From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Aug 8 05:49:13 2001 Date: 31 Jul 2001 23:50:00 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.031 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 031 O o O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse August 4, 2001 O o O Ximopanolti tehuatzin, Mvskogee big ripening moon O inin Mexika tlahtolli Cree moon when young ducks begin to fly ( 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/dailyheadlines.htm - also events | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ This issue contains articles from www.pechanga.net; www.owlstar.com; indianz.com; www.wintercount.org; Big Mountain, Innu People Forum, ndn-aim and LPDC Mailing Lists; UUCP email; Newsgroup: alt.native 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.'" "The white man does not obey the Great Spirit; this is why the Indians never could agree with him." __ Flying Hawk, Oglala 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! Are you aware, truly aware there are native brothers and sisters fighting for their very breath in Columbia and Ecuador? Are you aware the war for basic rights continues in Chiapas? Are you aware Indian Brook and Burnt Church are about to risk being rammed and shot by the Canadian Fisheries for doing what they have done since before the colonialists arrived? - fish. Somehow the intruders believe destroying the rainforest is more important than the Quechan who live there. Somehow the colonialist occupation forces believe the Marshall Decision does not apply because they overfished waters and now want to deny basic rights to Aboriginal Peoples who depend on those waters and those lobster for their very survival. This is the same damn mentality that Andrew Jackson applied when he sent the Cherokee on their "Trail of Tears" death march, in spite of a Supreme Court ruling that said their home in Georgia was protected. If you are aware, are you just blowing it off, or raising hell with your Congressional/Parliamentary critter persons. Whose gunships and advisors do you think are helping kill native brothers and sisters? Whose police states do you think are piloting those craft that are ramming the Mik'maq? Wake up! The "Indian Question" is still answered in the same deadly way, and the only reason it isn't hurting you personally is because they just haven't knocked on your door yet. And there are a few of us, like me, as I've said before, who can pass for white if we choose to. I choose not to. Dohiyi Ani Oginalii , , Gary Night Owl gars@nanews.org (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@speakeasy.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. gars@olagrande.net ===w=w=== gars@sdf.lonestar.org ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Tribes found Rare Friend in Finney - Tribal Employee provides - Cherokee Linguist Robert Bushyhead view from Both Sides - Navajo Code Talkers to be Honored - Indian Kidney Woes - Hopi Says Control of HPL Land pose Growing Threat is the Real Issue - Congress may need to - Food for Thought look at Tribal Courts - Zapatista Sympathizers - Peltier Statement block Highways from LPDC's Newspaper - Retaliation charged as - Peltier's Birthday BIA Official Jumps Ship - Native Prisoner - McCain Hammers -- Denial of Religion Indian Affairs Officials - Rustywire: - Carpenters to launch It was just another Enemy Way American Indian Project - Poem: Too Many Names... - Unprotected Pueblitos - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days at risk of Ruin - Classes teach Dakota Language - N.B. Natives Prepare To Fish - Mohegans Rebuilding Language - First Nations Assembly - Indians race to Save Languages creates Women's Council - Tribes race against Time - DEA Seizes Hemp Crop to teach Dying Languages - Proposal to dam 6 NWT Rivers - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Tribes found Rare Friend in Finney" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 21:22:26 -0400 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: obit http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://cjonline.com/stories/072901/kan_finneytribes.shtml Last modified at 12:56 a.m. on Sunday, July 29, 2001 Tribes found rare friend in Finney By Carl Manning The Associated Press To Kansas, she was former Gov. Joan Finney. To the Kickapoo tribe, she was White Morning Star Woman -- an honored and revered person. She was given her Kickapoo name -- Wah na ko qua -- in 1991 by tribal elders after she became the first governor to recognize by official proclamation the sovereignty of American Indian tribes. "She was a much loved friend of the tribe," said Nancy Bear, tribal chairwoman. "There are not too many people the Kickapoo would label as a beloved friend -- a very revered type of friendship." Finney, a Democrat who served as governor in 1991-95, died Saturday at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Topeka. She had been diagnosed with liver cancer earlier this year. Her reputation as a friend to the American Indians spread beyond Kansas. "I think she will be remembered for moving in a direction that other governors were afraid to go." Dennis Banks, founder of the American Indian Movement "The policies she developed with native people in Kansas could be followed by other states," said Dennis Banks, one of the founders of the American Indian Movement. "I think she will be remembered for moving in a direction that other governors were afraid to go," said Banks, a leader of the Wounded Knee, S.D., occupation in 1973. As governor, she led efforts in the 1990s for the state-tribal compacts to have casinos on the reservations, starting with the Kickapoo and then on the Prairie Band Potawatomi, Sac and Fox, and Iowa reservations, all in northeast Kansas. Many legislators opposed Finney because they didn't want gambling in the state. But she saw the agreements as an economic boost for the reservations and surrounding areas. "It wasn't just gambling. She saw the economic potential for the tribes who had gaming," Bear said. "The biggest issue was the economic assistance for the tribes, for us to help ourselves." No tribe will say how much they make from casinos. The National Indian Gaming Commission says only that gross revenues were in the $85 million to $175 million range for three Kansas casinos in 1998. Lance Burr, former Kickapoo attorney general, said Finney was the only governor who stood up for casinos on reservations. But her support extended to other areas, including tribal sovereignty and the idea of fair treatment of American Indians. "Let the history of the 1990s record an end to the devious tactics and calculated undermining of Indian nations' sovereignty, dignity and right to self determination," Finney said in a 1992 speech. Burr recalled that Finney was the first governor to invite tribal leaders to meet at Cedar Crest, the governor's residence. "She took it upon herself to ask what they felt about issues rather than dictating policy to the tribes," he said. Bear said even after Finney left office, she continued to visit the Kickapoo reservation. "She stayed involved. She was a true friend," Bear said. Gary Mitchell, vice chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribal council, said all tribes in Kansas benefited from Finney's support. "We have a lot of economic gains on the reservation that wouldn't have been possible without the tribal-state compact," Mitchell said. "She was at the forefront of that, so she did everything possible to help all the tribes." Mitchell and Bear said Finney's legacy, in many ways, is seen on their reservations -- improved roads, health and child-care services, college scholarships and elderly assistance, all financed by casino revenues Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com --------- "RE: Cherokee Linguist Robert Bushyhead" --------- Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:44:05 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ROBERT BUSHYHEAD" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.citizen-times.com/news/12691438.shtml Cherokee linguist Bushyhead dies at 86 By Quintin Ellison, STAFF WRITER Posted: 07-30-01 01:30 CHEROKEE - Robert Henry Bushyhead, famed Cherokee linguist, minister, educator and actor, died Saturday in a Cherokee hospital. He was 86. Bushyhead will be best remembered for his work to preserve the Kituhwa dialect of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. "It's a great loss," Ken Blankenship, director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, said of Bushyhead's death. "Without the language, your culture is pretty much gone." In 1992, Bushyhead and his daughter, Jean, started recording the dialect on video and audio. The recordings are used in Cherokee schools as part of the Cherokee Language Project, allowing Cherokee the opportunity to hear the language spoken correctly and fluently. Today, many are involved in the project that had its beginnings with a small grant. In the future, it will be Bushyhead who is credited with providing the project's building blocks and for explaining the nuances and complicated inflections that form the Kituhwa dialect. Bushyhead was raised in the Yellow Hill community on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. He was 6 years old when he first heard the English language. In school, Bushyhead and other young Cherokee were forbidden to speak their language. Bushyhead, however, refused to forget the Kituwah dialect because he believed that language is the basis of culture. "The loss of Robert Bushyhead to the perpetuation of the Cherokee language is immeasurable," said Cherokee historian Lynne Harlan. In addition to his work to preserve the language, Bushyhead - who attended Carson Newman College, Fruitland Bible Institute and Harrison Chilhowhee Baptist Academy - portrayed Elias Boudinot for 18 years in the Cherokee drama "Unto These Hills." Boudinot was the editor of the first newspaper that was written in an Indian language in the United States. In his rich life, Bushyhead was also a logger, interpreter, evangelist, Baptist minister and lecturer. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Whittier United Methodist Church with the Rev. Ben Bushyhead and the Rev. Hal Finney officiating. The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at Moody Funeral Home in Sylva. Contact Ellison at 452-1467 or QEllison@CITIZEN-TIMES.com Copyright c. 2000 Asheville Citizen-Times --------- "RE: Navajo Code Talkers to be Honored" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 08:45:17 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO CODE TALKERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/breaking/0725code25.html Navajo Code Talkers to be honored for WWII role Betty Reid The Arizona Republic July 25, 2001 12:00:00 Joe Palmer and Lloyd Oliver served together during World War II, and for decades after, they remained buddies, getting together every once in awhile to play pool and talk about the things you'd expect two old Marine Corps buddies to talk about. Except for the one thing the U.S. military told them never to talk about: what they did in the South Pacific during the war. This week, Palmer and Oliver will get medals for what they did for their country during that war. They and 27 other Navajo Code Talkers, many of whom have died, will be given congressional Gold Medals for using their native language, Navajo, to transmit military messages by telephone and radio in a form the enemy could never decode. The medal is Congress' highest expression of appreciation for achievement and service. The two elderly Arizona men were part of the first group of 29 Code Talkers dispatched to the Pacific to serve their country. They are among the five survivors of that original group. Oliver, 78, leaves today for Washington, where he will meet President Bush. Although the Phoenix resident is shy and hard of hearing, his eyes sparkled and he grinned when handed a note asking him what he plans to do with the medal. He read slowly, sliding his index finger over each word. "Just wear it, I guess," he said. Palmer, who now lives in Yuma, can't go because of health reasons, but he is sending his son, Kermit, to accept the medal on his behalf. Blessed with a sharp mind, 79-year-old Palmer enjoys chatter, but he is blind and tells people he "lives in the dark." True to the clandestine nature of their war-time duty, Oliver and Palmer were closemouthed about their military experience for years. After the war, they were told to keep quiet about the Navajo code. Even after information about it was declassified in 1968, they were reluctant to discuss it or take credit for their deeds. "I don't go around and brag about it," Palmer said. "I hear people talk about the war. It stays in my heart." Oliver's daughter, Violet Oliver Ojeda, remembers a time when she found a book at the Gila River library, flipped the pages to photos of Navajo Code Talkers and saw her dad in one of the photos. "He's shy, and he won't talk about it at all," she said. The two remained silent until 1998, when they were tracked down by Vietnam War veteran Richard K. Begay, a former member of the Navajo Nation Council and now an executive assistant to the Navajo Nation president. Begay had set out to find all of the Code Talkers, and with the help of the Navajo Code Talkers Association, he found more than 400 of them. He was particularly interested in finding the original 29 Code Talkers, but most of them had died. Only five remain: Oliver; Palmer; John Brown Jr. of Navajo, N.M.; Chester Nez of Albuquerque; and Allen Dale June of West Valley City, Utah. With a push from Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., all 29 were selected as congressional Gold Medal recipients in December. The Code Talkers will be recognized again this fall, when a movie about their exploits, Windtalkers, starring Nicolas Cage, reaches movie theaters across the country. To some, recognition for the Code Talkers seems long overdue. Most got no military recognition. Begay found the majority of the 29 original Code Talkers were discharged with only one stripe in 1945. "They joined as privates and came out as privates," he said. Palmer was discharged July 3, 1946, without receiving the honors he said he had been promised by the military: a Purple Heart, a second stripe, a Bronze Star and a presidential award. "I never got it," he said. "It was all paper promises. I'd like to know why they did that to me." "They should have been recognized shortly after 1968 for their contributions made in the war," Begay said. "Bizaa yee nidaaz'baa," he added in Navajo. "They fought the enemy with their language." And the fight was a dangerous one. Palmer, who had his name legally changed from Balmer Slowtalker shortly after the war, was wounded in action, and Oliver survived a bomb attack on Guadalcanal. In many ways, their stories are similar. Palmer is from Leupp, 40 miles northeast of Flagstaff. In 1942, he met up with a Marine recruiter at Albuquerque Indian School, a boarding school. Palmer was mesmerized by the snappy Marine uniforms, dark blue with shiny gold buttons and white caps. "The land of the free and the home of the brave, that's good enough for me," Palmer said. A double-decker charter bus took him to Fort Wingate High School, an old military depot turned into a school east of Gallup, N.M. He met other young men there, but not Oliver, before a longer trip to Camp Elliot in San Diego, the code talking school. Before he left Fort Wingate, Palmer spoke with his