From gars@netcom.com Thu Aug 20 00:06:26 1998 Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 19:14:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.034 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 034 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, August 22, 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, Taino-L & Nat-Film Lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; Nuevo Amanecer Press; Info-Hawaii; 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. "We permeate America. We are the names. A third of the country is named in indigenous names, states, river systems. We are in the food that people eat, the technology, in all these things, but at the same time we get no intellectual property rights credit for that. Instead what we have is denial of existence of Native people." "So you ask most Americans today if they know anything about Indians. I ask people all the time, How many of you can name ten different kinds of Native people? If they look real smart, like Ph.D.'s, I'll ask for twenty. They can't. Most people can't name four different kinds of Indian people. Why is that? Because schools don't don't teach about Native people." __ Winona LaDuke, Ojibwe (from an interview by David Barsamian, AlterNative Radio, March 1, 1998) +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Another prophecy has been fulfilled... In a message dated 07/08/98 3:36:52 PM, TsalagiW0W writes: < fwd mail > Creator has sent us a blessing. On Sunday, Aug. 2, a Female White Buffalo (not albino) Calf, was born in Jackson County, Mich. According the news reports here last night, Native Elders say, she is the 7th White Calf to be born. 7 is an extremely Sacred and powerful number to us, and they say she is the one to save mankind, if we will listen. Please ask Creator to watch over and protect this little gift to us. By the way, earlier this year, the White Buffalo Calf named Miracle, herself gave birth to her first calf (I do not know what color it is). Miracle has gone through the 4 color changes as predicted in the prophecy. Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 13:19:30 -0400 From: Lora Estep Subj: birth of white buffalo To whom it may concern, 1 week ago I sent an E-mail to you regarding the possible birth of a white buffalo in southern michigan. I am writing to you today to inform you that this is not a hoax. The buffalo was born at CHILDS BUFFALO RANCH in Hanover Mich. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= 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. This exciting source, for readers with web browsers, was submitted this week. More resources like this are needed! Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 10:31:25 -0500 From: "Sioux Heritage Webmaster" To: Subj: New Link Sioux Heritage http://www.lakhota.com In 1995, a group of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal members put together a classy looking educational site. Part of the website features a seventeen chapter on-line language course, "Intro to Lakhota" in both TEXT and AUDIO (professionally recorded Native Lakhota speakers). The website also features a FULL "Lakhota-English Dictionary!" Sioux Heritage website has more to offer than language. The FAQ page answers such questions as, "How do I enroll my children?" and "Where can I find information on my Lakhota ancestors?" It includes a full list of CRST office phone numbers. Visitors to the site can send free beautiful Native and Western Art Postcards, or have their first name translated into Lakhota. Anyone interested in the Sioux culture should read the Culture page, which has been featured in newspapers and magazines world-wide. Sioux Heritage visitors do not have to remain viewers, the Association allows members to take an active role in Sioux Heritage development. Hundreds of email daily confirm Sioux Heritage website is one of the best Lakhota/ Lakota resources available on and off the Internet. Feel free to drop us a line, staff@lakhota.com Hal LaVaux, staff Director Sioux Heritage website http://www.Lakhota.com and here's a web site for _Printed Language Resources_ Date: 98-07-20 19:46:32 EDT From: Diyehii To: Diyehii BCC: ShngSprt Ya a teh, shila aash: This is a link for those interested in learning a specific language. There are many Indian languages listed. Ka dish day, Diyehii Click here: Printed Language Resources 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 ---------- - Mi'gmaq Nation - Medicine Lake Geothermal Plant Versus the Quebec Government - Columbus Returns to Puerto Rico - Clarification of Misinformation - Canadian National Parks - Quebec Threatens Force - Voisey's Bay Against Mi'kmaq - Montreal Native Friendship Center - Letter of Support For Mi'gmaq Appeal - Mi'gmaq Blockade - Traditional Plants - Speech by the Indigenous Mayra - Pikuni/Blackfeet Update - More Voices for Leonard - Indians Revive - Reserve Wrestles a Running Tradition Epidemic of Suicides - Someday is Today - Corporate Payoffs - Lost Birds to United Church - Native Prisoner - Response to United Church - A Hundred Years Ago Misinformation - Poem: A Little Bear - Annexation Could be - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Declared Invalid - Conferences and Powwows --------- "RE: Mi'gmaq Nation Versus the Quebec Government" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 14:18:42 -0400 From: "Mohawk Nation Office" Subj: Mi'gmaq Nation Versus the Quebec Government & Forest Companies UUCP email Mi'gmaq Nation Versus the Quebec Government & Forest Companies Who are the Mi'gmaq and what do they want NOW? THE FACTS Did you know: The Mi'gmaq of Listuguj are North American Indians. The Mi'gmaq are the first inhabitants of this land - the Gaspe region. The Mi'gmaq have their own tribal (traditional) government. The Mi'gmaq were not governed by the present style of government (an elected Chief and Council). This form of government was introduced by the Indian Act to control and break the spirit of the Mi'gmaq. The Mi'gmaq have never signed a treaty surrendering their land or resources. The Mi'gmaq had lived off the land until the federal and provincial governments began their campaign to confine the Mi'gmaq to tracks of land which were not useful to the settlers. The Mi'gmaq would rather work than exist on welfare or Unemployment Insurance. The Mi'gmaq do not want to take back all that was taken from them, they simply want to be able to survive and support themselves in a dignified manner. MORE FACTS What do the Mi'gmaq want now? The Mi'gmaq want to co-exist with their neighbors and be treated with respect. The Mi'gmaq want to be able to support their families. The Mi'gmaq want to stop existing on welfare and unemployment insurance. The Mi'gmaq want to become self-sufficient. The Mi'gmaq want to manage their own resources. The Mi'gmaq want to ensure the continued survival of the forests. The Mi'gmaq want to have their inherent rights recognized by the provincial and federal governments. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ALL PARTIES TO SHARE IN THE RESOURCES? According to several authorities there are more than enough resources for all to share: The majority of land in the Gaspe region is covered by forest, more precisely 96% of which is public forest. The majority of trees in the Gaspe region are ready to be harvested, more precisely 60% of the standing trees are classified mature or over-mature. In 1994, the total allowable cut was 2.3 Million cubic meters and only 2.0 Million cubic meters was cut. The forest industry produces over 80,000 person weeks of work yet the Mi'gmaq are limited to less than 200 person weeks or 0.25% of the work. If only a fraction of the allocation awarded to large lumber companies were allocated for cutting and management by the Tribal Government it would go far in eliminating the following: Chronic unemployment, Child poverty, Suicides or attempted suicides, Alcohol and substance abuse, Dependency on government handouts, Low self-esteem, etc WHY DOES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NOT SUPPORT THE INITIATIVES OF THE TRIBAL GOVERNMENT AND THE LISTUGUJ LOGGERS? The large logging companies cutting on the Gaspe have the upper hand. They can afford to hire lobbyists and donate to the federal and provincial parties, therefore, they have the monopoly. The federal government believes that if communities such as ours become financially independent they will have lost the control they have exercised in Native communities. Now they have the upper hand because all money to hire and provide social assistance comes from their coffers. HOW WOULD THE MI'GMAQ BE DIFFERENT FROM THE LARGE COMPANIES WHO ARE PRESENTLY RAPING OUR FORESTS? They would use man power rather than the mechanical harvesters that the large companies are now using. They would eliminate clear cutting in favor of selective cutting to give the forest a chance it needs to replenish itself and grow into a forest rather than a tree farm. They would ensure all regulations created for the protection of the forest are respected by all parties. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP FURTHER OUR CAUSE? You can write or phone your local Member of Parliament to express your concern with our present treatment. For tourists from other countries or provinces you can also call your local political body to pressure the federal and Quebec provincial governments to deal with our people in a fair and respectful manner. You can contact friends and other organizations to attract attention and support for our fight for survival. You can send donations to be used toward legal fees to defend our cause. There is also a need for food and clothing, the situation is pretty tense. DONATIONS CAN BE SENT TO THE FOLLOWING: Grand Council of the Mi'gmaq Mi'gmaq Tribal Government P.O. Box 173 Listuguj PQ G0C 2R0 418/788-3191 fax 418/788-5575 jigug@nbnet.nb.ca ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch +Our site has been updated! +Please view and let us know what you think! + http://www.cyberglobe.net/users/mnation --------- "RE: Clarification of Misinformation" --------- Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 12:30:28 -0400 From: "Mohawk Nation Office" Subj: Press Release - Clarification of Misinformation by media UUCP email PRESS RELEASE P.O. Box 173 Listuguj, QC G0C 2R0 For more information contact: Gary Metallic Sr. 418/788-2745 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CLARIFICATION OF MISINFORMATION BY MEDIA Listuguj, QC - August 12, 998 - In recent days the Government of Quebec through its Minister Guy Chevrette, Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affiars has released information that is unfounded and damaging the honour and reputation of Gary Metallic Sr., the local representative for the traditional government of the Micmac Nation. It is without a doubt that Mr. Chevrette sought to minimize the role of the traditional government of the Micmac people by attacking its local representative. Mr. Chevrette suggests that Mr. Metallic is attempting to further his political career. The fact is Mr. Metallic will not seek any political office. As the local representative of the traditional government he exercised and promoted the harvest of timber on Crown lands in accordance with regulations established by the traditional government. His authority is to establish self-governing mechanisms that promote the economic and social development of his people are found in the findings of the Delgamuukw case which deal with the Aboriginal societies having original jurisdiction to this land prior to the arrival of the Europeans and others; Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution that affirms and recognizes aboriginal self-government placing a duty on the Crown to negotiate in good faith; various treaties from 1725 to 1779 acknowledging the right of the Micmac to harvest and trade in natural resource products. The suggestion that the men of the protest are heavily armed are false. We are certainly heavily armed with moral conviction and fortitude of our ancestry. We have strongly stated our position and asked that our protest be respected respected by others. AT NO TIME HAVE WE RAISED A HAND TO HURT ANOTHER PERSON. It is our belief that the Government of Quebec is bound to the Canadian Constitution and by its own the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to not interfere with our peaceful assembly and freedom of association. Their attempts to portray this protest as an armed stand-off is the only trigger that will allow them to make an armed assault on the protesters. This appears to be the prelude to an Oka situation. As to recent news reports concerning Gary Metallic Sr., it is confirmed that he was the General Manager of Jigug Enterprises Inc.. The corporation was jointly established in 1995 by the previous Chief and Council that the traditional government as a band owned corporation for economic development purposes. One of the activities passed to the corporation was forestry. In this respect, other employees of the corporation were assigned the management of forestry activities. These and other activities are all accounted for with the appropriate financial statements which are submitted to the Band Council at the end of each fiscal year. The suggestion that Jigug was owned by Gary Metallic Sr. are false. The statements that he sold $1 Million worth of logs to GDS is false. It is also clear that Guildo Duchene, owner of GDS, has collaborated with the Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation by releasing copies of canceled cheques which were issued by Jigug Enterprises. Although the corporation has expensed 95% of the cheque to pay salaries, operating cost and fees it is used to imply there is something wrong. This is not true. Shortly after the current Band Council advised the corporation that they had decided to withdraw their interest in the corporation in December of 1997, Mr. Metallic left the corporation to pursue other interest of a personal nature. Without the participation of Band Councilors in the corporation it cannot function making it in essence defunct. Subsequently, Mr. Metallic sought to promote the Micmac participation in logging after the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia on December 11, 1997 and Judge Turnbull in New Brunswick vs. Thomas Peter Paul in November 1997. In light of the aforementioned, Mr. Metallic sought legal advice on the misinformation campaign initiated by Quebec and the Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation Council. It is clear that Quebec is bound by its own Human Rights legislation to not harm a person's honour or reputation which it did not respect when it belittled and the role and responsibility of the traditional (Delgamuukw) and its local representative Gary Metallic Sr. and suggested that it was an illegal organization. As well, the Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation Council's suggestion that Mr. Metallic personally profited from the sale of $1.2 Million has done irreparable damage to his career as an administrator and manager. Furthermore, the disclosure of the private and personal matters of a corporation by Mr. Chevrette is illegal. These matters must be submitted to the courts or the appropriate agency for consideration and reparation, if at all possible. We ask all media outlets to take caution when publishing misinformation that may cause damage to Mr. Metallic and the Grand Council of Micmacs, 7th District Gespe'gawaqi (traditional government). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch +Our site has been updated! +Please view and let us know what you think! + http://www.cyberglobe.net/users/mnation --------- "RE: Quebec Threatens Force Against Mi'kmaq" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 01:51:53 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Quebec threatens force against Mi'kmaq 1. Quebec threatens to attack Mik'Maq Monday! 2. Mi'kmaqs have rejected Quebec's latest offer to end their logging dispute. 3. Metallic Called 'Tireless Leader' -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: ALERT: QUEBEC & CANADA PLAN TO USE FORCE AGAINST MIK'MAQ TRADITIONALISTS CBC radio has reported that Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard has ordered Mik Maq traditionalists to dismantle their protest blockade. The province has set Monday as the date they will employ force to enforce "the rule of law". Please protest the threats by white politicians and defend Mikmaq sovereignty! DON'T ATTACK THE LISTUGUJ MIK'MAQ! Lucien Bouchard, Premier of Quebec Hotel du Parliament, Quebec City, Quebec Ph. (418) 643-5321. Fax (418) 643-3924 Email: premier.ministre@gouv.qc.ca http://www.gouv.qc.ca/commenta.htm Guy Chevrette, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Cabinet du ministre d'Etat des Resources naturelles 3, Complexe Desjardins, Tour Nord 26e etage Montreal PQ H3B 1E3 Canada SUPPORT: Gary Metallic Sr. Mi'gmaq Nation Keptin PO Box 173 Listuguj PH (418) 788-2745 Fax: (418) 788-5575 or (418) 643-4318 Email: jigug@nbnet.nb.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: NEGOTIATORS BACK TO SQUARE 1 IN MI'KMAQ BLOCKADE Mi'kmaqs have rejected Quebec's latest offer to end their logging dispute. Canadian Press, August 14, 1998 [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.] (CP) QUEBEC (CP) - Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard will consult with his cabinet in an attempt to resolve a Mi'kmaq blockade of the main highway in the Gaspe region that shows no signs of ending. With a unanimous show of hands and a loud chorus of boos, 150 Mikmaqs gathered Thursday in a bingo hall at the Listuguj reserve to soundly reject a deal that would have brought $500,000 worth of forestry and other work to the reserve. "It sucks big time!" one man shouted, tearing up the agreement in front of the TV cameras. Gary Metallic, a self-professed hereditary leader who is locked in a power struggle with elected band chief Ronald Jacques, told the crowd that Highway 132 will remain blocked. "Quebec has to do better," he said. "You have to take us seriously because it means the survival of our people." At one point in the afternoon, protesters abandoned one of the road barricades amid the excitement. But the sense of optimism gradually gave way to skepticism as people on the reserve learned details of a government counter-offer on timber rights. The rejection came after a feverish round of negotiations in Ste-Foy, near Quebec City, between Native Affairs Minister Guy Chevrette, Jacques and four opposition band councilors allied with Metallic. Metallic himself had said the barricades would probably come down Friday. Chevrette's frustration was evident as he used words like subterfuge and buffoonery to describe the actions of the dissident councilors. "In life there are people who wear the pants, there are people who have a backbone and there are people who don't allow agitating minorities to decide things," he said. While the government would still like to see a peaceful settlement to the dispute, Chevrette suggested time is running out. "I have already said that there is a threshold of tolerance," he said. "We have always favoured peaceful solutions. But it is obvious that the more the days pass, the lower the threshold of tolerance drops." Cabinet could meet as early as Friday to decide whether the government's patience has indeed run out. The two-week road blockade has shut down the Industrie GDS sawmill, costing the mills owner over $500,000 in losses. At a news conference Thursday, Mikmaq negotiator Alison Metallic called for Chevrette to step aside and allow the protesters to meet directly with Bouchard. "We call on the provincial government to sit back down at the negotiating table (Friday) and let's iron this out," he said. "Let's go for 48 hours if that's what it takes, because I believe we can still solve this." The government had sweetened a $1-million deal it signed with the band council on Sunday by agreeing to boost the number of seasonal jobs to 110 from the previous offer of 65. The new deal would have also provided 10,000 more cubic metres of wood to cut. Jacques Young, the mayor of Pointe-a-la-Croix which borders on the reserve, was disgusted at the latest turn of events. "It's rotten," he said. "They're laughing at us. We are the real hostages in this conflict, I don't know what we're going to do now." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 15:13:52 -0400 From: Mohawk Nation Office Subject: Metallic Called 'Tireless Leader' Reprinted from Montreal Gazette - August 14, 1998 METALLIC CALLED 'TIRELESS LEADER' The media, armed largely with information received from the Listuguj band or Aboriginal Affairs Minister Guy Chevrette's office, have consistently portrayed Gary Metallic as a self-centered businessman. Yes, he is a businessman - and a successful one, at that - operating under a non-profit management philosophy. Until recently, he has had well over 30 employees. In this sense, this self-centered man of affairs has as his primary concern the long-term employment of his community. That cannot be said of band council chief Ronald Jacques. Yes, he was the president of Jigug Inc., an incorporated body set up by the chief and council in 1995 to secure funds that were not accessible to them as a band council. What the media have failed to report was that Jigug was totally accountable to the board of directors - appointed, incidentally, by the chief and council - and the band council. The media have also consistently referred to the relationship between Gary Metallic and his cousins Wendell and Allison. But no reference has been made to the relationship between Ronald Jacques and his three sons, Paul, Roland and Ronald Jr., who are elected members of his council. These same three sons signed the agreement that would personally benefit Chief Jacques and his sawmill. Talk about a conflict of interest. Have you questioned why Mr. Chevrette, a member of the Parti Quebecois, has been so inflexible that he will only deal with the "Indian Act chief and council?" Is the act not federal, governing aboriginals? Those of us who know Gary Metallic (he and I are not related) know a tireless leader who has done everything possible to protect the rights of the Micmac people for this generation and for generations to come. This was not a role that he commanded for himself but that was handed to him. Gail Metallic Listuguj ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch +Our site has been updated! +Please view and let us know what you think! + http://www.cyberglobe.net/users/mnation :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Letter of Support For Mi'gmaq" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Aug 98 From: Mohawk Nation Office Subj: Letter of Support For Mi'gmaq People from People of the Longhouse at Kahnawake UUCP email Allison Metallic, Gary Metallic Wendell Metallic, Wilfred Wysote Kenneth Mitchell Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation Government P.O. Box 298 Listuguj, Que. G0C 2R0 August 11,1998 Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Traditional Peoples Council of the Longhouse at Kahnawake sends their greetings and thanksgiving to the Mi'gmaq people of Listuguj. We would like to reiterate the position of the Rotiskenrakete. We are in full support of the protection of sovereignty, economic rights and protection of ancestral lands. We believe that the traditional people are the true title-holders of the land and have the responsibility to protect their lands and people to the utmost of their capabilities. The People of the Longhouse will have a spiritual fire burning until the Mi'gmaq have successfully achieved a peaceful resolution. This fire and tobacco burning ceremonies will be done for the protection and well being of the people. Our people will gather this evening for the initial ceremony. We will also begin a food and donation drive from our community. We have always appreciated the help that was given to us when we were in need. Just as family members help each other, now it is our turn to reciprocate. We would like to encourage all your people in their efforts and stay united. Our experiences have proved that when you are doing what is right you will achieve your goal. The people of Listuguj will be in our thoughts and hearts until peace is once again restored. Frank Natawe, Secretary The People of the Longhouse cc. Lucien Bouchard cc. Guy Chevrette cc. Mohawk Band Council of Kahnawake ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch +Our site has been updated! +Please view and let us know what you think! + http://www.cyberglobe.net/users/mnation --------- "RE: Mi'gmaq Blockade" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 23:37:08 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: August 16 Demo to Support Mi'gmaq Blockade 1. August 16 Demo to Support Mi'gmaq Blockade 2. Blockade Reaches stalemate :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: From: "Mohawk Nation Office" Subject: PRESS RELEASE - Friends of the Micmac Demonstration in To Prevent Police Action at Listuguj Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 09:39:07 -0400 Friends of the Micmac will be gathering for a demonstration at the Hydro Quebec Building on Rene Levesque Blvd. at 1:00 pm on Sunday August 16, 1998. This political action is in support of the demands of the Micmac logging rights and to stop any violent attack by the Quebec Police or Canadian Army on Micmac ancestral lands. All supporters are welcome. For more information call: 284-5547 635-5595 326-9840 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch +Our site has been updated! +Please view and let us know what you think! + http://www.cyberglobe.net/users/mnation +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [S.I.S.I.S. note: We assume this demo is in Montreal. The area code there is (514). The Quebec and Canadian authorities have announced their intention to use force against the Mi'gmaq traditionalists at the blockade after Monday, August 17, 1998. Those of us who cannot attend can send protests to: Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard mailto:premier.ministre@gouv.qc.ca Phone: (418) 643-5321 Fax: (418) 643-3924 Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chretien mailto:remote-printer.Jean_Chretien@16139416900.iddd.tpc.int mailto:pm@pm.gc.ca Fax: (613) 941-6900 Support: Gary Metallic Sr. Mi'gmaq Nation, Phone: (418) 788-3191 Fax: (418) 788-5575 or (418) 643-4318 mailto:jigug@nbnet.nb.ca ] :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: NATIVE BLOCKADE REACHES STALEMATE CBC Radio Report, Posted Aug 14, 1998 09:53 PM EDT [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 Quebec government says it's given all it can to the Mi'kmaq protestors from Listuguj. Premier Lucien Bouchard says the Mi'kmaqs demands are unacceptable. It means barricades will stay up across a highway that passes through the Listuguj reserve. The protestors have blocked Highway 132 in the Gaspe for two weeks protesting over logging rights on Crown land. Bouchard says he wants the barricades to come down no later than Monday. But the natives say they'll keep up the blockade until an agreement has been reached. Mi'kmaq protestors rejected a proposed settlement to end their dispute with the Quebec government over logging rights late Thursday. The deal would have brought 45 more jobs to the reserve and provided additional 10,000 cubic metres of wood to cut. But protest leader Gary Metallic rejected the draft deal saying it wasn't enough. Guy Chevrette, Quebec's Minister of Native Affairs, blames the rejection on "agitators out for their profit." The barricades have prevented about 100 workers from getting to the local sawmill, but the provincial cabinet says workers will receive 90 per cent of their lost wages. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Speech by the Indigenous Mayra" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 03:28:13 -0400 (EDT) From: NUEVO AMANECER PRESS Subj: speech by the indigenous Mayra ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN SPANISH IN MEXICO BY ENLACE CIVIL A.C. (enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY irlandesa FOR ENLACE CIVIL A.C. AND NUEVO AMANECER PRESS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: owner-enlacecivil-l@laneta.apc.org Date: Wednesday, August 12, 1998 12:00:32 -0600 (CST) SPEECH BY THE INDIGENOUS MAYRA TO THE "REUNION OF THE REBELS" CARAVAN IN THE AGUASCALIENTES OF FRANCISCO GOMEZ Aguascalientes III of Francisco Gomez, Chiapas, Mexico, August of 1998 BROTHERS AND SISTERS Today, Monday, August 3, of 1998, is a very special day for all of us, the indigenous and campesinos of these lands in rebellion, a special day for all of us who find ourselves here for various reasons, we bravely wait for your voice, the voice of hope, the voice of the dignified peace from its humble dwellings. On this occasion we are living, we are finding, we are greeting all of us at this Reunion in Rebellion. In the name of all my companero bases, men, women, children, young persons and old persons from this dignified corner of our land, we welcome you. BROTHERS AND SISTERS You have arrived here today to the heart of the indigenous peoples, you have arrived in this community of Francisco Gomez, the new indigenous municipal seat in rebellion. Today we are all, it is ours, we are all one. Those who do not sell, those who do not surrender, those who resist. Seeing us, finding us, speaking with us, we arrive to a reality, the indigenous reality which, for the powerful, is an object without history. Today, all honest indigenous and non-indigenous Mexicans have received in their hearts the message of silence and rebel resistance of the zapatista indigenous, who speak, who struggle to find each other and to build together our true histories. The voice of what we all are, the voice of unity, is the voice that will make the bad government hear us, which speaks the truth and recognizes us as true Mexicans, with all of our indigenous rights and culture. It is the time for us to join together, it is the time for us to speak of our rights, it is the time for peace to speak, we speak of our needs, of the pressures from the bad government, of the provocative wars that come from the bad government. The power of the bad government has persecuted us, we, the indigenous, the campesinos, men, women and children, and they are continuing to persecute us, we are defenseless men and women persecuted by the federal army, who also suffer from registrations at the military and road checkpoints. We are constantly watched over by land patrols and low-flying airplanes over the indigenous towns. The bad government has trained paramilitary groups who harass the indigenous peoples, standard-bearers for the powerful, they block the way, our way, so that we cannot do our work on our own lands, we are persecuted, we are humiliated. Because of these actions by the bad government, many indigenous have been imprisoned, those who seek the peace, not war and betrayal, indigenous who seek democracy and justice, while those who seek war, those who want to see us dead, enjoy complete freedom. We speak the truth, we speak as we have spoken and we will speak clearly, even though the bad government does not want to hear us, although they do not want to see us. We have suffered much and we are suffering, but it is for the dignified peace, even though we are suffering a famine, although the drought has affected us, yet we are resisting, because we know with you, civil society, we will reach the peace with justice that all Mexicans yearn for. If the bad government wants to divide us and to strike at us, we will resist. Our resistance has made us grow, and it will make us grow, the bad government is not who teaches us to work, we are the ones who are working. Brothers and sisters, indigenous and non-indigenous, the bad government and its repressive machine does not want to see us, it despises us, it wants to do away with us. Brothers, we are here, we are resisting. We will not let the bad government speak now, it is the time for us to speak, for peace to speak. We all hope that during these days of this reunion in rebellion we enjoy ourselves very much and take much pleasure in knowing each other, whatever your nationality, those who seek democracy and justice. VIVA THE REUNION OF THE REBELS! VIVA THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF ALL MEXICO! VIVA THE COMMUNITY OF FRANCISCO GOMEZ! VIVA NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY! VIVAN THE ZAPATISTA WOMEN! VIVA THE ZAPATISTA SUPPORT BASES! VIVA SUBCOMANDANTE INSURGENTE MARCOS! VIVAN ALL THE INSURGENTS! VIVA THE CLANDESTINE INDIGENOUS REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE! Aguascalientes III of Francisco Gomez, Chiapas, Mexico, August of 1998. ENLACE CIVIL A.C. Calle Ignacio Allende 4 29200 San Cristobal de las Casas Chiapas, Mexico Telephone and fax: 52-967-82104 Email: enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org CONSULT OUR WEB PAGE WITH NEW INFORMATION EVERY 15 DAYS http://www.enlacecivil.org.mx http://laneta.apc.org/enlacecivil ___________________________________________________ NUEVO AMANECER PRESS- N.A.P.To know about us visit: http://www.nap.cuhm.mx/nap0.htm General Director: Roger Maldonado Director Europe: Darrin Wood Coordinator: USA-Mexico-Europe: Susana Saravia (Anibarro) Advisory and support team: Mexico When reproducing NAP's translations; please give credit* NAP's team works on a volunteer basis and does not receive any funding from any source* --------- "RE: More Voices for Leonard" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 14:13:53 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: More voices for Leonard Newsgroup: alt.native Huge double-page spread on Leonard in the August issue of Windspeaker, the most widely-read/circulated monthly in Canada. (Just won first place for General Excellence in monthly publications category at this year's Native American Journalists Association's annual assembly in Tempe, AZ.) Nice picture of Leonard. There's a second, longer article on worldwide support growing to free Leonard too. (The hardcopy article is twice as long as what's on the website version.) Check it out on their website at: http://www.ammsa.com -------------------------- >From Windspeaker August 1998 Vol 16 #4 Who is Leonard Peltier and what was he fighting for? By Donna Rae Paquette Windspeaker Contributor Twenty-three years, that's a lot of time. In the past 23 years, nations rose and fell, mankind extended his limits to limitless space, peace has come to countries that have been at war for centuries, and war has come to shatter the peace and calm in a variety of communities around the globe. And, during the last 23 years, men and women, countless, faceless, forgotten human beings, have served time in federal, provincial and state prisons, most for crimes they did commit. But for a few and one in particular, they are serving time for something they did not do. Justice gone awry. It happens. It happened to Leonard Peltier, an Ojibway-Lakota who has languished in American federal prisons for more than two decades, a political prisoner in North America who has yet to see freedom and to be exonerated for the crime his own accusers say they can't prove he is guilty of committing. Peltier's been told his release date is 2035. He'll be 90 years old by the time the prison doors swing open for him. Far too late to start the buffalo ranch he dreams of or to enjoy his family, all of whom will likely be dead by then, even if Peltier himself lives that long. Peltier was born and raised in South Dakota in a location that is the geographical centre of North America. It's one of thousands of Aboriginal communities that sit on a vast belt of mineral wealth. The land where Leonard grew up has always been held in high regard by the Native people of the area. Just outside his home are the Black Hills, Paha Sapa to the Lakota. They are a special place, a holy place, because Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, the Great Mystery, the One Above Who Oversees All, lives there. It is the place Wakan Tanka chose to make his name and his ways known to the children who He chose to be the keepers of the Earth - the red man. The whole area belonged to the Lakota people, known as the Sioux. It had been secured to them as their own in perpetuity by the United States government when the Fort Laramie Treaty was signed in 1868. The legislation stated that the Lakota were recognized as inhabitants of the area since time immemorial and the land was recognized as part of their vast territorial holdings. The treaty gave the Lakota nothing they didn't already have, but was at least a pledge of peace to allow safe passage through Sioux territory for the settlers enroute to the West and to pioneer settlements in the vast lands of the Blackfeet. Undertaken as a means to safeguard the territorial rights of the Lakota and still allow settlement west of the Missouri River, the treaty was an ironclad nation-to-nation agreement on land use and prohibitions. The gist of the treaty allowed settlers and other travellers to safely cross through Lakota land and, in turn, no settlement could take place on the land. The first thing the U.S. Cavalry did was to construct forts along what was known as the Bozeman Trail, an east-west route established as the main entry way into the western frontier. The Sioux were pacified with gifts and allowed the forts as peacekeeping units, but the people called the trail the "Thieves Road", and the white people were given the designation "wasichu," translated as "he who takes the fat" or "the greedy ones." The day came when wasichu found the Black Hills valuable. They wearied their nights plotting how to steal the Black Hills and the yellow gold located there. For years, all was quiet as the Western frontier was slowly settled by a trickle of pioneers. Then the trickle became a headlong rush of fortune-seekers when gold was discovered by two treaty-violating prospectors who were found murdered in the Black Hills, their deaths evidently caused by Lakota warriors who happened upon the trespassers. When the hapless miners' bodies were found, a note written by one of the men stating "there's gold in them thar hills" was recovered. By the next day, the stampede was on. The Lakota were unprepared for the onslaught and after several unsuccessful attempts to curb the invaders, a delegation travelled to Washington with an appeal that the army to uphold the Fort Laramie Treaty. Washington declined and offered to buy the Black Hills for $5 million. The Lakota declined, and Washington decided to take the hills anyway. The government withheld rations and restricted the people from off-reservation hunting, slowly starving the people into submission. Anyone resisting the sale was labeled a "hostile" and subject to arrest or death. Sitting Bull, Gall and Crazy Horse were among the hostiles. Eight years after the Indians were promised the Black Hills in perpetuity, Red Cloud, Spotted Tail and other chiefs were forced to sign a document abrogating the Fort Laramie Treaty. In a pen stroke, the Lakota lost the Black Hills, plus 22.8 million surrounding acres, in exchange for subsistence rations. The U.S. Congressional Record quotes an unnamed speaker as saying "an idle and thriftless race of savages cannot be permitted to stand guard at the treasure vaults of the nation which hold our gold and silver. The prospector and miner may enter and, by enriching himself, enrich the nation and bless the world by the results of his toil." To this day, the Lakota have never been able to regain their sacred Paha Sapa. They live in destitution while the land yields billions of dollars annually to the people who took it away. Leonard Peltier is one of many who sought to fight for this land and suffers the consequences for his political position. --------- "RE: Reserve Wrestles Epidemic of Suicides" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 18:54:03 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: And yet UN says Canada's #1...? :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: RESERVE WRESTLES EPIDEMIC OF SUICIDES Canadian Press, August 9, 1998 [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.] BIRDTAIL SIOUX FIRST NATION, Man. (CP) - Some used pills. Others used rope. One man lay down on the railroad tracks and waited for a train to finish him off. More than 20 people have attempted suicide in the last 13 months at this small reserve in western Manitoba. Seven were successful. Suicide rates are chronically higher among aboriginal Canadians than the general population but the problem has reached epidemic proportions at this reserve. "It's hard to keep track of them after a while," said Const. Charles Jebb of the Dakota Ojibwa Police Service. Almost everyone in the community, 145 kilometres northeast of Brandon, has relatives or close friends who have committed suicide in recent months. "The hurt is there in the total community," said Chief Nelson Bunn. "Everyone is affected by the numerous deaths were had." Many suicides appear to be linked. One case last July happened on the same day that another band member was buried. Another band member ended his life by taking a lethal amount of pills less than two months after his common-law wife hanged herself. Many Birdtail residents believe they live on the worst reserve in Manitoba. Many houses are falling apart as mould eats away at carpeting and drywall. One asthmatic woman and her two grandchildren live illegally in a home condemned by Health Canada. Only a handful of Birdtail Sioux are employed by the band. "They're bringing in white guys from off the reserve to build our houses when we don't have jobs," said Chris Benn, who works part-time for the band as home and school co-ordinator. Police say substance abuse is worse here than on nearby reserves. "Here there's nothing really to do. Theres a lack of employment and people turn to alcoholism," said Jebb. There are no school or sports teams on the reserve. The band's community hall burned down a couple of years ago and could not be rebuilt because there was no insurance money. Birdtail isn't the first Dakota community to go through a suicide crisis. In early 1996 a teenage boy took his own life and his best friend did the same about a month later at Sioux Valley, about an hours drive from Birdtail. At Sioux Valley, a crisis team was created to identify band residents who needed counselling. A telephone hotline was also set up to provide counselling to anyone feeling suicidal. "I think a lot of kids survived because of the crisis line," said Elizabeth Loane, child and family services co-ordinator at Sioux Valley. The Birdtail band is not as luckily. Some Birdtail residents say suicide victims were never offered counselling. The reserve set up a hotline like the one in Sioux Valley, but the line now goes unanswered because funding has run out. Birdtail residents also take their frustrations out on the chief, who they blame for failing to show leadership. Band members said they rarely see the chief and complain he did not attend any funerals for suicide victims. Nelson Bunn was convicted of impaired driving last month and many Birdtail Sioux said he should step down as chief. He spends his weekends at a jail in Brandon, Man. "I don't think he's actually doing anything," said Chris Benn. The chief said he has been busy working to solve Birdtail's problems with government officials in Winnipeg, but is now ready to spend more time in the community to help with the healing process. "Nobody's had an opportunity to grieve because theres been so many deaths in the community." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: ..................KKKANADIAN KKKOLONIALISM KKKILLS................. The 1947 Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide specifically prohibits "deliberately inflicting on the [national, ethnical, racial or religious] group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chretien mailto:remote-printer.Jean_Chretien@16139416900.iddd.tpc.int mailto:pm@pm.gc.ca Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Phil Fontaine mailto:pfontaine@afn.