From gars@netcom.com Wed Apr  8 23:09:07 1998
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 19:37:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gary Night Owl <gars@netcom.com>
To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche <gars@netcom.com>
Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.015

    _       __  _____  __   _ __    ___    ____  _ __    ___
   ' )   / / ')  /    /  ) ' )  )  /   )    /   ' )  )  /   )
    / / / /  /  /    /--/   /  /  / ___    /     /  /  / ___
   (_(_/ (__/  (    /  (_  /  (_ (___/ '__/_    /  (_ (___/ '        O
      ____   _    ,  ___   _    , ___                            O   o   O
       /    ' )  /  /   ) ' )  / /   '                         O     o     O
      /      /-<   /       /--/ /--    VOLUME 06, ISSUE 015   O o o     o o O
   __/_     /   ) (___/   /  ( (___,      April 11, 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 Big Mountain, Innu-L & Nat-Film Lists;
         Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty;   UUCP email;
                         Newsgroup: alt.native
 
 Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination
 and/or permission for inclusion has been secured.
 Letters of authorization are on file.  A list of those granting permission
 to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A.
 I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people.
 
 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 <Valentina>
 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.
 
   "Friendship is held to be the severest test of character.  It is easy, we
    think to be loyal to family and clan, whose blood is in our own veins.
    Love between a man and a woman is founded on the mating instinct and is
    not free from the desire and self-seeking.  But to have a friend, and to
    be true under any and all trials, is the mark of a man."
   __ Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa)  Santee Sioux
 
 +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
 |   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!
 
     Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 10:16:44 EST
     From: FirehairSS <FirehairSS@aol.com>
     Subj: Official from Nashville Channel 5--thanks, Katie
 
     News Channel 5, Nashville reported today:
     "Walmart developers in West Nashville have discovered even more Indian
     graves than first thought. Excavation crews have uncovered as many as a
     hundred graves dating back 8 hundred years.  When they first began the
     project they only estimated the number at 40."
     It is now official, there are lots of graves!
 
   It is becoming clear.  If you are buying from a Wal-Mart, you are
 supporting a company that repeatedly defiles the graves of our ancestors.
 It happens too many times to be a mere coincidence.  The list just rolls
 on and on... Leeds, New York ... Hickory Flats, Georgia ... Nashville, Tenn
 It is actually difficult to recall a time when two weeks could pass without
 some reference to Wal-Mart trashing another grave site.
 
   It might even be different if, having stumbled onto a grave site, Wal-Mart
 would excavate elsewhere.  Instead, they fight to desecrate each and every
 site as if their next breath depended on it.  That determination to dig
 at all costs is what makes their choices so despicable.
 
   I can't tell you how to live your life or where to spend your money; but
 for myself and my family we shop elsewhere if there is a choice.  It is a
 choice I feel I must make.  The journey of my ancestors means that much to
 me.
 
  =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=
 Thanks to Mike Wicks <mwicks@gte.net> for these reminders:
 In Memory (with Respect and Honor)
 AIM Casualties on Pine Ridge, 1973-1976
 4.14.1973  Priscilla White Plume - AIM supporter killed at Manderson
            by Goons.
            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 ----------
 - Fewke's Mound                     - Mi'kmaq's Oppose Sable Island
 - Wal-Mart in Tennessee               Pipeline
 - Lenny Chavez Arrested             - Inco/Voisey's Bay
 - Peltier Update                    - HQ Media Machine in Overdrive
 - AIM Update                        - Quebec Offers
 - Remove Andrew Jackson from          `Unprecedented Self-Government'
   Springtime Tallahassee            - Victory at Devils' Tower
 - San Francisco Opposes             - Echoes of the Atomic Age
   Ward Valley Dump                  - Pass It On
 - Peace & Dignity Journey           - Another Political Prisoner
 - UN on Indigenous Rights             of Canada
 - US Cities in International        - Native Prisoner
   Day of Action                     - A Hundred Years Ago
 - Traditional Hopi Resist           - Poem: Paint
   Sewer System                      - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days
 - San Carlos Update                 - Conferences and Powwows

 --------- "RE: Fewke's Mound" ---------
 
 Date: Wed, 01 Apr 1998 10:12:25 -0600
 From: tnaim@usa.net
 Subj: Fewke's Mound
 
   UUCP email
 
   We received word from the Tennessee Division of Archaeology that the
 removal of Native graves for road construction on Moore's Lane in
 Brentwood Tn. is scheduled to start in the next two weeks.  The Fewke's
 mound complex is a National Historic site and comprises 5 mounds. 
 Originally the project plans were to remove a few graves from the road
 right of way but we learned that the plans now include an archaeological
 study.  What destructive impact this will have on the mound complex is
 not known but it would safe to assume a major one.
 Full article from ANAIR at http://members.aol.com/afnair/fewkespg.htm
 TNAIM
 
 --------- "RE: Wal-Mart in Tennessee" ---------
 
 Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 11:23:47 -0500
 From: Jordan S Dill <jsd@SOVER.NET>
 Subj: Wal-Mart in Tenn
 Comments: cc: Minnesota Indian Affairs <minn-ind@tc.umn.edu>
 
         Need some help here:
 
   "Last summer, 1997, it was announced that construction of a
 Wal-Mart/Lowe's super center was being planned for a location on Charlotte
 Pike in the West Meade neighborhood of Davidson County Tennessee,
 Nashville Tennessee. The construction plans require the destruction of a
 prehistoric Native American cemetery and Civil War fortifications. The
 Native cemetery dates to the Mississippian cultural period and is probably
 around 800 years old. There are at LEAST 40 known Indian graves on this
 site, and it is believed that the number of burials may reach into the
 hundreds. The Civil War fortifications are Confederate cannon emplacements
 and embankments along the Cumberland River known as Kelley's Battery.
 These guns overlooked the river and were used to shell Union river
 traffic. The residents of West Meade, local Native Americans, and
 others rallied to stop the rezoning of the property. Their bid was
 unsuccessful despite proving that locating a super center across the
 street from an elementary school would endanger the children as well as
 concerns over crime and inadequate road systems to handle the increased
 traffic. Add to this the destruction of the native site and the
 Confederate archaeological features, it is beyond belief that the zoning
 change was ever approved."
   Please visit <http://www.dickshovel.com/wal2.html> and render your
 support to stop this project via the Input form...responses will go to
 Wal-Mart, politicians who support this Ravage, the realty company, and the
 Governor of Tenn...
 
 --------- "RE: Lenny Chavez Arrested" ---------
 
 Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 15:59:05 -0800
 From: Kevin Sullivan <kev@sonic.net>
 Subj: Lenny Chavez Arrested
 
   UUCP email
 
     Linn (Lenny) Chavez Defense Fund
   Lenny Chavez, a 36 Year old Kiowa Indian was arrested on an extremely
 ludicrous charge of  ATTEMPTED MURDER, in Mariposa County, California.
 This well known A.I.M. activist and spiritual person is in desperate need
 of funds for LEGAL DEFENSE.
   On 2-9-98 while cutting wood at his home in Midpines, California, Lenny
 was attacked while his back was turned and his chain saw was running. The
 person who attacked him had been drinking and approached his home looking
 for another person. The other person was not present. Being infuriated,
 this person grabbed Lenny's chain saw, tried to restart it in order to
 further his senseless attack. At that point our spiritual brother was in
 fear for his life and the lives of other innocent people about the
 property, including one of our elders. He then drew his pocket knife and
 defended himself and his elder, inflicting only non-lethal injuries, a leg
 wound, to deter any further attack.
   We ask, what Justice can be served in prosecuting a person for defending
 himself and his family while allowing the "real" perpetrator of the crime
 to walk free? To further ham this spiritual person and family by keeping
 him incarcerated with $1,000,000.00 bail only enhances this tragic
 situation.
   This request for funding is not intended for bail; as the amount is
 obviously out of range. These funds are for attorney fees only. Your Help
 and prayers are needed.
 Any and all donations may be sent to:
   Linn(Lenny) Chavez Defense fund
   C/O Ramon Magna, Attorney at Law
   1601 I Street Suite 450
   Modesto, CA 95350
   (209) 524-5616
   E-Mail: kev@sonic.net
 
 Lenny's bail reduction hearing is thursday 4/2. Its been raised to
 $1,000,000! I am not sure if Tony Serra is working with or advising this
 other attorney or not. I think if their is hard evidence that this guy
 is hooked into the Aryans then that should definitely be put out there.
 The pressure needs to be put on the cops down there. When it comes to
 trial we need to get a big time presence down there. Shouldn't they try
 for a change of venue? I'm sure the judges down there are the same as
 the cops. Be in touch.
 Edward
 
 --------- "RE: Peltier Update" ---------
 
 Date: Tue, 31 Mar 98 11:35:17 PST
 From: KOLA International Campaign Office <kolahq@skynet.be>
 Subj: Peltier -- Parole -- Letters
 
 PELTIER UPDATE
 
 Letters regarding parole can be sent to:
         US Parole Commission
         5550 Friendship Blvd.
         Chevy Chase, MD 20815
         Fax (301) 492-6694
 Note: letters must state at the top: <for Parole File of Leonard
 Peltier Reg. No. 89637-132>
 If this is not stated, your letter will be thrown away...
 
 Letters regarding senate hearings should be sent to:
         US Senator Orin Hatch, Chairman Judicial Cmtee
         SD-224 1st and C Streets, NE
         Washington DC 20510
 
         US Senator Benn Nighthorse Campbell
         Chairman Select Cmtee on Indian Affairs
         SH-838 1st and C Streets, NE
         Washington DC 20510
 
 Points you can include in your letters:
 + The FBI coercing and intimidating witnesses.
 + The FBI withholding of evidence and fabricating of eyewitness affidavits.
 + Use of perjured affidavits to extradite Peltier.
 + Fabrication of ballistics evidence and suppression of proof.
 + Fabrication of evidence that Peltier killed the agents and suppression of
   eyewitness accounts that others were responsible.
 + Jury tampering by the FBI.
 + The FBI sponsoring armed assaults, assassinations on AIM individuals and
   their residences.
 + The FBI provoking illegal arms and ammunition to select Indians to be used
   against their own people.
 + Exparte contract between the Justice Department (FBI) and the Federal
   judges involved in the Peltier case resulting in denying Peltier's rights
   to a fair and impartial trial jury.
 + Federal appellate court judge William Webster sat on a panel that heard
   Peltier's case and was then elected to head the FBI.
 Thank you for your support!
 Bobby Castillo, international spokesperson for Leonard Peltier
 Elsie Herten, coordinator LPSG Network Europe
 
 --------- "RE: AIM Update" ---------
 
 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 20:23:47 EST
 From: NACF Swan <NACFSwan@aol.com>
 Subj: NACF News Report:  AIM Update
 
