From gars@netcom.com Tue Sep 1 22:48:39 1998 Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 19:31:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.036 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 036 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, September 5, 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 Paths-L, Innu-L & Nat-Film Lists; Nuevo Amanacer Press; 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. "Patient, silent and distant the Indian race has been these many years. There comes a time in human events when abandonment of racial responsibilities becomes very oppressive, unbearable, intolerable, and there seems to be no hope...then man must exert himself, speak, and act." "To free the Indian is to free the Indian. There is nothing complicated about that. It is so simple that we cannot believe it." __ Wassaja, Mohave Apache aka Dr. Carlos Montezuma, MD +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! While we need to face up to the past - and make restitution where possible, and while we desperately need to look at our history and the traditions that worked for generations of our ancestors, and we need to restore those, too - frankly neither of those things are likely to happen fully any time soon. The simple fact is a lot of old enmities remain. How much these have merit today only the tribes in question can answer. There are goals we can work toward, but we need to accept that while we may have the freedom to work for these things -- they are not apt to happen quickly or easily. We also must come to the simple truth that without effort to come together there can be no unity. We can learn much from the past. Our elders carry tremendous knowledge. Sit at the feet of one and listen with respect. Before you a rose of endless knowledge will open and fill your heart with the sweet essence of truth and strong lessons learned. There is hope, though, and where there is hope a seed is planted. I am honored to share a message sent to me from the Black Hills. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A couple of days ago I was sitting at the kitchen table of Joseph Chasing Horse, reading some information he wished to put out. We began speaking of the past, history, great leaders, incidents that occurred which changed history and many lives. He looked out the kitchen window, went to a far away place for a few moments and began sharing his heart. "I do not know if you and I will live to see the changes that are now in motion but we are living them each day. We don't know them today as history, as our ancestors did not, but they are. When I was down doing the Sun Dance at Big Mountain I saw a thing I had not seen in my life, a thirst for Spiritual help. I saw people, from many Nations, there who were thirsty to learn, and who soaked up every thing there, still wanting more. I do not know. Perhaps it is because we Lakota have been raised all our lives with these Spiritual Teachings and perhaps our troubles are that we take them for granted. Those people there were not and perhaps they appreciate what they learn because of that. But we must teach, share, pray together, because I can remember, as you do, a day when we never believed our Elders would be gone from us and they are now. Who among us can remember all the wisdom we were given by them? We have forgotten so much of it as we have been assimilated. It is important that we share what all each of us remembers, so that when our Grandchildren grow up, those things will be there for them. There are so few left, so few, anymore." We talked for hours, sharing little stories from our lives and planning on projects we are working together on, but the one thing I remember from all of that moment in time is his saying..."We do not realize we are the keepers of a sacred trust and cannot keep it to ourselves." And we spoke of the prophecy, guidance given in our past. "Upon suffering beyond suffering the red Nations shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for the light, again. I see a time long after after the skies have grown dark and dirty and the water has become bad smelling. I see a time of 7 generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred tree of life and one whole earth will become one circle again. And in that day there will be those among the Lakota who will carry the knowledge and understanding and unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom." (Crazy Horse) So often I hear people saying the past is gone. That we cannot do anything about what has happened. I understand why they believe that, wanting to move on into the future, but there is a great difference between Native and non native way of thinking. We are the past. We hold the responsibility of everything that has happened that we have been entrusted to remember, to learn from and to judge things in our current everyday life by. Most Traditional people will judge a thing not merely by it's face superficial value. They will go back into their history on what they were taught...Events that were the same, and examine the results and make decisions according to what they have been taught. Thus, the past, is our present and our future. We do not hold onto these things for revenge or for anger or for any of those things. We hold on, to make our decisions by, to teach our children about, to carry on our culture with. Thus, our past is weaved into our very existence. Sitting at that table, we were discussing a issue coming up. Both of us went back into history, talking about the same issue, what results came from the actions a hundred years ago from it. Based on that history, we came to a decision about what to do today. By the sharing and pulling on our teachings I feel a good decision was made...and that was to continue to teach those of any color skin, when they come, spiritual things. We spoke of Crazy Horses's prophecy, of others who said this day of decision would come and it is here. Thus, in the going back in our history, today we are doing so for the future. I hope this might help explain why we speak so often of our past. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= The White Buffalo Calf woman told that in a time of chaos and disharmony, she would return. Crazy Horse predicted the prophecy would be fulfilled in seven generations. When the female white calf was born, it would mark the dawn of a new spiritual era. "It is the signal" Joe Chasing Horse states, "warning than man must now choose between heeding the Buffalo's message of peace and harmony with nature, or continuing on his current path and facing annihilation. We live in a time of war, famine and great suffering throughout the world. All because of vengeance, selfishness and greed. If we do not turn away from the evil ways, destruction will surely follow." Miracle, has changed colors four times, as the old prophecies said the holy buffalo would do and in the end shall turn white again. The colors, Floyd Hand also of the Lakota Nation, explains, represent the various races of man. "It is all about the change that is taking place," Hand says. "When the races have become unified, she will turn white again." =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= September 12th is Leonard Peltier's birthday. Cards, US postal money orders, paper back books, and pictures (not Polaroid) can be sent to: USPL Leonard Peltier #89637-132 Leavenworth, KS 66044 Also, the medical suit against the prison has been filed. I will receive a copy any day now. I will send everyone a copy. We have to start a letter writing campaign to the judge who is known for overturning cases ASAP. As soon as I have the information I will relay it to you, so get ready! Thank you, In solidarity, Gina LPDC =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= 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. Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 10:05:18 +0000 From: Anna Kane Subj: Language project Bozho nikan, I have been a frequent visitor to a page that is a Potawatomi dictionary with some sound files. I do not believe it is finished, but as I said, I am only a visitor to that page, not a creator of the page. The address is http://www.ukans.edu/~kansite/pbp/books/dicto/d_frame.html This should take you directly to the Potawatomi dictionary. I like that they give you the option of having the dictionary show from English to Potawatomi, or from Potawatomi to English. The homepage for the Prairie Band Potawatomi is http://www.ukans,edu/~kansite/pbp/homepage.html and you can get to the dictionary from there. At one time I was searching the net for places to learn languages and I had a few pages marked that you may or may not have received email about. The one that appeared to have the largest amount of helpful information was a Native American Language page that listed several languages that people may pick up a few words of the languages. That address is http://www.mcn.net/~wleman/langlinks.htm I hope that these pages will help some in your attempt to preserve the languages. Pama mine' Anna Kane Account Clerk Animal Sciences Res. & Educ. Ctr. Purdue University Phone: 765.583.2400 FAX: 765.583.4838 email: anna@ansc.purdue.edu Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 13:14:25 -0400 From: Jackie Brown Subj: Language He Gary, The Lenape (Delaware) have two language tapes that I know of. Jim Rementer in Dewey Okla. worked for years with Touching Leaves (Nora Thompson Dean) to record the language. There is a website at http://www.cowboy.net/native/tlc/ for Touching Leaves store. You can reach Jim there. Hope this is what you are looking for. Sincerely, Jackie Brown, Lenape Tribe 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 ---------- - IHS Sterilization - Sexual Terrorist Fingers DIA - Protect Makahs - Information Updates Needed - Boycott of Indiana - Dreams Native American License Plates - Recipes for Students - Sierra Blanca Alert - The American My Lai - Chiapas Al Dia - Native Prisoner - CFS Director Escapes - A Hundred Years Ago Assault Charges - Poem: Mitakuye Oyasin - Woman Tells of Abuse at Res School - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Canada's Secret Indian Archives - Conferences and Powwows --------- "RE: IHS Sterilization" --------- Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 15:59:31 -0400 From: Janet Smith Subj: sterilization article From: http://www.dickshovel.com/IHSSterPol.html [Editorial Note: Discussion regarding IHS Sterilization, as reported in Volume 2, Issue 36 of Wotanging Ikche, archived at http://www.nanews.org resulted in some questions about the genuiness of the report. David Bowden steered us to this expanded report on Jordan Dill's web site.] A Look at the Indian Health Service Policy of Sterilization, 1972-1976 by Charles R. England The purpose of this article is to examine the reasons for and results of the investigations prompted by physicians, tribal leaders, and senators concerning allegations that the Indian Health Service (IHS) was indiscriminately sterilizing Indian women across the nation. This topic brings up several questions of morality, ethics, and the law. These questions cannot help but be colored by the culture and values that we are taught. So it is from this perspective that we look at the sterilization policies and philosophies that were at work within the IHS-PHS, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) from 1972 to 1976. It was during this period that the greatest number of Indian women were put under the knife for a plethora of medical, social, and monetary reasons. This article consists of six categories which will: explore the federal relationship with American Indian tribes; describe personal accounts from women who were sterilized and their attitudes toward family planning; explicate state and federal policies regarding informed consent and sterilization; examine the contractual relationship between IHS and private practices; consider the U.S. General Accounting Office investigation of IHS sterilization procedures; and examine the meaning behind the statistics of population growth. Finally, it will analyze the historical relevance of this topic to the model of internal colonialism under which the U.S. government operates. The federal trust relationship with American Indian tribes is based on numerous treaty rights and agreements that include medical services and physicians made available to Indians. However, there are very few statements that mention medical services specifically; instead, there is an implicit understanding of the trust responsibility that includes the health of American Indians. As stated in the American Indian Policy Review Commission's report on Indian health: ...the federal responsibility to provide health services to Indians has its roots in the unique moral, historical, and treaty obligations of the federal government, no court has ever ruled on the precise nature of that legal basis nor defined the specific legal rights for Indians created by those obligations (in American Indian Journal, 1977: 22-23). The implied meaning of health care responsibilities is somewhat vague, but the treaties and agreements were always meant to favor Indians. In 1955, IHS was transferred from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Public Health Service (PHS). This move was made with the expectation that the PHS could improve health care for Indians living on reservations. Even after the transfer had taken place, the health needs of Indians were still not adequately met. This was due to the ambiguous nature of the federal government's responsibility to provide health care. In turn, the IHS had no concrete goals or objectives and operated day to day with only a faint clue as to how it should render services. To date, an Indian client will be given services that may well vary each time that patient walks into an IHS facility: ...the specific services available to him will vary from day-to-day and year-to-year, depending on unpublished discretionary decisions made by Indian Health Service officials and commitments and conditions contained in often voluminous appropriation hearings (American Indian Journal, 1977: 23) This quote suggests that the IHS system is ripe for mismanagement of policies, funding, and staff supervision. It will also come as no surprise to find that IHS has been the subject of a number of investigations. One of the people who initiated the government investigation into IHS sterilization policy