From gars@netcom.com Wed Oct 28 00:30:56 1998 Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 19:44:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.043 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 043 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, October 24, 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 Minn-Ind & Nat-Film Lists; UUCP email; Newsgroup: alt.native; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty 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. As a child, I understood how to give; I have forgotten that grace since I became civilized. I lived the natural life, whereas I now live the artificial. Any pretty pebble was valuable to me then, every growing tree an object of reverence. "Now I worship with the white man before a painted landscape whose value is estimated in dollars! Thus the Indian is reconstructed, as the natural rocks are ground to a powder and made into artificial blocks that may be built into the walls of modern society." __ Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa), Santee Sioux +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Maybe what is needed for these wide-eyed, insensitive jerks who think Hollywood war chants, tomahawk chops and dudes in fake war paint bring honor to us is a trip through reality. I mean no disrespect to my relatives living there, and I ask that my elders forgive me for what I say. Life on most reservations is tough, and demanding. There are rules imposed for simple dignities like starting a business most of these yuppie-puppies would not tolerate for one second. A walk on the chug hole strewn roads, barely yards from the ubiquitous main road would scare the "noble savage" notion out of the most fanatic crystal twinkie. It's all been said before, but here it is again. -There is no honor when one human being serves as the mascot for another. -If you really want to honor us insist your government honor the treaties it demanded with our Peoples. (United States, Canada, Mexico... it's all the same...lies, more lies and damn lies) I will close with a gift of poetry from the Treaty Riders... Please know that these men rode a thousand miles on horseback recently, carrying a staff and praying each step of the way, literally, for each of us and that Unity might happen. Journey The Bloodline For all that live and live by law We Stand, we Call, We Ride For All that fear and fear by sight We Hear, we Listen, we Ride FOr all that pray and pray by strength We Feel, we Move, we Ride For all that die and die by greed We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride For all that birth and birth by right We Smile, we Hold, we Ride For all that need and need by heart We Came, we Went, we Rode. Treaty Unity Riders "They will return my friend. They will return again. All over the Earth. They are returning again. Ancient Beings of the Earth. Ancient Songs of the Earth. I give them to you. And through them you will understand. You will see. They are returning again...upon the Earth." Crazy Horse 1842-1877 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 ---------- - Message to the People - Review: Learning Journey From Standing Deer on the Red Road - Life on Native Reserves - Winter Giveaway - Rider Will Kill Gila River - Our Eagles Need Help - Chiapas Al Dia 125 - Invitation to Authors and Artists - Help for Elders - HELP Restore Religious Rights - Alert to Anthropologists for Native Prisoners - United States Supreme Court News - Native Prisoner - Okanagas Oppose Treaty Process - A Hundred Years Ago - Plymouth Charges Dropped - Poem: A Little Bear - Robinson Rejects - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days Gustafsen Inquiry Call - Conferences and Powwows - Interview with Nuxalk - Native America Calling Hereditary Chief Qwatsinas --------- "RE: Message to the People From Standing Deer" --------- Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 16:17:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Marsha E Shaiman Subj: A Message to the People From Standing Deer UUCP email Thanks Gary, Here I go again. A Message to the People From Standing Deer As we approach another Indigenous Peoples Day, and as we prepare for the day so many of us accept as our own Day of Mourning, that they call "Thanksgiving," there are so many injustices still being heaped upon our Red Nations, but the greatest outrage that occupies my mind this day is "Where is justice for Leonard Peltier?" Where is justice for this indomitable warrior who is being robbed of his very life by the takers of the fat? Leonard has been in captivity for more than twenty-two years for a crime he did not commit. For many of these years he has been forced to live in a cage so small that had he been a dog the Humane Society would have closed the prison down. During these years the keepers of the Iron Houses of Greed have subjected him to some of the most hideous treatment in an effort to break his will and spirit, yet his warrior heart remains strong and unyielding serving as an inspiration to us all. Peltier is an innocent man! He has committed no crime! He is the victim of a system of injustice which operates outside the moral boundaries that just people claim to live by. Just think of all the things that have happened since Leonard was first entombed in 1976: Jimmy Carter was President; the war against Grenada was still a dream in Reagan's diseased brain; The Gulf War--with its sickening body count on both sides (theirs outright; ours as a slow, debilitating death of tens of thousands from undiagnosable or unnameable sicknesses that continue even to this day)--had not yet entered the history books. And some of you who are today devoting your time, energy and resources to free Leonard were small children or had not yet been born. Brothers and sisters, Leonard is a Prisoner of War being unjustly held captive in his own land by the descendants of the very sea pirates who murdered his great grandmothers and great grandfathers, decimated his People, and stole Mother Earth out from under their feet. War has been running through my head, and I speak of wars because there is war being waged against the Indian People throughout the americas--the Slade Gorton war to end our sovereignty; the logging wars to poison our water; the war to dump their nuclear contamination on us; the war to continue denying our brothers and sisters in the Iron Houses the right to practice our religion, and on and on--and now our brother Leonard has been denied parole, and told not to come back to see the parole board until 2008. The war against him says he can't even get proper medical treatment for his jaw that has him in severe pain constantly. I know this man is not a complainer. He will complain about the injustices being done to his People, but his pants leg could be on fire and he wouldn't complain, so when I heard that he admitted he is in constant, severe pain it brought tears to my eyes because I know that brother is suffering. We have got to do something! Call Warden Booker at Leavenworth and write him letters; call and write Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. We gotta do more than we ever thought we could. We need Leonard outside the prison walls to help us win our right to exist in Clinton's america. Of course he doesn't have to do anything but kick back and let his granbabies swarm over him, enjoy his family, relatives and friends, and do some of the things that injustice has denied him and he so richly deserves. Just seeing his smiling face in glorious freedom will pump new life in every struggle everywhere. To all of you who struggle to free Leonard, I extend the left hand of my left arm which is closest to my heart. My love and strength are with you. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Standing Deer, September 1998 P.S. Because of my words the prison officials have taken away my name and locked me in the dungeon for a while. I am now in a different prison in general population and my address is: Robert H. Wilson #640298, Pack One Prison, Route 3 Box 300, Navasota TX 77869. Write about Leonard to: Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First Street NW, Washington DC 20534. Phone: (202) 307-3198, fax: (202) 514-6878. Warden Booker, USP Leavenworth, PO Box 1000, Leavenworth KS 66048. Phone: (913) 682-8700, fax: (913) 682-0041. --------- "RE: Life on Native Reserves" --------- Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 00:53:05 -0400 From: not@inthe.game (justanoldman) Subj: This is news?! Newsgroup: alt.native The Globe & Mail, Canada's National Newspaper Monday, 12 October, 1998 www.theglobeandmail.com Link to us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FRONT PAGE Story 1 --------------------- Canada's squalid secret: life on native reserves Income, education, life expectancy worse than in 62 countries Monday, October 12, 1998 ERIN ANDERSSEN Parliamentary Bureau Ottawa -- Canada may top the United Nations list for the highest quality of life in the world, but a new government study shows what the ranking hides: Native Canadians living on reserves fall far down in the pack, ranking worse than countries such as Mexico and Thailand. According to the study by the Department of Indian Affairs, the quality of life for on-reserve natives -- about 380,000 people -- is on a par with Brazil and countries considered to have only a medium level of human development. For the more than 270,000 registered natives living off reserves, the quality of life is somewhat better. According to the UN ranking system, their living conditions are in line with Russia. "This is not a surprise for us," said Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. "We live this every day. People have to be cautious about using the fact that we're No. 1, that Canada is the best place in the world to live. It's tough to say that to a family living in abject poverty on a First Nation." This is the first time Indian Affairs has applied native-specific statistics to the human-development index created by the UN to compare the world's countries. The index combines three factors: per capita income, education levels and life expectancy. Canada has topped the list for the past six years. But among the 173 countries ranked in the 1994 UN report, the Indian Affairs study says off-reserve natives come in about 35th; on-reserve natives rank about 63rd. Although disheartening, that's still relatively high on the world scale, well above nations with lower development. Ethiopia and Somalia, for example, appear at 161 and 165 on the list, respectively. Broken down by province, the native scores fall fairly close together. But the study gives the lowest rating to on-reserve registered natives in Yukon and the Northwest Territories, where communities are typically more remote and costly to provide services for, and where residents often are less educated. Reserves in British Columbia have the highest quality of life. For off-reserve natives, Ontario offers the highest living standard. The lowest rating goes to Saskatchewan, where the native population is booming and there are many young and single-parent families earning small incomes. Although the federal government has increased funding for aboriginal programs by billions of dollars since the late 1980s and will spend about $6-billion in this fiscal year, Ottawa is often criticized for achieving few results. However, the study did reveal concrete signs that although the gap still exists between non-native and native Canadians, life for aboriginal people in the country is improving slowly. According to the 1996 statistics used by the study, native Canadians are living longer than they were in 1981, though still seven years less on average than their non-native counterparts. They are better educated, though still far below the Canadian standard. And although the income gap between natives and non-natives shrank between 1981 and 1991 -- the most recent statistics available -- aboriginals still earn less than half the average Canadian income. HOW CANADIAN NATIVES RANK ON THE UN'S HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX RANK LIFE PER CAPITA EXPECTANCY INCOME AT BIRTH (years) Human Development Index ranking 1992 1991 1. Canada 77.2 19,320 Off-reserve natives 72.2 9,905 35. Trinidad and Tobago 70.9 8,380 62. United Arab Emirates 70.8 17,000 On-reserve natives 67.6 6,542 63. Brazil 65.8 5,240 Source: United Nations Human Development Report, Department of Indian Affairs We welcome your comments. Copyright 1998, The Globe and Mail Company All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Rider Will Kill Gila River" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 12:43:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Susanna Shreeve Subj: Rider Will Kill Gila River- Call Today!! (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 01:25:18 -0700 From: Kieran Suckling Arizona Senator Kyl and Representative Shadegg have attached a rider to the omnibus appropriation bill to hand over the publicly owned facilities of the Welton-Mohawk Irrigation District to a small group of wealthy agribusiness interests. Even worse, the give away exempts these Gila River farmers from requirements to provide water for endangered fish and birds. CALLS MUST BE MADE FRIDAY!! If this rider passes, it will ensure the lower Gila River stays chanelized forever AND that agribusiness will be allowed to desertify the Gila River while endangered species die. Agribusiness has already sucked up $500 million dollars of subsidies and devastated the lower Gila River, we can't let them privatize the entire river as well. CALLS MUST BE MADE FRIDAY!! Please call the White House today: No Welton-Mohawk rider. No water give away. No exemptions from wildlife protection: The Capital Switchboard number is: (202) 224-3121 For the White House use these numbers: Erskine Bowles, White House Chief of Staff (202) 456-6605 Ron Klain, (Vice-President Gore's Chief of Staff): (202) 456-6605) White House Phone: 202-456-1414, Fax: 202-456-2883 You might want to make short supportive calls to: Katie McGinty at the Council for Environmental Quality Phone: 202-456-6224, Fax: 202-456-2710 AZ Daily Star Editorial, October 15, 1998 Drop this river scam Congress should nix the notorious Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation District's latest grab for special treatment from the federal government. The grab, now pending as Congress tries to adjourn, is in an unjustifiable Senate measure that would hand to the district near Yuma millions of dollars' worth of federal water facilities. Worse, the bill would allow the irrigators to opt out of their coming responsibility to help repair the degraded Lower Colorado River. Sponsored by Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain, the low-profile transfer sounds plausible. It appears like a smart move to privatize expensive-to-operate agricultural assets and promote self-sufficiency. Enough devils lurk in the deal, however, to