  ~~~~~~~NACF News Report~~~~~~~
  Native American Community Forum
 
  aol://4344:662.ec_0058.5671322.572583457">Turtle Island Chat Area
  & aol://4344:662.ec_na8.5671275.572258010">Turtle Island...
  a gathering of Nations</A>
 NACF TAIM:   Protest by San Carlos Apache people and the American Indian
 Movement at 11 am Friday April 3, 1998 at the BIA building in Phoenix
 Arizona....it is in the Arizona Center on 5th Street.  EVERYONE who can make
 it is encouraged to come and show their support for the Apache people...
 there will be a press conference also....
 <<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>
 Subj: Vernon Foster's opening ceremony for BOB
 Date: 98-04-02 11:45:40 EST
 From: GrayDeer
 
 This was 
 <A HREF="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/0401ceremony.shtml">
 Vernon Foster's open ceremony blessing</A> given Tuesday night March 31,
 1998, before the opening game for the newly formed team, the Arizona
 Diamond Backs, at Bank One Ball Park (BOB) in Phoenix, AZ. Vernon Foster
 is the head of the Arizona AIM Chapter.
   When no professional or school team needs a racially based mascot in the
 defiance of the wishes of that minority community in these United States,
 may the Creator teach, and the young people learn that all men and women in
 this great land of ours, deserves dignity, honor and respect for each other.
 First, as ourselves. and second as the other.
   Remember my words, and find strength in the understanding and community
 that I, as a representation of my Indian relatives, wish to share with you.
 As we have all come and blessed this place and the people and the events
 that shall come to pass here.
   Finally, I would like to extend a very special blessing to the youth and
 the future - the future of this park, and the future generations that will
 come here to watch baseball and other sports played here in the new stadium.
 I ask that the Creator provide the courage and wisdom to our young white,
 black, Mexican and Asian relatives to see the day when there are no mascots
 that characterize Indian people as objects - not fellow humans.
   I ask the Creator to bring the day forward here to this place, the Bank
 One Ball Park.
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 Vernon Foster has given permission to have the above, posted on the
 Internet.  Local television coverage, in doing repeat coverage of the
 opening events has shown Mr. Foster giving the opening blessing in his
 Indian language, but conveniently cut out his English version--even
 though they advertised that the opening ceremonies would be rerun in there
 entirety!
 <<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>
 Below please find a phone number in NACF TAIM's letter to call and thank
 these people for their choice of Vernon Foster do the blessing - politics
 and all!!
 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
 Subj: Support of Vernon Foster
 Date: 98-04-02 19:51:27 EST
 From: NACF TAIM
 
 the number is 602-277-1900
 It is to Calangalo's offices, I think...but anyway...just to leave message
 and say you are in support of the choice of Vernon Foster....:)
 
 --------- "RE: Remove Andrew Jackson from Springtime Tallahassee" ---------
 
 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 23:58:17 -0800
 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.)
 Subj: FLORIDA AIM DEMANDS SPRINGTIME TALLAHASSEE REMOVE ANDREW JACKSON (fwd)
 
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 March 30, 1998
 Contact Mark Madrid, Information DIrector
 Aimfl@aol.com
 
   The American Indian Movement of Florida has consistently denounced the
 glorification of those who have committed genocide against the Indigenous
 peoples of the Western Hemisphere. In the United States those who have
 committed heinous crimes against the original peoples have consistently been
 venerated as heros-such as Hernando De Soto, Pizzaro, Columbus, Custer and
 Andrew Jackson. Such glorification of people who slaughtered and
 participated in genocide against Indigenous peoples only serves to glorify
 and venerate the genocide of Indigenous peoples who miraculously have
 survived the 505 years of genocidal assaults and remain a living breathing
 peoples and cultures to this very day.
   Andrew Jackson participated in, devised, and lead genocidal assaults
 against Indigenous peoples-mostly women and children, during his murderous
 military career. As President Andrew Jackson defied a Supreme Court order
 and forced the relocation of thousands of Tsalagi, Muskogee and other
 peoples on the infamous Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. President Jackson's
 legacy was well understood by another genocidal maniac Adolf Hitler who
 used Jacksons treatment of Indigenous peoples as his blueprint for his
 repugnant genocidal attacks upon the Jewish people of Europe.
   For several years a group of dedicated peoples and organizations in the
 Tallahassee area have bravely and committedly worked to convince the
 leadership of Springtime Tallahassee to remove a genocidal murderer from
 the celebration and celebrate the positive things Tallahassee has to offer.
 Their principled and disciplined effort has been effectively rejected by
 Springtime Tallahassee as the mass murdering thug known as Andrew Jackson
 remains the focus of the celebration. As Florida AIM knows that their is no
 celebration in Tallahassee for Theodore Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, Adolf
 Hitler, or Wayne Gacy and there never will be; Florida AIM will not accept
 a celebration in honor of one who slaughtered Indigenous peoples.
   Florida AIM waited for hope that the organizers of Springtime Tallahassee
 would remove Jackson due to the sincere efforts of good people in
 Tallahassee. They have not done so.  Florida AIM now demands that Jackson
 be removed from the celebration. Florida AIM has always preferred the
 dialogue of cooperation to the rhetoric of confrontation. However, if
 Springtime Tallahassee does not remove Andrew Jackson from their
 celebration Florida AIM will be forced to challenge and confront the parade
 as we did the Columbus Quincentennial events in Florida and the Hernando
 Desoto-now Florida Heritage Festival in Bradenton.
   We call upon Springtime Tallahassee to engage in serious dialogue now and
 forgo the confrontations that dogged the De Soto festival. The choice is
 theirs.
 ALL MUST RESIST SO THAT NONE ARE LEFT BEHIND
 -------------------------------------------------------
 Contacts:
 Springtime Tallahassee
 P.O. Box 1465
 Tallahassee, FL  32302-1465
 Phone - (850)224-5012
 Fax - (850)224-0833
 Email - springtime@talstar.com
 
 Mayor Scott Maddox & City Commissioners
 Phone - (850)891-8181
 Email - stetlerm@mail.ci.tlh.fl.us
 
 Editor - Tallahassee Democrat
 Email - tdedit@tdo.infi.net
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
     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: San Francisco Opposes Ward Valley Dump" ---------
 
 Date: Tue, Mar 31, 1998 1:21 PM EDT
 From: swv1@ctaz.com
 Subj: SF Board of Supervisors Oppose Proposed Ward Valley Nuclear Waste Dump
 
   UUCP email
 
 BAY  AREA  NUCLEAR  (BAN)  WASTE  COALITION
 2760 Golden Gate
 an Francisco, California 94118
 (415) 752-8678  *
 (415) 868-2146
 http://banwaste.envirolink.org
                          WARD VALLEY ACTION ALERT
 CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO PASSES RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE PROPOSED
 WARD VALLEY NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP
   On March 10, the City and County of San Francisco Environmental Commission
 unanimously passed a strong resolution opposing the proposed Ward Valley
 Nuclear Dump.  Over 40 environmental and social justice organizations
 signed onto a letter in support of the resolution.  The Environmental
 Commission sent the resolution over to the San Francisco Board of
 Supervisors for their passage.
   On  March 30, the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors
 unanimously passed the same resolution.  The resolution was introduced by
 Supervisor Gavin Newsom.
   Call Supervisor Newsom (415) 554-5942 and Environmental Commission
 President Francesca Vietor (415) 474-0411 and thank them for their support.
   Call Senator Dianne Feinstein (415) 536-6868 and ask her to support the
 resolution.  Ask the candidates in California governors race their position
 on the proposed dump project.
   San Francisco now joins hundreds of cities and dozens of counties across
 the state of California, and hundreds of environmental and social justice
 organizations across the country in opposing the proposed dump site.
 
 City and County of San Francisco
 Board of Supervisors
 
 Supervisors: Barbara Kaufman, Chairwoman, Tom Ammiano, Sue Berman, Amos
 Brown, Leslie R. Katz, Jose Medina, Gavin Newsom, Mabel Teng, Michael Yaki,
 Leland Y. Yee
 
 File No. 98-0464
 March 30, 1998
 
 RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE PROPOSED BUILDING OF A NUCLEAR WASTE
 FACILITY IN WARD VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
         WHEREAS, Ward Valley is located 22 miles west of Needles, California,
 in the Eastern Mojave Desert region; and,
         WHEREAS, This site has been selected by the State of California to
 receive low-level radioactive waste from commercial nuclear power
 plants, hospitals, industry and research from throughout the State,
 including San Francisco County; and
         WHEREAS, Ward Valley would most likely become a national nuclear
 dump site with eighteen states having already expressed interest in dumping
 at Ward Valley, including states which have recently decided to cancel
 or delay plans for facilities in their own regions; and,
         WHEREAS, The federally mandated 1980 Low-Level Radioactive Waste
 Policy Act does not mandate any particular technology; and,
         WHEREAS, All six of the nation's active and inactive low-level
 radioactive waste facilities are leaking, and nuclear waste dumps in
 Sheffield, Illinois; Maxey Flats, Kentucky; West Valley, New York;
 Barnwell, South Carolina; Richland, Washington; and Beatty, Nevada, have
 released radioactive materials into the surrounding ecosystem; and,
         WHEREAS, All of these facilities use shallow, unlined trenches as
 their method of disposal; and,
         WHEREAS, US Ecology, the contractor selected to construct the Ward
 Valley facility, has built and operated four of the currently leaking
 nuclear dumps; and,
         WHEREAS, Ward Valley radioactive waste facility is proposing shallow
 land burial in unlined trenches as a method of disposal; and,
         WHEREAS, Scientists with the United States Geological Survey have
 warned that radioactive wastes buried there could eventually contaminate
 the Colorado River through five subsurface pathways; and,
         WHEREAS, A report by the California State Controller found that
 clean-up costs from leakage at the Ward Valley facility could be as much
 as $500 million, with the majority of these costs being assumed by
 California taxpayers; and,
         WHEREAS, The dump is proposed for an area that is directly above a
 major aquifer, 18 miles from the Colorado River, in the midst of
 critical habitat for the federally-listed threatened desert tortoise and
 on land considered sacred territory by five Native American tribes; and,
         WHEREAS, In May, 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency's
 National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee expressed its concerns
 about the violation of environmental justice mandates posed by the Ward
 Valley proposal; and,
         WHEREAS, A December, 1997 report by economics Professor Gregory
 Hayden, of the University of Nebraska concludes that a 89 percent decline
 in the volume of low-level radioactive waste has occurred in the last
 sixteen years and that due to excess capacity at existing dumps the Ward
 Valley facility is neither necessary nor would it be economically viable;
 and,
         WHEREAS, According to a July, 1997 United States Congressional
 Research Service Report, as much as 90 percent of the radioactivity
 proposed for burial at Ward Valley would come from nuclear power plants,
 including cesium, strontium, plutonium and other long lasting radionuclides;
 now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the City and County of San Francisco opposes the
 proposed Ward Valley nuclear waste dump; and be it
         FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the
 President of the United States, San Francisco County's Congressional
 Delegation and California Governor Pete Wilson stating the opposition of
 the City and County of San Francisco tot he proposed Ward Valley
 radioactive waste repository.
 
 Save Ward Valley
 107 F St.
 Needles, CA  92363
 ph. 760/326-6267
 fax 760/326-6268
 http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html
 http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley
 http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1
 http://banwaste.envirolink.org
 http://www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html
 
 --------- "RE: Peace & Dignity Journey" ---------
 
 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 10:10:41 -0700 (MST)
 From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley)
 Subj: Peace & Dignity Journey--Ward Valley to San Pedro Run
 
   UUCP email
 
 PEACE & DIGNITY JOURNEY -- WARD VALLEY TO SAN PEDRO RUN
 April 12,  1998 thru April 19, 1998
   In 1992, while the world was set to celebrate the 500th anniversary of
 the so-called discovery of the Western Hemisphere, Itzachilatlan, Abya
 Yala, Turtle Island, a run was being planned to bring to the forefront the
 memory of the original inhabitants of the western hemisphere. A PEACE &
 DIGNITY TRANSCONTINENTAL RUN  was conducted.  It began simultaneously from
 the tips of north and south America and came together in the middle at the
 sacred site of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico.  It was run
 as a prayer and to bring together the original nations and peoples of the
 continents.  The run brought together many first nations peoples and
 Elders and the confederation of the Eagle and the Condor.   One People One
 Continent was formed.  Four years later, in 1996, once again a
 transcontinental Peace and Dignity Run was completed.  The prayers from
 these runs continues with the struggles that we face as indigenous peoples.
 The Ward Valley Run is a continuance of the prayer that began in 1992; to
 bring unity, to bring peace and dignity, to defend and protect our sacred
 Mother Earth, and to bring hope for future generations.
   It is with much respect and hope that you accept this invitation to
 support indigenous peoples rights to live with Peace and Dignity while
 trying to protect our sacred Mother Earth.  It is for this reason that a
 run of support will be conducted beginning in Ward Valley on Sunday, April
 12, 1998 and ending Sunday, April 19, 1998 in San Pedro.  The following is
 a tentative schedule for the run.
 
 Sunday, April 12        Beginning ceremony and blessing of the staffs and
 runners. (at Ward Valley)
 
 Monday, April 13        Sunrise start of run to Blythe, Tlahtokan (prayers,
 talking, planning)
 
 Tuesday, April 14       Sunrise start of run to Torres-Martinez Reservation,
 Tlahtokan
 
 Wednesday, April 15     Sunrise start of run to Morrongo Reservation, Tlahtokan
 
 Thursday, April 16      Sunrise start of run to San Manuel/Sherman Indian School,
 Tlahtokan
 
 Friday, April 17        Sunrise start of run to Chino, Tlahtokan
 
 Saturday, April 18      Sunrise start of run to Los Angeles, Tlahtokan (downtown
 streets will be closed off)
 
 Sunday, April 19        Closing ceremony.  TLAHTOKAN
 
 There are many other concerns and situations such as the Mexican
 government's attack on the traditional Mayan people in the state of Chiapas
 and the desecration Tongva burial sites in Los Angeles as well as many other
 environmental and human rights violations.  A Tlahtokan (gathering of
 Elders) will be held at the end of the run at Angles Gate in San Pedro.
 For more information call:  Al Gonzales 909/590-2498
 
 INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ALLIANCE
 Tonatierra  POB 24009  Phoenix, AZ  85074  602/254-5230
 Aztlan/Tonatierra POB 2217  Montclair, CA  91763  909/590-2498
 CONIC -- Council of Indigenous Nations and Organizations of the Continent
 Save Ward Valley
 107 F St.
 Needles, CA  92363
 ph. 760/326-6267
 fax 760/326-6268