was Dr. Connie Uri, a Choctaw Indian physician working at the Claremore, Oklahoma IHS facilities. Dr. Uri had noticed in the hospital records that a large amount of sterilization surgeries had been performed. She then conducted her own interviews with the women involved and found that many had received the operation a day or two after childbirth. In the month of July 1974 alone there were 48 sterilizations performed and several hundred had already been conducted in the last two years (Akwesasne Notes, 1974: 22). The hospital records show that both tubal ligation and hysterectomies were used in sterilization. Dr. Uri commented: "In normal medical practice, hysterectomies are rare in women of child bearing age unless there is cancer or other medical problems" (Akwesasne Notes, 1974: 22). Besides the questionable surgery techniques being allowed to take place, there was also the charge of harassment in obtaining consent forms. In an incident of harassment at the Claremore facility, one woman was told by social workers and other hospital personnel that she was a bad mother and they would have to take away her children. They would then place the children in foster homes if she did not agree to the surgery (Akwesasne Notes, 1974: 22). In one study conducted on the Navajo Reservation and sponsored by the PHS, researchers (who may have ignored the reports of such questionable sterilization procedures, or subtly adjusted their language to satisfy their sponsors) reported: From 1972 to 1978 we observe a 130 per cent increase in the number of induced abortions performed. During this time the ratio of abortions per 1,000 deliveries has increased from approximately 34 to 77 (an increase of 126 per cent) (Temkin-Greener, 1981: 405). While not exactly within the confines of sterilization, the numbers indicate that the family planning program on the Navajo Reservation was definitely acquiring federal funds to carry on such a massive project. The statistics concerning Navajo sterilization are just as interesting: Between 1972 and 1978 the percentage of interval sterilization has more than doubled from 15.1 per cent in 1972 to 30.7 per cent in 1978 (Temkin-Greener, 1981: 406). The report itself is clinical and methodical; however, the researchers did comment slightly about the relationship between patient and physician: Older women who become pregnant may be much less concerned about reducing their childbearing and may do so primarily when they are influenced by health care providers (Temkin-Greener, 1981: 406). There is room for speculation concerning how much influence these providers stressed in light of previously mentioned charges of harassment and deceit. Once the word of sterilization spread through Indian Country, some tribal leaders carried on their own investigation. Marie Sanchez, a tribal judge of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, interviewed 50 women, 26 of whom reported that they were sterilized. One doctor told several women that they each had several children and it was time they stopped having children; others were told that they could have children after the operation (Dillingham, 1977: 28). The values that American Indians have toward the number of children a woman bears are quite different than that of white America. There are many Indians who feel that population control should not apply to them. They believe the federal government has done enough to limit the number of Indians on this continent, and the idea of limiting the number of children is based on what whites feel is a comfortable amount. Other researchers have found these general feelings to be true in regard to limiting family numbers. One group of researchers gathered data on urban and rural Omaha Indians in Nebraska to determine if either group had different opinions on family planning. The team cited each group's reason for having children as: ...the family economic situation, the ability to care for the children now and later, family happiness, and the feeling that the couple had enough children were valid considerations in a decision to delay or prevent further pregnancies (Liberty, 1976: 63-64). The research team also noted that the: ...freedom for the mother to work, and the belief that a small population is good for the country, were generally not sufficient cause [for birth control] (Liberty, 1976: 64). Dr. Louis Hellman, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs in the PHS, presented statistics confirming that 150,000 low income people were sterilized in the U.S. from federal grants (Akwesasne Notes, 1977: 22). These funds allowed the states to be reimbursed for up to 90 percent of the cost of indigent women. A report from the HEW states: Voluntary sterilization is legal in all states. Although most states have no statute regulating voluntary sterilization, over half authorize the procedure either explicitly by statute, attorney general's opinion, judicial decision or policies of Health and Welfare department or implicitly through consent requirements...(DHEW report, 1978: 89). Because the states themselves are not following any set policies, it would stand to reason that IHS certainly does not either, and that is the evidence which reveals mismanagement of resources and people. The HEW policies and programs regarding sterilization have been in place since 1966. Akwesasne Notes quoted the statistics released by HEW: HEW now funds 90% of the sterilization cost of poor people. Since 1970, female sterilization in the U.S. has increased almost 300%. From 192,000 to 548,000 performed each year" (Akwesasne Notes, 1977: 31). Researchers on the Navajo Reservation observed that the trend toward more female sterilizations had to do with the providers. The providers were responsible for the huge increase of people coming in and "agreeing" to surgery. The team further stated that the pattern of childbearing on the Navajo Reservation was very similar to those in developing countries (Temkin-Greener, 1981: 406). The exact meaning of the statement is unknown; however, there are examples of child bearing patterns that may shed light on their remarks: Between 1963 and 1965 more than 400,000 Colombian women were sterilized in a program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. In Bolivia, a U.S. imposed population control program administered by the Peace Corps sterilized Quechua Indian women without their knowledge or consent...(Akwesasne Notes, 1977: 31). In 1967 the American Public Health Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists conducted a study and found that 54 percent of the teaching hospitals nation-wide "...made sterilization a requirement for winning approval for an abortion" (Weisbord, 1975: 155). The following statement further illustrates the paternalistic and authoritative attitude that many physicians have toward women: Persons in the lower educational classes rely more on such operations [hysterectomies]; they have been least likely to control their fertility in other ways, and doctors may finally suggest this method (Westoff, 1971: 56). For years surgeons have used a "Rule of 120" to determine judgments about sterilization. This judgment concerning fertility is a means by which a woman qualifies for sterilization: ...fertility multiplied by age should equal 120 or more to qualify a woman as a candidate for contraceptive sterilization. A 25 year old woman with three children would not be eligible, whereas a 30 year old woman with four children would be. (Arnold, 1978: 11). Attitudes such as these cross the lines when dealing with either private or government employees. Contract Care entails formal agreements with private vendors. It is used when IHS cannot equip its staff or facilities for emergency or specialty care, or an overload of patients. It is also used when alternate resources are available (DHEW, 1978: 2). Most of the circumstances are dictated by the small IHS facilities and specialized services that are usually found in larger facilities. Contract physicians associated with IHS are reimbursed for each sterilization (Miller, 1978: 424). The reimbursements that the physicians receive are from federal funds, but are not federally accountable: Thirty percent of the sterilizations were performed at 'contract' facilities. IHS officials in the Albuquerque and Aberdeen areas said they do not monitor.cgi the consent procedures in contract care, nor are doctors required to follow federal regulations (Akwesasne Notes, 1977: 4). Normally, anybody that receives funding from the government must also follow federal regulations. IHS, however, shows a lack of concern and accountability with the patients they treat and the money they handle. Complaints continued throughout the country of these unethical sterilization practices, but little was done until the matter was brought to the attention of Senator James Abourezk (D.SD), and affirmative steps were taken. Abourezk commissioned the General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate the affair and to determine if the complaints of Indian women that they were undergoing sterilization as a means of birth control, all without consent, were true (Dillingham, 1977: 27). The problem with the investigation was that it was initially limited to four area IHS hospitals "later twelve" so that the total number of women sterilized remains unknown (Dillingham, 1977: 27-28). The GAO investigators came up with 3,400 women, but others speculate that at least that many were sterilized each year from 1972-76. When the GAO report came out, the U.S. Information Agency issued its own report denying the allegations. The report claimed that all women who underwent the surgery had given their consent (Akwesasne Notes, 1977: 4). This is where the charges that informed consent was not given were challenged. The GAO confined its investigation to IHS records, and did not probe case histories, nor observe patient-doctor relationships or interview women who had been sterilized (Jarvis, 1977: 30). What the GAO conducted was not an investigation; instead, it played the political game of "looking into allegations," and who would blame them otherwise `with less than a million voters who rarely participated in elections.' The Indian people, in this unfortunate case, were "humored" with the GAO investigation. In 1974, to set up safeguards, Congress defined the term "voluntary sterilization" to mean "...[the] requirement that the individual have at his disposal the information necessary to make his decision and the mental competence to appreciate the significance of that investigation" (DHEW report, 1978: 8). The GAO investigators were able to show that there was a lack of clear statement to notify the patients of a federal court requirement "...that individuals seeking sterilization be orally informed at the outset that no federal benefits can be withdrawn because of failure to accept sterilization" (Dillingham, 1977: 27). A U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had ruled in 1974 that the HEW had to abide by these laws (DHEW report, 1978: 8). Coercive sterilization, on the other hand, can be defined by one or more of the following: caused by outright deceit; offering sterilization as a means to escape further obligation to an institution, such as an asylum; threats to person; sterilization of minors, or mentally or physically disabled persons; failing to explain procedure in a language that the patient understands (Trombley, 1988: 1). As the newly appointed director of Claremore IHS stated: Even if many of these operations were done at the request of the patient, it is all too obvious that there is little or no attention given to proper counseling as to the serious implications of such a decision" (Akwesasne, 1974: 22). Coercive sterilization can be defined by examples of testimony, but the burden of proof is on the patient that has her signature on the bottom of the page. The sterilization of minors is another problem which the GAO investigators could have, but did not pursue. There are special consent forms for cases where women under 21 are to be sterilized, but IHS did not use such forms. Thirty six women under 21 were sterilized without proper consent between 1973-76 (Akwesasne, 1977: 4). Congress passed laws in 1975 making it punishable by fines and/or penalties for "...any officer or employee of the United States," or others using federal funds who "...