reveal it as another scam in a series involving Wellton-Mohawk. First, the bill relieves Wellton-Mohawk of any responsibility for paying for the $256 million Yuma Desalting Plant, built exclusively to mitigate the astronomical salt build-up in the farmers' poorly drained soil. Otherwise, and far worse, the bill conveys a sprawling network of taxpayer-built canals, dikes and fields to a handful of farmers while giving them the power to evade the burdens of future environmental initiatives in the area. Now, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt holds ultimate authority over the district. As the overseer of the Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the Wellton-Mohawk infrastructure, the secretary retains critical power to compel Wellton-Mohawk to give up some of the water for the good of the endangered species and resources of the river. But under the senators' legislation, all the profligacy and ecological insult of Wellton-Mohawk's current operations would be locked in. Language in the bill ``maintains in place'' all of Wellton-Mohawk's present water contracts and allotments of Colorado River water. Similarly, the text stipulates that those contracts can be altered only ``by mutual consent'' of the government and the district. That means Wellton-Mohawk would gain a veto over any request for it to cede water. And that means a huge consumer of Lower Colorado could opt out of any role in helping to restore water to the river's dried out delta, diminished flows and wasted streamside ecosystems. This is outrageous. For more than 40 years, the subsidized farmers of Wellton-Mohawk have garnered maybe $500 million in cut-rate water, free pumping stations and taxpayer-funded levies that damage the Gila and the Colorado rivers both. Now they want to opt out of any responsibility for fixing what they have helped ruin. No way should that happen. No way should this deal go through. ________________________________________________________________________ Kieran Suckling ksuckling@sw-center.org Executive Director 520.623.5252 phone Southwest Center for Biological Diversity 520.623.9797 fax http://www.sw-center.org pob 710, tucson, az 85702-710 --------- "RE: Chiapas Al Dia 125" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 19:12:56 -0700 From: NCDM Subj: ENGLISH VERSION OF "CHIAPAS AL DIA" BULLETIN No. 125 UUCP email ENGLISH VERSION OF "CHIAPAS AL DIA" BULLETIN No. 125 CIEPAC CHIAPAS, MEXICO (August 29, 1998) DIRECT FOREIGN, NATIONAL AND STATE INVESTMENT IN CHIAPAS: ANOTHER MYTH The aim and the promise of Governor Roberto Albores of Chiapas is to create 300,000 jobs during the three years remaining of his interim term. If we calculate an average of 100 jobs for each program of direct foreign or national investment, 3000 programs would be necessary in order to reach these goals, and there have been only 15 new programs operating since the beginning of the conflict. At 10 investment projects per year, 300 years would be necessary to reach the aim. On the other hand, many of the few jobs which are being created, or which are planned, are aimed at the impoverished urban worker and the migrant population on the border with Guatemala, not for the indigenous population, forgotten by these investment schemes. In the case of the workers, a leader from the Workers' Confederation of Mexico (CTM) stated that this month more than 40,000 workers in Chiapas are surviving in situations of extreme poverty, without access to the benefits of housing, social security and decent wages, due to the lack of investments and the failure to re-activate productivity in the state over the last 4 years. He also said the Chiapaneco worker is the most exploited in the country, with a less than minimum salary, fluctuating around 20 pesos per day ($2 USD), putting it at "subhuman subsistence." This cheap labor is one of the primary reasons for possible interest in foreign investment in Chiapas, but the industrial sector is poor and the technology scarce; the workers are few, impoverished and not qualified. However, the export maquiladora industry is attempting to create 10,000 jobs in Chiapas over the next two years (3. 3% of Albores' dream). Official information is contradictory. While the State Employment Service (SEE) in Chiapas states there are 37,000 unemployed in the state; there are about 15,000 displaced; the governor offers 263,000 more jobs, at the same time saying there are 500,000 Chiapanecos who do not receive one cent per year. Regardless, taking the SEE figures, the jobs created up to this point by the investments, added to those projected for the next two years, will not reach even half of the data provided. On the other hand, Governor Albores Guillen, for the purpose of "improving the economy," announces that funds have been allocated for the training of 980 persons, in 23 courses for the unemployed through the Training Grants for the Unemployed programs. Let us look at some examples of the investments: Japanese businesses, such as the Mafer, invest in peanut production and in the production of shrimp and tuna, as do Norwegian businesses. In an alliance with Mexican capital, the Axa Yashaki company will install, for the production of automobile parts in Tuxtla, the first binational maquiladora plant for the production of automobile seatbelts, with an investment of US$1.2 million, and which will offer 150 direct jobs (contributing 0.05% of Albores' goal). The government of the state is subsidizing the company through a training course for its future workers. With the visit of Prince Akishino in 1997, investments were announced for Puerto Madero which, with decentralization, will promote the recovery of import-export; in the same way, investments were announced for rice, maquiladoras and auto parts in the Soconusco zone (along the Guatemala border), where Japanese families and businesses are found. For this reason, President Zedillo has visited the municipality of Acapetahua. The greatest part of the Japanese immigrants are concentrated in this region, where they inaugurated a monument to the arrival of the Japanese in Chiapas in 1892. Zedillo has been committed to supporting and promoting the production of African palm, camedor palm, sesame, macadamia, among others, as agricultural export products from Chiapas, supplanting crops such as corn and beans. He has also promoted the installation of oil extracting factories, such as those which are being developed in the municipalities of Jiquipilas, Villa Comaltitlan and Acapetahua. During the next few months, the President will be visiting Japan and Malaysia. An agreement was signed between the country's agricultural authorities and the Mission of the Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, for the development of a master Plan for the Complete Development of the Agricultural Sector in the Soconusco Region, for the purpose of identifying potential for development, investment opportunities and the creation of programs to integrate development of the agricultural, livestock and fishing sectors, among others. The short-term goals for five years are for the development of a program for the transformation of technology, aimed at facilitating the participation of Mexicans in the systematization, analysis and interpretation of information, as well as for the formulation of a development plan, and the review of information on forest and fisheries resources. This plan will be very necessary in order to counteract the effects of single-crop plantings in Chiapas. Some businesspersons in Guatemala are interested in investing in pharmaceutical laboratories in San Cristobal de las Casas, with an investment of $4 million. Other Guatemalan investors from the banana and palm culture company, Agrocaribe, S.A., wish to invest in African palm, for which they will require 5000 hectares (has.) from independent producers (not campesino organizations). Their representative, Arreola Buchet, stated that that the area along the southern Guatemalan coast has the best African palm yields in the world. Malaysian businesses are also investing in African palm and camedor palm, maranon (Indian nut), macadamia, sesame and sunflower in the Coastal zone. In addition, the Commercial Consul of the Israeli Embassy in Mexico met with Chiapas businesspersons this March and visited papaya and jalapeno chili plantations The consul expressed great interest in investment in agriculture, agro-industry and tourism primarily, and in the possibility of Israeli agro-technology commercial businesses investing in Chiapas. In February, the Swiss company, Barry Callebaut France, S.A., announced the possibility of investing in the Soconusco zone. They said they would require 15,000 tons of cacao for their installation, when, according to Governor Roberto Albores, Chiapas produces 31,000 tons, and in three years would guarantee another 10,000, and 400,000 tons in the long term (12% of world production). They are thought to be the largest company manufacturing industrial chocolate in the world. United States companies, such as Warren To Texas and Bremer Food, are interested in the production of beef for export. McDonald's opened its 121st restaurant in the country in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital, in 1997, valued at $45,000. Despite the fact that Chiapas is an important producer of beef, as well as of vegetables, McDonald's will be importing their beef from the north of the country (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon), vegetables from the state of Puebla and potatoes from Canada, according to press reports. Soft drinks will come from Coca Cola and coffee from Chiapas. In addition, they will create 72 direct jobs (for middle-class young people). Subsequently, the company has considered locating in San Cristobal de las Casas. This is not the only case of companies not seeking local markets. Mexican businesses are also investing in Chiapas. The PULSAR group invests primarily in eucalyptus and rubber in the Northern Zone, in the municipalities of Playas de Catazaja, Salto de Agua and Valle de Tulija; gandhua bamboo in Reforma and Marques de Comillas; chilies and papaya in Suchiapa; tomatoes, tobacco and chilies in La Trinitaria and La Independencia; fish farms, rubber, papaya, peanut fodder, bananas, mangoes, citrus, etc., in Soconusco. The PULSAR group states that it employs 13,000 persons in Chiapas, and it has 2500 family members in the municipality of La Trinitaria in agricultural co-investment in vegetables, tobacco and bamboo. It also has three of the most advanced experimental camps in the world. This is one of the companies which has benefited the most from the constitutional modifications in agrarian matters, enabling them to enter into agreements with the ejidos. The HERDEZ company acquired the Fishing Plant in Chiapas in Puerto Madero, municipality of Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala - with an investment of US$15 million, creating 300 jobs (contributing 0.1% of what Albores promised). During May of this year Zedillo visited the area and subsequently inaugurated the industrial plant. This business also invests in the production of chilies and tomatoes. The former governor of Chiapas, Patrocinio Gonzalez Garrido, has presumably been granted large credits for the production of eucalyptus on a large scale, for the production and commercialization of wood in the Northern Zone of the state. This kind of production is highly problematical, since it quickly and easily erodes the soil and impedes the planting of other crops. In the other extreme of Chiapas, the Industrial Fisheries Complex of Mayab, in the state of Yucatan, confirmed to the Chiapas government their commit to invest, in the future, US$15 in a company for comprehensive fisheries development in Puerto Madero, including a dry dock, ice factory, diesel tank, processing plant for fish products and commercialization of international markets. Puerto Madero, abandoned, is trying to become an industrial corridor. The national producers Union of Rubber expressed their willingness to work with the government and to make inroads in Chiapas. Likewise, 20 of the most important businessmen in Mexico announced they would invest 10 million dollars in the agricultural sector, primarily in irrigation systems. Other investments in the state are: a cement plant in the municipality of San Fernando; a paper factory in Tuxtla; a recycling plant in Tapachula; Mexican Kenworth, which plans to erect an assembly factory in the Soconusco region in order to enter the Central American market; the Afra Group has begun the construction of a Sam's Club store in Tuxtla, investing 11.4 million dollars and generating 300 direct jobs (0.1% of Albores' promise); a clothing maquiladora which will create 100 jobs (0.03%), and which President Zedillo himself opened in April. The businesspersons of the Management Council of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX) created a Consulting Council for the development of municipalities in the Chiapaneco southeast. Later, the Regional Center for Business Competitiveness (CRECE) had helped 54 Chiapaneco businesses with consulting, production, human resources, finances and marketing. In April, more than 1560 unpaid debts were credited, with interest penalties being written off in amounts up to100%. However, this did not stop 830 businesses from closing, as was reported for the month of June. The PRODUCE FOUNDATION, since its creation in 1996, has had a budget in the state of approximately 8 million pesos, distributed among 64 investment and technology transfer projects in the agriculture sector, in such areas as genetically altered maize seed, made more resistant to acid soils; the establishment of regulations for combating the more common diseases in plantations such as banana; livestock sanitation; work benefiting the coffee, cacao, soy, beans, vegetable and floriculture industries; investigation programs into the production potential in the Coastal Zone. Thus, Chiapas is an interesting experimental camp for businesses for scientific research into genetically improved seeds and for bio-diversity investigations. The CHIAPAS FUND is made up of Mexican companies: Escorpion Group and Pepsi, Modelo Group, Mexican Development Group, Minsa Group, Maseca group and 12 other Chiapaneco businesses, along with the financial groups Serfin, Bital and Bancrecer. Many have done little. The Minsa, Maseca and Bital Bank have increased their credits, and they have taken on new members with 5 million dollars, which has increased this business organization's capital to 10 million dollars. Minsa and Maseca invest heavily in their production plants in the municipalities of Arriaga and Ocozocoautla. The Empresa Promotora Maranon S.A. of C.V.'s new plant (Indian nut) has an annual capacity of 1500 tons, which would allow it to buy the entire state's production. It is currently calculated that there are168 export businesses in the state. The CHIAPAS FUND received a direct foreign investment of 5 million dollars from the International Financial Corporation for Latin America and the Caribbean, which is added to the fund's 7.8 million dollars. In 30 months of operation, the Investment Fund, initially capitalized with the equivalent of 2.3 million pesos, has made only 4 investments in private businesses: 1) a commercial agricultural export company; 2) Rubber Plantations of Palenque, S.A. de C.V., which will allow imports to be reduced by 100 million dollars in the country; 3) a plant producing Indian nuts (developed by Maranon); 4) the first shrimp farm in the state (laboratory for post-larval shrimp). These programs could generate 1446 direct jobs and 3357 indirect jobs (1.6% of Albores' expectations). In June the CHIAPAS FUND laid the first stone for the Processing plant for African palm oil in Villa Comaltitlan, region of Soconusco, which will have an investment of 36 million pesos with an annual capacity of 16 tons. They hope to bring this to 50,000 in two years, benefiting 500 ejido members.