 http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html
 http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley
 http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1
 http://banwaste.envirolink.org
 http://www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html
 
 --------- "RE: UN on Indigenous Rights" ---------
 
 Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 20:34:09 -0800
 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.)
 Subj: UN on Indigenous Rights
 
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
 UN Press release 27 March 1998  (part of 27th march)
 
 COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS CONTINUES DEBATE ON INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
 Senior Mexican Official Defends Country's Record Regarding Indigenous
 People
   The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Mexico told the
 Commission on Human Rights this morning that the promotion and protection
 of indigenous rights was a fundamental part of Mexico's policy. The
 comments by the official, Carmen Romero, came as the Commission continued a
 general debate on
 indigenous issues.
   According to Ms. Moreno, there were 56 ethnic groups and 71 indigenous
 languages spoken in Mexico. She said that although many indigenous peoples
 still lived in poverty, backwardness and marginalization, the Government
 had undertaken to promote economic and social development, especially in
 indigenous areas, while strengthening the rule of law.
   During the discussion, representatives of Governments and non-governmental
 organizations (NGOs) expressed support for the establishment of a permanent
 forum for indigenous people within the United Nations system. The
 Commission also hear calls for the quick conclusion of a draft declaration
 on the rights of the indigenous currently under discussion.
   Statements were made by representatives of Peru, Ukraine, Argentina,
 Chile, New Zealand, Estonia, Spain, Canada and Russian Federation. The
 International Labour Office (ILO) and World Health Organization (WHO) also
 took the floor, as did the representatives of the following NGOs: Indian
 Law Resource Centre, International Indian Treaty Council, Franciscans
 International, International Educational Development, International
 Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, Indian Movement
 Tupaj Amaru, International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development,
 Inuit Circumpolar Conference, World Council of Churches, American
 Association of Jurists, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs,
 Asian Buddhists Conference for Peace and Anti-Slavery International.
 
 Statement by Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Mexico
   CARMEN MORENO, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Mexico,
 said the promotion and protection of indigenous rights was a fundamental
 part of Mexico's policy. Mexico was a nation with indigenous roots and
 diversity was its main characteristic. There were 56 ethnic groups and 71
 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico. However, many indigenous peoples
 still lived in poverty, backwardness and marginalization. The Government
 had undertaken to promote economic and social development, especially in
 indigenous areas, while strengthening the rule of law. Poverty was part of
 the reality of Mexico, but the Government had decided that it would not be
 part of its destiny. It was still necessary to effectively implement the
 rights of everyone to all opportunities.
   Mexico had undertaken constitutional reforms, as well as reforms for
 Chiapas, and the Government was complying with the agreement of San Andre's
 which stipulated that the conflict in that area should be resolved without
 violence and with dialogue, Ms. Moreno continued. The indigenous people
 had the right to associate freely and could participate in their economic
 and social development.
   Their marginalization was not new -- the Government did not expect to
 solve 500 years of injustice in a few months? time. But Mexico had been
 the first country in the region to establish a multi-cultural and multi-
 ethnic policy.
   Ms. Moreno said some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) claimed that
 the conflict and poverty in Chiapas were the result of the economic
 restructuring policy and the free trade agreement with North America. In
 fact, the Chiapas conflict had been manipulated: there had been attempts
 to use it to stop the economic policy reforms and free trade policies of
 the Government. Mexico wanted NGOs to be part of the solution for the
 conflict in Chiapas, not part of the problem. It was true that the
 indigenous people had been victims of historic injustice, but the
 Government was trying to restructure the economy and participate in the
 world market. Already the Government?s economic policy was having positive
 results.
 ....
   PABLO ROMO, of Franciscans International, said acts of non-respect of the
 rights of indigenous peoples had continued despite the efforts made by the
 international community. Concern was particularly acute in relation to
 regions where the economic situation of indigenous peoples was precarious.
 The right to development of those peoples had been hampered by various
 reasons, while remedies, such as basic constitutional changes made by some
 States, did not take into account the wills and the desires of indigenous
 peoples. In many cases, legislation ignored specific problems of those
 peoples; furthermore, impunity for violators of the rights of the
 indigenous peoples persisted. The lack of access to communication, and the
 monopoly of media in the hands of governments, had limited the
 consciousness of the indigenous peoples. In addition, military occupation
 had destroyed the lives of the indigenous in a number of places in Latin
 America. The 22 December 1997 incident in Chiapas, Mexico, as well as
 other violations of indigenous rights, often went unpunished.
   KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, said the
 situation of the indigenous people of Mexico had continued to deteriorate
 after the horrifying December massacre of Tzotzil Indians in their village
 in Chiapas. Two groups in Chiapas were especially affected: people
 forcibly relocated or displaced by paramilitary groups and national armed
 forces; and women who suffered from sexual aggression and intimidation at
 the hands of military forces. The Government should withdraw military and
 paramilitary forces from the Chiapas region and other areas in Mexico and
 should implement the San Andre's Accords.
   The representative went on to say that the American Government had
 continued weapons testing involving depleted uranium in Alaska, despite
 pleas from 109 Indian Nations in that state to stop. In Hawaii, meanwhile,
 the United States and the state government actively sought to suppress the
 sovereignty movement of the Na Kanaka Maoli (Hawaiian) people. The United
 States and the state government had committed gross violations of the
 human rights of the Na Kanaka Maoli people.
 ...
   CARLOS ANDRES PEREZ, of the American Association of Jurists, welcomed the
 Commission's adoption of a specific agenda item on indigenous peoples.
 This was justice for a large portion of mankind which had long been
 forgotten, he said. The Commission should adopt a resolution to create an
 ad hoc group composed of representatives of indigenous peoples and
 Governments which would submit to the Commission next year a report on a
 permanent forum for the indigenous peoples within the United Nations. The
 participation of the indigenous people in the inter-sessional working
 group on indigenous people should be strengthened, and the mandate of the
 group renewed.
   The American Association of Jurists, he continued, was concerned about
 the situation of indigenous peoples in many Latin American countries,
 where they suffered a constant deterioration of their economic and social
 rights. In Mexico, paramilitary groups and the army continued to carry out
 mass murders, kidnappings and forced disappearances. In Colombia, the
 leaders of indigenous peoples were murdered and there was intimidation and
 threats. In Ecuador, transnational corporations continued to violate the
 rights of indigenous peoples without the State adopting measures to stop it.
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
     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: US Cities in International Day of Action" ---------
 
 Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 15:17:42 -0700 (PDT)
 From: "moonlight@igc.apc.org" <moonlight@igc.apc.org>
 Subj: US Cities in International Day of Action on April 10th
 
   UUCP email
 
 Companeros y Companeras,
 
 Here is the list of cities that have confirmed to organize actions on April
 10th.  We are expecting more to come forward in the next couple of days.  If
 you do not see your city on the list, PLEASE ORGANIZE SOMETHING at the
 Consulate nearest you or other appropriate targets.  Also please do not
 forget to phone, fax and email the White House on the 10th, or participate
 in the day of electronic civil disobedience.
   Through these coordinated nationwide actions, we have the opportunity to
 send a powerful message that we will not tolerate further bloodshed in
 Chiapas and the elimination of the Zapatistas!  TODOS SOMOS ZAPATISTAS!
   If you would like more information about the actions on April 10th, the
 NCDM's campaign "In the Spirit of Zapata & the Massacred of Acteal, please
 call (800) 405-7770/(213) 254-9550.
 La Lucha Sigue,
 NCDLJ
 
 US Cities to Hold Actions on April 10rh
 1. Los Angeles, CA
 2. San Francisco, CA
 3. Sacramento, CA
 4. Portland, OR
 5. El Paso, TX
 6. Chicago, ILL
 7. Tucson, AZ
 8. New York, NY
 9. Atlanta, GA
 10.Cleveland, OH
 11.Asheville, NC
 12.Phoenix, AZ
 13.Denver, CO
 14.Louisville, KY
 15.Houston, TX
 16.Albuquerque, NM
 
 --------- "RE: Traditional Hopi Resist Sewer System" ---------
 
 Date: 5:32 PM  Apr  3, 1998
 From: Robert Dorman <redorman@theofficenet.com>
 Subj: Traditional Hopi resist sewer system
 
 Mailing List:    Big Mountain List <bigmtlist@hotmail.com>
 
 The following is from Phoenix New Times
 http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1998/current/feature2-1.html
 If you have a web browser, please visit that site.  For those with only
 email internet access, it is reproduced below.
 -------------------------------------------------------------
   For nearly a century, fiercely traditional Hopi Indians in the village of
 Hotevilla have struggled against the U.S. government and their own tribe
 in an effort to preserve their ancient culture and protect their religious
 beliefs.
   When Hotevilla was established as a haven for traditionalists in 1906,
 the dispute centered on the villagers' refusal to send their children to
 government schools. Through the years, the specifics have changed -- from
 the creation of the Hopi Tribal Council in 1934 to an attempt in 1968 to
 bring electricity to the village.
   In 1998, the issue is toilets. The small group of remaining
 traditionalists is challenging a million-dollar sewer system that has
 finally brought indoor plumbing to dozens of homes on the isolated mesa in
 northern Arizona.
   The traditional Hopi, led by a 105-year-old village elder, say the sewer
 system -- a series of pipes that lead from homes on the mesa to a large
 sewage-treatment pond at its base -- was built in violation of federal
 environmental laws. Moreover, they say the pipes are smack in the midst of
 a sacred burial ground and that the underground plumbing is blocking the
 path of their prayers to the Creator. This obstacle to spiritual
 communication, they contend, is causing huge problems worldwide, including
 El Nino and the threat of armed conflict with Iraq. The group believes
 that if the pipes are allowed to remain in the ground, they could even
 portend the end of life on Earth.
   For decades these traditional Hopi have shunned any sort of government
 handout or program. They've refused to recognize the authority of the U.S.
 government and especially the Hopi Tribal Council, which was created by
 the feds. They declined to participate in public hearings on the sewer
 project because the meetings were government-sponsored.
   But in its effort to preserve its cultural heritage and eschew the
 government, the Hopi group is making good use of government institutions
 and modern technology. They have pushed their legal challenge of the sewer
 system all the way to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and may take
 it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, the Ninth Circuit rejected their
 legal arguments, ruling that the Hopi Tribe is sovereign and immune from
 lawsuits. Normally, the government-shunning traditionalists would welcome
 a ruling that said the tribe was immune from outside interference. But now,
 they say, they will file an appeal with the nation's highest court.
   Friends off the reservation have designed a sophisticated Web site aimed
 at spreading the traditional Hopi's broader message of saving the planet
 and humanity through sound environmental practices and civility. The Web
 site, a 1995 book on Hotevilla and other homespun publicity attempts have
 brought in some cash for the lawsuit, although their Phoenix attorney,
 Howard Shanker, says his expenses have barely been covered.
   And though traditionalists' numbers have dwindled -- elders die, people
 leave the reservation and young Hopi embrace modern ways -- the
 traditionalists' passion has never faded. Through the years, their leaders
 have suffered imprisonment in crude government guardhouses. The men of the
 village were locked up in Alcatraz for a year. In more recent times,
 they've thrown themselves in the path of bulldozers and laid down in open
 construction trenches to stop water and sewer projects. They've gone
 against their own family members, a difficult decision in a society
 organized around clans and lineage.
   Current Hopi Tribal Council leaders didn't return phone calls for this
 story. That's okay with the traditionalists, who want their story to be
 understood their way.
   "We settled down here with a purpose to be who we are, as a traditional
 Hopi group," says Dan Evehema, who at 105 years old is the eldest elder in
 Hotevilla. "That was our choice.
   "We want outside to leave us alone -- the tribal government as well as
 the U.S. government. They have no authority here."
   To understand the present, you must first learn about the past. That is
 the Hopi way, says Vernon Masayesva, a former tribal chairman who was born
 and raised in Hotevilla [pronounced HOAT-villah]. So before Masayesva,
 who's relocated to the Valley and is not a part of the traditionalist
 group, will comment on the latest political brouhaha in his village, he
 explains the history of Hotevilla over a cup of coffee at a Scottsdale
 cafe. It's a story that also can be found in various books and reports
 about the Hopi Tribe, as well as a 1995 tome co-authored by Evehema and
 published by the California-based Touch the Earth Foundation
 (Kc4behopi@aol.com).
   Anthropologists believe the area of northern Arizona that contains the
 Hopi reservation has been occupied for as long as 10,000 years, and
 continuously occupied for at least 2,000 years. The sewer outfall pipeline
 and sewage lagoon sit amid ancient farms and fields and orchards. Some
 pipes are located near petroglyphs.
   Hotevilla itself took root in 1906, after disagreements between the
 traditionalists and the "progressives" in the village of Old Oraibi came
 to a somewhat violent head.
   Hotevilla itself took root in 1906, after disagreements between the
 traditionalists and the "progressives" in the village of Old Oraibi came
 to a somewhat violent head.
   Traditionalists had for several years refused to send their children to
 government schools in nearby Keams Canyon. The more progressive Hopi
 embraced education and Christianity; the traditionalists held fast to the
 Hopi religion and opposed any government but their own long-established
 village hierarchy, which is organized around clans and recognizes a
 village chief.
   Late on a September day in 1906, a serious argument ensued.
 Traditionalists were dragged from their homes by their hair and marched to
 the edge of the village. The progressives and traditionalists had decided
 to split, and the traditionalists were the ones leaving. According to
