From gars@speakeasy.org Wed Sep 12 02:04:08 2001 Date: 11 Sep 2001 23:01:09 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.037 + 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 + + Sho-da-ku-we + O o O + Aunchemokauhettittea + + Un Chota + O o o o o O VOLUME 09, ISSUE 037 O o O + Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse + September 15, 2001 O o O + Ximopanolti tehuatzin, Mvskogee little chestnut moon O inin Mexika tlahtolli + Cherokee dulisdi/black butterfly moon ( 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.easterndoor.com; www.owlstar.com; www.indianz.com; Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs; KOLA Newslist, Big Mountain and LPDC mailing Lists; newsgroup: alt.native; UUCP email 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.'" "I hope the Great Heavenly Father who will look down upon us, will give all the tribes His blessing that we may go forth in peace and live in peace all our days, and that He will look down upon our children and finally lift us far above this earth; and that our Heavenly Father will look upon our children as His children, that all tribes may be His children and as we shake hands today upon this broad plain, we may forever live in peace." __ Chief Marpiya Luta (Red Cloud), Oglala Sioux +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | 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! Send smoke and prayers for those who were killed and injured in the early morning attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC. Send prayers for the warriors who will be asked to answer these disgraceful, cowardly acts. Pray for all. -- - - - September 12 is Leonard Peltier's Birthday. As devastating as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon are, do not let them deter you from supporting Leonard's release. -- - - - This issue also marks six years since the murder of Dudley George at Ipperwash. It is well past time the truth came out, especially Harris' true involvement. -- - - - Write your congressional representatives and ask them to consider the following: - The Indian Trust is based on the presumption that Native Peoples cannot adequately manage their own financial affairs. Only the U. S. Government with its vast resources could manage the far-flung financial needs of Indian Country. - The Social Security System is based on the presumption that working class people (oh, but yes, there is "class" distinction in this "Land of Equality") cannot adequately set aside funds for their own retirement. Only the U. S. Government with its vast resources could track the income of different individuals and set-aside a retirement cache that would ease them through their post-productive years. There are other similar assumptions, IRS comes immediately to mind, but keep it simple. You are writing a congress-person. The above is the preface. Here is the stinger: - The U. S. Government has "misplaced" an estimated $40 BILLION of the Indian Trust Fund and their brand new $30 Million computer can't resolve the issue. If the U. S. cannot be trusted to manage the funds of roughly 1% of the population, why would any congressional representative stake his/her career on trusting it to manage the financial needs of the elderly, or collect and disperse ANY funds in a systematic, reliable, yes - even TRUSTing manner? 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 ---------- - Interior's Land Trust Quandry - Statement by Navajo President Begay - What does the U.S. owe Indians - Gabrieleno/Tongva Recognition Bid - National Chief to PM: - Mercury Contaminated Seafood What have you done Lately - Yurok Tribe backs - Minister Nault should Resign Water Cutoff to Klamath Basin - Drum still beats - Tribal Law requires for Ipperwash Inquiry Sex Offenders To Register - The Eagle Screams! - Dene asked to Help in Manhunt - Ipperwash: Harris - Aboriginal Law Cases Understaffed Maintains he didn't Intervene - Peltier Statement Democracy Now - Harris Aide: - Peltier's Address and Short Update Two Meetings on day of Shooting - Birthday Information Kit - Fox Government - Native Prisoner has failed the Indians -- Prison Pen Pals - Where's the Compassionate -- Update: Texas Hunger Strike in Conservatism - History: Carlisle Indian School - Sioux fight Feds, - Rustywire: this Time over Hemp Navajo Tortillas-Nunescahdi - Denver Post: Peabody Article - Poem: Mahnomin (wild rice) - Navajo respond to - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days U.S. Supreme Court Decisions - Upcoming Events --------- "RE: Interior's Land Trust Quandry" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 08:10:38 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="LAND TRUST QUANDRY" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://indiancountry.com/?article=211 Interior's land into trust quandary September 03, 2001 - 06:30 est You don't have to look further than Neal McCaleb's Oklahoma back yard to see why his proposed rewrite of land-into-trust regulations gives us cause for concern. The Interior Department wants to retract and rewrite the Clinton administration's version to give states and neighboring towns greater say in the process of returning land to tribal sovereignty. This, as they say, is like giving the fox more input in chicken coop management. The southern Cheyenne and Arapaho near Fort Reno, Okla., can tell a story about local input. The tribes through their joint government have campaigned for years for the return of 7,000 acres the War Department took over in 1883 to set up Fort Reno. A primary purpose of the Cavalry outpost was to protect the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation from local horse thieves. The land should have reverted to the tribes when the fort was decommissioned, say tribal lawyers, but townspeople in El Reno used all their political pull to block the return. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., inserted a rider against reversion in the last two appropriation bills. In the meantime, locals lobbied for a new federal use that would tie up the lands. The Agriculture Department obliged with plans for primate rearing, genetic engineering and a biocontainment lab for quarantining mutant bacteria. The folks in El Reno would rather have 500 baboons and mutated germs for neighbors than Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. There's a lot more to say about the Fort Reno case, but the point here is that locals just about everywhere in the country have the same reaction to Indian attempts to reclaim lost land. They will go to extreme, even irrational lengths to prevent it. The neighbors offer a number of practical objections, to be sure, such as the loss of tax base and the expansion of Indian sovereignty, and tribal negotiators have done their best to address them. In talks with three neighboring towns in southeastern Connecticut, the Mashantucket Pequots were even willing to open their reservation to local tax assessors and building inspectors. But even this major and probably unwise waiver of tribal sovereignty failed to placate their neighbors, who have gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in an unsuccessful attempt to block federal trust status for 165 acres that the Mashantuckets already own. The legal fees alone have probably eaten up a decade of the potential tax revenue from the land. So what is the true source of this resistance? Perhaps the intensity comes from the knowledge that the acreage in question, and a lot more besides, was stolen from the tribe in the first place. Histories have been written about the way Oklahoma settlers used fraud and force to nibble away the 5 million acres that an 1869 treaty guaranteed to the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Some of the family names in the indexes are the same as those now opposing the Fort Reno reversion. The officials of North Stonington stand out even in Connecticut for their anti-tribal hard line. They uphold a long tradition. In the 1660s, townsmen of Stonington forced the survivors of the Pequot War off 8,000 acres granted them by the General Court of Massachusetts, which at the time claimed jurisdiction. The leader of the Pequots complained in a formal petition about "such men that weare hats and cloathes like Englishmen, but hath dealth with us like wolves and bears." A later generation had the same problem. Pequots complained to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1749 that "sundry persons taking advantage of the Poverty and Ignorence of your Memorialists have frequently in a great variety of Ways and Manners grievously molested and interrupted them in their said occupation the numerous instances wherof are too tedious here to be enumerated." The complaints run right up to the mid-20th century, and they can be multiplied tribe by tribe. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Miller took note of this history in a famous statement in the 1886 case of U.S. vs. Kagama, "The tribes owe no allegiance to the states and receive from them no protection. Because of the local ill-feeling, the people of the states where they are found are often their deadliest enemies." The reality is that the arbitrary and often expressed era of "200 years ago," when, it is implied, American Indians lost much of their land and about which local opponents urge Indians to forget, remains very much in play. If you want to know how miserably Indians were treated in history, one need only read about events in places like El Reno and North Stonington today. The land-into-trust process was set up in the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act as a belated and fitful redress of this long and tedious history. Since then it has returned about 9 million acres to trust status, only 10 percent of the 90 million acres the U.S. government took from tribes between 1887 and 1934. Restoration of the land base is a major goal for all levels of the Indian revival, from the economic to the spiritual. It also is a natural zone of conflict with the people who feel most threatened by and are hence most hostile to this resurgence. A portion of McCaleb's proposed revisions shows some awareness of local intransigence. It would require opponents "to show by clear evidence that the acquisition will result in severe negative impact to the environment or severe harm to the local government." This burden of proof may even be higher than that imposed on the tribes. Interior also says it would expedite applications for individual home sites. Maybe we will hear more reassurance about the details of the new regulations in the comment period, which runs to Sept. 12. But forgive us for expressing concern when McCaleb and Interior Secretary Gale Norton say they want to rewrite the rules because of their impact on state and local governments. Indian country rightfully must wonder about such an emphasis. Judging from history, the impact on the tribes ought to be their bigger worry. It is most certainly their responsibility. Copyright c. 2001 Indian Country Today. --------- "RE: What does the U.S. owe Indians" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 08:13:09 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GIAGO OP-ED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.charlotte.com/observer/natwor/docs/viewshorts.htm What does U.S. owe Indians? Rights groups silent on reparations for our loss By TIM GIAGO Lakota Journal Human rights advocates are making international noise about compensation for slavery. American Indians lost far more when this land was settled than any other race. They lost lives, land and location. Many tribes were herded like cattle to Oklahoma and other regions and placed on "reservations" so the settlers could take title to their lands. The entire wealth of America was built upon the misery and the loss of the Indian people. In 1987 Congress awarded $1.2 billion to Japanese-Americans for their internment in concentration camps during World War II. This was a knife in the heart for every Indian in America. Are we less deserving? Most of the top-10 poorest counties in this land are on Indian reservations. Our life expectancy on many reservations is 25 years less than the rest of Americans. At one time our longevity was much greater than that of the early white Americans. We are dying by the thousands of diseases like diabetes. Our schools are crumbling and our students are sitting in them trying to learn, although many of the school buildings have been condemned. In some schools asbestos still lines the interior walls. We live in the poorest houses, have the poorest income, have the poorest health, have the most substandard educational facilities and opportunities, and we live on some of the poorest land in this nation. Some of our people are second- and third-generation welfare recipients. We suffer from one of the highest rates of alcoholism, and substance abuse would be even greater if there was the income on the Indian reservations to partake more frequently. When there is little hope, people look for a way to forget. Please do not look to the Indian casinos as our savior. Ninety percent of the income raised by the casinos reaches only 5 percent of the Indian people. And yet, Indians have never whined around about reparations. They have only asked that the treaties our ancestors signed with America be honored. If the United States honored our treaties, that would be all the reparation we would ever need. Where are the human rights advocates when it comes to the indigenous people? --------------------------------------------------------- Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is editor of Lakota Journal. Write him at P.O. Box 3080, Rapid City, SD 57709-3080, or at editor@lakotajournal.com. --------- "RE: National Chief to PM: What have you done Lately" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 08:42:10 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="COON COME/CHRETIEN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/09/07/pm_cooncome010907 National chief to PM: What have you done lately? WebPosted Fri Sep 7 09:06:07 2001 OTTAWA - The leader of Canada's First Nations isn't impressed with the prime minister's record on native rights and says he'll hold Jean Chretien to his commitment on improving the lives of aboriginal people. After hearing the prime minister boast about his accomplishments in native issues on CBC Newsworld, Matthew Coon Come said Chretien should focus his attention on current problems. In an interview for the show Politics,Chretien said he's been committed to improving the lives of native people since he was Indian Affairs minister more than 30 years ago. "We've made a lot of progress with natives - a lot. You know, when I was minister (of Indian Affairs) there was a dozen of them going to university. Now, it's thousands of them," he said. "And these organizations did not exist in those days. I created them." Coon Come disagrees with the prime minister's evaluation. He says the problems facing native people have become worse during Chretien's career. "We have to deal with the present poverty, with the present education, with the present housing and present unemployment," he said. "That's what we have to tackle." Coon Come is in Durban, South Africa at the UN racism conference. There, he compared Canada's reserve system to South African apartheid. Chretien says Coon Come's criticism isn't useful. "They say we have reserves," he said. "We have offered them to abolish reserves, in 1968. And they said 'no'." First Nations declined the offer because Chretien's plan in 1968 also involved their assimilation. Chretien says he knows progress needs to be made. Earlier this summer he ordered a special cabinet committee to find ways of improving the lives of native people. Coon Come says he'll hold the prime minister to that new commitment. Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright c. 2001 CBC. --------- "RE: Minister Nault should Resign" --------- Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2001 14:51:08 -0700 From: Joint Policy Council Subj: COON COME'S DURBAN COMMENTS RING TRUE: MINISTER NAULT SHOULD RESIGN Organization: Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 5th, 2001 COON COME'S DURBAN COMMENTS RING TRUE MINISTER NAULT SHOULD RESIGN (Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory/September 4th, 2001) Chief Stewart Phillip stated today "National Chief Matthew Coon Come's recent comments at the World Conference Against Racism accurately reflect the situation of First Nations in Canada. National Chief Coon Come has exposed the truth for the international community to bear witness to the systematic oppression, dispossession, discrimination and flagrant violation of our human rights here in Canada." The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs fully supports National Chief Coon Come's observation that the Government of Canada's international position is that the right of self-determination applies to all peoples, including Indigenous Peoples, and yet through its policies and actions Canada has demonstrated their unwillingness to recognize domestically what they have endorsed internationally. This failure to recognize our right to self-determination has resulted in the grinding poverty and personal hardships borne by the many First Nation communities and people here in Canada." In particular, Chief Phillip noted that Robert Nault, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has steadfastly refused to consider that policies like the Comprehensive Claims Policy of 1986 as outdated documents which utterly fail to recognize the full breadth of Aboriginal Title and Rights as recognized and affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in the 1997 Delgamuuk'w decision. Chief Stewart Phillip noted "The policies and inaction of Minister Nault has directly contributed to the mounting tensions at the community level across Canada. We have Elders, youth and land-users of places like Skwelkwek'welt, Halfway River and Burnt Church who are protecting their Aboriginal Title and Treaty Rights. The continued criminalization and harassment of community people does not remove the fundamental need for the recognition of Aboriginal Title, Aboriginal Rights and Treaty Rights." Chief Phillip went on to say "Minister Nault is attempting to circumvent what the courts and the Canadian Constitution have affirmed, our Aboriginal Title and our Aboriginal Rights exist." Chief Phillip observed "Minister Nault has demonstrated his intransigency time and time again. His confrontational and arrogant approach to Canada's fiduciary responsibilities has harmed all efforts to date and in fact has added to the growing tensions across Canada. Rather than entertaining an apology from our National Chief Matthew Coon Come, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs feel it is time for Minister Nault to resign." FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Chief Stewart Phillip Office: (604) 684-0231 President, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs --------- "RE: Drum still beats for Ipperwash Inquiry" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 18:57:16 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="DUDLEY GEORGE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Ipperwash-Anniversary.html September 5, 2001 Drum still beats for inquiry six years after shooting of native protester TORONTO (CP) -- Six years ago an unarmed native man protesting the desecration of what he believed was his family's sacred burial ground was gunned down by a police sniper. Thursday, as hundreds were expected to gather across Ontario to protest the death, the province's Conservative government finds itself more besieged than ever by accusations and a trail of evidence that it may have ordered the use of undue force. This week saw the latest in a string of damning documents suggesting that Premier Mike Harris and key cabinet members may have played a role in the decision to send an armed police tactical squad into Ipperwash Provincial Park on Sept. 6, 1995. One member of the squad, sent to remove about two dozen Chippewayan protesters from the uninhabited park after a peaceful two-day occupation, shot and killed Dudley George, 39. Police later said the shot was provoked by the sound of a school bus tire exploding in the night, believed to be gunfire from members of the Kettle and Stony Point reserves. Nonetheless, acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane was convicted of criminal negligence causing death in April, 1997. He has held an administrative job ever since, and will face a disciplinary hearing later this month where the police force will seek to have him dismissed. But opposition critics and the family of the protester have long claimed the responsibility for the death of the unarmed civilian rests on broader shoulders. Maynard George, Dudley George's brother, is suing Harris, then-natural resources minister Chris Hodgson and then-attorney-general Charles Harnick, along with the government, for wrongful death. For the first time last week, Harris acknowledged in a legal document provided to lawyers for the George family that he did meet with two police officers just hours before the fatal shooting. Harris has always denied accusations he or his government ordered the use of force. But even the admission of a meeting with police officers contradicted earlier statements by Harris that he had had no meetings about Ipperwash on the day of the shooting. The string of claims and counter-claims has left many in the public scratching their heads, while opposition leaders and the George family have cried foul and called for an independent inquiry into the shooting. Harris's legal fees in the civil suit are now approaching half a million dollars. The total cost to taxpayers is now thought to be around $1 million. On Tuesday, Attorney General David Young once again spurned calls for an inquiry, saying the government is confident the civil case will get to the truth. The trial has escaped being shut down by government legal manoeuvres several times. In June, defence lawyers argued there is no legal basis in Ontario for the George family to pursue its claim for $1 million in general and $1 million in punitive damages in the name of Dudley's estate. Superior Court Judge Gloria Epstein last week ruled against them, saying the claim was in the public interest. The trial hit another snag earlier this summer when government lawyers demanded key pieces of evidence be struck from the record, and that Murray Klippenstein -- who is working pro bono -- be fined up to $30,000 for submitting "unsupported affidavits." The affidavits, signed by an articling student in Klippenstein's office, alleged that two members of the premier's staff removed or destroyed documents relevant to the Ipperwash case. A decision on the matter was deferred. Despite the glacial speed of the civil trial, it has yielded piecemeal over the years a damaging trail of documents. A new book by Toronto Star reporter Peter Edwards pulls together the chronology of the scandal which some analysts say could damage the Harris government more than the Walkerton tainted-water disaster. Edwards' book, published by Stoddart and due out Sept. 15, claims the police assault followed direct orders from Harris's office. Edwards relies on evidence including a memo unearthed by The Canadian Press showing that Deb Hutton, a senior Harris aide, told meetings of politicians and bureaucrats in the days prior to the shooting that the premier wanted the natives out of the park, "nothing else." Hutton, who has left the premier's office, has repeatedly refused to address the accusation. Harris has steadfastly denied having any influence in the decision to send the squad into the park. Ontario Liberal Native affairs critic Gerry Phillips said this week that, given the mounting evidence and the fact the government is named as a party in the lawsuit, Harris is in a conflict of interest and should turn the decision to hold an inquiry over to Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry. Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. --------- "RE: The Eagle Screams!" --------- Date: Sun, 02 Sep 2001 14:10:06 -0400 From: Pierre George Subj: The Eagle Screams!! <+>=<+>KOLA Newslist<+>=<+> September 5, 1995 chief tom bressette gets a call from Queens Park... a warning that the aboriginals were going to be driven from the empty park,even if it meant police drawing guns.The secret meeting was meant to be kept quiet After getting the call from his source,Chief Tom Bressette went on a Sarnia radio station September 6,1995 warning those inside the park. 11;11 THE EAGLE SCREAMS.... the opp have sub-machine gunned Dudley he's mortally wounded he's brought to his brother Pierre he's loaded ito the 77 chevy along with Cully and a young lad flat tire and no ambulance arrived at hospital emergency ran to help Dudley, but was grabbed and slammed face-first against the brick wall charged with attempted murder twice handcuffed and face released got to see no fast life-saving procedures seen done by Pierre Dudley lay all alone on a stretcher bleeding to death the emergency doors were only a few feet away these doors were part of a building named Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital... Cully and Pierre taken away to Jail Charged with ATTEMPTED MURDER.... THE EAGLE SCREAMS ! ! ! ! But the Parents can't ask what have the OPP done to our Three Kids....for they are in Spirit In the Spirit of DUDLEY Pierre George --------- "RE: Ipperwash: Harris Maintains he didn't Intervene" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 08:42:10 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IPPERWASH/HARRIS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://ottawa.cbc.ca/editorServlets/View?filename=ipperwash010906 Sep 6 2001 02:07 PM CDT Ipperwash: Harris maintains he didn't intervene Toronto - Premier Harris has said again he did not intervene in the police handling of the occupation of the Ipperwash Provincial Park six years ago. On Sept. 6, 1995, Dudley George was shot and killed when police moved in on the natives occupying the Ipperwash Provincial Park. Harris said Thursday he did meet with two OPP officers that day, but the only thing decided was to seek an injunction. The George family has launched a civil lawsuit to see whether Premier Harris ordered the police intervention. Last week, in documents sent to the George family, the Premier's lawyer said Harris met with two OPP officers just hours before the shooting. But Thursday morning, Harris said the meeting was only to discuss an injunction against the occupation. "I did not personally intervene. I was asked to attend a meeting of the regular group," Harris said. "I have never met with police at any time, in any event. These two police officers were seconded to the Solicitor General as part of the committee established by the NDP." The Liberals and the NDP say there should be a full judicial inquiry into the shooting at Ipperwash. Liberal critic Gerry Phillips says Harris is in a conflict-of-interest, because he's being asked to set up an inquiry to investigate himself. But Premier Harris won't call for an inquiry while there's still a civil lawsuit going on. "Never have I said I'm in favour or opposed [to an inquiry]. I have said all along, the time to make that decision is when these matters are settled," Harris said. The premier says he's going to wait and see if there are any unanswered questions, after the lawsuit over Ipperwash is finished. Copyright c. 2001 CBC. --------- "RE: Harris Aide: Two Meetings on day of Shooting" --------- Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 07:10:53 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HARRIS MEETINGS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSTopNews/harris_sep7-cp.html Friday, September 7, 2001 Two meetings on day of shooting, says Harris aide By COLIN PERKEL-- The Canadian Press TORONTO (CP) -- There were in fact two government meetings on Ipperwash involving police in the hours before a native protester was shot dead and Ontario Premier Mike Harris attended the second one, a senior aide said Friday. Both were called to discuss an injunction to evict the protesters occupying a provincial park, said Rob Mitchell, the aide. On Thursday, Harris said he was invited to attend a "regular" meeting of the so-called blockade committee, where participants discussed the injunction. Committee minutes do not show Harris in attendance, but Mitchell explained that Harris in fact attended a second meeting, which he called an "off-shoot" or "extension" of the first. "There were two meetings discussing the same topic, the injunction," said Mitchell. "It was essentially the same group, it was a condensed version of the blockade committee." Among those attending the second gathering was then-natural resources minister Chris Hodgson, Mitchell said. In a civil suit, the brother of the late Dudley George maintains Harris influenced the decision by police to use force against the unarmed protesters. But Mitchell said that although two provincial police officers were at the meeting Harris attended, it "had nothing to with the on-the-ground activities" at Ipperwash Provincial Park. The premier has always maintained he gave no orders to police and therefore had no influence on the amount of force used in the fatal 1995 confrontation. Murray Klippenstein, who represents the George family, said that in his view Harris has been trying to "cover up" an "off-the-record meeting" with police. "It sounds like we now have a hidden committee where the real power was exercised," said Klippenstein. Mitchell said the premier was simply looking for advice. "The premier wished to end the illegal occupation of the park, sought advice on what mechanisms were available to him to end that occupation, and was advised a civil injunction was the route to pursue." Handwritten notes of that meeting quoted one of the provincial police officers in attendance as saying the deputy attorney general "was eloquent" in warning against "rushing in" with an injunction. "But premier and Hodgson came out strong," the notes say. Hours later, police clashed with the protesters and George was shot dead. Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. --------- "RE: Fox Government has failed the Indians" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 15:13:19 GMT From: William McLaughlin Subj: Fox Government has failed the Indians, Says Lo'pez Ba'rcenas Newsgroups: alt.native Originally published in Spanish by La Jornada Translated by irlandesa La Jornada Thursday, August 22, 2001. The Fox Government Has Failed the Indians, Says Lo'pez Ba'rcenas Andrea Becerril The spaces for the indigenous in the Fox government have, little by little, been closed off, and the presidential commitments to the Indian peoples and to the EZLN have remained nothing but words, asserted Francisco Lo'pez Ba'rcenas. Up until two days ago he was the director of justice for the National Indigenous Institute. Now, Lo'pez Ba'rcenas argues his statement: the federal Executive did not defend the Cocopa proposal, it did not take the Army out of the conflict zone in Chiapas - it merely repositioned it - without legally returning the lands in Guadalupe Tepeyac, La Realidad and Amador Herna'ndez. This means that military camps could again be situated in those communities at any moment. The reason for his resignation, he said, is Fox's failure to carry out his promises. He said that policies towards ethnicities have continued to be the same, and the INI management has been pressured to stop demanding changes to the indigenous constitutional reform. "There isn't any such transition, there isn't any change in the new regime, the indigenous are not being taken into account in the drafting of those policies which specify their relationship with the State. I'm not interested, then, in holding a position in the INI under such conditions. If we aren't going to fight for autonomy. For free determination, for defense of indigenous lands, because they themselves administer their own justice systems. It doesn't make sense," he added in an interview with La Jornada. The Reasons For the Resignation Lo'pez Ba'rcenas noted that it had been difficult for him, at the beginning of the administration, to accept the offer to participate in the INI leadership. "I didn't want to, it didn't seem to me as if the platform and promises which Fox, the candidate, had made concerning ethnic groups were really in-depth. I must say, however, that the speeches and the measures which the President of the Republic took in his first days in government had a profound impact on me." During his inauguration, Fox announced that he would be sending the Cocopa proposal to Congress, that he was withdrawing the Army from Chiapas, that he was going to release the zapatista prisoners, and that he was also going to take indigenous participation into account. "I talked it over with a lot of compa~eros whom we work with in the indigenous movement, and I decided to go to the INI." It may have been very idealistic, he added, to feel at that moment that it was important to participate in the running of the institute, because there were signs of a transitional stage in what had been the relationship between the Mexican State and the indigenous for the last 52 years, and a new stage could be beginning. Nine months later, he discovered a completely different reality, because "the spaces were being closed off. The government sent the Cocopa proposal, but it didn't defend it. We, in the INI, did defend it, but they left us by ourselves, and the pressure began over the last few weeks." In addition, in the National Development Plan, which contains the government's program, "the indigenous are completely cut out. Nor is Fox's offer to demilitarize the conflict zone being carried out, since the Army has just been repositioned." If one looks at it in more detail, he added, you find that the Army was merely repositioned in Chiapas. What is serious is that the measure was not even accompanied by the legal return of the ejidal lands on which the camps and troops had been established. "We warned about the delicacy of that situation at the time, because it means that the Army could return to Guadalupe Tepeyac, La Realidad and Amador Herna'ndez at any moment, since the ejidal lands where the barracks were situated had been expropriated by Ernesto Zedillo's government, and the decrees have not been reversed." Disturbed over what he considers a deception by officials, Lo'pez Ba'rcenas warned that, if the troop withdrawal had been in good faith, it should have been accompanied by the return of the land to the ejidos or the communities. It was not done, however, because they still have the same goal as when they were expropriated, for the establishment of military camps. In the case of Amador Herna'ndez, he noted, the community brought suit against the federal government, because they had invaded their land without any prior proceedings, and then later expropriated part of the ejido where they situated the military camp. Although the commissioner for peace, Luis H. Alvarez, handed the lands over to the governor of Chiapas - following the troops' departure - "What we in the INI are complaining about is that, legally, they still belong to the Army." As he went on to explain the current government's performance in Chiapas, he restated his conviction that "Fox's words about the zapatista movement were just that, words." He explained that, when the Senate approved the indigenous reform report, and it became clear that it had completely changed the Cocopa proposal - leaving out the primary rights of the indigenous - the head of the INI, Marcos Mati'as, and the four directors, agreed to adopt a critical position, in defense of ethnic groups. "And we did so, and at a particularly difficult juncture, because the President of the Republic himself had already sent congratulations to the Senate of the Republic. We maintained that position. It had some impact. Our points of view were listened to, the arguments about constitutions in Latin America, like Venezuela's and Nicaragua's, which include indigenous autonomies, without those countries having become fragmented. But the Mexican government didn't take any concrete stance in order to change the situation." The Mixtec lawyer revealed that the pressures on the INI administration began increasing. Eight days ago, after Fox enacted the dubious reform, there were no more discussion in the INI. "During an internal meeting, the Director General said that the President of the Republic's position was the INI's position, and I understood that there would no longer be any discussion." "Which Departments pressured Marcos Mati'as?" "He didn't tell me, but I believe it was the Department of Government. The Director of the INI is in a difficult position, because the PANistas were also applying pressure. He hasn't discussed it with me, but I don't agree with that change in the Institute's position. "The new path that will have to be undertaken, outside the INI," he said, "is to advise some municipalities and communities so that legal appeals can be presented which will allow the legislative process to be reinitiated. It has not been exhausted, because the Supreme Court has protection orders and two controversies to resolve." In his judgment, despite the attitude of hard-line groups in the PAN and in the PRI, of Bartlett Diaz and Fernandez de Cevallos, the indigenous peoples, along with civil society, can still do battle and achieve the establishment of the rights of ethnicities in the Constitution. In addition, the Fox government will have to shift their position and carry out the commitments they made to the EZLN and the indigenous of the country. "The Mexican government is also looking very bad, because it had taken on a responsibility." Nor can Fox forget that there is a conflict in Chiapas, and "even if the EZLN is fenced in there, and the indigenous movement might have very small voice, it's a mistake not to defuse the zapatista demands, because it could create a very serious conflict." ---------------------------------------------------- WILLIAM MC LAUGHLIN vagabond@voicenet.com Affiliation: Card-carrying member of the Whiteboy Tribe Indian Name: Running Joke Power Animal: Brontosaurus (mine's bigger!) ----------------------------------------------------- I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. ---Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler, U.S.M.C. - 1933 --------- "RE: Where's the Compassionate in Conservatism" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 08:13:09 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="REPUBLICANS/TOHONO O'ODHAM" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://cgi.azstarnet.com/cgi-bin/print/print.cgi SPECIAL TO ARIZONA DAILY STAR, September 9, 2001 By Salomon R. Baldenegro "Our people are no longer free to live, work and travel. Our families are separated. We cannot visit the sacred places where our ancestors rest. We cannot freely exercise our religious rights. Under present law, some of us are subject to arrest, prosecution and deportation because we do not have documents; and we are subject to arrest, prosecution and incarceration for aiding, abetting and transporting our family members." - Edward Manuel, chairman,Tohono O'odham tribe Where's the "compassionate" in conservatism? In the quote above, the chairman of the Tohono O'odham tribe is speaking of O'odham tribal members who are U.S. citizens by virtue of having been born in the United States, or in Mexico of U.S. citizens. He is speaking of O'odham who have served in the U.S. armed forces and have fought under the U.S. flag. He is speaking of O'odham who work and pay U.S. and Arizona taxes. He is speaking of people whose ancestors have been here, in the words of the chairman, "since time immemorial." What a cruel irony: Agents of a country that is only a couple of hundred years old are questioning the legitimacy of members of an indigenous nation that has inhabited this land for thousands of years! It does not exercise one's heart or mind greatly to see the egregious injustice in this situation. Yet, to a person, the five Arizona Republican congressmen refuse to support legislation that would make right the situation in which close to 8,000 members of the Tohono O'odham tribe find themselves. That legislation (HR 2348), introduced by Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., and co-sponsored by 67 members of Congress (some of whom are Republicans), would grant citizenship to those O'odham who, because they were born at home in the United States, have no birth certificate, and to O'odham born of American citizens who live in Mexico. Salomon R. Baldenegro is a longtime civil-rights activist and is the Chairman of the Chicano Consortium for Public Issues. >From the Charlotte Observer - September 8, 2001 --------- "RE: Sioux fight Feds, this Time over Hemp" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 08:42:10 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HEMP" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.msnbc.com/news/616149.asp Sioux fight Feds, this time over hemp Non-potent version could be a cash crop, tribe argues Sioux fight Feds, this time over hemp Sept. 7 - As Alex White Plume tells it, the raid began with the rising sun and the whir of helicopter blades. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration spread out across his property on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, nestled by the Black Hills the Sioux consider sacred, looking for drugs. "One of them came running towards me, and he pointed his gun and told me to halt," White Plume says. "In my mind, I was going to jail." He wasn't headed for jail, and has not been charged with a crime, but the raid last year was heartbreaking to him. It ended what had otherwise been a charmed attempt to grow a crop that would help White Plume, an Oglala Sioux, and his family supplant their meager income from raising horses, herding buffalo and offering pony rides. Of course, White Plume was growing hemp - the durable weed known in some forms as marijuana. All marijuana is hemp; not all hemp is marijuana, at least not in the psychotropic sense. So-called industrial hemp, which lacks pot's chemical potency, has been used for centuries in everything from clothing to lip balm. Marijuana usually has at least 5 percent or more of the hallucinogen tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), but industrial hemp contains less than 1 percent - far from enough to give even a mild high. And while marijuana remains illegal in most countries, the industrial hemp movement has gained momentum in recent years, especially in North America, though it's unclear how large a market exists for hemp products. SUPPORT FROM STATES Canada has begun licensing industrial hemp. State legislatures in 19 states, including agricultural centers like North Dakota and Minnesota, have compiled legislation backing industrial hemp. Hawaii now allows private hemp research, and former tobacco farmers in Kentucky successfully pushed the legislature and governor to pass a bill last March creating an Industrial Hemp Commission to regulate research. Despite pressure from states, the federal government makes little distinction between industrial hemp and the potent variety. According to DEA officials, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 bars not only marijuana but also THC - so that all hemp, even varieties with only faint traces of the chemical, is considered illegal. Federal authorities would not discuss the seizure on White Plume's land. ("I can't make any comment," says Michelle Tapken, the U.S. Attorney for South Dakota.) Nor would the DEA discuss new regulations it says are in the works. But when the DEA did another seizure this past July, it negotiated with White Plume in advance and came without guns pointed. FIGHT FOR SOVEREIGNTY The seizures at Pine Ridge were largely business as usual, except for one thing: The DEA flexed its muscle on a tribal reservation. For White Plume and others in the Oglala tribe, growing these plants has become a basic issue of tribal rights. Theis tribe, they argue, has a history with hemp and a right to uphold their traditions. "There's a word for the plant in the tribal language, which means it's got a history here that precedes contact with the Europeans," says Tom Ballanco, White Plume's attorney. Indeed, White Plume says there is a single word - wahupta - for both hemp and marijuana. But he says he's not interested in growing the potent variety. Instead, he hopes to turn hemp into a cash crop, selling both the finished products and seeds to others eager to harvest a plant revered in past times for its versatility and its ability to endure harsh climates and gritty soil. It was hemp's economic potential that drew White Plume's attention. He was impressed by the range of hemp products, usually imported from nations such as Canada and Germany, but the high prices of hemp items stunned him. "Most of it is import-export taxes, which drives the market up high," White Plume says. "People in the country could pay less for a good article, and we could make some money." STRUGGLE AGAINST POVERTY Pine Ridge could use the help. It is often described as one of the poorest places in the nation. The town of Manderson, White Plume's home, had a per capita income of just one-quarter of the U.S. average, according to the latest available census figures. Even the agricultural income of Shannon County, where Manderson is located, is dwarfed by most other counties in the state. Tribal leaders acknowledge hemp could prove a valuable cash crop. They even claim to have grown it during World War II, ironically enough, as part of the federal government's "Hemp