From gars@netcom.com Sun Sep 13 08:47:21 1998 Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1998 19:43:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.032 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 032 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, August 8, 1998 O o O KANOHEDA ANIYVWIYA Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin O o O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min Aunchemokauhettittea O ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) This issue contains articles from AisesNet, Innu-L, Paths-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. "Then, has the white man's social order been so harmonious and ideal to merit the respect of an Indian, and for that matter the thinking class of the white race? Is it wise to urge upon the Indian a foreign social form? Let none but the Indian answer!" __ Chief Standing Bear, Ponca +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! In the last issue three articles were included concerning the recent efforts of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (Pine Ridge, SD) to mandate who may and may not carry sage and sweetgrass or attend ceremony on tribal lands. This is a terrible mixed bag. I understand fully the argument of those who believe this is aimed at stopping the dilution of Lakota culture. I understand this is a tribal matter. What may not be understood is that many on the OST tribal council do not practice traditional ceremony. While I am not anti-Christian, I have real problems with Christian politicians telling any ceremony leader what may be included in ceremony and who may attend. This is a thing that must be determined between the intercessor and Creator. I also have a real problem with any government anywhere telling citizens Sacred plants (which are not mind altering or otherwise already subject to regulation) which have been used in ceremony for all time are now to be used only by those stipulated by government decree. At some point this will be challenged in court. At that time, or soon thereafter it will be found that tribal sovereignty does not extend to this level of infringement on personal rights. The following law is all that will be needed to overturn any convictions: ------------------------------------------------------------ S> 1302. Constitutional Rights United States Code Annotated Title 25. Indians Chapter 15--Constitutional Rights of Indians Subchapter I--Generally Copr. C West Group 1997 No Claim to Orig U.S. Govt. Works Current through P.L. 105-15, Approved 5/15/97 No Indian Tribe in exercising powers of self-government shall-- (1) Make or enforce any law prohibiting the free exercise of religions, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances; (2) violate the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizures, nor issue warrants, but upon probably cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized; ---------------------------------------------------------- All this demonstrates is that the Oglala Sioux Tribe, in passing this law either out of ignorance or in violation of existing law, is incapable of responsible self-government; and it will give those who wish to completely deny tribal sovereignty more ammunition for their attacks. I can well imagine how grateful other tribal governments will be to the OST for this additional slap in the face. ------ Today the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council today reiterated their determination to enforce their recently passed ordinance restricting ceremonial participation. Representatives of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council were interviewed today by a reporter from the South Dakota Public Radio Network. The Council is standing firm on their ordinance (reported in last week's Wotanging Ikche) and are threatening David Swallow, Jr.'s Sun Dance, (which is beginning tomorrow) not only with arrest, but with the potential for violence and even bloodshed. Swallow and his Sun Dancers say they will continue in honor of their commitment to the Sun Dance. Bolstered by the Grey Eagle Society, a group the Council cites as their Spiritual authority, additional standards for sun dance were announced: Since traditionally, long ago women did not sun dance, therefore women will not be allowed to sun dance, following old traditional ways. They say the white buffalo calf pipe was given to the Lakota for only the Lakota. (Past spiritual elders have said it was given to the Lakota to CARETAKE and for all mankind.) They said the colors of the four directions were NOT the colors of mankind, but only the four directions. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= The language project I have started is moving very slowly, but it is moving. The need for this is a thing I truly believe. 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 am collecting language resource information. 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. 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 ---------- - Issues Raised by Controversy - Aboriginal Opposition Over Sundance to Nisga'a Deal - Rocky Flats Plutonium - Public Hearings on Voisey's Bay in Your Food - Voisey's Bay: - Peltier's Statement LPDC Interview with Panel Chair - Yellowstone Bison Management Plan - Berkeley Passes Chiapas Resolution - Mattaponi Indian Tribe - Update on Frank and Helen Opposes River Diversion - Guards Set Up Inmate Brawls - Amazonian Indians Fight U.S. - Conversation with Wolverine Over Plant Patent - Native Prisoner - Medicine Lake/Sacred Site - A Hundred Years Ago and Proposed Power Plant - Poem: Blanket Weave - Save Medicine Lake - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Exxon vs Chippewa in Wisconsin - Native America Calling - Legal Test Demanded Topics for all of August for Nisga'a Deal - Conferences and Powwows --------- "RE: Issues Raised by Controversy Over Sundance" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 22:11:42 -0600 From: Sophia Cleland Subj: Re: David Swallow's Sundance Mailing List: AISESnet General List This controversy regarding the David Swallow's Sundance brings up another issue upon which elaboration is greatly needed. These issues are very complex because several parties may be involved in them and voicing several different viewpoints. I write because I think it is important for others to hear a viewpoint for which people have, but are not represented for whatever reason. I think this issue regarding blood quantums and practicing Lakota (or any indigenous American spirituality) should be addressed. I am strongly opposed to this allocating of heritages of individuals. This method was established by the BIA to eventually do away with the "Indian problem." How many of you out there are what may be called "full-blooded Indian" because your parents are both Indian, but of different tribes, sometimes many different tribes? How many of you fit this description, but cannot be recognized by the tribal BIA governments because your blood quantum for any of the tribes is too low? To me buying into this idea of being proud of being a federally recognized full-blooded Indian is wrong. Like my mother always says, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull did not prance around being proud of being full-blooded Indian. If you look at the many relatives these men had, you will see their relatives were of several different tribes, not just one. Basically, in the times before the tribal BIA governments had been set up, there was not so much of a fixation on being a "full-blooded" member of a tribe. At least in the ways of the Seven Council Fires (Lakotas, Dakotas, and Nakotas), a child was said to have been the tribe of the father. However, this wasn't dogma. Our social structure was very dynamic. There were many cases where the child was considered the tribe of the mother. In addition, there were many intertribal marriages. Intertribal can be defined in two ways. The first can be described as marriage within the different tribes of the Seven Council Fires [7 Lakota, 4 Dakota, and 2 Nakota "tribes" and even smaller divisions within each tribe]. The other intertribal marriage definition can be described as marriage among other tribes of this land [i.e. allies of the Seven Council Fires "tribes" and even with those who had been adopted into our tribes (often, but not exclusively by raids), including white and black people]. Once one was adopted into a tribe of the Seven Council Fires, he/she was a member, no matter what race. People did acknowledge the difference in ancestry, however, the one adopted was to be considered a member of the Seven Council Fires. Another thing to consider regarding lineage is that boys often would be raised to be capable of adapting to new things and ways because it was believed that the boys would grow into men and live with his wife's people and often times follow her people's ways. I have described to you several different ways of classifying one's lineage. The method for classification was not and still is not static. Many of our ways were not static because we realized that changes occurred and that those changes were a normal process. Our nation would split up into camps composed of either one or more tribes or divisions during the winter. Each tribe would change from the other slightly "for whatever reason" was necessary for them. Those changes were not to be criticized like they are often done today, but respected. This is still another example of how change was acknowledged by the people of our nation. Therefore, if anyone is feeling a pull toward the ways of your ancestors, I don't think anyone or anything should stop you. If following the ways feels natural to you, then you should continue pursuing the ways. I can only suggest that you explore the indigenous roots of all of your many heritages. I suggest this only so that you can better understand how similar religions really are. I suggest this so that you understand that other people have ways which may be good for them, but not exactly for others. Just like one way may be good for you, but not for others. It is a sad thing that so many people simply want to know the Lakota way and that way only. It is a sad thing that so many people think our way is superior to others. This attitude is wrong to me. I think that it is a good thing to know many ways and appreciate and respect them, but follow only one way. Nothing should be blended for messages may be confused. Nothing should go extinct, either. All knowledge is valuable. Like many indigenous people of this land, I am what may be considered "mixed blood" by today's BIA standards. My mother is Hunkpapa, Oglala, Sisseton, Yankton, African American and French. She is of the cuthead band of the Yanktons through her mother. My father is Ipai (California Mission Indian) and Mexican, aka. Aztec. I am considered to be 3/4 Indian by the BIA, but only 1/4 of a federally recognized tribe, i.e. the Yankton tribe. My father gave up his people's ways when he married my mother and learned the ways of my mother's people. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona during the academic school year and returned to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes reservation during the summers. I grew up very much aware of my heritage as a Seven Council Fires member. I have always been of the Seven Council Fires and always will. I am very much connected with my ancestry. However, I independently began exploring the many other heritages that compose me while in high school and further explored the field of comparative religion as a hobby while in college. My way of going about understanding spirituality may not be good for everyone, but I think it should be considered. I say that my way should at least be considered because I have seen many people suffer as a result of following false spiritual leaders. It is a sad thing to see that almost everyone I meet is a spiritual person. It is hard for me to see how so many people can be spiritual when they prance around being proud of being a federally recognized Indian, when they participate in rituals one day and then drink, take drugs and then abuse their families another day. I am really sick of seeing and hearing of such things. I don't know David Swallow, Jr. He may be wrongly accused. He may be a very good person with goodness in his heart. However, the last time I went to a Sundance in which white people partook in the ritual, there were loudspeakers, the people at the Sundance seemed showy and unfriendly, and the tree split right down the middle. It is a sad thing to me because few people seem humble today. Few people realize how pitiful, how fragile we are. I see and hear of Sundances every weekend now during the summer time both on and off the reservations. This concerns me because not all of those people are spiritual people, not everyone at the Sundance may know what type of mindset to be in either. Whatever is happening at those rituals, whatever the people partaking in the ritual are thinking goes out to the people. The same thing goes for pow-wows. If the people at the drum are thinking in a competitive manner or thinking in a sexual manner about the people around them, then that goes out to the people. It seems that so many people are not taught this today. So many people are not acknowledging this. So, I do have to question the motives of those performing rituals, playing drums, and even those trying to prevent others from partaking in the rituals and ceremonies. There are many motives for attacking another person. This is something we all should consider. Therefore, it is a sad thing to see so many of our people blindly following those who are likely seeking power over others. I have encountered quite a few people involved in the spiritual things. I know that they are human like everyone else, so there is room for error and forgiveness for them. However, I cannot support those who exploit our ways to gain power over others. To me, that is not spirituality, and I will not support such a thing. I think it is a good thing to have people empowered and aware of the many different ideas regarding religion and spirituality. When we are empowered, we are not as likely to give up our power to others and follow others blindly. We should not be afraid to question others because we are all human. It is a good thing to understand our differences in how we conduct ourselves. >From what I have learned in talking with many