From gars@netcom.com Tue Aug 8 22:44:07 2000 Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 18:43:11 -0800 (PST) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews08.010 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ O ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) O o O / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ O o O (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O o o o o O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ VOLUME 08, ISSUE 010 O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' March 4, 2000 O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- Pima the green moon O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, Ponca water stands in the ponds moon KANOHEDA ANIYVWIYA Ha-Sah-Sliltha Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin Un Chota Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min Aunchemokauhettittea Ximopanolti tehuatzin, inin Mexika tlahtolli ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) This issue contains articles from Indianz, NatFilm, Paths-L, Triballaw, LPDC, Minn-Ind & Big Mountain mailing lists; Newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email; http://www.nowtimeprophecies.com/prod04.htm 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 "The white man does not understand the Indian for the reason that he does not understand America. He is too far removed... The roots of the tree of his life have not yet grasped the rock and soil. The white man is still troubled with primitive fears; he still has in his consciousness the perils of this frontier continent, some of its vastness not yet having yielded to his questioning footsteps and inquiring eyes.... The man from Europe is still a foreigner and an alien. And he still hates the man who questioned his path across the continent. But the Indian spirit of the land is still vested; it will be until other men are able to divine and meet its rhythm. Men must be born and reborn to belong. Their bodies must be formed of the dust of their forefathers' bones. __Standing Bear, Oglala +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! This past week A & E, the cable network broadcast, featured on their "Bill Kurtis: An Investigative Report" a surprisingly well balanced special on the Yellowstone Buffalo. It included several spots with Mike Mease of Buffalo Field Campaign and Lakota Elders Joseph Chasing Horse, Rosalie Little Thunder and Gary Silk and Winona LaDuke. What is important to you is that the show has a discussion on the web asking for public comment on what should be done with the Yellowstone Buffalo. The Montana ranchers and Department of Livestock public relations folks are actively pushing their agenda. Do NOT let theirs be the only voices heard. To view the discussion, go to www.aande.com, and select "discussions." From that menu, select the Bill Kurtis section. From there, you will see a list of Kurtis's specials. Select the "Should Montana be allowed to kill Yellowstone buffalo" section. You can then read posts from the discussion, however you will *not* be able to reply. You have to register and log in (two separate procedures) in order to reply. Simply follow the prompts and make your comments. The procedure can be a bit frustrating. Just remember your comments may make the difference for the Buffalo Nation. Please keep to the topic and keep it polite. Make your time and your words count. Peace! Night Owl , , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@nanews.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30417, U.S.A. gars@crl.com ===w=w== Fax: 770-528-9643 gars@wolfstar.com ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Tribal Chairman - Hopi Letter to UN Found Dead in Winnemucca - Trail of Dreams - Indian Sovereignty - Pressure Mounts for RCMP Inquiry - New Lands Radiation - Supreme Court Lets - U'Wa in Colombia Child Custody Ruling Stand - Pine Ridge Occupation - Saskatchewan Natives Press Release Demand Public Inquiry - Yankton Sioux Update - Reminder: Anna Mae is Found...Dead - Sioux End Takeover - Peltier Awareness Tour - Leech Lake Candidate - Native Prisoner Seeks More Control of Land - A Hundred Years Ago - Native Indians and Land Ownership - Faked Native American 2 - University Revokes - Poem: Elders Prayer Religious Freedom for Indians - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Blackfeet Seek - Upcoming Events Special Tribal Border-Crossing - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Tribal Chairman Found Dead in Winnemucca" --------- Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 11:22:47 EST From: MarthaET@aol.com Subj: Tribal Chairman found dead in Winnemucca Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu) February 25, 2000 Tribal Chairman found dead in Winnemucca WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (AP) - A multi-agency law enforcement task force is investigating the death of the chairman of the Winnemucca Indian Colony. The body of Glenn E. Wasson, 76, was found early Wednesday near the front entrance of the tribal building here. Authorities have not released details, though they are treating it as a homicide. A task force that includes officers from the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Nevada Division of Investigation is handling the probe. "I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." >-- Stephen Jay Gould --------- "RE: Indian Sovereignty" --------- Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 07:00:13 PST From: "Windy One" Subj: Fwd: [Editorial: Indian Sovereignty--a Must read!] Mailing List: Indianz elist Forwarded to me......cleaned up and forwarded to you. Donna -------------------------------------------- Now and then comes a breath of fresh air. This made my day. Not all editors have their heads buried you know where. (Along with state governors.) I emailed this to area editors (Tahlequah & Muskogee) w/ a request to reprint. Maybe those of you in my area will request the same of them? Everyone else can do the same in your towns and cities. JoKay Dowell jkdowell@fullnet.net ----- Original Message ----- Subject: Editorial on Tribal Sovereignty - Seattle Times Opinion/Editorials : Sunday, May 23, 1999 Why sovereignty is winning, from Neah Bay to the Supreme Court by Paul VanDevelder Special to The Seattle Times CORVALLIS, Ore. - The storm of public bitterness that has animated both the Makah whale hunt and a pair of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions issued from Indian country dramatically illustrates how few facts of American life haul more deeply contentious freight than Native-American sovereignty. What is Indian sovereignty? Who dreamed it up? And why are the tribes winning all these cases? We will do well to study these questions, these laws and legal relationships. There is a perception afoot in the land that we are a nation defined by competing political agendas. In fact, politics is just so much weather. It comes and it goes and it comes and it goes. We are instead, and thankfully so, a nation of laws. The courts control the helm of the ship of state. Courts steer us toward reckonings with the shoals of public opinion that few politicians have the courage or the vision to articulate; i.e., civil rights, reproductive freedom, sovereignty. They are at peace with the idea that the crossing is worth the storm. As U.S. congressmen and congresswomen learned in a workshop on Indian law last summer, Native-American sovereignty is about to get very, very expensive. The 550 federally recognized tribes own the last great deposits of natural resources on the North American continent. Among the looming legal battles - as huge as they are inevitable - are resource allocation, water, timber, salmon, land, gold, copper, zinc, oil and gas, uranium, coal, and aquatic management on the Columbia, Colorado, Missouri rivers and the disposition of the Snake River dams, as well as water quality, fish harvest and heavy metal poisoning on the Great Lakes. The nation's governors, whipped into a frenzy by Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson ("These Indian environmental standards are going to sweep across the nation. They must be stopped!" ) recently petitioned Congress to roll back Native environmental standards and to declare state supremacy in matters concerning natural resources. The gubernatorial petition demonstrated an appalling ignorance of both federal and Indian law on the part of governors. Congress turned its head from the foul odor put off by Thompson's petition and respectfully declined to yield its constitutional power. An offer of sovereignty and peace The states and the feds have been hurtling toward this national train wreck with the tribes for 200 years, and there is nothing anybody can do to stop it. There is so much at stake, so much jurisdictional overhead and racial undertow bound up in its making, that to survey the landscape from the legal high country is to feel historical ironies suck the wind right out of your lungs. Between 1790 and 1871, the U.S. Senate ratified 380 treaties with Indian nations. Congress entered into treaties with the tribes to acquire land which it could sell to pay off its huge debts. Start-up costs for a nation, even back then, were staggering and the U.S. was too weak to take the land by force. What it had to offer the tribes, in return, were sovereignty and peace. When the legal concept of sovereignty was first challenged in the Supreme Court by the state of Georgia in the 1820s, Chief Justice John Marshall took pains to examine this legal apparatus and to explain how it functions. He knew battles with the tribes would only escalate over time. Arguably, Marshall was writing to his wrongheaded nemesis Thomas Jefferson (they enjoyed a mutual enmity that was vitriolic, though Marshall bested him in the end). This brace of cases, known as the Marshall Trilogy, held that every treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate under Article VI, Clause 2 of the Constitution, was now the "supreme law of the land." Sovereignty, explained Marshall, exists as a pre-condition among self-governing entities and acts as a legal shield protecting all rights and privileges reserved and implied by nationhood. In fact, treaties were a granting of rights from the tribes, to the federal government. They acquired the legal firepower President Andrew Jackson was so infuriated by Marshall's opinion that he declared: "Let him enforce it!" then sent thousands of Cherokee to their death on the Trail of Tears (an act which today would get President Jackson indicted by The Hague as a war criminal). Back then, the attitude of lawmakers was "not to worry" about the consequences of conducting long-term government-to-government relationships with 380 foreign Indian nations. After the smoke cleared at Wounded Knee, in 1890, the prevailing wisdom held that the American Indian would be a vanquished race by the turn of the century. Wrong. Fast forward 100 years. Recent legal opinions have signaled a return to the Marshall Trilogy and to what is known in the federal judiciary as the "foundational principles of Indian law." This swing has grown out of the fact that gambling proceeds and education (there are more than 2,000 Indian lawyers in the U.S.) have empowered once-passive tribes to acquire the cash and the legal fire power to strike decisively when states trespass on their sovereignty. For 20 years, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and his ideological cohorts have done their damnedest to dismantle Marshall. Justice Antonin Scalia recently got caught with his metaphorical pants in a pile around his ankles when he wrote that the interpretation of Indian law in the Rehnquist Court acts as a search for "what the current state of affairs ought to be." This is a startling confession from a judge who has consistently argue that the fundamental role of the court is: ". . .not to determine what seems like good policy at the present time, but to ascertain the meaning of the text." Scalia could have added, "when your political agenda happens to agree with it." In the end, we were a nation of laws that would not easily bend to the political judgments of high-court judges. The foundational law has held. -- Summer 1999: Native Americans have brought a class-action suit against the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs for tens of billions of dollars in misused Indian assets. This case is going to trial this summer, and Price-Waterhouse accountants say the particulars line up very nicely in favor of the Indians. Should get ugly. -- December 1997: The Supremes enforced Isleta Pueblo water-quality standards on the Rio Grande River on the upstream city of Albuquerque, standards that cost Albuquerque $400 million in capital improvements. The Isleta combined their 1st Amendment freedom of religion (water ceremonies) with treaty rights in an argument that had never before been heard in a court of law. City officials are still trying to gather their wits. -- October 1998: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did the same thing for the Salish and Kootenai tribe of Western Montana. Montana Gov. Marc Racicot promised to fight it out at the Supreme Court. He did. He lost. Twelve more tribes have won similar approval from the federal Environmental Protection Agency under Section 519 of the federal Clean Water Act, while 20 more tribes are in line for approval, and 120, from Maine to California, have initiated the scientific and legal processes. -- September 1998: A federal court cited a treaty between the Sandia Pueblo and the King of Spain to restore to the tribe thousands of acres of land surrounding the city of Albuquerque (including the land under the governor's house.) Dozens of similar cases are currently working their way through the federal courts, both here and in Canada. -- September 1998: Federal court Judge Lawrence Piersol "dismissed with prejudice" the claims of South Dakota Gov. William Jankow and restored jurisdiction and treaty rights to the Yankton Sioux tribe (the tribe that welcomed Lewis and Clark into the Dakota territory) over 360,000 acres of South Dakota prairie, ending a century-long battle over a treaty signed in 1858. -- March 1999: Writing for the majority in a 5-4 split, upholding the fishing and hunting treaty rights of the Mille Lacs band of Chippewa against the state of Minnesota, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor reminded dissenting justices Scalia and Rehnquist that the court has a historical obligation to interpret treaties in favor of the tribes and in the spirit in which the Indians would have understood them when they were signed. (Gov. Jesse Ventura's response: "If that's the way they want it, they can go back to birch bark canoes!") -- The din from Chippewa had scarcely subsided when the High Court shocked the state of Washington by declining to hear an appeal on shellfish harvesting by Indians. State agencies had closed ranks with private landowners and commercial shell fishermen to bring suit against 17 tribes on Puget Sound which were asserting treaty rights of access across state and private land to their ancestral shellfish beds. White fishermen and state lawmakers had been waiting for two decades to extract revenge for the Boldt decision, the 1974 ruling that awarded tribes half the salmon caught in western rivers. This was it. This was for all the marbles. Who gets the last word? The particulars in these cases are window-dressing. Unfortunately, it is the window-dressing that gets the ink in the mainstream media. Strip away the clams, the oysters and the fishing rods and these cases are about wielding enormous power, about the subjugation of political will of one governmental body by another. What is at stake are the same bitterly contested principles that hurled the North against the South at Shilo and Gettysburg. Who controls the legal high ground? Who decides? Who gets the last word? In 1787, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton knew this question had been finessed - for the time being. They both knew that hammering out an answer would be bloody and costly. The 14th Amendment, which denies to states that which is denied to the federal government, was an answer that was written in the blood of a deeply wounded nation in a civil war, not to mention in the tortured lives of millions of slaves. In Puget Sound, on the Rio Grande and on the boundary waters of Minnesota, the 14th Amendment today translates into a vigorous defense by the federal government of its dominion over national waterways, air quality, and public lands, through its "supreme law of the land" contracts with the tribes. Government attorneys argued that the state of Washington was never party to the treaty with the tribes. Therefore, it had no standing to claim jurisdiction over federal waterways. The Supreme Court agreed. State officials and private landowners were thunderstruck, yet the arrogance was theirs to own, right from the start. They failed to recognize that this opinion was written and proclaimed to the world on a spring day in a farmhouse in Appomattox, Va., 134 years ago. The state of Washington championed politics and fell in a whimpering heap at the feet of the law. The feds and the tribes are partners who go way, way back. Without treaties and concessions from the tribes, states, beyond the original 13, would not exist. Indians paid for the protection of the 14th Amendment in advance. Their names are carried on the winds of a profoundly shameful history; Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Geronimo, Standing Bear, Black Elk, Looking Glass, Plenty-Coups, Sitting Bull, Joseph, Sealth, Black Kettle. They were vanquished by politicians hell bent on prosecuting the mythology of the Doctrine of Discovery - that great fault line on which the American house of democracy was erected, the official fiction that the continent was void of inhabitants when Europeans stepped out of their boats. The rest, as they say, is history, but the future is in the hands of the courts. Not, thankfully, in the hands of politicians. And if the states choose not to learn this lesson, if they choose to press on with their self-serving agendas at the expense of the tribes, hocking their consciences for political and economic gains, future relations with the tribes promise to be very bitter and very expensive, because "the supreme law of the land" will be the final word. Paul VanDevelder is a writer and filmmaker who has reported from Indian country for numerous national periodicals and newspapers. His newest documentary, "Journey to Medicine Wheel," won best film honors at the San Francisco Film Festival in 1998. He resides in Corvallis, Ore. _______________________________________ Fred E. Corey Environmental Director Aroostook Band of Micmacs 8 Northern Road Presque Isle, ME 04769 Ph: (207) 764-7765 Fax: (207) 764-7768 E-Mail: fcorey@micmachealth.org --------- "RE: New Lands Radiation" --------- Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 14:03:14 -0800 From: Bill Sebastian (by way of Robert Dorman ) Subj: New Lands Radiation Mailing List: Big Mountain List <> Radioactive contamination in the Rio Puerco basin results from both man-made and natural sources. The man-made sources result from mining activities upstream, both from long-term low-level releases and from a major release resulting from the collapse of a containment dam in 1979. The problems with respect to man-made contamination are documented in many places: >>State of New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division (NMEID) draft report (Millard, et.al, 1982): "Persons using this water for drinking, irrigation, or livestock watering on a continual basis will incur an additional risk of cancer". >>The Arizona Dept of Health Services (from statement issued on July 27, 1983) found levels of U-nat and Cs-137 far above allowable limits at samples taken in the river bed near Chambers AZ (within the New Lands). Tests performed subsequently have yielded mixed results, with some showing highly elevated levels, while others showing normal levels. These inconsistent readings are typical for this type of situation: when finite- sized particles are scattered over a large area, measurements will always vary in small sampling sets. The failure to find elevated levels in some small-scale sampling does not prove that no problem exists, and certainly should not be construed as a refutation of the other studies. I also think that it is safe to say that the amount of testing that has been done is far less than would have occurred if a more politically-connected group of people were subjected to the same risk. In addition to exposure from the riverbed (primarily via watering of livestock when the riverbed has water in it), a concern is the possible migration of the contaminants into ground water sources, which was examined by UNLV (Dixon,1990). The study found no measurable migration had occurred from the river bed into the ground water sources: that levels in wells near the river bed were no higher than wells away from this area. However, the same study found that the water quality (mostly as a result of natural sources) was poor. 29 of 42 wells tested had at least one inorganic contaminant exceeding its EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL), and the average gross alpha radiation level on all wells was 36 pci/L (the MCL is 30). To the extent that the federal government is forcibly relocating people to this area, it is failing to provide safe drinking water regardless of the source of the contaminants. The federal government is undeniably subjecting people to a risk factor: the questions