= PROPALMA will be functioning in June of 1999 when the product is ready to be processed, and this will lower the import of vegetable oil to 12% to 14% in the country, with an actual worth in the market of 60 million pesos, since it currently reaches 1200 million dollars per year. With this plant, and other projects, employment could reach 8000 in the next two years (2.6% of the government objective), and they hope to promote 4 businesses per year beginning in 1998. At this pace, approximately 60 years would be necessary, with an average of 500 jobs annually, to reach Albores' goal. The Secretary for Economic Development in the State of Chiapas confirmed the "possible" investment of 245 million dollars in Chiapas over the next few years in 6 programs, which would employ 5000 persons (1.6% of Albores' plan). In two years they hope to finalize 8 more projects, bringing the total to 15, which would generate 1500 jobs (0.5% of the governor's expectation). Onesimo Hidago Dominguez and Gustavo Castro Soto CIEPAC The representative of the Council for African Palm Oil Producers of Malaysia, Franz Groeger, stated that, in Latin American, Columbia stands out in the production of African Palm. Malaysia cultivates 2.5 million hectares, producing 8.3 million tons of oil (more than 50% of world production), and contributes 35% of commercial oil. In addition, it creates 300,000 jobs in its country (the totality of Albores' goal), and it contributes 8% of the GNP. In Chiapas, Malaysia will invest in increasing the production of African Palm. The state government, in 1997, promised to establish 4000 hectares for its production. Similarly, Guatemalan businesses are planning to invest in the palm in the Soconusco region. Why so much interest in the production of African Palm in Chiapas? African Palm is cholesterol-free, contains high levels of vitamins, and it is immune to pests, facilitating its single-crop plantings. It is one of the richest resources, and its planting covers more hectares in the state than any other product. It produces high returns, employs little labor, does not require many chemical products and is a low-risk venture for the businessman. The campesino gives his land and his labor, but he is not master of the production process, only of the extraction of the fruit. It takes a advantage of the cheap labor offered by migration in the border area. As for the day laborers from the Guatemala border, those who are lucky are paid 32 pesos per day (3.20 dollars), without food, and they even contract with children. There have been instances in which the Guatemalan authorities have had to intervene in order to ask that their laborers be paid. According to the CAUSAI-CEDIS organization of Ecuador, African Palm produces oil for cooking, margarine, soap, detergent and glycerin, which is also used for military rocket fuel. However, its cultivation requires that forests be completely razed, and it needs an extensive highway network. In addition, the toxic wastes from the refining of the oil heavily contaminate the rivers. In Africa, after they were no longer productive, many areas cultivated with African palm became deserts. Curiously, in Ecuador, the production of African palm is closely tied to the military. Mexico imports 800,000 tons of oils and fats annually, and up to now they have only been produced in Chiapas. Mexico is the second greatest buyer of African Palm on the continent after the US. It is calculated that there is the potential in Chiapas for producing an estimated 940,000 hectares of African Palm between the North, Selva and Coastal Zones. One hectare produces 20 tons of fruit and 5 tons of the oil, at a cost of 4500 pesos per ton, and, currently, 1800 tons are being produced (15% of the national consumption). The government is attempting, for the end of the century, to have 35,000 seeded hectares for the 4 oil extraction plants located in Villa Comaltitlan and in the municipality of Acapetahua, although currently there are only 2478 hectares planted. According to official sources, over a 49 year period, only 2748 hectares have been planted with African palm. In 1997 they had hoped to establish 4000, and the government channeled 16.3 million pesos for the purpose of achieving some 21,000 hectares by the year 2000. Later, Governor Roberto Albores announced an investment of 2 million dollars and a goal of around 25,000 hectares for the year 2000, which could create 15,000 jobs (5% of his goal). In the Soconusco region alone it is possible to cultivate 50,000 hectares. The government is playing its own role. Through the Department of Economic Development and the Technological Institute for Superior Studies in Monterrey (ITESM), it has been reported that since last year there has been a development plan designed for the nine economic regions of Chiapas. In addition, other activities are promoted: an advisory group on airports is currently investigating the airport situation; tariffs are exempted and obstacles and taxes for foreign investment are removed, new conditions and regulations are placed on foreign human rights observers; the CACAOS FINOS DE CHIAPAS company, which is now in the hands of the Treasury department, is put up for sale to foreign or national businesses for $800,000; the Political Constitution of Chiapas is revised, with votes from only the official party, allowing the Executive to award concessions to individuals for the delivery of public services in any dependency or entity of the state public administration that they so deem; the State Congress similarly approves a law for the construction of a state business with majority participation, so that one sector might manage para-state businesses as a private enterprise, and, days later, it is awarded the ability to operate, administer and manage airports, air fields and landing strips in Chiapas; later the federation puts out 4 airport packages and 35 terminals out for bid, without veto, among them the airport in Tapachula, Chiapas. For their part, Treasury authorities favor the agricultural sector through a simplified method of payroll tax, and, in the case of the ranchers, they implement a simplified form for the entire contribution. Bars, businesses and hotels also receive benefits, with other terms. In order to provide legal security and to encourage investment, the Mexican government established, as a consequence of the Free Trade Treaty, the Program for Certification and Ejidal Rights (PROCEDE), as the next step after the modification of Article 27 of the Constitution regarding land. With this program the government delivers ownership titles to the ejido members, so that they can now sell or lease their land, previously prohibited by law. In Chiapas this has reached only 25% of all the ejidal and communal lands (more than 400,000 hectares), but it is expected to be completed by the year 2000. Of the 7.5 million hectares in Chiapas, 40% is ejidal, 13% communal, 33% private, and the rest is water and ecologically protected zones. 75% of the land in Chiapas remains to be "regularized" (potentially able to be leased or sold), which would guarantee the investors' confidence. This is another reason for the delay in the arrival of investment. However, the Business Coordinating Council (CEE) believes that the economic resources delivered by the government through the PROCAMPO program (money given to every campesino for each hectare committed to the planting of maize) promotes fires since, in order to increase cultivatable land, the owners de-forest more hectares and thus obtain more aid from the government. These businesspersons also believe that PROCAMPO encourages the leveling and burning of lands so that they can be parceled (the division of land by which each campesino can rent or sell) and individually titled, since the titling and division of forest lands is not allowed, and they must be incorporated into communal properties of either ejidos or communities. In the field of Tourism, the government promotes ecotourism projects such as the Nachig corridor in the municipality of Zinacantan, the Rancho Nuevo caves in San Cristobal de las Casas, the Tziscao Lakes Ecotourism Center, investment in the Sumidero Canyon, the ecotourist centers Escudo Jaguar and Las Guacamayas in Ocosingo, Agua Clara in Salto de Agua, Laguna Verde in Coapilla, Santo Domingo and Laguna de Colon in La Trinitaria. Three hundred million pesos will be allocated to the Mayan World Route which goes through the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Chiapas (converted into a drug trafficking route, according to the head of the 10th Military Region, General Gaston Menchaca Arias), and which is expected to generate approximately 50% of the country's currency, since it created 7.593 billion dollars for all of Mexico on 1997, according to official figures. For 1998, 160 projects are planned for the Route, and an investment of 6 million dollars for Chiapas. The Tourism Sector in the country will invest 8000 million dollars for the 1998 - 2000 time period. Nonetheless, the relationship between the government, businesses and campesinos for the ecotourism projects is not completely to the liking of the indigenous, who accuse one company of wanting to lease the campesino tourist complexes of Misolha, Agua Azul, Agua Clara, Frontera Corozal and Reforma Agraria, for 40 years, obtaining complete control for just 14,000 pesos per month for the campesinos. Businessmen's complaints are well attended to by the government. They have made three fundamental demands: 1) certainty in the safeguarding of public security, and the government allocates more funds to police bodies, as we have already noted in other Bulletins; 2) legal security for ownership in order to be able to invest, leading to the PROCEDE, and; 3) highways, which the government heavily funds, for the construction of the stretches from Tuxtla-Mexico, Fronteriza Sur (integration of the Northern Zone and Tabasco, 424 kilometers); Tuxtla-San Cristobal de las Casas (45 kms.), Soconusco-Costa-Arriaga-Ocozocoautla (93 kms.); Tapachula-Ciudad Hidalgo (36 kms.), Angel Albino Corzo-Siltepec (49 kms.). In January of this year, former governor Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro said federal investment in Chiapas over the last 3 years in communication and transportation had translated into 3400 kilometers of highways and roads, 311 new bridges and 2 new airports. The network of highways will be one of the indispensable means for attracting investment and tourism. The government favors those campesino projects which can already bring important capital into the state. Such is the case with the Indigenous of the Sierra Madre of Motozintla (ISMAM), who won the First International Trophy for the best image in 1998, given by the Business Leaders Club in Geneva, Switzerland. ISMAM Coffee is the first Mexican export business of packaged organic coffee to export to Argentina, which will create 352 million dollars for Chiapas. In 1997, the BANRURAL bank allocated $951,000 for the acquisition of a roasting plant of Brazilian manufacture, with a capacity of 113,000 quintals [@100 lb.] of organic coffee for export annually. This organization states that it has more than 1500 producers in 19 municipalities in the Soconusco, Sierra and Coastal regions in the state of Chiapas, producing approximately 45,000 tons of organic coffee per season. They exported a little more than 26, 000 tons of that coffee during 1996, creating around 5 million dollars per harvest. In April, President Zedillo opened a coffee maquiladora in the municipality of San Fernando, owned by campesinos exporting to New Zealand, Japan and the United States. In the Sierra de Motozintla, on the Guatemala border, BANRURAL helps an indigenous society, Knan Choc, which exports organic potatoes. Through the State Mining Council, the government is working on a monograph on basic geological-mineral information, in order to see what there is in the ground and to tie the government to the private sector. Mineral exploitation is currently almost non-existent in Chiapas, but important mineral districts have been detected in the municipalities of Solosuchiapa and Chicomuselo, close to the border with Guatemala, where there is gold,= silver, copper, lead and zinc: 4 mineral zones in the municipalities of Ostuacan, Tenejapa, Arriaga; and in the Soconusco region, where aluminum, quartz, silicone, iron and a belt of copper of more than 100 kms., have been located, according to the Secretary of Economic Development. However, aluminum and uranium deposits have been explored since 1983 by the Mineral Resources Council of the federal government in Tenejapa, as have others located in an area of San Juan Chamula and Ostuacan. It is worth remembering the declaration by Comandante Julian, of the EZLN, concerning the zone of Taniperla, to the effect that the militarization was motivated by the protection of the uranium in this Canyon. But it is not just the sub-soil natural resources, but also those of the water; at the beginning of this stretch of land lies the Osumacinta River, joining the Railroad which passes through Palenque and Tenosique in the state of Tabasco, and which also joins the southeastern project known as the Tri-National project of the Osumacinta and the Mayan World Route, with heavy direct foreign investment interests. Large United States, Canadian, European and Asian businesses see the great potential of the rivers and waters such as the Osumacinta, Tzaconeja, Tulija, Chancala, Agua Azul, Izantun, the Grijalva and the Rio la Venta, among others, through which they can move their products to the north, the south and from one side to the other of both oceans, in the logic of the free trade treaties and the inter-ocean project. In addition, there are the great oil reserves in Ocosingo, part of Chilon and in other municipalities in the Northern Zone, where there are also large natural gas reserves, as in the