population. 4. No bison have died from the disease, but several thousand bison have been killed because of it. 5. Although it is theoretically possible for bison to transmit the disease to cattle, in the many decades Yellowstone bison have lived with the disease, they have never done so. 6. Cattle and bison have co-mingled in Grand Teton National Park for 40 years. Cattle are allowed to graze inside that park. A greater percent of those bison test positive for the disease compared to Yellowstone bison. Just as in Yellowstone, they have never transmitted the disease to cattle. 7. These long-term case studies suggest the risk that bison will give the disease to cattle is extremely small. Dr. Nicoletti, a well-known authority on the disease, states, "Perhaps few situations in life are risk-free, but this one seems near". In the highly unlikely event that cattle were to contract the disease from bison, straightforward measures could be taken to address an outbreak. 8. It would be much more cost-effective to deal with isolated outbreaks of the disease in cattle than to eradicate the disease from all organisms that carry it, including bison, elk, deer, moose, coyotes, bears, etc... 9. Given this reality, people have questioned whether the killing of more than 1,000 Yellowstone bison last year (1996/97) was motivated by science or politics. 10. Notwithstanding the concerns of people across the nation, 1,084 Yellowstone bison, or 1/3 of the oldest free-roaming herd, were killed last year on the insistence of the State of Montana. 11. Montana's Department of Livestock (DOL) directed the slaughter of Yellowstone National Park bison. That department has no expertise in wildlife. It is charged with promoting Montana's livestock industry. 12. Bison bulls and calves cannot transmit brucellosis. Yet, almost one third (341) of all bison killed last year were bulls. 146 calves were shot or sent to slaughter. 13. There are 25-30 times more elk than bison in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Elk also have the disease. Unlike bison, elk have reportedly transmitted the disease to livestock (there are six cases). Although bison continue to be slaughtered, elk are ignored. Elk hunting is a major money earner for Montana, earning the State $11 million/year from sale of licenses and permits alone. 14. Many people believe that bison are being killed not because of disease, but because they are perceived as a threat by the cattle industry. Sheep were once also considered a threat by the cattle industry. 53,000 sheep were killed during the cattle/sheep wars. 15. Largely unaware of the senseless nature of the slaughter, taxpayers are now paying to kill the animal Americans struggled to save only 100 years ago. 16. Montana's livestock department sold the carcasses of the bison killed, advertising them as "Property of the Department of Livestock". They kept all proceeds ($185,763 in 1997). They donated carcasses when they could not make money from selling them. Many tribes consider the killing disrespectful and several have refused to accept the carcasses. 17. The effect of brucellosis on beef cattle is minor. If cattle contract the disease, they typically abort one calf, after which they tend to birth normally. Cows abort for many reasons, including eating too many pine needles. 18. Even though a vaccine for cattle is available, Montana does not advocate mandatory vaccination of cattle against brucellosis. To protect cattle from the disease, only female calves would have to be vaccinated, once in their life. The cost would be $6/cow. Oddly, although Montana claims any threat of brucellosis is "too great", it does not insist that ranchers vaccinate against the disease. Instead, Montana demands that non-ranching taxpayers pay to "protect" cattle by killing bison. 19. Almost 20% of Montana is owned by farm and ranch corporations . A mere 10% of the cattle operations in Montana own 50% of all the cattle in the State. The livestock industry is a powerful lobby in the State even though Montana has less than 3% of all cattle in the country, and only 1% of the total cattle operations in the country. 20. Not all ranchers agree with the extremist approach adopted by Montana. Many do not consider brucellosis a threat to their cattle. 21. Many are outraged that Montana insists on killing the nations' natural heritage in the name of protecting livestock, livestock that are being grazed by large-scale landowners with heavy subsidies on publicly managed land designated as wildlife habitat. The public demand to cancel these subsidies may grow as people become more aware of what is happening. 22. Yellowstone Park is high country. Some bison leave the Park in winter to move to lower lands. Many bison were shot last winter when they moved onto lowland they traditionally used during severe winters -- land now owned by a religious cult, the Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT). The Church moved from California to what is the most intact ecosystem left in the continental United States. They have constructed huge bomb shelters on this land. They have not welcomed the original inhabitants, bison, on the land. The Church decided to graze hundreds of cattle on its land during the height of the bison-cattle conflict. 23. More bison have been killed on land owned by the Church than anywhere else. This land forms part of a U.S. Forest Service livestock grazing allotment. The priority use of this land according to the Forest Plan is for wildlife. 24. The public is increasingly questioning whether the Forest Service is doing an adequate job at managing this land, i.e., the "Park" grazing allotment, for its intended purpose, wildlife. The Forest Service alone is responsible for managing livestock grazing on this land -- on both the Church's private land, as well as the public lands within the allotment. The government could, therefore, modify the livestock grazing permit to reduce conflicts between wildlife and livestock on this land, or they could terminate the permit, recognizing that livestock grazing is not compatible with the primary designated land use. They have taken no action. 25. Because of the Church's silent endorsement of the slaughter of bison on land where they graze cattle at highly subsidized rates, some taxpayers have objected to subsidizing the Church -- the largest private landowner in the area. Currently, the Church is permitted to graze cows on public lands at 91% less than the going rate on private lands. (It costs $1.35 to graze cows on National Forest lands compared to $15 for a cow/calf "unit" per month on private lands in the area.) 26. Compensating landowners for losses attributed to bison (such as broken fences) would be much more reasonable and cost-effective than the current scheme. 27. The social and cultural concerns of traditional Native Americans, some of whom consider the buffalo sacred, have been ignored. Tribal nations have passed resolutions calling for the killing to stop. Thus far they have been ignored. Native peoples gathered to pray for the buffalo on the Park boundary. During the ceremony, and within earshot of those praying, Montana killed bison. 28. Because Montana cattle are free of the disease, the federal agency in charge of animal disease control, APHIS, has designated Montana as a "brucellosis-free" state. Contrary to popular belief, the mere existence of brucellosis in a wildlife, not domestic, animal, is not sufficient cause for APHIS to downgrade a state's brucellosis status. There must be an outbreak of brucellosis in either cattle or other domestic livestock before APHIS could downgrade a state. Thus, infected bison (which are wildlife, not livestock) do not pose a threat to the brucellosis status of the State. 