From gars@netcom.com Wed May 6 00:04:36 1998 Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 19:14:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.019 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 019 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, May 9, 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 NativeWeb, Triballaw, Innu-L & Nat-Film Lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; UUCP email; Newsgroups: alt.native, soc.culture.native Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination and/or permission for inclusion has been secured. Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A. I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people. IMPORTANT!! ----------- To all who send copywrite protected articles, make very sure you have permission from the copywrite holder (a newspaper, the AP, a magazine, an author) because a new law is now in effect that says you can be prosecuted even if there is no monetary gain. Just because a newspaper has a website where it posts some or all of its editions does not grant permission for their redistribution. Be careful and be sure you pass on the items you do with full permission. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <----<<<< >>>>----> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@netcom.com ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org Thanks to Borries Demeler all _Wotanging_Ikche_ (part a) submissions to AISESnet are archived under AISESnet and can be accessed easily by World Wide Web: 1994: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/94_dis.html 1995: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/95_dis.html 1996: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/96_dis.html 1997: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/97_dis.html This is a searchable index to the AISESnet Discussion mailing list database archive, and the keyword "Wotanging" will retrieve all issues for that year. Downloading Wotanging Ikche on AOL From: MAANG1419@aol.com Just thought I would share some info. I could not download on to a .txt because I kept getting the message (when I tried to retrieve it) that the text editor could not handle the volume. This time I downloaded it on to a .doc and when I retrieved it out of file manager, IT WORKED. "I admit there are a few good white men, but they bear no proportion to the bad; the bad must be the strongest for they rule. They do what they please. They enslave those who are not of their color, although created by the same Great Spirit who created us! They would make slaves of us if they could, but as they cannot do it, they kill us! There is no faith to be placed in their words. They are not like the Indians who are only enemies while at war and are friends in peace. The will say to an Indian, 'My friend! My brother!' They will take him by the hand, and at the same moment destroy him." __ Pachgants, Delaware +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! On Monday May 4, 1998 at noon, central time, the cowards that represent the United States government said "No! Parole Denied!" to Leonard Peltier. We must do all we can to give the oppressors reason to reconsider the ignorance they have displayed before the world. Contact the LPSG of Atlanta, 842-B N Highland Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30306 phone 404-872-4213 if you have any help or suggestions how to rectify this situation. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Without language a culture dies. What is said in any language seldom translates literally to another. It, at best, approximates the meaning. Our languages are dying. Our cultures will not linger long without our own words to describe the events in our lives, the ways passed down by our ancestors and our prophecies. I will volunteer myself to do this for all my relatives. Please send me all information each of you have regarding language resources. This should include all written teachings including dictionaries, grammar books and stories. Include all audio and video resources. Include the source, how it is distributed, the publisher, ISBN or other catalogue information that might be known. Include cost and current availability if you have it. Finally, include _your_ opinion. Is it good, bad, indifferent? I will keep this information, by language/nation and make what I have available to any who request it. Send what you can via email to gars@netcom.com You may also send info via snail mail to P O Box 672168. Marietta GA 30006. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= My teacher responded to the last issue, as did an elder. I am honored to have their words be this issue's editorial. From my teacher: Good work on WI. I read it and wondered how many would hear the words given there to grow by. I sent parts of it to some elders to read so I expect they'll be commenting. I was impressed to see some coming forth to challenge and question 'messages' being posted that cause hatred. As an answer as to why elders aren't coming forth: they have, and were totally disrespected, as they predicted. People keep saying elders need to this, elders need to that; but do they protect the elders when they DO stand up? No, they do not. Words, merely words. And that is why our nation is going down in a handbasket in a free fall. People, talk talk talk...and nobody stands up. I admire this man who wrote the long article about his feelings. He's right..they're children and as such should be put to bed, to quote a grandmother. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= From a Lakota elder: Date: Sun, 03 May 1998 00:28:57 PDT From: "Vann Hood" Subj: Ignorance Gary I have something to say and you can print this if you want. I have spent the last two weeks reading posts from two listservers I am on. I think you know the two I speak about. Last week in your newspaper you printed letter from asking about elders. I read the letter and wanted to answer that person. You read on those lists comments like, "kiss my rosy red rectum" and other similar lower mentality remarks being tossed back and forth between several people on those lists. Do I need to tell you why elders won't talk? The display of infantile rantings and ravings I have witnessed between people who are obviously in power plays with each other, with no regard for what is best to help critical things going on all over our nations, is not only sickening but it is a display which causes many people to think we've lost not only our credibility but our minds. What I find as sad is there isn't a decent listserver out there where they can talk and not have to read poison remarks and obscene language. I have seen some people urge it to be stopped, but as there is a history of the power plays, I doubt it will. Is this the image we want projected to the world, that of obviously out of control people hating each other? For that is what is happening. No wonder no respectable leaders will get on them and teach the rest of us or share their thoughts. One thing for all of us to think about is that the rantings and ravings of a few who are jockeying for power is harming all of us, because we suffer the lack of those people who would otherwise come forth if there wasn't so much of these crazy people out there shooting each other in the back. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= A call for support: Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 09:53:11 -0400 From: "Christine Andre" Subj: Calling for Protest Letters I know you usually deal with "people" issues, but I wanted to point out to you a company website that has really been drawing a lot of controversy, and to which I and members of my sisterhood are protesting. The company is called Fox Lake Outfitters in British Columbia, and they have a website up catering to the rich bored big-game hunting group which is really disgusting. The ads talk about "harvesting" mountain goats, grizzlies, timber wolves, caribou. As we are all related, I was hoping you would put a little blurb in the Wotanging Ikche newsletter asking for people to send protest letters to their e-mail. While we probably can't wipe out all the evils, if they get enough crummy mail, maybe they'll have to stop advertising on the internet (which should cut down their new business a wee bit, anyway). It may be naive, but every little bit helps to get a few more voices out there to "give 'em hell." We may not put them out of business, but we can all make it harder for them to earn money wiping out the four-leggeds in Canada! Their e-mail address is foxlake@greenepa.net. Please ask the subscribers to write these people, telling them to stop the killing! Thanks for any help you can provide. Mitakuye oyasin! =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Thanks to Mike Wicks for these reminders: In Memory (with Respect and Honor) AIM Casualties on Pine Ridge, 1973-1976 5.6.1976 Marvin Two Two - Aim supporter shot to death at Pine Ridge. No investigation. 5.9.1976 Juia Pretty Hips - AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by "unknown assailants." 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 ---------- - Peltier Support Network - Native History Databank - For Leonard NOW - Anna Mae Awards - News From Leonard's Parole - Joe Good Buffalo Rider - San Carlos Commentary - AIM Florida in Danger of Closing - Letter on San Carlos - Racist Mascot School Assembly - Coyotes - Funding Request: Gustafsen Appeal - Heritage and Pride About to Die - California Native Prisoners - Cayuga Nation to 'Clean House' - Native Prisoner - Natives Talk Business in Nicaragua - A Hundred Years Ago - Lubicon - Smell The Rain - Inco Meeting - Poem: An Indian Drink - Support for Gustafsen Inquiry - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - National Museum of the - Conferences and Powwows American Indian --------- "RE: Peltier Support Network" --------- Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 09:48:55 -0700 (PDT) From: arthurmiller50@juno.com (Arthur J Miller) Subj: NWLPSN APPEAL FOR SUPPORT Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu) APPEAL FOR SUPPORT NORTHWEST LEONARD PELTIER SUPPORT NETWORK As we build for the SUPPORT TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY "WASHINGTON GATHERING TO FIGHT RACISM", on May 9th, in Olympia, we are finding that some who should support a resistance to the racist anti-tribal campaign do not yet see the importance in this. The anti-tribal campaign is no different than many other right wing campaigns that are effecting other communities. The goal of the right wing is to isolate our communities and to place the blame of the problems in society upon those that have the least. I was told by one person that I should not connect what is happening to Native people to I-200. But, I ask, I can I not, when both are using the same terminology? And many of the same people are pushing both. And though they say they want "equal rights" and use that to try to create a white backlash against people of color, the fact is that those who are really behind this care not for the white working class either. This can be seen in the anti-union and anti-working class agenda that they are also pushing. For the purpose of making these connections we have included speakers from the African American and Latino communities and from organized labor. The racist anti-tribal campaign and the mass media are trying to manipulate people into thinking that there is a Native vs non-Native conflict. We are trying to show that the racists do not speak for anyone but a small minority. One thing that came out a few weeks ago that backs up what we are saying is a poll done by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut that showed that 81% of the American people support tribal sovereignty. That means that the 19% left either had no opinion or were against tribal sovereignty. Are we to let this small minority be the only voice heard? The following letter was printed in the Olympian and it makes the point of why we have called for the gathering. It was written by Cecilia Kayano, a Japanese and Polish American. "On March 21, a front page photo caption describing a gathering to protest hunting by American Indians, which took place at the Natural Resources Building, quoted a white hunter as saying he was "a 20th century Indian fighter." I was shocked and saddened by the declaration, but I took solace in my belief that someone would write to the Olympian editor. Since that day, I have monitored the editorial page of the Olympian, fully expecting someone, a college student, a pacifist, a human rights activist, a progressive parent, a church member, to write in and denounce the quote and offer support of American Indians. There was silence. Not one person wrote. I can only speculate why the usual supporters did not write to decry the racist remark. My guess is that no one wrote because the hunting issue falls on the heels of other unclear issues such as casinos, shellfish harvesting and treaty rights. Because of wide-spread myths, we are beginning to believe that American Indian and tribal perspectives are indefensible. Bombarded by single-sided information, we revert to our deeply ingrained cowboys-and-Indians, American psyche and flirt with the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the Indians are the bad guys. Our silence is shameful. We believe that we cannot speak up because it is time-consuming to get facts to refute the mainstream perspective. To be knowledgeable of American Indians and tribal perspectives is inconvenient. To voice outrage at racism in general seems emotional and risky. So we remain mute despite benefiting greatly from American Indians when we freely use their names, their legends, their ceremonies, their art. Dream catchers hang from our rearview mirrors, and we are spiritually moved when an elder drums and says a prayer at the Longhouse. We say that we are not racist and call ourselves friends of American Indians. But when the culture and people we claim to befriend are verbally attacked, we are stymied because it is bothersome to research the facts and it is scary to publicly proclaim that we abhor racism. Our silence is dangerous. There is some damage when one person publicly disparages a race of people, yet we know that he represents a minority of the population who are severely prejudiced. But when the majority of people who describe themselves as not prejudiced are silent, it is like a huge, unspoken vote of approval for the prejudiced remark. We must speak up either with accurate information or to express intolerance of racism. We must speak up to create an environment which allows American Indians the basic human right to go to school, spend a day at work and run daily errands without feeling anger or hatred from the dominant society. Especially when it is bothersome or risky, we must speak up, knowing that this is precisely when racism can be either lessened or allowed to flourish." Please help us speak out against racism and join with us at the " WASHINGTON GATHERING TO FIGHT RACISM" May 9th, Olympia, WA. 12:00 noon march starting point Sylvester Park (Legion & Capital). !:00 pm rally, Washington State Capital. Do you really have something that is more important that day? Please help get the word out about the gathering to your friends and co-workers. We are running into the stone wall of silence that Cecilia wrote about. Please help us take a step in the direction of a society where no person must face hatred just because of who they are. Thank you for your time. For The Well-Being Of All Arthur J. Miller NWLPSN P.O. Box 5464 Tacoma, WA 98415-0464 arthurmiller50@juno.com --------- "RE: For Leonard NOW" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 19:51:37 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: For Leonard NOW!!!! Newsgroup: alt.native d'laan'te' all... Leonard Peltier's parole hearing is on 04 May. Your help is needed NOW! Here's some good news I was emailed yesterday to encourage you, because if I can get something like this done you folks, ordinary people just like me, can do something too... JUST DO IT!! ('Course I changed my email address) (Direct from Canada's Parliament to you all.., LPDC & Leonard's legal team advised already...) Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 10:57:33 -0400 From: "Mancini, Peter - Assistant 1" To: the old guy Subj: Peltier Motion Hi justanoldman, just thought I'd pass along a copy of a motion we submitted to the House yesterday, and hopefully I'll have some news for you shortly, regarding Peter raising a Question in the House this week. Motion - That this House condemn as unacceptable, the extradition of Leonard Peltier to the United States from Canada on the basis of false information filed with a Canadian court by American authorities, and that this House calls on the government to seek the return of Mr. Peltier to Canada. Chris Cornish Legislative Assistant to: Peter Mancini, MP Sydney-Victoria Tel:(613)995-1537 Fax:(613)995-2963 mancip0@parl.gc.ca So let's get on it NOW people! It's not hard & won't cost you a dime unless you live in a phone booth... Phone your local media news outlets... tell them you'd like this story covered. Last month the parliament of Belgium passed a resolution asking the USA Congress to at least hold Congressional Hearings on Leonard's case, joining other resolutions from the legislatures of Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Ireland and even the European Parliament in asking the USA to free Leonard, or grant him parole, or a new trial, or at the very least a Congressional Review of his case. OVER 35,000,000 human beings around the world have been adding their voices for Leonard's freedom on petitions... I'm just asking you to make a few local calls. Do it NOW please! Let's get Leonard home so we can all go home!! Call your local news media outlets & tell them you are interested in seeing coverage of the Government of Canada debating whether to demand that the USA immediately return Leonard to Canada, where he'd be a free man. The Supreme Court of Canada had found that his extradition from Canada had been "FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED" & they "strongly urged" the government of Canada to "seek diplomatic redress"... Aren't you interested in seeing if they'll make that demand on the USA?! Since all proceedings of Canada's Parliament are televised, for television feed to any USA or overseas media, of any thing that happens in Canada's House of Commons, the news media can ask for feed &/or clips from: The Parliamentary Press Gallery Mr. Terry Guillon, Chief of the Press Gallery Telephone: (613) 992-4511 Fax: (613) 947-2007 E-mail: guillt@parl.gc.ca Let's also encourage the Member of Parliament spearheading this effort for Leonard..., Mr Peter Mancini. Please send him a pat on the back & a "well done" for believing that Leonard deserves justice and for ACTING on that belief. Here are his coordinates: Mr. Peter Mancini, Member of Parliament Political Party: New Democratic Party of Canada Constituency: Sydney-Victoria Province: Nova Scotia Telephone: (Ottawa office) (613) 995- 6459 Fax: (Ottawa office) (613) 995-2963 E-mail: mancini.p@parl.gc.ca NOW!! NOW!!! NOW!!! LET'S GET LEONARD PELTIER HOME & FREE NOW!!!!!! As long as Leonard is in prison, a part of each & every one of us in in there with him... Make those calls NOW!! masi:cho... PS: Watch CNN & C-SPAN on 07 May, 1998 for full 60 minute coverage, direct from the highly prestigious Faculty of Law at Georgetown University in Washington DC, of a symposium on the case of Leonard Peltier, paneled by various US Senators, Congressmen, International jurists, Canadian government members, international human rights group executives, leaders of Indian organizations, churches, etc, etc... While Leonard's parole hearing will have been 3 days before, the Parole Commissioners will be in Washington DC deciding his fate while this symposium unfolds, right on their tv screens..., and the tv at the Whitehouse. --------- "RE: News From Leonard's Parole" --------- Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 19:04:13 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: NEWS FROM LEONARD'S PAROLE Newsgroup: alt.native I'm REALLY pissed... NEWS BULLETIN!!! BULLETIN!!! BULLETIN!!! BULLETIN!!! 5:00PM 04May1998 LEONARD PELTIER'S PAROLE... "RECOMMENDATION THAT PAROLE BE DENIED" Just got the call from Leavenworth a few minutes ago. The sole Parole Commissioner that went to Leavenworth to hear out Leonard Peltier's request for parole, a Mr. Essex, showed up with..., Mr. Lynn Crooks, the prosecutor in Leonard's Trial, and..., the widow of FBI Agent Coller!!! Lynn Crooks is the piece of two-legged garbage who admitted that Leonard's in prison for murder that NO ONE CAN PROVE HE COMMITTED!!! (from "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" by Peter Matthiessen, Viking 1983 (1991 hard-cover edition) pp. 574, in the Epilogue) "... With its ballistics evidence in tatters, the government knew it could never prove what [Prosecuter Lynn] Crooks had trumpeted to the Fargo jury in order to convict Peltier at any cost, and as early as 1982 - well before the evidentiary hearing at Bismarck - it had begun a cautious shift in its references to Peltier, making him out a mere aider and abettor. This came out in the open once and for all at the oral arguments before the appellate court in 1985, when Judge Gerald heany reminded Crooks that in his closing polemic to the Fargo jury he had identified Peltier as "the man who came down and killed those FBI agents in cold blood." To this Crooks responded with a tacit admission that justice interested him much less than a conviction: "I'm a trial lawyer. I go for the best I can," he said. When Judge Donald Ross brought him back to this same point, Crooks exclaimed, "But we can't PROVE who shot those agents!" Crooks had told the truth at last. This Mr. Essex looked Leonard right in the eye this afternoon and repeated the almost same words..., "WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PROVE YOU DID IT, BUT SOMEBODY IN INDIAN COUNTRY DID, AND YOU WERE THERE, SO SINCE SOMEONE'S GOT TO PAY FOR THIS, YOU'RE IT. I'M GOING TO RECOMMEND THAT PAROLE BE DENIED".. Do you believe this crap in "the land of the free and the home of the brave"??!! THIS is "American Justice"?! What a garbage country!!!! Is it any wonder that hundreds of millions of people around the world spit on the Stars & Stripes?! And ANYONE who sits there and does NOTHING about this is garbage too, as far as I'm concerned!!!!!! Oh really?! That doesn't include YOU?! What exactly have YOU done?! Have you gotten off your ass & actually phoned your congressman/woman/, or your senator? The Whitehouse? More than just once? Scared you might strain that finger? Or complained to your local news media? No..??? If you haven't done any of these things then you ARE garbage! Because by your very silence and inaction you agree that, "Hey! "ANY OLD INDIAN WILL DO! 'Cause SOMEBODY's GOTTA PAY!" ... Contrary to EVERY tenet of International Law, contrary to the Law of Nations, contrary to every fundamental of human decency, of morality...!! But what the hell, that's AMERICA! That's the reason that in EVERY country around the globe the USA is known as THE WHORE OF NATIONS!!!!! The American public? Hell, just throw them all a few hotdogs, a televised ball game to keep their brains from getting strained doing anything as strenuous as THINKING and they'll keep their mouths shut like the sheep that they are!! They hung Nazis for punishing those guilty by association alone, but if AMERICANS do EXACTLY the same thing it's OK, right?! No wonder the flowers wilt & livestock sickens in Canada every time the wind blows from the south... Any country that allows someone to rot in prison, when even the prosecution ADMITS he may be innocent, AND DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT is beneath contempt.. it's disgusting!!!!!!!!!!! SCREW THE USA, THE WHORE AMONG NATIONS!!! And every single American citizen that stands by & allows this to happen too!! --------- "RE: San Carlos Commentary" --------- From: FirehairSS Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 07:04:35 EDT Subj: San Carlos commentary---may be a duplicate UUCP email This statement is being distributed in order to disseminate the facts, rather than rumors and innuendos and outright lies currently being posted on the internet by persons wishing to eliminate support for a just and worthy cause, namely insuring the sovereignty and right to self government of the San Carlos Apache peoples. On the evening of Monday, April 20, 1998, a meeting was held in the town of Globe Arizona which was attended by approximately 200 San Carlos Apache tribally enrolled members, including several elders, medicine men, employees of the government of San Carlos, etc. It was also attended by members of the American Indian Movement, national and local chapters. The main topics of this meeting were as follows: 1) Is the current struggle against the Tribal council justified; 2) Do the majority of San Carlos Apache members support it; 3) If supported, in which direction(s) should this struggle continue and 4) Is the presence of AIM support desired by the Apache peoples. The responses were as follows: 1) The OVERWHELMING opinion voiced by all those in attendance was that the actions of the San Carlos Tribal Council in removing Tribal Chairman Raymond Stanley were unjustified and a measure employed to ensure that the disappearance of the $8.5 million would remain a mystery. The assembled group also resoundingly denounced subsequent actions of the Tribal Council (replacing Chairman Stanley, firing employees associated with him, calling for Tribal Police reinforcements from BIA, other tribal police forces, hiring convicted felons for the police - Terry Aktins - ,threatening members of Call to Action and their families, spreading lies rumors and disinformation through the media/ internet/ etc). The general opinion voiced and that could be actually FELT in the room was that the MAJORITY of Apache people were MAD AS HELL and were NOT going to stand for it. Many of those in attendance were representing other family/ tribal members that either could not attend or were scared by threats or intimidation into not attending, although their opinions were declared by those representing them. They stood as firmly as those there in body....they opposed the Council and wished the opposition to continue, on the reservation, in the courts and where ever PEACEFUL actions would bring about the changes needed. 2) The San Carlos Apache peoples were represented by a diverse mixture in the meeting: Elders, medicine men, young mothers with children, mine workers, store employees, business owners, current and former Tribal Government workers, etc. Many represented family and friends that could not attend. All were in agreement that the MAJORITY of Apache peoples were in favor of not only the current actions but were voicing a desire for INCREASED actions to reverse the developments of recent weeks. 3) At the meeting there were MANY calls for retaking the Tribal offices, making a show of force in peaceful ways through show of numbers, etc. Although these plans, voiced by the Apache - not AIM- were valid plans of action, a compromise plan was reached by discussion: A) The Apache people will, with support and assistance from AIM and Call to Action, will collect signatures for a recall referendum to remove the Council and return Chairman Stanley to his rightful position. B) A PEACEFUL gathering will occur on Friday 4/24 at the Council offices in order to voice opposition and to allow those unable to attend other activities off reservation to be seen and heard. C) Documentation including PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE and copies of documents will be distributed to the appropriate agencies for the purposes of filing charges against those responsible for misappropriation of the monies; civil rights violations; violations of the RICO act, etc. Much of this evidence is already enroute to Atty Gen Janet Reno. There were other plans laid out for action, ALL OF THEM NON VIOLENT IN NATURE, which I will not lay out in this statement for obvious reasons. 