municipality of Simojovel. There are also the cloud forests which Pronatura has been exploring and trying to protect in the zone of Tila, Tapalapa, Tenejapa, Simojovel, Chilon, Ocosingo, Pueblo Nuevo, Solistahuacan and Chalchihuitan, among other corridors of bio- diversity and genetic explorations; forests which enter into the large interests of future projects, such as the construction of hydro-electric dams in the canyons - which will alter ecosystems -, the seeding of large plantations, communication waterways and subsoil resources. In the experimental camp, Rosario Izapa, of the National Institute for Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Investigations (INIFAP), for biotechnology investigation and development, the government is carrying out genetic research for the improved development of the previously mentioned crops: coffee, African palm, rubber, bananas, cacao, mangoes, rambutan and maize. The rich deposits of gold, silver and uranium can also be exploited by private initiative, not just in Chiapas, but also in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. But globalization has one great enemy: the Indian nations, the "firebreak" nations and the struggle for their autonomy. If globalization's inevitable dynamic understands that it is necessary to create inclusive relationships for the exploitation of natural resources, a different horizon might be in store for the current conflicts and for the Indian peoples. Onesimo Hidalgo Dominguez and Gustavo Castro Soto Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Community Action, A.C CIEPAC ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TRANSLATED BY irlandesa FOR CIEPAC, A. C. AND NUEVO AMANECER PRESS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Notes: The sources for the figures are from the local and national press (*) In order to covert pesos to dollars, the actual exchange rate is close to 10 pesos to $1USD. Note: If you wish to be placed on a list to receive this English version of the Bulletin, or the Spanish, or both, please direct a request to the e-mail address shown below. Note: If you use this information, cite the source and our email address We are grateful to the persons and institutions who have given us their comments on these Bulletins. CIEPAC, A.C. is a non-government and non-profit organization, and your support is necessary for us to be able to continue offering you this news and analysis service. If you would like to contribute, in any amount, we would infinitely appreciate your remittance to the bank account in the name of: CIEPAC, A.C. Bank: BANCOMER Bank Account Number: 1003458-8 Branch: 437 (San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico) Thanks! 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 ______________________ NUEVO AMANECER PRESS - N.A.P. To learn about us visit: WEB PAGE: http://www.nap.cuhm.mx/nap0.htm General Director: Roger Maldonado European Director: Darrin Wood Coordinator: Mexico-USA-Europe: Susana Saravia (Anibarro) Correspondent and Advisor: Guillermo Michel (Mexico) Correspondents and Translation: irlandesa (USA) and Maria Elena Hope (Mexico) A press in support of human rights. Advisory Team: Mexico Email: amanecer@aa.net and amanecer@cuhm.mx --------- "RE: Help for Elders" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 15:46:53 -0700 From: Robert Dorman Subj: PAPAPOSSUM Bucketline Mailing List: Big Mountain List From: PAPAPOSSUM@aol.com Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 15:15:01 EDT Dear Friends: I made the trip to the big mountain area this last weekend to deliver what little goods I had for the Navajo or Dene' elders which ever name you choose is correct. We had only half a pickup load which included a washer for one needy elder. There is much need of help to the elders they need building supplies desperately like sheet rock and insulation one home I visited has nearly the whole ceiling missing from her home because last winter she developed a leak in her roof and was not able to get it fixed till this summer. with the meager donations Bucket line is getting it is useless to go again unless you the people step up to the plate and send donations it does not matter how small or how large: just send help in volume. Just think if every one who reads this article sends $10 $25 we can help it would give us enough to make a difference. As I stood in the dark night with a winter chill on the air of 29 degrees with my interpreter she waved her arm toward the horizion saying "see all those lights out there at every light you see there is one or more elder who needs help" it was heart breaking to know so many need help and none is forth coming. I cannot help those who need it with out the tools necessary which is Blankets, food, clothing, and over the counter medications and money. I have spent all the savings I had which was over $1000 this summer trying to get help. but everyone had rather help some cat or dog than help a human!!!!! I am sorry if I hurt any ones feelings but I think the treasure we will loose if just one elder freezes to death this winter from lack of help is ne to many to loose. Yes the BIA was and is still confiscating live stock in the area of the accommodation agreement as I drove thru Tuba City, Arizona the holding pens were full of cattle wither these cows were confiscated live stock I had no way of knowing but nevertheless the pens were full to capacity. If I do not get help soon there will be no reason to continue to try as I cannot feed and help theses people alone. I hear many say online if I can leave the rez and make it why cant the elders these people are all over 70 yrs of age how will they find the money and necessary living expenses anywhere else the have lived on this land for decades it would destroy them to have to move. they need help NOW Love and Friendship JIM our web site is a s follows BUCKET-LINE TO THE ELDERS<< for aol users only http://members.aol.com/papapossum/BucketLine.html<< for all other net users ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email redorman@theofficenet.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing redorman@theofficenet.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 --------- "RE: Alert to Anthropologists" --------- Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 15:27:32 -0700 From: Robert Dorman Subj: SDN Alert to Anthropologists Mailing List: Big Mountain List Please forward the following to any anthropologist friends that you might have -------------------------------------------------------- Sovereign Dineh Nation Alert to Anthropologists BLACK MESA, AZ: On behalf of the Council of elders, our Board of Directors, and the Representatives of Sovereign Dineh Nation (SDN), we are seeking your support to stop the desecration of ancient Anasazi and Dineh sacred shrines, sacred springs, ceremonial sites, and stop the continued removal and reburial of Anasazi and Dineh burial remains. We, the Dineh people, known as Navajo, believe we must remain on Black Mesa, where the Holy people have brought us in order to practice our religion which is land-based and site-specific. We believe that Relocation violates our religion and that living under the threat of relocation interrupts our ability to practice our religion. Our ceremonies and religious practices tie us as a people to our land. At birth our umbilical cords are buried on the land to symbolize our tie to that land. We view Black Mesa as our altar containing numerous offering and sacred sites that have profound significance in our religion. That is why we say that Black Mesa is a sacred area. Our plight has been made the chief focus of an investigation by the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance of the UN Commission for Human Rights. This is the first time that the US is being investigated for violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief which are human rights. A colleague of yours, Thayer Scudder, Professor of Anthropology of the California Institute of Technology is acknowledged as the world's leading expert on relocation effects. He submitted a testimony to Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance when he visited Black Mesa on February 3, 1998. In his testimony he states, "I believe that the forced relocation of Navajo and Hopi people that followed from the passage in 1974 of Public Law 93-531 is a major violation of the people's human rights, including more specifically a violation of their religious rights. Indeed, this forced relocation of over 12,000 Native Americans is one of the worst cases of involuntary community resettlement that I have studied throughout the world over the past 40 years." We who continue to resist will not relocate because we continue to witness our relatives that relocate cry everyday for their homeland. "Broken Rainbow," an Academy Award-winning video states that "25% of the first wave of relocatees, those believed to be most able to adapt, were dead within the first 6 years." The only time we see our relatives that relocate is when we attend their funerals. Pauline Whitesinger, an elder matriarch says, "There is no word in Dineh for Relocation, to relocate is to disappear and never be seen again. Relocation is a metaphor of a graveyard and a death sentence." Robert Blackgoat, an elder matriarch says, "If they come and drag us away from the land, it will destroy our way of life. That is genocide. If they leave me here, but take away my community, it is still genocide. If they wait until I die and then mine the land, the land will still be destroyed. If there is no land and no community, I have nothing to leave my grandchildren. If I accept this, there will be no Dineh, there will be no land. That is why I will never accept it ...I can never accept it. I will die fighting this law." One of the major justifications used in removing over 12,000 of our people is that we are not the Indigenous people of the land but recent arrivals who took the land away from the Hopi. We wonder how the US government can intervene and say our land is not ours when we can trace our families back over 20 generations, to before the white man came to this continent. But this was the view widely circulated by those who were building political support for passage of the Relocation Act. The motivation, an estimated 21-40 billion tons of coal. As you may be aware, the Hopi Reservation has been the subject of extensive research, both ethnological and archaeological. Various institutions have been involved in this research, including the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the Museum of Northern Arizona, the National Geographic Society, and the Harvard Peabody Museum. Cultural resource inventories have been conducted in the region but few projects have been inventoried for cultural resources within Black Mesa, Forest Lake, Cactus Valley, Red Willow Springs, currently threatened by Peabody Western Coal Company's mining activities. We, the traditional Dineh people are also endangered. Protests by our elders living in the region to protect known cemeteries only result in harassment and threats of imprisonment and eminent domain by the tribes as agents of the coal mine. No one tells us, the directly affected people living in and around the mining permit area about the mining operations. And we are given no voice in negotiations that take place behind closed doors so that coal mining activities can proceed without interruption. Our sacred land has been desecrated as a result of US governmental policy, allowing Peabody Coal Company and commercial cattle grazing to destroy it. Judith Nies, author of "A Native American Chronology" states, "Over 4,000 Anasazi cliff houses, sacred shrines and burials in the region have been destroyed." The desecration continues to this day. This past June, with the consent of the US government, during a United Nations investigation of religious intolerance, a Kiva containing 28 Anasazi burials was destroyed and is now under tons of dirt. This would probably have been one of the most significant finds in American history. This past summer, a sweat lodge and cemetery was bulldozed. Human remains that were not raked up still lay scattered. We don't even know what happens to the remains they remove. This bulldozed area is currently 100 yards from an occupied dwelling but Peabody Coal Company says the area is uninhabited. Next to the bulldozed area, is a site where we make offerings, have held many ceremonies, including fire dances. It hurts our heart and we cry wondering what to do. When we pass on to the spirit world we can't even be buried on our land. We are powerless to protect even the burial sites of our ancestors and babies that have passed on. This is what we are trying to protect in order to preserve our traditional ways. But the US government doesn't see the sacredness of the area even though ancient Anasazi pottery shards are visible everywhere. These actions are being conducted and condoned in flagrant violation of Dineh religion. In Dineh religion it is forbidden to even touch human remains and there is no prayer for reburial. After removal of the remains, many of the Anasazi burial sites are not even covered up, they are just marked by an archeology stake. In July, an area on Hopi Partition Land was cleared in advance of mining activities. The old trees are energy for our people and we make offerings there. If these areas are all clear cut they are taking away our right to our energy and our religious resources. This cleared region is currently 100 yards from sacred springs that were planted there by medicine people, containing a year-round water resource. These activities are in violation of the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the American Grave Protection Act, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), the Navajo Grave Protection Act, the Surface Mining Coal Reclamation Act (SMCRA),numerous federal laws, international laws and commitments made by the US to the UN over many years. The entry of the UN into this situation, together with the support of the European Parliament, the international community and religious and human rights organizations pressing for the US to be cited for human rights violations has given us hope that finally, one day soon we will be free. Our cemeteries and sacred sites must be preserved and respected as they enrich the cultural heritage of all people. It is our hope that you will help us demonstrate that what is most sacred must be protected. For further information please check out our web pages: http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.htm and http://www.westworld.com/~sol/index.html Thank you ================================================ To: Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights From: Thayer Scudder, Professor of Anthropology, California Institute of Technology Date: January 30, 1998 Dear Mr. Amor: I had hoped to be able to present this testimony to you in person but en-route from