29. Because Montana is designated as brucellosis-free by the federal government, some people question whether it is legal for other states to impose sanctions on Montana cattle -- as some have. Oddly, Montana has not challenged these states, but has instead used the threats to justify the continued killing of bison. 30. State Veterinarians may pose the biggest threat in the brucellosis conflict. Individual states can threaten the livestock industries of other, sometimes competing, states by restricting the import of cattle from states classified by APHIS as brucellosis-free. No scientific justification is required from the State Vets who impose such sanctions. Many people believe the powers of the State Veterinarians should be limited to preclude the possibility of abuse of their powers. 31. Numerous State Veterinarians wrote letters to Montana threatening to restrict the import of Montana cattle into their states. These letters were all sent within the brief period of nine days, all covered the same points, often in the same order. Some have questioned whether this was mere coincidence, or an orchestrated campaign to have states threaten to boycott Montana cattle in order to justify the continued killing of bison. Others have challenged the logic of asking non-ranching taxpayers to incur costs of expensive actions to address threats when the livestock industry is apparently threatening itself. 32. A risk-assessment to determine the risk that bison would transmit brucellosis to cattle in the Yellowstone area has never been done. This is normal procedure in cases where costly actions to avert risk are considered. Such an assessment promotes wise use of tax monies. 33. Montana has yet to adopt the modern concept of determining scientifically-based acceptable levels of risk, and continues instead to insist on the antiquated zero risk approach -- regardless of whether it is cost-effective or not. 34. Millions of buffalo were slaughtered in the 1800's in attempts to subjugate Indian people. Today, little more than one hundred years after the first massacre, buffalo are once again the target, and, just as before, the reason for the slaughter is political. 35. The plan for killing bison is still in place today, March 20, 1998. The facts suggest that something other than a disease is the real issue. What is the livestock industry really worried about? Does this struggling industry feel threatened? Is that why they are killing bison? Do they feel threatened by the disease, or by the bison? The many years over which no transmission of the disease has occurred, and the surveillance system in place, attest to the risk being extremely small. This suggests the consequences are not likely to occur. Even if the risk that bison would transmit brucellosis to cattle was much greater than it is, the potential consequence, i.e., downgrading of the State's brucellosis status, does not warrant the radical approach that has been adopted by Montana, and could be avoided altogether by: 1) curtailing the power of State Veterinarians so that they can't impose sanctions on cattle from states designated by the federal government as brucellosis-free, 2) modifying Montana's "zero-tolerance" policy to one more consistent with modern disease management, 3) acquiring additional winter range for bison outside the Park, and, 4) removing privately owned cattle from public lands. The bison slaughter is unnecessary for disease management purposes, but many believe bison are being killed for a different purpose, i.e., to show that the West still belongs to cattle and to cattlemen, and that buffalo and the movement for a more ecological approach to land use have no place there. Perhaps this violent and explicit demonstration will prove to be wrong. There is no reason why the West cannot be shared by both cattle and bison -- unless people are forced to choose between the two. In this case, those who wage war on bison may well lose the war they wage on the West. Will the livestock industry allow a few wild bison to share the range with the 99.5 million cows in the country, or will Americans be forced to choose between preserving the symbol of wildness or producing more cows. Virginia Ravndal P.O. Box 364, Gardiner, MT 59030 406-848-7946 Important Telephone Numbers & Addresses Montana's Department of Livestock 800-523-3162 (P.O. Box 202001, Helena, MT 59620) Governor of Montana 406-444-3111 (P.O. Box 200801, Helena, MT 59620) Buffalo Nations PO Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 phone 406-646-0071 fax mailto:buffalo@wildrockies.org http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buffalo-talk is a service of Buffalo Nations and the Wild Rockies InfoNet at http://www.wildrockies.org. You can subscribe to this list by sending a message to: mailto:wild-rockies-lists@vortex.wildrockies.org with the words: in the subject line. You can unsubscribe to this list by sending a message to: mailto:wild-rockies-lists@vortex.wildrockies.org with the words: in the subject. Buffalo Nations PO Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 phone 406-646-0071 fax buffalo@wildrockies.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buffalo-talk is a service of Buffalo Nations and the Wild Rockies InfoNet at http://www.wildrockies.org. You can subscribe to this list by sending a message to: mailto:wild-rockies-lists@vortex.wildrockies.org with the words: in the subject line. --------- "RE: Paper Releases Info From DEA Report" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 15:50:27 -0800 (PST) From: "moonlight@igc.apc.org" Subj: Paper Releases Info From DEA Report Mailing List: Chiapas-L (chiapas-l@profmexis.dgsca.unam.mx) MARCH 26, 06:48 EST Paper Releases Info From DEA Report NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. intelligence officials have found growing evidence that the Mexican military is more heavily involved with drug traffickers than the Mexican government has acknowledged, The New York Times reported today. The paper said a classified report by the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as other intelligence information, has determined that the arrest last year of Mexico's drug enforcement chief, Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, followed secret meetings between Mexican army officers and the country's biggest drug mafia. U.S. officials that the paper did not identify said that they believe the military officers discussed allowing the drug gang to operate in exchange for bribes. An agreement might have been reached before the gang's leader, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, died last year after plastic surgery. "The bottom line is that all this goes a lot deeper than we thought," a U.S. official said. Another U.S. official said that if the link between the drug gang and the military are extensive "it points to much of our work in Mexico being an exercise in futility." The report was given to Attorney General Janet Reno on Feb. 6, a year after Gutierrez Rebollo was arrested. In 1996, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo began using elements of the military as a law enforcement agency because the nation's police were deemed to be so corrupt. Mexican Defense Ministry officials have denied the details about the reports that have surfaced so far. "Lies, slander and infamy," said Gen. Tomas Angeles Dauahare, a top aide to the Mexican Defense Minister. Last year, military officials acknowledged that several generals