4) At the meeting AIM leadership was told RESOUNDINGLY that we were not only wanted and needed, but that many that would not have stepped forward to show their displeasure and opposition to the Council would not have done so without AIM's presence as a buffer between them and the goons employed by the Council to intimidate and silence the Apache peoples. Many asked for INCREASED presence by AIM . At the end of the meeting, members of AIM were warmly spoken to, most attending made it a point to stop and shake hands and thank AIM for being there. SUMMARY: The struggle in San Carlos remains. It is active, supported by the people and will continue until justice is achieved. Aim is here, active and committed to supporting and assisting the Apache people of San Carlos in ANY WAY WE CAN, As long as we are required. The disinformation campaign of the Tribal Council and their hired goons continues but is ineffective in light of the evidence. The campaign of intimidation, threats and violent acts by the Council and their goons intended to silence the Apache people continues by will be stopped by every means available. The San Carlos Apache people, Call to Action and AIM are ALL committed to a non violent resolution. We will win. --------- "RE: Letter on San Carlos" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 09:47:49 EDT From: arthurmiller50@juno.com (Arthur J Miller) Subj: Letter on San Carlos UUCP email Greetings, I have been reading much of the discussion about San Carlos. Though I do not feel that it is my place to directly comment on the situation other than to say I have a great respect for AIM and will generally support them when asked. I feel that some folks are losing their understanding of what causes situations like San Carlos. As we all know the tribal council political system was created by the U.S. government based upon its way of doing things. It does not take much understanding of the history of the U.S. government to know that there has never been a*moment in which it has not been involved in conflict, corruption, and those in power trying to keep those who have dissenting opinion from voicing that opinion. Since the tribal council system is based upon the U.S. government political system, it will have the same problems. Even among people of the best intentions. The problem of this system is that it is based upon winners and losers, those who have power and wish to keep it from others who also wish to have the power. Power is the name of the game, not common ground in which people create a situation in which everyone gains. They only comprise is found in the making of deals. The *real issues* become sidelined by the struggle over power. The point I am trying to make is that sovereignty and self-determination will only truly exist when the First Nations are able to decide for themselves their own form of a decisions making process that is right for each of their Nations and situations. So such conflicts as San Carlos are directly related to the control of the U.S. government. Though the U.S. government signed treaties with most individual First Nations, it does not view them as individual. Rather the view of the government is to place all people of the First Nations together, into its "Indian policy". There is not a Bureau of Apache Affairs, there is a Bureau of Indian Affairs. Thus they created a grouping of all the original people which they call Native Americans, and their policies are based upon that grouping of people. Given that reality, people within that grouping have had to organize within that for their common *interests, protection of rights, and so on. Thus you have AIM and other such organizations. And it is these organizations that First Nation people turn to when the interference of the U.S. government gets out of hand. And the tribal council system has been a form of interference. Who are the people to turn to? The U.S. government? I greatly respect the job that AIM has done over the years. To trash them and call them outsiders is wrong and only plays into the hands of the government's so-called "Indian policy". AIM's role has been a very hard one, we all should know this. I do not see the point of making things even harder on them. If there is a problem, or a misunderstanding, talk directly to them. Learn to try to work things out. Don't spread trash talk all over the place. I should never have gotten all the e-mails about some type of disagreement. Work things out and if a situation happens where the aid of people like me is needed and wanted, then sent that information out. All the e-mails in the world will not get people like me to turn against AIM. In Solidarity Arthur J. Miller --------- "RE: Coyotes" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 10:29:18 -0600 (MDT) From: brooke@hills.net Subj: Coyotes UUCP email O'siyo Gary, When one sees a coyote in the chicken coop does one merely walk by without action or does one shout out, "HEY! There's a coyote in the chicken coop!" One should remove the coyote before all the hen's are eaten. The consequence of doing nothing will result in the total destruction of the innocent. It is the same with those who sneak under the cover of the darkness of their computer monitors, like coyotes, to destroy one by one, people who sacrifice their lives in order to save First Nations. As you know, coyotes howl a lot and cause chaos but are of little positive use. If unchecked, they will, for the sheer joy of killing, destroy an entire herd. You have among you a lot of coyotes, often disguised in sheep's clothing, till they decide to go for the kill. Often, by the time they've wormed their way into where they want to go, it is too late to stop their destruction. Again, they kill for the sheer joy they receive from the adrenalin rush after they've caused the destruction. These coyotes care nothing about First Nations. You couldn't pry them away from their cyber wars long enough for them to be in on the front lines. Instead, it's a "lets you and him fight" technique they use, setting up wars between people with the innocent phrases like, "I was asked to pass this on." You don't see any of their white fat butts out there on the front line but you sure hear their opinions of how things SHOULD be done. Did they have enough sense or sensibility to realize the harm those words would do? Of course they did, and in their glee, happily typed their poison out, knowing full well the consequences. Later, they plead something like, "I only passed along the message and didn't you tell me that, etc" And, back in their sheep's clothing, they try to appear as the innocent messenger. In the last issue of Wotanging Ikche people were again saying Elders should come and Elders should do this and Elders should do that. I'd laugh if that weren't so pathetic. Elders HAVE come. Elders HAVE spoken. The result is that two of them were banished off a listserver for speaking out, being belittled and disrespected in the process and at least one had a veiled threat made against him "I've marked you." Several of them received private E mails supporting them and stating how the persons involved in 'marking them' were hateful, disrespectful and a couple of people dropped off those listservers because of what they saw being done on them. But, for the most part nothing changed and no one yelled out..'There's a coyote, actually a couple of coyotes here!" I've seen elders attacked by two or three people who have set themselves up a cyber demigods, having never met the elders involved. I've seen a man over and over attack others demanding they believe the way he does and then he turns around and states, "This is a place for people to write what is in their hearts." Are people blind Gary? Or are they just stupid? Are they so ignorant that they cannot see the people who want to destroy others who are doing work, often risking their lives, simply because, and get this point Gary, simply because they are JEALOUS of them. Think on that. You are aware there are about 15 of Elders from all nations who sit together writing back and forth on E mail, working on issues and silently behind the scenes using their influences to help people. The world is losing a lot, as you know, because they wouldn't think for a second to go out on dishonorable listservers to be attacked for their views. People keep writing, "Where are the Elders?" They're here but they're choosing not to get involved in cybertabloid lists. Even as they have once attempted, they were kicked off after a week because of what they had to say. Did anyone challenge the coyotes? Did anyone resign off those lists in protest? No. So people can't have it both ways Gary. And look around you. What you will see are people floundering out there like fish out of the water because they have no idea where the river is. And I can promise you there aren't going to be any elders step forth to show them the way and be exposed to coyote attacks. Until and unless people of this garbage caliber have their little pseudo power taken away from them they'll continue to draw others down in the gutter with them. It is each individuals choice to flounder in the gutter or to stand up against the filth. Honorable men and women are standing up around the world, mostly alone, certainly scared but still standing. They do not need the barking dogs out there who do more harm than the enemy themselves. And as long as each person out there allows it to continue, they are more guilty as a consequence, than those doing it. And whats more, the government is loving what the coyotes are doing. Saving them a lot of time, effort and money to destroy the warriors themselves. These coyotes know exactly what they're doing. By belittling others they make themselves appear more powerful. But I remind you that they are merely coyotes, not wolves. How to destroy them? Pull your name off their listservers. Invite others to join other servers for discussions which are positive. Have you ever seen Traditionals who are angry? They literally turn their back on the offender and the person ceases to exist forever. You've got several Elders sitting quietly back in cyberspace watching every poison word thats being said and refusing to acknowledge their existence. If people REALLY want the input of Elders then destroy the coyotes and clean up the barnyard from all the dung, and you'll see them come forth. Until then, everybody will suffer the consequences of evil that only a few do. As always, it is up to each individual. It's almost like tabloid journalism. People raise hell about people like Jerry Springers gutter tactics but they participate in the same thing themselves. We've warned them enough about coyotes being in the barn, it is up to each person to examine what many have warned about and to take the appropriate action. Three coyotes don't make a pack Gary, they merely are loud and destructive individually. Good luck trying to get people to understand this Gary. We've got a lot of sheep out there who don't realize something my Grandmother once told me, "If they do it to one person, they'll do it to you." Their time will come eventually the first time they stand up and disagree with any of the coyotes. Sometimes its so simple even a Kindergartener can get it. Amazing that adults can't. --------- "RE: Heritage and Pride About to Die" --------- Date: Fri, May 1, 1998 8:59 AM EDT From: Eaglerangr@aol.com Subj: Native American News Release UUCP email Please do not let them Silence Their Voices! The Governor of Alabama has proclaimed 1998 as the Year of the Indian, and yet unless something is done immediately: *A Washington County school for the Choctaw Indians in Alabama; Reedis Chapel Elementary, more than seventy years old . Which had begun as a church over 100 years ago as a Baptist mission to the Indians, will be closed the end of May.. * A Cherokee Indian education program in Lawrence County, Alabama, which currently serves 1,300 students and operates a museum, will be down-sized from seven staff members to two staff members. What is happening in Alabama is also beginning to occur in California. After 21 years of service to the largest (in a single location) U.S. population of Indian children and adults. The Los Angeles Indian Commission will be closed by the city government by the end of June. Open your hearts and your eyes, read these words and you will realize what Reedis Chapel School means to the Children is future. If that school is closed, everyone sacrifices their heritage and pride. Who will be next and like dominos, all of humanity will someday be lost. It is a tragedy for all the Children and their future, not just for Reedis Chapel, but the Nation and with International consequences. They are our future and they are here today, what a better World this would be, if we all could see the human in me and thee. We can't let this dream die, we can not afford to lose anyone is heritage and pride. Brief Background History: Around the turn of the century, Reedis Chapel Baptist Church leaders began teaching the Choctaws people to read, primarily so they could study the Bible. The church eventually brought in teachers and missionaries to teach the Indians in school on the church grounds. In 1920 the present day Reedis Chapel School was built according to church historian Priscilla Lewsi. In 1940 however; Reedis Chapel donated the school and its five acre campus to the county system-but only after the county agreed to hire all teachers for the school and to continue the mission of educating Indians and preserving their culture. The land for the school had been donated about 70 years ago by Earley Reed, and since four generations of Reeds-all Mowa Choctaws have attended the school. Over a year ago, Reedis Chapel Elementary in McIntosh, Alabama was selected as one of the pilot schools for IAEis international project. IAE, Incorporated (Indian American Education and International American Education is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit public corporation. The purpose of IAE is the development of a global educational telecommunication network. Ten states and seven countries have been selected for the pilot program reaching across the globe. They were selected because of their unique history and culture they had to share with the world. Please help us keep this school alive. Give them a chance to share their knowledge and history with their peers around the World. For further information about Alabama is Reedis Chapel Elementary, please contact one or both of the following: * Darla Graves: Executive Director, Alabama Indian Affairs Commission phone: (334) 242-2830 * Lebaron Byrd, Principal, Reedis Chapel Elementary at (334) 944-2422 ** Please write letters of support to keep Reed's Chapel open to: Honorable Governor Fob James Governor's Office 1600 Dexter Ave. Montgomery, AL 36130 (note) ***with a cc to: Lebaron Byrd, Principal P.O. Box 209, Topton Road Mcintosh, Alabama 36553 For more information on Lawrence County Indian Education program please contact: * Charlotte Stewart, Tribal Chairman of the Echota Cherokees of Alabama phone (334) 361-1005 For further information on what is about to happen in California and the Los Angeles Indian Commission, please contact: *The Executive Director at (213) 625-6375 For more information on IAE, Inc. please visit our Web Site at: http://www.ob1.com/iae/ (Please note that is the number one after ob) or contact the Executive Director of IAE: *Patricia Edwards de Ortega at: (205) 582-4595 Fax (205) 571-9393 or e-mail iae@ob1.com Thank YOU Must Not Pass Heritage and Pride are about to die Why should I care -- Why should I try Look deep inside then you will know why For heritage and pride are born within Where are they now -- Where have they gone Animal species extinct -- No longer roam Where once -- Mother Earth was their home Now look --- See what is happening Heritage and Pride of The Choctaw Nation Is about to die -- What does this mean? Why should we care -- We are not there Yet my friends this is the beginning of the end Unless we open our hearts and realize We may lose our Heritage and Pride Makes no matter what creed or color Humanity must know who and why History of our past -- Wisdom gained So our future will not be lame. If we lose that -- All will be lost Our Heritage and Pride -- Must not pass. The Eagle of Millerton -- 24 April 1998 --------- "RE: Cayuga Nation to 'Clean House'" --------- Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 11:47:47 -0400 From: "Mohawk Nation Office" Subj: Actions Taken by Cayuga Nation to 'Clean House' UUCP email ***REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION*** Haudenosaunee Cayuga Indian Nation P.O. Box 101, Gowanda, NY 14070-0101 April 30, 1998 Chief Vernon Isaac P.O. Box ### Lawtons, NY 14091-0053 Re: Dissolution of Chief Vernon Isaac's "Alleged Council" Dear Chief Isaac: At a duly called Cayuga Indian Nation of New York Member Meeting held on Saturday, April 25, 1998, I was given the responsibility to write to you. This letter is to notify you, Chief Vernon Isaac, that your alleged Council no longer represents the Cayuga People and Cayuga Nation. This is due to the fact that you have decided to no longer listen to the People. In addition, you continue to interfere with the business of other clans indirect violation to