 Evehema's book, Yukiuma, the charismatic traditionalist leader, stood at
 the edge of Oraibi and drew a line in the dirt with his foot. He said,
 "From here on, all the land is under my care. You in Oraibi will have only
 the village." Then he stepped over the line and headed west.
   Evehema is the only Hotevilla resident alive today who witnessed the
 breakup of the old village and the founding of the new one. He was 13
 years old, and his father was among those who a few years earlier had been
 held in the federal prison on the San Francisco Bay island of Alcatraz
 because he wouldn't send his son to a government school. Evehema remembers
 being herded from the village by progressives who taunted the departing
 villagers. He says they weren't even allowed to collect most of their
 belongings.
   Yukiuma actually meant to lead his followers to a more distant spot, but
 bad weather and a lack of supplies forced the group to set up what was to
 be a temporary camp on Third Mesa. Masayesva says the villagers who had
 been driven from Old Oraibi didn't have enough food to get much farther,
 so they decided to make a temporary village until they could harvest crops
 and possibly retrieve some of their possessions. People put up makeshift
 homes that eventually became permanent, which is why the village is
 scattered today, not well-planned and laid out like other Hopi villages,
 he says.
   People soon became comfortable with the site; Hotevilla had ample water
 and fertile ground and still has the best-producing farms on the
 reservation.
   Dissent took hold early in Hotevilla. A group of traditionalists soon
 tried to return to Oraibi but was rejected. It headed back toward
 Hotevilla but stopped short and instead established Bacabi, a village
 whose residents were willing to accept some things from the government.
 Bacabi got a sewer system years ago.
   "Yukiuma's group outright rejected anything the government had to offer,
 including schools," Masayesva says.
   The traditionalists were called "hostiles" because of their animosity
 toward the federal government. Other Hopi believed that the best way to
 preserve their culture was to work with the government and become educated.
 They became known as "friendlies."
   But flaws in Hotevilla's religious and social structure created a
 serious weakness that Hotevilla, despite its intention to follow a
 traditional line, has never quite resolved, Masayesva says.
   In Hopi culture, it is the Bear Clan that produces the spiritual and
 moral leaders of the village. But Hotevilla was established by the Fire
 Clan (which is Masayesva's clan), and the traditional religious system was
 shattered because the necessary rituals couldn't be carried out, Masayesva
 says.
   Yukiuma's personal force held the village together for many years, says
 Masayesva, but when he died, there was no one anointed -- or strong enough
 -- to take his place.
   "As the years went by, the adherence to the original mission weakened,
 and no one had the strength to bind the people together," Masayesva says.
 "The village just sort of operated from day to day. Even today there is
 not a clearly recognized leader."
   In the 1930s, the federal government urged the Hopi to form a tribal
 council, a departure from the traditional system in which each of the
 dozen Hopi villages governed itself. Only about 15 percent of the Hopi
 participated in the election, but a tribal government was put in place
 anyway, according to the Evehema book. Decades later, the Hotevilla
 Village Board was formed as a mechanism to accept grant money from the
 council and the government, but Masayesva says it has never been intended
 as a village governing body.
   Masayesva remembers a similar dust-up over electricity, something that
 the village rejected about 30 years ago when traditionalists had more
 political sway in the village. Other Hopi villages had electricity and
 kids wanted to watch TV, he says. So Hotevilla residents bought TVs they
 could plug into the cigarette lighters of their cars and trucks. Then
 they'd drive to the edge of the mesa in the evenings to get the best
 reception. "There'd be a long line of cars lined up on the mesa with the
 antennas pointed at the San Francisco Peaks," Masayesva recalls.
   But the village still valued its simple ways, and the Hopi Foundation
 came up with a plan to provide homes with solar power, thwarting the need
 for electrical transmission lines. Masayesva believes Hotevilla is the
 largest solar-powered community in the nation.
 
 If we remain strong and firmly rooted,
 we will not be reshaped,
 whereas others will slump because they are rootless.
 So when the tests come,
 we must possess the strength to preserve ourselves.
 -Translation of Hopi prophecy, from traditionalists' Web site
 
 The Hopi religion is draconian.
   "People say the Hopis walk on the edge of a sharp knife while the
 Christians walk on a broad path," Masayesva says. "If you fall down in the
 Christian religion, you can confess and get back up again. With the Hopis,
 once you fall off, you can't get back on again."
   Leaders are special in the Hopi culture and must be properly enthroned
 through strict religious rules and rites. Evehema and other
 traditionalists who have taken the lead on battling the sewer project do
 not claim to be "leaders" and are almost shy about finding themselves in
 the spotlight.
   Evehema "is not a leader," says Masayesva. "He is just a man who is
 totally convinced that we are headed in the wrong direction, that we have
 broken the covenant."
   The covenant is the pact that traditionalist Hopi believe was made
 nearly 1,000 years ago with the Creator. Evehema's book, Hotevilla: Hopi
 Shrine of the Covenant, Microcosm of the World, explains the arrangement
 in nearly 600 pages of history, philosophy and spiritual guidance.
   Co-authored by Native American scholar Thomas E. Mails, the book begins
 with this question. "Is it possible, probable, even logical that an
 endangered species without federal protection-five elderly native people,
 supported by perhaps fifteen younger men and women, living the simplest of
 lives in a remote village in Northern Arizona-hold in their hands the fate
 of the Americas and perhaps even of the entire world?"
   "Implausible as it seems," Mails and Evehema write, "this little village
 may at this moment-and for a long time to come-be the most important place
 in the world."
   Evehema and his supporters believe that in A.D. 1100, Maasaw, the
 guardian spirit of the Earth, entrusted the fate of the world to the Hopi.
 Maasaw gave the Hopi numerous prophecies and expected them to become, as
 the book puts it, a "network of loyal servant people." The Hopi were
 initially just charged with watching out for North America. But as the
 "aboriginal loyalists" in other lands have become extinct, the Hopi elders
 have had to take responsibility for those countries, too, the book says.
   "When Hopi makes a commitment, he makes a commitment to the whole world,
 not just the Hopi people," says Emery Holmes Sr., a Hopi medicine man.
 Holmes, a younger man who appears to be in his 40s, has become the quasi-
 official spokesman for the traditionalist group. Holmes, Evehema and
 another elder, Martin Gashweseoma, are the three traditionalists who are
 plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the sewer project.
   To that end, Evehema and his allies have traveled to United Nations
 meetings four times-as set out in the prophecies-to preach their
 environmental message.
   Gashweseoma, who is Masayesva's uncle, is the keeper of the sacred
 tablets that explain the prophecies and the covenant. In fact, the
 Mails/Evehema book describes a holy object-a "marker"-vital to the
 covenant, the prophecies and the fate of the world and known only to the
 most trusted elders, that is buried somewhere in Hotevilla. The
 traditionalists are worried that the object will be damaged if sewer and
 water systems continue to be built.
   Still, Holmes says, the sewer project has disturbed other sacred areas,
 including a burial site that held fetuses, umbilical cords and other
 remains of dead babies. Women from the village who were having a hard time
 conceiving would go to the site and pray, he says, and often would have
 their prayers answered.
   "I think we should all realize that culture is the most important thing,
 " Holmes says. "But you can't mix the Hopi culture, the Hopi way . . .
 with the white man's government. They don't go together.
   "As a people, we're trying to walk away and follow the white man's way
 and that's not our way. And when it's too late, who is going to pay for
 it? Our children."
   The sewer project has been in the works since about 1989. It was funded
 with a $759,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and then
 the Indian Health Service and the tribe chipped in about another $250,000,
 according to federal officials.
   Construction began in the early 1990s, but stopped when federal budget
 cutbacks led to a shortage of government labor. The Hopi Tribe took it up
 again a year later and finally finished the system in 1996. It's hard to
 tell how many people in the village have actually taken advantage of the
 offered conveniences; the traditionalists say only a few homes have hooked
 up, village community development officials who operate the system say
 about 60 homes are using it and an IHS spokesman says about 120 homes are
 connected. The facility plan anticipated more than 200 homes connecting to
 the system, at a cost to homeowners of about $14 a month.
   The sewage-treatment lagoon covers about five acres at the base of the
 mesa, a spot where the IHS says villagers used to dump their waste anyway.
 About 4.5 miles of sewer line, mostly buried, lead up the side of the mesa
 alongside ancient petroglyphs and into the village. Eighty-nine manholes
 in the form of four-foot-high concrete conduits are scattered through the
 village and farm area.
   Three years ago, after construction was nearly finished but before the
 sewer was operating, the traditionalists were introduced to Phoenix lawyer
 Howard Shanker, a former Justice Department attorney who specializes in
 environmental law. Shanker and his wife, Tamara Crites Shanker, also an
 attorney, decided to take the case.
   "These people had no recourse," says Howard Shanker. "They needed help
 and they weren't getting it through the tribe. They're not sophisticated
 and they're isolated."
   Shanker says the traditionalists are not opposed to finding a way to
 dispose of waste other than outhouses and pit privies.
   But the government didn't consider any alternatives, such as above-
 ground plumbing, when it approved the project. The National Environmental
 Policy Act sets out a detailed checklist of things the government is
 supposed to do before it decides to go ahead with a project. Under NEPA,
 the government is supposed to consider other alternatives to a project,
 including what might happen if no action is taken at all. It is supposed
 to look at a project's effects on the broader community, including
 economic and cultural changes that might occur. And, Shanker says, it also
 should have taken into account the cumulative effects of four other water
 projects along with the sewer system-as is required by federal law.
   Often, NEPA requires the writing of a full-blown "environmental impact
 statement" or at least a more abbreviated "environmental assessment." In
 the case of the Hopi sewer project, IHS determined that neither an EIS nor
 an EA were required because reservation sanitation projects are
 specifically exempted under IHS regulations. So instead of a NEPA-guided
 EIS, the IHS included a five-page "environmental review" in the overall
 facility plan for the Hotevilla project. The plan concluded that a more
 thorough assessment was unnecessary because the project would not have a
 significant impact on the environment.
   The lawsuit dragged on with a federal judge first rejecting a request to
 stop the project and then, last year, ruling that the traditionalists
 simply couldn't sue the Hopi Tribe because the tribe is protected from
 lawsuits under sovereign immunity. The one-sentence decision issued last
 week by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals doesn't elaborate on that
 thinking. It simply affirms the lower-court ruling.
   Shanker contends that the project was funded by federal dollars and
 built, for the most part, by the federal government. "Tribal sovereign
 immunity shouldn't frustrate the [U.S. government's] ability to comply
 with its own laws," he says.
   For its part, the Indian Health Service says it followed the rules in
 building the project. John Hamilton of the IHS Phoenix-area office, who
 helped oversee the sewer and water projects in Hotevilla, says most
 Hotevilla residents were eager for the system to go in and told the
 government so at numerous public hearings.
   "Why should a small percentage of the community stop it?" he says,
 adding that no one is forced to hook up to the system if he doesn't want
 to.
   Hamilton also notes that the sanitation facilities are needed to prevent
 the spread of diseases like hepatitis and gastroenteritis, which can occur
 if raw sewage is allowed to build up in the community. No studies were
 done of health problems in Hotevilla-a point being raised by the
 traditionalists who say the dearth of sewage-treatment facilities has not
 harmed anyone. But Hamilton says an IHS study of Indian reservations
 nationally compared before-and-after disease rates in what's called Indian
 Country. In the 1950s, before federal sanitation projects were common,
 Indian communities suffered disease rates four to six times higher than
 the U.S. average. That rate has fallen to about the same as the national
 average since most communities now have sewage-treatment facilities, he
 says.
   Masayesva is generally supportive of the sewer system simply because
 people are used to modern conveniences. "The young kids, they need indoor
 plumbing," he says. "Who in Phoenix would dream of not having a shower?
 These people are no different."
   Besides, he adds, "If a sewer line can destroy your religion, that's not
 a very good religion."
   But Masayesva is critical of the government for the way it handled the
 project, particularly because planners didn't study the effect of the
 project on the traditionalists and their strong religious beliefs. That's
 a central argument that Evehema and the other plaintiffs are raising in
 their lawsuit.
   "How do you measure a culture?" asks Masayesva. "You can't transform
 beliefs into numbers that you can feed into your computers . . . and then
 crank out what the impacts are. When the government doesn't understand
 something, they ignore it. It's a racist thing."
   For now, life goes on for Hotevilla and its contentious traditionalists.
 But several of the elder traditionalists have passed away, and Evehema's
 group appears to be dwindling.
   Masayesva wishes a leader would emerge in Hotevilla, someone who could
 once again bind the people together.
   The village as well as the tribe need visionaries who can deal with all
 sorts of issues, including a long-standing dispute with a major coal-
 -mining company that the Hopi worry is draining their scarce-and sacred-
 water supply.
   "I just also hope the young ones don't hold a grudge against Dan
 [Evehema]," Masayesva adds. "He is a valuable man because he is standing
 against someone and standing on principle. The young people should be very
 proud of him, and see that in a way he is for them." Contact Patti Epler
 at her online address: pepler@newtimes.com
 
 --------- "RE: San Carlos Update" ---------
 
 Date: 98-04-02 16:04:13 EST
 From: AIMAZ
 Subj: San Carlos Update...4/2/98
 
   UUCP email
 
   The latest on the activities on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in
 Arizona are complicated, to say the least.
   Mr. Mike Haney has been diligently working with the people in San Carlos
 as a representative of the American Indian Arbitration Association.  Many
 meetings have taken place and this is the most recent news.
   A former Gila River Indian Community Judge was called in last week to
 make a decision on the legality of the tribal council.  At that time, he
 issued a temporary restraining order against the council.  He later
 reversed his decision, restoring the powers of the council members.  This
 causes a conflict of interest from the beginning as the Judge is not an
