From gars@netcom.com Wed Aug 26 01:03:29 1998 Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 19:29:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.035 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 035 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, August 29, 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 NACF, Paths-L, Innu-L & Nat-Film Lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; UUCP email; Newsgroups: alt.native,soc.culture.native Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination and/or permission for inclusion has been secured. Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A. I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people. IMPORTANT!! ----------- To all who send copywrite protected articles, make very sure you have permission from the copywrite holder (a newspaper, the AP, a magazine, an author) because a new law is now in effect that says you can be prosecuted even if there is no monetary gain. Just because a newspaper has a website where it posts some or all of its editions does not grant permission for their redistribution. Be careful and be sure you pass on the items you do with full permission. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <----<<<< >>>>----> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@netcom.com ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org Thanks to Borries Demeler all _Wotanging_Ikche_ (part a) submissions to AISESnet are archived under AISESnet and can be accessed easily by World Wide Web: 1994: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/94_dis.html 1995: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/95_dis.html 1996: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/96_dis.html 1997: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/97_dis.html This is a searchable index to the AISESnet Discussion mailing list database archive, and the keyword "Wotanging" will retrieve all issues for that year. Downloading Wotanging Ikche on AOL From: MAANG1419@aol.com Just thought I would share some info. I could not download on to a .txt because I kept getting the message (when I tried to retrieve it) that the text editor could not handle the volume. This time I downloaded it on to a .doc and when I retrieved it out of file manager, IT WORKED. "We took away their country...and it was for this...that they made war. Could anyone expect less?" __ General Philip Henry Sheridan, Western Commander 1878 "Whose voice was first sounded upon this land? The voice of the Red People who had but bows and arrows...." "What has been done in my country I did not want, did not ask for it, white people going through my country...." "When the white man comes in my country he leaves a trail of blood behind him...." "I have two mountains in that country -- the Black Hills and the Big Horn Mountains. I want the Great Father to make no roads through them...." "They made us many promises, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it." __ Chief Mahpiualuta (Red Cloud), Oglala +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! I am a mixed-blood. I have never presented myself as anything more or less than that. Except for a few thoughts shared in these editorials the words, thoughts and ideas presented in this newsletter are those of others who have been kind enough to grant me permission to share them with you. I don't always agree with the content of the articles. In fact, I include articles with which I do not agree with very much, if any. Often, the same issue will carry articles with opposing views. I leave it to the readers to find the truth and decide for themselves what messages to carry in their hearts and minds. None of the foregoing makes me special, either good or bad. It is, I believe, important that you understand all the above before reading what I now wish to say. All too often I have seen people present themselves as something they are not. This is true in person-to-person exchanges. It is even more true and pernicious on the internet. Be very wary of what you believe. In closing I wish to share a story with you. It is one I have been asked to share at festivals and other events. The Little Girl and the Snake An early spring snowfall had covered the mountains of what is now western Carolina, and a Tsalagi young girl was hurrying home through the drifts and the bitterly cold wind when she heard a voice call her. "Please help me, I'm freezing", the voice pleaded. Looking about she finally saw it came from a snake. "Please gather me up and warm me, or I will surely die", he begged. "My family needs me, and unlike you I have no way to ward off this cold that is even now killing me." The young girl replied, "You are a snake, a copper head, if I pick you up, you will bite me and I will die." The snake reasoned, "If you save my life, how could I even consider such a vile deed? I would be forever in your debt." This made sense, and the little girl felt sorry for the snake. She loved all of Creator's gifts and realized each has a purpose. She gathered the snake up and tucked him beneath her frock, against her body. She again hurried on her way, and the snake shuddered a sigh of relief. After a bit her body heat had restored the snake, and she felt him stir against her. Thinking he was merely shifting position she thought nothing of it, when suddenly he struck her and injected the deadly venom into her. "How could you do such a thing?" she cried in agony. "I saved your life! You said you would be forever grateful. Now I will perish." Looking back, as he was slithering away, the snake replied, "You knew what I was when you picked me up." =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 10:30:19 -0600 From: Keith James Subj: Dine Library Fire There was a fire at the Shiprock campus of the college on the Navajo reservation on August 12, 1998. Approximately 25% of the building went up in flames. The college library received damage from water. Water seeped through the north wall - and soaked the journals in the alphabetical section from E through J. EDUCATION DIGEST, ENGLISH JOURNAL, ENVIRONMENT, ETHNOHISTORY, etc. If you should have knowledge of persons who might want to donate some college level journals, we would be willing to receive them. Thank you. Ms. Eleanor Kuhl Library Director Shiprock Campus - DINE' COLLEGE /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Keith James, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Colorado State University Ft. Collins, CO 80523 (970) 491-6821 (970) 491-6625 (FAX) kjames@lamar.colostate.edu http://lamar.colostate.edu/~starwalk =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= 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. My good friend, Pat Talley, sent me a newspaper advertisement clipping that may be of merit to those wishing to learn Michif, Cree, Dakota, Oji-Cree, Saulteaux, Dene or Ojibwe. Each is offered on a Interactive CD-ROM in 16 Units with or without their original K.I.M kit. price is $129.95 Canadian. $89.95 US Manitoba Association for Native Languages, Inc. 211-181 Higgins Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba R3B 3G1 Telephone 204 989 6392/Fax 204 989 6396 email: mani@mb.sympatico.ca 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 Blockade Ends in Victory - UAINE Update - Another Res-school Horror Story - IBLA Moves in Favor of - Native Land Treaty Western Shoshone Sparks Controversy - National Park Proposals in Labrador - Dineh Update from Arizona - Being Indian - Navajo Marina & Aboriginal Tourism - Native Prisoner - A Little History of the - A Hundred Years Ago Big Mountain Issue - Poem: Night Owl - Chiapas School Volunteers Successful - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Lack of Will to Resolve Conflict - Conferences and Powwows --------- "RE: Mi'gmaq Blockade Ends in Victory" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 12:09:38 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Mi'gmaq Blockade Ends in Victory 1. "It's a Beginning" - Micmac barricades down (Mohawk Nation News) 2. Micmac Victory: Protest Ends (Montreal Gazette) 3. Migm'aq Barricades Down (CP) :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 14:34:02 -0400 From: Kahn-Tineta Horn Subj: MICMACS TAKE DOWN BARRICADES MICMAC PEOPLE TAKE DOWN BARRICADES: "IT'S A BEGINNING" IN GETTING FAIR SHARE OF THEIR NATURAL RESOURCES (MNN EDITORIAL) MNN. Mohawk Nation News. 18 August 1998. The barricades came down August 17th after Quebec and non-aboriginal logging firms agreed that Micmac loggers will have cutting rights to 30,000 cubic metres of timber plus 110 jobs. "It's a start" and more than was initially offered. This now takes precedence over the agreement between Quebec and band councillor Ronnie Jacques of Listiguj that was passed without the support of the people. MEDIA COMPLICITY. As the Micmac logging issue heated up over the past three weeks and Quebec issued many ultimatums demanding that Indigenous people take down their logging road blockade, the media inflamed the situation. The 1990 Oka crisis on two Mohawk Territories was often mentioned. When the Oka barricades came down, nothing was resolved afterwards? So there was little incentive to take down the Micmac barricade? The media exploited the emotional attachment of each side, Quebec and the Micmac Nation, sidetracking them from focusing on the real issue, which was negotiating an economic and political agreement to share the resources that is on unceded Micmac traditional land. The media, supported by Quebec's army of public relations advisers, lawyers, city-dwelling native consultants and the band council, served to minimize, discredit and insult Indian demands. Their strategy focused on one person they referred to as a "dissident" leader, disregarding an entire community that stood behind him. Indigenous people don't have leaders who make decisions for them. They select spokespeople who must go back to the people who make the decision. The media focused on Ronnie Jacques as the duly elected leader, while ignoring the fact that the band council system does not actually represent the Micmac, but rather represents the Canadian state. Jacques didn't even include his council when making this so called agreement, let alone the rest of the community. Of course the agreement was a fraud, and so it had to be backed with the lethal power of the state - guns and threats of death of those who resisted. INJUSTICE EXPOSED. The Micmac are guilty of exposing the injustice of the imposed colonial band council system and their masters, the state. With what's going on, how much more exposed can they be? Ronald Jacques, and his three sons make up four of the band council members that Quebec chooses to deal with and ignores the other four who support the traditional Micmacs on the logging issue. How often does the government and the public have to be told that the band council represents Quebec and Canada, that it's a dictatorship. This method of getting the government's nominees to sign agreements is a replica of the past fraudulent treaty signing. History is filled with these tactics: colonialism, apartheid of putting Indians on small unviable pieces of land, slavery of turning them into cheap labour on their own land to cut down their own resources for the multi national corporations, ethnic cleansing of those who won't go along with these schemes, germ warfare of the past, chemical weapons of dumping poisons into the river systems - the colonialists invented it all. They have plundered the Micmac Nation's possessions, snuffed out their civilization, exterminated most of them. Quebec and Canada stand on the world's stage naked and crass, because they have more money, more resources and bigger guns than the Micmac Nation. They know they can wipe them off the face of the earth in a few minutes. The Micmac have less money, less food and little means to defend themselves. Quebec's blatant corruption is phenomenal. The band council and Quebec/Canada are all part of the same political process of an artificial nation in search of its own identity. The threatened attack on the Micmac Nation using Aboriginal police forces from other territories shows how morally bankrupt the Quebec leaders and their band council system are. Is this the identity that Quebec is trying to build? Canada and Quebec's ruling class attacking a small group of people as the final act of betrayal by a ruling class that has failed its own people! The original inhabitants of this land were not Quebecois nor Canadians. There were human beings on this part of the earth before them. Canada's Indigenous people have a greater claim to this land than anybody else, and how are they treated by the state and its agents? They are oppressed, cheated, robbed of their lands, shunted aside like surplus goods and threatened with death by the Native Police Forces of the colonialists, similar to those that were set up to hunt down and kill Crazy Horse and Geronimo. Shouldn't Quebec and Canada be restoring the dignity that was once the Micmacs. Perhaps the government could make a public undertaking that more development like cutting down thousands of square miles of trees not be done, that the needs of the indigenous titleholders of the unceded land and resources, the Micmac Nation, will not be pushed aside. But, of course, this would be inconceivable, wouldn't it? Why? Because it's impractical. The Indigenous people are in the way and don't really matter anyway. Their histories, their customs, their rights are dispensable. They must be taught to sacrifice these things for the greater good of the newcomer nations who snatched everything they ever had from them. UNITED NATIONS STUDIES. Two current UN studies by Daes and Martinez support the Micmac position - that their treaties are international in scope and that they never relinquished their nationhood and their lands. The delegates to a UN conference in New York City on August 6th unanimously urged the UN to tell Canada and Quebec to back off, to negotiate and to avoid bloodshed. THIRD PARTY MEDIATION NEEDED. Because the media continues to take the focus off the issues and fuels the emotions which makes it almost impossible to negotiate, an impartial third party is needed to mediate this dispute. Quebec Minister in charge of Indian Affairs Guy Chevrette's job, career and political status is on the line. Quebec's separatist goal and concern over the forthcoming Supreme Court of Canada decision on this makes them vulnerable. Premier Lucien Bouchard said that he will not pay any attention to the decision. So why can't the Micmac say the same thing about not following a fraudulent agreement? Why can't the Minister have a dialogue with the people at the barricades on a political issue? Is it because Quebec wants to keep treating Indian people like children? In a statement to the Gazette, August 18th, Gary Metallic of the traditional Mi'gmaq Grand Council reminded Quebec that