met unwittingly with a top lieutenant of Carrillo Fuentes. They said the trafficker used an alias and the military officials did not know he was a member of the drug gang. --------- "RE: Request from Mexico" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 13:11:28 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: Request from Mexico Newsgroup: alt.native To: All Nations, all Natives, all Indians, all Indigenous Peoples & people.. We are all being asked to take it into the streets again, by ALL of the Indian Nations in Mexico through the CNI (National Congress of the Indigenous in Mexico, with a membership of OVER 20,000,000... NOT just for Chiapas, but in solidarity with all of them. Over 1,000,000 INDIANS IN MEXICO WILL BE MARCHING!! on Good Friday, 10 April, 1998, beginning at 10:00AM Mexico City Time. The theme is, !! Never Again a Mexico Without the Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples !! The day is full of symbolism: - it is the anniversary of the assassination of Emiliano Zapata, the Zapateca/Yaqui Indian general from Morellos State who led the great Indian army that fought first to deliver Mexico from the dictatorship of Benito Juarez and then again to assist Villa in turning the tide against the reactionary forces of Venustiano Carranza & Gen Olvaro Obregon, to guarantee Indian land rights' protection in the Constitution of Mexico. - it is a day when the "good christians" that are running Mexico with a blood-covered fist of iron are dutifully off at the temples of their various cults, "ponder on their sins & ask forgiveness on this day of atonement." And, as their god was crucified, so has the government of Mexico crucified the Indian Nations in Mexico with this farcical new, Law of Indigenous Rights" that the ruling PRI & the fascist PAN dreamed up & rammed through the Mexican Congress last Thursday. A law that is supposedly based on the Accords of San Andres Sacam Ch'en de los Pobres, which the Mexican govt had signed in Feb of 1996, (& has refused to ratify since), but without any of the significant elements of the already-signed Accord which would have given Indian Nations recognition of their true & unique place in Mexican society, gutted of any but the most cosmetic & folkloric signs of Indian rights. The PRI & PAN refused to consult with any Indians, refused to consider the recommendations of its own Human Rights Commission, refused to consider the recommendations of the very Liason group it had established to negotiate with the Indian Nations, refused to meet its requirements in keeping with the International Treaties & Covenants on Indigenous Rights, which it has signed... Refused to listen to the Indian Nations, Peoples & people who form over 30% of Mexico's population... Refused to listen to the world... And so we are asked to march in solidarity, to march side by side with those whose rights & status in their country and in history have been effectively erased by this new law. As clearly & eloquently stated in the Declaration by the CNI given at Tenochtitlan, Mexico City on the 13th March, 1998, the message to the PRI, PAN & their masters in corporate America is simple... ... "Peace or war. The choice is yours. Scrap this new absurdity of a law & implement the Accords of San Andres Sacam Ch'en de los Pobres, EXACTLY as they were agreed to, or the spirit of Emiliano Zapata Salazar will lead us to secure those rights from your dead hands... !! Never Again a Mexico Without the Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples !!... " I urge all readers who wish to stand shoulder to shoulder with their relations, those who know and who LIVE the meaning of the word "relations"..., to read the Declaration by the CNI, posted following this article. masi:cho... --------- "RE: Aerial Flights Threaten All Aguascalientes" --------- Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 19:39:58 -0600 (CST) From: enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org Subj: AERIAL FLIGHTS THREATEN ALL AGUASCALIENTES ARMED AERIAL FLIGHTS THREATEN ALL AGUASCALIENTES IN ZAPATISTA COMMUNITIES. Since last week, in the area of la Realidad, in the Lacandona jungle, low flying armed airplanes and helicopters have daily and repeatedly flown over the communities. These aircrafts fly only a few meters above the ground and the duration of their flights last hours and are repeated throughout the day. From their own homes, the Indigenous people are able to see the "very faces" of the pilots and passengers of the helicopters as well as the machine guns which are pointed downward. The aircrafts are comprised of all types and colors; marine, troop carriers, bombing aircrafts, and those capable of day and night observation that are equipped with detection and photographing technology. In the Aguascalientes of Morelia, the flights have greatly alarmed the community especially because on Saturday March 21, a helicopter almost landed in the middle of the community. The same is occurring in Oventic, where airplanes fly around the zone and fly in circles directly above the Aguascalientes. On March 14, a helicopter was about to land in the now deserted camp of Civil por La Paz. The indigenous people have filled all available open spaces with wood fences and barriers so as to try to impede any landing of aircrafts. The communities can no longer play soccer because the soccer fields have been protected in the same way. Although these barriers do not stop any aircrafts from landing they do make it difficult. The Indigenous people of Chiapas live in anguish and in fear of an imminent war which makes living a "normal" life impossible. The farmer workers are not going out to work their fields, the children are not attending school, and the women do not venture outside of their homes. La Jornada March 20, 1998 Military Blockade in the Jungle, Attack is Feared in La Realidad. Reporter: Hermann Bellinghuasen, La Realidad, Chiapas, March 19th. "We expect an attack in any moment," declared today Maximiliano, a representative of the community. For the sixth consecutive day, they have observed numerous low flying aircrafts over La Realidad, in a type of aerial maneuver without precedence. More than ten grazing flights of combat and carrier airplanes as well as artillery and assault helicopters have been registered daily. "The soldiers think that Subcomandante Marcos is around here and they want to get him," says Maximiliano and adds that the inhabitants of this community Tojolabal live with the expectation and continual fear that the "army will decide to enter our community again." According to the testimony of the people, the unusual aerial pressure began the very day that the Federal Government passed through the Senate the Law of Indigenous Rights and Culture without the approval of the EZLN. While the Zapatistas define their position in relation to the initiative, it has been confirmed that the threatening flights have intensified in all regions where there is a base of support for the EZLN. "It's been five days since we haven't gone out to work," continues Maximiliano "we are scared that they will attack us. From one moment to the next, it seems that the helicopters want to land, already they fly really low." The inhabitants of La Realidad live in insecurity. The airplanes pass so close to the roofs that small children cry at the sound of them. I witnessed yesterday an airplane cross through the middle of the trees and saw the helicopters descend to only a few meters above the ground, something never before seen. In addition, the Federal Army has installed two check points: one in Vicente Guerrero