[coerces} or endeavors to coerce any person to undergo an abortion or sterilization" (DHEW report, 1978: 9). The fact that the U.S. has no prior law concerning the punishment of coercive sterilization underlines the seemingly reckless abandon that physicians had in sterilizing Indian women. The conclusion of the GAO investigation reported that IHS consent procedures lacked the basic elements of informed consent, particularly informing a patient orally of the advantages and disadvantages of sterilization. Furthermore, the consent form had only a summary of the oral presentation, and finally the form was lacking the information usually located at the top of the page notifying the patient that no federal benefits would be taken away if they did not accept sterilization (Wagner, 1977: 75). The GAO notified IHS that it needed better consent procedures. Some IHS Area Directors, like John Davis at Claremore, were pressured by local Indians and by Indian physicians and staff to suspend certain nurses and to move the hospital administrator to another post. Otherwise, there was little else done by government officials (Akwesasne Notes, 1974: 22). Individual women victimized by the procedure were not interviewed in the investigations, and were infuriated by the GAO results. Some of the women took the matter to court, but soon found out that IHS officials covered their trails very well: "Doctors have taken care to obtain some kind of consent documents which can be reproduced in a courtroom..." (Larson, 1977: 63). Further, "...the written consent form is the only piece of evidence that documents the transaction between doctor and patient which gave rise to the patient consenting to the recommended treatment" (Doudera, 1981: 103). Outraged Indian people accused IHS of making genocide a part of its policy. IHS officials responded that the word "genocide" was unwarranted.: ...officials also point out that the report does not prove forced sterilization, that the consent documents are on file and in absence of reliable national statistics on sterilization rates, it is impossible to tell whether Indians are being sterilized at a higher rate than anybody else (Larson, 1977: 63). For IHS, being charged with genocide was a serious accusation. IHS was intended to somehow alleviate the terrible health conditions in Indian communities. However, the accusation was not far off base. As Thomas Littlewood stated in his book on the politics of population control: Non-white Americans are not unaware of how the American Indian came to be called the vanishing American...This country's starkest example of genocide in practice" (Littlewood, 1977: 82). The 3,406 women that appeared so often in government reports were those taken from only four health service areas: Aberdeen, SD, Albuquerque, NM, Oklahoma City, OK, and Phoenix, AZ. All four service units were found to be "...generally not in compliance with government regulations requiring informed consent" (Dillingham, 1977: 27). Senator Abourezk himself stated that: "Given the small American Indian population, the 3,400 Indian sterilization figure would be compared to sterilizing 452,000 non-Indian women [out of 55,000 Indian women of childbearing age]" (Wagner, 1977: 75). However, the Senator failed to realize that the figure represented only four service areas. The estimate of total sterilizations was actually around 3,000 per year for four years. As late as 1979 in the 96th Congress, there was a statement from a national council of churches that condemned the policy of non-medical sterilization and asked for a full investigation into HEW to find all responsible people guilty of this act, and the extent to which IHS had incorporated this policy (96th Cong., Hearing, 1979: 65). One can see that the charge of genocide was not just a romantic cry out to the liberals and bleeding hearts. There is justification. From the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide emerged a list of acts that constitute genocide. Article II states: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, such as...imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group... (Whalen, 1989: 169). It is interesting to point out that these measures were adopted by the United Nations Center for Human Rights in 1948, but were not adopted by the United States until 1988. From an anthropological perspective, Steve Polgar comments on population policies, international and national: ...it helps those who want to reduce foreign aid, since exporting propaganda techniques for 'zero population growth' or consulting on how to 'weaken' the family is much cheaper than providing significant development assistance or establishing fairer prices for imported products (Polgar, 1972: 208). The problems of IHS have always stemmed from a lack of clear and precise objectives and goals. IHS will continue to have problems if it cannot act responsibly: "Changing administration of Indian Health... will never solve these problems until Congress...defines the legal scope of the Indian Health program and then determines the appropriation on the basis of this definition" (American Indian Journal, 1977: 23). However, not even Congress can solve the problems without the input and cooperation of Indian people. Selected Bibliography "American Indian Policy Review Commission's Report on Indian Health." American Indian Journal ofthe Institute for the Development of Indian Law. Feb., 1977; Arnold, Charles B. "Public Health Aspects of Contraceptive Sterilization." in Behavioral-Social Aspects of Contraceptive Sterilization [Sidney Newman, ed.]. Lexington Books, 1978; Dillingham, Brint. "American Indian Women and IHS Sterilization Practices." American Indian Journal... Jan. 1977; Doudera, A. Edward. "Informed Consent: How Much Should the Patient Know?' Rights and Responsibilities in Modern Medicine [Marc D. Basson,ed.]. Alan R. Liss, Inc., 1981; Jarvis, Gayle Mark. "The Theft of Life." Akwesasne Notes, Autumn 1977; "Killing Our Future: Sterilization and Experiments." Akwesasne Notes, Spring 1977; Larson, Janet Karstan. "And Then There Were None: Is Federal Policy Endangering the American Indian Species?" Christian Century, Jan. 26, 1977; Liberty, Margot. "Rural and Urban Omaha Indian Fertility." Human Biology, Feb. 1976; Littlewood, Thomas B. The Politics of Population Control. University of Notre Dame Press, 1977; Miller, Mark. "Native American Peoples on the Trail of Tears Once More." America, Dec. 1978; Polgar, Steven. "Population History and Population Politics from an Anthropological Perspective." Current Anthropology, Apr. 1972; Rabeau, Erwin S. & Angel Reaud: "Evaluation of PHS Program: Providing Family Planning Services for American Indians." American Journal of Public Health Aug. 1969; "Sterilization of Young Native Women Alleged at Indian Hospital. Akwesasne Notes , Jul. 1974; Temkin-Greener, Helen. "Surgical Fertility Regulation Among Women on the Navajo Indian Reservation." American Journal of Public Health, Apr. 1981; Trombley, Stephen. The Right to Reproduce: A History of Coercive Sterilization. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988; U.S. Dept. of HEW. Family Planning, Contraception, Voluntary Sterilization and Abortion. GPO, 1978; U.S. Dept. of HEW. Indian Heath Trends and Services [report]. GPO, 1978.; Wagner, Bill. "Lo the Poor and Sterilized Indian." America, Jan. 29, 1977; Weisbord, Robert C. Genocide? Birth Control and the Black American. Greenwood Press, 1975; Westoff, Leslie A. & Charles F. From Now to Zero. Little, Brown & Co., 1971; Whalen, Lucille. Human Rights: a Reference Handbook. ABC-Cilo, Inc., 1989.) --------- "RE: Protect Makahs" --------- Subj: Protect Makahs from eco-bullies Date: 98-08-29 01:19:03 EDT From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 1. Protect Makahs from eco-bullies 2. Anti-Makah Whaling Protesters may disrupt Celebrations 3. Environmentalists meet in Victoria to oppose Makah whale hunt 4. Sea Shepard's alliance with the racist far-right [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.] PROTECT MAKAHS FROM ECO-BULLIES Tacoma News Tribune, August 23, 1998 The arrogant activists who have vowed to disrupt the Makah tribe's resumption of whaling this fall can be proud of themselves. With threats of physical obstruction and even murder, some of them have succeeded in scaring a tiny Indian nation whose sole offense consists of trying to revive its ancestral hunt for a non-endangered species of whale. So virulent and vicious have been those threats that Gov. Gary Locke on Friday granted the tribal council's plea for National Guard protection during the annual Makah Days celebration next weekend. Meanwhile, a task force of local, state and federal agencies has been making plans to protect the Makahs who hope to revive a cherished cultural tradition by harpooning a gray whale sometime this October. That these precautions are necessary is proof that cultural imperialism is alive and flourishing in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the Chicago Animal Rights Coalition, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society and other organizations that seek to block the Makahs' hunt. Admittedly, it is not easy for non-Indians who have never paddled a dugout canoe or heard an ancestral whaling song to understand why some Makahs feel a deep yearning to renew this practice. Whales are majestic and mysterious creatures; they are also appallingly vulnerable to modern whaling fleets. International authorities were right to ban commercial whaling after many species were driven to the brink of extinction years ago. But it is sheer demagoguery to talk as if the Makah hunt were the equivalent of the wholesale slaughter that was once carried out with sonar, helicopters, high-powered catcher boats and harpoon guns. The tribe has been allotted a maximum of 20 whales through the year 2002 - a quota that, even if reached, wouldn't dent the increasing population of gray whales. The Makahs want simply to renew a low-impact hunt that helped sustain their tribe since the dawn of time. Anti-whaling activists have no business lecturing them on what is or isn't important to their cultural identity. More to the point, eco-bullies have no business using illegal tactics to eviscerate the Makahs' treaty with the U.S. government. Many tribal prerogatives - including casino gambling and access to private beaches - are a matter of court interpretation, but the Makahs' right to whale is explicitly guaranteed by their 1855 treaty. The Coast Guard, U.S. Marshals Service and other federal agencies therefore have a profound obligation to ensure that the Makahs are not physically obstructed or intimidated as they resume whaling. If arrests and serious prison sentences are required to protect the tribe and honor its treaty, so be it. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: CLASHES FEARED OVER WHALE HUNT TO TRIGGER CONFLICT L.A. Times, Vancouver Sun, August 28, 1998 SEATTLE -- Up to 20,000 people are expected to descend on the tiny Olympic Peninsula community of Neah Bay this weekend in the runup to the Makah Indians' historic October grey whale hunt. Authorized under a compromise agreement with the International Whaling Commission, which has administered an international ban on commercial whaling since 1987, the Makah hunt for up to five grey whales a year looms as one of the biggest environmental conflicts of the coming decade. Anti-whaling groups around the world have pledged to block the hunt, which they say could lead to a major increase in global whaling. This weekend authorities fear that some of the thousands of visitors at the Makah's annual cultural celebration might be protesters aiming to discourage the hunt. "There are groups that have said that they will be on site during the festival. Whether that will inflame issues or not, we don't know," said Sheriff Joe Hawe, who will have several deputies on duty. Washington state Governor Gary Locke has called on the National Guard to maintain a standby presence. The Makah's petition to resume whaling was backed by the U.S. government, based on an 1865 treaty under which the tribe ceded thousands of acres in exchange for a small reservation and the right to continue hunting whales, a tribal tradition over thousands of years. Since the whales virtually disappeared in the 1920s, the tribe has languished, supported primarily by logging and a dwindling salmon fishery, while the whales have staged a remarkable comeback. More than 20,000 now ply the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington and B.C. twice each year on their migration route, and they were removed from the U.S. endangered species list in 1994. Tribal leaders believe the hunt will give the tribe a renewed sense of purpose and pride, in addition to feeding the tribe's 2,300 members, 1,400 of whom still live on the reservation near the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula. "There are whaling families . . . that have been passing on dances and songs and rituals that help men and women become sound and self-assured, but those things didn't have the edge as time went on," said Keith Johnson, president of the Makah Whaling Commission. "My father wasn't on a hunt. But he knew the value of this training, adapted to cleansing one's spirit, focusing one's mind, and having direction," Johnson said. "It's a link to the past, and it validates us, who we are as a people and a culture." Johnson said he expects that once people understand the purpose and manner of the hunt, controversy will disappear. The Makah sought to conduct the hunt purely by traditional means, with harpoons. But for humanitarian reasons, the whaling commission insisted that the whale, once harpooned, must be finished off quickly with firearms. Leading opponents of the hunt, including the Sea Shepherd Society, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society and the Humane Society of the United States, say they plan no demonstrations now but will definitely have a presence when the hunt begins in October. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Sea-Shepherd's Watson 'Whales Away' against Native hunt NUU-CHAH-NULTH CHIEF BACKS GLOBAL DRIVE TO RENEW WHALE HUNT Victoria Times Colonist, August 26, 1998, Page A4 by Susan Chung Whale hunting is a practical, sustainable way to feed an ailing aboriginal culture, but the public is being brainwashed into believing that it isn't, says the head of the World Council of Whalers. Natives all over the globe have been whale hunting for centuries in a sustainable manner before big business arrived, and it can be done again, said Tom Mexis Happynook, hereditary whaling chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth. Natives are malnourished in part because of poverty and a departure from their traditional diet, he said. "People are eating fried bologna, hamburger soup and Kraft Dinner (macaroni). They don't have the money. I think that's hard for those who can go out and eat a lovely meal in a restaurant to understand," he said. "Our message is that people don't need to worry about the whale population plunging. We are not going to over-harvest," said Happynook. The whaling council is gearing up to broadcast that message worldwide, especially with the Makah of Washington state planning to hunt a gray whale Oct. 1. The International Whaling Commission has given the Makah clearance to hunt up to four gray whales each season. Whale hunts are a Makah treaty right, the only such right in the US. The Makah and the Nuu-chah-nulth are part of the same cultural group. They were separated when the US Canada border was established. Whale hunting is also a part of Nuu-chah-nulth past, said Happynook, who lives in the Victoria area. "My great-grandfather in 1928 was the last to hunt. People think there is such a huge gap (since the time of the last hunt), but there isn't," he said. Happynook's father would have gone whale hunting as well but died at a fairly young age. The traditions and secret rituals were passed down to Happynook who is teaching them to his 17-year-old son. While the Nuu-chah-nulth have made no plans for a whale hunt, Happynook said he intends to fulfil the tradition, which he says has become a food issue. But others worry a native whale hunt will lead to a repeat of wholesale slaughter of the species. "I feel this return to whaling will only set a precedent for the reopening of a commercial hunt based on profit-making," said Anna Hall, a marine biologist. Hall and Andria Allen are organizing a meeting in James Bay Saturday to protest the Makah whale hunt. It will be held at the James Bay community school centre at 140 Oswego St. from 7-9 p.m. Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Greenpeace founder will be speaking along with Michael Kundu of Project Sea Wolf in Seattle. Letters to Times-Colonist - mailto:jknox@victoriatimescolonist.com :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 08:08:10 -0700 From: Arthur J Miller Subject: : DUMP JACK METCALF NOW! please spread widely ANTI-RACIST EMERGENCY ACTION NETWORK-- ACTION ALERT --DUMP JACK METCALF NOW! When confront about having Rep. Jack Metcalf as a speaker at their "Town Hall Panel" on June 30th in Seattle, Sea Shepherd defended directly working with Metcalf and called him a "stellar leader" and one of their supporters called him "a great public servant". They did not at all try to deny any of the information we gave them on Metcalf. All they would say was that Metcalf supported their issue and that is all that is important. We have been informed by a lawyer who was an activist against the former Apartheid regime in South Africa, in Olympia, that when they lobbied the legislature "he, several times made staggeringly racist comments about Africans being genetically incapable of governing themselves, and made them in open committee hearings." The following information comes from the files of the ANTI-RACIST EMERGENCY ACTION NETWORK. Rep. Jack Metcalf is known through out the state of Washington as the second most influential long time racist anti-tribal activist, next to the king of racism Sen. Slade Gorton, in this state. Jack Metcalf is one of the founders of S /SPAWN which later became the United Property Owners of Washington (UPOW). And Jack was on the UPOW Board until he left for congress. There is a great over lap of members and rhetoric between UPOW and the Washington Property Rights Network which is led by Jim Klauser who began, with other officials of the Builders Industry Association of Washington, the "Wise Use" Movement in this state. They also receive support from the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise. Also connected in this is the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, a co-founder of the "Wise Use" Movement and is a national anti-treaty rights organization. UPOW has always used itself as a means for white property owners to fight tribal sovereignty and Native treaty rights. They have led the fight against tribal shell fishing rights, including a suit in which the Defenders of Property Rights (DoPR) is co-counsel. DoPR is an extremist right wing group whose board members include James Watt, Ed Meese, Robert Bork, Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen Larry Craig, and is associated with the Heritage Foundation, the Alliance for America and other far right wing organizations. Rep. Jack Metcaf was elected to congress along with other right wing "Contract On America" Republicans like Linda Smith and Randy Tate. But Jack just maybe the worst of the much. The extreme right wing paper "The Spotlight" has had a number of write-ups on Jack, and one issue featured a photograph of him in the office of the Liberty Lobby which is the publisher of that paper. According to the League of Conservation Voters Jack has one of the worst environmental voting records in congress. Sea Shepherd rather than acknowledging that they made a mistake in joining forces with a man like Metcalf, sought to praise him. The only reason Metcalf is willing to work with Sea Shepherd is that they are fighting the Makah Nation over a purposed whale hunt, and Metcalf is clearly one of them most anti-tribal people in congress. Were the issue U.S. corporations wanting to get back into whale hunting he would be on the other side of the issue. By joining forces with Metcalf, Sea Shepherd is telling all those who have been victimized by the "Contract On America", the poor, people of color, working people and real environmentalists, and all Native people who have been victimized by the right wing racist anti-tribal campaign, that their struggles are not important to Sea Shepherd. We believe differently. We believe that all these struggles are important and none of them should quietly sit back and allow a self-righteous organization like Sea Shepherd stab them in the back by joining forces with a man like Metcalf. It matters not how you feel about the issues of Sea Shepherd, or its past activities, nothing justifies their alliance with the extreme racist right wing. We are calling on all people to e-mail DUMP METCALF NOW! and their comments directly to Sea Shepherd at:: projectseawolf@seanet.com and: SeaShepherd@seashepherd.org. In Solidarity Arthur J. Miller ANTI-RACIST EMERGENCY ACTION NETWORK arthurmiller50@juno.com :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Boycott of Indiana Native American License Plates" --------- Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 10:16:45 -0700 From: Nancy Thomas Subj: Indians Call For Boycott of American Indian License Plates Mailing List: Paths-L Indians Call For Boycott of the "Indiana Native American Indian License Plates" by Sally S. Tuttle tuttles@netusa1.net August 14, 1998 After Learning that only twenty-five percent (25%) of the proceeds of the Native American Indian license plates may go to caring for the needs in their community of 16,000, Indiana's Native American Indians have [either] vowed not to purchase any of the plates [or] calle for all citizens to boycott purchasing the plates. Once again like so many years ago the Native American Indians tried to go through the system. They had first requested an application for the special license plates from the Indiana Department of Motor Vehicles in 1994. In September 1996, they were sent an application, but later informed in writing that a moratorium had been set on all new Indiana Vanity plates. They were told to hold the application until such time when the moratorium was lifted and they would be notified and asked to submit the application. In February, State Senator Michael Gery included the Native American Trust License Plate to the House Enrolled Act No. 1145, an act which amends the Indiana Code concerning motor vehicles. The license plate, which would bring in approximately $50,000 per year, was designed to assist today's Native American Indian population in Indiana with basic health, education and housing needs. Instead, all funds will be allocated to a museum about Native American Indians. Statistics from the 1990 Census Labor Force, Education and Income Data for the State of Indiana shows that over twenty-two percent (22.9%) of the Native American Indian population live in poverty. Thirty-five percent (35%) do not have a high school diploma or GED. The average income for the Native American Indian family ranges from $15,000 to $24,000. Sixty-five percent (65%) wait until they are serious ill before seeking medical treatment because of the lack of health benefits. Native American Indians from around the state expressed shock that Senator Gery had not consulted with their communities in proposing this legislation. The Act was passed and signed without informing the major Indian organizations in the state which include the Miami Indians of Indiana, Pokagon Band Potawatomi, Indiana American Manpower Council and the Governor O'Bannon's Native American Indian Council. These four organizations work directly with today's Indian population on social and economic issues and concerns facing Native American Indians in Indiana. At the most recent meeting of the Governor's Native American Indian Council, the director of the museum designated to receive the proceeds >from the license plate offered to donate twenty-five percent (25%) of the proceeds to the Native American Indian community. The remaining seventy-five percent (75%) would then go to fund the museum. This museum does not directly benefit the Native American community in any way, except to tell the history of the Woodlands Indians. Native American Indians in the state of Indiana have already vowed that they will not buy the license plate because the funds will not be managed by a Native American Indian agency, nor will the majority of the proceeds allow Native American Indians to help their own people. Joyce (Wesaw) Green from the Pokagon Band Potawatomi stated "I will tell my whole family not to buy the license plate". Contact: Sally S. Tuttle E-mail: tuttles@netusa1.net -=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=- Nancy Thomas * nlthomas@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net Keeper of "the People's Paths home page!" NAI: News, Paths-L email list, Live Chat, the People's Internet BBS & Genealogy BBS! "People's Paths Bookstore & Musicstore!" http://www.YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net/mainindex.html --------- "RE: Sierra Blanca Alert" --------- Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 16:03:51 -0700 (MST) From: swv1@ctaz.com (Save Ward Valley) Subj: Sierra Blanca alert UUCP email We at Ward Valley do not say, "No nuclear waste in our backyard!" We say, "No nuclear waste in ANYONE'S backyard!" We call upon all of you out there to write or call (since time is of the essence, preferably call!) your Senator tell them to vote NO on S270. Sierra Blanca is another one of those big battles in the war against the nuclear destruction of this planet. Please, give them a hand in their fight. It is so very important!!!! Friends, Greetings from Texas! I'm writing on behalf of the Sierra Blanca Legal Defense Fund--a group fighting a low level radioactive waste dump planned for an earth-quake ridden site 16 miles from the Rio Grande (US/Mexico border), in the beautiful Chiahuahuan desert in a small Mexican American and low income town called Sierra Blanca. On Wednesday, September 2, the US Senate will make a final vote to determine whether Sierra Blanca becomes the nation's next low level radioactive waste dump. They will be voting on the Texas-Maine-Vermont Nuclear Waste Compact bill (S 270). We need your help to stop the bill! Please call your Senators before September 2, or even better, make a visit to them while they are back in their home states on vacation until August 31. Calls can be made to the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask them to vote NO to environmental racism and NO toS 270. Although there are 13 compacts and individual states that are supposed to be opening new dumps, popular opposition has stopped or stalled every one of them, except Texas. We have a huge opposition movement here, including people from across Mexico (the Mexican Congress unanimously passed a resolution against it and came to visit Gov. George Bush with 30,000 signatures against the dump from Mexico). Our Senators (Gramm and Hutchison) are completely sold out to the nuclear industry. This is why we need your help at this crucial moment. We are only a month a way from the end of the Congressional session. Please help us make the bill controversial enough to either defeat it or stall it until October 9,when the session ends. BACKGROUND After successfully fighting the Texas-Maine-Vermont compact bill for 3 years, dump opponents were disappointed when the US House of Representatives voted 305 to 117 in favor the bill in July. The bill opens Texas to becoming the nation's next radioactive waste dump for commercial nuclear power plants by allowing not only Maine and Vermont, but ANY other state to dump their dismantled power plants in Texas. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) was committed to using any and all procedural maneuvers possible, including a filibuster, to stop the bill. All procedural maneuvers are now used up. Sen. Wellstone, along with many House members and communities across Texas and Mexico, are outraged that an 8-member conference committee stripped the bill of an amendment agreed upon by both the House and Senate that would have limited the waste Texas will have to take to waste from only Maine and Vermont. It is very unusual for a conference committee to strip off an amendment agreed upon by both House and Senate. Rep. Doggett was one of the main opponents of the bill in the House. "...[A]nyone who has come to Texas has learned that one of the great qualities of our entire state is something called Texas hospitality...But that very good and rare quality is being taken just a little too far when it comes to this compact, because there are those in Texas who basically are saying 'send us your radioactive garbage.' Unfortunately, at the top of the list is our Governor, George W. Bush," explained Rep. Doggett during the floor debate. "I find interesting the emphasis on the word 'low' when talking about radioactive waste. Well, let me tell my colleagues how low this waste is. It is low enough to kill you. It is low enough to kill people for thousands of years to come. It is low enough to kill anyone in the future that might exist on this planet that would never remember those of us that are gathered on the floor of this Congress today." Rep. Becerra, Chair of the Hispanic Caucus, stated during the floor debate, "I think it's unfortunate that once again we're seeing communities that are poor, often times unrepresented well because they are not sophisticated politically and may not have the money to give to campaigns or whatever the reason, now again being dumped upon. Let me read a letter sent yesterday by LULAC: ' The decision Congress now faces on this matter cannot be made in a vacuum, ignoring serious environmental justice questions that have been raised about the site selection process. These unjust procedures are in contradiction of the 1994 Executive Order that firmly upheld environmental justice. LULAC would caution Congress not to be complicit in what has become, intentionally or not, a repulsive trend in this county to place the most hazardous and undesirable facilities in politically powerless communities with high percentages of poor, communities of color.' " Rep. Reyes said, " I do not believe we should be considering a conference report that ignores the will of both the House and Senate. . . I think the people of West Texas deserve better treatment by this House than they have received on this issue. If Texas state regulators don't support the Sierra Blanca site, why should we jeopardize the health and the well-being of people in West Texas?" The controversial bill, which was defeated by the House in 1995, and failed to get enough votes to be brought to the floor