for Victory" program. The tribal council passed a 1998 resolution allowing industrial hemp as a viable crop on the reservation. Those who want to farm it must register with the tribal government and test their crop to ensure that it contains less than 1 percent THC. And the tribal government eagerly supports residents like White Plume who seek to capitalize on one of the few cheap, plentiful crops that grows readily in the area's hardscrabble ground. "It grows wild here ... it's growing tall out there right now," says John Yellow Bird Steele, president of the Oglala Sioux tribe. "This is the government's protection of corporations such as the clothing industry, the paper industry." TRIBES AND TREATIES White Plume - either intentionally or inadvertently - has wandered into a legal thicket. Tribal reservations don't function under the same laws as the rest of the nation; though the federal government reserves the right to enforce laws against major crimes from murder to drug trafficking, tribes largely retain authority to govern themselves. Just how law enforcement is divided between the federal and tribal government depends on the treaty between that tribe and the United States. For White Plume's people, it was the Fort Laramie treaty of 1868. Like many treaties of the time, the Fort Laramie document actually encouraged the Oglala to take up farming as a way to end their nomadic travels across the plains. It gave each family the right to take up to 320 acres for farming, and promised free seeds and supplies. Now that they've found a crop with potential to sustain them, the tribe argues, the government is hedging on the deal. "That is the very kind of thing that the treaty was designed to encourage," says Frank Pommersheim, an expert on tribal law at the University of South Dakota. "Here they are being thwarted trying to engage in the very sort of act the federal government was trying to encourage at that time." Treaties aren't set in stone - and the government already breached the Fort Laramie treaty so prospectors could search for gold in the stark Black Hills - but unless Congress passes a specific bill to change the way the treaty is applied, tribes usually set their local regulations. They were, for example, allowed to run gambling operations almost unchecked until Congress set strict limits in 1988. On the other hand, the Supreme Court has ruled that the illegality of some drugs - peyote, in a noted 1990 case - trumps Indian rights to sovereignty and religious freedom. TAKING A STAND While growing marijuana at White Pine would likely be illegal, the unclear interpretation of drug laws as they apply to hemp - and the treaty's promotion of agriculture as a tribal way of life - offer White Plume and other tribal members good standing in court. Because the tribe has endorsed hemp as a legitimate crop, federal authorities would have to clearly prove that the tribe's right to self- rule isn't as important as the drug laws' application to non-potent hemp. "You have this conflict between what the native people say the treaty means and what the United States would say the treaty means," says Robert Porter, director of the Tribal Law and Government Center at the University of Kansas and the Seneca Nation's first attorney general. "It sounds like a classic setup for litigation." White Plume is wary of going to federal court to fight a case about tribal lands. But seeing this as an issue of sovereignty - and in their minds, as another effort by the government to break its pledges - the tribe is preparing a suit of its own. Federal agencies may be following the letter of the law, but the Oglala consider this a personal assault by a government they feel has a history of betrayal. "Even if they do win, what do they win that they beat down a tribe again?" asks Ballanco. Copyright c. 2001 MSNBC. --------- "RE: Denver Post: Peabody Article" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 03:17:23 +0000 From: Robert Dorman Subj: Denver Post: Peabody Article Mailing List: Big Mountain List Small victory for the Navajo Richard B. Williams -- Denver Wednesday, September 05, 2001 - On Aug. 10, a federal appeals court ruled that the United States breached its trust responsibility to the Navajo Nation by approving a lease with mining giant Peabody Coal at below market value without the knowledge of the tribe. As a result of the court's findings, it is estimated that the government could owe the tribe as much as $600 million in back royalties from the coal mine, which has been operating on the Navajo reservation for 50 years. The decision was a victory for the nation's largest tribe, which has been embroiled in the battle against Peabody and the government for nearly 40 years. But Navajo Nation vs. the United States is a perfect example of the government's lack of fiduciary responsibility in all of its trust obligations to the tribes of America. To date, the Department of Interior has squandered an estimated $10 billion from trust accounts dating from 1887, accounts that were set up to manage royalties from logging, mining and oil drilling on Indian lands. So it is supremely ironic that the system established to "protect the Indian from himself" was the very same system that, with virtually no recrimination, stole billions for those who sought to exploit the vast natural resources belonging to Indian people - many of whom still live at or below the poverty line. These sad results have their roots in the administration of Abraham Lincoln, who appointed friends and cronies to the Department of the Interior to oversee Indian affairs. Corruption and fraud was so widespread and uninhibited during that time that unscrupulous government officials made millions from speculating on the lands of the tribes with whom they had negotiated treaties. The tribes, on the other hand, saw very little of the monies and goods they were promised as a result of these treaties, and were often left destitute, starving and freezing on their reservations. In "Lincoln and the Indians," historian David Nichols points out that the tribes had little or no recourse because the system that included the president, Congress, the Department of Interior and various superintendents, agents and contractors was loyal to its own entrenched interests. Indian people simply were not valuable to Lincoln because they could not vote and held no real power. Henry Whipple, an Episcopal bishop from Minnesota, was one of the most ardent critics of Lincoln's Indian Department, which he characterized as "thievish and dishonest" in its role in fleecing tribes in the 1860s. Though Lincoln is known as "The Great Emancipator," for Indian people he was a servant to the system that took part in the pillaging of tribal lands and resources for which Indian people have never gotten their due. Today, the trust battle with the government is ongoing. With each new administration, motions are filed, fingers are pointed and officials refuse to accept responsibility for clear mismanagement and theft of trust accounts. Meanwhile, Indian people continue to struggle for survival daily, often having to decide between gas for the car or diapers for their babies. To those of us in the Indian community, this is nothing new or extraordinary. But we often face questions from people who want to know why we "live that way." In hindsight, we now know that from the earliest days of European contact, Indian people entered into a complicated game of economic plunder through treaties in which they were never equal and from which they have never recovered. After negotiating those treaties, tribes across the nation became poverty stricken while the rest of the country enjoyed economic growth and prosperity. For the Navajo, however, the court's August ruling was a hard-earned victory that signals a hopeful turn for Indian people. Unfortunately, it came years too late. Richard Williams is the executive director of the American Indian College Fund, a historian, educator and the founder of the Upward Bound Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Compass is designed to provide a platform for members of communities that are often under-represented in The Post's opinion pages. ========================================= Please visit http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.htm for more background on the Big Mountain relocation issue. To post to the list, email your message to redorman@theofficenet.com. To subscribe, send an email to: BIGMTLIST-subscribe@topica.com. --------- "RE: Navajo respond to U.S. Supreme Court Decisions" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 08:10:38 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAVAJO SOVEREIGNTY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/navajohopiobserver/myarticles.asp Navajo Nation Responds To U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Affecting Its Sovereignty Special from the Navajo Nation Over the past two decades U.S. Supreme Court decisions have steadily eroded the inherent sovereignty of Indian Nations. In fact, all that remains of Indian Nation sovereignty is authority over members within respective reservations. The Court only recently declared that State Police Officers may lawfully invade the territorial jurisdiction of Indian Nations. Indian Nations are not merely social clubs or associations vulnerable to political intrusions. Rather, Indian Nations are a recognized government with inherent sovereignty. The Navajo Nation encourages all Indian Nations to unite as one, to speak with one voice, to advocate for true recognition of our inherent sovereignty by the United States Congress. Indian Nations must demonstrate a united front against further encroachment against our sovereign rights not only in this present crisis but also to protect our future and the future of our children. Indian Nation leaders of today have the combined strength to decide a course of action. The spirit of Indian Nations is so powerful that no one can diminish it if we stand together. The Navajo Nation goal is to work with the U.S. Congress, state governments, and other Indian nations to secure our inherent sovereign rights. Certain principles are paramount in working to achieve these goals. First, Indian Nations must come to a consensus of what sovereignty means. Second, Congress must recognize that sovereignty as absolute and not a delegation. Congressional amendment to 18 USC - 1151 to make it clear that it defines Indian Nation jurisdiction over events inside and outside of tribal territory, i.e. Indian Child Welfare Act. Response to Strate v. A-1 Contractors (1997) and Bighorn Electric, (9th Cir 2001). Indian Country is defined as (a) all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and, including rights-of-way running through the reservation, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a state, and (c) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through the same. The definition of dependent Indian community, - 1151(b), must be clarified in legislation to mean any area which is Indian in character by reason of population patterns and the existence of distinct Indian communities, including all areas outside a given Indian Nation's reservation and in areas where federal services are provided to Indians, regardless of tribal membership or land status. Congressional recognition of Indian Nation regulatory and taxing authority. A congressional recognition of civil authority to Indian Nations including the right to tax and regulate all commercial activities taking place within the exterior boundaries of Indian country, and on activities outside of the exterior boundaries, which directly affect Indian Country. State jurisdiction to tax any activity whether engaged in by Indians or Non-Indians must be extinguished to assure Indian nations have the capacity to generate appropriate revenues for the health and welfare of Indian Country. Congressional authorization and funding for federal Indian Appeals Court. There is a general reluctance on the part of federal courts and governments to recognize Indian Nations' inherent right to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-members committing crimes in Indian Country. This is due primarily to a fear that non-members will not be accorded due process and equal protection as guaranteed in non-Indian courts. To address this issue and to assure that Indian Nations provide constitutional protections for non-members and Non-Indians, Indian Nations may consider federal review of tribal court decision by a federal Indian Appeals Court comprised of Indian jurists. The appellate review over Indian court decisions should be limited to petitions for writs of habeas corpus under the Indian Civil Rights Act and petitions for writs of prohibitions or mandamus for clear violations of due process or equal protection. In addition, Congress must enact legislation that ensures a substantive tribal role in the confirmation of all federal judges who adjudicate Indian Country matters. Congressional recognition of Indian Nation criminal jurisdiction. Unless and until the United States Government is prepared to guarantee the health and safety of crime victims through federal prosecution and incarceration of offenders, it should recognize an Indian Nation's inherent criminal jurisdiction over all persons and offenses committed in Indian Country. Determination of jurisdiction should be based upon territory only. Not whether the defendant or the victim is an Indian or Non-Indian or type of offense. While it is critical that all Indian Nations stand united in these efforts, recognition must also be given to those Indian Nations that are not yet prepared nor willing to exercise all attributes of their inherent sovereign authority. Therefore, Indian Nations must be granted the opportunity as an exercise of their sovereign right to either opt-in or opt-out of these political rights. Copyright c. 2001 Northern Arizona Newspapers, Inc. --------- "RE: Statement by Navajo President Begay" --------- Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 15:19:30 -0700 From: Robert Dorman Subj: Statement by President Begay after meeting with Big Mountain Famalies ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- From: "Merle Pete" Mailing List: Big Mountain List THE NAVAJO NATION Office of the President and Vice President (Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona) For Immediate Release September 6, 2001 Contact: Merle Pete (520) 871-6352 merlepete@visto.com PRESS STATEMENT STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT BEGAYE AFTER MEETING WITH BIG MOUNTAIN NAVAJO FAMILIES Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona)-- On Saturday, August 25, 2001, along with Navajo Nation Council Speaker Edward T. Begay and other Navajo officials, I visited the Navajo families at Big Mountain to discuss with them the destruction of the Sundance ceremonial ground by the Hopi government. As you might expect, they expressed great pain, anger and frustration. They also showed great courage and strength under enormous pressure. I assured them that the Navajo Nation would do everything within its power to support their right to exercise their freedom of religion and to continue to seek a way for them to stay on their ancestral land. I also assured them that the prayers of