From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Apr 24 02:12:02 2001 Date: 16 Jan 2001 01:26:38 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.003 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ O ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) O o O / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ O o O (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O o o o o O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ VOLUME 09, ISSUE 003 O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' January 20, 2001 O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- Blackfeet cold weather moon O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, Cheyenne moon of the strong cold 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 It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) This issue contains articles from RezLife, KOLA Newslist, ndn-aim, Paths-L & ironNatives mailing lists; Newsgroup:alt.native; UUCP email; http://64.4.14.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=c3ac1686cbbb0ec62798a108d http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/j/jemison-treaty.html 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@speakeasy.org ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org "Right now, as I write this in the early fall of 1998, I'm out of the `Shoe'---that's the SHU, or Special Handling Unit, Leavenworth's official name for the Hole. You get tossed down there, into a small cage constructed inside a larger cage, for what you do and for what you don't do, so you can't avoid it entirely. I'm not looking to make trouble. Even here in Leavenworth--ESPECIALLY here in Leavenworth--I'm trying to build harmony, to make even this a better world. Stirring up trouble is the last thing I want. That would be the easy way, and the stupid way. Trouble enough will come for sure even when you don't stir it. When there was a riot here a while back, I desperately did what I could to keep our Indian bros out of it, gathering as many of us as I could find into a group, keeping all of us low and out of the fray, praying together much like we did that day when the eagle appeared to save us at Oglala." __ Leonard Peltier "Prison Writings...My Life Is My Sun Dance" +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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 ISSUE IS BEING RELEASED EARLY TO ENCOURAGE YOUR SUPPORT TO HELP FREE LEONARD PELTIER. THIS IS THE LAST WEEK FOR YOU TO ACT! The clock is ticking. Time is running out for Leonard Peltier's only hope - Presidential Clemency... literally! This is THE LAST WEEK that Presidential Clemency can be granted by President Clinton. This is the zero hour. You must act now. Tomorrow is just another word. There is a lot of pressure to deny clemency from FBI director Louis Freeh and many FBI agents. Your voices must outweigh them if there is any hope at all. ----- Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 19:43:21 -0600 From: "LPDC" Subj: Peltier update Mailing List: LPDC Dear Friends, No decision on Peltier's clemency yet. We are still expecting the decision to be announced at the very last minute. The White House comment line has officially closed for the transition of presidency. You can still fax the White House by going to our web site: http://www.freepeltier.org You can also flood the White House with emails by sending messages supporting clemency to president@whitehouse.gov (emails are not usually as effective as phone calls and faxing, but now that phone calls are eliminated, we may as well go for it!) You can also vote at the vote.com web site. The question as to whether or not Clinton should grant clemency to Peltier is still on their site. Currently the results are 46% supporting clemency and 54% against, although the poll does not seem to reflect accurate results. At one point Peltier was winning, but then the votes supporting clemency began to disappear. It seems the poll runs in cycles and starts over every so often, allowing people to reenter their vote. Also, all of the site's other poll results are very right leaning, overwhelmingly supporting Ashcroft and Bush. At any rate, it doesn't hurt us to try! Just click on this URL to vote (the company only accepts votes from the US): http://www.vote.com/vResults/index.phtml?cat=4075633 Lastly, you can hear excerpts from the Congressional briefing that was held on the Peltier case on our web site: www.freepeltier.org . Thank you for your continued support. In Solidarity, LPDC 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 > ----- Excerpts from a post by Koga Suyeta 14 Aug 2000 00:44:10 -0530 The over-riding issue is Peltier. Peltier requires our undivided attention now. --- if Clinton will not sign the paper, we have a very serious problem, because Bush won't sign & Gore won't sign. It must be Clinton & the option remains his only until January 20. The focus, for once, needs to be on the man & only the man. Mail mail mail. Calls calls calls. Money money money. Don't be baited. The over-riding issue is Peltier. .. .. .. .. CALL OR FAX ON BEHALF OF LEONARD PELTIER TODAY! -- - - - REMEMBER our brother who was beat to death, then urinated on. DO NOT let another day pass without voicing your anger and protest! Contact the St. Paul, MN courthouse and let the prosecuting attorney know Indian Country is watching. Insure a maximum sentence is imposed! .. .. .. .. Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 20:00:18 EST From: Rayann6@aol.com Subj: re:Stevie Thompson Today, 1-11-2001 Judge Paulette Flynn sentenced Jacob Thompson to 153 months in prison for the unintentional murder of Stevie Thompson. This means prison time of 102 months and parole time of 51 months if defendant earns all of his good time. Custody credit for time already served of 176 days. Sentencing guidelines are 144 months to 155 months. When the judge ask if Jacob Thompson wanted to say anything to the family of Stevie Thompson, Jacob said "it is unfortunate that this happened" He had the attitude that it was Stevie's fault that he beat him so bad that he ended up dying. The prosecutor, Jan Barker didn't even show up for the sentencing. She sent a law student to handle the sentencing for her. The law student, Maureen Cato-Perry did a good job in spite of not even having the case file with her in the courtroom. She ask the judge to sentence Jacob Thompson to more prison time than the guide lines called for. She also ask for restitution be made to Stevie's family for funeral and travel expenses. Twelve years in prison is not enough for what this animal did to Stevie. The courts still haven't decided what to charge Joseph Steinhauser with for his part in the killing of Stevie. 176 days after Stevie died his family is still waiting for justice. http://hometown.aol.com/rayann6/StevieThompson.html The Death of Stevie Thompson http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi? story=83326688&template=metro_a St. Paul man sentenced in beating death Friday, January 12, 2001 Jacob N. Thompson, who pleaded guilty to unintentional second-degree murder in the July 19 death of 43-year-old Steven Thompson in St. Paul, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years and 9 months in prison. The men weren't related. Both were homeless at the time of the murder. Ramsey County District Judge Paulette Flynn issued the sentence. Authorities said Jacob Thompson, 23, participated in the beating death during a confrontation near the Landmark Center. Joseph F. Steinhauser, 29, who is awaiting trial on murder charges in the case, accused Steven Thompson of stealing cigarettes from him, according to a criminal complaint. Steinhauser told police that Jacob Thompson severely beat Steven Thompson, and that he later picked up Steven Thompson and threw him on a bus-stop bench. The two men left Thompson, drank more alcohol and then returned to Landmark Center and found Thompson in a stairwell, according to the complaint. Steinhauser told police that Jacob Thompson beat Steven Thompson a third time, then went through his pockets. Investigators said the men allegedly took a sewing kit, a pair of scissors and 57 cents from the victim's pockets. -- Paul Gustafson Copyright c. 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved Peace! Night Owl , , Gary Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. gars@olagrande.net ===w=w=== gars@sdf.lonestar.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Black Market Sells Tribal Bones - Peltier: A Tug-o-War for Freedom - Help Coming for - Activist's Release Sought Metis Abuse Victims Before Bush Takes Office - Future of First Nations - Native Prisoner in British Columbia - History: Carlisle Indian School - Tribe Purchase Last - Rustywire: Old Ned Big Piece of Lake Property - Poem: Santa Fe - Navajo Court Interpreters - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - Crow Landscapes not Forgotten - Book Review: - Blackfeet Bank Gaining Clout Haudenosaunee Sovereignty - Supreme Court to Hear FOIA Case - Clarkson Helps Keep - Ousted Official Files Cherokee Culture Alive Revises Crow Suit - Woman Follows Dream to - South Dakota Assault Reclaim Wampanoag Language - Leonard Peltier: - Upcoming Events Facts vs. Fiction - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Black Market Sells Tribal Bones" --------- Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 20:48:11 EST From: MIKECHEROKEE@aol.com Subj: A tragic but real event still happening Mailing List: RezLife http://64.4.14.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=c3ac1686cbbb0ec62798a108d Black market sells tribal bones By STEVE YOUNG Argus Leader 12/31/00 In South Dakota, it seems, the dead don't always rest in peace.Not when tribal people believe that the skulls of their ancestors have adorned the back windows of cars, their turn signals blinking through empty eye sockets.Not when an Indian pelvic bone rests on a coffee table and serves as some macabre sort of ash tray. And certainly not when looters pillage ancient tribal burial grounds, breaking apart skeletons while scavenging for objects buried with the dead. "I think there is a considerable amount of disturbance going on out there,"says South Dakota U.S. Attorney Ted McBride. "There is unfortunately a ...significant market for, I guess you would call them, funerary objects."There is a black market to some extent for those objects, Indian artifacts, and for items made of human remains. I'm not aware of any state where you can own human remains, so there is this under-the-table market. It is grisly, but it's there. "Low water levels on the Missouri River the past year have revealed human remains, making South Dakota a likely target for looters. And federal laws designed to stop the pilfering of remains and artifacts aren't necessarily accomplishing the job, tribal officials and others say. Last December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found exposed gravesites and scattered remains north of the Fort Randall Dam, on shoreline where an Episcopal church and cemetery for the Yankton Sioux community of White Swan once sat. For six weeks, tribal members guarded the site, protecting it from looters so the remains could be reburied before the river's water levels were raised more. They did so again this past fall after the water retreated and more remains surfaced. In August, as water levels dropped on Lake Oahe, Standing Rock Reservation officials found remains from the buried descendants of Chief Mad Bear on the west bank of the river near Wakpala. Again, tribal members monitored the site to thwart looters while the tribe and Corps of Engineers argued in court over how to resolve the situation.In both cases, the fear of potential theft and desecration was legitimate, observers say. "To tell you the truth, it's really no secret that we have a problem with looters," says Rick Harnois, corps field archaeologist in North Dakota and South Dakota. "While I really don't believe human remains is necessarily a big problem, artifact looting in and of itself is pretty much rampart up and down the Missouri River. "The market for such antiquities and artifacts makes it a problem,says Larry Zimmerman, a former University of South Dakota professor who now chairs American Indian and Native Studies at the University of Iowa."When artifacts are sold, it creates a market," Zimmerman says. "When it creates a market, people go out to try to find artifacts to sell.So it becomes an ever-increasing cycle, and many sites get destroyed in that search. This certainly is the case all up and down the Missouri River. "How lucrative is that search? Corps of Engineers officials estimate there are at least 2,500 archaeological sites in what they call the Missouri River trench. Those are just the known sites. Nationally, only 10 percent of 743million acres of federal and tribal land have been inventoried for archaeological value. "The Missouri River trench is one of the richest archaeological regions in North America," says Todd Kapler, an archaeologist and historian from Sioux City, Iowa. "There are places along the Missouri River in South Dakota where they had three or four occupations in one area, one on top of the other,through the centuries. That's not uncommon."Nor are looters uncommon. They often stumble upon archaeological sites long before the professionals do. And they are quick to swarm on sites that are known."I know of situations in South Dakota where pot hunters have used pressure hoses to sluice artifacts out of the side walls of river banks,"Zimmerman says. "They have used dynamite to blast apart parts of banks....They've done that since the first days of the reservoirs' construction. "The greatest exposer of remains and artifacts along the Missouri is the river itself. Wind and waves incessantly erode shoreline. When water levels are low, objects and treasures hidden since the dams were built in the 1950 soften are revealed. The amount of remains exposed at White Swan and Mad Bear is beyond the norm, most people agree. Still, it is not uncommon to find human remains in river banks along the Missouri at any time, says Bronco LeBeau, cultural preservation officer for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe."I would venture to guess from the northern to the southern border of South Dakota, along the entire Missouri River, there are human remains popping up every year," LeBeau says. "Whether they are reported, whether they are gone out after and collected, whether or not somebody, say a private citizen, picks them up and maybe does the right thing by digging a hole and putting them back, remains are popping up every year. "What people often do with the remains and artifacts, however, antagonizes tribal people. Many artifacts have found their way into public museums and private collections. Others have fared much worse. Ellsworth Chytka of rural Lake Andes remembers growing up in the1960s in that community and seeing what he is certain was a human skull in the back window of a teen-ager's car."He hooked them up to his turn signals," Chytka, 52, recalls. "When