different people about our spirituality, no one can take that part of you away from you. You have the choice to give that aspect of yourself up. You have choices for everything in which you do. No one has that ability to take your power, your choices, away from you. Praying is really all you need to do. To me rituals should be left to those who really know what they are doing. I think there are some people who know what they are doing. Like I have heard many times, those people are few and far between. It is difficult today to know who those true people are today with all of the rituals you can attend every weekend. I simply trust that those people who know what they are doing will continue such practices for our survival. I feel a connection to my ancestors and to the spiritworld, but I leave the ritual aspects to others. I do not feel a calling to partake in rituals, so I only observe them. I think the very essence of my being while competing in science can affect the people by brining hardship upon them. It was not the intent of our ancestors to have us compete, so I think I should stay out of the ritual realm until I can be sure that I can do things more cooperatively. That may be 5-10 years down the road. It may be 100 to thousands of years from now. I think it is crazy that almost everyone I meet on the reservations back home are spiritual people that are capable of conducting rituals at times which are not designated for them. It is crazy that so many people say they inherited their right to be spiritual because they are a descendant of some chief, medicine man/woman, or spiritual person. I have been warned by several family members and friends to not ride the coattails of my ancestors because I have to create my own honor. Many of us are descendants of chiefs, medicine people and spiritual people, but we are still a common person until we make ourselves worthy of honor, i.e. by acting in an honorable way. Sadly, I don't see much of that today. Before I go, I should add one more tidbit I know about classifying people's lineage. The bands of Seven Council Fires people on Fort Peck are descendants of some of the most "hostile" bands to the U.S. government. We are mainly descendants of those who were involved in the Battle at Greasy Grass when Custer was killed. My grandfather was Oglala, Hunkpapa and Sisseton. My great-grandmother was Oglala and saw the Battle of Greasy Grass from a hill. She traveled with the Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Her BIA blood quantum was forfeited when she left the reservation to travel with the Wild West Show. My grandfather told my mother that when he was a child, the older people did not like the BIA agents. When the tribal roster was being established on our reservation, the older people refused to talk with the agents. The agents were trying to get our tribal affiliations to begin the BIA blood quantum system. The older people wouldn't participate with the BIA agents, so the BIA agents began asking the children at the time about people's tribal affiliations. My grandfather told me that the BIA agents would bother him while he was playing by pointing at people walking by and asking who was who and what tribe they were. My grandfather said that he would often run away from them or just tell them anything to get the BIA people to leave him alone. Therefore, I believe that we shouldn't even trust the tribal rosters when they tell us who we are. My mother is strongly opposed to the BIA's blood quantum system. She says Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull did not go around proud of being full-blooded Indians or allocating their blood quantum according to whom was their mother or father. This mentality is fairly new and a sickness stemming from the BIA's establishment on our reservations. I think people should really hear this. That is all I have to say for now. I wish you honor in your choices. Sincerely, Sophia Cleland ------------------------------------ MARC Honors Research Trainee National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch Phoenix, AZ (602) 829-7074 (home) ------------------------------------ Quotes from Chief Sitting Bull: "If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, and in my heart he put other and different desires. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows." "Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? Because I am of the Seven Council Fires? Because I was born where my father lived? Because I would die for my people and my country? God made me an Indian." "Now that we are poor, we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die, we die defending our rights." --------- "RE: Rocky Flats Plutonium in Your Food" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:12:51 -0700 (MST) From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley) Subj: [DOEWatch] Insights into the RF Lowry Landfill leaking UUCP email I usually don't send anything other than Ward Valley info to this list but this information really needs to get out there!! Mailing-List: list doewatch@onelist.com; contact http://www.onelist.com Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 00:10:35 EDT From: Subj: ROCKY FLATS PLUTONIUM IN YOUR FOOD? Date: 98-07-30 05:57:37 EDT From: andersa@spot.Colorado.EDU (Adrienne Anderson) Think I'm kidding? The EPA and major corporate and government polluters at a huge Colorado Superfund site, the Lowry Landfill, have cooked up a scheme to pipe Superfund waste into the public sewer lines, whereupon it would be mixed with the Denver metro area's municipal and industrial sludge and other Superfund site wastes, and called "biosolids". From there, it will be hauled by truck east on Interstate 70 to the tiny rural farming community of Deer Trail, where it will be spread as "fertilizer" on agricultural land owned by the sewage district. Wheat and other crops for human consumption are grown here, sold to Cargill food conglomerate and ground into flour to make "specialty baked goods" and other products for sale throughout the US and presumedly abroad. What have we learned, digging through state and federal files? The Lowry Landfill is saturated with PLUTONIUM, AMERICIUM, CESIUM, CERIUM and other radionuclides, in solution with liquid hazardous wastes including scores of solvents, pesticides, dioxin, etc. ROCKY FLATS USED THE LAND NOW KNOWN AS THE LOWRY LANDFILL TO DUMP ITS WASTE IN THE 60's and 70's RECORDS SHOW, BUT THE EPA HAS TRIED TO DENY THIS AND COVER IT UP. The plutonium has contaminated groundwater down to 200 feet below the landfill and has been consistently found in the surface water, sediment, and soil throughout and around the site. EPA says it's "cosmic dust" from "outer space". if you'd like to read about our campaign to stop this madness, search the BOULDER WEEKLY for a series of articles (keywords "plutonium" or "sludge", and a recent Special Report by the Christian Science Monitor in their June 10th issue, online at: http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1998/06/10/p1s5.htm As a member of the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District board of directors ("Metro"), I filed a whistleblower case under 4 major environmental laws on behalf of the sewage plant workers I had been appointed to represent (Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union), which is pending before the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board. We need your support! Please e-mail us with any ideas, resources, notes of support, etc. Sincerely, Adrienne Anderson Save Ward Valley 107 F St. Needles, CA 92363 ph. 760/326-6267 fax 760/326-6268 http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1 http://banwaste.envirolink.org http://www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html http://www.wildrockies.org/cmcr http://www.greenaction.org --------- "RE: Peltier's Statement LPDC" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:11:05 -0700 From: Nancy Thomas Subj: fwd: Peltier's Statement LPDC Mailing List: Paths-L Warning: The follow statement that appears to be from Leonard Peltier by way of the LPDC has not yet been verified! -- Subject: Peltier's Statement Re: LPDC Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 Greetings friends, July 28, 1998 As you probably know, my phone privileges have been suspended and communication has been difficult. Because of the recent post on the internet and letter to me by Vernon Foster of Arizona AIM on his web site, it has become necessary for me to respond. It is important now more than ever that any information being put out regarding my campaign for freedom is checked for validity. It is important that all continue to work with the LPDC office as this is who I communicate with directly and on a regular basis. The LPDC office in Lawrence Kansas is my only official office. Please be informed that I have not authorized any other office or campaign to be organized in my name because this causes confusion and division. That is with the exception of the Leonard Peltier Charitable Foundation, which is not involved in my political campaign. Although they are not part of the LPDC they work closely with the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee and meet with me on a regular basis. Please be informed that I do not accept Vernon Foster's offer in helping me with my campaign. How can I work with Arizona Aim when they attack my close friends and committee. I have been the one who who has been in prison these past 22 years. It is me who knows who is really trying to help me or not. Vernon Foster and Dennis Banks will not be the ones who decide my fate. I direct my own campaign, I am Leonard Peltier and have that right to do so. Since you posted this article on your web site and made it public, I have responded the same. I tell you to cease all attacks against my committee and members. If you really care about my freedom, you will not interfere in my campaign. If you do attack us, I will respond with a direct letter to all Indian People's, solidarity groups and supporters to cease any support to Arizona Aim. Again the LPDC is my direct means of communication and I can not afford any confusion regarding its validity. Also, I have not given permission to anyone to open a new office in Washington D.C. My authorized lobbyist in DC is Breeze Luetke-Stahlman who is reporting her activities to me on a weekly basis. Thank you for your continued support. In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse, Leonard Peltier Please contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee if you have any questions. Our phone number is 785-842-5774 * email lpdc@idir.net --------- "RE: Yellowstone Bison Management Plan" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:41:36 -0700 From: serena Subj: postings UUCP email Hi Gary, Here are several articles for posting. They will be coming out in the next issue of On Indian Land newspaper. thanks for all the help. As usual, we have either written the story or have permission to reprint. thanks serena and marsha. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD FOR THE YELLOWSTONE BISON, COMMENT SOUGHT ON BISON MANAGEMENT PLAN by Pete Murney The long awaited draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that would determine the future management of the Yellowstone National Park bison herd was released in early June. If enacted the preferred management plan would treat the nation's last wild, free roaming herd of bison more like domestic cattle than wild animals. This plan was issued jointly by the National Park Service, National Forest Service, Animal Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) and the state of Montana. One of the top priorities of the management plan is to control and eventually eliminate the disease brucellosis in the bison herd. Brucellosis spread into the bison herd from cattle early in the century, and now the fear of the disease spreading back to cattle in Montana is overriding all other concerns in the management of the largest wild bison herd in North America. The interests of the livestock industry are well served in the draft EIS, while the interests of Native Americans based on their close relationship with bison are largely ignored. This is the case despite the fact that even the National Academy of Sciences has stated that "the risk of bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle is small, but not zero," and that simply vaccinating the 1800 head of cattle in the area "would make the risk extremely low under current conditions." There has never been a documented case of brucellosis being transmitted from wild bison to cattle, and the disease is also found in elk and other wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone Area. This bacterial disease causes cattle to abort their first fetus after exposure to the disease, and is spread within cattle herds through cow milk, venereally, or through consumption of fetal afterbirth material. Therefore, according to the Greater Yellowstone Inter-Agency Brucellosis Committee "transmission from bison to cattle is almost certainly confined to contamination by a birth event by adult females." To spread the disease the consumed fetal material would have to come from and actively infected bison. In the winter of 1996-97 less than 3% of the bison sent to slaughter that were cultured brucellosis showed signs of active infection. The blood test carried out on live bison to determine if they have brucellosis only indicates whether they have been exposed to the disease, not if they carry it in an actively contagious form. Even if brucellosis were somehow completely eradicated within the bison herd, the risk to the cattle in the area would not be eliminated, due to the presence of brucellosis in elk and other wildlife. These facts have not prevented bison from being routinely shot on sight before being tested for brucellosis when they leave the park boundaries. Nor has it prevented the slaughter of bison bulls and calves that are not capable of spreading the disease. The current "zero tolerance" policy for bison migrating out of the park into Montana has led to the slaughter of about 1800 bison by the Department of Livestock over the past four winters. In the severely harsh winter of 1996-97 alone almost 1100 bison were either shot on sight or shipped to slaughter when they left the park looking for food at lower elevations. This has occurred under the orders of APHIS in order for