From gars@speakeasy.org Tue Apr 24 02:14:48 2001 Date: 28 Feb 2001 00:26:27 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.009 W O T A N G I N G I K C H E Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin KANOHEDA ANIYVWIYA O It-hah-pe-hah Ah-num pah-le Ha-Sah-Sliltha O o O ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min Un Chota O o O Aunchemokauhettittea O o o o o O VOLUME 09, ISSUE 009 O o O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse February 3, 2001 O o O Ximopanolti tehuatzin, Blackfeet duck moon O inin Mexika tlahtolli Tewa moon of the cedar dust wind ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) ==>If you want your Nation represented in the banner of this newsletter<== email gars@nanews.org with the equivalent of "News of the People" in your tribal language along with the english translation +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Much more happens in Indian Country than is reported in this weekly | | newsletter. For daily updates check http://www.owlstar.com/NANews | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ This issue contains articles from ndn-aim, Indianz elist, INDIAN Heritage, NativeAmerican-Issues-Chat, Paths-L, LPDC and indigenous_peoples_literature mail lists; UUCP email; http://www.rapidcityjournal.com http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/lett0225.htm http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/02/23/metis_ruling http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/showfull.asp?ID=mm/2212001 IMPORTANT!! ----------- 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 As historian Patricia Nelson Limerick summarized in The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West, "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens, the federal government will be freed of its persistent 'Indian problem.'" "When temptation comes, I don't say, `Yes," and I don't say, `No.' I say, `Later,' I just keep walking the Red Road-down the middle. When you're in the middle, you don't go to either extreme. You allow both sides to exist." __ Dr. A. C. Ross (Ehanamani), Lakota +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Will the "real" Amerikkka stand up. The one with truth and justice does not exist, except in the minds of a few idealists and the mouths of a lot of politicians. Newly appointed Secretary of Interior Norton "promises" better Indian schools. What will that take... a full week with power and plumbing that works? In the meantime courts are busy forcing her department to own up to the missing Trust Fund. In the meantime the School of the Americas continues to export assassins to Guatemala, Nicaragua... In the meantime, efforts are underway to exploit the arctic - to hell with the inhabitants there. After all, what do a bunch of natives know about the environment a few slick oilmen can't deal with? Don't look now Mr. Oil Can, but the ice cap is melting. In the meantime the same tired arguments keep First People chained in concentration rez's run by "approved by the BIA" stamped administrations. Gee, thanks for the new erasers, Mrs. Norton. -- - - - It isn't too late to get in on the hottest job fair in Indian Country. Oklahoma Indian Times is hosting it's annual Native American Job Fair in two weeks.... Can't make it to this year's Native American Job Fair? No problem, send us you resume and we will forward it to the recruiters on the day of the job fair. You can mail it to OKLAHOMA INDIAN TIMES, P.O. BOX 692050, TULSA, OK 74169, OR FAX IT TO 918-438-6545 OR EMAIL IT TO US AT EDITOR@OKIT.COM. If emailing your resume, please send in a .pdf format, Microsoft Publisher or Microsoft word file. Note: All resumes must be received by Friday March 9th, 2001 5:00 pm(CST) in order for us to collate, copy and distribute to the recruiters. , , Gary Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30009, U.S.A. gars@olagrande.net ===w=w=== gars@sdf.lonestar.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Lakota Teacher Leader Charge Dies - Salmon Pact Reached - Indian Activist - Negotiate On Sandia Boundary Frank B. James Dies - South Dakota Panel - Telling the Truth with Fiction Tries Patching Tribal Ties - Vampire Policy is Bleeding Us Dry - Ottawa Must Pay for - No Easy Solutions to Cultural Abuse of Natives Whiteclay Beer Sales Issues - State Joins Appeal - Former Hopi Chairman of Sex Abuse Case Considered for Bush Team - Peltier Update - Norton Promises American Indians - Native Prisoner Better Schools -- Pepper spray used repeatedly - Appeals Court Upholds Judge on Indian Youth on Accounting of Funds -- Healing Off-limits to the Most - Arctic: A Sacred Place Troubled Female Offenders - Lead Plaintiff in - History: Carlisle Indian School Indian Lawsuit Speaks - Rustywire: The Deerhunter - A Dance of Deception - Poem: Broken Necklace - Metis Hunting Rights - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - New Mexico Tribes/ - Indian History Gains Support Governor Agree on Compact - Native Americas Needs Your Support - Sovereignty Fight - Upcoming Events a 500-Year-Old Struggle - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Lakota Teacher Leader Charge Dies" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 08:28:00 EST From: ErthAvengr@aol.com Subj: Lakota Teacher Leader Charge Dies Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.rapidcityjournal.com LAKOTA TEACHER LEADER CHARGE DIES By Steve Miller, West River Editor MISSION - The Lakota woman who translated the script for the Oscar- winning "Dances With Wolves" and appeared in the film has died at age 70. Doris Leader Charge of Parmelee died Tuesday afternoon at Sinte Gleska University in Mission, where she was a long-time Lakota language teacher. She portrayed Pretty Shield, wife of Ten Bears in "Dances With Wolves," which was filmed in western South Dakota in 1989. In addition to serving as a Lakota-language consultant and instructor for Kevin Costner's "Dances With Wolves," Leader Charge was Costner's special guest at the 1991 Academy Awards ceremonies. She went on stage to translate into Lakota part of screenwriter Michael Blake's acceptance speech for best screenplay. "Dances With Wolves" won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, that year. "When I went up and picked up that Oscar for `Dances With Wolves,' I finally showed the world Indians are here and we're here to stay," she later said. Leader Charge was born May 4, 1930, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. She attended a boarding school and St. Mary's School for Girls in Springfield. After raising her family, she taught at Sinte Gleska in the mid-1970s and also enrolled there, earning her elementary-education degree in 1984. Among survivors is her husband, Fred Leader Charge of Parmelee. Funeral arrangements are pending with Sandoz's Chapel of the Pines in Valentine, Neb. A colleague at the university, Lisa Little Chief Bryan, said Leader Charge was "highly respected as an elder and a cultural leader. She knew a lot about the Lakota culture." Leader Charge's death will be a big loss for the Rosebud community, "especially with language. She was pretty much the expert for our language," Bryan said. "Everybody always turned to her for advice." You may call West River Editor Steve Miller at 394-8417 or send e-mail to steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> 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: Indian Activist Frank B. James Dies" --------- Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 06:32:55 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ELDER DIES" Indian activist Frank B. James dies at 77 Tom Long - Boston Globe BOSTON -- In 1970, when Native American activist Wamsutta Frank B. James was asked to deliver a speech at a state dinner commemorating the 350th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, he prepared a draft that included the following: "The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod for four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors and stolen their corn, wheat, and beans." When state officials saw an advance copy of the speech, James was asked to rewrite it. He refused and did not attend the dinner. When word spread of the suppression of the speech, James and other activists declared Thanksgiving a national day of mourning and assembled at Plymouth to express their grievances, an observance that continues to this day. James, retired music director of the Nauset regional school system, died Tuesday at his home in Chatham. He was 77. In his speech, which was published in full in the Globe, James continued, "Massasoit, the great Sachem of the Wampanoag, knew these facts, yet he and his people befriended the settlers of Plymouth Plantation. ... We welcomed you, the white man, with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end; that before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a free people." Born in Aquinnah, Martha's Vineyard, James was a trumpet player who graduated from New England Conservatory of Music. He served in the Coast Guard Auxiliary during World War II. He was director of music at Nauset until his retirement in 1989. He was moderator of United American Indians of New England from 1970 until the mid-1990s. Also, James was the former president of the Federated Eastern Indian League and executive director of Operation Mainstream, a federally funded job retraining program that served the Cape and islands. In 1974, he was appointed by Gov. Frank Sargent to the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs. He resigned three years later because he felt the state wasn't taking Native American needs seriously. James was a man of contradictions whose reverence for the Earth compelled him to refrain from watering the lawn or cutting back the bushes at his home, but he drove a gas-guzzling red Corvette with a bumper sticker that read "Custer had it coming." He leaves a son, Roland; two daughters, Sharon Ryone and Donna Sacher; three sisters and six grandchildren. Copyright c. 2001 Boston Globe. --------- "RE: Telling the Truth with Fiction" --------- Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 07:24:46 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUTH STORY" Telling the Truth with Fiction by Steve Russell, NAV Contributing Editor Prelude In 1993, the day before a Senate Committee was to hear the State Archaeologist's anti-graverobbing bill - known in the Indian community as the Archaeologists' Relief Act - I had been at the Legislature until the wee hours of the morning on another matter and then worked a full day. I was suffering from severe sleep deprivation. I fell into bed after work, awaking around midnight. My wife, Donna, was still up. I was agonizing out loud about what I would say to the Senate the next day. The issue, Donna told me, was "How would you feel if someone dug your grandmother up and stole her wedding ring?" "No," I said in that patronizing-lawyer manner only a wife can tolerate, "the issue is how to plug this federal statute into the State statute in a manner that will not alarm the legal graverobbers so we can both get after the illegal graverobbers and still maintain our rights under..." "The issue," she said patiently, "is how would each Senator feel if someone dug up his grandmother and stole her wedding ring." With that rolling around in my mind, I staggered back to bed, and the next morning the following story leaped out of my computer and wrote itself down. There was no time for any revision. I have testified before the Texas Legislature many times, but this is the first time I ever swore to tell the truth and then testified in fiction. It must have worked, because we stopped a bill that had been on the fast track. Indians have always known how physical and mental exhaustion opens the conscious mind to ideas that might otherwise never surface. When it's done on purpose, we call it a vision quest. In this case, the exhaustion was not purposeful, but Donna planted the seed at exactly the right time. And that's how it grew: When she was six months gone, they let her ride in a wagon. A bumpy ride, but it's a long walk to California. When she went into labor a month later, the train stopped. When she had not delivered after forty-eight hours, they had to move on. She might die with only her husband to comfort her, but if the train didn't beat the snow to the Sierras, they would all die. On the third day, their daughter was stillborn. He didn't tell her, and she was in no condition to ask. He killed one of the cattle, even though it took both to pull the wagon, to make a strengthening broth. She continued to hemorrhage. She died on the seventh day, without regaining consciousness. He wrapped the bodies in wagon canvas, the body he knew so well and the tiny stranger. On his wife's finger, he left the bright golden band, a gift from his mother in Ireland who said it had been worn by her mother. Wrapped in the baby's canvas shroud, he left several items of elaborately embroidered clothing, handmade works of loving art, a last gift from the mother who had tried so hard to give life. He scraped a shallow grave from the hard prairie sod. With a sharp nail, he laboriously etched on a flat rock: Sarah Beloved Wife Of Jacob & Baby Daughter Jacob killed the other draught animal and jerked all the beef he could carry. Leaving all the possessions of two lifetimes in the useless wagon, he walked westward. But it can't be said that he never looked back. Testimony Members, this story - set in Nebraska but there are similar stories aplenty from Anglo settlers in Texas - is from the Scots-Irish side of my ancestry. After 150 years, this is an unmarked grave. If you believe that after 150 years it is acceptable to dig these people up and "collect" the gold ring and the fancy embroidery then we have a basic conflict in values. If you believe, as I do, that we are talking about graverobbing, then why should the answer differ if I told you a story about the Indian side of my ancestry? When my Indian ancestors were buried with their truest bow or their finest pot to serve their needs on the way to the spirit world, that was done with no less love and spiritual commitment than when my pioneer ancestors had to bury their dead where they fell and keep moving. The issue of repatriation is inseparable from the issue of graverobbing. An anti-graverobbing bill without repatriation addresses the needs of scientists but does not address the violation of human dignity that is the greater of the two reasons to oppose graverobbing. We are human beings, not a science project. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Russell is currently Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, The University of Texas at San Antonio and sits as a visiting judge after retiring from a 17 year career on the Bench. He has spoken and published extensively about law and Indian rights. Steve is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a past President of the Texas Indian Bar Association --------- "RE: Vampire Policy is Bleeding Us Dry" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 19:01:40 -0600 From: rick parker Subj: A Different Take On an Old Issue Mailing List: Indianz elist VAMPIRE POLICY IS BLEEDING US DRY - BLOOD-QUANTUMS BE GONE! DEATH TO THE INDIAN NATIONS IS JUST A FEW YEARS AWAY UNLESS WE RE-ASSESS WHAT BLOOD QUANTUM ACTUALLY MEANS. by Suzan Shown Harjo Native Peoples have the traditions, openness and patience that come from measuring time and possibilities against the entirety of our ancient cultural continuum. That's why we, collectively, have gotten so many things right - we have tried things out for myriad generations, incorporating those that work and discarding those that do not. We like to observe something new from a distance and circle around it for a while. We don't hate or love the new thing - we just show it respect. It could be dangerous, like a rifle, a tool of destruction and of providence. It could be charming, like cut-glass beads, a good way of sharing a vision. We may want to admire it from afar and we may want to invite it to our camp, either to stay as family or to come and go as a friend. Oftentimes, decisions about societal incorporation have been forced upon us. Our ancestors did not get to make a leisurely decision about "civilization," for example. From 1880 to 1936, the federal government banned our traditional religions and made outlaws of our spiritual leaders. While American Indians were starving and eating rancid rations, the coffers of Christian denominations were fattened by annual congressional appropriations for civilizing the Indian. Children were taken to prison schools, parents were held hostage at home and no one had a choice in this new thing. This new thing was a way for the white man to keep Indian land without keeping treaty promises. Some white men had a theory that went roughly this way: savages could be tamed and taught to be God-fearing and English- speaking at the government schools and their allegiances to their families and tribes would diminish. Cross-tribal and non-Indian alliances should be encouraged until Indians value pan-Indianness and white values. The federal government calculated it would take three generations for American Indians to breed themselves out as tribal people. By 1900, the terms "full-bloods" and half-breeds" were commonly used on reservations and in popular culture. Eligibility for most federal Indian programs was made dependent on a quarter-degree-Indian-blood-quantum requirement. The idea was that the United States would continue to uphold treaty promises for health, education, land protection and the like, but only until the Indians were down to one-quarter Indian blood. At that point, the government could stop paying for their new lands, water, gold and silver. In the 1930s, the BIA forced many tribes to codify this slow genocide policy in tribal constitutions, declaring that once their people were down to a certain level of tribal blood, they would cease being tribal citizens and Indian people. In the 1940s, the BIA made lists of those tribes whose people had low tribal blood quantums and few cultural attributes, who could be sent sailing down the mainstream, and of those whose people spoke their tribal language and practiced their traditional ways, who still needed the government to take care of them. Congress, in the 1950s, started terminating ties with tribes whose people were the most deculturated. Some tribes even raised their blood-quantum requirements to one-half to escape being targeted for termination. Now, the blood-quantum requirements are having exactly the pernicious effect on many Native Peoples they were intended to have. Lots of children and grandchildren of tribal citizens do not qualify for enrollment, because their parents and older ancestors married outside their nation. We are not talking about the pseudo-Indians who have zero Native ancestors or cultural ties. These are real Indian kids and many of them speak their language, practice their traditional religion, contribute to their nation and, in fact, are the future of their nation. So, what federal laws are forcing us to keep these blood-quantum requirements? None. In the mid-1970s, the Supreme Court ruled that no federal agency or any entity except an Indian tribe could determine who its people are. For even longer, the high court has held that Indian nationhood and tribal citizenry are political, not racial matters. If we cling to these blood standards, which are solely about race, some clever neo-terminationist is going to try to unravel the Indian political status doctrine by using the fixation on and fiction of tribal blood. (The BIA draculas make us particularly vulnerable in this regard by their continuing use of CDIBs - certificates of degree of Indian blood). For the past 25 years, we have been free from any federally imposed standards for tribal citizenship. While some nations dropped the blood- quantum nonsense, most have not. This is an excellent (and sad) example of internalized oppression. We don't need the federal government to breed us out of existence - we are doing it ourselves. I talked with some tribal leaders this year who do not know that tribes have had the power for a quarter of a century to drive a stake in our constitutions' vampire clauses. Some want to do it, but are worried about fakes flooding the tribal rolls and siphoning off precious tribal moneys and benefits. Native Peoples have traditional ways of defining citizenship, ways that worked for millennia before there were any non-Natives or pseudo-Indians in our countries. Those ways begin with family. If one or both parents are tribal citizens, frauds are automatically eliminated. For those leaders whose nations have lost their traditional ways of deciding citizenship, there are more than 560 Native nations today with governmental relations with the United States. Ask a leader of one of those what kind of citizenship standards they have. Shop around - compare tribal citizenship requirements to those of France, India, China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mexico or the United States. Blood quantums are not new things and they are not our things. We have circled them and been surrounded by them for more than a century, easily long enough to know that we do not respect them, need them or want them. Doing something about this is almost as easy as one, two, three - blood quantum, begone! ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> eGroups is now Yahoo! Groups Indianz at http://www.egroups.com - a group for, by, and about Indianz --------- "RE: No Easy Solutions to Whiteclay Beer Sales Issues" --------- Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 11:21:03 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WHITECLAY" No Easy Solutions to Issues Tied to Whiteclay Beer Sales, Johanns Says BY PAUL HAMMEL February 13, 2001 WORLD-HERALD BUREAU Lincoln - Gov. Mike Johanns promised Monday to increase law enforcement in the village of Whiteclay, Neb., and to call a summit of area officials to address alcohol-related problems linked to beer sales from the tiny western Nebraska town. Johanns said he hoped that meeting with Oglala Sioux tribal officials on Monday would foster greater cooperation in solving the myriad problems, although he emphasized there are no quick solutions. Gov. Mike Johanns "There just aren't any silver bullets," the governor said. "If I had a silver bullet, we would have solved these issues months ago." The governor's comments came after a series of meetings involving Indian and state leaders about Whiteclay. The village of 22 people is the site of four stores that sell millions of cans of beer, mostly to Indians who live across the South Dakota border on the Pine Ridge Reservation where alcohol is banned and alcoholism is rampant. In recent weeks, Lincoln-based Nebraskans for Peace has organized a series of meetings on behalf of the tribe over claims of lax enforcement of liquor laws in Whiteclay. Whiteclay has been in the national spotlight since June 1999 when two Oglala Sioux men were found beaten to death after a day of drinking in the village. The deaths remain unsolved. A brother of one of the victims said Monday that the FBI has changed lead investigators three times and failed to keep his family members informed. It leads him to believe that Indians are treated like "third- -class individuals" by the criminal-justice system, said Webster Poor Bear of Wanblee, S.D., the brother of victim Wilson Black Elk Jr. "There is nothing more in this life that I'd like to know than who killed by brother," Poor Bear said. One Indian leader, Frank LaMere of South Sioux City, Neb., said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the governor's promises Monday after what he said have been years of excuses from Nebraska officials. "We are part of the problem there, and we as Nebraskans ought to be part of the solution," LaMere said. Johanns said that as long as the Whiteclay stores operate within state law, they have a right to exist. But he said he was concerned by a photograph presented to him Monday that appears to show individuals drinking outside of a Whiteclay beer outlet. That would violate state law. Johanns said the State Patrol has assured him troopers will visit Whiteclay more regularly. He said he planned to call a summit in the next few weeks to address Whiteclay issues. A similar summit involving Nebraska Indian tribes and state agency officials, Johanns said, was very effective in improving relations between them. Alcohol, and problems related to alcohol, have been epidemic on the Pine Ridge Reservation for years. But solutions have been hard to find. Nebraska officials have said they are limited in what they can do unless there is hard evidence that the beer outlets in Whiteclay have been violating laws. Halting beer sales in Whiteclay, some say, will only transfer the problem to other border communities in Nebraska and South Dakota, while tribal officials say banning sales in Whiteclay is a logical step. Tribal police set up roadblocks periodically to halt the flow of alcohol onto the reservation, but some residents say they are too sporadic and largely ineffective. Monday morning, tribal officials said they were planning to ask President Bush and, if necessary, a federal court to grant them authority to shut down beer sales in Whiteclay. Just before President Clinton left office, two former U.S. senators from South Dakota, George McGovern and James Abourezk, asked the president to issue an executive order to give legal jurisdiction over Whiteclay back to the tribe. The request drew no response. Oglala Sioux tribal officials argue that a 1882 presidential order that created a 5-by-10 mile "buffer zone" south of the reservation to discourage white merchants from selling alcohol to reservation Indians was illegally rescinded in 1904. John Yellow Bird Steele, chairman of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said a federal lawsuit will be filed to restore tribal jurisdiction over Whiteclay if Bush fails to grant it. "We're not going to give up on this," the tribal chairman said. As a result of recent meetings, the State Liquor Control Commission agreed to take more steps to halt bootleggers, who buy large quantities of beer in Whiteclay, then drive to the reservation and resell it. On Monday, commissioners also asked tribal officials to forward them names of suspected bootleggers. Copyright c. 2001 Omaha World-Herald Company. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Former Hopi Chairman Considered for Bush Team" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 08:38:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IVAN SIDNEY" Sidney considered for post with Bush administration Story by Stan Bindell The Navajo-Hopi Observer POLACCA - Ivan Sidney, former chairman of the Hopi Tribe, may land a federal position with the Bush administration. Sidney, who headed Native Americans for Bush, has been asked by the Bush transition team to submit his resume, although he was not told what position he might be up for. "I'm leaving my options open, but it would be an honor to be asked," he said. "It's important that Hopis obtain high positions. Hopi has never had anyone in such a high position." Sidney was one of the first Native American leaders to endorse Bush in his bid for the presidency. He was concerned in the early going about young Bush's views on tribal sovereignty, but since that time Bush has made statements supporting tribal sovereignty, self-determination and self-sufficiency. As head of Native Americans for Bush, Sidney helped the Bush administration with its policy platform on Native American issues. One of his main concerns now is seeing the Bush administration establish a Native American staff assistant for Native American Affairs in the White House. He said Hispanics and African-Americans are represented this way at the White House and Native Americans should have the same status. "Hopefully, we'll obtain that. It will take a continual educational effort," he said. Sidney emphasized that Native Americans want a helping hand rather than handouts. Sidney, who attended the inauguration with his wife, is planning another trip to Washington. Sidney said he will lobby the federal government to see that Hopi Junior/Senior High School obtains a new junior high school building and an activities center. He added that the wish list for the Hopi Reservation includes the paving of Low Mountain Road, an elderly care center, a day care center, a shopping center and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. "I hope and pray that we get something from Washington, D.C that will benefit our young people," he said. "When I go back, I'll go as an ambassador for the Hopi Tribe if they allow me to do so. I've served as chairman and I'm indebted to the Hopi people for that." Sidney said most people assume Native Americans are Democrats, but he has been a long-time Republican and feels Native Americans need more political diversity. More importantly, he emphasized that Hopis and Native Americans need to get out to vote. Sidney and his wife Yvonne recently attended George Bush's inaugural ball and several other balls leading up to the event. The inaugural gave Sidney the chance to meet with several federal officials including members of the Bush administrative team, former Secretary of Interior Manuel Lujan and U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici from New Mexico. Sidney and his wife Yvonne attended two of the five major presidential balls. One of those was the Native American Presidential ball where Sidney had the chance to meet representatives of the National Congress of American Indians and White Mountain Apache Chairman Ronnie Lupe. Sidney also noted that many