Hong Kong last week I caught the flu which has kept me from traveling to Black Mesa this weekend. I deeply regret that because i believe that the forced relocation of Navajo and Hopi people that followed from the passage in 1974 of Public Law 93-531 is a major violation of the people's human rights, including more specifically a violation of their religious rights. Indeed, this forced relocation of over 12,000 Native Americans is one of the worst cases of involuntary community resettlement that I have studied throughout the world over the past 40 years. While you are at Black Mesa you will be given up-to-date information on the current situation. My testimony is intended to provide background that I hope you will find useful. Mr. Amor, please excuse me for describing my background in the paragraphs that follow. They are intended to inform you that my conclusion about the serious human and religious rights violations in the Navajo-Hopi case is based on a unique world-wide familiarity with involuntary community resettlement. As a social scientist, my research specialty since 1956 has been involuntary community relocation, with special emphasis on resettlement in connection with large-scale dam construction. As a result of that research, I have frequently worked as a resettlement consultant in Africa, Asia and the Middle East for a number of UN agencies including UNDP, FAO, and WHO as well as for the World Bank family. Currently I am a World Bank Consultant for one of the first Bank projects to attempt the rehabilitation of communities previously relocated in connection with the dam construction (in this case in Zambia), as well as a member of the Panel of International Environment and Resettlement Experts on World Bank-financed projects in China, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic and Lesotho. Acknowledged as the Dean of community resettlement studies, over the years I have developed a theory on how a majority of rural people with strong ties to the land can be expected to respond to forced relocation. The research on which that theory is based led to the World Bank's original 1980 Operational Manual Statement 2.33 on "Social Issues Associated with Involuntary Resettlement n Bank-Financed Projects." Briefly the theory explains why such resettlement, for a majority of those involved, can be expected initially to lead to higher mortality and morbidity rates and psychological stress among individuals as well as to cultural disorganization. In 1974 I was asked by the Navajo Nation to inform the United States Congress through testimony before the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of my opinion that the still-to-be-passed Public Law 93-531 could be expected to have equally serious impacts on a majority of those involved. Toward the end of my 1974 testimony I noted "that the compulsory relocation of entire communities is an incredibly complex process which no government has handled satisfactory and that such government's tend to underestimate not just the complexities involved but also the number of people involved, and "the capital costs by a factor of two or three when we take into consideration the extreme human costs involved, it is clear why forced relocation should be required by informed policy makers only as a last resort. In the Navajo case, it is not too late to pursue a more humane alternative." I quote from the 1974 testimony in some detail to show that prior to passage of Public Law 93-531 the US Congress chose to ignore warnings from such informed scientists as myself. Actually even I underestimated the serious impacts that subsequent resettlement would have. Not only have the number of people moved increased from an original estimate of under 3,000 to over 12,000 with the financial cost estimates rising from approximately $50 million to well over $300 million, but the psychological stress has been unbearable for countless people (especially women). In addition the predictable resettler-host population tensions have adversely affected Navajo-Navajo, Navajo-Hopi, and Navajo-State of Arizona and State of New Mexico relationships. This tragedy arises through a history of errors compounded by the insensitivity of the United States Judicial System and the United States Congress to the issues involved. Since you will be familiarized with them, let me highlight just a few. Two are the 1962 and 1966 court decisions to freeze all development in the Joint Use Area and the Bennett Freeze Area, respectively, until the land dispute between the Hopi and Navajo was solved. Those were incredibly insensitive decisions which not only stopped provision of basic social services, but also construction of new housing and expansion and improvement of old housing in areas that are among the most poverty-stricken not just in the United States but within the Navajo Reservation itself. So, for example, as children married they were either forced to move out of those areas or move into already overcrowded housing. Another aspect of this tragedy was the extent to which outsiders made the land dispute into a strictly Navajo-Hopi dispute when its origin was due far more to confused Federal Government involvement over an extended time period. The situation was made worst by the senior Democrat in the area (Udall) and Republican (Goldwater) advocating the Hopi Tribal Government position for personal reasons that had very little to do with the basic issues involved. But because of their similar views, the U.S. Congress gave those issues far less attention than they deserved. Mr. Amor, please bear in mind that this forced relocation of over 12,000 people whose ties to their customary use areas (that is, their land) have very strong religious, political, economic and psychological ties may well be the largely forced removal of rural Americans since that of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. Not only has it adversely affected the human rights and living standards of the majority of people involved, but it has been largely implemented in a fashion that does not even meet the minimum guidelines that the World Bank and the OECD countries require for projects that they assist in other countries! First, World Bank and OECD Guidelines require that compulsory resettlement be minimized to the extent possible. Second, those guidelines require that resettlement projects must be development projects. Yet aside from the minority of Navajo resettlers moved to the New Lands over $300 million has been spent to date to make a majority of Navajo resettlers worse off along with an unknown number of Navajo hosts who must now share a smaller land base with a larger population. Mr. Amor, such a situation would never have arisen in the United States if the people involved had been Anglo-Americans. That alone, illustrates the extent to which the human rights of one of the poorest minority groups in the United States have been violated. Frankly, the situation as it has developed over the years appalls me for it is one of the worst resettlement efforts that I have observed during a research career of over 40 years. Certainly no further forced removal should be required which I sincerely hope will be the position that results from your investigation. Yours sincerely, Thayer Scudder Professor of Anthropology ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You are on the BIGMTLIST, a moderated mailing list of Big Mountain relocation resistance information (not discussion or debate). To unsubscribe, email redorman@theofficenet.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject header. For non-list members receiving this post as a forwarded message, you may subscribe by emailing redorman@theofficenet.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 --------- "RE: United States Supreme Court News" --------- FROM: "KING,JOHN" DATE: 14 OCT 98 09:36:03 -0500 SUBJ: US SUPREME COURT NEWS 10-13-98 UUCP email Sag'O Night Owl! The third case [El Paso Natural Gas v. Neztsosie] is being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court this term and is relevant to Indian Law. We have blanket authority from Willamette Law Online to reprint their articles and notes in Wotanging Ikche. I think I forwarded that note from the editor in chief earlier this year - hope you still have it. Kanyotathae _______________________________________________________________________ United States Supreme Court News 10/13/98 Willamette Law Online - Willamette University College of Law _______________________________________________________________________ The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in the three cases summarized below. The Court denied certiorari in one case, summarized below, in which three Justices wrote an opinion. _______________________________________________________________________ CERTIORARI GRANTED _______________________________________________________________________ UNUM Insurance Co. of America v. Ward No. 97-1868 Court below: 135 F.3d 1276 (9th Cir 02/03/98) At issue in this employee benefits case is: (1) whether a state notice-prejudice rule need not meet the McCarran-Ferguson Act criteria for "business of insurance" to be saved from preemption under Section 502 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 USC s 1132 (1994); (2) whether state law survives ERISA preemption even thought it conflicts with the ERISA plan administration and civil enforcement scheme; and (3) whether ERISA preempts state law incorporating agency principles when it conflicts with ERISA's regulation of claims and filing and also with remedies provided in its exclusive civil enforcement scheme. Ward brought an action against his employer's insurance carrier seeking benefits under ERISA. The court below held that there was an issue of fact regarding whether the carrier suffered actual prejudice from untimely notice of claim and that ERISA does not operate to preempt the California principle that an employer who administered the group insurance policy acted as an agent of the insurer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Neder v. Unites States No. 97-1985 Court below: 136 F.3d 1459 (11th Cir 03/19/98) At issue in this criminal law case is whether a trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the materiality element of the crime was harmless error and whether the materiality is an element of the crimes of mail fraud under 18 USC s 1341, wire fraud under 18 USC s 1343, and bank fraud under 18 USC s 1344 (1994). Neder was convicted of various offenses including false statement, fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering resulting from the defendant's criminal land acquisition and development activities. The court below held that materiality was not an element of the crimes and the trial court did not commit a harmless error. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - El Paso Natural Gas v. Neztsosie No. 98-6 Court below: 136 F.3d 610 (9th Cir 02/11/98) At issue in this Indian law case is whether non-Indian parties must exhaust all trial remedies before a federal court may consider preempting the tribal law causes of action by federal law. Members of the Navajo Nation filed two suits in Navajo Tribal Court alleging that uranium mining operations conducted on the Navajo Indian Reservation caused deaths and injuries. Uranium mining corporations filed separate actions in federal court seeking to enjoin the Navajo Tribal Court from asserting jurisdiction over personal injury and wrongful death claims filed by members of the Navajo Nation. The court below held that the Price Anderson Act, 42 USC s 2011 et seq. (1994), does not prevent a tribal court from asserting its original jurisdiction over a tort action arising from a nuclear incident on an Indian reservation and comity requires non-Indian parties to exhaust tribal remedies before a federal court may address tribal court jurisdiction. _______________________________________________________________________ CERTIORARI DENIED _______________________________________________________________________ Equality Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, Inc. v. City of Cincinnati No. 97-1795 Court below: 128 F.3d 289 (6th Cir 1997) At issue in this equal protection case is whether the City of Cincinnati's charter amendment was rationally related to the city's valid interest in conserving public costs that accrued from investigating and adjudicating sexual orientation discrimination complaints. The Cincinnati Charter Amendment effectively removed gays, lesbians, and bisexuals from the protection of the city's antidiscrimination ordinances and precluded them from being restored to a protected status. The court below held that the City of Cincinnati's charter was rationally related to a valid state interest because it "merely removed municipally enacted special protection from gays and lesbians." The Supreme Court denied certiorari. An opinion published by the three Justices, Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg, noted that the Supreme Court does not normally make an independent examination of state law questions that have been resolved by a court of appeals and the denial of certiorari reflects neither the Court's views about the underlying issues or of a certain construction of the charter. _______________________________________________________________________ United States Supreme Court News Willamette Law Online - Willamette University College of Law Editors: Mandy Hexom William Long Student Editorial Board: Tom Bahrman, Patrick Gordon, Mike Kouris, Joel Kuhl, David Veverka http://www.willamette.edu/law/wlo --------- "RE: Okanagas Oppose Treaty Process" --------- Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 14:48:34 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Okanagans oppose treaty process :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: LAYING CLAIM TO THE OKANAGAN - SOME BC NATIVES FEEL THE NISGA'A WERE SOLD A BILL OF GOODS The Globe and Mail, October 9, 1998 by John Gray [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.] IN PENTICTON, B.C. -- On the panelled walls of the conference room of the Penticton Indian band, alongside photographs depicting native folklore, culture and history, there are two posters of masked and armed warriors. The posters bear no explanation or exhortation. They are just there, reminders of a few years ago when the angry warriors of the Penticton band blockaded local highways, and their chief talked of political assassination. In British Columbia this summer, the big news was the treaty signed by the Nisga'a people and the federal and provincial governments. Unlike in most of the rest of Canada, only one Indian treaty affects B.C. Ottawa extended an Alberta treaty into the remote northeast corner of B.C. 99 years ago. The optimists believe that the Nisga'a agreement is a signal that there will soon be a resolution to the Indian Land Question. Chief Stewart Phillip is a cold reminder that not everyone