Montana to keep its "brucellosis free" status, even though the far more numerous elk herds have been allowed to migrate in and out of the park freely. The current alternatives in the EIS will continue this policy of slaughtering bison to control a disease that is prevalent in other wildlife and that presents little risk to cattle, especially if the cattle are vaccinated. The management plan for the Yellowstone bison is of special importance to the tribes of the great plains, whose close bond with the bison has continued even through the long years of slaughter and near extermination of the bison. Over 60 million wild bison once roamed the great plains of North America and the tribal nations of the plains depended on the bison for their physical and spiritual sustenance. The destruction of buffalo herds and the associated devastation to the plains tribes disrupted the self-sufficient lifestyles of plains Indian people more than any other federal policy. In the 1870s General Phil Sheridan made this policy explicit when he said, "Let them (buffalo hunters) kill, skin and sell until the buffaloes are exterminated. Then your prairies can be covered with speckled cattle." The destruction of the "Indian's commissary" was an essential part of the military strategy to drive the plains tribes from their lands. The result of this policy was the near extermination of the bison in North America and the military defeat of the plains tribes. The tribes lost more than just their "commissary," however. In the words of Poncho Bigby, the director of natural resources for the Fort Belknap Assiniboine, "when the whites exterminated the herds, they didn't just take our grocery store. they annihilated our church." This close connection between the Indian tribes of the plains and the bison continues today in the work of the Intertribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) to reintroduce bison herds onto tribal lands and in their concern for the proper and respectful management of the Yellowstone bison herd. As Fred Debray, of the Cheyenne River Sioux, and former director of the ITBC has said, "buffalo represent the very essence of our culture and define who we are. While the world around us has changed, our spiritual and cultural link to the buffalo remains unbroken and eternal." The slaughter of bison in the winter of 1996-97 was responsible for killing off almost one third of the Yellowstone herd. Many people were reminded of the historic slaughters of the past, and protests escalated as the killings continued throughout the winter. On March 6, 1997, ITBC and other Native American elders from many tribes held a National Day of Prayer for the bison. Over 100 gathered at the entrance to Yellowstone Park for the ceremony conducted by Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Keeper, and Joe Chasing Horse from the Oglala Lakota Nation. Throughout the winter the ITBC met with federal and state officials offering alternative solutions to the bison crises. The ITBC offered to pay the expenses of shipping bison testing negative for brucellosis to a quarantine facility located on the Fort Belknap Reservation in eastern Montana. This quarantine facility would meet and go beyond the guidelines set by APHIS. From there the bison would have been shipped out to various reservations where bison herds are being reestablished. This solution not only would have kept the bison from being slaughtered it also would have helped tribal organizations in their efforts to establish bison herds for the economic, cultural and spiritual benefit of their people. This solution was not implemented in the winter of 1996-97, and it has not even received consideration in the various alternatives within the draft Environmental Impact Statement. The draft EIS is flawed due to its failure to recognize Native Americans' special relationship with the bison, and to coordinate management policy with the ITBC and individual tribes that have experience in managing bison on their lands. Tribal governments and organizations are denied meaningful participation in the management of the last wild bison herd, so that livestock bureaucrats in Montana can continue to dictate policy for these wild animals when they leave the park boundaries. In order to develop an approach to managing the bison that meets the needs of all affected interests, including, but not limited to livestock producers, the ITBC and the National Wildlife Federation have put forth their own management proposal. This proposal includes establishing a research/health certification center at Fort Belknap to relocate disease free bison to tribal lands and public lands. This option is for the bison which need to be removed from private lands outside of the park. Those bison that do test positive should not be killed as the draft EIS alternatives call for, but should be placed into a research program where non-lethal tests can be developed to discriminate contagious from non- contagious animals. Bison should also be allowed to migrate to public lands (mostly National Forest) outside of the park. All other wildlife, within the park are allowed to do this except bison. Wild bison should be managed as wild life, by wildlife agencies and scientists, not as livestock by livestock bureaucrats. There is virtually no risk of brucellosis transmission in mid-winter when bison migrate to winter range at lower elevations outside of the park. If necessary, the grazing times of cattle on public lands can be adjusted so that there is no potential overlap between when bison may be calving on these lands (normally in April) and when cattle are moved on to these lands (often not until July). Additional winter range and key migration routes for bison outside the park should be acquired as well. These management actions combined with the mandatory vaccination of all the cattle in the area can reduce any risk of brucellosis spreading from bison to cattle, while still allowing bison to migrate out of the park in the winter. Montana does not currently require vaccination of all cattle in the Yellowstone area. The current vaccine is inexpensive and can easily be provided by the $60 million APHIS spends on brucellosis control annually. No alternatives within the draft EIS require vaccination of all cattle in the area of Montana. Some of the alternatives within the EIS do call for vaccination of bison within Yellowstone National Park even though there is not a safe and effective vaccine for bison at this time. No vaccination program for bison should be implemented until a safe and effective vaccine for wildlife is developed. Please suggest these common sense proposals for managing the Yellowstone bison herd when you comment on the draft EIS. The government and livestock agencies have had eighty years to control the brucellosis their "speckled cattle" brought into this country. It's time to let the tribes help clear up this disease in the survivors of the last wild bison, so that all future generations may enjoy these sacred animals. PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE DRAFT EIS WILL BE TAKEN UNTIL OCTOBER 16, 1998. To obtain a summary of the draft EIS and information on dates and locations of public meetings, contact Bison Management Plan EIS Team, National Park Service, Sarah Branson DSC-RP, PO Box 2527, Denver CO 80225- 9901. Comment letters may be sent to the same address or may be sent electronically via the National Park Service's website at http://www.nps.gov/htdocs2/planning/yell/eis/8.htm. For more information on the Intertribal Bison Cooperative and National Wildlife Federation's proposal for bison management contact: National Wildlife Federation, Buffalo Team, 2260 Baseline Road, Boulder CO 80302. Phone: (303) 786-8001, ext. 22, website: www.nwf.org. Or the ITBC, PO Box 8105, Rapid City SD 57709-8105. Phone: (605) 394-7742, website: www.intertribalbison.org. The author is an intern with the InterTribal Bison Cooperative and National Wildlife Federation. Reprinted, with permission of the author, from On Indian Land, PO Box 2104, Seattle WA 98111. (206) 525-5086. --------- "RE: Mattaponi Indian Tribe Opposes River Diversion" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:41:36 -0700 From: serena Subj: postings UUCP email MATTAPONI INDIAN TRIBE OPPOSES RIVER DIVERSION: THEIR SHAD FISHERY IS ENDANGERED "No English shall Seat or Plant nearer then Three miles of any Indian Town; and whosoever hath made, or shall make any Encroachment upon their Lands, shall be removed from thence." .....Treaty at Middle Plantation, Articles of .....Peace between King Charles II of Great .....Britain and Indians of the Colony of .....Virginia, signed May 29, 1677. by Marsha Shaiman The Mattaponi Indian Tribe of Virginia have fished for shad on the Mattaponi River for more than 300 years. They have a small shad hatchery and have applied for funding to expand the facility. Now, their annual spring fishing season is threatened by a proposed waterworks project which would pump up to 75 million gallons of freshwater per day from the River, nearly 40% of total capacity, to a 1,526-acre reservoir. So concerned are the Mattaponi, for the fish and wildlife which would be impacted by the water withdrawal and reservoir construction, that they are carving a 30' high spirit pole to protect them. Sixty of the approximately 450 Mattaponi live on their 150 acre reservation, on the Mattaponi River, created from land reserved for them by a 1658 act of the Virginia Assembly. The River, which empties into Chesapeake Bay, has been described as part of "the last pristine brackish ecosystem on the Eastern Seaboard." Their 1677 peace treaty with King Charles II of Great Britain guarantees the Mattaponi "Oystering fishing and gathering" rights and sets a three mile non-encroachment buffer around their lands. The Indians agreed that "in the Month of March every year" they will pay a "Tribute of Twenty Beaver Skins to the Governor" and "Three Indian Arrows." Since signing the treaty, the Tribe has faithfully paid their annual tribute, which has been accepted by the Commonwealth. The state acknowledges the treaty and the Tribe's sovereignty by not taxing tribal lands. However, Jim Gilmore, Governor of Virginia, said, when he was Virginia Attorney General, that the 1677 treaty is void and a newsletter from the developers says that the treaty has "no relevance to life in Virginia at the threshold of the 21st century." The town of Newport News, located in King William County, in southeast Virginia, is proposing the waterworks project which would encroach on the treaty mandated three mile buffer zone around the reservation. Newport News Waterworks plans to build a 78 foot high, 1,700 foot long earthen dam on Cohoke Creek, forming the King William Reservoir, which would hold 12.2 billion gallons. Damming the Creek would flood over 400 acres of protected wetlands. A pumping station would replenish the reservoir from the Mattaponi River at a rate of up to 75 million gallons per day. "It's inevitable that it would be the end, that it would mean the demise of the tribe," says Carl Custalow, Mattaponi Vice-Chief, about the potential destruction of the shad fishery by the waterworks project. He also says that 8,000 years ago the Mattaponi camped and left tools and other artifacts in the wetlands which will be flooded by the project. This area was the home of Pocahontas, and many of the sites are important to both the Mattaponi and the Pamunkey Tribes. Construction of the reservoir would flood over 100 Indian villages. Burials would be disturbed. The National Trust for Historic Preservation says, "The area is potentially significant as a traditional cultural property eligible for the National Register of Historic Places." American Rivers has placed the Mattaponi River on their Twenty Most Endangered Rivers list because of the damage the waterworks will cause: "Numerous historic cultural and archaeological resources grace the river. .. the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Tribes have relied on the river and its resources for sustenance. Native American artifacts and remains of the rural historic landscape abound in the area. The Mattaponi Tribe regards the river as the lifeblood of its nation." "The project would drain, fill, excavate, or flood more than 437 acres of sensitive wetlands and destroy nearly 1,400 acres of upland habitat, further threatening rare plants and bald eagle habitat... Massive water withdrawal could drive up salinity levels in the Mattaponi... Cumulatively, this would devastate the nursery areas of anadromous shad and herring." The final Environmental Impact Statement has already been issued on the waterworks project and the state Water Control Board has approved the project. The Army Corps of Engineers must grant a 404 permit under the Clean Water Act, because the project will flood federally protected wetlands. According to Pam Painter, who is evaluating the project for the corps, they will probably not make a decision on the project until next year. The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, operating under President Clinton's Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice, passed a resolution requesting that a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement be written, describing the impact on the Indian communities in the project area. The Environmental Protection Agency has also called for a supplemental EIS to address issues, including Environmental Justice and salinity impacts on the plants and animals as a result of freshwater withdrawal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the project would be "extremely detrimental to Southeast Virginia's fish and wildlife resources." They recommend against issuing a permit to destroy the wetlands area for project construction, "...because the King William Reservoir... will result in substantial and unacceptable impacts to aquatic resources of national importance." Independent studies concerning the water needs of King William County and surrounding areas contradict results of studies by Newport News, which predict a deficit of nearly 40 million gallons of water per day by 2040. Two studies commissioned by conservation organizations more than a year ago said that the town had overstated their water need. A new study commissioned by the Army Corps of Engineers predicted a water deficit of about 16 to 19 million gallons per day, half that claimed by Newport News. The study stated, "The assumptions used seem to be overly optimistic about future growth in population and economic activities and generally pessimistic about the yield of available supplies." Release of the new report has prompted responses. Mattaponi Carl Custalow stated, "We've contended all along that the figures were inflated, " and Albert Pollard of the Sierra Club said, "It was a taxpayer-funded water grab from the beginning, and remains so today." An environmental impact study done by Newport News says that the city can deal with a deficit of up to 21.2 million gallons per day without building the waterworks project. Conservation and groundwater desalinization are two options mentioned. Despite the concerns of the Mattaponi Tribe, government agencies, and conservation organizations, officials from both King William County and the town of Newport News claim the waterworks project will not harm the Tribe or the environment. The Newport News mayor reports that the town is working with the Mattaponi Tribe to preserve artifacts removed from the project area and a King William County administrator claims the project will not harm the environment or the Tribe. To help stop this project, send a comment letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch, Pam Painter, 803 Front Street, Norfolk VA 23510. Phone: (757) 441-7654. The following are some major points you can use: 1) The Mattaponi and Pamunkey Indian Tribes have treaty protected fishing and gathering rights which would be violated by the waterworks. 