stepmother, now deceased. "T/'izi yazhi nadiyeesh' heel neenidzaago," she said, promising to butcher a young goat in celebration when he returned from the war. "Adaa'ahalya." Take care of yourself, she told him. Like many Code Talkers, Palmer carried a 30-pound radio. "I kept it dry and clean like my rifle," he said. "I kept it in good shape all the time." On June 7, 1944, Palmer was injured when an artillery shell exploded near him in Saipan. He was taken to Pearl Harbor Hospital and thereafter to recovery centers in Washington and Oregon. After being discharged in 1946, he went home to Leupp. But he found the sprawling Navajo Reservation a difficult place to live. Jobs were scarce, the roads unpaved, and even the food seemed foreign. "Baah bisga' ei dee deet'aal nidee," Palmer said in Navajo. "I ate 2- day-old hardened bread for a while." He moved to Phoenix, then to western Arizona, working as a lineman in Mohave Valley, and marrying Flora Mejo, a member of the Cocopah Tribe. Occasionally, he would visit Phoenix and see Oliver, who had shared his war experiences. Palmer retired in 1965 and now lives in Yuma with his wife. Oliver, who was plucked off the reservation in 1942 at age 19, also rode on a charter bus to Fort Wingate. After training as a Code Talker, he served on Guadalcanal, and at Cape Gloucester, Saipan and Peleliu. He was a corporal when the Marines cut him loose in 1945. Like Palmer, he moved from the reservation to Phoenix. He married into the Gila River Indian Community and fathered four children before he and his wife divorced. Oliver became a silversmith and made classic squash blossoms and bracelets. As he grew older, memories of war began to fade. Recently, Oliver touched a list of Navajo code words and realized how much he had forgotten. "I used to know all these words," he lamented. But some memories linger. Oliver remembers one night when "the bombs rained" on Guadalcanal. He slept in a foxhole, and when he woke, bodies of his fellow Marines and of Japanese soldiers were scattered around him. He is grateful for surviving and is proud of his service. "It's scary, even in the foxhole," Oliver said. "I'm safe, and I'm going to see the president." Reach the reporter at betty.reid@arizonarepublic.com or (602)444-8049. Copyright c. 2001, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Hopi Says Control of HPL Land Is the Real Issue" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 08:45:17 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HPL LAND HOPI ISSUE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/navajohopiobserver/ myarticles.asp?P=444822&S=392&PubID=7119&EC=0 Hopi Says Control of HPL Land Is the Real Issue Hopi Tribe: Notwithstanding the emotional hype surrounding the recent Sundance at Big Mountain, the crux of the issue is the right of Hopi people to control their land and resources. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation that can and will exercise the rights afforded to all sovereigns, irrespective of public opinion - the Tribe is not seeking favorable ratings in a popularity contest. Tribes have fought for their rights for over 100 years and it is crucial that all tribes exercise their sovereignty, as well as respect the sovereignty of others. This is our strongest defense against others who repeatedly seek to undermine sovereignty in Indian Country. Key to upholding sovereignty is strong, steadfast, and unwavering leadership. Those politicians who are easily swayed by emotions and their own self-interests lose focus on the larger picture of sovereignty and can do much damage to it. True leadership is demonstrated by those who stand up for sovereignty, no matter how unpopular their decisions may be with the general public and those who pretend to fight for human rights. It is unfortunate when leadership declines to recognize the sovereignty of a neighboring nation. The world operates on principles of law and order, and those leaders who support passive resistance and civil disobedience on the land of other sovereigns undercut their own sovereignty. It is an unsaid policy in Indian Country not to meddle in the internal affairs of another tribal nation. When intertribal issues need to be resolved, tribal governments come together and establish intergovernmental agreements. Such an agreement between the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation worked well in ultimately producing the 1996 Settlement Act. However, as negotiations for new legislative and congressional districts continue, the Navajo Nation's response to events at the Big Mountain Sundance substantiate the Hopi Tribe's discomfort with being represented by a tribe that refuses to recognize Hopi jurisdiction. The Sundance incident clearly indicates a Navajo Nation allegiance with other Navajos regardless of Hopi sovereignty and lawful rights. To the Hopi Tribe, there is no comfort in the promises made by the Navajo Nation to support their latest redistricting proposal that they will look out for Hopi interests when they refuse to recognize the sanctity of Hopi borders. Navajo Hopi Observer Online is a service of Verde Valley Newspapers, Inc. Copyright c. 2001 Verde Valley Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Food for Thought" --------- Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 17:49:42 +0000 From: Robert Dorman Subj: Food for Thought ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: Kc4behopi@aol.com Mailing List: Big Mountain List FOOD FOR THOUGHT July, 28, 2001 Asquali, Ngungu'lawu Tutsqwa I'qatsi, Friends of the Hopi Triditional Peoples and Touch the Earth Foundation Thank you for being our friends! We have been very busy with the responsibilities that we have been entrusted with. However, i wish to take this moment to say how much we appreciate those whom have come to help and our new friends. Things in Hopiland are still very troubled. Those of you that follow the Native American News are aware of the so called "Hopi Tribal Council" arresting the Grandmothers at Dinhe, for praying on the wrong side of the fence without a permit, permission and imagine not even their Culture? I will just say this once, "The Hopi Traditional Peoples" had nothing to do with this disruption of the Sacred Ceremony our Lakota Brothers and Sisters that have come to stand with us in prayers and peace. We, the Traditional Elders are Grateful. Yet our hearts are sad that the "Hopi" name is associated with such disrespect to Elders and Sacred Teachings of any other Spiritual Nations. We the Hopi know only a lasting peace will come from a Spiritual Peace and must begin within each one's heart and mind for themselves. I hope you all will join us in prayer for peace and awakening of these sacred truths for the Sacred 4 corners and all our relations. .*Tutskwa I'qatsi 'Itam Tutskwa Nit Qatsi Suntutskwatavi Ngu'yungwa (Land Is Life, We Land And Life Balance In Holding It*) In service to the Holy Ones, dep se mana With Respect and Truth, Katherine Cheshire Touch the Earth Foundation ========================================= Please visit http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.htm for more background on the Big Mountain relocation issue. To subscribe, send an email to: BIGMTLIST-subscribe@topica.com. --------- "RE: Zapatista Sympathizers block Highways" --------- Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:44:05 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ZAPATISTA PROTEST" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0730zapatista-ON.html Zapatista sympathizers block highways in southern Mexico Associated Press July 30, 2001 SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico - Zapatista sympathizers blocked main highways in the southern state of Chiapas on Monday in protest of an Indian rights bill approved by Congress. The demonstrators also urged President Vicente Fox to free nine Zapatista sympathizers from jails, disarm paramilitary groups and stop "political repression." They blocked highways for hours across the state, bringing traffic to a halt. "A few hours of irritation is nothing compared to the 509 years of historic injustice in Mexico's Indian villages," protesters said in a news release. Earlier this month, Congress approved a modified Indian rights law opposed by many of the country's Indians. The original law was drafted in 1996 to enact the only substantive agreement between the government and the Zapatista National Liberation Front since the rebels staged an uprising in 1994. Former President Ernesto Zedillo, however, balked at the draft bill, stalling peace talks with the rebels. That draft was Fox's first proposal to Congress after taking office Dec. 1, and the new president applauded a Zapatista march to Mexico City earlier this year to lobby for the bill. But the version approved by Congress in April watered down clauses for Indian autonomy and for rights over land and natural resources. That angered the rebels and many other Indian groups. Elsewhere in Mexico's southernmost state, peasants in the key Zapatista stronghold of Marquez de Comillas accused police of beating up 41 rebel supporters during an operation to rescue hostages held by a mob last week. Chiapas Gov. Pablo Salazar ordered 300 police officers to storm the isolated town Friday after a mob took six Secretary of Social Development officials hostage demanding expanded federal benefits. After rescuing the hostages, police took six of the mob's ringleaders into custody on kidnapping charges. Locals who organized a street protest Monday said the officers who rescued the hostages later pulled Zapatista sympathizers from their homes and beat them, then broke up a rally in support of the mob. "Many men that were in their houses away from the protest and many others that took their message to the streets were gravely and savagely beaten," said Reynalda Pablo Cruz, a spokesman for local Zapatista supporters. Cruz said police beat up 41 men and forced more than 80 women and children to flee town. Protesters also accused police of wrecking dozens of farms and stealing more than 80 animals and demanded that Salazar's government pardon the kidnapping suspects. Copyright c. 2001 The Arizona Republic. Gannett Co. Inc --------- "RE: Retaliation charged as BIA Official Jumps Ship" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 08:45:17 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BIA WHISTLE BLOWER QUITS" http://www.indianz.com/ Retaliation charged as BIA official jumps ship WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2001 In what is being called yet another example of employee intimidation, Dom Nessi -- the Bureau of Indian Affairs official whose once-private revelation that trust reform was "imploding" led a federal judge to appoint a court monitor to watch over the government -- has left his top- level job at the troubled agency. Effective this week, Nessi has resigned as the BIA's Chief Information Officer, leaving to take up a similar position at the National Park Service. News of the departure came as a surprise to a number of Department of Interior officials, including Special Trustee Tom Slonaker, who defended the government's trust reform plan in the wake of Nessi's criticism. "I wish him well," was all Slonaker could offer yesterday in response to Nessi's exit. Nessi was the first ever CIO at the BIA, taking on the task a little over a year ago. He was shepherded into the position by former Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover to oversee the BIA's nationwide computer systems, a number of which are directly linked to the trust accounts of an estimated 300,000 American Indians throughout the country. Nessi, in fact, came into his post as a former manager of the Trust Assets Accounting Management System, or TAAMS, the government's answer to more than one hundred years of financial incompetence. Beset by management and planning problems -- Nessi was one six TAAMS managers in less than three years -- the project has suffered numerous setbacks as Interior officials admit the system has not met expectations. But while Dennis Gingold, a Washington, DC, attorney who represents the plaintiffs in the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit, has been critical of Nessi's oversight, he had one explanation for the departure. According to Gingold, Nessi is another in a long line of Interior employees who have been the target of retaliation for contradicting the government's view that trust reform is working. "He was forced out," said Gingold of Nessi. "People [at the Interior] wouldn't talk to him. He was viewed as a pariah." One day after a federal appeals court ordered the government to provide Indian beneficiaries with an historical accounting of their funds, Nessi leveled a number of harsh charges against his department. He accused the government of trying to fix the system using a plan "built on wishful thinking and rosy projections." "As a rule, I try not to make dire projections, but I am afraid in this case, I have no choice," wrote Nessi in a February 23 memo to Slonaker. "I believe that trust reform is slowly, but surely imploding at this point in time." While he said he agreed with some of Nessi's criticism, Slonaker subsequently defended the High-Level Implementation Plan (HLIP) to members of Congress and said the project is indeed on track. A month later, however, US District Judge Royce Lamberth appointed Joseph S. Kieffer III to the case in order to make sure the government is telling the truth. Attempts to reach Nessi for comment were unsuccessful. He has already begun work at his new job, National Park Service officials confirmed. His office is located in the main Department of Interior building which houses both the BIA and Slonaker's office. The BIA will begin searching for Nessi's replacement, said a spokesperson, although immediate plans to name an acting CIO were not clear. The CIO reports directly to James McDivitt, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management. Although he has left the BIA, Nessi's departure is not expected to affect a pending court deposition, said Gingold. Nessi has already been interviewed under oath once, admitting that he didn't know who was in charge of the office that issues checks to Indian account holders despite having direct oversight on the matter. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC / Indianz.Com --------- "RE: McCain Hammers Indian Affairs Officials" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 08:45:17 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MCCAIN HAMMERS BIA" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.theday.com/news/ts-re.asp?NewsUID=321010D7-B746-46AE-9FE4-625162BCF425 McCain Hammers Indian Affairs Officials Tribal recognition process, Mohegan partner deal probed By Ann Baldelli Washington - U.S. Sen. John McCain ran roughshod over American Indian regulators Wednesday, firing incriminating questions about tribal recognition and Indian gaming management contracts at representatives from the Department of Interior and National Indian Gaming Commission. The Republican from Arizona seemed particularly perturbed about allegations made about two former top officials of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs who reportedly reversed staff recommendations and made decisions favorable to Indian tribes, in one case, granting preliminary recognition for the Massachusetts-based Nipmucs. During a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, McCain verbally pummeled Sharon Blackwell, deputy commissioner for Indian Affairs at the Interior Department, and Montie R. Deer, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. In addition to questioning decisions regarding tribal recognition, McCain hammered Blackwell and Deer about management contracts that non- Indians have with tribes for gaming, asking pointed questions about the Mohegan Tribe's buyout of its onetime partners, Waterford-based Trading Cove Associates. Reading from a July 18 Wall Street Journal article, McCain asked if former BIA Director Kevin Gover and former Acting Director Michael Anderson ignored recommendations from the Bureau of Acknowledgement staff and recognized or granted preliminary recognition to three tribes, including the Nipmucs, who could build a casino in northeastern Connecticut. Anderson reportedly OK'd preliminary recognition for the Nipmucs and recognized the Duwamish Tribe of Seattle, while Gover granted federal recognition to the Chinook Indians in the state of Washington, all in the waning days of the Clinton Administration, and contrary to staff findings. Without answering the question, Blackwell tried to explain the process, but McCain cut her off, telling her to just answer yes or no. "Did Mr. Gover reject staff findings and grant federal recognition?" he barked. "Mr. Gover did not follow staff recommendations," Blackwell answered. "Did he rewrite staff findings?" McCain fired back. "I'm not sure if he rewrote recommendations," Blackwell answered. Obviously perturbed, McCain rephrased the question, and when Blackwell repeated that she was unsure, McCain snapped, "Then ask your staff, were their recommendations rejected and rewritten?" Recognition questions Then McCain zeroed in on Anderson, who replaced Gover as acting director when President George W. Bush took over from Bill Clinton. McCain asked about Anderson's recognition of the Duwamish and whether it reversed an earlier Interior Department finding. "Is this unusual?" McCain asked. "It may be unusual," Blackwell answered. The senator, considered a friend of American Indians, asked Blackwell if there were other cases of BIA brass reversing the findings of their genealogists, anthropologists and historians. "I'm unaware of any cases at this time," Blackwell said. Next, McCain questioned the Indian regulators about the Mohegan Tribe's buyout of its former partner, Trading Cove, headed by Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman. The Boston Globe has repeatedly reported that Trading Cove used a side deal it had made with the tribe in the early 1990s to build a future hotel as leverage in the buyout negotiations, grossly inflating the value of the deal, to in excess of $800 million. McCain asked about the hotel contract, and whether the National Indian Gaming Commission scrutinized it. He asked if Trading Cove really got $800 million and whether that was proper. "Is this disturbing or outrageous?" he asked. "Hindsight is a great thing," Deer, from the NIGC, answered. " ... I think the law was followed. I think (the deal) was in accordance with the law." McCain noted that outside developers are entitled to no more than 40 percent of a tribe's gaming revenues, and asked if Trading Cove got more. Deer didn't directly answer the question, but said the Mohegan Tribe negotiated the deal within the law. "It's a policy call," he said. "The tribe wanted this deal. And it's up to Congress when policy ends and tribes make their own decisions." "So why have the 40 percent rule?" McCain snapped. The senator said he planned to submit more questions to Deer and Blackwell. "A lot of interesting things happened in final days of the Clinton Administration, and we intend to get information and answers," he said. Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii asked whether there is a difference between management and hotel contracts, and whether the BIA and NIGC are watching out for American Indians' best interests when non-Indian investors are involved in gaming deals. "Tribes could be paying much more than they should be," he said. "Do you have any recommendations so Indian tribes will not be snookered?" he asked. "At what point do we let tribes conduct their own business and at what point are we trustees?" asked Deer. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, vice chairman of the committee, said he believes tribes should be able to negotiate their own deals. "Even if the negotiations are bad, that's free enterprise," he said. "If you want to say a tribe made a bad mistake, too bad, you have to live with it. That's what real sovereignty and self-determination is all about." Thomas Acevedo, chief of staff for the Mohegan Tribe, called Tribal Chairman Mark Brown during a break in the Senate session to relay the discussion. Following the conversation, Acevedo released a statement from Brown. "The Mohegan tribe stands behind its agreements not only with its contractors but with its vendors and bondholders," the tribal chairman said. "And we are pleased to hear that Chairman Deer of the NIGC acknowledged that the Mohegan tribe complied with letter of law with its agreements." Decisions defended Anderson defended himself after McCain's inquisition, saying he expects the Inspector General's office to find his Nipmuc and Duwamish decisions appropriate. "There was no misconduct in any way, and I expect the Inspector General will say that," said Anderson, who said he's already been questioned in the matter. "These decisions were made with integrity. There was no unethical conduct." Anderson said he plans to ask for a meeting with McCain. "Sen. McCain is very fair, but he's also a passionate advocate (of Indian Country). He wants to ensure the integrity," he said. Wednesday's hearing attracted about 250 people, many of them tribal and tribal gaming representatives. Inouye said the hearing was the first in a series on gaming matters. "How is the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act working?" he asked. "How many tribal governments have opted to conduct gaming on their lands, and perhaps, more importantly, how many have really benefited from gaming? "Some have done very well, this is true," Inouye said. "But how many tribal gaming operations have failed, or are only marginally profitable?" The senator said he and colleagues would look at the act and its consequences, and determine if changes are needed. a.baldelli@theday.com Copyright c. 1998-2001 The Day Publishing Co. --------- "RE: Carpenters to launch American Indian Project" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 12:17:27 -0600 From: wes wildcat Subj: Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CARPENTERS TO LAUNCH AMERICAN INDIAN PROJECT DENVER, COLORADO, July 26, 2001 -The Mountain West Regional Council of Carpenters (MWRCC) announced today that it is launching an initiative that will assist the Native American community with building projects, including the renovation of the Denver Indian Center and the building of wheelchair ramps for local Native Americans. The "American Indian Project" is possible through the joint cooperation of the Denver Indian Center Board of Directors, the Mayor's American Indian Advisory Council, and the MWRCC. All carpenter work will be done by members of the carpenter's union at no cost to the individuals or the community. The project will officially kick-off with the building of a large, extended wheelchair ramp on Saturday, July 28, 2001, at the home of Mr. Richard Tall Bull, Sr., located at 1020 Hooker Street in Denver. The public is invited to stop by on Saturday to watch the building project at Mr. Tall Bull's home. An elder of the Southern Cheyenne Nation, Mr. Tall Bull, 82, is a well- known advocate in the local Native American Community. He was an advisor on Indian affairs to Mayor Quigg Newton and was a founding leader of the White Buffalo Council, an Indian advocacy group dedicated to promoting Indian culture in the urban setting and to fundraising for Indian youth scholarships. In the past, the community honored Mr. Tall Bull by naming a park after him. Tall Bull Memorial Park is part of the City and County of Denver's Daniels Park in Douglas County. Will Ferrara, Political Director of MWRCC, said "We are honored to provide building services for our brothers and sisters in the Native American community and it is fitting to begin this project with the building of a ramp at the home of Mr. Tall Bull. Our membership is committed to building community projects and assisting wherever we can to better the lives of people everywhere by improving their homes and environment. Our members are skilled, trained carpenters who recognize the value of a diverse community and the importance of community centers. We're excited about the renovation of the Denver Indian Center and hope to extend this project into our other membership states of Utah and New Mexico." --------- "RE: Unprotected Pueblitos at risk of Ruin" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 07:21:24 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PUEBLITOS AT RISK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/414831_nmheritage_10t.html History at risk of ruin NM pueblitos on state land virtually unprotected 07/10/2001 By Leslie Linthicum / Albuquerque Journal DEVILS SPRING MESA, N.M. - The cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde and the great kivas of Chaco Canyon are protected by National Park Service rangers, entrance gates and admission fees. Many of the treasures of Navajo archaeology are hidden away in sites protected by the Navajo tribe. But some of the historical jewels of the Four Corners sit on state land - open, accessible and virtually unprotected. For a handful of pueblitos - examples of a unique early Navajo building style that incorporated pueblo influences - their status as state trust land properties has contributed to their ruin. By state law, the Land Office can make money only from the 9 million acres of state trust land in New Mexico primarily through oil, gas and mining leases and disburse that money to public schools, universities and hospitals. It cannot spend money to take care of the natural resources on its land. That means it can't pay to have watersheds stabilized, unauthorized trash dumps cleaned up and fire-prone forest lands thinned. It also has meant that the stacked stone pueblitos, among other archaeological sites on state trust land, have been deteriorating. "We haven't been able to do a thing about it," said Ray Powell, commissioner of public lands. Last year, the office took two tacks toward preserving the archaeological sites on its lands: It put together a proposal that would change state law to allow the agency to spend some of its money on work on a handful of the ruins. And it started asking for volunteers to keep an eye on the buildings. Lawmakers earlier this year approved the use by the office of $1.2 million for about a dozen projects to improve state lands, including the stabilization of two pueblitos. And the site steward program has grown quickly to include 42 volunteers, recruited through local museums, who take care of sites. Mr. Powell says the preservation money and the stewards give the sites a fighting chance against weather and vandals. The hope is that the sites will be kept alive to illustrate the region's intriguing past. "When it's a pile of rocks," Mr. Powell said, "it's so much more difficult to tell the story. And this is not about a culture that is gone. It's about a culture that is thriving and here today." The pueblitos that still stand dot the canyon country south of Navajo Lake in northwest New Mexico. Navajo homeland The region is Dinetah, the Navajo homeland. It is the place, according to legend, where the Holy People chose for the Navajo people to emerge into this world and live in safety and harmony. Navajos built the dwellings in the final years of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th. It was a time of turmoil in the region. Pueblo residents fleeing during the tumult of the Pueblo Revolt sought shelter, intermarried and added some of their architectural touches. Roaming Utes and Apaches fought over sheep, cattle and corn and prompted Navajos to build on high ground. The pueblitos are important to archaeologists and historians because they offer a glimpse into an unsettled period before Navajos established the communities they live in today and pueblo people returned to their homes. Old Fort Ruin, an example of a large pueblito, perches on a ledge high over San Rafael Canyon on the western edge of Rio Arriba County. The Land Office points to it as an example of what a little money spent on stabilization can do. A natural-gas well sits about 100 yards away from the ruin, and the country is crisscrossed by gas company roads. The pueblito covers about a third of an acre, surrounded by stone and mud mortar walls. Inside are the remains of 13 rooms, a plaza and seven hogans made with juniper logs and mud. Larry Baker, director of the Salmon Ruins Museum in Bloomfield, said Old Fort Ruin was in danger of collapsing into a pile of rocks and sand when the San Juan County Museum Association got a $40,000 grant to stabilize its remaining walls by 1996. Now that the pueblito is shored up against the elements, volunteer stewards visit at least once a month to monitor the site and alert the Land Office if they find evidence of vandalism. Anyone can visit any portion of state trust land. It is a simple matter to get a $25 annual recreational permit from the Land Office in Santa Fe or any of the district offices. Most people do not get permits, though, especially those looking for pots to loot or petroglyphs to deface, officials said. Teri Paul, an archaeologist who organizes the volunteers, said even a monthly visit helps keep people with bad intentions away. "Just knowing someone might be there seems to make people think twice," Ms. Paul said. "We really believe that we're seeing a difference." The program has a waiting list for sites around Farmington, and the Land Office hopes to be able to expand the program to include all of its millions of acres throughout the state. While Old Fort Ruin can now be monitored for further deterioration, two other pueblitos will get face-lifts this year. Getting help Truby's Tower and Three Corn Ruin are two looming stone fortresses built high on bedrock outcroppings. The two buildings have been listed among the most endangered historic places in the state by the New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance. Vandalism has been a problem, but weather and age are the biggest culprits in the continuing damage of the buildings. The Land Office will spend about $20,000 to stabilize Truby's Tower. Three Corn Ruin, perched on a stone outcropping, will require about $70,000 to restore, mostly because of its precarious location. Workers will have to build scaffolding to reach the ruin, Mr. Baker said, and carry buckets of mud up the scaffolding. A notched log ladder the early Navajos used to reach the fortress was stolen years ago, he said. Three Corn Ruin and Truby's Tower are in relatively good shape, Mr. Baker said. The towers are so well-preserved and so dramatically illustrate the defensive posture of the early Navajos, he said, that money spent on stabilization will give visitors for years to come an understanding of life in the canyons 300 years ago. Distributed by The Associated Press Copyright c. 2001 The Dallas Morning News --------- "RE: N.B. Natives Prepare To Fish" --------- Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:06:26 