agrees. Two years ago, he warned the B.C. Legislature that some people were talking of "political assassination or armed conflict to protect the national integrity of the Okanagan nation." His language these days is more restrained -- perhaps because B.C. has approved a casino on band territory and he needs $27-million in backing for the casino, resort and golf-course. But Mr. Phillip remains a defiant outsider. The Penticton band reserve is a jagged swath of mountain and pine and desert, the largest reserve in B.C. but only a fraction of what the Okanagan peoples regard as their traditional land. His goal is title to the traditional lands of the seven communities of the Okanagan nation. Joan Phillip, his wife, ideological soul-mate and a band councillor, spread a map on the conference table and traced a vast arc from the U.S. border near Chilliwack, north toward Kamloops, and down toward Castelgar. Those, they say, are the Okanagan lands. They want no part of the tripartite negotiations that produced the Nisga'a agreement -- a process he described as "political opportunism at its worst." He is prepared to talk to the government -- one nation bargaining with another -- but is not interested in just another deal to give away native resources "to multinational corporations." Above all, he is contemptuous of the agreement that gave the Nisga'a people just 8 per cent of their traditional lands and forced them to relinquish traditional rights: "I don't think the (Nisga'a) people have any idea of what has been bargained away. . . . "You may have a grandiose ceremony where you're signing agreements . . . but it's not going to mean a hell of a lot to your rank-and-file members 10 years down the road when they realize how badly they've been screwed." As for the government, if it won't give him what he wants, he will go to the Supreme Court of Canada, to reap the benefit of the court's decision last December in the landmark Delgamuukw case. The court recognized the legitimacy of aboriginal title and said native groups should be consulted and compensated for incursions onto their lands. That process may take 10 years or far more, he said, but sooner or later the government will be forced to recognize the Delgamuukw decision. "This struggle may go on for another 500 years. If you think for a moment that we're going to stand idly by and allow ourselves to be extinguished as a people, well, the governments of this land are sadly mistaken, because that's not going to happen." Mr. Phillip is not alone. The Okanagan and their immediate neighbours formed the Interior Six Nation Alliance as a bulwark against the B.C. treaty process. And in the Vancouver headquarters of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, a body that covers about 30 percent of the province's status Indian population, union president Saul Terry damns the Nisga'a agreement and treaties in general as ethnic cleansing and genocide. Still, the mathematics of the conflict indicate that the leaders of most of B.C.'s Indians, representing about 70,000 people, are committed in varying degrees to the treaty process. Negotiations are at various stages of progress with 51 bands or tribal councils. Paul Tennant, a political scientist from the University of British Columbia and the acknowledged expert on Indian politics, believes that negotiations -- not the courts -- are the only imaginable way out of the long impasse. [S.I.S.I.S. note: Tennant is an erstwhile member of BC's "Indian Industry", a consultant and insider with the BC treaty process, known to be hostile to the traditional-sovereigntist movement.] But he sees no sign that the recalcitrant chiefs of the Interior bands are ready to negotiate. He sees the leaders from the Interior as "true believers" who are caught up in old battles that are no longer relevant. "I have a great admiration for true believers, because in the end they often achieve great things. But a lot of them just fail miserably, too. True believers tend to miss the essential parts of the current reality." If they miss the chance to resolve those old conflicts now, Prof. Tennant said, "they could be left out for a long time." But how long is long? Adam Eneas, 56, a former chief of the Penticton band, does not share Stewart Phillip's hostility to the treaty process. In the rock-hard Interior, that is a startling breach of solidarity. But he believes that the whole climate on at least that reserve is so negative that a treaty is nowhere in sight. "I first came into contact with renewed struggle for land claims in 1968. And 30 years later, it's a reality as far as the Nisga'a are concerned. So the time frame is getting shorter and shorter. Now they've broken the ground, and I suppose in another 30 years, we may have a treaty here." John Gray is a reporter with The Globe and Mail. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to the Globe and Mail - mailto:letters@GlobeAndMail.ca, In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Plymouth Charges Dropped" --------- Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 13:32:14 -0400 (EDT) From: United American Indians of New England Subj: Plymouth Charges Dropped! UUCP email October 19, 1998 Statement of United American Indians of New England We need not recount what happened on November 27, 1997, when 25 peaceful protesters were arrested in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The events are well- documented, not only in pictures and words, but in the memories of those who experienced what took place on the streets of Plymouth. Since then, UAINE has received thousands of letters of support and petitions. People and organizations from across the country and from throughout the world sent letters, e-mails, and faxes to federal, state, and local officials demanding that the charges against the Plymouth 25 be dropped. Many of these people honored our call for an economic boycott of Plymouth. Supporters stood with us in court every time we were required to make an appearance and made sure that information about about our case was distributed internationally. To each and every one of you who refused to look the other way when confronted by injustice, we say "thank you," and we honor you. We are pleased to announce that the frame-up criminal charges against those arrested on November 27, 1997 have been dropped as of today, October 19, 1998. Further, United American Indians of New England has reached a settlement with the Town of Plymouth. Plymouth has acknowledged our right to walk on our own land without a permit on National Day of Mourning. Plymouth has agreed to make the truth part of its celebration of the pilgrim myth of thanksgiving. Under the terms of this agreement, we will have a number of important opportunities to address the lies and inaccuracies about "thanksgiving"and the history of Indigenous peoples that have been disseminated not only in Plymouth but throughout the country. We are confident that this agreement represents a tremendous victory for the struggle of Native people to have our voices heard and respected. This victory did not happen because of the courts or the politicians or any individuals. This agreement and the dropping of the charges have come about as a result of the peoples' struggle, as a result of the work of hundreds of our supporters from around the world. It comes as a result of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made by many, and in particular the Plymouth 25 defendants themselves. We want to thank all of our sisters and brothers from the Four Directions who were arrested with us last year, and who have stayed strong despite a lot of pressures. We want to thank our elders for their wisdom and encouragement. We also want to thank our lawyers, who have done a great and often thankless job. They are: Michael Altman, Danny Beck, Dave Nathanson, John Reinstein, and Barry Wilson. All who took part have written a new chapter in the struggle. We note that the United States government made -- and then broke -- more than 350 treaties with Native nations. We sincerely hope that Plymouth will not follow that example, and that it will honor its commitments in this agreement. For our part, United American Indians of New England will follow the example of our ancestors. We will honor our commitments. Our organization was born out of struggle, and we will continue to demand justice for all Native people and freedom for our brother, political prisoner Leonard Peltier. We very much look forward to the 29th National Day of Mourning this year, which will be held in Plymouth at 12 noon on "thanksgiving" day, November 26, 1998. We expect that many hundreds of people will be coming to National Day of Mourning from all over the country. As has been the case every year since 1970, Indigenous peoples from throughout the Americas and our supporters will gather to show our strength and unity, to speak the truth about our history as well as what is going on in many parts of Indian Country today. We are not vanishing. We are not conquered. We are STRONGER than ever. United American Indians of New England P.O. Box 697501, Quincy, MA 02269 Tel. 781-331-3690 E-mail uaine19@idt.net Website: http://idt.net/~uaine19 We are not vanishing. We are not conquered. We are as strong as ever. --------- "RE: Robinson Rejects Gustafsen Inquiry Call" --------- Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 03:20:44 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: NDP MP Robinson Rejects Gustafsen Inquiry Call 1. NDP MP Robinson addresses Apec, dodges Gustafsen Lake issue 2. Victoria: Canadian MP peppered over Gustafsen Lake silence 3. Vancouver: Robinson challenged at SFU :-:-:S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty:-:-: October 19, 1998 NDP MP SVEND ROBINSON REFUSES TO SUPPORT CALL FOR GUSTAFSEN INQUIRY Svend Robinson, NDP Member of the Canadian Parliament, has refused to support a public inquiry into the 1995 armed siege by provincial and federal authorities against the Ts'peten Sundance camp at Gustafsen Lake. The state actions there constituted the largest paramilitary operation in Canadian history and included armoured personnel carriers, .50 calibre machine guns, land mines, and massive human rights violations directed against a small number of Shuswap traditionalists who cited constitutional and international law protections for their resistance to the attempted invasion. Mr. Robinson recently spoke to students at the University of Victoria regarding the "police state tactics" employed against Apec student protesters in Vancouver a year ago. Shortly after he was introduced as "never avoiding a human rights issue," Mr. Robinson did just that. When one audience member pointed out that "Spraypec" demonstrators currently appearing before the RCMP Public Complaints Commission had themselves repeatedly urged support for a Gustafsen inquiry and asked Mr. Robinson for his own support, Mr. Robinson declined to give it. Several audience members pointed out the obvious "disgusting double standard" of Robinson's position. One Indigenous student called for the students to pay attention to "the genocide going on right outside your back gate." Though Robinson has been quick to condemn the actions of Prime Minister Jean Chretien and the federal Liberals regarding the pepper spraying of Apec protesters, both Mr. Robinson and his associate, BC NDP member of Parliament Nelson Riis, vocally supported the far more violent actions of the BC NDP provincial government during the month long 1995 Gustafsen Lake standoff. Riis urged the BC government to order a "state of emergency" at the time. Robinson publicly defended the provincial government while he was campaigning for the NDP federal leadership during the standoff. He still appears to be standing by that dubious support of his NDP brethren, including BC's Attorney-General/Human Rights Minister Ujjal Dosanjh. This puts him at odds with current federal NDP leader Alexa Mcdonough, who committed herself to supporting a public inquiry into Gustafsen Lake on the CBC national call-in program Cross Country Checkup on September 6, 1998. BC's NDP government continues to refuse the inquiry call. Some of those already calling for a public inquiry into both Gustafsen and the killing of Aazhoodena (Stoney Point) activist Dudley George, include Lil'Wat Estken; Moloqhil Tinamat; Defensoria Maya (Guatemala); Te Ropa Maori; Canadian Alliance in Solidarity with Native Peoples (CASNP); The Green Group of the European Parliament; The Black Community Collective; Black Autonomy International; The Afrikan Frontline Network; ARA (Kingston); North West Leonard Peltier Support Network; Aboriginal Rights Coalition (ARC); Council of Canadians; Building Bridges to Chiapas; The National Green Party of Canada; Ramsey Clark, Former US Attorney General and Council to Leonard Peltier; Ts'peten Defence Committee; Incomindios; Kola; Kwia; For Mother Earth (Belgium); National Campus/Community Radio Association (NCRA); SFU Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) and many other groups and individuals, including a resolution by the Assembly of First Nations. "The current actions of the BC government and the RCMP toward the Ts'peten Defenders, as well as the negligence of the Canadian national government to intervene and put a halt to these actions, unambiguously qualify as genocide." -- KOLA; letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, April 25, 1997 "I'm trying really hard to expose the double standard... students get pepper-sprayed and there's a public uproar. Indigenous sovereigntists get thousands of bullets aimed at them, are victims of a smear campaign, and they're systematically ignored." -- Jaggi Singh, Apec demonstrator and defendant. More information on Gustafsen Lake: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/gustmain.html AN END TO THE CANADIAN POLICE STATE - AN END TO THE CANADIAN SETTLER STATE TELL SVEND ROBINSON TO STOP SUPPORTING THE NDP COVERUP OF GUSTAFSEN LAKE! Email - Email to fax - Please cc your letters to S.I.S.I.S. - :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: ROBINSON BRINGS HUMAN RIGHTS HOME The Martlet, October 15, 1998 by Miranda Post According to Member of Parliament Svend Robinson, November 1997 marked the existence of a police state - not in Malaysia, China or Indonesia - but in Canada. He was speaking of the pepper spray fiasco at UBC last year, in which RCMP officers pepper-sprayed student protesters during the APEC summit. Robinson's Tuesday lecture on the implications of the pepper spray incident was part of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) and student society's contribution to the national Week of Action on student issues. But while Robinson was on hand to defend human rights within Canada, he met a mixed response from the nearly packed Cinecenta audience, who criticized the MP's conduct during the follow-up to the Gustafsen Lake affair. Robinson spoke at length about the implications of the pepper-spray