he hit the left signal, the light would blink in the left eye. When he hit the right signal, it blinked in the right eye. And when he hit his brakes,the whole thing lit up red." Zimmerman tells a similar tale. "I have seen in South Dakota, 25 years ago going down the interstate, a skull in the back of a vehicle with brake lights in the eye sockets. That wasn't an uncommon thing," he says. "I've seen people with skulls who use them for a base of a candle. I've seen that kind of thing a lot, on people's mantles in South Dakota. I know they were actual skulls. They were claimed to be Indian skulls by people who live along the Missouri River."Granted, much of that was years ago, in a time when society thought little of retrieving old bones, stone axes or arrowheads and turning them into any sort of private collection or use. "Collecting such things was common place; nobody gave it much thought," says Zimmerman. "It's only been in recent years, with all the attention being put on how much this hurts Indian people, that society has begun to view it differently."One of the movers behind a societal change in attitude is Maria Pearson, a Yankton Sioux woman who now lives in Des Moines. In the early 1970s, her husband's crew, working with the Iowa Department of Transportation in the southwestern part of the state, discovered an abandoned cemetery. Archaeologists identified the remains of 26 Caucasian people, all of whom were placed in new caskets and moved to a new cemetery. But the workers also discovered the remains of a young Indian woman and her baby. Those remains were boxed and shipped to the office of the state archaeologist in Iowa City for study."I told my husband, John, that they couldn't do that," Pearson, 68,recalls. "That was discrimination."She went to then-Gov. Robert Ray to protest the disparate treatment, and a struggle over who had control of tribal remains in Iowa ensued. Six years later, the Protection of Ancient Burials Law was enacted, the first of its kind in the country, protecting all burials in the state."Now the law says they cannot deliberately disturb a grave, "Pearson says."And if they accidentally hit one, they immediately stop all construction and remove the graves, Indian, white or otherwise. "Soon after, Congress passed the Archaeological Resource Protection Act, making it illegal to excavate archaeological resources on federal land without a permit. In 1990, a second significant law --the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA --was passed.Under NAGPRA,tribes are able to get back Indian remains and artifacts housed in museums and collections that receive federal funding. NAGPRA also made it illegal to sell human remains, and made it unlawful to buy or sell cultural artifacts or funerary objects that were taken off federal or tribal lands without a permit. Suddenly, such venerable American institutions as the Smithsonian Institute started opening their doors to tribes to come and claim their ancestors. Looters began being prosecuted for desecrating archaeological and burial sites. Just this past August, two North Dakota men --Robert Haase,54, of Ellendale and Donald Frigen, 45, of Monango --were fined $500 each after they admitted to excavating and taking tribal artifacts from Demery Island on the Missouri River north of Mobridge. The men were caught digging up hammer stones, arrow-shaft smoothers, a bone awl and arrowheads among other things."As people become more aware of these laws, we'll deal with this more," U.S.Attorney McBride says. "It tends to happen more in remote places.But we have had more reports than in years past. "Penalties can range as high as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, McBride says, though most offenses in these parts probably result in only a monetary penalty. The looting of archaeological and burial sites is a global problem,not just a South Dakota one, says David Tarler, a consultant to the Archeology and Ethnography Program of the National Park Service. "Whether you're talking about the Civil War era, the Revolutionary War era, native Americans, native Alaskans or native Hawaiians, it is an issue, " says Tarler, from his Washington, D.C. office. "Whether you're talking about terrestrial resources, or underwater resources, people are attracted to the past. Some people think it should be shared by others. Others think it should be theirs even if it doesn't belong to them. "Many tribal people in South Dakota have felt the pain of having their ancestors' graves desecrated, people like Ambrose McBride of Fort Thompson. The 68-year-old Crow Creek Indian is the great-great grandson of Bull Ghost, who worked in security for Sitting Bull. After his death, Bull Ghost was buried north of Fort Thompson, near a community known as Cold Hang. Some time later, his remains were stolen from his grave, McBride says. "One of the tribal members, an older man, he took some white people and they dug out his grave," McBride says. "They took his whole body and they never got him back. Even his tombstone is gone. It makes me feel bad. And he was sold out by one of our tribal members. "It's hard to say whether laws such as NAGRPA will halt such thievery in the future, Zimmerman says, though he has his doubts. "NAGPRA has made almost no difference at all in the antiquities market in my mind," he says. "Where it has made a difference is in the academic realm, and in the federal government's treatment of American Indian sites. "But antiquities are totally unassociated with it. It is a market that is out there. Artifacts are interesting. Many are extraordinarily beautiful. You can understand someone's desire to have artifacts. But at what price? At what price to people's sensibilities? At what price to a people's heritage? "One way Zimmerman and representatives of three major professional organizations of archaeologists --the Society for American Archaeology, the society for Historical Archaeology, and the American Anthropological Association --have chosen is writing letters to online auction companies asking them to end the sale of archaeological material. In a letter dated July 3, 2000, to Amazon.com., the groups asked the company"... to establish a policy forbidding the sale of antiquities on your site." "In their efforts to acquire a few marketable pieces, looters destroy associated architecture, human burials and other artifacts," the letter said."The inescapable conclusion is that the complete pieces for sale in stores,on your auction site, or elsewhere were probably robbed from human graves. "The letter goes on to say that the Internet sale of antiquities has noticeably exacerbated severe problems caused by the market for antiquities. Officials with Amazon.com did not return any of three phone calls for comment. But Kevin Pursglove, senior director of communications for San Jose,Calif.-based eBay, says his organization understands federal laws on tribal artifacts and antiquities, and strictly adheres to them. "We make it clear to our users that eBay cooperates fully with the Department of Interior, the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in determining what is lawful to be sold under the laws," Pursglove says. "Any time any of the items violate laws or policies, then we'll remove them. Somehow, that doesn't comfort the native people standing watch at the old White Swan and Mad Bear cemeteries. They've seen their ancestors on display in museums. They've witnessed their grandfathers' skulls on living room mantles. They aren't about to allow that to happen again. "The fear here is, we've all heard the stories of what they did with Indian remains over the years," says Sharon Drappeau, 58, of Lake Andes. "We don't want our ancestors decorating the back of people's cars, or their dens. We expect the same respect that other people have the right to. My grandparents are not going to be decorations for anyone." For Rezlife egroups http://www.egroups.com/group/rezlife --------- "RE: Help Coming for Metis Abuse Victims" --------- Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 07:27:24 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="METIS VICTIMS" Help coming for Metis abuse victims WebPosted Jan 4 2001 11:58 AM EST REGINA - Metis in Saskatchewan are putting the final touches on a program to help former students of residential schools. The gatherings will look at issues of what happened; what it was like; what life is like now. There are about 1,200 Metis who attended residential schools in this province, according to a report released a few years ago. James Tait of the Metis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan says the program will give people a chance to talk about the physical and emotional abuse they suffered in those schools. Gatherings will be held in Metis communities within a couple of months. "These gatherings will be led by the survivors," Tait says. "[They] will look at issues of what happened; what it was like; what life is like now. "The title of our project is speaking out, listening for healing; a chance for people to share what happened," Tait added. The group also plans to organize support groups for survivors and their families. The program is being paid for with a grant from the federal government's Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Copyright c. 2001 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Future of First Nations in British Columbia" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 09:39:57 EST From: kolahq@skynet.be (KOLA) Subj: The debate over future of First Nations in British Columbia >To: ShngSprt@aol.com <+>=3D<+>KOLA Newslist<+>=3D<+> [source: NativeNews; Mon, 01 Jan 2001 12:47:14 -0500] The debate over the future of First Nations in British Columbia by Chris Brown, CBC Radio News Produced by Heather Evans http://media.cbc.ca:8080/ramgen/radio/news-audio/topstories/browndoc The slumbering debate over the future of native rights in Canada was jolted awake during this fall's federal election campaign. The Canadian Alliance released a policy on aboriginal issues that said it's time for a change time to move toward more individual rights for native people. It's a position supported by other conservative thinkers that says native people should have no special status and no collective right to ownership of land. In addition, resources, any self-government arrangements with native groups should be similar to federal relationships with municipalities. The idea evokes strong emotions: many native leaders claim it is racist, while supporters say the special status afforded First Nations has kept them in poverty. The polarization and intensity of emotions are especially strong in British Columbia, where the government is struggling to negotiate treaties with dozens of aboriginal communities. The CBC's Chris Brown has this report on the Alliance position and what it would offer First Nations. Shoppers push carts loaded with groceries through the slush in the parking lot of a grocery store in Chilliwack, in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. Across the lot is a Tim Horton's donut shop. There's also a minimal with a barber and a travel agency. It's a fairly routine scene for the suburbs, but to Ken Malaway, the mall is money in the bank for his community. "Because of the mall, we're fairly well off, a lot more than we were five years ago," he says. Malaway is a member of the St=F3:lo First Nation and there's a story he likes to tell about how this mall was built. As chief, he'd been meeting with banks, municipal and federal officials for several years .. but he says they put up obstacles at every turn. Finally, Malaway announced the band would build a sewage treatment plant instead. After that, he says, everyone bent over backwards to help. It's a funny story .. he says that illustrates how tough it can be to do business on an Indian reserve. "Financing this place here, we couldn't get any of the banks to loan us money," he says. "We had a Royal Bank over there, but we couldn't borrow money from them because they couldn't come on here and take it if we defaulted." RESERVE LAND Land on an Indian reserve is treated differently than private property and it's just one of many different rules that apply to native people in Canada. Indian land is owned collectively by the band ... not by individuals. The bands are financed by transfer payments from Ottawa. Native people living on reserves don't pay taxes on the money they earn. And some native people can fish and hunt in special seasons. Critics argue the treatment native people receive under the law is unfair and it's why many people in native communities live in poverty. Canada's policy on native rights, they say , requires a new approach. INDIAN ACT Gordon Gibson is a familiar voice to British Columbians. He's a former leader of the B.C. Liberal Party and he was a leading critic of the recently signed treaty with B.C.'s Nisga'a First Nation. "The root of the difficulty is the BNA act of 1867 ... only Indians had the misfortune of being placed in the constitution ..." Gibson says. Gibson writes extensively on native affairs for the Fraser Institute, a right of center think-tank in Vancouver. He argues the Indian Act should be abolished, people on reserves should be allowed to own their land, Ottawa should stop funding first nation communities ... and people who live on reserves should work .. and pay taxes like anyone else. "I always come back to the individual," Gibson says. "The key question is the individual versus the collective. I say that anyone can subordinate themselves to any collective, but it must be on be on their terms and without our incentives. That to me is the fundamental question of aboriginal policy today in our country." The Canadian Alliance position on aboriginal affairs is similar to that of the Fraser Institute. The party's policy states that native people should not have status under the law that makes them different. FISHING Steveston is a fishing community just south of Vancouver at the mouth of the Fraser River. Tourists come here to buy fresh seafood straight off the boat. The docks here have also witnessed confrontations between natives and non-natives over access to salmon stocks. Canadian Alliance MP John Cummins represents the area and he opposes what he calls "race based" quotas for people on reserves. He was arrested once for trying to join in a native-only fishery. He says his party would treat everyone the same. "By creating wealth, by educating people and allowing them to participate in today's economy, you'll strengthen the pride of of the individual and strengthen the desire to protect their culture," Cummins says. Take, for example, the way some native bands collectively own things such as fishing licenses. Cummins says it's a recipe for failure. He says during a House of Commons committee hearing on the East several years ago one native leader told him about a lobster boat his band bought. Cummins says within two years .. the boat was unseaworthy .. and the band was no longer able to fish. "No one was responsible and