entertainers at the ball were Hopi, including Clandestine with Frank Poocha on lead vocals, world champion hoop dancer Derrick Davis and reggae artist Casper Lomayesva. Copyright c. Verde Valley Newspapers, Inc. Navajo Hopi Observer is a service of Verde Valley Newspapers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Norton Promises American Indians Better Schools" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 06:17:28 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NORTON/SCHOOLS" Norton promises American Indians better schools Feb. 22, 2001 By JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interior Secretary Gale Norton emphasized education in outlining her Indian affairs agenda Wednesday, promising to replace some schools immediately and to attend to a backlog of repairs in others. The $129.2 million earmarked for replacing the schools had already been included in the Clinton administration's $9.4 billion Interior Department budget, approved by Congress. In her first address to American Indian tribal governments, Norton promised to consult tribal governments in federal decision-making but asked for patience as she learns more about Native American-related issues. "I take very seriously my responsibilities as the trustee for Indian lands and assets," Norton told the National Congress of American Indians' executive council winter session. She also underscored her experience dealing with Indian issues as Colorado attorney general while outlining an agenda that gives top billing to Indian education and school facilities. "I see that as one of my top priorities. There is no more important priority than our children who are our future," Norton said. "We must give every Indian child the opportunity to learn the skills necessary for the 21st century. This will be their key to a brighter future." Norton said the Bush administration would work with Congress to relieve the repair backlog and to "immediately provide the funds to replace six schools" based on an existing funding priority list. During his campaign, Bush promised to replace the six schools and to work with Congress to find $802 million for repairs at other schools. The already-budgeted money is available to be spent this year, a department spokeswoman said. The following six facilities would be immediately replaced: Tuba City Boarding School in Tuba City, Ariz.; Second Mesa Day School in Second Mesa, Ariz.; Zia Day School in Zia Pueblo, N.M.; Baca/Thoreau (Dlo'ay Azhi) Consolidated Community School in Thoreau, N.M.; Wingate Elementary School in Ft. Wingate, N.M.; and Lummi Tribal School in Bellingham, Wash. The schools have structural and code deficiencies that threaten student safety, according to the department. Fourteen other schools also are on the bureau's Dec. 27 replacement list. Norton seemed well-received. "I was impressed with (her talk) and glad to hear she's ready and willing to work with us," echoed Mary Flute- Cooksey of Marble City, Okla., a tribal council member of the Cherokee Nation. "I feel like we really have to give her a little time before we get on her too hard." The bureau, with a budget of $2.1 billion, has responsibility for 185 elementary and secondary schools that serves more than 50,000 Native American children and youth spread among 23 states. In October, it estimated a need for $2.4 billion in major repairs and new construction for the elementary and secondary schools. Norton also promised to work on improving public safety on Indian lands. Copyright c. 2001 St. Louis Post-Dispatch. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Appeals Court Upholds Judge on Accounting of Funds" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 18:59:31 -0500 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: funds From boston.com Appeals court upholds judge on accounting of Indian funds By Matt Kelley, Associated Press, 2/23/2001 16:38 WASHINGTON (AP) The government must allow a judge to supervise its efforts to resolve problems with a multibillion-dollar system of accounts for American Indians, an appeals court ruled Friday. The Interior and Treasury departments also must give the Indians an accounting of how much money they have lost since the 19th century to mismanagement, theft and incompetence, the three-judge panel said. The ruling is another court victory for more than 300,000 Indians who are seeking more than $10 billion they say the government owes them in proceeds from usage of Indian land. "This is one of the biggest victories for Native Americans ever," said Elouise Cobell, the Blackfeet tribal member who is a leader of the lawsuit against the government. She compared it to the Indian rout of Lt. Col. George Custer at Little Big Horn. Interior Department spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna said department officials were "disappointed with some parts and heartened by some parts of the decision." She would not elaborate. The judges unanimously upheld a 1999 ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who called mismanagement of the accounts "fiscal and governmental irresponsibility in its purest form." Lamberth ordered officials to report every three months for five years on their progress in fixing the accounting system. The accounts hold proceeds from oil drilling, timber cutting, grazing and other uses of Indians' land. About $500 million passes through the system each year. All sides agree that the accounts have been mismanaged since they were created in 1887, with money being lost, stolen, not collected or spent on other federal programs. Justice Department lawyers had challenged Lamberth's ruling, saying he didn't have the power to order the government to make specific reforms or to provide a full accounting of how much money the Indians should have. The judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected all the government's arguments. Judge David Sentelle, writing for the panel, said that the Interior and Treasury departments clearly had violated their duties to the Indians. Lamberth was correct to oversee reforms because previous efforts had been "a day late and a dollar short," Sentelle wrote. Although Lamberth has the authority to order the Interior Department to account for how much money should be in the system, he may not have the power to tell officials how to do the accounting, Sentelle wrote. Lamberth can keep oversight of reforms for five years but may end his oversight before that if federal officials show they have corrected the problems, Sentelle wrote. Lamberth has not set a date for hearings on the accounting. ----- Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com --------- "RE: Arctic: A Sacred Place" --------- Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 07:59:13 -0500 From: Pat Morris Subj: A Sacred Place Mailing List: ndn-aim http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/lett0225.htm ARCTIC WILDLIFE REFUGE Feb. 25, 2001 - A sacred place Anybody favoring oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge shows no concern for the racial rights of native people and native animals. Gwich'in people call the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain "Gwandaii goodlit gwidehk'it, gwiin gwiyin jih rihil'ee" - "the sacred place where life begins." For thousands of generations, Gwich'in have lived closest to this fragile birthplace. This "tiny" area the Bush administration wants to drill is 1.5 million acres, and the biological heart of the entire 19 million-acre refuge. The Coastal Plain is America's Serengeti, the wildest grassland left in the Western Hemisphere. For thousands of generations, immense herds of caribou have thundered down to the Arctic Refuge to give birth, where cooling Arctic Ocean winds provide refuge from billions of mosquitoes swarming the summertime-sweltering Brooks Range. Any industrial development will destroy the birthplace forever, and with it, the local Gwich'in people. Do "local people" only matter when they are white exploiters of public land? Just as the legendary buffalo herds were vital to Plains Indians, the caribou are the food, language, stories, dances and songs of the Gwich'in Nation. In some native communities of the Far North, community life has been so shattered by exploitation that children as young as 6 years old get high by sniffing plastic bags of gasoline. Poverty, alcoholism, suicide, crime, drug use, a sense of humiliation by the dominant culture, and corruption prevail. The "small footprint" oil companies and politicians mean is an onslaught of aircraft, ships, trucks, road construction, pipelines, gravel drilling pads, smokestacks, burning gas flares and poisonous chemical combinations of drilling mud, oil and sulfur injected into the permafrost, which happens to be melting, due to global warming. The best science suggests 200 days of oil may lie under the refuge. Even 100 years of oil wouldn't be worth it. Imagine the refuge tonight. Silent, pristine, vital, ancient, swooning for spring and the great animal migrations, under a night sky tingling with stars, and completely unaware of the death and sorrow which privileged, racially insensitive men and women wish upon it. Congress must declare the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain a federal wilderness, once and forever. SARAH JAMES Arctic Village, Alaska JARID MANOS Denver James is a leader of the Gwich'in Nation and Manos is executive director \ of the Great Plains Restoration Council. <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> http://wolfseeker.com http://www.geocities.com/wlfskr http://forums.delphi.com/Wolfseeker <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> "On the ragged edge of the world I'll roam. And the home of the Wolf Will be my home." Robert Service <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> 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: Lead Plaintiff in Indian Lawsuit Speaks" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 07:17:24 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAWSUIT" Lead Plaintiff In Indian Lawsuit Speaks by AP, The Associated Press By Betsy Cohen MISSOULA (AP) - There's a war room deep in the bowels of the U.S. Department of Justice building named for Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe. When she talks about the dubious honor, Cobell laughs, partly because she knows it's there, but mostly because the government is on the losing side of the battle. "This isn't about ego, it's about making the government accountable," Cobell said. "Indian people simply don't know what they own - nobody has ever held the U.S. government accountable." Cobell is lead plaintiff in the largest lawsuit ever filed by American Indians against the federal government. And so far, she's won the first round of a two-part case, which has resulted in an overhaul of the government's accounting system that has for 113 years mismanaged billions of dollars in land assets belonging to roughly 500,000 Indians and their heirs. Now, she and all of the Indian nations are waiting for the trial to begin in which they hope to recover more than $10 billion in land, gas, oil, water and timber leases they believe are theirs and were denied them because of poor accounting practices, and is some case, no accounting. Cobell gave the seventh annual Native American Lecture at the University of Montana last Thursday. In her talk "Indian Nations: Empowerment and Asset Building in Communities," she discussed the lawsuit but also the lessons she's learned from it. "When people don't know their assets, don't know what land they own and what's on top and what's underneath they have nothing to leverage," she said. "If you can't take it to the bank, you miss out on an entire quality of life." Cobell said she is confident that Indians will win back the billions of dollars owed to them, but there is no date set for the trial, and the money may not be handed over any time soon. "The problem is that nobody in government wants this to be resolved on their watch," she said. In the meantime, members of the Blackfeet Tribe, like Cobell, are working to lay the foundations for the community's future. For the first time, the U.S. government will have an accurate Indian land and land assets database, and the Blackfeet will know for the first time what they own and what it is worth. "We have a new beginning," Cobell said. "From this point on we have accountability." And because of that, Indians are looking forward to a new world of unfettered possibilities. "It's such an exciting time for people who are building communities," Cobell said. "On the Blackfeet Reservation we have the ability to really control growth, but healthy growth, I think, because of our location. I see so many opportunities for our young people to come home to. In banking alone, we need bankers and loan officers. We need environmentalists, we need naturalists and people who are experienced in land management." The bitter pill is knowing that so many tribal members who are now dead had to live in destitution because they were not given what was owed them, Cobell said. "We should all have been living middle-class lifestyles. There's no reason people on reservations should be living in poverty," she said. "It's going to take time and I don't expect to see visible results in my lifetime, but my grandchildren will." In coming months and years, Cobell envisions her community as one that begins to reinvent itself with the power of ownership. "It's freedom," she said. "There are assets everywhere you look and when you get to start from the very beginning it's empowering - you have such pride, you know who you are because you know where you've been." Copyright by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright 2000 iMinorities, Inc. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: A Dance of Deception" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 11:04:48 -0800 From: Michael & Talynn Nelson Subj: A Dance of Deception Mailing List: NativeAmerican-Issues-Chat@topica.com A Dance of Deception A leading Native American scholar and educator says the federal raid on Alex White Plume's hemp crop is yet another manifestation of the US government's two-faced policy toward Indians. by Don Trent Jacobs Feb. 20, 2001 The US government's raid on Alex White Plume's industrial hemp crop on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Sioux Reservation is merely the latest chapter in a long legacy of genocide that has been practiced on the American continent 500 years. Alex White Plume and his tiyospaye (extended family) planted their hemp in accordance with tribal ordinances. It was the beginning of hope and a way to emerge from poverty. On Aug. 24, 2000, federal agents robbed them of that hope. If White Plume or any of the other Lakota individuals had resisted, they might have been shot or imprisoned, and who knows for how long. Consider White Plume's nephew who is serving his third year in jail for having broken out the windows of a car. Then there is Leonard Peltier, another Lakota from Pine Ridge, now listed by Amnesty International as one of the top 10 political prisoners in the world. Alex's wife, Debra, a strong, beautiful woman, has fought relentlessly and articulately to implement traditional Lakota values for many years. A month after the raid, she appeared more ready than ever to continue the good fight. "In the old days," she said, "they could not tell the difference between good Indians and bad ones so they killed us all. Now they do not know the difference between hemp and marijuana so they kill all of it." The worldview of Lakota people demands economic projects on the reservation that are friendly to the earth and beneficial to all. Hemp is one of the few products that fulfills this vision. It is a very earth- compatible, pesticide-free crop. Just ask Ralph Nader, who made hemp production a campaign issue and who probably knows that major chemical, paper, and timber industries have much more to do with making hemp illegal in the US than any concern about drugs. The contradictions surrounding this issue are just part of the endless dance of deception the US government does with American Indians. For example, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was designated a federal empowerment zone in 1998 in order to "help individuals and communities achieve self actualization and full citizenship." This goal aligns well with official federal Indian policy aimed at self-determination and viable economic independence. One cannot imagine an industry more appropriate to the empowerment zone goal than hemp production. The White Plumes currently make $450 dollars a year by renting their 160 acres to a white cattle rancher for grazing -- which can do untold damage to the fragile ecology. The seized hemp from the acre and a half they planted was estimated to have been worth between $12,000 and $20,000. After two years, however, the $20 million empowerment-zone allocation has been no more fulfilling than other half-hearted and bureaucratically stifled gestures. As has been the case for the past 100 years, they are just enough to keep the reservations dependent upon and at the mercy of the feds. Consider that the US government sanctions environmentally disastrous pig farms and the extraction of minerals on tribal lands while denying a right to tribal nations that it gives to many other nations. Recent trade agreements such as GATT and NAFTA have allowed countries such as Canada to grow and export hemp products grown on their sovereign land to the US. The sovereign rights of the Lakota nation as spelled out in the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868 and numerous Supreme Court cases should give the Lakota nation similar trading rights. But Indian sovereignty has never been a goal of the US government. Consider the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, a statute that robbed what was left of traditional indigenous sovereignty by setting up highly corruptible tribal councils whose main function was to sign off on federal development programs on the reservations. Reservation resources, had they not been co-opted by the US government with the help of these corrupt tribal councils, might have made Pine Ridge one of the the wealthiest regions in the country, rather than the poorest. The US government's treatment of American Indian sovereignty is, for all of us, of great significance. If American Indian sovereignty is under siege, so is American sovereignty. If US wealth is dependent upon impoverishment of its Indian peoples, we are all impoverished. In their 1998 book "Sovereignty under Siege: A Study of Federal Seizure of Indian Jurisdiction," Robert L. Pirtle and M. Frances Ayer say the Supreme Court has, in past decisions regarding American Indians, rewritten the Constitution like so: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men except Indians are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator except in the case of Indians with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness except in the case of Indians . .. to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed unless they are Indians." This Anglo folly has finally caught up with us in our polluted environments. At least Indians, refusing to blend into the dominant culture, continue to live in societies that are more personal and more humane. They continue to fight for ecological sustainable products like hemp houses and clothes. They continue to honor the universal values of courage, humility, honesty, fortitude, and patience. This is not just about giving American Indian people back their dignity by allowing them to prosper economically through ecologically sound, spiritually based farming of hemp. It is more than an issue of justice, sovereignty or constitutional revision and interpretation. Nor is it merely about an out-of-control Drug Enforcement Administration or the negative influences of multinational corporations. Ultimately, this issue is about saving a worldview that recognizes that we are all shaped and formed by our relationship to the earth. Mitakuye Oyasin. We are all related. ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01 --------- "RE: Metis Hunting Rights" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 18:53:32 -0500 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: Fw: Canadian story - metis hunting rights http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/02/23/metis_ruling010223 Top Ontario court upholds Metis hunting rights WebPosted Fri Feb 23 17:29:49 2001 TORONTO - The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld Metis hunting rights but has given Queen's Park a year to work out the details before declaring open season. The case concerned two Metis men who were arrested for shooting a bull moose near Sault Ste. Marie in 1993. Steve Powley and his son Rod were charged with illegally hunting moose and illegal possession of a moose. Two lower courts threw out the charges, saying the Metis have a right to hunt. Friday's appeal court ruling reaffirmed that under Section 35 of the Constitution, Inuit and Metis people have special treaty and other rights permitting them to hunt for a living. At the same time, the court granted Ontario's request to extend a current ban on hunting while working out the details with Metis people. "I have concluded that the respondents have demonstrated that they have a significant link with the historic Metis community of Sault Ste. Marie, that they are members of that community, and that they are thereby entitled to exercise an aboriginal right to hunt for food within the hunting territory of that community,'' wrote judge Robert Sharp. Metis leaders called the ruling a tremendous victory for native people. Metis Nation of Ontario president Tony Belcourt said it should serve as a wakeup call to the government to negotiate with the community. A spokesperson for the attorney general says the province is happy with the one-year stay provision because conservation of natural resources is a major issue in the case. Ontario will now have to decide whether or not to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Written by CBC News Online staff Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com --------- "RE: New Mexico Tribes/Governor Agree on Compact" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 10:37:15 -0800 (PST) From: Paul Pureau Subj: NM Tribes, Governor agree on compact Mailing List: ndn-aim Indianz.Com. In Print. http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/showfull.asp?ID=mm/2212001 NM Tribes, Governor agree on compact FEBRUARY 21, 2001 New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and 11 out of 13 gaming tribes in the state have come to an agreement on a new gaming compact, the Governor's office said on Tuesday. The tribes are currently being sued by Attorney General Patricia Madrid for refusing to remit 16 percent of their revenues as required by a 1997 compact. The tribes want a lower rate and sources say the new compact caps the rate from slot revenues at 8 percent. The only tribes who didn't approve the compact were Pojoaque Pueblo and the Mescalero Apache Tribe. They have proposed to make back payments to the state but want half of the money earmarked for Indian education. Copyright c. Indianz.Com 2000-2001. ===== 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 PELTIER NOW! STOP ETHNIC CLEANSING OF THE LAKOTA! --------- "RE: Sovereignty Fight a 500-Year-Old Struggle" --------- Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 06:17:28 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SOVEREIGNTY" No End In Sight For Indians, Sovereignty Fight a 500-Year-Old Struggle By Dean Schabner Feb. 22 - The sovereignty of American Indians has been an issue since Europeans landed on the American continent more than 500 years ago, and in all that time, Indian activists say, the terms of the dispute have not changed. In the collective American conscience, Indian tribes have rarely been seen as having a legitimate claim to self-determination or even to existence, even though the Supreme Court recognized their sovereignty as early as the 1830s. "It's really been a long series of negotiations, mostly through treaties and agreements with various tribes through which the government assured peace," said John Poupart, president of the American Indian Policy Center. "We're still negotiating that to some extent, since some of these treaties were not clear and some laws drawn up were not clear." Three decisions written by Chief Justice John Marshall in cases involving the Cherokee Nation and the State of Georgia set the precedent for numerous Supreme Court decisions over the next 170 years reaffirming tribal sovereignty. But to American Indians, their sovereignty does not spring from those decisions or any other action by the United States. "Perhaps the most basic principle of all Indian law - is that those powers which are lawfully vested in an Indian tribe are not, in general, delegated powers granted by expressed acts of Congress, but rather 'inherent powers of a limited sovereignty, which has never been extinguished,'" said Felix Cohen, author of the Tribal Handbook of Indian Law. From Too Poor to Too Rich Fueling disregard for the concerns of Indians is not only their scant numbers, but the stereotype of the contemporary Indian. Even the success of a few tribal casinos hasn't helped much, according to Indian rights supporters, who say the image of Indians as fat alcoholics looking for their next drink has only been replaced by the image of fat cats on the prowl for their next money-making scheme. "It used to be Indians had to be poor and dumb to be Indians, now they're supposed to be rich and greedy," Native American Rights Fund staff attorney Melody McCoy said. "It's hard to get a balance." The success of casinos such as the Mashantucket Pequots' in eastern Connecticut was not the first issue to strain whatever popular support has evolved for Indian causes over the last few decades, though. After the FBI shoot out at Wounded Knee and the march on the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the early 1970s allowed white America to think of Indians once again on the warpath, cases such as the suit filed in the 1980s by tribes asserting rights to huge portions of Maine raised outrage that Indians could expect to use the courts to drive non-Indians out of their homes and off their lands. In a current case, the Miami tribe has filed suit in federal court staking claim to land in 15 counties in Illinois. Road to Freedom But Indians have never looked to popular support or political action to help resolve their problems, and though a few tribes have gained some economic strength through casino operations, that power is not seen as the most effective weapon. Instead, they rely on the courts to decide. "Tribes still don't have political clout, but tribal policy is recognized in federal law, and it's here to stay, though this U.S. Supreme Court continues to try to chip away at it," McCoy said. Indian activists say it is a mistake to look for common threads throughout the various cases currently being fought - from the Passamaquoddy of Maine, who have refused to turn over tribal water quality reports to the state because they say federal authorities have jurisdiction, not the state; to the Miccosukee in Florida, who object to state prosecution of one of their members on murder charges; to the Pomo of California, who are facing a challenge of their right to open a casino less than a half hour from San Francisco. Of course the specifics vary, including the groundwork laid out in the treaties each tribe signed with the government, but it is hard not to see them all in terms of sovereignty issues. "The American Indian's only hope for sovereignty is Treaty Law," wrote Russell Means in a letter to the Navajo News last summer. "I want to take this one step further, all Nations with Treaties have to agree with the U. S. Government that they have broken the Treaties. The U.S. has not and will not live up to them. Therefore, we need to reassert our legal position in Constitutional Law and International Law. That position means, when one Nation who is a party to the Treaty unilaterally breaks that Treaty, the other Nations involved revert to the legal status they held prior to the Treaty. Welcome to FREEDOM!" Copyright c. 2001 ABC News. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Salmon Pact Reached" --------- Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 22:22:11 -0800 From: John Wm Sloniker Subj: Salmon pact reached Mailing List: INDIAN Heritage Seattle Times: Local News: Sat, February 17, 2001 Salmon-conservation pact reached by William McCall The Associated Press PORTLAND - Indian tribes have reached agreement with the states of Oregon and Washington on developing an ambitious salmon-conservation plan to rebuild fish runs to more than 5 million in the Columbia River Basin within the next 25 years. "The agreement is a milestone in that it marks the first time we have had a coastwide, conservation-based approach to wild-salmon management," said Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings. Leaders from the Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Warm Springs tribes and the governors of four Western states, including Gary Locke of Washington and John Kitzhaber of Oregon, say the plan is vital to meeting Columbia River salmon-recovery goals. It is expected to be completed by December 2003. "This agreement has both logic and vision, but, importantly, it provides the resource and fishers some level of certainty, something they haven't had much of in recent years," said Randy Settler, chairman of the Yakama Nation's fish-and-wildlife committee. The announcement came as the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency which markets electricity from 29 dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers, said it has decided to launch a $200 million energy-conservation and renewable-resource development program several months early to help relieve the electricity shortage and save salmon. "This is a program we had intended to start next fall, but, with the current shortage, we are offering it immediately," said Bonneville's acting administrator, Steve Wright. Regional utilities that buy power from the BPA and choose to participate will get a discount on their wholesale power bill if they agree to invest in conservation measures or renewable resources. Copyright (c) 2000 The Seattle Times Company http://www.seattletimes.com/news/general/copyright.html ----------------------------------------------- To contact the list owner, use stephenL@indiana.edu --------- "RE: Editorial: Negotiate On Sandia Boundary" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 07:25:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SANDIA" Albuquerque Journal Opinion So, Let's Negotiate On Sandia Boundary What is missing from this picture? Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., wrote Interior Secretary Gale Norton asking her to rescind an opinion, issued under court order, that would move Sandia Pueblo's eastern boundary to Sandia Crest. The two assert that the issue would be more equitably settled by negotiations among neighbors here in New Mexico. At the same time, the entities who asked Domenici and Wilson to intercede with Norton refuse to meet with pueblo officials to explore compromise solutions, according to Sandia Pueblo Gov. Stuwart Paisano. "We have been frustrated by the continued refusal of the Sandia Mountain Coalition, Bernalillo County and the city of Albuquerque to return to the negotiating table," Paisano said. "Despite our victories in the federal courts and the department's recent opinion, the pueblo remains committed to the settlement and remains willing to meet with all interested parties to discuss the settlement." It is troubling, too, that Domenici and Wilson, both of the legislative branch, would act on a political level to reverse an action by Norton's predecessor, former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, carried out in compliance with a federal court order, affirmed by a federal appeals court -- the judicial branch. It's not as if Babbitt's ruling ordering a new survey of the Sandia boundary was a purely political act -- like declaring a new national monument, for instance. As for Norton, Domenici's and Wilson's request puts her in an awkward position. Early in her term as federal trustee for the interests of Native Americans, she is asked to decide whether to favor an Indian tribe or a powerful Republican senator. She is being asked for a political reversal of a legal decision. It could strain her relations with Native Americans if she started her term by snatching back from a tribe an advantage granted under order of the court by her predecessor. "We believe the affected parties are the individuals most capable of settling this dispute," wrote Domenici and Wilson to Norton. Paisano agrees, saying the tribe remains anxious to resolve problems the coalition and Bernalillo County have with the compromise settlement earlier agreed to by the pueblo and the federal agencies. Domenici and Wilson should turn their powers of persuasion to "the affected parties" and exhort all to return to negotiations to seek a mutually acceptable compromise. The tribe is willing. Copyright c. 2001 Albuquerque Journal. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: South Dakota Panel Tries Patching Tribal Ties" --------- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 07:25:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SD TRIBAL PANEL" Panel tries patching tribal ties By LEE WILLIAMS Argus Leader published: 2/20/01 Recent appointees to the state's Tribal Relations Committee say they hope to change how the group is perceived by state and tribal officials. Republican Gov. George Mickelson created the 10-member panel in 1989, to address reconciliation issues between the state and the nine tribal governments. The group of legislators meets on an interim basis between legislative sessions, usually during the summer. "For the last number of years, it's been a committee that has tried to deal with issues, but not very effectively," said Republican Sen. Patricia de Hueck of Pierre, who will serve her first term on the committee. "But I'm determined to change this perception, open lines of communication and break through the barriers. I'm convinced we can." Over the years, the group garnered its share of criticism, including a call to disband from one of its own members. In 1998, Republican Rep. Bill Napoli of Rapid City was disheartened by poor attendance of invited officials. Though he didn't push the issue, he felt the group should have been scrapped. Now, unless things change, his opinion remains the same. "It's one of the biggest wastes of taxpayer money as it stands right now," said Napoli, who no longer serves on the panel. "Hardly anybody ever comes to the meetings -- white or Indian." Prior to one meeting, Napoli said, the committee invited senior executives from the U.S. Department of the Interior, along with leading tribal members and officials from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Three people showed up, and there was no one from the BIA," Napoli said. In the four years he served on the committee, it only passed one resolution. Napoli believes the committee should meet during legislative sessions, as a full-fledged committee, and be required to address specific issues rather than just talk. "With the new blood, it may have more fire, but the problem is, are they willing to chart a bold new direction?" Napoli asked. "Are these people willing to tackle hard issues?" Republican Sen. J.E. "Jim" Putnam of Armour said the panel was never designed as a problem-solving organization. "The committee's major accomplishment is that people who are non-Indians have gained knowledge about problems in South Dakota," said Putnam, who has served since 1989. "I don't know that we were ever ordered to do anything. We're normally there for the purpose of the tribes, so they can come and be heard." None of the tribal chairmen at several reservations throughout the state were available for comment Monday. Several committee members say they do plan to chart a bold direction for the group. "There is a myriad of issues facing tribal entities and the state," de Hueck said. "Now is the time to aggressively confront those issues." She hopes the committee can address economic development, water and land rights and revisit racial-profiling legislation, a bill which was killed during the current legislative session. "Racial profiling is not unique to this state. It wasn't successful, but I'm determined to continue to look at it, and assimilate the information we need, so we're truly informed," she said. Democrat Sen. Ron Volesky of Huron sponsored the failed racial-profiling bill. He served on the Tribal Relations Committee for three terms while in the house, and was just re-appointed as a senator. Volesky, an enrolled tribal member, believes the key task before the committee is to develop a stronger relationship between the state and the tribes. "That's got to be our underlying foundation, before we can move on to other issues," Volesky said. "We've got our work cut out for us. It's a big issue, but we can't give up on it." Volesky hopes the committee can assist the tribes and federal officials in developing one uniform commercial code, which will lead to substantive economic development for some of the poorest counties in the country. Such a commercial code was just adopted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. It tells financial institutions they can do business on the reservation, without fearing a loss of collateral if a loan goes bad. "In the past, banks have been unwilling to invest in Indian Country, fearing they can't get their money," Volesky said. "We need everyone on the same playing field, the same rule of law." There's a host of social issues Volesky said should also be addressed by the group, including alcoholism, fetal-alcohol syndrome and long-term nursing home care. Volesky also wanted to add a non-voting member from each reservation to the Legislature. That initiative was turned back by lawmakers. "Ron had the idea of having tribal members sit in on the Legislature and the committee, so they can take back with them what the state is doing," said Rep. Richard Hagen, D-Pine Ridge. "The committee is really picking up speed." Hagen also has sat on the committee since it was created. He hopes once perceptions change, attendance will improve. "If we don't all come to the table, nothing will ever get done." Reach reporter Lee Williams at lwilliam@argusleader.com or 331-2318 All content Copyright c. 2000 Argus Leader. --------- "RE: Ottawa Must Pay for Cultural Abuse of Natives" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 08:38:52 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ABUSE CLAIMS" Ottawa must pay for cultural abuse of natives Residential schools: `Good of our society' depends on accepting non-physical claims, Douglas Roche says Richard Foot National Post Douglas Roche, an Alberta Senator, says the federal government will do a disservice to the Canadian people if it refuses to compensate natives who claim they lost their culture and language in Indian residential schools. "I believe the government has a responsibility to effectuate a reparation of the damages that were done by bringing native students to schools where they were stripped of their heritage, whether or not they were ever near anybody who sexually or physically abused them," Mr. Roche says . Herb Gray, the Deputy Prime Minister, heads a task force of federal officials that is negotiating with church leaders over how to divide responsibility for billions of dollars of anticipated liabilities stemming from lawsuits filed by former students of the government-owned, church-run schools. Those discussions, however, only revolve around lawsuits filed by people who say they were sexually or physically abused in the schools. The government has said it does not plan to compensate claimants seeking damages for a broad range of non-physical claims such as forcible confinement, loss of language and culture, and forced labour. Mr. Roche says if such claims are not acknowledged, "There'll be a continuation of the festering in native communities. The scenario is not a happy one for the good of our society." Mr. Roche was appointed to the Senate by Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, in 1998, although he sits as an independent. He was Canada's ambassador for disarmament from 1984 to 1989. He says the government must compensate cases of non-physical suffering in native schools -- and offer programs to counsel, retrain and rehabilitate individuals in native communities -- if the country is to move beyond the residential schools crisis. "If the government takes a hard line on this it would be contrary to the spirit of the 1996 aboriginal report," he says. The 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples concluded that residential schools were the result of a failed assimilation policy, under which church and government leaders believed "aboriginal independence and `savagery' could be solved by taking children away from their families at an early age and instilling the ways of the dominant society, during eight or nine years of residential schooling far from home." The commission said: "Attendance was compulsory. Aboriginal languages, customs and habits of mind were suppressed. The bonds between many hundreds of aboriginal children and their families and nations were bent and broken with disastrous results." Mr. Roche says Mr. Gray is the first Cabinet minister to understand the dimensions of the residential schools issues facing Canada, but he says Ottawa is moving too slowly to solve them. Mr. Roche says the government should sit down with leaders from all sides -- the churches, groups of native claimants and First Nations leaders -- and hammer out a solution. "I would bring 10 or 20 people together at a round table and I would say, `Look, for the good of our country and the good of the people who've been hurt, we must use our best knowledge and goodwill to resolve this problem. Now let's get down to work." Although Mr. Gray's office has had separate meetings with church and native leaders, no such comprehensive talks have taken place. Lawyers for thousands of native plaintiffs say they have asked for meetings with Mr. Gray, but are still waiting for an invitation. Copyright c. 2001 National Post. National Post Online is a Hollinger/CanWest Publication. --------- "RE: State Joins Appeal of Sex Abuse Case" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 07:17:24 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEX ABUSE" State joins appeal of sex abuse case. Attorney general says ruling on reservation boundaries threatens sovereignty. Associated Press BOISE _ Putting tribal relations at risk, Attorney General Al Lance contends a court decision on the boundaries of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation poses a threat to state sovereignty. Lance raised the argument on Thursday in urging the high court to hear the appeal of Christopher Lee Webb, a Lapwai man who was convicted of sexually abusing two young girls on the north-central Idaho reservation. "It is unfortunate that the state must participate in this case, but there is no dispute that prosecution of the defendant is necessary and the jurisdictional issue must be resolved to ensure that justice is served," Lance wrote in announcing his filing of a "friend of the court" brief with the Supreme Court. He also said Nez Perce County officials were ready to prosecute Webb under state law should the Supreme Court overturn the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Nez Perce Tribe Chairman Samuel Penney said the attorney general's action further strained the state's already tenuous relationship with the tribe. "The state's attempt to directly attack the existence of the Nez Perce Reservation will only make it more difficult for us to work together on issues of common concern," Penney wrote in a statement issued by the tribe late Thursday. The 9th Circuit court decided in October not to rehear the case of Webb, who admitted to touching two of his daughter's friends while they slept at his house but argued that the federal government lacked jurisdiction to prosecute him. Webb contended that the crimes occurred on land within the original reservation boundaries that were opened to non-Indian settlement after the tribe ceded them to the government in 1894 in exchange for more than $1.6 million. But a three-judge panel of the federal appellate court ruled in upholding Webb's conviction and sentence last July that the boundaries of the Nez Perce Reservation as established by treaty in 1863 have not changed. Penney said the decisions in the tribe's favor and against Webb's arguments should be allowed to stand, calling them "very thorough and specific to the factual circumstances of the Nez Perce Reservation." Lance, however, said the 9th Circuit rulings were at odds with those from other courts -- including the U.S. Supreme Court and Idaho Supreme Court -- involving the issue of reservation diminishment. "The court ignored critical statutory language, cited characterizations of legislative history that were patently false, and omitted critical portions of the historical record," Lance wrote in his brief to the high court. "The state submits that jurisdictional issues critical to defining the respective boundaries of state, tribal and federal sovereignty should not rest upon a decision of such dubious merit." Copyright The Associated Press. Copyright c. 2001 The Spokesman-Review. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Peltier Update" --------- Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 20:28:16 -0600 From: "LPDC" Subj: Peltier update Mailing List: LPDC Friends, *FYI, as you may know, Robbie Robertson advocated for Leonard Peltier's release last night during the Grammy Award Ceremony. He referred to Leonard Peltier as not being "Marc Rich" enough for a pardon. *The History Channel will be airing a special on the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation and Leonard Peltier tomorrow (Friday) evening at 9:00pm. *Also, CNN still has a forum for comments regarding Clinton's handling of clemencies: http://community.cnn.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@@.eeeb0ed *Lastly, now is a great time to write letters to the editor regarding Clinton's handling of last minute clemencies, including the one he did not grant and should have. We will send out a sample letter to the editor tomorrow. Thank you! 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 > -- - - - Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 15:29:25 -0600 Friends, Here is the sample letter to the editor promised in yesterday's update. You can use this one, personalize this one, or write your own and send it to your local papers. Thank you! In Solidarity, LPDC SAMPLE: LETTER TO THE EDITOR (Include your name, phone number, and LPDC web site: www.freepeltier.org) CLINTON'S ABUSE OF CLEMENCY PROCESS BETRAYED NATIVE PEOPLES Criticism of Bill Clinton's handling of pardons should also include questioning about why he did not grant clemency to those who truly deserved it. Why, for example, didn't Clinton commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier, whose case more than any other would have demonstrated the proper use of the clemency power? Peltier has been wrongfully imprisoned for 25 years. Amnesty International considers him a "political prisoner" who should be "immediately released." He was convicted after a shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Reservation took the lives of two FBI agents and one Native man whose death was never investigated. Peltier, who had long been surveillanced by the FBI for his American Indian Movement leadership, was found guilty in a trial where witnesses were coerced, false testimony was utilized, and a ballistic test reflecting his innocence was withheld from the defense. Today the U.S. prosecutor admits, "we can't prove who shot those agents." The appellate court found that Peltier might have been acquitted absent the FBI abuses, but denied a new trial on a legal technicality. This appellate judge expressed firm support for Peltier's release through executive clemency. Indeed, executive clemency for Peltier would have exemplified not only a proper use of the power, but an honorable decision to correct a terrible injustice and take a historical step toward healing relations between the U.S. government and Native Peoples. Instead, January 20, 2001 marked another betrayal of the first peoples of this land by a government who has yet to grant reparations for the many atrocities committed against them. Clinton's legacy will forever be tainted by his abuse of the clemency process, both in the pardons he granted, and the ones he did not. And sadly, Leonard Peltier will continue to be a glaring reminder that America's shameful treatment of Native Peoples is far from ancient history. 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 > This message was launched into cyberspace to gars@speakeasy.org --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon,26 February 2001 20:55:07 -0530 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: Prisoners' Pen Pal List Tell a Native American Prisoner someone cares! -- - - - Peltier, Leonard #89637-132 Box 1000 Leavenworth, KS 66053 Birthday: 9/12/44 Ancestry: Ojibwa-Lakota -- - - - Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 07:17:24 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PRISON ABUSE" Pepper spray used repeatedly on Indian Youth at Juvenile facility By Ruth Steinberger & Liz Gray Staff at the Pine Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility in Miles City, MT has repeatedly used the caustic and very painful chemical compound known as "pepper spray" or "OC" (oleoresin capsicum) on Native American youth at that facility, according to documents handed over to Attorney Cynthia Thornton, of Miles City, Montana. Thornton is representing a juvenile charged as an adult resulting from a May 11, 2000 incident at the youth facility. According to transcripts from the Montana Sixteenth District Court in Miles City, MT, Attorney Thornton asked Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility staff person, Mr. Jeffrey Allen Lee, ". . . there are other youths there that you would agree that have been, for instance, other Native American youths, particularly the ones that were involved in this, that have been peppered at least 15 times-each of them?" Mr. Lee answered, "True." In the May 11, 2000 incident, the youth [we will give the false name of Justin for reference] grabbed an empty can of "pepper spray" from a guard and attempted to fire the empty can. Following an escalated disturbance, three Native American juveniles were moved to a local jail and were subsequently charged with assault. Bud Heringer is a minister from Glasgow, Montana, who has worked with Native American youth in juvenile corrections facilities for over two years. Visiting the boys who were charged in the May 11, 2000 disturbance, Heringer was shocked to learn the details of the pepper spray incidents that had taken place through out the time he was in contact with the boys, and their fear of retaliation by staff had prevented them from telling him about the sprayings. Referring to the incidents, the boys told Heringer that on more than one occasion they had been sprayed more than one time in a day, and according to Heringer the youth indicated that they were saturated with the spray, leaving them in excruciating pain over their entire bodies. Indeed, nurses' reports indicate youth seen with affects of OC including, "redness covering the boys face, neck, arms and legs." According to the documents of discovery, one youth was pepper sprayed three times in one day. Heringer explains that the boy's story went deeper than that. Describing what happened as "torture", Heringer explained that the youth allegedly told Heringer that he was placed in his cell, pepper spray was sprayed into the cell and a towel was placed under the door. Justin alleges that pepper spray was introduced two more times into the cell, until he panicked believing he was suffocating. Incident reports from that day revealed that Justin was sprayed three times. Heringer acknowledges that the boys have serious behavioral problems, however he believes that repeatedly burning them with caustic chemicals is not a way to teach anger management and coping skills to youth. "When you take children from violent environments and pepper spray them fifteen times each, what message are you sending to those children?" Heringer asks. "Is this how the State of Montana teaches youth that violence is not an appropriate response? If these children don't learn the lesson after being sprayed fifteen times, does the State of Montana spray them 30 or 40 times?" During the incident at the Pine Hills facility on May 11, 2000, documentation shows that five Native American youth caused a disturbance including throwing chairs at the guards. One of the boys told Bud Heringer that during the disturbance they were backed against a wall by the guards. The incident reports indicate that the youth did not "lay down", and so the boys were sprayed until "they complied". According to Justin, the five guards sprayed each boy directly in the face and continued to saturate him with the OC leaving outlines on the wall behind where the youth had been standing. According to documentation, nineteen adults were present at that incident. Pepper spray is intended to be used to break up a disturbance when a lesser use of force is ineffective and is intended to prevent damage to life or property. Correctional facility Policy No. PHD 3.1.9A indicates that the substance is considered an extremely caustic irritant, and calls for immediate follow up medical attention, with the policy stating, `Offenders who have been subjected to chemical agents may suffer skin, eye or lung damage and should be removed from the gaseous area as soon as possible'. [italics added] Problems in the documentation leave serious questions about any meaningful regulation of the use of force within the facility itself. Montana's juvenile corrections system is fully accredited, with policies in place calling for video monitoring of any incidents requiring the use of force, and further review of those incidents within a day of the incident. Department of Juvenile Corrections Superintendent Steve Gibson noted that the full review of all use of force incidents is intended to prevent abuse. Reports released in response to the discovery motion filed by Cynthia Thornton however, indicated that extensive documentation was missing, including documentation of numerous incidents. Documentation entails a written statement to be made by each staff member present. By comparing each staff member's documentation it was revealed that some, or even close to all, of these reports were not generated, or were withheld from Thornton. Mandated reviews by Pine Hills Administrator, Jim Hunter, which are to be completed by the end of the following day of an incident, apparently took place only after the process of discovery was initiated. In the time between the first documented incident of pepper spraying and the time of the review, fourteen months had passed. Numerous additional use of force incidents had occurred during this time. Of the eleven sets of Use of Force documentation turned over to Attorney Cynthia Thornton, only one incident was reviewed on the day following the incident. Written statements from staff contradict other written statements from staff regarding the exact same incident. Further contradictions are found in reference to steps taken after the sprayings to ensure the health and comfort of the youth. According to official policy, `free flowing cool water', is to be offered to pepper spray victims and youth are supposed to be showered immediately following any disturbance in which a chemical agent is used. Yet staff at Pine Hills turned showering into an event involving a process that the youth claim is so humiliating that many of them refused to shower. The youth allege that showering entailed stripping and then walking to the showers naked, in handcuffs and shackles, and showering while being viewed by nine to fourteen staff members of both sexes. According to allegations by the juveniles, as well as the scant documentation from the facility that exists, boys who refused the shower were placed in their cells unshowered with the burning, oily residue covering their bodies. According to the boys, they attempted to wash off by splashing themselves with water from the toilet. One youth alleged that following a pepper spray incident he was able to flood water from the toilet into his cell by blocking the space under the door with a mattress. The youth then stated that he lay in the water to find relief and attempt to wash the pepper spray off of his private parts. Documentation from the incident reports support the allegations by noting he refused his shower and then flooded his cell. Heringer feels that without an understanding of the showering process as the youth describe it, the flooding incident could be viewed as an attempt to create further disturbance. He also states that two boys, now separated but formerly at Pine Hills, detailed the same humiliating process for showering, Heringer argues it would be unlikely that two youth not in direct contact with each other would invent the same detailed story regarding access to the showers. According to youth statements as well as staff documentation, pepper spray was for punishment against Native American youth after disturbances had taken place rather than as deterrence. Documentation on incidents involving Use of Force that were furnished to Attorney Thornton indicates that the first time one youth was pepper sprayed was on May 31, 1999. However, a report from January 22, 1999, signed by Pine Hills staff nurse, A. Klang, reveals that a nurse has seen the same youth that night for the effects from pepper spray. According to the youth, he had turned from the spray, which was directed at his face. The nurses report indicates he was seen at 11:35 PM for, "shoulder at back redden c/o burning wet towel given to youth". Some staff documentation on the May 11, 2000, indicates that youth were offered showers after a pepper spray incident, while other reports from the same incident state that the youth were returned directly to their cells without mention of showering. Based on discovery documents turned over to Cynthia Thornton, of 41 instances of the use of pepper spray on juveniles at the Pine Hills Facility from July 29, 1997 through May 15, 2000, 40 of the incidents involved the spraying of Native American youth. Commenting on the possibility of a racial component to the sprayings, Steve Gibson, Superintendent of Juvenile Corrections explained that, "Any racial component would be fully investigated." He added that, "If anyone at the facility, including upper management, did anything that was racially motivated, they'd be fired. It simply would not be tolerated." In an incident on July 10,1999, staff person Jeffrey A. Lee writes in the incident report that boys were sprayed with OC "due to" the fact that they had broken their window. One report by Mr. Lee states, "____ was OC'd due to his window