fiasco, which is currently playing itself out at public hearings in Vancouver. Robinson not only outlined the details of the student arrests, but also their broader implications for the state of the Canadian system. "The RCMP's actions not only were morally bankrupt but also without legal reason," he said. During the APEC protests, 49 people were arrested, but only one was charged with a crime. Robinson defended the student protesters appearing before the RCMP Public Complaints Commission for their anti-APEC demonstrations. Robinson said while Indonesian guards at the conference were armed and ready to shoot at protesters if they became a security risk, many of the students were simply armed with signs condemning dictatorial leaders, including past Indonesian president Suharto and Chinese President Jiang Zemin - who was nearly honoured with an honorary degree from UVic in 1997. "Why were those [Indonesian security] thugs allowed into Canada in the first place?" Robinson asked his audience. Robinson answered his own question, saying the "thugs" were let into Canada because of APEC's lack of respect for human rights. Canada's "bootlicking" welcome of the APEC leaders during the conference, he said, spells out "APEC's fundamental agenda - trade liberalization, deregulation of labour standards and assault on the private business sector." Robinson also criticized Chretien's most recent public comments regarding the pepper spray incident - "When we come to the west we have steak, sometimes pepper steak" - calling the prime minister's comments on the incident "profoundly arrogant." As for the future of APEC and Canada's involvement, Robinson does not think next year's conference, which will be held in Malaysia, should take place because of the human rights violations that have already occurred. "We should never again allow this kind of assault on our constitutional human rights and freedoms to occur again." In order to solve human rights issues within other countries, Robinson said we must first take care of our issues. While Robinson expanded on the virtues of trying to solve Canada's human rights violations, his audience raised questions regarding his own alleged support for the "police state" that occurred during the Gustafsen Lake blockades. Robinson decided to stick with the issue at hand and claimed that the Gustafsen Lake situation was different because "the people involved were armed as opposed to the unarmed protesters at APEC". Although allegations that Robinson was buying into a smear campaign rose from the crowd, he refused to debate the issue during the question period. Letters to The Martlet - mailto:martlet@uvic.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: [S.I.S.I.S. received the following report of NDP MP Svend Robinson's speech at Simon Fraser University near Vancouver on October 14, 1998.] Subject: ROBINSON WIMPS OUT AT SFU - SAYS NO TO GUSTAFSEN INQUIRY! Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 21:31:21 -0700 I heard that the folks in Victoria had a decent protest against Svend Robinson's speech on Canada's Police State, pointing out the hypocrisy that he is supporting an inquiry into APEC but not Gustafsen Lake. Well Svend was at SFU yesterday so I quickly made up posters and put them around campus. The text of the posters is below. "Gustafsen Lake and the NDP: British Columbia's Police State? Guest Speaker: Svend Robinson MBC 2290 12:30 today (Thursday October 15) Mr. Robinson has been invited to speak on the inquiry into APEC and the RCMP's actions towards student protesters. However, the NDP government in BC has refused to strike an inquiry into the RCMP siege at Gustafsen Lake in 1995. Despite the fact that it was the most expensive police operation in Canadian history. Over 70,000 police rounds were shot into the camp. This is about more than pepper spray! Many defenders were jailed, one remains in jail three years later. The RCMP admitted they used a smear campaign to discredit the Gustafsen Lake defenders legitimate claims. Why are they not made accountable? Why the double standard? What role does race and class have to play? Why is the NDP supporting an inquiry into APEC but not Gustafsen Lake? Come and ask Mr.Robinson these questions. MBC 2290 Today (Thursday October 15) A handful of us also attended his talk. The first question after he was done was "what can we do?" So he "challenged" us to get involved. I asked the next question and put a challenge to him. After outlining briefly the hypocrisy of his position and the fact that APEC protesters we treated lightly compared to Gustafsen Lake defenders I challenged him to call for an inquiry into Gustafsen Lake. He refused. I clarified an asked "So you will not call for an inquiry." He categorically said no, and went on a spiel about how they had guns. His bottom line is that they had guns therefore no inquiry is necessary. I left the meeting after calling him a social democratic hypocrite. He made a joke that he was also a running dog lackey of the bourgeoisie. Another person who stayed behind pointed out the difference between APEC protesters and Gustafsen Lake defenders. He was shut down and he and another left the meeting as the rest of the attendees got back to an NDP love fest. So not much, but at least there was a presence. That's all for now [Name withheld] :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: 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: Interview with Nuxalk Hereditary Chief Qwatsinas" --------- Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 14:52:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Marsha E Shaiman Subj: On Indian Land Interview with Nuxalk Hereditary Chief Qwatsinas UUCP email Gary, Please post this in the next issue of Native News. It is a reprint from the Fall 1998 issue of On Indian Land. Thanks. In Resistance, Marsha Nuxalk Protect Traditional Lands Interview by Suky Hutton The Nuxalk Nation, whose traditional territory encompasses 18,000 square kilometers in northern British Columbia, has never ceded land or rights to the Canadian government. One of its sacred sites, Ista (King Island), lies in the Great Bear Rainforest. Ista is being clearcut by Interfor, a Canadian timber company with strong governmental and judicial support. Since 1995, the Nuxalk and environmental groups have staged several blockades on Interfor logging roads to protest clearcutting in this ancient, relatively undisturbed ecosystem. Hereditary Nuxalk Chief Qwatsinas (Ed Moody) has been charged with criminal contempt of a court order for participating in the Interfor blockades. He was in Canadian court the week of October 5 where he spoke to larger, inseparable issues: the environment, and the survival of the Nuxalk people, and returns to court on November 19 for the judges decision. Qwatsinas: This is not a fight between environmental groups and the logging industry. The destruction of the ancient rainforest is a political issue. What it really comes down to is protecting the heritage of the Nuxalk people. When Interfor clearcuts the rainforest, they're clearcutting our history and our culture. Our chiefs and our families, our history, songs and dances come from those valleys. Our smayustas -- stories of origin -- are derived from the watersheds. Nuxalk artifacts date back at least 10, 000 years. But change came about when the Indian Act was developed in 1870. It's a Canadian colonial act that tried to show us how to govern our people, and we believe it is a genocidal system. The Act shifted the traditional, hereditary systems we had for generations to a voting system, where you elect a chief and council. The old system was handed down by lineage. Leaders spent many years learning how traditional government works and how to represent it. But in the elected system you serve a two-year term. It doesn't give the people in office enough time to learn and to grasp the whole picture. And the same Indian Act that provides for the election of the council doesn't give it the political authority to make decisions on the question of Nuxalk land. The councils only govern the small little reservations. The way things are going today, the contemporary Nuxalk systems don't represent our sovereign position in the deepest sense. That's one of the points I want to draw attention to. Most of the leadership in B.C. has been bred through the Indian Affairs system, and it has created division. There are pro-logging leaderships within the Nuxalk Nation today. They're ready to make deals with Interfor; they've already been approached on a joint venture. I should be sitting with the government of Canada to discuss a resolution to the issue of logging. But if I go to the treaty table, should the elected council be there? Because they are funded and sponsored by the government of Canada, and we're negotiating with Canada, there's kind of a conflict there. These people are being paid by the government. They may want to support the traditional system, but they are in fear of losing their jobs. I can't see them negotiating a mandate for the Nuxalk. There hasn't been any opening to deal with logging as a political issue. We've contacted all levels of government -- all of my great white fathers at the Department of Indian Affairs -- and the only recourse is to go through the British Columbia treaty process. We are not satisfied with the conditions of the process. We weren't party to the establishment of those conditions. But we did send a letter of intent in November 1993 to accept the process, under protest. The Nuxalk asked that our sovereignty and our own laws and traditional governments remain intact. The BC treaty commission rejected our letter of intent. They said we weren't ready, and that meant we didn't accept their terms and conditions. The first condition was extinguishment of our land rights. We would get a municipal-style government, and a cash settlement. They did not offer an alternative. A treaty signed by the Nisgah'a people is being used as a public relations and propaganda tool to establish it as a role model. I don't believe it's a good deal. There are 6,000 Nisgah'a. Their traditional territory encompassed 25,000 square kilometers. They settled for 2,000 square kilometers -- I believe that's about eight percent of their traditional territory. It was initially reported that they received $175 million. $30 million was deducted from that for legal and consultant fees. Down the road in Prince Rupert, there is a pulp and paper company called Skeena Cellulose with about 700 employees. Skeena Cellulose is privately owned, but the government of British Columbia is tied to an interest in the company. Skeena Cellulose received $336 million to assist its employees in keeping the operation alive. When I look at Skeena Cellulose and I look at the Nisgah'a, I don't see any form of an equation at all. Skeena Cellulose is young; the Nisgah'a have thousands of years of heritage. The Nuxalk position is that settlement is not monetary -- it is to allow the Nuxalk to survive and continue to exist as a people and a way of life. We can't do that if the ancient rainforest is logged. But while we're talking under the treaty process, they're logging Ista. I was out there months ago. They've logged eight of 14 cutblocks. British Columbia's treaty process is "Talk and log." In 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Canada made a move that was very encouraging and hopeful. They were among the first to sign an agreement supporting the environment and the biodiversity of the land. In 1993, after the Clayoquot Sound issue, a B.C. Forest Practices Code was established that was supposed to improve logging practices. But today there's been many violations, and Interfor is probably the largest violator of the code. Its violations include construction of roads, placement of culverts, roads too close to streams, and building bridges over streams. Restrictions against dumping logs in the water haven't been met. Stream debris violations are encroaching on marine habitat and wildlife. The company cuts outside of its cutblocks. It has violated the Forest Practices Code four or five hundred times and has yet to be convicted in court of those violations. Meanwhile the Nuxalk are being charged with contempt of court, and we have to raise funds for our legal representation. That gives us a clearer picture of our elected council -- it shows they don't support us. If they did, they would probably be offering legal assistance. I want to say to the Indian nations of Canada, and even the United States, that when our people go into the courtroom, we are representing our sovereign positions. I have become aware through my travels that all the indigenous people of the world are facing the same dilemma. Maybe someday on our journey we will reach resolution and understanding. This spring I traveled in Europe on a diplomatic mission, talking about the need to save the rainforest and speaking the truth of the Nuxalk people. People from the logging industry and the Canadian government would show up at my speaking events and try to discredit me; they'd heckle me and that sort of thing. They handed out negative media coverage from British Columbia. Since 1993, the logging industry in British Columbia has spent $95 million to create a public relations image. That's a lot of money. In Bonn, Germany, they were handing out misinformation, so we ran the Nuxalk flag just below the Canadian flag to show we would speak for ourselves and speak the truth. I visited six countries: Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Holland, and England. In Europe, they are faced with the realization that all of their natural forests are gone. Their air and their rivers and creeks are polluted. They don't have wolves, moose, black bears, eagles. They don't have salmon in their streams any more. They see that we have untouched areas that produce wildlife, and they realize maybe we're going to lose it as well. We have to learn quickly from them. I spoke at universities, and met with a lot of children at elementary schools. The support group I had over there set up a project to have children paint banners to show they had a lot of interest in the future of the temperate rainforest. At one hostel in Bonn, Germany there were about 80 children painting banners. After the last group finished, at about 10:00 pm, they asked me to come and speak to them and answer questions. It was interesting -- they were very challenging questions. After two and a half hours the children were still absorbing answers like sponges and wanting more, wanting a clearer picture. It was good! The next morning we all went to the Canadian embassy. Two of the delegates from the embassy were going to answer questions from the children, but they didn't want to because the media was there; they were intimidated. The children had brought their banners, and were quite upset that their questions wouldn't be answered. I just kept pushing the buzzer and asking for the