and the other in Guadalupe Tepeyac, near the landing stretch. The hour of the psychological raids. Life continues beneath the airplanes that fly closer than ever to the heads of the people and never so many. Even the faces and goggles of the pilots are distinguishable. It is as if they were to attempt to land. The children throw stones at them believing that they may actually reach them and are serious about it too. The intimidation began five days ago," counts Juan out loud, "at the very time when Zedillo signed the law he made." In this space and time, these two facts have entered simultaneously into his experience and into that of all the people. Juan does not know that since Saturday, the Teran airport, in Tuxtla Gutierrez, has been congested by airplanes and helicopters that fly in and out throughout the day. Commercial flights are a minority to military flights that blanket the skies of La Realidad, Morelia, La Garrucha, Oventic, Roberto Barrios, y Amparo Aguatinta. Not even during the days following the military offensive against the Zapatista communities in February 8,1995, did the Indigenous rebels become familiar with such a variety of war aircrafts. The dark parade lasts all day and today, for example, it began at 8:10 in the morning. Simultaneously, the land patrols of the Federal Army have changed their routines. Today the airplanes and helicopters are shriveling La Realidad and the land convoys travel through Guadalupe Tepeyac to Vicente Guerrero towards the outskirts of the jungle and from the river Euseba to San Quintin (next to the river Jatate in the interior of the jungle). Also in the 20 kilometers between the river Euseba and Tepeyac, where only one population of Tojolabal live, there is a vast open space. Fili has placed his slingshot in the back pocket of the unstable pair of pants that her wears. He has already chosen good rocks and has gathered them in a bundle. These are not to play with nor to throw at the birds or frogs as his childhood dictates, but to defend himself. With all due respect, I have never seen such a real and terrible representation of the story of David & Goliath. The day before yesterday, Jose Saramoag called this "the most unequal war," this is that he didn't even see Fili and his stones, nor did he experience the growing pressure of the Air Force. "They are showing us all of their airplanes so that we will know them," reasons Juan this morning. Although he knows that this is nothing. The first indication of this is that the Hawk and bombers are missing. Three years ago, he became familiar with the Arabat airplane that has two tails which now flies above his head. Back then, Juan and everyone else found refuge in the mountain. An image of "modernity" exists here: Juan has already worked with his farmer's tool half of the land he grows corn in. Pushes back his hat, looks up and expects to find the pilots of the aircrafts but they pass at the height of his eyes with foothills below The smoke of the fires stains grey the laderas of the canyon. Juan only recognizes one thing of the modernity and justice offered: the war. He remembers that the news broadcasts insist that the government will not use violence against the Zapatistas. In other words, these flights are not to be considered violence nor what they might mean. He then reflects about the attributions of power in language. "Maybe the government is changing the names of things." (Where it says "Indigenous Law" it makes "war" and where it says "dialogue" it makes "fear," etc.) "Yesterday, five kinds of airplanes passed over us." tells Juan "We had never before seen that." There are continuous flights from the time the sun appears. Everyone lives in alert with their eyes faced towards the skies. This the most current of life, today. ENLACE CIVIL A.C. Calle Ignacio Allende 4 29200 San Cristobal de Las Casas CHIAPAS-MEXICO Tel y fax: (52) 967-82104 e-mail: enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org CONSULTA NUESTRA PAGINA ELECTRONICA CON INFORMACION NUEVA CADA 15 DIAS http://www.laneta.apc.org/enlacecivil --------- "RE: Western Shoshone Land Rights Dispute" --------- Date: Mon, 23 Mar 98 21:56:21 PST From: Western Shoshone Defense Project Subj: OAS Request Rejected By U.S. UUCP email *****For Immediate Release***** Latest Development in Western Shoshone Land Rights Dispute Organization of American States asks U.S. to Halt Actions Against Western Shoshone: U.S. Refuses On March 6, 1998, the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights "reiterated its request to the United States Government to stay its action [impeding Western Shoshone land use| pending an investigation by the Commission of the alleged facts." In February of 1998, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued Notices which threaten to impound the nationalized cattle that the Western Shoshone grandmothers Carrie and Mary Dann graze on disputed land. A second set of Notices threaten the forcible removal of Western Shoshone property from the contested lands in Crescent Valley. As a member of the OAS, the U.S. is legally bound to uphold the Organization's Human Rights principles. This is the second such request the OAS has filed with the United States. The first was in 1993, the year the Dann sisters first filed a complaint against the U.S. for denying them their collective rights as Western Shoshone people to their land and to their culture - which is inseparable from the land. The case also asserts that the U.S. has violated their rights to due process, to equal protection under the law, and to own property. These charges stem from a Western Shoshone land rights struggle which has lasted for decades. Western Shoshone people continue to use and occupy their ancestral homelands as they have since time immemorial: they hunt, graze livestock, hold ceremonies, raise families, and gather traditional food and medicines. They act as caretakers for Newe Sogobia - protecting the land for the future generations, and passing on the history tied to it. Today, the United States is actively taking away the abilities of the Western Shoshone to continue this way of life. It denies them use of their lands, while at the same time it permits the degradation of these lands by multi-national mining corporations, the military, and the nuclear industry. The OAS case addresses these current assaults on Western Shoshone people's culture and livelihoods. As Carrie Dann states: "The indigenous peoples are the only peoples whose land gets taken without our permission by the U.S. government, which claims to be a democracy. They are committing a spiritual genocide of our people. Our rights are given to us by the Creator, but the U.S. treats us as less than human by taking them away." The case is the first filed before the Commission on behalf of Native Americans in the U.S. The Indian Law Resource Center, which is presenting the case before the Commission, wrote Elko BLM District Manager Helen Hankins, asking for an immediate response as to "whether the Bureau of Land Management intends to respect the request of the Commission to stay its action or plans to enforce the order." This afternoon, Ms. Hankins stated that the U.S. will not comply with the OAS' request. Please contact Jennifer Allen, Marianna Aue or Chrisopher Sewall at the WSDP for more information about the case, for documentation of the above material, or for co-ordinating interviews or visits. Please also visit our web-site, at www.alphacdc.com/wsdp, for more information. The Indian Law Resource Center is also available to comment on the case: 505-784-3016 (lead counsel James Anaya) or 