the Navajo people were with them. I advised the Big Mountain families that the Navajo Nation would continue to oppose the forced eviction the Hopi government seemingly has been pressuring. My Administration continues to work to find a way for non-signing families to remain on their ancestral lands on the HPL and to protect Navajo religious rights and traditional way of life. There have been many set backs in the legal and legislative efforts to protect the rights of these Navajo families. Although Navajo efforts to overturn the relocation law in the Congress and the Courts have not succeeded thus far, this is not the end. It is morally wrong to evict these families by force off land that they have occupied for generations and to which they have an unbreakable spiritual attachment. It is morally wrong to bulldoze their sacred ceremonial ground. It is morally wrong to claim that they must obey the law, without seeking ways to make that law humane. Although the Hopi government claims legal jurisdiction over the Sundance ceremonial grounds, the desecration of a sacred area and of the spirit of the Navajo people who live there is terrible. The Hopi Land Team has declared that my statement on the bulldozing of the Sundance site, which appeared in the August 23, 2001, issues of the Navajo Times, was "grossly unfair." I am sorry they feel that way, but I am assured that the Navajo Big Mountain families feel even more strongly that they have been treated in a "grossly unfair" and inhumane way. I am working hard to understand the Hopi position and to accommodate Hopi concerns to the fullest extent possible. If they have complaints they can, and do, raise them with me. If the Navajo Nation took a bulldozer and knocked over a Hopi sacred site, the Hopis should complain and we should be responsive. We must respect each other's rights, culture and spiritual beliefs and work out a way to live together despite our differences. There will be times when the Hopis must compromise, and times when the Navajos must compromise, and times when we both must compromise. It takes extraordinary courage to compromise. It also requires trust in the other party. The recent Hopi action at Big Mountain did not build trust. At the end of the day, we are talking about Navajo families whose lives have already been traumatized and upended by the Land Dispute, and who simply want to live where they have always lived. At that level, it comes down to simple humanity. The Hopi Land Team may cite an inhumane law all it wants, but it will not prevent the Navajo Nation from continuing to stand up for compassion and generosity for the Navajo people who have suffered so greatly under that same law. ### ========================================= Please visit http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.htm for more background on the Big Mountain relocation issue. To post to the list, email your message to redorman@theofficenet.com. To subscribe, send an email to: BIGMTLIST-subscribe@topica.com. --------- "RE: Gabrieleno/Tongva Recognition Bid" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 08:42:10 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GABRIELENO" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.ocregister.com/news/indian00906cci.shtml A bid for recognition Area's gaming fears pose a hurdle for this tribe's appeal for formal federal acknowledgment. September 6, 2001 Story by DAN NOWICKI The Orange County Register WASHINGTON -- A Southern California Indian tribe has recruited a Los Angeles congresswoman in its bid for federal recognition - which anti- gambling forces warn could be the first step toward opening a casino in or near Orange County. But leaders of the Gabrieleno/Tongva nation, which once covered most of what is now Orange and Los Angeles counties, say such fears are overblown. The group says it has zero interest in setting up a gambling enterprise and right now doesn't even have any land. Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, has introduced legislation that would formally acknowledge the tribe as a sovereign government. "Our ancestors built the San Gabriel Mission, and we're still here a couple of hundred years later," said Anthony Morales, chairman of the Gabrieleno/Tongva Tribal Council and a resident of San Gabriel. "We hope that Congress' heart is in the right place and they look at us as one of the native American groups that has been left out of the loop for more than 100-and-some years. Our cause is way overdue." Gabrieleno/Tongva history is rife with bad breaks that leaders maintain led to an arbitrary and frustrating lack of federal recognition. For example, the tribe signed on to an 1851 treaty, but the Senate wouldn't OK it. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Gabrieleno/ Tongva members married people of Mexican or European descent. Some felt cultural pressure to abandon their Indian heritage and identity, said Dee Roybal, the tribal council's cultural-affairs officer. "For me, what federal recognition means is having some acknowledgment of our existence and respecting us, and respecting our ancestors who were here prior," Roybal said. "Everyone states that we are nonexistent. This would say we have some kind of history." U.S. recognition would make the Gabrieleno/Tongva government eligible for federal education, housing and health-care dollars, tribal trust land and - as critics of the idea are quick to point out - gaming. "The one thing Solis' office is not telling anybody is that they'll have the ability to move forward with a casino, and there is no governor's veto power that can take that away from them," said Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up For California, which opposes gambling. Though Morales said a casino "is not an interest to us," the acquisition of land for a tribal headquarters or a cultural center is a top priority. "We had land hundreds of years ago, but it all got mysteriously taken away or lost or whatever," Morales said. He said he couldn't speculate on how much acreage would be sought or exactly where it would be located. But opponents of the bill also question whether the scattered remnants of the Gabrieleno/Tongva people would meet the Bureau of Indian Affairs' exhaustive historical requirements for formal recognition. A membership roll puts tribal membership at less than 300. Morales said the number might be as high as 2,000. The bureau, which is part of the Department of the Interior, demands proof that a tribe has stayed intact since at least 1900 and that there were no long interruptions in community activities such as worshipping or living together. Petitioners must provide personal information about current members, including detailed ancestry charts connecting them with earlier generations. That years-long process would be trumped by the bill, but that also faces an uphill fight in the GOP-controlled House. The legislation was introduced July 24 and referred to the House Resources Committee - which includes the freshman Solis - shortly before the August recess of Congress. "There has to be a real emergency or extraordinarily extenuating circumstances for us to circumvent the long-accepted and time-honored regulatory procedures of the Interior Department," said Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., a Resources Committee member and co-chairperson of a House caucus on American Indians. "I don't foresee that happening, but Hilda is certainly welcome to make her case." Solis, who represents the lower San Gabriel Valley and parts of East Los Angeles, was unavailable for comment. However, aide Heather Taylor said Solis "is very adamantly against gaming." Taylor released an Aug. 15 letter from Morales reiterating that the tribe has "no intention or desire" to develop a casino in Los Angeles County. In the letter, which doesn't mention Orange County, Morales says the tribe already has rejected "well-financed" offers from gaming interests. Schmit dismissed any tribal promises not to pursue gaming. "This tribe, after they are recognized, can change their leadership and promote a casino, and we will have no control over that," she said. Since filing their preliminary paperwork with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1994, the Gabrieleno/Tongvas have been compiling evidence tracing 200 years of history. The Tongvas, which means "people of the earth," helped build the San Gabriel Mission in 1771. The Spanish called them the Gabrielenos - derived from San Gabriel. Their nation once stretched from Topanga Canyon to Aliso Creek in what is now south-central Orange County. The tribal group working with Solis now meets in rented buildings in San Gabriel and El Monte. "The BIA is a slow, slow, tedious process," Morales said. "We're not getting any younger, and our elders are up in their 80s and 90s, and I would love to see the day come for them." Copyright c. 2001 The Orange County Register --------- "RE: Mercury Contaminated Seafood" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 14:29:02 -0500 From: Subj: Mercury Contaminated Seafood >To: 20/20 recently reran a piece on mercury-contaminated seafood. Their researchers tested shark, swordfish and tuna, finding significant levels of methyl mercury (in excess of 1 ppm, on average) in the swordfish and shark, but not the tuna. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/2020/2020_010112_toxicfish_feature.html Pregnant women and women who may become pregnant should not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tile fish because they could contain levels of mercury that could lead to brain damage in a developing fetus according to a Food and Drug Administration advisory. The advisory came on the heels of an extensive report issued by the National Academy of Sciences, which estimates that each year 60,000 children may be born in the United States with neurological problems as a result of exposure to methylmercury in the womb. According to the NAS report, "humans are exposed to methylmercury primarily through the consumption of contaminated fish, particularly large predatory fish species such as tuna, swordfish, shark and whale." The FDA rejected calls to put tuna on the do-not-eat list because it does not consider tuna a health risk. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, who helped commission the NAS study, calls the FDA's announcement "a step in the right direction," but the FDA's warning comes amid criticism that the agency has not been aggressive in informing the public about the risks of high-mercury fish. The FDA stopped testing fish for mercury in 1998 and has since relied on the fish industry to police itself. National Fisheries Institute president Dick Gutting says that, overall, the industry's tests show that mercury is not a problem. Last summer, 20/20 conducted its own tests. 20/20 bought 40 samples of fresh tuna, swordfish and shark in three major U.S. cities and sent the fish to Battelle Marine Science Labs, a facility that performs food tests for the FDA and the EPA. 20/20 discovered that while the tuna samples averaged well below the FDA limit of 1 part per million (ppm), the shark and swordfish did not fare as well. Two out of four shark samples and 14 out of 18 swordfish samples had mercury levels greater than 1 part per million. Two of the swordfish samples tested had mercury levels triple the FDA's limit. When 20/20 presented its findings to Gutting, he could not explain the results but said that "the fact that one particular meal is over one part per million is not significant." Gutting stressed that the average level of mercury in commercially sold fish is well below the FDA limit. Both the fish industry and the FDA say that there is a ten-fold safety factor built in to the 1 ppm limit. But Dr. Jill Stein, of the group Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, disagrees. She says that even one meal of swordfish with levels between 2 ppm and 3 ppm "could potentially harm the fetus at a critical point of brain development." The EPA added to the FDA's advisory on Friday, saying that pregnant women who eat fish their family and friends catch should follow state warnings about fishing from waters with high mercury levels. Charlotte Caldwell Indigenous Environmental Network PO Box 485 Bemidji, MN 56619 www.ienearth.org (218) 751-4967 --------- "RE: Yurok Tribe backs Water Cutoff to Klamath Basin" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 08:10:38 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="YUROK/KLAMATH BASIN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.eonow.com/news/stories/2001/sep/04a.shtml Yurok Tribe backs water cutoff to Klamath Basin farms American Indians say extra water helps salmon KLAMATH FALLS (AP) -- At the mouth of the Klamath River, there's no talk of storming headgates. There, members of the Yurok Tribe say the federal government did the right thing this spring by shutting off water to Klamath Basin irrigators. That action caused threats, protests and several successful attempts to force open the headgates and let the water flow. The water was held back from farmers to aid three types of fish listed under the Endangered Species Act -- two types of sucker in Upper Klamath Lake and coho salmon in the Klamath River. Yuroks are fishing for fall chinook. They have always been salmon fishers. Their reservation is a narrow ribbon along the course of the Klamath River, extending 44 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Even though fall chinook do not enter into the Klamath Basin debate, Yuroks say the extra water sent into the Klamath River helps all the chinook by making the river faster and colder. I feel very privileged," said Nora Osburne, 28, who pitched a tent on a sandbar three weeks ago and has caught 613 fall chinook in a set of gill nets. This year's tribal quota is 60,000 fall chinook, the second-largest quota in 25 years. Although commercial fishing along the North California coast has been largely closed for a decade, and sport fishing has been cut sharply, tribal fishing, recognized by law, has continued. Last year tribal members caught 29,718 fall chinook, twice the allowed harvest of the year before. Osburne says she will give the fish she catches to 96 members of her extended family who live as far away as San Jose, Calif. Catching salmon and giving them to family members, she said, are important tribal traditions. "If it wasn't for our elders showing us what to do, we wouldn't be out here doing this," she said. "I want my kids out here doing this and showing their kids how it's done." Maintaining water in the Klamath River will not affect this year's return of fall chinook; fish entering the river as adults now left the river as fingerlings three or four years ago. But it will help the run in future years, as this year's young salmon return to the river. Troy Fletcher, executive director of the tribe and a tribal member, said that by cutting off the farmers' water, the federal government showed that tribal rights for water needed by salmon trumps irrigators' rights. "This year the administration did the right thing and put the needs of fish and the tribes over the project's junior water right holders," Fletcher said. "If you look at it, there really was no other choice." Copyright c. 2001 East