the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the legitimacy of their government. He summarized the issue, "Why do only the big companies and multinationals have exclusive and long-term access to the forest? The promiscuous relationship among big companies and political parties is keeping whites and Indians and their small companies away from the resources". He continued, "A nation can't accept being beggars on its own territory". He tried to bring this problem to the government's attention and only after blocking the road did they acknowledge the issue. The Micmac cannot accept the injustice anymore. The traditional Micmac government signed the treaties because it has the jurisdiction. "This is about constitutionally protected legal rights and about employment and dignity". He cited the findings in the Delgamuukw case that government has a duty to negotiate in good faith on aboriginal title. Supporters and people who want justice and peace are asked to remain vigilant. MNN Mohawk Nation News Box 991, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (Quebec, Canada) J0L 1B0 450-6325-7402 Fax 450-635-2413 http://www/cyberglobe.net/users/otsira Contact: Micmac Grand Council jigug@nbnet.nb.ca Canadian Alliance in Solidarity with the Native Peoples casnp@pathcom.com :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news articles may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. They are provided for reference only.] DISSIDENTS CLAIM VICTORY IN BITTER DISPUTE OVER LOGGING RIGHTS Montreal Gazette, August 18, 1998, by Alexander Norris, Paul Cherry Claiming victory in a hard-fought battle, Micmac protesters last night dismantled barricades they had thrown up across Highway 132 almost two weeks ago to demand expanded aboriginal logging rights. A cheer broke out and children scurried to one of the barricades to begin tearing it down after an emotional meeting of demonstrators endorsed a call by their leaders to end their protest. The breakthrough eases fears of an armed conflict and should allow sawmill workers from neighbouring Pointe-a-la-Croix, who have been off the job since July 23, to return to work. It came after protest leaders endorsed a deal they said they reached late yesterday with their political rivals on Listuguj chief Ronald Jacques's elected band council and the province. Before the barricades fell, protest leader Gary Metallic told supporters gathered near one of the roadblocks the deal will boost cutting rights for private Micmac logging firms, including his own, by about 5,000 cubic metres a year. As well, said Allison Metallic, an opposition band councillor and cousin of Gary Metallic who was closely allied with the protesters, the province and a local mill owner have agreed not to press charges against those manning the barricades at the Gaspe-region reserve. Shirley Bishop, spokesman for Native Affairs Minister Guy Chevrette, stressed last night that the province did not sweeten the deal that it reached with the band council last Thursday. What changed, she said, was that the Jacques administration and its political rivals on the barricades agreed among themselves late yesterday on how to divide up the spoils of that deal. In all, Gary Metallic said, the province and non-aboriginal logging firms have agreed that Micmac loggers should have annual cutting rights to a total of roughly 30,000 cubic metres of timber. Half of that would be allocated to Jacques's band council and half to private Micmac logging firms, including the one he co-owns - some of it granted directly by the provincial government and some subcontracted by non-aboriginal firms that already have acquired the cutting rights, he said. Metallic acknowledged the 30,000-cubic-metre total is a far cry from the 160,000 he originally demanded. But the deal represents a good start, Metallic told his supporters, and if Quebec, Jacques's band council or non-aboriginal logging firms don't keep their end of the deal, "we can always start Round 2" and throw up new highway barricades, he said to laughter from the crowd. Onlookers, weary after weeks of tension, expressed delight at the development. "This finished the way it was supposed to finish," said Herman Niquay, an Attikamek man from the village of Manouane who had been manning the barricades for a week. "No one wanted any violence." Micmacs from the politically divided community who didn't support the barricades agreed. "It was tense, people were losing business and everybody was anxious to know when it was going to end," said Darlene O'Connell, a non-aboriginal resident of the reserve, as her Micmac boyfriend, Talbert Morrison, nodded in agreement. "Now it's ended peacefully and I think that's what everyone wanted." Earlier, Metallic had acknowledged many protesters manning the barricades - especially the dozen or so he said had come from far-away reserves to lend a hand - were getting tired and reserve residents were becoming eager to get back to work. "They're saying, 'It would be nice to have it over with - why don't you give it a shot,'" he told The Gazette in an interview. Even among barricade activists, support for the protest had been waning. At a meeting of about 100 barricade supporters Sunday night, about a quarter of those present advocated taking them down, saying they were worried about the prospect of violence, said Niquay, who describes himself as a warrior. Such views had been rarely heard among barricade supporters at the outset of the demonstration, he said. Before the breakthrough, however, there had been growing evidence that hard-liners on the barricades were prepared to meet force with force if police tried to enforce Premier Lucien Bouchard's deadline yesterday and dismantle them before organizers could do so. A Gazette reporter allowed into the no-man's-land between police and the eastern Micmac barricade on Highway 132 at midday was led into a 1.5-metre pit, several metres south of the road, that was reinforced with wooden beams. In the bottom of the pit were 17 crude molotov cocktails - in quart-sized beer bottles apparently filled with gasoline and sealed with duct tape that had makeshift wicks inserted into them. What's more, a former member of the reserve's previous band-council administration who is close to the protesters said Micmac Warrior Society members had placed at least six propane tanks on the highway farther east of that barricades - and closer to police lines. The Warriors were prepared to shoot at them to blow them up if police move in, said the man, who spoke on condition his name not be printed. As small bulldozers, known to loggers as skidders, flattened the barricade at the west end of the reserve following the demolition of the eastern one, a group of elderly Micmac women looked on. "I hope they got what they wanted - they sure had to work hard for it," Michelle Root said. The only hitch in the demolition came when one of the bulldozers ran out of gas. A Micmac Warrior Society member emerged from bushes at the roadside to whisk away a propane tank that police feared had been booby-trapped to explode if they moved in. The warrior, who declined to give his name, insisted the tanks had been empty all along. Despite the dismantling of the barricades, Troy Jerome, a spokesman for the demonstrators, said earlier he plans to seek an injunction to overturn a band-council vote yesterday that ratified the logging-rights deal with Chevrette and the council. As a sawmill owner who stands to benefit from the deal, Jacques should have excused himself from the vote, Jerome maintained. He cited a court ruling from British Columbia, which he said backs up that principle in a dispute over a vote at another band council. Yesterday's vote saw opposition band councilors call for a reserve referendum on the deal defeated in an 8-4 vote. (Gary Metallic had promised to dismantle the barricades if Jacques agreed to such a referendum.) A separate council resolution ratifying the deal was passed by the same margin. Earlier yesterday, the arrival of uniformed Mohawk police from Kanesatake, near Oka, stirred concern among blockade activists yesterday that they might be lending a hand to the local Micmac force to dismantle the barricades. However, in a telephone interview from Kanesatake, Barry Commando, chief of the Kanesatake Mohawk Police, said that wasn't so. Meanwhile, the Quebec government had acknowledged coming under intense political pressure to take swift police action to bring the barricades down. But local Parti Quebecois MNA Marcel Landry said those calling for a police raid - people like Action Democratique leader Mario Dumont or a handful of radio open-line hosts - generally lived far away from the reserve and neighbouring town of Pointe-a-la-Croix, and wouldn't have to live with the soured relations that would be the aftermath of such a raid years down the road. "I often ask those people who say they want a quick, tough solution, if a stray bullet hit someone who was completely not involved in this, would you find that acceptable?" Last night, as Listuguj firefighters hosed the dirt and dust that remained of the blockades on Highway 132, Pointe-a-la-Croix Mayor Jacques Young said he was "very happy to see them come down." "This situation tested the patience of our community, but it ended through negotiation and peacefully." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: LOGGING CRISIS ENDS, PEACE REIGNS AT LISTUGUJ August 18, 1998, Canadian Press, by Chris Morris POINTE-A-LA-CROIX, Que. (CP) - The native logging crisis in the Gaspe is over. Mi'kmaq loggers won additional cutting rights in a deal finalized Monday night, made peace among the divided factions on the Listuguj reserve and removed barricades that had blocked a main highway and shut down a sawmill. "We lived through it," one Mi'kmaq police officer was overheard saying as he embraced protester Wendell Metallic following announcement of the agreement. Everyone on the reserve of 2,000 near the Quebec-New Brunswick border was relieved that the tense dispute over aboriginal access to timber on Crown land was settled without violence and bloodshed. At some point during the evening, members of the Mi'kmaq warrior society who had guarded the barricades and said they were ready to die defending the native loggers, quietly disappeared into the night. Bulldozers moved in and plowed away the towering piles of earth, brush and logs that had barricaded Highway 132 at two locations for three weeks. "It was worth it," said protester John Dedam as he helped clear away one of the blockades. "It's been a long battle and a lot of people didn't like it. But it paid off." It doesn't appear to have paid off in a big way for the protesters, who took on the reserve establishment, the elected band council and Premier Lucien Bouchard in a bid to squeeze more timber out of the Quebec government. The final deal approved on Monday night gives the native loggers an additional 5,000 cubic metres of Crown timber on top 10,000 previously promised them by the province. A mere 15,000 cubic metres is a far cry from the 150,000 cubic metres protesters discussed early in the dispute over cutting rights on Crown land. "The fight is not over," said Allison Metallic, a protest leader and dissident member of the band council. "We still want our fair share of the allocation and it will be up to the forest industries to open their doors wider. As a sign of good faith, well accept this offer as a short term solution." Mi'kmaq spokesman Troy Jerome said the additional timber for natives was offered by non-native forestry companies operating in the region. He said it seems the big companies might finally be willing to consider accepting native participation in the industry. "They've never hired a native logger before," he said. "There's no tension between our communities. It's not about that. I think they're just trying to hire their own people first. There aren't enough jobs for their own people." The late-night settlement came after a difficult day of closed meetings and sometimes unfriendly encounters between Mikmaqs on opposing sides of the issue. The reserve seemed split between those who supported Chief Ronald Jacques decision to accept an offer from the Quebec government worth $1.5 million and 110 seasonal jobs and the protesters who wanted to hold out for more. Even as Jerome talked to reporters on Monday night about the new deal, a native opposed to the protest roared up behind him on a noisy all-terrain vehicle, swore at him and said he was going to tear down the barricades. Encounters like that were not uncommon. But Wendell Metallic insisted after it was all over, the community was together once again. "The community is united," he said. "This is what we wanted, to unite everyone. This cause was for the people." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Another Res-school Horror Story" --------- Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 12:36:26 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Another res-school horror story in UC lawsuit. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: WOMAN TELLS OF ABUSE AT RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL Nanaimo Daily News ,Canadian Press, August 19, 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.] NANAIMO, B.C. (CP) - A woman taken to a Vancouver Island native residential school when she was six years old described 12 years of degradation, abuse and rape on Tuesday. Martha Joseph and her four-year-old sister were taken from Kispiox, on British Columbias north coast to the Alberni Indian residential school in the 1950s. She is now one of more than two dozen men and women suing the United Church of Canada and the federal government for physical and sexual abuse they suffered at the school. Earlier this year, Justice Donald Brenner ruled in B.C. Supreme Court that the church and government were liable for the actions of Arthur Henry Plint, who committed many of the assaults at the school. Plint is now serving a prison term for the assaults. The current phase of the suit will determine direct liability, then the final phase will decide costs. Joseph testified Tuesday that she left Kispiox speaking only the Gitxan language but when she returned six years later, she felt like a stranger to her own parents. "I didn't know them and I didn't care," she said. "All the feeling I had for my mum was taken away." Joseph said school staff frequently referred to her as a dirty little Indian. When she was caught stealing a wiener for her younger sister, the female cook shoved the wiener in stove, she said. School principal A. E. Caldwell had her to clean his apartment at the residential school, she said. He caught her stealing a cigarette in the apartment and threatened to send her to reform school unless she did as he asked, Joseph said. He then fondled her and forced her to masturbate him, she said. When she told the school matron what happened, she was spanked and forced to clean a set of cement stairs with a toothbrush, she said. On a subsequent visit to Caldwells apartment he raped her so violently she had to stay in the school infirmary for several weeks, Joseph said. After she recovered, the rapes continued, but she said nothing about what was happening to her, she said. "I didn't want to be called a dirty lying Indian again," Joseph said. Her sister, on her deathbed, also said she was raped repeatedly by Caldwell, Joseph said. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Native Land Treaty Sparks Controversy" --------- Date: 23 Aug 1998 17:13:43 GMT From: bghauk@berlin.infomatch.com (Brian Hauk) Subj: Native Land Treaty In British Columbia Sparks Controversy Newsgroup: soc.culture.native Native Land Treaty In British Columbia Sparks Controversy +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ from the Militant, vol.62/no.30 August 24, 1998 BY PAUL KOURI VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A new treaty negotiated by the governments of Canada, British Columbia, and the Nisga'a Tribal Council has become a flash point for opposition to Native rights, with a range of politicians claiming it will grant "special privileges" to Native Indians. B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Campbell said he opposes the deal because it is "entrenches inequality.... I think when you set up a racially based government, that is a recipe for significant long-term problems." Campbell is also calling for a referendum in which everyone in the province would vote on the treaty. Signed on August 4 at an official ceremony in Nisga'a territory, the treaty will be voted on by the Nisga'a population as well as by the parliaments of Canada and British Columbia over the coming months. Reflection of decades-long struggle While the treaty falls far short of the historical demands of the Nisga'a, the fact that Canadian authorities felt compelled to sign it reflects the decades-long struggle of the Nisga'a and battles by Native people throughout Canada for their rights. The Nisga'a were confined to a reserve of 76 square kilometers and deprived of their most basic rights under the racist Indian Act of Canada and by the Province of British Columbia at its founding in 1870. The treaty grants them title to 2,000 square kilometers, about 10 percent of their traditional lands in Northwestern British Columbia, where an estimated 8,000 Nisga'a lived off salmon from the Nass River before contact with the Europeans. Today, some 2,000 Nisga'a continue to live in the area. Despite rich resources in minerals, forestry, salmon, and a growing tourist industry, the large majority of Nisga'a are unemployed, and many live in substandard, overcrowded housing. About 3,500 Nisga'a are now living elsewhere in the province, as well as in Alaska and other parts of Canada. A minority of Nisga'a oppose the deal because it gives up claim on land they and their ancestors have always lived on. Seven of them were refused an injunction July 31 to stop the deal from going ahead. The Gitanyow, a neighboring band, also oppose the treaty because it grants the Nisga'a title to land that is presently being claimed by the Gitanyow in a court case. The treaty provides the Nisga'a with a Native-run local government, where elected Nisga'a will take over ownership and management of the land and resources as well as social services, education, policing, and the courts - within the confines of Canadian and British Columbia laws. Some $190 million in cash will be provided over 10 years. In exchange, the Nisga'a will pay taxes and recognize the terms of the treaty as the final settlement of Nisga'a aboriginal rights. The demand that Native people give up all future claims for land and resources when they sign treaties has been central to the strategy pursued by Canada's ruling rich in negotiating land claims with Native people. Native Canadians have mobilized themselves and others through petitions, rallies, road blockades, and other actions to defend their constitutionally recognized aboriginal rights. These fighters have sometimes succeeded in preventing forestry, mining, and other capitalists from encroaching on their land without their consent. In several cases they have succeeded in obtaining court injunctions to back up these demands. Rulers try to limit land claims This is of major concern to the bosses in the forest and mining industries here in this province. Most of the 140,000 Native inhabitants here have never signed treaties, unlike in the rest of Canada. In 1993, the British Columbia government, in an effort to resolve these outstanding claims, established the B.C. Treaty Commission. Although the Nisga'a have been negotiating outside that process, provincial premier Glen Clark characterized the Nisga'a treaty as "a template" for the other 51 Native Indian organizations negotiating treaties in British Columbia. About one- third of Native organizations in the province refuse to participate in the Treaty Commission Process. "The overriding concern has been whether the treaty would extinguish any possibility of the Nisga'a coming back for more," said a July 17 editorial in the big-business daily Vancouver Sun. "Based on what Mr. Clark says, it appears to provide the necessary certainty." Along with welcoming this aspect of the treaty, the media has helped fuel the racist campaign against the treaty led by the B.C. Liberal Party and the Reform Party of Canada. A July 24 editorial in Canada's major capitalist daily, the Globe and Mail, complains, "There will be things in the agreement that offend many, such as the legally sanctioned inequality of non-aboriginals on Nisga'a territory, or the huge implied costs to settle all outstanding land claims [across Canada]." The editorial also raises concern over the fact that the treaty establishes "an aboriginal justice system and racially based self-government." Michael Scott, Member of Parliament of the right-wing Reform Party of Canada for the Skeena riding, which overlaps Nisga'a territory, said his party "unequivocally opposes" the treaty, adding that it is undemocratic and divisive. Pointing to the fact that the treaty grants the Nisga'a control over the fishery on their territory, he argued that if that deal is repeated in all the land claims it will freeze out non-Native commercial and sports fishermen. The Reform Party has been at the forefront of the reactionary campaign by the Fishermen's Survival Coalition in opposing the fishing rights won by Native people in British Columbia. For many Natives salmon still plays a central role in their diet and culture, as well as a means of earning a living. Over the past month, fishermen from the Musqueam and Sto:lo Nations along the Fraser River successfully challenged attempts by the Canadian Department of Fisheries to stop them from fishing while allowing sports fishing to continue. Paul Kouri is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 2952. ---------------------------------------------------------- The Militant gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:/11/pubs/militant --------- "RE: Dineh Update from Arizona" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 11:25:34 -0700 >From: "Sacred Monument Tours" To: Subj: Dineh Update from Arizona Mailing List: Big Mountain List Dear Bob Dorman, This update was compiled from information contained in the Christian Social Action magazine of the United Methodist Church, the Independent, the Navajo Hopi Observer and the Navajo Times. The Navajo Nation now has their fourth President in the last six months and Peabody Coal is currently bulldozing Dineh and Anasazi cemeteries. We recently filmed and photographed a field containing human remains. A Kiva containing 28 Anasazi burials destroyed in late June 1998 is currently under tons and tons of dirt, destroyed by a drag line. It would take a team of Archaeologists to uncover the site. This information and supporting documentation will be sent to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance of the UN Commission on Human Rights and the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining. Please add this e-mail number to your Big Mountain list. I will be in AZ until mid-September when I will be traveling to NY to attend the UN Department of Public Information conference with a Dineh representative >from Big Mountain. I am traveling around northern and southern HPL and will be checking this e-mail number as often as possible. We need people to travel to Black Mesa to witness and support the elders on the front lines. Thank you for helping us get the word out. Marsha Monestersky ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dineh News Update WHO'S IN CHARGE OF THE NAVAJO NATION? August 1998 On February 3, 1997,the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Mr. Abdelfattah Amor of the UN Commission on Human Rights visited the Dineh in Black Mesa. This was in response to a formal complaint filed by the Dineh people in April 1997 charging the US with human rights violations perpetuated against them. The complaint to the Human Rights Commission charged that the federal laws have denied them the right to practice their religion, bury their dead, have access to water, legalized the confiscation of their livestock, kept them from gathering firewood to heat their homes in the winter, and prohibited any housing improvement. Since the Dineh people practice a land-based, site-specific religion, the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance was invited to investigate the reported human rights violations-relocation and desecration of their sacred sites-affecting their religion. Mr. Amor's mandate urges "states to exert their utmost efforts, in accordance with their national legislation and in conformity with international human rights standards, to ensure that religious places, sites and shrines are fully respected and protected." Then, over and over again, the people recounted to the Special Rapporteur as they did until late into night of the previous day to the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that were there to witness telling of their spiritual ties to the land and the destruction, both physical and spiritual, wreaked by the Peabody Coal Company, the partitioning of the land, and the relocation policies. This is the first time that the UN is formally investigating the US for violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief which are human rights. In the last nine years the Navajo people have witnessed the fall of McDonald and Haskie. On February 19, 1998, President Hale was forced to resign, found guilty of tribal ethics violations by the Ethics and Rules Committee. Vice-President Thomas Atcitty was then installed as President, voted in by the Ethics and Rules Committee. When he was installed there was no legal call for a special presidential election in 30 days or for Navajo Nation Council Speaker Kelsey Begaye to become an interim president because Hale and Atcitty were an executive team that was elected by the Navajo voters. President Thomas Atcitty steps down -- found guilty of nine provisions of Navajo tribal ethics -- Kelsey Begay serves as President for 24 hours: On Thursday, July 23, 1998, the Navajo Nation Council voted to remove President Thomas Atcitty found guilty of nine provisions of the Navajo Nation Ethics in Government Law and quickly moved Speaker Kelsey Begaye into the post and adjourned. The following day, 24 hours later, most of which Speaker Begaye admits he slept through, Navajo Nation Vice-President Milton Bluehouse challenged the Council's actions and was then moved into the position of Navajo Nation President. The premise used by Bluehouse is that "if a vacancy should occur in the Office of the President and Vice President of the Navajo Nation, the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council shall serve as President of the Navajo Nation until a special election is held." Tribal law states that the Speaker can assume the presidency only when the president and vice-president step down at the same time. Complaint lodged against current Navajo Nation President as unelected official: Currently Bluehouse in the position of President and the Vice- President he will soon appoint will both serve the Navajo people as unelected officials. And with the general election still three months away, they will continue to serve in this capacity until January 1999 when the new president and vice-president will begin their term of office. A Complaint has been filed, alleging that Bluehouse should not have been allowed to be sworn in since the presidency belongs to the Navajo electorate, stating that the president has to be elected by the people and was selected by Thomas Atcitty when he assumed presidency. And even though a special election must be called for by Navajo tribal law, there are currently no plans underway for a special election. And rather than hold a special election the Navajo Nation Council moved to AMEND tribal law to allow any vice president - whether elected OR appointed - to take over when the president steps down. In the last six months there have been four Navajo tribal presidents, three installed without an opportunity for Navajo citizens to vote in any special elections. The Navajo people have a right to elect their leadership, even if it is only for six months, which is when the next president will be sworn into office. It is unlawful for a Navajo Nation President (and Vice-President) that is not elected by the people to lead the Nation. Tribal Council delegates found guilty of Navajo tribal ethics law: The Ethics and Rules Committee on July 15, found Vandever, Council delegate of the reservations chapters of Baca and Prewitt guilty of violating tribal ethics law when he deposited more than $21,000 in tribal funds into his personal bank account without proper authorization and spent $851 in tribal funds without chapter approval, including a $500 unauthorized electrical hookup for his daughter. Such funds it is asserted can only be spent upon the consensus of the people in the chapter and no chapter official or delegate has the right to take away that power from the people - the committee stated. Vandever is not the only chapter official and delegate to be found guilty of violating tribal ethics law. Almost all of the 88 tribal council delegates have been cited for violations of tribal ethics, however, no action has been taken. Investigator for the Navajo tribal Ethics and Rules Office guilty of criminal sexual penetration of his 15-year-old daughter: Frank G. Spencer, an investigator for the Ethics and Rules Office, responsible for ending the career of Vandever and other Navajo politicians has been convicted for numerous DWI's and pleaded guilty in 1989 to criminal sexual penetration of a 15-year-old girl - his own daughter - in 1989. Spencer had intercourse six times with the older daughter, starting that summer, and tried to have sex with the younger