in 1996, was voted on again in 1997 after intense lobbying from Governor Bush and the nuclear industry. The bill was amended in the House by Rep. Lloyd Doggett in 1997 and by Sen. Wellstone in 1998. The Doggett amendment, passed by 3/4 of the House and the entire Senate, made approval of the tri-state agreement contingent upon allowing only those three states to dump at the Texas site. An additional amendment by Wellstone and passed unanimously by the Senate clarified the legal rights of local residents and business owners to challenge discrimination based on color, national origin, race, or income level and gave residents the right to sue to stop implementation of the compact. "This bill would never have even been heard if it weren't for Gov. Bush lobbying personally and through his office of State-Federal Relations," said Bill Addington, Sierra Blanca resident and business owner. "Rep. Doggett called the Governor's bluff with his amendment and now it should be clear to everyone that the three-state limit was nothing but sheep's clothing to get this national dump shoved down our throats." Although the compact bill, if passed, will trigger $55 million in funds from Maine and Vermont to dig the dump, no construction can begin until the Texas Legislature appropriates the construction budget. The Texas Legislature reconvenes in January, 1998. Thank you so much, Erin Rogers Executive Director, Sierra Blanca Legal Defense Fund 517 Navasota Austin, TX 78702 512-472-0855 www.compassionate.org/sbldf Save Ward Valley 107 F St. Needles, CA 92363 ph. 760/326-6267 fax 760/326-6268 http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1 http://banwaste.envirolink.org http://www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html http://www.wildrockies.org/cmcr http://www.greenaction.org --------- "RE: Chiapas Al Dia" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 15:52:48 -0700 (PDT) From: NUEVO AMANECER PRESS Subj: ENGLISH VERSION OF "CHIAPAS AL DIA" ENGLISH VERSION OF "CHIAPAS AL DIA" BULLETIN No. 122 TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY irlandesa FOR CIEPAC AND NUEVO AMANECER PRESS CIEPAC CHIAPAS, MEXICO (July 29, 1998) THE SOCIAL SPENDING POLICY IN CHIAPAS: A MYTH One of the basic themes of President Ernesto Zedillo and Governor Roberto Albores' strategy for Chiapas concerns the policies of social spending, the supposed "additional expenditures" for development in the state. Among the social and public investment funds and programs, which the federal and state governments have announced, are, among others: "The Mayan World," "The State Plan for Tourist Development," "Regional Funds," "Program for the Northern Zoque Region," "Program for Municipal Social Structure Fund," "PROGRESA," "Co-investment for Social Development," "Credit by the Word," "100 Cities Program," "Annual Operational Program for Chiapas," "Alliance for the Countryside," "Temporary Work Program," "PROCAMO," "Kilo for Kilo," "BANRURAL Credits," "National Fund for Social Enterprises," - FONAES - and the "Educational Disadvantage Support Program" - PARE -, etc. President Zedillo and Governor Albores have not grown tired of inventing conventions and Agreements. So far this year they have announced the following: "Social Accord for the Welfare and Development of the Sierra Region of Chiapas," "State Accord for Peace and Reconciliation in Chiapas," "Convention for Collaboration and Administrative Coordination between the federal government and the State Congress of Chiapas," "Coordination Agreement for Political Stability, Community Reconciliation, Social Development and Economic Growth between the State Government and 42 Municipalities." But, how much money is the government really investing in order to contribute to a solution to poverty, and to the causes which gave rise to the armed conflict between the EZLN and the Federal Government, with all these programs and agreements? Let us examine some examples prior to the third spending cut for the country, announced in July, and in the context of the economic crisis the country is going through (see Bulletins 118 and 119): 1) The "Social Accord for the Welfare and Development of the Sierra Region in Chiapas" which President Zedillo signed as witness in June, announced a total of 215.1 million pesos (mdp) for 8 municipalities with a population of 153, 755 residents, who will, on average, receive $3.83 pesos daily during 1998 ($0.43 USD*) for social development, production, social infrastructure and other arenas, in order to lift the population out of poverty. It is worth recalling that the Minsa Group alone will pay more than 386 million pesos (mdp) by purchasing, in July, the public business, Almacenadora Centro Occidente S.A. de C.V. (ACOSA), or, the equivalent of 180% more than the government will be spending to combat poverty in 8 municipalities in Chiapas. From another perspective, the 215.1 mdp represents only 24% of what the former President's brother, Raul Salinas, in prison today, amassed in Swiss banks (100 million USD). 2) The "Agreement for Coordination of Political Stability, Community Reconciliation, Social Development and Economic Growth between the State Government and 42 Municipalities" (the poorest in the state, out of a total of 111), and which was just announced in June, is attempting to support, with an amount of 2,400 mdp (prior to the second budget cut in the country in March, more funds were announced for this Agreement), with 925,000 residents, would reach - even including the non-indigenous - an average of $7.11 pesos per day through 1998 ($0.79 USD), when the price of a kilo of eggs will rise approximately $12 pesos. 3) The "Program Against Educational Disadvantage and Health" (PROGRESA) announces the same support for the same municipalities, but with an amount of 1600 mdp (it is hard to imagine that it is distinct from the previous program, more likely part of it), for the support of health and educational scholarships for poor children, 60% of which will be managed directly by the mostly PRI municipal authorities. If we think about that population, they would receive $4.74 pesos per day per resident ($0.53 USD). According to the US Center for International Policies, Mexico received more than $1,000,000 USD (mdd) from that country in 1997 for the training of 192 Mexican soldiers in United States institutions, which would be the equivalent of almost $50,000 pesos (more than $5000 USD) for each soldier as part of the expenditures for a course in the neighboring country. 4) The "Program for the Northern Zoque Zone," Governor Albores announced support primarily for livestock, produce and floral programs, in February, prior to the last two national budget cuts (and, therefore, all of this might not arrive now), for an amount of 7 mdp for 8 municipalities, which would mean an average of $0.20 Mexican centavos a day for each one of the residents ($0.02 USD). With this amount he attempts to boost the economy of the region devastated by oil extraction, the fires, etc. 5) The "Program of the Municipal Social Structure Fund" was announced by Governor Albores in February, for a total amount of 57,086,684 pesos for the 111 state municipalities, which would apply an economic apportioning of $0.04 centavos per capita per day. In addition, it must be remembered that, of the 8 municipalities for whom this fabulous amount was decreased, 2 of them were governed by the opposition (Tuzantan and Sitala), and in another it never even arrived (the municipality of Nicolas Ruiz, where the police-military operation was carried out with more than 1000 troops, resulting in more than 150 PRD members jailed). For the first time 100% was sent to the municipal authorities in one single remittance. 6) The "18 Regional Funds" program announced a budget of 70 mdp for 74 Chiapas municipalities, which would mean that each municipality would receive $2,591.63 pesos per day ($287.96 USD) to rebuild their economies. If one of these municipalities were to have a minimum of 15,000 residents, the per capita amount would be $0.17 a day ($0.02 USD). It is worth noting that, according to the opposition PRD party, the interim Governor spent 60 mdp to promote his "State Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Chiapas," almost the same as for development for the indigenous in 74 municipalities. 7) The "Co-investment for Social Development" program between the federal and state governments, announced in April for Chiapas, has a budget of 1460 mdp, which would mean an average of $1.00 peso per day per resident ($0.12 USD), which the federal government will be contributing to Chiapas in three categories of direct funds to the municipalities, basic works and services and the strengthening of municipal finances (something like paying their debts). This is what the federation gives back to Chiapas, which produces a high percentage of the oil in the country, as well as electrical energy, coffee, maize, tourism and other currency generators. 8) The program "Credit by the Word" for temporary farm workers and for "social and economic development," announced in April a total of 444 mdp benefiting 93,000 temporary workers, which would be the equivalent of $13 pesos per day ($1.45 USD). However, in order to equip the police, the municipality of Sabanilla alone, in the Northern zone, received more than $675,000 pesos for the "Municipal Public Security Council" ($75,000 USD). 8) The tourism program "100 Cities," with an announced investment of 12.3 mdp (64% to 100 cities in Chiapas, 20% to historical centers and 16% to solid waste centers), will be benefiting each city an average amount of $336.9 pesos per day ($37.44 USD). If a city had only 1000 residents, an average $0.34 Mexican centavos would reach them daily ($0.04 USD). 9) The "Alliance for the Countryside" program with federal and state investments, announced by President Ernesto Zedillo in May during one of his trips to the state, and prior to the third national budget cut, heralded 243 mdp in aid (almost the same amount destined for the "National Reforestation Program," 250 mdp, according to an announcement by environmental authorities in May). If we take just the 42 poorest municipalities in Chiapas who will be receiving aid from this program, there would be a corresponding per capita amount of $0.72 Mexican centavos for the indigenous ($0.08 USD). This program also will be purchasing cattle for the cattle sector, machinery such as balers, chickens, food, etc. On the other hand, as a comparative exercise, indigenous prisoners are currently being charged between 5000 and 17,000 pesos bond for their release (between more than $500 USD and $2000 USD), such as in the case of the Taniperla prisoners. 10) The "Program of Temporary Employment," after two national budget cuts, and before the third, announced an amount of 44 mdp for the creation of 21,000 temporary jobs, for the purpose of hiring labor for the construction of 4000 kilometers of rural roads. If these 21,000 persons were to be employed for three months, they would receive an average of $23 pesos a day ($2.59 USD). In addition, it is absurd to think that the means necessary for building roads, such as workers' wages, can be broken down into "programs." This 44 mdp is the equivalent of just 20% of what the current PRI governor in the state of Tabasco spent in his election campaign, which resulted in his having to face legal charges; and it is about the same spent by the governor of the state of Puebla for consultancy services during 1997 (more than 43 mdp). 11) The "PROCAMPO" program consists of economic supports for each hectare the campesinos devote to maize. For the month of May, President Zedillo announced 566 mdp for Chiapas; for the month of July, agriculture officials cut it back to 240 mdp, supporting the production of 900,000 hectares, which would mean $266.6 pesos per hectare of maize for seeding and harvesting ($29.60 USD), money which the campesinos use to cover other urgent necessities. It is worth remembering that agriculture officials report that there will be at least 13 million tons of grain imported into the country this year. 12) "National Fund for Social Enterprises"(FONAES) will allocate for 1998, according to the presidential announcement made during his May visit to Chiapas, an amount of 100 mdp that will be divided up in the following manner: 32% to micro-businesses; 28% to social organizations; 26% for agricultural, agri-business and extractive activities; 8% in planning and technical assistance. As a counterpoint, in May the interim governor announced a total of 45,460.000 pesos (45% of the FONAES amount) for the police departments of only 60% of the state's municipalities. Contradictorily, two months later, and after the third federation budget cut, during his sixth presidential visit, Zedillo announced a total of 250 mdp of FONAES monies for Chiapas, impacting on 87 municipalities in the state, which "represents 40% of the total FONAES budget for all of the Mexican Republic," and the equally poor states of Guerrero and Oaxaca? 13) "Agricultural Development Program 1998 for the Northern, Northern Selva and Los Altos Zones," announced by President Zedillo in July, for a total of 17 municipalities, affecting 13,600 producers in 438 communities, with a total amount of 40 mdp, the equivalent of $2941 pesos per producer ($327 USD), which will be delivered in technical assistance, seed improvement, plant and animal safety, more resistant plants and equipment for development in the poorest region in the state. 14) The "Maya World" Program" which earmarks 70 mdp (35% of the entire Mayan Route), for tourism development through roads for tourist access, airport, promotion, etc., in addition to 45 mdp for two tourism centers (Can~on del Sumidero and Palenque), totaling 115 mdp ($12.5 million USD). However, for the boosting of coffee production alone, which was severely damaged by the fires this year, the governor announced in June supports of 24 mdp (35% of the Mayan World). 