Oregonian Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Tribal Law requires Sex Offenders To Register" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2001 08:48:07 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SEX OFFENDERS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.yankton.net/stories/090401/new_0904010013.shtml Tuesday, September 4, 2001 New Tribal Law Requires Sex Offenders To Register With Tribal Police RAPID CITY (AP) -- Starting in October, sex offenders on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation must register with tribal police within 10 days of coming to the reservation. The Oglala Sioux Tribe Council unanimously passed the law last November. Although similar laws exist within state and federal jurisdictions, the tribe is the first in the state, and one of only four in the nation, to pass such a law. The laws are often called "Megan's Law" after 7-year-old Megan Kanka, who was assaulted and killed in 1994 by a convicted pedophile who lived in her New Jersey neighborhood. In the case of Pine Ridge, it was a 3-year-old boy who sparked the law. Pauletta Red Willow of Wounded Knee said the push for a Megan's Law began when the child turned up missing for a few hours. Red Willow, a children's advocate who was helping the mother search for the child, called the Oglala Sioux Public Safety Department. "Does the mother know she has a convicted child molester living two doors down from her?" an officer asked her. Red Willow said the mother had no way of knowing. When the child was found, he had been molested, but not by that neighbor, she said. The perpetrator, who was wearing a Halloween mast, was never arrested. "They say you steal a child's spirit when you do something like this," Red Willow said. Although a Megan's Law might not have helped that child, Red Willow was motivated by the case to do more to protect children. She said she knows many children who have been molested by relatives, acquaintances and strangers. "That's what keeps you motivated," she said. State and federal laws have required sex offenders to register with local law enforcement, but on Indian reservations, those laws do not apply. "When they come to the reservation, they lose track of them," Red Willow said. "Basically, we were a haven for sex offenders." The new ordinance requires any resident convicted of a sex crime against children to register with tribal police. They will be required to give their name, address, photograph, crime committed and other information. The law applies to tribal and non-tribal members. South Dakota state law requires anyone 15 or older convicted of any sex crime to register. Felony sex crimes on the reservation are prosecuted in federal court in Rapid City, and no one is sure how long the tribe's registry could be. Denise Gibbons of the tribe's public-safety office said offender information will be sent to the Division of Criminal Investigation in Pierre. It will eventually be entered into a database that will be available to tribal police. Copyright c. Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. --------- "RE: Dene asked to Help in Manhunt" --------- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 08:10:38 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="FUGITIVE" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://north.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/09/04/04villebrun Dene asked to help in manhunt YELLOWKNIFE, N.W.T. - Dene leaders from Yellowknife to Fort Smith are helping police in their search for Ronald Villebrun. The 36-year-old fugitive disappeared more than a week ago. There is a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest on a charge of attempted murder. Villebrun fled Yellowknife a week ago last Sunday after a woman was attacked by a man wielding an axe. So far he has evaded ground searchers aided by a dog and a helicopter equipped with a heat sensor. Now RCMP are asking the Dene community for help. "They're possibly conducting a community search, which we're aware of," says Sgt. Al McCambridge."I'm dealing directly with the chiefs and the family and that's where our efforts will continue to be." McCambridge would not answer any questions about how Villebrun has managed to elude police. Villebrun may have the skills needed to survive in the bush, but a cousin also says there are many people who would shelter him. Copyright c. 2000 CBC. All Rights Reserved. --------- "RE: Aboriginal Law Cases Understaffed" --------- Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2001 08:48:07 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ABORIGINAL LAW UNDERSTAFFED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id=5BA420CA-7796-4A9D-B1A1-40F02AE899A2 Audit says aboriginal law cases understaffed, legal mistakes an issue BETH GORHAM Canadian Press Monday, September 03, 2001 OTTAWA (CP) - A Justice Department audit says there were so few lawyers handling a whopping number of aboriginal legal cases in British Columbia and the Yukon that they couldn't handle all the work and were "seriously" unprepared for big projects. Federal officials say planning has improved and more people have been hired since the September 2000 report, obtained through the Access to Information Act. But some experts say no amount of new staff will be enough because far too many aboriginal cases are going to court across Canada. "It's not just B.C. by any means," says Frank Cassidy, associate professor at the University of Victoria's school of administration. "I think the audit points to the lack of political will to deal with these issues in an effective way. The government is responding to court rulings (that affirm native rights) by attempting to circumvent what they've said. "Most of the time the government has said: 'How can we continue to do what we've been doing without breaking the law?' That leads to an enormous amount of litigation." Officials dispute that view, saying their preference would be to resolve matters out of court. "The federal government would rather negotiate than litigate," says Karen Shirley, senior counsel manager in the government's Vancouver office. "In the last couple of years, we have made special efforts to gear toward resolution strategies if we can." The Justice Department's regional aboriginal law offices primarily represent the government's position in cases involving treaty rights, land claims, sex abuse claims arising from residential schools, hunting and fishing rights and others. In British Columbia, business litigation involving joint ventures between native bands and third parties also takes up a lot of time, says Shirley. "The level of sophistication of the bands has increased. The opportunities for friction to arise come more frequently now." The audit, which discovered a growing backlog of cases, recommended "a substantial increase in legal and support staff" in British Columbia. The report noted the office "does not have a formal mechanism for anticipated new work, especially the mega-cases that require long-term commitments of multi-lawyer teams and support personnel." It also said that a backlog of unanswered requests for advice from the office could mean that officials at the Indian Affairs Department "are taking decisions having legal implications without specific legal advice. "Some of those decisions could result in Crown liability that could have otherwise been prevented," the audit concluded. Clare Beckton, assistant deputy attorney general for aboriginal affairs who oversees the regional offices, says a lot of things have changed since the audit. A year ago, the Vancouver office had about 65 staff involved in litigation. There are 81 now and the office doesn't handle Yukon cases any more. Across the country, there are roughly 329 people working on aboriginal court cases, compared with 226 three years ago. "We are managing the cases that we have with the current resources," says Beckton. "But we have to be constantly projecting because we couldn't handle the future caseloads with this level of staff." Beckton says the department is figuring out now how many more people will be required next year. The biggest demands have been in Vancouver, says Beckton, which handles the bulk of Canada's residential school cases. The department is also adding staff in Halifax and Toronto. Cassidy, at the University of Victoria, says the federal response to some landmark cases is to blame for big increases in court time. He cites the Supreme Court's 1997 Delgamuukw ruling, which reaffirmed the concept of aboriginal title to traditional lands. "The government turned around and said: 'We're not going to negotiate with anybody until they prove absolutely in court that they've got aboriginal title.' That wasn't in the spirit of the judgment." Sakej Henderson, a native law specialist at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, says federal legal resources shouldn't be used only to support the government's position since Ottawa also has a constitutional responsibility to defend the rights of natives. "It upsets almost everyone because it doesn't create equal justice for all. They're not protecting the treaty rights of the aboriginal people. The poorest have to find a way to defend themselves." Copyright c. 2001 The Canadian Press --------- "RE: Peltier Statement Democracy Now" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 11:30:50 -0500 From: "LPDC" Subj: Peltier Statement Democracy Now! Mailing List: LPDC STATEMENT OF LEONARD PELTIER IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY NOW AND THE PACIFICA CAMPAIGN I cannot begin to express my outrage over the harassment of Democracy Now's Amy Goodman and the removal of Democracy Now from the airwaves. It is my hope that this latest assault will be met with overwhelming active resistance on the part of the thousands of people across the country. I want to express my full support for Pacifica Campaign's call for the resignation of the six board members whose hostility toward the mission and tradition of Pacifica cannot be tolerated. I also want to encourage you to withhold donations to the five Pacifica stations participating in this censorship until the entire conflict is resolved. I want to tell you why I feel so strongly about this. As you all know, the majority of the media in this country act as mouthpieces for the government instead of the watchdogs we are taught they are. This has been clearly illustrated to me in my case. Over the 25-year span of my imprisonment, my defense team has had to fight for every ounce of media attention we have received. And when we do receive it, rarely are the facts of my case reported. A reporter can have in his hand court records with quote after quote of the U.S. Prosecutor stating that he can't prove who shot the agents but then describe me as a murderer in his story simply because the courts have not overturned my conviction. During the height of the clemency campaign, we finally received national press but only because 500 FBI agents marched in front of the White House to oppose my release. Just one week before 3,500 Indigenous Peoples and supporters marched to the U.N. but, of course, not a peep from the press -- with the exception, of course, of Democracy Now, WBAI, and other progressive reporters. When we live in a society where the media is in such a compromised state, shows like Democracy Now and networks like Pacifica are not only valuable but they are our life lines, especially for the hundreds of thousands of us locked behind prison walls where information is even more difficult to access. I personally rely on Democracy Now as my main source of information. Each day it helps me to stay informed and to remember that all of you are still out there caring about the kinds of issues that Democracy Now reports and struggling for government accountability, human rights, and social change. Let's follow in the footsteps of the KPFA victory and refuse to allow the corporate takeover of the country's most valuable network and radio show. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Leonard Peltier Support Senate Hearings on Peltier Case! Call Senator Leahy: 202-224-4242 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 Address and Short Update" --------- Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 16:03:57 -0500 From: "LPDC" Subj: Peltier's address and short update Mailing List: LPDC Friends, We want to encourage you to send birthday cards to Leonard Peltier. As you know, his birthday is on September 12 and it would greatly lift his spirits to hear from you all. He can also receive paper back books, photos (not Polaroid and not more than 4 at a time) and U.S. Postal money orders which he can use for commesary. Let's let him know that we are still here and that we are still working toward his release. Here is his address: USPL Leonard Peltier #89637-132 PO Box 1000 Leavenworth, KS 66048 We will be sending out a sample press release this weekend which you can forward to your local papers on September 12. Also, on September 12, we will be releasing a major announcement reporting our progress over the last few months and highlighting the legal cases we will soon be filing. Stay tuned! In Solidarity, LPDC To subscribe, send a blank message to lpdc-on@mail-list.com --------- "RE: Birthday Information Kit" --------- Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 09:31:25 -0500 From: "LPDC" Subj: Leonard Peltier's Birthday Information Kit Dear Friends, Below is a press release which can be forwarded to your local media. If you are planning a local event, feel free to adapt this press release with your event's details, and your local contact info. This release can go out as early as today. And again, on Wednesday we will be releasing a detailed announcement to you explaining the new cases we will be filing and reporting on the LPDC's restructuring. Thank you for your continued in support. In Solidarity, LPDC FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For Further Information Contact: Gina Chiala or Debra Peebles @ 785-842-5774 PRESS RELEASE Leonard Peltier's Defense Committee Reorganizes Sets Sights on 6000 Pages Still Held by FBI On the eve of imprisoned American Indian activist, Leonard Peltier's birthday, September 12, the committee that has long waged the crusade for his freedom is unveiling a restructured organization and strategic campaign. President Clinton's failure to grant clemency in January of 2001, in spite of documented FBI misconduct and serious questions about Peltier's guilt, has made Peltier supporters even more determined to rally for justice. Peltier was tried in 1976 for the killing of two FBI agents who with back up from a swat team-like force, chased a red pick up truck onto the Jumping Bull residence on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, June 26, 1975. The FBI claims the day of the shoot out, they entered the ranch in search of a young Indian man accused of stealing a used pair of cowboy boots. Peltier, with other young American Indian Movement (AIM) members - mostly in their teens, were on the ranch to protect Mr. and Mrs. Jumping Bull, traditional elders of the Lakota people. The Jumping Bulls had asked for AIM protection from a community at odds over traditional versus contemporary values. Excessive violence against Lakota traditionals had often been