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LOBSTER WAR" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://toronto.globaltv.com/ca/news/stories/news-87375020010716-090741.html Lobster War Looming: N.B. Natives Prepare To Fish Defiant New Brunswick Native Band Vows To Drop Lobster Traps In Mid-August FREDERICTON, 10:58 a.m. EDT July 16, 2001 -- The countdown to confrontation on New Brunswick's Miramichi Bay has begun. Mi'kmaq fishermen are set to head out on the bay's choppy waters in mid-August and start fishing for lobster under their own rules, stubbornly defying Ottawa and the federal fisheries department. "We're going fishing," states Brian Bartibogue, a band councillor at the Burnt Church reserve, which sits on the shore of Miramichi Bay in northeastern New Brunswick. "We know the police and fisheries officers are gearing up for trouble, but what else can we do? Why are we branded as criminals for trying to survive by fishing in our own backyard?" This is the third year of an impasse between the Mi'kmaq reserve of about 1,400 people and the fisheries department. There is no solution in sight as yet another native fishing season approaches. "The same dynamics are at play," says fisheries spokesman Andre Marc Lanteigne. In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Donald Marshall Jr., a Mi'kmaq from Nova Scotia, had a treaty right to fish eels. It also said the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy bands can hunt, fish and gather to earn a moderate livelihood, within rules set by Ottawa. Federal negotiators have been trying ever since to set parameters acceptable to First Nations, non-native fishermen and others with interests in the fishery. They are working to strike new deals with 34 Atlantic First Nations to replace one-year interim agreements that expired last March. To date, seven bands have signed deals and seven others have reached agreements in principle. But not Burnt Church, where Bartibogue admitted there is bitterness over the lack of resolve in other Atlantic bands. "It's pretty hard to take, especially when the same ones signing these deals are telling us to keep up the good fight, that we're standing up for native rights," Bartibogue says. The bands signing agreements say they need the money. Ottawa spent nearly $200 million last year buying out non-native licences and offering boats, equipment and training to bring First Nations into the East Coast fishery following the Supreme Court ruling. The deals being offered this year are reportedly valued in total at about $500 million over several years and include money for training and gear. There will also be more money spent on enforcement. Last year, the federal fisheries department spent $13 million on enforcement against the people of Burnt Church and the Indian Brook band in Nova Scotia, which also set illegal lobster traps. At Burnt Church, the impasse led to dangerous confrontations on the water. Several times from August to October, fisheries officers raided waters near the reserve and confiscated illegal traps. Native warriors and fishermen responded by racing out in boats to try and protect the traps. Rocks were thrown, boats were rammed, there were several injuries and numerous charges were laid against natives under the Fisheries Act and the Criminal Code. Most of those charges are still working their way through the courts. The situation this year could be made worse by a decline in the lobster catch during the authorized, commercial season which ended in June. Mike Belliveau of the Maritime Fishermens' Union, which represents non- native fishermen in the Miramichi area, says the catch was down by about 15 per cent from the previous year. Belliveau says commercial fishermen have no tolerance for a second, commercial season run exclusively by, and for, native people. "There's no tolerance for that. Zero," he says. Belliveau says he can't believe anyone has the stomach for more violence, although he believes there are troublemakers on the reserve. "Nobody is interested in going through last year's business again," Belliveau says. "I can't see why Burnt Church would be interested either. There are a few who get caught up in these kinds of things, but I can't imagine the community is interested in doing that again." Bartibogue insists the community as a whole is interested in defending its treaty right to make a worthwhile life for its people, instead of relying on welfare. "Canada is considered one of the best countries in the world in which to live, unless you're aboriginal," he says. "There's no work and our children are suffering. But Canadians seem to accept that as the status quo for aboriginal people, the norm. Come live here for a week and you'll be ready to fish for lobster next month." Copyright c. 2001 by The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: First Nations Assembly creates Women's Council" --------- Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 20:05:45 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WOMEN'S COUNCIL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.halifax2.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/ news/2001/07/20/ns_afnwomen010720 First Nations assembly creates women's council WebPosted Jul 20 2001 8:59 AM EDT HALIFAX, N.S. - Native women say they are finally getting the recognition they deserve with a new Assembly of First Nations (AFN) women's council. But others on the AFN say it gives the women special treatment they don't warrant. The new association will give women more authority in the Assembly of First Nations The Canadian Native Women's Association was approved at the AFN conference on Thursday. The body's interim leader said the association gives women more authority in the assembly. But women are rarely granted positions of authority. "I don't want to be mean, but we're not ready yet," said Michelle Audet. Chief Shirley Clark of the Gloosecap First Nation says the AFN needs to change. "It's just for them [women] to have a voice," she said. "Because the majority is men, this way they will have a voice." FROM JULY 19, 2001: Native leaders want wide ranging discussions INDEPTH: Aboriginal Canadians Others, such as Bill Wilson, say granting special status to women in this way is wrong. He says the women haven't earned the right to hold positions of authority. "If there are no women at the table, that's their fault," he said. But the women say their issues will now be heard and dealt with. Copyright c. 2001 CBC All Rights Reserved --------- "RE: DEA seizes Hemp Crop" --------- Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 08:44:05 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEMP SEIZED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm DEA seizes hemp crop from Pine Ridge By The Associated Press RAPID CITY - Drug Enforcement Agents have again raided a hemp farm on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Farmer Alex White Plume's farm was also wiped out last August as federal agents seized about 2,000 of the illegal plants from the farm. White Plume said he has the right to grow hemp under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Because hemp belongs to the same family as marijuana, it has been illegal to grow in the United States since World War II. Marijuana normally contains 3 percent to 15 percent or more of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannibol, or THC, the substance that gives marijuana its kick. Hemp usually has 1 percent THC or less. White Plume said he plans to file a lawsuit demanding $1,000 for each plant killed Monday. And although he faces legal opposition, he said he plans to replant his crop. Hemp stalk fibers can be used to make clothing, shoes, building materials, strong cords and ropes, a substitute for fiberglass, paper and other products. Federal officials have said that permitting hemp farming would send the wrong signal to young people and would allow marijuana farmers to hide their crops with industrial hemp plants. --------- "RE: Proposal to dam 6 NWT Rivers" --------- Date: Tue Jul 17 16:30:02 2001 -0700 From: Larry Innes Subj: news: proposal to dam 6 NWT rivers Mailing List: Innu People Forum list July 13, 2001 Six N.W.T. rivers to be dammed under $26B plan Huge hydro potential: Fish and furs not enough, minister tells Dene chiefs Ed Struzik Edmonton Journal TULITA, N.W.T. - The government of the Northwest Territories has outlined a $26-billion plan to dam six major rivers in the Canadian North. Joe Handley, the Territories' economic development minister, told Dene chiefs meeting in Tulita yesterday the territories need hydro developments because the government can no longer count on furs, fish and diamonds for revenue. "Diamond mining will peak in about eight or nine years unless significant new finds are discovered," he said. "Fur will never come back. And there's a limited potential for commercial fishing and forestry in the Northwest Territories. "Hydro could drive industry down the road, and provide us with revenues through exports to southern Canada and the United States." Mr. Handley's department has targeted six rivers for development: the Mackenzie, Bear, Lockhart, Talston, Snare, Lac la Marte and Slave rivers. The Talston and Slave are located just north of the Alberta border. The proposed development is seen as a long-term project. "The Territories' hydro opportunities are huge and undeveloped," he said. "The potential is the biggest in Canada, and perhaps the world." A report Mr. Handley's department issued yesterday indicates that the N.W.T. could derive up to $600-million in revenue annually if all the dams went ahead. The projects would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the Territories by a million tonnes annually. Most of the Territories' communities, mines and other industries rely heavily on diesel fuel, which results in huge greenhouse gas emissions. That fuel is either flown, trucked, barged or shipped into the North at tremendous cost. Mr. Handley said energy alternatives, such as coal-fired generating plants and nuclear power, are not acceptable. And natural gas reserves, considered to be vast in the N.W.T., are not the only answer. Unlike the James Bay project in northern Quebec, the dams would not block river flow and flood regions. Instead, they would be run-of-the river projects that divert only part of the river. Still, the hydro vision is bound to raise environmental concerns because it has ecological consequences. The proposals has also angered at least one aboriginal community. Akaitcho chief Archie Catholique told Mr. Handley bluntly that his people will not allow any damming of the Lockhart River, which flows into the east arm of Great Slave Lake. The Lockhart is among the wilder and more scenic rivers in the southern half of the Territories, and the area around it is being targeted as a national park. Parry Falls, on the Lockhart, is also regarded as a holy place for the people who live near it. "We are open to business," said Mr. Catholique. "But my elders have told me not to touch the Lockhart. It's a place they go to pray and be healed. They do not want it developed. We did not ask the government to go there. We don't even want to discuss it." Joe Rabesca, the grand chief of the Dogrib Nations, said the damming of the Snare or Lac la Marte rivers in his region west of Yellowknife is an option his people are considering. But he insisted that if a dam is built on one of the rivers, it will be built by the Dogrib and on their terms. Mr. Handley, however, had his supporters, and he was undaunted by some of the fears and doubts expressed about the prospects for such a huge venture. "This would allow us to be clean and green. It would provide us with huge revenues and with cheaper power supplies for our communities." Mr. Handley appealed to the chiefs to work in partnership with the territorial government to develop some of the projects. He also suggested some Alberta companies have expressed interest in the development options. "This isn't going to happen tomorrow," said Mr. Handley. "But it's something we have to consider if we are going to continue to have a healthy economy and provide services to the people and the communities." --------- "RE: Tribal Employee provides view from Both Sides" --------- Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:06:26 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="VIEW FROM BOTH SIDES" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.news-star.com/stories/072401/opE_letter.shtml Tribal employee provides view from both sides To the Editor, It amazes me when I hear comments about Indians from non-Indians. Some non-Indians believe Indians get monthly checks for being Indians and on Indian rolls. Some people see Indian car tags on cars and complain about tax money. Or they see Indian businesses and complain about level playing fields or imply legal tax evasion. Others make snide comments about Indian commodities. My question is this: Who is it who can't see the forest for the trees? What's that saying about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence? I am a non-Indian. I am employed by an Indian tribe. Granted, that could make me biased. But it also gives me the opportunity to see and compare the grass on both sides of the fence. First, Indians don't get monthly checks from anyone, unless it's their Social Security checks. Some tribes have paid a "per-capita" to tribal members, but these are only once in a lifetime (if they're lucky) and well under the five figure mark (often less than half). The BIA offers federal grants for certain programs, usually medical and housing, but then the government gave a white college professor half-a- million dollars some years ago to fund a study proving that when children get older they stop believing in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus (no fooling!). Besides, look at the mess the BIA made out of the trust money for Indians the past several decades. Look at the social programs and health programs tribes create with their business-generated income. These are programs our tax dollars would normally fund. Indians have severe health problems -- diabetes is a major threat -- that needs stringent medical care that the tribes pay for and treat in their own self- and grant-funded clinics. It is really no different than other non-Indian programs such as Youth and Family Services, low-income housing for non-Indians (Aldridge Hotel), or even some mental health agencies that receive federal funding (non- Indian). Glasses and dental work are paid for by tribes for members who can't otherwise afford them. Should they go without simply because it might offend me or other whites who do pay for our own? I'm not that selfish, and I have a stronger social conscious than that. Besides, the optometrists and dentists who supply the majority of these services are non-Indians. This should make Regeanesque Republicans happy since it is trickle-down economics. I don't believe all the comments I hear are necessarily racist, although I know some are, but I am convinced these comments are based on not knowing (definition of ignorance) the facts. Ignorance can be cured by learning. Let's learn and we'll find a common ground. Bill Putman, Shawnee Copyright C. 1997-2001 The Shawnee News-Star --------- "RE: Indian Kidney Woes pose Growing Threat" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 08:11:27 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="KIDNEY