From gars@speakeasy.org Mon Sep 24 01:28:38 2001 Date: 19 Sep 2001 00:36:53 -0000 From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews09.038 + 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 038 O o O + Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse + September 22, 2001 O o O + Ximopanolti tehuatzin, Kiowa moon when leaves fall off O inin Mexika tlahtolli + Pomo shachluyiau-da/soaproot dug for fish poison 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; ndn-aim and Big Mountain 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.'" "You never get used to prison life. In my sleep, I hear people's voices, some of them long dead, like my father. Such voices are torture. To wonder every day, every hour, whether or not you will EVER be free again is a very special form of torture. It takes its daily, hourly toll on your heart and in your soul, particularly when you have to explain to your grandson why they won't let you out to attend his soccer game. It eats you up inside to hear this little boy's voice ask, "Grandpa, why don't you just FINISH your sentence?" "He thought my sentence was just a whole lot of words I had to write, like copying a sentence over and over for a punishment assignment at his grade school. He couldn't understand that my sentence continues for twice my natural life." __ Leonard Peltier, "Prison Writings...My Life Is My Sun Dance" +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! I thank my elder for the concept of this week's editorial and my halfside for the masterful writing. All I take credit for is the fortune to have such guidance and companionship. I am blessed. -- - - - Some interesting notions are turning up around the terrorist suicide strikes in New York and Washington, and the aborted strike that crashed in Pennsylvania. The events have been publicly labeled the first terrorist strike on American soil. Tragic and horrible as Tuesday, September 11 was, these were not the first, or even the second or third terrorist attack against innocents, including women, children and elders, in the name of religion. If you add the total lives lost in earlier terrorist attacks, these may not even be the most deadly. Indian villages at Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Washita, the Little Thunder village, and numerous others were massacred by the U.S. military in the 1800s -- and those are just a few of the plains tribes so victimized. Col. Chivington, justifying the brutal slaughter of Infant infants remarked "nits breed lice." In the east, early Virginians literally exterminated the tribe that saved them from starvation just one year earlier--then created a holiday, Thanksgiving, to celebrate the massacre. In each case, the slaughters were justified because, after all, Indians were heathens who had no souls. How very like the radical Islamic view of Christians, isn't it? Religious bigotry, whether it be the extermination of Indians, witch trials, Inquisitions, the Crusades or the Islamic jihads, have been responsible for more killings than any other cause. In all these cases, the primary commandment of the killers' God has been "Thou Shalt Not Kill. ." And now, in response, other zealots--Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson blame and divide us at a time Americans should stand together to comfort and defend each other. They would have us condemn those whose religion, sexual choices, personal medical decisions, and defense of the freedoms our forefathers died for as the cause of God's turning his back on this country. I wonder, was Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson's God truly sheltering this country as a moral nation through the slaughter of Indians and the theft of their land, the brutal keeping of black captives as if they were livestock, the use of Chinese as slave labor to build railroads, the working of little children in sweatshops from dawn to dusk, the rides of the Ku Klux Klan, this government's sending of Navajos into uranium mines knowing they'd be poisoned, or perhaps the refusal even now to pay for their medical care? In the shadow of all the vitriol, this weekend we stood with over 100,000 bikers at the Waterloo Alabama Trail of Tears ride, a memorial ride for those very pagans Falwell condemns, and we prayed for those who had fallen, for their families and loved ones, and for those who would face the retaliatory war that will surely follow. 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 ---------- - Nations always prepared to - RCMP Planning Charges Defend our Homelands after Latest Dispute - Terrorist Needs to be Used - Alaska Natives seek Allies Appropriately against Arctic Drilling - Editorial Comment: Terrorist - Plight of the Caribou People - Mohawk Ironworkers see - Crow say New Constitution Terrorist Plane pass by doesn't need BIA's OK - Statement of the Navajo Nation - Congressional Support Council Speaker for Acoma Land Swap - Attacks turn Eyes on ANWR - Occaneechi Band wins Court Victory - McCaleb made it Home Safely - Tribes sign Landmark - BIA Trust Data Cleanup Energy Agreement in Disarray - Saskatoon Cop says - Chretien to Preach Aboriginal Man never Answered Wisdom, Patience - American Indian Quilter - Church angered keeps Tradition Alive by Residential School Poll - Pojoaque Pueblo Warns Bear Hunters - Wyandotte Company - Native Prisoner awarded $100M Contract -- Prison Pen Pals - Place-name Changes -- Update: Texas Hunger Strike 9/12 sought by Tribe delayed - History: Carlisle Indian School - Indians object to - Rustywire: Miss Harrigan SRP Plans for N.M. Strip Mine - Poem: From my Lodge - Tribe Endorses Effort - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days to Bring Back Buffalo - Yup'ik Co-principal - Sharing Culture spurs Buffalo Hunt to handle Language Immersion - Ontario NDP seeks Ipperwash Inquiry- Language Immersion Camp Successful - Harris lambastes Media at Second Mesa over Ipperwash - River Cane's return - Burnt Church assess Damage vital to Chitimachas following Night Raid - Oral Tradition making - Burnt Church Dispute Heats Up a Strong Comeback --------- "RE: Nations always prepared to Defend our Homelands" --------- Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 08:52:41 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="PREPARED TO DEFEND" http://www.okit.com/ Native American Times Opinion Indian Nations are always prepared to Defend our Homelands by Gerald Woffard On December 7, 1941 as the Nation experienced its first "Day of Infamy" with the Japanese bombing of the U.S. Naval Port in Pearl Harbor Hawaii. It was documented that war drums of the Osage Tribe were heard in Oklahoma to repel the enemy of the Imperial Government of Japan and the Third Reich of Germany. An Indian Nation was probably the first to speak against this dastardly act. It would be the next day that the United States as a whole would declare war and become involved in World War II. The solidarity that was shown that December afternoon by the Osage is a good reminder of how Native Americans faced a National tragedy in past times. Given that it is expected in many of our Indian societies to respect our elders. Perhaps the lesson they showed way back then is still prominent today. After interviewing several American Indian veterans of World War II for a video project, I recall that when each individual realized that war was imminent. They immediately decided, along with their buddies, that they would sign up for military duty. No coaxing, no soul searching, no dilemma was found or needed. "It was the right thing to do," said one of the interviewees "we knew we had to defend this country." Or more specifically as Muscogee (Creek) Citizen and Congressional Medal of Honor Ernest Childers said "The American Indian has only one country to defend, and when you're picked on, the American Indian never turns his back." Because of a country united at that time, the Navajo, Apache, Papago, and Hopi tribes of Arizona banned the use of its historic symbol the 'Swastika'. The symbol had been used as a sign of friendship on tribal items such as pottery and blankets long before Nazi Germany gave the sign its infamous tag in history. This editorial is not stressing a need to sign up for the military branch of your choice. But to call attention to that when terrorists, foreign or domestic, decide to reign destruction and death on our country such as the horrible events seen on September 11, 2001 a second day of Infamy. That there is a need for unity, and a need for thoughtful prayer for all people living on this soil we call our native land. The fight for sovereignty and Native American rights will go on, but let this Nation argue as a whole, without terrorist influence, and unite as a whole, also. It is true that there are many things wrong with this country we now call the United States and the tragic treatment of the American Indian in history has been evident of that. But we have no other country to call home, and as we make the decision to stand united as our elders did sixty years ago. The right decision will be made today in the present, in spite of the bad decisions made in history of yesterday. The acts of terrorism , according to various military leaders, is a whole new ball game today. According to President Bush, these acts were acts of war and that freedom and democracy are under attack. Once the true cowards are found for this horrible act, America will probably retaliate on a full-scale level. When that happens, perhaps we should hear the Osage war drum again. Native American Times is c. Copyright 2000-2001 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc. --------- "RE: Terrorist Needs to be Used Appropriately" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 20:20:25 +0200 From: "H.F.C. Buma" Subj: "Terrorist," A Terminology That Needs To Be Used Appropriately: Mailing List: ndn-aim [PLEASE POST] Greetings, [I ask for your help because I'm only sending this to just a few of you. Please, post this to whomever wishes to post it.] Dineh Activist's Perspective About "Pearl Harbor" In Manhattan On August 17th 2001, I was getting ready to take the sheep out at 5 AM, and I was just having a cup of coffee and absorbing the beautiful brightness of day just beginning. I heard, in the fresh, cool moisten air of the Dinnebito Wash basin, the loud rumbling and clabbering of steel coming up the main dirt road. It was not the early school bus that normal makes its way up this dirt road which makes its pick up for Rocky Ridge School students. Finally, this rumbling sound approached over the hill, and it turned to a roar as I notice BIA cop cars, Ranger vehicles, horse trailers, and a flatbed hauling a heavy equipment. I knew this was evil and it was an attack. It was an attack as it was confirmed, later, when I brought back the sheep in as the day got hot. These Agents of: the US Justice Department, the Answers to Energy Needs and Corporate Profits, and the Interior Department's BIA had just carried out a 'well orchestrated terrorist' attack on the nerve center of the Sacred Hoop of the Red Nations. An Elder Dineh Sun Dancers said, "What has been done to this Sacred Cotton Wood Tree was completely wrong. Such a crime is very likely to go unpunished. The Great Spirit has seen this crime committed against many peoples prayers, and the flesh offerings of many have been grinded to bits. This has been certainly the most serious crime ever committed against Our People who only wish to stay on their land and maintain a ceremonial place. It has been a forbidden thing (they) did, and sooner or later it will come to reality that (they) have done this to themselves." The Trade Center Towers and The Pentagon, September 11, 2001 Just as they have sent out their agents into the small and poor community of Black Mesa to severe a Sacred Pole and to plow into the circled prayer lodges, THEIR globalization towers and THEIR lodges of human-destruction has seen its consequences. The Dineh Resistors have been labeled terrorist. I feel a real terrorist has the technological capabilities to initiate aggression or death upon a peaceful, humanistic culture. A terrorist doesn't sleep in the dusty earth in a sleep bag or go hungry. A real terrorist doesn't believe in a spiritual creation, a spiritual center and a Spiritual Law. Would have this been the consequences of a desecration at Big Mountain? Peabody Western Coal Company's "time of decay will come." My last name is Keediniihii. Its a name which came about in the late 1860s when Kit Carson was massacring our ancestors around Big Mountain and Blue Canyon. In the last 27 years I stood with my people to defy the US Colonial aggression, and I've seen many of my people perish to unthinkable depression and suicides. Today, I am a landless Dineh and I long for my playgrounds, places where I watered the herds, places where I hunted and camp out, and places where my parents told me of their childhood. Yes, I will always live with deep anger and sadness. I don't condone the so-called terrorist attack on Amerika because my country, Big Mountain, has always been under a attack by the federal government and their Indian Agents. AHO! Thank you, Tunkasula, for allowing me to, at least for one day, see You clearly. This might be the only time in my life to see Father Sky without endless, commercial jetliners and the Peabody cargo plane. To All My Relations. In the Spirit of Chief Barboncito, Bahe >>>>>-------------------------------><------------------------------<<<<< Pray for the Dine'h and traditional Hopi at Big Mountain, AZ, USA. http://www.senaa.org , http://www.senaawest.org, http://www.senaaeurope.org UN draft declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 10: "Indigenous Peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocations shall take place without the free and in- formed consent of the Indigenous Peoples concerned ....(...)........." See the video "Vanishing Prayer" at: http://www.freespeech.org/senaa and check out: http://www.hoganview.com for the Elder's words. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Editorial Comment: Terrorist" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 01:11:59 +0000 From: Robert Dorman Subj: BIGMTLIST Editorial Comment Mailing List: Big Mountain List I have gotten several emails critical of my posting of Behe's comments in "'Terrorist,' A Terminology That Needs To Be Used Appropriately." If I were to put myself into the shoes(?) of a Dineh resister who had been exposed to YEARS of psychological warfare; who had seen his or her livestock repeatedly confiscated, water supplies poisoned or capped off, livestock killed from environmentally poisoned plants and water, my relations driven off the land by threats and false promises, been denied a voice with my own people, and then hear the tractors rumbling to destroy the sacred Sundance ground, I believe that this would terrify me. If people would do this, they would probably stop at NOTHING; maybe even killing me. That is what I would think. However, Behe made the statement, "THEIR globalization towers and THEIR lodges of human-destruction has seen its consequences." Although the universe functions under the law of cause and effect, I believe that it is often not possible for us to really know which effect is attributable to which cause. This statement also carries a tone of anger, which, though a human emotion, may not be appropriately directed in this case. Loss of life, in my opinion, is NEVER something to rejoice over, whether it be that of a friend or an enemy. It is a sacred moment, passing from this material life into a different life, and should be regarded with respect, but not with an attitude of having one's vengeful wishes come to fruition. "A terrorist doesn't sleep in the dusty earth in a sleep bag or go hungry." We cannot know this, but it is possible that the opposite is true, especially if he was from an impoverished country that had been exploited by multinational corporations for decades. One should also note the statement: "I don't condone the so-called terrorist attack on Amerika because my country, Big Mountain, has always been under a attack by the federal government and their Indian Agents." So, he is not saying that he approves of the attack. He compares it to the terrorism directed against him and his fellow Dineh. Some may feel this is a valid comparison; some may not. That is his opinion from his vantage point. "AHO! Thank you, Tunkasula, for allowing me to, at least for one day, see You clearly. This might be the only time in my life to see Father Sky without endless, commercial jetliners and the Peabody cargo plane." I think this statement simply reflects the joy and thankfulness of his being able to see a clear sky without planes for a change. I see no sinister message here. Unfortunately, for those in New York, their sky was not clear, but instead it was filled with smoke and dust from the terrorist attack. On the whole, I feel the post was one of one person's feelings about what happened and, more importantly, it brought up the fact that the Dineh have been "terrorized" by the Hopi tribe, BIA, etc., implying that people should be also indignant against this kind of terror as they are indignant about the terror in New Youk and Washington D.C. I am sorry that some of you took exception to the post; it wasn't my intent, nor do I believe, Behe's, to offend. A person that I knew, David Aoyama, was on the first plane that crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center building. I am sure that there are many people on this list who knew or were related to someone who died in this horrible attack. I would like to add that I was sorry to see how the TV network media was, and still is, leading the public down the garden path to accept in their minds the idea of retaliation by attacking Afganistan (or possibly some other Middle Eastern country). I personally believe it was totally irresponsible for our President to declare that we would not just punish the perpetrators, but the country that harbored them. This means thousands or tens of thousands of innocent civilians who had absolutely nothing to do with the attack will be killed or injured, just so that we, as Americans, can pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves that justice has been served (and maybe get to take over some oil fields in the bargain). --Bob Dorman ========================================= 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: Mohawk Ironworkers see Terrorist Plane pass by" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 21:24:24 -0000 From: "Paul" Subj: ict: Mohawk Ironworkers See Terrorist Plane Pass By; St. Regis Families Worry Mailing List: ndn-aim Mohawk Ironworkers See Terrorist Plane Pass By; St. Regis Families Worry Posted: September 12, 2001 - 13:45 est by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today HOGANSBURG, N. Y. -. Mohawk ironworkers were working 50 floors up at a lower Manhattan job when an airliner passed within what seemed like 50 feet of their crane on the way to its collision with the World Trade Center about 10 blocks away. Richard Otto immediately got on his cell phone with Michael Swamp, Business Manager of Ironworkers Local 440 at the St. Regis (Akwesasne) Mohawk Reservation. "He called in all shook up after the first plane passed," Swamp told ICT. "He was telling me the wing of a plane had just missed their crane." Then as they were talking the second plane came by, headed for the other World Trade Center Tower. "He got excited and said another plane was coming," Swamp said. "'Listen, this is going to hit,'" Otto said. He started telling people to get out. In the background, the sound of workers screaming and yelling came over the phone. Then said Swamp, "I could hear the ruffle. I could hear the boom. That's when I lost the phone connection." From the same site, about 8:45 a.m., ironworker Norman Big Tree got in a call to his father, St. Regis subchief John Big Tree, Jr. "The chiefs came into my office and we turned on the TV," said St. Regis tribal spokeswoman Rowena General. "That was when the second plane hit the south tower." Shock immediately hit the St. Regis Reservation, perhaps the part of Indian country most directly affected by the terrorist attack which collapsed the giant World Trade Center towers and showered debris for blocks around with still unknown loss of life. About 100 Mohawk men from the famed Ironworkers union were working at construction sites in New York City and New Jersey at the time of the attack. Swamp set up an emergency clearing house at the union hall in Hogansburg to locate the ironworkers. By Wednesday morning, Swamp said that 79 had called in or gotten in touch with relatives. "I'm still looking for about 20 of my men," he said. But he added that the union agent in Manhattan thought they were safely away from the disaster. As families on the reservation called the union hall and tribal offices for news, the tribe also coped with sudden tension along the Canadian border, which cuts through the Akwesasne community. Tribal Chief of Police Andrew Thomas called for all tribal members to look for any suspicious activity along the border. Suspects in the hijacking of planes from Boston's Logan Airport used in the attack were reported to have flown in from Portland, Maine, after crossing the border in the vicinity of Vermont and Maine, said General, a distance to the east from Akwesasne. But she said that tribal police and community members were on alert. Tribal authorities, she said, "assist state and federal agencies on security matters and will continue to do so." "Many of our men have contributed to watching the borders through our community, for anyone trying to come into the U. S. or trying to get back into Canada." Although the border remained formally open, said General, the heightened security was causing up to 45 minute delays for Mohawk families divided by the boundary. School children were especially affected, said General. "A lot of our families who live on the Canadian side have children who attend tribal schools here," she said. "Many of our children attend school in the city of Cornwall [in Canada]." In addition to the immediate impact, she said, the community had a sentimental attachment to the Twin Towers. "Quite a few Mohawk men from Akwesasne actually built the World Trade Center." Mohawk ironworkers became famous through the mid-20th century for their role in putting up the skyline of New York and other northeast cities. About a thousand Akwesasne Mohawk still work on high-rise construction, said Swamp. ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Statement of the Navajo Nation Council Speaker" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 08:18:47 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BEGAY on ATTACK" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.thenavajotimes.com/index.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 11, 2001 Statement of the Navajo Nation Council Speaker Edward T. Begay WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- Edward T. Begay, Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, issued the following statement regarding the acts of terror in New York Navajo Nation Reacts "I am saddened by the horrific acts taken by whomever is responsible for what happened in Washington, D.C., and New York City, NY, this morning. I. Too. support the President of the United States in his statement that those who are responsible for the tragic events are brought to justice. My prayers are with the families that tragically lost their relatives and friends. President Kelsey A. Begaye, several Council Delegates and staff are in Washington, D.C., and were scheduled to attend an important policy meeting today. Everyone in the Navajo delegation is safe and the Window Rock offices are in contact with them. We are making plans to transport the Navajo Nation delegation back to Window Rock, Ariz., as soon as all flight restrictions are lifted. I also signed on to an early release of Navajo government staff this afternoon. I realize that the crisis in Washington and New York City may not directly impact the Navajo Nation. However, many of our government employees and Navajo people have relatives living at various places in the United States. We, as Navajo people, look after one another in times like this. Therefore, President Begaye, Chief Justice Robert Yazzie, and I determined that it is best that the Navajo government offices be closed so that at the minimum we can provide our Navajo people the opportunity to ensure that their relatives are safe. I ask the Navajo people to come together in this time of need to pray for those in New York City and Washington and for our loved ones, who are traveling, so that they may return to their homes safely. I also request that the Navajo people report any unusual activity to their local law enforcement officers as soon as possible. The Navajo Nation was scheduled to participate in the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission hearing this evening at Tuba City, Ariz. That hearing was cancelled. Anyone, who had planned to attend this important hearing, should remain at home this evening. Thank you." Copyright c. 1999-2001 Navajo Times/Navajo Nation. --------- "RE: Attacks turn Eyes on ANWR" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 09:16:04 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ANWR OIL" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.adn.com/business/story/687519p-729975c.html Attacks turn eyes on ANWR URGENCY: Acts change nation's position on domestic energy needs. By Ben Spiess Anchorage Daily News September 13, 2001 The attacks on the United States continued to shudder through global energy markets Wednesday with oil prices falling sharply and gasoline prices climbing. But experts are beginning to predict that Tuesday's terrorism may mean not only short-term volatility but a fundamental shift in thinking about energy and oil in America. Many speculated that the sense of vulnerability in the wake of the attack and possible connections to oil producing nations of the Middle East may strengthen arguments for domestic energy security, including drilling in more of the nation's waters and lands, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "A change has happened," said Gareth Crandall, an analyst with Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Calgary. "It gives urgency to developing our own oil." The link between oil and Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is not a direct one. But a broad desire for heightened security, a narrowing focus on Islamic extremists such as Osama bin Laden, whose family made a fortune in construction on Saudi Arabia oil spending, and an unease in world oil markets that U.S. retaliation could target oil producing nations or destabilize relationships with Middle East suppliers could increase calls for increased domestic production -- no matter the environmental costs. "A policy right now that supports reducing our dependence on the Middle East would be very powerful," said Adam Sieminski, a Deutsche Banc oil analyst in Baltimore, who released a report Wednesday on oil prices. The U.S. produces only 40 percent of its daily oil consumption. Most of the balance comes from the 11 OPEC members, six of which are in the Middle East. To boost U.S. oil flow and offset imports, President Bush has advocated exploration in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off North Carolina, on federal land in the Rocky Mountains and in Alaska's Arctic Refuge. All have met stiff resistance. Some plans have been scuttled entirely. For Alaska, the key issue is ANWR's coastal plain, a 1.5 million-acre swath east of the North Slope oil fields. ANWR is considered a rich oil prospect but environmentalists have lobbied Congress fiercely to keep it closed to oil development. "To trade a relatively small environmental damage to the Porcupine caribou herd in return for the World Trade Center? I know where I would come down. Who wouldn't?" Sieminski said. In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, ANWR infighters resisted discussion on one of the Capitol's hot topics. With the Pentagon still smoldering, a key Washington aide to Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles called the refuge discussion "hollow." And Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chair of the Senate Energy Committee, canceled meetings on energy legislation for the week. Asked about ANWR, Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski said it may convince some people of the importance of domestic oil supply. Refuge opponents, too, were reluctant to focus on ANWR, but said arguments that the refuge would substantially ease dependence on foreign crude are false. "We are never going to achieve energy security to oil development," said Deborah Williams of the Alaska Conservation Foundation. According to government surveys, there is a 50 percent chance of recovering 10 billion barrels. Assuming production of 1 million barrels of oil a day, the refuge could curb daily OPEC imports of about 5.2 million barrels a day by about 20 percent. That's enough to displace daily supply from Iraq, but not enough to free the nation from OPEC crude entirely. Williams said that the true path to energy security is alternative energy: solar, fuel cells and wind. Not only would it ease our dependence on oil, the geographically dispersed power grid would not be vulnerable to terrorist attack, she said. But ANWR and other sources combined could be significant, said Ed Porter, an economist at the American Petroleum Institute. "We have been sloughing off every resource development opportunity on the grounds that it is not going to solve our problem. Taken independently, that's true. But five, six or seven of these projects could make a difference," Porter said. "ANWR is the most promising of all." U.S. officials have not named suspects in the attacks. How