reported in the years preceding the shoot out. FBI involvement in such action was a disturbing factor in tribal disputes over land management and sale of reservation natural resources. As the shoot out ensued between AIM supporters and FBI agents, the leader of Pine Ridge's tribal council, a nontraditional, signed in secret, an agreement transferring 1/8th of the reservation, rich in minerals and uranium over to the federal government. The government came away with highly prized natural resources, at the price of two FBI agents. As for the traditional Lakota, the loss of one young Indian man - his death never investigated, and loss of tribal lands. Peltier's case has never come to rest satisfactorily. FBI and prosecutor misconduct rife throughout the trial, has not moved a judicial system that in 1985 admitted, "We can't prove who shot those agents." Some of what is now known about that day in 1975 has been obtained by acquisition of FBI files through the Freedom of Information Act. However, to date, the agency refuses to release 6000 further pages of unreported documentation. Restructuring Peltier's Defense Committee started last winter after President Clinton's notorious list of clemencies failed to include Peltier. The Committee includes a new Board of Directors beginning with Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Arizona, Glenn Marshall, Council President of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts and Matt Hill, a Mohawk grassroots activist. Also joining the head office in Lawrence, Kansas is Debra Peebles, a Red Lake Chippewa, writer, media coordinator and long time activist for Native spiritual rights in prisons, and sits on the Board of Chaplains for the Department of Corrections in Missouri. As for strategy, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee plans to file a major civil rights lawsuit seeking damages and injunctive relief for the FBI's obstruction of Peltier's clemency and parole through the dissemination of misinformation to both key officials and the public. Peltier's legal defense team will also file a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking the 6,000 concealed FBI documents. Additionally, Peltier's defense team is preparing a new case which seeks to reduce Peltier's sentence to time served. Mr. Peltier, detained in Leavenworth Prison, Leavenworth, Kansas says of another birthday behind bars, "Last year at this time I really believed I would be enjoying this day with my grandchildren, but I continue to keep faith. Today I think about how I walked in here a young man and now I am an elder just like those people I was protecting. But really, I'm grateful for all those people around the world who have worked hard on my behalf, and those who have come forward with fresh energy and insight. I am really honored by the loyalty and support, so I trust the Creator that one day the truth will be told and I will walk out the front door." Support Senate Hearings on Peltier Case! Call Senator Leahy: 202-224-4242 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: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 7:11 PM 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 -- - - - Subj: Prison Pen Pals I am grateful to the Native American Inmates and Families Support Group for allowing me to access their database of Native American inmates requesting pen pals. The full list can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/wy/nainmatessupportgrp/PEN, along with a good basic discussion of what you can send, and what is forbidden (customized to several different states and institutions, as requirements differ). Matt Murdock Cliff Rock Briceno # 704022 # 279606 Crowley County Corr. Facility P.O. Box 777 6564 State Hwy. 96 Monroe, Wa. 98272-0777 Olney Springs, Co. 81062 (Pit River,Atsegewi) Jason Lloyd Murphy Dale Gladue #949608 #19718 WSP 3-C 3-1 Crossroads Corr. Ctr. 1319 North 13th Ave 75 Heath Rd Walla Walla, Wa. 99362 Shelby, Mt. 59474 -- - - - Subj: Update: Texas Hunger Strike from IRONHOUSE/Support Barbara Fortier, Coordinator bdyingswan@aol.com http://www.ironhousesupport.f2s.com POB 262 / Villa Rica, GA 30180-0262 9-10-01 Dear Friends, With the 9-13-01 hunger strike date quickly coming upon us we have been met with the major frustrating situation of mail, regarding the hunger strike, being denied to the prisoners. It is against prison policy to allow any kind of disturbance and information about an organized peaceful protest is considered to be plans for future criminal activities. The practice of mail denial is, however, inconsistent -- what one prisoner is denied another one receives. With each piece of mail denied, the sender is suppose to be sent a "contraband denial form" so that the sender may appeal the rejection by writing to the Director's Review Committee within two weeks. I know that I have not received forms from all of the mail that has been denied. I do have a request for those who are called to do so. Please write to a very dedicated prisoner named Emiliano Saldana #754569 / Estelle Unit 264 FM 3478 / Huntsville, TX 77320-3322. He has a list of 15 Mexicans on seg that began a hunger strike on 8-13-01. Also it turned out that there were many others in the unit who were participating. The moral was high but over the course of 5 days, one by one each dropped out of the strike because of a very sneaky tactic initiated by the prison officials. The prisoners were offered one irresistible fantastic mexican meal after another. After years of bad questionable food weakness set in. By the 7th day Emiliano was not only left standing alone in the strike but the nurses had stopped pulling him out of his cell to weigh him and do a medical check on him, so he dropped also. They seemed to get the attention of the higher ups, as men from Huntsville walked around. They also seemed to accomplished getting the handlers to wear gloves. But the prisoners feel like they showed weakness when they thought they had strength. Some letters of support would really help especially since many of my updates have been denied. If you limit your letter to encouragement rather than HS info he should get your letter. Something that is more in our control rather than dealing with the slippery TDCJ officials is to participate together in an outside hunger strike / fast in solidarity with the prisoners. I have had the pleasure of working with Ms. Rachel Carey-Harper 2 1/2 yrs ago when we initially participated in a 14 day hunger strike together to bring attention to the medical needs of Leonard Peltier. (Janet's note: Please go to http://www.ironhousesupport.f2s.com/TX-002.html for further information about Rachael Carey-Harper and outside hunger strike details.) --------------------------------- 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: History: Carlisle Indian School" --------- Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 09:48:22 -0400 From: Barbara Landis Subj: August 31, 1888 INDIAN HELPER - Carlisle Indian School. [Editorial Note: These reprints are being included in this newsletter so that you might know the mind of those who ran institutions like Carlisle.] [Note to HELPER list: This week's issue will be of particular interest to those of you looking carefully at Marianna Burgess' role at Carlisle. The fictitious conversation between Tim and Zach is clearly her voice speaking - laying out the propaganda on the Carlisle home front while Pratt is at Standing Rock trying to convince Sitting Bull, Grass, and others to sign the 1888 agreement. - Barb] THE INDIAN HELPER ----------------------------- ~~ FOR OUR BOYS AND GIRLS ~~ ========================================================== VOLUME IV CARLISLE, PA. FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1888 NO. 3 ========================================================== GOOD ADVICE. When the weather is wet We must not fret; When the weather is dry, We must not cry; When the weather is cold, We must not scold; When the weather is warm, We must not storm; But be thankful together, Whatever the weather. ======================== TWO CABLISLE BOYS AT PINE RIDGE TALK OVER THE SIOUX BILL. --------------- Tim and Zach are old Carlisle boys. They have been at home two or three years since their school life was finished, and now they would be called men. It is beef day at Pine Ridge, and Tim who lives on the Wounded Knee Creek, quite a day's ride from the Agency, thought he would go the evening before as far as Zach's tepee on the Porcupine Tail Creek, and ride with Zach the next day to the Agency. On the morning of this day they were out bright and early with horses in readiness to start on their journey to the beef corral. Beef-day is a gala day for the Indians. They put on their best clothes. They race horses, gamble, and play games. Everybody comes to the beef-issue and they have a grand, good time. As the two boys ride along on horse-back they look handsome. They are both good fellows and hold up their heads accordingly. They each have a fair education and naturally fall to talking about things above the ordinary Indian. Tim starts the subject of the severalty act with, "What do you think about this business at Standing Rock, Zach?" "You mean about the Indians refusing to sign the papers to open up the reservation?" "Yes, good scheme, don't you think?" "No, I don't; but I must confess that I don't know much about it. I only know the Indians around Porcupine Tail say they won't sign anything." "So some of the folks at Wounded Knee talk, but they don't understand it, is the reason. The paper is all right." "How do you know? I am a little like the chiefs. I am afraid of it," said Zach. "Why are you afraid of it?" "Because I don't understand it, I suppose." "Have you seen the paper?" asked Tim. "No! Have you?" "Yes," said Tim. "I sent to Carlisle for one and my dear old teacher kindly forwarded me the whole thing." "Well, what is it like?" asked Zach. "It is about a yard long and printed in very fine type." "Have you read it all, then?" "Yes indeed" said Tim proudly lifting up his head. "I had an awfully hard time with it. I studied and studied over those long lines, for about a week. But I kept at it and kept at it, and now I believe I thoroughly understand the important parts of it." "Is the paper all right? Is it true that the Indians will be cheated if they sign it?" asked Zach. "Cheated!" laughed Tim. "I should say not, and it makes me mad to hear ignorant people who never went to school a day in their lives and who can't read, talk like that." "Well it is no wonder, is it Tim, that the Indians are afraid when they have so often signed papers and have been cheated?" asked Zach. "No; I suppose not," said Tim, wiping the perspiration from his forehead. "Is it true that the Government wants the Sioux to sell nearly half of their reservation?" "They want us to dispose of 11,000,000 acres, and they will make settlers pay us 50 cents an acre for it." "Why! Jim Crow, a half breed says it is worth $1.00 an acre. "I suppose some of it is, but there are other parts of the reservation not worth a cent. There is much bad land on our reservation, you know. Anyhow if we only got five cents an acre it would be a good thing to sell it to --------------------- (Continued on Fourth Page.) =========================================================== The Indian Helper. ----------------------------- PRINTED EVERY FRIDAY, AT THE INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CARLISLE, PA. BY THE INDIAN PRINTER BOYS. --> THE INDIAN HELPER is PRINTED by Indian boys, but EDITED by The-Man-on-the-band-stand, who is NOT an Indian. ----------------------------- Price: - 10 cents a year. ============================================================= Address INDIAN HELPER, Carlisle, Pa. Miss M. Burgess, Manager. ============================================================= Entered in the P.O. at Carlisle as second class mail matter. ============================================================= The INDIAN HELPER is paid for in advance, so do not hesitate to take the paper from the Post Office, for fear a bill will be presented. ============================================================= Miss Dittes, now at Travare, Dak., says "I just cannot exist comfortably without the INDIAN HELPER," and sends ten cents for the same. ======================== Jennie Connors writes that she has met Bessie West and Nancy and Millie McIntosh. They are well and the two latter expect to teach school this winter. Jennie and Winnie want to come back to Carlisle and no doubt will this fall. The letter was from Sasakwa, I. T. ======================== Jemima Wheelock sends eight new subscriptions this week from her farm home. She says she has been to six picnics since June. The lady with whom Jessie Spreadhands lives says that Jessie is very industrious and does her work neatly. During her off hours she studies, "and that is what every one of us should do," says Jemima. ======================== William Brown and Lizzie Dubray were married at Rosebud Agency, Dak., on the 16th Inst. In writing the happy news William says he wishes all of his friends could have been at the wedding. He has already built himself a house at Pine Ridge and intends to go ahead at farming, promising to do the best he can. The many friends of William and Lizzie at Carlisle wish them abundant success and much happiness in their new life. ======================== At camp our little Apache Mike thought that by standing on the railroad track he'd scare an approaching locomotive and make it turn out. He accomplished his purpose in so far that the engineer was obliged to stop his train, and the boys had to drag the child from in front of the engine. "Me Medicine. Me no die," cried the little fellow, but he had better not try it again. White man's steam cannot always stop for Indian medicine. A Silly Letter. What can be the matter with the boy who wrote the following letter to a girl. Is he sick or only losing his mind? If the Man-on-the-band-stand would print all the notes he sees flying around, and print the names of the boys and girls who write them he is certain they would feel so ashamed that they could not hold their heads up. Let us have no more of it but settle down to hard study and work, determined to get ahead. What is more to be pitied than a great big boy or girl with nothing much in his head to think about. If we allow our heads to fill up with such silly nonsense as this letter shows no wonder our bodies grow faster than our brains and we feel ashamed because we are so big and know so little. THE LETTER. DEAR FRIEND: I have thought in writing to you and request that whether we can agree and constant of friendship or not. Please see about the matter and give the information with the cause. My purpose is that we have learned the excellance of your conduct and character and I desire to offer my bargains to you. If you agree and probity will for prospection please return your expressions of advising and granting this, very properiety. I am very truly yours, ======================== Dropped Syllables. 1. From an employee's name drop a syllable and leave the kind of home that some of our children come from. 2. From another drop a syllable and leave that on which grapes grow. 3. From another drop a syllable and leave a rough, prickly head of a plant. 