WOES" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=717301&pic=none&TP=getarticle Indian kidney woes pose growing threat 2001-07-12 By Lisa Tatum Staff Writer The miracle of genetics that allowed American Indians to survive starvation and other hardships throughout the centuries is turning against them now, leaving them vulnerable to deadly kidney disease, said one of the country's top experts on the subject Wednesday. Dr. Andrew Narva, an official with the Indian Health Services Kidney Disease Program, spoke about the growing epidemic of kidney disease in American Indians during the first day of the National American Indian Kidney Health Conference in Oklahoma City. "The number of people with kidney disease has tripled in Indian communities," Narva said. As a doctor who cares for more than 100 Indians in New Mexico, Narva said he sees the effect of the population's high calorie diets and limited physical activity. He said members of the race that once went days without eating while they hunted are now paying the price for a genetically changed metabolism. The result is severe weight gain that leads to what some call the terrible triad: diabetes, hypertension and kidney disease. The three diseases are closely linked, Narva said. "Type II diabetes is the biggest cause of kidney disease," he told an audience that included health professionals and kidney disease patients from across the country. Diabetes, which has been linked to obesity, causes scarring in the kidneys that subsequently decreases the organ's ability to filter poisons from the body. Hypertension, also common in overweight people, worsens kidney damage. Narva said statistics show that American Indians experience three to four times more kidney failure than whites. "Virtually every Indian family has someone on dialysis," he said. The conference will continue through Friday at the Clarion Inn Convention Center, 737 S Meridian Ave. All content copyrighted c. 2001 The Oklahoma Publishing Co. --------- "RE: Congress may need to look at Tribal Courts" --------- Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 20:05:45 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRIBAL COURTS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sltrib.com/07212001/utah/115413.htm Justices Say Congress May Need to Look at Tribal Jurisdictional Woes BY ELIZABETH NEFF THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Saturday, July 21, 2001 RENO -- Impressed by their first-hand look at justice in American Indian country this week, U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer said a solution to jurisdictional woes plaguing tribal courts may ultimately rest in the hands of Congress. "We saw some real problems . . . among them, jurisdictional issues where federal courts have been involved," O'Connor said during a panel discussion with educators at the National Judicial College in Reno on Friday. "We sense a real need to address those problems. I'm wondering if maybe it isn't time to look to Congress." Tribal courts have jurisdiction over nonfelony crimes committed by Indians on reservations. Generally, they can hear civil cases involving disputes that arise on tribal land between Indians, or between Indians and others. Friday's discussion marked the end of the justices' historic tour of two tribal courts at the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Wash., and on the Navajo Nation reservation in Window Rock, Ariz. this week. The justices' tour came at an awkward time, less than a month after the high court unanimously ruled the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone tribal court did not have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit filed by tribal member Floyd Hicks, who sued Nevada state officials in 1991. Hicks claimed his civil rights were violated when state game wardens searched his home on the reservation for evidence of illegal hunting of California bighorn sheep off the reservation. Nevada had asserted it was immune to the lawsuit, and the Supreme Court agreed, although O'Connor, Breyer and Justice John Paul Stevens disagreed with the majority's reasoning. The three justices found the "majority's sweeping opinion, without cause, undermines the authority of tribes to make their own laws and be ruled by them." The ruling has been decried as further eroding the jurisdiction of tribal courts over non-Indians on tribal land. "This goes a long way in denying tribal courts jurisdiction over non- Indian defendants," said University of Utah professor Alex Tallchief Skibine, a former deputy counsel for Indian affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives. "But this is becoming an issue more and more as reservations have non-Indians living on them." Many of the tribal judges from across the country in attendance Friday were skeptical about looking to the nation's legislators to mend the historically strained relationship between tribal and non-Indian courts. "There is a problem dealing with congressional solutions, and it really lies at the heart of Indian law and constitutional government," said Carey Vicenti, a professor at the judicial college who sits on several tribal appellate courts. "When tribes are concerned about something, they go to Congress [and] find they are outnumbered." Vicenti, a member of the Jicarilla Apache tribe, added: "Umbrella-type legislation is a good idea, but from a practical standpoint, we are so vulnerable that we are constantly subjected to marjoritarian tyran- ny." Many in the American Indian community hoped the visit would provide the justices, whose trip was sponsored by the National American Indian Court Judges Association, with an understanding of how justice is meted out in Indian country, the importance of tribal sovereignty and the needs of tribal courts for more resources. According to the National Tribal Resource Center, 484 tribes report they have a judicial system in place, with 350 of those including judges with law training and clerks to record proceedings. Two tribal courts serve American Indians living in Utah, one on the Navajo Nation reservation and another on the Uintah and Ouray Tribal reservation. There are about 14,634 Navajos and 2,940 Utes living in Utah, according to figures from the 2000 census. Marcella King-Ben, an associate justice for the Navajo Nation Supreme Court, said she thought the visit was a good first step toward a better understanding between both groups. King-Ben is one of several students who graduated Friday from a judicial college class entitled "Essential Skills for Tribal Appellate Judges." "It was wonderful to have the justices come and see and experience for themselves how Indians run their government and their courts with limited resources and facilities," she said. Copyright c. 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune --------- "RE: Peltier Statement from LPDC's Newspaper" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 10:48:57 -0500 From: LPDC Subj: Peltier statement from LPDC's newspaper Mailing List: LPDC Dear Friends, Below is Leonard Peltier's statement from the July/August issue of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee's bi-monthly news paper, "Spirit of Crazy Horse." Peltier issues a new statement for each publication. The paper reports on current issues facing Indigenous Peoples, such as environmental racism, treaty rights/land disputes, social issues, developments regarding self determination and de-colonization, and religious rights. The paper also covers prison issues, political prisoners, and environmental issues. This printing contains a special piece written by Dr. Michael J. Yellow Bird that defines colonialism and describes its affects on Indigenous Peoples. The piece also outlines ways in which colonization continues in this country today. Additionally, this edition contains a statement from Roberta Blackgoat, a Dine' elder who has resisted relocation from her homeland, Big Mountain in Arizona, for some 30 years, as well as many other important articles. Also, each publication contains a special educational piece on the history of the Peltier case. For example, this printing portrays key FBI documents as well as quotes from the court record. Subscribing to "Spirit of Crazy Horse" is a great way to stay up to date and support the efforts of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. Click here if you are interested in subscribing: http://www.freepeltier.org/newspaper.htm#top In Solidarity, LPDC JULY - AUGUST STATEMENT OF LEONARD PELTIER Greetings Brothers, Sisters, Friends, and Supporters, My granddaughter, Alex just turned 18. Earlier this summer my grandson, Cyrus turned 16. I can hardly believe it. I guess as grandparents we sometimes lose track of how many years have gone by until we turn around and find that our grandchildren have become young adults - despite our refusals to recognize them as anything but our "babies." It makes me think about how much I have missed of their lives and I anxiously wonder if they will be okay and if they will be able to live good lives after all that our family has been through. It also makes me think about the current state of our young people in general. How are our youth handling the challenges and obstacles that their generation faces? Do they know they have the power and ability to effect change and carry on the struggle passed down to them by the generations before? Or has the repression that my generation faced kept us from encouraging our kids and grandkids to carry on efforts to secure our Human and Indigenous Rights? None of us would ever want what happened to Anna Mae or to Joe Killsright Stuntz to happen to our kids - or to any kids. But still we must ask ourselves; do we really protect our young people when we allow them to accept the status quo? Or will feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness and despair take their toll instead? And why aren't we outraged over the fact that we must choose between political repression and a bleak existence? That is why it is so important that the abuses my generation suffered be officially recognized and exposed. As we can see, the FBI will continue abusing its power as long as they are allowed to. The flow of new information about FBI misconduct seemingly has no end. Now we are hearing reports about the FBI "losing" guns. And of course I can't help but to think back to the GOON squads and wonder how many guns the FBI "lost" while they were collaborating with them. I want to encourage you to support the LPDC's efforts to press Congress for hearings and for the declassification of FBI documents. The full truth must be exposed, if not for those who lived it, then at least for the protection of our future generations. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Leonard Peltier Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 www.freepeltier.org To subscribe, send a blank message to < lpdc-on@mail-list.com > --------- "RE: Peltier's Birthday" --------- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 10:56:00 -0500 From: LPDC Subj: Peltier's Birthday - September 12 Mailing List: LPDC LEONARD PELTIER'S BIRTHDAY - SEPTEMBER 12 - INITIATE LOCAL ACTIONS September 12, 2001 will mark Leonard Peltier's 57th birthday. What better way to celebrate than to support his freedom by organizing a local action on his behalf? There are many things you can do. Here are some actions that have been held in the past to commemorate Leonard Peltier's birthday: * Hold a demonstration or vigil: Help keep the Peltier case in the public eye by organizing a demonstration or vigil in protest of Peltier's wrongful imprisonment and the FBI's obstruction of justice. * Host a fundraiser birthday party: Organize a gathering - serve food and cake, sponsor entertainment, and/or show a video on the case in honor of Peltier. Collect donations from the attendees in support of Leonard Peltier's continued defense. * Conduct a day of outreach: Maintain a presence in a busy area of your community (parks, street corners, concerts or events, etc.). Set up a literature table, grab a clipboard and collect signatures from passers by, or hand out leaflets. Please let us know as early as possible if you are organizing something so we can help publicize it. We also encourage you to invite your local press to cover your event. If you need help constructing press materials, feel free to contact us. 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 > --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 20:34:13 -0400 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: Native Prisoner News Tell a Native American Prisoner someone cares! -- - - - Peltier, Leonard #89637-132 Box 1000 Leavenworth, KS 66053 Birthday: 9/12/44 Ancestry: Ojibwa-Lakota -- - - - Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 18:07:03 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PRISONER HUNGER STRIKE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news01/071301_news_chavez.shtml Indian inmate calls denial of religion a sure `death sentence' The Associated Press SANTA FE - An inmate whose petition to practice sweat lodge ceremonies in prison was denied Thursday says he has been given a death sentence. State District Judge Stephen Pfeffer agreed with the state Corrections Department that security concerns at the Penitentiary of New Mexico's North Unit near Santa Fe outweigh Elton Bear Eagle Chavez's right to practice his religion as he wants to. "They just gave me a death sentence," Chavez told his supporters as he left the courtroom. The 36-year-old Lakota Sioux has been on a hunger strike for 17 days in protest of the department's decision not to allow the sweat lodge and pipe ceremonies. The restrictions on Chavez's religious rights are "reasonably related to the security of the facility," Pfeffer said. Allowing the practices would "result in an unfair application of rights to one group of prisoners." Chavez has been hospitalized at the prison's infirmary for more than two weeks. He has refused intravenous feeding for the last two days, Assistant Public Defender Nina Lalevic said. Corrections Secretary Rob Perry said the department has obtained a court order to force Chavez back on the intravenous feeding drip. "We want to make sure Mr. Chavez doesn't critically hurt himself," Perry said. Chavez began a similar hunger strike in March. The department also obtained a court order then and force fed Chavez through intravenous tubes. Chavez is serving a 13-year sentence for attempted murder and criminal damage to property. He was sent to the maximum-security prison for his role in a riot at the Lea County Correction Facility over access to religious ceremonies for Indian inmates. Chavez alleged the state Department of Corrections confiscated religious articles, including a pipe, eagle feathers, eagle claws, a drum and a ceremonial whistle. The public defender said the seizures violate state law. "The sweat lodge is the foundation of my life," Chavez told the court during a five-hour hearing Wednesday. "It helps me to address the things that put me (in prison)." Pfeffer had to decide whether Corrections Department policies violate the state Native American Counseling Act, which guarantees Indian inmates at least six hours a week for religious activities and the right to possess certain religious items - unless they're deemed a threat to security. The law allows Indian inmates to keep such items as cedar, corn pollen, eagle and other feathers, tobacco, drums, gourds, medicine bundles and other traditional items. The Chavez case centered around whether the sweat lodge and religious articles constitute a valid security threat. Corrections Secretary Rob Perry told Pfeffer that his department must severely restrict access by maximum security inmates to sweat lodges because of security concerns and fairness to inmates of other religions. "Another inmate might say, "If Mr. Chavez can have his pipe, why can't I have my crucifix?" ... Perry said. "What do I do with a Muslim inmate who wants to sit on a rug and pray facing Mecca for six hours a week? We would have to hire 200 more corrections officers. Inmates would start seeing this as a way to manipulate confinement." Perry said he was not aware of any violent incidents in New Mexico or elsewhere during sweat lodge ceremonies, but said the potential is there in a ritual that involves fire, hot coals, a shovel and a rake. Prison policies implemented earlier this year allow Indian inmates in administrative segregation prisons - the penitentiary's North and South facilities south of Santa Fe - to use sweat lodges about every three months. Most inmates in the facilities have been discipline problems. They are confined to their cells 23 hours a day and not allowed contact with other prisoners. They also are allowed to keep only a minimum number of religious articles, Perry said. Chavez is allowed one eagle feather and a medicine bag. Lalevic said she would appeal Pfeffer's decision. Copyright c. 2001 The Albuquerque Tribune. --------------------------------- Standing Deer's new address: Robert H. Wilson #640539, Estelle Unit, 264 FM 3478, Huntsville, TX 77320-3322 ---------------------------------- If you know of a Native American inmate who would like to correspond with brothers or sisters on the outside - please drop me a line with whatever information about them they'd like shared. Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com owlstar@speakeasy.org --------- "RE: Rustywire: It was just another Enemy Way" --------- Date: 18 Jul 2001 17:25:09 -0700 From: rustywire@yahoo.com (john rustywire) Subj: It was just another Enemy Way Newsgroup: alt.native She stood a ways off, just beyond the firelight. The embers from the bonfire lit up the sky and made the night gold on this bit of open space among the sage. She glowed with the color of firelight, reds and gold giving her a soft flow against the black night. Summer Sing, the Nightway, where people travel for miles to gather on a flat stretch of ground, to sing in a circle all night, and then to dance the night away, to talk and to laugh. That is how it is done, while a short distance away the healing ceremony goes on. It was July and the nights were warm and pleasant. Folks gathered by the firelight and when the songs raised up in the night caused the ground to swell, the motion of dancers near the cedar fire swayed back and forth. Arriving with cousins, three of them; looking for chance to see some old friends, relations and to hear the goings on around this area known as Sanostee not too far South of Shiprock. Getting ready earlier, meant a sweat, a quiet time to reflect and cleanse the mind and body, to relax and feel the flow of the days' hardships melt away. This is done alone in a small sweat made for one at the edge of the forest, it is way of tradition. Then to dress with clean clothes, a sign of respect to the family where you will visit and spend the night, a pair of Wrangler Jeans, some Dan Post boots, and a cotton shirt, western type. The old ones, you know those clothes that are broken in from wear, the favorite ones. You can really feel at ease in those clothes, they are soft and supple. Comfort is the name of the game tonite. Outside, an old beat up Chevy pulls up, baby blue, the Nez boys rush in and say, What's the hold up and with a final look around, you take off and away you go. Talking and laughing. Eshkee, (Boy) You got cash money to pay for the dances? Nah, he's got commodity cheese in his bag to cover it. (the Sing is a woman's choice dance, and when you are asked you have to pay the lady or else) Do you think those girls from Bistai' will be there? They don't have any good ones, that's a bad place. Nothing grows there except rocks. Maybe that one girl from there might come. Oh, you mean the Towering House woman, she comes from Coyote Pass. I remember her from a rodeo over there, a couple of months ago. What is she called? I don't know her name. You mean the one with long hair, down to her waist. Wears white boots. Yeah, I think she is the one. You mean that good looking one. She was with this one guy from Carino Canyon, down by Gallup, big cowboy dude. I think she is still with him, he had his arm around her. Maybe, she will be there, think so? Don't worry about it, she won't look at you. She could be there you know. Nay, ain't gonna happen, forget about it, think about the ribs and the singing. Baloney here is wanting some mutton ribs, the kind that are hot and tasty and the grease runs down your arms. It's Bedonie, not baloney, don't call me that. That one girl, she was in (Totah-where the rivers meet)Farmington not too long ago, he thinks to himself, she was at the store there with her family and when she looked at him there was a certain look in her eyes, yes I remember the way she looked. Maybe she might be there. The rode on and took the dirt road cutting through the cedars, a chizh-a-teen (narrow wood hauling road) the kind you have to know where you are going to use. It was a bumpy ride and they travelled through washes and bluffs, going slowly across big rocks and kept on as the night fell. In the distance, the flow of three bonfires lit up the sky and as the drove into the Manygoats place, they could see that there were alot of people already gathered there, trucks, cars and some wagons were scattered all through the area. In the middle of it was the cha-oh (large wooden shade house) where women were cooking and one could find pop, cooked mutton, frybread, sweets and corn cooked in the ground, sweet sweet corn. People were standing around their vehicles, and children ran about playing with one another. On one side was the ceremonial hogan where a second cha-oh sat for the immediate family and visitors. It was crowded like how it is when you come out of a movie house, people walking elbow to elbow. It was hard to see who all was there, since the night was thick and the light from the bonfires cast red shadows, a glow that flickered on the faces and bodies as they walked by. The four made their way to the food and found a plateful of ribs and sat down on some rocks and ate. They joked and saw old friends and family there. Across the way the center was open for a place to dance, where woman asked the men and they stepped in time with one another. The women's arm locked around the back of the man she danced with him and his arm over her shoulder, a blanket or large rug covered them both as they moved, There were many out there. He sat down and finished off the ribs and the dogs were waiting for him to finish so they could have a treat as well. He stood up and saw his cousins had wandered off. He looked around to see it he could see them. There she was. She stood a ways off, just beyond the firelight. The embers from the bonfire lit up the sky and made the night gold on this bit of open space among the sage. She wore a white squaw dress, satin which hung down to the ground, covering her dark brown moccasins fastened with a silver button that gleamed in the firelight. Around her waist, she wore a large silver concho belt, an old fashioned one, a family heirloom which covered as red sash belt, the fringes hung down by her side. Her velvet blouse was dark blue, shimmering in the light and when she turned she wore two large turquoise beaded necklaces, with a string of orange coral hanging down from her neck. Her long black hair was hanging loose and free down her back and she held a pendelton blanket. In that instant there was no one else there but just them two. She moved in slow motion it seemed. She glowed with the color of firelight, reds and gold giving her a soft flow against the black night. She had soft eyes and yet her face was strong, as if she knew this was her time and place. She was delicate, but yet moved with a glow of Navajo women, who had come down through the centuries, strength in her bones and yet soft at the same time. Her eyes were dark and twinkled against the night, she was a sight. He stepped toward her, and she moved the shawl, flicking him with it's end. He was her choice to dance, and so they moved to the dirt floor cut out of the sage. He looked into her eyes and thought, it is good to be born here among these people, and I can hear that song they are singing. How does it go. "On horseback I go, across mountains and canyons I go, she waits for me there, she waits for me there. On horseback I go, on horseback I go." It was just another Enemy Way Sing on the Navajo Rez. rustywire rustywire@yahoo.com --------- "RE: Poem: Too Many Names..." --------- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 22:50:17 -0500 From: koga suyeta Subj: Too Many Names... Mailing List: ndn-aim (Recuerde ... Comandante Efrain Bamaca Velasquez) ...from "Demasiados Nombres," by Pablo Neruda (trans. by Natahle) "Time can't be cut "with your tired old scissors; "and all the names of the days "are wiped away by the water of the night. "No one can be named Pedro, "no one Rosa or Maria -- "all of us are dust and sand, "all of us but rain in the rain. "They told me of Venezuelas, of Paraguays and Chiles, "and I couldn't understand what they said; "I know that the earth has a skin, "and I know that it doesn't have a name. "Once I lived with the roots "and I loved them more than the flowers; "once I spoke with a stone "and it rang like a bell. "Now, having slept all these nights -- "what am I named, or not named? "And should I awake, who am I, "if I wasn't I when I slept...?" - Pablo Neruda ------- Lealtad en resistencia. AIR Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca URNG @ www.west.net/~tmiller/gh/era6/urng.html ===== 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: Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days" --------- Date : Tue, 24 Jul 2001 06:06:13 -1000 From: Debbie Sanders Subj: Hawaiian Book of Days A HAWAIIAN BOOK OF DAYS, week of August 6-12 AUKAKE (August) (Mahoe-mua) 6 Your spirit will lead you to those you were meant to know. 7 Take time to look at clouds and sunsets and the beauty of nature. 8 Make your mind a quiet place of peace and solitude. 9 No truth is ever absolute. 10 The orchid embodies the perfection of diversity. 11 Never be afraid to experience life. 12 The song of the ocean is captured forever in the tiniest shell. (c) Copyright 1991 by D. F. Sanders Me ke aloha i ka nani, ... Moe'uhanekeanuenue (With love and beauty, ... Rainbow Dream) --------- "RE: Classes teach Dakota Language" --------- Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 08:09:56 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DAKOTA LANGUAGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://web.duluthnews.com/content/duluth/2001/07/16/local/du_LANG0716.htm? Monday, July 16, 2001 Classes teach Dakota language Associated Press SHAKOPEE, Minn. -- The small group gathering each day at the community center looks like a typical class with flash cards sprawled about. But to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, this group represents its future voice. The six adults, ranging in age from 19 to 61, are the first class in a new program to preserve the Dakota language. With financial help from the community, the goal is for the students to eventually move into jobs teaching youth the tribe's native tongue. "We're all here because we have this yearning to revive (Dakota) so it's a living language," said Gabrielle Strong, 38, who is on leave from her job as executive director of Ain Dah Yung, a shelter for homeless and runaway Indian youth in St. Paul. The tribal council of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has employed five of the students to learn the language in two years of coursework and to help preserve it. All of the students talk of the lessons as a chance to get something back that was taken generations ago. They all know elders who were sent to mission schools or public schools and don't know the language. As those friends have heard they're taking classes, they ask the students to speak some Dakota for them. "We are survivors," Strong said. There also is a sense of urgency. Francis Steindorf, the director of the community's education department, heard at a Dakota language conference last summer that "there are about 30 Dakota-language speakers in Minnesota. Most are over the age of 60." Some linguists predict only about 20 American Indian languages will survive past 2050. This year, the Grotto Foundation in St. Paul announced its plan to spend $5.6 million over 15 years for the preservation of native languages. Recently, the foundation approved funding for a language immersion camp run by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and a unique course run by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, using instruction in the sport of lacrosse as a language immersion program. Copyright c. 2001 Duluth News Tribune. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Mohegans Rebuilding Language" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 20:54:07 -0400 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: language http://www.ctnow.com/scripts/editorial.dll?eetype=Article&eeid=4992337& render=y&Table=&ck=&userid=1&userpw=.