the Bush administration manages the crisis and the subsequent politics may be pivotal to ANWR. Bucking arguments cast in the name of national security may prove difficult in the wake of the attacks, observers said. But the appearance of taking advantage of a national tragedy to pursue domestic goals would be unseemly. "If it did come from the Middle East, relying on these people to supply your energy needs stops seeming rational," said Crandall of Purvin & Gertz. --Reporter Ben Spiess can be reached at bspiess@adn.com. Reporter Liz Ruskin contributed to this story. She can be reached at lruskin@adn.com. Copyright c. 2001 The Anchorage Daily News. --------- "RE: McCaleb made it Home Safely" --------- Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 11:14:42 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="MCCALEB" http://www.indianz.com/ http://www.indianz.com/SmokeSignals/Headlines/showfull.asp?ID=pol/9142001 McCaleb made it home safely after attacks FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2001 In the aftermath of Tuesday's attack on the Pentagon, scores of people could be found walking the streets of Washington, DC, and surrounding areas. Neal McCaleb was one of them. But to the 66-year-old Chicksaw Nation tribal member and head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs , it was business as usual. A frequent foot traveler, McCaleb -- to the chagrin of some aides -- often prefers walking. McCaleb was on his way to a meeting with a member of Congress when the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center were occurring. By the time he made it to the U.S. Capitol, though, the entire complex had been evacuated and senior members of Congress were taken to a secure location. McCaleb had been taken to the meeting in by a government driver who was to return for him later. But due to the chaos, the driver could not return, leaving McCaleb abandoned. So he walked. Yet after a hearty trek back to the Department of Interior, which can take 20 minutes or more, he found it empty. Secretary Gale Norton had already been taken to Virginia and other employees had long been evacuated. So headed to his home in Virginia. But this time, he was able to board a subway train that took him part of the way, and he walked the remainder. McCaleb returned to work the next day. Copyright c. Indianz.Com 2000-2001. --------- "RE: BIA Trust Data Cleanup in Disarray" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:19:28 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="TRUST DISARRAY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.indiantrust.com/releases.cfm?press_id=31 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 17, 2001 Contact: Philip Smith (202-661-6350) COURT MONITOR FINDS BIA TRUST DATA CLEANUP IN "DISARRAY" Interior's "Dissembling" Quarterly Reports Designed to Mislead Judge Lamberth; Clean-up Completion May Take Decades WASHINGTON, D.C. - Data clean-up - a critical component of court-ordered reform of the individual Indian trust - is in disarray and decades behind schedule, the victim of widespread mismanagement by past and present senior officials of the Interior Department and the BIA who have filed false reports with the court to cover up their failures, a court-appointed federal monitor reported today. "Without a major reorganization" of the BIA project, "data cleanup and trust reform have no hope of near-term completion," the monitor said. The report is the third by the monitor, Joseph S. Kieffer III, since he was appointed in April by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth to assess Interior's progress. The first two reports also castigated Interior, the BIA, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and former secretary Bruce Babbitt for failing to move forward on trust reform and lying to the court and Congress about it. "Interior lacks the competence, the will and the credibility to run the trust, and Kieffer's reports prove it," said Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in Cobell v. Norton. "Trust reform will start to happen on the day when the court appoints a receiver and gets the trust out of Interior's hands." Interior's newly created Office of Historical Accounting recently announced a "blueprint" for a plan it said will comply with court orders to tell individual Indian account holders what the federal government has done with billions in revenues from Indian-owned lands. "That blueprint doesn't even mention these massive problems with data cleanup," said Cobell. "It just blithely assumes that all's well." In one example cited by Kieffer, BIA employees have been able to clean up data for an average of one tract of land per day in BIA's Alaska Region, and so far have completed 5 percent of the 18,000 Indian-owned tracts. "The math speaks for itself," Kieffer said. He said it could be decades before BIA completes the task throughout Indian Country. Kieffer's report, posted today on the court's web site, also underscored that intense disagreements have broken out among senior managers at Interior, the BIA and the Office of the Special Trustee over how much to keep secret from the judge about trust reform failures. Of Interior's most recent quarterly report to the court, Kieffer said, "it, like its predecessors, was, in total, inaccurate, unclear as to the status of data cleanup, and dissembling for what it did not reveal that was known or could have been determined by BIA senior managers for months if not years previous to its preparation." "The failure to communicate the dire straits the BIA Data Cleanup project is in has been in no small part due to the reluctance of BIA senior managers to face the expected criticism of the Special Trustee and OST managers or of the IIM account holders, Congress or this court," he said. When Special Trustee Tom Slonaker tried to point out that "the king may have no clothes," Kieffer said, he was subjected to "criticism and obstruction" from Interior's top lawyer, Solicitor William Myers, "at the direction of the Secretary." A letter from Norton to Slonaker, Kieffer added, "revealed - confusion about the import of his observations." The report said that Slonaker "is the official who is under examination by the Secretary's Solicitor [Myers], not the BIA managers and their leadership who submitted what can best be described as information of questionable accuracy" to the court. Although trust reform problems pre-date Norton's tenure as secretary, Kieffer said, "The cry that `it didn't happen on our watch' can no longer provide a defense for this administration." Copyright c. 2001 Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Inc ++++ Excerpt of the Court Monitor's Third Report ++++ THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ELOISE PEPION COBELL et al. Plaintiffs v. Civil Action No. 96-1285 (RCL) GALE A. NORTON SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, et al. Defendants ____________________ ________________ THIRD REPORT OF THE COURT MONITOR I. INTRODUCTION This is the third in the series of reports submitted by the Court Monitor pursuant to this Court's Order of April 16, 2001, to review and monitor "all of the Interior defendants' trust reform activities and file written reports of (the Court Monitor's) findings with the Court." The first report, submitted to the Court on July 11, 2001, addressed the Court Monitor's review of the Historical Accounting project. The second report, submitted on August 9, 2001, addressed the Court Monitor's review of the status of the Trust Asset and Accounting Management System's (TAAMS) development and deployment. This third report will address the review by the Court Monitor of what is known as the High Level Implementation Plan's (HLIP) BIA Data Cleanup and Management (BIA Data Cleanup) subproject. A. BIA Data Cleanup Project Definition And Goals In the original HLIP, dated July 1998, at page 9 (extract at Tab 1A), the BIA Data Cleanup project was defined as follows: "The Data Clean Up Sub projects within OST and BIA are aimed at ensuring data housed in existing or new systems are accurate and timely, and at eliminating transaction processing backlogs to ensure records are up-to- date, particularly land ownership information and records. Therefore, references to `data clean up' in this Report should be viewed broadly, as including both data production (correction), and data updates (data and information transaction processing). The goal of the BIA Data Cleanup subproject as outlined in the BIA Data Clean Up section of the HLIP (Tab 1B) was to: "ensure correct and updated data such that Indian trust records are accurate and meet integrity and operational standards." Id. at 16 As explained in this section, there were two BIA-wide automated systems - the Land Records Information System (LRIS) and the Integrated Records Management System (IRMS). LRIS supported the land title function and was used primarily at the Land Title Records Offices (LTROs) but provided reports to the Agency offices. IRMS supported the land resource management function and was primarily used at the Agency level for generating lease bills and for income/revenue distribution to Indian owners. Id. The LTROs in several locations had developed their own automated systems and other offices manually performed their functions. The information that had been entered manually into these two systems contained the same data elements, was not integrated or crosschecked, and had been inconsistently maintained by each module. LRIS and IRMS were not integrated and had no electronic interface between them, which allowed them to duplicate the same information in both systems in a potentially inconsistent manner. Id. The focus of the BIA Data Cleanup effort was on the land title and resource management information maintained by the BIA in automated systems, microfilm/microfiche, and physical hardcopy files/folders. Id. B. The Importance of the BIA Data Cleanup Subproject The importance of the BIA Data Cleanup subproject was addressed in a July 1999 TAAMS Project Management Plan (extract at Tab 1C): "The cleanup of trust data is the foundation upon which the new system will be laid. Without timely and accurate information, TAAMS cannot achieve the improvements in trust management that are expected." Id. The importance placed on the BIA Data Cleanup subproject was not lost on this Court at the time of trial in July 1999. During the Acting Special Trustee's, Tommy Thompson, testimony about his concerns regarding the implementation and deployment of the TAAMS system, he spoke of the interrelationships of the subprojects with TAAMS and their impact on its success in the following dialogue on cross examination: +++ THE ENTIRE CROSS EXAMINATION IS POSTED IN ADOBE ACROBAT FORMAT AT: http://www.indiantrust.com/ 9/17/01 - Court Monitor's 3rd Report. --------- "RE: Chretien to Preach Wisdom, Patience" --------- Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 08:52:41 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHRETIEN" http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id=FAC94836-DD5F-4A0-9127 Chretien to preach wisdom, patience in debate Monday on terror attacks BRUCE CHEADLE Canadian Press Monday, September 17, 2001 OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Jean Chretien will be preaching "wisdom and patience" when he addresses Parliament on Monday in his first detailed response to last week's globe-rattling terrorist attacks in the United States. "He will talk about the fact that we have to, in these times, rely on our greatest strengths, which are wisdom and patience," said a federal official, speaking on background. The prime minister's speech, however, won't clarify Canada's military and security intentions, said the source. "We haven't ruled anything in or anything out. He's obviously not going into specifics because we don't know that things are happening at this time, what will happen over the long term." Seemingly intractable issues such as the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute, the plight of aboriginal communities and the petty brinkmanship of party realignment will be eclipsed when the Commons resumes after a 13- week summer recess. Instead, all five parties will be grappling with Canada's role in the aftermath of the devastation in New York and Washington. Chretien will open the Commons debate by focusing on three major themes: Canadian solidarity with the Americans, who are family as much as neighbours; the need to act wisely and ensure long-term solutions; and rejecting racism and ethnic targeting at home in the wake of terrorism linked to Muslim fundamentalists. Chretien will be "fairly substantive in talking about the fact that Canada is a very multicultural, diverse society," said the source. "And that this war, this fight, is against terrorism. It isn't against any one community." U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney on Sunday stated his country would "aggressively go after" Saudi millionaire and terrorist organizer Osama bin Laden and warned that countries that sheltered the terrorist will feel "the full wrath of the United States." Cheney identified Afghanistan as a likely target. Don Boudria, the Liberal House leader, hopes to have a motion passed unanimously in the Commons expressing sympathy for the victims, revulsion at the attacks and the need to "bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice. "It's designed to express our solidarity, our commitment, hopefully the will of all parliamentarians together," Boudria said. Among roughly 5,000 people unaccounted for in New York, estimates of the number of Canadians missing was reduced Sunday to between 40 and 75 from earlier estimates of up to 100, consular officials said. Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley said Sunday he has spoken by phone to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who told him: 'Some allies may feel there are some parts of the plan that they don't want to be involved in and the United States can do that on its own or with others.' "So nobody ever writes a blank cheque in these things," said Manley. "We'll wait to see how they feel we can be most useful. But certainly at a political level, they have our full support." But after six days of unfocused anger and sorrow, some Canadians will also be looking for more substantive, forward-looking proposals. "The hedging is disgraceful," historian Michael Bliss of the University of Toronto said in an interview Sunday. "The fact is we have commitments as a member of NATO. When North America, our own continent, is clearly under attack the government of Canada ought not in any way to be sitting back and hedging." The Canadian Alliance had already chastised the Liberals. "There are no rear-guard positions in the war on terrorism, only front lines," Leader Stockwell Day said last week. Conservative Leader Joe Clark said Sunday the debate in the Commons needs substance. "We don't need any more pieties from the prime minister of Canada. We need from the prime minister of Canada a clear indication of what they know . . . They should tell us what they intend to do to change the system in Canada." Manley and Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay are among cabinet ministers who will address the Commons on Monday. Transport Minister David Collenette, Defence Minister Art Eggleton and Minister of National Revenue Martin Cauchon are also scheduled to speak. "I think you'll also hear a lot of debate about what the response should be from NATO to the attack and what Canada's role should be in it," Manley said Sunday. "I think you'll hear fairly clear expressions of that from all parties. I hope that we don't sink into partisanship. This is a time when Canadians need to be united." Partisan bickering is likely to be suppressed given the high international stakes and overwhelming public revulsion of the terrorist attacks, said David Docherty, a politics professor at Sir Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. "This is not like the (1990) Persian Gulf War where you could say: 'We support the troops while we're opposed to the war,' " said Docherty. "You can't say that in this case. It's just cut and dried. The only criticism they can make is to say that the government is not doing enough, fast enough, and that we should be writing the U.S. the military equivalent of a blank cheque." The response time of Chretien's government has also taken some hits in the past few days. Cabinet will not meet until its regularly scheduled Tuesday morning time. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office said Sunday that ministers were scattered all over the world and have remained in constant contact with Chretien. Bringing them home immediately would have had no practical impact. "This is not a time for large symbolic gestures," said the spokesperson. "It's a time for concrete assistance to our closest allies." Bliss called the absence of an early Commons recall or a cabinet meeting "simply disgraceful. "I assume the members of Parliament didn't come back because they agree with the view of the country that they are simply feckless ciphers," fumed Bliss. "The cabinet didn't because they themselves agree they have no authority and simply do what the prime minister tells them." Details of ongoing concrete assistance may start to become clearer. Manley hinted Sunday that Canadian citizenship, immigration and border policies could be impacted by responses in the U.S. administration "because the response in the United States is one that we have to be very sensitive to. "If they feel that for purposes of security they need to put a secure wall around them, then our economy requires that we find the ways to be inside that wall." A new Immigration Act was passed in the Commons last June and comes up for second reading and debate this week in the Senate. Several MPs and senators have said the bill will be getting a long second look. On Sunday, the Immigration Department said it would temporarily extend visas for visitors, students and immigrants who may have been trying to travel to Canada but were delayed by disruptions in international and domestic travel last week. Copyright c. 2001 The Canadian Press. --------- "RE: Church angered by Residential School Poll" --------- Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:11:23 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CHURCH ANGERED" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSTopNews/church_sep10-cp.html Church angered by residential school poll By SUE BAILEY-- The Canadian Press OTTAWA (CP) -- Church leaders are angrily questioning the government's release of a poll on Indian residential schools just as the two sides prepare to continue talks on sharing costs for related abuse lawsuits. Churches are skeptical of the timing and say Friday's release of the poll could be "detrimental" to talks on how the costs of compensation should be shared, says Archdeacon Jim Boyles, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada. "There's a significant amount of frustration and anger," he said Monday as Anglican, Catholic, United and Presbyterian leaders prepared to meet federal officials Wednesday. "Some people are seeing this as a government tactic in the negotiation process that is unwarranted and detrimental to the process itself." The public opinion poll was conducted in March for the federal government by Pollara Research and Earnscliffe Research. Of 1,512 Canadians polled, 64 per cent said the churches should pay at least 40 per cent of settlements, expected to top $2 billion. Thirty-eight per cent of respondents favoured a 50-50 split, while 14 per cent said the churches should pay 60 per cent and Ottawa 40 per cent. Another 12 per cent said Ottawa should cover 60 per cent and the churches 40 per cent of the costs. More than 4,200 lawsuits involving at least 8,000 claimants have been filed by former students. Leaders of the churches that ran the live-in schools for Ottawa until the 1970s have long said the government should bear most of the cost of compensation. The Anglican church has said parts of its operations will be forced into insolvency by year's end as legal bills, totalling $5 million in the last two years, pile up. Shawn Tupper, director general of the government's Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution, denied the poll was published as a kind of bargaining chip. "Frankly, I don't see how it's a tactic," he said Monday. The churches were told Thursday that the poll results were being released, Tupper said. "There's nothing new in them." Still, Tupper did not quite explain the timing. Government departments are obliged to release the results of public polling within 60 days of receiving them, he said. "We had surpassed that 60 days and had been trying to, basically, contain it" so as not to upset ongoing negotiations with the churches this summer, Tupper explained. The poll results were received in July, he said. "Everybody is really sensitive and you don't want to be throwing things onto the table that can be disruptive," Tupper added. "But at some point, we have to meet our obligations within government and the time had come. We had to release the poll." Church leaders emerged from the third major meeting with federal officials Aug. 17 saying they were no closer to reaching a cost-sharing deal with Ottawa. Wednesday's meeting at a retreat centre outside Ottawa is the last of those scheduled this summer. Asked if it would have been less disruptive to release the poll earlier in the negotiations than later, Tupper said: "I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Maybe in retrospect we should have released it then." The debate sounds familiar to Jean LaRose, spokesman for the Assembly of First Nations, Canada's largest native advocacy group. "When First Nations are discussing issues with the government, oddly enough (Ottawa) will release public opinion polls that they'll try to use to their benefit during these talks," he said. LaRose cited how the government, now mustering support for a new First Nations governance act, has recently released poll results on perceived mismanagement on reserves. Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Wyandotte Company awarded $100M Contract" --------- Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 08:28:07 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="WYANDOTTE CONTRACT" http://www.indianz.com/ Wyandotte company awarded $100M contract FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2001 Wyandotte Nation and Department of Interior officials met in Washington, DC, on Thursday to sign a $100 million contract awarded to the Oklahoma tribe, one of the largest in government history for an Indian-owned business. Through the Minerals Management Service (MMS), a bureau of the Interior, Wyandotte NetTel will provide telecommunications and information technology services to various federal agencies. Known as a "total solutions" contract, the five-year agreement brings flexibility to government agencies who need the types of services the tribally-owned company offers. Managed under the GovWorks program, MMS acts as the broker between the government and the tribe. An agency who may be pressed for time comes to MMS with a particular need such as installation of network equipment. MMS then arranges Wyandotte NetTel to do the work. For its services, MMS takes no more than 3 percent of the fee charged by the company. According to Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb, the agreement with Wyandotte NetTel shows that "tribes can build and sustain strong tribal economies through the successful diversification of their economic development portfolios." "Through Wyandotte NetTel, the Wyandotte Nation is becoming a leader in the telecom business world," he said. The company is blessed in a number of ways which helped lead to the awarding of the contract. Through the Small Business Administration, it is certified as a small and disadvantaged minority 8(a) business. The company is also certified through SBA's "HUBZone" program. The designation is given to small companies located in an "historically underutilized business zone." Indian Country qualifies as a HUBZone under the program. According to the SBA, the Wyandotte NetTel contract is the second largest ever awarded to a tribally-owned enterprise. The largest was to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The company has a number of federal contracts. Among its clients are the Army Corp of Engineers, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Commerce. The tribe says the company has brought a wide number of benefits to tribal members. Revenues have provided funds for education, health care and housing programs. The tribe has also been seeking to open a casino in nearby Kansas but has been opposed by the state and tribes there. Copyright c. 2000-2001 Noble Savage Media, LLC/Indianz.Com --------- "RE: Place-name Changes sought by Tribe Delayed" --------- Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 11:14:42 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NAME CHANGES" http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=090901&ID =s1021157&cat=section.tribal_news Place-name changes sought by tribe delayed But council backs idea of removing names with squaw, papoose Associated Press Sunday, September 9, 2001 BOISE _ The Nez Perce Tribe did not get all it wanted, but a state council that reviews Idaho geographic names made progress on removing the offensive terms "squaw" and "papoose" from eight Panhandle landmarks. The Idaho Geographic Names Advisory Council on Friday delayed action on the Nez Perce requests until its spring meeting, but not before endorsing in principle the tribe's request to remove what Indians consider insulting terms from the landscape. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which has the final say, will wait until the Idaho council acts. The national board last week changed eastern Idaho's "Chinks Peak" to "Chinese Peak" on federal maps. There are at least 90 places in Idaho containing "squaw" in their names, but so far only the Nez Perce have filed formal requests with the board to seek the name changes. Other Idaho tribes will follow their lead. "It's offensive," said Juliana Repp, a Nez Perce and attorney. "I was called that name as a young woman in Idaho myself. This is an advisory board, but it's a step in the right direction." Some Indians also consider "papoose" to be offensive. They claim it signifies that a child is illegitimate. One reason the council delayed action was because there was confusion over whether the new names would be in English, which many council members preferred, or in the Nez Perce language, which can be difficult for non- Indians to pronounce. Most important, Nez Perce member Elliott Moffett said, was that the offensive term be removed. "I prefer the Nez Perce names," he said. "It would be pretty awesome to me to be traveling down the highway and to see the Nez Perce up there where `squaw' used to be." Of the 1,000 place names nationwide that contained the term "squaw," about 100 have been changed so far. Copyright c. 2001, The Spokesman-Review. --------- "RE: Indians object to SRP Plans for N.M. Strip Mine" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:19:28 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="STRIP MINE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/breaking/0917fencelake17.html Indians object to SRP plans for N.M. strip mine Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Sept. 17, 2001 12:00:00 A coal mine proposed by the Salt River Project is pitting the energy needs of metropolitan Phoenix against the spiritual beliefs of the Pueblo Indians of western New Mexico. The open-pit strip mine would provide inexpensive coal for the SRP's Coronado Generating Station near St. Johns, which supplies electricity to about 200,000 customers, primarily in metropolitan Phoenix. But Native Americans fear that groundwater pumping at the Fence Lake Mine will dry up nearby Zuni Salt Lake, a sacred site to a half-dozen Southwestern tribes. They worry that the mine and a proposed 44-mile rail line to the plant will destroy hundreds of archaeological sites and obliterate portions of the sacred trails that connect Native American villages and pueblos with the lake. For centuries, Zunis, Navajos, Hopis and others have made pilgrimages to the lake, formed by an extinct volcano, to gather the remarkably pure salt left by evaporation of its briny water. "It's the Zunis' most significant religious site," said tribal Gov. Malcolm Bowekaty, who noted that the Zunis and other tribes view it as the embodiment of Salt Mother, one of their chief deities. Hydrology tests commissioned by the SRP, the Zuni and the federal government are inconclusive about the impact on the lake of the SRP's proposed pumping. To be certain that the lake is not harmed, the Zunis want the SRP to agree to not pump from the aquifer thought to feed the lake. The SRP has water rights in three aquifers in the area but is balking at the Zunis' request. Glen Reeves, the SRP's director of fuel resources, said the utility is willing to set up monitoring stations and to pump from other aquifers if the lake level begins to drop, but the utility is not willing give up its right to pump from any aquifer. The mine site lies within a 182,000-acre "neutral zone," eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The tribes suspended traditional hostilities against each other within the zone because of the importance to all of them of gathering salt at the lake. The historic designation requires federal agencies to minimize harm to the area, but it does not prohibit mining. Bowekaty estimates there are 500 to 600 archaeological sites on the SRP's 18,000-acre project site, and each could contain the remains of up to 600 people. "That's a lot of bodies," he said. The Zuni and other tribes want more time to excavate the sites