4. From a printer boy's name drop a syllable and leave a part of his mouth. 5. From another printer boy's name drop two syllables and leave the relation he bears to his father. 6. Drop that syllable and another from the same name and leave a cave of wild beasts. 7. From each of two printer boy's names drop a syllable and leave what neither of them would tell. 9. From the foreman's name drop a syllable and leave a village. 10. From a dear little girl's name drop two syllables and leave what we would all like to be. 11. From a teachers name drop a syllable and leave the ocean. 12. From the same name drop a syllable and leave a small stream. ======================== Never believe a mean thing about a person until you are SURE it is true. Don't believe it even if your best friend tells you. Wait, till you find out for yourself. ======================== Only 5 two-cent stamps for the INDIAN HELPER a whole year. ================================================================= Most of the teachers and others away on a vacation will be back this evening. ======================== Miss Lizzie Bender, graduate of Dickinson College, has joined our teachers' ranks. ======================== Chas. Wheelock, the printing-office engineer, is instructing Henry Phillips, our little Alaskan in the management of the engine,and Henry is pleased. ======================== Miss Patterson was proud to find on her return to the school that the boys she left in charge of the small boys' quarters had kept things neat and in order. ======================== On Wednesday morning our mountain camp broke up. The boys look the better for their life in the woods and are ready to begin work and study in earnest. ======================== Miss Nana Pratt and Miss Paull spent the last few days of camp in the woods. They were loth to come away from the pure mountain air and delightful rest. ======================== Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff came down from camp Monday evening. Mrs. Woodruff thinks there are more enjoyable things in the world than on Indian camp in the mountains. ======================== No doubt all the fence in the rear of the teachers' quarters will soon be raised so as to be uniform with that just made back of the Doctor's. A high fence there has long been needed. ======================== A box of rare and interesting Indian trinkets -- war-bonnets, war-clubs, pipes, head-gear of various descriptions, horn spoons and other curious things has been received from the west. ======================== Mr. Campbell's report of hoe he found things among the boys on farms is truly encouraging. On Monday, Miss Irvine starts for a visit amoong the girls and we hope she will find them doing as nicely in every particular. ======================== School will begin on Monday. The gymnasium, small boys' quarters, and chapel are to be brought into use as school rooms until the new building is complete. Prof. Woodruff our new Principal is flying around getting things in readiness, and we look forward to a prosperous school year. ======================== Miss Wilson returned on Saturday from a few days' visit to the Danville Hospital for the insane, where she was once an employee. Nancy Cornelius, one of our girls from Oneida Wis., who has been such a faithful helper in our hospital for a year or two took entire charge in Miss Wilson's absence. We are proud that she was able to take such a reponsible place. ======================== A number of the boys attended the Grangers' picnic at Williams Grove, on Wednesday. ======================== Loomis Smith sent ten cents for the HELPER this week, and says he is getting along well at his farm home. ======================== We get renewals in this way: "Please forward the papaer as soon as possible, for I can hardly wait till it comes." ======================== On Saturday evening, Miss Ella Patterson, accompanied by her brother John returned from Bedford Springs. ======================== News has just been received of the marriage of Cleaver Warden at Cheyenne Agency, Ind. Ter., to the sister of Alex Yellowman. ======================== William Black, who some eight years ago was Industrial teacher at the Otoe Agency, and is now living near Gettysburg, called on Thursday. ======================== Fireworks in front of the dining hall Friday evening, a treat to the wee ones from Mrs. Worthington, was thoroughly enjoyed, even if it wasn't the Fourth of July. ======================== On Wednesday, Chas. Gottwerth, Wm. L. Gottwerth and W.H. Crooks, of Wilmington, Del., stopping at Henry Gottwerth's, 83 W. North St., paid the school a visit. ======================== Richenda Pratt celebrated her sixth birthday last Saturday by a trip to camp. Maria Anallo, Etta Robertson, Sichu, and Bertha were her guests of the occasion, and they had a pleasant day in the mountain. ======================== Lorenzo and Ben walked to camp on Saturday morning and returned Sunday. The little boys who returned with them without permission were rewarded by a walk back the following morning, only 12 miles. Arthur Johnson was one. ======================== Mrs. Allen, sister of Mrs. Pratt, arrived from Europe Tuesday evening, a great surprise to all her friends here. Mrs. Allen has seen many things of interest while travelling abroad, but comes back to her native country proud that she is an American. ======================== "On, no, that is not Mr. Campbell. I never saw him jump around so foolishly," said a lady at camp as a gentleman came toward them. It was Mr. Campbell adn no wonder he jumped around for there was a bumble-bee down his back. He ran into a nest on his way up from Hunter's Run. ======================== On Saturday evening at English Speaking Meeting Dr. Given gave an interesting account of his visit to the Oneidas in Wisconsin. These Indians expressed appreciation for what is being done for their children here by giving a unanimous vote of thanks at a large public meeting. Some of the things he told us will be given in the September RED MAN. =================================================================== (Continued from first page) actual settlers, for we want the settlers to come and help improve the land." "I can't see it in that light," said Zach. "I know, there are lots of our people who can't see far into the future. Look at the white homesteaders over the line. You know that the people around Rushville were poor at first. They hardly had knough to eat and they had miserable little huts to live in, but now how are they?" "They are rich. I can see that much," said Zach not a little annoyed at Tim's thrust at not being able to see far into the future. "What made them rich?" "Well, what?" said Zach, "you seem to have the floor." "The Railroads made them rich. The Railroads bring civilization,and civilization brings wealth." "That sounds like white man's philosophy and I suppose it is true, but you can never make the Indians see it." "I think they are beginning to get their eyes open, and they see more than they are willing to admit. At least the chiefs do." "Do the Indians who already have little farms picked out have to give them up, if they sign this paper?" "No, indeed! Any Indian having a farm can stay where he is if he wants to." "What! Don't we all have to go over on the small reservation if we agree to sell 11,000,000 acres?" "Not if I understand the paper. An Indian may pick a farm anywhere he pleases, now, before the reservation is sold, and he can stay there even if the land all around him is sold." "And how long a time can he have in which to find a good place." "He can have a whole year. That is long enough isn't it?" "I should say so," replied Zach. "I think so, too." "How many Indians have to sign the paper to make it a law?" continued Zach. "Three fourths of the whole number of men." "Three fourths! If that is so I don't believe it will ever become a law." Maybe you are right, for our people are very slow to see a good thing. Will you sign, Zach, when the Commissioners come to Pine Ridge? "I shall be afraid to. Some of the chiefs say they will kill any one who signs." "I heard that, too, but do you honestly believe it?" "I think they would do anything almost, to prevent us young fellows from having a voice in public affairs." "And isn't it too bad. Poor men! They see their power fast going. When we are educated and get our land in severalty, and once become citizens there will be no more use for chiefs and they are smart enough to see that." "Poor Red Cloud, and Sitting Bull, and Grass and others have seen their best days as Indians, and they do hate to give up their power, but, really, Zach, are you going to be scared out of doing the proper thing when the Commissioners come to this Agency? I want my name to go on that paper if not another man here signs it." "Will you sign it if they threaten to kill you?" "Yes, I will. They will not kill me. I am of age. I understand this thing. I see that there is no injustice in the bill. I see that we are made secure in our individual possessions, as we never were before in any other bill that our people have been asked to sign. I am satisfied with it, and as I said before I am going to sign. Are you?" "Yes," said Zach, at last conquered. "If you dare to do what you think is best in that way, I will follow suit. I have believed all along that it was all right, but I was afraid to say so. Now I am *sure* it is all right, and I am going to sign. Give me your paw, old fellow, you have done me lots of good to-day in this talk." Here the boys came in sight of the corral; the shooting of cattle had already commenced and the excitement of the beef issue was at hand. ------------------ ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S ENIGMA: "Two Umbrellas." ================================================================= STANDING OFFER: - For FIVE new subscribers to the INDIAN HELPER, we will give the person sending them a photographic group of the 13 Carlisle Indian Printer boys, on a card 4 1/2 X 6 1/2 inches, worth 20 cents when sold by itself. Name and tribe of each boy given. (Persons wishing the above premium will please enclose a 1-cent stamp to pay postage.) For TEN, Two PHOTOGRAPHS, one showing a group of Pueblos as they arrived in wild dress, and another of the same pupils three years after, or, for the same number of names we give two photographs showing still more marked contrast between a Navajoe as he arrived in native dress, and as he now looks, worth 20 cents a piece. Persons wishing the above premiums will please enclose a 2-cent stamp to pay postage. For FIFTEEN, we offer a GROUP of the whole school on 9x14 inch card. Faces show distinctly, worth sixty cents. Persons wishing the above premium will please send 5 cents to pay postage. Persons sending clubs must send all the names at once. ======================================================================= At the Carlisle Indian School is published monthly an eight-page quarto of standard size, called THE RED MAN, the mechanical part of which is done entirely by Indian boys. This paper is valuable as a summary of information on Indian matters and contains writings by Indian pupils and local incidents of the school. Terms: Fifty cents a year, in advance. For 1, 2 and 3 subscribers for THE RED MAN we give the same premiums offered in Standing Offer for the HELPER. Address, THE RED MAN, Carlisle, PA. ======================================================================== Transcribed weekly. For more info see http://www.carlisleindianschool.org. - Barbara Landis --------- "RE: Rustywire: Navajo Tortillas-Nunescahdi" --------- Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 08:09:44 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RUSTYWIRE-NAVAJO TORTILLAS" Navajo Tortillas-Nunescahdi by Johnny Rustywire My grandmother and mom were sitting in the front room of my grandmother's two room house. We were sitting at the table, the wooden top having the marks of many meals served on it, my mom was sitting looking East out the screen door. Go get some water from the drums she said. I took the pitcher and dipper and ran out by the little coal shack to the water barrels and dipped out cool water and slowly walked back to the house. We had just gotten back from checking the mail at the trading post and it was still morning. Grandma stood at the porch and was looking through the Navajo Times Mom said, "I am going to make some Nun es cahdi,"(Navajo Tortillas), she was at the table, dipping out cupfuls of flower into a large white pan, porcelain with a strip of red around the rim. There was a small chip on the rim showing the black metal underneath. "Mary Jumbo was up to the trading post just a while ago". She was one of the oldest ladies around, she lived North of the Toadlena Trading Post about a 1/2 mile on the side of the mountain. She lived alone and her hair was all white, it looked like if a strong wind came along she would blow over, but she made her way every once in a while to the trading post for the mail just like us. The old folks took their time to get there, you see the trading post sits on the side of a hill so you have to walk up the hill, kind of steep at the last part to get to it. If you went early to get the mail, you would find the old folks like to sit outside and watch the comings and goings of the place. They would sit there and talk and visit for a little bit. There weren't many secrets there in that place, cuz most people all knew what you were doing sometimes before you did. Mary Jumbo wore her white hair in a traditional bun, with a long dress and old red velveteen shirt that has a few missing buttons. She always had an easy gentle manner and a smile every one she ran into when I saw her. Mom was putting in the baking powder and slowly mixing the four, her hands were now coated, all white. Grandma sat down. "Get your Grandma, a cup of coffee, Sonny." I put a cup in front her as she looked at the page for pictures. My mom said, "Mary Jumbo's daughter, Ella is coming back from California, her and her kids are coming back sometime in the next two weeks, dahtsii- (maybe, I guess). They are going to move in with her up on the hill." She poured in the water and started to mix the flour, it was all soft and gooey. She worked that dough like she had so many times before. She said, "Nellie Theodore is going to the clinic today over the Shiprock, she is not feeling good. Her son is coming from Farmington today, supposed to be here, so she's gonna make him take her". Nellie Theodore was one of my relations, I don't know how, but she was family and I had to listen to her when she got after us for running around anytime we ran aroiundt he chapter house or the trading post. The dough was getting round and my mom used her hands to knead that dough over and over. Grandma said, "Maybe we should go see Nellie, over to her place to check on her". Nellie's kids were all living away in Farmington and only came on the weekends. I knew before I heard it, "Sonny, you better go see her in a little while", I said, ok, Grandma had used the wood stove to heat water for washing dishes and took some pieces of wood and lifted the round top of the stove and put the wood in their and then put the heavy iron pan on. She reached into the cupboard, covered with curtain and took