&uh=1,0,&ver=3.0 Mohegans Rebuilding Language By WILLIAM WEIR The Hartford Courant Jul 29 2001 12:00AM UNCASVILLE - Fidelia Fielding, the last fluent speaker of the Mohegan language, died in 1908. Since then, echoes of the language have faded into obscurity. But a combination of detective work and what could be called linguistic forensics have helped the tribe and a team of scholars reconstruct the language, word by word. It's a daunting task, but one that tribal elders say is worth the effort because resurrecting the Mohegan dialect is critical to restoring the tribe's sense of identity. The effort began in earnest about three years ago, but had stalled until a key discovery earlier this year at Yale University's Beinecke Library. There, linguistics researcher David Costa found a cache of documents about Mohegan life and language compiled by, among others, Ezra Stiles, an 18th-century theologian and scientist who was Yale's second president. Everything then fell into place. "We were going crazy, doing this Sherlock Holmes thing, trying to find the Ezra Stiles documents," said Beth Lee MacDonald of Big Head Interactive, a California production company that is helping the tribe put together lesson plans for teaching the language. Tribal elders say the ultimate goal is to bring the language back into Mohegan homes and everyday conversation. At the very least, it will be used in ceremonial settings. "I think that the relationship between language and culture is so interconnected," said Gay Story Hamilton, chairman of the tribe's council of elders in Uncasville. "We want to get back some of what we had." In the past few years, the Mohegans have built up both the financial resources and the sense of community needed to make such an ambitious goal realistic, if not a guaranteed success. Close to a year ago, the tribe members believed the bulk of their language work was done and had begun developing formal lesson plans. But they soon discovered serious inconsistencies in the material, and the project came to an abrupt halt. Most of the original research was based on the diaries of Fidelia Fielding, which were long believed to be the only Mohegan writings left. Fielding, who served as tribal culture-keeper, was born in 1827 and lived in both pre-reservation and post-reservation eras of Mohegan society. Because no one else could converse with her in the language for the last 50 years of her life, her skills were increasingly influenced by English- speaking peers, corrupting the sentence structure and vocabulary of her later writings, Hamilton said. Costa, formerly of the University of California at Berkeley, was hired by Big Head Interactive in January this year. He remembered another researcher mentioning the Stiles documents at Beinecke and saw references to them in his materials. Costa and Beinecke's librarians spent hours searching before they were able to finally produced a file that included Stiles' accounts of Mohegan life and translations of about 150 Mohegan words, accompanied by a somewhat spotty pronunciation key. Further searching produced an even more valuable document: notes jotted on the blank pages of a book called "Almanac of Celestiall Motions of 1669. " The notes, written by James Noyes, a 17th-century minister from Stonington, provided a vocabulary key and more accurate pronunciations for about 300 Mohegan words. Costa is also working from writings of other Algonquian tribes, such as the Narragansett and Wampanoag, to help him identify patterns and make the appropriate changes to fill in gaps in the Mohegan language. For instance, a word in the Natick dialect of the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts that contains a "Y" would likely be the same in Mohegan, but with an "N" instead of the "Y." Languages of the Unquachog or Nipmuck Indians would use an "L" or "R" in the same place. "They're very close to Mohegan," he said. "Just a small handful of changes are needed to get from one dialect to another." Costa has headed up language restoration projects with a few tribes throughout North America, most recently the Miami tribe of Oklahoma. Interest in reviving the languages began to surge about five years ago, he said, when it became apparent how quickly they were dying. By some counts, about 100 American Indian languages remain, many of which are spoken by just a handful of people. When Columbus arrived on the continent, there were more than 300 Indian languages. More than just a relic of a past era, language serves as a window to its speakers' world view. The Mohegan language, Costa said, categorizes all nouns as either animate or inanimate. For instance, all the limbs of a body are considered animate, but the body itself is inanimate. Many of the languages died as a result of policies of both the U.S. government and of certain tribes that either prohibited the teaching of American Indian languages or strongly discouraged it. Languages became even more endangered after World War I, when tribes became less isolated. Despite her wish to speak in Mohegan with others, Fidelia Fielding never passed on her knowledge for fear that any proteges would suffer reprisals for speaking the language. Tribal officials at the time believed assimilating into English-speaking culture was the best thing for American Indians. Hamilton, who serves on the board of directors of Yale's Endangered Language Fund, believes television to be among the biggest obstacles to restoring the language. Most homes, including those of tribe members, have at least one television. Reviving the Mohegan language doesn't mean shutting out English-speaking culture altogether, Hamilton said, but vigilantly staying in touch with their own. The tribe expects the restoration research to be complete by fall. A formal curriculum for teaching it will then be developed. Tribe members will act out skits to be filmed for audiovisual CD-ROMs, which will be used in language classes. Lessons will also be taught at day-care facilities on the Mohegan reservation. Because of the long dormant state of Mohegan language, there will be some gaps. New words for anything that has come along since Fidelia Fielding's time will be based on descriptions of the thing or idea in question. For instance, a word for "computer" might translate literally to "thought keeper." The language has already made its way into the tribe's administrative offices. Employees routinely greet each other with "tin kutaya?" ("how are you?") and voice mail messages begin with "aquy" ("hello"). But the key to restoration, tribal officials say, is getting children interested. Shane Long, the tribe's cultural outreach director, is encouraged by his daughter's apparent aptitude for Mohegan and hopes other children will be equally eager to learn the language. Jessica Long is, as she'll cheerfully tell you, "pasukokun," which means that she's 9 years old. Though she's hardly fluent in the tribe's language, Jessica is learning quickly and is already pretty good with numbers and a few phrases. Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com --------- "RE: Indians race to Save Languages" --------- Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 08:36:34 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SAVE LANGUAGES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=206117 Indians race to save languages Thursday, 26 July 2001 13:18 (ET) By PHIL MAGERS DALLAS, July 26 (UPI) -- Many American Indian tribes are in a race against time to save their languages because young people are not learning their tradition and the elders who would be their teachers are quickly passing from the scene. Language scholars estimate about half of the 300 or so native languages spoken before Columbus landed in the Americas are now extinct. Most tribes have language preservation programs but in the past 10 years they have stepped up efforts to save the spoken words of their people because they know if they don't, that distinctive part of their culture could be lost, according to Indian leaders and experts. "We lost two or three in the last two weeks that were fluent elders," says Hastings Shade, deputy principal chief of the Cherokee Nation at Tahlequah, Okla. "They knew a lot of our customs and ways. They say when you lose an elder, you lose a library of knowledge." The Cherokees, which have one of the few written Indian languages created by their own people, also operate one the most active preservation programs. The written Cherokee language is based on the alphabet created by Sequoyah and adopted by the tribe in 1821. An estimated 10,000 Cherokees are considered fluent speakers and another 20,000 can speak a few words, says Shade, but he warns that's only a small percentage of the 250,000 members. He says the tribe is taking measures to ensure that the language is passed on. "This coming school year we will do a full immersion program with 3- year-olds at the Head Start," he says. "It will be kind of a volunteer basis. If the parents want it, they can send their children to this class. As the child goes to school, the parents also have to take Cherokee classes." The Cherokee language is also taught at Sequoyah Elementary School in Tahlequah, plus a few public schools and colleges in Oklahoma. But Hastings wants the program expanded. For smaller tribes with fewer fluent speakers the urgency is more pronounced than for the Cherokees. Indian languages originally were only spoken, but missionaries, anthropologists and linguists developed written languages for many of the tribes over the years. Each tribe has its own language but there are regional dialects in the spoken form. Preserving the oral tradition depends on adult speakers teaching the language to the younger generation. In some tribes the language is disappearing so fast there are fears a generation may someday be left without a language to pass on to their children, says Ofelia Zepeda, co-director of the Institute of American Indian Language Development at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "You are trying to create new speakers in the young population, but at the same time you are very likely losing your old speakers," she says. "You can't wait around." As a result, the enrollment in a summer program at the university that teaches Indian teachers methods of language instruction is growing every year. About 67 students from tribes in the United States and Canada enrolled in the 20-year-old program earlier this year. At the Indigenous Language Institute in Santa Fe, N.M., Director Inee Slaughter agrees many tribal leaders feel the urgency to preserve their language more than ever. "They recognize that it's a race against time," she says. Programs must be well planned and effective, she says, and that's the mission of the institute as a clearinghouse for information on the preservation of native languages. The institute develops instructional materials and sponsors programs to further preservation of the native languages. In April, the institute's third annual Youth Language Fair for preschoolers through 19 attracted 185 youths representing 13 languages and tribes, some from as far away as the Eastern Band of the Cherokees in North Carolina. This was up from only 12 entries the first year. Slaughter says one of the biggest challenges is convincing youngsters of the importance of learning their tribe's language when they live in an English-speaking world. "We are saying you are the carrier of the history, wisdom, and all the traditions that make the people who they are," she says. Copyright c. 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Tribes race against Time to teach Dying Languages" --------- Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 22:05:58 -0400 From: "Janet Smith" Subj: more language http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E79247,00.html Tribes race against time to teach dying languages By Gwen Florio Denver Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 29, 2001 - BURGESS JUNCTION, Wyo. - Elmer Main is a member of one of the most exclusive groups in the world. The 80-year-old is one of maybe 10 people alive who are fluent in Gros Ventre, the language of his ancestors. He is afraid that when he and the others die, the tribe's soul will die with them. That breaks his heart. "If we lose our language, we lose our culture," said Main, speaking here last week at a gathering of the Learning Lodge Institute, a group founded to save the languages of Montana's 11 tribes. Every last one of those languages is endangered. Consider: Of the nearly 2,000 Assiniboine people, who share the Fort Belknap reservation in northern Montana with about 3,000 members of the Gros Ventre tribe, fewer than 150 are fluent in their language. Only about 850 of the 17,000 Blackfeet, whose reservation is west of Fort Belknap, Mont., speak their language, and most of them are over age 65. And, while 82 percent of the Crow tribe's 10,000 members were fluent in Crow 30 years ago, almost none of the tribe's youngest members - those in kindergarten through fourth grade - spoke it by 1995, according to Dale Old Horn, a linguist and head of general studies at Little Big Horn College on the Crow reservation. On the reservations, there are a number of people who speak the languages among themselves. The situation can be more difficult for Indians in cities such as Denver, where there may be people from several tribes, none of which share a common language. "These urban people, they don't speak so fluently. Only a few elders and some purebloods here" speak their own language, said Bill Center, a Lakota elder living in Denver who teaches his language to both Indians and Anglos. "It's really hard for the younger people. ... At least on the reservations, they sing the songs, the sundance songs, the ceremonial songs - that keeps it alive." Linguist Doug Whalen, who heads the Endangered Language Fund at Yale University, said, "It's easy to tell when a language is in grave danger. If the youngest speaker is 50 years old, then a language is pretty well on the way out." By that standard, nearly all of the 185 Indian languages still spoken among the more than 550 federally recognized tribes in the United States are endangered, said Darrell Kipp, who co-founded the Piegan Institute in Browning, Mont., in 1987 to preserve native languages. As Lanny Real Bird, a professor at Little Big Horn College who organized last week's four-day gathering of language instructors for the Montana tribes, said: "We're in a tragic state." Genocide to "ethnocide' Elmer Main's personal tragedy started when he began attending a mission school at age 6. He was still on the reservation, but, culturally, he'd stepped into another - white - universe. "They cut off my braids," he said. "They took away my moccasins." And the Jesuits who ran the school spanked the little boy for speaking the only language he knew. The whole idea was part of a decades-old policy by the government and various religions to "civilize" the Indians. They were forbidden to wear traditional dress, practice tribal ceremonies and rituals, or speak their own languages. "First, the U.S. government practiced genocide," said Old Horn, referring to the turn-of-the-century Indian wars and disease epidemics that decimated the tribes. "When that didn't work, they practiced ethnocide." It very nearly worked. A generation after Elmer Main was ordered to forget his own language, Clarena Brockie never really got a chance to learn it at all. Brockie's parents spoke fluent Gros Ventre, but forced themselves to speak English around their daughter for fear she would get in trouble if anyone overheard her speaking Gros Ventre. Brockie said she felt the loss of language keenly. "It connects you to everything," said Brockie, 51, who attended last week's Learning Lodge meeting. She pointed out that Gros Ventre is the language of prayer, of ceremony, of song. She inclined her head toward a nearby tepee, where four men sang Crow and Cree songs in a high falsetto, to the insistent beat of a rattle and water-filled drum. "That's who you are," she said. By the time the next generation came along, in the form of Terry Brockie - now 32, a relative of Clarena Brockie's - the language was almost gone. Terry Brockie grew up speaking English exclusively. His grandmother spoke the old language, but she died when he was young. It wasn't until he was a grown man and living away from home that his interest was awakened, after he found himself dreaming repeatedly of his grandmother. "She was telling me, "That's not you. You should be following your Indian ways.'" That's where, for Terry Brockie, Learning Lodge came in. `Now it's up to us' Johnny Arlee, 60, of the Salish-Kootenai reservation on Flathead Lake in western Montana, said he sometimes wishes children were forced to learn Salishian, the same way he was forced to learn English at St. Ignatius Mission School. These days, Arlee - who emphasizes his respect for traditional ways by wearing shell earrings, an elk-tooth necklace and waist-length braids wrapped in red yarn - teaches an eight-week language course for adults at Salish-Kootenai College. "I tell them, "This is it. If you don't learn, this is the end of the trail.'" While Arlee laments the fact that he works with his students for only 15 days out of the year, he says the language program has come a long way from the days of paper and pencil and incomplete vocabulary lists when the tribe initiated it in 1975. About that