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: Corporate Payoffs to United Church" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 23:37:29 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: corporate payoffs to United Church for selling native land (fwd) :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 12:40:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Kevin Daniel Annett Subj: corporate payoffs to United Church for selling native land MacMillan-Bloedel Charity Rewards United Church in Wake of Theft of Ahousat Land In 1994, when the logging multinational MacMillan-Bloedel acquired final ownership of Lot 363 on the Ahousat reserve north of Tofino, thanks to the illegal sale of the land by the United Church of Canada, the MacMillan Fund, a charity connected to the company, granted $8000 to First United Church in Port Alberni, according to the 1994-95 returns for charitable foundations. Only in that year did any United Church receive such a sizeable endowment from the MacMillan Fund. That same year, the two public critics of the Ahousat land sale, Chief Earl George of the Ahousats and Reverend Kevin Annett, were both expelled from the United Church after objecting to the secret deal that involved MacMillan-Bloedel, church officials and Aboriginal Affairs minister John Cashore, who is also a United Church minister. Lot 363 is 100 hectares of old growth red cedar now worth in the tens of millions of dollars. But, against the wishes of tribal elders, the land was sold by the United Church in 1953 to the grandson of early missionary John Ross for a mere $2000. Was the $8000 gift from the company to First United Church in Port Alberni a direct "thank you" to the church for faithful "services rendered"? And was it an even more personal "thanks" to First United's minister Ryan Knight, who had, that same year, a) refused to allow Justice in the Valley, an anti-MacMillan Bloedel community coalition in Port Alberni, to use the church for its annual meeting? and b) who had denied the Joseph family, local native residents, the use of the same church for a traditional funeral because (in Knight's words) "Kevin Annett will be conducting the service"? In Port Alberni, like in Al Capone's Chicago, things are not very subtle. The Circle of Justice 604-462-1086 :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Response to United Church Misinformation" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 12:50:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Kevin Daniel Annett Subj: response to United Church misinformation campaign 7 August, 1998 Dr. Jennifer Wade Vancouver, B.C. Dear Dr. Wade, In the wake of my firing without cause from my Port Alberni pulpit in January, 1995, a handful of United Church officials, acting without the authority or knowledge of any church body, "de-listed" me as a minister at an expensive internal trial that was described by one observer as "a failed attempt at cosmetics"; the cosmetics being a pretense of a due process that I have never been accorded. After my de-listing, the church concocted an astoundingly false version of events to further discredit me and justify its own actions. This version bears little resemblance to the truth as I experienced it, and as you yourself witnessed; and yet it is widely circulating through the internet. I wish to respond to the United Church misinformation campaign about me through this statement, which you are free to circulate and share with others. 1. I was removed from my pulpit without notice, review or cause, on January 23, 1995. The procedure required for removing a minister, under sections 65-75 of the United Church Manual, was completely ignored. I was fired immediately by Art Anderson of B.C. Conference and Cameron Reid of Comox-Nanaimo Presbytery, and was threatened with permanent "de-listing" only two days later, although no reason was given for these actions. 2. My congregation had already accepted my resignation, which was not to occur until the following June 30. At a secret meeting with Reid, Anderson and other officials, to which I was not invited, my church board was told "Kevin is to be fired immediately and no-one is to tell him." 3. My firing occurred despite the fact that I had tripled the size of my congregation, had brought native families into the church for the first time, and had sustained this attendance until the day of my firing. 4. I was fired shortly after I wrote a letter to the Presbytery Executive criticizing the church for having illegally sold and profited by ancestral native land. I had also allowed native survivors of the Alberni Residential School to speak from my pulpit and recount stories of murder and torture at the same, United Church run school. 5. Church officials adamantly refused to discuss my firing or modify their decision. Neither my congregation nor the Presbytery as a whole were ever allowed to vote on or even debate my firing or subsequent de-listing. 6. After I went to the press with eyewitness testimony of killings of native children at the Alberni school, in December, 1995, the Presbytery Executive, without authorization, voted to recommend that I be permanently "de-listed", without giving a reason. 7. The delisting hearing was convened by two officials, both of whom had been instrumental in my firing: Jon Jessiman, legal counsel for B.C. Conference, and Brian Thorpe, Secretary of Conference. Jessiman had served as the lawyer for Presbytery in our earlier negotiations, and yet despite this role he was appointed the judge at the appeal hearing, in 1996, that rejected my appeal of my firing! He was then appointed as "Chief Judicial Officer" at the de-listing hearing, despite his having made hostile comments about me at previous meetings. Brian Thorpe handpicked the de- listing panel but was then called as a witness against me! 8. Presbytery's lawyer, Iaian Benson, conducted a completely hearsay case against me from start to finish, despite the Panel's rules that hearsay evidence was not permitted. None of the four witnesses called against me had ever heard one of my sermons, attended a service at my church or seen me in active ministry. One of the witnesses had never even met me until the hearing! And yet the purpose of the latter was to ascertain my fitness for ministry and my abilities as a minister. 9. The Panel ruled against me and in favour of Presbytery in over 80% of the instances where I challenged the gross bias of the hearing. Examples of this bias: a) Jessiman, the judge, went to lunch with Panel members (the jury) regularly; b) Jessiman had secret conferences with Presbytery lawyer Benson and the Panel, of which I was not informed; c) I was told to keep quiet by Jessiman while Benson personally disparaged me, and I was not allowed to respond to his attacks on me. 10. None of the 38 letters of support I received, which I submitted to the hearing, were ever quoted in the Panel's final written decision. And yet all 4 of the letters against me were quoted in that decision. 11. After we introduced a letter showing that the judge, Jon Jessiman, had personally intervened to stop an agreement between myself and the church in 1995, I moved that Jessiman step down because of a "perception of bias" by him. The Panel ruled in favour of Jessiman continuing as judge! I then withdrew from the hearing under legal advice because of the "gross bias and absence of natural justice and due process" in the behaviour of judge jury and prosecution, all of whom came from the same institution. 12. After my advocate and I left the hearing, the Panel allowed it to continue, amazingly enough. Presbytery then introduced its 4 letters critical of me, even though my advocate and I had never been shown the letters. Nevertheless, the Panel accepted this inappropriately-introduced evidence, and incorporated it into its final report. The hidden and deceptive process thus continued. 13. Acting without me present, the Panel ruled unanimously to de-list me, despite the fact that I had not presented my case, called witnesses or concluded my self-defense. The whole procedure was a farce, and it was clear that the decision to expel me from the church had been made long before. The semblance of a trial had been followed, without any content of due process and fairness. I had already been found guilty. 14. Twenty-two people who attended the hearing wrote to the B.C. Attorney-General, Ujjal Dosanjh, asking him to investigate its unfair procedure. Dosnajh took five months to respond, and then refused, even though the Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that churches had to abide by the same norms of natural justice as any organization in its internal tribunals. 15. The total cost of my firing and de-listing exceeded $300,000. And yet the same church had refused to fund our Loaves and Fishes Food Bank in Port Alberni, whose budget was $1200 each month, or find the funds for Chief Earl George of the Ahousat Nation to train for United Church ministry. Chief George, like me, had criticized the church for its sale of Ahousat land, Lot 363, in 1953, shortly before the church cut off his funding for theological education. These are some of the facts behind my railroading out of the church. I believe that my exposure of the land speculatiofficials, their cover-up of the murder of native children at its Alberni and Ahousat residential schools, and the existence of a pedophile ring involving United Church ministers and officials on Vancouver Island, was responsible for this rapid and illegal expulsion of me from the church. I will provide you, and any other interested parties, all the documentation and evidence to back up these statements. Of additional interest is the fact that the two prime actors in my expulsion and de-listing, lawyer Jon Jessiman and official Brian Thorpe, stole documents from me at a press conference outside the United Church office on September 3, 1997. The documents were microfilmed proof of the liability of the church for the abuse of native children at its Alberni residential school. They were in fact key evidence that allowed a Supreme Court judge to rule just recently that the church was legally liable for all damages at the Alberni school. We have filmed evidence showing Brian Thorpe taking these documents from a bag belonging to me, without having asked me first, and while my back was turned. Jon Jessiman is watching Thorpe engage in this theft, holds the door for him, and enters the church office with Thorpe and the stolen documents. I reported the theft to the Vancouver Police, and eventually Crown Counsel Garth Gibson informed me that he would not be pursuing the investigation because it would "not be in the public interest to do so". Gibson said to me, however, that "a theft definitely occurred." The United Church has never explained why it would allow its officials and lawyers to publicly steal, lie, and conduct character assassination campaigns against critics of its wrongdoing. The fact that the two men who conducted my appeal and de-listing hearing were also the perpetrators of the theft of my personal belongings has raised no outcry within the church, amazingly enough. But is this too surprising, in a church that has allowed murderers, child rapists and other abusers to do their deeds under church protection and sanction? Kevin Annett August 7, 1998 --------- "RE: Annexation Could be Declared Invalid" --------- Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 23:27:31 -1000 From: Hawaii Nation Info Subj: UN Report: Annexation could be declared invalid UN Report: Annexation could be declared invalid Clinton's 1993 apology is seen as casting new light on the 1897 treaty Native Hawaiians say being re-listed as a colony would give an opportunity to choose Honolulu Star-Bulletin Tuesday, August 11, 1998 By Pat Omandam Star-Bulletin Hawaii's annexation by the United States could be declared invalid, according to a United Nations report. The report said the situation of native Hawaiians now takes on a "special complexion" because of, among other reasons, President Clinton's November 1993 Apology Resolution to native Hawaiians. The study recommends Hawaii be returned to a U.N. List of Non-Self Governing Territories - a list of indigenous peoples colonized by another country. Such action could make Hawaii eligible for decolonization as well as a U.N.-sponsored plebiscite. The 73-page unedited final report, submitted after nine years of reviewing treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between nations and indigenous peoples, was filed July 30 in Geneva. For Hawaiian groups such as Ka Lahui Hawaii and Ka Pakaukau, which have pushed the sovereignty issue at the international level for nearly two decades, the timing couldn't be better. Over the next two days, Hawaiians and others will gather at Iolani Palace to observe Hawaii's centennial annexation anniversary. An international audience "Its perfect timing," said Mililani Trask, an attorney and governor of Ka Lahui Hawaii. "I couldn't have asked for anything more." Trask said this is the first official U.N. document that not only makes reference to Hawaii, but finds against the validity of the treaty of annexation and calls for the United Nations to re-list Hawaii as a colony. Attorney Hayden Burgess said, "Many of us have been waiting for the report for many years." But it is just the first step in a long process the U.S. government undoubtedly will fight, he said. "The United States is not going to give up that easily," he said, pointing out that the nation has been trying to abolish the committee that would review the issue. Burgess has been to the United Nations many times to ask that Hawaii be re-listed as a colony, speaking for local organizations and the World Council for Indigenous Peoples. Trask said that the report, expected to be posted on the U.N. Web site on Saturday, shows that an international audience is watching with interest how the United States handles its native Hawaiian situation, one which U.S. State Department officials consider a "domestic problem." "It means that we now have a clear interest being expressed by other states (nations) to support our effort and expressing interest now on receiving the real story about what's happening in Hawaii," she said. Trask, who received a copy of the report in Geneva, will speak about it tomorrow during the annexation events. Nay sayers, she said, have repeatedly doubted whether Hawaiian activists would be effective in the international arena. But the report goes a long way to show how viable these international claims really are, she said. Both Ka Lahui and Ka Pakaukau believe there isn't any way to achieve Hawaiian autonomy or independence within the U.S. system. But there is in the international system. Treaty 'appears unequal' Miguel Alfonso Martinez of Cuba, the special chairman who prepared the report for the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations, wrote that Clinton's apology resolution recognizes the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy took place unlawfully. "By the same token, the 1897 treaty of annexation between the United States and Hawaii appears as an unequal treaty that could be declared invalid on those grounds, according to international law of the times," said Martinez, who was appointed to head this project by the U.N. human rights commissioner. "It follows that the case of Hawaii could be re-entered on the list of nonself-governing territories of the United Nations and resubmitted to the bodies in the organization competent in the field of decolonization," he said. Hawaii was placed on the U.N. list in 1946 as a colony under the United States, but was removed in 1959 when it became an American state. Others on the list include Guam, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico, which was removed from the list previously, but returned, Trask said. The General Assembly of the United Nations voted to put New Caledonia back on the list in the late 1980s over protests of the United States, France and Great Britain. But the political atmosphere has changed, Burgess said. "Now there is very little opposition to the U.S." If Hawaii is returned to the list, he said, the first most important question will be: "Who are the people to be decolonized? Is it only native Hawaiians, or is it all of those who suffered as a result of the overthrow? "The thing Hawaii needs to address is to see itself in the mirror and ask itself, who are we who have been decolonized? I don't think it's going to work to just limit it to the native Hawaiian race. It was a nation that was overthrown, not just native Hawaiians." Then, if the matter reaches the voting stage, the question will be who votes, Burgess said. "The exercise of self-determination must be done by people who were colonized." And they must be given choices, he said, such as whether they want to maintain state status, or be independent, or have a free association with the United States. The working group, which recently met, sent the Martinez report to the U.N. Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, where it will accept testimony from U.N. members and indigenous groups. A final edited version goes to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, and to the U.N. General Assembly, for adoption. So far, the United Nations has accepted three progress drafts as official U.N. documents, including one that contained accounts by Queen Liliuokalani on the push by foreigners to limit the monarchy's power and to seek annexation. Liliuokalani's description of Hawaii's political climate during her time changed the complexion of the issue, Trask said. 'Give our people the choice' Meanwhile, Ka Pakaukau's Kekuni Blaisdell told a U.N. decolonization committee seminar this June in Nadi, Fiji, that 17 colonies remain on the U.N. list, with three in the Pacific pressing for self-determination with an option for independence. Blaisdell said colonialism in the Pacific, in various forms, has accelerated and intensified rather than declined. The United Nations in 1990 mandated to eradicate colonialism by the year 2000. "It is imperative," he said, "that we indigenous peoples become more involved in the dominant, western decolonization process, that we generate our own initiatives and that such actions be recognized." Entitled to vote A U.N.-supervised plebiscite would entitle Hawaiians to vote for a form of government, such as incorporation as a U.S. state, free association or an independent or autonomous government. Hawaiian groups will focus lobbying efforts on U.N. member nations that signed treaties with Hawaii before it became a state. "We're not saying give Hawaii independence, we're just saying re-list Hawaii," Trask said. "Have the U.N. take a look at it, and give our people the opportunity to make a choice, which we never had in 1959." Tom Coffman, whose book "Nation Within" about America's annexation of Hawaii has generated widespread discussion, said the U.N. report is "really important because what I've found in my research of the period of 1893 to 1898 . . . was that over and over the question of whether Hawaiians would be allowed to vote on annexation came up, and over and over, the Republic government conspired with annexationists in Washington to prevent Hawaiians from voting." Fallen warriors An 18-hour vigil at Iolani Palace will honor those now dead who significantly helped the Hawaiian movement By Pat Omandam Star-Bulletin The 18-hour "Fallen Warriors" vigil beginning at sunset today at Iolani Palace will honor deceased individuals, both native and non-native, who have made a significant contribution to the contemporary indigenous Hawaiian political movement. What follows is a list and brief profiles of each person, according to coordinator Mahealani Kamauu. Stanford Achi: Kauai leader who led early successful tenant struggle against Niumalu-Nawiliwili evictions. Kahu Abraham Akaka: During the last 15 years at Kawaiahao Church, the Rev. Akaka supported and participated in special annual observances of the 1893 overthrow. Akaka wholeheartedly shared the dignity and stature of his office with radical sovereignty politics and early on led an historic protest march that resulted in appointment of Hawaiian trustees to Bishop Estate. Martha Billie Beamer: Served as Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee and chairwoman of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. As chairwoman, she ushered in an era of unprecedented new housing for beneficiaries and concentrated her efforts on fiscal accountability at OHA. Robert Beaumont: Composed and recorded many songs that poetically describe the beauty of the land and the hard struggles of Hawaiian people. Along with other members of the musical group Olomana, he was a constant and consistent presence at early political struggles. Wayne K. Davis: A tireless and unselfish genealogy expert who helped hundreds of Hawaiian families in their efforts to trace complex and essential family histories. Apolonia Day: A kupuna (elder), cultural and spiritual counselor who was an early grass-roots member of the sovereignty group Ka Lahui Hawaii. Mary Choy: An activist who was arrested in the early 1970s during the Kalama Valley eviction struggles. Emma Defries: A kupuna, poet, cultural and spiritual counselor to early movement leaders. Healani Doane: A respected kupuna, she worked to reform the Hawaiian Homes program and the appointment process for Bishop Estate trustees. Anita Gouveia: Core support of Ka Lahui Hawaii. She struggled for years for her family's right to engage in subsistence farming on family kuleana in her ahupua'a of 'Loleka'a. George Helm: Key leader of the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana. He was lost at sea while attempting to reach Kahoolawe on a surfboard. Betty and Walter Johnson: Husband and wife who were avid supporters, especially monetarily, of Kokua Kalama, considered by many to be the first major contemporary political struggle. Manu Kahaiali'i: A musician who overcame personal hardship in his early years to become a source of inspiration to the troubled youth he worked with. He was also a former OHA trustee and a nurturer of Hawaiian language. Randolph H. Kalahiki: An early activist who founded Hui Malama 'Aina o Koolau to protect Windward Oahu resources against overdevelopment and urban encroachment. He was a founder and later executive director of the Hawaiian Coalition of Native Claims, which later became the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: "Bruddah Iz," an inspirational musician who had an impact on local youth with his beautiful voice, songs of political struggle, his personal courage and his aloha. Parley Kanaka'ole: Along with other members of his family, he guided people on cultural protocol and provided spiritual counsel and leadership, especially to the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana. Ah Num Kealakamahele: A staunch supporter and activist with the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana and the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific organization. David Ke'alanahele: A kahu and practitioner of native religion who undertook tremendous research to understand the ancestral significance of pohaku (stones) and heiau (temples). Clara Ku: A kupuna, cultural and spiritual counselor to movement leaders, especially on Molokai. Henry Lindsey: A meticulous researcher and professional archivist who spent his last years of life painstakingly combing documents in Washington, D.C., to prove the U.S. conspiracy against Hawaii that led to the overthrow. Sam Lono: Kahuna and practitioner, teacher, mentor and advocate of native religion and the right to carry out religious practices and rituals at sacred places. Moose and "Mama" Louie: Husband and wife who were early resistance leaders in Kalama Valley eviction. Lydia N.T. Maioho: Curator and caretaker of Mauna'ala, the Royal Mausoleum, a job passed within the family for many generations. Harry Mitchell: A kupuna, cultural and spiritual counselor to movement leaders, especially members of Protect Kahoolawe Ohana. Strong mentor and inspiration to generations of Hawaiian language students. Kimo Mitchell: Son of Harry Mitchell and Protect Kahoolawe member who lost his life with George Helm while attempting to reach Kahoolawe on a surfboard. Gregory Nali'ielua: Known affectionately as "Papa Kala" or "Papa Kalahiki'ola," he provided spiritual counsel and guidance, especially in his later years, to Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees. Judy Napolean: Molokai activist who spearheaded many projects to move the island into an era of culturally based economic self-sufficiency. Harriet Ne: Molokai kupuna, cultural expert and author, and spiritual counselor to movement leaders. Georgiana Padeken: Queen Liliuokalani Trust social worker and early member of several movements to reform the Hawaiian Home Lands program. Padeken later served as chairwoman of the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. She was responsible for accelerated awards, which intensified pressure for increased funding for administration and infrastructure. Gail Kawaipuna Prejean: An activist as well as founder and first executive director of the Hawaiian Coalition of Native Claims. She was involved in every major early political struggle, including Makua Valley, Kahoolawe, Waiahole-Waikane and Makapuu. Helena K. Salazar: A descendant of Robert Wilcox, she served as the first head of the Alii Nui branch of Ka Lahui Hawaii. Helena Santos: Avid supporter and activist with Anahola Beach Park struggle, an effort to challenge the state's homestead leasing practices. George Santos: Kalama Valley farmer who took a stand against eviction and whose dilemma developed into the central focus of that land eviction struggle. Piiahi Paki Silva: Kupuna and spiritual counselor to early movement leaders. She is responsible for translation of music written by composer Liko Martin, from which this year's annexation observation takes it theme. Hilbert Kahale Smith: Lost his life in a fire while being evicted by state officials from his Anahola homestead on Kauai. He had protested expensive, substandard homestead housing for more than a decade. Lambert Ulaleo: Practitioner of native religion who fought developers and filed the first major lawsuit against geothermal development at Kahauale'a on the Big Island. Mits Uyehara: An attorney whose research, analytical skills and strong convictions served as a catalyst for community education and action on ceded lands claims. Founding member of Ho'ala Kanawai and the Native Hawaiian Task Force. Dallas Vogeler: Staunch proponent of independence and member of Hui Na'auau. She used her talent to produce a national award-winning re-enactment of the events of the overthrow during the 1993 centennial observance. Centennial events The Hawai'i Loa Ku Like Kakou Planning Committee is advising those wishing to participate in the Centennial March tomorrow morning on the following: March Ceremony to honor the Sash of Liloa and our ali'i, beginning with Kamehameha I and ending with Lili'uokalani, will begin at 6 a.m. Those not marching with the ali'i units will gather just mauka of Mauna'ala (Royal Mausoleum) in the 10th unit honoring the 1897 Petition and those who resisted annexation by signing, including non-Kanaka Maoli supporters. March begins at 7 a.m. from Mauna'ala on Nuuanu Avenue, makai to Beretania St., Diamond Head to Washington Place, crossing the street to the state Capitol, Diamond Head to Punchbowl, makai to King Street, Ewa to Kamehameha Statue, into the palace grounds. Marchers should arrive at Washington Place at 8 a.m.; those wishing to offer ho'okupu may do so at Washington Place. Marchers are scheduled to enter Iolani Palace grounds through the front gate about 10 a.m.; Iolani Palace chanters will provide a welcoming chant, followed by the 'Ilioulaokalani Coalition. After ceremonies for the Sash of Liloa and to honor the ali'i, Friends of Iolani Palace will present their portion of the program, followed by the raising of the Hawaiian flag at noon. Hawai'i Loa Ku Like Kakou's program will begin after the flag raising; programs listing the day's events will be distributed at the information tent on the state Capitol side. Park and shuttle Parking will be available at: Downtown at the Diamond Parking Lot at Halekauwila and Pohukaina streets; enter from Keawe Street. There will be no fee. The lot can accommodate about 150 cars. The lot will open at 4:45 a.m. A shuttle (Polynesian Hospitality), will visit the lot from 5-6:30 a.m., every 15 minutes. Blaisdell arena lot will open for parking at 5 a.m. Cost is $5 for all day. The bus (Polynesian Adventures) will pick up from 5-6:30 a.m., every 15 minutes. Pickup point is at the arena ticket office. For those car-pooling, parking elsewhere in town, already at the Iolani Palace grounds or coming by bus to the palace, pickup points are: Kamehameha Statue on King Street from 5:15-7 a.m., every 15 minutes (Trans-Hawaiian) to Mauna'ala. In front of the Capitol at Damien Statue, 5-6:30 a.m., every 15 minutes (Polynesian Adventures). There will be no parking at Mauna'ala. General information Iolani Palace Barracks restrooms will be open tonight and all day tomorrow, and portable toilets near the State Archives building will also be available. The barracks also will be showing the video "We Are Who We Were: From Resistance to Affirmation" all day tomorrow. Palace tours will be closed for the day. 1998 Honolulu Star-Bulletin http://starbulletin.com ___________________________________________________________ | Hawai`i - Independent & Sovereign | | info@hawaii-nation.org http://hawaii-nation.org | |___________________________________________________________| "The cause of Hawaii and independence is larger and dearer than the life of any man connected with it. Love of country is deep- seated in the breast of every Hawaiian, whatever his station." - Queen Lili`uokalani --------- "RE: Medicine Lake Geothermal Plant" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 17:00:41 GMT From: Pbbmicmac@sedona.net (Robert Branscombe) Subj: Medicine Lake Geothermal Plant ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: lonnie Subt: medicine lake geothermal development Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native This is about the Medicine Lake area and the proposed geothermal plant that may be built there. Public comment will be accepted up until Aug 24, 1998. Mail petitions to: Randall Sharp, Project Leader Telephone Flat Geothermal Development USFS/BLM-800 West 12th St. Alturas, CA 96101 Fax 530 233 8709 phone 530 233 5811 The petition: Dear Mr. Sharp: I am strongly opposed to the Telephone Flat and other geothermal development in the Medicine Lake Highlands. I support the Pit River, Modoc and Shasta Tribes in their opposition to these developments which