are only the amount of exposure and the acceptable level of contaminants. Because the relocated population often relies on subsistence herding, wherein multiple pathways for exposure exist, the acceptable levels should clearly be lower than for other populations. Since the levels are clearly higher than the rest of the country deems acceptable, supporters of these people are more than justified in raising this issue as a legitimate concern. ======================== Moderators Note: The unfortunate thing about "studies" is, like statistics, you can weasel-word the data into supporting almost any finding that you want to. This is why, in the medical world, "double-blind" studies are conducted. When the government has a vested interest in showing little or no dangerous contamination, you can be sure that no little or no contamination will be found when the study is conducted! Most of the U.S. Geological Survey reports concerning the Puerco River basin minimize the risk factor. Here is an example taken from "Preliminary Assessment of Water Quality in the Alluvial Aquifer of the Puerco River Basin, Northeast Arizona" by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Investigation Report 87-4126. "A total of 14 wells and 1 spring were sampled during the most recent round of analyses (December 1986). The quality of water in three of the wells exceeded the Primary Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for gross alpha Particle activity of 15 picocuries (pCi)/liter (excluding uranium and radon) while the quality of water in two wells were at the MCL." OK, right off the bat, you can see that uranium and radon were EXCLUDED from the test! If they were included, the contaminant level would obviously be even higher. Even with them excluded, the radionuculide contamination was high. Now further, we read: "However, if historical data were averaged with the new data, and the split sample results were also averaged, only one well would exceed the MCL for gross alpha particle activity." OF course! If you take "historical" (read that CLEAN-UNCONTAMINATED data) and average it with the contaminated data, you will get cleaner data! If you don't read between the lines of these reports, and just read the conclusions, then you can get a very rosy picture of the situation. What is needed is an up-to-date, INDEPENDENT, NON-GOVERNMENT survey by a respected professional industrial radiation survey organization, and a careful review of the most recent RAW data (not the politically-biased conclusions) taken by the USGS. ======================== This is a BIGMTLIST post. Email addresses--- To Post message: BIGMTLIST@onelist.com To Subscribe: BIGMTLIST-subscribe@onelist.com To Unsubscribe: BIGMTLIST-unsubscribe@onelist.com For more information on this on-going human rights crisis in the United States, visit my web page at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.htm --------- "RE: U'Wa in Colombia" --------- Date: 25 Feb 2000 10:58:43 EST From: James.M.Simermeyer@Dartmouth.EDU (James M. Simermeyer) Subj: U'Wa in Colombia January 25, 2000 Urgent, Sign-on Letter Re: Invasion of U'wa Land! From: ACERCA acerca@sover.net Dear folks, A life and death situation is intensifying for the indigenous U'wa in Columbia. I urge you to please sign this letter. To sign on to this letter please email Project Underground's Carwil James carwil@moles.org (not ACERCA). If you live in the northeast and want to get involved in immediate action please contact Kim Foster from Rainforest Action Network in Boston fosterk@gis.net (781-321-8674; cell phone: 781-308-4530). I can also be reached until 3 pm eastern time today (25 Jan) at the ACERCA office 802-863-0571. In solidarity/ For the Earth, Orin Langelle, Coordinator ACERCA Action for Community & Ecology in the Rainforests of Central America POB 57, Burlington, VT 05402 USA (802)863-0571, (802) 864-8203 Fax Email: acerca@sover.net http://www.acerca.org ACERCA is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice and a member of the Native Forest Network Recent days have seen a MAJOR escalation of the conflict between Occidental Petroleum and the U'wa. Colombian soldiers are now surrounding the 250 U'wa at the drillsite and have cut them off from communication with the rest of their people. We will be issuing the attached sign-on letter to Colombian President Pastrana in the next few days (he is meeting with Pres. Clinton tomorrow), and would like to gather as many signatures as we can in support from organizations and prominent individuals. Please let me know if you or your organization is willing to sign on. Also, please circulate this letter to whomever you think would be supportive. Carwil James Oil Campaigner, Project Underground (510) 705-8981, carwil@moles.org "Dance the military guns to silence. Dance their dumb laws to the dump. Dance oppression and injustice to death." -Ken Saro-Wiwa Dear President Pastrana, We, members of international civil society, are seriously concerned about the tense situation that is currently unfolding in the U'wa homeland, where 250 U'wa are surrounded by a large number of heavily armed Colombian military forces at the Gibraltar 1 site. We believe that the U'wa people, like all people, have the right to live in their homeland, safe from the twin threats of war and environmental destruction. Your decisions in the coming days will determine whether the U'wa will have such a life in the future, and indeed whether they will have a future at all. It is of the utmost importance that you act with respect for the U'wa people and their right to a choice regarding the fate of their homeland. We are also writing to impress upon you of the tragic consequences of using violence to enforce a dangerous and destructive proposal against the wishes of a committed people. The U'wa have struggled for eight years to protect their homeland from oil drilling by the Occidental Petroleum Company. Citing the environmental dangers posed by oil extraction, the tendency of oil facilities in Colombia to attract violence in the forms of civil war and repression, and their deeply held spiritual belief that oil is the blood of Mother Earth, the U'wa have steadfastly opposed Occidental's presence on their land, often at considerable risk to themselves. Last September, disregarding constitutional and other legal requirements for consultation with indigenous communities, your government granted a drilling permit to Occidental at Gibraltar 1, less than a kilometer from the recognized Unified Reservation, and well within their traditional homeland. In response, more than 200 U'wa--ranging from children to tribal elders--established a permanent settlement on the drill site. It is a source of grave concern for us to learn that at least hundreds and, according to the U'wa, an estimated 5,000 agents of the Colombian military surrounded this settlement on January 19. Through this action, the Colombian government and military are placing the economic interests of Occidental over the very lives of the U'wa. This course of action will only bring your administration a backlash of criticism from the hundreds of thousands of concerned people from around the world who are closely monitoring this case in Colombia. Too often in recent history, claims of ownership have been chosen over the aspirations and beliefs of a people. Where this choice has been made, a piece of humanity and some of its voices are now missing, with only blood and silence in their place. We you to reconsider the genocidal consequences of your decision to proceed with the Samore oil project. Whether these choices are made actively or passively, as president, you will be morally culpable for any injury to the U'wa or their land. We urge you to withdraw the Colombian military from Gibraltar 1 as a first step in a process to inclusively decide the future of the U'wa homeland based on a recognition of the rights and hopes of the U'wa people themselves. Sincerely, January 22, 2000 Emergency Follow-up Action / U'wa People of Colombia Dear "Quick Response Network" Members: Please respond to this urgent situation of the U'wa people in Colombia. Refer to Global Response Action #1/2K which was sent out earlier this week. Thanks. URGENT URGENT URGENT Communique to the International and National Public Oxy invades Uwa Territory The Army of Colombia with 5000 men at the service of the Oxy On the 19th of January 2000, more than 5000 heavily armed soldiers of the Colombian Army, invaded our traditional territory, exactly in Cedeno, where there is the oil drilling well - Gibraltar 1, of the Occidental, Oxy. Facing the opposition of the Uwa people, headed by our representative the indigenous leader Roberto Cobaria Berito, the Armed forces stated that "Over and above the indigenous U'was, they had to exploit oil". At the same time Police forces move to the zone with the aim to "protect" the safety of the Occidental engineers. Since the 15th of November 1999, more than 250 of our community stand in peaceful protest in the area of Cedeno, which is part of our ancestral territory, claiming resistance against oil exploitation by the OXY. Today we are being cordoned off by the Colombian Army and Police, putting at risk our physical integrity. With this action, the Oxy and the Colombian army insist on ignoring our territorial rights, sacred for thousands of year and as the real owners of the land where the oil exploitation is going to take place. This series of events ignores our constitutional and legal rights, which state that the communal ethnic territories are inalienable, cannot be seized and are imprescriptible, and that they are protected by the title deed of collective territory. Likewise, the Colombian government, headed by the Minister of Mining and Energy with the complicity of INCORA (National institute for Agrarian Reform), pretend to declare the U'wa territory as an oil reserve, with the false argument that the national oil industry acquires by law a special status of public interest, with the true and only purpose of facilitating and allowing the oil exploitation on behalf of the Multinational Oxy. We are urgently calling the attention of the national and international community and the NGO support groups to take action, speak up and move against this latest violation against the Uwa people, which is threatening our existence and culture. The Uwas will not give up our Cultural, Historical and Millenary Rights. We rather prefer a genocide sponsored by the Colombian government before our Mother land is destroyed by the oil companies. Your letters can be sent to: JUAN MAYR, Ministro del Medio Ambiente, Juan_Mayr_M@Hotmail.Com y Jmayr@minamb.gov.co 3361166, 2886877, 2840363 Dr. ANDRES PASTRANA, Presidente de la Republica de Colombia, Palacio de Narino, Fax 2867434. Bogota. pastrana@presidencia.gov.co Dr. GUSTAVO BELL LEMUS, Consejero Presidencial para los Derechos Humanos, Fax 571 3418364. Bogota. Dr. JAIME BERNAL CUELLAR, Procurador General de la Nacion, Fax 571 2840472, 3429723. Bogota. Dr. ALFONSO GOMEZ MENDEZ, Fiscal General de la Nacion, Fax 571 5702000. Bogota. Dr. FERNANDO CASTRO CAICEDO, Defensor del Pueblo, Fax 571 3461225. Bogota. Dr. NESTOR HUMBERTO MARTINEZ NEIRA, Ministro del Interior, Fax 571 2515884. Cubara, 20 de enero del 2000 CABILDO MAYOR U'WA Cubara, Boyaca, Colombia INFORMATION: Tel: 091 2812071; 091 3376950; 091 2456860; 091 2458906 Global Response Action #1/2K SUPPORT U'WA PEOPLE VS. OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM / COLOMBIA Jan/Feb 2000 "The U'wa have always had a law that existed before the sun and the moon. We have always taken good care of our land, because we have always followed this law?. In this world there are many laws, but Mother Earth also has her laws?.Occidental must hear these laws and leave U'wa territory please." -- Berito Kuwaru'wa Designated International Spokesman, Traditional U'wa Authority Winner, 1998 Goldman Environmental Prize For eight years, the U'wa people have successfully prevented Occidental Petroleum Company from drilling in their traditional territory. They argued their case in Colombian courts and international human rights forums, and even at Occidental's Shareholders' Meeting in Los Angeles, California. Their chilling pledge to commit mass suicide if Occidental drills on their lands made headlines worldwide. As a result, Occidental gave up plans to drill inside the U'wa Reservation, but there's a catch: the U'wa Reservation covers only 14% of U'wa traditional territories. Occidental's first drill site is just 600 yards outside the U'wa Reservation, but well within U'wa traditional homelands. The U'wa community of Santa Marta lies adjacent to the drill site, putting them at clear risk from impacts of the oil project. What is at risk? The U'wa homeland in Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Cocuy mountains is one of the most delicate, endangered forest systems on the planet. It lies at the headwaters of the Orinoco River basin, which flows through sensitive cloud forest and rainforest ecosystems and other indigenous peoples' homelands on its way to the sea. For thousands of years, the U'wa have lived by seasonally migrating between upland cloud forest and lush valleys, gathering plants, hunting and fishing. Their agricultural practices are famous for being virtually undetectable from the outside because the U'wa do not cut down the larger trees or ones that provide food for animals. Between uses, the U'wa let their fields lie fallow for 10 to 15 years, allowing full regrowth of native plant and animal species. The U'wa give complete protection to the high mountain ranges; no human beings are permitted to go there. Just north of U'wa territory, Occidental's Cano Limon pipeline has spilled an estimated 1,700,000 barrels of crude oil into nearby soil, rivers and lakes over the last 13 years (compare to 257,000 barrels in the Exxon Valdez spill). A government study found that "because of the polluting effects from Cano Limon, the receiving rivers and lakes are no longer fit for human consumption." In addition to pollution, oil projects inevitably lead to deforestation directly, because forests are cleared for oil exploration and production, and indirectly, because road systems created by the oil projects open new arteries into forests, clearing the way for colonization. In Colombia, oil also means violence. Colombia's left-wing guerrilla groups view oil installations as strategic targets; Occidental's Cano Limon pipeline has been bombed more than 600 times, causing major spills; frequent assassinations, massacres, torture and kidnappings occur in communities near the pipeline. Occidental's drilling would invite these horrors to the U'wa communities, and for what gain? The oil reserves in U'wa territory can only supply three weeks worth of world oil consumption. To prevent ecological and social horrors in their homeland, more than 200 U'wa people, including women, children and tribal elders, are now occupying Occidental's drill site known as Gibralter 1. Tribal leaders consider this permanent settlement a necessary action to block the drilling, since the government has already issued Occidental a permit for the site without consulting the U'wa. How can we support the U'wa in their courageous struggle? Occidental will back down if shareholders demand it. Last year, 13% of Occidental's shareholders voted for a resolution to assess the negative impacts of Occidental's project in U'wa territory. Global Response members can increase the pressure on Occidental by convincing Fidelity Investments, one of Occidental's top shareholders, to demand "hands off" all U'wa land. US presidential candidate Al Gore owns $1/2 million Occidental stock and takes major contributions from the company. He wants the environmental vote: let's challenge him to tell Occidental to abandon oil fields on all U'wa land. Communique to the International Public "Approximately 200 members of the U'wa indigenous tribe of northeastern Colombia assembled in a permanent settlement on part of our ancestral lands yesterday, November 16. This area?is the site where?Occidental Petroleum wants to drill the oil well 'Gibralter 1,' an action which threatens life and our ancient culture. "With this permanent presence and with the support of the local farmers of Sarare, we are claiming our ancestral and constitutional rights to life and to our traditional territory. We demand that the Colombian government and Oxy leave us in peace and that once and for all they cancel the oil project in this area. We U'wa people are willing to give our lives to defend Mother Earth from this project which will annihilate our culture, destroy nature, and upset the world's equilibrium. Caring for the Earth and the welfare of our children and of future generations is not only the responsibility of the U'wa people but of the entire national and international society. "We ask people around the world who value the Earth and indigenous peoples to speak out against the multinational oil company Oxy through protests, letters and other actions of solidarity." --Roberto Perez, President of Tribal Council U'wa Traditional Authorities. Requested Action: Please write polite letters to: 1) Albert Gore Vice President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC 20500 FAX: Int'l code+202/456-7044 In his book, Earth in the Balance, Gore wrote that car exhaust is "a mortal threat to the security of every nation, that is more deadly than that of any military enemy we are ever again likely to confront." So why does he accept campaign contributions from oil companies, and why does he invest $1/2 million in Occidental Petroleum? Urge Gore to confront Occidental and convince the company to withdraw from all U'wa traditional territory. Ask him how he justifies the sacrifice of the U'wa people and destruction of a rare cloud forest ecosystem for 3 weeks worth of oil. Tell him if he wants the environmental vote, he must show leadership in the global struggle for environmental justice. 2) Edward C. Johnson III Chairman and CEO, Fidelity Investments 82 Devonshire St. Boston MA 02109 FAX: Int'l code+617/476-4164 Fidelity Investments controls more than 30 million Occidental shares - over 8 percent of the company's total value. Fidelity's slogan is "We help you invest responsibly." Demand that Fidelity Investments act responsibly for the rights of indigenous people and for precious, irreplaceable ecosystems. Urge Fidelity Investments to convince Occidental to cancel its project on U'wa traditional lands, and if they refuse, to dump all their Occidental stock in protest. This Global Response Action is issued in support of and with information provided by the Tribal Council U'wa Traditional Authorities, Rainforest Action Network, Project Underground and Amazon Watch. For more information, please see these websites: www.ran.org; www.moles.org; and the publication "Blood of our Mother" available from Project Underground, 510/705-8981 or project_underground@moles.org --------- "RE: Pine Ridge Occupation Press Release" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 01:48:15 -0800 From: Nancy Thomas Subj: Pine Ridge Occupation Press Release 02-23-2000 ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 12:47:55 -0700 From: "Wild Horse" Mailing List: Paths-L For Immediate Release February 23, 2000 RED CLOUD BUILDING, PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION, SOUTH DAKOTA: SISSETON-WAHPETON SIOUX TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR TRIBAL OFFICES! As the Grass Roots Oyate mark the 38th day of their nonviolent takeover of the Oglala Sioux Tribe's administrative offices, their actions have created a snowball effect among indigenous nations across the United States and Canada. Yesterday afternoon, a group of Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Sioux veterans took control of their tribal offices to protest the corruption taking place within their tribal government. At press time today, South Dakota law enforcement have surrounded the Sisseton tribal building, telephone service to the building has been disconnected and they have cut off food and water supplies to the building. The veterans contacted the Grass Roots Oglala Lakota Oyate to seek assistance and advice. The Grass Roots Oyate has contacted the U.S. Department of Justice - Community Relations Service Mediator to intervene in what has turned into a very tense situation. Spokespeople for the Grass Roots Oyate advised the group to stay strong and use the Lakota traditional law - the sacred pipe - to guide them. They further advised them to declare their sovereign immunity under the guidelines of the 1868 Treaty, as the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Sioux are part of the Great Sioux Nation. Meanwhile, the Grass Roots Oyate continue to pray for the Sisseton veterans' safety. On Monday, visitors arrived from the Rocky Boy Cree Reservation to observe how the Grass Roots Oyate have successfully maintained peaceful control of their tribal building. The Rocky Boy Cree Reservation is located in northwestern Montana. Although their reservation is small, their problems are huge. Their tribal government system has run amuck with gross mismanagement of tribal funds. Their situation has an eerie similarity to the problems of so many tribes under the control of the I.R. A. (1934 Indian Reorganization Act) government system. It is a given that the corrupt politicians can determine right from wrong. U.S. Department of Interior Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover put it best in a recent radio interview, ".it is the I.R.A. system itself that was set up to fail, to destroy the land base of the reservations..." Meanwhile, Harold