time, tribes around the country started scrambling to save their languages, compiling dictionaries, composing grammars, and instituting rudimentary bilingual programs. In Browning, Mont., the Piegan Institute served as a clearinghouse. The institute runs an elementary school for 50 children in kindergarten through eighth grade in which the children, already fluent in English, are taught totally in Blackfeet. Four years ago, the 11 tribes that populate Montana's seven Indian reservations banded together to apply for a grant from the Kellogg Foundation. The money funded a number of Learning Lodge programs - everything from one-on-one tutoring to total immersion camps - and also a yearly gathering where language instructors can compare notes. But the money runs out in September. This year's final Learning Lodge gathering was held last week in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, just south of the Montana border, on what historically was Crow territory. The 50 people who attended listened as an impassioned Terry Brockie described his efforts to learn his grandmother's language via a "speaker-learner" program in which tribal elders such as Main, and Fred Gone, 71, tutored him. "They are treasures in our tribe," Brockie said after apologizing for being so bold as to speak before his elders. Brockie urged people to keep teaching, and learning, their languages, even when the money for such programs is gone. "Our grandfathers fought for our culture and our ways," he said. "Now it's up to us. "Someday, I'm going to be the elder," he said. "And I don't want my grandchild to come to me and say, "What is this?' and not be able to tell him." Janet Smith Owlstar Trading Post http://www.owlstar.com --------- "RE: Upcoming Events" --------- Date: Sun, 29 July 2001 15:39:14 -0 From: Gary Smith (gars@speakeasy.org) Subj: Upcoming Events =================================== Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 09:43:48 -0800 Subj: Honoring All Elders From: Andre P. Cramblit http://www.ncidc.org/nwit2001.htm September 22, 23, 2001 20th Annual Elders Gathering Honoring the Late Frank Gist Sr. California Tribal Dance Demonstration 3-6pm Saturday Redwood Acres Fairgrounds 3750 Harris St. Eureka, CA -- Andre Cramblit, Operations Director-Northern California Indian Development Council NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development needs of American Indians and operates an art gallery featuring the art of California tribes (http://www.americanindianonline.com) =================================== Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 00:41:29 -0500 (CDT) From: susanbates@webtv.net (Susan Bates) Subj: Day of Mourning >To: gars@speakeasy.org (Gary Night Owl) The Medicine Society to which I belong is going to hold a Day Of Mourning on October 13, 2001, in Springfield, Missouri. The purpose of this event is to remember all the people who were murdered, kidnapped, raped, tortured, infected with disease and ripped from their culture since the arriving of Columbus. It is my intention to gather as many names of these people as possible. The names will be read slowly with the beat of a drum to mark their presence. If you know the names of any of your ancestors who died in this manner, please send them to me and I will see that they are honored. If you don't know the name, you may say something like, " In Memory of my Great-great grandfather who died on the Trail of Tears," or "In Memory of the 50 people who were murdered at ... by....." Now is the time to honor our Ancestors. It is up to you. You can e-mail me at susanbates@webtv.net or write to me at Susan Bates, RR 3 Box 654, Cabool, MO 65689 =================================== 4TH ANNUAL DOC HOLLIDAY DAYS AND NATIVE AMERICAN FESTIVAL 2001 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH, 9AM TIL 9PM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH, 9AM TIL 6PM STORYTELLERS, ARTS & CRAFTS, GAMES, FOOD AND FUN! EXPERIENCE THE EXCITEMENT OF THE DANCE AND CULTURE OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS HOST DRUM - TBA HEAD MAN - SCOTT CRISP HEAD LADY - MONICA ARRINGTON M/C - GARY SMITH A/D - TBA MATH FIELDS, GRIFFIN, GA FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT MARK OR RUTH DAVIS (256) 820-6315 A $5.00 DONATION TO THE DOC HOLLIDAY SOCIETY GETS YOU A MILLION $$$ WORTH OF FUN!!!!!!!!!!! WESTERN REENACTMENTS - LIVING HISTORY AT ITS VERY BEST - OLD CAR CRUISE ON SAT. AT 1 TO 5 =================================== Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 08:58:56 -0700 From: Diaz, Joe A (NBVC) Subj: FAITA "SAVE THE DATE" 10th Annual First Americans in the Arts Awards Century Plaza Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA Saturday, February 2, 2002 for more info call 818.623.9520 www.firstamericans.org Thank you, Joe A. Diaz Trustee =================================== NATIVE SOLUTIONS PRESENTS: 4th ANNUAL INTERTRIBAL POW WOW APRIL 26-28, 2002 TIMES FRI 5-9 DANCING & STORYTELLING SAT 10-8 GRAND ENTRY 11:00 SUN 10-5 GRAND ENTRY 12:00 OXFORD LAKE PARK, OXFORD, AL; EXIT 185 OFF I-20 NATIVE AMERICAN HONOR GUARD AND WARRIOR SOCIETY ADMISSION - $5 - ADULTS SENIORS 55 AND UP & CHILDREN 12 AND UNDER - FREE HOST NORTHERN DRUM - GREY WOLF SINGERS HOST SOUTHERN DRUM - SHADOW WOLF SINGERS HEADMAN - DON REDBEAR HEADLADY - DONNA DULANEY M.C. - GARY SMITH ARENA DIRECTOR - BUCK TUCKER SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY LARRY CAMPBELL SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY DALLAS,TX AUTHOR AND MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER KICKING EAGLE, "AMBASSADOR OF THE PEOPLE" ALL DANCERS WELCOME ALL DRUMS WELCOME NO DRUGS OR ALCOHOL ALLOWED PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN LAWN CHAIRS LEARN ABOUT EARLY IRON FORGING FROM JOHN WILLIAMS, SEE DEMONSTRATIONS ON BEADWORK, DREAM CATCHERS, LEARN ABOUT HEALING WITH HERBS FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL TONY AT (256) 835-0110;CINDY AT (256) 831-9373; JOHN OR RACHEL AT (256) 835-2638 OR MARK OR RUTH DAVIS AT (256) 820-6315. VENDORS CALL MARK OR RUTH DAVIS OR EMAIL ravenspiritwalker@yahoo.com OR thunderhawk2062@yahoo.com =================================== Whispering Winds POWWOW DATES http://www.whisperingwind.com/ EMAIL us your dates whiswind@i-55.com For dates to appear in Whispering Wind Magazine, dates need to be submitted at least 3 months in advance. Last Update: July 11, 2001 These dates are published as a public service and are gathered from flyers, emails, phone calls. Whispering Wind or its publisher Written Heritage, Inc., are not responsible for incorrect dates or locations. It is always a good idea to contact the sponsoring organization for verification. AUGUST 2001 2-5 Menominee Nation. Woodland Bowl, Keshena, WI (715) 799-3341 or (715) 799-5114 3-5 46th Annual Yankton Sioux Tribe Traditional Wacipi. Kanke Andes, SD. Info: (605) 384-3641. 3-5 17th Little Elk's Retreat. Campgrounds, Mt Pleasant, MI (517) 775-4072 or 800-225-8172 3-5 Kaw Nation. Kaw Lake, 15 miles from Kaw City, OK (417) 384-7114 or (580) 269-2552 ext 260 3-4 Bell Powwow. Powwow Grounds, Stillwell, OK (918) 696-4480 3-5 Third Annual Gathering sponsored by The Wolf Clan of Central Illinois. Riverton Illinois. Info: StarWalker at 217/627-9153. Traders welcome! For Trader space, call or write John Skenandore, 1229 East Brown, Springfield, Illinois 62703, 217/638-6137. 3-5 Oklahoma Indian Nations Powwow. Concho Powwow Grounds, Concho, OK. Info: (405) 262-0345. 4-5 Hon-dah Resort. Hon-Dah, AZ (520) 369-0299 4-5 6th Annual Long Island Native American Task Force Powwow. Main Street School, Setauket, Long Island, NY. Info: ( 631) 399-1536. 4-6 41st Wikwemikong. Thunderbird Park. Manitoulin Island, Ontario (705) 859-2385 6-8 ISU Spring. Reed Gymnasium, ISU Pocatello, ID 6-12 70th American Indian Expo. Caddo Co. Fair Grounds, Anadarko, OK (405) 247-6651 9-12 Midwest's Ultimate Powwow. 5 miles west of Tama, Iowa 800-944-9503 10-12 Little Shell Celebration, Newton, North Dakota (701) 627-3634 or (701) 627-3483 10-12 Kul-Wicasa Oyate Fair & Wacipi, Lower Brule, South Dakota (605) 473-5561 10-12 Nesika Illakee. Siletz, Oregon 800-922-1399 ext 230 10-12 24th IICOT Champions. Tulsa State Fair Grounds, Tulsa, Oklahoma (918) 836-1523. www.iicot.org or email: iicot@aol.com 10-12 The Thunderbird Society Powwow. Fairgrounds, Vandalia ,MO. Info: De Givens (573) 874-3454. 11-12 6th Annual Ancestors Powwow. Heathsedge, Abbey Road Dover, Kent, England. Centreland Singers; Kim Oakshot, M.C. Info: 011 44 1304 241091 11-12 Paumanauke Powwow. Tanner Park, Copiague, Long Island. Info: (631) 661-7558. 16-19 Wichita Tribal Dance. Wichita Tribal Park, Anadarko, OK. (405) 247- 2425. 16-20 Crow Fair Celebration. Crow Agency , Montana. Info: 9406) 248-6910. 17-19 51st Annual Tulsa Powwow. Mohawk park. Info: (918) 743-3628 17-19 90th Chief Seattle Days. Downtown Suquamish, WA (360) 598-3311 17-19 Shakoppe Mdewakanton, Prior Lake, Minnesota (612) 445-8900 18 2nd Annual Native American Music Festival. Bardstown Airport (no city, state listed). Info: (502) 348-0425 bryant@bardstown.com 18-19 19th Annual Traditional Powwow. Boone County 4-H Grounds, Lebanon, IN. Info: (317) 545-5057 or aicindiana@hotmail.com. 18-19 2nd Annual Competition Pow Wow sponsored by Red Hawk American Indian Cultural Society. Willow Ranch, Coitsville Twp., OH. Info: Rose Marie Tullio at 1-330-755-4971 18-19 8th Annual Powwow. Corpus Christi, TX. Info: (361) 358-9298. 23-26 Schemitzun 2001. Powwow Grounds, Mashantucket, CT 800-224-CORN 23-26 Ponca Nation Powwow. White Eagle Park, White Eagle, OK. (580) 762-8104. 24-26 First Annual Traditional Powwow hosted by the Shooting Star Casino, Mahnomen, MN. Info: (218) 573-2104 or tmas34@hotmail.com 24-26 4th Sac & Fox of Missouri. Hwy 75, Powhattan, Kansas (785) 742-7471 or (785) 467-8000 24-26 125th Rosebud Celebration. Powwow Grounds, Rosebud, South Dakota (605) 747-2381 24-26 33rd Southern California. Orange County Fair Grounds, Costa Mesa, CA (714) 962-6673 24-26 27th Annual Powwow sponsored by the Baltimore American Indian Center. Catonsville Campus Athletic Fields, Baltimore, MD. Info: (410) 675-3535. 25-26 Ramapough Lenape Powwow. Sallies Field, Ringwood, NJ. Info: (201) 529-1171. 29- Sept 2 Celebration of Metis History Powwow. Lewiston, MT. Info: (406) 248-2948 30-Sept 2 Poplar Indian Days. Powwow Grounds, Poplar, MT (406) 768-3826 or (406) 768-3351 31- Sept 3 Wee Gitchie Ne Me E Dim. Veterans Memorial Grounds, Cass Lake, MN (218) 335-8289 31- Sept 4 Spokane Labor Day. Powwow Grounds, Wellpinit, WA (509) 258-4581 SEPTEMBER 2001 1 The Pueblo Friendship 9th Annual Powwow Association. Pueblo Depot Activity, Pueblo ,CO. Info: Susan (719) 561-4223. 1-2 41st Annual Tecumseh Lodge Powwow. Tipton, IN. Info: (317) 745-2858 or email: rlkmeyer@aol.com or www.tlodge.srphoto.net 1-2 27th Thamesville. Moravian Reserve, Ontario (519) 692-3969 or (519) 627-9291 or (519) 692-3936 1-3 Northern Arapaho Powwow. Arapaho, WY. Info: (800) 433-0662. 1-3 Labor Day Weekend Celeb. Black River Falls, Wisconsin 800-294-9343 1-3 19Annual Labor Day Weekend Traditional. Heimat Haus St. Route 104, Grove City, OH. Info: (614) 443-6120. email: naicco@aol.com 1-4 Choctaw Nation Labor Day Festival. Tribal Capital Grounds, Tuskahoma, OK. Info: (918) 569-4465. 6-9 55th Navajo Nation Fair. Wind Rock, Arizona (520) 871-6478 6-9 United Tribes. UTTC Campus, Bismarck, North Dakota (701) 255-3285 7-8 31st Coharie People's. Clinton, North Carolina (910) 564-6909 7-9 2001 Indian Summer Traditional Pow Wow. Credit Island in Davenport, IA. All drums welcome! Info: Les Miller 319-381-3547 or e-mail lsmma@qconline.com 7-9 Indian Summer. Maier Festival Park, Milwaukee, WI (414) 774-7119 7-9 81st Southern Ute. Sky Ute Downs Arena, Ignacio, CO (970) 563-4156 or (970) 563-0100 7-9 12th Sycuan Powwow. Powwow Grounds, El Cajon, CA (619) 445-7776 7-9 4th Annual Credit Island Traditional Pow Wow. Host drum War Pony. Hosted by Urban Indian Tribal Organization. Info: Les Miller at 319-381-3547. 7-9 Northern Cherokee Pow wow. Clinton, MO. Info: (660) 884-7999. (Contest) 8-9 14th Trail of Tears. Trail of Tears Park, Hopkinsville, Kentucky (270) 886-8033 8-9 8th Precious Sunset. Recreation Point, Bass Lake, California (559) 855-2705 13-15 Pendleton Round-up Rodeo & Powwow. Pendleton, OR. Info: 800-457-6336. 14-16 Great Mohican Indian Powwow. Mohican Reservation, Loudonville, OH. Info: 1-800-766-CAMP 14-15 Fort Sill Apache Dance. Ft. Sill Apache Tribal Complex. Apache, OK. Info: (580) 588-2298. 14-15 7th Annual North Ameican Indian Alliance Powwow. Butte Civic Center, Butte,MT (406) 782-0461. 14-16 The Great Mohican. Loudonville, Ohio (419) 994-4987 14-16 26th Guilford NAA. Country Park, Greensboro, North Carolina 14-16 Salmon Homecoming Celebration. Seattle Aquarium, Seattle, WA. Info: (206) 386-4315 14-16 8th Annual St. Francois River Powwow. Park Hills Mineral Area College, Farmington, MO. Info: (573) 756-6702. 14-16 Mahkato Traditional Pow-Wow Honoring the 38 Dakotah. Land of Memories Park, Mankato, MN. Info: http://www.turtletrack.org/MahkatoWacipi/ 15 8th St. Francis River, Mineral Area College, Park Hills, Missouri (573) 756-6702 or (573) 756-3658 15 TIHA Annual Fall Powwow. Robinson Park, Llano, TX. Info: (830) 665-9309. 15-16 Native American Festival. Colonial Plantation, Ridley Creek State Park, Media, PA. Info: (717) 284-3427 or (610) 566-1725. 15-16 8th Annual Hart of the West Intertribal Powwow. William S. Hart Park & Museum, Newhall, CA. Info: (661) 255-9295. 15 11th Annual All Children's Powwow. Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, 704 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Info: 800-607-4636. www.wheelwright.org or email: pr@wheelwright.org 15-16 9th annual Four Winds Powwow. Killeen Special Events Center, Killeen, TX Info: (254)699-3167 Paula Brock. www.fourwindstx.org or email: fourwinds1@hotmail.com 15-16 New Hampshire Intertribal Council Powwow. Beaver Dam Campground, Berwick, ME. Info: (603) 528-3005. 21-23 29th Annual National Indian Day Celebration & Powwow. Pavillion, White Swan, WA. Info: (509) 874-2473. 21-23 Grand Bois Inter-Tribal Powwow. Grand Bois Campground, Hwy 24, Borg, LA. Info: ( 504) 594-1068. 21-23 29th National Indian Days. White Swan Pavillion, White Swan, WA (509) 865-5121 ext. 408 21-23 7th Council Tree. Confluence Park, Delta, CO 800-874-1741 or (970) 874-1718 21-23 Great Lakes Championship, Fair Grounds Park, Detroit, MI (313) 871-1303 21-22 2nd Eschikagou. Hyde Park, Chicago, IL (505) 836-2810 22-23 Mountain in the Sky, Belleayre Mt. Ski Ctr, Highmount, New York (914) 254-5782 or (914) 254-4238 22-23 6th Blanchard. Millstream Fair Grounds, Findlay, Ohio (419) 423-8194 or (419) 422-2561 22-23 19th Mount Juliet. Ward Agricultural Center, Lebanon, TN (615) 444-4899 or (615) 443-1537 27-30 7th Annual Drums Along the Trail Powwow. Davascus, VA. Info: (540) 475-3430 28-29 Standing Bear Powwow. Standing Bear Native American Memorial Park, Ponca City, OK. Info: (580) 762-1514. 28-29 2nd Annual Buffalo River Powwow. Airport Road, Linden, TN. Info: (931) 589-5876. 28-30 11th Casino Morongo, Casino Grounds, Cabazon, California 800-252-4499 ext 3804 or (909) 849-3080 ext. 274 28-30 19th Annual Native American Days. Angel Mounds State Historic Site, Evansville, IN. Info: Bill Spellazza at (812)853-3956 or email curator@angelmounds.org. 28-30 10th Comanche Nation Fair. Craterville Park, Cache, Oklahoma (580) 492-4988 29 Northern Plains Tribal Arts Wacipi. Stewart Center, Univ of Sioux Falls Campus, Sioux Falls, S