2) Over 100 archaeological sites important to the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Tribes, including villages, camping sites and burial grounds, will be destroyed. 3) Diversion of nearly 40% of the water from the Mattaponi River threatens shad spawning grounds through increased salinity further upstream. This is a direct threat to Mattaponi tribal culture. 4) Recent studies show the project is not needed to fulfill water needs for the area. Newport News overestimated water needs and ignored alternatives such as water conservation, desalination and wastewater recycling. 5) The project would inundate over 400 acres of federally protected wetlands, the largest loss of wetlands in Virginia. It will flood populations of threatened plants and bald eagle habitat. 6) Dioxin is in a nearby landfill and could leach into the reservoir. The risk of cancer from eating fish caught there has been ignored. 7) The project area has never been evaluated for Traditional Cultural Properties, such as sites of importance to the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Tribes, which may qualify for the National Register of Historic Places. Sites which qualify may obtain some protection from destruction. For more information contact: Carl Custalow, Mattaponi Indian Tribe (804) 769-4507; Warren Cook, Pamunkey Indian Tribe: (804) 769-4767; Sierra Club, Virginia Beach Office (804) 225-9113. Special thanks to Sharon Saari, of Newport News, Virginia, who supplied a lot of the original information for this article. Reprinted, with permission of the author, from On Indian Land, PO Box 2104, Seattle WA 98111. (206) 525-5086 --------- "RE: Amazonian Indians Fight U.S. Over Plant Patent" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 11:01:54 -0700 From: Nancy Thomas Subj: Amazonian Indians Fight U.S. Over Plant Patent Mailing List: Paths-L Forwarded by Nancy Thomas ---------------- Original message follows ---------------- >From: Native Americas Magazine Subj: Amazonian Indians Fight U.S. Over Plant Patent The following article appears in a recent issue of Native Americas, published by the Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University. An award-winning hemispheric publication, Native Americas provides indigenous peoples with a critical examination of issues and events that affect Native communities. For more information on how to stay informed of emerging trends that impact Native peoples throughout the hemisphere contact us at the address listed below. AMAZONIAN INDIANS FIGHT U.S. OVER PLANT PATENT At an international meeting on biodiversity protection toward the end of 1996, Native participants talked about putting out a special publication highlighting their opposition to corporate patenting of living things. Although the publication was never produced, it was given a name: "The Ayahuasca." Ayahuasca, or yage, is a plant found throughout the Amazon and is the source of a powerful drug used in sacred ceremonies by many Amazonian peoples. In 1996 Native peoples learned that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had granted a U.S. corporation a plant patent over a variety of ayahuasca taken directly from an indigenous person's garden in Ecuador. Since then, ayahuasca has become a powerful symbol not only of the threat to Native rights and traditions from the patent system, but also of the growing resistance to life patents among Native communities. The latest development in the story of ayahuasca came in February when the Inter-American Foundation stepped into the fray. The Inter-American Foundation, or IAF, is an arm of the U.S. government supporting international development through funding of community-based projects. The IAF has long been a supporter of COICA, the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples' Organizations in the Amazon Basin, but the IAF has taken exception to the means chosen by the coordinating body to denounce the ayahuasca patent. Now, ayahuasca is becoming a symbol of the gulf between indigenous peoples and governments on the issue of life patents. The plant patent granted to Loren Miller of the International Plant Medicine Corp., gives him an exclusive monopoly to breed and sell ayahuasca within the United States and any other state recognizing U.S. patents. Miller refused requests from indigenous groups to give up the patent, saying he is within his rights and will use the plant to develop pharmaceuticals for sale. In response, the 1996 COICA annual general assembly in Georgetown, Guyana, adopted a major policy resolution warning other indigenous peoples about the Plant Medicine Corp., declared Miller "an enemy of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin," and prohibited his entrance into indigenous territories in the Amazon Basin. COICA later stated that it would not be responsible for "the physical security of Mr. Miller and the officials of his company if they enter into indigenous territory of the Amazon Basin." In February, officials with IAF, which has provided more than a $1 million in support to COICA, met with COICA coordinator Antonio Jacanamijoy to ask for a retraction of the resolution. Jacanamijoy, who said that the resolution was an accurate reflection of the seriousness of the offense by Miller, but not a threat, refused to retract the resolution. In response, the IAF terminated all funding to COICA. In a letter to COICA, dated March 8, IAF President George Evans said the IAF's decision was based not on the patent question, but on what it considers "reprehensible and unacceptable" statements by COICA. The letter says, "The Inter-American Foundation will not have any financial relation, nor 'solidarity' with COICA or any other organization that mainta=A1ns as legitimate political resolutions those that were adopted at Georgetown, Guyana, in May 1996 ... The Inter-American Foundation considers the resolution adopted by COICA in respect to Mr. Miller as a threat against the security and well-being of Mr. Miller and officials of his company and that the same is completely contrary to the values of the Inter-American Foundation and the Government of the United States of America." COICA has denounced IAF for interfering in the patent debate in favour of Loren Miller. According to Jacanamijoy, IAF's decision to cancel funding "does no more than confirm our suspicions" that the IAF "unconditionally defends the economic interests of Mr. Miller (and therefore the prevailing systems of intellectual property), without listening to our reasons and against the opinion of many North American citizens." Patenting of living things is becoming increasingly common in the U.S. and in other industrialized states in the North. However, few governments in the biodiversly rich Southern hemisphere currently allow such monopolies. Significantly, the ayahuasca patent was exposed just as the Ecuadorian government was about to pass a bilateral intellectual property agreement with the U.S. that would have introduced U.S.-style patent laws to Ecuador. After a coalition of indigenous and environmental organizations denounced the ayahuasca patent, the Ecuadorian government refused to sign the agreement. Now the U.S. is reported to have threatened trade sanctions against Ecuador if it does not sign the agreement. Jacanamijoy said indigenous peoples are also feeling this pressure. In addition to losing funding from the IAF, the coordinating body reports that it has been contacted by the U.S. Embassy in Quito, which has also asked for a retraction of the Georgetown resolution. However, Jacanamijoy said the U.S. government has underestimated indigenous opposition to such patents: "In spite of the pressures that come to be exercised on our organization, we will follow ahead with our autonomous policy in defense of our rights as we have always done."=20 -Craig Benjamin / Native Americas "Now we have our own journal to discuss and examine Indigenous issues - a forum for some of the best thinkers in the Native Americas to share their insight with you." Wilma Mankiller Native Americas Magazine c/o Akwe:kon Press American Indian Program Cornell University 300 Caldwell Hall Ithaca, New York 14853-2602 Telephone: (800) 9-NATIVE or (607) 255-4308 or (607) 255-0185 Email: native_americas@cornell.edu URL: http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu --------- "RE: Medicine Lake/Sacred Site and Proposed Power Plant" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:41:36 -0700 From: serena Subj: postings UUCP email MEDICINE LAKE HIGHLANDS: SACRED SITE AND PROPOSED POWER PLANT Continued development of any kind in the Medicine Lake Highlands, including the proposed Project, would adversely affect the spiritual significance of the Medicine Lake Highlands as a whole sacred site..." "...no established educational, religious or scientific uses of the area would be adversely affected by the Project..." ......DEIS/EIR for Telephone Flat ......Geothermal Project by Marsha Shaiman Proposals to construct two geothermal power plants on sacred Indian lands in the Medicine Lake Highlands area of northern California continue to move forward. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement/ Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/EIR) for the Telephone Flat project was released in May 1998, with an August 24, 1998 deadline for comments. The preface to this document states: "The Draft EIS/EIR concluded that the following impacts are adverse and cannot be mitigated to less than significant levels: the Project will affect Native American traditional uses of the area; and the Project will disproportionately affect the Native American minority population, resulting in an Environmental Justice impact." LOCAL PEOPLE SAY... The Medicine Lake and Highlands are sacred to local Indian tribes, including the Modoc's of the Klamath/Modoc Tribe and Pit River and Shasta Tribes. A resolution passed by the Pit River Tribes concerning the project states, "The area of the Medicine Lake Highlands is important to the cultural, religious practices of the Ajumawi and Atwamsini Bands of the Pit River Nation, and to the Pit River Tribe as a whole. "Floyd Buckskin, Pit River Ahjumawi, says the mountains are considered sacred, "Around Telephone Flat, they are used for vision quests and for the gathering of healing herbs. And there are also women's mountains, where they go to get their power." According to the Medicine Lake Coalition, "The Medicine Lake Highlands have a fragile environment and ecosystem. They are home to several endangered animal and plant species. Old growth forests, including red fir and lodge pole pine thrive here. These ancient trees provide a sensitive habitat for the martin, northern goshawk and northern spotted owl, among others." Medicine Lake Citizens for Quality Environmental state, "We feel this project is being promoted now as a scheme to generate money for the BLM and the USFS. Budget cuts affecting these agencies are well known. If you follow the money trail, they are the ones who will be receiving the cash... The location of this project is on public lands. These agencies are supposed to manage and protect these areas for the public good. Instead, BLM and the USFS are proposing to desecrate this area to enhance their own coffers in complete and utter disregard of the public trust." INDUSTRIALIZATION OF MEDICINE LAKE HIGHLANDS CalEnergy of Omaha, Nebraska, proposes to construct, a 48 megawatt power plant at Telephone Flat within the volcanic caldera forming Medicine Lake. Transmission lines from this plant would connect up to the proposed 49.9 megawatt Fourmile Hill geothermal project, to be located about three miles northwest of Medicine Lake. Geothermal fluid production and spent fluid injection activities at Telephone Flat would occupy 8.41 square miles and total surface disturbance within the caldera would be 173 acres. The project boundary is less than a mile southeast of Medicine Lake. Transmission lines would create additional disturbance. Prepared under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and Siskiyou County, the DEIS/EIR analyzes impacts of building the Telephone Flat project and of not building it. Although the agencies determined that the "Environmentally Superior Alternative" was to not build the project, they chose building it as their "Preferred Alternative. THE DEIS/EIR SAYS... Admitting to the sacredness of the land, the authors of the DEIS/EIR have this to say, "Native American groups including the Pit River Tribe, Modoc Indians of the Klamath Tribes, and the Shasta Tribe recognize the Medicine Lake Highlands as a place of spiritual power and have historically used and continue to use, the area for hunting, plant- gathering (food and medicinal), physical healing, prayer, spirit quests and other traditional purposes." "Native American burial places and cremation areas, as well as historic battlegrounds, are located within the Medicine Lake Highlands. Native Americans groups indicate that the