delegates. Finally we walked about four blocks away, and the delegates said they would meet with the children for an hour. The children were all prepared - - they could not be persuaded from their questions and their point of view. The delegates were uncomfortable with the strong questions, and with the answers the children were seeking. They cut the interview short and walked off. I talked to the children later and encouraged them to hold in their hearts the desire to seek the true picture. Being in Europe was tiring. Stressful, tough. I was over there by myself, far away from home. I missed the fresh water and the real forests; I missed the wildlife and the fresh air. I missed my food and my people. But it was an honor to for me to represent my people and my chiefs and my head chief. And meeting those kids gave me a lot of energy inside. They strengthened my spirit. With the support and interest that got created in Europe, this year I'm much more optimistic. When I left Europe on June 5th, there were 110 banners. By the middle of August there were 334 banners representing 12 countries. Most of the children painting the banners have not seen the ancient rainforest, or a grizzly bear or killer whale, yet they have that desire and strong interest to protect the ancient rainforest here in British Columbia. I love those kids for that. I would like to see that same kind of strength and interest and support for the rainforest right here in British Columbia. For more information, contact the Nuxalk Nation Government, House of Smayusta, Box 8, Bella Coola, British Columbia V0T 1C0 Canada. Phone: (250) 799-5376, fax: (250) 799-5707, email: nux_govt@nuxalk.org, webpage: http://www.nuxalk.org Reprinted, with permission of the author, from Fall 1998 issue of On Indian Land, PO Box 2104, Seattle WA 98111. Phone: (206) 525-5086. --------- "RE: Review: Learning Journey on the Red Road" --------- Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 16:18:15 -0600 (MDT) From: Wolfsongs/Cherokee Productions Subj: Floyd Hand Review ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Huntsville Times Sunday October 11, 1998 Yvonne White, Times Religion Editor INDIAN PROPHET SPREADS MESSAGE AFTER HOLY VISIONS Floyd "Looks For Buffalo" Hand doesn't understand why he was chosen by the White Buffalo Calf Lady to spread the message that she is coming, but he is intent on doing her bidding as he travels throughout the world in his role as the Oglala Sioux Lakota spiritual interpreter. One of Hand's latest ventures brought him to Huntsville, where he led a seminar on Lakota spirituality and signed copies of his book, "Learning Journey on the Red Road." The Pine Ridge, S.D. native discusses the Native American way of life and the Lakota beliefs in his book. "According to our traditional ways, the woman is the foundation of the creation of the family, which is the tipi and the foundation of the medicine roots, which is the plants. And we men must work with her to create a home and a life of respect, security and harmony for our families. The most sacred of all things is the woman." Unlike the other three primary races of people - European, African and Asian- Hand says the "red race" is the only one rules by a woman. He said Native Americans have their own set of rules, the Seven Laws given by the White Buffalo Calf Lady, which are the equivalent of the Ten Commandments. They are: Walk Quietly (Have patience, tolerance and self-control) Help others as you help yourself (be generous, share and give) Love people as you would love yourself. Respect others as you respect yourself (have pity and compassion for all living things) Set an example for your children Hold out your hand and bring everybody together Say thank you for your life. Hand believes these laws teach that 'respect is the glue that will hold the people of this world together. (They are) designed to produce balance and harmony among the people. His copper-colored, cherublike round face with dark eyes and radiant smile seem to draw people, especially children. He is quick to extend a handshake to anyone he encounters while gripping a cane in his other hand to steady his gargantuan frame which is often racked with pain from his crippled knees. The book is written for those who wish to live a Native American lifestyle based on Hand's teachings and experiences, including his three visits from the White Buffalo Calf Lady. He claims to be the only Native American to whom she has ever revealed herself, appearing to him in 1968, 1988 and again in 1994. Her message to him was "Tell them I am coming." "The book doesn't have a beginning or an end. It is designed to help people discover how to live a simple, holistic life, according to Hand, grandson of Chief Red Cloud and a direct descendant of the Crazy Horse Band. Hand says he has dedicated his life to traveling the world to spread this holistic lifestyle. Most books (about Indian culture, history and spirituality) have been written by European authors from a left-brained, perspective and they just don't get it," Hand said. "Our own belief is that the Asian, African and European (descendants) are not of this island." In the book, Hand says that North American is a 'buffalo island," ruled by the buffalo and is under the law of the White Buffalo Calf Lady, the mother of Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed. He teaches that there is a universal woman spirit entity, from which White Buffalo Calf Lady, the Indians' Corn Maiden and the Virgin Mary all come. Hand says most people suffer from "tunnel vision" and are so caught up in making a living that they are not aware of their surroundings. "I encourage all....to look for their roots and discover the 360 degrees of what is going on in this world." --------- "RE: Winter Giveaway" --------- Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 13:42:46 -0500 (CDT) From: JRP Subj: Winter Giveaway!!! Winter Giveaway!! Winter is coming. The winter storms are coming, The People of the North have to prepare for the winter storms in some of the same ways that the people in my part of the country have to prepare for summer storms, the hurricanes, like the one that just spared me and my city. Only it's a lot harder. Because the winter storms of the north can come over and over, and last for days. People need blankets and food and fuel, they need their houses fixed up. Like most people here on this continent, I survived the summer storms. Sometimes the Thunderbeings can be persuaded to have mercy. But winter is different. Winter has no mercy. And I have a dilemma here. I'm making all these beautiful dreamcatchers to give away in honor of having survived the summer storms. Only problem is, I have no one to give them to. No family, very few friends, no nothing. Why? well ... I don't wanna go into that. I don't wanna make you feel sorry for me. There are a lot of people a lot worse off than me. So if I have no one to give these dreamcatchers to, I may have to go out in the woods and hang them on the trees. So here's something to do. Please, everyone who reads this, please give a few bucks to any group or person you know, to helps people to survive the winter. Give to your local food bank or homeless shelter. Give to the Red Cross. Give to your neighbor who's having a hard time. I don't care who you give to, long as you help people survive the winter. If you like you can give to organizations that help the Indians in the North. Indians on the rezes have a harder time than most, many live in houses that have no insulation, no indoor plumbing, inadequate heat. Some don't have houses at all, they live in cars or utility buildings. Housing codes and other laws would forbid people from living that way in most of this country. But on the rezes things are different. So if you'd like to give to these, a few addresses are below. And then, after you've given, I have a gift for you, one of these dreamcatchers I've made. I make them right. They're not like the ones you buy in the stores. These can't be sold cos they're sacred. I'm told they really work! I don't wanna know what you gave or who you gave to. That's your business and you'll get a better blessing from it the fewer people know. But if you've given anything to help the people make it thru the winter storms, please reply -privately- to this message and give me an address that I can send a dreamcatcher to. Thanks -- Dee jrp05@gnofn.org Pathways to Spirit this group provides mobile homes to 4307 Goldeneye Dr. the elders at only transportation cost. Ft. Collins, Co. 80526 The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization 402 West 145th Street * New York, NY 10031 212/926-5757 * 212/926-5842 (fax) * ifco@igc.apc.org (email) * www.ifconews.org (web) (earmark your gift for November caravan to Chiapas) Bucketline to the Elders this group provides food and supplies First Security Bank to the elders of the 205 N Main Big Mountain /Black Mesa area. Layton, UT 84041 Redfeather Development Corp This group repairs and winterizes Box 52652 housing for the Bellevue, WA 98015-2652 elders of the Dakotas area. Please feel free to copy and resend this message to any list or newsgroup you wish. If you are part of a organiztion that helps people to make it thru the winter, please add your address here and pass this message along. Especially if your organization is a small hands-on outfit that has little or no overhead for the usual sort of fundraising. No church groups, please. Thanks -- Dee --------- "RE: Our Eagles Need Help" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 08:17:18 -0600 From: "The Conservancy of the Phoenix" Subj: Our Eagles Need Help UUCP email Gary: I am forwarding the below text which is self explanatory for your consideration to use or ignore as you wish. I know that the Red People have many problems and difficulties to worry about. I send the below because of the importance of the Eagle to the Red Man's way of life in his own spiritual world. We ask your support and the support of our Red Brothers and in protecting our brothers of the feather. In actuality the point at hand is much deeper than protecting the Eagles, it is one of protecting the land by encouraging the federal to stand up to the "White West" and enforcing the rules and regulations that are in place. This problem is no less important than protecting the buffalo and the sacred lands of the Red People. The message below I have sent to as many palace as I can to solicit help. Singularium:One Omnibus! Reginald -----Original Message----- From: Reginald D. Atkins Date: Friday, September 25, 1998 2:02 PM Fellow Eagles; We could use some assistance in helping protect our Eagles here in Wyoming. We are the Conservancy of the Phoenix, Inc. and the Website is http://w3.trib.com/~phxcon Our concern is enforcement of Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at Jackson's Canyon just west of Casper, Wyoming. You can help by writing, Mr. Jim Murkin Bureau of Land Management 1701 East E. St. Casper, WY. 82601 And email address for the Secretary of the Department of the Interior Bruce_Babbitt@IOS.DOI.GOV mail address The Honorable Bruce Babbit Secretary of the Interior Main Interior Building 1849 C Street NW Washington DC 20240 The problem with long established ACEC is lack of enforcement. The area of the ACEC is 3,900 that is closed to motorized vehicles (Snowmobiles) from December 1 to April 1 to provide peace and respite for the Bald Eagle that roots in the canyon during the winter. The local chapter of the Audubon Society as well as the state branch of the Nature Conservancy have fail to raise their voice to protect this Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The Nature Conservancy takes advantage of the situation by claiming to protect the Eagles by conservation easements and land they hold adjoining the ACEC. In the opinion of the Conservancy of the Phoenix, Inc. the protection the Nature Conservancy claims is false in that they have made no protest against the intrusion of snowmobiles into the area. The BLM could use some support through Bruce Babbit's office; they are undermanned and under funded. Please raise a voice and write letters to help protect the Bald Eagle in the Western States. The Bureau of Land Management MUST have public support in the effort to protect these eagles and they MUST have support from outside of Wyoming. Sincerely, Reginald D. Atkins President Conservancy of the Phoenix, Inc --------- "RE: Invitation to Authors and Artists" --------- Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 06:30:03 -0400 (EDT) From: Harder Bernie Subj: a Notice UUCP email Gary: we have a notice on e-mail inviting submissions from "aboriginal authors" to a journal published by U of Windsor. The issue will be devoted to this material. I don't know if you can send it out in your letter, but i'll forward it to you as it was sent to me from the editors. bernie harder There have been enquiries about "deadline." It's asp, as far as i know. This issue in the Spring is dedicated to Ab. Authors and Artists etc, to support a mini-conference of Anishinabe authors and artists taking place at the U of W in February in the week ending Feb. 14. bernie _________________________________________________________________________ On Wed, 23 Sep 1998, Windsor Review: A Journal of the Arts wrote: The WINDSOR REVIEW is looking for art, poetry, non-fiction, and fiction from aboriginal writers and artists for our Spring '99 issue (32.1). There are no style or content restrictions. Please see below for details. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES The WINDSOR REVIEW: A Journal of the Arts is published twice a year by the University of Windsor's Faculty of Arts. The journal features poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, and art of a high caliber. All creative submissions should be sent to the appropriate editor (Fiction Editor, Poetry Editor, or Art Editor) at the address below. Please specify the relevant editor on the outside of the envelope. Poetry submissions should be typed. Fiction and non-fiction should be typed, double spaced, and moderate in length (1000-5000 words). Only one copy need be submitted with a statement that the material is not submitted elsewhere. There are no style or content restrictions; the only guidelines are quality and good taste. Visual artists should contact the Art Editor for directions. Those wanting their submissions returned should include a self-addressed, appropriately-stamped envelope. Please note that only material accepted for publication will receive acknowledgment in the form of a letter of acceptance. Contributors will receive a small remuneration plus complimentary copies of the issue containing their work. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _Windsor Review: A Journal of the Arts_ Dept. of English / Univ. of Windsor / Windsor, Ont., Canada N9B 3P4 Phone: (519) 253-4232, ext. 2332 - Fax: (519) 973-7050 Internet: uwrevu@uwindsor.ca --------- "RE: HELP Rest