before the mining starts. The SRP believes there are fewer archaeological sites, and Reeves noted that a test trench along the railroad corridor encountered only one set of human remains. The SRP has been given approval by the state of New Mexico to begin mining the site but still must gain clearance from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Reeves believes the final go-ahead could come this month and said the company is prepared to begin work on the mine soon after. But the Zunis have challenged the New Mexico permit. Bowekaty said the tribe is prepared to file a breach-of-trust suit against the Interior Department if it approves the mine. The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, also has challenged the permit. "We're talking about sacrificing one of the wildest areas in the Southwest and an area that is sacred to several tribes and pueblos," said Brian Segee, a spokesman for the group. Segee said the group might organize a boycott of the SRP if the mine goes ahead. Fuel for the 800-megawatt Coronado Generating Station now comes from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Pittsburgh & Midway Coal Co.'s McKinley mine on the Navajo reservation near Gallup, N.M. The McKinley mine is expected to eventually run out, and the SRP has stepped up efforts to get its new mine into production before then. "We're working to begin shipping in January 2005," said Reeves, adding that the SRP has worked on the Fence Lake Mine project for 20 years. The utility only recently received the full backing of its board of directors in the wake of uncertainty over volatile energy markets, especially in the West, he said. The price of coal has fluctuated this year from $4 to $14 per ton, Reeves said: "That's a pretty big spread." Mining its own coal would eliminate the SRP's exposure to price swings, and the mine's proximity to the plant would reduce transportation costs that run nearly $20 per ton. Reeves said the SRP is talking with the Tucson Electric Power Co. about selling Fence Lake coal for use at that company's Springerville power plant, 20 miles south of the SRP's Coronado facility. That would mean lower rates for SRP customers, Reeves said. While there are alternative sources coal for the Coronado plant, Reeves said, the Fence Lake Mine, which will cost $90 million to develop, is the most economical. While helping keep energy costs low for the SRP's customers, Fence Lake Mine would provide an economic shot in the arm for New Mexico's impoverished Catron County. The mine would bring up to 150 permanent jobs and generate $120 million in state taxes and royalties over 40 years. While the prospect of new jobs has created excitement among non-Indians, it has failed to impress the Zuni, who view the lake and the culture of the area as irreplaceable. "It's been very hard," Bowekaty said. "We've had to choose between our heritage and the economic advantages of the mine. But this is a situation where our spiritual and tribal leaders believe the economics have to be put behind our spirituality." The Hopis, the Acomas, the Lagunas, the Ramah Navajos of New Mexico and other tribes support the Zunis in the effort. "If there is anything worth fighting for, it's our spirituality," Acoma Pueblo Lt. Gov. Gregory Ortiz told a group of mine protesters earlier this summer. Reach the reporter at max.jarman@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7351. Copyright c. 2001, azcentral.com. Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Tribe Endorses Effort to Bring Back Buffalo" --------- Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 08:10:58 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUFFALO PLAN" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.pressanddakotan.com/stories/082701/new_0827010020.shtml Monday, August 27, 2001 Tribe Endorses Effort To Bring Back Buffalo ROSEBUD (AP) -- A plan to reintroduce buffalo to the Great Plains on a mammoth tract of protected land got an endorsement Saturday from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in south central South Dakota. It's the first American Indian tribe to embrace the Million Acre Project. The Great Plains Restoration Council, a Denver-based nonprofit advocacy group, is developing the project as a land base for an even larger "Buffalo Commons." Frank and Deborah Popper, two New Jersey university professors, coined the phrase Buffalo Commons in 1987 in a scholarly article looking at population decline on the Plains. The Poppers suggested the federal government acquire abandoned lands for a national buffalo preserve. Frank Popper is now on the board of the restoration council. It wants to create the Buffalo Commons using a more incremental approach that would include both private and public lands. "Since the early 1990s, it's been clear that this was probably going to happen on a private, local and state level," Popper said Saturday. The council is raising money to buy land, but it also will work with private landowners, Indian tribes and local governments to patch together the contiguous 1 million acres. The council's seven-member board met Saturday afternoon in Rosebud to map out the first steps toward a Buffalo Commons. "The tribe's endorsement is very important," Popper said. Lakota language teacher Rosalie Little Thunder of Rapid City -- also a council board member and member of the tribe -- said there is strong grass-roots support for the plan at Rosebud. Chuck Bull Bear, director of game, fish and parks for the tribe, said the project fits with the tribe's plan to expand its own buffalo herd. Bull Bear said the tribe would provide technical support. Ethnic studies professor Edward Valandra, another member of the Rosebud tribe who lives in St. Paul, Minn., also is a member of the board. Valandra wrote his master's thesis on buffalo restoration. He called the plan a "spiritual and cultural restoration." "It goes to the question of land ethics," he said. The council now must decide where to begin building the preserve. Demographer Dan Fosha of Colorado Springs, Colo., also a board member, said the group was focusing on the Dakotas. He and other board members spent the past nine days scouting locations based on demographic maps Fosha created. He highlighted four factors: -- Population change since 1980 -- Poverty rate by county -- Population density -- Percentage of county populations older than 65 In general, the council is looking for untilled land as close as possible to natural short-grass prairie. According to the Poppers' original thesis, the Buffalo Commons would be a band of "frontier" land from Mexico to Canada. There would be no fences except around settled areas. Others groups and individuals also have looked to the Dakotas for buffalo projects in recent years. Media mogul Ted Turner of Atlanta owns about 172,000 acres in Bennett, Jones and Stanley counties, where he plans to raise buffalo. The Poppers' thesis was controversial in the early 1990s. Some thought the professors wanted to remove ranchers and farmers from the Great Plains. Restoration council Executive Director Jarid Manos of Denver said the Million Acre Project could not be built by force. "We don't have that power," he said. "This is about people working together." All Contents c. Copyright Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. --------- "RE: Sharing Culture spurs Buffalo Hunt" --------- Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:11:23 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BUFFALO HUNT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E142992,00.html Sharing culture spurs buffalo hunt By Theresa Myers Special to The Denver Post Tuesday, September 11, 2001 - GREELEY - Solomon Littleowl opens the door of his small office closet and wrestles out a huge, mounted buffalo head. "This is from last year's hunt," said Littleowl, a Crow Indian and director of Native American Student Services at the University of Northern Colorado. "We are hoping to have it mounted in the student center," he said, noting that the majestic beast is an important symbol of what it means to be a Native American. "We are the hosts of this nation," Littleowl said as he maneuvered the large, furry head back into its dark nest. "To me, this is my culture." It's a culture Littleowl feels driven to share. That's why he has organized an annual buffalo hunt on the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana for the past four years. This year, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, a UNC graduate, will join in the hunt. Cultural understanding The Native American student organization buses about 30 students, most from other ethnic backgrounds, to the 2.4 million-acre Montana reservation. This year's hunting party will depart Greeley on Wednesday and return Sunday. "I come from a hunting culture and tribe," Littleowl said. "For students who have never been on a reservation, this gives them an incredible opportunity. My goal is to help them understand my culture." The event is expected to draw even more attention with Webb's attendance. The mayor, who graduated with both bachelor's and master's degrees in sociology, plans to attend the hunt, leaving Denver on Thursday, spokesman Andrew Hudson said. "He is an outstanding alumni," Hudson said. "It was a great honor for him to be invited." Littleowl invited Webb to last year's hunt, but the mayor could not attend. Webb's stewardship as mayor, his work to develop multicultural understanding and his alumnus status prompted the invitation, Littleowl said. "I see him as a people person," Littleowl said. "This will have him experience people in a way that I hope he will cherish." Hunt requires roughing it The students who attend the buffalo hunt pay their own way. The crew travels by bus, camps out, eats meals together and visits a few historic sites along the way. They often have to brave bad weather and rough, roadless terrain to reach the buffalo herd. The hunt is conducted on the Crow Reservation by Native American game wardens. The reservation maintains a herd of about 1,300 North American bison, known more traditionally as buffalo. The herd roams an area of 190,000 acres butting up against the Big Horn Mountains, so there is no guarantee of a successful hunt, Littleowl said. The group will pick a bull that is suitable, and the game warden will attempt to shoot it, he said. "We love our animals, and we don't want them to suffer," he said. If an animal is killed, it will be butchered following traditional Native American methods. Nearly all of the animal is used, from the meat to bones to the hide, Littleowl said. Much of the meat will be brought back to Greeley for a buffalo feast, to be held sometime in October, he said. But the best part of the hunt, Littleowl said, is bringing together people from various backgrounds and cultures, all while helping to educate them about Native American traditions. It can spur a metamorphosis that Littleowl said he sees in the students each year. "Nobody knows each other and they come home best friends," he said. "The environment and the elements make you really see where your safe haven is. You become vulnerable. You become aware. You find yourself at peace. In a way, it is very romantic." Copyright c. 2001 The Denver Post. --------- "RE: Ontario NDP seeks Ipperwash Inquiry" --------- Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:11:23 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="IPPERWASH INQUIRY" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSTopNews/ont_sep10-cp.html Monday, September 10, 2001 Ontario NDP seeks Ipperwash inquiry By LOUISE ELLIOTT-- The Canadian Press TORONTO (CP) -- The federal government should launch a public inquiry into the shooting death of a native protester at Ipperwash Provincial Park, says Ontario's NDP leader, citing Canada's fiduciary duty to native people and a conflict of interest by the provincial Tories. A recent flurry of documents suggests Ontario's Conservative government has too many ties to the death of Dudley George and should not be the ones to call for a probe, Howard Hampton said Monday. "Every day there is a new piece of evidence -- a new piece of information which clearly links the premier and two or three cabinet ministers to the eventual police conduct which resulted in the death of Dudley George," Hampton said. Premier Mike Harris has consistently denied allegations he used his political influence to persuade the Ontario provincial police to send a tactical squad into the park, saying he was only seeking information on the dispute when he attended a meeting with officers. Harris and several cabinet ministers are named in a wrongful death suit by George's family. It is now working its way through the Ontario courts. "We have seen through the civil case ... an effort, repeated again and again by the lawyer for the premier and his cabinet ministers to either limit the issues which will be decided upon by the civil trial or, in effect, to eliminate the civil case altogether," Hampton said. Contacted Monday, Alastair Mullin, an aide to Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault, said his department's position on the matter has not changed: it's up to the province to call an inquiry. "We hope the province of Ontario will accept that these concerns (about Ipperwash) exist, and some action should be taken to address them," he said. "The fact is the Ontario provincial police and the provincial government don't fall within federal jurisdictions." Nault's predecessor, Jane Stewart, refused in 1997 and again in 1999 to call an inquiry, despite receiving a legal opinion that Ottawa could do so under the federal Inquiries Act. Both Stewart and her predecessor, Ron Irwin, called on Ontario to launch an inquiry. Hampton cited the federal government's obligation to protect the rights of native people under the Indian Act, as well as its constitutional responsibility to ensure "peace order and good government." Both were violated in Ipperwash on Sept. 6, 1995, Hampton said, when provincial police raided two dozen unarmed Chippewayan natives who were protesting what they called the desecration of a sacred burial ground. Hampton said the lack of a public inquiry proves that native people are routinely subjected to racism -- a statement made earlier this month by Assembly of First Nations leader Matthew Coon Come. "If this were a non-native person who had been shot down -- an innocent unarmed non-native person, a public inquiry would have been held by now," he said. Earlier in the day, Harris lashed out at opposition politicians and the media for making "false allegations" about his government's role in the shooting. "There have been serious allegations made against a number of government officials," he told reporters. "Many (parties) have been allowed free-wheeling accusations that, quite frankly, are false." The Liberal native affairs critic called those remarks "a terrible insult" to the George family. "They have a brother that's dead, an OPP officer convicted of criminal negligence causing death as a result of that ... and the premier chooses to say this is all about politics," said Gerry Phillips. Harris admitted for the first time last week that he met with two senior provincial police officers the day of the shooting six years ago. He described it as a "regular" meeting of a committee convened to deal with the land dispute at Ipperwash Provincial Park, and suggested his presence was routine. But when asked Monday if he knew why his name didn't appear in the minutes from that meeting, Harris said it was up to the lawyers involved in the civil lawsuit against him to find out. "No (I don't know why), and all of those facts will come out," he said. "I'm sure I will be asked about those as a priority of the lawsuit. I'll be happy to answer those." On Friday an aide to the premier said there were actually two meetings held hours before police stormed the park, near Sarnia, Ont., and shot Dudley George, 39. Harris attended only the second which was an "offshoot" of the first, Rob Mitchell said. Phillips called Harris's statements about the meeting just the latest in a string of inconsistencies. "It wasn't the cabinet which took a decision, it was a secret meeting with the premier and a few cabinet ministers and, I gather, a few OPP officers." Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. --------- "RE: Harris lambastes Media over Ipperwash" --------- Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 09:16:04 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="HARRIS/IPPERWASH" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id={E3AE6671-639D-4018-8447-D09661CC76C0} Harris lambastes media over Ipperwash Premier claims accusations are false Robert Benzie National Post Tuesday, September 11, 2001 TORONTO - Mike Harris, the Ontario Premier, yesterday lashed out at both the media and his political foes for making "false" accusations about his alleged role in the 1995 police killing of a native protester during an illegal occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park. As Mr. Harris was attacking his critics, Howard Hampton, the leader of the provincial NDP, called for Ottawa to intervene with a federal commission of inquiry into the shooting of Dudley George. Mr. Hampton said apparent inconsistencies in Mr. Harris's story over the past six years about meetings with Ontario Provincial Police officers hours before the Sept. 6, 1995, death suggest the government has "a conflict of interest" on the Ipperwash affair. "It is the Premier's habit of changing his story ... that is, I think, calling the Premier's credibility into question," said Mr. Hampton, who has written Robert Nault, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, to request federal intervention. But a spokesman for Mr. Nault said it was "inappropriate" for Ottawa to step in because it is clearly an issue of provincial jurisdiction. Mr. Harris has refused to call a judicial inquiry into the incident because he is being sued by members of Mr. George's family and believes the civil action will resolve any outstanding issues surrounding the shooting. But the issue has dogged him for years and yesterday he insisted press coverage of Ipperwash has been unfair. "Most of what I read in the media is false, so I don't know where you get it from," he told reporters, without elaborating on specific falsehoods that have allegedly been published or broadcast. The Premier said it was "not a shock" to read in the National Post on Saturday that Dalton McGuinty, the Liberal leader, would call an inquiry if his party wins the election expected in 2003. "That's been his play on this all along," said Mr. Harris. "We, on the other hand, in government have to act responsibly. There have been serious allegations made against a number of government officials. Many have been allowed [to make] freewheeling accusations that, quite frankly, are false." Mr. Harris, whose own taxpayer-funded legal bills in the suit have topped $426,000, said he saw no inherent unfairness in the government fighting a costly court battle against a family of modest means. "This is an action that they have initiated. There has been a fair bit of support for the George family in paying for this action, so it's not my initiative," he said. Murray Klippenstein, the Georges' lawyer, said the family "is very vulnerable to financial bullying, which may be one reason the government prefers litigation over a public inquiry." He questioned Mr. Harris's claim the media are publishing erroneous stories. "The George family believes that if the Premier has concerns about the accuracy of information in the public [domain] he could help things by ensuring that all the contents of his Sept. 6 Ipperwash meeting [with OPP Superintendent Ron Fox and Sergeant Scott Patrick] were made public immediately," he said. While OPP Sergeant Kenneth Deane was convicted of criminal negligence causing death in 1997, there has been renewed interest in Ipperwash due to recent documents filed in the civil suit proving Mr. Harris conferred with the two officers the day of the shooting. Gerry Phillips, the Liberal critic for native affairs, said it was "an insult" to the Georges for Mr. Harris to say he was the victim of baseless allegations. Copyright c. 2001 National Post --------- "RE: Burnt Church assess Damage following Night Raid" --------- Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 08:52:41 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="NIGHT RAID" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Native-Fishing.html September 17, 2001 N.B. natives assess damage following night raid on lobster fishery BURNT CHURCH, N.B. (CP) -- Mi'kmaq fishermen headed out onto Miramichi Bay on Monday morning to assess damage to their traps following a nighttime raid by non-native fishermen from communities surrounding the Burnt Church reserve. No one was hurt in the melee on the water Sunday evening in which shots were fired as angry non-native fishermen in at least 50 boats stormed into the Mi'kmaq lobster fishing zone to protest the closure of the herring fishery. RCMP Insp. Kevin Vickers said at least 30 gunshots were fired. "A large number of the shots were fired from the (native reserve) community of Burnt Church," Vickers told reporters Monday. Vickers said police are reviewing videotape of the confrontation, but he added it will be days and possibly weeks before all the evidence is gathered and charges can be considered. Vickers said one commercial fishing boat burned after it ran aground in shallow waters near the reserve Sunday night. He said two men from the boat -- non-natives who were intoxicated -- were turned over to police by natives. The two were later released and no charges were laid. He said police warned native people the protest was on its way. "We attempted to intercept the non-native fishermen," Vickers said, adding that the RCMP emergency response team had 10 boats on the water. "We asked that the fishermen stop their boats and return to Baie Ste. Anne. We were aggressively ignored. "The non-native fishers are upset the herring fishery is closed, while the native lobster fishery is allowed to continue." Vickers added there is no question that commercial, non-native fishermen wilfully damaged native fishing gear, cutting lines to lobster traps. Leo Bartibogue, a band councillor at Burnt Church, said the RCMP did warn the community that trouble was coming. "They couldn't stop them," he said of the RCMP. Natives talked about the non-native fishermen declaring a war and the tough talk continued on Monday. "I just hope they come back again and try this," said Bartibogue. "This time they don't know what's going to happen. We're not backing away." Mike Belliveau of the Maritime Fishermen's Union, which represents commercial non-native fishermen in the Miramichi Bay area , said the organization does not condone violence and had no knowledge of the most recent confrontation. "We've taken the position that there should be no aggressive actions on the water," Belliveau said. "This may be an isolated, marginal incident. We hope it doesn't get blown out of proportion." Belliveau said non-native fishermen are frustrated over the closure of the herring fishery on Friday. He said fishermen from the New Brunswick communities of Baie Ste. Anne and Escuminac have long felt they didn't have an adequate share of the herring quota in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. "They believe the fishery has to be managed more flexibly," he said. The meeting of native and non-native boats on Miramichi Bay led to high- -speed chases in the area lasting about 30 minutes. "There was a lot of gunfire," said James Ward, a Mi'kmaq warrior at Burnt Church. "We got on a boat with the chief because we heard there were shots being fired. "As soon as we got out . . . we were fired upon -- more than five times. It just narrowly missed one of our guys." Ward said some traps were pulled and cut. Vickers said shots had been fired on the water, but also said shots had come from the reserve. An RCMP helicopter videotaped the actions of non-native fishermen throughout the confrontation, Vickers said. Federal fisheries boats were also monitoring the situation. Since late August, federal fisheries officials have hauled more than 160 native lobster traps out of an area of the bay Ottawa considers outside the legal fishing zone for the reserve. The federal government has issued a food fishery licence for Burnt Church, allowing for an unlimited amount of traps to be set within a narrowly defined zone close to the reserve shoreline. However, Mi'kmaq fishermen have said they don't recognize the federal licence or the permitted zone, although the vast majority of the roughly 1,000 lobster traps set so far are within the allowable area. The reserve of about 1,400 people has refused to sign a fisheries agreement with Ottawa and is demanding the treaty right to fish under its own management plan. The reserve's defiance has caused confrontations in the last two years, both with non-native commercial fishermen and with fisheries officers. Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. --------- "RE: Burnt Church Dispute Heats Up" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:19:28 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="BURNT CHURCH HEATS" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://nb.cbc.ca/editorServlets/View?filename=shotss010917 Burnt Church dispute heats up Sonya Varma reports for Canada Now Burnt Church, N.B. - 'They come here on Sunday after mass, after they finished praying, they come and do this' Twenty fishing boats from the Big Cove reserve sailed into Miramichi Bay late Monday to support fishermen from the Burnt Church band. It's in response to a raid Sunday night into waters of the native fishing zone. Up to 200 commercial non-native fishermen aboard 55 boats cut and damaged lobster traps. RCMP Inspector Kevin Vickers says smaller native boats took to the water to confront the raiders. "The situation out there with high speeds and large vessels," he says, "is exceptionally dangerous situation in which very easily there could be loss of life." Vickers also confirms up to 30 shots were fired during the incident. He says they came from the reserve on shore. Band councillor Leo Bartibogue says he's disgusted by the non-native action. "I was standing by my boat and there was fire," he says. "You could see bullets flying from the water where they hit. We saw them throwing bottles at us, they were all intoxicated. "They come here on Sunday after mass, after they finished praying, they come and do this." Bartibogue says the commercial fishermen were armed with guns and liquor. Two non-natives were arrested Sunday night. The RCMP is presently reviewing videotapes made during the confrontation. They say more charges could be laid. Copyright c. 2001 CBC. --------- "RE: RCMP Planning Charges after Latest Dispute" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:19:28 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="RCMP CHARGES" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/09/17/miramichi010917 RCMP planning charges after latest native, non-native fishing dispute WebPosted Mon Sep 17 18:13:06 2001 BURNT CHURCH, N.B. - RCMP near the Burnt Church reserve in New Brunswick are reviewing videotapes of Sunday evening's clash between native and non- native fishermen. Fifty non-native fishing boats from nearby Baie-St-Anne and Neguac approached the reserve just before 6 p.m. Sunday night. RCMP say they tried to stop the boats but failed. Once there, the fishermen allegedly cut and damaged several native fishing traps. Natives sent out their own boats, and a violent confrontation ensued. Many boats were nearly tipped over and about 30 gunshots were fired, but no one was hurt. RCMP Inspector Kevin Vickers says police are now trying to figure out what charges to lay. Vickers says charges could be laid against both non-natives and natives. Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright c. 2001 CBC. --------- "RE: Alaska Natives seek Allies against Arctic Drilling" --------- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 08:18:47 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="GWICH'IN/HAWAI'IAN SUPPORT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Sep/11/ln/ln34a.html Tuesday, September 11, 2001 Alaska Natives seek allies against Arctic drilling By Jan TenBruggencate Advertiser Science Writer Two Native Americans of the Gwich'in tribe are visiting the Islands to call on Native Hawaiians and the local environmental community to join their fight against oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Norma Kassi of Old Iron, Canada, and Faith Gemmill of Arctic Village, Alaska, hope Hawai'i residents will persuade U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka to change his position on the drilling. They are on a speaking tour of several islands to make their point, and will appear at a rally from noon to 2 p.m. Friday at the Federal Building in Honolulu. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, has taken the position that drilling is permissible as long as proper environmental precautions are taken, said his press secretary, Paul Cardus. The Bush administration has proposed allowing drilling for oil in the refuge, and Akaka's committee is expected to vote on the issue this month. Bush says the nation needs the oil under the refuge and can drill for it without seriously compromising the environment of the reserve. Kassi and Gemmill said the Gwich'in feel no drilling in the refuge is acceptable, since the northern part of the region is the primary calving ground of a vital caribou herd. "The caribou is very sensitive at the time of nursing. They won't give birth where there are people. If there is drilling there, the migration pattern of the herd will change, and our villages are located on the migration route," Gemmill said. Cardus said that in nearby oil-drilling areas, pumping activities have been halted during the calving season, and Akaka would demand similar conditions on anything occurring within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Gwich'in are an Indian tribe related to the Navajo. They are sometimes known as the Caribou People, since they depend on the animals for food, medicine, clothing, shelter and tools. "There are moose, sheep, fish, ducks, rabbits and small game, but the caribou is our main staple. Arctic Village is 110 miles above the Arctic Circle. There are no salmon in our rivers," Gemmill said. The roughly 7,000 Gwich'in live in 17 small villages in northern Alaska and Canada, most of which are without road access. Most live subsistence lifestyles. They do not live on the coastal plain near the northeastern corner of Alaska, the portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where most of the caribou give birth. Rather, they live on the migration routes the caribou take each year between the northern calving grounds and their winter grounds to the south. The Gwich'in argument is made more difficult because another native people of northern Alaska, the Inupiat Eskimos, have come out in favor of drilling. Some of their lands are included in the reserve, and they would benefit financially from oil development in the region. Kassi said the Inupiat are already a rich people from oil revenues, and the Arctic has been sufficiently tapped for oil. "The people have to understand that 95 percent of the Arctic is under siege right now for oil and gas development. This is the last 5 percent. I don't know why there's so much pressure to get in there," she said. "Our people's lives depend on what Senator Akaka's going to do." Copyright c. 2001 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. --------- "RE: Plight of the Caribou People" --------- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:19:28 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CARIBOU PEOPLE" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/16/MN206115.DTL Plight of the caribou people San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, September 16, 2001 Tribe draws its life from herd, and both face drilling plans in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post Sunday, September 16, 2001 Old Crow, Yukon -- During a great famine hundreds of years ago, when there was little meat, the Vuntut Gwitchin people still would not hunt at the birthing grounds of the caribou. To them, the icy place in the high Arctic where the caribou migrated to have their young was sacred ground. Even hunger would not allow the people to enter it. "We firmly believe as Gwitchin people that the caribou and our people are one," said Sandra Newman, a town councilor in Old Crow. "Their young are our young. If they were taken from us, we would feel their pain." The Gwitchin people's oral history says they have roamed the mountains and tundra of the high Arctic for 20,000 years. They have protected the caribou young and, in return, the herds have provided them with food, clothing and tools. Today, food and tools flown in from the south are common, but many Gwitchin still live off the land and depend on the caribou in much the same way their ancestors did. Now, the Gwitchin fear, the caribou are threatened by a U.S. energy bill that would open the way for oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where the main calving area lies. The Gwitchin say drilling would disrupt the caribou's annual migration and kill a human lifestyle that has survived thousands of years. The calving grounds, which cover millions of acres, straddle the U.S.- Canadian border. The most sensitive part lies on 1.5 million acres on a coastal plain in the Alaskan preserve. It is there, on the edge of the Beaufort Sea, that about 180,000 caribou migrate each spring and more than 50,000 calves are born. The Gwitchin in Old Crow, a town of about 300 some 40 miles east of the U.S. -Canadian border, point out that the caribou do not recognize international borders. So their human protectors here don't either, and are fighting the U.S. proposal, which they liken to "drilling in a hospital nursery." "We are not doing this because we don't like oil companies," Newman said. "We are not doing this because we are environmentalists. We are doing this to preserve the land for our children. When our children are hungry, we cannot give them oil." "We feel if the caribou are no longer there to hunt, there will be no reason to go out on the land," said Joe Linklater, chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nations. "Once the main portion of the culture disappears, what is left is legend and stories. We don't want to have to say to our children, 'When I was your age, we used to hunt caribou and caribou are large animals with horns.' " On a recent day, Linklater walked along the Porcupine River, which gives the Porcupine caribou their name because the herd migrates across it in the spring and fall. "The river that flows through the community flows through our veins," Linklater said. "We feel the same about the caribou. An elder said the caribou heart is half man and man's heart is half caribou. We are the same." The calving grounds should be respected as sacred because the caribou encounter fewer pressures there, Linklater said. "Think about it: They are pursued by wolverine, grizzly bears, hunters, biologists, tourists, camera crews," Linklater said. "Our elders have told biologists to stop studying them as much. They hunt them down with helicopters, put nets over them and draw blood. The elders feel that is too much stress on the caribou." Proponents of drilling say it won't harm the herds. "Arguments against exploration in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) are emotional and rhetorical. There is no sound scientific evidence to suggest it can't be done safely," said Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska. "The truth is that the coastal plain is not unique and is not the most biologically important area for wildlife in Northern Alaska. Prudhoe Bay, where the Central Arctic caribou herd has increased ninefold, provides a quarter-century of proof." Supporters say they could protect the herds by taking steps such as halting drilling in the spring and summer, when the caribou are in the birthing grounds. Murkowski pointed to other people living in the Arctic refuge, such as villagers in Kaktovik, Alaska, as supporting drilling. Kaktovik officials said 68 percent of residents surveyed said oil exploration would bring more jobs and only 25 percent said they believe it would hurt the environment. "Most of us believe the herd can adjust," said Kaktovik Mayor Lon Sonsalla, noting the native Inupiat people of northern Alaska still hunt caribou for subsistence. "The thing is, the herd is only here a month and a half during the summer to give birth to calves. During that time, we would insist there would be no activity on the coastal plain. We do not disturb the animals when they are calving. The only ones that disturb them are the eco-tourists who take pictures." Murkowski argues that the refuge is important for U.S. energy needs and could replace the oil imported from Saudi Arabia and cushion the United States from foreign oil price fluctuations. "The latest U.S. Geological Survey estimates show the coastal plain could contain between 5.7 and 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil," Murkowski said. Oil development in the refuge is by no means certain. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., has said the odds of the Senate passing any energy bill that would allow drilling there are "pretty slim." "I truly believe that the vast majority of the American people want us to find our oil elsewhere," Daschle said. "They don't want the trade-off that ANWR presents. It's six months of energy destroying in perpetuity a very pristine, very special part of our country." Newman, in Old Crow, said the solution is to cut energy use. "In the States, there are millions and millions of cars going in all directions," she said. "I'm not surprised the United States is running out of fuel and energy. They use too much. They talk about an energy shortage in California. But if you go one state over, the whole city of Las Vegas is lit up. Couldn't Las Vegas cut off its lights and share with California?" Copyright c. 2001 San Francisco Chronicle --------- "RE: Crow say New Constitution doesn't need BIA's OK" --------- Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 10:21:23 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="CROW CONSTITUTION" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=6876 Officials Say New Constitution Doesn't Need BIA's OK - But Get It by AP, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Leaders of the Crow Tribe were in Washington, D.C., Thursday as federal officials approved the tribe's new constitution, even though tribal leaders said their approval was not needed. The previous constitution, dating to 1948, required council decisions to be approved by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. But by adopting a new constitution, that requirement no longer applies, so the BIA doesn't have to sign off on the constitution itself, tribal lawyer Sam Painter said. Tribal spokesman Channis Whiteman said the tribal leaders asked for BIA approval anyway to lend weight to the document. "Our constitution is passed," Whiteman said here shortly after talking to tribal leaders by telephone. "We're starting our new beginning now." Some tribal members weren't so comfortable with the new constitution. Bob Kelly, the tribe's former water rights negotiator and a leader of an opposition movement against the changes, said the new document is illegal. "They make up the rules as they go along," Kelly said. "Can they defend this position in court where they are headed? I've heard enough of their lies." Faron Iron, a former tribal director who has pushed for constitutional reform for the past 12 years, agrees with Kelly. "They want to stay in power for life. This gives the executives almost absolute power," said Iron. BIA Regional Director Keith Beartusk said he received a copy of the proposed changes, and forwarded them to Washington. He said he wasn't authorized to make the decision, but recommended approval of the constitution. Painter said that doesn't matter, since the constitutional changes no longer require BIA's approval. "We sent them the new constitution. All they have to do is acknowledge receipt," Painter said. "The BIA does not have approval authority of the tribe's actions." Officials have scheduled an election for a new legislature on Oct. 26, Painter said. Copyright c. 2001 The Associated Press. Copyright c. 2001 iMinorities, Inc. --------- "RE: Congressional Support for Acoma Land Swap" --------- Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 10:21:23 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ACOMA LAND SWAP" http://www.pechanga.net/ http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=6877 Acoma Leaders Get Congressional Support For Land Swap by AP, The Associated Press By Robert Gehrke Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Leaders of the Acoma Pueblo went to Congress on Thursday, trying to convince lawmakers to give them rights to their land after years of hitting dead ends. This time, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and members of Congress committed to returning 67,710 acres of mineral rights to the tribe. Acoma Gov. Cyrus J. Chino said the tribe isn't looking to develop the land. "We're looking to save our sacred sites," he said. He said the land is used for prayer rituals seeking rain and plentiful harvests. The Acoma tribe has lived on the land for centuries. The Spanish who colonized the area granted the land west of modern-day Albuquerque, N.M., to the tribe in 1689. That land grant was recognized by the United States when it took over the territory after the Mexican-American War. But the government later gave the land to the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad as an incentive to build a rail line across the state. In 1988, the pueblo reacquired part of its land, buying a large ranch adjacent to the reservation. The Interior Department later bought 100,000 acres and added it to the reservation. But the tribe only got the surface rights. NZ Corp., an Arizona mining company, still holds the rights to the minerals below the ground, as well as the right to the access it needs to extract those minerals. To avoid a conflict between mineral rights and tribal sovereignty, both the Acoma and NZ have been pressing the Interior Department to swap mineral rights elsewhere in New Mexico for the mineral rights in the reservation. But the deal has hit dead ends for at least seven years. So Rep. Joe Skeen, R-N.M., is sponsoring legislation mandating the swap. "It's shameful that this has been going on so long and these people have to come here" to solve the problem, said Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., chairwoman of the House Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. "We'll work with you to make sure your land is protected." BIA director Neal McCaleb said his agency and the Interior Department are also supportive, but he couldn't explain why the past administration didn't move forward on the deal. "We're enthusiastic about this transaction," he said. "It's unconscionable that it has taken this long." As an alternative to swapping the mineral rights, McCaleb suggested allowing the department to simply buy it from NZ, saving the department the expense of having to find a parcel of equal value and do environmental studies required by law. McCaleb said those studies can take years and cost up to $1 million. According to NZ, the mineral rights is worth between $1 million and $1.7 million. Copyright c. 2001 The Associated Press. Copyright c. 2001 iMinorities, Inc. --------- "RE: Occaneechi Band wins Court Victory" --------- Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 08:21:36 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="OCCANEECHI" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2251613&BRD=1834&PAG=461 Tribe wins court victory By Brent Lancaster, Times-News August 22, 2001 Mebane The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation took a big step Tuesday toward the state tribal recognition it has sought for more than a decade. The group has argued since 1999 that the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs violated state law in rejecting its bid to become a state- recognized Indian tribe. It won a key victory Tuesday when the N.C. Court of Appeals overruled an Orange County Superior Court judge who rejected the group's claims to tribal recognition last year. The three-judge panel's ruling upheld an administrative law judge's decision that the group should gain state recognition. Barring an appeal by the Commission of Indian Affairs, the tribe could get the