15) There are other categories announced by the governor prior to the third national budget cut: a) 20 mdp for cattle ranchers in the municipality of Tonala, which will be distributed among 69 projects, averaging $289,855 pesos each (the governor is a cattle rancher); b) 900 mdp to the communications sector for tourism and foreign investment, while almost the same amount is announced for health and housing (1000 and 950, respectively); c) 5 mdp to "rehabilitate" the Frailesca zone, while the Mexican Red Cross announces in March that just one international aid benefit for the displaced will be more than 13 mdp, more than double what Albores will spend trying to "rehabilitate" the Frailesca camp; also, the strategic bridge for use by the Mexican Army, "Paso Chanal," in the municipality of Tila, cost more than 10 mdp. It remains necessary to consider other factors which affect the real impact of these meager government investments: 1) The economic resources which are "announced," but which take months to reach the Chiapas administration. For example, agriculture authorities in July had to deliver a check for 3 mdp as a bridge loan (until the federal monies arrive) to soy producers in the Soconusco. 2) The announced "resources" are later reduced by each of the three budget cuts made by the federation. 89% of Chiapas state investments come >from the General Participation Fund and the Municipal Fund; if oil contributes 32% to the federal income, with the oil crisis, the decrease in federal funds impacts considerably on Chiapas. 3) Not all the resources which are "announced" reach the state of Chiapas. The municipal president of Tuxtla Gutierrez, from the PAN opposition party, reported in June that the Administrative Committee for the Federal Program for School Construction had not released the funds for school construction, in addition to it's having suffered a cut in the budget. The municipality also had a budget cut of 14.5 mdp. The State Democratic Assembly of the Chiapaneco People (AEDPCH) denounced that the affiliated organizations only received 50% of what they had been promised >from the "Kilo for Kilo" program. During the sixth presidential visit to Chiapas, the Business Coordination Council mentioned that, despite the continuous announcements made during his previous five visits, the funds had not arrived. 4) Of the resources which do arrive, many are not administered. In May the Coordination for Planning and Development (COPLADE) stated that, since October 1997, projects had not been administered in 40 communities in Marques de Comillas, and previously only between 30 and 40% of the projects had been carried out. As a consequence, the Federation of National Chambers of Commerce of Chiapas (FECANACO), stated in June that the Comptroller's office should carry out an investigation and see if the resources which had been announced by the President were truly being delivered, because, he said, there are projects which are not completed owing to small details. 5) Of those which do arrive and are released, not all are applied in the manner in which they were "announced," but are diverted. In the municipality of Frontera Comalapa, the campesino organization MOCRI states they did not receive the promised resources for the month of January 1998 >from the Department of Social Development (SEDESOL). The businesses of COPARMEX denounced that between 1994 and 1995 the Department of Communications and Transportation earmarked 2500 mdp for the Ocozocoautla-Cosoleacaque highway, but it was diverted to cover "social problems in Chiapas." 6) Of those which do arrive to be utilized, not all go to the campesinos or indigenous, some being spent in increased salaries, equipment purchasing, vehicles and other administrative expenses of government departments, as the beneficiaries in the case of the funds for project support. In other cases, some funds for the indigenous go to mestizos. In this regard, the President of the National Chamber of Commerce of the Restaurant Industry (CANIRAC) noted that the president's visit to Chiapas should not be monopolized, nor should they expect an economic apportionment; he said that the funds are indeed flowing, but to the Northern zone, and often, regrettably, not to the indigenous poor. 7) Many of the projects which are undertaken are not completed. In the municipality of Pantepec, among others, municipal projects are not completed, as one of many examples. 8) Some of those "announced" are not in reality "additional resources," rather part of the same, now reduced, budgets or, in the case of federal funds, used to cover PART of Chiapas' budget deficit. So far this year the state of Chiapas has a paltry GDP of a little more than 66 mdp (1.8% of the national GNP), according to the Department of Economic Development, 30% of what is in the Social Accord for Welfare and Development in the Sierra region of Chiapas for 1998. 9) Many of the resources are not from the federal and state government's own funds, rather from multinational organizations which subsidize social spending and poverty alleviation through programs in education and health, among others; such as: UNESCO, FAO, the Population Fund of the United Nations - FNUAP - the World Bank, the International Development Bank, etc.; the government does not have autonomy in either the designation nor the management of these funds in their "social spending policies." Because of this, some of the issues on the agenda between the federal government and the UN Secretary General were: financing development and international economy perspectives, cooperation in the working programs of specialized agencies represented in Mexico and cooperation on the environment (fires in Chiapas affected more than 130,000 hectares, requiring 129 million trees and 200 years for reforestation, according to the Department of Ecology, Natural Resources and Fisheries). In the case of the 42 poorest municipalities in Chiapas, with a population index of 5.1 children per woman (in other areas, up to 7 children), the Population Fund of the United Nations (FNUAP) spends $1,939,000 USD for reproductive health programs and promotional strategies (to reduce the population of the poor). On the other hand, in the middle of 1997 UNICEF announced more than one million dollars for Chiapas, with a ceiling of $150,000, for water, sanitation and the environment in the Ocosingo region - where are these resources? 10) Many benefits which are announced or carried out are manipulated politically (for certain groups staunchly supporting the regime), or timed politically (in the context of the next October 1998 elections in Chiapas). On July 10 the governor released 1,300,000 pesos under the "Alliance for the Countryside" Program, to 3600 PRI supporting families in the Can~adas zone, a zapatista zone of influence (the equivalent of $361 pesos per family), through the delivery of beans, lambs, pigs, birds, etc., which is not different from any other welfare assistance. Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Rural Association of Collective Interests - Union of Unions, stated that in the Can~adas region, more than 60,000 persons lack basic grains, and at least 30% of them have nothing to eat. 11). The benefits that do manage to reach Chiapas are mired in corruption, which deplete the resources even more. In the municipality of Mapastepec, coffee growing campesinos from at least 26 ejidos denounced that a minimum of 600,000 pesos from the National Fund for Businesses in Solidarity (FONAES) did not reach them. The corruption stretches from government circles to the very organizations receiving the funds, passing through the municipal authorities. 12) In many cases the "announced" funds are the same as those already "announced" previously, under another name, category, Convention, Agreement, etc. That is, the same funds are announced in different formats. 13) There is no law monitoring the application of the funds, and the Secretary of Social Development, Esteban Moctezuma, expressed the need for a "Social Development Law" so that the programs, resources and bodies associated with this sector can be monitored. In the case of the resources managed by the National Indigenous Institute for economic programs, there has been uncontrolled wasting of resources, a lost fund and no verification of their true impact. 14) Many benefits go to politically and economically "profitable" sectors, not to the poorest. Agriculture authorities, for example, sent 20 tractors at half-price to producers in the Soconusco and Istmo Costa regions, as part of the ""Mechanization of the Alliance for the Countryside and Production for Reconciliation in Chiapas," which they do not do for the indigenous in the Can~adas, to whom they only sent seeds, money, medicines, etc. On the other hand, at least 500 fishermen in the municipality of Tonala, affiliated with the Regional Federation of Cooperative Fishermen's Societies in Chiapas, announced their separation from the official party and their affiliation with the opposition PRD, because they were not able to count on government supports for their production, which means the poor fishermen are not beneficiaries of either the "Sustainable Growth Program for the Chiapas Coast," or the Fisheries Development Plan for the Chiapas Coast," as announced by the Governor in the state. In the same way, other visits by President Zedillo, just as the destination of the funds, go towards supporting cattlemen (payment for lands or delivery of stud bulls) or to powerful coffee growing export organizations who bring currency into the state, such as ISMAM (which will generate approximately $352 million USD for Chiapas, by being the primary exporter of coffee to Argentina), "Otiolio Montan~o," or for campesino organizations like SOCAMA, cited as being the primary base for the presumed paramilitary group Peace and Justice. 15) The 55 thousand million pesos disbursed by former Governor Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro from the federation had no impact. Opposition political parties, as well as some businesses, demanded an audit of those monies which were distributed during his administration, when all sectors are stating that conditions in Chiapas are worse than they were before the uprising of the armed conflict. In response to these questions, Governor Albores Guillen states that those monies "are certainly spread out in activities." However, now the governor states that the federation's contribution to Chiapas in 1998 will be 18 thousand million pesos for public works and Social Development ($13.7 pesos daily per chiapaneco, equal to 1.5 USD, equal to two jugs of 20-liter purified water, equal to 2 liters of milk, equal to one kilo of eggs, a half a kilo of chicken, a kilo and a half of tomatoes. 16) Some organizations simultaneously gain access to various funds, since there are no mechanisms to guard against this, and some resources are managed by the state government, others by federal departments, without meaningful coordination. Further still, there is another important element to consider when measuring the "substantial" government resources for "peace and development in Chiapas." The previous figures and programs were announced by the government prior to the third budget cut of July 8 this year. Along with the reduction of expenditures in the federal budget for 1998, which occurred at the end of 1997, three other cuts are added because of the oil crisis: 1) On January 14, 15,275 mdp was cut; 2) On March 24, 9000 mdp was cut; 3) on July 8, 9800 mdp was cut. The total reduction in the national budget has been 36,247 mdp. According to Department of Treasury figures, with the cuts in expenditures to the country's budget, the government will not be building 29,500 housing units in the country (out of the 80,000 planned); it will cancel 71,800 "Credits by the Word" and it will postpone the construction of 8 federal highways; at least 2500 families will not be included in the "PROGRESA" of the 950,000 planned (out of 40 million in poverty in the country); the expansion and remodeling of 10 rural hospitals has been cancelled; the goals of the National Commission of Water and the programs for sports facilities will be reduced; in the same way, contributions will be reduced to the "100 Cities" program, to the National Fund for Popular Housing (FONHAPO), etc., etc. In addition, inflation is calculated to accrue at 8.28% so far this year. President Ernesto Zedillo himself stated that the budget cuts are not popular because they entail effects which are "difficult and painful in the short-term," but they are decisions which "we have to take in order to avoid more unpleasant consequences" Paradoxically, the double-talk makes its appearance: "(-) there will be economic growth and the creation of jobs this year (-) the readjustments in the public finances will allow us to continue growing and creating jobs this year (-)," the President also stated. However, Congress of the Union legislators said the three federal budget cuts will have such an impact that at least 200,000 persons will be let go from federal departments and businesses in Mexico City alone, of which 50% will enter the ranks of the informal and the transient. According to the Department of the Treasury of the state of Chiapas, after the first federal budget cut, 100 mdp would be cut for Chiapas; curiously, after the second federal cut, the state accumulated a cutback of 106 mdp (almost 12 million dollars). In response to criticisms concerning the lack of any advance in the programs combating poverty in Chiapas, the Secretary of Social Development stated that "Any day you like you can see in detail, program by program, how they are being carried out, taking into account, obviously, that once the resources have been assigned, the programs should be judged by their effectiveness." During the month of May and the presidential visit, and before the third federal budget cut, the government announced a total of 853 mdp for Chiapas in three programs: Alliance for the Countryside, Temporary Jobs and PROCAMPO. Two months later, and after the third national budget cut, the Department of Rural Development reported that for the month of June the total of these three programs was 294,365,032 pesos, or, a fourth of what had previously been announced, meaning that the analysis we made at the beginning of the per capita benefits is even more meager. Because of this, the Mexican government has to come up with more loans in order to deal with poverty: in the same month of June, a credit was signed with the World Bank for $300 million in order to extend the Program for Sustainable Economic Development in marginalized Rural Zones to 10 more indigenous regions, among them being the Northern, Selva, Los Altos, Centro-Frailesca and Sierra de Chiapas Zones. The federal government is taking all possible measures to counteract the budget deficit: 1) increasing taxes (Mexico collects 3% of the Gross