being completely out", "the team then extracted ___due to his window being busted out and he was OC'd". The reports from that incident do not reveal that any measure was used before the use of the spray such as mechanical restraints or a riot shield. Lee's report stated that two youth who were sprayed had, "started hitting and pounding on their windows, this lasted for at least a couple of hours". Again incident reports show that staff went from verbal warning directly to the use of pepper spray on the juveniles. Bud Heringer stated, "A baton, a rubber hose, a stun-gun and a $12.95 can of OC spray are not supposed to become substitutes for legitimate behavior modification programs. Neither are they supposed to be used as instruments by which corporeal punishments are inflicted upon children." Bud Heringer revealed an incident that Justin shared with him, which had no corresponding documentation in any Use of Force Report. Had a "pink slip" (behavioral report) not been inadvertently placed in Justin's possessions that were picked up by Heringer, there would be no way to validate the information given to Heringer by the juvenile. Heringer believes that the secrecy surrounding this incident is not an accident. After being released from over four days in solitary confinement, Justin claimed that near midnight on April 16, 2000, he broke nine windows and then broke into a classroom damaging property there. Justin's recollection is that around 10 staff members including Jeffrey Allen Lee, Director Jim Hunter and others, appeared at the scene. They applied pepper spray into the room and left. Due to the spray, the boy told Heringer he left the room and went into the area outside the classroom door. He told Heringer that Jeff Lee returned around 20 minutes later and said, "Nice job...." referring to the damage he had caused. Mr. Lee then sprayed another full can of OC onto Justin and left him there by himself. The youth told Heringer that he panicked, believing that he could not breath and begged for staff to come and get him. They responded by placing him into the solitary confinement (quiet) room, and he begged for three hours for a shower. This is the same youth who was soon to be charged as an adult with assault, following the May 11, 2000, incident in which he grabbed an empty can of pepper spray and attempting to fire back at staff at the at Pine Hills Correctional Facility. Placed the following day in Miles County Jail and then moved to a jail in Billings, MT, the sixteen year old intended to fight the charges. While being held in solitary confinement for eight months and allegedly receiving pressure by Attorney Cynthia Thornton to accept a plea agreement, Justin finally gave in and in January 2001, accepted the plea. Shortly after this time, Heringer learned that Thornton had not attempted to file the second Motion for Discovery that both Heringer and Justin believed might contain further supporting documents of his case. Justin was released from solitary confinement the day after he accepted the plea agreement, and was finally allowed into general population. He was sentenced to ten years, with all but two years suspended. The remainder will be served on parole. Herringer recently went before the Senate Committee to reveal his findings in hopes these practices of using pepper spray and other "brutal" tactics not be used on Montana's Indian youth. "Does Montana want to earn a reputation and establish a legacy of being a state where minority race children are brutally treated," said Herringer. "If Montana is to truly be known as the Treasure State... she needs to treasure all her children regardless their race, troubles, or circumstances. Her leaders, her courts, and her people can do much better than this." Facility Director Jim Hunter could not be reached for comment at press- time. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -- - - - Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 07:25:23 -0600 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FEMALE PRISONERS" Wednesday, February 21, 2001 Aboriginal healing is off-limits to the most troubled female offenders NEKANEET FIRST NATION, Sask.(CP) - Twenty-five women at the Okimaw Ohci spiritual lodge gather around a fireplace, its soaring pipe chimney the centre pole of a huge, wooden teepee. It's early morning and the warm air is fragrant with sage, cedar, sweetgrass and tobacco that burns as an aboriginal elder prays. She finishes, greets the women and talks about her weekend. In turn, they each wish the group good morning. Some mention special struggles or recent triumphs. Except for a barrier gate on the winding driveway outside, there are few clues this peaceful place nestled among 160 acres of poplar forest is a federal prison. There is no perimeter wall, no barbed wire, not even a fence. The women around the talking circle, indistinguishable from the staff who guard them, are serving two years or more for crimes ranging from drug offences to murder. They're part of an experiment hailed for its rehabilitative success and criticized for excluding those who arguably most need its unique approach. Maximum-security inmates, those whose unruly behaviour or mental illness deem them high-risk, aren't allowed here. Warden Clare McNab isn't convinced they should ever be admitted, but the idea is being discussed. "If you have one group that's active and vocal, they can wind up affecting -- even running -- a whole facility with their negative behaviour," she says. A fortified unit would be needed and attracting staff to the remote prison is already a challenge. For now, the healing lodge called Okimaw Ohci -- Cree for "Thunder Hills" -- near Maple Creek, Sask., houses just minimum- and medium- security women. That's a betrayal, critics say, of the correctional service's own task force on women. It recommended in 1990 that all aboriginal women sentenced to two years or more should have access to this place. That was before efforts to blend all security levels at the new Edmonton Institution for Women ended in 1996 with escapes and an inmate's murder. The healing lodge opened in 1995 to answer calls for a more culturally sensitive approach. Aboriginals make up three per cent of Canada's population, yet about 23 per cent of female prisoners are native. "I've seen women come in with a nasty attitude and come out much different," says Laura White Cloud, an inmate serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. "Not everyone -- but a lot. "I've gotten more help here than I have anywhere." White Cloud, in her mid-50s, is the daughter of a French father and Cree mother. She has served in three other prisons, including the old Prison for Women in Kingston, Ont. "Here, it's so different. I can roam through the woods, see all kinds of animals... Compared to a five-by-seven cell, it's beautiful." It costs about $100,000 a year for each inmate, says McNab, compared with an average $60,000 for men in federal prisons. There is a library, weight room, ceramics studio and whirlpool tub to relieve stress. Advocates say aboriginal women, most of whom have been physically and/or sexually abused, are revictimized in the penal system. Security classification methods have been called discriminatory and culturally inappropriate. They assume high-risk inmates must be managed, clashing with the aboriginal belief that they must first be respected, then helped to heal. Offenders must be ready to accept that help, says McNab. About 30 inmates here cook most of their own meals and receive spiritual and psychological counselling. All of them, even non-aboriginals, signed contracts outlining their commitment to heal and follow native traditions. In a cheery playroom, tiny coat hooks bear the names of five toddlers. They can live with their moms until the age of four. An inmate segregation unit has never been used for that purpose, and most disputes are resolved through mediation circles. There has never been an escape from the remote grounds, says McNab. The 12 cottage-style houses have alarms that sound if a door is opened at night and regular inmate counts are done. Otherwise, the place is loosely structured and inmates must be self-motivated. White Cloud knows some people think the inmates have it too easy. "They should put themselves in our moccasins, see how they feel about it," she says. "We have walls. You just don't see them. Prison is prison, regardless." Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------------------------------- Please especially remember 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, 11 Feb 2001 21:47:56 -0500 From: Barbara Landis Subj: History: Carlisle Indian School, February 10, 1888 INDIAN HELPER [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] THE INDIAN HELPER ----------------------------- ~~ FOR OUR BOYS AND GIRLS ~~ ============================= VOLUME III CARLISLE, PA. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1888 NO. 26 ============================= HELP ONE ANOTHER --------- "Help one another," the snowflakes said, As they cuddled down in their fleecy bed. "One of us here would not be felt, One of us here would quickly melt, But I'll help you and you'll help me, And then what a big white drive we'll see." "Help one another the dewdrop cried, Seeing another drop close to its side, "This warm, south breeze will drive me away And I shall be gone ere noon today. And I'll help you and you'll help me, And we'll make a brook and run to the sea. "Help one another," a grain of sand Said to another just at hand. "The wind may carry me over the sea, And then, O, What will become of me? But come, my brother, give me your hand, We'll build a mountain and there we'll stand. -Chambers, Journal. -------------------- 7482 FEET HIGH. --------- Near the Western Border of New Mexico. Jan. 30th 1888. MY DEAR MAN-ON-THE-BAND-STAND: - Your chief clerk is higher up in the world just at this moment than ever before. We are travelling westward toward the Pacific ocean at the rate of twenty miles an hour. We have just passed the Atlantic and Pacific Divide, 7482 feet above the level of the sea. From near here large rivers start on their course toward the sea, some toward the Atlantic and some toward the Pacific ocean. The head waters of the Rio Grande River, and the head waters of the Colorado are here. Yesterday we saw the beginning of the great Arkansas River. From this point we go down hill, till we reach the Colorado River - from 7482 feet above sea level we go as low as 477 feet. Then we shall climb the mountains of California until we reach nearly 3000 feet and then jump suddenly to only two or three hundred feet above the sea. And thus we go, up and down, over great mountain ranges and through beautiful valleys pulled, or held back, by the wonderful steam locomotive. We are comfortable. Not tired in the least. A sleeping car is no longer a luxury, but a necessity, to people crossing the country from ocean to ocean. In some future letter I want to tell your boys and girls something about the sleeping cars; how they look, and how they are managed. The weather since we started has been delightful. The air in the mountain land seems so pure and good. We are riding with car windows open, the weather being so warm. The moonlight nights while on the way have been gorgeous. We are having a delightful time and enjoying every moment of the journey. Hastily. Your chief clerk, M. BURGESS. ------------- VISIT TO WASHINGTON D.C. ------ Capt. Pratt and daughter, Miss Marion, and four of us Indian girls, went to Washington about a week ago and stayed there three and a half days. Esther Miller was along. We Indian girls had a grand time. We visited the Smithsonian Institute, Capitol, and climbed to the top of the dome, and went outside, where we had a splendid view of the whole city. It takes a little work to get to the top of this building, especially for a fat person. A very fat man reached the top just as we were ready to go down. "You'd've died laughing," to have seen this fat man, red with heat, and face all wet with perspiration and blowing like a locomotive, and not able to move another step, so tired was he. It was hard not to laugh right out before him. We also visited the Treasury, War and Navy, and Patent Departments, and the Corcoran Art Gallery, where such fine paint- ---------------------------- (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. ============================== Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Manager. ============================== 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 INDIAN HELPER is paid for in advance, so do not hesitate to take the paper from the Post Office, for fear a bill will be presented. =============================== The Other Side. Joey P_______ skipped down the long hall, laughing as she went and swinging her arms as if nothing were in the way. "Take care!" cried Ledante. But she spoke too late for Joey's hand had struck hard against a pile of bowls laid on the edge of a stool beside one of the tables. The stool was still there, but it was empty, for what had been bowls a moment before now lay on the floor a heap of broken crockery. Alida T_____ began to laugh. Joey bent over the heap and discovered that one bowl was only cracked. "I couldn't help it,' she said, putting this on the table, it was an accident, I didn't know there was anything there." "And you didn't know where your hands were going to," said Virginia P____. "I never do, they just hit round, they have to. I don't think things ought to be in the way." Romona C_____ laughed as she filled her dishpan full of plates and bowls and began to rattle them vigorously. "You couldn't help it," she said. "You didn't think; we don't mean to break things, but we can't remember, and they will get in the way." "That's so," said all the girls, "we can't help it." That same afternoon Joey, Virginia, Alida and Hannah B_____ were in Romona's room. She had been showing them a pretty vase that some one had just given her "I'm happy looking at it," she said. The girls all admired it very much. A few minutes afterward Joey said that she must go to the teachers' quarters to do an errand. She took up her cloak and swung it about her shoulders as if she had been out in the middle of the lawn where it could not have hit anything. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Romona, "My vase! my vase! You mean, careless, naughty girl!" For the vase lay on the floor shattered as thoroughly as the bowls had been that morning. But it did not seem the same thing to Romona, for she had laughed in the morning, and now she began to cry. "I couldn't help it, you know," said Joey. "I didn't think; I didn't mean to break your pretty vase; I'm real sorry; but things will get in the way." "Things get in the way," cried Romona scornfully, never dreaming that she had said those very words a few hours before. "You didn't think! What did you come all the way to Carlisle for, and what is the use of your going to school every day if you can't think enough not to smash up every thing?" Then she stopped all at once and looked at the girls about her. They looked back at her. "That's so, Romona," they said again, as they had said in the morning, but this time they meant that they could help breaking things if they thought, and that they would think. ----------- The school sociable at the gymnasium Friday night, was a happy affair. The laughter and chat about the many tables, in playing games, and among the promenaders along the gallery, proved that these were most enjoyable parts of the program. The other amusements were a walking match between eight of the larger boys which Timber Yellow Robe won, both by the masterly use of his elbows in keeping the right of way, and the fleetness of his steps. A trial of strength by rope-pulling, was so closely contested by the seven at each end, that several trials were made before either side could fairly claim the advantage. But the funniest of all was a race between four little boys - Frank Bressette, Siceni, Ulysses, and Clement, with sacks drawn over their feet and tied around their waists. "Such inching along!" But not a bit daunted by an occasional tumble, they made the round amid merry peals of laughter, Siceni being the winner and receiving great applause. The Band played several pieces, and at nine o'clock headed the column as the boys marched off to their quarters. One thing the M-O-T-B-S does not like to see and that is the girls and boys hugging the walls. The walls are new and very strong, quite able to support themselves without help. ============ "Politeness is to do and say The kindest thing in the kindest way." ========================================= p.3 More snow! Good sleighing! Number 2, first floor, receives the first wardrobe. --------- Little Eunice, one of the Apache babies, is cutting two teeth. --------- A new spirometer for the gymnasium arrived this week. -------- "Please Miss Noble, I like to have some gravy I want to put border up in my room." -------- One of the boys wishing to buy a pair of over shoes made his request for "Slipper-shoes." -------- The Man-on-the-band-stand thanks his Chief Clerk, heartily for the very interesting letter given on the first page. -------- The samples of work from the girls' sewing room, that were sent to Washington this week, were beautifully done. -------- Through the kindness of Mrs. Given and Miss Leverett, the girls are in receipt of "Wide Awake" and "Pansy." They return their thanks. -------- The story of Zachary, the Mohegan Chief, sent us by a "subscriber," was published in a December number of the INDIAN HELPER. -------- Another fall of snow and the change in temperature, makes spring time seem many weeks off yet, despite the sunny warmth of Monday. -------- The carpenter's apprentices are making tables for the 37 rooms in the Little Boys' Quarters and working on wardrobes for Large Boys' Quarters. -------- The boys rolled a snowball five feet through in front of the Teachers' Club but the club has not struck yet, and there is no pitcher, who can throw it away. -------- The ladies who went to town to hear Dr. Vincent's lecture Tuesday night, were so delighted with it, that they said they would all teach better for having listened to it. -------- Dr. J.H. Vincent, the great Chatauquan and Sabbath School man, visited the different departments of our school and looked into their workings. Before he left, the school was gathered in the chapel, where it had the pleasure of listening to a rarely good and instructive talk from him, on "Thinking, Loving, Willing," so well, simply and entertainingly was it put, that all understood and thoroughly enjoyed his forty-five minutes' talk and wished it twice as long. "Indian School," base ball nine will be composed of the following members: Percy Zadoka, catcher and center fielder; Conrad Roubidoux, catcher and center fielder; Edwin Schanandoah, 1st baseman; Adam Metoxen, 2nd baseman; Peter Cornelius, 3rd baseman; Raymond Stewart, left field; John Kitson, Right field; Charles Hood, short stop and pitcher. The Club organized last evening with the above result. They are ambitious to make a good record this summer and desire to train for it. -------- The meeting of the Republic Debating Society was for the purpose of electing new officers. The following were elected: President, Carl Lieder; Vice President, John Londrosh; Secretary, Levi Levering; Treasury, Charles D. Wheelock; Reporter, John Miles; Marshall, Paul Black Bear; Committee on Arrangements, Frank Locke, chairman, members Harvey Townsend and Peter Cornelius. The House adjourned. SECRETARY. ----------------- The Proceedings of the P.I. Society. The newly elected officers took their places and minutes of the last meeting were read and accepted. Under unfinished business the letters of encouragement written to the girls at Haskell were read and approved, and a committee directed to send them. The new business included report of the Treasurer, and the election of Lilly Wind as Vice-President. After speeches by the new officers, the general program was given. This consisted of singing by the society, Select Reading, Lydia Flint; instrumental music, Edith Abner; Recitation, "Pledged With Wine" by Eva Johnson, and "One and Two" by Annie Thomas. For want of time the debate was postponed until the next meeting. A committee on arrangments was appointed and the meeting adjourned. -------------- What a Boston Lady did. A lady dressed with excellent taste was passing up Washington Street recently on a very cold day, when she noticed a horse whose blanket had fallen off. Many other ladies and gentlemen were passing and it required some moral courage (as the world goes) for her to stop, take up the blanket, spread it over the horse and tuck it under the harness. But she did it, and did it well. Her mercy was thrice blessed, for it blest not only the giver and the receiver, but the stranger who witnessed the act. [Our Dumb Animals. ========================================== p 4. (Continued fro first page.) ings of pictures we never before saw. In the Patent Office we met the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Mr. Atkins. He asked us our names, and talked to us so encouragingly about our future, when we leave this school. We all sat in Secretary Whitney's chair in his office, because the man who took us around said all who sat in his chair were sure to have good luck. One other place I will mention, we went to Mrs. Cleveland's reception and shook hands with her. EDITH ABNER. ---------- Helpfulness. One of the most important words in our great language is helpfulness. Be helpful to some person, or some thing every day in your life. One does not need to be *big*, to be helpful. One does not have to do great things to be helpful. A child can be as helpful in its way, as a big man is in his. If you can't clear the railroad track, you can shovel a path for some one. The boy who is kin to dumb animals is a very helpful member to society. We only pass through this life once. Be helpful which and where you can. ------------ Rules for Making Sunshine. Don't think of what might have been if things were different. See how many pleasant things are given you to enjoy. Do all you can to make other people happy. -[Selected. ------------- "Look up and Lift Up." Look up to the Father who reigneth above, Lift up those around thee in tenderest love, Looking and lifting, so shalt thou be blest, Do this right nobly, to God leave the rest. -------------- Monkeys. There are many kinds of animals. Monkeys and monkeys and etc. The monkeys are very much like a monkey. They act like a monkey too. The monkeys can climb a tree like a monkey. They have long tails and long bodies like a monkey. They often play a merry game and sing a merry song like a monkey. Once upon a time my friend and I were young men that time we took a trip we started off from Dakota and away we went and then we went to South America. There we saw the monkeys and monkeys every where on the trees screaming and chattering everywhere on the trees. They were very cheerful like monkeys. We saw all kinds of monkeys in South America; we caught a ship load of them and brought them back to the United States and sold them for so much money. Then we took our money to buy a great big balloon and it blew away. Then we had no monkeys, no money, and no balloon. FRED BIG HORSE. ----------------- Enigma. My first is in volume but not in book. My second in both you'll find. My third you can get in hook or crook. My fourth is always in kind. My fifth is not in certain, but sure. My sixth, - it is found in depend. My seventh is in trial but not in endure. My eighth you may find in the end. My ninth is in darkness as well as in day. My tenth it is ever in light. My eleventh though in linger, is not in delay. My twelfth you'll find in affright. My thirteenth in trusty is also in true. My fourteenth in pleasure and duty; My fifteenth I'll look for in upward with you. My whole is a motto which practised anew Would fill earth full of heaven's beauty. --------------- ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S ENIGMA: Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. --------------- Conundrums. Why is a chicken's head like Napoleon? Why is the letter "e" like an island? ======================================= 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 Navajoe 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. --------------- For a longer list of subscribers we have many other interesting pictures of shops, representing boys at work, schoolrooms and views of the grounds, worth from 20 to 60 cents a piece, which will be sent on request. ------------------------------ At the Carlisle Indian School is published monthly an eight-page quarto of standard size, called THE RED MAN, 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, THE RED MAN, Carlisle, PA. For 1, 2 and 3 subscribers for THE RED MAN 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: The Deerhunter" --------- Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 02:40:19 -0000 From: "John Rustywire" Subj: The Deerhunter Mailing List: indigenous_peoples_literature@egroups.com She came into the Circle K and was standing in line when I saw her, everyone calls her "Aunt Eva", she is an older Indian woman who takes care of her mother and a few grandchildren, and those who seem to find a way to her door. Her hair is a little gray and as an Indian woman, she is quiet, sort of just gets by. She was standing in line with a group of deer hunters. Their rig was parked in front a Jeep Grand Cherokee, white it was, but it was hard to tell to look at it. There were four gas cans tied on the back, the sleeping bags, coolers, tents, lawn chairs, and mosquito netting were all tied on top. There was a trailer with a couple of four wheelers on their with a barbeque grill and some other odds and ends attached. These men had come to hunt, and they were decked out in camouflage green and boots, they stood out because of the bright orange vests and hats and they carried some 12 packs of beer to the counter. Old Eva looked small standing there against them, her braided hair with streaks of gray dressed in a simple flowered shirt and pair of cotton pants. I think she had some Nikes her grandkids gave her and she had a gallon of milk in her hand. She smiled at me and I said how are you doing. She said fine. I stood there for a minute and asked her what are you doing today?, just to make conversation. She turned and looked at me and said "I am going hunting". The men in green turned to look at her when she said that and she looked really small against them. She just smiled and stood in line. Afterwards as I went to my car, I walked by her 84 Chev sedan, green it was with four doors. She was putting her milk in the trunk and I looked inside her car as I walked by. There on the back seat, on the plaid blanket she used as seat cover was a .22 rifle, a plain single shot sitting there all by itself. I could see the hunters loading their beer and talking about not having to shave, and how they would mount the deer antlers on the hood and top rack once they had their kill to show off to the folks in town when they came back through. It is how it is done, sort of matter of pride to let everyone know you were the good at the hunt. Old Eva got in her car and I asked her where are you going to go hunting. She said by the creek on the way home. Is that your rifle, she said yes. It layed there quietly in the back seat. I went home and then later to the bowling alley to pick up one of my sons and saw Jenny, Old Eva's granddaughter outside there and I asked her. How is Old Eva? She looked at me and said, "Oh, she is doing pretty good, she is home butchering a deer." Oh, I said, when did she get it? Jenny said, she got it this afternoon on the way home and we are gonna have ribs tonite. Mmmmm, I thought. It was nothing, it was just Old Eva the deerhunter, getting some winter meat to feed "her kids". I guess it has always been that way with Indian women preparing meals for their families. I can still those big men in green looking at her standing there with her gallon of milk and hearing her say she was going deer hunting, the look said, how could she do it, she is not like us. It was just another day in the life of Old Eva, the deerhunter. rustywire http://www.egroups.com/list/indigenous_peoples_literature/ --------- "RE: Poem: Broken Necklace" --------- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 01:19:45 -0500 From: nokwisa Subj: scattered daytime thoughts Mailing List: Paths-L broken necklace seated twiddling thumbs weaver of daisy-chained dreams a neverlasting strand like broken pearls they fell in the cross-legged skirted lap scattered in the dusty cloud mushrooming as she rose she plodded down the rutted road on dirty feet nokwisa c.2000 ---------------------------------------- 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: Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days" --------- Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 09:56:21 -1000 From: Debbie Sanders Subj: Hawaiian Book of Days A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of March 4-10 MALAKI (March) (Nana) 4 Give two blessings for everyone you receive. 5 Never refuse a gift of the land. 6 Heed well the voice of your heart. 7 Give to the land more than you take. 8 The song of the sea is neverending. 9 On any great journey, be guided by the stars, na hoku. 10 Learn of the world around you, and in the learning, ... find yourself. (c) Copyright 1991 by D. F. Sanders Me ke aloha i ka nani, ... Moe'uhanekeanuenue (With love and beauty, ... Rainbow Dream) --------- "RE: Indian History Gains Support" --------- Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 08:05:03 -0600 From: "John D Berry/grad/