406-449-2006 (main office) ### Western Shoshone Defense Project PO Box 211106 Crescent Valley, Nevada 89821 Ph: 702-468-0230 Fax: 702-468-0237 http://www.alphacdc.com/wsdp/ and http://www.teleport.com/~amt/planetpeace/wsdp --------- "RE: San Carlos Apache ALERT" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 15:46:15 EST From: AIMAZ Subj: Emergency Alert -- Call To Action -- San Carlos, Arizona >From the office of the Southwest Regional Director, American Indian Movement. Subj: Call To Action -- Support of the Traditional Apache People My relatives, Please take the time to read this statement and information very carefully and then respond if you can. March 19th, 1998 was a Day Of Independence for the people of the San Carlos Apache Nation. This was the day that over 500 Apache people stood and declared their current tribal council as hereby "unrecognized" and began the arduous task of forming a traditional government system. On March 23rd, 1998, this office issued the following release: March 19, 500 plus Apache people stood firm to take over their government and expose a realm of corruption. Call To Action Coalition says, "No More!" The Call To Action Coalition announced the imminent closure of the San Carlos Apache council chambers from the corrupt government officials led by the vice-chairman. Hundreds gathered in front of the building to confront the officials. The officials did show up bringing the group to an emotional verbal confrontation. Hundreds jeered as their former council entered the building. Call To Action presented the former council with a document stating their removal. One council member took his and tore it, throwing it to the ground in front of the people. Another gave a "thumbs down" sign and belligerently pointed to himself. The Arizona Chapter of the American Indian Movement was called in to provide consultation and support to the people. Upon the arrival of AIM, road blocks were set into place surrounded by San Carlos Tribal Police, Police from three surrounding reservations, The Gila County Sheriff's Department, and agents from the FBI and BIA Law Enforcement. As the contingent of AIM personnel arrived, they were greeted by shouts from the people and honking of car horns. Vernon Foster, Southwest Regional Director of AIM greeted the people and stated that AIM supports the people in their plight in the way of empowerment. "AIM will be here as long as the people call upon us", Foster said. The San Carlos people took this stand due to the corrupt power of the tribal council which has nearly bankrupted the Nation. 8.6 Million dollars in tribal monies cannot be accounted for at this time. The former council continues to downplay the issue stating to the press that it is a small issue and it will blow over. The former council has, in an illegal meeting, passed a resolution to arrest anyone gathered outside the council chambers and any non-tribal members on the reservation, and has sworn to remove AIM from the reservation. None of this has happened. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My relatives, this is an ALERT. All members of the American Indian Movement are called at this time to come to San Carlos, Arizona and stand with the Call To Action Coalition and the Apache People. Michael Haney, AIM leader and member of the U.S. Attorney General's Task Force on Conflict Resolution is arriving in Phoenix, this afternoon and will be escorted by AIM security to San Carlos. AIM Security from California, Michigan and Montana are in route at this time, as well as the Harmony Keepers. Tomorrow, Apache Rapper, Redsoul will be arriving to donate his time and special form of entertainment to his people. We are also in the process of contacting Richard Cyr to perform as well. THIS IS NOW, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE A PEACEFUL TAKEOVER. Ceremonies are being held on the grounds of the council chambers to purify them. There are NO WEAPONS present and NO WEAPONS WILL BE TOLERATED! At this time, we are calling for Indian people only to come to San Carlos. We appreciate the support of our non-Indian relatives and urge you to contribute in ways that you can, however, due to the political climate on the San Carlos Reservation, and the nature of the Apache people, non-Indian people are requested NOT to enter the reservation. AIM is on the reservation only to provide empowerment to the people and offer our resources to them to use. This is NOT and AIM issue, it is an issue of the San Carlos Apache People. The former council has even gone as far as intimidating the only grocery store on the San Carlos Reservation to not take the food vouchers issued by the Chairman, Raymond Stanley or any member of the Call To Action Coalition. This means that donations of food are badly needed to feed the people who go to the council chambers daily, to voice their concerns and work for the establishment of a traditional government. Many of the Apache people involved in this are elders and children, some of whom have already seen the effects of their tribal police against them as they stood to protect the AIM warriors from arrest 2 days ago. AIM is the invited guest on that reservation of the Apache People. We have documents in our possession that state this and the police have no authority to remove or arrest us unless we break the laws of the Nation. We have not. +++++++++++++Important Contact Numbers+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For anyone travelling to San Carlos to stand with the people, or for anyone making donations of food, or money to buy food for the people, please contact the following people: Charles Vargas and/or Sandra Rambler Call To Action Coalition (520) 475-2579 P.O. Box 68 San Carlos, Arizona 85550 email: azperidot@gila.net Vernon Foster AIM, Southwest Regional Director (602) 985-2109 email: AIMAZ@aol.com Cell Phone on Site: (602) 826-1913 AGAIN...THIS IS A PEACEFUL TAKEOVER, BUT THE PEOPLE ARE ASKING FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT. THIS IS AN OFFICIAL CALL TO ACTION FROM THE SOUTHWEST REGIONAL DIRECTOR, AFFIRMED BY THE CALL TO ACTION COALITION, THE MEDICINE PEOPLE OF THE SAN CARLOS APACHE AND THE SAN CARLOS PEOPLE. In Struggle, Vernon Foster Southwest Regional Director American Indian Movement --------- "RE: Sen Burns/Great Falls Tribal Meeting" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 16:51:11 -0500 From: "Dave Henry (by way of ishgooda )" Subj: Sen Burns - Great Falls tribal meeting Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs NOTE: Dave Henry is the CPA who was fired for exposing the BIA fund shortage of over 2 billion dollars.. Ish +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ And now:Dave Henry writes: Previously I sent you a report on the tribal sovereignty meetings up to and including the second meeting in Kalispell. This will cover the third and last meeting in Great Falls on Wednesday, 3/25/98. There was a short article in the Billings Gazette, I'll try to supplement that. If you are not interested in these events, just delete the message and please forgive the interruption. ......................................................................... I left for Great Falls early Wednesday morning, with Leroy Not Afraid and another non-Indian. An afternoon tribal-rally was held at the fairgrounds, with an afternoon feast provided by area tribes. Attendance was smaller that at the other two meetings, and the evening meeting was largely a repeat of earlier meetings. Some words I was impressed with are described below. Emotions were higher, actions increasingly strong and anti-Burns, who