would have devastating impacts on the sacred character of the whole Medicine Lake Highlands; on many individual sites and cultural resources; on the water quality of Medicine Lake and the many springs, creeks and rivers that have their sources in the Highlands; on the animals, their habitats and migration routes; on the trees and the plants; on the visual and air quality; and on the peace and natural beauty of the area. The Medicine Lake Highlands are a traditional haven to Native People and have been used as religious, ceremonial, hunting and gathering grounds for thousands of years. The area is highly important to the cultural survival of the Tribes in Northern California and Southern Oregon. I am very concerned about the following: + disproportionate and devastating impacts on Native American sacred lands, determined to be significant and which can not be mitigated... + cumulative effects of the 300 megawatt transmission line and the six power plants that it has the potential to serve... + geothermal leases issued through insufficient public notification and process... impacts on 10 square miles for Telephone Flat alone, just 1/2 mile from Medicine Lake, disturbing wildlife, trees, waters, plants... + water quality affected by toxic cooling tower geothermal drift, toxic fluid spill and leaks, contaminated groundwater, fish, fish-eating wildlife (including bald eagles and ospreys)... + high noise levels including drilling, construction and plant operations continuing for years... + visual quality greatly impacted by unsightly power plants, 24 hour lights, steam plumes, 750 gallon sludge ponds, miles of 36 inch above-ground pipelines and transmission lines... + impacts on recreation, hunting, fishing, tourist-based economies.... We invoke the US Government's Trust Responsibility to the Indian Peoples of this land, Executive Order 13007 on Indian Sacred Sites, Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice, the American Indian Freedom of Religion Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and National Register Bulletin 38 on Traditional Cultural Properties, Geothermal development is incompatible with existing long-standing spiritual and cultural uses of the area and it's natural resources. The government itself according to it's own laws must not permit this development. Sincerely, > Signature: ____________________ Print Name: _______________________ > Tribe: ________________________ Address: _________________________ > City, State, zip: ____________________ > > Individual Comments: _______________________________________________ > _________________________________________________________________ > _________________________________________________________________ > > (end petition) > > Information about the opposition to this plan can be gotten from Michelle > who is the contact person at: > Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense > PO Box 1143 > MT Shasta CA 96067 > fax ? > phone 530 926 3397 > > In general, the area is a sacred land that has been used by Ahjumawi and > Atwansini people (Pit River Tribe) and Modoc and Shasta tribes, I know > Floyd Buckskin (Ahjumawi) who uses the area as a medicine person to gather herbs and teaches the traditional way of finding spiritual power and the seeking of vision. Floyd sent a man to the very area where the plant could be built to seek power and also sent me there to learn more about the herbs that are there. The whole area is one of the major traditional places in their religion. > > The Company is Cal Pine - Fourmile Hill Geo Thermal Project > E-mail date.schuster@calenergy.com > The main company is: > Cal Energy Co. Inc. > Telephone Flat Geo Thermal Project > 302 S. 36 St. > Suite 400 > Omaha, NE. 68131 > > Dale R. Schuster > Project Development Manager > phone 402 341 4500 > fax 402 231 1668 --------- "RE: Columbus Returns to Puerto Rico" --------- Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 05:43:47 -0700 From: Maria Anani Jimenez Subj: Columbus Returns to Puerto Rico via Russia (fyi - Glenn) Taiguey Natiaos, Would accepting the statue not be the same as the jewish people accepting a statue of hitler...Columbus was responsible for the spaniards coming to our land-The Massacre of 8 Million Tainos, not to mention the african slaves they murdered...and who knows who else... To accept the statue would be a direct insult to our people and our Ancestors... This is all about money and stature, Reject the thing and say no to the russians...Or let the Sea's Salt Waters do it in... Apparently its not election time... hehe... The People have to learn that they are free to speak their minds... Don't let the statue in, Say NO NO NO !!! Taicaraya, Maria Anani Jimenez ==================================================== Pedro Guanikeyu Torres wrote: Tau Glenn; Thanks for the article. We Tainos have been aware of this for some days now. We were contact at our office in New Jersey by many concerned Taino and Puerto Rican Island people. They asking us to help protest the Columbus statue. As it stands 183 to high for Air plains at San Juan Airport, maybe one of the Airline Jumbo Jets will crash into it and take it out. I hate to have to say this but, as the Europeans say, "This would be an act of God". I will pass this article to the Taino-L Forum for discussion. ================== -----Original Message----- From: Glenn Welker To: Pedro Guanikeyu Torres Date: Sunday, August 16, 1998 11:57 PM Subject: Columbus Returns to Puerto Rico via Russia (fyi - Glenn) Tau Pedro, I was reading the Washington Post today and thought you would be interested in this article. Perhaps you can help prevent the statue from going to your homeland. Just another insult as I see it. Your friend, Glenn ======== All that matters in Puerto Rico is tourism (sadly). Columbus Statue May Land in Puerto Rico By Chris Hawley Associated Press Sunday, August 16, 1998; Page A02 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Aug. 14 - To advocates, it could be Puerto Rico's Statue of Liberty: a gigantic sculpture welcoming your tired, your sunburned, your cruise ship passengers yearning to spend freely. To doubters, it's a hideous hunk of metal -- too heavy for the sandy peninsula that is supposed to be its home and just plain For better or worse, the 351-foot bronze statue of Christopher Columbus that has been rejected by at least five U.S. cities soon may find a home in the Bay of San Juan. Sculptor Zurab Tsereteli's creation shows the explorer at the wheel of a tiny ship with three billowing sails behind him. At twice the height of Lady Liberty, it would be the tallest structure in this U.S. territory. "It's going to be a real tourist attraction, something to identify Puerto Rico by," said Jesus Velez, spokesman of Catano, the suburb where the statue would be located. Catano Mayor Edwin Rivera claims the statue is worth the $20 million it would cost to erect because it would bring jobs to ease the country's 10 percent unemployment. He traveled to Moscow this week to organize shipment of the statue, which was being given to Puerto Rico as a gift. It was originally built in 1991 to mark the 500th anniversary of Columbus's 1492 arrival in the New World. But it has been rejected by New York, Baltimore, Miami, Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for reasons varying from its cost to its appearance. The Federal Aviation Administration, meanwhile, is doubtful about its proposed location two miles from an airport that has 10,000 flights a month. In March, the FAA told planners the statue would threaten airplanes on final approach because it was 183 feet too high. The administration has yet to rule on the new site, several hundred yards west, and on Rivera's plans to mount lasers on the structure. While the statue is historically appropriate because Columbus landed in Puerto Rico in 1493, some residents are less than thrilled with Tsereteli's depiction of the explorer. They complain the arms are too long, the head too small and the explorer's pose -- one hand raised in a sort of stiff-armed greeting -- makes him look ridiculous. This remark borders on racism: "Call it 'From Russia With Ugh,' " opined the Baltimore Sun when the statue was offered to that city. Tsereteli's work long has inspired such reactions. The sculptor's 400-foot-high World War II memorial obelisk is called "the roach on a pin" because the goddess of victory on top is too small to be recognized. Tsereteli, Russia's best-known sculptor, also made a 310-foot statue of Peter the Great that was unveiled along the Moscow River for the city's 850th anniversary celebrations last year. That statue survived a bombing attempt during construction and also was roundly criticized. Then there is the cost of erecting the huge statue. Community activists already are unhappy that Rivera is building a nine-story, $7 million city hall while its 32,500 residents suffer frequent sewer breaks that leak raw waste directly into the bay. "Those [tourists] will have to put clothespins on their noses," said Rosa Hilda Ramos, an environmental activist. "There are better ways to spend $20 million." Others warn that the proposed site, Esperanza Park, is a spit of dumped sand that might not hold the 600-ton statue. If one of Puerto Rico's infrequent earthquakes hits, "that peninsula would be like liquid," said Juan Rosario Maldonado of the environmentalist group Mision Industrial. Velez said a survey showed the land was safe, but he did not have a copy of the study. Still, some Catano residents hope their monument will energize the local economy and provide an additional attraction to the nearby Bacardi rum distillery. "You just wait. We'll have people coming from Russia to see it," said Rafael Rodriguez, 36, a worker at Esperanza Park. --------- "RE: Canadian National Parks" --------- Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 11:27:54 -0400 From: Larry Innes Subj: News: national parks Mailing List: Innu People Forum list [This is of interest because it reflects the delays that the Innu Nation and the LIA have experienced getting the Torngat NP and the Akamiuapishku/Mealy Mountains National Parks off the ground in Labrador. - ed] PUBLICATION The Halifax Chronicle-Herald DATE Thursday August 13, 1998 PAGE D9 BYLINE Jennifer Ditchburn Parks system won't be completed by deadline Ottawa - Putting the final pieces into the giant ecological jigsaw puzzle that forms the national parks system won't happen by the year 2000 as the Liberals have promised during the last two election campaigns. Prime Minister Jean Chretien has said since 1993 that all 39 of Canada's distinct natural regions would be represented by national parks by the new millennium. To date, 24 of these regions are represented in the national system of 38 parks. Work is under way to establish the last 15 parks and land has been reserved in four of those areas. The government has its eye on such spectacular spots as the Torngat Mountains in Newfoundland with its fiords and 900-metre cliffs, or North Baffin Island in the Northwest Territories - home to 35 per cent of the world's breeding population of greater snow geese. But these things take time, acknowledges Tim Sookocheff, director of the parks establishment branch of Parks Canada. Negotiations over a park in Wager Bay, NWT, have gone on for 18 years. "I think we recognize the difficulty in achieving (the goal) given the time remaining and some of the realities facing some of the blanks in the system," said Sookocheff. Those realities include negotiating land claims with aboriginal bands to the North, and wrangling over sizable tracts of land with the provinces who are getting other attractive offers from industrial interests. The process of establishing a national park includes several steps, starting with the identification and selection of an area that meets all the physiographic and biological criteria for the region. It then goes through a time-consuming feasibility assessment involving public and scientific consultation, and finally ends with a negotiated agreement with a province or a land settlement with native leaders. Five of the remaining 15 natural regions have only reached the identification and selection stage. That's far too slow for environmentalists, who warn that if the government doesn't pick up the pace it may never be able to complete the national parks system. Kevin Kavanagh, senior manager of conservation science for World Wildlife Federation Canada, says the federal government should demonstrate more leadership by taking measures to speed up the process. "We have a land base that there is increasing competition for, and I think that as the competition becomes more and more entrenched, our opportunities to get what are the best possible and viable national parks identified and in place and designated becomes more and more difficult with each passing year," Kavanagh said. The drive to conserve untouched tracts of wilderness has become a major international issue, especially since the release of a United Nations report in 1987 which said at least 12 per cent of each of the earth's ecosystems must be protected in order to survive. Only four per cent of the world and about six per cent of Canada are currently protected. The national parks system covers two per cent of protected land in Canada, and is expected to rise to three per cent once it is completed. The rest of the work lies in the hands of the provinces and territories, which have been slow in identifying the smaller biological regions within their areas and setting aside space to protect them. ILLUSTRATION Jim Fly/The Canadian Press A lone kayaker cruises at Point Pelee park in southwestern Ontario in this undated file photo. Point Pelee is the most alarming example of a pattern of ecological isolation that is occurring across Canada's national parks system. The Halifax Chronicle-Herald 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" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 20:44:53 -0400 From: Larry Innes Subj: News: Voisey's Bay Mailing List: Innu People Forum list Last week the province's chief Voisey's Bay spoke to reporters about the breakdown in the Voisey's Bay negotiations and now it's Inco's turn as President Scott Hand is doing another round of interviews with reporters and editors across the country. Key Words: Diane Francis Financial Post, Bill Rowat Province's Chief Negotiator, Argentia Media: 02 CBC Radio - St. John's Morning Show Reporter: Nancy Walsh Date: 8/13/98, 7:51 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Announcer: Last week the province's Chief Negotiator in the talks with Inco spoke to reporters about the break down of the Voisey's Bay Negotiations. Now it's back in Inco's court again. Company President Scott Hand is doing another round of interviews with reporters and editors across the country this week. Nancy Walsh has been following the developments and she joins me in the studio now, hi Nancy. Nancy Walsh: Good Morning. Announcer: Now the content of these discussions between Inco and the province were supposed to be