the thing just deteriorated. If that had been an ordinary guy .. whether aboriginal or not, if they had gone out into the marketplace, they would have had to look after that boat and they would have been assured the boat was still fishing," Cummins says. For Len Koyanagi, the Alliance position makes a lot of sense. Nowadays, Koyanagi is on his fishing boat only rarely ... mostly just to make sure the engine still works. He fished for just 36 hours this season. Conservation measures to protect depleted salmon stocks are part of the reason but he says having dozens of native fishermen on the water during their own season meant he fished less. "We're bearing the brunt of the some of the wrongs that have been done to the natives I guess," Koyanagi says. In British Columbia, many in the province are frustrated about the on going conflicts over aboriginal rights. New treaties are painstaking to negotiate. The terms of old ones are being re-examined and re-defined. Native people are taking their claims to court band often winning. The approach advocated by people such as Gordon Gibson and John Cummins offers a clear, concise and compelling alternative. Opponents say it is simplistic .. and unworkable. NEW BUSINESS Calvin Helin is a native businessman who's president of the Native Investment and Trade Association. His group helps people in native communities develop new businesses. "I agree there should be some private property rights .. but the question is how do you do that," he says. He says the idea of ownership implies an ability to manage your money experience which many people who rely on transfer payments from Ottawa, simply don't have. He says if reserves were carved up into individual plots poor people would sell their land and end up no better off. He says it was tried in the United States and failed. "In general, it sounds good as a rational argument, but all you're likely to do in that situation as some of the early treaties showed, is make the local car dealers rich," Heline says. "Most of the people in our community, don't have the history or capacity to manage those assets." Others wonder if those advocating more private property on Reserves really understand the nature of First Nations communities. Frank Cassidy, is a professor of public administration at the University of Victoria. "I really wonder just how much people are trying to understand the problem, versus get rid of it," Cassidy says. He says Canada can work ... without making everyone the same. "I think the move here really has to be about a rethinking of Canada and a recognition that there are diverse elements in this country," Cassidy says. "What we're talking about here is that Canadians from day one have been in a state of denial about what happened in this country. The reality is settlers came here, there were people living here and the settlers and the governments took away their land, and disrespected the institutions of the people that were here. That is the reality that took place. " Others say the Alliance is really talking in code about taking away the qualities which make native people in Canada who they are. Taiaiake Alfred of the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria says it's a position that advocates the old idea that native people don't have any special claim to the land and they should just blend in with everyone else and watch their culture disappear. "There is no substance to the idea," Alfred says. "It is strictly a manifestation of racial hatred of native people. They'll shift and counter to get to the same objective. Right now, they're talking about economics .. we need to empower the reserves .. that's only because it's cool. Ten, 100 years ago it was different. The thing that is common is that anti-Indian hatred that is being expressed in subtle ways. " THE WET'SUWET'EN WAY At the airport in Smithers, in B.C.'s northwest, Andy George is getting ready to strap himself into a helicopter for a short flight. George is a member of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation. He's the forestry manager for the band. He says those who believe native people would be better off owning property and acting individually should consider what his band is doing. He says it proves that you can combine collective native ownership of the land with modern business ideas. The Wet'suwet'en claim over 11,000 square kilometres of land as their traditional territory and the helicopter is flying over some of the more dramatic landmarks. Towering, snow covered mountains, glaciers, . crystal clear lakes and seemingly endless forests. Rather than bargaining with Ottawa over this land, Andy George says his people have decided to put joint ventures in place with business and government first and build a treaty piece by piece. "What we try to look at is, how do we govern the territories," George says. "We're not into the treaties to be kicking anyone out, it's better to have a say in how resources are extracted, looking at alternative methods. A hundred years ago, there were native villages scattered across the territory. Each was connected by a system of trails. When the reserve system was established, those villages were abandoned and burned but the trails still wind through the forests. George says the Wet'suwet'en have put up lodges along those ancient trails to encourage hikers, snowmobilers and other tourists. In another part of the territory, the band has a co-venture with a large forestry company to selectively harvest trees without large clear cuts. The band also co-owns a plant that manufactures wooden joists used to build roofs. During a break for lunch at a snow-covered picnic spot along a river. George says building a new relationship with business, and government is slow, unglamourous work. "Basically, what it boils down to is an educational process, understanding us and our culture and where we come from," George says. "And part of that process you did today was see our territories, how we govern them and what they mean to us. Once people see that process, they'll see a much different light as to why we're trying to do what we're doing. The largest First Nations community in Wet'suwet'en territory is Moricetown, a reserve about 20 minutes down the highway from Smithers. There's a church ... a couple of stores ... simple homes. Over the years, many people have left here for cities in the south because there weren't any jobs. Alfred Joseph, one of the elders in the community, believes if the band is successful at building a stronger rural economy many people will be drawn back. He says those who argue native people are better off leaving the collective and blending in with the general population .. need only look at the plight of many urban native people .. to know it doesn't work. "You got Montreal, Vancouver, or Ottawa, First Nations are all over there, yet they're in more trouble than us .. we are at home. If the Alliance says integration is going to work, why isn't working it right now in Vancouver, or Victoria, or any other place like that." Across the highway from the Moricetown church Darlene Glaim-Buchholz is standing on a ridge above the Bulkley River watching as the water rushes a gorge. Glaim-Buchholz is 38 years old, and like Andy George, she's one of the band's young leaders who is looking to the future. To her, the debate over whether collective or individual rights is the way to go, coming down to one key point: Native people have been living in Canada for thousands of years and she says forgetting their history and way of doing things ... is not how to build a community. "Everything that we have, we have to build together, we need each other to survive, even in the modern day, we continue to need each other, to function as a people," she says. There's a stark contrast between Glaim-Buchholz's view of native life .. and those who emphasize individual rights. For them, constitutional protection of native rights has been a detriment and the collective has outlived its usefulness as a means of promoting native culture and economic survival. Public support for negotiating new treaties and testing models of self- government suggests that many Canadians have faith in the collective rights approach. But violence in fishing and resources disputes between natives and non- natives and some would even say the growth the Canadian Alliance in British Columbia, suggests patience with the present system is being strained. --------- "RE: Tribe Purchase Last Big Piece of Lake Property" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 07:12:53 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAKE COEUR D'ALENE" Tribe purchases last big piece of lake property Julie Titone - Staff writer Coeur d'Alene _ The largest piece of undeveloped shoreline on Lake Coeur d'Alene has been purchased by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe from Wallace businessman Harry Magnuson. The 387 acres of largely wooded land includes 2.5 miles of shoreline extending from Windy Bay south to 16-to-1 Bay. Magnuson said Monday that he bought the land 35 years ago, and later got to know tribal members through a mutual interest in preserving the old mission at Cataldo. "We've been talking on and off for 15 years that the tribe would like to own it, but they didn't have the resources to buy it," Magnuson said of the lakeside property. In the last year, we've gotten serious and they said, `Let's do it."' Ernie Stensgar, tribal chairman, said "This is the completion of a long journey back to the lake." The land was purchased from the Kootenai Land Co., owned by Harry and Colleen Magnuson and their five children. The undisclosed price was paid with tribal casino profits, 25 percent of which are designated for land acquisition within the reservation. "Our economic recovery has made this possible," said Stensgar. "But Harry Magnuson has done more than his part to make it happen. He understands local history and tradition, and recognizes the importance of this land to the tribe." Magnuson continued to work with the tribe even though he might have gotten a higher price from another buyer, Stensgar said. The sale represents the tribe's first substantial land purchase since the Homestead Act of 1906. That removed tribal members from land along the lakeshore, and stripped the tribe of its land base, according to tribal press secretary Bob Bostwick. The tribe owns only about 70,000 acres within the 345,000-acre reservation. Its ancestral homeland extended across North Idaho, Eastern Washington and Montana. That included all of Lake Coeur d'Alene. A recent court decision confirmed tribal ownership of the southern third of the lake, which includes Windy Bay. The state has appealed the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court. Magnuson's understanding is that the tribe intends to leave the land undeveloped. "I think they're going to use it as a park and recreational area for their members," he said. According to Bostwick, the future of the property hasn't been decided. "You have so many things to consider, including economic development potential, economic diversity," Bostwick said. "You're also going to consider our natural resources department, environmental issues, history, culture, traditions." Copyright c. 2001 Idaho Spokesman-Review. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Navajo Court Interpreters" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 07:52:03 -0600 From: "John D Berry/grad/res/Okstate" Subj: (FWD)Indian News 01-02-2001 ----- Forwarded by John D Berry/grad/res/Okstate Language, Culture Create Need for Navajo Speakers Justice: Qualifications are stiff for court interpreters. They must deal with graphic evidence and specialized material from expert witnesses. >From Associated Press December 31, 2000 SALT LAKE CITY -- For Navajo defendants charged with felonies, Salt Lake City's imposing federal courthouse can seem like a strange land, where everyone speaks in a strange tongue. That's because it is. And it's up to Navajo court interpreters to translate both language and culture. "It is a foreign process to the Navajo people," said Salt Lake interpreter Bertie Kee-Lopez. "A lot of times they are very, very nervous. They're taken from the reservation and into federal court. . . . I think that it has an emotional effect on the defendant." Although misdemeanors committed on reservations are handled by tribal courts, most serious felonies are prosecuted in federal courts. In Utah, that means a drive of at least six hours north from the Navajo reservation to the capital. Nationwide, nearly 95% of interpreters used in the country's federal courts speak Spanish, said Dick Carelli, spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Navajo ranks far down on the list of needed interpreters. But in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah--which share the Navajo reservation--the need is great. Assistant U.S. Atty. Chris Chaney, who prosecuted cases from Utah's tiny section of the Navajo reservation for three years, said he usually had about 10 cases pending. He said defendants, victims or witnesses needed interpreters 30% to 40% of the time. Chaney found that most tribal members younger than 25 are proficient in English but not in Navajo. Those between 25 and 50 are mainly bilingual, and those older than 50 usually claim Navajo as their first language, he said. It's those people who keep interpreter Esther Yazzie-Lewis busy. In November alone, she translated for 22 cases in Albuquerque's federal court. Yazzie-Lewis, who started out working as a radio dispatcher with the Navajo Nation police in Arizona, became a deputy court clerk for the tribal courts and with the tribal probation office. When she began interpreting in the federal courts, she carried a note pad in which she jotted down the translations of legal terms from Black's Law Dictionary. >From there she developed the English-Navajo Glossary of Legal Terms, which contains 2,000 definitions. Her glossary formed the basis of a certification test for interpreters used by the University of Arizona, where she now teaches. Jonathan Levy, program coordinator for the university's National Center for Interpretation Testing, Research and Policy, said the center has certified 79 Navajo interpreters since 1994. The qualifications are stiff. Candidates must not only speak Navajo -- which virtually guarantees they are members of the tribe--but must also be able to interpret testimony from expert witnesses, stomach graphic evidence and be able to explain ballistics, Yazzie-Lewis said. "I think a lot of people go to training thinking they can speak English and Navajo, but they come out of training dumbfounded," she said. Utah interpreter Rodger Williams agreed, saying it can be hard to relate the law in a Navajo way. "To us laws are something like natural laws. They are constant. They never change. You try to explain it in white man's ways, there's all sorts of loopholes," he said. "That's why traditional people will say, 'I don't understand the white man; they speak with forked tongues.' " Kee-Lopez