 acting judge, and is, in fact, a member of the Council of his respective
 Nation.
   With the reversal of his decision and power being restored to the
 council, this, in fact, makes again legal a recent resolution passed by
 the council issuing warrants for the arrest of Tribal Chairman, Raymond
 Stanley and 3 leaders of the Call To Action Organization on charges of
 "disorderly conduct". No arrests have so far been made.
   Call To Action, with the support of the Arizona Chapter of the American
 Indian Movement will be holding a demonstration and press conference at
 the Regional Office of the BIA in downtown Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow at 1
 p.m.  It is the contention of the group and Chairman Stanley that the BIA
 is to be held accountable for recent occurrences on the San Carlos Nation,
 as they were aware of the potential problems months ago, and were
 approached by Chairman Stanley for assistance.  They turned their backs on
 the Chairman and the tension on San Carlos has escalated as a result.
   Call To Action is also issuing a plea for legal assistance.  Attorneys
 versed in Indian law are being sought to represent the Call To Action
 group, and, more importantly, the San Carlos people.  Attorneys who are
 able to assist in this matter are urged to contact Mr. Charles Vargas of
 Call To Action.  He can be reached by email at <azperidot@gila.net>. 
 Donations of food, etc are also being accepted by Call To Action at this
 time in order to feed the large numbers of people who arrive at the San
 Carlos Tribal Building, daily, in order to voice their concerns.
 In Solidarity and Support of the San Carlos Apache People,
 Vernon Foster
 Southwest Regional Director
 American Indian Movement
 
 --------- "RE: Mi'kmaq's Oppose Sable Island Pipeline" ---------
 
 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 02:21:14 -0800
 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.)
 Subj: Mi'kmaq's oppose Sable Island pipeline
 
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
 MI'KMAQ CHALLENGE SABLE DEVELOPMENT
 The Calgary Herald, by Stephen Thorne
 [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.]
   DARTMOUTH, N.S. (CP) Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq chiefs have asked the
 provincial government to put a stop to Sable Island gas development,
 saying they are prepared to force the issue of native land claims in
 federal court.
   Chiefs from 13 bands said Tuesday concerns they expressed at meetings
 and hearings on the $3.2-billion project have not been adequately
 addressed in written communications from offshore and pipeline
 developers.
   "What really disturbed us more than anything was a clause in there
 that wanted our chiefs to waive any claims arising from our aboriginal
 title," said spokesman Dan Christmas of the Union of Nova Scotia
 Indians.
   "That was the killer."
   The requirement was a condition placed on undertakings by Maritime and
 Northeast Pipelines Ltd., developers of the 1,000-kilometre pipeline
 that will transport natural gas to New England from Port Hawkesbury,
 N.S.
   A separate consortium of offshore developers has promised employment
 and economic development opportunities for Mi'kmaq, protection for
 traditional areas and sacred sites, and an invitation to participate
 in committees.
   But the promises are too vague, the chiefs told a news conference.
   "The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs are calling for the
 immediate halt of the Sable gas projects," declared Chief Terence Paul
 of Membertou. "The project proponents must deal in good faith with our
 concerns."
   The undertakings and conditions came over the past two weeks in what
 the chiefs described as protocols or memorandums of understanding.
   "This is about our homeland belonging to the Mi'kmaq," said Christmas.
   "None of our history or any legal cases can point to the Mi'kmaq ever
 surrendering their homeland. Governments have been slow in dealing
 with that issue. We want to force that issue."
   Sable received final approvals earlier this year. Assembly has already
 begun near Sable Island, a 40-kilometre sandspit known for its
 shipwrecks and wild horses. Developers aim to start pumping gas late
 next year.
   The consortium headed by Mobil Oil Canada, known as the Sable Offshore
 Energy Project, is aligned with Maritimes and Northeast.
   The chiefs, representing 13,000 Mi'kmaq, plan to ask regulators to
 withhold remaining permits until developers address their concerns as
 ordered by the National Energy Board.
   But spokesmen for both developers said talks with natives aren't over.
   "We've sent them a letter last Thursday outlining commitments we made
 at a meeting last Tuesday and looking forward to progressing that,"
 said Graham Connell of the offshore consortium, adding more meetings
 are scheduled.
   "This is not a memorandum of understanding. It is not a protocol. We
 call it a letter."
   Bernd Christmas, legal adviser to the chiefs, said a March 12 protocol
 from Maritimes and Northeast made no firm commitments on issues such
 as treatment of burial sites.
   "After tabling that agreement we asked for a meeting," said Michael
 Whalen, a Fredericton-based official with the pipeline company. "We
 haven't been able to set up that meeting yet.
   "I don't think it's fair, nor will I negotiate through the media."
   The chiefs cited Supreme Court rulings backing 18th century treaties
 and native land claims elsewhere. A Mi'kmaq notice of claim over Nova
 Scotia filed in 1976 remains unresolved.
   Bernd Christmas said the chiefs may now force the issue.
   "A serious option is to file injunctions on both projects," he said,
 citing similar moves by Labrador Innu trying to block development of
 Voisey's Bay nickel. "I should emphasize that these are
 adversarial-type things.
   "We're not here to create an adversarial situation. We're asking for a
 legitimate consultation. Let's work something out."
   Tory Leader John Hamm and the NDP's Robert Chisholm said Premier
 Russell MacLellan has to insist the Sable partners fulfill their
 commitments.
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
 Letters to the Calgary Herald: letters@theherald.southam.ca
 NO SABLE ISLAND GAS PIPELINE on MI'KMAQ TERRITORY
 Premier of Nova Scotia Russell MacLellan: premier@gov.ns.ca
 In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
 distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
 interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
 educational purposes only.
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
     S.I.S.I.S.   Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
         P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
         EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org
         WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
 
 --------- "RE: Inco/Voisey's Bay" ---------
 
 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 08:05:26 -0400
 From: Larry Innes <innuenv@web.net>
 Subj: Media Roundup - Inco/Voisey's Bay
 
 Mailing List:    Innu People Forum list <INNU-L@YORKU.CA>
 
 VICTORIA TIMES COLONIST - Document 3 of 11  -  Page  1 of  2
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 DATE    : Fri Mar.20,1998
 PAGE    : F6
 BYLINE  : CP Wire
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
  Voisey challenge wraps up -
  Judge urged to order  a single environmental assessment
 TORONTO (CP) - A grassroots challenge to mining giant Inco's proposed
 nickel development in Newfoundland ended Thursday with a plea for the
 federal government to ''do the right thing.''
   "This case is not about expertise, it's about a federal government's
 legal duty," said Rodney Northey, the lawyer representing the Citizens'
 Mining Council of Newfoundland.  "One problem of (the council's) case is
 our lack of expert evidence ... The case is not about discretion but duty.
 The standard is correctness, not reason or deference."
   Northey was responding to arguments this week by Voisey's Bay Nickel
 Co., a subsidiary of Inco, that the mining council had failed to prove a
 single environmental review of the development was necessary rather than a
 two-pronged assessment.
   He urged Federal Court Judge Andrew MacKay to declare one environmental
 assessment for the $1.4 billion nickel project that consists of two
 facilities, a mine mill in Labrador and a smelter-refinery on
 Newfoundland's Avalon peninsula.
   Inco says two separate reviews, one on the mine and another on the
 smelter, is sufficient.
 GLOBE AND MAIL - Document 4 of 11  -  Page  1 of  3
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 980780103   THU   MAR.19,1998     PAGE: B3
 BYLINE: PAUL WALDIE
 CLASS: ROB
 DATELINE:                                               WORDS: 437
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
              Inco executives received pay raises, no bonuses
                  Salary increases ranged from 6% to 22%;
                Friedland, Capital Group cut stakes in miner
  BY PAUL WALDIE
  The Globe and Mail
 Executives at Inco Ltd. received no bonuses last year but were given pay
 increases of up to 22 per cent.
   Mining financier Robert Friedland also sold 4.4 million Inco shares
 last year, representing more than half of his total holding. He now owns
 3.2 million shares or 1.6 per cent of the nickel miner's outstanding
 shares.
   Mr. Friedland received his Inco shares through the $4.3-billion
 takeover of Diamond Fields Resources Inc., which he headed.
   Another major shareholder, Capital Group of Cos. Inc. of Los Angeles,
 cut its stake in Inco to 7.6 per cent from 9.2 per cent during 1997.
   The information was contained in a management circular sent to
 shareholders yesterday.
   Toronto-based Inco, one of the world's largest nickel producers, had a
 dismal year in 1997 largely because of a 32-per-cent drop in the price of
 nickel.
   The company's share price dropped to $24.50 last December from $51.25
 in March, 1997. It has since recovered somewhat and closed yesterday at
 $27.10 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Inco's profit also fell to $75-
 million (U.S.) last year from $179-million a year earlier.
   As a result of the poor performance, the company did not award bonuses
 to any senior executives last year. However, it did award salary increases
 of between 6 and 22 per cent to senior executives.
   Michael Sopko, Inco's chairman and chief executive officer, was paid
 $622,000 in 1997, up 21 per cent from his salary in 1996. He received
 $987,900 by exercising stock options and was paid $397,000 through a long-
 term incentive program.
   In 1996, Mr. Sopko received a bonus of $885,000 on top of his $513,000
 salary.
   Inco president Scott Hand was paid $530,000 last year, up 22 per cent.
 He received $692,100 in cash and stock through the exercise of options. He
 was also paid $338,000 in a long-term incentive.
   His bonus in 1996 was $753,000 in addition to a salary of $436,000.
   In the company's annual report, sent to shareholders yesterday, Inco
 said it will continue to cut costs and restructure operations to cope with
 the low price of nickel.
   Inco has announced it is slashing its work force by 1,275, or roughly 9
 per cent, through layoffs and early retirement. The company is closing
 four mines and has cut its annual dividend to 10 cents a share from 40
 cents.
   The company said it does not expect to start production from its
 massive Voisey's Bay project in Labrador until late 2000. Inco acquired
 Voisey's Bay, considered the world's richest nickel deposit, through the
 Diamond Fields takeover.
 
 --------- "RE: HQ Media Machine in Overdrive" ---------
 
 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 07:58:50 -0400
 From: Larry Innes <innuenv@web.net>
 Subj: SM3: HQ media machine in overdrive
 
 Mailing List:    Innu People Forum list <INNU-L@YORKU.CA>
 
 [This press release from HQ is interesting in several respects, but most
 notably in its failure to mention the fact that the SM3 agreement between
 HQ and the Innu Band Council of Uashat was strongly opposed by many Innu
 communities, including the Innu Nation, and resulted in a virtual civil war
 within the communities of Uashat and Maliotenam.
 HQ is cranking up the PR machine. Watch this space!  Next...how diverted
 rivers control floods - ed.]
 
 CANADA NEWS WIRE (CURRENT) - Document 4 of 20  -  Page  1 of  4
 Date:      Monday, March 30, 1998               Time:  13:44 Eastern
 .........
    HYDRO-QUEBEC - THE SAINTE-MARGUERITE 3 PROJECT GENERATES SIGNIFICANT **
    ** ECONOMIC SPINOFFS FOR THE*INNU*COMMUNITY OF UASHAT-MALIOTENAM **
 .........
   MONTREAL, March 30 /CNW/ - The*Innu*community of Uashat-Maliotenam will
 receive from Hydro-Quebec compensation amounting to $20.9 million (in 1994
 dollars) over a period of 50 years, as part of the Sainte-Marguerite 3
 project, where the reservoir will begin impounding on April 1. Moreover,
 an additional $10 million has been set aside by Hydro-Quebec to carry out
 remedial works that will benefit the community of Uashat-Maliotenam.
 Economic spinoffs of the construction of the project for
 the*Innu*community total nearly $50 million.
   Hydro-Quebec and the band council representing the Uashat-Maliotenam
 community negotiated an agreement on the SM-3 project. Designated the
 Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam Agreement (1994), it was endorsed by an referendum
 held by the band council on June 13, 1994. Public signing of the agreement
 took place at Uashat on July 14, 1994.
   The agreement between Hydro-Quebec and the*Innu*community of Uashat-
 Maliotenam covers the construction of a dam will block the valley some 90
 km from the mouth of the Ste-Marguerite River in order to create the
 reservoir, an 8.3 km intake tunnel, which will bring water to the
 powerhouse and the construction of an underground 883 megawatt powerhouse
 and a spillway. The agreement also covers construction and operation of
 the 315 kV line to link the generating station to Arnaud substation.
 Furthermore, the Uashat-Maliotenam Band Council signed a framework
 agreement on July 14, 1994 on negotiations for the partial diversion of
 the Carheil and Aux Pekans rivers.
   In exchange for the commitments made by Hydro-Quebec in this agreement,
 the *Innu* of Uashat-Maliotenam agreed to refrain from legal proceedings
 or any steps that would prevent, delay or change the Sainte-Marguerite 3
 project or interfere with its operation.
   The $20.9 million breaks down as follows:
   About 30% of the total is allocated to the*Innu*Aitum Fund, which
 supports traditional activities by the Uashat-Maliotenam community. When
 the agreement was signed, some $310,000.00 was paid immediately, and
 indexed installments will follow annually over a 49-year period. This fund
 is managed by a joint corporation called SOTRAC (Sainte-Marguerite),
 consisting of three *Innu* directors and three directors from Hydro-Quebec.
 Requests for funding are analyzed by SOTRAC according to the
 organization's eligibility criteria. To be accepted, projects must receive
 the approval of at least one*Innu*and one Hydro-Quebec representative.
   The other 70% has been allocated to the Economic and Community
 Development Fund, which the Ushat//?Saliotenam Band Council manages on its
 own.
   When the agreement was signed, Hydro-Quebec paid a lump sum of $7.425
 million and the first of 50 annual payments of $531.000. Subsequent annual
 installments will be indexed annually.
     Environmental impact mitigation
   In addition, some $10 million has been set aside by Hydro-Quebec to
 mitigate environmental impacts and carry out corrective works to benefit
 the *Innu.* The specific measures are determined by SOTRAC (Sainte-
 Marguerite). Other measures included in the agreement must also be carried
 out. These were requested by the government as a condition of its
 authorization.
    Economic spinoffs of project construction
   The *Innu* of Uashat-Maliotenam are participating in construction of the
 Sainte-Marguerite 3 hydroelectric development. Contracts worth $46 million
 have been awarded to *Innu* companies since 1994, including $32 million to
 companies in which *Innu* have at least a 50% interest and $14 million to
 companies the *Innu* own outright. In addition, these companies have
 carried out some $2.9 million in subcontracts for other contractors at the
 jobsite. Since 1994, there has been an average of 35 person/years of work
 by*Innu*at the site.