National Product - GNP - through the Value Added Tax - VAT -); 2) increasing the cost of state services; 3) eliminating the few remaining subsidies for the country's 40 million most impoverished; 4) accelerating privatization in all sectors; 5) increasing import taxes; 6) increasing the taxable population; 7) reducing social spending (40% over the last 4 years according to opposition parties; 8) requesting more foreign loans; 9) seeking more subsidies from multilateral bodies (the World Bank has just approved a loan to Mexico of 1770 million dollars for health, agricultural production and education), 10) charging the people of Mexico 552,300,000 pesos from FOBAPROA to "save" the private bank. The country's critical economic situation (domestic and foreign debt which now reaches 1.6 billion pesos - 42% of the GNP), and the state's, are more and more driving the acceleration of the neo-liberal economic project. The privatization of all sectors and international commercial agreements will continue to increase the interference of foreign capital in the economies of Mexico and of Chiapas. In May the Coordinator for Dialogue, Emilio Rabasa, presented 7 strategic points by the Federal Government for Chiapas: 1) attention to social demands and planned federal and state social expenditures, 2) the focussing of these on the most marginalized municipalities, 3) the reaffirmation of the state of law; 4) inter-community political coordination (-), 5) (-) especially for the municipality of Chenalho and where there are displaced, 6) promoting of legislation for indigenous peoples and communities, and 7) the political and peaceful path for resolving the conflict. Two months later, in July, the Federal Government sent the COCOPA their new detente proposal for the Chiapas conflict with 6 points: 1) the Military Army will not leave Chiapas, 2) peaceful mechanisms for dissolving the autonomous municipalities, 3) the fostering of regional reconciliation, 4) freedom for political prisoners, 6) programs to boost social development in Chiapas. Up to this point, we have documented the failure of these policies and the government's "double language." Economic development in the state cannot be isolated from the democratic process, from justice and from peace in Chiapas. The supposed social development policies are not focused on the revival of the national economy, and even less do they take into consideration the indigenous and campesino population forgotten in the neo-liberal project. Because of that, the indigenous peoples continue their resistance; the caravans in solidarity, the non-welfare humanitarian aid, small economic projects, of self-sustenance, of education, of health, etc., reflect a great political consciousness in the indigenous resistance for humanity and against neo-liberalism, when it is now hunger and the lack of production at this stage of the year which will delineate the strategies. Notes: The sources for the funds were taken from the local and national press. (*) parity is calculated as 1 USD = 9 pesos If you reproduce this information, please cite the source and our email address. We appreciate your comments on these bulletins. Gustavo Castro Soto Center of Economic and Political Investigations of Community Action, A.C. (CIEPAC) TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY irlandesa FOR CIEPAC AND NUEVO AMANECER PRESS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This bulletin is available as "Rich Text," formatted in Word 97, for Windows 95. If you wish to receive it, send us a note to the email address below. If you wish to be placed on the list to receive the English version, or versions in both English and Spanish, please direct a request to the email address below. ciepac@laneta.apc.org YOUR KIND ATTENTION: If you find CIEPAC's Bulletins useful, help us continue preparing them. Please contribute whatever you can, sending your donation to: Bank Account: CIEPAC, A.C. Bank: BANCOMER Branch: 437 (San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico) Acct. No.: 1003458-8 Please drop us a note stating the date and amount of your contribution so that we may acknowledge receipt. Many thanks! --------- "RE: CFS Director Escapes Assault Charges" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 00:14:43 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: BC's 'Colonialist' Federation of Students: Resignation Call :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Please distribute widely CFS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ESCAPES ASSAULT CHARGES June 15, 1998, The Peak News, Simon Fraser University, by Kris Anderson Assault charges against BC Canadian Federation of Students executive director Philip Link were dismissed last week after a hearing in BC Provincial Court. Link was charged with common assault for an incident which occurred during a CFS conference last November. During the hearing the female complainant, who at the time of the incident was the chair of the Aboriginal Student's Caucus of the BC CFS, began to cry several times as she described how an argument between her and Link lead to physical confrontation. The argument began, the woman testified, when Link refused to acknowledge her concerns that the CFS does nothing for aboriginal students. She told the court that Link became defensive saying that the tuition freeze [which the CFS takes credit for] was enough. When she persisted with her argument, she testified, Link began to make fun of her and became aggressive with his gestures. The woman stated to the court "he was invading my space." She told the court how in response she pushed him away from her, but that her push was not at all hard. She then testified "he made comments about how stupid I sound." The woman then testified that she told Link that if the issue was not rectified soon her student association would have to pull out of the CFS. She said he then began swearing at her and called her " a f**kin bitch". At that point, the woman told the court, she slapped Link across the face. She then testified "I don't remember what happened exactly, but I got hit." The injuries she incurred as a result of Philip Link hitting her were two black eyes, a cut below her cheek that required four stitches, and a chipped tooth. A police officer later testified that her left eye swelled shut as the officer tried to question her. The woman testified that the injuries left her in great pain. After the woman was hit both Link and the woman testified that he immediately fled the bar where the incident occurred. He told the court that he feared the response of other patrons in the bar who saw that he hit a woman, but did not know the context of the situation. During the majority of Link's testimony he sat hunched over in the witness box with his head down answering the counsels' questions in a very controlled manner. Link testified "nothing I said was inappropriate or rude... she slapped me, hit me, and I remember thinking this situation is getting out of control and I needed to leave." Link told the court that as he got up to leave the woman grabbed at his face and his collar and that she ended up having a firm grip on his jacket. He testified that he then closed his eyes and swung his arm around at her. "It was an intentional blow to try and break free," he said. He then told the court "I perceived her in size to be my physical equal, if not bigger." At one point during the questioning Link testified "I thought I was going down with her on top of me," he later testified "I hit her out of fear." Link testified that after hitting the woman it occurred to him to that the situation "looked bad" he said "because she was a woman and I was a man... there would be an assumption that it was unjustified." He told the court that he left the bar right after the incident and that an "angry mob" followed him to his car. He said he then drove to the CFS office on Spruce Street where the police showed up shortly after he arrived. After Philip Link fled the scene, the woman who was hit had testified that she also ran out of the bar despite BC CFS Chair Maura Parte's attempts to convince her to stay. She said she wanted to make it to the Vancouver General Hospital, but was stopped by police as she walked down the street. During the questioning it was revealed that the woman was not cooperative with the police because of her general distrust for them. The defence counsel stated in his closing argument that the woman's refusal to cooperate with the officers was representative of her overall belligerence that night. Maura Parte who was present at the bar on the night of the alleged assault, but not seated with Link and the woman, testified on behalf of Link. Also present in the courtroom in apparent support of Link last Monday were past SFU student society president Joey Hansen, and former BC-CFS chair Michael Gardiner. Gardiner who now works for the premier's [BC NDP Premier Glen Clark] youth office was scheduled to testify as a character witness for Philip Link, but for some reason was not called to testify. Both Link and the woman he hit testified that they met on several occasions in the months that followed the altercation. It was revealed by the defence that the woman even had a restraining order on Philip Link removed so that he could go back in work. It was also revealed through the testimonies of Link and the woman he hit that he gave her 700 dollars because of financial difficulties she said resulted from the incident. Last Friday the judge for the hearing dismissed the charges against Link saying that he believed Link feared for his safety and that his action was "instinctive..reflex." Link's past aggressive behaviour was not mentioned during the hearing. Not an Isolated Incident... Several sources who wish not to be named have told The Peak that Philip Link is one of the most influential members of the CFS and that he has been known to resort to intimidation tactics to maintain the control he has in the organization that all SFU students pay into as part of their student fees. Link was a staff member of the Langara Students Union in the late 80s before becoming BC CFS executive director in 1990. A few years ago Langara students voted to pull out of the CFS, but have since maintained an active student's union. Past incidents involving Philip Link at Langara as reported by the Gleaner, Langara's student paper, includes: - in October 1989, Link was seen dumping copies of the Voice, Langara's journalism school paper, into a dumpster. A journalism student responded by pulling copies out of the dumpster, walking into Link's office and dumping them on the floor. Link responded by knocking his glasses off, pushing him to the floor and choking him with a camera strap. A witness to the incident said, "Link was completely out of control, it took four people to restrain him." - the next month 2,000 copies of the Gleaner went missing. A student said he saw Link throwing issues into the garbage. - in December of 1989, Link was convicted of assault and fined 100 dollars - in another case Link pled guilty to a charge of public mischief for smashing a female Langara Student Union (LSU) member's windshield with his elbow. - in the spring of 1990 the principal of Langara demanded that the LSU ban Link from the campus. Link responded by putting up slanderous posters about the principal's private life. Link was then fired from the LSU and officially banned from Vancouver Community College property. Link was reported to have visited VCC campuses anyway. -when Rodney De Croo a former chair of Langara's student union delivered a notice of a separation referendum to the Spruce Street CFS office in 1992, he told the Gleaner that Link shoved him up against a wall and pushed him out of the office. - when Link left the LSU it was over 100,000 dollars in debt, an LSU staff person said that after Link left the financial problems were cleared up. June 29, 1998 letters, The Peak ASSAULTED ABORIGINAL WOMAN CLEARLY DENIED JUSTICE by Jeannie Morgan, First Nations Students' Association This letter is in response to the June 15, article regarding Philip Link escaping charges of assault. Aboriginal Peoples continue to battle a system where justice is served for those who are from privileged backgrounds. May I remind the CFS that inherent flaws in the Canadian judicial system is not a new issue. The CFS has taken stances and recognizes numerous other injustices. According to the testimonies given, the aboriginal in my opinion did not provoke, deserve nor ask for two black eyes that were swollen shut, a gash on her cheek, and a chipped tooth. This was unwarranted, unjustified and unacceptable violence. The CFS must dismiss Philip Link immediately. As a person who was at the trial, I was shocked to hear how this women was encouraged and misled by certain members of the provincial executive to keep this issue quiet. I can sympathize with the survival mode instinct this woman was in. With key players in the organization like Maura Parte Chairperson and Joey Hansen, former National Executive Representative on Philip Link's side, [not to mention former BC-CFS chair Michael Gardiner, now BC NDP Premier Glen Clark's advisor on youth issues - S.I.S.I.S.] the aboriginal woman must have felt even more alienated, isolated and alone. I call for the resignations of all the provincial executive members who contributed to this silence and inaction. How can they continue to represent and advocate for the interests of students? Philip Link's indication that a tuition fee freeze was a great gain for Aboriginal students is insulting. We have issues that directly affect us which are not addressed adequately by the CFS. The CFS must take the proper action or the Simon Fraser students ought to reconsider our membership in this organization. I believe that we, as First Nations students, have endured attempts to discredit us not only from the CFS but also from members within the SFSS (Simon Fraser Student Society) who failed to consult us on action to be taken on this issue. - Jeannie Morgan, First Nations Students' Association (FNSA) :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: "I call for the resignations of all the (CFS) provincial executive members who contributed to this silence and inaction" FNSA - SFU DECOLONIZE CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENTS! CFS NATIONAL OFFICE Ph: (613) 232-7394 ext.21 Fax (613) 232-0276 chair@cfs-fcee.ca ABORIGINAL STUDENTS REP: Lanna Many Grey Horses mghorses@capcollege.bc.