was not present, same as at the two previous meetings. As in the past, Earl Old Person (Chief and Chair of Blackfeet) clearly described the problem as caused by allowing homesteaders to invade Indian lands ("free land") after the reservation land was guaranteed as the final Indian homeland - "so long as the grass grows and the sun shall rise" . Since the "problem" was created by Fed. govt, he demands that the land be repurchased by Fed's and returned to tribal ownership, a workable solution and at relatively small cost compared to stealth-bombers, unnecessary military spending and our financial support of various dictators. Leroy Not Afraid spoke about the Supreme Court case he was personally a part of, and that the Supreme Court had already decided the issue - both Indians and non-Indians were subject to the civil jurisdiction of tribal civil law, when within the Nation's boundaries. Nobody forced the non- Indians to live there, they came to exploit powerless Indians, and became wealthy at Indian expense. (And you wondered why Indians live in poverty?) Others described non-Indian drug dealers who prey on Indians, and that the Indians lack law enforcement necessary to stop their activities. Non-Indians on the reservations often act above any law, tribal, state or federal, and although the FBI has jurisdiction as to felonies, they provide absolutely no protection for Indians. Laws are enforced when Indians are the offenders, but not when they are the victims. One teenaged girl spoke with great emotion, and her words were mixed with uncontrolled sobbing. I could make out a few words only, such as "you are destroying us", "you are taking my future". "destroying my identity", "just leave us alone" and the like. One Blackfeet man recalled that the soldiers had "bashed in the heads" of their babies", and they already had too much abuse heaped upon them. I had only two minutes to speak, and abandoned my notes. I said that Montana already has received bad publicity as the home of "freemen" and "bombers", and that I was embarrassed that now we also had to live with the record of Senator Burns attack on Indians. After introducing myself , as the CPA who first reported the "stealing from Indians" through looted trust funds at BIA ( well in excess of two billion dollars) I connected that to the present matter of stealing from Indians by eroding their promised treaty and human rights. I said that if Burns proceeded with this fiasco, I'd speak out against him and do my best to defeat him in any future election for public office. ......................................................................... You might note that Burns proposal would create the only legal jurisdiction within the United States where people are exempt from local laws based on race. In every other known government entity, all people within the boundaries are subject to the local laws. Also, the Montana enabling laws (for admission into the Union) agreed that Indian reservations were not part of the State of Montana, and further the U.S. Constitution took full responsibility for Indian matters. Burns proposal (I assume) would require amending both the State and Federal constitutions, to give the State jurisdiction within Indian National boundaries. I was pleased that the Montana Human Rights Network, Helena office, was handing out leaflets describing Burns past record of racist behavior, his "Negro jokes", and the like. Apparently the infamous Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) is holding similar anti-Indian hearings in the State of Washington. If any of you would like more information, or want to discuss this further, please let me know. I believe this is the most threatening assault on human rights since the 60's and the days of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Best regards, Dave --------- "RE: Indian Homeland" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 05:04:00 EST From: MPope74064 Subj: Indian Homeland UUCP email An article that I wrote from my heart. INDIAN HOMELAND - ONE INDIANS VIEW My name, that I was given at birth, is Mala Spotted Eagle Pope. My father was Cherokee and my mother was Western Shoshone. What I write here is from my heart. I do not claim to speak for other native people although many may feel the same as I do. I believe that the Native People of this land have a right to have an area of land that they can live on and truly call their own. Free from the foreign control that they have been forced to live under for several hundred years. Where the Native People can live under their own rules and form of government. Where the B.I.A., state or some other form of foreign government isn't imposing their will upon us. A place where the Traditional native people will be able to reform our own government using traditional guidelines. SELF-DETERMINATION MUST BE RESTORED When the European Nations invaded this land, they were greeted with open arms, kindness and trust. Once the invaders had a foothold they turned upon us. In the several hundred years that have followed the Native People were driven from their homelands and told where to live, how to eat, who to worship and numerous other intrusions all designed to either to exterminate or to assimilate us. On both counts they came close to succeeding. Now it is time that we be allowed to be treated and respected for the nation of people who we are. To be able to control our own destiny, to teach the truth about who we are as a people and what really happened in our history. INDIANS HAVE NOT BEEN CONQUERED Not all Indian People will want to give up the western style of government that they have grown used to. That is their right. As much as it should be the right of non-native people to follow the ways of the native people under the guidelines of the Traditional leaders.. Almost all other races of people have a homeland that is under their control. There have been a number of other races of people that have been invaded and dominated by foreign powers in the history of this Mother Earth. Some of them for hundreds of years at a time. Yet none of them gave up and in the end they found a way to be free of the shackles of the foreign governments. Why should the Indian people not be able to do the same. Indian people are starting to wake up all across this country and trying to understand and learn what was taken away from us. The Indian is starting to realize that even though the U.S. government and their history books say that we are a conquered people, in truth we are not. Only when we become totally assimilated into the White culture will we then be a conquered people. INDIANS MUST BE INDEPENDENT It is said that the Indian People of North America have one of the highest suicide and alcoholism rate in the world. Would anything else be expected when an invading government uses all of its resources to strip away as much as they can of the culture and identity of the native people. To make them by law, Wards of the United States Government using the excuse that the Indian People are incapable of taking care of themselves. How many thousands of years and countless generations have our people lived on this Turtle Island and have taken care of ourselves and our environment. The native people not only were self sufficient but they understood the importance of respecting and being a part of the environment you live with-in. It is past time for us to quit believing the stereotyping and lies that have been made up about our native people and find the truth from our Traditional leaders and Elders. To start praying again and relearn the ways of the Mother