daughter. No action has been taken yet. Pattern of violations of Navajo tribal ethics and federal law and what needs to be done: On August 30, 1996 the Arizona Daily Sun ran an article "Coal Deal". It states, Peabody Western Coal Co. and the Navajo Nation have reached an agreement to give the coal company a right-of-way to 360 acres of Indian land. Peabody will pay $6.1 million dollars for the right-of-way agreement, which will avert a shutdown of the Kayenta coal mine, Navajo Nation President Albert Hale said on Monday...The lack of the right-of-way could have resulted in a shutdown of the mine on Wednesday....About 75 percent of the Navajo Nation's operating budget is dependent on royalties from coal sales, producing 7.5 million tons of coal a year. (The reason given by OSM for shutdown was Peabody's illegal use of tribal land outside the mining permit area for over twenty years). The Navajo Nation must revisit recent agreements made with Peabody Coal and allow mining area residents an effective voice before any mining permits are approved. Peabody Coal must not be allowed to construct roads, dams and sediment ponds prior to receipt of any permit approval. Their actions as agents of the Coal mine to threaten people to relocate must stop. Federal and tribal grave protection laws must be enforced and people must be given the right to participate directly in all decisions made, including those which will allow them to preserve and protect ancient Anasazi cliff houses, Dineh and Anasazi cemeteries and sacred sites. On October 10, 1996, just prior to President Clinton signing the Settlement Act on October 11, on the eve of Columbus day, several members of the Inter-Governmental Relations (IGR) Committee sharply criticized Hale and tribal Attorney General Herb Yazzie for failing to adequately represent the Navajo Nation and prevent passage of the Settlement Act. They also said that Hale and Yazzie sold out the Navajo Nation. Bypassing the Tribal Council's review of the Agreement before it went to Congress is equivalent to President Clinton signing a bill into law that has not gone through Congress. In fact later, when the Tribal Council did review the Agreement they overwhelmingly rejected it. On October 31, 1996, a movement to recall Navajo Nation Albert Hale began. On February 19, 1998, President Hale was finally forced to resign, found guilty of tribal ethics violations by the Ethics and Rules Committee. Unfortunately it was during this time that the Dineh peoples rights were so profoundly violated. In June 1998, Peabody Coal destroyed a Kiva containing 28 Anasazi burials. Hundreds more are endangered. Isn't it time that Dineh requests for protection of these sites is granted? Neither the Navajo Nation nor the US government should be allowed to violate federal or tribal law, condoning a dual standard of fairness for non Native and Native peoples and their right to protect their land, cemeteries, cultural properties and sacred sites. In order to ensure the Dineh their ability to remain on their land as caretakers, the title to their customary use land must be returned to them by the US government, holders of Indigenous land title. Their right to inhabit and protect their land must be exercised equally and without discrimination, just as every other US citizen is entitled to. But in order to do this Congress must revisit the Surface Mining Coal Reclamation Act (SMCRA) to ensure specific language is added to include Indigenous people living in a mining permit area. A long and sordid history of violations against the Dineh people: Works of respected scholars document a shabby tale of greed, lobbying and abuse of legislative power and authority that enabled the creation and expansion of Peabody Coal Company's Black Mesa/Kayenta mining complex. Those living in the area, over 12,000 traditional Dineh were forced to relocate through actions of the Federal government in what has been described as "one of the more cynical and convoluted processes of legalized expropriation in its long and sordid history of Indian affairs." The US government has subjected the Dineh to risk beyond anything originally contemplated and beyond anything that can and should be tolerated. The forced relocation of some 12,000 Dineh was accomplished through a process that denied legitimate participation and redress to those affected. If it were conducted as an experiment on human beings it would fail the standards the government imposes on all research involving human subjects. The Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe and the US legal system must finally recognize the Dineh people as a deeply religious people, and understand that every inch of their land is sacred. And that what is most sacred must be preserved. The struggle of the Dineh people to remain on their land is necessary in order for them to retain their traditional values, souls, identity and preservation of their clan territories. The human toll they have endured is composed of heart break, disease and powerlessness as the US government's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Rangers bulldoze their ceremonial hogans, homes and sacred sites. As they continue to witness Peabody Coal Company's violation and destruction of over 4,000 ancient Anasazi cliff houses, sacred burial and ceremonial sites. The urgency is great. A drag line is presently 1/2 mile from an occupied dwelling. Fields of bones lay exposed on land Peabody is currently bulldozing. In June 1998, a Kiva containing 28 Anasazi burials was destroyed by a drag line and is now under tons and tons of dirt. More Anasazi and Dineh burials are currently endangered. The US Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining condones these activities and does not permit the Dineh people the right to protect their homes, cemeteries, sacred and ceremonial sites. This past winter Peabody gave free coal to the Hopi people and the Dineh were charged. This was at the same time that the Hopi tribe denied Dineh the right to gather firewood to heat their homes. Dineh livestock is still being confiscated by US government Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Hopi Rangers at their discretion. And the Navajo Nation does nothing to help their people. Dineh cemeteries, sacred and ceremonial sites are still being bulldozed by Peabody Coal Company during a United Nations investigation of religious intolerance being conducted by the Commission on Human Rights. It is the height of arrogance for the US Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining to allow this to happen at this time. Rather they are continuing to rubber stamp Peabody's permits while denying the Dineh people any effective participation, allowing Peabody to build roads, sediment ponds and dams prior to their approval on Hopi Partitioned Land (HPL), an area the Hopi Tribe claims is protected by a twenty-year moratorium. Threats, intimidation and trickery were the tactics employed by the US Department of Justice and unethical and immoral tribal councils in a deliberate attempt to freeze and starve the Dineh people off their land. Money promised for home repair and pledges to not impound of livestock lured some people into signing the 75-year lease agreement. But then the US government and the Hopi tribe says they do not have the funds. And Dineh livestock remains subject to seizure. In October 1997, when the UN investigation was announced, the Navajo Tribal Council announced that they would begin to conduct their own internal investigation and passed a Resolution stating that they believed that an excessive use of force was used by Navajo tribal officials to force people into signing the Settlement agreement. For 32 years, the US government has continued to impose a Bennet Freeze, denying the Dineh people all services - including road repair, housing improvement and access to water - enacted on the same day in 1966 that Peabody signed their first lease with the Navajo and Hopi tribes. Water wells are fenced and capped off denying people access to water. The only public drinking water source many have to drive more than 20 miles each way to haul water from has been shut down by US government agents, and at other times, at their discretion. School buses still travel on unmaintained dirt roads, endangering the welfare of Dineh children. Promises are made but they are always broken. If it was all a mistake why not fix it? On August 10, 1998, Arizona Senator John McCain met with Dineh residents in Kayenta, AZ during a family vacation. The Navajo Times on August 13 reports that he said: "As far as Navajo-Hopi relocation, it's time to bring closure to this issue. That includes lifting the Bennett Freeze and includes Navajos and Hopis sitting down together and resolving these issues," he said. "The legislation passed in 1974 was to take five years to implement. It hasn't worked." Clearly, this pattern of violations of Navajo tribal ethics law and their conspiracy of failure to protect the rights of their members raises grave questions about the morality of any agreements and laws passed by the former President Hale and the Navajo Tribal Council delegates. Now that some of the corruption has been exposed the US government must investigate the illegal creation and on-going practices of the Navajo and Hopi Tribal Councils and the improper passage of Public Law 93-531, the Relocation Act and the recent 75-year lease, Settlement Agreement approved by President Hale. Isn't it time that the Dineh people human and civil rights were respected? Isn't it time that the traditional Dineh and Hopi and their Religious leaders be allowed to sit down together to make an agreement? That is the only way that things can be resolved. The time must end where corrupt and unethical governmental and tribal leaders meet together to talk about the fate of the Dineh people and then enact legislation behind closed doors. It is the Indigenous standard of fairness that regards all living things as sacred and every square inch of the land as holy. It is this voice that must finally be heard. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email redorman@theofficenet.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing redorman@theofficenet.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 --------- "RE: Navajo Marina & Aboriginal Tourism" --------- Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 23:28:55 -0700 From: Robert Dorman Subj: Navajo Marina & Aboriginal Tourism Mailing List: Big Mountain List I am posting this, not because I support what this message concerns, but because of my own concern about its content. Although my own time is rather limited, perhaps some of the list readers would like to take the time to tell Navajo Tourism, the Journal of Aboriginal Tourism and the Navajo tribal officials what they can do with their multi-million dollar marina with its 120 feet wide concrete boat launch, access road, installation of drinking water wells (when the Dineh wells have been contaminated by Peabody Coal), gravel parking, restrooms, courtesy docks, and an informational kiosk. Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 00:03:04 -0600 From: clarkea@telusplanet.net Subj: JOURNAL OF ABORIGINAL TOURISM - news updates 1. Navajoland Breaks Ground for Marina 2. Navajoland Tourism web site launch 3. Journal's autumn issue revised deadlines ________________________________________________ 1. Antelope Point Marina Launch Ramp Groundbreaking Set Lake Powell/Antelope Point Marina, N.M. -- Navajo Nation and National Park Service officials will celebrate $1.1 million worth of Antelope Point Marina development here at the site on Wednesday, September 2...the public is invited. Navajo tribal officials and the NPS have been working diligently to facilitate the development of a 120 feet wide concrete boat launch, an access road, installation of drinking water wells, gravel parking, restrooms, courtesy docks, an informational kiosk, and other related development. The Navajo Nation contributed approximately $90,000 to have two drinking water wells installed, tested and capped to prepare for further development of Antelope Point Marina. Frederick H. White,Navajo tourism director, said he is pleased the multi-million dollar project is nearing reality, adding, "I'm grateful the city of Page, the National Park Service and Le Chee Chapter have demonstrated their leadership to make this happen. This exemplifies there's a lot of support to make this project a reality. The Navajo Nation is looking forward to the official opening of the south shoreline in September 1999 with other development soon to follow." In addition to the $90,000 funded by the Navajo Nation, a grant issued by the Arizona State Parks through the State Lake Improvement Funds, was awarded to the city of Page on behalf of the National Park Service for $794,800 to begin Phase 1 of the boater facilities located within the boundaries of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The National Park Service will also fund $300,000 for improvements to the access road into the site. Superintendent Joseph F. Alston said "the National Park Service is anxious to see the actual construction of facilities for the Antelope Point Marina. Our goal for this marina is to not only provide additional boater facilities on Lake Powell, but also honour a long standing commitment to provide economic development opportunities for the Navajo Nation along the southern shoreline." _____________________________________________________ 2. NOTE: Navajoland Tourism now has a web site at http://www.navajoland.com For further information -- Roberta John, public information officer, The Navajo Nation, tel (520) 871-6544 fax 871-7381. The Journal's autumn issue will feature articles on Navajoland Tourist Study, Navajos Turning Hogans Into B&B's, and Indian Culture, at Risk at Home, Finds Fans Abroad. _____________________________________________________ 3. Journal of Aboriginal Tourism -- Autumn Issue: due to enhanced printing deadlines we have been able to extend the closing deadline for editorial submissions to September 4; and the closing deadline for advertising space reservations to September 11; and the closing deadline for advertising material to September Distribution of 5,800 copies will be on September 25. Editorial features will highlight financing and funding of aboriginal tourism projects as well as training and human resource development. Other editorial features will have book and music reviews as well as Northern Ontario's Homeland Tour; opening of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum; native tourism initiatives for this winter in New Brunswick. Editorial submissions are welcomed! Journal of Aboriginal Tourism POBox 1240, Station "M" Calgary, Alberta T2P 2L2 CANADA telephone (403) 261-3022 facsimile (403) 261-5676 email: tourism@istar.ca ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email redorman@theofficenet.