   For further information: Sylvie Tremblay, Press Officer, Hydro-Quebec
 Equipe Medias et Plans d'urgence, (514) 289-4975, Internet:
 stremblay(at)mail.dcrp.hydro.qc.ca
 
 --------- "RE: Quebec Offers `Unprecedented Self-Government'" ---------
 
 Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 12:43:44 -0800
 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.)
 Subj: Quebec offers "unprecedented self-government"
 
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
 QUEBEC OFFERS NATIVES NEW POLITICAL DEAL
 Globe and Mail, April 3, 1998, page A1, by Rheal Seguin
 [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.]
   Quebec - The provincial government is inviting Quebec's 11 aboriginal
 bands to define a structure of self-government that could include sending
 representatives to the province's legislature. Unprecedented both in its
 scope and in its ramifications, the new strategy aims at breaking the
 mistrust that has often existed between the Quebec government and native
 communities. It is outlined in a document written by the Aboriginal
 Affairs Ministry and released yesterday by minister Guy Chevrette.
   The document includes a framework for negotiations on giving taxation
 powers to native communities as well as possibly letting them share in
 revenues from new projects in areas such as hydro-electricity, mining and
 forestry. "We are proposing a partnership that will guarantee native
 communities a stable and regular source of financing," Mr. Chevrette said.
 He said that at a meeting last Friday more than 50 of the province's 60
 native leaders showed a willingness to open negotiations. Ghislain Picard,
 head of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec, welcomed the province's
 move yesterday but warned that the process of negotiation would be long.
 He said each of the 11 native bands has different issues and ,"in most
 cases, the reality is that the federal government will have to be
 involved."
   He said the approach should be viewed not as a magic solution but as an
 "evolution of the relationship that has been evolving at an administrative
 level." Romeo Saganash, a spokesman for the Grand Council of the Crees of
 Quebec, took a similar wait-and-see attitude but also expressed one grave
 reservation. "I counted no fewer than seven references in the documents to
 the territorial integrity of Quebec. They talk about it almost
 obsessively, so I am worried that this might over-shadow the more positive
 elements," he said. While the strategy signals a new openness towards
 natives, the documents say two fundamental principles would have to be
 respected: Both Quebec's territorial integrity and the sovereignty of the
 Quebec National Assembly over that territory would remain intact.
   Creating an aboriginal political structure with legislative powers is
 the key component of the new strategy. The type of political forum and its
 powers would be negotiable, but Mr. Chevrette said that current treaties,
 rights and unsettled land claims would not be undermined. The 11 bands
 have been asked to appoint representatives to a joint commission with
 members of the Quebec government to immediately begin defining the
 political structure.
   "I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of the talks," Mr. Chevrette said
 during an interview yesterday. "But just for the sake of discussion, let
 me give you some theoretical examples. We could have an assembly of the 11
 nations where the assembly could delegate members to the National
 Assembly..."The forum could be one that resembles a [native] legislative
 assembly or senatorial type of structure, I'm not sure. I don't want to
 presume what the outcome will be, because I don't want to anger anyone. We
 have to build this together." Mr. Chevrette said that in 1985 the
 legislature adopted a motion tabled by then premier Rene Levesque to
 recognize aboriginal people as nations. As such, Mr. Chevrette said, they
 should be able to exercise their rights within their own political
 structure.
   The self-government offer would give native communities the option of
 having their own taxation powers in return for the elimination of the
 current tax-exemption policy for status Indians living on reserves. All
 taxes paid by natives on and off reserves and by non-aboriginal people on
 reserves would go to aboriginal communities. Furthermore, the government
 has proposed to amend Quebec laws to conform with the traditional native
 ways of life. For instance, provincial conservation laws that ban hunting
 and fishing during certain periods of the year would be changed to conform
 with the needs of native communities.
   The government has offered to create a $125 million fund for community
 projects to be spent over five years, with an invitation to Ottawa to
 contribute the same amount. The money would help fund urgent community
 infrastructure projects such as roads, sewers or day-care centres. It
 would also be used to start businesses and create jobs in many of the
 poorer communities. Quebec spends $350 million a year in native
 communities, including $100 million from Ottawa. About 80 percent of the
 money is spent on projects in Northern Quebec's Cree, Naskapi and Inuit
 territories, where there are a total of 24 communities for which the James
 Bay Agreement gives the Quebec government financial responsibilities. The
 document says that the special fund must be created to eliminate the
 disparities between native communities.
   It also says that Quebec has accepted the principle that developing
 natural resources in co-operation with the aboriginal bands, meaning that
 natives would have to be partners in hydroelectric projects such as Great
 Whale or Churchill Falls. Guarantees of profit sharing and recognition of
 native ownership over the land and resources would have to be included in
 any new development, Mr. Chevrette said. "I've been in politics for 21
 years and I share the same sensitivities Mr. Levesque expressed when he
 was premier, that we have to stop talking and do something," Mr. Chevrette
 said. In mid May, Quebec will host a federal-provincial conference of
 native-affairs ministers where the issues in Quebec's strategy document
 will be raised.
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
 Letters to the Globe and Mail - mailto:letters@GlobeAndMail.ca
 In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
 distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
 interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
 educational purposes only.
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
     S.I.S.I.S.   Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
         P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
         EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org
         WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
 
 --------- "RE: Victory at Devils' Tower" ---------
 
 Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 06:33:06 -0500
 From: jsd@pobox.com (JS Dill)
 Subj: Victory at Devils' Tower
 
   Newsgroup: alt.native
 
  well, well, well...it seems we can indeed make a difference.
         For those who might need a frame of reference see
 <http://www.dickshovel.com/twr.html>...
      Ah yes...some Justice does exist...in the Land of Wasichu.  :)
 ---------- Forwarded message ----------
 Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 13:18:47 -0500
 From: elaine flattery
 
 Here you go Jordan, please share with others.  Ruling came in yesterday...
 WE WON!  Many thanks to you and all who assisted in sending letters &
 prayers and who share in this victory.
 Regards,
 Elaine
 
 VICTORY FOR INDIAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM:
 Court Rules Accommodations at Devils Tower are Constitutional
 April 3, 1998
   Casper, WY - Judge William F. Downes of the U.S. District Court in
 Wyoming ruled today that the National Park Service's climbing management
 plan at Devils Tower National Monument is constitutional.  This plan
 accommodates Indian religious worship at Devils Tower by asking rock
 climbers not to scale the butte in June, a month when Indians from over
 twenty different tribes gather there to conduct sacred religious
 ceremonies.
   Judge Downes' ruling dismissed a lawsuit filed by several rock climbers
 who argued that the Park Service's plan violates the First  Amendment's
 prohibition against government sponsorship of religion.  In his decision,
 Judge Downes ruled that "the government may (and sometimes must)
 accommodate religious practices and ..... it may do so without violating
 the Establishment Clause of the First  Amendment."
   The Park Service's plan discourages, but does not prohibit, rock
 climbing during June.  According to Judge Downes, this "voluntary climbing
 ban" is "a policy that has been carefully crafted to balance the competing
 needs of individuals using Devils Tower National Monument while, at the
 same time, obeying the addicts of the Constitution."
   Judge Upholds All Aspects of Park Service's Plans
   Judge Downes upheld all aspects of the park Service's program, stating
 that "the purposes underlying the ban are really to remove barriers to
 religious worship occasioned by public ownership of the Tower.... The
 government is merely enabling Native Americans to worship in a more
 peaceful setting.  In doing so, the government has no involvement in the
 manner of worship that takes place, but only provides an atmosphere more
 conducive to worship."
   Steve Gunn, an attorney with the Indian Law Resource Center in
 Washington, D.C., who is representing Indian parties in the case, agrees. 
 "The government is not sponsoring or funding Indian ceremonies at Devils
 Tower. Nor is it organizing the ceremonies or encouraging bystanders to
 participate in them.  It is simply taking steps to insure that Indian
 worshippers are left alone to perform their ceremonies in solitude.  We
 are very pleased with Judge Downes' ruling."
   The Park Service implemented the voluntary climbing ban in 1995, after
 nearly two years of consultation with American Indians, rock climbers,
 environmentalists, and others.  It did so to balance the competing
 interests of Indians and rock climbers, and to encourage tolerance and
 respect for Indian religious practices.  To promote compliance with the
 ban, the Park Service posted a sign at the base of the Tower asking
 visitors to stay on the trail (and away from Indians conducting ceremonies
 at off-trail locations) and developed a cross-cultural education program
 which offers information to visitors about the historical and cultural
 significance of the Tower to American Indians.
   Most Climbers Support and Honor the Plan
   Most rock climbers have shown respect for the Indian religious
 practitioners and have supported the Park Service's program.  The Access
 Fund, a national climbing organization, has officially endorsed the program
 and the Park Service reports that since 1995, rock climbing during June
 has fallen by over 80%.
   Devils Tower Is Vital to Indian Religion and Culture
   For Arvol Looking Horse, a member and spiritual leader of the Cheyenne
 River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, this ruling is a significant victory.
 "Once again, we can worship in our traditional way and practice our
 traditional culture without interference at this sacred site."
   Devils Tower is a sacred site and a vital cultural resource for Indians
 from over twenty Plains tribes.  For centuries, Indians have performed
 religious and cultural ceremonies there, including the Sun Dance, sweat
 lodge rites, vision quests, and prayer offerings.  However, in recent
 years, growing numbers of visitors and rock climbers have disrupted these
 Indian ceremonies.  According to Looking Horse, "Climbers make lots of
 noise and come near our people when they are praying.  By doing this, they
 disturb our efforts to obtain spiritual guidance.  When climbers hammer
 objects into the butte, it is like they are pounding stakes into our
 bodies."
   The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe intervened in the lawsuit to defend the
 Park Service's accommodations at "He Hota Paha," or Grey Horn Butte, the
 Lakota name given to Devils Tower hundreds of years ago.  The Tribe is
 represented by the Indian Law Resource Center and attorneys in the Tribe's
 Legal Department.
   Ruling Upholds American Tradition of Religious Tolerance
   "There is a long and principled tradition in this country of
 accommodation religious practices on government lands," says Gunn.  At
 Arlington National Cemetery, a site described by the federal government as
 "our nation's most sacred shrine," recreational activities that would
 interfere with religious burial or memorial services are strictly
 prohibited.  And in the countless national parks, the Park Service owns or
 leases churches and other religious properties and prohibits activities
 that would conflict with religious services.
   "Time and again, the Supreme Court has said that the government 'follows
 the best of our traditions' when it 'respects the religious nature of our
 people and accommodates... their spiritual needs,'" says Gunn.  "These
 American traditions must be upheld for our country's first Americans, too."
                   First Nations/First Peoples Issues
                  <http://www.dickshovel.com/www.html>
 
 --------- "RE: Echoes of the Atomic Age" ---------
 
 Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 21:31:05 -0400
 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman)
 Subj: Diposable Dene..???
 ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------
 Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 16:19:30 -0600
 From: Jamie Kneen <jkneen@web.net>
 Subj: Echoes of the Atomic Age
 
   Newsgroup: alt.native
 
   It is a relief to me to be able to pass on the original Calgary Herald
 story. Only one note for now: Eldorado was not sold "to" Cameco; Cameco was
 formed out of Eldorado and Saskatchewan Mining Development Corp in order to
 privatize uranium mining and processing. In subsequent share offerings, all
 of Canada's share was sold to the "public", while Saskatchewan maintains
 ownership of about one third of Cameco.
 - jamie
 PAPER   Calgary Herald
 PDATE   Saturday, March 14, 1998
 EDITION Final
 SECTION News
 PAGE A1 / FRONT
 HEADLINE Cancer killed 14 uranium workers: Echoes of the Atomic Age
 BYLINE  Andrew Nikiforuk, Calgary Herald
   At the dawn of the nuclear age, Paul Baton and more than 30 Dene hunters
 and trappers innocently called uranium "the money rock."
   Paid $3 a day by their white employers, the Dene hauled and ferried
 burlap sacks of the grimy ore from the world's first uranium mine at Port
 Radium, across the Northwest Territories to Fort McMurray.
   Since then, at least 14 Dene who worked at the mine between 1942 and
 1960 have died of lung, colon and kidney cancers, according to documents
 obtained through the N.W.T. Cancer Registry.
   The Port Radium mine supplied the uranium to fuel the $2-billion effort
 to make the first atomic bombs.
   "Before the mine, you never heard of cancer," said Baton, 83. "Now, lots
 of people have died of cancer."
   Charged Cindy Gilday, chairwoman of the Deline's Uranium Committee: "In
 my mind it's a war crime that has been well hidden. The Dene were the
 first civilian victims of the war and are the last to be addressed."
   The Dene, who say they were never told of uranium's hazards, will decide
 next weekend whether to sue or seek a settlement with the federal
 government.
   Declassified U.S. documents show that the U.S. government, which was the
 buyer, and Ottawa, then the world's largest supplier, withheld health and
 safety information from miners, as well as natives.
   Robie Chatterjee, head of health physics and risk with the Atomic Energy
 Control Board, responded to the news of the high incidence of cancers
 among the Dene by saying: "We were not aware of this (the cancers). It
 definitely deserves more investigation."
   The federal government owned Eldorado Mining and Refining and regulated
 the uranium industry. It privatized the firm in 1988.
   During the mine's heyday in the 1950s, many Dene slept on the ore, ate
 fish from water contaminated by radioactive tailings and breathed
 radioactive dust while on the barges, docks and portages.
   More than a dozen men carried sacks of ore weighing more than 45
 kilograms for 12 hours a day, six days a week, four months a year.