confidential, what's happened? Nancy Walsh: Well last month Inco released its quarterly report and they were some statements in that that Newfoundland negotiators had problems with and last week Diane Francis of the Financial Post wrote an editorial that was critical of Newfoundland's position. That led the province's Chief Negotiator to do interviews and although Bill Rowat didn't get into a lot of specifics we got more information on the content of the talks than we ever did before. So now Inco says it wants to put into context some statements that believes to be incorrect, incomplete or misleading. Announcer: Okay what statements are those? Nancy Walsh: Well Inco released a paper to the media prior to the interviews that it's doing this week and the paper states that Newfoundland is saying Inco has reneged on the commitment it made to process all the ore in the province, to build a big smelter and refinery when it initially purchased Voisey's Bay. Inco says that's not true. It says that when it made its first investment in Voisey's Bay in 1995 it promised to process the ore in this province quote "to the extent that economically and technically feasible to do so" unquote. Well Inco says that given the changes in nickel markets and prices it isn't feasible to do that now. And yes they had a news conference and yes they promised the smelter *** but things have changed. Inco says there aren't enough proven reserves to proceed with a smelter and refinery. The media paper says that the only proven reserves are the 32 million tons in the ovoid. Now other deposits are promising but since underground testing isn't allowed because of the court injunction last year the company doesn't really know what's there. It's interesting to note that this is not what Inco said in its quarterly report in July. It said that the reserves are still anticipated to 150 million tons. Announcer: Okay what is Inco saying in this media briefing? Nancy Walsh: Well Inco is criticizing another suggestion of the province. Inco says that Newfoundland is asserting that because the company paid so much for the rights to explore at Voisey's Bay, $4.3 billion, that all of the deposits must be economic, and Inco is saying that that assertion has really no basis. In fact the briefing says that the purchase price is based on an analysis which assumes the prospects would turn into reserves and Inco says it's still optimistic this will happen but they have a lot more exploring to do. Inco also says that contrary to the province's claim Inco did not include the cost of acquiring the property in its calculations on the cost of building a smelter and refinery. The briefing note *** that I'm quoting again "The treatment of the acquisition cost is well known to the province despite what has been stated public by them" unquote. Announcer: Okay but Inco says a smelter and refinery is not feasible but the province says they are. How come? Nancy Walsh: Well they are basically looking at a different profit margin. Inco says it wants to make at least, at least a 15% return on its investment. From the analysts that I've spoken with that seems to be the standard in the mining industry 15% is minimum. Inco said they could only make more than that and give shareholders a reasonable rate of return if it builds a mine/mill concentrator in Labrador and that's it. Now Newfoundland's position is different. The province says the development is still feasible meaning Inco could make a profit by building the whole shebang mine, mill, smelter and refinery. Chief Negotiator Bill Rowat says the company may not make 15% return by doing that but he doesn't care. He says any profit is still profit which would benefit Inco shareholders. He reiterated the government's position that we've heard before, yes the nickel market has changed but why should everyone walk out of this with the millions of dollars that they expected, the discovery promoters, the shareholder, while the owners of the resource Newfoundlanders and the aboriginals are expected to take less. You know, why shouldn't Inco shareholders take less away from this too. Announcer: So why won't Newfoundland given in? Nancy Walsh: Well the biggest gain that Newfoundland stands to make from this whole project is jobs. You know, yes there is a lot for taxes but that you know a lot of it would just be written against transfer payments that Newfoundland receives from Ottawa, the same old argument. Jobs are basically the most the important thing and there seems to be some confusion about the number of jobs that would accrue to this province from this project. In yesterday's Ottawa Citizen an editorial accuses Brian Tobin of having all this fuss over 480 jobs. But according to the province there are a lot more jobs than that at stake. When Inco made its proposal of a mine/mill, smelter/refinery Newfoundland was supposed to get somewhere between 1300 and 2500 jobs. Now a mine/mill concentrator would bring about 400 jobs. So according to the province there are a lot more jobs at stake than what the Ottawa Citizen believes. Announcer: Okay it feels like the Ottawa Citizen is taking Inco's side in this. What are other people saying about it? Nancy Walsh: Well I spoke to a bunch of investors and researchers with Investment *** in the past couple of days and the *** seem to be leaning toward Inco. But that's really not surprising, these are stock market people with clients who invest in Inco and they want the greatest return possible. A couple of them were very much against Brian Tobin's position; they get all uptight when government is trying to tell business what to do. One investor in New York said they felt, this is kind of interesting, he said governments really can't tell companies how to do the technical aspects of the business like the size and you know refining and smelting activities that kind of thing. He said that is something that business knows best but he said if Newfoundland wants to get more out of a business then tax them more, if it wants more benefits then tax them more. And in that way it makes a lot of sense but maybe he doesn't realize that Newfoundland won't really get to keep a lot of that income because of the reduction in transfers. Announcer: Right was anyone out there supporting Tobin? Nancy Walsh: A couple of people in the investment community did. They understand completely where the province is coming from, how Newfoundland wants to get as many benefits from this as possible and they all say this, there should be a compromise. So that's what I'm saying well you know what is this compromise and that's met with complete silence. After they think about it they say well one answer is to let Inco export the nickel from the ovoid and be smelted elsewhere, that will give the company some cash flow so it then build a smelter. And of course the response from the government is Newfoundland would be well you know a little *** are they going to come back and do that and it's not guaranteed so we don't want to do that. So it's very complicated. Announcer: When do you speak with Inco President Scott Hand? Nancy Walsh: In about an hour and a half or so. He going to be calling in from Toronto and several of us in the building are planning to ask some questions. As well, counterpoint in all this Bill Rowat, Newfoundland's Chief Negotiator says he will take some questions after that so we will keep you posted. Announcer: Okay thanks Nancy. Nancy Walsh: Your welcome. Announcer: That's CBC Radio Reporter Nancy Walsh. ---- Inco is coming out swinging against the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and Inco's president Scott Hand calls it clearing the air - Interview with Scott Hand Key Words: ["Scott Hand" President, Voisey's Bay, Globe and Mail, Building and Construction Trades Council, Financial Post, "Bill Parsons" Executive Director}] Media: CBN-AM Reporter: Chris O'Neal-Yates Date: 08/13/1998, 17:07:00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chris O'Neal-Yates: Well Inco President Scott Hand calls it clearing the air whatever Inco is calling it one things for sure the mining giant is coming out swinging against the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Inco has initiated a campaign across the country to dispel what it calls incorrect, incomplete or misleading mistakes by the province. Along with other reports I sat in on a conference call with Inco president, Scott Hand, this morning up front this is what Hand had to say about what the province has walked away from. Scott Hand: Well here we are proposing an economic project. We're proposing *** $1.1 billion. We're saying that this project, not our numbers but strategic concepts in St. John's says this will offer 1,700 direct and indirect jobs. We're doing a project that will give $1.7 billion to government and we're saying no go away. *** the facts speak for them selves. Chris O'Neal-Yates: Hand says the province called off the negotiations based principally on the fact that Inco could not at this time commit to a smelter refinery. Hand indicated that in order for a smelter refinery to happen in this province two things have to change. Scott Hand: One, better nickel prices but two, adequate reserves to support a larger operation and as I've said before when anybody *** mining company looks to build a major project they have to base the province on reserves. And at this point because we have been unable to go underground to do underground explorations the reserves they were working with are basically the service deposits. The avoidance of other ones and our view is that the only economic project that can go forward today would be a mine mill concentrator in Labrador. Chris O'Neal-Yates: Hand said the economic investment that Inco plans to make is $1.1 billion in Labrador and it is based on reserves of 32 million tons that they no is in the ovoid. Now in Inco's latest quarterly report the company estimates there are reserves of 150 million tons. That's including the underground deposits Hand says that any mining company can only base a project on what they have today not on what they hope to find under ground in the future. Now there have been suggestions throughout the investment community that Inco is *** for a take over as well as suggestions that Inco might want to take on a partner to develop Voisey's Bay. Interestingly an article in the Globe and Mail's report on business today says Inco is looking for a partner for its Goro nickel project in the French oversea territory of New Caledonia. We asked Scott Hand if the same thing was being done to develop Voisey's. Scott Hand: All I can say is our mines are always open but they're many people who have spoken to us about Gora. We haven't got many phone calls about Voisey's Bay. Chris O'Neal-Yates: Hand says that in New Caledonia they're getting the go ahead with no preconditions unlike what they're experiencing in this province he says. However, he reinforces that Inco's got no plans to go away because Voisey's Deposit is a good one and part of their growth plans despite what he calls frustrations. We know the province is prepared to let the deal die and let the ore stay in the ground unless it gets the deal it wants. Here is what Hand had to say about the cost of waiting. Scott Hand: What I say is I think that that is an option available without a doubt. But I really don't think it's the right option because over the past three years as we have been talking and trying to get Voisey's Bay going, three projects were conceived, financed and are now being built and are now shortly coming into operation. So over three... since '93, '94, '95 until today all we've been able to do at Voisey's Bay is exploration at that same time 3 projects have been financed and built. If you wait another three years I can assure you that other people will come into what ever supply *** they see to bring on that production and it'll be as difficult if not more difficult three or four years from now to do Voisey's Bay then it is today. That's why we say it makes a lot of sense to get going to establish yourself in Newfoundland and Labrador rather than wait. Chris O'Neal-Yates: And a shot over the province's bow and response to the question as to whether Inco was considering a right down of the Voisey's Deposit. Remember they paid $4.3 billion for it. Scott Hand: We have to have it under continued review of *** outside auditors. Is it being actively considered, no more actively considered now then it was before. The only point I was making was that if it is appropriate for us to take a right down and I stress the word if, we will do so, we will do what is required and what is proper. Chris O'Neal Yates: Now a right down would mean the company acknowledges it will not get the return it anticipated for its $4.3 billion investment that has serious financial implications as property becomes devalued at and is no longer such a great asset and that's a pretty serious business. Finally a major weapon in Inco's *** taxes and the reputation of Canada as a friendly place to do business. Although the federal government isn't getting directly involved in all this, Hand says Inco is keeping them in the loop. Scott Hand: They are concerned because what this says about the ability to invest in Canada is important. Is important to them. Of course if you look at the revenues generated from the project that we have proposed, you're taking over the initial eight year life. Total revenues some where in the neighbor hood of $1.7 billion. Chris O'Neal-Yates: That's Scott Hand, the president of Inco speaking with reporters in a media conference call this morning. It's part of a campaign that Inco has engaged in order to counteract some of what it calls to be misleading and incorrect information put out by the province of Newfoundland as to why there is currently an impasse in the Voisey's Bay exploration. Inco says they'd like to get back to talking about Voisey's Bay with the province - Interview with Inco President Scott Hand Key Words: "Scott Hand" president of Inco Media: CBNT-TV Reporter: Fred Hutton Date: 08/13/1998, 18:44:00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Debbie Cooper: They say what difference a day can make. In the case of Newfoundland and Inco, 14 days hasn't made any difference at all. The two are still far apart on development of Voisey's Bay. Inco president Scott Hand wants to get back to the bargaining table but without preconditions. To get that message out, he came to our Toronto studio. First of all, Mr. Hand, is there any truth to the rumor that Inco is going to be shutting down the Voisey's Bay nickel office in St. John's? Scott Hand: There is no truth to that rumor. We have an office in St. John's. We intend to keep it there. Debbie Cooper: Mr. Hand, I noticed in "The Globe and Mail" today that the company is pressing ahead with a nickel project in New Caledonia, a $50 million plus project. What impact will that have on Voisey's Bay and Inco's involvement in Voisey's. Scott Hand: First of all, Debbie, we really want to proceed with Voisey's