the Great Law. Furthermore, you have chosen to sign documents with New York State without informing the Cayuga People again in direct violation of the Great Law. As a result, you are hereby notified of the following: On Saturday, April 11, 1998 the Cayuga People of the Heron Clan met to discuss the affairs pertaining to their clan. As a result of this meeting, decisions were reached by the Herons as follows: UNDER THE GREAT LAW: 1. Birdie Hill is no longer recognized as Clan Mother for the Heron Clan. 2. Clint Halftown is no longer an official representative of the Heron Clan. 3. Chuck Jacobs is no longer an official representative of the Heron Clan. NEW LEADERS CHOSEN TO SIT ON THE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S COUNCIL: 1. Edna Printup is the new Clan Mother of the Heron Clan. 2. Women's Council Representatives are: Carol LaPorte Gloria Borrelli 3. Men's Council Representatives are: Michael Wheeler Burt Arthur Parker Christian Borrelli _________________________________________________________________________ Chief Vernon Isaac April 30, 1998 page 2 On Wednesday, April 22, 1998 the Cayuga People of the Turtle Clan met to discuss the affairs pertaining to their clan. As a result of this meeting, decisions were reached by the Turtles as follows: UNDER THE GREAT LAW: 1. Lena Pierce is no longer recognized as Clan Mother for the Turtle Clan. 2. Gary Wheeler is no longer an official representative of the Turtle Clan. 3. Timothy Twoguns is no longer an official representative of the Turtle Clan. NEW LEADERS CHOSEN TO SIT ON THE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S COUNCIL: 1. Corline Campbell is the new Clan Mother of the Turtle Clan. 2. Women's Council Representatives are: Kate John Vicky Parker Jacquelyn Fields 3. Men's Council Representatives are: Herman Doctor Michael Cambell Samuel Campbell As a result of the recent decisions by the Cayuga People, this letter is to notify you, Chief Vernon Isaac, that those individuals presently on your alleged Council are no longer official representatives of the Cayuga Nation. This is due to the fact that the Cayuga People no longer desire the leadership of your alleged Council. As a result of your alleged Council being dissolved, you are notified of the following: 1. You and your alleged Council are no authorized to use the Cayuga Nation name 2. You and your alleged Council are not authorized to call yourself the Cayuga Nation 3. You and your alleged Council do not represent the Cayuga Nation 4. You and your alleged Council do not sit on the Men's and Women's Council of the Cayuga Nation 5. You and your alleged Council are to stop using the letterhead of the Cayuga Nation 6. You and your alleged Council are no longer authorized to accept monies from Bureau of Indian Affairs Notice is hereby given that the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York Men's and Women's Councils, the officially recognized leadership of the Cayuga Nation and the Cayuga People under the Great Law, is as follows: THE CAYUGA INDIAN NATION OF NEW YORK MEN'S COUNCIL WOMEN'S COUNCIL Wolf Clan Chief Frank C. Bonamie Catherine Rombaut, Clan Mother Heron Clan Michael Wheeler Edna Printup, Clan Mother Burth Arthur Parker Carol LaPorte Christian Borrelli Gloria Borrelli Turtle Clan Herman Doctor Corline Campbell, Clan Mother Michael Campbell Kate John Samuel Campbell Vicky Parker Jacquelyn Fields Please be advised that the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York invites you and your clan mother to sit on the Men's and Women's Council as Bear Clan Representatives. At the duly called member meeting held Saturday, April 25, 1998, the above Men's and Women's Council was approved by the Cayuga People. In addition, Sharon LeRoy and Anita Thompson were released from their positions as Office Manager and Secretary of the Cayuga Nation. Evie L. Austin, Turtle Clan, was appointed and approved by the Cayuga People as Secretary. Should you choose not to become included in the recognized leadership of the Cayuga Nation, we will proceed forward towards reaching a settlement in the land claim. Returning to our homeland and establishing economic development for our people is our first priority as this will enable us to preserve our culture, language and unique heritage. The traditions of our fathers are of great importance. The Great Law is truly the vehicle whereby the voice of the people can be heard. Therefore, we are confident the above changes will help our nation move forward by helping our people to be proud of who they are and begin the important task of moving home. Respectfully, Michael M. Campbell, JD Nation Representative Men's Council, Turtle Clan __________________________________________________________________________ I hereby acknowledge that I have read the above correspondence and agree to its content and mailing. (Signature) Frank C. Bonamie - Chief, Cayuga Indian Nation, 4/30/98 __________________________________________________________________________ cc. President Michael Schindler, Seneca Nation of Indians Tonawanda Band of Senecas Oneida Indian Nation Tuscarora Nation Mohawk Nation, Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, Kahnawake Branch Onondaga Nation Governor Pataki Judith A. Hard, Counsel to the Governor Judge Neal P. McCurn Howard Bellman, Esq. Eugene Can Voohris, Esq. William L. Dorr, Esq. Peter J. Wiernicki, Esq. Kevin Gover, Asst. Secretary of Indian Affairs Franklin Keel, Eastern Area Director Six Nation Reserve, Canada Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma via Glen M. Feldman, Esq. Heather Sibbison, Special Assistant to Secretary Hank Meshorer, Department of Justice Jim Clear, Indian Resources Section Environment and Natural Resources Division David B. Roberts, Assistant Attorney General Mayor Peter Salato, Village of Cayuga Peter Taylor, Ducheneaux, Taylor and Associates Catherine Rombaut, Wolf Clan Mother Edna Printup, Heron Clan Mother Corline J. Campbell, Turtle Clan Mother All Members of the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York Men's and Women's Council ----------------------------------------------------- Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch Visit our new site! http://www.cyberglobe.net/users/mnation --------- "RE: Natives Talk Business in Nicaragua" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 23:12:09 -0500 From: "S.I.S.I.S." Subj: Natives Talk Business in Nicaragua :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: NATIVES TALK BUSINESS IN NICARAGUA: Saskatchewan Group's Forestry Deal With Miskito Indians Reflects Entrepreneurial Trend The Globe and Mail, April 13, 1998, by Erin Anderssen [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.] The men from Meadow Lake Tribal Council motored down Nicaragua's Rio Coco in dugout canoes, stopping to talk business under the coconut trees in each community they passed. The group from Saskatchewan frequently spent the night dining on fruits and beans and sleeping on concrete. Often they would sit around a fire with the village elders and hear stories of children killing in war and they would try to explain snow to people who have never known winter. A few villages ahead, touching down in a helicopter, a group of Korean businessmen were making their pitch: sell your trees to us, they'd promise, and we will build your village a baseball diamond. The men from Meadow Lake promised nothing--except partnership. They made the same forestry development offer to 72 Miskito Indian villages in the timber-rich land of Nicaragua's North Atlantic Coast. Not a single community said no. "Those Koreans haven't moved a stick of wood for a year and a half," Meadow Lake chief executive Ray Ahenakew said with a chuckle. The Meadow Lake forestry venture reflects a growing trend among Canada's aboriginal entrepreneurs, who are starting to see bright opportunities beyond the border. They are encouraged by a more pragmatic native leadership--most marked in Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations--which pushes economic development as key to self-government. "Revitalizing first nation economies should not be restricted to Canada," Mr. Fontaine said, "We go where there are opportunities. And we see the benefits in doing business with our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. We're taking a page out of the Team Canada trade missions." And Ottawa is happy to help -- trade officials feel that Canada is missing the boat on development projects funded by international financial institutions such as the World Bank. The country's native bands, the logic goes, are ideally suited to helping other indigenous people set up culturally sensitive schools, build houses and hospitals in remote communities and develop their natural resources. "They've got the capabilities, and they understand the needs," said David Elgie, director of trade for Aboriginal Business Canada. "It's a natural match." Deals like the Meadow Lake project could get much easier come 2005, the target date for a gigantic free trade agreement with 34 countries in the hemisphere dubbed the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Negotiations start this week in Chile on the treaty which would open up new markets in Central and South America. Leaders at the Santiago summit will also discuss the issue of poverty among indigenous peoples, a topic pushed onto the agenda by Canada. Despite the opportunities (there is even talk of crediting an indigenous-to-indigenous trade mark), there are few aboriginal companies as established as Meadow Lake, which runs a forestry operation in Northern Saskatchewan worth $60-million a year. Only about 50 aboriginal companies in Canada are considered airport-ready, and fewer than a dozen have made progress singing international deals. Makivik Corp. a company owned by the Inuit of Northern Quebec, is working on a lobster deal with the Miskito in Nicaragua. The Saskatoon Tribal Council is developing a coffee packaging partnership with communities in Guatemala. To help native bands make international links, the federal government appointed Blaine Favel, then head of the Saskatchewan Federation of Indian Nations, to a new post as counsellor on international indigenous issues in January. Since taking the job, Favel has traveled to Central America to meet Mayan and Miskito Indian leaders. "The stories are the same," he said. "So there's a great affinity. And trust is a large part of business." At the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, work is under way to sell the deal to the wary Central government in Nicaragua. The plan is to set up a small sawmill among the Miskito Indians and harvest a portion of the pine forest, splitting the initial profits in half. Eventually, the Miskito Indians can buy out Meadow Lake completely equipped and trained to run their own operation. Buyers, encouraged by the unanimous endorsement from the communities involved, are already calling from Texas, Mr. Ahenakew said. "It's a good feeling." he said about his connection with the Miskito Indians. "But it's also the safest way to do business." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to the Globe and Mail - mailto:letters@GlobeAndMail.ca AFN Grand Chief Phil Fontaine - mailto:PFontaine@afn.ca Please cc letters to us at 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 : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Lubicon" --------- From: "SCHWARZBAUER PETER" Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 08:43:31 +0100 Subj: Lubicon Mailout UUCP email Information about the Current Status of Lubicon-Federal Government Contacts - Part I (the file is too big to send it in one piece) March 19, 1998 There are still no sincere, productive Lubicon land negotiations. The province "withdrew" the Grimshaw "offer" in 1995 claiming falsely that it was based on numbers and that the numbers had changed but saying that they'd transfer land back to the federal government to create a Lubicon reserve for the number of Lubicons the province is satisfied are entitled to be counted for purposes of determining reserve land size. Transferring land back to the Federal government for purposes of dealing with the issue of outstanding Indian land rights is something the province is obligated to do anyway under the 1930 Land Transfer Agreement, and has always said it would do, but the province has no legal or historical right to certify Lubicon membership -- something which would effectively constitute a veto over the federal government's exclusive constitutional responsibility for dealing with Indians and Indian land rights. Prior to Grimshaw the province dreamed up historically unique criteria to argue that, as far as the province is concerned, there are "seven or less" Lubicons with land rights. This provincial government position on Lubicon membership would effectively disenfranchise the majority of the Lubicons and blocked productive negotiation of Lubicon land rights between the Federal government and the Lubicons until Grimshaw. Getting around the dispute over Lubicon membership without the province having to admit that it had no right to certify Lubicon membership is the reason Getty proposed Grimshaw. (Since provincial "withdrawal" of the Grimshaw Accord, a drunken Reddekopp has bragged that "there won't be any Lubicons left when (he's) through with them".) Needless to say if the province is allowed to renege on Grimshaw it would effectively move progress toward settlement of Lubicon land rights back to before Grimshaw, if not to before Fulton who proposed to use C-31 as the policy of the day to determine membership -- and would effectively render settlement of Lubicon land rights practically inconceivable. That's of course the intent of the Klein government -- to undo the Grimshaw Accord which those who preceded Getty and have since regained control of the provincial government never liked -- and to effectively render settlement of Lubicon land rights practically inconceivable. Although the Lubicon position on reserve land has consistently remained Grimshaw, a reserve land proposal to the province was cooked-up at the negotiating table in June of 1996 which provided for 55.4 square miles under the land transfer agreement (which works out to reserve land for 277 people under the Treaty 8 formula -- providing insight into the number the province is likely prepared to agree are entitled), and up to another 40 square miles outside of the land transfer agreement which would effectively be requested from the province as a gift -- something which would of course give the province considerably enhanced leverage with regard to the issue of sub-surface rights and be inconceivable anyway unless the province changes its malevolent ways and current position on certifying Lubicon membership. This proposal was predictably rejected by Lubicon leadership as both unworkable and inconsistent with Grimshaw. The Federal government tabled the latest version of the "take-it-or-leave-it" offer based on normal government programs and services for government certified Lubicon membership in July of 1996, saying that they'd deal later, in promised "phase II" negotiations, with Lubicon settlement proposals