Salway, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, still refuses to suspend the "renegade" tribal council for the continuous illegal actions against the members of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Among the nine demands, The Grass Roots Oyate are demanding that the entire Tribal Council be suspended without pay pending a referendum vote for their removal; the immediate, permanent termination of Tribal Treasurer Wesley "Chuck" Jacobs; a five-year full forensic audit of the Tribe's governmental fund types. The group contends that they will remain in the building until their demands are met. For further information, please contact Floyd Hand or Media Coordinator Dale Looks Twice at (605) 867-5303. ________ As with all my emails concerning the Occupation Peoples please forward to any and all interested parties in its entirety Wadv Wild Horse http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate ---------------------------------------- To subscribe to the "Paths-L" mailing list send a message to Majordomo@YvwiiUsdinvnohii.net In the body of the message type: subscribe paths-l To unsubscribe type: unsubscribe paths-l (no subject is necessary for the message). --------- "RE: Yankton Sioux Update" --------- Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 05:11:57 -0800 (PST) From: dave evad Subj: Yankton Sioux Update--January 27, 2000 Forwarded for Tessa Lehto: For Immediate Release: January 27, 2000 6:00 PM For More Information Call Tessa Lehto at (605) 487-7871 or (605) 384-3641 or (605) 491-1237 YST Discovers Corps Violating Several Laws In Regards to Burial Site The Yankton Sioux Tribe has just discovered that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been in violation of federal law for years in regards to the remains of the ancestors at the White Swan Burial Site. These laws include, in addition to Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the National Historic Preservation Act, 16 USC 469, Executive Orders (13007 Indian Sacred Sites, May 24, 1996 and 11593), the National Environmental Policy Act, the Archaeological Resource Protection Act of 1974, and possibly other agency-specific legislation which may also apply. The Tribe has sent a letter to the Corps, signed by Chairwoman Madonna Archambeau, demanding that the Corps comply with all federal laws to protect these remains in the next thirty days. The letter says, "This is to notify you that the Yankton Sioux Tribe considers your agency out of compliance with Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) with regard to its conscious fluctuation of water levels in the Missouri River while knowing of the White Swan Burial Grounds, an important cultural site. It is the Tribe's understanding your agency has repeatedly engaged in a federal undertaking by fluctuating the pool of Lake Francis Case knowing the above site was present and, in doing so, caused damage to this important cultural site, and the human remains of tribal ancestors and other articles of archaeological significance." By raising the water level, there will be additional damage to the resources at the site. Once the water started rising, casket hardware was seen lying scattered on the surface of the burial grounds, in addition to impressions of remains, edges of coffins still showing through the sand and other items of archaeological significance. The letter continues, "It is the position of the YST that your agency has failed to consult with the Tribe as required by Section 106 of the Act and has failed to take measures to protect the site as is required by Section 110...It is the Tribe's position that the Corps actions also do not comply with the key Executive Orders or the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and other applicable federal statutes." "The Tribe believes the Corps is not meeting their legal obligations; they are only doing what the Tribe sued them about. The Corps is forcing the Tribe to spend a lot of money to get them to meet their legal obligations. "It shouldn't be that way," said tribal attorney Mary Wynne. "This is unfair for the Tribe to have to pay legal fees to force the US Army to comply with federal law," she continued. "This process has been enormously burdensome for the tribe to pursue this matter, making the Corps comply with the law. The YST is a small Tribe with limited resources, high unemployment, low average annual income per capita, and tremendous social needs," said Archambeau. "We are a small tribe with limited resources, but great resolve, in order to make the Army comply with the laws that protect the historic resources of all people in the United States," said tribal member and White Swan descendant Faith Spotted Eagle. "It is apparent that the Army is not willing to comply with the law." The Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974, AHPA, requires notification to the Secretary of the Interior of any dam construction and if archaeological resources are found, the recovery or salvage of them. AHPA also provides for the preservation of historical and archaeological data, including relics and specimens, which may be lost or destroyed as a result of 1) flooding, building of access roads, or 2) any alteration of the terrain that might be caused as a result of any federal construction project of federally licensed activity or program. "Every year that the water of Lake Francis Case covered the remains, the Corps may have violated federal law, because they knew that the site was there," said Wynne. There are also possible violations of 36 CFR 800.5 A (2) vii (Regulations with regard to NHPA) concerning adverse effects and the transfer, lease or sale of properties containing protected remains or relics without a long term plan for preservation of the property. "To say the least, the Corps' actions in this matter are questionable, possibly illegal, certainly shameful. The Corps has an affirmative responsibility under several federal statutes to work with Native Americans and find mutually satisfactory solutions when tragedies like this occur. They also have legal responsibility to take into account the effects of their actions by consulting with Tribes, the State Historic Preservation Officer, and the Advisory Council, and they didn't do it. It's almost as if the Corps was daring someone to take them to court," said Program Analyst Alan Stanfill of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Denver Regional office. The Executive Director of the Advisory Council is a presidential appointee, and the Advisory Council is investigating the matter, as is the State Historic Preservation Office. "I'd like to think this could be a catalyst for change in the cultural resource management of the Corps. It happens over and over again. Not only in reservoirs, but all over the country. They have no adequate program for administering situations like this," he said. Steve Littlefield, South Dakota State Historical Society Review and Compliance department, said, "Essentially there is a section 106 violation, and I don't think anyone is going to disagree with that." He verified that he has not received formal notification to invoke the protections of the NHPA from the Corps as is required by law. If the Corps removed the remains without a plan, then they are in violation of 106, the Tribe maintains. "During the negotiation process, Corps officials repeatedly pressured the Tribe to hurry up the collection of the remains. They even sent a letter to the Tribe, after another agreement was already made, speeding up the process. Before collection could even begin, under the law, a mitigation plan is required for the site, with agreement by several parties. We requested official consultation to work on this plan, but were denied. Then they told us to hurry up and pick up our relatives," said Roxann Spottedeagle, a White Swan descendant. It has also been pointed out that the Corp has failed to develop a plan for preservation for the White Swan burial grounds, the human remains and the artifacts located there. The Corps has been repeatedly given notice that they are out of compliance with an agreement they signed in 1993 with State Historic Preservation Officers from Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. They have either refused or failed to take corrective measures to meet their responsibilities under this agreement. The letter from the Tribe is putting the Corps on 30 day notice. "We are demanding that the Corps comply with not only the federal laws, but also the programmatic agreement the Corps made with the Cultural Historic Preservation Officers," said Wynne. "Please notify the Tribe within 30 days of what measures have been taken to bring your agency into compliance with NHPA and other applicable law. As part of that effort, the YST requests that your agency convene a meeting between the Consulting Parties concerning the White Swan Burial Grounds within 30 days of your receipt of this letter." "It is the Tribe's understanding, based on your agency's failure to protect historic sites and engage in required consultation, that these issues may well be much broader than the White Swan site. Therefore, it may also be appropriate to meet with representatives from other tribes with continuing interests in historical sites along the Missouri River, including but not limited to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe," concluded Chairperson Madonna Archambeau in the letter. --------- "RE: Sioux End Takeover" --------- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 16:55:29 GMT From: "Bear Christensen" Subj: Sioux end takeover Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu) February 24, 2000 Sioux Tribal Members End Takeover Filed at 5:59 a.m. EST By The Associated Press AGENCY VILLAGE, S.D. (AP) -- Members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribe filed out of tribal headquarters here, claiming their takeover of the building achieved their goals. The protesters left Wednesday after the tribal council agreed to suspend the panel that governs the tribe's casinos. The demonstrators had barricaded themselves in the council chambers Tuesday afternoon, demanding an investigation of alleged tribal corruption. "This started out as a council meeting," said Paul McCabe, special agent with the FBI in Minneapolis. "When the council meeting was adjourned, some people who were in attendance there asked for the resignation of the council and the gaming board. "They adjourned the council, and then these people were joined by some armed individuals." No shots were fired, and several protesters and their supporters denied they had any weapons. Early reports indicated anywhere from eight to 15 people were inside the building. Later estimates ranged to 25. Tribal leaders have grown wealthy from casino proceeds while the tribe's poor have gotten poorer, the protesters said. "This corruption has to stop," said Smiley Shepherd, former manager of two of the tribe's casinos. "Our elders are being abused, living in snake- infested apartments while the council and (casino) executives are making high five-digit salaries." During the 90-day suspension of the seven-member panel that governs the casinos, the protesters' concerns and complaints will be studied, said Rosebud Marshall, judicial representative from the tribe's Old Agency District. In the southwestern corner of South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux tribal headquarters at Pine Ridge has been occupied by protesters since Jan. 16 in a stalemate with a faction representing the tribal treasurer, whom the occupiers accuse of mismanaging funds. Bear Christensen, Esq. 1510 20th Street Apt#105 Boulder, Colorado 80302 http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/TwentiesCir/bearc/homepage.htm --------- "RE: Leech Lake Candidate Seeks More Control of Land" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 23:15:59 EST From: MarthaET@aol.com Subj: Leech Lake tribal chair candidate seeks more control of land Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu) Published Wednesday, February 23, 2000 Leech Lake tribal chair candidate seeks more control of land BEMIDJI, MINN. -- A candidate for tribal chairman says the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa needs to fight the federal government for more control of land. Lenee Ross recently announced he will challenge incumbent Chairman Eli Hunt. Ross, 43, is Bemidji State University's director of American Indian Services. He has served as the reservation's executive director. Ross said he would advocate for all federal and state lands within the exterior boundaries of the reservation to be returned to the tribe because they were taken, if not illegally, at least immorally. Ross said this philosophy is at odds with Leech Lake's current government, which is trying to buy back some of that land piece by piece. Other important issues include court reform, education and economic development, he said. In his State of the Band address last week, Hunt said the Tribal Council's priorities for the next year include acquiring more land, expanding tribal housing and alleviating such social problems as teen pregnancy. Filing for the position opens Friday and closes March 6. The primary is set for April 18; the general election is June 13. -- Associated Press c. Copyright 2000 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Native Indians and Land Ownership" --------- Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 00:57:58 GMT From: "James O'Reilly" Subj: Native Indians and Land Ownership Newsgroup: soc.culture.native Article or perhaps "Letter to the Editor": Re: It's all our money: Says Chief, The Province, Tuesday, January 11, 2000 Art Manual, Shuswap Nation Tribal Council President, has argued that how his band uses federal tax dollars is a matter on which the tax-payers should have absolutely no say since, he argues, "all tax dollars come from stolen aboriginal resources in the first place." Now it is very true that certain Native Indians had their persons and specific property holdings violated by the government and/or private criminals, this is a matter which can be clearly verified by an analysis of existing records. This fact is not in dispute by this writer--or anyone else in Canada for that matter. But natives--especially the Native Youth Movement--do have a point when they assert that the provincial/federal states do not in fact justifiably own the land of North America. For what right could a group of individuals who call their actions governmental claim land on which they themselves have never laboured or from which they have never produced anything tangible. For this reason none of us, including Native Indians, should have to recognize land-ownership claims made by individuals who occupy the government chairs. There is a problem however--very similar to that noted above in respect to the alleged government ownership of all land--for those misguided natives who have the ridiculous notion, that because they were the first population on the North American continent, they somehow rightfully own all land in North America. Just because you happen to be the first person on a particular geographical area means absolutely nothing. For you to have some sort of justifiable claim of ownership on a certain piece of land as your property you must have altered, transformed, or changed it in some fashion through the implementation of your value-driven labour. Thus any land outside of your particular physical transformation is outside of your sphere of ownership and cannot be rightfully deemed your property. The further implication of this line of reasoning is that all of nature is initially un-owned until someone implements the use of their value-driven labour upon a particular piece of it. So, Native Indians who have implemented the use of their labour upon a particular piece of previously un-owned land can justifiably claim ownership to it. In fact those Natives who have began logging in the Northgate area in British Columbia should not be stopped, for they have in the fundamental libertarian sense rightfully established their ownership to that particular area of the forest on which they have utilized their labour. Again the government has no rightful claim upon this land, it belongs to those Native Indians who have laboured upon it. Therefore, provided that individuals--for example, subsequent European, Asian, and East Indian settlers on North America--have not produced material goods and resources from land or resources which had been previously produced, transformed, changed, or altered by the purposive labour of Native Indians, Mr. Manual cannot claim with any seriousness that tax-dollars emanate from resources stolen from Natives. For those of us well-schooled in both libertarian class analysis and exploitation theory however, there is a shred of truth in what Mr. Manual has claimed, for tax-dollars do derive from resources stolen from innocent victims--those of us who are coerced to give them to the government and its various franchises. By virtue of the government's power to coerce innocent citizens to give a portion of their lives in the form of taxation, Canada is becoming a society defined more by the establishment of two well-defined social classes. The first group--the political class with the power to coerce--is characterized by the fact that it derives its sustenance by initiating the use of violence against the person and property of those of us who produce wealth. The second group--the exploited class--is represented by those of us who produce wealth and have it forcibly taken by those in the political class. From this it is easy to see that all of us who produce wealth and voluntarily trade with our fellows--whether Native Indian, Irish, East Indian, Asian, etc., etc.--are the exploited innocent victims of the political class and those who support it. Sadly, the power of the Canadian political establishment has always been a horrid blight upon the culture of the Native Indian peoples, but it has also become an increasing scourge upon all others in Canada. We need to remedy this unjust imposition upon our lives. Each individual's person and property rights need to be re-acknowledged and respected; We must abolish the power to tax. In short we need to abolish the power of the state to initiate the use of force towards innocent people. James O'Reilly B.C., Canada e-mail: liberty@direct.ca --------- "RE: University Revokes Religious Freedom for Indians" --------- Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 18:49:35 -0600 From: "The People's Poet" Subj: IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SCSU REVOKES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOR INDIAN STUDENTS Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs for more information, please see http://www.stcloudstate.edu/~callar01/AIM.html January 31, 2000 TO: Michael D Hayman, Housing Director CC: Suzanne Williams, INterim President Gene Gilchrist, Vice President Administrative Affairs On May 14, 1995 Saint Cloud State University officially recognized the legitimacy of indigenous students' religious beliefs and practices in a Memorandum of Understanding between M.E.Ch.A. and St. Cloud State University. This happened after student members of M.E.Ch.A. risked their lives on a hunger strike in order to secure their rights. On July 22, 1998 the director of our illustrious Student Union recognized Indigenous students' right to use incense ceremonially in the Student Cultural Center. The happened after members of AIM-SCSU and Atwood Administration endured a harrowing month full of meetings, discussions, negotiations and all-out confrontations. Later that same year, two American Indian students told me that they were being threatened with a disciplinary response because they were smudging within their rooms in Mitchell Hall. I promptly contacted University Administration, wielding the threat of a lawsuit, and the problem was rectified by the end of the day. Out of respect for the University's quick response and its apparent willingness to grant us our right to religious freedom within our own homes, I made no attempt to bring this issue to the attention of the public at that time. It should be noted that during the time I lived in Shoemaker Hall, I had my hall director's full blessing to smudge within the building at any time without notice. Although this was understood by the staff of Shoemaker, I was frequently interrupted during my prayers by student workers who wished to recite the Residence Hall "Incense" policy to me, report my "violation", and then call the police. In order to avoid this problem, my hall director wrote a memo to the effect that I was not to be disturbed or prevented from practicing the traditions of my people. I laminated a copy and posted it on my dorm room door. This January I was informed yet again that the director of Mitchell Hall is denying an American Indian student her religious freedom. What a shame it is that I should return to Saint Cloud after nearly a year in Minneapolis to find that, not only has this institution failed to move forward on this issue, it has actually taken steps backward. The student in question, who wishes to remain anonymous for now, and I have been discussing our options. She has also informed her father, a recognized leader and respected elder of her tribe, and he is advising her as well. In the past we have rallied, considered legal action, and organized e-mail campaigns in order to retain our right to religious freedom at this university. Although we haven't decided on our final strategy for tackling the issue at this time, one thing is certain: Given the University's inability to keep its word unless it feels the pressure of public scrutiny, we intend to bring this occurrence of SCSU racism to the attention of the public. By the time you read this, half of Indian Country will have already done so. Sincerely yours, Robert John Callahan Isnana Mani --------- "RE: Blackfeet Seek Special Tribal Border-Crossing" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 23:15:56 EST From: MarthaET@aol.com Subj: Blackfeet hope for special tribal border-crossing station World News Calgary Herald Front Page Blackfeet hope for special tribal border-crossing station GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Members of the Blackfeet and Peigan Nations say they may ask for a special Indians-only border crossing to help unite their tribes, now divided by the U.S.