Earth. Many of us already feel inside what I am writing, now we need to look beyond our tribal barriers and stand together as a proud and undefeated nation to regain some of our Homeland. For the future generations and the survival of the Mother Earth we need to do this. Mala Spotted Eagle Pope P.O. Box 177 Monmouth, Oregon 97361 --------- "RE: Windigo's Back" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 21:27:46 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: WINDIGO's back (1of4) Newsgroup: alt.native d'laan'te'h... WINDIGO comes home to roost... This is EXACTLY the kind of danger resulting from leaving the question Nation membership to governments (Indian governments included)! It MUST be left in the hands of the FAMILIES that make up each Nation to decide who is or is not a member of the family. NOT "blood-quantums", NOT "DNA", NOT "retinal-cone scans", NOT "DIA or BIA"... ONLY a family, by consensus, has the SOLE & ABSOLUTE RIGHT to say who is or who is not a member of that family. There is NO OTHER WAY! (and never was, and never will be). I'll post my articles on Windigo again... (3 articles follow - Windigo #1, Windigo #2, & Windigo #3) Saturday 28 March 1998 Extinction by legislation Under the Indian Act's current restrictions, in only two generations families can lose status Tom Spears The Ottawa Citizen Narrow government definitions of who's officially Indian will wipe out some Canadian bands and drastically shrink others starting in less than 50 years, a conference of native woman has heard. "In the long run, these rules will lead to the extinction of First Nations," says a report by two groups of consultants in Manitoba and Ontario. And they say the trouble comes from the very same 1985 change in the Indian Act that was designed to give back Indian status to women who lost it by marrying non-natives. The problem is that the 1985 change, known as Bill C-31, created two kinds of Indian: those with full status and those with reduced status through intermarriage with non-natives. Children and grandchildren of natives who marry non-natives can lose their native status entirely. "We will have (a smaller) number of Indians in 20 years and in 50 years that will be recognized by the Canadian government as having Indian status at all," says Marilyn Buffalo, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada. When native people lose official Indian status, "they lose the benefits that were promised to us in the treaties, and their aboriginal rights -- treaty rights to health and treaty rights to education," Ms. Buffalo said. "We agreed to share this land. The danger that we face is that we will lose title to our homeland in the long run." Her association met in Ottawa this week to consider how to prevent the loss of Indian status for future generations. It plans to recommend changes to the Indian Act in about a month. With about 34 per cent of Canada's native people marrying non-Indians, their fear is that it takes just two generations to wipe out a family's Indian status. Step one: A native marries a non-native. Their children will have a reduced form of Indian status that is more difficult to pass to a later generation. Step two: One of those children marries a non-native. Any children of that marriage will have no Indian status. These rules in the Indian Act became law in 1985, and cover 409 of this country's approximately 600 First Nations. The remaining bands use one of several other definitions of who is Indian, based on varying formulas of how many Indian ancestors a person needs to be an Indian. "How is it going to affect our grandchildren? That I think is the number one concern of the people," Ms. Buffalo said. Alice Marchand, born and raised on the Okanagan Indian Reserve in British Columbia, uses her own complex family tree to illustrate the trouble. She married a non-native man in the pre-1985 days when this meant losing her Indian status. When that marriage ended, she re-married in 1983, this time to an Indian man. She got back her Indian status, but in a reduced form. In the jargon of the Indian Act, someone with full status is called a 6(1), pronounced "six-one," for the section of the law that describes them. Ms. Marchand is a 6(2), and so are her sons. It gets even more complicated. "My grandchildren are a real mixture," she says. One 6(2) son married a non-native, and her grandson on that side of the family "is a total non-Indian." Her other son, also 6(2), is married to a 6(1) woman. Because they each brought two children to the marriage, those children have a mixture of 6(1) and 6(2) status. "It's caused a great amount of pain and anguish in the family," she said. The consultants' report that warns of a declining population, used extensively at this week's conference, also warns that the law will create tension among native people. It says bands now have a form of class system -- those with "full" and "half" status, as defined by their ability to pass on Indian status to their children. "Distinctions between 'classes' are likely to become embedded in the social and political life of First Nations," it says. The topic is attracting growing attention from people like Christine Houck of Waterloo. She's a 6(2) Indian because her mother, from the Flying Post First Nation south of Sudbury, married a British man. Ms. Houck also married a non-native man, and their children, Derek and Brittany, have no Indian status. At first she didn't think much about it, living in white society and not bothering with her family traditions. Then it started to trouble her. "My children, Derek and Brittany, will not have their status until this (law) is changed," she said at the conference. --------- "RE: Windigo #1" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 21:28:36 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: Windigo #1 Newsgroup: alt.native (repost) I have been sitting & watching the words fly around on this ng for a while, & I see a very real, very evil danger threatening many, so now I stand... I pray that the grandfathers help me find the right words to show you this terrible, evil threat, & that each of you finds the strength to fight it & kill it. To use the name that the 'Nishnawbe Nation gives to him, Windigo is among us. That most evil eater of spirits often chooses the form of a malevolent whirlwind, to blow sand, dust, rain or snow in the eyes, ears, noses & mouths to sow confusion, dissension and loss of direction. Windigo as Whirlwind rips apart homes, overturns canoes, tears down what people nurture & grow for survival & fans home fires into blazing infernos. Whirlwind, for those that have seen him, looks innocently playful, like a game of the wind. But Windigo is eating Indian spirit here in this ng, as well as 'out there' in the homes in Indian country as you read this. This dangerous Whirlwind is now scouring the land, even reaching this ng, & he endangers the heart of every Nation & the core of every family that form the flesh of each of the Nations. It is a very subtle, very seductive wind-game, drawing more & more people into it, not just on this ng but out in the real world every day, & it creates its own momentum; the more it is played, the bigger & darker & more evil it gets, the more explosive the bolts of fire that flash & thunder from within it, blowing up the ties that bond the people of the families & the Nations together. It is a game of words, & the seed-word that this evil destroyer grows from is "race". Those that are calling for the elimination of the land, rights, privileges & benefits which the Creator gave to the First Nations are, more & more