which can't be covered under Millican's current (normal government programs and services) mandate. As with the so-called "take-it-or-leave-it" offer tabled in 1989 and again in 1992, things not covered under Millican's current mandate include essential economic development, a vocational training center, a community recreation centre, self-government and financial compensation. In December of 1996, foreshadowing an up-coming federal election ala the Dene Metis Agreement-In-Principle in the fall of 1988, negotiators tried three times to get the Lubicons to sign agreements-in-principle (AIP) based on normal government programs and services for government certified membership but including an "undertaking" that the feds would negotiate missing Lubicon settlement items like economic development and self-government later -- in promised "good faith" phase II negotiations. The Lubicons predictably refused to sign these agreements-in-principle as substantively no different than the "take-it-or-leave-it" offer rejected in 1989 and again in 1992. Chief Bernard Ominayak had consciously decided to give negotiators broad latitude to come up with a way to meet known Lubicon objectives. Basically he let them go until they started pressing the Lubicons to approve documents which didn't reflect the Lubicon position on settlement issues and to sign related AIPs at which point he concluded that giving the negotiators carte blanche to come up with ways to meet Lubicon objectives wasn't working. Bernard Ominayak therefore effectively suspended negotiations and asked the Lubicon political advisers to up-date the numbers on Lubicon settlement proposals, which was done with the assistance of the same independent cost assessors involved earlier. With Lubicon consent, Toronto-based lawyer Owen Young was involved to reconsider legal clauses in the 1990 draft Lubicon settlement agreement prepared with legal advice from former Lubicon lawyer James O'Reilly which has since been questioned, rightly as it turns out. Lubicon Chief and Council reviewed and revised this up-dated draft Lubicon settlement agreement word-by-word three times before approving it. Harold Cardinal resigned as Lubicon negotiator in March of 1997 citing personal reasons. Millican reacted to effective suspension of negotiations by publicly blaming Lubicon adviser Fred Lennarson for lack of negotiations and telling one reporter that the problem is that "The Lubicon Cree will not talk to the (oil and forestry) industries who have the money and the ability to set up education and offer them life's work. In the meantime the Liberals were re-elected and a woman named Jane Stewart was appointed to replace Ron Irwin as Indian Affairs Minister. Like Mr. Irwin, Ms. Stewart is known to be a devoted follower of Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Last July Minister Stewart announced a cross-country tour to meet Indian leaders and discuss problems facing aboriginal people. Bernard Ominayak asked to meet with her when she was visiting Edmonton to discuss putting Lubicon negotiations back on track. People in Stewart's office responded by saying she was too busy to meet the chief when she was visiting Edmonton but that she'd be pleased to meet with him at some future date in Ottawa. Her officials said the chief should "key up" the Ottawa meeting with Harold Millican -- whose problematic behaviour is of course one of the things Bernard Ominayak wanted to discuss with the new Minister. When Minister Stewart visited Edmonton she told reporters that settlement of Lubicon land rights is a government priority and she urged the Lubicons to appoint a new negotiator, someone they trust as much as she trusts Mr. Millican, so that negotiations can resume. Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak responded by writing Minister Stewart a letter telling her that lack of a Lubicon negotiator is not the problem. Minister Stewart responded to the chief's letter by having her staff phone and propose a telephone conference call with him, to discuss Lubicon proposals for putting Lubicon land negotiations back on track. He agreed but the Minister didn't call at the appointed time. People in her office later explained that she'd been called into an emergency Cabinet meeting and suggested another date and time for the proposed telephone conference call. A new time and date was agreed but the Minister didn't call again. Bernard Ominayak and Minister Stewart finally talked by phone last October 1st and the Minister agreed to appoint Brad Morse to talk to Owen Young about Lubicon proposals for putting Lubicon land negotiations back on track. Basically Lubicon proposals for putting negotiations back on track are the same as agreed between the Lubicons and Mr. Irwin in February of 1994; namely, that the governments of Canada and Alberta agree to honour agreements already made and to use Lubicon settlement proposals as the basis for negotiating Lubicon land rights -- as distinct from effectively limiting talks to what's possible under normal government programs and services. Brad Morse was Minister Irwin's Executive Assistant and heavily involved in Millican's appointment as well as the February 1994 agreement on a mutually acceptable basis for negotiations which was subsequently broken by Mr. Irwin, re-negotiated by Mr. Irwin's staff and then ignored by Mr. Millican. (Mr. Irwin is now an advisor to Prime Minister Chretien working in the Prime Minister's office with responsibility for, among other things, orienting and advising the new Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart on things like appointment of Mr. Morse.) Brad Morse phoned Owen Young on October 10th. In and of itself this ten day hiatus between notification of Mr. Morse's appointment and the time he first makes contact may be frustrating but seems innocuous. Viewed from the standpoint of representing a clear pattern over time which has been going on consistently ever since, however, it constitutes a transparent tactic for buying time while Lubicon people die and efforts to tear Lubicon society asunder continue. Instead of talking with Owen Young about Lubicon proposals for putting Lubicon land negotiations back on track, as agreed by the Minister and Bernard Ominayak, Mr. Morse insisted on conducting an inquiry into what went wrong with the Cardinal/Millican round of negotiations. He proposed to talk to everyone who'd been involved including Lubicon lawyers, negotiators and other advisors. The Lubicons declined to participate in the "fact finding mission" proposed by Mr. Morse, both because it didn't make sense to have Mr. Irwin's ex-Executive Assistant conduct an inquiry into whether he, Mr. Irwin and the negotiator they'd appointed had bollixed the negotiations, but also because such an inquiry would do nothing to advance settlement of Lubicon land rights. Everybody knows how such inquiries are used in the British colonial system to buy time and diffuse political heat in the hope and expectation that the problem supposedly being examined will die or go away. Mr. Morse refused to take no for an answer from Owen Young, telling Owen Young that he's considered a bleeding heart liberal in Ottawa, and that if the Lubicons won't talk to him people in Ottawa will simply conclude that the Lubicons won't talk to anybody and will write the Lubicons off as impossible. On instructions from the Lubicons Owen Young pointed out to Mr. Morse that the Lubicons aren't refusing to talk to Mr. Morse but only insisting on talking about what the Chief and the Minister agreed on October 1st. Mr. Morse then took the position that if the Lubicons won't talk to him he'll have to report to the Minister that the Federal and and the Provincial governments are willing to talk but not the Lubicons -- that the Lubicons are the problem preventing settlement because they refuse to talk to him. On instructions from the Lubicons Owen Young again pointed out to Mr. Morse that the Lubicons aren't refusing to talk to Mr. Morse but only insisting on talking about what the Chief and the Minister agreed on October 1st. Mr. Morse then insisted on talking directly to the Lubicon Chief saying that he couldn't understand what had gone wrong with negotiations since the last time he talked to Bernard Ominayak things were going swimmingly. The Chief has no idea what earlier discussion Mr. Morse is talking about but agreed to meet with Mr. Morse on December 11th to personally reiterate the Lubicon position on the proposed inquiry and putting Lubicon negotiations back on track. The day before the scheduled December 11th meeting Bernard Ominayak received a faxed letter from the Minister, dated a month earlier, claiming falsely that she and Bernard Ominayak had agreed to the Morse "fact finding exercise" when they spoke on October 1st. During the meeting the next day, however, Mr. Morse denied that either he or the Minister had ever called him "a fact finder". He said firmly "Those are not my words or the Minister's". During the December 11th meeting Mr. Morse also denied that Mr. Millican's mandate had been limited to normal government programs and services, begging the question of who limited Mr. Millican's mandate if not the government that appointed him -- especially since Mr. Millican personally knows very little about normal departmental programs and services and the package tabled with the Lubicons is known to have been developed by Departmental officials working in the Alberta Regional Office of Indian Affairs. During the December 11th meeting Mr. Morse said he'd be reporting to Minister Stewart the following Wednesday -- December 17th. He said "She may say fine and make decisions to proceed now or ask me to make further inquiries". Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak mentioned the December 17th meeting between Mr. Morse and the Minister in his follow-up letter to the Minister. On December 17th Mr. Morse angrily denied to Owen Young that he ever said he'd be meeting with the Minister on the 17th. He said "That's a lie". Mr. Morse did not indicate why he thought the Lubicons would make up such a thing. It can only be guessed that Mr. Morse was criticized for putting the Minister on the spot to make a decision. Lying about something he said which comes back to haunt him is something Mr. Morse has been seen doing before. He did basically the same thing in February of 1994 when he proposed an inquiry into civil service misdeeds with regard to the Laboucan family initiative. His proposal was recorded in a memo which was shared with Mr. Irwin. Mr. Irwin blew-up denying that he ever proposed to call such an inquiry. There's no doubt that Mr. Morse denied to an angry Mr. Irwin that he'd made that proposal. Notably later in another context Mr. Morse casually mentioned in passing to Lubicon lawyer Owen Young that he and the Minister had indeed met on December 16th to discuss the December 11th meeting. Although the discussion had moved on by that point it was already clear that the Minister had not decided to simply accept Lubicon proposals for putting Lubicon land negotiations back on track. Pursuant to the December 11th meeting Mr. Morse agreed to meet with Lubicon lawyer Owen Young to review and clarify Lubicon settlement proposals. That meeting took place on December 23rd. Questions arising out of the December 23rd meeting were to be answered prior to Mr. Morse reporting to the Minister on February 4th. Predictably more games followed. On February 12th Lubicon lawyer Owen Young learned from Mr. Morse that Mr. Morse didn't meet with the Minister on February 4th. Instead Mr. Morse said he met with officials of Indian Affairs, Justice and Finance to discuss Lubicon settlement proposals -- proposals which have in fact been endlessly reviewed and assessed by successive hordes of federal lawyers and officials going back to the Fulton Inquiry in 1985. Mr. Morse told Lubicon lawyer Owen Young that he then "hoped to be through his departmental meetings in time to meet with the Minister either (the week of February 16 or February 22nd)". Notice how days of delay become weeks of delay which in turn lead to now 7 months of delay. Delay, someone once said, is the deadliest form of denial. That may not be true in all cases but it's certainly true in the Lubicon case -- as both levels of Canadian government know and count on. On February 26th Mr. Morse told Owen Young that the departmental meetings scheduled for the end of the week of February 12th had been cancelled and didn't occur until February 20th. Mr. Morse told Owen Young that officials from both Indian Affairs and the Department of Justice are continuing to assess the draft Lubicon settlement proposal. Mr. Morse told Owen Young that it was clear that "the substantive work on much of the Lubicon position had simply never been done". That's baloney. There's not a single aspect of the Lubicon situation and proposals which hasn't been thoroughly and repeatedly reviewed, assessed and continually up-dated both legally and technically going back to at least the Fulton Inquiry in 1985. Senior Justice Department lawyer Ivan Whitehall has been on the Lubicon file and generating relevant legal opinions going back to at least the retroactive caveat legislation in 1975 -- when the federal government first demonstrated their peculiar definition of fiduciary responsibility by filing a submission in support of provincial refusal to file the Lubicon caveat. In 1981 all of the relevant legal settlement issues were explicitly canvassed with another senior Justice Department lawyer named Hobson as part of an exercise to determine whether the federal government in their capacity as fiduciary would finance legal action to obtain judicial rulings on legal points in dispute. Predictably the federal government decided against funding such legal action expressly refusing to fund legal action to challenge their legal opinions on legal points in dispute. Justice Department lawyers have since been intimately involved with half-a-dozen Lubicon legal actions, including one initiated by the federal government themselves in 1987 when they asked the courts to impose a settlement based on the federal government's current legal position on Lubicon land rights, and more recently as a named party in the Billy Joe injunction application which tried to enjoin Lubicon negotiations based essentially on the province's highly contentious legal/political/constitutional position on aboriginal land rights. Needless to say all of these legal actions and maneuvers require the federal government to have continually up-dated legal opinions on the evolving Lubicon situation. In addition Justice Department lawyers have been intimately involved in Lubicon settlement negotiations going back to the Fulton Inquiry in 1985 when Mr. Whitehall provided Mr. Fulton with legal advice on both Lubicon land rights and on Lubicon settlement proposals. Mr. Whitehall was then a fully participating member of the federal negotiating team in 1988/89 and 1992 and provided all kinds of legal opinions on relevant issues including opinions on whether the Lubicons had aboriginal rights or only an outstanding treaty land entitlement, on membership, on financial