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Woman Tells of Abuse at Res School" --------- 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: Canada's Secret Indian Archives" --------- Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 00:39:23 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Canada's Secret Indian Archives :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: LAWYER CONVINCED OF SECRECY Alberni Valley News, August 25, 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 - The federal government has secret archives relating to the Alberni Indian Residential School, Peter Grant, lead lawyer for 31 former students suing the government and the United Church of Canada, told B.C. Supreme Court Monday. In the midst of lawyers wrangling over the scheduling of witnesses late Monday afternoon, Mr. Grant told Mr. Justice Donald Brenner that he recently discovered that the federal government has "secret archives that exist that have not been disclosed. These are not in the National Archives." Mitchell Taylor, lead lawyer for the federal government, said there are no secret archives. He told Mr. Justice Brenner that Mr. Grant's allegation was a "surprising, shocking, outrageous comment to just pop up like that in court." In an interview, Mr. Grant said he recently learned of the existence of the secret archives and he is convinced they exist. He said "Canada," meaning Mr. Mitchell's team, is also aware of the archives, and "I intend to make demands for these from Canada." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: More information on Canada's genocidal residential schools: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/resschool/main.html 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: Sexual Terrorist Fingers DIA" --------- Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 00:16:19 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: "Sexual Terrorist" Fingers DIA, Res-school Principal :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: TORMENTOR'S WORDS BRING RELIEF TO SOME ABUSE VICTIMS Times-Colonist, August 25, 1998, by Roger Stonebanks [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 - One victim of a man labelled a sexual terrorist sighed with relief after listening to him testify Monday in BC Supreme Court. "I feel good today. This is part of the healing process," said Marlon Watts. Arthur Henry Plint, now 80, was a dormitory supervisor at Alberni Indian Residential School for 10 years in two periods between 1948 and 1968. In between he was a postman in Vancouver. Plint was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 1995 for sexual assaults on boys at the school. Justice Douglas Hogarth called him a sexual terrorist. On Monday Plint was called from Mountain Institution in the Fraser Valley by Vancouver lawyer Peter Grant. He represents some of the nearly 30 former students who are suing the federal government and the United Church for compensation for assaults at the now closed boarding school in Port Alberni. Before court convened, Watts told more than 50 natives on the steps of the Nanaimo courthouse to "show our dignity, love, and unity and true heritage" inside court by refraining from all comment. The packed courtroom was silent except for a few murmurs of disagreement when he said he couldn't remember abusing boys. Plint, frail and walking with a cane but clear-voiced and responsive to questions, said he saw former school principal John Andrews on television after the sexual assault charges were laid. Andrews was saying it was the first time he had heard about it. "I yelled out '...liar' to the TV," said Plint. He said Andrews fired him in 1968 but gave no reason then and he heard none later. He also said Andrews told him not to stay in Port Alberni but he didn't know why. Plint moved immediately to Victoria where he worked as an orderly in the Chinese hospital. Earlier in the trial, Andrews testified that he did not know about sexual assaults at the time and Plint was fired for breaking a rule by having boys in his room. Andrews is expected to be a witness again. Plint, who frequently drummed his fingers on the witness box, said Andrews "got a call from Indian Affairs saying they had heard about me" and sexual assaults in the school. Plint said he neither confirmed or denied it. The second time was after a public school teacher wrote a letter about a residential boy who had scratches and Plint had checked the boy to see if he had worms. "He wouldn't go to the nurse, he told his mother I had looked for worms, she phoned the school," said Plint. Plint said he thought he was working for the United Church of Canada and he was hired by the principal the first time by A.E. Caldwell and the second time by Andrews. The principals, he said, worked for the United Church and the federal government. In contrast to testimony from former students and his own guilty pleadings in criminal court, Plint said his sexual offences were limited to boys masturbating him. He conceded, however, that he cannot remember details and has tried to forget them. Meanwhile, outside court, Watts said: "I'm not going to let him harm me no more. All I knew was hate and anger and distrust of everyone. I've been clean and sober 14 years but the nightmares still come." Harry Wilson, who testified that Plint abused him, said: "I don't like listening to him. It hurt. He hurt me a lot." The trial will adjourn later this week to Oct. 19. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to Times-Colonist - mailto:jknox@victoriatimescolonist.com In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Information Updates Needed" --------- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 11:58:00 EDT From: MarCrow@aol.com Subj: Re: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.034 UUCP email [Editorial Note: This is a super reference source I use and recommend.] Hi: I'm the co-author of 1997-98 INDIAN COUNTRY ADDRESS BOOK and NATIVE AMERICAN INTERNET GUIDE. As always, we are always collecting information about Indian Country so when we revise our books, the information will be more complete and correct. I saw the letter someone wrote about the newest white buffalo being born. The newest white buffalo was born on July 29th at Child's Place Ranch. The article came out on August 2/3 and that is why the date of the birth has confused some people. I saw in another letter that this was the seventh white buffalo born. Does anyone know where all the white buffalo are? That's because we only know about five white buffalo in existence in this country. We also know a white buffalo was born last year in Michigan, but it died. We need this information so we can put it in our data bases. White buffaloes are sacred and the Indian People should know where all of them are. This is a list of the five white buffaloes are that we know of: Childs Place Buffalo Ranch, Hanover, MI-one born July 29th. Daniel Shirek Farm, Michigan, ND-has two white buffaloes. Dave Heider Farm, Janesville, WI-home of "Miracle" born in 1984. National Buffalo Museum, Jamestown, ND-home of "White Cloud", born 7-10-96. If any of this information is wrong, or if you know of any other white buffaloes on this continent, please tell us so we can provide proper information to the Indian People in our books. We have been in contact with all the buffalo associations and they pretty much know of the ones listed above. Last week, I got an e-mail from the North American Bison Association. They told me that last year there were about 250,000 buffalo. They said they estimate the number to be about 300,000 this year. They also told me that they are doing a census this year to find the true figure. Other research has shown us that white buffaloes are supposed to be born one in a million to one in forty million. Yes, with all the white buffaloes being born in the past four years, it does show that the prophecies are starting to come to fruition. Thank you for all your time and help in this matter. Martha Crow Co-Author, 1997-98 INDIAN COUNTRY ADDRESS BOOK and NATIVE AMERICAN INTERNET GUIDE Marcrow@aol.com --------- "RE: Dreams" --------- Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 14:26:39 EDT From: Ray Lookingglass Subj: Dreams !!!!!!!!!!!! UUCP email [Editorial: Learn from the vision of an elder.] I wish to share this with all, however this old heart does not remember If it already has. I so please excuse. My old memory banks, being quite full, make us repeat fond memories we have encounted, often a dream is just a dream but sometimes become so powerful That they just wont let us go until we do something about them The week end PAU WAU (POWWOW) comes to a close and the return to reality begins to take shape. I close my eyes as the hectic pace of the last 2 days finally catches up to me. As I begin to doze I enter the land of the Ancient Ones. It seems that I have been there before as I visualize the two Ancient Ones. It seems to me that they were just a little world- weary and frayed, from a lifetime of watching and learning from the mistakes, that, we their children have made. And they might have been a little tired from all the great and lofty conversations they have had over all these years. Such things can be taxing to say the least. It was as if they have covered all the ground that there was to cover, discussed all that was of importance of all the living things, of all the world. The sun was going down, as it always has. And yet nothing seemed to change at all. Humankind still gropes and stumbles for meaning in the darkness of their shallow worlds as they always had. The Ancient ones had decided long ago, that they would set aside one day each year, in the coolness of Fall, to meet at one of the Kchi Anaskemozi ( Great Oak Trees ) near the Sigwnigan ( Reserve ) . Here they would find a quiet, leaf carpeted hush, There was " purpose " here, and a meaningful and subtle intellectuality. A soft orange fire burned and crackled within the fire pit, casting its somber shadows around the sigwnigan in silence. One Old man approaches and sits down in front of the Kchi Anaskemezi in front of him, burns, this timeless fire..He has this nagging suspicion that he is simply an actor in a play and he is totally aware of this, now, in his every movement and gesture. Yet this is a play of the grandest proportions, being played out in the universe. A stage, for all time. Both of the Ancient Ones are acutely aware of this , it is the impetus and reason behind these meetings. The first Ancient one was already seated He's quietly tamping the WDA M8 ( Tobacco ) into his WDAMOGAN ( Pipe ), He tightens the drawstrings on his leather pouch and returns it to its proper place. And then he lites his Wdamogan. The other Ancient one begins the same procedure, And, yet not a word has been spoken. They glance across the fields occasionally, nod and smile at each other, but mostly they just reflect upon their great journeys in the world, in life and puff easily at their pipes. The fire crackles in the fire pit, Embers glow, Sparks cascade in its brief flurry of excitement before settling back to the slow and easy flicker and dance of flame against the dark. One of the Old ones pours a Kwatsis ( cup ) of Labial ( Cider ) takes a sip, and smiles softly And the evening goes on like this. The curl of smoke from the pipes, the soft aromas, and the sip of Cider. Yet still not a word is spoken. At evening's end, almost as if it was so well rehearsed, they get up, shake hands, and smile. Knowing quite well that this was as good as it could possibly get. It was their world; they were men " of their time " and were completely aware of the grandeur this implied as well as the implications. There was no sadness in this realization, not for themselves being " trapped " in these times. Nor for the Human beings. It was enough for them to have been on this long journey, and for them to set these evenings aside each year for these evenings of quiet reflection. And as, for parting cordialities, the visiting ones will saunter off into the dream like fog of a chilly fall night, their journey stopped in their time, until our time learns to cope. I awake suddenly, and rescue this story from the archives of my mind, I search frantically for the message behind this and suddenly, I discover that it is right before my eyes. Here we are in our time, overwhelmed and beset by the almost total distractions of our time. In this story, there is no distraction, The complete LACK of distraction, The lack of Adagi ( roguish, deceitful ones) is the sole purpose for our two visitors meeting like this, once a year. I know this dream, I dream it often especially after long weekends. Usually upon the return to reality. --------- "RE: Recipes for Students" --------- Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 20:09:16 EDT From: Plt7@aol.com Subj: Recipes for Students UUCP email O'siyo Gary Please include the following in the newsletter. Wado Pat ++++ Tribal Hands United to Network and Determine Educational Resolve (THUNDER) Alliance is a coalition of American Indian student organizations in the North Texas area. (a 501(c) 3 organization) The organization is dedicated to addressing educational problems for American Indian students. THUNDER Alliance provides mentoring, educational programs and scholarships. For the past two years we have provided an orientation for beginning college students to provide basic skills which may help students stay in school and complete their college education. As a fund raising endeavor we are compiling a cookbook. We are requesting contributions. All of the proceeds will be used for the student orientations and for scholarships. We would like to include as many different recipes as possible. Also, if the contributor would like to include a paragraph or two with a story or antidote about the recipe to add to the interest of the cookbook. We would very much appreciate contributions for this effort. The recipes may be e-mailed to plt7@aol.com or mailed to THUNDER Alliance P.O. Box 154466 Irving, TX 75015. Please include the nation/tribe/tradition the recipe represents and your name as you would like it to appear with the recipe. My thanks to each for supporting our efforts. Pat Talley --------- "RE: The American My Lai" --------- Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 10:15:05 -0400 From: Louis Proyect Subj: The American My Lai UUCP email August 30, 1998 CHIVINGTON JOURNAL