said translating Navajo presents cultural obstacles. For example, she said, she has had cases in which the defendant's family wants her to deliver a package from a medicine man, usually a bit of herbs. It's hard, she explains, to deny the family, especially when they insist she and the defendant are members of the same clan. "You feel the obligation after they tell you you're related. A lot of times I feel I have to help because I'm there for my people," she said. --------- "RE: Crow Landscapes not Forgotten" --------- Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 22:29:52 -0800 (PST) From: Paul Pureau Subj: Crow landscapes not forgotten Mailing List: ndn-aim CROW AGENCY, Mont. - When Dr. Barney Old Coyote looks across his homeland in Crow country he can point to places like Anmaalapamm'ua - 'Where the Whole Camp Mourned', Baahpalohkahpe, the place where the Crows first celebrated the 4th of July, and Bissh'ilannuusaau - 'Where They Laid Down Yellow Blankets'. These places all have English names on maps created by the state of Montana but Old Coyote remembers what his people have called these places for hundreds of years, and he hopes the Crow Place Name Project will help generations to come remember them as well. Two years ago Old Coyote and some 20 other Crow elders began working with Little Big Horn College General Studies instructor Tim McCleary to document place names and chronicle the stories behind them. Most people don't know the rest stop on I-90 leaving the reservation is known as Anmaalapamm'ua because the whole camp mourned there after a war party that fought at Rainy Buttes returned with many dead. Old Coyote says so many warriors were killed, not one family went unaffected, and everyone was in mourning. The Rainy Buttes fight is known to the Lakota as "Where Sitting Bull's father was killed." Baahpalohkahpe was once a favorite tribal camping site. It is also where the Crows first celebrated the 4th of July in a Burlington Northern Railroad-sponsored celebration in 1882. Crows, camped at Absarokee, were transported on flat-bed railroad cars for the celebration. Railroad workers named a child born during the celebration George Washington. That child became a tribal leader - George Washington Hogan. Mission Creek was the site of the first distribution of annuities after the 1868 treaty. It included yellow Army blankets. To this day many Crows call the area Bissh'ilannuusaau. Old Coyote is a Crow tribe member, decorated World War II veteran and respected tribal elder. The humble man who possesses vast knowledge about Crow culture and language, has spent his entire adulthood passing that knowledge on to his children, grandchildren and the next generation of Crow people. He worked as an educator at the college level and continues to give occasional seminars in his retirement. The Crow place names list now boasts more than 500 locations, from the 2. 2-million-acre reservation and beyond, across the North America. Although a non-Indian, McCleary has worked at the college for 10 years. He's become a competent Crow speaker, much of which he credits to Old Coyote's classes. Because of his long tenure, McCleary, a trained anthropologist, is considered by many as part of the community with unique opportunity to see parts of the Crow world sometimes taken for granted. He weaves the information into his college curriculum and in 1997 published a book on Crow star knowledge which is used in classrooms around the reservation and at the college. Old Coyote and his brother, the late Mickey Old Coyote, contributed to the book. "I like to see the project progress," Old Coyote said. "To me personally, it's a chance to renew my ties with the land and my past, and some things I believed to be true, but was not sure about. It has clarified things, and refined my perspective of Crow history, simply because of the names and locations. It gives one hope for the future that we will not lose our Crow identity. "When something is already in print (Euro-American maps) it is hard to change. This can correct those distortions of the past. "Crow place names are tied not only by events, but also for what they offered the Crow and for their physical characteristics ... Such as a coulee or creek with a fork or a place to gather wild carrots or gooseberries, and locations where tipi poles would be gathered." "So it (a Crow place name) can be a local reference as well as a general reference," Old Coyote said. "I grew up in Big Horn (district) so the Grape Vine is where we gathered our service berries, goose berries, etc. They all had favorite places like that." Old Coyote said he feels the impression is worse when English translations of Crow names are corrupted. "One thing I noticed is white people like colorful names of how they think of Indians, and they often don't match what they are." Old Coyote said. "In Billings Aashu'choosalaho - Where there are Many Skulls, white people call it Valley of Skulls, which gives the impression of human skulls. But to the Crows it's a place of abundance of game, because you didn't take skulls with you when you butchered an animal." So, what non- Indians think of as a graveyard, many Crow consider a place of prosperity, because the skulls of so many buffaloes remain there. A college Historic and Battle Sites tour in the summer of 1991 gave birth to the place name project. McCleary said he watched videos of the bus tour and was immediately struck by the story telling by four elders. "They had descriptions of almost every little point and drainage as they traveled. As they described the stories, they didn't always know the dates of events, like a Euro- history professor would, but they knew incredible details about what took place there, so it became apparent to me where it took place and what occurred is more important to the Crow people. "Nearly two-thirds of the Crow place names are references to the way in which the land looks or the directions a stream flows. Unlike Euro- Americans names which are named after people or events." McCleary said. "They do have places named after events, but by and large they are named after topographic features in the land, which tells me in Crow culture the land is equal to humans, because they can recall events that happened at a location, but it still may be called 'Short Butte.' It suggests the Crow see themselves as equal to the land and do not try to dominate it. When historical terms are used, it illustrates an incredible event." McCleary's interviews with elders are available on a database linked to the college Web site. It contains GIS maps of each location and can be accessed by the English or Crow name and by reservation district. Recently McCleary trained bilingual teachers from across the reservation to access the site. The college's chief information officer Randy Falls Down created the Web site and supervised creation of computer-based maps. He said the project's potential for classroom use is important. "For a bilingual teacher to just look out the window and point at something and say its name in Crow makes it more interesting for students. Kids love their computers," he said. "And with this they can connect their culture into it. It's just a good deal all the way around." Access the place-name information at http://www.lbhc.cc.mt.us/crownames. Copyright c. 2000 Indian Country Today ===== Paul Pureau to subscribe to ndn-aim send a blank mail to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com ndn-aim is now archived on line at Http://www.escribe.com/life/ndn-aim/ FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Blackfeet Bank Gaining Clout" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 07:12:53 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BLACKFEET BANK" Tribal bank gaining clout By Kristi Arellano Denver Post Business Writer Jan. 10, 2001 - A Denver-based financial organization representing about a dozen American Indian tribes will acquire the Blackfeet National Bank from the Blackfeet Tribe in Browning, Mont. The acquisition by Native American Bancorp., which is subject to regulatory approval, would create a bank with more than $20 million in capital with offices in Denver and Browning. The Blackfeet National Bank recently reported assets of $18.1 million and capital of $1.1 million. Bank officials said the merger will help the Blackfeet National Bank, which will operate as Native American National Bank, offer more competitive rates and fees for its customers. It will also increase the tribes' borrowing capacity. "As a small bank, there was a lot we couldn't do a lot to serve the needs of our community," said Elouise Cobell, chairwoman of the board of directors for the Blackfeet National Bank. The bank, which was launched with a $940,000 investment from the tribe in 1987, has helped finance more than 200 start-ups on the Blackfeet Reservation. "We were the first bank that was in the heart of Indian country," Cobell said. "We were serving people that never had access to capital and credit and providing a service where there was a complete void, in my opinion." The merger will make the Blackfeet bank part of a larger effort to provide banking services for tribes throughout the United States. Native American Bancorp. is working to establish the nation's largest intertribal bank. The Native American National Bank, which plans to make its headquarters in Denver, would be subject to the same regulations as any other bank. It would serve as a community bank and as a large-scale national bank, providing largescale loans to Indian-owned businesses and investing in non-Indian companies, its members said. "It is the largest financial opportunity ever presented to tribal nations," said Tex Hall, chairman of Native American Bancorp. and of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota. "Our merger with Blackfeet National Bank will be a significant boost to our mission of creating economic power through the pooling of our resources." Tribes that have underwritten Native American Bancorp. include Colorado's Ute Mountain Utes; the Pequots of Connecticut; Seminoles in Florida; Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa in Michigan; the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa in Minnesota; the Tlingit and Haida tribes, in Alaska; the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., comprising several tribes in northern Alaska; the Navajo Tribe in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico; the Puyallup Tribe in Washington; and Hall's Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota. Native American Bancorp. has yet to establish a Denver office. Copyright 2001 The Denver Post. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Supreme Court to Hear FOIA Case" --------- Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 05:09:59 -0800 (PST) From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FOIA CASE" http://www.trib.com/HOMENEWS/STATE/10Scotus_Tribes.html Supreme Court to hear FOIA case in tribal water dispute By BART JANSEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is weighing the confidentiality Indian tribes enjoy with federal agencies that protect their natural resources against the public's right to know how water is allocated along the California-Oregon border. The decision in the case to be heard Wednesday could ripple across the country. The federal government is obligated to protect tribal resources on 54 million acres of reservations held in trust under treaties, many dating to the 19th century. More than 100 tribes from the Rio Grande River to the Canadian border joined the Klamath case. They compare the records to confidential documents shared between a client and lawyer, and worry outsiders will gain an advantage over them if federal officials disclose the information. But irrigators, joined by several news organizations, contend the public has a right to know how the government is handling water cases crucial in the West for balancing development and farming against fish conservation. The case pits irrigation farmers who rely on water from Upper Klamath Lake against Indian tribes interested in keeping water flowing in the Klamath River 200 miles to the Pacific Ocean. Endangered sucker fish live in the lake and threatened coho salmon swim in the river. Within the U.S. Department of Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation administers the dam holding water in the lake for irrigation. Also within Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs routinely confers with tribes about water rights in the area, including the Klamath, Hoopa Valley, Karuk and Yurok tribes. In 1996, the Klamath Water Users Protection Association, which covers about 200,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California, filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for documents between the tribes and BIA. The documents discussed the Klamath project and an Oregon state groundwater adjudication. BIA released some documents, but withheld seven letters totaling 31 pages. A federal judge ruled the agency didn't have to release the records; the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed that ruling in August, ordering their release. Federal lawyers, joined by the National Congress of American Indians, argued that releasing the documents would in essence violate the attorney- client privilege because federal agencies are obligated to protect reservation land, water and other natural resources. The Klamath tribe, for example, retained hunting and fishing rights in southern Oregon under an 1864 treaty with the federal government. Releasing the documents "leaves Indian tribes with the Hobson's choice of either not communicating with their fiduciary or communicating knowing that sensitive documents will be subject to disclosure. Either way, meaningful trusteeship is defeated," according to lawyers for tribes, including 50 negotiating with states and water users over rights. Irrigators argue the tribes are simply another special-interest group trying to sway the government. "To deny the public access to information submitted by parties involved in a controversial government decision-making process undermines the public's ability to oversee the workings of our government," wrote a lawyer for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists. The city of Tacoma, Wash., joined the case, arguing that it deserves more information from the Skokomish tribe in a dispute over the Cushman Hydroelectric Project built in the 1920s. The tribe filed a $5.8 billion lawsuit in 1999 against the city, claiming the project hurt fish and caused flooding. The Supreme Court case is U.S. Department of Interior vs. Klamath Water Users Protective Association, 99-1871. Copyright c. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Ousted Official Files Revises Crow Suit" --------- Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 07:12:53 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW SECRETARY" Ousted official files revises Crow suit By LORNA THACKERAY of The Gazette Staff Wed Jan 10 03:44:47 CST 2001 Central Time Ousted Crow tribal secretary Tilton Old Bull Sr. said this week he is asking a federal judge in Billings to act on his suit to restore his official powers. In a new version of a previously filed complaint, Old Bull seeks to add as defendants the three remaining elected tribal officials, including Chairman Clifford Birdinground, and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials. He also wants the lawsuit treated as a class action, and has included as plaintiffs 150 of his family members, friends and supporters purged from the tribal payroll by Birdinground and others. The proposed amended complaint, filed by Helena attorney Thomas S. Winson, asks Chief U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom to nullify Old Bull's "wrongful" impeachment by the tribal council, to remove other elected officials found guilty of misconduct and to order the BIA to withhold recognition of any tribal council actions after July 8, when the Birdinground administration presided at its first council meeting. Sam Painter, attorney for the tribe, said neither he nor the tribe had been served with anything and could not comment. Although a copy of the new complaint had been left Monday with the federal clerk of court in Billings, a separate motion needed to actually amend the complaint had not been filed as of Tuesday afternoon. If that motion is presented, Shanstrom will then decide whether the amended document will be accepted. In the original complaint, Old Bull named only First Interstate Bank of Hardin, which handles the tribe's money, and John Dunham, the tribe's accountant, as defendants. As in the new complaint, he maintains that he is the legally elected secretary of the Crow Tribe, and as such is responsible for the tribe's financial records. He also said that a resolution passed by the council last July required his signature as well as that of the chairman on any disbursements or contracts. The complaint does not say that the council rescinded Old Bull's signatory authority within a few months and transferred responsibility for financial records to the vice secretary. Old Bull has previously asserted that the meeting at which those steps were taken was illegal. Old Bull charges that the three other elected officials refused to allow him examine financial records and have refused to allow his signature to appear on checks. The bank has honored those checks, he said. Dunham has also refused to let him view the records, Old Bull said. Although he was elected on Birdinground's slate of officers last spring, Old Bull was impeached Oct. 14, in part, for failing to cooperate with other elected officials. Old Bull contends that the meeting was illegal and was packed with Birdinground supporters. The complaint also alleges wrongdoing on the part of tribal officials including the diversion of funds and filling judicial and housing board positions with Birdinground relatives instead of those elected to the positions. Copyright c. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. --------- "RE: South Dakota Assault" --------- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 13:50:15 -0800 From: "Lona" Subj: South Dakota Assault Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.dickshovel.com/sd.html By October 1974, Janklow was running for South Dakota Attorney General against incumbent Kermit Shande. Janklow campaigned primarily as an enforcer of 'law and order' in the face of 'AIM lawlessness,' gaining political points with the conservative electorate stirred and frightened by the Wounded Knee publicity. Janklow, however, had a few skeletons in his closet which Sande attempted to draw into the open. In 1955, at the age of sixteen, Janklow had been convicted of an assault on a seventeen-year-old girl in Moody County, South Dakota. Although the juvenile was confidential, it was suspected and rumored that the charge had been rape. When Sande publicized the criminal record, Janklow countered by charging him with illegally revealing the juvenile record. He admitted to the media that he had been charged with assault, but in answer to an inquiry concerning the rape allegation he said 'No, it didn;t go that far, but it was preliminary to that type of thing.' "Then, on October 16, Dennis Banks exposed a second rape charge against Janklow. In 1966 Janklow, working for the Office of Economic Opportunity on the Rosebud reservation, had been accused of rape by fifteen-year-old Jancita Eagle Deer, the Janklow family babysitter. The young girl alleged that Janklow had raped her at gunpoint while giving her a ride home. Medical records at the Rosebud Public Health Service contained evidence of the attack and quoted her as having identified Janklow as her assailant. The rape was reported to the BIA, but with Janklow himself acting as head of the legal services program, no charges were brought against him. The FBI was also notified, but failed to bring charges against Janklow. "[Rosebud Tribal Court Chief Justice Mario Gonzalez stated] ...the evidence indicates that an obstruction of justice followed the rape. When a complaint was being made to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Officer, Janklow was there. The Tribal Court ordered 'a warrant to apprehend and arrest Mr. Janklow...at any time that he may be found on the Rosebud reservation.' The court order was signed two days before the November 2 election. Janklow claimed that the whole thing was an AIM 'smear campaign' and 'gutter attacks.' Five months later Jancita Eagle Deer was discovered dead on a Nebraska highway near the reservation. The police report stated that the cause of death was 'hit and run,' although some of the wounds on her body were determined to have been caused before she was hit by the car.'" Blood of the Land - The Government And Corporate War Against First Nations, pg 124-126, ISBN 0-86571-241-7 To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Leonard Peltier: Facts vs. Fiction" --------- Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 14:20:19 -0800 From: Nancy Thomas Subj: Leonard Peltier: Facts vs. fiction Mailing List: Paths-L Leonard Peltier: Facts vs. fiction December 22, 2000 By Bruce Ellison, a Rapid City attorney who represents Leonard Peltier. The fictions perpetrated by last Saturday's Forum piece, "Peltier legend a myth," by Douglas Domin, special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis Division, have compelled this response. Peltier was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) convicted in the deaths of two FBI agents near Oglala on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The agents and a young AIM member were killed during a June 26, 1975, firefight between FBI agents, U.S. Marshals, state police and residents of the Oglala community, including members of AIM. The FBI characterizes the evidence surrounding this tragic day and the conviction of Peltier as a "myth." It wants you to question no more. The Regional Office of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded in a July 9, 1975 Report: "It is patently clear that many of the statements .. . released (by the FBI to the media) regarding the incident are either false, unsubstantiated, or directly misleading." It apparently remains the FBI's practice today. Agent Domin contends Peltier has a violent past. He cites the death of a fellow prisoner during an escape from Lompoc (Calif.) prison. He fails to note the prisoner was shot in the back by a guard who knew the escape route beforehand. The guard testified he shot the young man whose his arms were raised in surrender. Peltier had 12 witnesses and 150 pages of government documents supporting his defense that escape was necessary to save his life. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Lydick found Peltier "had a well-grounded fear that a plot existed among federal officials to assassinate him" during the escape. The judge refused to allow Peltier to present such evidence to the jury. Domin also wants you to believe Peltier is a man with violent propensities toward police officers. He falsely claims Peltier shot at an Oregon State Trooper while running from a mobile home. Domin fails to mention the government could not even produce the minimal evidence necessary to support Peltier's extradition >from Canada on that allegation. No criminal prosecution has ever been brought against Peltier accusing him of such conduct. False information disseminated by the FBI in our community has not been limited to the media. The government secured Peltier's extradition from Canada on charges of killing two FBI agents based primarily upon alleged eyewitness affidavits signed by a Pine Ridge resident named Myrtle Poor Bear. The affidavits were obtained by agent David Price, one of the deceased agents' partners. Poor Bear later testified she was coerced into signing the documents. A government prosecutor later admitted the affidavits were false. U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ross responded such conduct by the FBI "gives some credence to the claim of Indian people that the government is willing to resort to any tactic ... to bring somebody back ... and if they are willing to do that, they must be willing to fabricate other evidence." Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals affirmed Peltier's conviction. The current Minneapolis FBI special agent in charge significantly did not inform readers that within 24 hours of the deaths of the agents, the criminal investigation labeled "RESMURS" was placed under the command of Richard Held, "IS-1, Intelligence Division" - the domestic security section of the FBI. The criminal investigation into the deaths of the agents would be part of an FBI domestic security operation. FBI documents obtained after Peltier's trial show that two months before the firefight, the FBI formally planned to disrupt AIM through military- type operations. See April 24, 1975, memorandum, O'Connell to Gebhardt, "The Use of Special Agents of the FBI In A Paramilitary Law Enforcement Operation In the Indian Country." Three weeks before the firefight FBI inspectors toured the reservation. They reported "pockets of Indian population which consisted almost exclusively of ... AIM members." The memorandum talked of an area near Oglala with "bunkers" requiring "military assault forces if it were necessary to overcome resistance." Agent Domin failed to mention the FBI targeted Peltier for prosecution in the deaths of the agents within weeks of the firefight. The FBI intended to "develop information to lock Peltier ... into this case." Agent Domin urges Journal readers to believe Leonard Peltier shot and killed the agents. Peltier did not. And Domin ignores the position taken by the government's attorney at Appellate Court hearings 1985 and 1992 that the government "can't prove who shot those agents" and lacked any "direct evidence" he did so. At trial, the government presented testimony from an FBI firearms expert that an AR-15 rifle represented to be Peltier's was linked ballistically to a shell casing found near the agents' bodies. He could not do a definitive firing pin test comparison, he swore, because the weapon was too badly damaged in a fire and explosion. So he did a less conclusive "extractor mark" comparison test and found a match. From this the government argued Peltier personally shot the agents with this rifle. The FBI suppressed laboratory documents showing the contrary. Hodge was promoted to head the Firearms Section of the FBI Lab. FBI documents obtained years later under the Freedom of Information Act revealed the FBI lab was able to do a firing pin test, did such a test, and concluded the weapon had not fired any of the like caliber casings found at the scene. "Recovered .223 caliber Colt rifle ... contains different firing pin than that in rifle used at RESMURS scene." Confronted with such evidence, government prosecutors argued to the Court of Appeals that it never tried to prosecute Peltier as the killer, but merely as an aider and abettor. The Appellate Court found the suppressed documents "cast a strong doubt on the government's case" and might have resulted in an acquittal. Yet somehow, it was still not enough for a new trial. I have been a criminal defense attorney here for over 25 years. One of my clients since 1975 has been Leonard Peltier. Contrary to Domin, my early experiences included the fear in eyes of children and their parents as night came, bullet holes in people, homes, and cars, funerals for some victims of the violence that plagued the reservation during that period. Most of the victims were men, women, and children who were members, relatives, or friends of members of the American Indian Movement. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in its July 9, 1975, report expressed concern that "many reservation residents" felt "little has been done to solve the numerous murders on the reservation." There was a war going on. The evidence shows the FBI were partisans in this conflict. This is not a myth, but on the record in the few court proceedings where proof was allowed, with significant additional evidence long awaiting congressional inquiry. Most significantly, evidence of the climate of fear and terror on Pine Ridge convinced an all-White, conservative jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that two of Peltier's co-defendants, Darelle Butler and Robert Robideau, were not guilt of aiding and abetting in the deaths of the agents. An FBI analysis of the acquittals noted comments of the jury foreman: "While it was shown ... the defendants were firing guns in the direction of the agents, it was held ... not excessive in the heat of passion ... An important facet was ... an atmosphere of fear and violence existed ... and that the defendants arguably could have been shooting in self-defense." Peltier was not permitted by a different judge to present the same evidence in his defense at trial. U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Heaney, well-familiar with the evidence has recommended executive clemency since 1991. As his first reason for the propriety of clemency, Judge Heaney wrote: "Instead of carefully considering the legitimate grievances of the Native Americans, the response was essentially a military one which culminated in a deadly firefight on June 26, 1975." His second reason was "the United States government must share the responsibility with the Native Americans for the June 26 firefight." The FBI claims executive clemency would "signal disrespect" for law enforcement. Former FBI agent and 32-year Congressman Don Edwards, sees it differently. Congressman Edwards took a personal look at the Peltier case as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. As expressed in a Dec. 14 written statement: "Granting clemency to Mr. Peltier should not be viewed as expressing any disrespect for the current agents or leadership of the FBI, nor would it represent any condoning of the killings ... Instead, clemency ... would recognize past wrongdoing and the undermining of the government's case