continued encroachment of development would adversely affect the spiritual significance of the Medicine Lake Highlands as a sacred site." "The Project would affect vision quest sites in the area because it would alter the visual (and probably aural) setting required for traditional activities at those sites." THE LAW SAYS... President Clinton's Executive Order 13007 of 1996, on sacred sites, states, "In managing Federal lands, each executive branch agency with statutory or administrative responsibility for the management of Federal lands shall, to the extent practicable, permitted by law, and not clearly inconsistent with essential agency functions (1) accommodate access to and ceremonial use of Indian sacred sites by Indian religious practitioners and (2) avoid adversely affecting the physical integrity of such sacred sites." President Clinton's Executive Order 12898 of 1994, on Environmental Justice, states, "...each Federal agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing... disproportionately high and adverse... environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations..." WHY BUILD THE PROJECT? According to Carl Weidert, a local Sierra Club representative, "With deregulation, it's not clear this additional energy is really needed when PG&E is unloading power facilities." The DEIS/EIR does not show a need for additional electricity or customers offering to purchase it. The Northwest Power Planning Council's projections for future power needs have actually decreased over this decade. Justifications cited for this project include the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 which "encourages" geothermal energy development, and a vague reference to an expected demand for renewable energy. The DEIS/EIR does not disclose what the cost of this electricity will be, while implying it will be expensive by citing a survey claiming some consumers will pay more for "green energy." IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT: THE DEIS/EIR CONCLUDES... Table ES-6 summarizes impacts of building the project and of not building it. Listed are three significant impacts of building the project, which cannot be mitigated and effect only American Indians. Six cumulative unmitigable impacts are listed from construction of both Telephone Flat and Fourmile Hill and three of these effect only American Indians. The following are the significant impacts of the Telephone Flat project and effect only American Indians: 1) Citing a Pit River tribal resolution, "The continued encroachment of development would adversely affect the spiritual significance of Medicine Lake Highlands as a sacred site," the DEIS/EIR concludes "there appears to be no way to mitigate the effects of increased development on the traditional cultural property as a whole." 2) The DEIS/EIR says, "The Proposed Action will affect vision quest sites... because it will alter the visual (and probably aural) setting required for traditional activities at those sites." 3) The DEIS/EIR states, "The Project would result in a disproportionate effect, as determined by an 'Environmental Justice' analysis, on the Native American minority population in the general area which has historically used the Medicine Lake Highlands for cultural and spiritual purposes." Cumulative impacts on American Indians, from construction of both Fourmile Hill and Telephone Flat projects, which are cited as significant and not subject to mitigation, are: 1) "The Telephone Flat and Fourmile Hill Geothermal Projects would individually and cumulatively diminish or alter the Medicine Lake Highlands as a Native American sacred site and a traditional cultural property, and would reduce the suitability and usefulness of specific sites within the Highlands for Native American traditional activities." 2) "Transmission lines for the projects would be visible from, and some activities could be heard at, Native American traditional use sites." 3) "The Telephone Flat and Fourmile Hill Geothermal Development Projects would individually and cumulatively result in disproportionate effects, as determined by an 'Environmental Justice' analysis, on the Native American minority population in the general area which has historically used the Medicine Lake Highlands for cultural and spiritual purposes." IMPACTS OF THE NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE: THE DEIS/EIR CONCLUDES... There are only two impacts listed of not building the project, which are considered significant and not subject to mitigation. The first claims Siskiyou County would loose the benefits of an increased tax base and royalties from project leases. However, Siskiyou County does not have access to royalties from the geothermal leases because the law requires they be used only for more geothermal development or mitigation. The Siskiyou County 1994 General Plan says that geothermal development will have only a relatively small positive effect on taxes. This same document also states that economic gains from geothermal development would be small compared to the county's total economy. The DEIS/EIR lists only one other significant impact of not building the project: "The No Action Alternative would prevent the federal government from receiving royalty revenues from development of the geothermal resource beneath the Project leases." CONCLUSION The DEIS/EIR is a litany of the damage that will be done to the Medicine Lake Highlands and to the American Indians who hold the area sacred. When describing project effects on American Indian religion and culture, the document repeats over and over phrases such as, "This impact is considered significant and there is no way to mitigate." The only substantiated impact of not building the project is that the federal government would forego potential lease payments and royalties from the project. Violations of American Indian religious freedoms due to this project should be enough to stop its construction. The DEIS/EIR makes much about using renewable resources, but sacred sites are as non-renewable as a resource can get. Once destroyed, they are gone forever. Unfortunately, without a large public outcry against the proposed geothermal development at Medicine Lake Highlands, it will not be stopped. Sometime after the close of the comment period, a final EIS/EIR will be issued and the BLM will open a "protest period" of 30 days or more, for people to file comments. Sometime after that, the agencies will decide whether or not to go forward with the Telephone Flat project. To get a copy of the DEIS/EIR and to make sure you are on the mailing list for the final EIS/EIR on Telephone Flat, contact Randall Sharp of the U.S. Forest Service (address and phone number below). To help, please file comments by the August 24, 1998 deadline. If you cannot meet that deadline send a comment letter in anyway. Write or email Randall Sharp, USFS/BLM Project Leader, Telephone Flat Geothermal Project, 800 West 12th St, Alturas CA 96101. Phone: (530) 233-8848, email: rsharp/r5_modoc@fs.fed.us. You can use the following as a letter writing guide (each item refers you to a section in this article): 1) The DEIS/EIR lists nine significant impacts from building the project, which cannot be mitigated. Six violate the religious beliefs and practices of the Native American community around the Medicine Lake Highlands, who hold the area, as a whole, to be a sacred site still used for ceremony, vision quests, and gathering of medicinal and other traditional plants. (see "Impacts of the Proposed Project: The DEIS/EIR Concludes") 2) Cite President Clinton's Executive Order 13007 on sacred sites which states federal agencies should accommodate Native access to sacred sites on federal lands and that the agencies should avoid harming these sacred sites. (see "The Law Says") 3) Cite President Clinton's Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice which states federal agencies should make achieving environmental justice part of their mission. (see "The Law Says") 4) Sacred sites are a unique and non-renewable resource. Once destroyed, they are gone. Forever. 5) The DEIS/EIR raises only one supportable significant impact of not building the project. Claims of loss of revenues by Siskiyou County are discounted by county documents and existing law, leaving the feds as the only financial losers. (see "Impacts of the No Action Alternative: The DEIS/EIR Concludes") 6) There is no compelling reason given for construction of the Telephone Flat project and the cost of power from the project is not disclosed, but it is implied it will be expensive. (see "Why Build the Project?") 7) This unnecessary geothermal project will harm a fragile environment, home to several endangered animal and plant species. (see "Local People Say" for more details) Please write to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who has been helpful on other issues in California involving Native Americans. Ask her to actively oppose both the Telephone Flat and Fourmile Hill geothermal projects in the Medicine Lake Highlands and to apply pressure wherever she can to stop the projects. Senator Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senate, 112 Hart Bldg., Washington DC 20510. For more information contact one or all of the following: Floyd Buckskin, PO Box 617, Fall River Mills, CA 96028. Phone: (530) 336-5070. Klamath Forest Alliance, PO Box 820, Etna CA 96027. Phone: (530) 467-5405. Medicine Lake Citizens for Quality Environment, Janie Painter, PO Box 34, Mt. Shasta CA 96965. Phone: (530) 926-5514. Medicine Lake Coalition, PO Box 1143, Mt. Shasta CA 96967. --------- "RE: Save Medicine Lake" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:41:36 -0700 From: serena Subj: postings UUCP email HE FOLLOWING WAS CIRCULATED BY KLAMATH FOREST ALLIANCE AND MEDICINE LAKE CITIZENS FOR QUALITY ENVIRONMENT hey focus on more environmental issues, but it can help you write comments on the proposed geothermal project. SAVE MEDICINE LAKE Comment Letter Guide - Deadline August 24, 1998 Your comment letters are needed now concerning CalEnergy's Telephone Flat Geothermal Project. The Medicine Lake Highlands, a uniquely beautiful and environmentally sensitive volcanic region, located 30 miles northeast of Mt. Shasta in the Shasta, Klamath and Modoc National Forests in northern California is in jeopardy. The following pages are a guide to aid you in writing your comment letters. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ PROJECT DESCRIPTION: CalEnergy's Telephone Flat Geothermal Project is located 1.5 miles east of Medicine Lake. CalEnergy has proposed a 48-megawatt geothermal power plant, well fields and pipelines. The project will encompass approximately 173 acres within the Medicine Lake Volcanic Caldera. RECENT HISTORY: Currently there are two proposed geothermal projects, the potential exists for the development of four more projects in the area. Calpine Corporation of San Jose, California has proposed the Fourmile Hill Project, their Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) was released last summer. And now, CalEnergy of Omaha, Nebraska has just released their Telephone Flat Project DEIR and are taking comments concerning the proposed project. With government subsidies and leases in hand, these companies want to exploit and develop a deep underground geothermal reservoir. They claim it's "green energy," but the environmental damage that will occur, will devastate and change the environmentally sensitive Medicine Lake Highlands forever. This is one place in our world that should never be developed, exploited or polluted by corporate industry. GUIDELINES FOR LETTERS OF COMMENT: In your comments it is not enough to just say that you are against the project or against development in general. To be qualified for consideration, your comments must include valid reasons for your opposition to the project. You must bring up aspects of the proposed project that you believe will cause significant adverse effects. the following list contains some of the adverse effects. If you have concerns of your own, include them. OLD GROWTH: The proposed project is an LSR (Late Successional Reserve or Old Growth), an area set aside for wildlife habitat protection. Species of concern include pine martens, goshawks, ospreys, spotted owls, mule deer. The Telephone Flat Project will affect approximately 173 acres. The combined projects including Fourmile Hill will encompass over 460 acres, much of it old growth. MT. HOFFMAN ROADLESS AREA: The proposed project will significantly impact this area. Transmission lines, roads and right-of-ways will disturb wildlife with noise, traffic, people, and potential accidents involving wildlife and poaching. WATER QUALITY: Deposits of cooling tower drift will settle on surface waters including Medicine Lake, Little Medicine Lake, Blanch Lake, Bullseye Lake and Paynes Springs. Cooling Tower Drift contains hydrogen sulfide, chloride, ammonia, boron, mercury, arsenic, aluminum and other toxic heavy metals and chemicals. There will also be clay-lined geothermal sludge settling ponds. These sumps will contain 750,000 gallons of toxic geothermal fluids, with the same make-up as the cooling tower drift. Each production will site (18) will have its own settling pond. The fresh water aquifer will be in jeopardy due to sump leakages. AIR QUALITY: Geothermal production produces hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is the "rotten egg" odor that will fill the air. The odor impact is based on a 25-year-old standard. CalEnergy has admitted that their project could produce an odor level that exceeds the California air quality standards. Cooling tower drift is also harmful when settling on plant and animal habitat. Boron is especially harmful at higher elevations to plant life. Telephone Flat is at the 7000' elevation. NOISE: Drilling noise, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (90 days per well, 18 planned wells). Drilling will continue for at least nine years, due to extreme weather conditions, winter drilling will be curtailed. Construction noise will be 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. Once built the power plant noise, turbines, will be heard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for 50 years. VISUAL QUALITY: The power plants with steam plumes well fields with sumps and miles of 36 inch-diameter above ground steam pipelines will be unsightly and detrimental to the Forest and Forest visitors experience. The