state recognition it has sought for years. "I think that this is a tremendous step in the right direction," said Forest Hazel, the group's federal recognition officer. "Everybody is very excited about it that I've talked to." The group is based in western Alamance and eastern Orange counties and has an office in Mebane. State recognition would give the Occaneechi a seat on the commission and would allow the group to compete for grants and financial assistance for housing and education. In Tuesday's ruling, the court said the commission violated state law by delaying delivery of a written decision to the Occaneechi after rejecting Administrative Law Judge Dolores Smith's December 1998 decision to grant tribal recognition. The court ruled that the commission did not meet a 90-day time limit for rendering a written decision. Therefore, the administrative law judge's decision overturned by the commission is valid, the court opinion reads. That's an argument that Alan McSurely, the Occaneechi's attorney, argued to an Orange County Superior Court judge in December. "The law either means what it says or it doesn't," Hazel said Tuesday. "It's fairly straightforward." John Bason, a spokesman for the N.C. Attorney General's office, said Tuesday that the commission is still considering its next move. Assistant Attorney General David Steinbock, who has represented the commission in dealings with the Occaneechi, could not be reached for comment. The commission denied tribal status for the Occaneechi in 1990, 1995, 1997 and 1999. In the most recent hearing, the commission ruled that the group didn't meet the state requirement of 200 years of unbroken tribal history in North Carolina. It met three other criteria for recognition when the state requires that five be met, the commission said in 1999. The Occaneechi have long argued that they meet enough state-mandated requirements but the commission has discriminated against them out of personal bias. Hazel hopes the commission will not appeal Tuesday's decision but thinks it probably will. "I think now the thing for the commission to do is to say that we are going to stop fighting this," Hazel said. Hazel said his group has spent thousands of dollars on legal fees that could have been better used to meet the needs of members of the group. Copyright c. NCPiedmont.com 2001 --------- "RE: Tribes sign Landmark Energy Agreement" --------- Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 09:28:52 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="ENERGY AGREEMENT" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://denver.bcentral.com/denver/stories/2001/08/20/daily34.html Breaking News 18:45 EDT Thursday Indian tribes sign `landmark' agreement An agreement announced today between the Denver-based Council of Energy Resources Tribes and Sempra Energy Solutions is expected to bring energy services to 50 American Indian tribes across the country. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. California-based Sempra will help the tribes that belong to the council, called CERT for short, manage their energy supplies, systems and resources. That, in turn, should help the tribes have more control over those resources. CERT has helped tribes produce and sell natural gas since 1996, and it's currently working to set up the infrastructure to generate and sell electricity, as well. Sempra has had a relationship with CERT for 15 years, mentoring the nonprofit group as it, in turn, mentors the tribes to help them become active players in the energy market. "The alliance with Sempra Energy Solutions is part of CERT's ongoing mission to develop energy initiatives designed to meet the unique needs of the tribes," the council's executive director, David Lester, said in a statement. Bob Dickerman, president of Sempra Energy Solutions, called the agreement a landmark. Founded in 1996, CERT was created to help American Indian tribes manage their energy resources, from supplying natural gas to providing electrical power. Tribal members range from the Southern Utes and Ute Mountain Utes of Colorado and the Penobscot of Maine to the Saginaw Chippewa of Michigan. Sempra Energy Solutions is part of publicly traded Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) of San Diego, Calif. The provider of gas and electric products and services has 12,000 employees who serve customers in this country, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Europe and Asia. It reported $11 billion in revenue for fiscal 2001. Copyright c. 2001 American City Business Journals Inc. --------- "RE: Saskatoon Cop says Aboriginal Man never Answered" --------- Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 08:52:41 -0500 From: Gary Smith Subj: NA News Item - - - - - - -- - - - - - - filename="SASKATOON COP" http://www.owlstar.com/dailyheadlines.htm http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.CRIME-Officers-Aboriginals September 14, 2001 Saskatoon cop says aboriginal man never said where he wanted to be dropped SASKATOON (CP) -- A police officer accused of dumping an aboriginal man on the outskirts of the city on a bitterly cold night said Darrell Night pleaded to be released, but never said where he wanted to be let go. "He did not give an exact location," Const. Dan Hatchen testified Friday. "He said, 'Drop me off anywhere and I'll walk.'" Dressed in a blue suit and tie, Hatchen told the court Night was released near a power station at the outskirts of Saskatoon. "He was dropped inside the city limits, basically at the outskirts." Hatchen and Const. Ken Munson, both veteran Saskatoon police officers, are charged with assault and unlawful confinement. They are accused of apprehending Night without cause and later forcing him out of their cruiser near the power station on the early morning of Jan. 28, 2000, when temperature dipped to --22 C. Hatchen testified Night was arrested for causing a disturbance after he leaned into the police car and swore at Munson. "When we first placed him in the car he was shouting, 'You're doing this to me because I'm an Indian, you racist bastards,' " the officer said. However, once Night was in the car, Hatchen said he calmed down and started pleading to be released. In Night's testimony, he accused the officers of swearing and using racial slurs as they dealt with him and banging his head on the door frame of the cruiser when they released him. Hatchen denied the accusations. Munson testified the officers confronted Night after he slammed his hand on the police cruiser as they drove past him. "He was very aggressive and he shouted right in my face," Munson said. Munson also testified once Night was in the cruiser he gave the officers directions to take him home. "He said, 'Yes guys, go that way. I live that way,'" Munson said. Munson told the court Night said he would calm down if given the chance to walk home. "He asked, 'Drop me at the end of the road and I'll walk home,' " Munson said. When asked by his lawyer if he took any notes of the incident, Munson said no. "It was not necessary. There were no charges laid and I didn't feel this man was going to complain." In cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Bill Burge asked Hatchen why the officers drove in a direction heading out of town if they had intended to take Night to the police station. "It is the totally opposite direction," Burge said. "It is," Hatchen replied. Burge also suggested to Hatchen that at the time, the officer knew what he was doing was wrong. "I didn't think it was the brightest idea," Hatchen said. While cross-examining Munson, Burge asked the officer why he made first made the decision to take Night home instead of the police headquarters. "He convinced me not to," Munson said. The two officers were the only witnesses called by the defence, which wrapped up its evidence on Friday. Closing arguments were scheduled to begin Monday. On Wednesday the court heard statements the two officers gave police shortly after the incident. Both Hatchen and Munson expressed shame and regret for leaving Night on the outskirts of the city. Seven men and five women make up the all-white jury hearing the case, which has strained relations between the police and aboriginal community. A court appearance by the two officers last year garnered national attention when angry spectators got in a shouting match about racism outside the courthouse. Copyright c. 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. --------- "RE: American Indian Quilter keeps Tradition Alive" --------- Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 23:25:11 -0700 From: "Jess Hansen" Subj: "Carrying the flame" Mailing List: ndn-aim http://web.northscape.com/content/gfherald/2001/09/16/news/DYSTAR916.htm Sunday, September 16, 2001 "Carrying the flame; American Indian quilter keeps tradition alive with blankets rich in symbolism" By DORREEN YELLOW BIRD Herald Staff Writer "In Angeline Alberts' house on the Spirit Lake reservation in Fort Totten, N.D., the humming of the sewing machine is like a lullaby to her grandchildren who live with her. The soft and steady clickety clickety never seems to stop. Alberts, 62, is a master quilter. That skill was handed down from her mother, Josephine Ross Dunn, who learned from her mother, Emma Left Bear. For their family, it is more than a learned skill -- it is their way of life and part of the culture. The culture dictates the reasons for making a star blanket. When Alberts started on her very first star blanket, she chose the materials and cut out the diamonds for the star. As she sat trying to decide what color to make the background, her grandfather, John Left Bear, came into the house. "He wanted to know who I was making the star blanket for." It wasn't for anyone in particular, she told him and she didn't think much about it and just kept sewing, she said. Sometime later, she heard reports that a family member had been killed in Vietnam. Left Bear told her: "That's what you were making those blankets for. Now you finish the blankets and give them to his mother." Alberts said you don't just make star blankets so you'll have them. True meaning The culture also dictates the design of the star blankets. Most of the quilts Alberts designs and assembles are made with the sunburst pattern, although, at times, she may embed images of the Sacred Pipe, Buffalo or the Medicine Wheel in her blankets. For those star blankets, she uses the traditional colors, which represent the four directions. The meaning of the starburst pattern is encompassing. It can mean everything from sadness to great happiness. It doesn't represent just one thing, she said. One of the most common meanings is that the star represents people of all races: black, white, yellow and red. The sun also represents the Creator or God, she said. Quilt making is a skill that American Indian people learned from settlers or pioneers who came to their area. When cloth and blankets were introduced, they began making quilts, too. They put their own handprint to the quilt by using American Indian designs, Alberts said. The old way Alberts doesn't use the new method of putting diamonds together. With that method, the seamstress sews strips together and then cuts the diamonds. Most quilters believe this method is faster. Alberts cuts each diamond individually from a cardboard pattern and sews all the diamonds together. The star blankets are stronger if they are cut this way, Alberts said. With different diamond sizes, she can make star blankets from king- to baby blanket-size. It takes five diamonds across the bottom of each point to make the most common bed size, she said. To complete the star blanket, she sometimes quilts the top, lining and backing in about a half a day by machine. "To quilt by hand, takes me about two days because I have other things to do in the household. Usually, I will do household work rather than sit down and sew in the evening," Alberts said. In an average year, especially since she hasn't been working, she might make 60 star blankets. She currently is working on 36 quilts for a family memorial ceremony in October. "A year after the loved one leaves the family, we have to give something to thank the people for their help," she said. The star blankets she is making for this family will be donated during the memorial ceremony. After that year, they believe, the spirit of the person leaves the earth forever. She did put those memorial quilts aside to complete eight star blankets for a family naming ceremony during the Fort Totten Day Celebration in August. For Alberts, sewing star blankets is relaxing and makes her feel good that she is helping her family and community." [Yellow Bird may be reached at (701) 780-1228 or (800) 477-6572, ext. 228, or dyellow bird@gfherald.com] Copyright c. 2001 Grand Forks Herald. ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe to this group,send an email to: ndn-aim-subscribe@egroups.com Archived on line at: http://www.eScribe.com FREE LEONARD PELTIER --------- "RE: Pojoaque Pueblo Warns Bear Hunters" --------- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 06:11:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Pureau Subj: Pojoaque Pueblo Warns Bear Hunters Mailing List: ndn-aim ABQjournal: 505-823-7777 Thursday, September 6, 2001 Pojoaque Pueblo Warns Bear Hunters Journal Staff Report Would-be vigilantes intent on dealing with rogue bears in Pojoaque Valley take heed: The law won't stand for it. Pojoaque Tribal Police Sgt. Leonard Romero warned that anyone caught within the pueblo boundaries hunting bears risks arrest. He said tribal police confronted one party and another fled as police approached Tuesday. The number of bear sightings rose dramatically the same day, from the usual one a day to about six, which police believe represent sightings of several bears, Romero said. A large, 400 to 500 pound bear injured when it was struck by a car last week remains at large and may be potentially dangerous, Romero said. He urged caution dealing with any bear. Copyright c. 2001 Albuquerque Journal. --------- "RE: Native Prisoner" --------- Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 7:48 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). Mike Thompson Wally Ray Wilson # B-6801 CSP Corcoran #766899 4A 4R 52 WCC Pine Hall B-6 P.O. Box 3476 P.. Box 900 Corcoran, Ca. 93212-3476 Shelton,Wa.98584-0974 Neil Kenandore Richard M. Schnabel # 908876 #963637 WSP IMU Larch Corr. Ctr 1313 No. 13th Ave 15314 N.E. Dole Valley Rd. Walla Walla, Wa. 99362 Yacolt, Wa. 98675 -- - - - Subj: Update: Texas Hunger Strike 9/12/2001 from IRONHOUSE/Support Barbara Fortier, Coordinator bdyingswan@aol.com http://www.ironhousesupport.f2s.com POB 262 / Villa Rica, GA 30180-0262 Dear Friends, I am the outside coordinator for the Texas prisoners' hunger strike and Rachel is coordinating the outside fast in support of these prisoners. On the eve of this strike, I sit with you in the dark shadows of this historic horrifying act of terrorism on American soil. I too am lef