-Canadian border. More than 40 leaders from the Blackfeet Nation in the United States and the Peigan Nation in Canada met in Great Falls Monday to discuss ways to overcome the border dividing them. In the 1700s, the Blackfeet Nation and the Peigan Nation was a confederacy of three distinct tribes commanding land from north of Edmonton, south to Yellowstone National Park in the United States, said Ken Talks About, a member of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. The tribes - known by different names in the two countries - still exist, but their dealings are hampered at the border by vehicle searches and other interference by customs officials, they said. "We are segregated by a line," said Peter Strikes With a Gun, chief of the Peigan Nation in Canada. "It has taken away our relationship." William Old Chief, chairman of the Blackfeet Council in Montana, said he hopes to unite the tribes behind creation of some kind of a restricted border crossing, available only for tribal members. The Mohawk Tribe in New York State now has such a crossing, he said. The special station would reduce delays and cultural mishaps, such as female customs inspectors handling religious items that Blackfeet tradition says may be handled only by men. Such a crossing would make it easier for tribal members to visit relatives, attend religious ceremonies and develop joint business ventures. "A lot of the tribes in Canada are really advanced in their economic development," Old Chief said. "We want to tap into that." c. The Canadian Press, 2000 --------- "RE: Hopi Letter to UN" --------- Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:43:58 EST From: Omoya@aol.com Subj: Hopi letter to UN February 8, 2000 HUMAN RIGHTS Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, New York Office Room S-2914, United Nations New York, New York 10017 INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS Mr. Julian Burger Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights UN Office in Geneva, Room D413 8-14, Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Ms. Ellen McGuffie Development and Human Rights Section, DPI Room S-104CH, United Nations New York, New York 10017 To All of the Above: Introduction In northeastern Arizona, the Hopi villages surrounded by majestic views, are the heart of Hopi culture and the center of the Hopi homeland. A homeland that once extended to Mesa Verde in Colorado, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and Canyon de Chelley now located within the Navajo Reservation which has expanded over time to encompass most of Hopiland. What is left of the Hopi homeland is also the final battleground of survival for this ancient tribe. The Hopi, peaceful by nature, have carried on their ancient way of life and culture for more than 2000 years. The Hopi villages are regarded as the oldest, continuously occupied settlements in North America. On this land, the Hopi have raised their families and built a culture centered around their ceremonial and traditional responsibilities. Despite the challenges of modern society, the Hopi remain a vibrant culture in every way. The Hopi language is still widely spoken and is at the heart of religious ceremonies that date back untold generations and are still carried on to this day. The Hopi extended family - relatives by blood and clan - provide a remarkable support system in Hopi society. Hopi artisans are world renowned for their silverwork, kachina carvings, weaving, pottery and baskets. Hopi farmers, like their ancestors, continue to raise and nourish a variety of crops through ingenius dry farming techniques in an environment that receives a meager 8-10 inches of rain annually. However, since contact with other peoples and cultures, the history of the Hopi has been riddled with continued battles over sustaining their culture and lands amidst a world marked by dramatic and rapid change. The peaceful nature of the Hopi did not shield the Hopi nor guard their interests in their homelands. What has resulted instead, has been a long history of United States government inaction to protect Hopi homelands and related interests against corporate greed and the illegal homesteading of Hopi ancestral lands by the largest tribe in the United States, the Navajo. Over the past decade, the Hopi Tribe has waged exhausting and expensive legal and legislative fights over its rights to land, water and the free exercise of religion against the Navajo Nation, Peabody Coal Company and the federal government. The latest Hopi battle is against outside agitators and other foreign organizations, who have launched a campaign based upon racism and intolerance aimed at the Hopi people under the guise of addressing their concerns regarding the Navajo Hopi land issues. It is a dangerous campaign not only against the Hopi, but against all indigenous peoples because if it is tolerated - it will allow racist policies and laws to override the basic foundation of humanity for all peoples. We must speak out. Puppet Governments Outside agitators and others, like to refer to tribal governments as "puppet" governments in an attempt to undermine a Tribal Government's authority and jurisdiction over its land, resources and people. It is a colonial attitude rooted in a much darker time when European colonist referred to Indians as "savages" and to North America as being "largely uninhabited" as justification for their land grabbing policy of "Manifest Destiny." Those who now refer to tribal governments as "puppet" governments use a variant of the same argument and are really saying that Indian nations (which number over 550 in the U.S.) are incapable of understanding sovereignty or self governance. This conclusion then gives the so-called activist their own reason to decide what is best for the poor little uninformed Indians. It is a racist attitude in the worst form. The reality is that tribal people are fully informed and capable of expressing their will through their tribal governments. The Coal Conspiracy Theory In the February 2, 2000 Arizona Republic article "Conspiracy theories still rage over land," reporter Jerry Kammer writes: "An Arizona Republic examination found no direct evidence that Peabody or any other commercial interests applied political muscle during the Navajo-Hopi fight in Congress. And in the 25 years since relocation became law, thousands of Navajos have relocated, but Peabody has not extended its mining beyond the area it leased in the 1960's." During the same week in February, in an interview on Arizona television , Senator Jon Kyl (R ) of Arizona stated that the Navajo-Hopi Land issue had nothing to do with Navajo-Hopi coal mining. Despite these disclaimers, including those of the Hopi, outside agitators and the uninformed, continue to use the "coal conspiracy" theory because it supports their negative attitudes about Indian people. Since they see tribal governments as a meaningless body, they believe and urge others to believe that decisions regarding the use of tribal natural resources are made and decided by outside non-Indian corporations because Indians are somehow not capable of managing their own natural resources. In fact, these so-called activist assume that a corporation like Peabody Coal holds more power and authority over the natural resources of an Indian reservation than the Indians do themselves. While the history of corporate America on this point is not exactly "clean," in this day and age, the old stereotype of selling Manhattan for a few trinkets is simply inappropriate in Indian country. However, in urging continued validity for the stereotype, outside agitators will again attempt to position themselves to think and decide what is best for Indian people. They reach for support by poking fun at a time in Indian history when challenges such as language barriers, education, and cultural differences were at play and led to unfortunate results during the early years of Indian contact with the outside world of anglo-European America. They would like people to think that we have been frozen "dumb" in time. It is also convenient for them to rely on such a theory since it is only a theory - a thought in the mind that requires no actual work to substantiate. They mix fiction and fact and hope that nobody will notice the difference. This is easier then examining the substantive reasons that underlie tribal decisions on the use of reservation resources. Perhaps, it has never occurred to these people that Indian people might actually desire to establish and maintain a tribal economy where individuals and families can earn a living and enjoy a quality of life of their own choosing. Perhaps it is relevant to understand that Indian people want the stability that comes from a solid economy and a working government, stability in the form of a nutritious diet, quality health care, law enforcement, water, energy, roads and other infrastructure. These things are possible only with a sound tribal economy. The Tribe and its people must be free to determine the best way of achieving economic goals, including the choice of how to use tribal natural resources. Genocide Outside agitators like to indiscriminately throw around words like "genocide," "ethnocide" and other ominous buzz words to make their cause appear extreme. Their use of such words sounds the alarm and flags the ever searching attention of the media and organizations such as the United Nations, neither of whom can resist a "good story," true or not, in the interest of selling a paper or supporting a political agenda. In fact, Cedric Kuwaninvaya a member of the Hopi village of Sipaulovi writes, "When the Special Rapporteur, Abdelfattah Amor, from the United Nations came to Arizona to meet with the Navajo resistors, he did not come to the Hopi villages to hear our side of the story. In fact, Amor snuck onto the Hopi Partitioned Land when he did not even have the courtesy to let the Hopi Tribe know that he would be visiting the Hopi Reservation. When I learned from the media that he was already on the HPL, I and several other Hopis, went to Big Mountain to convey the Hopi side of the story to Special Rapporteur Abdelfattah Amor. However, we were turned away by the Navajo resistors who hosted him." The Hopi have been accused of practicing genocide against the Navajo. Fortunately, such portrayals are inaccurate. Unfortunately, they do much to unnecessarily add fuel to the fire and they do a disservice to the true victims of genocide in the early days of this country and to the victims around the world in modern and ancient times. Genocide - the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group - is an ugly word signifying the destruction by death of a group of people at the hands of another group. While the Hopi effort to regain control of its lands has been heated at times, it has been remarkably free of death. The Hopi have not said that the Navajo must die, only that they must move off of Hopi land intended for the benefit of Hopi people. The Hopi have patiently urged the trespassing Navajo to leave to the Hopi the little land they have left and return to the much larger Navajo reservation. Contrast the 1.6 million acre Hopi Reservation with the immense 17 million acre Navajo Reservation. The truth of the matter is that it is the few Navajo who remain on Hopi land who have shown the most blatant contempt and disrespect for Hopi life and Hopi rights. When the Hopi have turned to their lands for spiritual and physical sustenance, it is the Navajo who have consistently and loudly said NO. Historically, it was the Hopi farm and field, the Hopi home and livestock that fell under the torch and knife of the Navajo. It was this fact, together with the inability of the United States to change this fact, that ultimately led to the partitioning of Hopi land and the necessity of returning the Navajo back to lands set aside for their exclusive use. The word "genocide" has no place in this process. If anything, the Hopi struggle to regain its land has reversed a long trend of disrespect for the Hopi people and their basic property and other human rights. Those who cry genocide are only crying wolf. They vainly attempt to paint the Hopi as a third world island in the mainstream of modern America where lawlessness prevails. The obvious response of the general public is to say "Oh my, how can this be happening in the United States?" Again, through use of a simplistic inaccurate caricature, Indian people are cast as "wild Indians." Any depiction of the Hopi as having less than the highest regard for human life is offensive to the Hopi who believe that everyday is a prayer for the continuation of life. Alleged Police Harassment Outside agitators, having once sounded the trumpet of genocide, must then create a police or military state to make their claim true. They want people to believe that the Hopi are uncivilized law breakers. In fact, they depict our reservation as a place where anything goes. Law enforcement becomes the villain and allegations of police harassment and abuse are thrown about indiscriminately. Again, they want people to think that we are not capable of thinking for ourselves and that the police are beyond our control and rule over us. Worse they paint us as knowing nothing about what is right or wrong. In other words, we are judged to have no morals. By telling the outside world that our police are harassing the Navajo they attempt to justify their need to be on our lands illegally. The truth is that our law enforcement officers, just like any others in the country, must be held up to the highest standards of the law. In fact, if they break the law - in our system of governance, under tribal or federal law, they must suffer the consequences just like any other citizen. The reality is that our Hopi law enforcement has a responsibility to protect public safety and property, both Hopi and non- Hopi. The police are here to keep the peace and keep the atmosphere of hysteria drummed up by the outside agitators from turning to violence. Our law enforcement and other tribal field personnel should be thanked and not ridiculed. We owe them a debt of gratitude for doing what law enforcement officers across the country do on a daily basis - putting life and limb on the line for the good of their communities. Traditionalist versus Progressive Outside agitators like to refer to Indian people as being either "traditional' or "progressive." The unspoken discriminatory conclusion is that the "traditionalist are real" Indians and the only "true" voice of the Tribe while the "progressives" are not only less Indian, but also less entitled to a voice in tribal decisions. These definitions are elusive in their meaning since they don't point to any real criteria concerning who qualifies to be a "traditionalist" or a "progressive." Once again, an attempt is made to pigeon hole and stereotype Indian people. In fact, every Native American is both traditional and progressive at the same time. On Hopi, many of our most progressive people are also the most traditional - they carry on the ways of the Hopi people and are initiated or belong to ancient religious societies. Yet, they may be highly educated and have 8-5 jobs. Most Hopi people have learned to hold onto the best things of Hopi life, such as traditional spiritual beliefs and practices, while at the same time, embracing the best things of the present world; such as education, economic development, and interaction with the larger community. In doing so, the Hopi understand that the history of Hopi is a history of change and evolving social and political institutions. Just like a great river that finds a way to bend itself around an immovable rock wall, so too have the Hopi learned to reshape and bend themselves around new challenges such as those presented by the modern world. This is the so-called "progressive" side of the Hopi. However, despite necessary changes, the Hopi have always remained anchored and focused on our ultimate destiny as a people. Our religion and culture provide that anchor and focus. This is the traditional side of the Hopi. Those who would deny us the ability to retain who we are as a people through our traditions while at the same time choosing to evolve our political and social organizations, in a very real sense deny us any legitimacy as a people at all. We are told that we must be either traditional or progressive but that we cannot be both. As human beings, the Hopi reject the choice imposed by the outsider. We instead choose to be Hopi. We live in a present world which was born in and continues to be influenced by a culturally rich past. Labeling people as being "traditional" or "progressive" gives the outside agitator an opportunity to meddle in the internal affairs of a tribe by claiming that he/she is looking out for the "traditionalist." In fact, since there is no such person, the outside agitator is simply a meddler, a busy body, and a highly manipulative person. Summary When you look deeper into each point of propaganda advanced by these outside agitators, you will find that the underlying foundation is a projection of their racist attitudes against native Americans, including both the Hopi and Navajo. Hopi people will always speak against such intolerance because it is not only wrong, but criminal. This is just one more way for non-Indians to assert domination over native people in an unwelcome attempt to make decisions for us. When legitimate newspapers, like the Arizona Republic's February 2000 Kammer Series, start to support these actions of intolerance by printing stories about it, they become a big part of the problem. Many of us have seen through the smokescreen and a few of us have spoken out against such intolerance. We must continue to do so and we hope the United Nations will give us equal opportunity to speak on these matters. Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Hopi people, Eugene Kaye Chief of Staff, Office of the Chairman The Hopi Tribe U.S State Department Arizona Congressional Delegation Hopi Villages Department of Natural Resources, The Hopi Tribe A. Scott Canty, General Counsel, The Hopi Tribe National Congress of American Indians Native American Rights Fund Omoya/Cyn --------- "RE: Trail of Dreams" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 11:41:12 -0800 (PST) From: dAVe burlingame Subj: trail of dreams forgive me if this has already been covered. i'm including just the url so i don't clog your mailbox. http://www.nowtimeprophecies.com/prod04.htm amr, dAVe The Trail OF Dreams "A Walkers Story" by Michael Ware On April 21, 2000, a group of walkers for world peace will walk from the Cumberland Gap (Penn/W Virginia) southward, winding through the Appalachian Trail to Dillard in North Georgia. The ground to be covered, primarily through the Appalachian Mountains held the dreams of your people. At the northern end of the journey, Africans who were enslaved crossed the mountains to slip silently into freedom on the "underground railroad". As they journeyed through the mountain passages they looked for lighted candles in the windows of scattered homes, and the light of the North Star. The light glowed like a star in the dark of the night, a beacon of hope and promise. Cautiously, they approached the houses and knocked. From behind the door a voice rang out, "identify yourself." And, the freedom seeker's response, "a friend of a friend," signaled a passenger on the underground railroad, a fellow human being of great courage and strength seeking liberty and a safe place, a safe house, for food and shelter. To the southern end of the mountain trail another group of your ancestors, Native Americans, used the protection of the mountains to shield them from being submitted to the deadly and inhumane "Trail of Tears". On the Trail of Tears thousands of Native men, women and children died of disease, exposure to freezing temperatures, and starvation as they were marched to reservations in Oklahoma. Many escaped and took refuge in the security of the Appalachian Mountains, often forming tribes of mixed nations. The purpose of the walk, The Trail of Dreams, is to provide a ray of hope and promise for the new millennia. The children are forgetting to dream. When the dreams cease then a people perish. The Trail of Dreams will return the dreams to the children and center them in a new sense connectedness to the Earth Mother, history, and the culture of a people who dreamed a better world and risked everything to manifest a better world for themselves and others . The walk will provide an opportunity for elders and youth to touch the earth together, to walk in the footprints of our ancestors, to provide a vehicle for peace, unity and reconciliation among the peoples of this world, and to bring hope. It will provide an opportunity for people (communities, inner city youth, special interest groups. .. everyday folk) to join hands for a new day of manifest promises as we enter a new age. This Trail of Dreams symbolically held the dreams of thousands of Americans seeking the right to freedom and self determination. By getting in touch with our history and honoring our past we will come closer to the inner joy of self discovery. The Trail of Dreams represents a journey into unconditional love of ourselves and the world. Strategy: Monday through Thursday the through hikers, lead by Audri Scott Williams, Keeper of the Vision, will walk "hard" along the designated trail. On Fridays they will come into a community and speak at schools, community based organizations and spiritual centers. Members of the group will also be available for radio and TV interviews. The purpose of the community effort is to enable communities to participate in this world peace initiative. On Saturdays and Sundays people from all over the world are invited to walk with the through hikers along the trail and to camp out with the team. Children and elders are especially invited to participate in the weekend events. Youth groups are being contacted across the country to join us. African American and Native American elders will lead and share in the ceremonies to bless Mother Earth and honor the ancestors upon whose steps we walk. The stories of "ordinary people engaged in extraordinary expressions of what it means to be human," are an essential element of this walk. Photographs and printed stories of our people who open doorways to unlimited human potential are to be exhibited on panels of doors hinged together and displayed along the trail during community weekend activities. These individuals will be from all genders, races, generations and ethnic backgrounds. At the conclusion of the Trail of Dreams, a celebration will take place in the North Georgia mountains. Following the Trail of Dreams the exhibit, "Doorways to Unlimited Human Potential" will tour the country to be a source of motivation and inspiration for thousands of people who were not able to join the Trail of Dreams. The Flame of the Candle: Along the trail through hikers will recognize safe houses, houses, churches, community centers where they can rest, eat and go in case of emergencies, by the lighted candle in the window. This concept is borrowed from Africans escaping the system of slavery by way of the underground railroad. A local coordinating team will mobilize communities to light the candles as a welcoming when the hikers arrive in communities. The flames will be lit from the World Peace Flame, a combined eternal flame lit from flames on all five continents by indigenous people permanently residing in Whales with the Life Foundation. Building A Global Community The Trail of Dreams is about building community; about igniting a flame of hope and empowerment for a world of peace in the hearts of everyday people. It is about changing the world one step at a time. Organizational Protocol Audri Scott Williams is the "Keeper of The Vision" for the Trail of Dreams An "Elder Council" headed by Mountain Eagle Woman is the presiding body that oversees the Trail of Dreams. Elders represent the peoples of the four directions. A "Youth Council" headed by Michael Ware is the logistic team for the walk. They have already designed the logo for the Trail of Dreams. In addition they will provide outreach to youth throughout the world. A national coordinating team is organized to make it all come together and is answerable to the vision and to the presiding councils. Local organizing committees are being formed along the designated trail. Outcomes 1. A primary outcome of the walk is the development of a curriculum on the role of the red and black people, blended in their quest for freedom from oppression. It is a curriculum based on the documented and oral traditions of elders. It is a curriculum that speaks to the dreams that were held safely within the Appalachian Mountain Trails, a Trail of Dreams, and beyond. This curriculum will examine history of the Native and African people, the role of the environment and geography, and science and math. 2. The Doorways To Unlimited Human Potential will go on tour to serve as a source of inspiration for the world. To Contact Us Join our walk for a chance to change the world one step at a time. For more information please contact me, Audri Scott Williams, at aewnowtime@aol.com or 202-722-0165 770-498-0613 Trail of Dreams You want to be a part of the Trail of Dreams? Here is how Volunteers are needed to assist in the following areas: Local Community Organizing efforts to bring awareness and facilitate local support for the Trail of Dreams especially in the targeted cities of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Harper's Ferry, West Virginia; Asheville, North Carolina; Cherokee, North Carolina; and Dillard, Georgia. We also want to organize local communities to bus children to various parts of the trail to have the actual experience of touching the earth and participating in ceremony, storytelling and celebration with the elders. Organizing of special interest groups to participate in the walk: African American and Native American groups, labor unions, churches and spiritual centers, colleges and universities, fraternities and sororities, youth groups, athletic associations, medical associations, historical societies, gay and lesbian organizations, civil liberties groups, , etc. Publicity and public awareness campaigns. We need media coverage to get the word of the walk out to as many groups as possible. Solicitation of grants and sponsors to assist in covering the costs and or products and services needed for the walk; doorways to Dreams; and curriculum development efforts. Logistics coordinators to map the walk and assist in coordinating the activities and routing of people and equipment. Promoter to assist in the sacred concerts and artists exhibits throughout the walk. Walkers. Those interested in walking part or all of the trail, need access to suggested equipment lists, information on preparatory walks leading up to the big event, safety courses and bonding opportunities for the walkers. Clerical and administrative support. Medical support teams to support the walkers and those joining us at the targeted cities Mobile unit to support the walkers with equipment, safety and food supplies Advance team to prepare targeted communities for the arrival of the walkers and weekend activities Sign up to assist us with one of the following committees: Media and Public Relations Fundraising /Corporate Sponsors Medical and Safety Outreach: Colleges & Universities Outreach: Youth Organizations Outreach: Churches & Religious Organizations Outreach: Sororities & Fraternities Outreach: Labor Unions Outreach: All Other Outreach: Museum Groups Transportation Logistics The Projected Trail Week 1: April 21 thru April 28, 2000 **Harrisburg, PA to *Harpers Ferry, WV (Approx. 95 miles) Week 2 & 3: April 30 thru May 10 Harper Ferry, WV to Staunton, VA (Approx.125 miles) Week 4: May 12 thru May 18 Staunton, VA to *Roanoke, VA (Approx. 90 miles) Week 5: May 21 thru May 28 Roanoke, VA to Fries, VA (Approx. 95 miles) Week 6: May 31 thru June 9 Fries, VA to *Johnson City, TN (Approx. 125 miles) Week 7: June 11 thru June 17 Johnson City, TN to *Asheville, NC (Approx. 63 miles) Week 8: June 18 thru June 23 Ashville, NC to **Dillard, GA (Approx. 84 miles) Total Approximate Miles: 677 * Cities where celebrations will occur ** Cities where the Trail of Dreams begins & ends To Contact Us For more information please contact, Audri Scott Williams, at aewnowtime@aol.com or 202-722-0855 or visit us at our web site: www.nowtimeprophecies.com Copyright c. 1999 NOWTIME Publications, Inc. Last modified: January 16, 2000 --------- "RE: Pressure Mounts for RCMP Inquiry" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 09:07:06 -0600 From: JRP Subj: Pressure mounts for RCMP inquiry (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 18:28:44 -0800 From: Chris sovernet-l@lists.speakeasy.org Newsgroup: alt.native Sask. justice minister waits for RCMP investigation CBC WebPosted Mon Feb 21 20:19:07 2000 SASKATOON - The pressure is on Saskatchewan's minister of justice to launch a public inquiry into how Saskatoon police deal with native people. Calls for an inquiry come from aboriginal groups. Recently, the frozen bodies of two aboriginal men were found in Saskatoon five days apart. The RCMP are looking into those deaths. But two other deaths have been added to the investigation: one over the weekend, another that happened in January. But Chris Axworthy, the province's minister of justice, said on Monday that until the criminal investigation and any potential trials are over, there won't be any public inquiry. "The allegations are allegations and the RCMP will decide if a charge should be laid. It's important to proceed on a step-by-step basis," Axworthy said. Axworthy said any decisions on charges will be left up to the RCMP. He said aboriginal leaders shouldn't be concerned that the RCMP has taken over the police investigation. "There's no grounds for questioning the credibility or the effectiveness of the RCMP," Axworthy said. The man who died on Saturday was arrested on Friday night for drunkenness. Saskatoon Police Sgt. Glenn Thomson said after the man sobered up in a cell, he was sent home by cab. His body was found in the bedroom of his apartment the next morning. An autopsy will be conducted this week. The RCMP is also looking into the case of another aboriginal man found frozen to death a few blocks from his home on Jan. 19. There are reports he may also have been in police custody the same day he was found dead. RCMP won't confirm that. The Mounties were called in last week to investigate the deaths of two aboriginal men whose bodies were found outside the city on Jan. 29 and Feb. 3. Since then, another aboriginal man, Darrell Night, has said that two police officers drove him to the same area, took away his coat-- even though the temperature was well below zero-- and told him to get out of town. Saskatoon's Police Chief, Dave Scott, said he had no reason to link the deaths with the complaint by Night. The two officers involved in Night's complaint came forward last Monday of "their own free will," and were suspended for 30 days. Last week, Lawrence Joseph of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations said reports of police harassing aboriginals and dropping them off on the outskirts of Saskatoon are nothing new. He said Night's experience was not an isolated incident and the problem is widespread. "This is nothing short of blatant abuse of authority, abuse of power, and anybody who takes their dog out like that would be charged," said Joseph. --------- "RE: Supreme Court Lets Child Custody Ruling Stand" --------- From: MarthaET@aol.com Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 23:15:51 EST Subj: Supreme Court lets Native child custody ruling stand Mailing List: TRIBALLAW (triballaw@thecity.sfsu.edu) Supreme Court lets Native child custody ruling stand By DAVID WHITNEY Scripps-McClatchy Western Service February 22, 2000 WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Tuesday that it will not review a state court ruling giving Alaska Native tribes equal standing with the state to decide child custody disputes between tribal members. The high court's ruling, without comment, leaves intact a 3-2 Alaska Supreme Court decision from September that the 226 villages recognized as tribes by the U.S. Department of Interior have self-government powers, including the power to decide child custody disputes through tribal courts. The opinion by Justice Dana Fabe vacated a ruling by a Fairbanks Superior Court judge that granted sole custody of two children to their father, John Baker, despite an earlier Northway tribal court's decision giving Baker and the children's mother, Anita John, joint custody. Writing for the majority, Fabe said that all tribal powers were not extinguished by last year's pivotal Venetie decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Venetie case dealt with whether Natives had self-government powers over lands conveyed to them under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and the high court said they don't. The power to decide internal domestic matters is derived from other state and federal law, the state Supreme Court said. That interpretation had been supported by Native advocacy groups, including the Native American Rights Fund and the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, and the state and federal governments. But Alaska Chief Justice Warren Matthews wrote a strongly worded dissent contending that the majority opinion means that Alaska law no longer applies equally. "Today's opinion changes Alaska society," Matthews wrote in the 97-page dissent. "The doors of Alaska's courts will no longer be open to all Alaskans." A petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling was filed by lawyers for Baker, who contended that tribes don't exist in Alaska because the Interior Department did not follow the law when it published the 1993 list of villages it was recognizing as tribes. Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to take the case. In its brief, the Knowles administration said the case could disrupt the governor's effort to work cooperatively with Natives in the aftermath of last year's Venetie case. Fabe's opinion "significantly advances the prospects for more cooperative, effective, non-duplicative working relations between state and tribal courts in Alaska," the governor's brief said. Anchorage attorney Don Mitchell, who wrote the petition for Baker, said Tuesday's announcement by the high court was "unfortunate." But Mitchell said he was not surprised by the high court's decision not to review the case, particularly when the governor was urging the justices to reject it. "It is important to understand that in denying the petition the court is expressing no view on it," Mitchell said. (David Whitney writes for McClatchy Newspapers Washington Bureau.) --------- "RE: Saskatchewan Natives Demand Public Inquiry" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 08:10:38 -0600 From: berryj@okstate.edu Subj: (FWD)Indian News 02-28-2000 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov Saskatchewan natives demand public inquiry c. CBC Feb 27 2000 PRINCE ALBERT - More native people in Saskatchewan are coming forward with stories of police brutality. Several police forces have been rocked by allegations of racism since an investigation was launched into the freezing deaths of two native men in Saskatoon. Vigils were held in two cities Saturday night, renewing calls for a public inquiry into how the justice system treats native people. About 400 people attended a vigil in Saskatoon. They want a probe into all aspects of the criminal justice system. Native leaders say it's the only way to clear the air. Perry Bellegarde is chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. He led the call for a wider-ranging inquiry. "We have to have that because no police force can operate with that veil or that cloud over it. Nobody can operate like that. And everybody has to feel secure that something will be done," he said. As Bellegarde spoke, a similar event was taking 150 kilometres north in Prince Albert. Several native people came forward with stories of police brutality. Ira Ahenakew says he's been beaten up by the police. "There are only certain policemen that are doing wrong, but there is a lot of good ones. But a person nowadays doesn't feel safe getting into a police car by himself, or with a witness, or just walking around." Many speakers said they haven't told their stories before, because they didn't think police would investigate. And they thought others wouldn't believe them. But now that people are listening, they say they'll keep talking until they get some results. --------- "RE: Reminder: Anna Mae is Found...Dead" --------- Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 15:00:27 -0800 From: "antoinette" Subj: annie mae is found...dead Newsgroup: alt.native "On february 24, 1976 the temperature climbed from freezing to above, bringing an early thaw to the bleak northeastern corner of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Cattle rancher Roger AMiott went to work lining up a new fence, moving slowly, wary of the mud left by the receding snow. He was working his way along a dry creek bed about mid afternoon when he saw the body. She was still dressed in a wine colored sky jacket, jeans and blued clothed shoes, but she had been there at least several days and had begun to rot. Her face was blackened and some features had been nibbled away by prairie animals. the dead woman was 30 year old Anna Mae (Pictou) Aquash, an important organizer in the American Indian Movement..." from Rolling Stone Mag. April 7, 1977 A rancher found a decomposing body near riverbed in Wanblee. He reported to the BIA police the find. A half hour later several FBI and tribal police arrive to shuffle the body of this young, dark haired Indian woman to the Pine Ridge Public Health Hospital. It was there that a BIA pathologist performed an autopsy concluding that the woman had died from exposure. The blood seeping from the back of her head was ignored. Her hands were severed and sent to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. a day AFTER she was buried. Fingerprinting was perhaps too difficult a task?? the body was buried in an unmarked grave with a death warrant reading "Jane Doe." Though there were many people present who could have identified Annie Mae, no one came forward, no one spoke. Not even the nurse who saw the blood and injury to annie mae's head. No one said a thing. One week after "Jane Doe" was buried, Annie Mae's sister Mary requested through WKLDOC lawyers the body to be exhumed. Annie Mae had been missing and people were suspecting the worse. The body was immediately identified by her friends as that of Annie Mae. On March 10, 1976 an independent autopsy was accomplished by Gary Peterson. His report read: "...on the posterior neck...is a 4mm. perforation ot the skin...surrounding this is an area of reddish discoloration. removed from the brain is a metallic pellet...consistent with lead." ANNIE MAE HAD BEEN MURDERED at close range with a .32 caliber handgun, shot execution style in the back of the head.... In a heated encounter with one of the murderers Robert Pictou Branscombe is told "yea. She wanted to pray. for her daughters. But we blew her away before she could" and i want to know who took her down will look into their faces hold them by their throats i will do the talking she cannot breath no reprieve forget? no one will forget...." from WHO WOULD UNBRAID HER HAIR:the legend of annie mae. by antoinette claypoole see: www.dickshovel.com/clay5.html for more info about annie mae, archives and links to honoring pages. --------- "RE: Peltier Awareness Tour" --------- Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 18:24:17 -0600 From: "LPDC" Subj: Peltier Awareness Tour Mailing List: LPDC (Please Forward Widely) LEONARD PELTIER AWARENESS TOUR HELP SPREAD THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PELTIER CASE AND THE PINE RIDGE "REIGN OF TERROR" Global Exchange, a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to raising awareness and people to people ties around the world, is sponsoring an awareness campaign to help build support and knowledge around the Leonard Peltier case during this critical time in the fight for his release. Jean Day, a spokesperson for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee and long life advocate for Native rights, is currently available to visit your community, school, church, or union to speak about the Peltier case and the realities on Pine Ridge during the era from which Leonard's case stems. She will speak about the repressive conditions the Native people of the Pine Ridge Reservation endured during the "Reign of Terror" and of the wrongful incarceration of Leonard Peltier. She will also discuss the facts surrounding the case, long withheld from the public, which support Leonard's innocence. Jean Day has a personal connection to the case of Leonard Peltier. She was an active member of the American Indian Movement during the "Reign of Terror" and saw many of her friends and family killed, disappeared, threatened and harassed during what some consider to be the largest headhunt of political leaders and most serious case of repression against Native Americans in modern decades. Though silenced in the past due to fear of the FBI following through with its threats to her and her family, Jean is now prepared to speak out and share the truth about the mistreatment she and many others have had to live with for so long. She is an advocate for the immediate release of Leonard Peltier and can provide a current analysis of the case. As a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Jean now works as a Guardian at Litum for Native American children. She also has experience working in legislative planning and with youth in correctional facilities as a counselor. She is a certified Lay Advocate and has jurisdiction in Tribal Courts. Jean holds a BS in Sociology and an MS in Human Development and Community Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. PROGRAM: We envision a typical program to be a talk by Jean followed by a question and answer session. Some groups may wish to host a reception before or after the event. Other engagements such as local radio shows, media interviews, fundraising events for the LPDC, and small group discussions are also a welcome addition prior to a larger program. If desired, we can also provide short video clips to help with case background. It may also help to show a video on the case to generate interest and support some time before the speaking engagement. Contact the LPDC to find out how to get "Incident at Oglala" by Robert Redford if interested. WE ARE ASKING HOSTS TO: *Provide suitable venue arrangements (location and equipment for the event). *Provide hospitality for our speaker, including food, lodging (home stay is fine) *Provide transportation to and from the airport and other events. *Publicize events to your local media and within your community. Global Exchange can assist with this. WE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR: *Travel arrangements and expenses *Providing literature and related materials on the case *Partial responsibility for publicity To book an event please call Global Exchange; contact Shannon Wolfe in the Speakers Bureau via phone at extension 352 or email: shannon@globalexchange.org FUNDING: We are requesting a $1000 honorarium for college campus speaking engagements. (If such funds are not available, this amount can be negotiated depending on travel cost). We understand that some groups can provide more support than others can. It is our experience that seeking co-sponsorship amongst other departments and organizations helps to share cost and host responsibilities as well as generates a larger audience for the event. Call the White House Comments Line Today Demand Justice for Leonard Peltier! 