compensation, on self-government and on arbitration of issues that couldn't be resolved through negotiations. During the 1995/96 round of negotiations a Justice Department lawyer named Hilchie was a member of the federal negotiating team and was actively involved in discussing and drafting various related legal documents -- none of which is conceivable without continually up-dated legal opinions on relevant issues. Similarly squads of departmental technical people provided Mr. Fulton with technical assessments of Lubicon settlement proposals in 1985; they assessed and actually negotiated Lubicon settlement proposals during negotiations in 1988/89; they purposefully distorted and misrepresented Lubicon settlement proposals in 1989; they assessed and deliberately obfuscated Lubicon settlement proposals in 1992 and they then assessed and selectively deferred Lubicon settlement proposals to "phase II" negotiations in 1995/96. All of this frustratingly deceitful, deceptive, manipulative and non-productive behaviour is nonetheless inconceivable without a through technical knowledge of Lubicon settlement proposals Lastly, at the suggestion of federal negotiators, mutually agreed independent cost assessors were involved to independently check Lubicon numbers both in 1992 and again in 1995/96. Both times agents of the federal government actively tried to manipulate the outcome of the independent cost assessor exercise, and they ignored the results they didn't like, but there's no question that they've checked and never tried to challenge the technical conclusions of the independent cost assessors' work. (The same mutually agreed independent cost assessors also participated in up-dating the Lubicon settlement proposals.) On February 26th Mr. Morse advised Lubicon lawyer Owen Young that he expects government officials to complete their assessment by the end of March or early April. In light of the time these officials are taking, Mr. Morse said, he proposed to go the Minister twice -- first by mid-March on the question of resuming negotiations or not and the possible appointment of a new federal negotiator; then again by early April after Justice and Indian Affairs have finished their assessments to get a decision on "mandate issues". All dates, Mr. Morse advised, are of course tentative. On March 12th Mr. Morse told Owen Young that the Minister would be phoning Bernard Ominayak "probably Monday or Tuesday of next week" to talk with him directly. No details were provided but Mr. Morse did say that Bernard Ominayak will be pleased with what Stewart has to say. The minister did not call. It is to be expected that when the Minister does call she will simply provide a Ministerial version of the things Mr. Morse has been saying to Owen Young; namely, that federal lawyers and technicians are assessing Lubicon proposals and that she expects to be able to return to the negotiating table possibly as early as April. It is also to be expected that she will pretend to consult on appointment of Brad Morse as the new federal negotiator. That's the way these jokers buy time, a little seemingly reasonable bit at a time but the results over time are deadly for the Lubicons. The Lubicons have thus been seeking unsuccessfully to put Lubicon land negotiations back on track since last August when they officially asked the new Minister if the federal government are prepared to honour agreements already made and to use Lubicon settlement proposals as the basis for negotiating Lubicon land rights. The Lubicons have put these same questions repeatedly since last August but instead of answers they get proposals to conduct an inquiry into what went wrong with the last round of negotiations, assurances that Lubicon proposals are being assessed, efforts to discuss consultation on appointment of a possible new negotiator (likely Mr. Morse), suggestions that the Minister is considering the possibility of resuming negotiations (which the Lubicons aren't in principle prepared to do without agreement on a mutually acceptable basis for negotiations), and, most recently, tantalizing tidbits from Mr. Morse suggesting that the feds are looking for ways to obtain the necessary legal opinions, the necessary political mandate and the necessary money to fund Lubicon settlement proposals without the necessity of further input from the Lubicons. More likely these tantalizing enticements will be used to try and lure the Lubicons back to the negotiating table without any awkward federal commitment to honour past agreements or to use Lubicon settlement proposals as the basis for negotiating a settlement of Lubicon land rights. The intent will likely be to again tie the Lubicons up around the negotiating table so they can't be doing anything embarrassing, other than of course dying, while both levels of Canadian government continue working to tear apart what remains of Lubicon society. That's certainly what history suggests the Federal government is about -- not, as Mr. Morse has been implying to Owen Young recently, that the government is putting together a settlement package based on Lubicon settlement proposals. In 1988 the Federal government proposed to see what could be covered by normal government programs and services, to identify gaps and to then seek special appropriations to meet those gaps. While the Lubicons agreed to proceed in this way in 1988 it's not likely that they would have agreed even then to negotiate a settlement of Lubicon land rights based solely on what could be covered by obviously inadequate normal government programs and services. After looking at what could be covered by normal government programs and services, in January of 1989 the Federal negotiators tabled their "take-it-or-leave-it" offer based solely on normal government programs and services. Negotiations predictably broke. In 1991 then federal Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon, reportedly under pressure from Daishowa who told him he couldn't credibly claim to have the Lubicon situation under control when the federal government and the Lubicons weren't even talking, asked for a meeting with the chief. Shortly before the scheduled meeting Mr. Siddon met with the editorial board of the Edmonton Journal, falsely told the editorial board that Bernard Ominayak had requested the meeting, and told the editorial board that he'd agreed to the meeting but that the "take-it-or-leave-it" offer stood and wouldn't be changed. During the subsequent meeting with Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak Mr. Siddon pressed for resumption of negotiations. Informed of what Mr. Siddon had told the editorial board, Bernard Ominayak gave Mr. Siddon a copy of draft Lubicon settlement proposals and asked for a reaction. Bernard Ominayak told Mr. Siddon that there was nothing to talk about if the Federal government wouldn't reconsider the unacceptable "take-it-or-leave-it" offer or seriously entertain Lubicon settlement proposals. Mr. Siddon referred draft Lubicon settlement proposals to the negotiating table where federal negotiators proposed to hire mutually agreed independent cost assessors supposedly to check Lubicon numbers, surreptitiously tried to limit the mandate of the independent cost assessors to what could be covered under normal government programs and services, ignored independent cost assessor conclusions when they failed to limit the mandate and then effectively re-tabled the "take-it-or-leave-it" offer artfully manipulating the numbers to make them look bigger by doing things like adding the cost of reserve land supposedly being "contributed" by the province and comparing 1989 numbers to 1992 numbers without taking into account the impact of inflation. Negotiations consequently broke again in 1992 for exactly the same reasons as in 1989; namely, no provision for the Lubicons to once again become socially and economically self-sufficient. In February of 1994 Mr. Irwin asked Bernard Ominayak what the Lubicons would propose as the basis for resuming negotiations. Bernard Ominayak said he would propose that both levels of Canadian government honour agreements already made and that Lubicon settlement proposals be used as the basis for negotiating a settlement of Lubicon land rights. Mr. Irwin said he considered Bernard Ominayak's proposals reasonable and asked him for a letter spelling out the Lubicon position and listing agreements already made. Mr. Irwin said he'd respond in a couple of days after receiving the requested letter from the chief. Bernard Ominayak provided the requested letter a couple of days later. Mr. Irwin did not respond to this letter, however, until the following July when he sent the chief a letter proposing instead to negotiate an outstanding treaty land entitlement and to direct Lubicon settlement proposals "to the appropriate processes and officials...for consideration within existing authorities and associated funding". The Lubicons predictably refused to proceed on the basis of an approach which would have ceded their unceded aboriginal land rights before talks even started and to again limit talks to what could be covered under demonstrably inadequate normal government programs and services. After considerable criticism that the new Liberal government was behaving exactly the same way as the Conservatives they'd criticized while in opposition, Mr. Irwin's staff contacted the Lubicons in September of 1994 and asked for another letter from Bernard Ominayak saying "this time the Minister (Irwin) will agree" to Lubicon proposals on a basis for negotiations. --------- "RE: Inco Meeting" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 14:24:03 -0300 From: Larry Innes Subj: Column by Mick Lowe Mailing List: Innu People Forum list Mick Lowe's recent 'Northern Life' column: TORONTO--So this was Inco's "No Tears" Annual Shareholder's Meeting. No tears for the company's laid off workers here On the Rock. No tears for the $4.3 billion blown on Voisey's Bay, and no write down of this clearly overvalued asset. And no tears for the declining share price, diminished dividends, or two consecutive quarterly losses. Two - and counting. No, this was the learn nothing, admit nothing, regret nothing, circle-the-wagons, bunker mentality, I'm-all-right-Jack Inco annual meeting. And you know what? It worked. Jerry Rodgers and the INCO spin-meisters deserve to be congratulated. Nobody laid a glove on INCO CEO Mike Sopko. Not even close. And when I say bunker mentality, I'm not kidding. Docile shareholders were herded like sheep ripe for a fleecing into the John W. H. Bassett Auditorium, deep in the bowels of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The walls of this dismal place were chocolate brown, the same colour as the substance that was mostly being slung around from the dais this past Wednesday, which was also, coincidentally and ironically, Earth Day. (When a passing reference was made to this fact by one environmentally-minded questioner, an audible groan passed through the well-heeled assemblage.) Oh, the Rock was well represented, and our contingent - Steelworkers Area Supervisor Wayne Fraser, Local 6500 President Gary "Red" Patterson, Local 6600 President Denis Dellaire, and Nickel Centre Mayor (and Local 6500 member) John Fera struggled manfully to communicate some of the anger and the desperation recent events at Inco have engendered here On the Rock. They spoke well, and from the heart, and Mike Sopko welcomed them warmly, with all the meaning and evident sincerity of rainwater falling on greasy glass. Especially ominous, I thought was his greeting to Patterson: "Gary's one of the most trustworthy Presidents we've had up there," Sopko confided reassuringly to the hundreds of gray-haired suits. And folks, after Wednesday's meeting, it's clear to me that when Mike Sopko welcomes you like that it's time to start locking up the cutlery and marking the rye. No, somehow, all our plaints fell wide of the mark. I watched the pliant, well tailored masses as our workers' tribunes spoke. They were absolutely stoical, unmoved that our children have no jobs, that people with 26 or 28 years' loyal service to "their" company now find themselves on the street, or that the highly prized industrial peace between Inco and Local 6500 has now been ruptured. I tried to see us through their eyes. We seemed tiresome, down-at-heel, country bumpkins from the North, and when Sopko and his minions repeated, for the umpteenth time, that the layoffs were "a last resort" and that they knew best how to safeguard the "shareholders interests," like the Big Lie, it began somehow to all make sense. The one real moment in the whole meeting was when Ben Michel, the representative of the Innu Nation, rose to give "a clear warning to the shareholders, especially the major shareholders." Mike Sopko had considerably overstated the extent of progress in Impact and Benefit Agreement negotiations between the company and the Innu, Michel cautioned. "A lot has to happen before the Innu feel comfortable. If the Innu are not happy, rest assured you're going to lose money. You're going to lose if you can't get your CEO to deal with the Innu in an honourable way." You could have heard a pin drop and there was suddenly an intensity in the room, because the shareholders understood that Michel and his 1,500 people in the Northern Labrador bush exercise real power over the future of Voisey's Bay. The Innu want no part of any partnership with the Mike Sopkos of this world, and after watching Sopko's performance last week - by turns unctuous, pettish, and petulant - I, for one, don't blame them. Several time during the post-meeting news conference Inco President Scott Hand was forced to intervene to soften some of his CEO's more insensitive remarks. It is hard to imagine two groups in our entire species more at odds in their values, experience, cultures, and priorities than the management team of the International Nickel Company and the people of the Innu Nation. I'll predict flatly right here and now that the Innu will never, ever consent to a collaboration on their land with a corporation whose leaders so transparently betray insincerity, false flattery, and a boundless capacity for self- and public delusion, as Inco so brazenly displayed on Wednesday. And in a contest on the ground in Northern Labrador who would you bet on? Johnny-Come-Lately Inco, or the Innu, who have been there for thousands of years? Eventually, though it may take some years yet, it will sink in to these same shareholders, whose interests and understanding of the world are at once so narrow and so primitive, that they need the Innu far more than the Innu need them. Oh yes, the No Tears Annual Meeting was a great success for the spin-meisters, who managed to dodge the tough questions and defer the still tougher answers that might, just maybe, have prepared their company to survive in the new millennia. But for the rest of us, who love this industry and this community, nothing good, nothing good at all, will come from this meeting. And for us there will be more tears. Lots and lots of tears. --------- "RE: Support for Gustafsen Inquiry" --------- Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 23:29:21 -0500 From: "S.I.S.I.S." Subj: Support for Gustafsen Inquiry :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: The call for an inquiry into the Ts'peten (Gustafsen Lake) standoff continues to grow. The latest addition to the list of individuals and organizations to express their support is the Aboriginal Rights Coalition of BC, a coalition of aboriginal organizations, the major churches of Canada and local community groups. (Letter appended below.) Yet despite the increasing pressure both domestically and internationally, both the NDP government of British Columbia and the federal government of Canada continue to stonewall the public inquiry call. Please help keep up the pressure! write to: Glen Clark, Premier of British Columbia Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8V 1X4 Phone: (250) 387-1715, (604) 431-8119 Fax: (250) 387-0087, (604) 660-0279 Email: mailto:premier@gov.bc.ca Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada House of Commons, Ottawa, Ont., Canada, K1A OA6 Phone: (613) 992-4211 Fax: (613) 941-6900 Faxing by email: mailto:remote-printer.Jean_Chretien@16139416900.iddd.tpc.int For more information and ideas of how to help, please visit: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/gustmain.html :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: VIA FACSIMILE ARC BC - 1611 Quadra Street, Victoria BC, V8W 2L5 Canada April 8, 1998 Phil Fontaine Grand Chief Assembly of First Nations Dear Chief Fontaine: Re: Inquiries on Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash The Aboriginal Rights Coalition of Victoria (ARC Victoria) strongly supports the Assembly of First Nations' call for an inquiry into the events surrounding both Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash. For the government to invoke the use of armed force - and particularly the use of the army - against its own citizens is one of the gravest and most severe actions that a government can make. In spite of these actions, the government has failed to provide a proper explanation of the circumstances. We are concerned that seemingly unfettered use of the military and police power was conducted without proper and public accountability. An inquiry is long overdue. An inquiry should ask the following questions: - What was the decision process leading to the standoffs? Who made the decisions, and who was in charge at each point in the process? A key issue is accountability: those responsible for the decisions to employ armed force must be prepared to explain their reasons and be held responsible for them. - Why were negotiations with the Gustafsen Lake protesters broken off, particularly in light of public statements made by native RCMP that they had recommended and believed that negotiations would resolve the issue? - Why are the government, Army, RCMP, and OPP so quick to use such excessive force against Native protesters? In the case of Gustafsen Lake, the protesters were a relatively small group of individuals who posed no threat to the general public. The Ipperwash protesters, meanwhile, demonstrating peacefully for a well-supported land claim, were unarmed, and specifically held off their protest until after the park had been closed to the public for the season. It is our impression that such excessive force would not have been considered in a similar situation had the protesters not been Native. - What was the role of the media in the Gustafsen Lake standoff? Various reports have indicated that the army and the RCMP fabricated or exaggerated the actions of the protesters in order to justify the use of force. There needs to be a formal public policy for managing how our armed forces use the media, especially in situations in which the army is being used against Canadian citizens. An inquiry would be inadequate if it does not consider the historical relationship between the native persons concerned and the Crown. It would be a gross oversimplification to consider the Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash events simply as 'criminal' standoffs. Good luck in your efforts to establish an inquiry. Finally, I write to convey our overdue congratulations on being elected the Grand Chief of the Assembly. We look forward to working with you. Sincerely, Waldemar Braul President cc. Aboriginal Rights Coalition - Ottawa Minister Jane Stewart :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL : WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: National Museum of the American Indian" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 22:31:45 -0800 From: Jack Golden Subj: National Museum of the American Indian UUCP email Are you interested and are you aware of that the Smithsonian Bureaucrats have fired Douglas Cardinal, perhaps the most outstanding Native American Architect from his job as the design architect for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC? I am an architect that is concerned that this great architect will not be allowed to see his exquisite design for this historic building through to completion. Please read the following article about this unfortunate event and, if you care (and you should) please write to each of the members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents who have the power to reverse this decision. I can provide a list of Regents if needed. Jack Golden ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Washington Post Saturday, April 4, 1998 Cityscape The Best-Laid Plans By Benjamin Forcey Washington Post Staff Writer In Douglas Cardinal's l'Enfant Plaza studio, the Canadian architect and his colleagues labor over computers to complete his striking design of the National Museum of the American Indian. Scarcely a quarter-mile away, in the Smithsonian Institution Castle, officials proceed with plans to build Cardinal's design without his participation. It is a curious, unhappy state of affairs that could cost us a building of aesthetic integrity and exceptional distinction on the Mall. The institution, you see, fired Cardinal, along with GBQC of Philadelphia, his collaborating American firm, without public announcement in late January, for failing to deliver design documents on time and other consequential faults. Cardinal, for his part, had pushed things to the brink by refusing to hand over many documents. He says the contract did not compensate him fairly for the vast amount of work his firm had to do to accommodate all the changes in the design requested by the Smithsonian and others. Because of the shortfall, he says, his architectural firm is going broke. Such a summary cannot pretend to do justice to the complexity of the legal, ethical and personality issues involved. By now, the situation has descended, in the predictable rhythm of such disputes, to bitter we-said/they-said accusations. It is no longer client talking to architect. It is lawyers talking to lawyers. This definitely has the feel of something that will end up in court. Before that happens, however, it must be stressed that the consequences are extremely bad, and that a remedy is possible, if difficult. What makes this architectural divorce particularly hard to swallow - on both practical and aesthetic grounds - is the fact that, with financing from a passionate believer in the project, Cardinal and staff have continued to work on the design. A statement released by the Smithsonian to explain the termination of the design contract notes that the design team "failed repeatedly to meet contractual performance requirements" and presented "no possibility of meeting those requirements in the future." It is the second part of this equation that offers a window of hope. The work done by Cardinal and colleagues since the termination does exist. The job, Cardinal says, is almost done. A set of sophisticated construction documents is by now stored in his firm's computers. I spent several hours with Cardinal and his computer wizards this week as they demonstrated the interlocking nature of the design - a complex layering plotted in great detail, from major interior and exterior elevations down to room furnishings and window fasteners. It would be folly to throw these documents - this work of architectural art - into the courts, so that a judge would determine what legally belongs to whom. The Smithsonian owns the design for this wall, but not that balcony? The reasons we should all be interested in avoiding such an outcome are straightforward. This is a building of high public purpose for a key site on the nation's most important symbolic vista. It is a museum designed to symbolize the healing of rifts between two great cultures of the North and South American continents. And it is to be placed on the Mall's last buildable site, within clear view of the Capitol, just across Fourth Street SW from the Air and Space Museum. Furthermore, though Cardinal's design may not be without fault, it is architecture of high ambition and extraordinary promise. In both planning and designing the museum there were extensive consultations with tribal leaders across the land, Many of the concepts developed in the sessions are embodied in the building - it opens to the east, it suggests the natural landscape, it relates directly to heaven and earth, it contains significant ceremonial spaces. These collaborative efforts were necessary and praiseworthy. They speak to widespread emphasis in Indian cultures on building consensus as part of the decision making process. Yet it must be remembered that Cardinal's particular artistic vision brings these ideas alive, giving the design its unique formal and emotional qualities. This is why it is so crucial that he be involved in the follow-through. There is a pertinent example close at hand - directly across the Mall stands I.M Pei's National Gallery of Art East Building. Would this unusual building be as excellent as it is, inside and outside, if the Gallery had dismissed Pei and his team before ground was even broken? The only answer is no. Many key aesthetic decisions on the East Building were made after construction began; this is the way of many significant buildings designed by architects with strong personal visions. Thus, the most troubling parts of the Smithsonian statement are not the listings of the design team's contractual failures - these issues, if necessary, can be settled in court. The real problem arises from the Smithsonian's insistence that "the creative phase of the design process for the Mall building is finished." All that remains, the statement went on to say, is the "completion of technical construction and engineering drawings." Such might be the case if the design in question were for a warehouse, or an office building, or a public library of no particular ambition. But Cardinal's design aspires to be a work of art, and as the artist, he put his heart and soul into it. What will be lost if another architect takes over at this stage are the qualities that help to give a building its soul - the subtle adjustments of shape and surface and proportion that can transform the everyday into architectural magic. This is especially true because, like Pei's building, Cardinal's design is rooted in a complicated, unconventional geometry. Pei's design relies famously on triangles. Cardinal's is based on circles. Most obviously, the museum's major gathering spaces, such as the towering Potomac Room with large openings facing the Capitol, are circular. But the influence of the geometry is in reality much more pervasive and complex. Each of the multiple curves that distinguish the principal interior spaces as well as all of the exterior facades is a part of a circle. The governing circles will be invisible once the building is built - the stone walls will undulate like aging rock formations - but all the circles are plotted on Cardinal's computers with great accuracy. This combination of mathematical precision and nature-inspired irregularity of form is characteristic of Cardinal's career. Now 63, he has been designing buildings in an individualistic, organic style for more than three decades. Dramatic, curved shapes are part of his personal vocabulary. In their reflection of natural forms, they are typical of Canadian culture. They also are reflective of his own Indian ancestry - his father was part Blackfoot, his mother part Metis - and of his long, proud insistence that Indian culture can be an integral part of contemporary society. The Cardinal firm's expertise in computers, dating back more than two decades, came about in part because of his awareness that, to escape stereotyping and get jobs - Cardinal once was know as the "hippie Indian architect" - he had to be extra-competent in technical spheres. It also evolved from a certain pragmatism about his organic buildings - to get them built on time and on budget requires extreme measures of control. If the Smithsonian does indeed persist in its intention to get those mere "technical" drawings done by a firm with no experience in Cardinal's complex geometries, common sense says it will take a lot more time and cost a lot more money. Even more important, it is likely that the building would lose much of its special quality. The design for the Museum of the American Indian, so far, is a successful attempt to mediate between differing cultures, and between the strict, axial geometries of the Mall and a more organic set of architectural forms. Cardinal's vision, as well as his long practice, makes it so. "I have had this faith all along," the architect says. "that people will do things the right way, that people will do things with honor, if you just continually place emphasis on what is best for the building." Let us hope that he is right. --------- "RE: Native History Databank" --------- From: databank@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca () Subj: Native History Date: 20 Apr 1998 16:56:17 GMT Newsgroup: alt.native Current Tribal pages listed on www.