often, doing so by declaring that any status that recognizes a difference between peoples of the Nations & any other "ethnic group" is a "racist" posit that must be eliminated in the name of "equality". Racism being such a lightning rod of emotional response to everyone, reason & logic are skimmed over, & no notice is given to the FACT that "equality" (in the social and/or political sense) means TREATING different people with equal measures of respect & opportunity, NOT that everybody IS the same. Just as "integration" is the harmonious working together of different parts while "assimilation" is making one whole by erasing the differences of the different parts. This "racial" type of thinking is no different than that used to formulate the attempt to destroy the Nations by establishing "blood quantum" as a measure of identity. (1934 in the USA, in Canada unofficially since 1613 & officially in 1951). Although that helped the settler-regimes in their classifying, codifying, categorizing & other labeling for ease in their management, manipulation, governing & administration of the First Nations, it did not, thankfully, catch on in the Nations (except with the "Indian governments" installed in power by the settler-regimes as "legally recognized" tribal/band councils.) Incredibly & to my horror, it seems more people of the Nations, (although NOT a majority... yet) are now being drawn into this evil, growing whirlwind that holds the power to destroy their families & their Nations. More & more one hears the frightening talk of racial definition being the measure of just who is an Indian. Even in its most ridiculously petty & stupid aspects, ("My genes are bigger than YOUR genes!") there is a menacing seriousness that skips over the one, true, undeniable FACT that has been used by the Nations for ten-thousand times ten-thousand generations as the ONLY measure of who is an Indian - that an "Indian" is a person identified by the family concerned as being one of them. Period. No other "measurement of Indian" is real. "Blood quantum", "race", "genetic markers" and/or any other other measure of a person's "Indian-ness" are as solid as smoke. By seducing individual Indians, Indian families and/or the Nations those families form, to come stand on such false, artificially constructed foundations in order to "help Indian Nations define themselves more clearly", those that fall for such a trap find that they no longer stand on solid ground. The confusion sown by this evil & destructive whirlwind of man-made labels causes division & brings quarrels & breaks the circle, the hoop that is the essence & heart of all the Nations, & of all the families that form those Nations. Using such talk plays right into the hands of the powers that are still just as committed to rubbing out the Nations as Custer & Cortez were, because getting Indian people to think of themselves as "a race" will destroy them as surely as smallpox & bullets could. Prior to 1930-1950, there never, ever was any "racism" in ANY society of ANY of the Nations in the Americas. I could write several volumes as proof of that FACT, but to keep it brief, let me borrow the words of Ward Churchill from his book, "Struggle for the Land: Indigenous Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Expropriation in Contemporary North America." (from p420-421 in edition published by 'Between The Lines' Toronto, Canada,1992) (inserts & emphasis are mine save for one instance.) " ... there really is no indication of racism in traditional Indian societies. To the contrary, the [factual/historical] record reveals that Indians habitually INTERMARRIED between groups, and frequently ADOPTED both children and adults from other groups. This occurred in pre-contact times between Indians, AND the practice was broadened to include those of both African and European origin - and ultimately Asian origin as well - once contact occurred. Those who were naturalized BY MARRIAGE OR ADOPTION were [and are] considered members of the group [family/Nation], pure and simple. This was [and IS] always the [real, authentic, traditional] Indian view. The Europeans and subsequent Euroamerican settlers saw things rather differently, however, and foisted the notion that Indian identity should be determined primarily by "blood quantum" an outright eugenics code similar to those developed in places like nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa. Now THAT's a racist set of policies and principles if there ever was one. Unfortunately, a lot of Indians have been conned into accepting this anti-Indian absurdity, and that's something to be overcome. But there's also solid indication that quite a number of native people continue to strongly resist such things [externally created measures of definition/identification] as the quantum system." Ward Churchill refers readers to 2 works on this matter that I also recommend to those readers here who "still don't get it" - 1) Forbes, Jack D., "Black Africans & Native Americans: Race, Color and Caste in the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples" (London/New York: Oxford University Press, 1988) and, 2) Jaimes, M. Annette, "Federal Indian Identification Policy: A Usurpation of Indigenous Sovereignty in North America" in her monumental work, "The State of Native America: Genocide, Colonization and Resistance" (Boston, South End Press, 1992). I repeat, ten-thousand times ten-thousand generations of the peoples that make up the Nations of this land never, ever imagined, let alone applied, any notion of "RACE" to their own identity. Only the families in the Nations had, & STILL HAVE, the right to decide who was/is a member of that family and Nation. Not any government, even a tribal/band government. Not a blood test. Not a DNA or DIA. Not even another Indian or Nation other than their own. Family. Period. But now Windigo has blinded some with his whirlwind of words. Sharp words that cut & slice apart friendships, families, & Nations. The grit flying around is in words such as "race", "blood quantum", "skin color" and "DNA". The eyes of the blinded brothers & sisters who have fallen into this trap, been pulled into this disgusting whirlwind must be cleansed, or they will sow the seeds of this "racial" definition so far & wide, so fast, that the Nations will be doomed. For your own sake, for the sake of those who are gone-but-still-with-us & all those-yet-to-come, I beg each & all of you to stop & THINK. Don't help this to happen! Recognize what all the generations of the Nations have known since forever; that marriage and/or adoption of another strong & loving heart into the family is never "wrong" or "unnatural" or "incorrect." Refuse to play the seductive word games of Windigo. Keep your feet on the ground as Whirlwind tries to pull you into it. The ground is made of the bones of the ancestors; draw your values from those bones. NO ONE, including any other Indian, has the right to say who is or who is not a member of a family, not a member of a Nation, except the families concerned. To act otherwise is to act as a knife in the heart of your own people, whether you realize it or not. Enough of this talk of "Indians are a race". I ask this of you each & all, with much respect & even more with hope... I now sit... masi:cho... --------- "RE: Windigo #2" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 21:29:27 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: Windigo #2 Newsgroup: alt.native (repost) d'laan'te'h everyone, Less than 24 hrs since I posted the "Windigo" piece I wrote titled URGENT!! DANGER!! PLEASE READ!! & my mailbox is humming