power plant and cooling towers will become Siskiyou County's tallest buildings. A 24 mile long high voltage transmission line, which will stand 120 feet tall with a 200 foot wide right-of-way will cut through the surrounding forest and landscape. TRAFFIC: The increased traffic flow will adversely effect existing recreational use and cause traffic related accidents involving both humans and wildlife. The existing roads are not adequate or safe for the proposed increased construction traffic. Also, truckloads of hazardous materials used for hydrogen sulfide abatement will be transported to the power plants over narrow winding country roads. Every 60 days toxic geothermal fluids must be removed to a Class 1 disposal site, the nearest Class 1 site is in Oregon. Road conditions are at their worst during the extreme winter snow months, accidents will happen. Siskiyou and Modoc counties do not have a haz-mat clean-up team, in the event of an accident. RECREATION: Camping, hunting and fishing within the Medicine Lake Highlands will no longer be a remote experience. Medicine Lake will no longer be considered a "destination recreation area." Industrial traffic, people, noise and pollution will be the norm. Hundreds of acres will become a "no hunting zone." Contaminated fish will become a human health threat as well as a threat to the fish-eating wildlife, including the bald eagles and osprey. Tourism and recreation will decline; thus causing the local tourist based economies to suffer. CUMULATIVE EFFECTS: The cumulative effects of the CalEnergy and Calpine projects will be devastating to the Highlands. The 300-megawatt transmission line will have the capability to handle six of these 48-megawatt power plants; future developments must be addressed. CalEnergy must also address the possibility of enlarging their Telephone Flat power plant to accommodate additional megawatts. OTHER CONCERNS: There are several other concerns surrounding geothermal development including: degradation of Native American traditional and cultural values, the economic feasibility of the projects, and alternatives to geothermal development and conservation. The power generated from CalEnergy's Telephone Flat project will not even benefit the citizens of California, who will be paying the high price of environmental destruction, but will be sold to Oregon. SUMMARY: In summary, these are just a few of the adverse effects that will accompany the proposed geothermal development. These proposed projects are very large in a very sensitive area with the potential to cause significant long-term negative impacts to the environment, wildlife, vegetation, recreation and the quality of life. We urge you to make your voice heard, please comment and save Medicine Lake for future generations of wildlife and humans alike. Please send comment letters to: Randall Sharp USFS/BLM Project Leader Telephone Flat Geothermal Project 800 West 12th Street Alturas CA 96101 email: rsharp/r5_modoc@fs.fed.us Phone: (530) 233-8848 From: Medicine Lake Citizens for Quality Environment PO Box 34 Mt. Shasta CA 96067 Phone: (530) 926-5514. --------- "RE: Exxon vs Chippewa in Wisconsin" --------- From: ShngSprt@aol.com Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 09:47:58 EDT Subj: Exxon and the Chippewa in Wisc UUCP email The following article appears in a recent issue of _Native Americas_, published by the Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University. An award-winning hemispheric publication, _Native Americas_ provides indigenous peoples with a critical examination of issues and events that affect Native communities. For more information on how to stay informed of emerging trends that impact Native peoples throughout the hemisphere contact us at the address listed below. Exxon vs Chippewas in Wisconsin Native Americans in northern Wisconsin have united with neighboring non-Indians to fight an Exxon bid to carve what could be one of the world's largest sulfide mines near an area where the Native people exercise their treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather wild rice. The political movement has grown out of mining resistance in this area and calls itself The Watershed Alliance to End Environmental Racism. WATER has been going head-to-head with Exxon lobbyists in the Wisconsin Statehouse over a proposed mining moratorium. Opposition to mining was stoked further as Wisconsin residents learned what the mining wastes could do to the earth from which they wrest their lives. Metallic sulfides, combined with air and water, can create sulfuric acid, as well as residues of several toxic metals, including mercury, lead, and arsenic. Exxon proposed to dump its mine wastes into a 350-acre waste pond that would reach, in some locations, to within 15 feet of the water table, raising fears that sulfuric acid and heavy metals would leach into local water supplies. These waters are used not only for bathing, drinking, and cooking, but they also sustain the local Chippewa with fish and wild rice, a cash crop and sacred part of Sokaogon Chippewa religious life. The wild rice is referred to as the creator's gift. Native Americans in the area realized that if the mine was built, their drinking water and their harvest could become inedibly toxic. The conflict over sulfide mining in Wisconsin began more than two decades ago. In 1975, Exxon Minerals Co. located one of the largest zinc-copper sulfide deposits in North America adjacent to the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa reservation near Crandon, Wis. Company plans call for extraction of roughly 50 million tons of sulfide ore over the life of the mine, about 30 years. The volume of this waste would fill Egypt's Great Pyramid 10 times. The environmental alliance against sulfide mining in the area began in earnest during the 1980s when Kennecott Copper, now owned by Rio Tinto Zinc, developed plans for an open-pit copper sulfide mine near Ladysmith, Wis. In 1993, a small mine was started on this site and local opponents feared that a larger mine operated by Exxon would be next. The proposed mine site borders land guaranteed to the Sokaogon Chippewa by a treaty in 1855. Once word of the mine's possible effects spread, sportsmen's groups, many of which had opposed local Native Americans' fishing rights a few years ago, came to the aid of the cause, knowing their access to healthy wildlife was also threatened. The Chippewas have also been joined by several non-Indian environmental groups, such as the Green Party. Exxon replied that "new technologies" would mitigate the spread of sulfide byproducts from the mine wastes, but few people in the area bought the company's argument. Mine opponents worked with Wisconsin State Representative Spencer Black, to fashion a bill that would prohibit the opening of a sulfide mine in Wisconsin until a similar mine in another state had been closed for 10 years with no contamination of surrounding groundwater. The bill passed the state senate 29 to 3 in March 1997. Later in the year, the bill was reported out of the assembly's environment committee by a 6 to 4 vote. "There are enough votes to pass it; the question is whether the bill's opponents will be able to attach weakening amendments during the assembly floor debate," said Al Gedicks, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. -Bruce E. Johansen/_Native Americas_ "Now we have our own journal to discuss and examine Indigenous issues - a forum for some of the best thinkers in the Native Americas to share their insight with you." -Wilma Mankiller Native Americas Magazine c/o Akwe:kon Press American Indian Program Cornell University 300 Caldwell Hall Ithaca, New York 14853-2602 --------- "RE: Legal Test Demanded for Nisga'a Deal" --------- Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 00:43:42 -0700 (PDT) From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Legal test demanded for Nisga'a deal :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: OPPOSITION DEMANDS TEST FOR NISGA'A DEAL IN COURT Times Colonist, July 28, 1998, Page A2 by Susan Danard [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 Liberals are demanding the province put the Nisga'a treaty before the courts. Given conflicting opinions on whether the treaty requires amendments to the Constitution, the government should get a clear legal ruling, Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell said Monday. The Liberals want a public referendum on the treaty, which would be required under BC's Constitution Amendment Approval Act if the courts agreed the treaty required constitutional amendments. "It was only two weeks ago the premier announced that the Nisga'a treaty would in fact be the template for all aboriginal treaties in the province of British Columbia, so it seems to me the attorney general is willing to take a fairly significant risk with regards to this issue," Campbell said. "If the Nisga'a treaty is passed only to have the court find at some later date that the Constitutional Amendment Act does indeed apply, then the results will be devastating for everyone, including the Nisga'a." The Nisga'a agreement would create Nisga'a self-government over 1,990 square kilometres of land in northwestern BC. Cost of the deal, including the value of the land and cash settlements, is estimated at more than $450 million. The NDP government argues there is no need for a referendum as the proposed treaty simply spells out in practical detail aboriginal rights already guaranteed in the Constitution. Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh said Monday that the Liberals' call for a court reference hides their real agenda. The Nisga'a agreement poses "obviously a very important question for this country - whether we play partisan politics with the interests of those that have been oppressed for decades. For the first time in the history of this province we now want to re-address those wrongs. We're talking about passing referendums over the rights of minorities that have had no rights whatsoever," said Dosanjh. Campbell said the Liberals will take the government to court over the constitutional aspect of the deal if necessary, using public funds within the Liberals' caucus budget to foot the legal bills. The Liberals believe the treaty establishes a third order of government with constitutional paramountcy over areas of jurisdiction that are held by the federal and provincial governments. "This is far in excess of a municipal style of government so I take exception to that. I take exception to the fact non-Nisga'a residents will not be able to vote for Nisga'a government when they're living in Nisga'a territory," Campbell said. Dosanjh said he wouldn't rule out seeking a court reference, but prefers a thorough debate so that people are fully informed. The NDP campaigned during the last provincial election with an agreement in principle with the Nisga'a already in place. The election was itself a form of referendum, Dosanjh said some moral authority in this country, in this province, to make sure that we don't allow the courts to make decisions that are important to all of us." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [S.I.S.I.S. note: Mr. Dosanjh was BC attorney general and human rights minister when the BC and federal governments launched the 1995 attack and siege of the Ts'peten sacred Sundance camp on unceded Shuswap territory near Gustafsen Lake -- the largest paramilitary operation in Canadian history. Both governments continue to stonewall a growing call for an independent public inquiry into the matter.] Letters to Times-Colonist - mail to:jknox@victoriatimescolonist.com In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Aboriginal Opposition to Nisga'a Deal" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 23:42:20 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Aboriginal Opposition to Nisga'a Deal [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news articles may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. They are provided for reference only.] 1. Hereditary Chiefs oppose Nisga'a deal 2. Nisga'a Treaty: "Not on other peoples' land." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: SCRAP NISGA'A DEAL, LAWYER ARGUES Kamloops Daily News July 28, 1998, Canadian Press KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - The process by which the proposed Nisga'a land-claims settlement was negotiated is flawed so the historic deal should be scrapped, a lawyer argued Tuesday. The proposed treaty agreement is to be formally signed by the Nisga'a Tribal Council and the provincial and federal governments next week. It must then be ratified by the 6,000 members of the Nisga'a First Nation, the B.C. legislature and the Commons. All four bands within the Nisga'a nation have not approved, however, and in particular, the Kincolith band opposes the deal, David Bilkey said in B.C. Supreme Court. Kincolith hereditary chiefs Frank Barton and James Robinson want an injunction preventing the three sides from signing the agreement next week. "The agreement-in-principle does not represent the interests of the Kincolith band," said Bilkey. The chiefs also maintain the tribal council exceeded its mandate in negotiating the treaty. The agreement gives the Nisga'a about 2,000 square kilometres of land in northwestern B.C. outright, plus about $311 million, including $190 million in cash. There are also extensive mineral, timber and fishery rights. Last years landmark Supreme Court of Canada Delgamuukw decision allows the Nisga'a to lay claim to a much larger area - 15,000 square kilometres - than laid out in the proposed treaty, Bilkey said. There was also insufficient notice given to Nisga'a members in February 1996 of a meeting where the agreement-in-principle was to be ratified, Bilkey said. Council sent out the notice less than 10 days before the meeting. In the past, council had given notice of special assembly meetings at least three months in advance. Because some Nisga'a members had to travel from Vancouver, Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlotte Islands, "a vast majority of Nisga'a members were not able to attend the meeting," Bilkey said. [ The hereditary chiefs' submissions reveal that only 556 of 5,000 Nisga'a people voted on the agreement that formed the basis for the treaty. This was noted in a Globe article July, 28, 1998 "Dissident Nisga'a go to court..." Page A3. The hereditary chiefs also said many who voted were confused about what was being voted on. The Gitanyow Indian Band, was also in court Monday seeking approval to proceed with its court case against the deal. - S.I.S.I.S. note] In addition, of those who attended the meeting, only 512 voted in favor while 31 were opposed. "These numbers produced a quorum of far less than the 50 per cent needed," Bilkey said. In May 1997, Kincolith band council passed a resolution stating its plans to negotiate as an independent band, separate from the Nisga'a council. The Kincolith council was opposed to the treaty and said members concerns weren't being addressed. Bilkey noted a written proclamation by the hereditary chiefs in April stating the Nisga'a's Tribal Council no longer represented the Kincolith on the land claim issues. Thomas Berger, a former B.C. Supreme Court judge, was to present the Nisga'a council side Wednesday. He said Tuesday the issues are political, not legal, and shouldn't be settled in court. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: GITSKAN, GITANYOW AGAINST TREATY The Province, July 30, 1998 Gitanyow hereditary chiefs have called for an "11th-hour mediation" to deal with claims that the Nisga'a treaty will destroy their way of life. The chiefs gathered in front of the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver to denounce Ottawa and Victoria for bargaining in bad faith. They claim that the Nisga'a agreement will grant lands overlapping 84 per cent of Gitanyow territory, threatening prime Gitanyow fishing and hunting sites. And "the Gitksan will have to get involved, very definitely, because we're affected just as much as the Gitanyow," said Neil Sterritt, former Gitksan chief and negotiator. He said the treaty "sets a very bad precedent. It should never have happened. The Nisga'a are entitled to a treaty, but not on other people's land." Gitanyow's chief negotiator Glen Williams said he was hoping for mediation with the federal and provincial governments prior to the formal signing of the Nisga'a deal next week. "We as the Gitanyow are happy the Nisga'a are going to sign their final agreement," said spokeswoman Debbie Good. "Our problem is with the governments because if it wasn't for the governments, we wouldn't have an overlap issue." The band unveiled a map and a book containing documents they say prove their claim that their lands are being taken away by the treaty. There are about 2,000 Gitanyow, 600 living on-reserve, who are culturally Gitksan people. They claim about 16,800 square kilometres of territory in the mid-Nass River valley. Sterritt is one of the authors of the book Tribal Boundaries of the Nass Watershed, released this week. It traces the tribal territory through oral histories and government archives, showing that the Nisga'a deal envelops 5,000 square kilometres each of Gitanyow and Gitksan traditional land, he says. Provincial aboriginal affairs spokesman Peter Smith said disputes on overlapping land claims should be resolved by the native parties. Letters to The Province - mail to:provedpg@pacpress.southam.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Public Hearings on Voisey's Bay" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:47:03 -0300 From: Larry Innes Subj: Panel announces public hearings Mailing List: Innu People Forum list Voisey's Bay Environmental Assessment Panel VOISEY'S BAY MINE AND MILL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PANEL PANEL ANNOUNCES PUBLIC HEARINGS NAIN, Labrador, July 30, 1998 - The joint environmental assessment panel reviewing the proposal for the Voisey's Bay mine and mill announced today that it will proceed to the public hearings phase of the environmental assessment review process on September 9, 1998. The Panel has determined that the Voisey's Bay Nickel Company (VBNC) has now provided sufficient information in the environmental impact statement (EIS), background documents and additional information to support meaningful discussion of the project proposal at public hearings. The public hearings will provide opportunities for individuals, organizations and government representatives to provide their views on the implications of the proposed project. VBNC will also have opportunities to explain the project and respond to concerns and questions raised by other participants during the hearings. The complete public hearings schedule, identifying the dates and locations of each session, will be announced by August 6,1998. The public hearings procedures, which explain how the Panel plans to conduct the hearings, will accompany the schedule. For more information please contact : Mr. Brian Torrie Panel Manager Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency 200 Sacre-Coeur Blvd Hull, Quebec K1A 0H3 Larry Innes Visit the Innu Nation WWW site: Environmental Advisor http://www.innu.ca Innu Nation P.O. Box 119, Sheshatshiu, Labrador, Canada A0P 1M0 phone: (709) 497-8398 email: innuenv@web.net fax: (709) 497-8396 ------> PGP Public Key available on ldap://certserver.pgp.com --------- "RE: Voisey's Bay: Interview with Panel Chair" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:08:34 -0300 From: Larry Innes Subj: Voisey's Bay - Panel Proceeding with Hearings - Interview w/Panel Chair Mailing List: Innu People Forum list Despite the concerns of native groups and the government, yesterday the Voisey's Bay environmental assessment panel announced it will proceed with the public hearings on the project - Interview with Leslie Griffiths Key Words: Media: CFGB-FM Reporter: Chris O'Neil Yates Date: 07/30/98, 8:50 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chris O'Neil Yates: Well despite the concerns of native groups and the government, yesterday the Voisey's Bay environmental assessment panel announced it will proceed with the public hearings on the project. Leslie Griffiths is the panel chairperson and she joins me on the line this morning. Good morning Ms. Griffiths. Leslie Griffiths: Yes, good morning. Chris O'Neil Yates: Well Premier Brian asked the question himself. How can you proceed with this process given the objections of the parties involved? Leslie Griffiths: We are proceeding with the process at the moment because we are following the terms of reference that we've received in the MOU as a panel. And it quite clearly states that we are meant to be looking at the mine mill project, which encompasses the activities that basically take place in Labrador. The whole question of what happens to the concentrates once they leave Labrador is not part of our task to look at. And indeed a lot of the discussion that's been going on in the media in the past week has been about just that, the destination of those concentrates. So what we need to do is to focus on the projects as "the undertaking as defined by the MOU in terms of whether, in fact, there is a project on the table for us to proceed to assessment with. And as far as we currently understand and the information we have received from the proponents, the activities that they are proposing to do in Labrador, the forward in that scope of undertaking are still on the table. They have not withdrawn that. So we have looked at the EIS and all the supporting documents. We have read very carefully all the submissions that we have received throughout this public review process. And we have made a determination that, well, that project in Labrador, the mine, the mill, and the shipping activities, that we do, indeed, have sufficient information to go forward for meaningful discussion of public hearing. Chris O'Neil Yates: Now, the mine, the mill and the shipping activities you're looking at. But if we look at what we've heard this morning from Mr. Rowat, the mine is now the ovoid and not an underground mine, and the shipping activities have substantially changed as well. So I don't understand how you're saying that nothing's changed. Leslie Griffiths: We are not aware that the project that we are looking at has changed significantly from what we've always been looking at and what is described in the EIS. Which is to say that as far as our estimation takes us, the proponent is still planning to go to mine the ovoid and then to move into the underground. What, obviously, has been emphasized in last week is that there's a very highly dynamic context in which this project is taking place. Nickel prices are very low. And the VBNC does not know exactly what they have in terms of reserve underground, but nothing's changed in that respect. They've always said that they have to do more exploration to firm that up. We have a project description that describes all of the facilities that are required to do either of the, to do the ovoid and then to proceed to underground. We have not been informed that the proponent is not contemplating doing both of those aspects of the project. And so this is what "right now", this is what we are assessing. Chris O'Neil Yates: So nothing that's been discussed by the two partners in the deal, Inco and the province, over the last number of weeks seems to come in to the process that you're involved in. Leslie Griffiths: Well the panel has been told by the proponents, if the proponent has still got the original undertaking description, which includes both the ovoid and the underground on the table. Chris O'Neil Yates: How can you go ahead and assess a project that may fundamentally change? Leslie Griffiths: Oh, let me make it clear. We have - the panel has - both the panel and the four parties have in the MOU the ability at any stage in this process "we still have the ability, and believe me if we need to exercise it we will exercise it, that if we find out tomorrow that the proponent indeed within the scope that we're looking at, the activities in Labrador "that if the proponents have made a substantial and significant change in the project description" so if tomorrow the proponents writes a letter and says the underground is out. We're not going underground. That's something we would have to look at. And depending on our conclusion, we would then approach the four parties and say tell us what to do. Now, on the opposite holds good - not the opposite, sorry. The four parties to the MOU at any time in the process, including today, have the ability to meet, to decide together that they want to change the process in some way, they will redirect us and we will take that direction. Chris O'Neil Yates: But it has to be consensus on the part of the four parties? Leslie Griffiths: That is what the four parties agreed to when they prepared the MOU and I presume they have some reason for that. Chris O'Neil Yates: Now, these Leslie Griffiths: I'm sorry. I would like to just add one, another thing to this, so another aspect. *** environmental assessments ideally takes place as early as possible in the process of both screening a project and making development decisions about a project. There's always attention with environmental assessments. If you're going to do it early so that the environmental assessment can have some true influence on what is going on, you're going to have a situation of uncertainty the earlier in the process you do it. We perfectly understand that. We know that there are some uncertainties around this project and we are determined we are going to be investigating those, probing those. We think that it is beneficial to all parties to do that in a public way, with public discussion, with everyone able to give us their important views. So very early on in the public hearings, we proposed to do exactly that. We want to have the current project description on the table, which as far as we understand is still in the EIS, and we want to probe. What are the uncertainties around this? What are the factors that might, in fact, alter this project description? And we want to find out how people feel about it. Chris O'Neil Yates: Who will you hear from? Leslie Griffiths: When? Chris O'Neil Yates: In the hearings? Leslie Griffiths: In the hearings? We are inviting the views of all parties. First of all, we need to have the proponents to answer questions. We have a number of questions to ask them and we know that other people will as well. But then we want to hear from the all participants, all stakeholders. Chris O'Neil Yates: If some of those stakeholders, as they have stated publicly "Premier Tobin you've heard and some of the native groups there" don't see the point in proceeding with public hearings. If they don't participate, how, I guess, accurate can your results be? Leslie Griffiths: Oh, if some of the major stakeholders decide at some point that they are not going to participate in the public hearings that's a new situation and that's one that we obviously would have to look at very seriously. I can't say at this point, I don't want to speculate. But I really want to encourage at this point all the parties, all of the stakeholders to come forward to the public hearings and to have a rigorous discussion about this. If - I want to reiterate too, that if it transpires between, either between now and the hearings or at any time during the hearings that we find out that the proponent, in fact, has significantly changed what they are planning to do in Labrador, then we are going to look at that very carefully and we'd have no compunction of going back to the four parties and saying we think there's a significant change, tell us what to do. And, of course, at any point, as I say, the four parties can meet and can redirect the panel and we'll obviously take their direction. Chris O'Neil Yates: I can't help but feel we're missing something here. In our coverage of the negotiations between the province and Inco we're led to believe that the proposal on the part of the proponent, Inco, has significantly changed, yet you say you have not been notified of that. Leslie Griffiths: Well by all means let's get this clarified. But the panel has made its decision based on its understanding and the information that's been made available to it. Chris O'Neil Yates: Okay. When will some results be known from the process, from the hearings? Leslie Griffiths: From the process. At the moment I can tell you when the process is scheduled to stop, which is September 9th. In the MOU we are required to make best efforts at completing that process in 45 days. And then after that we have a 90-day period in which we have to write our reports, get it translated and printed. So depending on whether we are able, in fact, to complete the hearings within that 45 days, which depends on "a number" the other thing we have to do in those hearings is we have to make sure that we give this project a full and thorough examination. And the panel, that's going to be the guiding factor in terms of how we conduct those hearings. Chris O'Neil Yates: Well thank you for joining me this morning, Ms. Griffiths. Leslie Griffiths: Okay. Thank you very much. Mike Power: And our thank to Chris O'Neil Yates of our studios in St. John's for that. --------- "RE: Berkeley Passes Chiapas Resolution" --------- Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 16:10:46 -0700 From: Nancy Thomas Subj: Fw: Berkeley Passes Chiapas Resolution Forwarded by Nancy Thomas -- Berkeley Passes Chiapas Resolution Tuesday, July 14, 1998 On Tuesday, July 14, 1998, the Berkeley City Council passed the following resolution in support of indigenous rights and the protection of human rights in Chiapas. The Chiapas Support Committee urges you to use this resolution as the basis for resolutions in your own cities. It also urges you to lobby your congresspeople to pressure the Mexican government to allow the International Red Cross to resume distributing food, medicines, and other necessities to the communities of Chiapas, which are suffering extreme poverty and malnutrition. WHEREAS the people of Berkeley are committed to the promotion of human rights through the City Council Human Rights Ordinance; and WHEREAS the people and government of the United States support, as a matter of principle, the peaceful struggle for democracy throughout the world; and WHEREAS the indigenous people of the Mexican State of Chiapas have clearly and peacefully demonstrated a desire for economic, social, and cultural justice, as well as political democracy in Mexico; and WHEREAS the Mexican government refuses to recognize the Indigenous Rights Agreement, which it signed in 1996 with the Mexican State of Chiapas; and WHEREAS the Mexican government has militarized Chiapas and has been accused of serious human rights abuses against the people of Chiapas; and WHEREAS the indigenous people of Chiapas have agreed to peace accords negotiated with the Mexican government and have clearly shown their willingness to achieve a peaceful resolution, which includes democracy, dignity, and justice; and WHEREAS the 1997 U.S. Appropriations Act for Foreign Operations prohibits the use of funds for international narcotics control by security force units accused of human rights violations; and WHEREAS U.S. military aid sent to Mexico to combat drugs is being used against indigenous communities in Chiapas which are not involved in drug trafficking; and WHEREAS The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives last year passed resolutions criticizing the Mexican government for its complicity in narcotics trafficking; and WHEREAS the people and government of the United States have a responsibility to back up their words and principles with appropriate action; and WHEREAS Berkeley residents and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), other Bay Area residents, and their friends, and/or their relatives have traveled to Chiapas to observe and monitor the human rights situation there and have been evicted, denied visas, and/or had their person and/or their peaceful travel violated in Chiapas; and WHEREAS Berkeley residents are directly impacted by U.S. policies in and toward Mexico and especially in Chiapas by the violation of the human rights of American citizens to travel, to learn about the situation in Chiapas firsthand from human rights representatives, and to lobby for a peaceful solution to the low-intensity war going on in Chiapas; Now therefore be it RESOLVED BY THE BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL: That the Council strongly recommend that all military support for the Mexican government be suspended until there is significant documented progress in the peace process in Chiapas, as well as full compliance with international human rights laws; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Manager be directed to send a copy of this resolution to the President of the United States of America, to the President of Mexico, to the U.N. Human Rights Committee, and to each member of the California congressional delegation. /S/ Chiapas Support Committee, sponsoring organization Co-Sponsors: Centro Latino Comite Emiliano Zapata Appropriate Technology Exchange Global Exchange La Pena del Sur St. Joseph the Worker Church Colectivo Apoyo Latinoamericano East Bay Women for Peace Marin Interfaith Task Force Social Action Committee of the Fellowship of Berkeley Unitarian Universalists La Pena Cultural Center About the Chiapas Support Committee: The Chiapas Support Committee, founded in 1994, is a nonprofit group of all volunteers. It raises funds for the human rights work of the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos para las Etnias de Chiapas, A.C. (Human Rights Coalition for the Ethnicities of Chiapas, Inc.), which provides food, blankets, clothing, and medicines to indigenous communities that have been ousted >from their homes by the Mexican military, most of whom are now living in refugee camps, especially since the brutal Acteal massacre on Dec. 22, 1997. On behalf of Enrique Perez Lopez, president of the Coalicion, the Committee is lobbying U.S. senators to investigate the denial of a tourist visa to him by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City in April 1998; Perez Lopez had been scheduled to visit the Bay Area to report on conditions in the refugee camps and on documented human rights abuses throughout Chiapas. The Chiapas Support Committee also raises funds to support a women's economic cooperative in Chiapas and for food for compesinos who are suffering severe malnutrition because of the drought, military-induced fires that destroy crops and arable land, and military roadblocks to nearby towns for provisions. The Committee works in coalition with other Bay Area and national organizations in these efforts to help indigenous peoples in Chiapas. Chiapas Support Committee P.O. Box 3421 Oakland, CA 94609 Phone: (510) 654-9587 Email: Estelle --------- "RE: Update on Frank and Helen" --------- Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 21:52:30 PST8PDT From: James Michael Craven Subj: update on Frank and Helen :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Shortly after notice of re-arrest of Frank Martin and Helen Michell on Sovernet-l, they were released from jail. The Judge expressed that it was "highly irregular" for Helen Michell, born in "Canada" of the Carrier Nation, would be charged as an "illegal immigrant" and released her on her own recognizance. Frank Martin, her husband was also released despite allegations of a previous warrant from 1992 about which nothing was said when he was previously arrested as an "illegal immigrant." Frank and Helen are clearly "Status Indians" but refuse to carry DIA cards for the same reason that some Jews refused to wear the "Yellow Star of David" during the 1930s and 40s. Many Indians believe that non-Indians have no business defining who and what is a "real Indian" in the same way that no sane person would argue that nazis should be allowed to define who and what is a "real Jew". Their regular ID made it clear their country of birth and status however. While in jail, Frank was told by one police officer that he would be killed and asked who would follow after him--his daughter?. That officer proceeded to break the arm of a poor Indian (Frank could hear the bone break) who was asking to be allowed to urinate--just to make the point what they were capable of and who had the power. Frank and Helen have been left destitute. Frank refused a settlement offer of $250,000 for the life-threatening beating he suffered at the hands of the B.C. Police and R.C.M.P. because the settlement would have involved secrecy in terms of what happened and who did it. Both of them are people of quality, conscience and integrity and have been left destitute. I urge all people of conscience to write to the various powers-that-be to let them know that Frank and Helen and their children are not alone and that eyes from all over the world will be watching carefully and are prepared to rise up and act if any more harm comes to them. For those moved to help them with food (stolen from their van when it was impounded--I got the van out of impound) please address all inquiries to: Roderick Louis (604) 254-7153 who can direct where any donations might be sent. Jim Craven James Craven Dept. of Economics,Clark College 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd. Vancouver, WA. 98663 jcraven@clark.edu; Tel: (360) 992-2283 Fax: 992-2863 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Guards Set Up Inmate Brawls" --------- Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 15:04:01 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: new one on prison Newsgroup: alt.native Off topic a bit but thought it would interest some... D'you regulars recall my post, some time ago, about the horror that is prison & "doing time"? Some had expressed interest, since it's an experience of many families. I'd mentioned the studies that showed that the prison environment dehumanizes the guards & other prison personnel as much as it twists the hearts & minds & spirits of the inmates. I mentioned guard-produced "gladiator fights" between inmates recently uncovered at a Canadian prison in Quebec as example... Looks like it's spreading. Jail guards set up inmate brawls, shootings Fallout from brutal `gladiator days' extends right into the California governor's office Friday, July 31, 1998 By Chris Reed Los Angeles -- An inquiry into a "super-maximum" California prison has heard that guards there regularly staged "gladiator days," in which inmates were forced to fight and were then shot, some fatally. An investigation into conditions at Corcoran prison also heard that guards conducted a mass beating of black prisoners and instigated the repeated rape of an inmate. The accusations, made this week at hearings in the state capital of Sacramento, have created a scandal that has reached Governor Pete Wilson and Attorney-General Dan Lungren, who is seeking to succeed Mr. Wilson as the Republican governor in this November's election. The inquiry panel, composed of senior state politicians, has accused both men of permitting lawlessness to continue at Corcoran for six years up to 1995, and failing to press investigations in 1996 and 1997. The guards' union, the powerful California Correctional Officers Peace Association, a major contributor to Mr. Wilson's election funds, also contributed by creating a "wall of silence" that thwarted investigations, the inquiry heard. Among its inmates, Corcoran holds the assassin of Robert Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, and the cult leader in the 1969 Sharon Tate murders, Charles Manson. From 1989 to 1995, guards there shot dead seven prisoners and wounded 43. That made it the deadliest prison in the United States. According to the California Department of Corrections, the prison, which was designed to hold 2,916 inmates, currently holds 4,642, 60 per cent over capacity. It employs 1,534. Some prisoners, the inquiry has heard, were shot as they fought prisoners from rival gangs during "gladiator" days in which the fights were deliberately staged by guards. The shootings were then "justified" as necessary to stop the fighting and prevent inmates from hurting each other. A former guard, Steve Rigg, testified that he had reviewed every shooting at Corcoran, some with assault rifles and others with gas guns that discharged wooden blocks. He said he had not found one that was justified. "You cannot shoot the victim of a fist fight and call it a good shooting," he said. "You cannot use a firearm to stop a stand-up fist fight." Mr. Rigg added that as a whistle-blower he had been subjected to death threats and intimidation from former colleagues and supervisors. Because his reports about brutality submitted to the prison warden and a senior official in the state Corrections Department had been ignored, he went to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is now investigating the allegations. But, Mr. Rigg testified, his wife is still so frightened of retaliatory action she sometimes sleeps on the bathroom floor. Another former guard, Richard Caruso, told the inquiry that he had fruitlessly reported improper acts of violence at Corcoran. Last year, when Mr. Wilson dispatched a special team of investigators from the Attorney-General's Office after a two-year delay, they named only one guard in a shooting incident, Mr. Caruso himself, he testified. The incident had resulted in no injuries to any inmate. The rape was allegedly set up after a small and frail inmate kicked a female guard. He was placed in a cell with a well-known sexual predator who was about six foot two and 230 pounds. His nickname was "the booty bandit," and he repeatedly raped his new cellmate. Afterward he was "rewarded" with new tennis shoes and extra food. Although the inmate admitted to committing the rapes, no disciplinary action was taken and the FBI is now investigating the incident. The racist beating was perpetrated by a group of guards known as "the Sharks" because of their unprovoked violent attacks. According to a former canteen manager at the prison, some off-duty guards were summoned from home to join a group waiting outside the prison for the arrival of transferred inmates known to be black. For half an hour the guards engaged in mock "limbering-up like it was a football game," the witness said. When the bus arrived the prisoners had to run a gantlet in which they were struck with batons and kicked. Work records were altered to conceal the presence of some guards, no disciplinary action was taken, and one guard among the ringleaders was later promoted. He was among three guards at the inquiry, which started on Tuesday, to invoke their constitutional rights not to testify for fear of incriminating themselves. www.theglobeandmail.com We welcome your comments. Copyright 1998, The Globe and Mail Company All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Conversation with Wolverine" --------- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 23:42:44 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: July '98: Conversation with Wolverine :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 12:14:02 -0700 From: Vacek