202-456-1111 Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 www.freepeltier.org To subscribe, send a blank message to < lpdc-on@mail-list.com > --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2000 20:55:07 -0500 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: Prisoners' Pen Pal List Tell a Native American Prisoner someone cares! The following is a portion of the list of Native American Prisoners incarcerated in prisons throughout the United States. The full list is found at the Native Prisoners Pen Pal list the following web site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9118/penpal.html. The list is compiled from contributions by Wotanging Ikche readers, other friends and from Laura Brooks' research on Native American Spiritual Freedom in Prison. If you know of a Native prisoner who would like to be included here, please e-mail Janet Smith at jansatlcom.net@mindspring.com. My thanks to Laura Brooks for giving this list a home on the web. -- - - - Last week I passed along a plea for help from inmates at Washington State Reformatory. At the time, I had not definitely confirmed that matters were quite as stated in the note, and I'm not nearby and couldn't do so personally. So I wrote to a couple of friends local to the area. Two confirmed that things are "bad," but didn't know details. They're checking further. But one note struck me because it's a note from somebody no longer inside. Below, I've attached that note to remind us of just what kind of place Washington State Reformatory has been. Because I don't want to be responsible for reprisals, I've removed the name of the writer and blurred a couple of identifying details. What can be done? The state courts already condemned the prison's activities 23 years ago and demanded redress. Didn't do a lot of lasting good, did it? So another court case, unless it's a criminal one that puts those administrators behind bars themselves as an example, would seem fruitless. I don't believe these prison administrators are going to respond to letters. Perhaps letters to the editor of Washington state newspapers would help. Letters to the governor might create political pressure. Tribal peoples near the prisons could attempt to volunteer to work with the prisoners. The closer we can get to having some tribal group directly involved inside that prison, the more likely the prisoners are to be treated at least humanely. Janet Smith Yufala Star Clan of the Muskogee Creek Owlstar Trading Post -- www.owlstar.com ----- Original Message ----- From: To: jansatlcom.net@mindspring.com Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 5:14 AM Subject: Re: Washington State Reformatory Janet, In regards to the below post I thought you may want to know some history about WA State attitude regarding Native American spiritually, religious beliefs and their rights. In 1977 Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) Native Americans won a law suit to allow them to possess sacred items and to practice their religious beliefs. At their own expense (unlike Christian inmates) WSP inmates paid a Montana Medicine Mans expenses so that he could come and instruct them. The guards made it difficult, resisting every step. They ridiculed these naked savages practicing their heathen religion. In that same year Sgt. Cross, a WSP, guard kicked that Inipi down and urinated on the Grandfathers. One year later this same Sgt. Cross attacked two native americans (the Simmons brothers) grabbing them from behind. The brothers not knowing who the attacker was,reacted in self defense, resulting in Sgt. Cross's death, stabbed four times in the heart. What followed was an 18 month lock down the longest in the history of WSP. All prisoners where locked down as cell by cell they were stripped of all personal possessions family photos etc and beaten with the cry remember Sgt. Cross. 28 Native Americans & 11 supporters involved in the law suit to establish Native Americans right to pray were singled out and placed in segregation. The Simmons brothers and eight others were placed in sensory depravation cell (which Judge Tanner of the 4th district federal court later likened to the tiger cages of Vietnam). The lock down in segregation lasted two and a half years. During that time there were no hot meals, no clean bedding no clean clothing, no showers, no soap, no reading material no running water, no mail no nothing. The tier outside the cells an open sewer. The Natives in segregation received regular severe beatings while chained and handcuffed to the bars with lead filled nightsticks and sap gloves, one inmate Karl Harp (a non native) had a nightstick shoved up his anus with such ferocity that it left 2 inch splinters 2 feet up in his anus. A federal jury in Tacoma ruled that did not constitute brutality, he was found hung in his cell following his lawsuit. George Simmons was beaten daily for over two years. The only time he ever saw light or heard a sound in his sensory depravation cell was when 15 guards in full body armor came into his cell to beat him. At one point the inmates were so enraged by the beatings and lack of medical attention, (several of the brothers including George were suffering from severe internal bleeding) that they destroyed their cells ripping steel toilets and bunks off of the wall. 15 of them, self mutilated badly enough to require being taken off of prison grounds to the local hospital so that they could bring attention to the conditions in segregation. After over two and a half years the native brothers in segregation won their lawsuit Judge Tanner ordered the end of the lock down and ordered that holes be cut in the outer solid steel doors of the sensory depravation cells to allow light and sound to enter them . He also ordered that segregation inmates receive hot meals showers and basic human necessities, including a minimum of one hour out of the 6 x 9 cells. After over two years of beatings George did not look human swollen misshapen bones purple and green. Within two weeks naked without a thing in his cell George Simmons was murdered in his locked cell at approx. 4 AM. Eventually the Simmons brothers was found innocent of all charges related to Sgt. Cross's death. George's brother is now free in CA. These things are not the exaggerations of a convict. They are a matter of record in the Federal court. The Seattle Times reported as much of this as they were allowed to. There are photos and records. This is part of what I know of the history of Washington State's prisons systems relationship with native people I know these things to be true. I have the scars of a silver dollar sized hole in my skull, the scars of having my nose ripped away from my face I have the broken bones, I have the dents of night sticks in my skull. I was in a cell close enough to George's that I saw who entered my brothers cell that morning and who left after he was dead. -- - - - New! Native American Prisoners' Penpal Network: http://members.tripod.com/~foltz.k/pages/atlantahome.html Right now, it contains applications submitted by native inmates of the USP Atlanta federal prison with the high hopes of obtaining pen pals and communication with the outside world. Most, if not all, these men, are incarcerated very far from home, isolated, and away from their families and contact. Remember, when contacting an inmate, if you want to send something to them, make sure ahead of time what can and cannot be sent. Items such as money, stamps, tobacco, sage, etc. cannot. Some items have to be designated for group use rather than individual, so please be sure to check ahead of time. Keep them in your prayers and let them know they are NOT forgotten. Janet Smith Yufala Star Clan of the Muskogee Creek Owlstar Trading Post -- www.owlstar.com --------------------------------- Please especially remember - this is the "Year of Leonard". Leonard Peltier #89637-132, Box 1000, Leavenworth, KS 66052 --------------------------------- Write Eddie Hatcher directly at North Carolina Central Prison: Eddie Hatcher, 1300 Western Blvd., Raleigh --------- "RE: A Hundred Years Ago" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 00:40:44 -0500 From: Barbara Landis Subj: History: A Hundred Years Ago - Carlisle - Feb. 16, 1900. Mailing List: NAT-FILM [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ~%^%~ A WEEKLY LETTER -FROM THE- Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa. ============================================== VOL. XV. FRIDAY, February 9, 1900 NUMBER 16 ================================================ ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ------------ Oh, slow to smite and swift to spare, Gentle, and merciful, and just! Who, in the fear of God, didst bear The sword of power, a nation's trust! Pure was thy life; its bloody close Hath placed thee with the sons of light, Among the noble host of those Who perished in the cause of right. -W.C. BRYANT. ================================================ THE WAY NOT TO GET A POSITION. ------- One of the strongest and most helpful lectures we have had for a long time was given before our student body last December by a merchant of that great metropolis of our country - New York City. Mr. C.E. Wilde, with forty years' experience as business man, said this about a boy who went to A.T. Stewart's great store to get employment: It was a dudish son of a Congressman who applied for a position. He came with a letter from a prominent New York house. Mr. Stewart handed him over to Mr. Wilde, who stood next in authority to Mr. Stewart himself, in the great store. "When do you wish to begin?" asked Mr. Wilde. "Ah!" said the young man with hair parted in the middle, and wearing a dress suit, patent leathers and carrying a high silk hat and a cane. "What are the hours?" He was told the hours. "Well, where do I begin?" "In the sub-basement," replied Mr. Wilde. The dude winced and said: "Begin in the sub-basement? Why, my father has given me a $6,000 education." Mr. Wilde told the story to illustrate how young men who go out from school usually wish to begin at the top, but when they do they soon go down to the bottom and stay there. And then his advice to the young man who has no money at the end of his school period was: It is no disgrace in America to be poor. Depend on your own right arm - NOT on some one BACKING you. Swim without a CORK under you. The young men and young women of our graduating class soon to go out in the world may profit by his advice. Mr. Wilde further said: A flood wave of dishonesty is sweeping over our land. Dishonesty in high places is raging. Men of exalted positions are becoming victims and being ruined. There is a lot of COURAGE abroad - natural courage, but MORAL courage is a much rarer quality. Young men are wanted who will FIGHT AGAINST THE SALOON; DARE TO DO RIGHT; PROTECT THE AMERICAN SABBATH. College graduates are well enough he insinuated, but PATRIOTIC, LIBERTY LOVING YOUNG MEN are wanted. Mr. Wilde was asked by a Methodist Bishop once upon a time from what college did he graduate, and responded that the nearest he ever come to a college was once while on a train going at a speed of forty miles an hour he put his head out to secure a good view of the placed of learning. Nevertheless, he would have entered college later in life had his business released him long enough to have taken the course. It will be remembered that when Mr. Wilde applied to A.T. Stewart for a position in his store, he was a little boy from the country, and he was told, only five out of every hundred boys who applied succeeded, and with the courage of a lion he said: "THEN I WILL BE ONE OF THE FIVE." ================================================ (page 2) THE INDIAN HELPER ------------------------------------------------ PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY --AT THE-- Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa., BY INDIAN BOYS. ---> THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The Man-on-the-band-stand who is NOT an Indian. ------------------------------------------------ Price: -- 10 Cents per Year ================================================ Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ================================================ Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Supt. of Printing. ================================================ Do not hesitate to take the HELPER from the Post Office for if you have not paid for it some one else has. It is paid for in advance. ================================================ Stiya, one of our Pueblo girls who went home some time ago, and was greatly beloved by all who knew her, has died. We have not the particulars. Felipa Amago joined her sister, Mistica, at our school last Sunday. Felipa came direct from Los Angeles where she attended school a short time. She gave up her position as assistant matron at Perris school in order to advance in her studies, and hopes to stay at Carlisle until she graduates. She was also a member of the mandolin club at Perris. We expect good things of her. The leading feature of the Standard program last Friday night, was a debate on the question: "Resolved, That an income tax should be created by Congress." and after a very lively discussion the judges rendered their decision in favor of the advocates of the income tax. The proceedings of the evening show that the members take a great deal of interest in society work and they deserve credit. Many pupils are still weak in their language work. None such will be allowed to take class standing until their defects are mastered. Hard work is the only thing that will give such a satisfactory standing. The pupil who does not read, and does not try to formulate and express his thoughts in class and in the literary society and wherever opportunity offers, stands in the realm of thought a "one legged man," unsymmetrical, and object of sympathy and pain to those who behold him. Mrs. Bertha Canfield entered upon her duties as superintendent of the sewing department on Saturday last. Mrs. Canfield comes to us with the highest endorsements, and is welcomed as an agreeable addition to our force. She has designed a uniform for the girls' summer wear and submits the proposition that the style of uniform vary for the different companies. The employees at Phoenix tendered her a farewell reception at which they gave her a gold watch-chain in token of their regret at losing her. The Invincibles have begun to decorate their room. They have a number of portraits of prominent men framed in groups of five, hanging at intervals upon the wall. This is a move in the right direction. Thus far the Susans have done most to beautify their room. The Invincible Society, although their officers were in the hospital, succeeded in getting through their programme in good form. A little slow in beginning, due to the uncertainty of the legality of "Robert's" right to the chair. Debaters should study questions they attempt to debate more fully, for arguments bearing upon the question, rather than for something to say. We are grieved to learn of the recent death of George Hazlett, at Phoenix, Arizona. George graduated last year, and was well liked. He went from carlisle to Hoopa Valley, where he had several hemorrhages from the lungs. From there he went to Phoenix, Arizona, hoping to be benefited by the change. George was said to have been a cigarette smoker, which habit no doubt shortened his life many years. He said to our football boys when they were out there that he quit the habit for a short time; the appetite was beyond control and he had to take it up again. George had a bright mind and was a good-hearted earnest young man, full of lofty aspirations and good intent. ----------------- Thomas Buchanan, Company A Fifth Infantry, Yellow Fever Immune Detachment, Santiago Barracks, has written a very interesting letter to James Wheelock in which he says in part: "I am in the best of health. I like the army all right but I do not want to stay in Cuba. All of us are sick of Cuba. The Cubans in this province are the most illiterate and ignorant people in the world, I guess. Last July we had the Yellow Fever. My usual luck followed me and I got it. They sent all yellow fever cases to a small island in Santiago Bay, and I tell you I thought it was up sticks with me. How would you like to be lying in an old wooden building, that was used by the Spaniards for a pest house for nearly a hundred years, and having your comrades dying all around you? It was an awful experience. You would not believe how panic stricken Santiago was in July and August. You would be in the best of health today and the next day you would be a goner. That is how quick yellow fever takes a man off. Well, now I am an immune. The doctors say we will never get yellow fever again. I have visited the battlefields of ElCaney and San Juan Hill. I can't see how the Americans ever captured the Spaniards. You can see the trenches and everything there just the same as when the Americans and Spaniards were fighting. I also saw the surrender tree, where General Toral and General Shafter agreed on terms of capitulation. I wish I had some of that Carlisle breeze down here. It is 104 in the shade today. We do not have to wear much clothing, but could go in a nude condition and then you would roast. We have made up a baseball team and we are going to play the Cubans. ================================================ (p 3) Weather Spring like. Gorgeous moonlight nights. Mr. James Flannery is here on a visit. The sun beams have drank up the skating. Baby Paul Wheelock has been ill but is better. One of the boys in the country wants his large "drunk" sent to him. The members of the graduating class were photographed on Valentine's Day. The February Red Man was mailed yesterday. Lizzie Wolfe came in from her country home at Mt. Holly last Tuesday. Miss Rosa Bourassa is expected in a few days from Phoenix, Arizona, on a little visit. The drawing classes produced some original valentines unique in design and finish this week. We received more subscriptions in the last month for the Red Man than in any one month since the paper began. Mrs. Cook took a business trip to Bloomsburg, and saw Simon Palmer, who is attending the Bloomsburg Normal. Chapel talks this week were by Prof. Bakeless on the time of Charles X and Louis Philippe, bringing the history of the French up to 1848. The art room is slowly getting into shape for use. A case is being made for models. Screens and tables for models are in place now. Miss Harn, of the sewing department, is proud of the progress of little Maggie Hill. She shows specimens of hemming very neatly done by Maggie. Tonight: Mr. Bennett and Professor Bakeless, Standards; Miss Bowersox and Miss Kowuni the Invincibles; Mrs. Given and Annie Morton, the Susans. Those pupils who can express themselves correctly and well in good English will be the only ones who will be given full grade standing at the time of promotion. No. 12 had an earnest debate on Resolved: Prest. McKinley ought to serve another term. It was earnest and enthusiastic and well prepared. Many had something to say. Essay in the Susans' Society was pronounced too "bookish." The aim should be to think one's thoughts and then express them, not give other peoples' thoughts without credit. Mrs. Dorsett gave her usual weekly entertainment to a limited number of girls on Saturday afternoon. A pleasant hour of chat and games ended satisfactorily with ice cream and cake. Visiting committees can ascertain by asking the presiding officers of the various Literary societies whether the programmes are submitted to the advisory member or not before being posted. The King's Daughters' Circles were treated by their leaders to a taffy pull last Friday night. The spacious and airy laundry with its fine granolithic floor and incandescent lights was the rendezvous, and everybody had a good time. Mrs. Dorsett is away on a ten days' leave. She will visit her old home and friends in Chicago. The rainy weather of the past week was but the tail end of a big blizzard that went around, so we have reason to be thankful, after all. The school singing Sunday night was marked by a spirit that would