Bay. We really are committed to Voisey's Bay, we'd really like to move there, but if we are delayed we have to look at other options to grow Inco's nickel production and of course we've got a great project in the New Caledonia in the South Pacific called Goo and we would have to work on that, which we are doing. Debbie Cooper: I also noted that the chairman of Inco, Michael Sopco was quoted in the paper today. I'll ready for you. He said, when we look at how we're being treated here in New Caledonia and at home, is a real eye-opener. Is the company saying that a third-world country like New Caledonia is more hospitable than Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Scott Hand: First of all, I don't think New Caledonia considers itself third world, whatever that is, but we're getting a very enthusiastic and supportive response from the French in the New Caledonian governments, so I guess actions speak louder than words. That what's happening. And we're very enthusiastic about the possibilities there. Debbie Cooper: Was it a direct reference, though, to Newfoundland and Labrador and the situation here with Voisey's Bay. Scott Hand: To give you an example, three years ago, we wanted to get this project started, and I'm not seeking to place any blame, and here we are today and we still haven't got a project. Three years ago, there were three projects in Australia which were talked about. They had been designed, financed, built and they're moving ahead. So it does say something about the ability to move forward with a project here in Canada. Debbie Cooper: Mr. Hand, a couple of weeks ago in an interview on "Here & Now" you said you were standing firm, you were not prepared to build a smelter and refinery in Argentia. What's the status of that today? Scott Hand: Let me stress, we would very much like to build a smelter and refinery. What we're saying is we don't see how it can be economically done today so our proposal is to begin with a project which would be a mine, mill and concentrator, $1.1 billion dollars, 1700 direct and indirect jobs, and to move with that project, to do a major underground exploration program, to prove up those reserves to move to the next stage, which if economic, would be a smelter and refinery in the province. We would like to do it. It's the fact that we have to be governed by the rules of the world marketplace. We can't control the price of nickel. We have to be governed by what's goes on in the world. Debbie Cooper: How long are you prepared to wait for the conditions Inco is looking for before Inco walks away from this? Scott Hand: I don't like to speculate on things like that. I really want to find a way to bring the project on. I regret that we are where we are. I regret that the province suspended negotiations. I'm a person that likes to solve problems, to come up with solutions but they have to be economic solutions, and that is what we all must work towards. Debbie Cooper: The province is insisting that Inco, if it went ahead with a full project, could make about 10 or 11% return on this project, and they say that would still give the company profits. What's wrong with that? Scott Hand: Well, I don't think that's correct. They're suggesting that we can invest $2.5 to $2.7 Billion, and even at a $3 nickel price, which is over a dollar higher than the price is today, we don't see that you can get a 10% return, indeed, it will be far less. It would not be an economic project . It is not one to be good for us, and if it's not economic it would not be good for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Debbie Cooper: But, you know, there's a sense that given the province history, and it really does affect the way people think here, that they're wondering -- people are wondering in the province why they should settle for less profits right now and let the company, their shareholders go after regular profits. I mean, what do you say to those people? Scott Hand: Look, I regret where we are today. I understand many of the projects in the past, but I think that even if we could, and we cannot, even if we were to go ahead with an uneconomic project, I think that would be worse for Newfoundland. So I just don't see that as a viable alternative. We really would like to build a smelter-refinery, and I regret the expectations that have been created in the province, we have to live with that but we also have to live with the dictates of the world marketplace and that's the rules we must operate under today. Debbie Cooper: Mr. Hand, did you in any way perhaps underestimate the determination of the province to stand its ground? . Scott Hand: I don't really look at it that way. I look at it in a way that we are where we are. It's unfortunate that we are where we are. What we need to do is to try and find the solution to get this project going because I don't think delay is good for -- it's not only good for Inco, it's not good for the people in the province. Debbie Cooper: Just a couple of years ago, you know, the relationship seemed to be so different. There were smiles all around between Inco officials, the premier. What word would you describe the relationship with the premier today? Scott Hand: Well, I can't speak for the premier. The premier surely will speak for himself. We want to have good relations. Debbie Cooper: But what is the relationship now? What would you characterize it as? Scott Hand: Well, I can only characterize where we are, and that is at we are willing to continue negotiations to come up with an economic project. We are not the ones that suspended negotiations. One of the reasons we're talking to a lot of people now is to try and clear the air, to make sure that people understand the facts as we see them and they can make their own judgment, but maybe it's a time now where we need a cooling off period. An maybe we can get together at some later date. Debbie Cooper: The two of you, the province and Inco, are not at the table right now. What message do you want to get out to Brian Tobin through us here tonight? Scott Hand: Well, I'm not suggesting that I need to get a message to the premier. What I want to be sure of is that anybody who cares to listen, at least listens to what we've got to say. And listens to us fairly. And then make their own judgment as to what they think is appropriate. Debbie Cooper: You know, a lot of people here are solidly behind the premier. In fact, they are demanding that he stand his ground. What room is there for movement on Inco's side? Scott Hand: All we can do, all the world nickel market should allow us to do, is to proceed with an economic project. If we can find a way to do it, that would be great. My background is to try and find solutions. That's what I'm committed to do, but we cannot proceed with something that does not make economic sense. Debbie Cooper: Thank you for joining us, Mr. Hand. Scott Hand: Thank you. --- 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: Montreal Native Friendship Center Appeal" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 23:47:32 -0400 From: Diane Gattermann Subj: Montreal Native Friendship Center Appeal UUCP email Dear Gary, I was wondering if you could post this in the upcoming issue of Wotanging Ikche. The Native Friendship Center of Montreal, Quebec, Canada has need of art supplies for a program in art therapy that it hopes to run this coming Autumn. These are not expensive, probably totaling under $200 Canadian (about $135 US), but the Friendship Center itself has no extra available cash in its budget. The program will serve members of the various Native communities located around Greater Montreal, as well as those Native People living in the city,who are looking for healing and counseling for any number of personal or community issues. The program uses techniques of art-making to help individuals and groups express themselves and come to a deeper understanding of the challenges confronting them. It has had great success in the past and in other places where healing was badly needed. Although the Friendship Center wishes to go forward with this program, budgetary constraints have prevented us from allocating monies towards vital art supplies -such as paper and various drawing implements- which is an obvious hurdle which must be overcome before we can proceed. I am appealing to the greater community for small donations towards this effort,and I hope that our project seems meritorious enough to warrant support. The Native Friendship Center of Montreal is a community development agency whose mission is to promote, develop and enhance the quality of life for Montreal's urban aboriginal population. Donations can be sent directly to the Friendship Center at, Art Supplies, Native Friendship Center of Montreal, 2001 St. Laurent Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2X 2T3 On behalf of the Native Friendship Center of Montreal, and the Greater Montreal Native Community, I thank you for your help and consideration. Yours Truly, David Mohan Cultural Coordinator --------- "RE: Traditional Plants" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 17:19:32 -0600 From: joseph c winter Subj: traditional tobacco/other plants UUCP email NEWS UPDATE - TNAT - PLEASE POST - The Traditional Native American Tobacco Seed Bank and Education Program (TNAT) at the University of New Mexico is alive and well, and still providing tobacco and other sacred plants to all people with native blood who request them. Currently we are providing tobacco, sage, cedar, sweetgrass (when we have it) and educational material on a monthly basis to over 100 member groups and organizations -- mainly Native American spiritual groups in prisons but also culture programs, health organizations, youth programs, and so on. Although our focus is still on tobacco, TNAT also collects other traditional medicinal plants that are suitable for prison inmates and other Native Americans without access to traditional plants. The positive value of providing tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweetgrass to Native Americans in prisons has been demonstrated repeatedly across the U.S. and Canada, as has the rehabilitative value of allowing them to participate in Inipi (sweatlodge) ceremonies. Recently, for example, a chaplain in one of the California prisons told us that the only medicines that are helping a terminally ill prisoner are the tobacco and other plants that we send him. This is an extreme example, but we have received many testimonials concerning the spiritual and medical value of the tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweetgrass that we provide. We therefore want to take this process on step farther, by making other traditional medicinal plants available, that are especially suited for the daily challenges confronting American Indians in the white man's prisons. We believe that Native American men and women who are attempting to return to the Red Road may benefit from traditional medicine, even (and perhaps especially) when they are in prisons and other situations with restrictions on their movement and behaviour. These traditional medicines can also be of value to other Native people and mixed bloods. We are therefore making them available to anyone with native blood who is attempting to return to his or her traditional roots, or who otherwise needs these plants. We now have over 115 medicinal plants that are available. Since the power in them is sacred, we are not "selling" them, but instead are offering them in the spirit of the Indian give-away. All have been grown or collected by volunteer members of TNAT, none of whom are being paid. Nevertheless, there are certain unavoidable expenses involved in growing, collecting, drying, and mailing these plants, such as postage and vehicle expenses, so we are asking each recipient to contribute in some small way to our program. It can be in money, stamps, artwork, crafts, other plants, volunteer time, or anything else that will help TNAT stay in operation. There are many ways that members contribute to the program; it is their organization, and it is only through their efforts that it stays in operation. There are two ways to order plants; due to the size of the catalog, which includes information as to how each plant is used, the groups using them, pictures of some of the plants, and so on, we also require a donation for it. 1. TNAT MEMBERS - TNAT member groups and individuals receive an agreed-upon amount of tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweetgrass each month, along with one additional plant packet, and an information set. The catalog is one of the information sets. All we request in return is a membership contribution of $7.50/month, or the equivalent in stamps, art, crafts, help, etc. 2. NON-MEMBERS - Other people who are interested in receiving plants, the catalog, other information, tobacco leaf, tobacco seeds, etc. can receive them by contributing $5.00 per plant packet, seed packet, or information set, or the equivalent in stamps, art, etc. As with members, we have been able to make special arrangements for people who have no way to contribute money or arts and crafts, such as by braiding sweetgrass, sending out information packets, and so on. If you are interested in ordering plants or becoming a member, please contact me at the following addresses. If you are already a member, your next month's information set will consist of the plant catalog. Non-members can receive it as explained above. Thank you for your patience in reading this. Wado! Joe Winter ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Joseph C. Winter Phone: 505-277-5853 Director, Traditional Native American Tobacco FAX: 505-277-6726 Seed Bank and Education Program email:jwinter@unm.edu University of New Mexico 1717 Lomas Blvd NE Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA http://www.unm.edu/~jwinter/tnat.htm --------- "RE: Pikuni/Blackfeet Update" --------- Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 21:22:24 PDT From: "Eagle Calf" Subj: Pikuni/Blackfeet Update PIKUNI/BLACKFEET UPDATE Hardly anything is written about the Pikuni/Blackfeet, a gentle and fierce people reputed to be one of the bravest of the Northern Tribes in America. Unlike most native peoples in the U.S. they have miraculously escaped the gross ecological and cultural devastation of the land and people. For example, situated in the middle of their mountainous land is the near pristine headwaters of the powerful Missouri river, which frightfully gathers toxic pollutants as it winds its way through ten states to the Gulf of Mexico. It is not a coincidence that there is not a single casino on Pikuni/Blackfeet lands. Likewise there is no mining, lumber or nuclear industry. It is a sad fact that environmental degradation follows industrial progress. What we have in Pikuni/Blackfeet land is primarily undegraded and unspoiled natural setting. In this day and age, how is this possible? Most people would presume that it is the climate, especially the sub zero winters, which discourages people and indus