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing redorman@theofficenet.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 --------- "RE: A Little History of the Big Mountain Issue" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998 07:49:33 -0700 From: Robert Dorman Subj: A Little History of the Big Mountain Issue Mailing List: Big Mountain List >From time to time I get requests for background information on the Big Mountain Dineh relocation issue. This article seems to give pretty good coverage of that, so I am passing it along to those of you new to the list. It was forwarded to me by Condor952@aol.com, who received it from someone else, but unfortunately, the original web page is not referenced nor was the map included. However, an excerpt of the article was found at the Orion website at http://www.orionsociety.org/excerpts.html. From: Condor952@aol.com Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 14:35:27 EDT Subj: FW: Black Mesa Syndrome- Indian Lands, Black Gold Orion Magazine Summer 98 The Black Mesa Syndrome: Indian Lands, Black Gold by Judith Nies Black Mesa is not black and it is not a mesa. It is four thousand square miles of ginger-colored plateau land in northern Arizona, a distinct elevated landmass the shape of a bear's paw. On a map, the Black Mesa coal field looks like an inkblot on a Rorschach test, following the contours of the Pleistocene lake it once was. Over thousands of years the vigorous forests and plant life embraced by the lake decayed into a bog which in turn hardened to coal--some twenty-one billion tons of coal, the largest coal deposit in the United States. Until 1969, the coal lay untouched and so close to the surface that the walls of the dry washes glistened with seams of shiny black. With a long-term value estimated as high as $100 billion, it lies completely under Indian reservation lands, for Black Mesa is also home to some sixteen thousand Navajos and eight thousand Hopis. In 1966, the Hopi and Navajo tribal councils--not to be confused with the general tribal population--signed strip-mining leases with a consortium of twenty utilities that had designed a new coal-fired energy grid for the urban Southwest. Under the umbrella name WEST (Western Energy Supply and Transmission), the utilities promised more air conditioning for Los Angeles, more neon lights for Las Vegas, more water for Phoenix, more power for Tucson--and for the Indians, great wealth. Today, thirty years after the strip mining for coal began, the cities have the energy they were promised, but the Hopi and Navajo nations are not rich--that part of the plan proved ephemeral. Instead, Black Mesa has suffered human rights abuses and ecological devastation; the Hopi water supply is drying up; thousands of archaeological sites have been destroyed and, unbeknownst to most Americans, twelve thousand Navajos have been removed from their lands--the largest removal of Indians in the United States since the 1880s. In the following pages, I want to untangle what went wrong on Black Mesa. When you look at the map of Arizona on this page, you see a series of lines radiating out from the Black Mesa coal field. Each line represents the enormous political and economic powers that have shaped the contemporary reality of this region. And yet, for twenty-five years, the American press, with few exceptions, has presented the Black Mesa story as a centuries-old land dispute between two tribes. The story that has not yet emerged is about the syndrome in which transnational corporations take and exploit indigenous lands with the cooperation of host governments. I want to hold up Black Mesa as a domestic example of that global syndrome, and I want to ask why our free press has largely been unable to tell the truth about Black Mesa. Chester Arthur's Square Surrounding the ink blot of the coal deposit on the map above is an almost perfect square of land--one cartographer's minute by one cartographer's minute--drawn by President Chester Arthur in 1882. His Executive Order created a reservation for Indians as the government might "see fit to settle therein." Why would Arthur, a New Yorker and a product of political patronage, give a land grant three-fourths the size of Connecticut to a population that consisted of eleven hundred Hopis, three hundred Paiutes, and a few hundred Navajos? The answer has far less to do with safeguarding Indian residency than with timber, copper, and coal. Chester Arthur was a rich man with rich tastes and no stranger to the alchemy of transforming government service into economic wealth. As far as we know, he never visited the West, but he was knowledgeable about Western railroad charters, land grants, and mineral exploration leases. He understood the trick of transforming wilderness into public domain lands, and then into prospecting leases. He understood how business and government worked hand-in-glove. In those days, land development companies were frequently subsidiaries of the railroads, and several years before the transcontinental railroad reached Arizona in 1881, the U.S. government had already explored, surveyed, and mapped the mineral riches of the Arizona Territory. Also in advance of the railroads, the government sent the Army to subdue the "savage tribes," such as the Navajos in the north and Apaches in the south, who blocked access to Arizona's resource-rich lands. "The only minerals discovered in this region are coal and copper," wrote surveyor A. M. Stephen in 1879 to his superior, General Howard, who also held the title of Indian Inspector. "The coal deposit is lying between Oraibi and Moenkopi," the report continues. "The only white people...are about twenty families of Mormons at MoenKopi [sic] and Tuba City." Stephen accompanied his survey with a map of the coal deposit location. Arthur understood immediately the implications of the map. If the Mormon families were allowed to continue to settle and improve their lands, they would, according to the provisions of the Desert Lands Act of 1877, be able to buy 160 acres at $1.25 per acre. They would also gain title to whatever mineral resources lay beneath those acres. But if the same lands were removed from the public domain and designated as Indian reservation lands they would no longer be open to white settlement. On December 17, 1882, Arthur signed the Executive Order Reservation of 1882 "for the use and occupancy of the Moqui [Hopi] and such other Indians as the secretary of the interior may see fit to settle therein." By this act, Arthur kept control of the mineral resources of the region, and set them aside for another day. The West, American myth tells us, was a place where there was real freedom--where you came with what you could carry and you made a life from it. The government was meddlesome, an intrusion, an invasion into the individual resourcefulness of the Western pioneers. That is the myth. In reality, the government and big business made it all happen. John Boyden and the Peabody Leases Chester Arthur's square remained untouched for seventy-five years, into the 1950s, when a Utah lawyer named John Boyden found a way to transmute the coal of Black Mesa into gold. A bishop in the Mormon Church and a former U.S. attorney, Boyden's dapper, modest appearance masked a fierce ambition and the hardball skills of a trial attorney. Beginning in 1957, he began to craft the legal, political, and economic strategy which would open up the coal deposit of Black Mesa to major energy development. As a first step in his plan, Boyden needed the cooperation of the tribal council of one of the Indian tribes on Black Mesa. He approached the Navajo, who turned him down. He then went to the Hopi, whose leaders were bitterly fictionalized between traditionals and progressives. Lacking a governing tribal council since 1938, the Hopi had no legal entity to hire Boyden, but as a law partner of the man who wrote the 1946 Indian land claims law, Boyden was knowledgeable about both tribal council politics and Bureau of Indian Affairs policies. Accompanied by the government Indian agent, he set about traveling to all the Hopi villages, and talking to all the Hopi men who spoke English and who had been to government boarding schools. In the process, Boyden created a new tribal council. Boyden was controversial from the minute he assumed his new role. One of his first actions was to introduce a bill in Congress creating a special court to allow the Hopi to sue the Navajo to clear title for the coal lands. Thousands of Navajos had settled on Black Mesa, and no energy company would take a chance on a lease that could be contested. Of the bill, Hopi leader Dan Katchongva wrote prophetically in 1956, "If [this bill] becomes law, it will destroy our Hopi way of life, religion and law.... The majority of the Hopis are against him as a lawyer." The traditional Hopi were furious with Boyden's role and saw his presence as an intrusion from Washington. Caleb Johnson, a Hopi student at Princeton Theological Seminary writing to the Senate on behalf of traditional Hopi priests, made the astute observation that leadership of the Hopi and the boundary issue were linked. He added that leadership had a religious component and that the man Boyden had chosen as Hopi chairman was not respected. "The chairman of the tribal council," he wrote, "is a man who does not have a good record and has been convicted of a felony in a Federal court." Others opposed the bill too, including the U.S. Attorney General William Rogers, on grounds that Indian land issues and reservation boundaries derived from treaties that were outside American property law. But in 1962, the special court did clarify title to the subsurface mineral estate and divided the surface rights. The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, and in 1966 the leases were signed. At the top of the 1882 boundary (see map) are two irregular rectangles. These represent some sixty-five thousand acres leased by the Hopi and Navajo tribal councils to the Peabody Coal Company of Kentucky, the largest coal producer in the United States. The leases were signed secretly by the tribal councils and the company in 1966, with no larger tribal referendum on either side. The Navajos tried to block the mining equipment by setting up blockades in the road. The Hopi priests eventually sued their own tribal council, claiming the leases were illegal because they had been signed without a quorum. John Boyden remained the Hopi's lawyer for thirty years. Although he presented himself as a humble country lawyer working for the Hopi pro bono, his fees--paid by the government out of monies held in trust for the Hopi--totaled $2.7 million, a figure revealed only after a Freedom of Information suit filed by the Native American Rights Fund. Kennecott Copper and Strip Mining Today at Black Mesa, buckets the size of a four-story building peel the topsoil off in mile-long strips--a technique called strip mining. Instead of burrowing into the earth to find the mineral seam, the land over the mineral deposit is removed. Bulldozers shape the underlayers into enormous slag heaps, workers dynamite the exposed mineral bed, and steam shovels load the coal into massive transport trucks. By the time the coal is extracted, the land has turned gray, all vegetation has disappeared, the air is filled with coal dust, the groundwater is contaminated with toxic runoff (sulphates particularly), and electric green ponds dot the landscape. Sheep that drink from such ponds at noon are dead by suppertime. In 1966, Kennecott, an international mining company seeking to diversify, bought Peabody Coal. Four years later, John Boyden moved his law offices to the tenth floor of the Kennecott Building in Salt Lake City, overlooking the Mormon Temple. As Boyden leveraged this land issue into a huge case, he violated a basic tenet of legal ethics: he represented two sides in the same case, working simultaneously for the Hopi tribe and for Peabody Coal. Although his former partners maintained it was "a mistake" that Martindale Hubbell, the national legal directory, listed Peabody Coal as one of Boyden's firm's clients, legal scholar Charles Wilkinson published an article in a 1996 issue of Brigham Young University Law Journal reproducing Boyden's correspondence with both parties. When Boyden wrote to the Peabody vice president as a Peabody attorney, he addressed him as "Dear Ed"; when he wrote to him as a Hopi attorney, he called him "Dear Mr. Phelps." Not surprisingly, Boyden had not done particularly well for his Hopi client in the lease provisions: low royalty rates (the two tribal councils split a royalty rate of thirty cents a ton at a time when the government royalty rate for coal extracted on public lands was $1.50 a ton), few environmental safeguards, and no provisions for renegotiation. The worst, however, was the provision that allowed Peabody to pump four thousand acre-feet (approximately a billion gallons) of water a year to run a coal slurry line. The Black Mesa Coal Slurry Pipeline The dotted line on the map that extends 273 miles from Black Mesa to the Mohave Generating Station represents this slurry line, the only operating coal slurry line in the United States. A slurry line, for those who have never seen one, operates like a giant garbage disposal, grinding huge chunks of coal into nugget-size pieces through enormous steel blades, mixing them with water, then sluicing the batter through a pipeline. For this operation, Peabody Coal has pumped a billion gallons a year for almost thirty years from the Black Mesa aquifer, the sole water source for the Hopi and Navajo peoples of the region. In these three decades, groundwater levels have dropped, wells and springs have dried up, and the entire ecology of Black Mesa has changed: plants have failed to reseed and certain vegetation has died out. "The water has become more valuable than the coal," exclaimed Hopi Marilyn Masayesva at the government's environmental hearings. "The water is priceless. No amount of compensation can replace the source of life for the Hopi and Navajo people. It is absolutely immoral and irresponsible for the federal government to support a continuation of mining activities." Ms. Masayesva was one of hundreds of Hopi and Navajo who testified in 1989 about the negative effects of mining on their lands and against the government's extension of the mining permit. Thousands of years of water had been used up in a few decades. The government's environmental impact report concluded, however, that water "was outside the scope of their study" and the mining continued. One cold March day in 1990, I visited the office of Black Mesa Pipeline, Inc. A dusting of snow still lay on the ground. In the distance, a weak sun illuminated the drag lines and I glimpsed cone-shaped piles of coal waiting to be fed into the conveyer belt. Lowell Hinkins, the operations manager, assured me that there was no connection between the Indian wells going dry and the operations of the