be gratifying if the students always sang as they did then. Miss Devine, of Newtown, was a caller on Friday last. Among her Indian friends are Thaddeus Redwater, George Ferris and Johnson Owl, Sunday School pupils. Mrs. Pratt had a birthday anniversary on Lincoln Day, and a number called to pay respects and pass greetings. She was also the recipient of several presents. Hugh Leider, in soldier's dress and high glee ran in upon us from New York Harbor, yesterday. He expects to sail for the Philippines the first of March. Mary Stevick left yesterday with her grandma, Mrs. Pratt, for Denver. She thinks she has had a good visit at Carlisle, but there is no place quite like home and Denver. Miss Evelyn Curriden, of Chambersburg was a guest of Miss Senseney, for a few days. Miss Curriden has been here before, and has friends who always give her a welcome. The whole school is learning "Comrades All," Elaine Goodale Eastman's Carlisle school song, which promises to be an interesting feature of the Commencement program. It is not too soon to order the Commencement Red Man. Five cents a single copy. Six copies for 25 cents. Better subscribe! HELPER and Red man to one address, 55 cents. Renewals same rates. Eight-year old Richard Henry Pratt, Jr., of Steelton, is trying to learn to skate, and he says he could anyhow if the ice were not so slippery. He writes a fine letter, well expressed and with well formed letters. One of the apprentices in changing the date and number last week of the HELPER, changed also the Volume, placing it at year ahead. It is now rectified. This if Volume XV. Any one having 1516 on his wrapper, it is time for that person to renew. On Tuesday afternoon, Mrs. Dorsett went to Bendersville to visit Amelia Kennedy. She went to the public school which Amelia attends, and on invitation gave a brief talk about Carlisle. A novel feature observed at the dismissal of Amelia's classmates was a quotation by each pupil when leaving the room. Rev. H.G. Ganss, of St. Patrick's Church, Carlisle, wrote a Jubilee March for the 25th anniversary of the Episcopal Consecration of Archbishop Ryan, celebrated in April '97. Mr. Dennison Wheelock has arranged this march for his Band and has played it before Father Ganss, who was well pleased with the arrangement. Miss Kate Grinrod, '89, has returned to her professional duties in Philadelphia, from the Indian Territory where she has been spending a vacation at home. Miss Grinrod has held to her nursing with great tenacity, and is well liked by all who have employed her skill. She declined a good position at the Albuquerque Government School, because her Philadelphia work pays better. ================================================ (page 4) ARE YOU ALWAYS SOBER AND SERIOUS AT CARLISLE? ------- By no means. And the visitor, who, upon seeing some of our boys and girls amusing themselves at the same kind of sports as young people do everywhere, exclaimed: "Wy, they laugh!" would have had an opportunity to say the same thing had she been in the students' dining hall one morning not long since. Breakfast time came and there was no light. The current switch of the large arc-lights was turned on, but the sparrows or something had robbed the wire of all its "currants," and the light would not come. What was to be done? Here was a dilemma. 700 people to eat breakfast and no light. A lantern was finally found and perched upon a chair on one of the tables in the middle of the room. Soon half the current came on in the girls' end of the spacious hall, and the lantern was carried to the extreme opposite end. This dim, flickering light of other days was funny enough to the students, but finally they became accustomed to the new conditions and settled down to eating, much as though nothing had happened, when suddenly the light in the lantern end of the big room came on, and the one in the opposite end went out, leaving the girls to eat in the dark, while the boys had two lights. This was a joke on the girls, and was too much for the risibles of the regiment of young eaters who were struggling to find their mouths between flashes from the arc lights, and they showed their appreciation of the ridiculousness of the situation by hearty laughter. Let all who do not believe that Indians laugh come to Carlisle and see our boys and girls at play; or, let them go to the Indian camp and sit down with the old chiefs and their companions around the camp fire! The chiefs show up their stoic side at first and maintain a severe dignity, until thoroughly acquainted, but when convinced that their friends are friends indeed, they enter freely into joking and telling stories, evincing merriment, wit and humor equalling some of the toasting around civilized boards. =========== EMPLOYERS HAVE KEEN EYES. ----- Directly in line with Mr. Wilde's advice this from the Epworth Era is apropos: Sometimes a boy is given a disagreeable job of sweeping a floor to see what there is in him. If he is efficient, bright, alert, and displays good qualities in his lowly place, he is apt to find an opening just above him. Do your best, whether it is sweeping the floor, blacking shoes, selling papers, shoveling coal, running an engine, planning a campaign or ruling an empire. Always and everywhere do your level best. Make a habit of it. It will be worth more than the gold of Klondike. If you despise the day of small things, there will never come a day of large things. ============== Enigma. I am made of 11 letters. My 2, 6, 5, 10 is what a broken leg makes a boy. My 1, 3, 4 is what many people work for. My 8, 3, 7, 7, 10, 9, 11 apples are shipped in. My whole is what the small Carlisle boy is ever ready to do whenever a mild day comes. ------------ ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S ENIGMA: Astronomy. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For more information about the Carlisle Indian School students, email Barbara Landis: blandis@epix.net or visit CIIS Research page at http://www.epix.net/~landis --------- "RE: Faked Native American 2" --------- Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 04:42:36 GMT From: "rustywire" Subj: Faked Native American 2 Newsgroup: alt.native I remember when I was in college we had a native american dance group from a number of tribes, we would go around and do shows to earn extra money. I did the hoop dance and helped with the props. We had number of requests and put together some skits and dances from each tribe, at the end we invited everyone to dance from the audience, a round dance. We had a request from a hoop dancer who was quite good, he used 27 hoops, but he was not Indian, but a young white kid. He learned to dance at boy scouts. We put his joining to a vote of the whole group and it was decided he could not join us. I remember we told him that the intent of the group was to dance our own tribal dances by each tribal member affiliated with that tribe. We wanted to be as true to the dance as possible. But in the end he was quite hurt by it, and after talking among ourselves we realized we did not want to appear as "apples", red on the outside, white on the inside, so we did not want him to dance. Our group was truly native and that is what we did. The group had the following tribal representations, Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Ute, Southern Cheyenne, Cree, Crow, Apache, Northern Cheyenne, Blood, Paiute, Shoshone, Arapaho, Sac & Fox, Arikara, Chippewa, Pine Ridge Sioux, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Ponca, Mandan, Lumbee, and Florida Cherokee, as well as a few Canadian Natives like Metis, Dene and two Alaskan Natives. The group totalled 35 or so altogether. We made our own outfits, learned dances from each other and allowed each respective tribe to display their own culture and that was what it was about. I am not sure what happened to the young man, but he did not join us. I have thought about it all these years later and still feel we made the right decision. There is nothing like watching your own people dance and sing their own songs, and in that they speak for all of their own people. These dances were tribal specific. I did not dance Northern style or for any other tribe, and to this day don't believe in mixing tribal cultures. I have no problem with Pow Wow Dancing, it is to me a social dance. I would not dance though, because I have my own tribal ways, but that is my own opinion. I have met a number of people wanting to be native, Indian or claim to be some tribe, and I think it is a sound all Indians, Natives or tribal members hear all the time and you know how it is. I find those people wanting to know more about a way of life that is diminishing. I look at myself and see that what I knew is not all that I remember. I have seen some who are not Native who know more than the Natives about their own culture. I have also seen our youth not wanting to know these things anymore and with the passing of the elders of our tribes and peoples we lose ourselves moreso into the melting pot of America. I have seen some profess to know more about culture, Indian ways, sings, sweats, pipe ceremonies and share these at a price, for a buck and I wonder about them. I had a friend of mine who died not too long ago, he was a Zuni, we were like brothers. We figured one day we would hit the road at 55 and become preachers and tell people they were going to hell and get paid for it, more or less becoming charlatans, flea bags and deceivers. It was a joke to us as we could see there are some preachers who go out like this, not all but there are some that are that way. In many ways Indian culture has gone down a similar path and there is exploitation from every angle. I am not an expert in this field but I have seen some of what I am talking about. I have met some fake Indians and at times feel sorry for them and yet they look on me with pity, maybe they know something I don't. Anyway I am sitting at a computer and my children are scattered like sand in a heavy wind. I am a survivor of sorts for my family as many of the problems of reservation life have taken my aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and many other people I knew that were good and kind. I can see that there is nothing to mark their time, other than they were Natives just trying to get by and in the way of life did not find a place to rest and call home. I think this restlessness is the same with non-Indians looking for some identity. I don't have any answers, I still have a lot of questions about life just the same as you I guess. There are no secrets to life here, just alot of people trying to find their own way.... --------- "RE: Poem: Elders Prayer" --------- Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 07:30:41 -0700 From: Bill Brady Subj: Elders Prayer Walk tall as the trees Live strong as the mountains Be gentle as the spring rain Keep the warmth of summer in your heart And the great spirit will always be with you. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\><><><><><>< all the best, Billy --------- "RE: Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days" --------- Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 06:35:16 -1000 From: Debbie Sanders Subj: Hawaiian Book of Days A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of March 5-11 MALAKI (March) (Nana) 5 Never refuse a gift of the land. 6 Heed well the voice of your heart. 7 Give to the land more than you take. 8 The song of the sea is neverending. 9 On any great journey, be guided by the stars, na hoku. 10 Learn of the world around you, and in the learning, ... find yourself. 11 Honor the memory of your ancestors, your kupuna. (c) Copyright 1991 by D. F. Sanders Me ke aloha i ka nani, ... Moe'uhanekeanuenue (With love and beauty, ... Rainbow Dream) --------- "RE: Upcoming Events" --------- Date: Sun, 26 February 15:39:14 -0 From: Gary Smith (gars@netcom.com) Subj: Upcoming Events Since the question has been asked... Janet and I will not be hosting Blackjack Mountain Festival this coming April, nor are there plans to host another event. =================================== Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 01:39:07 -0500 From: Unit 4 Subj: Radford University Pow Wow Newsgroup: soc.culture.native The Native American Heritage Association (NAHA) of Radford University presents in 13th Annual NAHA Pow Wow, March 31 and April 1, 2000. FREE ADMISSION: INDOOR EVENT This year's theme: Honoring the Elders MC: John Blackfeather Jefferies Arena Director: Garland Humble Bear Lesson Drums: Star Wheel (northern), Red Heart (southern) Head Man Dancer: Ernie Carlson (Begay) Head Lady Dancer: Jane Richardson Special Guest: Lowery Begay; hoop dancing and flute music Special Events: Gourd Dance and Snake Dance Other drums and singers welcome, as are all dancers. Food by Oxendine Catering 20+ Vendors (sorry, no more vendor space available) Special events and vendor activities for kids. Give-aways, blanket dances and raffles. The Vevita Color Guard of Washington DC will be presenting the colors and honoring their fallen founder and fellow warrior Norman Drywater. Location: Dedmon Athletic Center, Radford University, Radford, VA 4 miles north of I-81 from exit 109, follow signs in town. Doors open from 6 to 11 PM Friday March 31, and 9 AM to 10 PM Saturday April 1. For more info: naha-clb@runet.edu or call 540-381-8538 =================================== Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 15:38:19 GMT From: "Marian Powell" Subj: Late Winter/Early Spring Pow Wow's Buffalo Hearts' planned events: April 28-30 Guntersville, AL United Cherokee Intertribal (Christina is the outgoing princess) =================================== Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:15:25 -0600 From: "Vikki M. Howard" Subj: upcoming events Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs Sweet Honey in the Rock Millennium Concerts Fundraising Brunch for the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women Sunday , March 12, 2000 10am - 1pm Martin Luther King Center Saint Paul, Minnesota Brunch $25.00/ Brunch and Concert $55 - $75 Hosted by the Mississippi Market and Screamin O's Reserve early for the Sweet Honey in the Rock Concerts: Saturday , March 11 at 8:00pm Sunday , March 12 at 3:oopm AVA Special Events @ 612 673-9230 for more information ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Saint Paul, Minnesota Ain Dah Yung Center (our home) 2nd Annual Cherish the Children Traditional Pow Wow February 2000 Saturday - February 19 Grand Entries @ 1pm and 7pm Sunday - February 20 Grand Entry at 1pm Location: Central High School Marshall & Lexington Avenues Saint Paul DONATIONS of $2.00 welcomed at the door. Honor the youth. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Minneapolis, Minnesota Joint Summit of Tribal Nations and American Indian Communities Tuesday, February 29, 2000 9:00am - 2:00pm Zuhrah Shrine Center - 2540 Park Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota Hosted by Minneapolis Urban Indian Directors to address the issues of housing/homelessness and MFIP(MN.Familiy Investment Program) and their impact in the American Indian communities statewide. This summit will bring together Tribal leaders, urban American Indian community leaders, congressional leaders and interested persons for discussion and planning. Please plan to attend. For more information: Iva Bunker at the American Indian Housing and Community Development Corporation at 612 813-1610 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Winona LaDuke Thursday, March 9, 2000 @ 8:00pm Macalester College - Weyerhaeuser Chapel - 1600 Grand Avenue Saint Paul, Minnesota Winona LaDuke will discuss her nonfiction debut, "All Our Relatives: Native Struggles for Land and Life". (South End Press) This event is free and open to the public. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Campus An Evening with LESLIE MARMON SILKO The 41st Annual Joseph Warren Beach Memorial Lecture Tuesday, March 14, 2000 at 8:00pm Twin Cities Campus, West Bank Ted Mann Concert Hall A reception will follow this FREE event. No advance tickets required. For more information : 612-625-3363 Presented by the English Dept. and Co-sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts. =================================== Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 09:41:22 -0800 (PST) From: LAME HAWK Subj: listing April 26 to April 30, 2000: Second annual Intertribal Pow Wow, Calhoun County FairGrounds, Anniston, Al. MC Gary Smith Arena Dir. Buck Tucker Head Man: Don Redbear, Northern Cheyenne Head Lady: Donna Dulaney, Cherokee Host Drum: Greywolf singers, Choctaw from Philadelphia, Miss Native American Honor Guard and Warrior Society Admission Price $3.00 Students and Teachers-No charge on Students Days (wed.-fri.) Children under 5 and Seniors-Free All scouts (boy and girl) Admission $1.00 plus a donation of one of the following items for the animal shelter in Anniston: Dog or Cat food, Grooming items, old towels or carpet, Pet Toys, Food Pans. No Drugs or Alcohol Allowed All Dancers Welcome All Guest Drums Welcome Students will see and learn the history on the Lakota Lodge, There will be demonstrations of early Iron Forging, Demonstrations on beadwork, Dreamcatchers, Healing with natural herbs, The Anniston Museum of Natural History will be on hand with Birds of Prey and a lecture on these and other animals. The Calhoun County Animal Shelter will also be on hand for animal adoption and to speak on the importance of pet care. For more information or for a vendor application: Please contact Mark or Ruth Davis at (256)236-0679 Or e-mail at ravenspiritwalker@yahoo.com lamehawk@yahoo.com =================================== Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 20:34:16 -0800 From: BMSDN@aol.com (by way of Robert Dorman ) Subj: [BIGMTLIST] Wounded Knee/BM/Uwa/etc. Gathering Remember Wounded Knee 1890-1973 Speaker: Floyd Red Crow Westermann, Lakota (waiting for confirmation) In 1890 federal troops massacred 300 unarmed Indians at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. In 1973 the government again mustered its forces against the Indian people of the Pine Ridge Reservation who had gathered at Wounded Knee to protest the continuing injustices to their people and the government' violation of their treaty rights under the 1868 Treaty. Food/Resistance Songs/Drum Group Music: Carlos Reynosa*Aztlan Underground (wfc) Speakers to Discuss current issues: * [unreadable] Nation, Columbia *Big Mountain, Dineh Nation - Lenora Hatathlie *Indian Mascots, Becky Sanchez *EZLN Chiapas, Mexico *Pascua Yaqui Nation - (wfc) *Free Leonard Peltier Friday, March 3, 2000 Place: The Unitarian Church of Orange County 511 S. Harbor Blvd. Anaheim, CA (Corner of Harbor/Santa Ana Blvd.) Time: 6:30pm. - 11:00pm. This is a FREE event Directions from LA: Take 5 south exit on Harbor going Northbound. Before Lincoln and it is on the left hand side. For more information: BMSDN@aol.com (714) 539-2266 *****(wfc) Waiting for Confirmation Sponsored by: Bela-ish-cla-ee ( Indigenous Peoples support for Sovereign Dineh Nation) & So. CA American Indian Movement =================================== May 6 - 7 Creek Removal Commemorative Motorcycle Ride and Festival RIDE: From Ft. Toulouse to Tuscumbia, AL Riding historic Mitchell Trace FESTIVAL: Big Spring Park Tuscumbia, AL Perry White (205) 672-0361 or Millard Shelton (256) 350-9162 or Larry Smith (877) 818-3120 =================================== Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2000 00:31:03 -0800 From: Barbara Landis Subj: Powwow 2000: Remembering Carlisle Indian School To all my weekly INDIAN HELPER recipients: POWWOW 2000 Plans are in full swing for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend powwow at the Carlisle Barracks, site of the former Carlisle Indian School. Take a minute to check out what's happening in Carlisle May 26-May 28 by visiting the web site at http://www.epix.net/~landis/powwow.html. There is still vendor space available for anyone interested in participating. Registration forms for dancers and vendor applications may be downloaded at the web site. Other activities surrounding the events include special features in the May 2000 issue of Central Pennsylvania Magazine, and a film festival featuring Native American films at the Carlisle Theatre in downtown Carlisle. Hope to see you in May! Barbara =================================== Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 16:42:15 -0520 From: "Deborah Richards" Subj: submission to Wotanging-Ikche--nanews Gary, I received this posting from the H-Amindian Digest. Hope all is well. Debbie Richards ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Subj: SYMP: Relating Black and Indian (Hi)stories, Dartmouth College, 4.20-22.00 "Eating Out of the Same Pot" Relating Black and Indian (Hi)stories A Cross-cultural Symposium at Dartmouth College April 20-22, 2000 The El Hajj Malik El Shabazz African American Center, the African and African American Studies Program, and the Native American Studies Program at Dartmouth College invite you to participate in a unique symposium the weekend of April 20-22, 2000. This symposium will explore the complex relations, histories and experiences shared by Africans/African Americans and Native Americans in the United States. Academics, creative artists, and activists from a variety of disciplines and communities will be speaking on this subject from professional and personal perspectives. Topics include: Black-Native literature; shared and overlapping histories; political organizing and social change; mixed-race identity formation and negotiation; symbolic representations of Blacks by Indians and Indians by Blacks; and contemporary political issues and tensions. In addition to panel presentations and discussion sessions, there will also be a photography exhibition and films related to Black and Native identities and histories. Speakers will include, among esteemed others: Historians: Theda Perdue and Jack Forbes Literary Scholars: Robert Warrior, Sharon Holland, and Ron Welburn Writer/Activist: Jewelle Gomez Political Theorist: David Wilkins Legal Theorist: Russel Barsh Cultural Critic: Ward Churchill Community Organizer: Don Davenport Genealogist: Angela Walton-Raji Filmmaker: Malinda Maynor For a complete list of speakers and general information, visit the Shabazz Center website at Dartmouth College (which will be up after November 20th): http://www.dartmouth.edu/~aam/ Choose the "Shabazz Center" selection. You may also contact conference organizers by email: Tiya Miles, African and African American Studies/ Native American Studies, Dartmouth College: Tiya.A.Miles@Dartmouth.edu Celia Naylor-Ojurongbe, Women's Studies, University of New Mexico: celia@nmia.com Diandra Benally, Native American Students at Dartmouth: Diandra.D.Benally@Dartmouth.edu Heather McMillan, Native American Students at Dartmouth: Heather.L.McMillan@Dartmouth.edu Shasta Smith, Afro-American Society, Dartmouth College Shasta.T.Smith@Dartmouth.edu =================================== Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 18:10:31 EST From: Wanige@aol.com Subj: Special Events announcement Special Announcements of Upcoming Events of interest to Native Americans May 5-7, 2000: East Tennessee Indian League's American Indian Celebration Pow Wow, at the Farmer's Market in Knoxville, TN. (Take Exit 8 off of I-640) Head Man: Lowery Begay; Head Lady: Jo Anne Steele; MC: JoJo Rice; Arena Director: Josh Squirrel; Senior Princess: Kikki StandingDeer; Junior Princess: Shenelle Feather; Host Drum: Cedartree Singers; There will be Dance, Drum, Hoop, & Tipi Competitions, with over $7,000.00 in prizes to be awarded. Free onsite camping, with showers! Advance ticket prices: $2.00 adult/$1.00 students. Gate prices: $4.00 adult/$2.00 students. (Pre-K & under are free.) Advance ticket sales end April 30th. In the event of rain, dancing & vendors will be set up under a roof. Craft Vendors may contact Martha at rlspi@icx.net or call (423) 687-9675; Food Vendors may contact Tim at TWDBear@aol.com or call (423) 475-9286; For info on the Arena, call Vickie at (423) 609-7010. For info on Family Day (Friday), or to book school groups or youth groups, contact Carol at (423) 995-9933; For further information, call (423) 579-1384 or contact jrouam@lock-net.com or visit the website at http://www.wisdomkeepers.org/etil/. =================================== Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 20:29:41 EST From: LtLBearWmn@aol.com Subj: POWWOW LISTING -- please. 