   "That might be comparable to taking a chest X-ray every week for a year
 with an old machine," said Dr. David Bates, an environmental health
 analyst and chair of British Columbia's royal commission on uranium in
 1980.
   "The people at the time didn't speak English," said Shirley Baton-Modest,
 33, a Deline resident. "I think my people were used as guinea-pigs. They
 were never informed of the dangers."
   A 1991 federal aboriginal health survey found the Deline community
 reporting twice as much illness as any other Canadian aboriginal community.
 
   But the federal government has never studied the Dene's health-related
 concerns -- specifically cancer.
   Andre Corriveau, the Northwest Territories' chief medical officer of
 health, noted that high cancer rates among the Dene don't differ
 significantly from the overall territorial profile.
   However, the death rate is skewed by high rates of smoking among the
 Inuit, he said.
   Andy Orkin, an Ontario lawyer who deals with aboriginal and
 environmental issues, will present a brief to the Dene next week.
   "We left them to die and hoped they would never ask any questions," he
 said.
 
 PAPER   Calgary Herald
 PDATE   Saturday, March 14, 1998
 EDITION Final
 SECTION News
 PAGE A4
 HEADLINE Echoes of the Atomic Age: Uranium haunts a northern village
 BYLINE  Andrew Nikiforuk, Calgary Herald
   Fourteen of the 30 Dene who worked at the Port Radium, N.W.T. uranium
 mine have died of cancer. Declassified documents on the U.S. atomic
 weapons and energy program reveal that both the Canadian and American
 governments knew in the early 1940s of the deadly hazards of uranium
 extraction. Yet for two decades Ottawa failed to warn thousands of miners
 and natives of the risks they faced daily.
   Now, the elders of Deline must decide whether to seek a settlement -- or
 sue for compensation.
   Just south of the Arctic Circle on the shores of Great Bear Lake, the
 surviving elders of Deline now say the Prophet warned them.
   These are the people whose dead husbands and brothers hauled the raw
 uranium ore that helped make the bombs that obliterated Hiroshima and
 Nagasaki; the ones who still have no word for radiation.
   In immaculate white-walled bungalows, the elders nod at a stark
 photograph of a bearded figure and say in hushed and saddened tones, "Yes,
 Grandfather told us."
   Until his death in 1940, Louis Ayah, one of the North's great aboriginal
 seers, repeatedly warned his people that the waters in Great Bear Lake
 would turn a foul yellow.
   According to "Grandfather," the yellow poison would flow toward the
 village, recalls Madelaine Bayha, one of a dozen scarfed and skirted
 "uranium widows" in the village.
   "The prophet spoke about that poison. He said that there would be
 sickness and that people would go through hard times and that there would
 be deaths," says Bayha, 82.
   Her husband, Joseph, worked for years at the uranium mine and died as
 many white miners did: coughing himself to death.
   Fifty years after the first atomic bomb, the Cold War and the economic
 boom that was uranium, the elders in this community of 600 people are
 beginning to understand the meaning of that disturbing vision.
   They realize that the ore mined from their ancestral hunting grounds
 became the ingredient of mass destruction; that the poison was none other
 than radiation and its deadly progeny; and that the source was Port Radium,
 the world's first uranium mine -- a primitive and often secret Crown
 company called Eldorado Mining and Refining, run by the federal government
 from 1942 to 1960.
   They also suspect that many of the 18 deaths caused by cancer or lung
 diseases in the community in the past 30 years may be all part of the
 forgotten mine's radioactive legacy and that of its transport arm,
 Northern Transportation Co. Ltd.
   And they have many questions. Why did the federal government, their
 guardian, and Eldorado, a defunct Crown corporation, never tell them of
 the dangers of uranium mining? Why, in a community where cancers were
 unknown and elders once lived into their 90s, have so many men died in
 their 60s and 70s?
   "Something's wrong. A lot of people have died of cancer in the last 15
 years," says Paul Baton, 83. As a young man he and more than 30 other Dene
 men barged or hauled 100-pound bags of uranium ore concentrate along a 2,
 ,100-kilometre transportation web of rivers, rapids and portages known as
 the "Highway of the Atom."
   In addition to serving as coolies for the war effort, the Dene ate fish
 from contaminated dredging ponds. Their children played with the dusty ore
 at river docks and portage landings. And their women sewed tents from used
 uranium sacks.
   The boatmen often slept atop ore-filled barges and nearly a dozen
 families regularly hunted, camped and fished at areas that a federal
 government study on radioactive wastes identified in 1994 as having
 "elevated gamma radiation, due to spillage of uranium ore."
   "Before the mine, you never heard of cancer," says Baton, a small man
 with clear eyes and a strong face. "Not once. . . . The river pilots I
 knew all died of cancer. The families that cut logs for the mine are all
 gone. Something is wrong."
   Although proving that a specific radioactive dose caused a specific
 individual cancer is problematic, scientists generally agree that there is
 no safe threshold for radiation exposure.
   All exposures carry some risk of cancer or genetic effects and there is
 no doubt that the many Dene were routinely exposed to gamma radiation and
 radioactive dust over a period of 20 years.
   The first Dene to die of cancer, or what elders still call "the
 incurable disease," was Old Man Ferdinand in 1960. He had worked at the
 mine site as a logger, guide and stevedore for nearly a decade.
   "It was Christmas time and he wanted to shake hands with all the people
 as they came back from hunting," recalls Rene Fumoleau, then an Oblate
 missionary working in Deline.
   After saying goodbye to the last family that came in, Ferdinand
 declared: " `Well, I guess I shook hands with everyone now,' and he died
 three hours later.
   Others followed in the next decade. Victor Dolphus' arm came off when he
 tried to start an outboard motor. Dolphus, who had worked at the mine site
 for years, needed a contraption to hold up his neck before the cancer
 finished him. Joe Kenny, a boat pilot, died of colon cancer. His son,
 Napoleon, a deck hand, died of stomach cancer. And so on.
   The premature death of so many men has not only left many widows but
 interrupted the handing down of culture. "In Dene society it is the
 grandfather who passes on the traditions and now there are too many men
 with no uncles, fathers or grandfathers to advise them," says Cindy Gilday,
 Joe Kenny's daughter, and chair of Deline Uranium Committee.
   "It's the most vicious example of cultural genocide I have ever seen and
 its in my own home."
   Although the Atomic Energy Control Board and uranium companies have long
 argued that little was known about uranium's hazards, evidence from U.S.
 and Canadian archives and survivors of the era tell a different story.
   Unlike Ottawa, the U.S. recently declassified 250,000 documents on its
 atomic weapons and energy program, which reveal that government officials
 and scientists in both countries actively discussed uranium's hazards in
 secret. Yet publicly they remained mute.
   The perils were well documented. As early as 1932, Canada's Department
 of Mines published studies on Port Radium that repeatedly warned about
 radon's poisonous effects on the lungs and "dangers from inhalation of
 radioactive dust."
   The department's own blood studies on Port Radium miners lead it to
 conclude "that a hazard may exist in the breathing of air containing even
 small amounts of radon."
   Wilhelm C. Hueper also knew this. In 1942 the founding director of the
 environmental cancer section of the U.S. National Cancer Institute
 reviewed 300 years of radon data on European miners. His conclusion: radon
 gas in cobalt mines routinely produced lung cancers that systematically
 killed more than half of all miners 10 to 20 years after their employment.
   Hueper predicted a similar tragedy for radium miners in Great Bear Lake
 and the Belgium Congo. Warned the scientist: "In case the Belgian and
 Canadian operations should be conducted without the essential and
 comprehensive protective measures for the workers, the prospects for an
 epidemic-like appearance of lung carcinomas among their employees can be
 anticipated in the not too distant future." Forty years later, two
 Canadian mortality studies confirmed Hueper's foresight.
   When Hueper began to issue similar warnings to U.S. uranium miners on
 the Colorado Plateau in the early 1950s, "the mine operators and
 politicians got all excited," says Victor E. Archer, an epidemiologist who
 started the first cancer studies on U.S. miners in 1954 and is now a
 professor of occupational medicine in Salt Lake City at the University of
 Utah.
   Declassified U.S. documents also show that the U.S. Atomic Energy
 Commission told Hueper, a world expert on lung cancers, that references to
 occupational cancers among uranium miners were "not in the public
 interest" and "represented mere conjecture."
   Notes Archer: "The Canadians knew about the same things that the U.S.
 did and in general tagged along with the Atomic Energy Commission." In
 fact Eldorado management and the Canadian government regularly received
 updates on radon and lung cancer studies on American uranium miners
 throughout the 1950s.
   But neither government nor mine owners wanted to scare miners away or
 implement better health safeguards that would force uranium prices up,
 says Archer.
   "We always suspected that the Americans had more information about the
 hazards but we could never get the damn stuff," recalls Hank Bloy, a
 retired engineer for Eldorado's Port Radium and Beaverlodge mines in the
 late 1950s.
   "The Americans were buying our uranium and wanted it badly and didn't
 cooperate too much on the health standards."
   In 1945, a federal research team from Montreal sent to monitor radon in
 the mine found conditions at Port Radium appalling. They reported that
 "the radon content seems to be so high as to be definitely dangerous to
 the health of those working in the mines."
   Despite the installation of some fans in 1946, concerns about protection
 for miners at Great Bear Lake even became the subject of several 1949
 memos at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, which at that time bought all
 the mine's ore. This information was so confidential that one memo said:
 "It should not be quoted in any published report."
   The next reference to ongoing radiation hazards at the mine surfaced at
 a secret 1953 meeting at Chalk River, Ont. When Canadian officials
 expressed concerns about high radon concentration in uranium mines, their
 American counterparts replied that "our problem is different because we
 have no concentration of uranium of any magnitude."
   This was a lie: By 1953, the U.S. Public Health Services had established
 that American miners on the Colorado Plateau were being exposed to the
 same radiation doses as Hueper's European miners.
   Dr. Andre Cipriani, a Canadian biologist keenly concerned about health
 safety in the whole uranium industry, then reported "that there had been
 three or four cases of cancers in employees" at Port Radium.
   When the Canadian government finally sent two physicists to the area in
 the mid-1950s to check on radon levels at Port Radium's sister mine on
 Lake Athabasca -- a mine with much lower grade ore -- they found lots of
 radon. But according to one retired senior civil servant, that report,
 like Hueper's concerns, never saw the light of day.
   "We printed it in green covers, which means declassified, and sent a
 copy up to Chalk River. And the next thing I knew we got orders from the
 assistant deputy minister to collect every copy and get them back to the
 department because not one was to go out. That report was squashed.
   "I know that Eldorado was extremely cautious and didn't want anything
 coming out and I guess they said, 'For God's sake, stop this!' and it
 never came out," says the pensioned official, who is still bound to
 silence by the Official Secrets Act.
   Because this health information was withheld, Canada's energy minister,
 Gordon Churchill, was able to declare in 1959 "that there are no special
 hazards attached to the mining of uranium that differ from other mining
 activities." Notes Robert Bothwell, a University of Toronto historian and
 author of Eldorado, a lengthy history of the Crown company: "The profound
 and deliberate falsification of nuclear hazards began at the top."
   The Port Radium record was eventually repeated at uranium mines across
 Canada. When the Ontario government appointed James Ham to study mine
 safety at Elliot Lake, another Eldorado uranium property, in 1974, he
 concluded that "neither the workers nor their representatives were advised
 about the emerging status of the problem of lung cancer."
   Although Elliot Lake has now been closed for nearly 10 years, former
 miners with lung cancer and other radiation related ailments make an
 average of one compensation claim a week in Ontario.
   The Atomic Energy Commission still has not adopted the latest radiation
 exposure guidelines issued by the International Commission of Radiation
 Protection. The ICRP, based in Sweden, issued the recommended levels in
 1991.
   Later Canadian studies found just what scientists early on had predicted
 would be found. One pilot study on Port Radium found 10 cases of lung
 cancer among 76 men who had worked more than five years at the mine. They
 died between 1953 and 1975.
   Ontario and Newfoundland studies found miners exposed to radon had three
 to five times the average lung cancer rate. And on it went.
   Watching a uranium miner die of a radioactive damaged lung is a job only
 for the brave. Al King, an 82-year-old retired member of the Steelworkers
 union in Vancouver, has held the hands of the dying.
   He recalls one retired Port Radium miner whose chest lesions were so bad
 that they had spread to his femur and exploded it. "They couldn't pump
 enough morphine into him to keep him from screaming before he died."
   "The ethical issues raised by this case are profound," says Andy Orkin,
 a well-known Ontario lawyer who advises the community and also represents
 the Cree of northern Quebec. "We did it to them. Somebody knew the stuff
 was dangerous. Even by standards of the day, they had a right to know."
   Before the mine, the Dene, a nomadic people, hunted and fished along the
 rocky shores of Great Bear, the world's fourth-largest and least-studied
 inland lake. But the stability of that caribou life changed when the Dene
 unwittingly met the atom in 1930.
   That's the year Gilbert and Charlie LaBine started to mine a rich load
 of pitchblende or radium just an eight-hour boat ride north of Deline
 (then Fort Franklin).
   According to the elders, a Dene hunter traded a sample of the black
 lustrous mineral to a Kentucky-born fur trapper, who then alerted the
 LaBines, failed gold-seekers.
   In exchange for the right to mine an ore then worth more than $70,000 a
 gram on world markets, the Dene received a few sacks of flour, lard and
 baking powder.
   "On that day, the babies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were doomed to death
 by the time they would become 15 years of age," noted a 1945 Herald
 article on the historic mine.
   Radium, which consists largely of uranium oxides, was then used for
 watch dials, medical X-rays and cancer treatments. It is just one of the
 radioactive byproducts of uranium, a constantly decaying metal that
 releases a wide spectrum of deadly energy particles, much like shrapnel
 from a grenade.
   Port Radium contained so much of its namesake that in 1932 the Herald
 hailed the find as a "treasure house" and "Great Bear's rich citadel." As
 a consequence, the mine immediately broke the world monopoly on radium
 held by a Belgium firm in the Congo.
   Rather than ship tonnes of chemicals to Great Bear to refine the radium,
 Eldorado established a refinery in Port Hope, Ont. It sold uranium as a
 waste product for $1.35 a pound or scattered radioactive tailings around
 the city -- a source of later scandals.
   Before the mine temporarily closed in 1940 due to the war and declining