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~databank/hp.html TRIBAL HOMEPAGES ALGONQUIN ALGONQUIN PERSONAGES APACHE APACHE PERSONAGES LIPAN APACHE Links ARAPAHO ARAPAHO PERSONAGES ATSINA ATSINA PERSONAGES BEAVER BEAVER BANDS LISTING BEAVER BANDS TIMELINES 1790-1830 BEAVER FIRST NATION BOYER RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION BLACKFOOT (see Kainai, Pikuni & Siksika) BRITISH COLUMBIA FIRST NATIONS Links CARRIER Links CARRIER PERSONAGES CAYUSE CAYUSE PERSONAGES CHEROKEE CHEROKEE PERSONAGES CHEYENNE CHEYENNE PERSONAGES CHIPEWYAN CHIPEWYAN BANDS LISTING CHIPEWYAN HISTORY BOOKS CHIPEWYAN PERSONAGES HEART LAKE FIRST NATION CHIPPEWA (See also Soto) CHIPPEWA PERSONAGES CHIPPEWA-CREE TRIBE O'CHIESE BAND CREE CREE WEB PAGE 1885 REBELLION CREE BANDS LISTING CREE GENEALOGIES CREE HISTORY BOOKS CREE NATION ASINI WACHI WININIWAK BEAVER LAKE CREE NATION BIG BEAR'S BAND FROG LAKE CREE NATION GARDEN RIVER CREE NATION GOODFISH LAKE FIRST NATION Link IMASEES' BAND JAMES BAY CREE Link KISKIYAW'S BAND LITTLE POPLAR'S BAND LUBICON LAKE CREE MASKEPETOON'S BAND MISTASSINI CREE Link MOUNTAIN CREE MOUNTAIN PEOPLES CULTURAL SOCIETY O'CHIESE BAND OUJE-BOUGOUMOU BAND Link PEECHEE'S BAND POUNDMAKER'S BAND ROCKY BOY BAND SADDLE LAKE FIRST NATION Link SMALLBOY'S CAMP CROW CROW PERSONAGES DAKOTA (see Sioux) DENE-THA FIRST NATION FORT BELKNAP INDIAN NATION FORT PECK INDIAN NATION INNU INNU Link INNU NATION Link IROQUOIS WESTERN IROQUOIS BANDS KAINAI HOMEPAGE Link KAINAI BANDS LISTING KAINAI HISTORY BOOKS KAINAI HEAD CHIEFS KAINAI CHIEFS KAINAI BANDS/CHIEFS KAINAI POPULATION RECONSTRUCTIONS KASKA Links KUTENAI KUTENAI HISTORY PAGE KUTENAI HOMEPAGE Link KUTENAI BANDS LISTING METIS METIS GENEALOGIES NAKODA (Assiniboin) NAKODA WEB PAGE NAKODA BANDS LISTING NAKODA HISTORY BOOKS BEARSPAW'S BAND BEAVER'S BAND EAGLE HILLS BANDS FORT BELKNAP INDIAN RESERVATION FORT PECK INDIAN RESERVATION STONEY FIRST NATION Link NISGA'A NISGA HISTORY Link OJIBWE SANDY LAKE BAND Link PEIGAN/PIEGAN PIKUNI BANDS LISTING PEIGAN NATION HOMEPAGE Link PIKUNI HISTORY BOOKS BLACKFEET TRIBE OF MONTANA Link SARCEE (Tsuu T'ina) SARCEE HOME PAGE Link SARCEE HISTORY PAGE SARCEE BANDS LISTING SEKANI SEKANI BANDS LISTING SHUSWAP SHUSWAP HOME PAGE Link SHUSWAP BANDS LISTING CANIM LAKE BAND Link CANOE CREEK BAND Link CAPOTE BLANC'S BAND NESKONLITH BAND Link SODA CREEK BAND Link WILLIAMS LAKE BAND Link SIKSIKA HOMEPAGE Link SIKSIKA BANDS LISTING SIKSIKA HISTORY BOOKS SIOUX DAKOTA PERSONAGES SIOUX BANDS LISTING SLAVEY (Etchareotinne) SLAVEY BANDS LISTING ALBERTA SLAVEY HAY RIVER DENE (Klodeseotinne) Link SNAKE SHOSHONI SNAKE INDIAN SHUSWAP SOTO (Saulteaux) SOTO BANDS LISTING O'CHIESE BAND JACKFISH LAKE SOTO SAULTEAUX BAND, B.C. SAULTEAUX FIRST NATION, Sask STO:LO Link TREATY 6 TREATY 7 (see Blood, Peigan, Siksika, Nakoda:Stoney) HOMEPAGE Link TS'KW'AYLAXW TS'KW'AYLAXW FIRST NATION Link TSUU T'INA (Sarcee) HOMEPAGE Link TSUU T'INA HISTORY PAGE SARCEE BANDS LISTING TZA TINNE TZA TINNE BANDS TZA TINNE HISTORY PAGE UTE UTE BANDS LISTING NATIVE STUDIES BIBLIOGRAPHY NATIVE GENEALOGIES NATIVE MUSEUMS (Alberta) -- email: databank@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca --------- "RE: Anna Mae Awards" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 11:12:54 -0600 From: Faye Brown Subj: annie mae awards UUCP email Gary, Rosalie Little Thunder asked me to send you information about the Anna Mae awards that were held here in Minneapolis April 10. Attached is the press release announcing the event. News from Indian Country, based out of Hayward, Wisconsin, just published a front page story about the awards in their last issue that was very good. Thanks so much. --------------------------------------------- Indigenous Women's Network NEWS RELEASE "Award Ceremony Pays Tribute to the Life of Anna Mae Pictou" April 3, 1998 St. Paul, MN--The Indigenous Women's Network will hold the first biennial "Anna Mae Pictou Award Ceremony & Banquet" at Macalester College, Cochran Lounge Ballroom, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, Friday, April 10th at 7:30 pm. The Award is designed to honor the courage and spirit of Anna Mae Pictou, a member of the American Indian Movement who was tragically murdered on the Pine Ridge Reservation in February,1976. The recipients of this award are two long time Native women activists: Cecilia Rodriguez, Director of the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, based in Los Angeles, California, and Katsi Cook, founder and Director of the First Environment Project at the Mohawk village of Akwesasne, New York. "We are holding our first award ceremony in the Twin Cities because it is the birthplace of the American Indian Movement, a movement which gave Anna Mae life," said Lori Pourier, Director of the Indigenous Women's Network. "There has been a lot of attention given to Anna Mae's death. As Indian women, we feel it is important to pay tribute to her life." "Anna Mae did not seek self glory but worked quietly doing anything that was needed no matter how small or great the task before her." said Nilak Butler, board member of the Indigenous Women's Network. "She never complained when times were hard. Rather, she gave of herself, and her humor and wisdom took the sharp edges off of difficult times. Her gifts, her strength, her beauty live on today through many people." Cecilia Rodriguez and Katsi Cook are two such people whose life long work embodies the spirit of Anna Mae. A Mohawk midwife, Katsi has dedicated her life to battling one of the largest corporations in the world-- General Motors. A General Motors PCB Superfund Site adjacent to her community has left Mohawk water, land, animals and people poisoned with dangerous levels of this known carcinogen and reproductive toxin. The First Environment Project Katsi founded is based on the premise that women are the first environment. The Project studies the effects of PCB contamination on women, their unborn children and the breast milk of lactating mothers. The Project also educates women on this issue and advocates for clean-up of the PCB site. Ceclilia Rodriguez is a long-time Chicano community organizer from El Paso, Texas, where she founded La Mujera Obrera, an organization of Mexican women textile workers. As the Director of the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, Rodriguez acts as the U.S. representative for the EZLN, the native resistance and justice movement based in Chiapas, Mexico and named for Emilio Zapata, the indigenous Mexican patriot. Since 1994, Tzotzil and other indigenous communities in Chiapas have opposed the federal exploitation of their resource rich lands and agricultural products and as a result, have endured a state of war perpetuated by the Mexican army and U.S. tax dollars. Rodriguez works tirelessly to organize political support for these indigenous communities within the United States. "Native women are often unrecognized but always present, standing for our land, our nations, our children and our future. We hope this award, by honoring the courage and vision of two women, will bring recognition to all Native women," said Winona LaDuke, founder and co-chair of the Indigenous Women's Network. -------- The Indigenous Women's Network was founded in 1985 and today is an alliance of more than 400 Native women activists and organizations from across the Americas and Pacific Islands. #### The Anna Mae Pictou Award Ceremony and Banquet precedes the "Native Women on the Cusp of the Year 2000 Symposium" at Macalester College, Saturday, April 11, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. For More Information: Lisa Bellanger, (612)-479-1300 --------- "RE: Joe Good Buffalo Rider" --------- Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 10:33:50 -0700 From: Valentina LaPier Subj: old joe UUCP email "Joe Good Buffalo Rider" by Wade Rain <-----------------< Joe Good Buffalo Rider sat on his lineback buckskin gelding at the foot of the Two Medicine River Piskin, the buffalo drop cliff almost due north of the Holy Family Mission. His beaded glove clad hands rested on his saddle horn as he gazed up at the edge of the precipice. Long black braids hung down in front of his broad shoulders. On top of his head perched a wide brimmed black hat, an eagle feather jutted upward from the red and blue quilled hat band. Decorated leather chaps adorned his slim legs because today he had to flush some yearlings steers out of the willows near the river and he didn't want to take a chance on tearing his new blue denim pants. He imagined he saw buffalo falling, wild eyed and foamy mouthed, their tongues sticking out of their mouths in exhaustion. They were unable to stop their headlong plunge because behind them and on each side men were shouting and waving hides from the backs of running horses, terrifying them, causing the ones in back to push those i front over the edge. Clouds of dust added to melee' of violence. The buffalo's crumbled as they hit the rocks, splitting open, their blood splashing and staining the sweet sage that littered the ground. He watched as a steady stream of brown fell; like dirty water over a fall, until a hundred or more lay dying in front of him. Chanting breech cloth clad riders - hey, hey, hey - brought their lathered horses to a halt at the rim of the cliff, waving their lances and bows in exultation. Suddenly, off to his side, brought on the gentle southwest wind he heard the shrill cries of women, children, dogs, and old men. Coming up the meadow from the direction of the river was a crowd of people, running, some leading horses pulling travois', as they cheerfully rushed towards their food. They were singing a song of happiness and thanks for the feast that was sure to come. Joe knew that the Vision he was experiencing was the way it WAS, and the crowd was he and his horses ancestors. He thought, this was the Old Ones life; before the Mission before the Supermarket, before Assimilation, before the arrival of the White man. Before gas and oil, when only grass and water was needed to carry a person across the Prairie. When there was no need for refrigeration to keep from starving. When each day was exciting and alive! Once again as it had happened before, so many times during his fifteenth summer; he had been given a look into the Past. The Past here at the foot of the piskin. One of his relatives drove by in a pickup and waved, as he followed the ribbon of pavement east down the valley to his square three bedroom home. A contrail from a high flying jet airplane appeared in the clear blue sky where he had envisioned the warriors and buffalo, far above the edge of the cliff. Joe neck reined the buckskin to the left as he nudged his ribs with his fancy boots, urging him forward. As before, a great sorrow filled him as he rode his horse down the steep bank of the wide irrigation ditch that was gouged out of the buffalo grass and sweet sage where the buffalo had died, so long ago. He felt the cool southwest breeze coming from the distant mountains caress his cheeks as he continued on the way to the willows and his morning's work. By Wade Rain, copyrighted 1998 love you Monikapi, your lit' girl. --------- "RE: AIM Florida in Danger of Closing" --------- Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 11:54:01 -0700 (PDT) From: John Shafer Subj: AIM FL UUCP email please distribute widely PLEASE HELP: AIM FLORIDA IN DANGER OF CLOSING Aimfl: The American Indian Movement of Florida State Office remains in danger of closing. The former Financial Manager ran up $2,100 in unauthorized calling card calls. After negotiations with GTE we have been able to get the amount reduced to $437.37 that we have to pay by April 25th to maintain the phone lines and keep the office going. We figure if 40 people can send us $10 or $20 donations we will be able to survive. Florida AIM Executive Director Sheridan Murphy has cancelled all calling cards and blocked third party calls from being made on organizational phones. * Donations are tax deductible. Please send donations ASAP to: American Indian Movement of Florida State Office, 33 4th Street N Suite 207 St. Petersburg, FL 33701 email: AIMFL@aol.com --------- "RE: Racist Mascot School Assembly" --------- Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 15:28:49 -0400 From: Yael Grauer Subj: Reactions to Bob Roche's Assembly One of the teachers at my school has tried again and again to explain to people the racist implications of the "Cleveland Indians" name and mascot. I spoke to Bob Roche and he agreed to come speak in my school...I couldn't get an all-school assembly this year (next year he will most likely be invited back to do a n all-school) but about thirty students and four teachers came to this one...I introduced him to them and then he went up and said "I'm an Indian." He would ask the students whether they knew there were actually Indians, because he talked in elementary schools where people didn't. He asked if they knew about reservations. He explained the spiritual significance of the red eagle feather...and he talked about Chief Wahoo on a personal level...he said that his kids don't like it. My teacher has shown anti-mascot web pages with letters the baseball fans have written to Native Americans with hateful statements like, "we long for ethnic cleansing"...but nothing could have been as effective as having an actual speaker in the room saying, "This offends me. There is no "honor" in racism." Roche described the drop out rates for Native Americans in high schools and colleges, he mentioned his reaction to the mascot...he touched on tribal history, Andrew Jackson, reservations...the card he was given telling him he's a "real" Indian...the 3rd world conditions, the poverty on reservations, the history taught that is lies (He mentioned a textbook he saw with a picture of Jackson knocking on doors letting people know that they could leave for a better world)...he spoke in a way that the students could understand (regarding Wahoo: "I may have some bad days, but I don't look like that! regarding Columbus: that guy was *lost*!! He thought he was in India....) which helped lighten the mood, and then he dispelled the myths of "honor" and Sockalexis...the mascot is a big issue because if the students understand that, it'll help them see Native Americans as real people... Today in school I heard about the reactions from both of the classes present. Many students were struggling with the issue and said that they felt that they understood it better. Although very few said they would quit wearing the mascot, they did say they would be open to a different one...a few people did say they would no longer buy it. In the class I was in, the reactions weren't as good...the class only has six students at the moment because many of the seniors are doing community study for this quarter...the teacher is having students teach lessons and the girl that was speaking, well, she was trying to be very offensive to prove a point...that an opinion can be wrong. So she said many things like that there is little evidence of the Holocaust having happened and that Native Americans have been idealized by anthropologists and all sorts of lies...I was, of course, the first person to raise my hand to clear up the issues regarding history esp. concerning Jackson...even though this was supposed to be a *set up* and people were supposed to violently disagree, the class agreed with everything she said! All sorts of racist lies...I was very upset and somebody mentioned that the only reason people protest Wahoo is b/c the Cleveland Indians are getting attention...now, I *know* that's not true and that people protest at other games so I mentioned that, and everybody said "How do you know?" so I mentioned articles I've read, conventions I've heard of, people I've talked to online...well, then the whole class told me that newspapers are biased and everybody's lying and I'm wrong. I pointed out that they only believed that articles supporting what I'm saying are wrong and that's a form of bias which they were accusing me of, yet I'd looked at both sides...and I was accused of being subjective and biased and etc. It was *very* upsetting, and even when the student who was teaching mentioned that she was trying to prove a point, the students did not waiver on their opinions...we're going to discuss it tomorrow...very unsettling. But the majority of the students thought it was extremely effective and are rethinking the issue and even more people will be reached next year, s