5th ANNUAL GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE POW WOW JULY 22 and 23, 2000 THE NATIVE AMERICAN FOUNDATION OF WESTERN INDIANA IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE VIGO COUNTY CONSERVATION CLUB OF VIGO COUNTY INDIANA (TERRE HAUTE AREA) TRADERS OPEN THE HOST DANCING 10:00 A.M. 12:00 NOON MC: BOBBY LAW, Inola, OK HEAD VETERAN: TBA HEAD MAN DANCER: FRED WARBONNETT, Jacksonville, IL HEAD LADY DANCER: SHARON KINCADE, Athens, IL ARENA DIRECTOR: TBA DRUMS: TBA STORYTELLER: MAX HAFFNER, Lafayette, IN ****ALL DANCERS WELCOME**** CLUB GROUNDS LOCATED 1 1/10 NORTH OF US 40, EAST OF TERRE HAUTE AND WEST OF BRAZIL, INDIANA NORTH OF US 40 AT JUCTION 340 AND MIAMI GARDEN ROAD. NORTH ON MIAMI GARDENS FROM US 40 AND 340 JUNCTION, APPROXIMATELY 1 + 1/10 MILE TO FIRST CROSS ROADS (GROTTO ROAD) TURN WEST APPROXIMATELY 1/4 TO 1/2 MILE TO CLUB GROUNDS. PUBLIC ADMISSION $2.00 PER PERSON CHILDREN UNDER 10 FREE FREE PARKING FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: NORMAN OR VICKI RAINBOLT 6909 WEST COUNTY ROAD 900 NORTH BRAZIL, IN 47834 812+877-4670 NEITHER CONSERVATION CLUB OR NATIVE AMERICAN FOUNDATION RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS TO PERSON OR PROPERTY NOR THEFT OF PROPERTY. =================================== Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 22:16:00 -0800 (PST) From: stephen beamer Subj: Aug.26-27,2000 Gathering Gary, Please add this to your events list for this year. I thank you for adding it last year. It was a great success. Lets hope the second is greater than the first. Wado! Osdaiga. Stephen Beamer 2nd. INTERNATIONAL INTERTRIBAL TRADITIONAL GATHERING To be held at CAMP SERTOMA, in Indianapolis, Indiana. on ( 52 ) or Brookville Road, and German Church Road, 4 Miles East of 465. Will be well marked from Brookville Road Exit. PUBLIC INVITED - BRING YOUR LAWN CHAIRS HEAD VETERAN - Brings The Wind - Stephen Beamer - of Indiana HOST DRUM - Black Swamp Singers - Newbreman, Ohio LEAD SINGERS - Matt.Wynk - 12, and Justin Baker 15 GRAND ENTRY & DANCE TIMES are: Saturday 26th.12:30 to 4:30 & 7:00 till ???? SUNDAY 27th. 12:30 to 4:00, with give away following. EVERYONE HAS TO FURNISH THERE OWN SEATING. Admission is $5.00 a person, Children Under 12 Admitted Free ( Accompanied by an Adult ) Parking will be Free. No Pets Around The Dance Arena, or Trading Areas. Physically Challenged K-9 assistance exempt. No pets allowed at any time in the Dance Arena. NO, CAMERAS OR VIDEO RECORDERS PERMITTED. NO ALCOHOL, DRUGS, FIREARMS, or POLITICS ON THE GROUNDS. NO EXCEPTIONS. Primitive Camping - $5.00 for weekend, no fires, unless you furnish your own wood and a way to contain it. TRADER INFORMATION call - 317-356-5187, ask for Jim or Happy. ( 36 ) trader booths and ( 3 ) food vendors are our limit. Volunteers will be appreciated. Contact # same as above. Not Responsible for Accidents, Damage, or Theft on the Grounds. NAIA of Indiana, Reserves the right to ( eject ) or refuse admission for this Gathering. Please come and join us and share your Native American Traditions with us, as we honor the dancing in both directions, to honor all. Coordinated By: The Native American Indian Association of Indiana,Inc.A Not for Profit Organization. 1440 S.Hawthorne Lane Indianapolis,Indiana 46203-3801 Co-Directors Wohali Standing Black Bear-Jim Donnelly & Happy Dancer-Sharon Donnelly Lucas =================================== Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 23:31:19 -0400 From: ossahatchee@mindspring.com Subj: Ossahatchee Please include us in your Pow Wow Calendar for October 2000. The Fourth Annual Ossahatchee Indian Festival & Pow-Wow will be held October 20-22, 2000 in Hamilton, Georgia. Hosted by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, you are invited to witness an American Indian Pow Wow. Over $12,000 In Prize Money: DRUM COMPETITION, $800 First Place. DANCE COMPETITION, $500 First Place, Proper Regalia Required. TIPI COMPETITION, $200 First Place. Primitive Skills from basket weaving to weaponry will be demonstrated. American Indian Arts, Crafts and Foods. The festival is truly a family event, educational and entertaining for young and old alike. The festival offers a School Day Program for students, K-8th grades, Friday 9am-3pm, gate opens Friday night 6pm-10pm, Saturday 10am-10pm, and Sunday 10am-5pm. Admission: Adults $6, 6-12yrs $3, 5 & Under Free. For information call (706) 628-5400 or look on the Web at www.hamiltonchamber.org Ossahatchee Committee of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce PO Box 3, Hamilton, GA 31811 For Information call (706) 628-5400 or e-mail: ossahatchee@hamiltonchamber.org Web-site: http://www.hamiltonchamber.org/ossahatchee.htm Thank you, Tracie Moore =================================== MANITOBA FIRST PERSPECTIVE, First Nations Events Calender POW WOWS & FESTIVALS We are not responsible for cancellations of these events. Please call for verification prior to attendance. The First Perspective does it's best to obtain accurate information for these events. Ekosi! MANITOBA June 3-4 Sat-Sun: Selkirk, MB. Henry Shingoose Traditional Pow Wow. Call (204)269-3430. USA Apr 21-23 Fri-Sun: Tempe, AZ. 14th Annual Arizona State University Spring Competition Pow Wow. (480)965-5224. Apr 26-29 Wed-Sat: Albuqueque, NM. Gathering of Nations Pow Wow & Miss Indian World Pageant "The Millennium Celebration." Ph. (505)836-2810, Fax (505)839-0475, or visit our website www.gatheringofnations.org =================================== Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 22:27:31 EST From: Wanige@aol.com Subj: Winter 2000 Pow Wow list Native American Events Listings ~Winter, 1999-2000~ >Southeast< ~*~ Note I: These mailings are sent out upon request. Anyone wishing to have their name added to or deleted from this list may send an e-mail to Wanige@aol.com. The same contact may be used to send events or corrections for inclusion in future mailings. Please feel free to copy and/or forward these mailings with my blessings. And don't forget to call ahead to verify dates! ~**~ Note II: These listings are usually sent out in two parts. Part one generally covers Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Missouri; part two covers North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Events in Washington, DC, are sometimes included in these mailings as well. In addition: Due to a lack of time, and difficulty involved in maintaining such a broad-based list, I will no longer actively seek to obtain listings from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Texas. I will occasionally continue to list events from these states (and others) when convenience allows. ~v~v~v~ Key to abbreviations: HD - Host Drum, HND - Host Northern Drum, HSD: Host Southern Drum, HM: Head Man, HL - Head Lady, HG: Head Gourd Dancer, HS: Head Singer, HH: Host Motel/Hotel, AD - Arena Director, GO - Gates Open, GC - Gates Close, GE - Grand Entry, FP: Flute Player, ST: Story Teller, MC: Master of Ceremonies, WS: Warrior Society/Honor Guard, HV - Head veteran. ~*~ _______ ALABAMA Now, through June 26: High Stakes Indian Bingo, at the Creek Bingo Palace on the Poarch Creek Indian Reservation, Atmore. Each Saturday & Sunday at 1:00pm, and Mondays at 5:00pm. Admission charged. Info: (800) 826-9121. Note: For more information on Alabama events, contact the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel, PO Box 4927, Montgomery, AL 36103-4927 or call 1-800-ALABAMA, or visit online at www.touralabama.org. For pow wow listings and information on Alabama's state-recognized Indian tribes, contact: Alabama Indian Affairs Commision, One Court Square, Suite 106, Montgomery, AL 36104 or call (334) 242-2831. _______ ARKANSAS No current listings. _______ FLORIDA No current listings. _______ GEORGIA No current listings. _______ KENTUCKY No current listings. _______ LOUISIANA Mar. 10-12: Honor the Ancestors Pow Wow, at the Bogalusa Sports Complex, Avenue B, Bogalusa. Hosted by the Medicine Wheel Intertribal Society. HM: Spirit Horse; HL: Frances Johnson; H. Little Boy: Trent Dardar; H. Little Girl: Paige Chaisson; HD: Caney Creek Singers. All drums, dancers, staffs & princesses welcome. Info: Michelle (504) 732-3484/fax: 735-8744 or Frances (225) 675-6184, or e-mail: okanowa@bellsouth.net. Mar. 17-19: Calling of All Tribes Pow Wow, at Grand Bois Park, Bourg. Info: (504) 879-2373. Apr. 1: Native American Day Camp, Houma Connection, 6484 Hwy. 22, Sorrento. Info: Frances Johnson (225) 675-6184. _______ MISSISSIPPI Mar. 25-26: Grand Village of the Natchez Indians Pow Wow, at the Grand Village of the Natchez, on Jefferson Davis Blvd., Natchez. Info: (601) 442-0200. Apr. 21-23: Aquini's 5th Annual Spring Indian Pow Wow, at the Rice Pavillion, Gulfport. Info: Irene Delancey (228) 826-5271. _______ MISSOURI Apr. 8: Kathryn Buder Center for American Indian Studies Pow Wow, at Washigton University, St. Louis. This is a contest pow wow sponsored by the Kathryn Bruder Center for American Indian Studies & the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. HD: The Tribe. Contestants must make both Grand Entries & be in full regalia. There will also be a Drum contest, and all drums are welcome. Info: (314) 935-4510 or e-mail: gourddancer1@hotmail.com. Apr. 21-23: 1st Annual Pow Wow, at the Rodeo Arena, Wyaconda. General admission is $3.00. Vendor spaces are $50.00 each; electricity is available. Info: (660) 479-5604. _______ NORTH CAROLINA No current listings. _______ OKLAHOMA Apr. 29: Graduation Honor Pow Wow, at the Community Building in Tahlequah, OK. Honorees are Paul Daw and Lena Nells of Moody, OK. Both are members of the National Honor Society. MC: Archie Mason (Osage/Cherokee); HM: Dallas Wallowing Bull (Northern Arapaho); HL: Aileen Gonzales (Cheyenne); HG: Rod Gwoompi (Kiowa); HD: Northern Arapaho Eagle Drum, Arapaho, WY; H. Gourd Drum: Drumbuster, Tahlequah, OK. Special Winner Takes-All contests in Men's Traditional and Women's Buckskin: $150.00 + a jacket. Vendor fee is $20.00 + raffle items. All drums, dancers & vendors welcome. Schedule: 2pm-4:30pm, Gourd Dance; 4:30pm-6:00pm, Dinner; 6pm-7pm, Gourd Dance; 7:30pm-11pm, Intertribal & Contest Dancing. Info: James or Elana Nells (918) 458-6384. _______ SOUTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE No current listings. _______ VIRGINIA, WEST VIRGINIA No current listings. _______ SOUTH CAROLINA No current listings. _______ TENNESSEE Apr. 21-23: All Nations Pigeon River Pow Wow, Sevier County Fairgrounds, Sevierville. All dancers welcome. Vendors by invitation only. Info: Leon Gilliam (423) 378-0192. Apr. 28-30: Wild West Festival & Native American Showcase, at Camp Jordan Park, Chattanooga. Info: Chipa Wolf (770) 735-6275. May 5-7: 13th Annual American Indian Celebration & Pow Wow, at the Farmer's Market, Knoxville. Exit 8, off of I-640. Sponsored by the East Tennessee Indian League. HM: Rick Bottchenbaugh (Cherokee); HL: Kim Bottchenbaugh (Cherokee); other head staff TBA. There are hotels nearby, and free on-site camping (with showers) is available. Over $9,000.00 in prize money will be paid out in Dance, Drum, Tipi, and Hoop Dance competitions. Craft Vendors may contact Martha Summitt (423) 687-9675 or e-mail rispi@icx.net. Food vendors may contact Tim Deane (423) 475-9286 or e-mail TWDBear@aol.com. Friday is Kid's Day: Scouts & school groups are encouraged to attend. For more on Kid's Day activities, contact Fran Combs (423) 938-4994. Admission: $4.00 - adults; $2.00 - students (K-12); Free - under 5. For more information, call (423) 579-1384 or (423) 609-7010, or e-mail: Jrouam@lock-net.com or TWDBear@aol.com. _______ TEXAS Mar. 24-26: 11th Annual Texas Indian Market & Southwest Showcase, Arlington Convention Center, Arlington, TX. Info: Texas Indian Markets, 4205 Kingston, Amarillo, TX 79109 or (806) 355-1610, or e-mail: txindmrkts@tcac.net or visit the website at www.indianmarket.net. ------ VIRGINIA No current listings. _______ WEST VIRGINIA No current listings. _______ ELSEWHERE Mar. 31-Apr. 2: 9th Annual Kansas City Indian Market & Southwest Showcase, at Overland Park International Trade Center, Overland Park, KS. Info: visit the website at www.indianmarket.net or e-mail: txindmkts@tcac.net. Note: updates will be posted as more information becomes available. Spring listings (for March-April-May) have already been released, and are being updated with new information as it becomes available. Updates of some of the Florida events in this issue were courtesy of Jimmy Boy Dial. Wado, oginali. Note II: after January 27th, I may not be reached at wanige@aol.com; so send further correspondence to me at sablesage@webtv.net. Thanks. --------- "RE: Native America Calling" --------- Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 08:29:21 -0600 From: "Christine A. Penney" Subj: NAC Update Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs >>> Eric Martin 02/26/00 06:55PM >>> Listen LIVE every M-F 1-2pm EST in RealAudio at http://www.nativecalling.org and call in and share your views 1-800-99-NATIV (1-800-996-2848) PROGRAM SCHEDULE for FEB 28 - Mar 3, 2000: MON - 2/28: Black Indians: In recognition of Black History Month we offer a glimpse of the shared heritage between Native and African Americans. This blending of cultures has created unique tribal identities in parts of Indian Country as well as producing unity, controversy, and even hostility in our Native communities. What is the shared history and heritage between Blacks and Indians? Guests include historian Dr. William Loren Katz. TUE - 2/29: Music Maker: Cherokee Rose: As always, NAC brings you the latest sounds from Indian Country. This time around we present Albuquerque-based musician Cherokee Rose, of the Eastern Band of Cherokees. She has a brand new CD out called Love Medicine Music. On this Music Maker Edition we sample her latest work and delve into the world of Indian love medicine. WED - 3/1: Bio-Tech 2000: Jelly fish genes in monkeys? Human DNA in pigs? Countries approving bio-diversity protocols? We will look at new genetic experiments and ask, what is being done to protect the natural genetic diversity of the planet? Does this technology threaten to alter the Earth's natural gene pool for the worse? Or do you think genetic technology will solve our health problems and improve our food supply? Guests include Judy Gobert, microbiologist at Salish/Kootenai Community College. THU - 3/2: The Traditional vs. The Modern Woman: How does the modern woman balance the needs of her culture and modern lifestyle? Many traditional teachings place the role of women in the home to work and teach the children the tribal ways. But the demands of modern society have many women leaving the home and their communities for higher education and competitive careers. How can Native women balance the needs of both worlds and maintain their cultural responsibilities as well? Guests TBA. FRI - 3/3: Keep Families Healthy: It seems that as we become more concerned with our health and try to eat better and treat our bodies better, it might be a good idea to look at what our Native elders did to stay healthy. Perhaps we can start changing our health habits to more closely match the traditional and healthier lifestyles of the past. What are traditional ways that we can keep our families healthy today? Join Sharon McConnell and her guests on the next "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling. __________________________________________________________ WELLNESS HOST: SHARON McCONNELL PROGRAM SCHEDULE for Wellness Edition Programs for the rest of March FRI - 03/3: Keep Families Healthy: It seems that as we become more concerned with our health and try to eat better and treat our bodies better, it might be a good idea to look at what our Native elders did to stay healthy. Perhaps we can start changing our health habits to more closely match the traditional and healthier lifestyles of the past. What are traditional ways that we can keep our families healthy today? Join Sharon McConnell and her guests on the next "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling. FRI - 03/10-Maintaining and Caring for your Muscles: The "Wellness Edition" becomes muscle bound as we look at the organs that hold our bodies together and allow us to move. From muscle cramps and injuries to muscle diseases and disorders, Sharon McConnell and her guests will discuss the powerful tissues of our physique on the next "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling. FRI - 03/17-Taking a Break: Every once in a while everybody needs to take a break from the demands of work or daily life. We all try to take little breaks here and there to sustain sanity, but do we really take enough time off to do the things that will really restore us*like going back home to visit our family or taking care of ourselves? Join Sharon McConnell and her guests on this "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling as they discuss the importance of taking time for our mental health. FRI - 03/24-Dial-A-Doc: Our two doctors in radio-residency return to answer your questions about health and prescriptions. Doctors David Baines and Tom Nighswander will also discuss with host Sharon McConnell about the latest medical developments featured in the national media. So prepare your health questions for another "radio house call" on the next "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling. FRI - 03/31- Sudden Infant death Syndrome (SIDS): Every year more infants die of SIDS than all those who die of cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, child abuse, AIDS, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy combined. What is SIDS? Are there any ways we can protect our children from it? Join Sharon McConnell and her guests as they talk about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on the next "Wellness Edition" of Native America Calling. --------------------------------------- Eric Martin NAPT Web Communications Specialist emartin2@unl.edu 402.472.3287 To subscribe to AIROS' electronic program guide e-mail airos@unl.edu with the subject heading subscribe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//- Notice of Copyright Clearance by Contributors: The following have granted permission for their original articles to be reposted in order to help mend the Sacred Hoop: Martha E Ture, JoKay Dowell via Donna, Bill Sebastian via Robert Dorman, James M. Simermeyer, Roger Iron Cloud via John Berry, Cyn/Omoya, Pat Morris, Wild Horse via Nancy Thomas, Tessa Lehto, Bear Christensen, James O'Reilly, Robert John Callahan, Dave Burlingame, Antoinette Claypoole, Dee, Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, Janet Smith, Billy Brady, Debra Sanders, Johnny Rustywire, Barbara Landis, Christine A. Penney --//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//-