since trial ... It would serve as a crucial step in the reconciliation and healing between the U.S. Government and Native Americans." The Minneapolis Tribune in a Dec. 2 editorial ("Leonard Peltier - Bid for clemency deserves favor") cited the "war zones" existing on the reservation in the mid-1970s and wrote: "If Clinton concludes Peltier did exactly what the prosecutors said he did ... there is still a credible case to be made for clemency. And if he concludes, as so many others have done, that the government exaggerated Peltier's culpability, that case becomes compelling." Published December 22, 2000 in the Rapid City Journal. URL: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2000/ December/22-755-opin01.txt ---------------------------------------- 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 --------- "RE: Peltier: A Tug-o-War for Freedom" --------- Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 07:27:24 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PELTIER TUG-O-WAR" Peltier: A Tug-o-War for Freedom By Ruth Steinberger As the close of this Presidency draws near, friends and supporters of Leonard Peltier's have launched a high profile, international campaign to gain clemency for Peltier. Action on behalf of Peltier by President-elect George Bush is unlikely, and supporters have set their sights on this time period to try to gain Peltier's freedom. Supporters of the drive to gain freedom for the Native American activist include numerous Tribes, the National Congress of American Indians, Amnesty International, the European Parliament, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, National Lawyers Guild, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Vine Deloria, Sherman Alexie, The Rev. Jessie Jackson, Nelson Mandela and many more. Now serving his 24th year in the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, for the shooting deaths of two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ron Williams, Peltier maintains his innocence in the deaths. Three other adults were indicted in connection with the shootout. Tried a year before Peltier's trial, they were acquitted on the grounds that they acted in self-defense. Recently, in an unprecedented move, the FBI placed full-page ads in national newspapers including USA Today, to try to persuade the public that Peltier is guilty and should remain in prison. On Friday, December 15, 2000, a group of current FBI agents, along with retired agents and families and friends of the slain men, picketed the White House to let President Clinton know their strong opposition to Peltier's release. Picketers carried posters depicting photos of the slain agents, urging that the President reject calls for clemency by Peltier's supporters. A Native American, Joe Killsright Stuntz, was also killed during the shootout of June 26, 1975. His death was never investigated. Given the documented history of violence against the traditional communities, violence that ultimately escalated into the shootout after repeated calls for investigation over the course of many years, the emotional angle used by the FBI remains hollow. Calling Peltier a, "Cold blooded killer", FBI Special Agent John Sennett, president of the FBI Agents Association, said, "Leonard Peltier is not at all worthy of that kind of consideration." Earlier, FBI Director Louie Freeh wrote President Clinton strongly urging him to reject clemency for Peltier, stating that clemency would, `signal disrespect' for law enforcement and for the American people. When contacted by Oklahoma Indian Times, the FBI had no comment on the matter, and referred to the demonstration of Friday, December 15. They referred Oklahoma Indian Times to the Department of Justice, who told Oklahoma Indian Times they had no comment on the matter. The shootout on June 26, 1975, occurred after lengthy political disputes on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota left numerous people dead and an atmosphere that many describe as a "reign of terror" throughout the reservation. Much of the violence has been attributed to the tribal police force under Tribal Chairman Dick Wilson. The tribal police had allegedly been involved in beatings, disappearances, and the arson of homes and killings of people who opposed Wilson. Ultimately, the continued violence against those who opposed Wilson would result in a spontaneous occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, by over 300 traditional Lakota along with friends and supporters, to demand full investigation into the situation they faced. Many of the disputes preceding the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 pitted traditional members of the community against supporters of Wilson, who saw potential profit motives in uranium mining and other ventures. Many traditional members felt Wilson's activities seriously compromised the land as well as traditional values, and those who opposed Wilson were concerned for their safety as the violence directed toward them escalated. Documentation from that time reveals that the FBI provided arms to Dick Wilson's `Guardians of the Oglala Nation' (GOONS), contributing to the escalating violence, abuse, deaths and disappearances on the reservation. Estimates reveal that as many as 20,000 rounds of ammunition were fired into the village during the occupation, yet a negotiator acknowledged that the FBI with Wilson that promised protection from prosecution for his GOON's if they violated the law had reached an agreement. Following an agreement reached on April 5, 1973, a Wounded Knee delegation would submit to arrest, post bond and go to Washington, DC, for discussions on the situation. Russell Means, Leonard Crow Dog and Chief Tom Bad Cob traveled to Washington, DC, but once the men arrived there, the government refused to initiate the promised discussions with them. Opposition to Wilson's policies came from many residents of the reservation. Ultimately fearful of the continued, unresolved violence, AIM was asked by residents to send members to help protect activists who feared the ever increasing reprisals which now included homes being burned, cars run off the road, drive-by shootings and murders. In May 1975, a group of AIM members including Peltier arrived at the Jumping Bull Ranch on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and set up camp there. An FBI memo, dated June 1975, referred to a potential need for military assault forces to deal with AIM members. Paul DeMain, Owner of News From Indian Country, said, "The original events leading up to Wounded Knee, in 1973, occurred in 1972 with the occupation of the BIA after the Trail of Broken Treaties." DeMain continued, "After Viet Nam, the CIA, US Army, and other federal agencies... were experimenting with the idea you don't send in US troops to fight the war, and Wounded Knee was a prime example of this. What you do instead is you give all the arms and ammunition to the opposition and you look the other way in the face of civil rights violations. That's why Leonard was there, the elders wanted protection." Documentation from that time reveals that the FBI provided arms to Dick Wilson's `Guardians of the Oglala Nation' (GOONS), contributing to the escalating violence. On June 26, 1975, the FBI entered the Jumping Bull property, allegedly following a pick up truck that allegedly carried a person suspected of stealing a pair of boots. The ensuing firefight left one AIM member, Joe Stunts, along with Agents Coler and Williams, dead. Jean Anne Day, a friend of Peltier's and a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation traveled with Peltier to Pine Ridge during that summer. Day told Oklahoma Indian Times that, "For many people it truly was a reign of terror. Many traditional people could truly not move around freely because of Wilson's police. Sadly, had the US Government done what was promised following the situation at Wounded Knee in 1973, this never would have occurred." Day referred to the promises for investigations into the wrongdoing, threats and intimidation and killings still occurring when AIM entered the situation in 1975. Day concluded, "This also needed to include investigation into the allegations of financial fraud and abuse of power...none of this was done." Peltier fled to Canada. On December 16, 1976, he was extradited back to the US based upon documents that included testimony that was to later prove false and was to have been produced by FBI threats made against the witness, a mentally ill woman named Myrtle Poor Bear. Poor Bear's original testimony included statements that she had been Peltier's girlfriend at the time of the shootout and that she witnessed the events of June 26, 1975. Ultimately, she explained that her testimony was produced under threats made against her by FBI agents. Poor Bear then explained that she never knew Peltier personally, and that she was not present at the Jumping Bull Ranch during the shootout. Though Poor Bear's testimony against Peltier was used to extradite him, she was not permitted to testify in court later that she had given that testimony under threats. In March 1977, Peltier's trial began in Fargo, ND. The trial was riddled with contradictions, testimony was not allowed in which two witnesses stated that their testimony had been coerced by threats from FBI agents. The presiding Judge was changed, so that the Judge who heard the original trial a year earlier that ended in acquittal would not preside over Peltier's trial. From the outset, Judge Benson ruled that evidence would be limited to the events of June 26, 1975, leaving out the historical violence at Pine Ridge leading up to the shootout, as well as excluding important information from the earlier trial that resulted in acquittal of Peltier's original co defendants. This prevented the defense from bringing up glaring inconsistencies in testimony that was offered in the two trials. In 1981 extensive documents released through the Freedom of Information Act revealed information that cast serious doubts concerning Peltier's guilt, and which also revealed very serious flaws in the way the case against Peltier was pursued. During Peltier's trial, the FBI ballistics expert stated that the rifle that had allegedly belonged to Peltier had been damaged in a fire. He testified that the most accurate ballistics test, the firing pin test, could not be performed. Instead, the FBI expert claimed to have performed a less precise test, finding that the bullet casing found near the bodies had matched the weapon. Among the documents later uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act, was the complete ballistics file of the FBI expert. He had indeed been able to perform the more precise test, and in doing so had concluded that the bullet could not have been fired from the rifle in question. There had been a decision made to conceal that report from the defense. Demand for a new trial was repeatedly denied on the basis of technicalities. In October 1985, US Prosecutor Lynn Crooks said, "We tried the case with the facts available. The facts available did not give us direct evidence as to who did the coup de grace. They simply didn't.... We argued inferences and we certainly argued them strongly. But that's not the same as saying that we had direct evidence by any one witness that Mr. Peltier was the one that squeezed off the final rounds." Crooks admitted there was no evidence directly tying Peltier to anything besides `aiding and abetting' by virtue of his presence there that day. Judge Gerald Heaney of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote the court opinion against granting Peltier a retrial. However, in 1991, Judge Heaney wrote a letter calling for clemency in Peltier's case. In the letter, Heaney cites a careful study of the trial of Peltier's co- defendants along with numerous other factors. His letter says, `The FBI used improper tactics in extraditing Peltier from Canada and in otherwise investigating and trying the Peltier case.' The letter says, `While the government's role in escalating the conflict into a firefight cannot serve as a legal justification for the killing of the FBI agents at short range, it can properly be considered as a mitigating circumstance.' While the FBI Agents Association has said that clemency for Peltier would be unfair to the families of the agents who died, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee feels that it is wrong to imprison a man based on an emotional argument while ample evidence exists which they believe highlights Peltier's claims of innocence. Bruce Ellison, Attorney for Leonard Peltier spoke with Oklahoma Indian Times. Ellison explained, "Clearly, the FBI is pulling out all stops because if Peltier is granted clemency, it gives credence to the call for a full scale investigation that has gone unheeded for twenty five years. They just want to shut this down and make it go away. The first calls for a congressional investigation of wrongdoing came from the Chairman of the US Civil Rights Commission, Arthur Fleming, in 1975." Commenting on the current campaign for clemency for Peltier, Paul DeMain said, "I think most people believe that it's a time to help heal the wounds of that time." The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee is asking that supporters call the White House at (202) 456-1111 to encourage President Clinton to grant clemency and allow the wounds to begin to heal from this painful chapter. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Activist's Release Sought Before Bush Takes Office" --------- Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 07:27:24 -1000 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PELTIER/TEXAS" Activist's release sought before Bush takes office By Michelle Melendez Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH -- American Indians in Texas are hoping that Leonard Peltier, the activist imprisoned since 1975 for the deaths of two FBI agents, will still be granted executive clemency before President Clinton leaves office. Peltier was not among three people released before Christmas and that has some supporters worried that his chance for freedom will slip away when Gov. George W. Bush becomes president. "If it doesn't happen before Jan. 20, it's not going to happen," said Lawrence Sampson, director of the southeast Texas chapter of the American Indian Movement in Houston. "Bush and Republicans in general are anti- Indian and woefully uninformed on Indian law." Representatives for Bush and Clinton could not be reached to comment Friday. Peltier, a leader of the American Indian Movement, was convicted of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He has denied shooting agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, but has lost all appeals. Peltier, 56, is Anishinabe-Lakota. He has diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, and is being held in Leavenworth Federal Prison in Kansas. The FBI has opposed clemency, going as far as staging a highly unusual public protest last month in front of the White House and placing ads in major newspapers condemning Peltier as a cold-blooded killer. To his supporters, Peltier has become a martyr and symbol of all oppressed indigenous people. "He was railroaded. A scapegoat," said Lillie Redbird Stewart, a Cherokee who lives in Denton. "He comes from a warrior tradition. He was standing up for his people." Many have compared his case to that of Geronimo Pratt, a leader of the Black Panther Party who was released from prison in 1999 after 27 years. A judge overturned his murder conviction after finding that the FBI falsified evidence. Peltier's defense committee has organized an international clemency campaign with support from Amnesty International, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and other human rights activists. Texas supporters have also participated. "We've been making phone calls, sending faxes and letters to the White House. As grassroots activists, we've really stepped it up," said Sampson, whose AIM chapter includes the Fort Worth and Dallas areas. In 1975, the movement's members were camped on the reservation during a three-year conflict between traditional tribal members and those who supported U.S. government- backed tribal Chairman Dick Wilson. The movement and the traditionalists believed that Wilson was corrupt and that he was helping mining companies acquire Indian land and mineral rights. The FBI said the agents entered the reservation in pursuit of a robbery suspect. About 100 yards from the movement's camp, a shootout erupted in which the agents were wounded and an Indian activist was killed. The agents were later fatally shot at point blank range. Four men were tried separately for the killings. All but Peltier were acquitted, two on the basis of self-defense. In Peltier's trial, prosecutors called three young men to testify that they saw Peltier and two other members of the movement at the crime scene after the agents' deaths. An expert witness also testified that one type of ballistics test showed that Peltier's rifle and a casing found near the agents' car matched. Defense attorneys say that the young men were coerced, and that the ballistics expert had lied. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1985 that Peltier had been illegally extradited from Canada, that government witnesses had lied and that prosecutors withheld results of a more reliable ballistics test that could have exonerated Peltier. Still, his conviction was not reversed and no new trial was granted. Stewart, who is acting vice president of Thunder Alliance in Euless, said she hopes that Clinton and others will re- examine the case. If Peltier were released, the Indian community would most likely recruit him to counsel youth, said Verwyn "Lou" Nevaquaya, a Comanche elder living in Dallas. She said that Peltier's release would be a good gesture, but would in no way end the American Indian community's struggle for self-determination. Many tribes seek the return of land and sacred objects and reinstatement of rights. "The warpath we have is always going to continue for many generations. The end of discrimination -- you and I won't see it," Nevaquaya said. Michelle Melendez, (817) 390-7541 send comments to mmelendez@star-telegram.com Copyright c. 2001 Ft. Worth Star-Telegram --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, 15 January 2001 20:55:07 -0530 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. -- - - - Peltier, Leonard #89637-132 Box 1000 Leavenworth, KS 66053 Birthday: 9/12/44 Ancestry: Ojibwa-Lakota -- - - - Found this request on the IronNatives e-mail list (web site: http://www.egroups.com/group/ironnatives) Date: Sat Nov 18, 2000 1:35pm From: Subj: help requested-books needed Hello everyone, I write this to ask of anyone who may have resources available to send books for a newly opened correctional facility. Many brothers were transferred here and nothing was allowed to be taken with them. They are requesting mostly books that might be of a spiritual nature. There are many different nations represented so any books would be greatly appreciated. The books need not be new, but no metal or plastic spiral type bindings are allowed. A prayer circle is being formed, but the brothers have no good reading material at all. The library is pretty much an empty room at this time. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Please send to: Ken Jordan 128 Valley View Rd. North Conway, NH 03860 Please feel free to redistribute this appeal as necessary! Mvto, Ken -- - - - 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 66053 --------------------------------- Dear Janet, Eddie Hatcher was moved from Central Prison in North Carolina to a county jail. His new address is: Eddie Hatcher, Robeson County Jail,122 Legend Road, Lumberton, NC 28358. Thanks, Marsha Shaiman On Indian Land, PO Box 2104, Seattle WA 98111 --------------------------------- Standing Deer's new address: Robert H. Wilson #640539, Estelle Unit, 264 FM 3478, Huntsville, TX 77320-3322 --------- "RE: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 23:26:33 -0500 From: Barbara Landis Subj: History: Carlisle - THE INDIAN HELPER, November 11, 1887 [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] [Warning: just as with last week's HELPER, this issue contains language that may particularly offensive in its depiction of Pawnee life.] THE INDIAN HELPER ----------------------------- ~~ FOR OUR BOYS AND GIRLS ~~ ============================= VOLUME III CARLISLE, PA. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1887 NO. 14 ----------------------------- WORK WHILE YOU WORK. Work while you work, And play while you play; That is the way To be cheerful and gay. All that you do, Do with your might; Things done by halves Are never done right. One thing at once, And that done well, Is a very good rule, As many can tell. Moments are useless, Trifled away; Work while you work, And play while you play. -[Selected. --------------- A PAWNEE MEDICINE-DANCE. "Here we are Auntie; already for the Pawnee medicine," cried the same half dozen little folks spoken of by Aunt Martha last week. They were on their way home from school and could not go by the house without hearing the promised story. "Have you all had good lessons?" asked dear old Auntie as she looked over her spectacles. "Yes, every one of us." "Then you deserve a story. Just sit down and I will do my best." "Good! Good! Here is a stool for you Mary," said Johnnie as he seated himself on the floor by his sister's side, while all the others stood or knelt around Aunt Martha's chair. "How many of you remember the picture of the Indian lodge that I showed you last week?" "I do! I do!" and every hand went up as quickly as if they had been in school and the teacher had asked a question they knew well how to answer. "The dances are held inside of those lodges," continued Auntie, "and the medicine I was invited to attend came at night." "Did you go alone?" "No, two of the Agency ladies and my brother went with me to the dance. The Indian doctor who invited us told us to come early, so when we heard the old Indian crier from the top of the lodge call out in a loud voice, and saw the people running to get in the medicine lodge we walked very fast and worked our way through the crowd of Indian men who were standing in and about the long entry." "Were the Indian men polite when they saw you coming, and did they stand aside and let you pass easily?" "Some of them were polite, my dears, but others of them I am sorry to say looked angrily at us and would not move." "Didn't that make you feel badly, Auntie?" "Yes, a little, but as we were invited, we felt that we had a right there, so we shoved by the angry looking men and found inside of the lodge soft cushions reserved for us, and a kind old Indian told us where to sit." "Were they nice clean cushions, Auntie?" "Oh, no, my pets, the cushions looked too dirty to sit upon, but there was nothing else to do. We felt obliged to sit on them when the Indians had been so kind as to reserve them for us." "Of course, you had to. But what next, Auntie?" "I wish I could picture the inside of that lodge as I saw it. There was a bright fire burning in the center, and from fifteen to twenty horrid looking creatures seated in a half-circle back from the fire about six feet. The glare of the red light on their painted forms made them look like demons." "What *were* they, Auntie?" "The dancers, dear! The Indian doctors!" "Why did they look so horridly?" "Because they made themselves look so by painting their faces and naked bodies in bright colors. On their heads some of them wore the heads of animals. One of the doctors had small white feathers all over the top of his head and others wore the ears and tails and horns of wild beasts. Some had bears' claws around their necks, white deer hoofs and elk ------------------ Continued on Fourth Page. ======================================================= (p 2) The Indian Helper. ----------------------------- PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY, AT THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CARLISLE, PA. BY THE INDIAN PRINTER BOYS. ----------------------------- Price: - 10 cents a year. (Five cents extra for every change of address after once in the galley.) ============================== Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. ============================== Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ============================== THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The-Man-on-the-band-stand, who is NOT an Indian. ============================== The November Morning Star which will be printed next week is an interesting number. --------------- "Success is good medicine," says a lady principal of one of the leading public schools of Philadelphia. --------------- Glad to see a young man refuse to take money from a gentleman whom he had been showing around the grounds the other day. There is manliness in that. --------------- Minnie Swallow Bear, in a letter this week, says she is still busy at work in the Arapahoe School Laundry, Darlington, I.T. The girls in that school are mostly small. --------------- Annie Menaul wrote to a friend at Carlisle, this week from Laguna, New Mexico. She says she is house-keeping for her mother, and helping Mrs. Menaul teach a day school. She often thinks of her Carlisle friends and sometimes feels lonely there. --------------- In a letter from Thomas Rester, now at Pawnee Agency, I.T., we see that in the boarding-school there, the government is employing as helpers, returned students from Haskell Institute, Chilocco, and Carlisle. Thomas is teaching, and Abram Platt is employed as carpenter. They get along well, he says. --------------- Boys and girls! Wouldn't you like to have a little paper called Our Forest Children printed at an Indian School, away up in Canada, by Rev. E. F. Wilson, Principal of the Shingwauk Home? It is only ten cents a year, and Dr. Given is getting up a club. Give him your name and ten cents and let us keep up a brotherly feeling between the two schools. --------------- "Remember, December." On a Saturday eve in September We were cautioned to try and remember Our tongue to restrain And from Indian refrain, So we'd have a good time in December. So my dear boys and girls, every member Of this school through the month of November And old Xmas month, too, Try your duty to do, Don't forget; but remember! December!" --------------- There have been a number of papers handed in, in regard to the question, "Is it right for the Government to stop the teaching of the Indian languages in Indian schools?" Dennison Wheelock had the best article and therefore won the prize of one dollar. His paper will be printed in our next HELPER. There were none taking the side that the Government is not right. Extracts from the Indian boys' speeches of Friday evening covering both sides of the question will be printed in the December Morning Star. We regret that we haven't space in the November number for them. --------------- The catch which holds the chase in place on our Universal press broke last Thursday night, letting the whole INDIAN HELPER form fall between the platen and bed of the press, while running at full speed. The consequence was that the heavy iron chase in which the type was locked snapped in two. Four important pieces of the press were broken and lots of pi made, all in a minute. It wasn't pot-pie that time, but wash-basin pi. It is all set up now, however, and we trust the press can be fixed without a great deal of expense. --------------- The public debate given by the Indian Union Club, last Friday evening, was a success in every particular. The boys entered into the spirit of the question, "Resolved" That all Indian education be taught only in English, "and discussed it vigorously. If the Man-on-the-band-stand had any criticism to make it would be only in regard to the manner of delivery. If the boys spoke in a more natural tone of voice. Instead of such a strained effort to ape the stump-speech orator it would perhaps be better for them. The principal speakers were Levi Levering and Percy Zedoka, on the affirmative; Frank Jannies and Harry Raven, on the negative. Both sides advanced good argument. After the debate was open to the house, a number of the boys spoke, the best of which were Paul Boynton, on the affirmative, and Kish Hawkins, on the negative. ================================================== We live to learn to learn to live. --------------- Hope the boys do not play marbles for keeps. --------------- When will the Girls' Literary Society give us a public entertainment? --------------- Another grand good talk Saturday night, at English-speaking meeting. --------------- Kate I. Kinshone and Eunice Sose, the little Apache babies are beauties. --------------- The boys are still buying books occasionally for personal use in the way of study and solid reading. --------------- The boys of one of the tables complain that the knives and forks are very badly washed. Girls! Girls! That doesn't sound well. --------------- Compositions are the order of the day, now, twice a month in school. There is no better work in the world to help the mind grow. --------------- The new gymnasium tin roof is having the regulation red and orange stripes put on the Indian paint boys. It shows up well. --------------- Our good friend Rev. Jesse Young is going to take the whole Carlisle school on a trip through Switzerland and Europe tonight. --------------- Comanche, Capt. Pratt's handsome young horse, born and brought up at the Carlisle school, took the ladies to ride, on Saturday for the first, and he behaved very nicely. He doesn't quite like a covered bridge, but will soon get civilized up to all such things. --------------- In No. 10 school room a pane of glass was entirely broken out. Beneath it was one with a little bit gone. A boy was sent over to put in the missing pane, instead of which he replaced the one with the little piece out and never saw the other though just above. What an observing