 radium demand, the Dene supplied caribou meat for the miners and then
 worked as loggers, stevedores or radium coolies.
   In 1942, the U.S. Manhattan Project -- the secret effort to turn split
 atoms into explosive bombs -- quickly revived the mine's fortunes. Having
 no uranium sources of its own, the American government rapidly bought Port
 Radium stockpiles at the Port Hope Refinery and placed an order for 60
 tonnes of uranium oxide.
   To advance the war effort, Ottawa secretly purchased the mine. Alberta's
 wide-open spaces were even offered as possible test sites for the bomb.
   It's unknown how many tonnes of Port Radium ore fuelled the first test
 bomb, called "Trinity," or even the war-stoppers -- "Fat Man" and "Little
 Boy." A shipload of Congo ore sitting in New York harbor eventually made
 up the bulk of the supplies because Eldorado had trouble filling both
 American and British orders for the war effort. But the Manhattan Project
 mixed ores from Great Bear and Africa and all the uranium was refined at
 Port Hope.
   "Nobody knew what was going on," recalls Isadore Yukon, who hauled ores
 for three summers in a row during the 1940s. "Keeping the mine going full
 blast was the important thing."
   To that end, the mine employed 250 white miners who battled frigid
 waters, poor ventilation (the mine counted on natural drafts to circulate
 air) and Port Radium's remoteness. Miner turnover was high.
   While the whites mined the ore and sewed crushed ores into sacks, the
 Dene carried and piloted what they called the "money rock" out of Great
 Bear to Fort McMurray.
   "When I was young," recalled 66-year-old Alfred Taniton, who worked on
 the ore-ferrying boats for five years, "I saw some of the workers hauling
 ores. The whites would have showers but us native people didn't. . . . I
 guess they really wanted to destroy us. That's why they never told us
 these things."
   His wife Jane, now 59, lived two years at the mine and ate herring from
 the dredging pond. Two years ago she had a cancerous kidney removed. "If
 they had told us the truth the people wouldn't have worked for them," adds
 Alfred.
   In 1994, an advisory committee to President Bill Clinton published a
 study on "human radiation experiments" in the United States. It looked at
 the treatment of miners, many of whom were Navajos.
   Based on declassified documents, it concluded that "an insufficient
 effort was made by the federal government to mitigate the hazard to
 uranium miners through early ventilation of the mines and that as a result
 miners died. . . . Because the federal government did not take the
 necessary action, the product it purchased was at the price of hundreds of
 deaths."
   That summary should bring no comfort to Deline's widows, nor to the
 widows of hundreds of uranium miners across Canada.
   But it explains a legacy of deception.
   "Of all the world's nuclear powers, Canada is the last hold-out on
 talking about its nuclear legacy and how so many things went terribly
 wrong," says Gordon Edwards, a Montreal mathematician and president of the
 Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
   "I could never understand why authorities were so resistant," reflects
 Archer, whose epidemiology studies on American miners finally broke the
 official silence in 1961.
   "As I got older I saw the same thing with cigarette smoking and asbestos.
 I now believe that it's a cultural thing. People are reluctant to change
 their minds and accept new ideas."
   "The first time I heard about this bomb was from an army veteran in the
 1950s," says Deline elder Paul Baton. "The soldier said he'd had
 respiratory problems, probably due to the war. He told us about the bomb
 and the aftermath and what it was made from.
   "He explained how they dropped the bomb and its effect on the Japanese.
 He said later, down the years, it will affect my land and my life. . . .
   "We had no idea. We are a strong people. We stand by our words. The
 elders are worried about the water, the air and the land. We must keep it
 clean because other animals use the land. . . . I have never talked about
 this before but now I am talking."
   In Deline, the elders -- the ones that survived their introduction to
 the nuclear age -- now go the restored house of the prophet, the
 Grandfather, to speak to the dead.
   There are not many other grandfathers left.
 
 Port Radium (Eldorado) Timeline
 
 1932: Port Radium begins production. Mines Canada issues health warnings on
 radon gas and radioactive dust.
 
 1939: Canadian ore used in first atomic chain reaction experiment.
 
 1940: Port Radium closes.
 
 1941: Port Radium reopens for war effort, as world's first uranium mine.
 
 1942: United States government orders 60 tonnes of uranium. Canadian
 government secretly begins to buy out mine. Dene work as coolies.
 
 1945: Bombs dropped on Japan.
 
 1949: U.S. officials raise health concerns about Port Radium miners.
 
 1953: First Port Radium miner dies of cancer. United States government
 secretly begins health studies on U.S. miners.
 
 1956: Value of uranium production hits $1 billion in Canada.
 
 1957: Elliot Lake mine opens.
 
 1960: Port Radium mine closes. No uranium left. First Dene dies of cancer.
 
 1967: First radon standards set.
 
 1974: First uranium miners with lung cancer compensated by Ontario.
 
 1976: Ham Royal Commission slams government for hiding health information
 from miners. First Ontario studies published.
 
 1979: First cancer death study on Port Radium miners.
 
 1988: Canadian government sells Eldorado to Cameco.
 ______________________________________________________________________
 Jamie Kneen, 1-259 Cambridge St., Ottawa, Ontario  K1R 7B1  Canada
 tel: 613.236.9188  --  fax: 613.236.8632  --  e-mail: jkneen@web.net
 
 --------- "RE: Pass It On" ---------
 
 Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 21:32:14 -0400
 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman)
 Subj: PASS IT ON...!!
 
   Newsgroup: alt.native
 
  d'laan'te'...
 I have just posted a news article ("Disposable Dene...??") about how some
 of my relatives were killed & others are still dying horrible deaths due
 to the belief by non-Indian "authorities" that the lives of dozens of Dene
 were "expendable"... This is what I sent the South American brother who
 sent it to me, & I thought it may serve to remind some on the ng, who may
 not know what the life is like in isolated villages where most Indian
 people live,  of the importance of our "passing it on..."
   Thank you very much for this one, Carlos... Every one of the Dene
 mentioned are my family kinfolks & relations, so I will make sure copies
 go back home, to the villages.. Even though they know what is happening to
 them, it is important for them to know that the rest of the world knows
 too. It is very important to me that they know that what is happening to
 them is important enough to be talked about outside.
   Just as the Indigenous in Mexico must be given news of what we are doing,
 of how we are watching & working in our efforts for Chiapas. People in
 North America, where we get news of anything that effects our lives almost
 every waking minutes, from ten thousand different sources..., the Indian
 peoples of the Americas hear very little of the outside world.
   So it is easy for oppressors, military, economic & cultural, etc., to say
 to those in the villages, "See no one cares. No one will help you. Give up
 your struggle. We are your only salvation, so bow your heads & bend your
 knees..."
   But now even the smallest village has access to fax, or snailmail,
 received right in the village or at the local organizations' building on
 the other side of the river, valley or mountain. (Although few places have
 websites, many of the communities up north are now on the internet by
 their school, through the newsgroups at <can.school.net>).
   It is important to share news for the sake of survival, for the same
 reason that news of the caribou herds' movement were/are important, or
 news of the first geese.., for the same reason that news of pending
 catastrophes such as wars, drought, epidemic & such were/are important. So
 that families can prepare defenses, take action precluding the crisis, &
 pass the news on down the "moccasin telegraph"...
   I send many small places that nobody's heard of the news from the ng's &
 wire-services & newspapers a couple of times each week. For example, the
 battle of the Maya in Chiapas is a story being followed closely in many
 northern communities, & stories are read over community radio & translated
 & discussed. "See?" I ask when sending stories of Chiapas, "See what
 relations just a few weeks walk south of you are facing? See what the
 immigrant-governments are doing to the peoples of this land? Remember the
 warnings of those-gone-but-still-with-us, seeing what is happening, can
 you trust a single word of the newcomers? So be polite, smile a lot, &
 never forget that when they say white it is black, & if they swear on
 their god that they speak the truth you can be sure it's a lie..." And so
 they read the stories, look at the world around them, and they teach the
 children the truth..., of who & what the real people are, what real family
 is & why the newcomers are to be respected - for the number of guns they
 have, not for their character, honesty or humanity. For even those who do
 not carry the guns are as guilty as the gun-carriers, by their lack of
 will to control those with the guns, whom they reportedly control in their
 "democracies."
   So please, everyone, download & print different news items once or twice
 each week & send copies home, by fax or snailmail if email isn't
 available, with a short covering note asking that it be posted at the
 local band office, or clinic, or given to the radio station. Hearing news
 of the other battles being fought by other Nations in The War of Survival,
 the war that has lasted for 505 years & is still raging, is an important
 morale-builder for the families in their own struggle; in The Struggle. It
 is the strategy of the enemy that people feel isolated, alone &
 eventually without hope. Your passing on news items undermines this
 much-used tactic of the invaders. So....,
 Pass it on...
 masi:cho...
 
 --------- "RE: Another Political Prisoner of Canada" ---------
 
 Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 12:42:56 -0800
 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.)
 Subj: ANOTHER POLITICAL PRISONER OF CANADA: WARREN GEORGE
 --------- Forwarded message ----------
 Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 13:12:34 -0400
 From: ara@web.net
 Subj: Warren George gets 6 Months
 
 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
   Yesterday was the sentencing hearing for Warren George of Stoney Point.
 Unlike the reading of his verdict, Warren was given the smallest room in
 the courthouse for his sentencing, so very few of the approximately 100
 supporters present were able to actually hear the judge's sentence.
 Warren's closest family were all in the courtroom to hear what the judge
 had to say. Several people from Stoney Point, other territories and "urban"
 supporters from, London, Peterborough, Toronto, Kitchener, Guelph (and
 probably other cities) remained outside playing music, and holding signs
 and placards waited outside the courtroom for the full THREE HOURS it took
 the judge to complete his sentencing.
   The following is an article written by one of the three of four reporters
 allowed into the courtroom, with editorial comment from Anti-Racist Action
 in [brackets]. Of the media allowed in, there was one woman who was a one
 time "historical researcher" for ON F.I.R.E. and the London Free Press
 reporter who has covered the Stoney Point trials since Julie Carl was
 removed from her Sarnia beat when the Sun chain took over the London Free
 Press. Julie Carl's coverage of the trials had come to be quite
 sympathetic to the Stoney Pointers, yet she was pulled in the middle of
 Warren's trial.
 ______________________________________________________________________________
 April 4, 1998
 IPPERWASH PROTESTER SENT TO JAIL, NATIVES ANGERED OVER 'INJUSTICE'
 By John Hamilton -- London Free Press Reporter
 SARNIA -- Natives and supporters complained bitterly Friday after Warren
 George, 25, was sentenced to six months in jail on driving offences in a
 1995 clash between police and protesters outside Ipperwash Provincial Park.
   "It's a great injustice," Cathryn George, his aunt, said, as
 placard-carrying supporters milled outside court. "Don't talk to me about
 respect for the law."
   Minutes earlier, Judge Greg Pockele of Ontario Court, provincial division,
 dismissed appeals not to send Warren George to jail but allow him to serve
 his sentence in the community.
   Arguing for a nine- to 12-month conditional sentence, defence lawyer Jeff
 House said some people might be "inflamed" if George was given a "crushing
 sentence."
   Prosecutor Henry Van Druden asked the judge to impose a jail sentence of
 up to 18 months.
   In his ruling, Pockele said George's actions in driving a car into a group
 of riot-control Ontario Provincial Police were too serious to be considered
 for a conditional sentence.
   The judge said his sentence was intended as a deterrent to others and a
 denunciation of George's behavior.
   Pockele said he also questioned whether George had real remorse for his
 actions or any respect for law.
   George, he said, had become part of "escalating violence against police"
 on Sept. 6, 1995, when Dudley George, one of the protesters, was shot and
 killed by police.
   As police started to lead George off to jail, a woman identified as his
 stepmother jumped forward, screaming, "you're not taking him. He didn't
 kill anybody."
   After additional police officers were called, George was taken away and
 the crying woman soothed. She refused to speak later to reporters.
 WILL APPEAL
   Outside court, House said the convictions and sentence will be appealed.
 He said his client asked supporters to remain calm and show restraint.
   House said a team of lawyers, led by Mike Code, will also apply for a
 bail hearing for George, pending the appeal. He said it's likely a hearing
 wouldn't be held before next Wednesday.
   House said the Ipperwash standoff is "crying out for a judicial inquiry.
 It's time one was called."
   George was sentenced Friday on convictions in February for criminal
 negligence causing bodily harm and assault with a car, his car.
   The judge had stayed action on a third conviction of dangerous driving
 causing bodily harm.
   The turmoil at Ipperwash came two days after protesters occupied the park,
 arguing they were reclaiming land where a burial ground had been
 desecrated.
   Dudley George was shot and killed shortly after police in riot gear moved
 to clear a parking lot at one of the park's gates.
   Rocks, stones and flaming sticks were thrown at police before Warren
 George drove his car into the parking lot where other protesters were
 fighting with officers.
 
 George's car hit five officers. One officer was hurt.
 [Totally white washed version... the only reason the Warren ended up
 hitting police officers was because he had to swerve out of the way to
 avoid being shot at.  As he was driving straight, an officer appeared in
 front of him and raised his firearm straight at Warren. So, Warren swerved
 to the right and braked to avoid being hit. That's when he accidentally hit
 some officers, and one wound up with a sprained ankle and "post-traumatic
 stress".  - ARA- Toronto]
   OPP Acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane was later convicted of criminal negligence
 causing Dudley George's death. He was given a conditional sentence to be
 served in the community and told to do 180 hours of community work.
   Another protester, Cecil Bernard George, has filed a civil action against
 police, arguing he was badly beaten by officers using excessive force.
   Among the protesters outside court Friday, he said Warren George was trying
 to save him from a beating when he drove his car at police.
   "It's unjust. The police should apologize for what they did to us, our
 people, our country," he said.
   Rim Rhude, Warren George's mother, called the sentencing "unfair" while
 his sister, Leanne George, said it was "totally unbelievable."
   For Cathryn George, her nephew's actions were justified as "defending the
 land and graves of our ancestors."
   In his ruling, the judge also banned George from d