slurry. The pipeline wells went a thousand feet deeper than the shallow wells of the Hopi and Navajo, he told me. He also confirmed that, yes, "Black Mesa is the only operating coal slurry line in the United States. The others are being built in China and Russia." I had just had seen a company video that claimed coal was bringing economic prosperity and the "finer things of life" to the Hopi and Navajo. But it is hard to define prosperity. The effects of coal slurry pipelines on water tables are known, and in all-white communities where such pipelines have been proposed, citizens have had enough political voice to defeat them. The larger truth about the Black Mesa pipeline must include the fact that it was built in part as an experiment--to test and improve technology primarily intended for other countries, like China and Russia. The Bechtel corporation had designed the pipeline in conjunction with a new design for an electrical generating station--the Mohave Generating Station of Laughlin, Nevada--which was also a test of technology for dewatering coal slurry. The owners of the new plant were Los Angeles Water and Power, Southern California Edison, Nevada Power (Las Vegas), and the Salt River Project (Phoenix)--all members of the energy consortium, WEST. In terms of population served by the utilities, their combined political power represented seven state governors, fourteen senators, and at least forty-eight congressmen. The Mohave Generating Station When the Mohave plant was completed, Bechtel's company magazine saluted it as "1.5 million megawatts for the West." Twenty-eight years later The Los Angeles Times observed, "The Mohave Generating Station is the biggest uncontrolled source of sulfur dioxide in the Southwest--a prime contributor to the gaseous haze that clouds visibility over the Grand Canyon." Bechtel, of course, is famous for its multibillion dollar projects, and for shaping the politics and technology of the markets in which it does business. With forty thousand employees, Bechtel has built the three largest government-funded projects in U.S. history--the Hoover Dam, the Central Arizona Project, and the Central Artery Project in Boston. When the Mohave plant opened in 1970, it raised new questions of strategic planning. A second plant, the Navajo Generating Station near Page, also engineered by Bechtel, was due to go on line in 1974. The two plants combined would require twelve million tons of coal a year for at least fifty years. Black Mesa would become home to the largest strip mine in the United States. What to do about the thousands of Navajos who lived in the way of the mining? John Boyden was up to the challenge. He went back to Congress with new legislation to divide Black Mesa and give almost a million acres to the Hopi. By transferring land to the Hopi, who lived far away from the strip mining, Navajo residents would become trespassers on the newly designated Hopi land, and the cost of removing them would be borne by the government. To frame the issue for Congress, Boyden hired a public relations firm that created a largely fictional range war between the cattle-ranching Hopi and the sheepherding Navajo. In 1974, Congress, somewhat distracted by Watergate, passed Boyden's bill and granted the Hopi 900,000 acres. The law also provided for the physical removal of the Navajo (by the Indian Relocation Commission), but the problem, of course, was that there was nowhere for the Navajo to go. Congress had no plans for alternative lands, no provisions for housing or health care or social services to acclimate the Navajo to an urban environment. Suicide and alcoholism became endemic among the displaced Navajo, but by the 1980s, when the Navajo and their supporters came to Congress to protest their situation, they had a hard time finding listeners. Peabody Coal had a new parent, a private holding company which included Bechtel. And by then, Bechtel was entrenched in government: Bechtel's former president George Schultz was Secretary of State; its former legal counsel, Caspar Weinberger, was Secretary of Defense; and former director of Bechtel Nuclear, Ken Davis, was Assistant Secretary of Energy. The president of Peabody Coal served on Reagan's Energy Advisory Board. The Navajo Generating Station at Page While the Mohave Generating Station is a model of bad technology in the service of terrible land use, the Navajo Generating Station, at the Arizona-Utah border, is a case study of a political process out of control. As soon as the Mohave plant was completed, Bechtel moved its construction crews to the tiny town of Page, Arizona, overlooking the scenic Glen Canyon Dam, to begin construction ona second electrical generating station--another giant at 2,250 megawatts, the second largest utility station in the U.S. Somebody named it the Navajo Generating Station, a name rich in irony, since fewer than half of Navajo families have electricity. The U.S. government was the single largest owner. The Department of the Interior needed the electricity to run a federal water project, the Central Arizona Project (see map), locally known as CAP. CAP is a concrete highway for water--infrastructure that lifts the waters of the Colorado River over three mountain ranges in order to carry it to Phoenix and Tucson. This engineering feat involves siphons, tunnels, dams, reservoirs, and fifteen electrically powered pumping stations. "With enough money, anything is possible," an engineer told me when I asked about the economic rationale for growing crops by means of the most expensive subsidized water in the world. The power to run the fifteen pumping stations comes, of course, from Black Mesa coal. The political issues raised by the Navajo Generating Station are unique. The majority owner of the plant is the Bureau of Reclamation in the Department of the Interior. Within the same interior department is the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the agency legally entrusted with safeguarding Indian lands and resources. Questions immediately arise: How can the U.S. government exercise its trusteeship responsibility toward Indians when one of its agencies is benefiting directly from the coal leases that it encouraged the Indians to sign, negotiated by lawyers that it had appointed? Did the BIA exercise its fiduciary responsibility in negotiating the leases on Black Mesa? Who reviews conflicts of interest within the government? In an era of transnational corporations operating all over the globe, the methods of separating indigenous peoples from their lands and natural resources have outstripped the capacity of any agency or nongovernmental organization to monitor or regulate. In what forum can we debate and redirect such dealings, which have such profound effects on life itself? The line on the map that runs from Lake Havasu south to Tucson represent 335 miles of the most expensive water in the world. Phoenix and Tucson are located in the Sonoran desert, the hottest desert in North America, and the day I toured the control room of the Central Arizona Project, in August 1991, was a typical summer Phoenix day--113 degrees in the shade. I chatted with the operations manager, a retired Navy man who told me how they had built special bridges for wildlife crossings, fenced the aqueduct so that animals wouldn't drown, and implemented other engineering feats of environmental sensitivity. Looking at the pulsing computer screens and the operators who, with a few key strokes, could release millions of gallons of water from the Colorado River into grapefruit orchards and cotton fields hundreds of miles away, I wondered if it wouldn't be more sensible to farm in regions with a better water supply--like rain. The Line That Isn't There The line that isn't on the map is formed by a barbed wire fence: the new boundary of the Hopi reservation follows no known topographical feature. Shaped a bit like a thumb, it was drawn by John Boyden in 1974, the same year that the Navajo Generating Station came on line and the same year that his little-noticed bill passed Congress. The Hopi Land Settlement Act divided Chester Arthur's 1882 reservation between the Hopi and Navajo. Boyden drew the line so that it gave approximately nine hundred thousand acres to the Hopi, who did not live over the coal, and relocated, at taxpayer expense, the twelve thousand Navajos (and sixty Hopi) who did. The Hopi Land Settlement Act also renamed the newly delineated land as the Hopi Navajo Joint Use Area, Hopi Partition Land, and Navajo Partition Land. The final version was introduced by Utah Congressman Wayne Owens (who, when defeated in reelection, became a partner in Boyden's law firm). In Los Angeles, air conditioners hummed. Las Vegas embarked on an enormous building spree to make gambling a family vacation. Phoenix and Tucson metastasized out into the desert--building golf courses and vast retirement developments with swimming pools and fountains. Few realize that much of the energy that makes the desert "bloom" comes from the Black Mesa strip mines on an Indian reservation. Even fewer know the true costs of such development. The Syncline and Roberta Blackgoat Over thousands of years the Black Mesa coal field was subjected to tectonic pressures and extrusions of molten rock hundreds of feet below the surface that caused the coal bed to fold and curve. Geologists call the curvature that comes close to the surface a syncline. (On the map, a syncline is indicated by a wavy line with a slash through it.) Roberta Blackgoat lives over a syncline. A Navajo who has lived on Black Mesa all her life, Roberta's cosmology tells her that she is inseparable from the land that surrounds her. When each of her children was born she buried his or her umbilical cord in her sheep corral to connect them to the land from which they come and the sheep who support them. (With sheep, the older Navajos say, "you've always got food on the table and clothes on your back.") When I visited her in February of 1991 I asked about the new boundary line and her view of the forces that dictated her relocation from land her family had lived on since the 1860s. "The coal," she answered with a shrug. She was sitting at her loom in the back of her hogan weaving. I sat on a sheepskin spread over a dirt floor. I had placed my tape recorder next to her loom. As we talked she repeatedly referred to the altar. Finally I asked, But where is the altar? Here. Here, she answered impatiently. Eventually I understood that the altar was the spot where she was sitting, the hogan itself. When I looked at the frame, I saw large logs, all placed in the direction they grew and in relationship to the sacred mountains of Dinetah, the land of the Navajo. A hogan, Roberta explained, is sung into place. Is there also a carpenter? I wanted to know. She shook her head. No carpenter. Songs. A ceremony brings a hogan into being. As we talked, I began to understand that a hogan replicates the Navajo universe in miniature, and that all human activity is directed towards remaining in balance with the earth and universal forces. Many Navajo people who move into the city often build a hogan in their backyards as a place to reestablish spiritual connection with the earth and to bring their lives into balance. Roberta, whose grandmotherly appearance belies her forceful, astute leadership of the Big Mountain resistance, described to me a paradigm in which the earth is a sacred and living organism, in which human beings and the earth exist in a reciprocal relationship. This reciprocity is the foundation for her life. We are the people of the earth's surface, she told me, and no more important than the winged creatures or four-legged beings. The day before, as we rode to Keams Canyon, she tried to translate this concept into Anglo terms. The church is everywhere, she said. Land is the repository for religion, economics, sociology, history, science. And that is why she couldn't leave her land. And what about the coal, I asked, in the hogan. The shuttle stopped. Roberta spoke very clearly. "The coal is the liver of the earth," she said. "When you take it out, she dies." It was my turn to sit in silence. Separated by only five feet of space, we were occupying two different models of reality. I had been taught that land was a kind of primal flooring for human beings, of value only when prodded into productive use. Roberta was describing the earth as the living host for all life. She was talking about earth's sustaining properties in a way that we, educated in the world of Western science, have only recently begun to call the biosphere. How does one calculate the true costs of extinguishing such a complex culture? True Costs and New Stories Divide and conquer has a long history in America as a technique of removing Indians from their lands, a situation that is being replicated by transnational corporations throughout the world. As former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali observed about the struggles of indigenous peoples, "Cultures which do not have powerful media are threatened with extinction. The instruments of mass communication remain in the service of a handful." Over the past twenty-five years over twelve thousand Americans have been removed from their lands. Over a billion dollars of taxpayers' money has been spent to accomplish this human rights abuse. Yet this story has never made it onto the six o'clock news. Today's news must be presented simply, and dramatically--with plot, character, scene, motivation. A complex story that blends economics, politics, anthropology, history is hard to tell in our free press. And a story that examines fundamental corporate activities is hard to tell in a corporate-owned media. As recently as 1996, The New York Times called the struggle between the Hopi and Navajo "a centuries-old tribal dispute." In April 1997, The Boston Globe devoted thirty-three column inches to a story on the Hopi and Navajo boundary issue without once mentioning the word "coal" or stating that the largest strip mine in the United States operated on those same lands. In February 1998, The Los Angeles Times presented a new spin: it is better to keep polluting than to deprive the Indian tribes of their coal royalty checks. Cleaning up the Mohave plant (actually it is the Navajo plant that is the prime polluter) "pits the interests of the environment against the economic needs of some of the nation's poorest citizens--the Native Americans of the Southwest." The implications of that debate, as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power general manager told us, provide "a sneak preview of the dilemmas to come as we try to grapple with the implications of global warming and air pollution in developing nations that depend on the energy industry." Hopefully, that false syllogism will be refuted when the real story of how the Mohave plant was developed finds a public. To date, the news of events at Black Mesa has been shaped into the preferred narratives of corporate America--stories of corporate might grappling with economic progress, technological innovation, entrepreneurial capitalism, the settling of the American West, making the desert bloom. In the age of global capitalism in which corporations have bought the media, it is not surprising we see few stories about effective political resistance. Journalists look for a smoking gun in the corporate energy development on Black Mesa and, finding none, abandon the story. It is difficult to tell a story of legal theft, a story in which corporations have the political power to pass laws. But as the Navajo and Hopi have tried to explain, Black Mesa, once destroyed, will not come back. And we are all impoverished by the forces operating at Black Mesa, which degrade both culture and nature, and offer us instead a pseudo-reality--a version of events that prevents clear analysis and creative thinking. We need new tools, new narratives, new stories--including stories about an economics that involves morality, an economics that helps us create the world we want to inhabit. A year ago a delegation of Hopis and Navajos traveled from Arizona to the London stockholders meeting of Hanson's Ltd. (which had purchased Peabody in 1991) to protest the company's role in the devastation of Black Mesa lands and water. Lord Hanson called his security guards to throw the visitors out, but not before The Daily Telegraph reported their presence and took a photograph of Roberta Blackgoat offering a prayer. The prayer, she said, was crucial. Judith Nies is the author of Seven Women: Portraits from the American Radical Tradition (Viking l977) and Native American History (Ballantine l997). She is a former congressional speechwriter and assistant secretary of environmental affairs for the state of Massachusetts. She writes on environment and politics. If you'd like to order these (and other) books, please visit The Orion Society Bookstore. This essay was published in the Summer 1998 issue of Orion. To order a copy of this issue, please visit The Orion Society Marketplace, call (413) 528-4422, write The Orion Society, 195 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230, or e-mail us at orion@orionsociety.org. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email redorman@theofficenet.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing redorman@theofficenet.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 --------- "RE: Chiapas School Volunteers Successful" --------- Date: 8/21/98 3:34:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: mexicopeace@igc.org (Mexicopeace) Subj: Chiapas School Volunteers Successful! UUCP email For Immediate Release - Friday, Aug. 21, 1998 * School construction volunteers safely leave Oventic, Chiapas * Participant interviews @ 1 pm - Sat., Aug. 22 and Mon., Aug. 24. * Oventic school set to open this fall; volunteers will return. High in the mountains of the Mexican southeast, a bus loaded with "tourists of conscience" passed federal military checkpoints without incident early this morning after spending two weeks at the controversial school construction site in Oventic Aguascalientes II, Chiapas, MEXICO. Mexican and international volunteers report rapid progress on the construction of the first autonomous, indigenous junior high school in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas. Despite daily overflights by military helicopters and aircraft; despite the detention, deportation, and expulsion of the project's international director; and despite encirclement by government sponsored paramilitary units; the dream of education for Indian youth has proved very difficult to extinguish. The indigenous rebels insist that their school will open this fall! "We passed the military checkpoint at San Andres where Peter Brown was snatched last month at about 9:00 in the morning," telephoned a school construction participant. "It's a long ride to Mexico City, but we do not expect any problems and the school's really almost ready to open!" Tensions were high when the group entered Chiapas two weeks ago to continue a two year cultural and educational exchange effort; however the group's non-provocative public stance favoring indigenous education seems to have successfully diffused some tension. "Our primary concern is for the physical safety of the indigenous and non-indigenous Mexican students, teachers, and families who are working so hard to open the school at Oventic," commented project director Peter Brown whose Mexican lawyers are preparing a court challenge to his deportation. "We hope that concerned individuals will return with us to Chiapas the first week of October and continue their generous financial support of the school construction effort." Saturday, Aug. 22, 1998 is the eight month anniversary of the massacre of 45 Maya peasants at Acteal, a small Chiapas community near the Oventic school site. At 1 pm that day participants in the school construction effort will hold their monthly vigil in front of San Diego's Mexican consulate to commemorate the massacre and welcome home the first volunteers from the most recent school construction effort. Other volunteers will return to San Diego Monday , Aug. 24 and will meet supporters at 1 pm in front of the Continental Airlines baggage claim. For additional information: Peter Brown (619) 206-8162 Leticia Jimenez / Robert Herr (619) 233-4114 Chiapas Schools Construction Teams / San Diegans for Peace in Mexico c/o Craftsman's Hall AFL-CIO, 3909 Centre Street, San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 232-2841 FAX (619) 232-0500 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SUPPORT THE SCHOOL AT OVENTIC BY SIGNING AND RETURNING THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT: Together we say, let the children learn and let the teachers teach in Oventic, Chiapas, MEXICO! We, the undersigned, support the peaceful efforts of the indigenous communities of Chiapas, MEXICO to construct their first, autonomous junior high school and urge the Mexican government to respect the school at Oventic. In addition, we seek firm guarantees for the safety of all the indigenous and non-indigenous teachers, students and families working to open the school at Oventic this fall. Finally, we denounce the harsh detention and deportation of San Diego public school teacher Peter Brown who is permanently expelled from Mexico for the crime of building a school at Oventic, Chiapas, MEXICO. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To express your support send your name, address, ZIP, country, phone, and email address(s) to: or to... Chiapas Schools Construction Teams / San Diegans for Peace in Mexico c/o Craftsman's Hall AFL-CIO 3909 Centre Street San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 232-2841 FAX (619) 232-0500 http://www.igc.org/mexicopeace/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A. To receive updates about the junior high school at Oventic Aguascalientes II at the rate of two three messages every month, please send the following message to mexicopeace@igc.apc.org: subscribe maya penpals B. To receive update about the junior high school at Oventic Aguascalientes II about once a month, please send the following message to mexicopeace@igc.apc.org: subscribe mexicopeace C. If you do now wish to receive information about schools in Chiapas, please send the following message to mexicopeace@igc.apc.org: unsubscribe mexicopeace +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chiapas Schools Construction Teams Chanobjunetik ta Chiapas Jkoltavanejetik ta Smeltzanel Equipos de construccion para escuelas en Chiapas Craftsmen's Hall AFL-CIO 3909 Centre Street San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 232-2841 FAX (619) 232-0500 http://www.igc.org/mexicopeace Subj: A Tragedy Date: 8/21/98 11:06:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: Anoniw PLEASE HAVE THIS IN YOUR NEWS AND ASK THAT ANY ONE THAT HAS INFORMATION ON ANY THING LIKE THIS HAPPENING IN THERE AREA. PLEASE GET HOLD OF THERE NEWS PAPER AND GET A COPY MAILED TO ME. I have a long hard fight ahead. Getting a law changed it going to take all the help I can get. As you may possibly be aware, three children died on Sunday afternoon, August 9th, when vertical wall of a clay pit in Santa Rosa County Florida, collapsed on them as they sought shelter from a thunderstorm. I have lived across the road from this clay pit for approximately twelve years and am well aware that this area is a magnet to children. The following day in the Pensacola News-Journal, the owner of the clay pit stated that he had never received any complaints of children playing in the pit. Surely he must be aware that there is not much damage that children can do to a clay pit and that if there was, he would be the one filing the complaint. Although there was a gate installed on the access drive several years ago, it was a flimsy pasture gate and an individual who was determined to gain access, simply pushed it over with his vehicle. The gate was bent back into shape and closed again....and again, not two weeks later, someone simply drove right through it. Since then, there has been no attempt made to repair or replace it. Other than that gate, there is nothing else to restrict entry into an area that encompasses approximately fifteen to twenty acres. Also; prior to hunting season, there are many hunters who utilize this site to sight in their rifles and for target practice. The pit has expanded so much in the past several years that there is limited visibility in certain areas of it and sooner or later this combination of children and people with firearms is going to result in another tragedy. I am asking to either fill in this clay pit or place fencing and postings stating the hazards of unauthorized entry and also enacting a law that would apply the same rules to all other pits and retention ponds in our county. I have found an OSHA safety code regarding safe "Practices for Excavation" that states: "The face of an excavation may be cut to a safe slope as an alternative to shoring. Sloping the face may be a safe and cheaper alternative if there is sufficient space at the site." It goes on to state: "A slope is safe when the material is stable. That is to say, the slope does not flatten when left for a considerable period, there is no movement of material down the slope, and the toe of the slope remains in the same place." This is not the case at the American Farms clay pit site that took three young lives. The wall where we dug Mallory, Jessica, and Jillian out was approximately 20 feet high and there was to sloping at all. This was a vertical wall with an overhang and not just at the vicinity of the accident, but over half the pit is structured in the same manner. It was estimated that the girls were covered by ton of clay however, an article on soil mechanics published by Ohio State University Extension Service states that "a cubic yard of soil, which contains 27 cubic feet of material, may weigh nearly two thousand seven hundred pounds. That is nearly one and half tons (the equivalent weight of a car) in a space less than the size of the average office desk. Furthermore, wet soil (as was the case here) is usually heavier. The human body cannot support such heavy loads without being injured." Let me say that I saw enough "office desks" collapsed into this pit to equivocate much more than a ton. Upon request, I can provide you with the entire publication from Ohio State University regarding safety principles for trenching and excavation in addition to planning keys to avoid cave-ins by Jeffrey J. Lew, P.E. Purdue University and Dr. Louis J Thompson, P.E. of Texas A&M University. I can also provide you with a copy of "Trench Cave-Ins: A Preventable Hazard" published by the Roberts and Roberts Law Firm of Tyler, Texas and a listing of many cave-in deaths that have occurred nationally for the last three years. This listing is of workers only.....evidently there is no documentation that includes non-employees and children. I have heard from some people concerning the parent's responsibility in this matter and all I can say to their remarks is that people cannot know where their children are or who they are with every minute of every day. They may tell you that they are going next door to play and when you go to check on them, they have gone down the road to play at someone else's house. As any parent can tell you, once they reach a certain age, it's difficult to keep track of them even in your own back yard. While I grant you that these children should have not been in the clay pit, perhaps fencing and posting may have given them second thoughts about entering the area. I have also heard of others questioning my own motivations concerning this accident. Let me assure you that I am seeking no personal publicity. Aside from the trauma of attempting to help rescue the children of my next door neighbor, I have two grandsons, ages 4 years and 4 months who live no more than fifty feet across the road from this area. It is my understanding that in a neighboring county (Escambia), there is an ordinance that requires owners of clay pits and other "depressions" which present a danger to children, to be enclosed by a fence of a minimum of 4 feet high. I believe that Santa Rosa County could enact a similar, if not more stringent ordinance without affecting the private property rights of homeowners. I have spoken with the Santa Rosa County Attorney, Tom Dannheiser and he has told me that there are no current laws regulating clay pit safety in our county and that includes OSHA regulations. We can do nothing to bring the three children back, but we can prevent anything like this from ever happening again. State and National laws need to be made. Perhaps a start in Santa Rosa County would be followed nation-wide. Thank you Anoniw@aol.com --------- "RE: Lack of Will to Resolve Conflict" --------- Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 09:13:27 -0700 From: Nancy Thomas Subj: Fw: Lack of will by Government and EZLN to resolve Conflict Mailing List: Paths-L Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 Subj: Lack of will by Government and EZLN to resolve Conflict -- Translated from an article by Jose Gil Olmos in La Jornada, 19 August 1998. LACK OF WILL BY GOVERNMENT AND EZLN TO RESOLVE CONFLICT The federal government has lacked political will to resolve the conflict in Chiapas, the Arturo Rosenblueth Foundation indicated on presenting the findings of an opinion poll. It also added that the Executive has carried out antidemocratic activities and repression, especially the massacre at Acteal, with the same kind of responsibility as "Gustavo Diaz Ordaz for the bloody actions of 1968." Carried out in 23 states and amongst 4,854 people, the poll shows that 56 percent are in agreement with the withdrawal of the army from the communities and 32 percent for it remaining. In addition, 70 percent disagree