youth! --------------- Carlisle's beloved friend Miss Susan Longstreth and her sister Mrs. Longstreth, both of Philadelphia paid the school a very acceptable visit, Monday and Tuesday. Miss Longstreth presented the large boys and girls with a lot of pretty pictures for room decorations, for which they feel very grateful. The outside fence is getting its fall coat of whitewash, Indian boys doing the work. --------------- That was tip-top cake Elizabeth Blackmoon made for tea at the Givens' one day last week. --------------- Christine Showtemutsky, Persis Bighair, John Davis and Frank Turewy, came in from the country this week. --------------- The boys return thanks to Rev. Dr. Brown for five very acceptable Christian papers, which came regularly to the reading room. --------------- The racks for holding the chapel singing books are once more in their old places on the backs of the seats instead of under. That's good. --------------- The little girl who said the other day while playing "Why, I can walk a hundred miles," told a big, wrong story. The Man-on-the-band-stand is greatly shocked when he hears nice little girls or boys tell wrong stories. --------------- Mr. Abram Vail, of Quakertown, N.J. in whose family Persis Bighair has lived and made an excellent record, brought Persis home on Tuesday and spent the night with us. Mr. Vail is one of New Jersey's prominent nurserymen. --------------- Miss Crane was wishing to drill three of her Apache girls for exhibition. Two came; the third did not put in an appearance, and when the teacher asked where she was, one of them said, "She's too slow," then pointing to her tongue said, "This no good! Don't go!" --------------- How nice to go in the girls' assembly room and find the girls reading! They now get four daily papers and a number of weeklies and monthlies. Mr. Campbell has promised to fix conveniences for filing, and the girls will be very thankful when the arrangement is complete. --------------- The Man-on-the-band-stand just roared with laughter when he saw his chief clerk rush for the door yesterday morning and three printers after her, as fast as they could run. The steam engine had an "un-derstandable" fit and made a fearful noise. Charles Wheelock was cool headed and soon stopped the cause of danger. ---------------- The school was favored with a visit from Jos. P. Drewett, of Westmoreland, England who was sent by the Society of Friends to this country as a delegate to attend the Peace Conference, held at Richmond, Indiana, recently. Mr. Drewett was greatly interested in all that he saw here and feels that he shall remember the Carlisle school as one of the bright spots in his visit to this country. ========================================== Continued From the First Page. ------------ teeth formed part of their ornaments. Some of them held eagles' wings before the eyes to keep the heat of the fire from their faces." "Do women go to the medicine dance?" "There were two or three favored Indian women crouched away in and nearly out of sight behind the dancers. The women as a usual thing are not allowed to attend the Medicine dance, but the lodge was packed with men wrapped in blankets. They all stood up. I never saw so many human beings packed so closely in such a small place. It was hot in there, too, and the air was stifling with bad odors and smoke. I felt as though I could not breathe. You know I told you last week that were no windows in these lodges, and of course no air could possibly get through the door way. Once I thought I must leave that place, quickly, or I should faint. "Did you go out? "No indeed, I could not go out. "I don't see how there was room enough to dance, if the lodge was so crowded. "Don't you remember I told you that the dancers sat back from the fire about six feet?" "Yes." "On the hard ground between them and the fire is where they danced. "How did they begin? asked Charlie. "Well after while the drum began to beat, and the doctor who always dances first, began to sing his song. Each doctor has a song of his own, and nobody is allowed to sing it except in the dance, then all the other doctors help. After while he arose and began to dance. He didn't look like a man but more like the evil one, pictures of which you have all seen. He threw his body first one side and the other. After looking up awhile he bowed his head quite low and stamped, very hard with his right foot, and jumped up and down on his left foot saying, "Ugh! Ugh! like a pig sometimes grunts, you know. He made his eyes look wild and held in his right hand a tomahawk, high above his head. All the while he was dancing the other doctors sang as loudly as they could, and the drum with two or three men beating sounded a heavy Thud, Thud. Altogether the noise was nearly enough to split ones head open. "When the first man sat down they rested a moment, then the next doctor began to sing an entirely different tune. When he got up to dance he had a horse-tail tied behind him and he tried to imitate a frightened wild horse, while the others sang as loudly and hideously as before, and the drum sounded just as ugly. One man danced like a wolf, another like a bear still another like a buffalo, but the prettiest of all was one who danced in imitation of a deer. He was really quite graceful. "We got very tired looking upon the beastly scene, but there we had to sit and see very one of those twenty doctors go through with his own dance. How often and often I wished I was out of that place, but it was of no use to wish. I never went to but that one medicine dance, and never wish to see another. It is wrong. It is wicked for men to make such beasts of themselves. God never wanted men to follow after the ways of animals. But He gave man a spirit to do better and higher things. "Some people think that the Medicine is the Indian religion and that we ought to respect it at least, have no right to interfere with it, don't they Auntie?" "Yes, some people think and talk that way about it, but I tell you my little friends, there is nothing much worse for the Indians than the Medicine Dance. Nothing that keeps them so full of superstition and wrong beliefs. These old doctors drag in the educated boys whenever they can and make them believe that they will die if they don't help them believe in them. "Well I should not think educated boys would be influenced by such ignorant people." "Ah! They who have only a little education are the ones that the Indian doctors get after and fill with fear. Those who remain away from the tribe a long time get their heads so full of business ways that if they ever do go back they see so much to do that they have no time to be pulled around by the nose by ignorant medicine men. But! See here! It is five `o'clock' You must trot home, my pets. You mammas will not know where you are. I have kept you too long. - Come and see me again. I have kept you too long. Good-bye! Come and see me again. "We will, Auntie, and we hope you will have another story ready, when we do come. And so they ran up the street laughing and chatting and playing as only real happy children do, but that night they all had frightful dreams and we do not wonder at it. ======================================================================= STANDING OFFER: - For FIVE new subscribers to the INDIAN HELPER, we will give the person sending them a photographic group of the 13 Carlisle Indian Printer boys, on a card 4 1/2 X 6 1/2 inches, worth 20 cents when sold by itself. Name and tribe of each boy given. (Persons wishing the above premium will please enclose a 1-cent stamp to pay postage.) For TEN, Two PHOTOGRAPHS, one showing a group of Pueblos as they arrived in wild dress, and another of the same pupils three years after, or, for the same number of names we give two photographs showing still more marked contrast between a Navajo as he arrived in native dress, and as he now looks, worth 20 cents a piece. Persons wishing the above premiums will please enclose a 2-cent stamp to pay postage. For FIFTEEN, we offer a GROUP of the whole school on 9x14 inch card. Faces show distinctly, worth sixty cents. Persons wishing the above premium will please send 6 cents to pay postage. ======================================== At the Carlisle Indian School, is published monthly an eight-page quarto of standard size, called THE MORNING STAR, the mechanical part of which is done entirely by Indian boys. This paper is valuable as a summary of information on Indian matters, and contains writings by Indian pupils and local incidents of the school. Terms: Fifty cents a year, in advance. Sample copies sent free. Address, MORNING STAR, CARLISLE, PA. For 1, 2 and 3 subscribers for THE STAR we give the same premiums offered in Standing Offer for the HELPER. ======================================================================= Transcribed weekly from the newspaper collections of the US Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, PA. For more info see http://www.carlisleindianschool.org. - Barbara Landis --------- "RE: Rustywire: Old Ned" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 01:54:09 GMT From: rustywire Subj: Old Ned Newsgroups: alt.native He came to this country from a place no one can remember not even him. I spoke with him from time to time, he was an old man and often times I would see him with his grandchildren. They would run around at his feet. He was skinny and tall, though bent with age and his was black with flecks of gray. He had a wistful smile and liked to laugh. His name in the traditional way of talking was the Tall Red One. I never heard anyone say it, maybe because it was in Navajo. He moved away from there a long time ago, maybe in the 1920's. His family may have been migrant farmers, or followed the railroad work with the Union Pacific. He was a young boy then and found his way up north to another country and it was in this place of mountain tops, and high valleys he came to live. He met a young woman with a willingness to follow him where ever he would want to go. It was in the valleys of her land, her reservation he called home. Today I saw 12 great grandchildren, and seven of his own. His wife passed on a few years ago and it took a little out of him, he was not as spry as he used to be. I saw him some time ago at the VA hospital he had lost his legs to diabetes. He spoke to me in Navajo, and though he was an old man he still had all his own teeth and they glistened when he talked. I used to call him the Tall Red One and he laughed to hear his name in English. One time he came to me maybe fifteen years ago or so and sat down. He was with some of his grandchildren and he wanted some help to find out where he was born and where he came from. I looked into his eyes, they were like a deer's eyes, they hid nothing. He quietly told me he had forgotten where he came from, who his people were. That in the many years since he left Navajoland he did not have any contact with them, nor did they remember him. They never visited him or sent him a letter. I sat there and thought maybe he comes from a past you want to forget, to walk away from a life down there for whatever reason, sometimes it is that way. You move to get away from such things. It was my first thought, I forgot that many of our people had many hardships, being without some things, and needing to survive we go where we have to. When you need to eat you go where to where you can survive. We survive at any cost it seems, and for him he left, but the one thing that stayed with him was his language, the ability to talk in the proper way. Even though he was far removed from his place of birth, his Navajo was smooth and eloquent, using old words which I did not know. It was a different time back then, there were many children born under trees, without a record, or birth certificate. There names were given in the Navajo way of speaking describing the place born, or being the son of Silversmith, or the family area or clan where they lived. I do not know where he was born, we tried to find it, but no one seemed to know. There was no record of him, he could have come from Comb Wash near Montezuma Creek, or White Mesa by Kaibeto, or Round Top not too far north of Ganado. He may have been born near Lupton, near Carino Canyon, or Coyote Canyon a little ways from Gallup. When he was born there was not one to write it down, and to prove it could not be done to satisfy the his own people. Where do such men go when they can not find themselves, their family and place of birth. They stay with the their children, their families and do the things family men do. The continue on with their lives. I knew him for a little while and could see the love he had for his grandchildren. He had a hard life working as a laborer. He was not an educated man, but he survived and so did his children. Today he was laid to rest and as I stood there looking at his family gathered there. I could see him standing with his father and mother, and his aunts and uncles and they were saying to him. It has been a long time since we have seen you, Tall Red One. He came to them with a young face, a fit body and wept at the site of them. They came to him and began to let him know where he was from, who these people were and how he got his name. I wondered about them, and those children left here to continue on. A part of them weren't there, those living now in Navajoland. Maybe there are none, I would rather like to think that over a winter night, someone talking in a family gathering might say. A long time ago, way over this way, not too far from here there was this Navajo woman. She had a child and he was called the Tall Red One. I remember him and he went with her far from here. He comes from that place just over there. He is one of us, and we are him. -- rustywire www.geocities.com/rustywire --------- "RE: Poem: Santa Fe" --------- Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 16:42:17 -0600 From: "John D Berry/grad/res/Okstate" Subj: Santa Fe Santa Fe Turquoise bowl of sky, Held high by snowy peaks, Ancient ground, Of Pueblos, Long before Conquistadors. Now hustling rich, With sneering glitterati, Consuming on the Plaza, They don't go near, The church it seems. Still there is, N'dn corn for sale, And tortillarias, And ristras, If you know, Where to look. Although neuvo-cusine, And Sushi, Are easier to find, If you want, Habanero sauce, On salmon, Or California rolls. Outside of city lights, Removed from neon, Creators lights, Still shine, Above. I don't think, Black Mesa, Has spoken up, Quite yet. Some of them, should be, Very afraid, For their souls. John Berry, New Mexico, 2000 --------- "RE: Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days" --------- Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 06:18:28 -1000 From: Debbie Sanders Subj: Hawaiian Book of Days A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of January 21-27 IANUALI (January) (Kaelo) 21 The owl, pueo, protects me as I walk the forest at night. 22 The song of my spirit is blessed by the winds. 23 In the heart of the mountain burns the fire of new life.