that the government's actions have improved the living conditions of the indigenous; 50 percent said that the government has not respected the San Andres Accords and 57 percent maintained that it is not working in order to reach peace. As far as the EZLN's efforts to achieve peace, 49 percent said that they had not tried their hardest while 41 percent said that they had. Forty one percent also considered that they were a danger for national peace. Having presented the results of the consultation carried out over the last two weeks, Enrique Calderon Alzati, the foundation's spokesman, said that the poll is an alarm call for the government and the Zapatistas about their attitude regarding the peace process in Chiapas, data that should be considered with prudence so that it can be studied and backed up. He said that the foundation was not seeking to be in with any one side in the conflict, but only sought to promote public opinion about it, especially in the light of the propaganda campaign being carried out by the government. The poll indicated that 86 percent thought that the indigenous were the poorest social group in the country and 73 percent considered the armed uprising to be justified. As for the EZLN, their struggle for the well-being of the indigenous was recognized, and although 49 percent said that they had not tried their hardest in the peace process, "the society considers them to be protectors of the indigenous." In this way, 44 percent recognize them as representative of indigenous groups, and 47 percent see them as a risk to peace in the country. ------------------------------------- Global Exchange 2017 Mission St., Rm. 303 San Francisco, CA 94110 Phone: 415.255.7296 Fax: 415.255.7498 http://www.globalexchange.org _________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this mailing list send mail to gx-mexiconews-action-request@globalexchange.org with the word "unsubscribe" in the body. --------- "RE: UAINE Update" --------- Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 18:14:26 -0400 (EDT) From: United American Indians of New England Subj: UAINE Update 8/23/98 UUCP email United American Indians of New England Update 8/23/98 ACTION UPDATE: 1. SUPPORT NATIVE AMERICANS, BOYCOTT PLYMOUTH: The campaign to boycott Plymouth, Massachusetts has been extremely successful! We thank everyone who has stayed away from Plymouth, and we need you to keep up the good work and continue to spread the word! In recent weeks, supporters of the Plymouth 25 have gone to the primary tourist area in Plymouth and distributed thousands of leaflets whose headlines read, "Support Native Americans - Boycott Plymouth!" The leaflets provide information about the case of the Plymouth 25 and about the police brutality that occurred in Plymouth last November. These visits to Plymouth will continue into the fall and increase in number. The "Plymouth 25" are the group of Native people and their supporters who were arrested in Plymouth, Mass. at National Day of Mourning in November 1997. On that day, a peaceful protest led by United American Indians of New England was attacked by a massive police force which pepper-sprayed and assaulted the protesters. The charges against the Plymouth 25 range from unlawful assembly to assault and battery on a police officer. The ongoing call for a boycott of Plymouth tourism has without question hurt local businesses. This has even been reported in the local newspapers, with some reports that business has been down 15% from last summer. Supporters who have been leafletting in Plymouth report that many business owners have been pleading for an end to the boycott. Steve Gillis, one of the Plymouth 25 and an organizer of the leafletting in Plymouth, said that, "When the business owners do that, we tell them that 'The boycott will end when the charges against the Plymouth 25 are dropped!' and suggest that they should be doing everything possible to make that happen." 2. NATIONAL CALL-IN/FAX-IN DAY -- MONDAY, AUGUST 31 The International Action Center in New York, after consulting with us, has called for a national call-in/fax-in day in support of the Plymouth 25 on Monday, August 31. Please join in! The targets will be Plymouth County District Attorney Michael Sullivan Phone: (508) 584-8120 Fax: (508) 586-3578 and Destination Plymouth (tourism bureau) Phone: (800) 872-1620 Fax: (508) 747-7535 3. Letters still needed! We are continuing to ask that letters of support be sent to Plymouth District Attorney Michael Sullivan, demanding that the charges against us be dropped. For your convenience, a model letter can be found at the bottom of this e-mail message. If you have petitions or are still gathering petition signatures, we are still happy to get those, too! Hundreds of letters of support for the Plymouth 25 are pouring in from all over the country. Letters have come in from prominent individuals such as former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Detroit Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, from dozens of trade union organizations including the national AFL-CIO, from Native organizations and community organizations and lesbian & gay groups and church/religious organizations. The Cambridge (Mass.) City Council recently passed a resolution supporting the Plymouth 25 and demanding that the charges against them be dropped. LEGAL UPDATE: Meanwhile, back in court, the Plymouth 25 defendants continue to face injustice. Since the case began last year, the defendants have been before three different judges. Each judge has rubber-stamped the prosecution's motions and denied the defense's motions. Recently, one judge approved the prosecution's motion to sever the case of the Plymouth 25 into five different cases for trial. Defense lawyers had argued that this would put the defendants at a severe disadvantage. The first trial has now been scheduled for October 19. The initial set of defendants scheduled to stand trial are UAINE co-leaders Moonanum James and Mahtowin Munro and Boston labor activist Stevan Kirschbaum. In the last court appearance on July 28, one of the defense lawyers, Dave Nathanson, presented a motion that the charges be dropped on the grounds that Plymouth has no jurisdiction. Nathanson carefully researched all available colonial era records, and could find no evidence that the English settlers in Plymouth ever purchased land or signed a treaty with the Wampanoag Confederacy to purchase land. The "pilgrims" arrived in Plymouth, stole the land that was the Wampanoag village of Patuxet, and then kept on stealing more and more. Nathanson said, "This is still sovereign Wampanoag land. Plymouth has no right to prosecute Native people or anyone else!" When Nathanson finished presenting this motion, the UAINE supporters who were in court burst into sustained applause. That motion was hastily denied by the judge, lest there be any cloud over the rights of property-owners in Plymouth. Another defense motion to dismiss the charges of unlawful assembly was also denied by the judge. NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING 1998 We will be sending out detailed information about the 1998 National Day of Mourning in the fall. In the meantime... November 26, 1998 12 Noon Plymouth, Mass. National Day of Mourning Be There! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----Sample letter] [your name & address] _____________, 1998 Via Facsimile (508-586-3578) Michael J. Sullivan Plymouth County District Attorney 32 Belmont Street P.O. Box 1665 Plymouth, MA 02403 I am aware of the police assault on Native Americans and their supporters in Plymouth, Massachusetts on November 27, 1997, U.S. Thanksgiving day. On that day, hundreds of Native Americans and their supporters gathered in Plymouth, Mass. to observe the 28th National Day of Mourning, organized by United American Indians of New England. Their peaceful march was ambushed and attacked by a large combined force of police from the Plymouth Police Dept., Mass. State Troopers, and other police agencies. During the assault, the police used pepper spray in the eyes of elders and children. This completely unprovoked assault resulted in the arrests of 25 women and men. Those arrested represent the broad character of the National Day of Mourning and include Indigenous people from North, Central and South America, Black, Latino, Asian, and white people, straight, lesbian, and gay, and labor and civil rights activists. The Plymouth defendants face false charges ranging from assembly without a permit to assault and battery on a police officer. I am shocked by the racist police brutality in Plymouth on November 27, 1997 and by the clear violation of the civil and Constitutional rights of participants in Day of Mourning 1997. I believe that participants in Day of Mourning '97 were wrongfully attacked and arrested. I demand that the Plymouth County District Attorney immediately drop all of the charges against those arrested at National Day of Mourning 1997. I ask that an open and independent public inquiry be held that brings out the truth about the police brutality and violation of rights that occurred in Plymouth on November 27, 1997. Furthermore, I intend to honor UAINE's call for an economic boycott of Plymouth until Plymouth drops the charges and takes serious steps to rectify the wrongs it committed against UAINE and participants in Day of Mourning. Very truly yours, cc: UAINE P.O. Box 7501 Quincy, MA 02269 --------- "RE: IBLA Moves in Favor of Western Shoshone" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 98 18:17:56 PDT From: Western Shoshone Defense Project Subj: Stay Granted UUCP email Contact: Western Shoshone Defense Project Ph: 702-468-0230 Fax: 702-468-0237 email: www.alphacdc.org/wsdp ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IBLA Moves in Favor of Western Shoshone ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "The Danns urge that a stay would abate the pattern of questionable dealing by which Western Shoshone land rights have been undermined" - IBLA 98-372 - Administrative Judge James P. Terry The Interior Board of Land Appeals, a federal administrative court, has granted a stay for any BLM actions against a sacred hot spring, a cultural and spiritual encampment, and sections of the Dann Ranch that are on traditional Western Shoshone lands in Crescent Valley, NV. Both the Western Shoshone and the U.S. claim the lands in question, although the U.S. has been unable to document how it acquired the land from its original caretakers. The stay curbs any fines or other penalties against the Danns or the Western Shoshone Defense Project, and prohibits the BLM from removing any property. The stay is binding until the ILBA rules on the current appeal of Trespass Decisions issued on May 26. "I doubt that the Western Shoshone can get justice from any US court, but at least we can breathe a little easier now that the BLM cannot come in at any time and destroy our livelihood and way of life. Until the United States can show us a title transfer, we will continue to live off our lands," says Carrie Dann, a traditional Western Shoshone grandmother and leader in the land rights struggle. In granting the stay, the IBLA refers to the cultural and ceremonial values at stake in the land conflict, as well as to potentially devastating economic damage: "The Danns allege that the BLM is engaged in a pattern of conduct that would deprive them of their cultural and spiritual identity as Western Shoshone, break their cultural bonds with the land that sustains them, and destroy them as an Indian people." This stay is the latest official recognition that Western Shoshone concerns require scrutiny. Western Shoshone people have been working for recognition of their land rights for decades, both in and out of the court system. Since October 1997, BLM pressure on Western Shoshone who graze livestock on their traditional lands has escalated. In response, the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has requested that the U.S. let the matter rest until the Commission can independently examine the issues, and the U.S. Department of State has asked the BLM to carefully consider the foreign policy implications of its actions. Western Shoshone Defense Project PO Box 211106 Crescent Valley, Nevada 89821 Ph: 702-468-0230 Fax: 702-468-0237 http://www.alphacdc.com/wsdp/ and http://www.planetpeace,org/wsdp Please feel free to pass this on. If you know of someone who would like to be on our mailing list, please have them send e-mail to: NACF Anda@aol.com Thanks! --------- "RE: National Park Proposals in Labrador" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 07:55:51 -0300 From: Larry Innes Subj: News: National Park Proposals in Labrador Mailing List: Innu People Forum list There are supposed to be two National Parks in Labrador by the year 2000 - Interview with Doug Urich. Key Words: ["Doug Urich" Parks Canada] Media: CFGB-FM Reporter: MIKE POWER, CURTIS RUMBOLT Date: 8/18/98, 6:48:45 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mike Power: When the Liberals came to power in the early 1990s they promised to have a network of 38 national parks by the end of the century. Two of those were supposed to be in Labrador. One, in the Torngat Mountains, the other in the Mealies. But now with less than two years until the deadline, Parks Canada says it's unlikely the goal will be reached. Officials with Parks Canada see negotiations are still ongoing in at least a dozen locations in Canada. CBC reporter Manuel Alasaviano spoke to Doug Urich about this issue. He's director at the Parks Establishment Office of Parks Canada. Manuel Alasaviano: There was a proposal that we would have this sort of network of national parks across the country by the year 2000. Now it seems that we may not meet that deadline, why not? Doug Urich: Well it certainly remains the government's objective to make as much progress toward that deadline as can be achieved. That has not changed at all. For a number of practical reasons, we recognize that we may not be successful in every instance and that is because park establishment depends very much on other processes that are proceeding in parallel. For instance, land claim negotiations, sometimes there are provincial land use planning processes that are underway. We do not hold the key in those instances. Our progress is bound to progress in those other processes. Manuel Alasaviano: Now specifically to Newfoundland and Labrador, what areas are we looking at placing in this networks of natural, of parks or ecosystems? Doug Urich: There are two places where Parks Canada for some years has had an interest in new national parks, both of them in Labrador. One of them is in the Torngat Mountains of northern Labrador and the other is in the Mealy Mountains of southern Labrador, just at the south of Lake Melville. So those are the two areas that we are focusing on. Both of those areas are subject to overlapping aboriginal land claims and th